11:11

“The distinction between the past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” ~ Albert Einstein.

“Morimoto Shintaro of the Central Investigation Division and I’ll be the prosecutor for this case.” 

Hokuto briefly glanced at his card and nodded his head. He knew Morimoto Shintaro, he built a reputation for taking down the ultra-rich. 

“Matsumura Hokuto-san, senior finance manager at Kyomoto Holdings. Hmmm, you’ve been with the company for 4 years, and you’ve been promoted only a year after joining the company. And here you are now, a suspect for embezzlement and using the Holding’s funds to trade in stocks.” 

Hokuto merely shrugged. He wanted to appear uncaring even though he was quaking inside. 

“You probably don’t care what I think, but I’ll tell you what I think.” 

Hokuto looked up and stared straight into the penetrating eyes of this huge man. He also looked quite young for an established prosecutor. 

“I think your boss is using you as a scapegoat.”

Hokuto clenched his hand into a fist and hopefully, his face remained passive. 

“No offense meant, Matsumura-san, but despite your position in the company, you’re still  insignificant and replaceable.”

Hokuto maintained a passive face, he knew that much, and he never had any delusions that he was someone valuable. 

Morimoto continued, “So what did they offer in exchange for taking the fall? A hefty retirement fund? A ski resort in Hokkaido? Shares at the Corporation? You’re probably set out for life.” 

Hokuto took a deep breath and sat back on the chair. “You’re right about me being insignificant, but also I’m ambitious. Very ambitious. The things I did, those are just my stepping stone for a bigger and grander ambition,” he finished with determination. 

“You’re quite loyal to a family who threw you under the bus.” 

Hokuto smirked. “I say the same thing to you, you’re quite loyal to a firm that would accept bribes and would eventually let me go.” 

Morimoto raised his thick eyebrow. “The Kyomotos can pay off the entire prosecution but not me.” 

“And what can you do on your own?” 

A corner of Morimoto’s lips twitched. “I’m sure you know a lot about the family and their shady dealings. I’m also pretty sure that you have, directly or indirectly, participated in those dealings. Despite that, I still think it’s not too late for you to change.”

Hokuto could only blink his eyes, this interrogation is so different from what he had expected, and Morimoto seemed to be enjoying his confusion. 

“I’ve always been unpredictable,” he said as though he read Hokuto’s mind. “Whatever plans the family curates for you, I’ll destroy it. First, you are free to go.” 

“What?!” Hokuto exclaimed, skeptical.

“But mark my words, Matsumura-san, you will come back crawling to me, and begging for my help.” 

Hokuto swallowed hard. Where did this man get this much confidence? “You sound so sure.”

“I am sure,” he said firmly, “one look at you and I know, you’re a good person, and a good person will do what’s right.” He smiled and raised an arm toward the door. “You may go, Matsumura-san.” 

“B-but-”

“Oh!” Morimoto perused the folders in front of him until he found an origami. He tweaked it a little and Hokuto could make out a winged horse. “When you’re ready to cooperate, Matsumura-san, give this back to me.” 

Hokuto reluctantly took the origami. “Why a Pegasus?”

Morimoto grinned. “Pegasus is the one who collected and brought thunderbolts to Zeus when he needed them. Basically, you will be my Pegasus who would bring me thunderbolts to strike the Kyomotos.” 

Hokuto scoffed and attempted to return the Pegasus. 

“Take it, Matsumura-san. Our world is small, you might need it later,” Morimoto insisted. 

Hokuto sighed. “Fine,” he said and placed the Pegasus origami in his breast pocket. “But I have to tell you this. Do you know why I got promoted just after a year of being with the company?” 

Morimoto shrugged. “Because you’re good?”

“Because I always side with the winner and I always do what the winner wants, no questions asked,” he said with his sweetest smile. “Good day, Morimoto-san, you’ve just missed your chance of prosecuting someone insignificant like me,” he finished and turned his back. 

“Did I really miss my chance?” Morimoto asked with a sneer. “Or am I just getting started?” 

Hokuto took a deep breath and opened the door, there was no need for him to answer back as he made his way back to his freedom. 

***

The smell of iron filled the room, she knew she was at the right place, and when she saw the blonde hair…

“Wait a minute!” Kouchi uttered. “How could she see him if she has been beheaded?” Kouchi asked and looked over at Taiga in bewilderment. 

Taiga burped loudly and drank his beer. “She might have been beheaded, but she has a keen sense of-” 

“All of her senses have been cut off except for her sense of touch, so how?” Kouchi asked testily.

“Do you have to nitpick everything?” He asked, exasperated. 

Kouchi gaped. “I’m not nitpicking but parts of your novel just don’t make sense.” He laid down Taiga’s manuscript on the table. “I thought this was romance, but the guy turned out to be a killer who beheaded his girlfriend, and now it became crime and horror. What exactly are you aiming for?” 

“I want it to be an all-around genre. That kind of thing.”

“I haven’t heard that kind of genre, but since you’re a newbie, stick with one genre for now. Clearly, being all around is not your forte yet.”

Taiga sighed. He worked his ass tirelessly for two weeks only to be flat-out rejected by Kouchi. He wasn’t even his editor, but his beta reader, yet he received this much criticism after only a few pages. 

“Face it, Taiga, you’re not ready for a different kind of genre. Stick with what you know,” Kouchi added with emphasis and Taiga understood what Kouchi meant that it frustrated him. 

Kouchi reached for his sushi and added, “You sold more than a million copies of ‘The Young Master’, there were even talks of it becoming a drama that could rival Hanzawa Naoki, so stick with that.”

Taiga sighed again. “The Young Master” was his debut novel that became an instant bestseller. His publisher thought that it was all about him, and he didn’t bother correcting him when he put out in the media that his novel was akin to an autobiography of a young master from one of the most influential conglomerates in Japan’s financial world. But they were all wrong as he wasn’t the only young master in his family. 

He stared at his newest manuscript. He hated to admit it but even he found it bad. Romance would never be his forte. “I received a warning.”  

“Warning?” 

“Warning that no advertisers or film company would work with me because they can buy them all.”

Kouchi scoffed. “They weren’t able to do anything when it got published. Their cease-and-desist order didn’t work.” 

Taiga bit his lower lip. “I guess the old man is serious this time.” 

“Your dad?” 

“No, but the all-powerful leader of Kyomoto Inc. approached me.” 

“Your grandfather!” Kouchi said with fright. Kouchi and he have been friends since high school; thus, he knew all about the “old man”.  

Taiga nodded. There’s a top rule every Kyomoto should abide by, and that’s “Honor thy grandfather, his words are gold and final”.

“So I broke it off with my publisher, I need someone who can’t be bought with money and knows how to keep his mouth shut.” 

Kouchi snapped his fingers. “You made enough money from the previous one, so why not try self-publishing?” 

Taiga shook his head. “It’s too much work even for me. Actually, I’ve been toying with this idea. I’m pretty sure that this one won’t get into the family’s radar that easily.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“My next one has to be in the manga,” Taiga said, beaming. “Kinda shounen-ish, I want it to be like Jack Black, but instead of a renegade surgeon, my hero would be a renegade businessman or something. What do you think?” 

“Interesting. But you can’t really draw at manga level.”

Taiga sighed. “Yeah, I need an illustrator. Someone recluse that the family can’t reach.” 

“If he or she is that recluse, then how can you reach him or her?” 

“There are ways…I’ve already put up an ad and I’ll be having a blind interview.”

“Eh?!”

“The ad I’ve put out already has a storyline, all they have to do is make a 4-koma from it, and I’ll choose the best candidate.” 

 “Wow. You’ve really planned this out?” Kouchi said, clearly impressed. 

Taiga grinned. “Of course, you'll be the front of it all.” 

“Ha?” 

“I can’t really reveal my identity, can I? So, please, Kouchi,” he said sweetly. He knew he didn’t have to because Kouchi always agreed to his whims. 

Kouchi sighed but gave him a murderous glare. “This will be the last time that I will help you.” 

Taiga smiled widely. “I’ll even name it after you, I’ll call it ‘Yu-go-oh’!”

“Shut up!” Kouchi said as he started to snicker. “That’s so bad, who would read yu-go-oh?” 

Taiga started laughing too at his own lame joke until he noticed the time. “Ah! Look at the time, it’s 11:11 now!”

“Oh, shit! I can’t miss the train, I didn’t bring my bike,” Kouchi said as he made a dash to wear his shoes. “When is the interview again?”

“In 2 days. Everything is online, I’ll send you the link.” 

“Okay. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight!” Taiga bid his best friend goodbye and he could only sigh seeing how much he had to clean up. He decided to place everything on the sink before he turned off the lights and headed to his work room. He was still full of the adrenaline rush, he spent 2 weeks writing gibberish, and it was now time for him to return to serious matters. He put on his AirPods as he murmured, “They say blood is thicker than water, but I guess blood is starting to wear thin.”  

He made his favorite evil laugh as he cracked his knuckles and began typing like mad. 

***

Hokuto slowly opened his eyes as his ears picked up the sounds of two people arguing, followed by snickers, then laughter. It sounded so close as though the laughter were just outside his living room. He shook his head and stretched his arms, he must have drank so much that his imagination was running wild. That laughter was definitely behind his bedroom wall to his neighbors. He was surprised to see the time, it was only 11:15 yet he felt like he slept for hours. His neighbors had gone quiet after he heard them bidding each other ‘goodnight’ followed by doors closing and some shuffling. He forced himself to return to dreamland, and he didn’t know how long it was until he was forced to get up to pee. He groggily headed to his bathroom to do his business and as he washed his hands while he stared at his drunken reflection, he saw a figure passed by. He blinked once and twice before he splashed cold water on his face. Finishing a bottle of wine was definitely a bad idea. 

What was that white figure? 

He willed himself to turn around. His living room is dark except for the light from his study room. He felt nothing but the pounding of his heart as he neared his study room and coldness seeped in his bones when he saw a figure murmuring about blood and water. 

“G-ghost?” Hokuto managed to whisper while his voice shook. The figure didn’t seem to hear him, his oversize white tee wrinkled with moth holes, his skin as white as his shirt, and his evil laugh made Hokuto freeze on the spot.

“Please…let go of your grudge and go back to….to wherever you are from.” 

Again, the figure didn’t seem to hear him as he began typing furiously Hokuto could feel being cursed as those fingers moved swiftly on the keyboard. He ran back to his room and buried himself under his sheets while he called all the gods he knew that could help him ward off the ghost when he heard someone knocking on his door. 

“Shit! Do ghosts also knock on doors now?” 

The knocking continued even though Hokuto tried his best to ignore it. He finally relented and took the only weapon he could think of, a 5 kg dumbbell under his bed. He took a deep breath and opened his door, but no one was there and the knocking continued from his front door. He passed by his study room and sighed in relief upon seeing it empty, even the lights were off.

“Did I imagine everything?” He murmured as he quickly ran to open his front door, an angry woman greeted him. 

“Are you the owner of the red car outside?”

Hokuto scowled. “Uhm, no, I don’t have a car.” 

The woman didn’t seem convinced that he was telling the truth, but she didn’t say anything and moved along. Hokuto again sighed and closed his door, he almost jumped when his clock chimed, signaling that it was now 12 midnight. His apartment is quiet and orderly, exactly how he left it before he went to bed around 10 in the evening. He slumped on the floor, tiredness overpowering him. 

“What the hell just happened?” 

“To awaken quite alone in a strange parallel universe is the priceless moment to a time traveler!”
― Vishwanath S J

“Were you drunk?” Juri asked after Hokuto relayed everything that happened to him last night. 

“Well…I drank a bit,” he said, his eyes on the espresso machine as Juri prepared him coffee. It was only 7 in the morning and Juri’s coffee shop was starting to fill up. 

“By a bit, I’m sure you meant a bottle. So, how long have you been drinking?” 

Hokuto bit his lower lip as he answered, “Since I moved in.” 

Juri scoffed. “So you’ve been drunk for four days and you’re surprised that you were having hallucinations?”

“But it was too vivid to be hallucinations,” he answered defensively as Juri served him a cup of steaming latte. “I can still hear the sound of the keyboard as the ghost typed.” 

Juri didn’t look amused. “Wow, so the ghost even used your laptop?” 

Hokuto thought about it. His laptop’s keyboard is quieter than the sound he heard last night. The sound he heard last night was like those mechanical keyboards that one could find in internet shops or those that gamers use. 

“Perhaps not my laptop…” Juri raised an eyebrow and Hokuto knew he sounded mad right now to even consider that the ghost must have a different laptop. 

“I’ll believe your ghost theory once you’re sober. Stop drinking starting tonight and I assure you that the ghost would be a thing of the past,” Juri said and served him a croissant.

Hokuto sighed as he ate his croissant. The logical part of his mind is saying that Juri is right, he shouldn’t argue at all, he should stay sober and everything will be back to normal. 

“Good morning, Matsumura-san.” 

Hokuto couldn’t help but roll his eyes when Morimoto sat beside him. “I want the same as his,” he ordered. 

Hokuto scoffed. His boss informed him that the prosecution would surely place him under surveillance so he had to lie low for a while. For that reason, he moved to a cheaper apartment that is probably haunted. 

“For a man who supposedly embezzled millions, you’re not living the high life, Matsumura-san.” 

Hokuto smiled softly. “I have other reasons for wanting money. Besides, are the prosecutors this free? Or are you moonlighting as a paparazzi who follows people around?”

“You’re a bigger fish than any of those celebrities.”

“Am I? I thought I’m just someone insignificant?” 

“Awww….don’t feel too bad about that, I’m just egging you on.” 

“I don’t care whatever agenda you have, I’ve already made my statement, it’s your problem if you don’t believe it. Also, you’re wrong about me, I’m not a good person,” Hokuto said with finality as he stood up and took some bills from his wallet. He hated not finishing his meal, but he didn’t want to stay and argue with Morimoto. 

“Wait a minute, Matsumura-san.”

Hokuto hated that his feet seemed to have a mind of their own that he stopped from Morimoto’s command. 

“You seem free, why don’t you read this manga? Hot off the press just a week ago.”

Hokuto knew the manga was innocent, but he couldn’t help but stare scornfully at it as he read the title, “ La Familia Series: The Puppeteer. Volume 1 ”. Now, why does the title sound so familiar? He was sure he hadn't read this manga, and didn’t Morimoto say that it was only released a week ago? 

“First a Pegasus origami, and now a manga, not interested,” he said and left the shop. 

***

“Taiga…Taiga…Taiga!” 

“Woah!” Taiga awoke with a start as chopsticks fell from his hold. “Why are you shouting at me?” He asked Kira, the owner of his favorite ramen shop. 

“You fell asleep while eating,” Kira said while shaking his head. “Why don’t you go home and take an early rest?”

Taiga’s eyes widened. “That’s a first for me, I fell asleep while eating. Really?” 

“It’s a first for me too, and I didn’t know whether I should be insulted that someone fell asleep while eating my ramen.”

Taiga smiled bitterly. “I guess I should really go home,” he said while he stretched. “I’ve been writing nonstop that I haven’t been sleeping properly.” He was about to pay off his ramen when the door opened, revealing a man that made Taiga roll his eyes. 

“Fancy meeting you here, Kyomoto-san.” 

“I wish I could say the same, Morimoto-san,” he said with derision that earned him a side-eye from Kira. He completely forgot that Morimoto is a customer even though Taiga was sure that he came into the shop for him. 

“You lived simply for a bestselling author and heir-”

“What do you want?” Taiga cuts in even though he fairly has an idea why Morimoto showed up in a ramen place, which was far from where he worked. 

“Your cooperation.” 

“I don’t trust any of you,” he said firmly. “Any of you could be receiving paychecks from…my superiors.” 

Morimoto gritted his teeth. “What can I do for you to trust me?” 

“Nothing. I will never trust you.” 

“Then, who do you trust? If you can’t even trust your own, who do you run to?” 

“No one,” he said and immediately hated that his voice sounded pitiful. He knew he would be alone the moment he made the decision and opened pandora’s box. And he’d rather be alone, he didn’t want to drag others into the mess he plunged himself into. 

“You don’t have to be alone,” Morimoto said and Taiga could feel his sincerity. 

“Trust no one,” he said, “that’s my grandfather’s number one rule, and that also applies to family members,” he added and yawned. “I really need to rest, goodnight, Morimoto-san.”

He paid off his ramen and quickly walked two blocks to his apartment. He had to keep on glancing back, and he was glad that Morimoto didn’t bother following him. He shunned Morimoto-san from intruding in his thoughts, he had too much going on to even bother. He greeted the gatekeeper as he made his way to his unit. His fingers were itching to write, the walk gave him fresh new ideas, but he needed to sleep first. 

“I look like a panda,” he murmured as he quickly took a shower. He wore nothing but his Pikachu undergarments as he jumped on his bed. August remained hot and sweltering, and his landlord hasn’t repaired his AC. 

“10:15, huh? This is quite early. I’ll sleep for a bit, then, I’ll write as soon as I get up.” He closed his eyes and before long, Pikachu started appearing in his dreams. 

“You’re so fluffy!” Taiga said as he squished Pikachu’s body, but instead of softness, Pikachu was lean and sinewy from his touch. “Woah, Pikachu, y-you’re quite muscular,” he murmured while his hands roamed Pikachu’s body. “And…what’s this? Is this…you also have a dick-”

Taiga’s eyes opened the moment he heard someone yelp. His hand was unable to move as it continued to cup someone’s crotch. He is fucking holding someone’s crotch while his head rested on someone’s chest. He slowly lifted his head until he came face-to-face with a face he had never seen before. Both of them were wide-eyed before they screamed. 

“Ahhhh!” Taiga fell off his bed. The stranger fell on the opposite side, and Taiga used that distraction to scurry out his room and ran out of his bedroom. The chilliness of his living room surprised him as he reached for the first thing he could use as a weapon, an empty bottle of wine. He had no time to think where the bottle of wine came from, he knew he hadn't been drinking lately, and his eyes snapped back to his bedroom when he heard the unmistakable sound of the door being locked. 

“You! You have the nerve to lock my door?! Open it!” He screamed and pounded on his door. He could hear the stranger calling different gods, from Yahweh, Guanyin, Buddha, Allah, Jesus Christ, and so on. 

“Go back to where you came from!” The stranger inside his bedroom shouted. 

“Go back to where I came from?! I’ll send you somewhere you’ve never been before! Open the door, you jerk!” He continued to pound on his door until the coldness made him cave. “Just wait!”

“Why is it so cold?” He muttered as he ran to his bathroom, he grabbed a towel to wrap around his body when he noticed his hand, the same hand that was cupping the man’s crotch earlier. 

“Argh, this is disgusting!” He ran to his sink to wash his hand as the smell of lavender wafted from the liquid soap. He paused from scrubbing his hands, when did he ever buy a lavender hand soap? He quickly rinsed his hands and headed to his bedroom door and pounded. 

“Open the door, you jerk! Have you been secretly living in my apartment? Hah?” 

“Please spare me and go back to the light,” the stranger shouted back. 

“Light?! I’ll send you to the light!” He was about to resume pounding on his door when he heard an alarm. He followed the sound of the alarm and was aghast that it came from a washing machine. “I…don’t own a washing machine,” he murmured as the coldness he felt was no longer from the chill, but from seeing something unimaginable. 

He ran back to his bedroom door, kicked it with all his might, and found himself splayed on the floor. He instantly got up even though his body hurts, his bedroom was now empty, the coldness was gone and he was again stifled by the heat. He ran to his window and opened it, the night was quiet, and not a soul was in sight as his bedside clock beeped twice. It was now 12 midnight and Taiga knew he could no longer go back to sleep. 

“What the hell just happened?” 

***

“My apartment is haunted?” Hokuto’s landlord said with disbelief before his eyes ran to the empty bottles by the side on the floor. 

“I didn’t drink a drop last night,” Hokuto reiterated as he glared at his landlord and at Juri, who sat by his side. “The ghost not only slept on my bed, but I was also…harassed!” He said, revolted upon recalling how the ghost touched his most private part. 

“Are you sure you didn’t get laid last night?” Juri asked. 

“I was harassed,” he repeated. “By a man.” 

His landlord and Juri both gasped. 

“He has alabaster skin,” Hokuto said and he watched as his landlord’s eyes went from unconvinced to alert. 

“He’s a bit shorter than I, probably around 174 cm. He’s quite thin but with a rounded belly,” Hokuto described while his landlord’s eyes grew wider. 

“He has long eyelashes, he has a high nose bridge, his lips pinkish, and he has the nicest eye shape,” Hokuto finished and his landlord went deathly pale. “Do you have an old tenant who looks like that?” 

“I…I don’t know him,” his landlord insisted. “I have to go, I have other things to do.” His landlord stood up and quickly left his apartment. 

“He definitely knew the ghost,” Juri and he both concluded as they slumped back on his couch.

“Long eyelashes, high nose bridge, pinkish lips, nicest eyes…I’m sorry, but did you fall in love with the ghost?” Juri teased, which earned him a punch from Hokuto. 

“Should we call an exorcist, or should you move out?” 

“Move out?” Hokuto repeated. “I won’t lose to a ghost.” 

“Uhm, we’re not having a contest here, so it’s either you move out or get harassed again.” 

Hokuto took a deep breath. What exactly was he fighting for? He could just move out, after all, it has only been 5 days since he moved in. There was no need to stay longer, but before he could agree to Juri’s suggestion, he felt a sharp pain in his nape.  

“What’s wrong?” Juri asked with worry while Hokuto massaged his nape.

“I…a memory jumped out of nowhere,” he said, the pain had subsided but he was more confused than ever.

“What memory? What do you mean?” 

“I was on a blind date and the ghost…the ghost confronted me.” 

“What?” Juri asked, incredulous.

“I’ve met the ghost before…when he was alive.” 

Each nanosecond of history branches off into an infinite amount of parallel universes.

Pete Carroll

 

“Are you trying to bargain with me because I increased the rent last month?” 

Taiga scoffed at his landlord’s accusation. “Bargain? I leased the apartment for a year with the higher price, have you forgotten?” 

His landlord avoided his glare while he drank his tea. They were in a nearby shop, which was Taiga’s favorite place when he needed a dose of sweets. 

“But no matter how much I think about it, it’s impossible for another person to sneak in and live with you during the night.” 

“Are you sure you didn’t lease the apartment to someone else? Ah…you said you have a son-”

“Yes, but my son is in the US and I even spoke to him last night.” 

“But the washing machine!” Taiga insisted with his eyes wide. “I never bought one and you only have a dryer installed.” 

“But that washing machine is no longer there…” the landlord said when he inspected his apartment earlier. 

Taiga groaned and rubbed his scalp. “This is driving me crazy! So who is the guy I saw last night?” 

The landlord shrugged. “You said you haven’t been sleeping properly.” 

Taiga sighed. He’d been convincing himself the same thing as well. Lack of sleep made him see hallucinations and his dreams ran wild, but how could he forget the feel of that man on his hands? Everything felt too real to be part of his dreams. He absentmindedly looked across the street, a restaurant he never tried before began lighting the tea candles on their tables and chairs outside. A couple arrived at one table and Taiga’s eyes widened. He repeatedly scratched his eyes before he left in a hurry, completely ignoring his landlord’s call. 

“You!” He said as he reached the table where the couple sat. 

Taiga could feel drumming on his chest as the man looked up. Almond eyes, thin nose with a delicate tip, sharp jawline, and The Adams’ apple. There was no doubt about it, this was the same man from last night! 

“Uhm, I’m sorry?” 

“You were on my bed last night!” He exclaimed and the man quickly made a denial to the woman seated across from him. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the man said through clenched teeth. “I don’t even know you.” 

“Exactly!” Taiga agreed. “I also don’t know you so why are you sneaking into my room?” 

“He must be crazy,” the guy said to the woman, discomfort in his voice that made Taiga scoff. 

“Please. I even know your size, I held your-”

“Excuse us! Sorry about that!” Taiga felt his landlord’s strong arms dragging him away from the man. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” His landlord asked after he successfully dragged Taiga away from the couple. “You can’t just go around accusing-”

“I’m not accusing him, he was really the man from last night!” 

“Taiga….” his landlord groaned in frustration. “I’ll drive you home, okay? You need to rest. Proper rest.”

Taiga sighed. He could feel that his landlord was starting to think he was crazy. He glanced back to where that man was, the table now vacant, and he didn’t know whether they transferred to a different one. 

“Okay. I guess I really need to rest. Please drive me to my best friend’s place, I’ll just sleep there tonight.” 

***

“My memory changed. My fucking memory changed,” Hokuto whispered, completely perplexed by what happened. He recalled that blind date of his, he recalled how it was successful, and they even went on three dates. But it all changed now, in his present memory, the blind date failed after the ghost accused him of sneaking on his bed. 

“What the fuck?!” He opened his phone and checked his calendar. The blind date happened last August, but the ghost accused him of sneaking onto his bed, which only happened last night. Not that he ever sneaked on his bed, but by logic…he shook his head repeatedly and walked around his apartment. There shouldn’t be any logic with what was happening, but how could the ghost accuse him of something 4 months ago when he only started seeing him when he moved into the apartment?

“This apartment is really haunted,” he concluded as his eyes roamed around, his interior a picture of minimalism style, “but it’s a different kind of haunting and it usually happens…” He snapped his fingers as a sudden realization hit him. Both “hauntings” happened during his sleep, which meant that it would be past 10 in the evening, and both hauntings ended before midnight. 

“I…have to stay awake tonight,” he said with determination as his doorbell rang which made him jump. “Shit, Hokuto, it’s only your door. How do you expect to stay up tonight if you’re scared just by the sound of the doorbell,” he continued to chide himself as he opened his door. 

“Good evening, Matsumura-san, the Chairman wants to see you.”

Hokuto could only swallow hard as he nodded and followed a man he never personally encountered before, but he knew very well by his reputation. The Chairman’s Secretary is as popular as the Chairman, and just as revered by employees like him. 

“Please get in.”

Hokuto’s heart hammered as he got inside the front seat of the Chairman's white Cadillac. “Good evening, sir,” he greeted and he could see the Chairman by the rearview mirror engrossed in a book he’d been reading. 

The Chairman kept his eyes on the book and his voice filled the car when he spoke. “You would have seen Japan beat Germany if you took my son's World Cup offer.”

Hokuto smiled shyly. “I'd rather watch it at home, sir.”

“You picked an unusual place to stay as well.”

Hokuto looked up at his modest dwellings, he didn’t think there was anything unusual with his apartment, but he guessed rich people found everything else peculiar. “Uhm, it was the most spacious I could find here in Tokyo, and the landlord leased it cheaply too,” he explained and now he knew why the landlord leased it cheap, it was haunted. 

“That prosecutor threw a curveball at you, my son was expecting to visit you at the jail.” 

“Ah, yes, it was definitely unexpected.” Hokuto is growing uncomfortable inside the Chairman’s car. In his four years of working for Kyomoto Holdings, he had never gotten this close to the head of Kyomoto Inc. He would bet that the Chairman didn't even know him, so being in his car is nothing but confusion. He wondered if his boss, aka the 2nd son, knew about this, and he wondered if he should tell him about his father’s sudden visit.

“There was no need to inform my son of this visit,” the Chairman said as though he read his mind. “I’m pretty sure he’s now planning how to sever whatever ties he has with you. You are, after all, dispensable.” 

Hokuto could only swallow hard because he knew it as well. 

“Matsumura Hokuto…”

“Yes, sir?” 

“To whom does your loyalty lie?” 

“My loyalty would always be with the company,” he answered quickly, an answer ingrained in him the moment he got hired at Kyomoto Holdings. 

“Forget about that loyalty, I’ll buy it. Name your price.” 

Hokuto’s eyes met with Chairman’s through the rearview mirror. The Chairman’s eyes reminded him of someone he couldn’t place, but there was something else in the Chairman’s stare as well. There was contempt, and Hokuto felt fear bigger than his haunted lodgings. 

“I-” 

“I have to leave now, contact my secretary when you’ve made a decision.” 

Hokuto scowled. He never thought that he had a say in the matter. The front door opened, but Hokuto just had to ask, “Am I going to be in danger?”

The Chairman met his eyes. “Yes,” was all he said before he returned his attention back to the book. Hokuto knew he could no longer ask questions, and he still didn’t ask any questions when the secretary handed him a novel titled, “The Young Master”. 

***

“You must also think that I’m mad,” Taiga said after he told Kouchi what happened earlier. 

“Hmmm…let’s get real, it won’t be you if you’re not a bit mad.” 

Taiga could only nod. Kouchi’s right, he has always been weird. 

“I really don’t know what’s happening, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy I met last night.” He raised his hand and added in disgust, “I even touched his balls.”

“TMI,” Kouchi replied. “Let’s change the topic to improve the mood. I’ve narrowed the candidates to three for your illustrator. I sent everything to your email.” 

Taiga took his phone, opened his email, and checked the portfolios of his soon-to-be illustrators.

“Skills-wise, they are at par with one another, but I chose them based on who is the most recluse, those that can’t be traced by your family once your manga comes into play.” 

“How do you measure if they are recluse enough?” 

“Well, I asked them questions like what’s the capital of Ireland, one of them doesn’t even know that Ireland is a country.”

Taiga frowned. “Doesn’t that just make them stupid more than recluse?” 

“You have a point,” Kouchi agreed. “But try to interview those three candidates, which I named A, B, and C. A always answers as ‘Chinese Laundry’ or ‘Chinese takeaway’, so it’s not the wrong number. B only answers landline calls so make sure to use the landline when you call. While C has to be texted before you call, and in your text, you have to state the reason why you’re calling and how long you think your conversation will be.” 

“O-kay….are you sure these people are not on the wanted list that's why they avoid people so much?”

“Nope. I already checked that out. By the way, are you sure you want to return to your apartment tonight? You might not be able to rest.” 

“I think I’ll be more worried if I’m not at home. You know me, I want to be where my manuscript is. Oh…you can drop me here! I’ll just walk.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yep!” Taiga bid Kouchi goodbye before he turned to the reason he asked to be dropped off. In front of him is the site of an up-and-coming Starbucks branch, which is 2 blocks away from his apartment. 

“Finally! I’ll have a more decent coffee.” He took his phone and took a picture of the signboard, which announced that the newest Starbucks would open in Mid-November 2022. His steps were lighter as he walked home, just like how coffee always lifted his mood. He even dropped by a konbini to buy late-night snacks because he would surely be writing tonight. Sleep could wait, his manuscript couldn’t. 

He greeted the apartment’s gatekeeper that also manned the parking lot before he went to his unit. “Please, don’t get weird tonight,” he said as he opened his door. 

***

“The Young Master, huh?” Hokuto hasn't read the book, but he heard about it. As far as he could recall, it was released around spring, and before all the cherry blossoms fell, the book was banned at Kyomoto Holdings. A memo even went around that anyone who read or talked about the book would face termination. However, just like how Eve ate the apple, it was human nature to do something they were forbidden to do. No amount of termination memo was strong enough to satisfy employees' curiosity and Hokuto could bet that everyone, sans him, owned a copy. 

“Why did I never bother reading it? Was I really that loyal?” He murmured as he soaked himself in his bathtub. He recalled his boss being enraged when a rumor came out that someone close to the family wrote the book, and he also recalled how he hired the biggest law firm in Japan just to halt production of the book. 

“What’s with today that people are handing me books to read?” He wondered as he set off his timer for 15 minutes, the time he would soak his body in hot water, “10:55 pm and nothing happened yet, I should wait until midnight to see if this house is really haunted, or do I have to see a shrink tomorrow.” 

He took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling, he was too restless to start the book, and he was too agitated to even enjoy his bath. He was scared, but he needed to see everything as it unfolded, before he started thinking about the Chairman’s offer. The likes of Morimoto probably thought that he was being heroic, or even a martyr, when he took the fall for his boss. The Chairman probably thought that he wanted revenge so he was buying his loyalty from his own son. But they were all wrong, he only wanted money, nothing more, nothing less. 

“Should I get involved again with that family? I found a way out without breaking my neck, do I risk it again?” He stretched his legs to sink himself deeper and had to stop as his feet touched flesh. Hard and hairy. It couldn’t be his leg, he is not that hairy. With bated breath, he slowly looked across at him, and the man who wore Pikachu underpants last night, stood naked in front of him as water rained on him from the shower. 

“H-hi,” Hokuto greeted, before the man screamed, and threw a shampoo bottle at him. 

“I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” ~ Hilaire Belloc

 

“Where’s the signal? I can’t find a signal!” 

Hokuto slowly opened his eyes while his forehead throbbed. He was still in the bathtub, the water now drained, and he felt cold when he only had a towel spread on his naked body. 

Hokuto watched the man as he helplessly raised his arm and shook his phone for any signal. Hokuto also concluded that this man couldn’t be a ghost, the way his dick dangled in front of him earlier couldn’t be from someone who was supposedly a spirit. 

“You’re finally awake?” The man said, his eyes shooting daggers at him. “After you pretended you didn't know me earlier, you had the gall to sneak in again. Hmp.” 

“Can you at least get my bathrobe behind the door? I’m cold.”

“How could you have a bathrobe behind…” The man could pause seeing his burgundy bathrobe, his initials, H.M, stitched on the breast side. 

“When did you put it here?” He asked in an accusatory tone. 

Hokuto didn’t bother answering as he snatched the bathrobe from him. His eyes roamed around his bathroom and noticed some stuff that wasn’t his. He looked back at the man, whose fair skin could rival the bathroom tiles, while he pointed one of his empty wine bottles toward him, and his other hand repeatedly pressed “call” on his phone. 

“I know it’s hard to be rational at the moment,” he said slowly. “But think about it, if I snuck in, how was I able to fill the bathtub while you shower?” Hokuto asked calmly. He was careful not to anger this man, or risk having the bottle hit his head. After all, he didn’t think twice about hitting him with the shampoo earlier. 

He still looked unconvinced while his eyes narrowed and asked, “Who in my family sent you?” 

Hokuto frowned. He didn’t expect that question. “I don’t even know you. Besides, you accused me of sneaking in? Shall I show you my lease?” He walked with his arms up to his study room, while the man kept the bottle pointed at him. Hokuto had to do a double-take upon arriving at his study room, it was in a state of disarray. His table was filled with stuff that clearly wasn’t his, starting with the mechanical keyboard he heard the other night. He opened the bottom drawer of the table and was relieved to find the familiar yellow folder containing his lease. He handed it to the man, who grabbed the folder. 

“See? This was leased under my name.” 

“Matsumura Hokuto?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“But…aha! This is a future lease.”

“Future lease?” Hokuto asked, taking back his lease and checking the date. “I leased this on December 13, 2022, and it’s now December 18.”

“December?!” The man repeated, scowling before he showed his phone. “Are you out of your mind? It’s only August.” 

“August?” Hokuto repeated, gaping. He left his phone in the bathroom so he turned to his table and took the newspaper. “It’s now December 18, Argentina and France will face off for the World Cup final in Qatar.” 

The man’s eyes remained wide as he turned the pages of the newspaper. “You could have prepared this in advance to dupe me.” 

Hokuto scoffed. “Yeah right, because I owned a printing company,” he said sarcastically. “Fine, if you won’t believe the things here in the apartment, then, let’s go out.” 

***

Taiga could only gape the moment they went out of his apartment, and he had to run back upon realizing he would suffer from hypothermia if he wouldn’t put on a proper outfit. A couple of blocks later, his jaw dropped again seeing the Starbucks now open.

“B-b-b-but I thought they won’t be open until November,” he stuttered, unsure if it was from the cold or from sheer disbelief. He took out his phone and searched for the picture he took a few hours ago. “See? It wasn’t open yet when I passed by here earlier.” 

The man named Matsumura Hokuto took his phone, confusion also on his face. “Well, it’s now December, and you said you passed by here earlier?” 

Taiga nodded. “Yes, my friend dropped me here- ah, I should call Kouchi!” He took back his phone, but he still hasn’t gotten a single signal when Hokuto’s phone rang. 

“Hello, uhm, I’ll call you back later,” he told whoever was on the other line. 

“How come you got a signal while I don’t?” 

“The only logical explanation I could think of is because this is the future, your phone no longer works because…you’re from the past?” 

Taiga blinked his eyes hard. “I feel dizzy, let’s have a coffee.” 

They ordered their coffee and Taiga was starting to accept that he was in the future because he was able to order a Creme Brulee latte, which shouldn’t be on the menu until the Christmas season. 

“Assuming…” he started while Hokuto ate Red Velvet cake, “assuming that this is indeed 4 months into the future-”

“It is four months into the future,” Hokuto reiterated. “You’re still living in August while we’re in December and…could that be the reason?” Hokuto asked with an air of mystery. 

“What reason?”

“Perhaps you were suffering from amnesia of some kind, and every night, you would return to my apartment thinking that you still live there?” 

Taiga frowned. “So I go back to my apartment each night with all my stuff, is that what you’re trying to say?”

“You have a point, that would be impossible.”

Taiga nodded. “And why did I move out in the first place? I leased the apartment for a year!” 

“Really? Hmmm, maybe that’s the reason why the landlord leased the place cheaply to me. But anyway, maybe you got married?”

“During those four months? Impossible. I’m not dating anyone-” he paused realizing that there was no need to reveal his lack of dating life to a stranger. He cleared his throat before continuing, “and why would this happen to me? To us?”

Hokuto crossed his arms and thought deeply. “Maybe it’s not about us, maybe it’s the apartment, and we were just indirectly affected because we live there.” 

Taiga thought about it as well. “But why now? Your lease showed that you moved in on December 13, I don’t know how long since I’ve moved out, so why is this happening only now? Nothing remotely similar happened to me back then.” 

Hokuto sighed. He looked like he reached the end of answering his equally confusing questions. 

“Have we met before?” Taiga asked even though he was sure that he had never met the man across from him before today. “Well, aside from the one where I confronted you when you were having a date,” he added quickly. 

“I doubt it. Why would you ask?” 

Taiga shrugged. He has no logical explanation so he decided to pick up the logic of movies. “Maybe you owe me money or something?” 

“Huh?”

“In your…past life?”

“And you’re such a cheapskate to let it go so you summon my future self to pay you back – Ah! I think we should go back now.”

“Why?” 

“It’s 10 minutes before midnight, and if my theory is correct, whatever this is will end before midnight.” 

“Ah…if this is the future, then does that mean I would disappear before midnight?” 

Hokuto nodded. “Possible.”

Taiga took a deep breath. He didn’t want the night to end yet, he needed answers to his questions, and even though he was confused, he was also curious. 

“By the way, may I know your name? Roommate from the past,” Hokuto asked as they started half-running and walking back to his apartment, or rather, their apartment. 

Taiga couldn’t help but chuckle. “Taiga. Just call me Taiga.” 

“Taiga. I’m Matsumura Hokuto.” Hokuto extended his hand as they reached outside their apartment. But before Taiga could extend his hand, Hokuto disappeared right in front of him.

“What-” His phone buzzed as a message arrived. He finally got a signal, and he took note of the time at 11:56 pm. He ran back to his apartment and checked everything, from his workroom, bathroom, and bedroom. Everything looked in place and everything looked the same. 

“That wasn’t a dream, right? Roommate from the future.” 

***

“Time warp. That’s what happens every night. I managed a glance at my phone before he threw a shampoo at me, I set the timer for 15 minutes and it was already buzzing for a minute before I was knocked out. That means, every night at 11:11, our time and space would merge and it would end 4 minutes before midnight. Are you even listening to me?” Hokuto asked, impatience in his voice while Juri continued to wash cups and saucers. 

“I am listening. Time warp? You already sound so convinced that whatever I say, you would not listen.”

“Why? What do you want to say?” 

Juri dried his hands before he joined him at the counter seat. “Is it a time warp or shared delusion?” 

Hokuto sighed. He guessed whatever he said, he would always end up mad. “I considered that,” he lied. “But shared delusion with someone from 4 months ago? And how could you explain how his stuff would magically appear with my stuff? Like in the bathroom, I don’t use those 3-in-1 shampoos, conditioner, and body wash. Also, my study room was unrecognizable last night, it was too messy with his stuff.”

“Fine. Assuming I also believe this time warp thing, why does it happen to both of you? Everything happens for a reason, right? So why?” 

“That! I still have no idea,” he said dejectedly. “My landlord kept on rejecting my calls and-” he paused when his phone rang with a familiar 6-digit number that exclusively belonged to the Kyomotos. 

“Why are they calling you?” Juri asked. Hokuto shared with Juri that the conglomerate has its own number, in which the first 6-digits would be the same for every member of the family and those in the upper echelons of the management. “I thought you left for good,” Juri added, his tone carrying a mild threat that Hokuto better not lie to him. 

“You know that I already did, this is just something,” he said and took the call from the Chairman’s secretary. 

***

“It’s still close,” Taiga murmured as he stood outside the same Starbucks branch where he had drank coffee last night. “Did last night really happen?” 

He walked away from the soon-to-be Starbucks, his steps slow as he looked around his surroundings. There was no doubt it was still summer, sweat slid down his back after just a few steps, and even the leaves of the trees wouldn't sway.  He reached a coffee shop as it started to rain, the customers were sparse, and the counter didn’t look busy. 

“I’ll have an iced latte,” he ordered and sat on the farthest stool on the counter seat. He opened his laptop and stared, his unusual circumstance still etched on his mind. If he is indeed living in the past, he wondered where Matsumura Hokuto was at the moment. The Matsumura Hokuto has no idea about him based on how he reacted when he confronted him at the restaurant. Taiga couldn’t help but smile, he should apologize to Hokuto, he probably ruined his date that night. 

“One iced latte,” the barista announced and delivered his order, “Taiga-san.”

“How did you know my name?” He asked, surprised. 

“Uhm, it’s on your laptop.” 

“Ahhh…yeah.” How could he forget that he has a calligraphy sticker of his name stuck on his laptop? “Thank you,” he said and read the barista’s name pinned on his apron, “Juri-san.” 

“You’re welcome. By the way, did you just move into the neighborhood? I think this is your first time in my humble coffee shop.” 

“Uhm, I live a bit far from here, I was just having a walk and I ended up here before it rained.” 

“I see. I should thank the rain for bringing in such a pretty customer.” 

Taiga giggled and felt himself blush. This barista is quite a smooth-talker. “Uhm, can I ask you something weird?” 

Juri nodded. “Sure, you can ask me anything.” 

“This is really weird, but do you think it’s possible for two people to exist in the same space but at different times? Like what if I tell you I’m from the future?” 

Juri hesitated with his reply and Taiga could see that he was probably thinking about how to excuse himself away from him. 

“I get it.” 

“You do?” Taiga asked excitedly. 

Juri nodded. “Yeah, you’re in a coffee shop and you have a laptop, you must be a writer!” 

Taiga was surprised by his deduction. “I am a writer.” 

“So this same space but different times, is that the plot you were trying to write?” 

Taiga forced himself to smile and sighed. “Uhm, yeah, you can put it that way.” Of course, no one would believe him.

“That’s a unique plot. I’m not really into sci-fi stories, but I know a lot of people who are into that genre.” 

“I see,” Taiga said and hid his disappointment by drinking his latte, which was surprisingly good. 

“I have nothing against fantasy stuff, but isn’t it irksome what made these people so special that they got to experience that stuff? It’s like the gods favor them or something.”

“Favored, huh? Isn’t it more of bad luck?” 

Juri shrugged. “And from the limited movies I’ve seen about the topic, the two leads always have a connection that started during childhood. Seriously? I can’t even remember anyone from my childhood -- ah, excuse me,” Juri said when a customer arrived. 

Taiga thought about it, his childhood was unconventional as he was protected by his family’s bubble, and he didn’t think he met someone like Hokuto. He drank his coffee and opened Google, finding something about someone is easier nowadays. All he had to do was type Hokuto’s name and press “search”. But he didn’t do it, he hated it when people would try to know him through Google. He wouldn’t do the same to anyone, it would be unfair, especially to those who only knew him by his given name. 

He slowly enjoyed his coffee while he watched the rain. A short reprieve from the heat. He found himself too preoccupied to write, and at the back of his mind he wondered, how likely is it that the Matsumura Hokuto he met 4 months into the future is sharing the same space he had now? 

***

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me here,” Hokuto said as he handed the Chairman’s secretary his espresso. Juri didn’t feel at ease that he’d be meeting his former employer so for his friend’s peace of mind, Hokuto decided to meet the secretary at Juri’s office on the 2nd floor of his coffee shop. 

“It’s no big deal,” the secretary said with a dignified air. “I already have an idea of your answer since we’re meeting here.” 

“Really?” 

The secretary nodded. “The fact that you chose to meet me in your comfort zone means that you’re declining the Chairman’s offer because you’d rather stay here. Am I correct?”

Hokuto shouldn’t be amazed, but he is. No wonder this man became the Chairman’s right hand for so long. “Yes, you are,” he said. He thinks he should explain further, but he would only do so if the secretary would ask him. 

The secretary drank his espresso straight. “That coffee is good.” He stood up and buttoned his suit. “Thank you and good day.” 

“Uhm, may I ask something?” 

“Certainly,” he said, still standing up. 

“Why did the Chairman choose me to do whatever he wished for me to do? Why a former employee like me who left the company with a bad record and is unlikely to gain employment from other companies? Why…me?” 

“People like us, we don’t ask questions, do we?” 

“But it doesn’t mean we don’t know the answer, right?” 

“Assumptions are different from answers. Do you want my assumption why the Chairman chose you?” 

Hokuto simply nodded. 

“Have you read the book?” 

The Young Master. Hokuto shook his head, he felt embarrassed for some reason. 

“It all starts there. Read it and I’ll tell you my assumptions.” 

“I seemed to slip in a time warp when I visited Morrie, and I liked myself better when I was there.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

“Are you sure you want to hire all three of them?” Kouchi asked. He was aghast when Taiga told him that instead of just 1 illustrator, he’ll have all three. 

“If you think about it, a manga artist also has assistants.” 

“Yeah, but these three are different, I doubt they would be willing to coordinate with one another. Heck! Talking to them is already hard enough.” 

“Their art is quite similar and they all agreed on how I want my story to be drawn. This will make my work quicker. I'm planning to assign 1 artist per chapter, so if I have three illustrators, I will have three chapters ready by the end of the month,” Taiga said while devouring gyutan cooked in different ways. 

“That makes sense, but why are you in a rush? Besides, have you found a publisher?” 

Taiga frowned at Kouchi. “Am I in a rush? Well, I felt like I’ve put off this story for quite a while so I’m working double-time now. As for the publisher, I decided to make this one more accessible, I’ll publish it online first. Once it generates enough interest, I’m sure the publishers will come knocking at my door.” 

“Online? I thought you don’t want to be traceable.” 

“That’s why VPNs exist. It also saves me from annoying publishers who only care about sales. As for my illustrators, I already paid them 3 months in advance.” 

“Wahhh, did you mature overnight?

Taiga scoffed. “I’ve always been mature.” 

“Hmmm, do you still wear those Pikachu underpants?”

“What’s that got to do with maturity-” his eyes widened realizing the last person who saw him with his Pikachu underpants. He shook his head, his mysterious roommate is basically a stranger so why should he care what he thinks of his choice of underwear? 

“I worked my ass off every day, if I want to wear Pikachu underwear, I will wear it.” 

“You can wear them whatever, but some of them needed to be changed, like those with faded colors, loose garters-”

“Wait a minute, why do you know so much?”

“Because you fucking wash your clothes in my laundromat.” 

“Ahhh…you’re right. By the way, is the bet still open for the World Cup?” 

“You’re joining?” 

Taiga nodded his head as he tried to look as though it was such a chore for him to join some betting. “Yeah but I’m only joining the finals. It’ll be Argentina versus France in the finals.” 

“Ehhhh? Messi versus Mbappe? What’s your reason?”

Taiga shrugged and avoided Kouchi’s prying stare. “Well, let’s just say I had a dream,” he said, grinning and hoping that the newspaper he saw last night was real. 

***

“I think I’ll be done before the time warp happens,” Hokuto murmured as he soaked in his bathtub, it was only 9:30 in the evening, and he decided to start the book while he was submerged in the aroma of mint and jasmine. 

“Is this book really good? Or is it just controversial? 313 pages… let's see if this can keep me awake or if I’ll doze off in a minute.” 

He opened the novel and started to read, there was too much going on in the first few pages, too many characters were being introduced, he was still not sure of the plot, and everything was just chaotic. It was as though the writer had a word vomit and he just wrote whatever. 

“This is supposed to be good?” He murmured with a yawn, he was planning to drop it, literally drop it on the bathtub. However, before the 1st chapter ended, a bomb was dropped and the chaos quieted. His interest was immediately caught, and despite the water growing cold, he had to continue to the 2nd chapter, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th, until another bomb exploded.

“What the?” He pinched his nose, but it was too late, a nauseating smell filled his bathroom and he could only glare at the source of the smell. “What the fuck did you eat?”

Taiga didn’t look apologetic or embarrassed as he matched his glare. “Do you have a bath fetish?” He asked weakly. “Why don’t you start living next to a hot spring? Oh god…there’s more…”

“Argh!” Hokuto screamed as more bombs were dropped, he lost hold of the novel and it fell on the bathtub, while he scurried off the bathroom to save his sense of smell.

“You better clean the toilet!” He hollered back, water dripping on the floor while he went to his bedroom to get a dry towel, and he was greeted with a pile of underwear on his bed. He grabbed one and he didn’t know whether the color was red or pink. 

“Why are you touching my underwear?” Taiga immediately snatched his underwear from Hokuto's hand. “You can now go back to the bathroom.” 

Hokuto could smell from outside that Taiga probably sprayed Lysol all over it until it was empty. “Are you sorting which underwear you would throw and would still wear?”

“None of your business,” Taiga said as he swept all his underwear in a bag. 

“I guess that’s a yes. Look, I don’t know how long this will continue, but can we agree that none of us should be in the bathroom when the clock strikes 11:11?” 

“What about 11:11?” 

Hokuto gaped. He couldn’t believe that Taiga hadn't figured it out. “That’s the time when this merging happened.”

“Really? Woah! Ah! Then it would end around 11:56 pm?” 

Hokuto nodded. “Yep, 45 minutes…of hell.” 

“That should be my line. Anyway, I’ll stay out of the bathroom, but you have to stay out of my workroom.” 

“You mean my study room?”

“I call it the workroom.” 

“Why? What kind of illegal things do you do?”

Taiga scoffed. “Let’s just say that I have trade secrets that need to be hidden. I don’t think a NEET like you would understand.” 

“NEET?! Me?” Hokuto repeated in fury. He could feel his blood boiling. 

“Judging how you leisurely take a bath and how you’re in bed before 11, I think you don’t work at all.”

“Didn’t it occur to you that I don’t work because…because I have enough money to live on.” 

“Oh!” Taiga mumbled, still unimpressed. “Then you’re not a NEET, just a lazy rich not-so-kid.” 

Hokuto sneered. “Think whatever you want, I just realized, why am I defending myself to a guy who's still living in August and wears Pikachu underwear?” 

Taiga’s nose flared and Hokuto knew he hit a nerve as he returned to the bathroom to shower. He felt bad seeing the book as unsalvageable so he had to throw it, and when he finished, he saw Taiga drinking one of his collagen drinks in the living room.

“Another rule, keep your hands off my food and drinks,” he muttered and went to the room to dress. Despite his ire, he couldn’t help but yawn, it was never his forte to stay up until past 11 and he’d been doing it lately because of his unusual circumstances. 

“Eh-! Suzume no Tojimari is now in theaters?! I should watch this! Can you buy me a ticket for tomorrow?” 

Hokuto snatched the remote control from him and switched to the news. “You’re only here for 45 minutes, do you really think you can watch it?”

Taiga sighed. “I think I have to wait another 3 months. So, do you have any theories why this is happening?”

Hokuto shrugged. “I tried asking a friend but he said that we might be having shared delusions.” 

“I tried asking a stranger and he thought I was a writer plotting. I guess people won’t really take us seriously unless they see us in this situation.”

Hokuto snapped his head back to Taiga, and he could see that Taiga must have thought the same. “Should we?” they asked together. 

“I’ll invite my friend over,” Hokuto said. 

Taiga nodded with enthusiasm. “Okay, I’ll bring my friend over as well. Tomorrow…”

“At 11:11,” they said together. 

***

“Why are you going camping in the middle of summer? It’s too hot!” Taiga complained when Kouchi told him that he was out camping and won’t be able to stay over at his place. 

“You said it happens every night? So can’t you wait for 2 nights?”

“But-”

“Oh, I have to go. I’ve arrived at the camping site,” Kouchi said and ended the call. 

“I can’t believe I call this man my best friend. I hope a snake or a bear visits you in your tent-” Taiga has to pause from cursing his friend when someone tapped his shoulder, he whirled around, and exclaimed, “Matsumura Hokuto!” before he could stop himself. 

“Why do you know my name?” 

“Huh? How could I not know your name?” He studied the Hokuto in front of him, he was wearing a business suit, and he froze when he saw Hokuto’s ID.

“First, you ruined my blind date, you said you don’t even know me, but you actually know my name?” 

Taiga swallowed hard and muttered, “Fuck!” under his breath. How could he be so unlucky that he had to meet the Hokuto 4 months ago? 

“Are you stalking me?” Hokuto asked, crossing his arms. 

“You’re right, you’re not a NEET or a lazy rich kid.” 

“What are you talking about?”

“Taiga?”

Taiga winced at that familiar voice. He forced himself to smile and greeted his uncle, “Hi!”

“I’m honestly surprised! It’s so rare to see you around here,” he said, wrapping an arm around Taiga while he looked between him and Hokuto.

“Do you know each other, Matsumura?”

“No. Of course not,” Taiga answered before Hokuto could. His eyes roamed around the area, he’d been walking aimlessly that he didn’t think he’d reach the convention hall. 

“Ah, I thought you knew him. So what brings you here in the area?” 

“Uhm, I’m waiting for my friend, K-kouchi. We’re going camping and we’re meeting here.” 

“Camping? And you’re wearing only that?”

Taiga’s toes immediately curled from the embarrassment that he was only wearing shorts and flip-flops. “W-well, it’s summer,” he said, grinning as though he said something funny while Hokuto kept looking at him suspiciously. 

“Oh…” his uncle got distracted by a phone call given by his secretary that he immediately excused himself and hurried back to the convention center. Hokuto didn’t say anything else either as he followed his uncle. 

He found his fingers trembling as he dialed Kouchi’s number. “Kouchi, why don’t I join you camping instead?” 

***

“I’m telling you, if nothing happens by 11:11 tonight, you’ll be seeing a psychiatrist tomorrow, and you would move out,” Juri said after Hokuto invited him over tonight to witness how everything would unfold.

Hokuto placed a hand on his chest. “I wholeheartedly agree, it’s about time-ah!” Pain shot through the back of his head as a memory changed. 

“I think I’ve seen you act this way before, what happened?” Juri asked, looking worried. 

“Sorry Juri,” he said after a while, “I’m retracting my invitation for tonight.”

“Huh? But-”

“I think we need to talk about something first.” He bid Juri goodbye and headed home immediately. Did taiga know his old boss aka Kyomoto Holdings President? Juri said that everything happens for a reason, then, could the reason involve his former employer? If it is, then Hokuto definitely doesn't want to be involved. 

Waiting for the clock to strike 11:11 had been long and slow, and when it finally happened, Hokuto was in awe seeing his living room transformed from tidy and minimalistic to messy and loud.

“Taiga!” He called as he searched for his roommate from the past, and he felt disappointed seeing the bedroom, bathroom, and work room all empty. 

“Where is he? Could he be late? I’m pretty sure that camping he said earlier was only a lie,” he murmured as he inspected Taiga’s work room. As he had expected, Taiga’s laptop has a password, while the books on his table were mostly about business, investing, and law. An unlikely choice for someone who didn’t look like he also worked. The walls were covered with framed rare Yu-Gi-Oh cards, Hokuto checked the bookshelf and among his literary fiction and nonfiction were Taiga’s mangas. To Hokuto’s surprise, Taiga also owned a copy of “The Young Master”. 

“Cool, I don’t have to buy one.” He went to Taiga’s work table and picked up a post-it note to write, “I’ll borrow your copy of The Young Master”, and posted it on the laptop screen. He was about to leave the room when he felt cold air coming from the window that was covered with black blinds. 

“Is the window opened?” He walked over to close the window, but as he pulled the blinds up, he saw that not only the window is tight shut, but posted all over the frosted window was the organizational chart of Kyomoto Incorporated. Hokuto’s fingers trembled as he touched the Chairman’s photo, the head of Kyomoto Inc, and down were his children and the subsidiary they owned starting from the first son who managed Kyomoto Realty, the second son who managed Kyomoto Holdings, the third daughter who managed Kyomoto Medical, and the fourth son who managed Kyomoto Foundation. It wasn’t just the family in the chart, the upper echelons of the management were also there, along with notes, labels, and newspaper clippings. 

“Why…why do you have this Taiga?” He whispered as his eyes locked on a familiar face underneath the third daughter, and he could only swallow hard reading the label underneath. 

“Jesse Lewis.”

“Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together?
Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences.”
― Emery Allen

“I know your family is powerful and all, but there is no way in hell that they could bring someone from the future,” Kouchi said while he tended the fire. “Even Einstein wasn’t able to build a time machine.” 

“So, is it really just a coincidence that Hokuto worked for my uncle?” 

Kouchi nodded. “Coincidence is more believable than your time-machine theory. And perhaps, it might not be a coincidence.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“For the lack of a better word, maybe it’s destiny.” 

Taiga smiled mockingly.

“Why? What’s wrong with believing in destiny when you’re meeting a man 4 months into the future every night? And think about it, maybe you met him because he could help you.” 

“But isn’t that too risky? I mean, I don’t trust anyone from the family or from the company, and by that, I shouldn’t trust him as well.” 

Kouchi looked conflicted, but he agreed after a while. “You’re right, it’s hard to trust anyone who is on your family’s payroll. But is he still working for your uncle? What do you know about him, the person you met in December?”

“Well…” Taiga recalled his previous argument with Hokuto when he accused him of being NEET. “...it looks like he’s not working anymore.” 

“Oh! And?” 

“And he likes to soak in the bathtub.” 

Kouchi raised an eyebrow. “And?” 

“And he has a lot of beauty drinks.” 

“And?”

“And he has abs, unlike mine.”

Kouchi looked like he was ready to throw him into the fire. 

“That’s all I know,” he finished with disappointment. “I never really bothered to check him out.” 

Kouchi sighed and crossed his arms. “Then it’s time for you to get to know him better, I mean, get to know the present him.” 

“How do I do that?” 

“Easy. Check his closet, bookshelf, and work table. You will learn a lot about a person by checking those three out.” 

Taiga nodded in awe. “Okay, and I have 45 minutes to do that.” 

***

“Sorry for intruding, here are some snacks,” Juri said while Hokuto was still reeling from what he found. “I was worried so I came anyway, so where’s your infamous roommate?” 

“Not here,” Hokuto said as he returned to slumping on the couch, “he must have really gone camping.” 

“Pffft…and you expect me to believe that? You’re really moving out tomorrow and you’ll be seeing a shrink. Your apartment is a mess, when did you last clean it? And what are these snacks littered on the table?” 

“That’s all his, not mine, and -” he reached for Juri’s hand and placed a photo he had been holding before Juri arrived. 

“Who's this? Isn’t this…isn’t this Jesse?” 

Hokuto merely nodded, his eyes returned to Taiga’s workroom, the blinds still up, and the organizational chart in full display. 

“I got it from there.” 

Juri followed his eyes before he went to the workroom. “Hokuto, I thought you were done with this, I thought-”

“It’s not mine but Taiga's. He was the one who made that for reasons I still don’t know.” He took a deep breath and touched his chest, his heart had slowed, but he was still confused with what he saw. Who is Taiga and why would he have the family and the company’s chart? But most of all, why did he know about Jesse’s real identity? 

“Woah, what’s happening?” Juri said, fear in his voice as Jesse’s picture disappeared from his hold, and so did the chart, and Taiga’s stuff on his table. 

“The time warp has ended,” he said, picking up the post-it note he posted earlier, “so when it ends, only my stuff remains,” he added as the “The Young Master” novel is also gone. His eyes lit up as his heart began to race again. 

“The Young Master,” he whispered. The same novel which was banned from Kyomoto Holdings, and the same novel which the Chairman wanted him to read. It couldn’t be just a coincidence. 

“The Young Master,” he repeated, his eyes returning to the frosted window, which was now empty of anything. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence, maybe it was fate. 

“Let’s go, Juri.” 

“Hmmm? Where are we going at this time?”

“Let’s look for an open bookstore, I need a book. Now!”  

***

He likes spicy, Taiga jotted down as he watched Hokuto drown his ramen in shichimi. He decided that he might as well get to know both Hokuto, the past and the present, and at the moment, he followed Hokuto to a ramen place where he ate lunch with his colleagues. Taiga deduced that he was the senpai since everyone called him that. 

He’s allergic to shrimp, he wrote after overhearing Hokuto was the only one who didn’t order the shop’s limited seafood special, which is exactly what Taiga ordered. 

He eats lunch with his kouhais, he seems to get along with them as well, he added before he slid down his face mask and wolfed down his ramen. He picked the perfect spot to watch Hokuto, he sat behind him and he had no idea. 

“By the way, senpai, what happened to the blind date I set you up with?” One of them asked.

“It was a disaster,” Taiga heard Hokuto say. “Some nut head ruined it for me.” 

“Eh! What happened, senpai?” 

“I don’t want to go back to it, but I think that guy is a stalker.” 

Taiga almost choked on his food from Hokuto’s proclamation. The audacity! 

“So you guys have to be careful, there are lots of crazies around. Hmmm, let’s go, lunch is almost over.”

Taiga quickly finished his ramen. He hated to act how he was being accused but he had no choice. He put up his mask, and as he whirled around, he came face to face with Hokuto. 

“Is this the part where you deny that you’re stalking me?” Hokuto asked as he adjusted his glasses. He looked intimidating but he also looked cool. 

“Is this a members-only ramen shop? Can’t I eat here?” Taiga asked, crossing his arms when he saw someone familiar entering the store. “Ah! Morimoto-san! I’ve been waiting for you. Over here!” 

Morimoto looked bewildered to see him, in fact, Taiga could bet that Morimoto never thought that Taiga would ever use a friendly tone to call him. 

“Excuse me,” he told Hokuto, whose eyes remained suspicious as Taiga walked away. “I have to talk to a f-friend.” He walked over to Morimoto’s side and he could only sigh in relief when Hokuto left the shop. 

“That was nerve-wracking,” he muttered as Morimoto looked perplexed at him. 

“Am I dying today? Is this my last day on earth? Why are you suddenly n-nice to me?”

Taiga grinned widely and fixed Morimoto’s tie. “Don’t mind it too much, Morimoto-san, I’ll make sure you'll be one of the first people to receive my next work.” 

“Huh? You know what I want from you, right?” 

 “And you’ll get it, soon.” 

“That guy you were talking to, who is he?” 

“Him?” Taiga thought about it, Morimoto probably researched everyone in his family, so he might as well add Hokuto to his research. “Matsumura Hokuto of Kyomoto Holdings.” 

“You’re actually telling me his name?” 

“Of course. I’ll answer one question of yours about every fact you learned about him. Deal?” 

Morimoto didn’t even think about it. “Deal!” 

***

Taiga hated that he had to sneak into his own apartment. It was now 11 in the evening and he locked himself in his work room. Once the time-warp happened, even if Hokuto was in the apartment, he wouldn’t be able to get in his workroom if it was locked, right? It was the only way that he knew to learn about the present Hokuto. He managed to avoid Hokuto for 2 nights, and he spent those 45 minutes of time-warping doing his laundry at Kouchi’s laundromat. 

He watched the clock as it struck 11:11 and immediately, he opened his laptop and saw the date was still 4 months ago. If he tried to search for anything on his laptop, he thinks that it would be the search results from 4 months ago. He took a deep breath and opened the other laptop, Hokuto’s laptop. 

“Please…let there not be a password,” he whispered as he waited for it to open, and as he had expected, there was a password.

“Shit! What could be his password?” He tried “shichimi” and groaned when it was wrong. 

“Why don’t you try Jesse Lewis?” 

“Okay, why Jes-” His fingers froze on the keyboard while goosebumps appeared on his arms. “Shit.” He slowly turned around and saw Hokuto by the door. “I-I told you to stay away from my workroom, didn’t I?” 

Hokuto nodded while his eyes glared at him. “You did. You said something about trade secrets?” He walked over to the window and in one snap, the blinds were rolled up, revealing Taiga’s so-called “trade secrets”. 

“Shall we trade secrets, Taiga?” 

“Why do you know Jesse?” Taiga asked instead, he was scared but he wouldn’t cow in front of Hokuto. 

“I ask the same thing to you, why do you know Jesse?” He showed him the book he was clutching and Taiga could only swallow hard seeing his debut novel. 

“And this…this is about Jesse, right?” 

Taiga’s eyes widened. So far, only one person was able to make that deduction, or maybe two, but they wouldn’t reveal themselves. He was in a mixture of awe and shock that he didn't bother denying Hokuto's accusation. 

“You!” Taiga could see veins popping from Hokuto’s neck as his voice rose. “What do you know about Jesse’s death?”

“What do you know about Jesse’s death?” Taiga repeated as he rose from his seat. 

 “Who are you?” Hokuto asked. “You even know Morimoto-san.” 

“How did you know Morimoto-san?” His eyes widened again recalling what happened at the ramen shop. “Can you see what happened 4 months ago with your 4 months past self?” 

“Yes, because I would get pains signaling that my memory has changed.”

“Oh!” Taiga knew this was not the time to be impressed, but he wondered if the present him also experienced those effects. 

“You haven’t answered my question yet, who really are you?” 

Taiga sighed. Did Hokuto really not know who he is yet? Or is he just pretending? Is he still working secretly for his uncle? He took a deep breath and walked over his organizational chart. Hokuto could be an ally or a foe, but if he turned out to be a foe, Taiga would just have to avoid him just like what he did in the past 2 nights. He took another deep breath and wished that Kouchi is right, maybe this was fate.  

“I didn’t bother adding my picture,” he said and took a sharpie. He drew an “x” underneath Kyomoto Masaki and Hiromi’s names. “I’m the 4th son’s only son. I’m Kyomoto Taiga. Jesse is my cousin, and you’re right, ‘The Young Master’ is about him.” 

Your sudden loss was like a doubling of my life. Now and forever after, everything I do is for both of us.

“Noblesse oblige , my family thinks they were being benevolent when they accepted Jesse. I don’t know how much you know, but Jesse was my aunt’s son out of wedlock when she took up her fellowship in the US. She left him with Jesse’s dad, but he died, and Jesse was introduced to the family when he was only 13 years old. Obviously, he wasn’t favored, even his own mother didn’t favor him. But we hit it off. I guess being the least favorite made us close. However, things started to be in Jesse’s favor before entered college. He challenged the old man, I mean our grandfather, that he could do what no Kyomotos has ever done, and that was to enter Todai’s Faculty of Law. Jesse managed to do it and he earned a reward for that, which he used to make an investment.” 

“And that was how I met Jesse,” Hokuto said. “I was just a rookie at this investment firm when he struck a deal with my boss. My boss thought he was too liberated when it came to investments, but Jesse must have a Midas Touch, for everything he touched turned to gold.” 

Taiga nodded. “That was how he caught our grandfather’s attention. Jesse might be ‘half-breed’ in the eyes of my relatives, but when it comes to business acumen, he is 100% Kyomoto. If I have to be specific, he inherited our grandfather’s talent when it comes to business.” 

“The investment firm where I started was eventually absorbed by Kyomoto Incorporated, but we were placed under Kyomoto’s Holdings, and that was where Jesse made great strides.” 

“He did. He really showed them, and some people didn’t like it,” Taiga said sadly. He had been studying and living in London during those times, and he recalled how one of his uncles offered to buy his 2% shares of stocks to “keep the power within the family”. 

“Jesse became sort of a threat, but others still managed to shrug him off because he is still a Lewis. Grandpa hasn’t made a move to include him in the family register, and I guess you’re one of the few who knew about his real identity outside the family.” 

Hokuto nodded. “I was surprised when I learned about it. It was an accident, really. Jesse had always been a ball of sunshine, but I don’t know what happened that night. He got into a huge argument with his, now I know is a half-brother at the office, and that’s how I learned about it.” 

“Then, it happened. The car accident,” Taiga said, goosebumps appearing on his arms. “We met before he died, he fetched me at the airport when I arrived from London. He excitedly told me that grandpa will be starting another subsidiary, Kyomoto Finance, and he wanted Jesse to lead that.” 

“Oh! I remember he asked if I'd be willing to leave Kyomoto Holdings and work for him instead, and I said yes, of course, but I didn’t know he might be leading his own company.”

“From that alone, one could deduce that he might be in the family register soon.” 

“And that was the reason why he had to die?” Hokuto asked, anger rising from his voice. “Because he’s finally getting what is rightfully his?!” 

Taiga could feel his throat tighten as he replied, “Do you also think that way? That someone in the family…was responsible for taking Jesse’s life.” It had been more than a year since Jesse died and until now, Taiga couldn’t accept it, or maybe, he couldn’t stomach that someone in his family might have done the deed to his cousin. 

“Aren’t you the same? Isn’t that the reason you wrote that book?” 

“What’s the point when I don’t have any evidence? All I have are speculations,” Taiga said, upset. “I can only hope that I manage to plant that seed of suspicion in their hearts, I want them to live in a world where they would be suspecting even the person they go to bed with,” he added with his fist clenched. “What about you? What made you think it's not a mere accident?” 

“Well…”

He could see the hesitation in Hokuto’s eyes and Taiga understood. Hokuto didn’t fully trust him, and maybe he was right to do so. 

“You don’t have to force yourself to tell me, after all, I’m still a Kyomoto,” he said darkly. “Trust no one as our grandfather would say.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just that-” Hokuto disappeared before he could finish whatever he wanted to say. 

Taiga sighed and finished his beer, it felt good to talk to someone about Jesse. He always felt like he was the only one who grieved him. Even his aunt and his grandfather kept their emotions in check during those times. He threw his beer and walked back to his workroom. He might not have any evidence that could point Jesse was murdered, but he has an ace up his sleeve, something that could destroy Kyomoto Incorporated and throw his family into chaos, and he would unravel everything in what he does best, by writing. 

***

“....it’s just that I might put you in danger as well,” Hokuto finished, but it was too late, Taiga had disappeared and there was only 1 beer on the table. He sighed and finished his beer. It felt good to talk to someone about Jesse. He had always felt alone after Jesse was gone. Their mutual friends mourn his passing because he was young and brilliant, but Hokuto mourned his passing because he lost a mentor and a brother. He might be older than Jesse, but Jesse treated him not as an inferior, but as an equal when it comes to working. He valued Hokuto’s opinion and even introduced him to people that could help further his career. 

He crushed the beer can and threw it. He owed Jesse a lot, and it frustrated him that he failed in getting justice for him. He even landed himself in trouble, because of his greed for revenge, and he got ousted from the company where he could have had access to everything to reveal they're true colors. 

He returned his attention to Taiga’s “The Young Master”. He had lots of questions about the book, and after seeing Taiga’s workroom, he could only assume that he was writing another one. He began to consider the idea that, if he failed to get justice for Jesse, could Taiga do it on his behalf? Taiga has the power which he didn’t have. His family is also protected, but Hokuto quickly shut down the thought. If their assumption is correct that someone in the family plotted Jesse’s demise, then, Taiga isn’t safe at all. 

He couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s 11:11, a renewed hope sprouted in him, and he knew that he wouldn’t be alone in this battle. He was about to sleep when his phone buzzed, a message from his landlord who had been avoiding him.

“Will you be at home tomorrow morning around 9?” 

Hokuto wanted his landlord to feel how it is to be ignored, but he replied anyway, “ yes, why?” 

“My previous tenant’s best friend will be coming over to pick up something my previous tenant left behind. Don’t worry, his friend knows where to get it.” 

Previous tenant’s best friend? Was his landlord talking about Taiga? He quickly typed in his reply. “Okay. I’ll be at home.” 

“Great! His name is Kouchi Yugo, he promised to be on time, and he’ll be quick.” 

Hokuto nodded. If he was not mistaken, he heard about this Kouchi from Taiga’s lips. Maybe this Kouchi would know where Taiga is at the present. 

“Okay, noted on Kouchi Yugo. Good night,” he typed but his landlord never replied back. 

***

“Hello, Jess,” Taiga greeted as placed some flowers in front of his tomb. Talking about Jesse last night made him want to visit his cousin, so instead of doing his usual morning walk, he went straight to the cemetery. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit you lately. I’m embarrassed that I haven’t fulfilled my promise of getting justice on your behalf. Ah, but I’m here to tell you that I’ve met someone, someone you also know. Matsumura Hokuto. It’s kinda, no, it’s highly unusual how we met, and after my convo with him last night, I felt like it was you who made us meet.” Taiga couldn’t help but chuckle at how cheesy that sounded. 

“The next time I visit you, I will be reading to you my newest manga. You will like it for sure, it will contain something you have left.” He took a deep breath and bid Jesse goodbye as the summer sun started to reach its peak. He was about to leave when he noticed someone familiar coming which made his eyes widen. 

“Shit! It’s Matsumura are-you-stalking-me Hokuto!” Taiga had no plans to deal with Hokuto from the past, who would surely cement his suspicion that Taiga is a stalker, and for the lack of better options, Taiga chose to hide behind Jesse’s tombstone. His hands clasped into a prayer that Hokuto wouldn’t see him and that he wouldn’t stay for long.

“Hi Jess, it’s me Hokuto.” 

Taiga sighed. The harrow in Hokuto’s voice cuts deep. 

“Your death anniversary is coming up soon, so I decided to visit early to clean up.” 

Taiga almost gasped when he heard the word “clean up” and he had to clamp his hand on his mouth as splashes of water reached him from behind. He definitely didn’t expect a shower and he was wearing an all-white outfit for god’s sake. 

“Does that feel good?” Hokuto asked, he sounded like he was enjoying himself and Taiga could only curse under his breath as it rained on him. He wanted badly to peek if Hokuto brought a drum or a hose or something. 

“Phew! That was tiring.” 

“You tire yourself, idiot!” 

“I also bought sake . Let’s drink.”

Taiga sighed. He should have bought sake as well, and he could only hope Hokuto would leave after this drink. 

“One more!” 

“This is not a drinking session.” Taiga rolled his eyes as it looked like Hokuto would finish a bottle. 

“That was delicious, Jess. I really hope I was drinking with you.” 

Taiga sighed. He might be pissed but hoped the same, too. 

“Jess, I miss you, bro. Things at work have been tough lately and I sorely missed your dad jokes, your puns, and most of all your smile. 

Taiga nodded. The stuff Hokuto mentioned basically summed up his cousin’s good-natured persona.

“Will you smile for me, Jess? If you’re here if you can hear me, please, can you show yourself? I really miss you.” 

Taiga scowled. What the fuck is Hokuto saying? Like, he loves his cousin dearly, but ghosts would definitely freak him out. 

“Jess, please, I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m so lost. Let me feel your presence. Even for a bit. Just for a bit.” 

Taiga rolled his eyes, his legs starting to cramp, and Hokuto looked like he wouldn’t stop until he summoned Jesse’s soul. He sighed and held his breath when a spider dangled down on his face.

“Jess….Jess…”

The spider must have felt his fear that its stringy legs clamped on his nose. 

“Jess, are you here? Are you – argh!”

“Argh!” Taiga screamed his lungs out as he stood up to shake the spider off of him until he realized that he wasn’t the only one screaming. He whirled around and found Hokuto with his eyes and mouth opened wide, not a sound could be heard anymore as he froze on the spot. 

***

“HAHAHAHAHA!” 

Taiga’s laughter filled the bus and he didn't care, it was only him and Hokuto on that bus ride as they went home from the cemetery. Hokuto’s shocked expression was still fresh in his memory and it had him in stitches. 

“You were…you were calling for Jesse, but when you saw me earlier, you couldn’t even close your mouth,” Taiga said and laughed out loud again while Hokuto glared. 

“I was so shocked to see a…devil,” he said in defense. “And what were you doing there anyway? Are you really sta-?”

“Stalking you?” Taiga finished for him. “In case it wasn’t obvious, but I was there first,” he said with confidence even though he knew that it was questionable that he was hiding behind a tomb, something which Hokuto caught on. 

“And why were you hiding behind a tomb?” 

“I wasn’t hiding,” he lied strongly, “it was hot so I needed a shade. Unknowingly, I fell asleep,” he added, thankful that he is a writer and inventing scenarios had been easy. 

“As if I would believe that,” Hokuto said with a sneer. 

“Whatever. I’m not forcing you to believe me.” 

“Do you know Jesse?” Hokuto asked after a while. 

Taiga thought carefully of his answer. Would there be an impact if he said yes? The future Hokuto only knew about his relationship with Jesse last night, and he wondered what would change if this Hokuto would learn that he’s Jesse’s cousin. Taiga sighed and chose the safest route. 

“Yeah, he’s my cousin…on his father’s side,” he said as he quickly glanced at his reflection to check if he could pass as a half-American. 

“Really?” Hokuto looked dubious. “You speak like a native Tokyoite.”

Taiga grinned. “I’ve been living here for a while, and I consider that as a compliment.” 

“You even know my boss?” 

“Oh, that? Well, Jesse introduced me to him, because my company…from the US is looking for a Japanese partner.” He could feel his palms cold and clammy from inventing on the spot.

“What’s your company’s name?” Hokuto asked in a challenging tone.

“My company? Ha-harper Collins.” 

“Harper Collins? Isn’t that a publishing company?”

Taiga nodded. “Yes. I’m actually an author.” He felt relieved telling something true.

“You are?” He clarified, almost mockingly. “Have I read any of your books?” 

“No, I’m still writing them.”

“What is it about?” 

Taiga sighed, his patience wearing thin. “I'm sorry, but was your dream to become a police officer? You surely asked a lot of questions.” 

Hokuto stared blankly at him, then he smiled and started laughing with his head thrown back. Taiga didn’t know what was so funny, but seeing Hokuto laughing made him smile. Hokuto always looked pissed and this was a welcome change. 

“I now believe that you’re Jesse’s cousin,” he said when his laughter died down, “he said the same thing when I kept on asking him questions on his radical investments.” 

Taiga smiled and as much as he didn't want to entertain the idea, maybe Jesse did really make them meet. 

“By the way, have you made a deal with the Kyomotos?” 

“Uhm, no, the deal has gone stale since Jesse is gone.” 

“Good,” Hokuto said. “And do yourself a favor and just find another company instead of the Kyomotos.”

Taiga’s eyebrow rose. Is these Hokuto’s real feelings for his family and to the company? 

“Why?” He asked quietly. 

“Because that family is evil and they deserve to burn.” 

***

“Ahhhh! I want to go back in time and wash my mouth with soap!” Hokuto splashed cold water on his face after a past memory got changed because of Taiga’s interference. “How could I say that in front of Taiga? He’s still a Kyomoto and I told him his family deserves to be burned. Ugh! I’d better tell Taiga to never interact with me again in the past.” 

He started preparing coffee as he waited for his visitor. He didn’t think that Taiga’s friend would stay for long, but he might as well entice him with coffee. There were some things he needed to know about Taiga, and it would be best if he learned them from someone who knew him well. 

His doorbell rang by the time his pour-over coffee was done, he looked at the time and smiled at Taiga’s friend's punctuality. He opened the door with a huge smile, but the face he saw was dour. 

“Hi, I’m Kouchi Yugo. Did your landlord tell you that I will be here?” 

“Ah, yes he did. By the way, I’m Matsumura Hokuto,” he said, extending his hand for a handshake, looking for any signs that his name is familiar to Kouchi, but there were none. He didn’t want to be offended, but did Taiga really never talk about him to his supposed best friend? 

“Hi,” Kouchi simply said.

“Ah, I made coffee. Please have a cup,” Hokuto said quickly before Kouchi could say no. 

“Errr, uhm, okay, t-thank you,” Kouchi said and took a sip. “Oh! This is actually good,” he exclaimed with his eyes wide, which made Hokuto smile while he silently thanked Juri for his coffee-making skills.

“You’re welcome. Uhm, I understand you’re the previous tenant’s friend?” 

Kouchi nodded, his eyes studying his coffee. 

“Uhm, is the tenant abroad?” He asked, Taiga said something about London last night so maybe he went back.

There might be something depressing about his question that Kouchi brought down his coffee, his face long, while he sighed heavily. 

“Thank you for the coffee, but I have to be somewhere, so I shall take my friend’s stuff.” 

“I-I understand,” Hokuto said. His eyes followed Kouchi as he went to the backdoor, which Hokuto had regrettably never been to since he moved in. Kouchi brought out a wooden crate, which he managed to carry with his two hands. 

“Shall I help you?” He offered while his eyes studied the content of the crate, it was mostly papers and books, a couple of frames that were face down, a figurine he couldn’t make out, and an empty bottle filled with winged-shaped horses. 

“Pegasus?” Hokuto whispered before he opened the door for Kouchi. 

“By the way,” he added quickly. “Just in case the previous tenant has other stuff he might have left, how can I reach him?”

“You can reach me instead by calling the landlord,” Kouchi said.

“Uhm, but what about the tenant?” He asked. “Wouldn’t it be faster if I reach out to him first?”

“He’s dead,” Kouchi snapped. 

“What? What do you mean?” He asked with a small voice. He would be surprised if Kouchi actually heard him. 

“He’s dead. Gone. That’s why you can never reach him,” Kouchi said, his eyes starting to water. “Excuse me,” he said and quickly walked away.  

Hokuto’s knees gave out once Kouchi was out of his sight. His heart thumped against his ribs while he thought of Taiga. He didn’t move out after all, he didn’t move out because he died. 

Gone. Dead. Just like Jesse. 

"Death is not a tragedy to the one who dies; to have wasted the life before that death, that is the tragedy." - Orsen Scott Card

 

Time seems to move fast when you’re feeling under the weather and Hokuto didn’t have the time to run away when the time warp happened. Taiga must have been waiting in front of the fridge, he quickly opened it, and took one of his collagen drinks. When he turned around, he almost dropped it on the floor when he saw Hokuto seated at the dining table. 

“I—”

“It’s okay, you can drink it all.” 

Taiga must have thought he was being sarcastic that he immediately went on defense. “Don’t worry, I’ll buy a dozen boxes of these tomorrow.” 

Hokuto could only smile bitterly while Taiga took another collagen drink and gave it to him. “Did you just have dinner? Why were you at the dining table? I was expecting you to be asleep by now.” 

“I will never sleep that early again.”

“Eh? Why?” Taiga asked, his eyes wide and Hokuto thought, Taiga really has nice eyes. “It’s not like I would make a mess here while you sleep. Argh! I just remembered, my favorite pizza place would always have this spinach and cream cheese pizza around Christmas so I’d better order it while I’m here!” 

He got up and went to the phone, his last lines stuck in Hokuto’s head, “... while I’m here .” Hokuto knew Taiga was referring to the 45 minutes time limit every time warp, but Hokuto felt like he was going to be ill. 

“I hope they won’t be late,” Taiga said after he was done ordering. “I only have 40 minutes now, if they arrive within 20 minutes, I will still have 20 minutes to eat it,” he finished with a smile and turned on his TV. 

“I usually don’t watch TV, but since I’m here 4 months into the future, I might as well check out what’s happening.” 

Hokuto wished he knew what to do when he learned someone is dying. He had been sighing since this morning, and he sighed again as he sat beside Taiga. 

This morning, Kyomoto Incorporated formed a partnership with South Korea’s….

Hokuto took the remote and quickly changed the channel. 

“What the? I was watching the news! Do you know how rarely I watch the news?” 

Hokuto hid the remote behind him. “There’s a reason why humans can’t see into the future, and that’s because we might not be able to appreciate our present. We create our future with what we do at present, not the other way around.” 

“What are you talking about? I’m only watching the news.” 

“And the news is four months from your future, it’s better if you don’t know anything about it.” 

“Why? I’m not asking for lottery numbers or something here.”

Hokuto continued to ignore him and kept his eyes on the screen.

“Ah! You must have really hated my family, you said something about burning us.”

“That was me 4 months ago,” Hokuto argued. “And since we’re on this topic, can you avoid my past self when you see me? I had enough of those butterfly effects.”

“I also don’t want to see you, but you kept on getting on my way.”

“Me? You’re the one who followed me to the ramen shop, remember?” 

Taiga crossed his arms. “Well I need to check you out, who knows what you might do to me?” 

The doorbell rang and Hokuto didn’t get to say his piece as Taiga dashed to the door, while he chanted, “Pizza! Pizza!”

“You guys are fast – eh?! Juri-san?”

“Taiga-san?”

Juri stared wide-eyed between them and when he recovered, he gave Taiga a tight hug, “Taiga-san!” 

***

“If I knew you were Hokuto’s mysterious roommate, I would have gone here a long time ago,” Juri mused while the three of them shared the pizza, which Hokuto grudgingly paid for because Taiga said his money might have expired in 4 months ago, which was bullshit.

“You said I was having hallucinations and delusions,” Hokuto said. 

“The first time I saw you, I knew there was something magical about you,” Juri added, which made Hokuto scoff. He’d been friends with Juri for a long time he knew when he was flirting with someone, and this is definitely one of those times. 

Unfortunately for Juri, Taiga was more interested in the pizza than to flirt back, his eyes sparkled with every bite, and when he thought that 1 pizza was not enough, he stacked 3 pizzas together, and moaned while eating it. Hokuto was starting to lose interest in his own pizza until Taiga started coughing, his eyes watery, his skin turning red, and Hokuto jumped into action by hitting his back. 

“Are you planning to kill yourself?” Hokuto roared while he fed Taiga water. 

“Hokuto, chill, he just-”

“You can die from choking!” He snapped, irked that Juri was taking it lightly. 

“I'm fine. I'm fine,” Taiga said and finished his water. “I'm just really excited to have this again-”

“We can order these again tomorrow,” Hokuto cuts in. “There was no need to almost kill yourself over a pizza.”

Taiga and Juri looked oddly at him while he swept the droppings on the table.

“What?” He asked, still peeved.

“Did you have a bad experience eating pizza?” Taiga asked, looking concerned.

Juri reached for his hand and held it tight. “I’m embarrassed that I have no idea what you’ve been through, did you almost die from eating pizza before?” 

Hokuto let out a deep sigh. He might have overreacted, and it was all because of Taiga, the thought of him dying scared him. 

“I’m okay,” Hokuto said, his eyes never leaving Taiga. “And I hope you will be too.” 

Taiga eyed him curiously as the time warp ended and he disappeared. 

“Woah! He r-really disappeared? Just like that?” Juri gasped while he rubbed his arms. 

Hokuto got up and took his coat. “Clean up for me, will you? I have to see someone.” 

“At this time?” Juri asked.

“If there’s one thing I learned from this, time never waits for anyone.” 

***

“Are you sure you’re fine meeting me?” 

Taiga raised a corner of his lips. “You’ve been trying to get me for a couple of months, is this the time for you to be concerned?” He asked Morimoto as they met over coffee at Kouchi’s laundromat. 

“So this laundry serves coffee while you do your laundry?” 

Taiga nodded. “Coffee and other drinks if the barista is in the mood.” He looked over at Kouchi who had started with his other hobby, leather craft. “So what have you found out about Matsumura Hokuto?” 

“Oh, are we doing that part now? 1 fact for 1 question?” Morimoto asked. 

“Just don’t be a cheapskate,” Taiga said. “And you can skip the part of his family or upbringing, I only want details when he reaches adulthood,” he added quickly. 

“Frankly, there’s not much about him, he’s also very private. But he’s brainy, Todai’s Faculty of Law? He should have applied to be a prosecutor. Why would he choose Kyomoto Holdings?” 

“Interesting,” Taiga said quietly. That was news to Taiga. He might not have an idea what Hokuto finished in college, but he assumed it was related to business or economics. But law like Jesse? Could Hokuto have lied? Even though he was older than Jesse, they could have first met in Todai and not in the investment firm just like he told him. 

“My turn to ask,” Morimoto said as he smiled like a villain. He took out a copy of “The Young Master”. “Did you write this?” 

“You’re a prosecutor, right? Where’s your proof that I wrote that?” Then, something else hit him. When Hokuto confronted him, he was able to deduce that the book was about Jesse, and Taiga understood Hokuto and came to a conclusion because he knew about Jesse’s real identity. But how did he learn that Taiga wrote it? In fact, Hokuto didn’t even ask him, he just somehow knew it as a fact. 

“My instinct told me.”

“Would your instinct hold out in court?” Taiga challenged.

“I…don’t really have proof,” Morimoto admitted as though he was in pain. “I just assume because you’re Kyomoto Masaki’s son.”

Taiga scowled. “What does that have to do with me being his son?”

“Your parents both worked in the entertainment business, I assumed you inherited their artistic flair but in writing. Also, I found some short stories and essays of yours when you were studying in London. It was published online and the writing style is strikingly similar to ‘The Young Master’.” 

“I still wouldn’t call those as proofs.” 

“Wait a minute. Our agreement is that you’ll answer one question for every fact you learned about Matsumura Hokuto, so why are we having this guessing game?” 

Taiga swallowed hard. “I will only answer…to well-researched questions.” 

“Huh? You’re being unfair.” 

Taiga sighed. He might as well tease the prosecutor. “Assuming that I am who you say that I am, what will you do about it?” 

“Is this a true story?”

“Why do you want to know that?” 

Morimoto let out a heavy sigh. “Actually, I’d prefer it if you didn’t write this book.”

Taiga simply raised an eyebrow. 

“Because I want to ask the writer of this book if he would like to bring down the Kyomotos with me.”

***

“Why would you want to bring down the Kyomotos?” 

“Nothing personal. Just doing my job after I received a tip-off.” 

Taiga had been racking his brain after his meeting with Morimoto ended. The prosecutor has to prepare for a hearing so they had to cut their conversation short, and if Morimoto was full of questions earlier, Taiga is now the one seeking answers. 

Who in the company gave Morimoto a tip-off? And what’s the tip-off all about? Is it something so damaging that could bring down the family? As far as Taiga knew, he currently held something that could damage the company and the family, it came from Jesse, and he hasn’t shared it with anyone. 

“We meet again.” 

Taiga quickly turned upon hearing that familiar voice. Hokuto told him to avoid his past self, but he was feeling rebellious, and why should he? 

Taiga looked straight into Hokuto’s eyes, knowing full well that the future Hokuto would see this, and asked, “Did you lie to me?” 

He was sure Hokuto knew Jesse back at Todai and that Hokuto already knew his real identity when he confronted him since he also knew that he wrote the book. 

Hokuto scowled. “Lied to you? I can’t even recall telling you anything worth lying for.” 

“You’re really a smart mouth. You should have been a lawyer instead.” 

“How did you-?” Hokuto asked, gobsmacked. “Are you really stalking me?” 

Taiga rolled his eyes. “Here we go again. Wait, so you really want to become a lawyer?” 

“Pro Bono Lawyer.”

“Oooh!” Taiga gushed. “So why didn’t you?”

Hokuto shrugged. “There’s not much money in it.” 

“Ha?” If he was impressed earlier, he is now pissed. “Do you know the meaning of pro bono right?

Frowning, Hokuto asked, “Why are you so concerned about who I didn’t become?” 

“It’s not that I’m con-”

“Taiga-san, your table- oh, are you dining for two now?” The server asked while her eyes darted between him and Hokuto. 

“Oh no, I’m alo-”

“Yes, we’re together,” Hokuto cuts in, he quickly loops his arm with him, and smiles sweetly.

“Okay, we just need to add another set of plates, but your table is now ready.”

“Aren't you the one stalking me?” Taiga asked through clenched teeth as they followed the server. “I waited almost an hour for a seat.” 

“Don’t you think it's sad to eat alone?” Hokuto asked instead. 

“No. I love being alone. I would lose my appetite if I eat with someone.”

Hokuto maintained his smile as the server presented their menus and left them for a while. 

“Is it the American thing so you always go with only your first name? I don’t think I’ve heard your last name,” Hokuto asked as he perused the menu. 

Taiga scoffed. “There’s no need to fake your interest in me so let’s just eat and ignore one another.” 

“Ready to order, sirs?” the server asked. 

“I’ll have a curry,” they said together. 

“Why are you copying me?” Taiga muttered.

“Copy yourself. Their curry is the main reason I went here.” Hokuto turned to the server and added, “Make it extreme.” 

“I hope you get hemorrhoids,” Taiga muttered loudly and also turned to the server. “Make mine milder than normal."

Hokuto snorted. "So weak."

Taiga ignored his jibe and added, "I also want vegetable samosa, butter chicken, and mango lassi.” 

“You will eat all of that?” 

“Who else? I couldn’t have ordered it for you,” he said and turned his attention to his phone. 

“How about you? Have you always wanted to be an author?” Hokuto asked after a while. 

His question made Taiga look up and found Hokuto staring at him. Taiga hesitated to answer, it was a question he was never asked before. In fact, no one expected anything from him when he decided not to join the family business. His parents were supportive, and that was it. 

“I wanted to become a musical actor,” he shared. Studying Creative Writing in London was just a cover, he really went to drama school, while he auditioned for roles at West End. He got small roles and so, but nothing grand for him to thrive as an actor. 

“Oh…” was Hokuto’s lukewarm reply. He was probably weighing whether Taiga was telling the truth or was he joking. “What happened to that?” 

Taiga shrugged. “I failed,” he said with a bittersweet smile. “How about you? Is it really the money?” He asked, quickly changing the topic. 

“Is it so wrong to want money? Lots of money?” 

“Well, not really,” Taiga replied. He acted like a rich snob earlier, who loves to pretend that money isn’t everything when they have loads of that money. 

“I’m sorry how I reacted earlier, I just thought you’d be a better lawyer than being in Kyomoto Holdings,” he said and he meant it. 

Hokuto looked surprised, he must not have expected for Taiga to apologize, or even praised him when they barely knew each other at this time. 

“It's – it’s no big deal,” Hokuto said and Taiga smiled softly seeing Hokuto’s ears turn red. 

Their orders arrived and they ate quietly for a while, both of them satisfied with their meal when Hokuto spoke again. 

“Do you know why I chose Kyomoto Holdings over being a lawyer?”

Taiga looked up. The future Hokuto might never share this bit so he might as well learn from his past. “Because of money?” 

“Partly, but mainly because I learned that justice isn’t for those who have been wronged. Only those with power can have justice, and for that, I need all the money I can get from the Kyomotos.” 

The spiciness of his curry must have gone to Hokuto’s eyes, for Taiga swore he saw fire in there. 

***

“I really want to go back in time and stitch my mouth,” Hokuto muttered, frustrated from the latest butterfly effect he experienced. “You even accuse him of being your stalker, but you share your fucking deepest thoughts.” He sighed and punched the air. 

“Are you talking to yourself?” Juri asked, glancing oddly at him while he drove. 

“Yes, I’m talking to my stupid past self,” he said. He couldn’t believe he was even that talkative to a supposedly stranger, but there must be something about Taiga that was making him talk. And Taiga must have been enjoying it, he even found out about him wanting to be a lawyer, and he would deal with it later as they arrived at their destination.

“We’re here!” Juri announced as he parked his car. “How did you find out about this place?” Juri asked as they parked.

“I have powerful intel.”

“Who?”

Hokuto smiled mysteriously as his eyes roamed around the camping site, he spotted the aquamarine trailer van, a converted Volkswagen that actually looked homey. 

“Why don’t you go fishing over there, Juri?” 

“No, thank you, this place has nothing but men,” he said with slight disgust. “Well, I probably wouldn’t have expected women to go camping…” he stalled as one of the tents opened and revealed three women who had probably just woken up. They were chatting about breakfast as they walked to the cooking area. 

“Maybe I could help them to start a fire?” Juri suggested with a knowing smile as he ran over to the ladies. 

Hokuto took a deep breath and walked toward the trailer van, he knocked, and a few minutes later, a surly-looking Kouchi greeted him.

“Matsumura Hokuto?” 

Hokuto nodded, glad that Kouchi at least remembered him. 

“What brings you here?” He asked, not making a move to invite him inside his trailer van. 

“I have something to ask about the previous tenant.”

Kouchi frowned. “Why are you obsessed with the previous tenant? I have nothing to say,” he finished and closed the door. 

“I’ve been meeting the previous tenant.”

The door opened again. “Are you fucking with me?” Kouchi bellowed. “Didn’t I tell you that he-”

“I’ve been meeting the past him every night at 11:11, I’ve been meeting Kyomoto Taiga.” 

Kouchi’s eyes widened as he dropped his pillow. “You’re really fucking with me.” 

Hokuto sighed. He should say something convincing and one thing came to his mind. “He wears Pikachu underwear.” 

Kouchi’s eyes widened more with a hint of recognition. “How? How could that be all true?” 

“It’s crazy but it’s true. So please, help me. Maybe, maybe we can still change it.”

Inhale the future, exhale the past

“That was good!” Hokuto remarked as they headed to the counter to pay. 

“Insanely good.” Taiga had to agree. He was looking forward to spending the next hours in a blissful food coma. He took out a few bills from his wallet and told the counter, “I will also be paying for his meal.” 

“Wait, what do you mean you’re paying for my meal?” Hokuto asked once they were outside.

“Consider it as a payment for the pizza,” Taiga replied as he pocketed his change.

“Pizza? What are you talking about?”

Taiga turned to him and smiled. “Don’t think too much about it, one day it will all make sense. Goodbye-”

“Is this your subtle way of saying that you want to see me again?” Hokuto asked, which made Taiga pause, incredulous at what he just heard. 

“I think I have to be straight. I’m not interested in you and I’m sorry,” Hokuto said with a pitiful smile that made Taiga feel worse. “But I think we could still be friends…once you’ve moved on from me. Bye.” 

Taiga was so flabbergasted that it took him some time before he ran and chased Hokuto. He steered Hokuto to face him and said, “I’m going to drain all your collagen drinks and bath oils in the sink!” He finished and left.

***

“Why am I paying for something my past self did?” Hokuto murmured when another butterfly effect hit him. 

“Are you okay?” 

Hokuto looked up to Kouchi as the pain around his nape subsided. “Y-yeah, sorry about that. Uhm, where were we?”

“On how Taiga died.” 

“Yes, that. Uhm, you said it was natural death?” Hokuto knew it wasn’t right that he felt relieved to know Taiga died of natural death and not because he was killed. He still died and it didn’t seem right. 

Kouchi nodded. “His parents requested an autopsy and it was revealed he died of hypoglycemic shock.”

“Uhm, low sugar?” He clarified, his medical knowledge was somewhat nonexistent. 

“Extremely low that it led to his brain and heart shutting down. Doctors assumed that he might have undiagnosed diabetes.” 

Hokuto stared agog. “Really?” 

“He had been busy working on something as well, he might have missed meals or so, and his body just crashed. Frankly, I found it unbelievable either, but I know Taiga’s lifestyle isn’t exactly healthy.”

Hokuto nodded reluctantly. Based on what he saw in Taiga’s fridge, he ate a lot of processed and ready-made meals. He’s a caffeine addict too, and a notorious glutton based on how he ate those pizzas last night and his previous meal with Hokuto from the past. 

“But…I don’t know. Is it really possible to have undiagnosed diabetes for years and one day, your body just shuts down? It doesn’t make sense, or maybe I’m just in denial that he’s gone,” Kouchi said, looking conflicted while he fought hard not to cry. 

“Can you…really see him each night at 11:11?” Kouchi asked after a while. 

Hokuto nodded. 

“He used to tell me stories about you, and now I feel such a prick that I never took him seriously. I mean, how could that be real?” Kouchi said with a sigh. “I want to see him, but I’m afraid I might bawl when I do. Are you planning to tell him what happened to him?” 

“I don’t know, I should, right? In that way, I could force him to go see a doctor immediately.”

“Can you force him to see a doctor without telling him anything? Taiga is quite rebellious, he’ll probably say something like, ‘if it’s my time to go, then so be it’, he can be annoying like that. Like when I tried stopping him from publishing –” Kouchi hesitated to continue and Hokuto didn’t know whether he should tell Kouchi that he knew about Taiga’s novel, “ – but do you think this could save him?” 

“We could only try. You said he’s working on something, I could use that to scare him like he might not be able to finish it if he didn’t see a doctor or something.”

Kouchi appeared convinced with his plan as he nodded. “Yes, yes, please do that. Although, I also think whatever he was working gave him a great deal of stress. I wish he never started it.” 

Hokuto sighed with Kouchi. He took his phone out of his pocket and at the corner of his eye, he saw a polaroid posted on the mini board. The polaroid is a picture of Kouchi, Jesse, and Taiga. 

“Do you also know Jesse?” He couldn’t help but ask as he took the picture. 

“You know Jesse?” 

“Yes, I worked with him at Kyomoto-”

“You worked for the Kyomotos?” Kouchi snatched the picture from him and he immediately moved back as though Hokuto was holding a bomb.

“What– well, not anymore.” Hokuto was confused and surprised by Kouchi’s defensive stance. 

“I don’t deal with any members of that family except for Taiga’s parents. You may leave,” he said and opened the door. 

“B-but –”

“I don't know how you found out about that stuff about Taiga, but he's gone, so can you guys just stop?"

Hokuto was too shocked to reply. He could feel that Kouchi is accusing him of something he didn’t even do. 

"Leave and never come back."

Hokuto let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure what happened, but I’m genuinely on Taiga’s side,” he said, before leaving. 

***

“Ahhhh! I hate this!” Taiga paused from typing his novel as he was still pissed. It had been hours and he hasn't moved on. “Damn that Hokuto! I got rejected when I didn’t even confess?! Wooh…who does he think he is for rejecting me? Huh?” 

His phone alarm rang, signaling it was 11:11. 

“Hokuto!” He shouted like those killers in horror movies while they searched for their prey.  He quickly searched the rooms for Hokuto but realized he was all alone. 

“Oh! So you’re avoiding me, huh?” He concluded as he put on a coat. He hasn’t been out alone in the “future”, he has no idea where his present self is, so he put on a mask just in case he ran to anyone who knew him. Worst, if he ran to his future self. 

The night seemed colder compared to the last time he was out, Taiga really had no idea where to go searching for Hokuto, but he wanted to cool off. He likened being out in the future to travel. It was like wandering to a familiar place where everything looked the same, yet everything was also different. 

“He must be in Juri’s coffee shop,” he assumed as he passed by a bookstore, and he just had to go in seeing a familiar title displayed on the “Hot off the press” shelves, La Familia Series.

“So I did call it La Familia ,” Taiga mused as he opened the manga and he couldn’t help but be impressed with the illustrations inside. His manga artists outdid themselves. He didn’t bother finishing the manga, even though he wanted to know if he wrote any ending credits or who he chose as a publisher. Hokuto was right about one thing, there’s danger in knowing the future. Nevertheless, he was glad to see his newest work out there, and he wondered how his very own La Familia had been reacting.

He checked the time and found out he only had 25 minutes left. He couldn’t go to Juri’s coffee shop now and wondered what was the worst that could happen if he disappeared in front of lots of people. He smiled at the thought of spooking strangers as he made his way home. He didn’t know how long this time warp would continue, but wouldn’t that be interesting? Maybe he should go see Kouchi and scare the shit out of him when he disappears like smoke. 

He stopped by Starbucks as he couldn’t help it, he needed the caffeine and sugar rush it could provide. He was waiting for his drinks when he smelled a familiar perfume that made the hair on the nape stand. He took out his phone and pretended to be fiddling with it while he slowly turned to glance at the man behind him, it was his uncle, aka the first son. 

“Shit!” He muttered and he could only flinch when the barista announced his name. 

“Strawberry and Velvet Brownie Frappuccino for Taiga. Strawberry and Velvet-” 

“Thank you,” Taiga mumbled as he quickly took his drinks. He just took a few steps when he heard his uncle’s voice. 

“Excuse me, young man.” 

Taiga stood frozen on the spot, his heart thumping wildly, while he debated whether to turn around or not. Is his mask enough of a cover? Or should he run away and pretend he never heard him?

“Hey, you drop -”

Taiga sighed and before he could turn around, someone got between him and his uncle. 

“Eh? Kyomoto-sama!” greeted another familiar voice and Taiga gasped realizing it was Hokuto. He felt his hand pushing him away and Taiga kept his head down as he ran out of the shop. He kept on running even though he was never a good runner until he could see his apartment’s building when he felt someone grab his elbow. 

“Argh-!” 

“It’s me, idiot,” Hokuto said, panting behind him. 

“Oh! Hokuto – my uncle? Did he recognize me?” 

Hokuto shook his head. “I don’t think so, he was just trying to give you this.” 

Taiga looked at the straw Hokuto was holding and he felt stupid for overreacting. “I must finish this drink before time is up-”

Hokuto snatched away his frap before he could take a sip. “No sugary drinks until you’ve gone to the doctor tomorrow. You have to check if you have diabetes.”

“Huh?! What are you on about?” 

“Just listen to me, Taiga, please, please see a doctor tomorrow.”

Taiga crossed his arms and said, “Oh, you’re acting all concerned about my health after you rejected me?” 

“Can you please forget whatever my past self did? Please. Just see a doctor tomorrow. Please.”

Taiga raised an eyebrow. “I refuse and you can’t force me,” he said and marched his way back home. “And give me back my frap!” He grunted seeing Hokuto was gone, while the rain was pouring on his side. He sneezed as he reached his floor and concluded, he might actually have to go see a doctor.

***

“Will he believe me? Well, if he told me to go see a doctor for no reason at all, I wouldn’t believe him either.” Hokuto didn’t realize he had almost finished Taiga’s frap as he reached his apartment. He got in and was greeted with the usual neatness of his place. Somehow, he missed Taiga’s trash, he meant Taiga’s stuff, for his things made the apartment more alive. 

He sat on his couch and began to ponder how much his life had changed in a matter of weeks. He expected some of them, but Taiga was like an alien who crashed and got lost on earth, and Hokuto didn’t know how to deal with him. 

“What’s really the point of all of this? Why is this happening to me, to us?” 

He went to bed as usual, the weather was colder so he had to increase the indoor heating, and the next time the clock struck 11:11, he found Taiga on the bed asleep.

“Is there something new with the time warp? Why are you already in bed?” He asked but Taiga didn’t stir, his brows furrowed as though he was in pain, while a blanket was up to his neck. It was summer in Taiga’s time, and if he was this cold, Hokuto could only assume the worst. He touched Taiga’s forehead and he was boiling. 

“An alien can get sick too, eh?” He adjusted the thermostat while he searched for a cooling pad from his drawer, and placed it on Taiga’s forehead and nape, which awoke him. 

“Is it that time already?” He asked weakly while his long eyelashes slowly fluttered.

“Yeah. What happened in 24 hours that got you sick?” 

“It was raining last night when the time warp ended.” 

Hokuto couldn’t help but be amused. “You must really be living in a drama where the hero gets sick after being rained on.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Taiga asked.

Hokuto smiled softly. “Let me cook you a porridge, hopefully, I can feed it to you before the time is up.” 

“I want my mom’s porridge,” Taiga said, his warm fingers holding Hokuto’s hand as he tried to stop him from leaving.  

He glanced back and sighed. “I really wish I could help you with that, but I’m afraid you have to make do with mine,” he said sadly as Taiga let go of his hand. 

Hokuto immediately went to the kitchen and found out that he had run out of rice and he doubted Taiga had any uncooked rice. He took out his phone and tried Uber, but most of the shops that sell congee were already closed. 

“This is nuts,” he muttered and glanced back at the room. “Maybe I can find one in a konbini ?” He decided to head out and upon reaching the ground, he saw Morimoto speaking to the gatekeeper. 

“Why is he here?” He muttered and quickly returned to the apartment. He was able to explore his back door after Kouchi took Taiga’s stuff. He learned that it leads to a fire exit and to an alley at the back building. He got down off the fire exit and walked up to the end of the alley when he saw a yatai, its red lanterns still on, and when Hokuto reached the shop, he could only grin in triumph seeing that it sold Chinese congee. 

“This would do, one congee to go, please,” he ordered and smiled at the cat on one of the stools, who looked at him as though he was a nuisance. Hokuto decided to look elsewhere and noticed that the temperature had been pretty humid. He thought it was because he’d been wearing three layers of heattech, until he noticed the two men smoking nearby were fanning themselves with their hands. Hokuto didn’t have the time to delve into tonight's unusual weather as he received the porridge and ran back to his apartment where he entered using the back door. He let out a sigh of relief seeing there were still 20 minutes left and he was surprised to see Taiga seated at the dining table. 

“Oh, why did you get up?” He asked. 

“Someone kept on ringing the doorbell earlier, so I opened it.” 

“And?”

“It’s Morimoto, he’s a prosecutor-”

“I know who he is,” Hokuto said and his eyes widened in alarm. “He saw you?”

Taiga nodded. “I shouldn’t be here, right? So I did something.”

“What?” Hokuto ran to his door and he could only gape seeing Morimoto on the floor, knocked out. “What did you do?”

“Just some high-kick,” Taiga said as he started eating the congee. 

“And you’re supposed to be sick?” Hokuto scratched his head. What would he do about Morimoto? Why was he even visiting at this time?

“This is…” He ate another 3 more spoonfuls. “It tastes familiar.” 

Hokuto nodded while he kept on glancing at Morimoto. “You must have had it before. I bought that from the yatai that sells Chinese congee. It’s right at the end of the back alley. Have you bought from there before?”

Taiga paused from eating and stared at him as though Hokuto spoke a foreign language. “A yatai that sells Chinese congee?”

“Yeah.”

“Does it have a grumpy cat?”

“Yeah! That one!” 

Hokuto didn’t know if it was from Taiga’s fever but he immediately went pale. 

“Eh? Did your temperature increase again?” He asked, he felt for Taiga’s forehead but instead of heat, Taiga was cold. “W-what’s wrong? Should we go to the hospital?” He asked as he started to panic. Is this an early sign of his undiagnosed diabetes? 

“You said you bought this congee at the yatai?”

“Yes. Why? What’s wrong?”

“But the owner of that yatai died last October. He died of a heart attack.”

“October? Well, it's D-december now...” He covered his mouth in alarm, goosebumps appeared on his arms before he exclaimed, "Ghost?!" 

“Ghost? Or…is this the past? Are we back in August?” Taiga clarified his eyes were probably as wide as him. 

“But that was impossible!" Hokuto said, shaking his head, "yesterday, we were clearly in my time. December. The future.”

“Maybe it’s different depending on the day? Like we’re in the future on Monday and past on Tuesday.” Taiga assumed as his head snapped back to Morimoto. “And he knew where I lived so could he have gone here, because he needed to talk to me?”

“That could happen…but-” They both turned when they heard someone groaning. Morimoto is coming back to life! 

They both looked at each other with alarm as Taiga took the congee with him and headed back to the room. Hokuto returned to the door side and waited for Morimoto to open his eyes. 

“Why are you here?” He asked immediately.

“Matsumura, is that you?” He asked, his eyes squinting while he struggled to get up. Begrudgingly, Hokuto helped him and led him to the living room while the room changed back to usual. 

“Now what do you want?” Hokuto asked as Morimoto took a seat, his eyes looking aimlessly around his apartment. 

“I could have sworn this place looked messier earlier-”

“It must be because you passed out,” Hokuto said quickly. “Sorry for kicking you, I-I was surprised to have a visitor at this time.”

Morimoto still looked out of it as he massaged his temple. “I should sue you for assault and…Kyomoto Taiga! It was him who kicked me!”

Hokuto tried his best to look confused. “Huh? What are you talking about?” 

“Right? What am I talking about? He couldn’t be here when he's dead.” 

Hokuto cleared his throat, and he couldn’t help but glance back at the room. He was glad that the time warp ended or Taiga would have heard that. 

Hokuto shrugged. “I think you’ve overstayed your welcome here, it’s getting late, very late,” he emphasized, “shouldn’t you go home, Morimoto-san?” 

Morimoto looked like he wanted to argue but as the clock chimed to signal it was midnight, he gave in. “I shall return at a more appropriate time tomorrow.”

“As you should,” he said with a smirk and led the prosecutor out of his apartment. 

“But wait…is this the same apartment where Kyomoto used to live?” 

Hokuto feigned ignorance and immediately closed the door, before Morimoto could ask any more questions. Hokuto sighed as his eyes roamed around his apartment. He must be the alien and this is Taiga’s planet as another mystery unfolded right by his very eyes. He walked back to the back door and heaved another sigh as a theory formed in his head.

“The front door leads to the future, while the back door leads to the past.”

When people get closer to each other, they expect more from each other. 

 

“Kyomoto Taiga.” 

Taiga waited with bated breath while the doctor stared seriously at him. “Your blood chemistry results show that…everything is normal.”

“Really?” Taiga knew he should be relieved, but his skepticism was greater. 

“Yes,” the doctor replied, eyeing him with a mixture of curiosity and offense after Taiga doubted him. 

“You were concerned about diabetes? Your FBS and a1c are both within the normal limit. You also said that none in your family is diabetic. You’re asymptomatic. Frankly, you can eat a sack of sugar and you’ll be fine.”

Taiga gasped, is the doctor challenging him?

The doctor must have read his mind that he clarified, “Of course, that was an exaggeration. But right now, I don’t think you’re ever likely to have diabetes. We can recheck this again…after a year.” 

Taiga finally let out a sigh of relief. Hokuto was definitely only scaring him and he had no idea why. He thanked the doctor and went on his way. He could have gone to his family’s hospital, but he doubted his records would remain confidential from the family. He could see the revolving door entrance, and of all the people he had to see on his way out, it had to be the “I’m-not-interested-in-you” Hokuto. 

Even though the doctor just gave him a clean bill of health, Taiga could feel a vein of his would snap from irritation. “I didn’t follow you,” Taiga declared before Hokuto could say anything. 

“Uhm, I didn’t say you were,” Hokuto replied while looking uncomfortable. “Why are you here and not at your family-run hospital?” 

Initially, Taiga wanted to say that it was none of his business, but he decided to resurrect his “musical actor” persona and switched to theatrics. 

“I didn’t want to go to our hospital, because I didn’t want them to know that I’m dying,” he said slowly as though he might drop dead from the gravity of his whatever disease. 

Hokuto’s eyes widened in alarm and Taiga almost felt bad for lying, but it didn’t mean he would stop. 

“Although I never confessed,” he emphasized through gritted teeth, “you did the right thing by rejecting me because we will never have a future together,’ he finished while his vision blurred from the threat of tears. He should have tried acting on TV, he could easily nail that one teardrop on one eye. 

“Excuse me,” he said, almost breathlessly as he attempted to make a dramatic walk-off when he found himself being pulled back by Hokuto. Their faces were inches from each other, and Taiga could feel his breathing. 

“W-what do you want?” He asked, startled by how Hokuto acted while his eyes displayed anger. 

“You dropped this,” Hokuto murmured and it was too late for him to get back the brown envelope, which contained his lab results. “I’m no doctor, obviously, but based on the reference range, I think you’ll live up to a hundred.” 

Taiga scoffed and snatched his lab results. “Right. If I really make it to a hundred, then, I’ll make sure you will never have peace until I die,” he said and turned away when Hokuto spoke again. 

“You’re right. I have never had peace since I met you.” 

Taiga glanced back, that was something the future Hokuto would likely tell him, and not by his past self. After all, they didn’t even live together. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“It’s better if you remain clueless,” Hokuto said with a smirk before he headed inside the hospital. 

“What was that smirk for? Damn it! I’m gonna think about this for the whole day again.” 

***

“Shit, no!!!” Hokuto hollered as a butterfly effect hit him while he showered. He was glad to know that Taiga was not suffering from any disease, but what really stunned him was his past self’s reaction. The fear he felt almost shattered him when Taiga made that fake announcement about him dying. Shivers literally ran down his spine while he went cold all over. Then, it was followed with intense relief when he saw the lab results. 

Hokuto increased the water pressure as he muttered denials. There was no need for him to worry. He is already in the future, he is more in control, and his past self was nothing but a memory. The fact that he is living meant those butterfly effects he’s experiencing was nothing but minimal changes in his life. He finished his shower and he didn’t notice the time warp had started he almost slammed on Taiga as he opened the bathroom door. 

Hokuto pursed his lips in revolt. Was his taste this bad back then? “What?” 

“What do you mean by that?” Taiga asked, his eyes squinting as he moved his face closer. “What about me remaining clueless?”

The lines on Hokuto’s forehead deepened. “How would I know what my past self thinks?” 

“Hah! You’re definitely lying,” Taiga said as he followed him to his room, or maybe he should refer to it as “their” room during the time warp. “I’m sure you’ve seen everything so you definitely know what you’re thinking. I mean, did you suddenly grow two brains?” 

Hokuto sighed, he didn’t want to deal with Taiga's wisecracks for now. “Can you leave for a while? I need to get dressed.”

Taiga crossed his arms and leaned on the closet. “Then, get dressed, it’s not like I haven’t seen everything.” 

Hokuto raised an eyebrow as he took huge steps toward Taiga. “I see why you were so mad when my past self rejected you,” he said slowly as he slammed his hands on the closet, cornering Taiga. “I guess you were interested in me after all.” 

Taiga scoffed. “My interest in you is like your armpit hair, none!” 

“Oh, really? Is that the reason why you never told my past self that you’re a Kyomoto? Scared that I will hate you?”

“I’m not scared,” Taiga answered with confidence. “I don’t think you hate me even now that you know.” 

Taiga was right. Hokuto didn’t hate him, nor did he accuse him of being the same as his family. Maybe it was his connection to Jesse, or maybe, he just felt that Taiga couldn’t be a bad person. Somehow, he wondered, how will his past self react once he learned that Taiga is a Kyomoto? 

None of them moved for a while, water from Hokuto’s hair had been constantly dripping down his chest and on the floor, while their gazes remained on each other. Both of them were so unnecessarily competitive that no one wanted to look away, and as though there were voices in Hokuto’s head telling him to do something crazy that he just had to lean closer, closer, closer until the doorbell rang. 

“I’d better get that,” both of them exclaimed as though they'd found a middle-ground where neither of them would win or lose their staring match.  

“Uhm, I’ll get it while you get dressed,” Taiga said and quickly scurried away. 

Hokuto heaved a sigh as the door closed. That was dangerous, and he blamed it on the butterfly effects. The feelings that sprouted from his past self should never extend to the present. 

***

“Are you eating that?” Hokuto asked with disgust while Taiga sliced the chocolate dream cake he just received. 

“All mine,” Taiga said as he fought hard not to salivate as the tantalizing aroma of chocolate wafted toward him. “And I can eat all of this because I’m healthy. H-E-A-L-”

“I know how to spell healthy,” Hokuto snapped. 

“So what about that diabetes thing?” He asked, utterly curious. “I can only think of one thing…you must have learned where I am at this present and I’m suddenly diabetic?!” 

“No, I don’t,” Hokuto answered and Taiga could tell he was lying by making light of his speculation. “You seemed fond of sweets and basically everything, so I was just concerned.”

Taiga scoffed, eating a forkful of the dessert, and he could only moan as the velvety moist chiffon cake touched his tongue. 

“You’re disgusting,” Hokuto muttered while he drank another of his collagen drinks. 

“I’m so happy to be alive!” He exclaimed, the chocolate might be dark but all he could see is light. “By the way, what happened to Morimoto-san?”

“Oh, that! Forgot about him for a while. I have a theory.”

“Theory?” 

“Yes, and we should leave now before the time is up,” Hokuto said and headed to the back door. 

“Wait! Let me get my coat-” 

“You don’t need one,” he said and opened the door wide. “If my theory is correct, you will be fine.” 

Taiga ate another forkful of the cake before he followed Hokuto outside. Warm air gently blew on his face as he got outside, the sky cloudless and dotted with distant stars. 

“Why is it suddenly warm here?” He asked, looking for possible vents or shafts where warm air could be coming from. 

“This isn’t enough. We need to go down and go back to the yatai.”

Taiga gasped. “The yatai?!” 

Hokuto grabbed his hand once they reached the ground and pulled him along. The alley looked the same, but his heart wouldn’t stop thumping hard in anticipation until they reached the end of the alley. 

“What’s this, Hokuto?” He asked quietly as he squeezed Hokuto’s hand. The yatai looked the same as remembered it, he remembered the almost bland congee he used to eat that could soothe his tummy woes, and he recalled receiving an annoyed stare from the grumpy cat purring on one of the stools. He searched for the owner and his eyes probably bulged when he saw the owner’s familiar face. 

“How is this possible?” Taiga asked.

“Shall we walk further?” Hokuto asked instead. They turned a corner and walked a familiar road, the way to the Starbucks, and Taiga could only cover his mouth seeing it was still closed. A sign by the wall announcing its opening by mid-November.

“Is this? Are we? What’s really happening?” 

“The front door leads to the future, my time. While the back door leads to the past, your time,” Hokuto said.

Taiga opened his mouth, but there was no sound. He was still in shock. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised any more as his life has been far from normal lately, but he was still flabbergasted. 

“Taiga?” 

Taiga turned and the surprises of this night were far from over. 

“I think I know you, did you not work for my brother?”

Hokuto nodded. “Good evening, Kyomoto-sama.” 

“I didn’t know that you knew each other,” His dad said, while he glanced at their clasped hands. 

“Not really,” they denied and quickly let go of each other’s hands. 

“I mean, not that way, papa,” Taiga added quickly and changed the topic. “What brings you to the area?”

“Oh! Well, I was having drinks with friends at the nearby pub when I saw you. I didn’t recognize you at first, I swear you were blond last month,” his dad while he adjusted his glasses.

Taiga feigned a laugh while he racked his brain on how long he went blond. “That was last month, pa.” 

His father turned to Hokuto. “What’s your name again, young man?” 

“Uhm, I’m Matsumura Hokuto,” Hokuto replied, bowing respectfully.

“Matsumura-san, yeah, you. You were always with Jesse before.” 

Hokuto nodded and smiled softly and Taiga couldn’t help but find this exchange amusing. He never expected Hokuto to be this docile around his dad. Or maybe because this is Hokuto of the future, and he was different from his past self? It was as though there were really two Hokuto.

“Ah, pa, I think your friends are calling for you now, why don’t you go to them?” Taiga asked, mildly pushing his dad away. 

“Oh? Oh…okay. I’ll see you at home this Sunday!” He shouted as he left. 

“I will!” Taiga said with a smile while he waved his hand. “The past feels like it’s more dangerous than the future, eh?” He said through gritted teeth while he watched his father get in the backseat of his car. 

“I can’t believe this either,” Hokuto agreed. “What are the chances that if your father sees me again, I mean the past me, he will talk about this meeting?”

“Highly likely. He’ll probably tell my uncle too, and your past self will next time accuse me of being delusional and obsessed with him.” 

“I apologize in advance,” Hokuto said. “Let’s go back, quickly.” 

***

“Why are you nice to my dad?” Taiga asked as they returned to the apartment. 

“Am I not nice?” Hokuto asked nonchalantly as he grabbed water from the fridge. 

“My dad is a Kyomoto, too.” 

Hokuto shrugged. “He likes Jesse. Genuinely.” 

“Ah…so basically, you categorized our family as pro-Jesse or anti-Jesse? Is that it?”

Hokuto thought about it and Taiga was right. “You can say it like that.” 

“Do I belong to the pro-Jesse?” Taiga asked, eating another forkful of the cake he left earlier. 

“I admit that I never met you until now. I mean, the future me didn’t meet you until now, and yes, I think you belong to Team Jesse.” 

“Knowing that, how much do you trust me?” He asked his inquisitive eyes straight at him. 

“Why?” 

Taiga sighed. “New stuff kept on appearing that I sometimes forgot the main problem.”

“Huh?”

“I think, or maybe, I felt that you’re hiding a lot of things from me.” 

Hokuto swallowed hard. He thought he was in the clear from the changes that kept coming, but he was wrong, this confrontation has to happen in the end. 

“Like what?” He asked innocently. 

“Like…how and where did you really first meet Jesse? And how did you know I wrote ‘The Young Master’?”

Hokuto swallowed hard again. There are really no secrets that time does not reveal. 

“My time is almost up,” Taiga said as he finished his slice of cake. “I want Jesse to get the justice he deserves as much as you do, but if you want to work with me, I think it’s best we’re honest with one another,” Taiga added. “Goodnight, I hope your answers will be ready by tomorrow.” 

Taiga disappeared and Hokuto let out a deep sigh. He looked at the cake Taiga left behind and gave himself a slice while he debated on how much he should and shouldn’t tell Taiga. Although he knew he could trust Taiga, it was still hard to let it all out to him. 

“This is complicated,” he complained when another pressing matter entered his mind. “If Taiga really doesn’t have diabetes, then did he really die of hypoglycemic shock?” 

He went to his study room and opened his laptop. He felt anxious for some reason as he typed on the search bar, “how do you die of hypoglycemic shock?” Search results yielded answers he didn’t think pertinent to Taiga’s situation if he is indeed free of diabetes, but there was one thing that caught his eye, and the anxiety he earlier felt slowly transformed into a panic. 

“Attempted suicide using insulin by a non-diabetic,” he read and quickly opened the article and read the sub-headline, “A case study demonstrating the acute and chronic consequences of profound hypoglycemia.” He read more, medical terms made him dizzy, and he was also busy Googling some terms to understand them better. Four pages later, he finished the slice of cake and found his hands trembling, but Hokuto knew it couldn’t be from the sugar rush. It was from fear. 

“So what is it, Taiga? Did you kill yourself? Or did someone try to kill you?”

“Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

“I didn’t expect to see you here at my office!” Morimoto exclaimed as Taiga uncrossed his legs. 

“I’m sorry if you were busy,” Taiga said, putting down the tea prepared by one of Morimoto’s assistants. “I hope I didn’t come at the wrong time.” 

Taiga saw how Morimoto’s assistants seemed to be so consumed with work that couldn’t be seen from the mountain of papers on their table, some were even on the floor. 

“I will always make time for you,” he replied, grinning widely. “Our last conversation has to end abruptly, and this one has to end early as well because I have a hearing at 1 pm. I hope no more guessing games this time around. Let’s be as direct as possible.” 

“Of course,” Taiga said, his fingers crossed behind his back. “Shall we start where we left off? About you receiving a tip-off?” If Hokuto would choose to withhold information from him, then he would just have to draw conclusions from what he could learn about him.  

Morimoto shook his head. “I will never name my sources even if I’m held at gunpoint,” he said with confidence and drank his tea. Taiga guessed he should be impressed, but he doubted this young prosecutor ever experienced being held at gunpoint yet. 

“Anyway, are you sure you want to skip all about Matsumura’s upbringing?” He added.

“Why?” 

“I found an interesting bit about his childhood.”

“Fine,” he said without giving it much thought. “What did you learn?”

“His father used to work at the head office, Kyomoto Incorporated.”

“Eh?” That was indeed an interesting bit. Interesting and intriguing. 

“He was one of the regular employees that were terminated during the Great Recession in 2008.”

Taiga made a mental calculation and learned that Hokuto was still a teen at that time. “And, what happened?”

“Well, he suffered from depression but he recovered later on. He’s still alive and working.” 

“Ah,” Taiga mumbled without enthusiasm. Not that he was expecting something dire to happen to Hokuto’s father, but Morimoto’s info turned out to be lackluster.

Morimoto snapped his fingers. “But here’s another interesting part.”

“Are you sure that’s interesting?” 

Morimoto ignored his sarcasm. “Found this while researching about his college life, here is Mr. and Ms. Campus.” 

He gave Taiga his tablet where he saw an old picture of Hokuto with a pretty lady by his side. Both were smiling shyly while their arms were looped with one another. 

“And she became his girlfriend?” He surmised that this must be Hokuto’s “type”. Pretty and she must be hella smart too if she got in Todai. Unlike him who has to fake a course, he quickly shook his head, why the heck was he even comparing himself?  

“Hmmm…I’m not sure about that. Except for this, I didn’t see any pictures of them together,” Morimoto said as he swiped the screen, “but she used to work for the now-defunct Kyomoto Mobile.” 

“Ooooh!” Hearing about Kyomoto Mobile got Taiga’s full attention. Although, he wasn’t that familiar with the company since he was already in London when his family decided to expand the Kyomoto brand to mobile phones. Unfortunately, the venture didn’t work out and they had to close after only 3 years in the market. 

“She worked part-time at the semiconductor and liquid crystal display manufacturing facility,” Morimoto added.

Taiga swallowed hard and turned to Morimoto with a question posed on his head. There was another reason Kyomoto Mobile had to close early, aside from poor sales. “Did she get cancer?” 

“Based on the copy of the class lawsuit that was filed, yes. She got leukemia and she died 2 years after her diagnosis.” 

Taiga sighed. He didn’t know this woman but he felt heavy, the unfairness of her death weighing on him like that ghost from the movie Shutter.  “Can I get a copy of that lawsuit?”

“Hmmm…I won’t let you bring it home, but you can read it here.”

“That’s fine with me. So, my turn? Do you have any questions?”

“Yep. Returning to the book, is it about a certain Kyomoto?” 

Taiga didn’t bother to make a denial. “Of course.”

Morimoto appeared perplexed. “Do I know him?” 

Taiga hesitated. “Do you know Jesse Lewis?” 

Taiga could tell from Morimoto’s face that he knew Jesse, but he didn’t know if it was personal or because he was known in business circles. 

“You said the book is about a certain Kyomoto.” 

Taiga smiled softly. “Our family could rival ‘Downton Abbey’ if it was made as a TV series. There would be history, drama, scandals, and everything else.” 

“But…the book, in the book, you made it look like, like, you know…”

Morimoto’s mouth hadn't closed yet when Taiga asked a question, “so, was Jesse the one who gave you a tip-off?” 

***

“If you don’t want to be home when the time warp happens, can I go instead?” Juri asked but Hokuto ignored him as he made his own coffee in Juri’s coffee shop. He never thought of himself as a coward, but he couldn’t face Taiga yet, not yet. There were things he needed to process, even though everything still greatly confused him. 

Could Taiga have been killed with insulin? But why? And who would do that? 

He thought of Taiga’s family, the same family who owned Kyomoto Medical where insulin could be easily accessible. But why would anyone silence Taiga? He was not belittling Taiga or anything, but he wasn’t really a threat to the family just like Jesse was. Hokuto doubts Taiga ever attended a shareholders meeting or even voted for a CEO. Taiga always seemed like the eccentric rich kid who’d rather save the world than expand their business. 

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Hokuto murmured. 

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense that you’re here and you’re making my Taiga wait at home.” 

Hokuto scoffed and raised an eyebrow at Juri. “My Taiga? Really? You barely know him.” 

“And you know him that well?” 

Hokuto evaded his question and asked instead. “For example, uhm, you found out that I’m dying in three months. Would you tell me that I’m dying?” 

Juri’s eyes widened. “Are you dying?” 

“Just an example.”

“Uhm. It’s kinda hard to tell someone, like, ‘yo you’re dying soon’. But yeah, I think I will tell you. You know what they say, misery loves company, so if you’re going to be miserable because you will die soon, at least you have someone to be miserable with.” 

Hokuto knew they were talking about dying; but it felt nice that Juri would be willing to join him in his misery, as morbid as it might have sounded.

“Okay, so will you try to stop me from dying?” 

“Have you seen those Final Destination movies?” Juri asked and Hokuto shook his head. 

“Death will always be our final destination, and based on those movies, you can’t really stop death, it will always chase you.”

Hokuto clutched his chest, feeling unnecessarily upset over his imaginary death. “So you’re just going to watch me die?” 

“Well…it’s not that I’m going to watch you die?” Juri said, trying to sound concerned, but he was utterly failing. 

“But think about it. How do you stop someone from dying? And even if you stop someone from dying today, what are the chances they won’t die tomorrow and the next day? Are you going to stand guard and save them? Oh..and what if you die from trying to save them?” Juri sighed and added, “Why are we talking about death anyway? Is someone dying?”

Hokuto shook his head. “No one. Don’t mind me and let's just close the shop.” 

Silence descended between them as he helped Juri with the final checks before they closed for the night. Hokuto’s mind was still full of questions and he kept glancing at his phone for the time. He wondered what Taiga was doing. Did he go out? Did he go looking for him? Did he try using the back door?  

They left the shop by 11:30 as the snow started to fall. “Will it snow on Christmas?” Juri asked as they both opened up their palms and waited for the snow to land on their gloves. 

“Who knows,” Hokuto said, sighing as he wrapped his scarf tightly. 

“I brought my car, wait here and I’ll drop you off.” 

Hokuto nodded as he waited by the sidewalk and it must have been his imagination as he heard Christmas carols in the air. He looked up at the giant LED screen at the nearby building, a commercial playing on a new hot manga, and he realized that it was the same manga Morimoto wanted him to read when they ran into each other at Juri’s coffee shop. 

“ La Familia … La Familia …I think I’ve seen it elsewhere as well,” he murmured as Juri arrived and he hopped in. 

“Shall I hit the pedal?” 

“There’s no need to rush. I don’t have any intention of seeing him tonight,” Hokuto said. 

“Look at you two. Did you have a lover quarrel?” Juri teased. 

“Just drive.” 

“As weird as it sounds, I’m actually glad you met someone like Taiga,” Juri said after a while. “After Jun and Jesse died, you seemed to have built a wall around you, you were so intent on revenge that even I couldn’t stop you. So I’m really glad that you have these little squabbles with Taiga, that means you’re, little by little, opening up to someone.” 

“Jun, heh? I haven’t heard her name for quite a while,” Hokuto said with a bitter smile. Sakurazawa Jun, his first love, and by a cruel twist of fate, the first person he lost from the Kyomoto. 

“You have a penchant for those who start their name with J,” Juri said with a chuckle. “There’s me Juri, Jun, Jesse…Jaiga….” 

Hokuto chuckled. “I don’t know what’s running into your head, but my relationship with Taiga…well, I wouldn’t even label us as friends. We’re just roommates.”

“Roommates? Isn’t that more intimate?”

“No. You’re just green-minded.” 

“But think about it, your roommate probably saw you naked, you also probably smelled each other's fart, took a bath together, lay on the same bed, probably also used the same plate and utensils, and also you must have taken each other drinks or food. Nothing is more intimate than sharing space.” 

Hokuto ignored Juri, he wouldn’t admit that he experienced all that with Taiga, or faced another round of teasing. He was thankful to see his apartment building as Juri dropped him off, he looked at his phone, and was relieved to see that the time warp ended 2 minutes ago. 

He will have to see Taiga on another day. Another day. 

***

Light drizzle started pouring by the time Taiga got off the station, but he had no desire to run to the nearest shade for cover, his thoughts were keeping him busy so that he couldn’t be bothered by some trickle from the sky. It has been two nights, two-time warps, and Hokuto hasn’t shown himself. Taiga concluded that Hokuto has been avoiding him, and Hokuto probably has no desire of telling him the truth, or as Taiga suspected, Hokuto didn’t trust him enough. 

“Come to think of it, I shouldn’t trust him either,” he mumbled as he stopped in his tracks. The rain seemed to have stopped falling on him and when he turned to look, he saw Hokuto holding an umbrella beside him. He found it ironic how the past Hokuto could always find him when he was having issues with the future one. 

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Hokuto quickly said. “I just think you shouldn’t let yourself get sick over something like this.” 

Taiga knew this was his chance to send a message to the future Hokuto, to ask him where he was during the past two nights, and to ask him why he chose to avoid him. Didn’t he want to help Jesse? Taiga took a deep long breath, he had a lot of questions, but in the end, he chose not to voice them out. Let the future Hokuto forever wonder what he was thinking about as he stared at those black eyes. 

“I’m not so delicate that I get sick easily,” he lied, knowing full well he got sick a few days ago. “And don’t worry, I’m not entertaining any idea about you. In fact, I never even thought about you,” he added and quickened his pace. There was no need for him to explain, let the past and present Hokuto think what they wanted to think. 

His thoughts had been so busy that he didn’t notice when a black sedan stopped by the roadside until he heard a familiar voice calling out for his name. He turned and smiled widely. 

“Obaachan!” He called out and quickly got inside his grandmother’s car.

“Tch. Why is my most beautiful grandson letting himself be rained on?” She chided as she wrapped her lap blanket around Taiga’s shoulders. The Kyomotos matriarch may look formidable on the outside for she rarely smiles, but she’s one of the warmest and kindest people Taiga knew. It was a miracle how she ended up falling for his grandfather, for Taiga doubted the old man had a single bone of romance in his body. However, his dad assured him that his grandparents were really in love and it wasn’t an arranged marriage. 

Taiga chuckled. “To prove that rain won’t be enough to make this beauty fade,” Taiga joked, but it fell flat on his grandmother’s brand of humor. 

“It’s a good thing you’re good-looking, my child, I’m sure other women would have laughed at those silly jokes of yours.” 

“Obaachan, I think you’re starting to have grandpa’s humor,” Taiga teased and at this, his grandmother laughed out loud. 

“Now that is funny,” his grandmother said after her laughter died down. “And at the same time cruel. Believe me, my child, my humor is what keeps our marriage alive.” 

Taiga smiled softly. “By the way, obaachan, where are you headed? You could just drop me off at the next station.”

“Nonsense. I’m dropping you off at your apartment. So, tell me, what’s with the long face earlier? Did someone anger my grandchild?” 

“Ah…that,” Taiga said with a sigh as he looked ahead. The rain has started showing signs of stopping, while on the horizon, the sunset still blazes in shades of red and orange despite the gray skies. 

“Obaachan, what would you do if someone is avoiding you?”

His grandmother looked puzzled, then shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Hmmm?”

“We are prideful, my child, a Kyomoto, never chases over someone.”

“That’s pretty tough.” Despite all his talk about his beauty earlier, he was not that confident that someone would see him worthy of being chased. He hated to admit that he had always been the one who did the chasing.

“We don’t chase, but we set up the table to be chased. They thought they got us, but it has always been the other way around.” 

Taiga understood what his grandmother meant, but it still sounded too complicated for him. However, an idea popped into his head when he saw a van painted with a logo of a popular TV station. 

“Ah, can you drop me off here, obaachan? I want to see some Christmas lights.” 

“Huh? I’m pretty sure they won’t be up until December,” his grandmother said, looking curiously around the area.

“It’s fine, obaachan, let’s just say that this is how I set up the table to be chased.” 

***

“Christmas eve and I’m spending it working…with a man…while my shop is filled with couples,” Juri complained as he finished another order of his shop’s holiday drinks. 

“You’re not even a Christian so stop pretending you even celebrate Christmas,” Hokuto chided as he took the drinks. “Besides, you should be thankful I’m free, your employees are definitely thinking you’re the best boss for letting them go home early.”

Juri scoffed. “You won’t really be free if you’re not avoiding someone.” 

Hokuto ignored him and went on to do his job, as he had been doing for the past three days every time the clock hits 9 pm, he would head over to Juri’s coffee shop in the guise of helping him close his shop. 

“Here’s your cinnamon latte, peppermint mocha, and two brownies on the house. Merry Christmas!”

“Thank you,” the couple said, whom he earlier learned were also from Shizuoka. Hokuto just turned his back when the lady gushed that they should see Roppongi's Illumination Lights before they head back. Hokuto glanced at the TV where a reporter is reporting live at Tokyo Midtown, a galaxy of lights behind him before the camera panned to a visually-impaired choir. The said choir will be singing Christmas carols with two vocalists from a famous idol group as part of their annual fund-raising campaign. 

“ Irasshaimase! ” Hokuto automatically said as the bell rang. He directed another couple to the table he just cleaned when a familiar name made him glance back to the TV, his eyes wide while his heart started racing. 

“Yurugi Akifumi-san, what’s your Christmas wish?” the reporter asked while Hokuto just gaped. The man on TV is wearing a face mask and a baseball cap, but goddammit, Hokuto could easily tell it was Taiga. Besides, Yurugi Akifumi is his pen name for “The Young Master”. Did he really think no one could recognize him? Did he really think his pen name was unique? 

“Eh? Isn’t that…isn’t that?” Juri repeated with his eyes wide. 

“My Christmas wish, errr, world peace,” Taiga answered, his eyes looking like he regretted being interviewed. 

“As he should!” Hokuto muttered in his head while fear gripped him. What if someone from his family saw him? What if Taiga’s killer recognizes him? He was supposed to be…dead.

“That’s so cliche, anything more personal?” The reporter asked. 

“Personal? Uhm, ah! I wish my favorite pizza place would make their Spinach and Cream Cheese Special available all year round.” 

“I think I know that pizza place!” The reporter squealed before he could stop himself. 

Hokuto sighed and quickly removed his apron. “Sorry, Juri, I have to be somewhere right now,” he said and Juri’s “Merry Christmas!” was the last thing he heard as the door closed. 

***

Angelic voices filled the air as the choir started their first Christmas Carol, it was 30 minutes before Christmas, and Taiga wished he could stay longer even just for tonight.

O Holy Night!

The stars are brightly shining…

Christmas was never big for his family, the gifts they gave to each other were more like rewards, if not, it was a means to show off how much you have and how much you can give. But Taiga started to appreciate the holiday when he lived in London, and also because of Jesse, who said that it was his favorite holiday after Thanksgiving. 

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth…

A sea of couples surrounded him, it was like Valentine's but in December, and gifts were exchanged instead of men exclusively on the receiving end. Heads turned when they heard tires screeching nearby, Taiga thought some drunkard must have gotten too fast in driving before he hit the brakes. 

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees…

He scratched his eyes when he saw someone familiar among the crowd. It was easy to spot him. Just like him, this man is alone but his eyes are busy searching for someone, but what really sets him apart is that he’s still wearing his signature black suit while everyone is in casual wear. 

“Mr. Ma?” Taiga whispered. Mr. Ma is his uncle’s bodyguard. A man, whom none of them knew by his first name, as he has always been addressed as, “Mr. Ma”. Just like what he told Morimoto, his family could rival “Downton Abbey” and Mr. Ma would be one of the colorful characters. Rumor has it that he was brought in by his aunt from her family, which was one of the most notorious loan sharks in Southern Japan. And rumor also has it that Mr. Ma used to work as his aunt’s father’s henchman, and his missing two fingers on his left hand was a testament to his notorious past. 

Oh hear the angel voices

Oh, night divine…

Mr. Ma must have heard his thoughts as their eyes locked with one another. Taiga saw recognition from Mr. Ma’s eyes and it made him look away. He stood up quickly and walked in the opposite direction, away from Mr. Ma. He had no idea why he reacted that way, but his gut feeling was telling him to run. He shouldn’t be here. 

Oh night divine

Oh night divine…

“Kyomoto…Taiga-sama?” 

Taiga quickened his pace when he heard his name, the crowd was getting thick, and it was getting hard for him to walk his way past them as they were all walking against him.

“Kyomoto-sama.” 

Taiga almost yelped when someone whirled him around and his breath was caught upon recognizing Hokuto. 

“Hokuto,” he sighed as Hokuto pulled him close, his arms around his waist, and he could see anger on his face. It scared Taiga a bit, he never saw Hokuto so angry that he automatically stepped back, but his arms around him were like steel. 

“Y-you saw me on TV?” He asked slowly. 

“Yes, and it looks like I’m not the only one.”

Taiga swallowed hard. He could detect Hokuto’s voice. “Why do I feel like I did something I shouldn’t have.” 

Hokuto raised an eyebrow. “Glad you realized that and I hope they haven’t realized anything.”

“What are you talking about?” Taiga asked, confused at what Hokuto was saying when he heard someone calling for his name again, “Kyomoto-sama!” 

Taiga grew colder and he knew it wasn’t from the weather, the mention of his name was no longer searching or inquiring, a threat was carried with that simple mention of his name. He looked at Hokuto and he knew he heard it too, and just like him, Hokuto didn’t even glance back. It was as though Hokuto knew exactly who was calling for him and why. 

“I think I should hide-” 

“Too late,” Hokuto cuts in. “But I know a good cover.”

“What cov--?”

Taiga didn’t get to finish what he wanted to say as Hokuto crushed his lips onto his. 

Oh night divine… 

Happiness is an unplanned first kiss.

Everything was colder that night; the ground, the blowing wind, Hokuto’s hands wrapped behind his back, his lips, and even his breath. But instead of chill, Taiga felt fire as warmth spread all over him, his face must have turned crimson, and when he next opened his eyes, he was back in his own time, in the middle of where the Starlight Garden was installed. There were no fancy lights surrounding him, no soothing Christmas carols, and no crowd walking in his direction. He let out a deep breath to quiet his hammering heart, while he gazed at the Tokyo Tower up ahead, lit in its usual colors. 

"Get a grip, idiot, it's not like it meant anything," he chided himself as he reached his apartment. The humidity remained unforgiving while his thoughts kept returning to the last few seconds before the time warp ended. 

“Frankly, kissing me was unnecessary. He definitely did that to tease me and he’s probably laughing his ass off right now,” he muttered as he went straight to the bathroom to take a quick shower. He let cold water run down his body, diffusing unnecessary heat cursing through his veins, shaking off the memory of that kiss, and thinking of ways of how he could get back at Hokuto for what he did. He was concentrating on Hokuto when he remembered another character from tonight, Mr. Ma. His uncle’s right-hand man definitely went there not because he wanted to see the lights or listen to the choir, he was there to see someone, and when Mr. Ma’s eyes locked with him, Taiga could tell that it was definitely him. 

“But that couldn’t be right. Why would Mr. Ma search for me in Midtown? Christmas Eve? If I’m not with my parents, where else could I be? I couldn’t be with Kouchi since he would also be back home. Did I – ” he gasped at the thought, “ - did I get myself a girlfriend and I’m spending Christmas Eve with her just like those couples?” 

Taiga shook his head again as he turned off the shower. Having a girlfriend wouldn’t make him move out of his apartment, he’d even probably invite her over. He toweled his body dry when he recalled Hokuto’s line upon seeing him, “Yes and it looks like I’m not the only one.” He repeated Hokuto’s line over and over until a conclusion formed in his head. 

“Both of them panicked and ran over after seeing me on TV,” he mumbled, his eyes squinting as a chilling bigger picture started to unfold, “Hokuto and Mr. Ma definitely knew where I was supposed to be on Christmas Eve, and it’s not in Tokyo Midtown.” 

***

“Merry Christmas,” Hokuto said stiffly as they awkwardly made a toast. Never in his life did he think that he would spend Christmas with one of his former boss’s most trusted aides. 

“I didn’t think I would see you here, Mr. Ma, I mean no offense, but you didn’t seem the type to do Christmas-y stuff,” Hokuto said carefully. They could no longer hear Christmas carols, and the mood inside the izakaya was raucous. 

Mr. Ma simply shrugged and glanced at the blue coat hanging behind Hokuto’s chair. “You must be so cold that you have to bring another coat.” 

Hokuto feigned a smile. The blue coat was Taiga’s, it even has a price tag on it, the remaining proof he was with him before the time warp ended. 

“I was actually with someone earlier,” he said testily. “Someone stupid enough not to bring a coat so I had to buy one nearby.”

“Ahh, yeah, I think I saw you quite intimate with someone earlier,” he said and Hokuto could detect sarcasm. 

He cleared his throat and drank his beer, he could feel heat traveling from his chest up to his neck and on his ears. He blamed the holiday mood around them earlier so he did something unthinkable. Or maybe it was the relief he felt to see that Taiga is alright. Yeah, it was definitely a relief.

“Oh, that? It was nothing serious,” he said, feigning a smile. “By the way, was Kyomoto-sama with you earlier? I think I heard you calling for him,” he added, waiting for any changes on Mr. Ma’s face, but it remained stony. 

“Was I? You must have heard wrongly, besides, it's Christmas Eve and the entire family is in Hokkaido.” 

Hokuto nodded. He expected Mr. Ma to deny it, after all, revealing that he was looking for a certain Kyomoto would mean that someone sent him and that someone got uneasy after seeing Taiga on TV. If Hokuto was conflicted before someone in Taiga’s family killed him, he wasn’t now. Mr. Ma’s appearance tonight meant it was definitely from the family and for his first suspect, it would be no one but his former boss, Kyomoto Holdings’ President.

“What are you up to lately? Is the prosecution still hot on your heels?” Mr. Ma asked. 

He thought about Morimoto’s previous visit and that he hasn’t returned yet. “Uhm, I’m volunteering at my friend’s coffee shop, as for the prosecution, I haven’t heard from them.” 

“That’s great to know, give it more time, and I’m sure Kyomoto-sama will take you back.” 

Hokuto hoped his smile didn’t come off as sarcastic. Did they really think he agreed to take the fall just so they would welcome him with open arms? They must have thought they were supreme beings and someone like Hokuto, a mere mortal, would be willing to sacrifice himself for their lives. 

“I’m happy to know that,” he lied. “Anyway, it’s getting pretty late, we should head home.” 

Mr. Ma nodded and he didn’t resist when Mr. Ma offered to pay the bill. 

“By the way, Hokuto-kun, do you know the only son of Kyomoto Masaki-sama?” Mr. Ma asked as they stopped in front of his car. 

Hokuto pretended to think about it. “Hmmm, I think I’ve only met him once. Back at the convention center?” Hokuto said, recalling his first encounter with Taiga, which Mr. Ma witnessed. “And I never knew that he’s Kyomoto Masaki-sama's son until quite some time ago.”

“Ah, I thought you knew him quite well since you were close with Jesse.”  

Hokuto smiled stiffly. “I’m afraid Jesse never had the chance to introduce us both.” 

“I see. Then, I guess you won’t get a chance to know more about Masaki-sama’s only child.” 

“Why is that?” Hokuto asked even if he knew the answer.

“Because he’d followed your friend Jesse to the other side,” Mr. Ma said, his face might have remained expressionless but in his eyes was malice. 

Hokuto embraced Taiga’s coat closer as shivers ran down his spine while he kept his face passive. 

“Such a waste of youth,” Mr. Ma continued, “that’s why you did the right thing of obeying your master, rather than biting the hand that feeds you. Anyway, I have to leave before my tubes freeze from the cold.” 

“Tubes? What do you mean, Mr. Ma?”

“Ah, I guess you haven’t heard about it,” he said, opening the right side of his coat and Hokuto could see a black thing strapped on his pants like that of a pager, “insulin pump, I’m a type 1 diabetic, and insulin can freeze from cold.”

Hokuto realized he was holding his breath the moment he could no longer see Mr. Ma’s tail lights. He had to hold on to something or his knees might give out. His fingers trembled as he called someone. 

“Sorry for this sudden call, but I just want to say…that I decided to cooperate.”

***

“You looked horrible,” Kouchi said as Taiga opened his door to welcome his best friend and the lunch he brought for him.

“I haven’t stopped writing since I got home last night,” Taiga said, helping Kouchi to take out their meals. “It’s either I spend the night thinking or writing. In the end, I chose writing because I don’t want to think about it, and I should keep on writing so I won’t have the time to ever think about it,” Taiga said before starting his lunch. 

“Uhm, I’m not a writer, but don’t you still think when you’re writing?” 

Taiga thought about it. “Yeah but it’s a different kind of thinking,” he said, yawning widely. 

“Instead of eating, I think it’s better if you just sleep for a while,” Kouchi suggested, looking concerned.

Taiga immediately shook his head. “No,” he said with determination. “I have a feeling I need to work on this now."

"What is it that you're trying to avoid thinking? No offense meant, but you're not really the type who thinks a lot."

Taiga sighed. "I know…wait, did you just insult me?" 

“It’s a compliment,” Kouchi said, nonplussed. 

Taiga sighed again. Maybe he should really take a nap for a while. He is physically and mentally exhausted. “Kouchi…I’m a plotter, you know that?”

Kouchi looked oddly at him, but he nodded nonetheless.

“When I started with this manga, I'd already plotted my year until January next year, I'd already planned it all.”

“O – kay.”

“So what do you think could be the reason why my plans would change?”

“Huh? I don’t get it. Shouldn’t you know the reason why your plans would change?”

Taiga sighed. “Okay, I’ll use your laundromat for example. You’ve already planned your opening and closing days for the entire calendar year, what could be the reason why you won’t adhere to those plans?”

“Ah…” Kouchi mumbled. “For starters, if there’s an emergency.”

Taiga nodded. “How about something long-term? Like, what could be the reason why you would close the laundromat for a month?”

“A month…also an emergency.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Mmmmh…well, if any of my parents get sick and I have to return home and take care of them for a while, or if I’m the one who got sick.”

Taiga nodded slowly. Maybe he did get sick, that was why Hokuto was so keen for him to see a doctor, but his recent consultation showed that everything is okay. So, what exactly changed? And what is Mr. Ma’s role in this? Maybe he should get a second opinion about his health. 

“What’s the purpose of these questions?” Kouchi asked after a while.

Taiga took a deep breath and reached for Kouchi’s hands and held them tight. “Promise me, Kouchi, promise me…”

“You’re scaring me.”

“Whatever. But promise me, that whatever will happen to me, you have to make sure that my manga will be published up to its end.” 

“What will happen to you-”

“You have to promise, Kouchi, you have to promise me.” 

Kouchi still looked conflicted as he sighed. “Fine. I promise.” 

He forced Kouchi to do a pinky swear with him before he was able to let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

***

“It’s such an honor for you to be here, Kyomoto-sama.”

Taiga smiled politely while the doctor fawned over him. This was the reason why he didn’t want to go to his family’s hospital, he just wanted to be treated as normally as possible. 

“Please, sensei , there’s nothing special about me,” he said as the Head of the Endocrinology Department volunteered to be the one to check on him. 

“Nonsense,” the doctor insisted, “you are special.”

Taiga sighed and decided not to argue as the doctor checked his lab results. “Hmmm…I understand that this is just a routine check, but I just want to know, have you been having excessive urination, especially at night?”

Taiga shook his head. 

“Increased thirst or dry mouth?” 

Taiga also shook his head.

“You feel hungry all the time?”

At this, Taiga immediately nodded.

“You feel hungry, but have you been losing weight despite your appetite?”

Taiga sadly shook his head because he knew he piled weight around his middle, cheeks, and on his chin.

The doctor nodded and returned his lab results. “Everything checks out okay, you are not even pre-diabetic, and based on your family history, I don’t see you getting diabetes anytime soon.”

“Right. Of course,” Taiga said, he should be relieved, but he couldn’t shake off this feeling of unease. Hokuto and he should really talk, and they should be honest with one another. 

Taiga bid the doctor goodbye, quickly shutting down the doctor’s invitation for dinner, while he planned what to tell the past Hokuto so he could corner the future one. He couldn’t remember what floor he was on when the elevator doors opened once again, and as though it was fated, he had to see Mr. Ma of all people. 

Taiga swallowed hard and quickly made himself small, thankful that the elevator was packed, and he hoped that it would remain that way until Mr. Ma left. Last night's panic edged on his mind, if he shouldn't have seen Mr. Ma in the future, then he shouldn't be seeing him in the present as well to prevent untoward butterfly effects. 

Mr. Ma rode the elevator with a doctor beside him, and everything was quiet until the doctor had to get off 2 floors below. "Inform me immediately if there's any problem with your new pump," the doctor said and Mr. Ma merely nodded. 

"New pump? What pump?" Taiga was glad that Mr. Ma got off on the next floor while his mind wandered off. Mr. Ma didn't look for the type to have any medical problems, he just had to make a quick search on "various medical pumps", and it yielded results on different infusion pumps, large infusion pumps, and Mr. Ma didn’t look like he had anything attached to his body.

"I guess I'm just overthinking things." Taiga was so busy fiddling with his phone that he didn't notice when he bumped into someone.

“Sorry-” he paused and his hand immediately covered his lips.

“We met again,” Hokuto said, looking baffled at his reaction, “in a hospital? Uhm, is everything okay with you?” 

Taiga swallowed hard and removed his hand. He’s the only one who had the memory of that kiss since it was the future Hokuto who kissed him, but still seeing Hokuto is triggering memories of what he wanted to forget.

“I should ask the same to you, why do I keep running into you in hospitals?” 

Hokuto raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Maybe because I’m the one who's really dying?”

Taiga scoffed at Hokuto’s poor attempt to scare him. After all, he knows that Hokuto is still alive after 4 months and he didn’t look ill nor was he suffering from any disease. A thought entered his mind that not only made him pause, it sent shivers down his spine and his heart started racing. Being a Detective Conan fan since he was a kid prepared him to make this deduction that was so mad, so absurd, and so scary. 

“Uhm, are you okay?” Hokuto asked, looking concerned as he tried to meet Taiga’s eyes. 

Taiga sighed, his heart still beating wildly as he gazed into Hokuto’s eyes. “I’m going to sound really crazy right now, but it all makes sense, but at the same time it also doesn’t make sense.” 

“What are you talking about?”

“Four months from now, I’m no longer part of this world, am I?” He asked, he wanted to sound casual and uncaring, but his voice broke, and tears just flowed out. 

***

“Damn!” Hokuto muttered as butterfly effects hit him. He should have applauded Taiga for being a genius, and he wanted to whack his past self for his poor attempt at humor and ended backfiring on him. He thought of ways of denying it, but he doubted Taiga would ever believe him now. 

Juri’s right about one thing, how do you stop someone from dying? If Hokuto’s theory is correct, then Taiga would really be killed, but stopping it from happening would be his biggest challenge. He shook his head, stopping it would be the least of his concerns so far, he didn’t even know how it happened, or what were the events leading to his death. Heck, he didn’t even know all about Taiga until the time warp started happening! For someone who was keen on having his revenge on the Kyomotos, it was so dumb of him to overlook Taiga. 

“I guess I should really tell him everything then. Everything,” he murmured as he knocked on a door with urgency. It had been 15 minutes since the time warp started, he had ambivalent feelings seeing the apartment empty before he left through the back door. 

“Who is it?” He heard someone ask, which was followed by footsteps and a series of unlocking locks. “Who-?”

The person behind the door went pale when he saw Hokuto, and he couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hello, Hokuto, I’m your future self.” 

He has to be quick and return to his apartment before the time warp ends, for there could be no two Hokutos at the same time. 

“Every decision or non-decision shifts the Universe in a whole new direction.”
― Ray A. Davis

“Uhm, aren’t you eating too much?”

Taiga paused and glared at Hokuto. “I don’t know why you followed me here, but shut up,” he said and ate three salmon sashimi at once. If he would really die, then what was the point of living his life in moderation? He would fucking live excessively, and he would start by pigging out. 

“Are you not eating that?” Taiga asked, pointing at Hokuto’s uneaten umi . “Mine’s taking so long,” he added, glancing at the conveyor belt. 

Hokuto kept looking oddly at him, but Taiga didn’t care. 

“Fine, you can have-” 

Taiga didn’t let him finish before he took the plate of umi. “Mmmmm…no matter how many times I’ve eaten this, it still excites me,” he said as he finished the two pieces, before adding with some degree of sadness, “I probably never get tired of this.” 

“Uhm, what happened earlier? What do you mean about not being in this world?” Hokuto asked, and Taiga noticed that Hokuto only had 4 plates compared to his 40, probably. He drank his tea slowly, it had gone cold, but he sipped it as though it might scald his tongue. He didn’t want to talk about what he’d been feeling, but at the same time, he wanted to let out the inner anguish eating him inside. 

“You said I’m not your type, right?” Taiga clarified. 

“Can’t I be concerned with people who are not my type?” 

Taiga smirked. “Sorry, I asked. I was just thinking that since I’m not your type or anything, we can have no-strings-attached sex and we won’t even feel guilty about it.” 

Hokuto almost choked on his water and it made Taiga chuckle. He was probably going crazy, and knowing about his looming death made him want to be reckless and just live without abandon. 

“I’m just kidding, you don’t need to look so disgusted,” he said even though he wanted to tease Hokuto for his reddened ears. “I guess even in the face of death, I can’t be licentious, I would still crave the connection before I go pounding.”

“That’s what I want to ask about!” Hokuto said, coughing mildly. 

“About the pounding?”

“No! What about dying?”

“Why don’t you ask yourself?” Taiga snapped, knowing full well he was barking at the wrong tree. He took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, hoping he could breathe out all this resentment. 

“I think I need to make a bucket list,” he announced, which confused Hokuto more. 

“Are you having, uhm, a manic phase?” 

“Manic phase?” Taiga exclaimed and scoffed. “I’m fucking depressed right now. I have no idea what to do,” he added, sighing, and slumping on the table. 

“I hate this," he added. Part of his brain says that he could be overthinking everything, maybe he wasn’t really dying, it was all his assumption, and he could be wrong. But part of his brain also says that it all makes sense; moving out of his apartment, the need to rush his manga, and that he couldn’t locate himself in the future. He wondered where he was buried, maybe he should check that out to make it real for him. He wondered about his parents, too, how awful they might have been feeling. 

“I have to go home now,” he said, rising from slumping, “I have a story to finish,” he told Hokuto when he noticed what he’d been doing. “Is that my lab results?” 

Hokuto simply smiled and made a few more folds before Taiga could make out what origami he’d been doing. It was a winged horse. 

“A Pegasus for you,” he said. 

Taiga was reluctant, but he received it nonetheless. “Thanks, I guess.” 

“They say a Pegasus can grant wishes if you make a hundred of those.” 

Taiga raised an eyebrow. “Balderdash. Is this your version of a thousand cranes?” 

Hokuto smiled softly. “I understand why you don’t want to tell me what you’re going through, but Pegasus is known to help Gods and warriors achieve victories, it could move without boundaries of time and space, and whatever you’re fighting at the moment, I hope the Pegasus can help you.”

Taiga frowned as he studied the Pegasus on his hand. He was quite impressed that Hokuto could do an advanced level of origami, and he realized he had seen one before, but he couldn’t place it where. He sighed and pocketed the Pegasus, he had no idea who his enemy was, but he hoped he would win. 

***

Hokuto could only groan as ice touched his cheek. He thought he knew himself, but he was wrong. So wrong. 

“That jerk, how could he punch me?” He muttered, and by “jerk” he meant his past self, whom he thought would see the logic and reason, but went on giving him a punch. He couldn’t even believe that he could punch that hard. Moreover, his past self screamed, waking up his neighbors, so he didn’t have any choice but to run before anyone else could see him. 

Ambushing his past self is now out of the question. He should think of other ways that didn’t involve having to be in his past self’s arm's reach. He pressed the ice harder and he paused from groaning when he noticed that the time warp hadn't ended, there were still 5 minutes left, and the apartment had been eerily quiet. 

“Pfft…so much for disliking him, yet you brought him to your apartment,” he muttered. He went to Taiga’s workroom and knocked softly before opening it. Although he was sure Taiga was not at home, he still wanted to be extra sure. He also checked the bathroom and the bedroom, and both were empty as well. He honestly didn’t know what to feel, or was he confused with what he was feeling? But either way, he would think of it as an advantage for the past Hokuto to help him. 

He returned to Taiga’s workroom, aka his study room to search for something he could give to his past self as proof he is real. He studied the state of clutter on Taiga’s table, he used lots of post-it notes and it was stuck everywhere when he noticed something besides his table organizer. It was a Pegasus. Before he could check whether it was the Pegasus made by his past self or the one given by Morimoto, something happened that stunned him. The winged-horse origami glowed and sprouted glitters, while Hokuto’s surroundings started to blur and were replaced with a sweeping view of outer space, and it was all gone with just a blink. Taiga’s messy workroom was back to his orderly study room. 

Hokuto repeatedly blinked and scratched his eyes. He took note of the time, it was 11:56 pm before he picked up the Pegasus. It wasn’t the one made by his past self, it was the one given by Morimoto. 

“So…you’re the culprit.”

***

“Did I forget to close my blinds again?” Taiga mumbled in his sleep, keeping his eyes shut while the sun's rays tried to penetrate his eyelids.

“Sorry, I always leave it open, it’s my natural alarm clock.” 

Taiga’s eyes shot up upon hearing Hokuto’s voice. He watched Hokuto lower his blinds a bit before he continued to fix his tie. 

“What time is it?” He asked as he sat up. “It couldn’t be 11:11 right?” 

Hokuto frowned. “No, it’s only 7.” 

“But-” Taiga paused when he realized that the wall color is navy blue when his room should be in a paintless skim coat. He turned to his right and noticed a bathroom inside the room as well as what looked like a walk-in closet. “W-where am I? Is this not my apartment? What day is this?” 

“Does it look like your apartment?” Hokuto asked back and looked at his watch. “I’m leaving in 30 minutes, there’s bread for breakfast if you want,” he said and took his bag before leaving the room. “Ah, by the way,” he added, stepping back, “please strip the bed of the sheets before heading out, it has been soiled, and I’ll put on clean sheets once I get home.” 

Taiga pulled out his hair and made a voiceless scream as Hokuto left the room. Hokuto’s room. What the fuck is he doing in Hokuto’s room? On his bed? And how did the bed get soiled? He tried racking his brains on what he had done before ending up in this situation, he remembered leaving the sushi house with Hokuto, then instead of heading home, he went to an izakaya and drank. A lot. A lot of what he could handle. And then, everything was just blank. 

“Did we do it?” He murmured as he tried feeling his arsehole. It didn’t feel used or abused, and if he was that drunk, he doubted he could get one up. Sighing, he was left with no choice but to strip Hokuto’s bed, and immediately, he found the reason, or more like, smelled it. He probably threw up on Hokuto’s bed. 

“I’ll send this to the cleaners,” he said as he arrived in the kitchen. “My best friend owns a laundromat so you don't have to pay.”

Hokuto only nodded and proceeded to butter his toast. 

“Uhm, about last night-”

“We didn’t fuck if that’s what you’re worried about,” Hokuto cuts in. “I think I made my feelings clear to you early on.” 

Taiga forced a smile from that slight insult. “Of course, I know that,” he muttered, biting hard on his toast. “By the way, this could just be a product of my drunken state, but I think I heard you scream last night, did you?”

“Did I?” He repeated, avoiding Taiga’s gaze. “It’s not me, it’s my neighbor, he thought he saw a burglar.”

“Oh! Is everything okay then?” 

Hokuto nodded with a smile but Taiga could sense his discomfort. He is definitely the one who screamed, but why? “Anyway, did I say or do anything weird while I was drunk?” He asked even though he was scared of Hokuto’s answer. 

“You were cursing me a lot.” 

Taiga swallowed hard. Those curses are definitely for the other Hokuto, which definitely reached him because of those butterfly effects, which could also mean that the future Hokuto knew where he slept during the time warp. He wondered if Hokuto waited for him during that time warp, did he look for him? Had he decided whether or not he should tell him the truth? 

“Anything else?” 

“Hmmm…you wanted to go home so you can hit me? Do you…have a life-size cut out of me that you hit or something?” 

Taiga quickly shook his head. “T-that’s my usual drunk talk,” he said as an excuse. Being drunk around Hokuto is dangerous. 

“Ah, someone called you while you were passed out.” 

“Who?” He asked, sipping a juice. 

“Your father.” 

Taiga almost choked on his drink. Has this Hokuto found out that he’s a Kyomoto? 

“His voice sounds familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. And when he learned what my name is – he said he met me before with you, when?” 

Taiga’s phone rang, he thanked the heavens even if the caller is his building’s pest control agent, but he took it as his cue to leave and answered, “Hello….yes? Oh yeah, sorry. I’ll be right there.” He ended the call before turning to Hokuto.  

“Uhm, I’m really sorry about last night, I appreciate you helping me, but I remember I have an appointment. I-I’ll call delivery to send your sheets back,” he said quickly and dashed off to the door before Hokuto could even reply.  

***

“Why did you give me this?” Hokuto asked, presenting the Pegasus origami to Morimoto. 

Morimoto frowned and picked up the winged horse. “I think I made it clear why I gave you this and isn’t why you’re here-”

“No,” he quickly said, shutting down any of Morimoto’s hopes that he went there to cooperate with him in bringing down the Kyomotos. “I just want to know more about this Pegasus.” 

Morimoto looked baffled at him. “Why?”

Hokuto avoided his gaze, he knew what he was going to say would sound mad. “Did you…did you…put some magic to it?”

“Huh?”

Hokuto cleared his throat, he knew how mad he sounded. “Is the Pegasus…magical?”

Morimoto looked at him as though he paused a DVD before he guffawed until there were tears in his eyes. “It’s not fine that you don’t want to cooperate with me, but there’s no need to make up stories or make yourself look unhinged,” he said after his laughter died down. 

Hokuto rolled his eyes. He knew Morimoto wouldn’t believe him. “Okay, then, let me just ask you this? Did you do this?” 

Morimoto raised an eyebrow. “Of course, I did.” 

Hokuto took a piece of paper from his bag. “Then, do one for me.”

Morimoto fixed his suit. “I’m a very busy prosecutor, I have…a trial in 10 minutes.” 

Hokuto maintained his dubious look. “People lie all the time, but I honestly don’t see the reason why you would lie about this origami.” 

Morimoto sighed. “What and why do you want to know that when you’re not interested in helping me?” 

Hokuto drummed his finger while he thought of reasons to get Morimoto to spill. He would never buy the time-warp thing, his eyes roamed around Morimoto’s office until he saw the manga he wanted him to read on his table. Fireworks seemed to have gone off on his head, his mind back at Taiga’s messy desk, the post-its on his laptop screen, and there was one post-it where the words “La Familia” was encircled. 

“I think…” Hokuto started, excitement coursing through his veins, “no, I know the writer of that manga and I think he’s the one who gave you that Pegasus.”

“You mean, you think you know him? I highly doubt-”

“Kyomoto Taiga,” Hokuto cuts in. “He wrote that manga, just as he wrote ‘The Young Master’.”

Morimoto's eyes widened. “How?” 

“As I’ve said, this Pegasus is magical.”

***

Taiga didn’t think of himself as a beaver, but he just trimmed a nail using his teeth while he waited for the clock strike to 11:11, and when it did, he sat casually on the couch while he waited for Hokuto. He pretended to read a magazine, but he couldn’t understand anything while the clock ticked away. 

“Where is he?” He got up to check the rooms and not a soul could be seen. “I can’t believe this, he still wants to avoid me?” He muttered, getting a coat from his room to leave. He would try looking for Hokuto at Juri’s cafe, and he was still annoyed when he reached the apartment grounds and saw a familiar car and face from the parking lot. 

He stepped back and quickly hid behind the door before anyone could see him. His heart was hammering as he carefully took a peek and he couldn’t be wrong. The man standing outside a white Cadillac is the old man’s equally formidable secretary, and Taiga could only assume that his grandfather is inside. 

“What are they doing here?” He murmured. “I did go out of the right door, did I?” He asked and his eyes could only widen when the Chairman’s Secretary opened the front door, and out came Hokuto. 

Taiga gasped and covered his mouth. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and he stayed until Hokuto bowed and waited until the car was out of the parking lot. He took a deep breath and returned to the apartment, his mind a mess, and when the door opened, he looked at Hokuto with ire and asked, “so, what did you talk about with the old man?”

If Hokuto was surprised that he knew, he sure hid it well as he answered, “we talked about how we can save you.” 

“You couldn’t erase the past. You couldn’t even change it. But sometimes life offered you the opportunity to put it right.” ― Ann Brashares

“Why did you change your mind?” 

Hokuto thought he prepared himself for this conversation but having the Chairman of Kyomoto Inc. seated across him and pouring him sake still left him in jitters.

Hokuto carefully drank his sake as he thought of his reply. “I’m aware, Chairman, that I should be answering your question first, and it might be wrong for me to ask any questions-”

“You may ask questions and I’ll try my best to answer them. It’s the reason why we met in this place, so we can have this conversation.” 

Hokuto nodded curtly. They were in an obscure restaurant an hour away from Tokyo. “Then, if I may be so bold to ask, why would you do something that might destroy not only your family but the business, the empire, that you built.”

There was a brief tense silence, before the Chairman let out a deep breath, and said, “I’m dying.” 

Hokuto had no idea how to react. He should probably apologize since he felt like he intruded on something. Or maybe, he should take the villain role and tell the Chairman that this could be his karma, but could it also be possible that the Chairman was bluffing? 

“Thus, I have to do this, not to destroy my family, but I think this will be best for my children. I was so busy with this business that I never realized I have raised monsters. I must put a stop to it before it completely destroys them. Taking care of this family shall be the last thing I will do before I bid this world goodbye.”

Goosebumps appeared on his arms upon seeing the steely look on the Chairman’s face, but despite the determination on his face, Hokuto detected regret in his voice. The hard shot businessman everyone knows suddenly looks so human in his eyes and Hokuto hates it. He loathed that he felt sympathy for this man, and he despised that he would be cooperating with him. 

“Does my answer satisfy you?” 

Hokuto could only nod. He guessed he hasn’t forgotten being a human after all, he might have hated the Kyomoto’s, but he couldn’t mock a man who was dying. 

“So, will you answer my question now?” 

Hokuto sighed and answered with tenacity, “Well, I don’t want to lose anyone again because of those monsters you mentioned.”

***

Taiga’s knees went weak so he had to take a seat, what Hokuto said just confirmed his assumption, and as much as he thought he was prepared to face it, it still left him crushed. Suddenly, all his time felt short, he wanted to stay and remained awake and let his death be the only time he falls asleep.

“When, when would I die?” He asked weakly. He is scared, but he might as well know all the sordid details. 

Hokuto avoided his gaze. “On your birthday.” 

“Really? I would die on the day I was born?” Taiga clarified, clearly aghast. “And how would I die?”

He could see the hesitation in Hokuto’s eyes as he replied, “You will die of hypoglycemic shock.” 

Now all of Hokuto’s prodding to have himself checked makes sense. “Hypoglycemic shock? Is this related to that diabetes thing you were so concerned about?”

Hokuto avoided his gaze again. “Probably. I mean, you don’t have diabetes.” 

Taiga scowled. He could feel that Hokuto was hiding something from him. The hypoglycemic thing might not be true at all, or there could be something more to it. 

Taiga sighed. “Hokuto. Since I’m dying, can’t we just be more honest with one another?” 

Hokuto looked so torn as he mumbled, “you…might have been killed.” 

Taiga was too stoked to react, but when he recovered, he also felt some degree of relief from knowing the truth, no matter how dire it might be. “Now that makes a lot more sense.” 

Hokuto appeared affronted as he asked, “Excuse me? But are you taking this lightly?” 

“Of course not,” he strongly denied. “Who would take their death lightly? And even murdered? I even hate to think that someone from the family had me killed,” he added and realized that he was shaking. “But I have to be brave, and if I’m going to die, I have to go down in a big way! Do you know those communal toilets in old Rome?” 

“Huh, why are we suddenly talking about toilets?”

“Well, before flushing was invented, communal toilets would be the source of explosion because of all that gas from poop.” 

“Uhm, I still don’t get it.” 

Taiga rolled his eyes. “It’s so simple, our family is like that communal toilet that has a lot of shit under it, and if I’m going to be thrown under the toilet, I might as well make it explode and have everyone else buried in the family’s shite.” 

Taiga thought Hokuto was still confused with his analogy seeing the blank expression on his face until he smiled. 

“You are really your grandfather’s grandson. Same aim, different ways, and at a different time.”

“Nice of you to bring up my grandfather, but does he know about this?”

Hokuto shook his head. “Not completely. I don’t want to freak him out by telling him I’m seeing you, or I don’t want him to think I’m crazy or something.” 

“I understand. But how do you go about saving me? Is it really doable?”

Hokuto nodded but Taiga could see that he was not that confident.  

“As long as this realm exists, we might still have the chance, but first, we need outside help.” 

“Juri?” Taiga guessed. 

“No…I’m talking about myself.” 

“Huh?”

“I’m referring to my past self. He, I mean me, might hold the key to everything.” 

Taiga remained frowning. “Key to everything? By everything, are you talking about mine or Jesse’s?”

What he said might have lit something in Hokuto’s eyes. 

“Could your fate be related after all?” He asked quietly as though he was also afraid of the conclusion he was getting at. “Or shall I say, isn’t everything related to us? And this must be the reason why this time warp started happening!”

Taiga’s eyes widened, and he knew it was wrong to get excited about unraveling this mystery when his life could be at stake.

“That is really likely -”

The time warp ended before Taiga could finish what he wanted to say, his heart thumping hard against his ribs as he ran to his workroom and took a copy of his first novel, “The Young Master”. He ran his fingers on the cover while murmuring, “we’re no longer alone, Jess, not anymore.” 

***

“This is trespassing,” Taiga muttered while he kept on glancing in the hallway. 

“How can it be trespassing when I’m getting into my apartment?” Hokuto muttered back as he tried his best to recall his passcode 4 months ago. He already got one wrong, he is left with 2 more tries.

“And how did you know that you’re home late on this day?” 

“It's the end of the month and I usually finish late because of end-of-month inventory reports, I’ll definitely be home around 11:30,” he explained as he finally figured out his passcode. It’s Jesse’s birthday, of course. He immediately pulled Taiga inside before anyone else saw them. 

“Now, remember what we talked about-?” 

They both looked at the door with horror as keypad beep sounds filled the room. 

“I guess I went home earlier than I expected,” he said with urgency, pulling Taiga into his walk-in closet and into the back where his coats hang. 

“Wasn’t I supposed to be in your living room?” Taiga murmured.

“Oh…yeah. You can wait for him in the bedroom then.”

“That would really make me look like a pervert,” he complained. “I can see you reaching for his phone to call the police.”

“Nah, he won’t be calling the police,” he assured him. “Besides, it’s not like I won’t be out after a while.”  

“Again, just like what I suggested earlier, why don’t we just show ourselves together?” 

“Because he punched me the last time I showed up.”

“And I’m here as your cover?” 

“Well, not exactly to cover for me like a punching bag, but I’m sure he would think twice about hitting -”

Lights poured into where they were and Hokuto swore he stopped breathing seeing himself looking like he hasn’t had a wink for days. His darted eyes between him and Taiga and as he raised an arm, Hokuto decided to act before his other self would. 

“Did you just punch….yourself?” Taiga asked, flabbergasted. 

“Well…I thought he would hit me again,” he reasoned out as his other self stared wide-eyed at him and Taiga. 

“Look, I know this is weird, but please listen to us first-”

Fist flew, clothes are thrown out, shouts were uttered, and by the time he and Taiga successfully managed to tie Hokuto’s hand behind his back using his neckties, the closet looked like it had been ransacked. Taiga apologetically covered Hokuto’s mouth with tape while he looked back at them with a mixture of fury and disbelief as he struggled to break free. 

“It will hurt more if you struggle,” Taiga told the other Hokuto as they helped him onto his bed.

“And you know that from…experience?” He noticed that Taiga did know his rope knots. 

“Learned it from Kouchi,” he said, heaving as they finally got Hokuto on the bed. “So, what do we do now? We only have less than 20 minutes left.” 

“Oh, yeah.” Hokuto turned to himself, who was still glaring at them. “I know it's weird, but you’ve got to listen,” he told himself, before turning to Taiga. “Can you leave us for a while?” 

Taiga immediately protested. “What are you planning to tell him that I’m not allowed to hear? I'm as involved in this as you are.” 

“Don’t worry, I will definitely explain everything to you tomorrow.”

Taiga still looked dubious as he reluctantly left the room. 

“I only have less than 20 minutes to explain everything, and I’m hesitating to remove the mouth cover because you would surely yell, but I also need to hear your thoughts. So, will you promise not to yell?”

His other self hesitated before he begrudgingly nodded. 

Hokuto let out a sigh of relief and quickly pulled out the mouth cover. 

“What the fuck is this?” He immediately asked. 

“As I said the last time I was here, I’m from the future…I’m you in December of this year.”

“Fuck off.” 

Hokuto could only sigh in annoyance with himself. 

“And why are you with Taiga? What are you guys planning? Are you….a clone of mine?” He asked, bewildered.  

“You would believe things like cloning but you would not believe that I’m the future you.”

“Cloning has been done before,” his other self argued. “Besides, looking at you now as the future me is not very assuring I did well in life.”

Hokuto rolled his eyes. It wasn’t nice to be insulted by his own self. “Oh, you have no idea how much you fucked up,” he muttered. “Anyway, I doubt you would believe anything I say anyway, but what I can tell you is a secret that is something you only know,” he said with a mysterious smile.  

The other Hokuto raised his chin mutinously. “And what is that?” He asked in a challenging tone.

Hokuto smiled as he leaned closer, for he didn’t trust Taiga not to listen outside. “You…have fallen for the man outside.” 

He could only smirk at him self's lack of reaction, but he also knew that he was panicking inside so he continued, “you can deny it all you want, but as I’m the future you, I would know if something changed from my memories. You’re actually quite conflicted after you learned that Taiga is a Kyomoto, which you learned after seeing him enter his grandmother’s car.” 

Even though he enjoyed taunting and shocking himself, Hokuto had just been staring at him that he could be suffering from a staring spell until he spoke, “what exactly is happening?” 

“I would love to tell you, but my time is almost up. Remember that book that was banned at Kyomoto Holdings?” 

“What about it?” 

“Read it first.”

“Why?” 

“Just read it and I’m quite sure since we share the same brain you would arrive at the same conclusion as I did. Now, what will happen next will freak you out, you may call Taiga to help you out of those ties. I will be here again tomorrow.” 

The time warp ended. Hokuto found himself at the same spot, but without himself with his hands tied behind his back. What he found was a baby on a crib, his eyes wide with wonder toward him, while his parents were sleeping soundly on the bed. Hokuto gave the baby a quick wave as he quietly left his former apartment. 

***

Taiga opened the door to Hokuto’s bedroom the moment his phone showed 11:57. The Hokuto of his time looked livid at him, even sort of betrayed, as Taiga clarified if the other Hokuto had disappeared. 

“I hate to agree because it still sounds mad, but yes, that’s exactly what happened. He disappeared as though Thanos snapped his fingers,” he said and showed his arms, “can you now untie me?” 

Taiga nodded and as soon as he untied those neckties, he found himself flat on Hokuto’s bed, his arms overhead and locked on Hokuto’s hold. 

“Who are you?” Hokuto asked with fury.

“I think you know the answer to that,” he replied, he felt no fear despite seeing the anger in Hokuto’s eyes. He even wanted to comfort him, for he must be really confused.

“What sorcery is this?” Hokuto asked, but this time, his voice was void of animosity.

“I wish I could answer that, it has been weeks, but even I am not sure of what and why exactly this is happening.” 

“Are you in any kind of trouble?” He asked, looking concerned. “The last time we met, you talked about stuff like…dying.”

“I did, and I might in the future.” 

Hokuto’s eyes widened. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what your future self is planning yet, but I also don’t want to drag you into this mess,” he said and it was the truth. After he learned about Hokuto’s past from Morimoto, he felt like he owed Hokuto his own peace.  

“Too late,” Hokuto murmured. “I’m afraid I’ve already been dragged.” 

Before Taiga could even ask what he meant, Hokuto leaned down for a kiss. Initially, Taiga was too dumbfounded as Hokuto’s soft lips descended on him, the kiss was brief, and Taiga couldn’t believe that he’d been kissed twice and not reacted at all. 

“I won’t apologize for kissing you,” Hokuto said, his ears gone red. 

“And I won’t apologize for this as well,” Taiga whispered, freeing his arms from Hokuto’s hold, snaking them around his neck, and pulling him down for a searing kiss. 

"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." –Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack

 

Taiga slowly slid his way out of the bed to picked up his clothes on the floor. His death might come early because the future Hokuto would have surely seen what happened. He was supposed to explain their current predicament to the past Hokuto, but what did he do? He used his mouth for an entirely different purpose. 

“Taiga?” 

Taiga quickly ducked beside the bed while he struggled to put on his shirt, which he knew was too late for modesty when he practically tried to ripped-off his shirt earlier. 

“It’s too early for you to be up and about, go back to bed,” Hokuto said as though his sneaking out was an everyday occurrence. 

“Uhm, I-I think I need to go home,” he said, while he also struggled to put on his skivvies while remaining seated on the floor. 

Still looking like he was half-awake, Hokuto patted the space he vacated. “Bed. Back. Or I’ll drag you.” 

Hokuto’s tone might sound threatening, but Taiga had to stop himself from smiling as he grudgingly returned to the bed. He didn’t think he was such an “M” and he must be insane to think it felt nice to be ordered around. 

“I really have stuff to do-” He muttered as Hokuto pulled him tight for an embrace, while his leg splayed across his torso. 

“You can do those later, it’s not like you have a 9-5 job,” Hokuto mumbled, he was literally speaking on his cheeks. 

“I think you just insulted me, but I’m giving you a free pass.” He turned to face him and pecked on those well-puckered lips. “You have a lovely nose, but it does get in the way.” 

Hokuto laughed heartily and rolled on top of him. “Then, I should always angle my head like this,” he murmured, bending down for another kiss, and Taiga met his lips with his tongue. Soon enough, they were moaning as their kisses became frenetic. 

“I have work later,” Hokuto whispered, his voice in agony, and Taiga could feel that they’d both gotten hard - again. 

“You can always call in sick,” Taiga said as he raised his arms overhead, giving Hokuto easier access to remove the shirt he just put on earlier. 

“Is horniness a disease?”

Taiga smiled teasingly and pulled Hokuto closer. “It’s not, but it can make you delirious.”

A glint shone on Hokuto’s eyes. “Sounds scary but I’m excited to find out.”

***

“Those jerks, how could they do that?” Hokuto groaned and sighed, and he groaned again when a nerve-wracking memory crept in. He could no longer go back to sleep and he could only cuss seeing his throbbing manhood. It was only 6 in the morning and he couldn’t wait for 11:11 to arrive so he could strangle Taiga and himself. 

He turned on the shower and torture his body with cold water. He couldn’t believe he literally watched himself having sex. It was a weird moment in his life, and it was freakier that he felt everything. Thus, he needed a cold shower to diffuse everything. He couldn’t entirely blame Hokuto and Taiga, he did bet that Hokuto’s feelings for Taiga would make him jump into helping him, but they didn’t have to make their situation more complicated. 

“You’re gunning for another heartbreak, stupid,” he muttered as he increased the water’s pressure and shifted to hot. He took his time in the bath, unlike his past self, he didn’t have to worry about getting to work before 9 in the morning. He found his doorbell ringing by the time he got out of the shower and he didn’t bother dressing as he opened his door. 

“Morimoto?”

Morimoto nodded and raised two paper bags. “Happy New Year!” 

Hokuto was dumbfounded. How could he forget it is New Year’s Eve? He’d been so busy that he didn’t even make plans about going back to his hometown. 

“I’m going back to my parents today and I decided to drop by for a quick chat.” 

Hokuto nodded and opened the door wide. “Come in, I’m just going to get dressed.” He quickly went to his bedroom and made himself presentable. Morimoto was already drinking the coffee he brought with him and Hokuto muttered his thanks when he passed his coffee. 

“Seems like even your boss’s, former boss, lackeys are on vacation. I didn’t see those cars you mentioned on my way here and when I arrived here.” 

Hokuto was relieved to know that, but it didn’t mean that he would allow Taiga to go out in the future again. Although he hated it, he would prefer Taiga to spend more time with Hokuto in the past during a time warp than risk running into someone like Mr. Ma. 

“Anyway, about the Pegasus.” 

Hokuto put away his coffee. “Finally.” 

“It’s Jesse’s.” 

“Eh?” He mumbled, agog. He’d known Jesse for years but he never saw him carry a Pegasus, or even make one. He was quite confident that Jesse wouldn’t even know any origami. 

“And I…took it from his belongings when he died. I was present during his autopsy.” 

“Eh?” He repeated. Morimoto did what? He was completely speechless now. 

“I know that was so unbecoming of me as a prosecutor,” he argued. “And I’m not justifying what I did, but Jesse tried to give me that Pegasus days before he died.” 

“Huh? What for?” 

“I don’t think there’s any deep meaning, really. It’s just that we were drinking, he removed his suit, and I saw the Pegasus on his breast pocket. He said that a grateful intern, who's probably infatuated with him, gave him that. According to that intern, the Pegasus means that they will meet again.” 

Hokuto frowned. “So basically, you giving me the Pegasus had the same meaning? You only made-up those carriers of thunderbolts and stuff.”

Morimoto nodded. “Well, my version is more Greek-y, I doubt you would accept it if you knew that I only gave you that because it meant that we would meet again.” 

“We did meet again,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t know what to feel about the Pegasus, hearing that it came from a supposedly-infatuated intern made it look insignificant, but Hokuto couldn’t deny the magic he witnessed from it. 

“So…have you spoken to the patriarch?” Morimoto asked, changing the topic, which brought back Hokuto to their real problem. 

“I did. He’ll cooperate with us on one condition.” 

“As I expected, what is it?” 

Hokuto swallowed hard. He doubted Morimoto would agree. “For Jesse’s supposed killer, he wants you to leave it to him.” 

Morimoto’s eyes widened. “Does that mean he agrees that Jesse was killed? He knows? And you?”

“I have no idea,” he said and it’s the sad truth. “He already had his suspicions, and it became sort of real after he read The Young Master , and when I presented the evidence you have, I think he was able to make a conclusion from it.” 

“Now I regret giving you that evidence,” Morimoto said with a sigh. “This is hard. If I’m going to be strict about this, the Chairman isn’t really in any position to bargain.” 

“I know that, but as he said, leave Jesse’s killer to him and you’ll have everything to bring down those who smear his family’s name.” 

“What’s your take on this?” 

Hokuto sighed. “I’ll find another way to learn about Jesse’s murderer,” he said while also thinking about Taiga’s demise. How likely that’s Jesse’s killer the same as Taiga’s? Would they be able to hit two birds with one stone? 

“For now, the Chairman is the strongest ally we can have.” 

Morimoto still looked skeptical as he sighed. “I hate that I see your point. Did the Chairman also agree to protect your family?”

Hokuto nodded. “I need to go back home as well because they’ll be in a different country by tomorrow until all of this is over.” 

“That’s good to know, so, I’ll see you…next year.”

“Yeah, see you next year.”

***

Taiga let out a sigh of relief as he finally finished the first volume of his La Familia series. He immediately emails it to his illustrators, before giving his sore muscles a stretch. He’d been in a writing frenzy since he got home, and he attributed the sudden burst of inspiration after a night and morning of romping. He fanned his face using his fingers as he suddenly grew hot, he saw on his laptop that the time warp had started, but the apartment had been eerily quiet. He was expecting the future Hokuto to break his door and strangle his neck. 

He tiptoed out of his workroom and called out for Hokuto’s name before opening the door, but he was greeted with silence. 

“Where is he? Had he gone to Hokuto’s place?” He murmured when he noticed a post-it note outside of his door.

Happy New Year! I have to go home and don’t go out into the future for your own safety. If you’re planning to invite the other one over, don’t you dare have sex on our bed! 

Taiga smiled after reading the message and ran toward the window, a jet of cold wind blew in while he kept his eyes on the sky, and a feeling of ambivalence washed over him. If it wasn’t for the time warp, he would have never seen the changing of the year as he would be dead. Although there was no guarantee that his fate could still be changed, he was grateful for moments like this where he is still part of this world. 

“I wish I could stay until 12 midnight, I want to see the fireworks.” 

Someone must have been listening to his wish that a lone firework shot up in the sky, it was red and brief, as though it had been accidentally lit up. 

“Happy New Year! Is it too much to ask for me to be alive and see the fireworks?” He murmured as his eyes remained on the starless sky, unbothered by the cold, and the emptiness of his surroundings. Everyone must have gone home to their families, back to their hometown just like what Hokuto did. He didn’t know how long he’d been looking up, but the sound of his doorbell snapped him out of his reverie. He immediately looked at the clock, it would be 2023 in less than 10 minutes, and he had no idea who could be visiting around this time. 

“Hokuto couldn’t have gone back, right?” He whispered and decided to ignore whoever was behind the door. He was closing his windows when he heard the doorknob move, followed by a voice saying, “pizza delivery!”

Taiga scowled. The voice sounded familiar, but pizza delivery? Even his favorite pizza joint closes around New Year. 

“Pizza delivery!” 

Taiga sighed, annoyed at the disturbance, and he decided that he might as well give whoever was behind the door his peace of mind. He opened the door and both of them stood stunned. 

“How can you be alive?” Mr. Ma said, his eyes wide with shock. Taiga didn’t trust himself to speak, he heard a swhish, and a shiny metal registered at the corner of his eye before he fell on the floor clutching his side as blood flowed out. 

“Blood is thicker than water but they both leak, trust no one.”

Taiga struggled to breathe normally while he mustered enough courage and checked the left side of his abdomen. He could have sworn blood seeped through his shirt a second ago, but now there was nothing. With bated breath, he slowly lifted up his shirt, and he could only thank the heavens for seeing himself uninjured. A frantic knocking on the door made him jump until he heard Hokuto’s voice and he stood up to open it. 

“Hokuto,” he said with a sigh and buried his face in Hokuto's wide shoulders.

“What happened ?” Hokuto asked, wrapping him in an embrace. “I’ve been waiting for you and…the other one to show up but you didn’t, so I ran here.”

“It’s New Year in the future, and Hokuto, which is you, has gone home to your parents.”

“How could that jerk even think of celebrating the new year?” Hokuto asked with ire and worry on his face. “Did something happen? You look pale.”

Taiga sighed again. One would really be pale once they realized who their killer was. Despite everything that has been happening, there were still things that left him astonished and this was one of it. He kept on repeating that he could be wrong, but his gut told him to stop being delusional.

“Taiga?”

He could have told Hokuto, but he couldn’t. This is the past and Hokuto is still working for his uncle, which also means that he’s working near Mr. Ma. God knows what he might do, he couldn’t jeopardize his safety and whatever he was planning at the moment. 

“I’m okay,” he said, feigning a smile, “the time warp ended before anything worse can happen.” His words might seem innocent, but he was also sending a message to the future Hokuto because Mr. Ma would surely be hunting for him. 

“I’m glad to know that but what happened?”

“I’m tired, can I just take a rest?”

Hokuto looked like he wanted to ask more, but he just nodded. “Then, sleep. I’ll stay here.”

Taiga could only smile. He guessed he could still consider himself safe, and he’ll worry about the future tomorrow. 

***

Hokuto shivered all over and he knew it wasn’t because of the weather. Taiga just sent him a message through his past self, and although he was not entirely sure what happened, he could only make deductions. 

He made a pretense of taking his sleeping nephew from his brother, and he didn’t miss two men who’d been following them by foot when they went for their first temple visit of the year. He knew he’d been watched the moment he arrived at Shizuoka and he assumed that his apartment would also be under watch. Staying in Shizuoka was a gamble he decided to take, and he could only pray that Taiga would heed his advice not to go out into the future. 

“So what exactly happened before the time warp ended?” He murmured. Moreover, what was the “bad” thing that happened, that the time-warp was able to prevent from escalating to something worse? 

The unease didn’t leave Hokuto all night and It didn’t take him long to find out as he met face-to-face with Mr. Ma, whose car was parked by the roadside when he arrived back at his apartment the next day.

“What a surprise?” Hokuto said and he didn’t care if he came off as sarcastic. “Is this a continuation of where we left off last Christmas? Happy New Year by the way,” he added as he got into the car. He didn’t want to be in Mr. Ma’s car and his racing heart and clammy hands were proof of that, but declining to be in his car would also raise questions. 

“I visited you last night,” Mr. Ma said without preamble.

“Did you? I went back home.” 

“I know,” Mr. Ma said in a steely voice and Hokuto’s heart raced more. His former boss’s right-hand man wasn’t even hiding the fact that he had him followed. 

“And I saw someone interesting in your apartment…” 

“Someone was in my apartment?” Hokuto asked, hoping he looked flabbergasted. 

“I saw Kyomoto Taiga.” 

“Huh?” He said with enough incredulity and sarcasm he could pack in those 3 letter words. “Have you been drinking?” He inquired, he wanted to make Mr. Ma feel as mad as he felt during those first few days of the time warp. 

“I only had one bottle of beer, and I doubt that would be enough to make me see-”

“So where is Kyomoto Taiga now? Is he still in my apartment?” He cuts in. 

Mr. Ma slowly shook his head, he no longer looked menacing, he looked shookt the core, and Hokuto thought he deserved it. 

“He…he just disappeared.” 

“Of course, he is dead, right?” he murmured as he looked empathetically at Mr. Ma, “I think you should go see a doctor.” 

“Are you saying I might be crazy?” He asked, instantly in defensive mode. 

“Definitely not,” Hokuto said strongly. “You must be just tired. I know how stressful your job is, maybe take some time off? After all, it’s the New Year holiday, use this time to rest,” he suggested. 

Mr. Ma still looked dubious at him. Hokuto sighed and pretended to be tired and impatient. 

“Look, Mr. Ma, I haven’t had a proper sleep since yesterday, I should actually be reporting you to the police because why were you in my apartment when you knew I wasn’t there?” 

Mr. Ma became vigilant with the mention of police. Hokuto was a bit thankful there was still something that could scare him. 

“And I also can’t understand why a dead person would be in my apartment. It also doesn’t make sense that you’re even looking for someone supposedly dead,” he added with emphasis on “dead”. He could only smile inwardly seeing the discomfort on Mr. Ma’s face. He didn’t think it was such a joy to make someone look mad.

“So, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Ma, I have to rest, and I think you should too.” He bid him goodbye and went out of his car, as slowly as possible, even though he wanted to run back home. 

He muttered a lot of expletives seeing his apartment in shambles, and Hokuto could only guess that this was the work of Mr. Ma’s lackeys. 

“I should really call the police just to stir things up. He is so guilty it’s laughable,” he murmured when he saw drops of blood by the entrance. 

His fingers trembled while his heart started racing hard again. He tried to calm down, and Taiga turned out to be okay based on his memory, but he still couldn’t believe that Mr. Ma just went for the kill. 

“No wonder he was so spooked, he has proof that Taiga is alive because he made him bleed, but too bad for him, he could never find Taiga…until tonight.”

***

“You are starting to get on my nerves,” Kouchi muttered, which made Taiga squeeze his cheeks to stop himself from smiling. He might have gone crazy, he was almost killed last night, but here he is looking like a lovesick fool because Hokuto stayed overnight with him. They even ate breakfast together and if it wasn’t for his blasted work, they could have done so much more. 

“I want to tell you about it, but you might find it weird.” 

Kouchi scoffed. “95% of what comes out of your mouth is weird.” 

Taiga giggled, which annoyed Kouchi more. “If you put it that way. Well, I’ve met someone.” 

“The other guy in the taxi?” 

“Eh?” Taiga gasped. “How did you know? Did you see him?” 

“I didn’t clearly see his face, but you weren’t really quiet in making sure that everyone in my laundromat knew that someone dropped you off.” 

Taiga grinned and felt his face flush. “You know life can sometimes be fair but still be unfair?”

Kouchi shrugged. “That’s the cycle of life, you can’t always be happy.” 

Taiga sighed, the overflowing happiness he earlier felt slowly fizzled as he watched cars sped by. He realized happiness was one thing he never really asked for. He asked to become an actor, he asked for his stories to be a success, and he asked for help to find justice for Jesse. But life decided to send some happiness to him before it would take away everything else. 

“I can feel a sudden shift in the atmosphere, like a ton of depressors just rained on this place,” Kouchi declared. 

“Kouchi, if you only have less than 4 months to live, what are you going to do?” 

Kouchi frowned. “I’ll make sure to tour the rest of our 47 prefectures. How about you?” 

An answer already popped into his head and it made him smile. He guessed if traveling was something Kouchi found fulfilling, then for him, it would be this. 

“I’ll make sure to finish my series,” he said with fortitude. He thought his answer would change now that he met Hokuto, but he guessed his initial purpose remained the same.  

Kouchi nodded. “I guessed as much. Even if your manga could land you in trouble, you would still continue to write it. The pen is mightier than the sword is so true when it comes to you.”

“Writing is the only thing I have after I failed to get into the theater. I will always treasure it. Besides…” he said, pausing when a scary thought entered his head. He was too distracted by his upcoming death that he forgot to consider, why would he be killed in the first place. It was impossible he suddenly developed an interest in their family business that he became a threat like Jesse was. There could only be one thing that could get him killed and it made him shudder. 

“The old man wouldn’t harm him, right?” His grandfather once threatened him that he’d pay all everyone who wished to turn his “The Young Master” into live action. Did he do something worst that would warrant the old man’s ire? The thought made him shake his head. His grandfather wouldn’t wish him dead. He is the only one he could trust when it comes to Jesse. Besides, even the future Hokuto was even cooperating with him for help. But what if everything was also a trap for Hokuto? 

Taiga massaged his temples, he could feel an incoming terrible headache. “I told you about the outline of my series. Who do you think among my family would cause an uproar?” 

Kouchi chuckled, but he was not all amused. “Who do I think? Definitely, everyone.” 

Taiga swallowed the lump in his throat. Everyone is a suspect and he suddenly felt like he is Ratchett on the Orient Express. 

***

Jesse’s death would have been funny if it weren’t so tragic. He died just like how most actors die on the road in movies. A “truck of doom” magically appeared out of nowhere, the mile-long stretch of the road turned out to be empty, and boom!

There was only one clue Morimoto got from Jesse’s death, which the police concluded as nothing. The said clue was a business card found in the truck driver’s wallet. Morimoto found it odd that a truck driver would have a business card of such an establishment, and it made him suspicious that someone in the upper crust of society is involved. 

“A painting in lieu of cash?” Hokuto clarified as he sat inside a coffee shop that was across from “Shimuzu Gallery”. Unlike most posh art galleries around Tokyo, Shimuzu Gallery is in obscured location, and there wasn’t even a sign outside. 

Morimoto nodded via video chat. The hot-blooded prosecutor wouldn’t be returning to Tokyo until the 3rd of January, while offices would resume on the 4th. “A painting is a good way to launder money, less suspicious.” 

“Are the works from the gallery really that expensive?” He asked. He had never been to Shimuzu Gallery, but upon checking their website, he doubted they had anything expensive or made by a famous painter. 

“The gallery specializes in sumi-e paintings…copying famous sumi-e paintings.”

Hokuto gaped. “They sell knock-offs?”

Morimoto nodded. “And I think even the buyers know they are buying duplicates.”

“What do you mean?”

“All paintings are stamped with the same hanko behind.”

Hokuto looked back at the gallery. “And the mastermind behind Jesse’s death is related to that gallery…”

“But I don’t want to throw baseless accusations yet, but I’m sure of one thing, a painting was used to pay the truck driver. However, based on how the Chairman reacted, we can assume that the truck driver wasn’t just paid with the painting, the mastermind has a close connection with someone from Shimuzu Gallery.” 

“...and the Chairman knew that person.”

Morimoto nodded gravely. “And the Chairman might not share the tidbit with us so we have to find it out ourselves, or I will never be able to rest until I die.” 

Hokuto sighed and drank his coffee. “What other clue we got aside from the business card?”

“I’ve managed to find someone who received a gift from the gallery and found this.”

A message pop-up and Hokuto opened it. “Is this?”

“I’ve been told it’s a seal script , one of the oldest forms of Chinese script and the characters that were used were that of a woman and sun.”

“Woman and sun?” Hokuto mumbled as he enlarged the red stamp. It looked familiar, or he might only be overthinking. 

“We just need to trace whose seal is that,” Morimoto suggested, “because the gallery remained mum on a lot of things.”

“I’ll ask around,” Hokuto told Morimoto. “And I hope we have the answer before the Chairman gets to this person.”

***

Taiga found himself biting his nails as he waited for the clock to strike 11:11. He wanted to talk to the future Hokuto, but he had no idea if he had returned from his hometown, and Mr. Ma could be in his living room again with that knife. His safest bet would be to leave his apartment the moment the time warp commenced.

“6…5…4…3…2…1!” Taiga opened the door and dashed outside the balmy September. 

“Safe!” He mumbled as he reached the edge of the rooftop. He heard the door behind him closed, he whirled around, and sighed in relief seeing Hokuto approaching him. 

“My guess is right-”

Taiga didn’t let Hokuto finish as he kissed the life out of him. He was so scared earlier that he needed this kiss to pacify all the anxiety cursing through his veins. But Hokuto didn’t even react to his kisses, which made him pull away in an instant until something dawned on him. 

“Y-you’re Hokuto…of the future,” he said, covering his lips with his arm. 

Hokuto’s ears were all red as he avoided his gaze. “We’re in a time warp, why the heck would my past self be entering that door?”

“Yeah…I was confused,” he said. He could feel his face turn scarlet from embarrassment. “I’ve been under great stress for the whole day!” 

“Are you okay?” Hokuto asked, his eyes traveling to his side. 

Taiga immediately clutched his side and sighed again when it was all dry. “I guess magic saved me, or how can I die again anyway?”

Hokuto looked apologetically. 

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. I have a lot of things to say, but first, about my grandfather -” 

“Oh! About that,” Hokuto interjected and pulled up his phone. “Does this hanko look familiar to you?”

Taiga took Hokuto’s phone and his heart started beating wildly. “What about this hanko?”

“It could be related to the mastermind of Jesse’s murderer.”

All the heat from embarrassment on his face was gone and replaced with ice-cold fear. 

“Taiga….are you okay?”

Taiga’s vision clouded as he locked eyes with Hokuto. “T-this…this is my grandmother’s.” 

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

Maya Angelou

There were so many things running through Hokuto’s mind from what happened in a short span of time. First, Taiga kissed him, accidentally it might be, but it was so unlike the kiss he gave Taiga on Christmas day, Taiga kissed him properly, like a lover in need of affection and comfort. He was too dumbstruck to react, and he could only thank the heavens when Taiga pulled away, for he didn’t have the heart to push him away. Oddly it might seem, but he felt like he was cheating himself. Second, he should have withheld the truth about why he was asking about the hanko. In his defense, he didn’t expect that Taiga would know who the owner of the stamp is. Now, he had to deal with the possible repercussions of Taiga knowing something from the future. 

“T-t-there must be some mistake,” he said as he slumped on the floor. “Is this an April Fool’s prank?”

Hokuto sighed, feeling a tug in his heartstrings after seeing Taiga so distraught that he wanted to appease him. 

“Nothing is sure yet,” he assured him, which was the only truth he could offer. After all, it was all of Morimoto’s speculation, and only the Chairman knew the truth. 

“But do you think the truth is closer than the lie?” Taiga asked, his voice close to breaking. “After all, my uncle’s right-hand man stabbed me, and I doubt he would do that without being ordered to.” 

“Taiga…”

“You know what? I just remembered that I should tell you, you shouldn’t fully trust my grandfather. He might be helping you to see how much you know, before…before he betrayed you.” 

Hokuto bit his tongue. He couldn’t tell Taiga that his grandfather is dying so he’s doing a family clean-up before the Grim Reaper fetches him. At the same time, he felt touched that Taiga thought of his safety when he was in a more precarious situation.

“Don’t you think it’s futile that we’re trying to change something? There are some things in this world that can no longer be undone.” 

Hokuto sighed and reached out his hand to Taiga. “The night is still young, let’s go somewhere.”

***

He brought Taiga to Juri’s coffee shop, which was already closed. He took him to the backdoor, and to Juri’s upstairs office, which he allowed Hokuto to use before. 

“I kinda expected this office to be empty.” 

“Why did you bring me here?” Taiga asked, taking a seat. 

“To show you that the past has already started changing.” 

“Huh?”

Hokuto sat behind the huge mahogany desk before he blindly reached underneath until he felt the key. He took the key, opened the top drawer, and spread folders on the table. 

“What are those?”

“Something that I’ve been working tirelessly every night,” Hokuto said, sighing upon recalling all the hardship he went through for these files. “But as you can see, my past self isn’t here, he is already having second thoughts about whether he wants to continue this.”

“Why?”

Hokuto shook his head. “More than why, but who. Who is making him have these second thoughts?” He asked, feeling a bit weird that he has to disassociate himself when speaking about himself. 

Taiga didn’t answer, but Hokuto could see in his eyes that he vaguely had an idea as he broke into a small smile. 

“My first love was the first person I lost to your family.”

He saw Taiga clench his hands to a fist. 

“You knew?”

Taiga nodded. “I had Morimoto search everything about you.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”

“But-”

“I hated everything about Kyomotos'.”

Taiga simply pursed his lips. 

“I was hell-bent on revenge, even though I knew that I was basically David in the land of Goliaths. But Jesse…Jesse changed my mind. I placed all my hopes on him. I knew that if someone like him would lead your family’s company then, there would be change, and there would be justice for those who were oppressed.”

“But Jesse died.”

Hokuto nodded gravely. “So I decided to make my move. You see, I’m not proud of the work I did, but I was basically the clean-up guy.”

“Clean-up guy?”

“Literally speaking. If your uncle receives intel that someone like a reporter wanted to do an expose, it’s my job to lead a team and ransack his or her place and destroy any evidence we could find. Sometimes, we could find one, but other times, turning over their place was enough to serve as a warning that your uncle is not someone they could trifle with.”

Taiga simply gaped and he continued, “The other thing I need to clean up is when prosecutors come calling, it's my job to make sure that every book, every file, and every folder they would confiscate is clean. Not empty, of course, but clean of any records that might implicate him.”

Taiga pointed at the folders on the table. “Is it safe to say that’s how you got these files?”

Hokuto gave a bitter smile. “Yes. I was too arrogant and foolish to think that I have everything to bring your uncle down.” 

“What happened? Is this related to how you ended up in my apartment?” 

“Yes. I thought I was a goner back then, but in a weird twist of fate, you came.” Hokuto couldn’t help but smile when he recalled those chaotic days after first meeting Taiga. 

“I thought I was invisible, but your uncle had been watching me all along. He never really fully trusted me, because I was friends with Jesse. He knew I’d been making and keeping copies of evidence I could use against him. Eventually, the prosecution came knocking again after an anonymous tip, but instead of ordering me to do some clean-up, your uncle ordered me to go overseas and closed one of his secret accounts. I went and things just went downhill from there. I was accused of embezzlement and the proof of that embezzled funds is that account I was trying to close. Denying and struggling is futile, I knew I became the designated fall-out guy.”

“He’s evil!” Taiga muttered. “You could have used the evidence you have!” 

Hokuto shook his head in regret. “I can’t, especially when my family’s safety is on the line.” 

“What?!”

“So I decided to come in quietly to the prosecution instead of making a splash. It’s also the reason why this time around, I decided to ask for the Chairman’s help. I need someone more powerful to ensure my family’s safety.” 

“Hokuto…I’m really sorry.”

“Again, you don’t need to apologize.”

Taiga shook his head, his face masked with regret. “No, you don’t understand, I-” 

The time warp ended before Taiga could continue, and Hokuto found himself alone in Juri’s upstairs office. 

“Lock the door when you leave,” he murmured to no one. 

***

“This is such a pleasant surprise!” 

Taiga smiled and let his grandmother fuss over him as she always does when he goes for a visit to her workshop. Tea and cakes were served soon after, but no matter how tempting the Strawberries on a Shortcake and L’Opera were, he just didn’t have the appetite for it. 

“I’m sorry if I bothered you, obaachan, you seemed to be deep in painting,” he said, observing the cotton papers on her huge desk.

“You are never a bother,” she said, waving him off and pouring him tea. 

Not many people knew the Kyomoto’s matriarch was a gifted artist. She could have gone to a prestigious art school in Austria, but she married early, and being the old man’s wife is a full-time job. As far as Taiga knew, his grandmother still dabbled in arts, but she mostly sold her works to an exclusive clientele, if not, she just gave away her works as gifts. 

“But I can’t say I’m not nervous. I’ve gotten used to the fact that members of this family would only approach me when they need something.” 

Taiga almost choked on his tea, for he knew that he was one of those kinds of family members. 

“Speaking of family members,” he said, glancing at the TV that was paused when he arrived, “I never thought you’d watched The Crown .” 

His grandmother shrugged and smiled. “I saw one episode, and before I knew it, I went down the rabbit hole.”

Taiga nodded and stared at the blushing image of the actress, Emma Corrin. “Do you think the queen had something to do with Princess Diana’s death?” 

“Hmmm, no, I think it was just really a bad accident,” she said sipping her tea, “although to be honest if it was deliberate, I can’t really blame the queen.”

Taiga felt his heart skip a beat. “What do you mean, obaachan?”

“Well, she’s a mother, she has an institution to protect. And those who will try to besmirch that have to be eliminated.” 

From skipped beats, Taiga’s heart started racing now that he had to cough to slow it down. “But Princess Diana was no longer part of the royal family when she died.”

“She’s still a threat though, but as I’ve said, I don’t think the queen had her killed.”

“A threat, huh?” Taiga feigned a laugh and asked in a lighthearted way, “Would that also apply to our family? Would you get rid of anyone who posed a threat?” 

“You did not need to ask, of course, I would,” his grandmother replied, her eyes unblinking. “I gave up a lot of things when I married your grandfather. I’ve become the dutiful wife he could ever ask for, and I never asked for anything except for one, and that’s only my children shall inherit everything.” 

Taiga swallowed hard, he had never seen his grandmother this serious before. She looked like she just made a war declaration and she was all equipped and ready for battle. 

“Of course, when I said children, I also meant my precious grandchildren including you,” she added quickly, smiling sweetly as though she was telling him that he should be grateful that he is one of those grandchildren. But Jesse is her grandchild too! He might have been born out of wedlock, but he was still part of the family, they have the same blood! That was why he still couldn’t fathom that his grandmother would have a hand in Jesse’s murder, he couldn’t think of a reason why. 

A knock on the door brought him back to the present, the door opened, and in such a coincidence, his aunt, Jesse’s mother, came strutting in.

“Oh, Taiga-kun,” she said with one eyebrow raised. Taiga could tell that he should make his exit. 

“I’ll visit some other time, obaachan, I forgot I have to meet someone. Aunt,” he said, bowing curtly. 

“I’ll just have to tell Mother something, you wait for me outside and I’ll drop you off wherever you’re going,” his aunt said hurriedly, which surprised Taiga. 

“Uhm, there’s no need, aunt-”

“Wait for me outside,” she cuts in, her tone denoting that he couldn’t really say no. 

“Very well,” Taiga said and left the room. 

***

“If I cut you up, will the time warp stop?” He asked the Pegasus origami as he repeatedly paced around his apartment. 11:11 wouldn't arrive quickly enough and he needed to speak to his past self. There had been a growing unease all over him after he revealed almost everything with Taiga back at Juri’s office, he couldn’t shake off the thought that Taiga might do something reckless, something that would change all their fates. 

“I can’t cut you up,” he muttered to the Pegasus, “nothing would change if I cut you up, Taiga would still be dead and I would still be an embezzler.” He continued to pace around his study, he hasn’t felt any butterfly effects so it could mean that Taiga hasn’t made any major move yet. But he couldn’t rest, his gut feeling told him something big would go down. He sighed and played with the origami, throwing it up and catching it, he did it repeatedly until it landed on the top shelf of the bookshelf. He sighed again and dragged the ladder beside it, the top shelf was empty except for dust, cobwebs, and a mini Pikachu. 

“Pikachu?” He tried taking the Pikachu by pulling, but it would budge, he gave it another nudge, tried rotating it, and it worked! The Pikachu moved, he rotated it again and noticed the wooden panel behind the Pikachu started opening, so he kept on rotating the toy until the panel fully opened. From all the movies he had watched, Hokuto is confident that whatever was hidden behind that panel would be extremely important. He took out his phone and shone his flashlight and saw a leather pouch. He got down from the ladder, before he opened the pouch, and saw an external hard drive with a glittery cursive sticker. 

“JL?” He murmured, only one JL ran through his mind, “Jesse.” 

He quickly went to his computer and inserted the hard drive, he opened just one folder, and the contents made him call Morimoto. “Can you drop by my apartment later? And make sure to use the backdoor.” 

***

Taiga thinks that his death might really come early, his heart hasn’t stopped racing like crazy since he made the decision to talk to his grandmother. Now, he’s in a private room of a restaurant with his aunt, one of the people who never hide their dislike for him. 

“I should have spoken to you the moment that libelous book of yours got published, but Dad stopped me.” 

Despite his nerves, Taiga managed a snigger. “Is it really libelous?” 

His aunt scoffed so he quickly added. “I wanted to speak to you as well because I can’t fathom how a mother could accept that her son died that way without doing anything,” he said, seething with anger and his nervousness ebbing away. 

“You don’t know anything-”

“You’re right. I don’t know anything. I also understand how powerless I am, and that’s the only thing I know how to fight back.” 

His aunt let out a deep sigh. Taiga never really paid attention to his aunt but looking closely at her now, she looked like she aged a decade.

“Were you really able to fight back?” His aunt asked in a challenging tone. “How did that pan out?”

Taiga swallowed hard. His novel did well in terms of sales and he also managed to have a solid following. But his aunt is right, his novel amounted to nothing when it comes to Jesse since no one got punished in the end.

“You’re really still a child,” she said, sighing with regret, “if you want to fight, you enter the ring, you don’t fight by the sidelines, and hope that they will be threatened by it.”

Taiga frowned, is his aunt calling his methods cowardly? 

“If you want to catch the evil, you should become more wicked,” his aunt continued. “But you’re not cut out for that. Not only were you born with a silver spoon, you never really got a taste of how it was to suffer. You may not be the favorite, but you were never neglected. You don't harbor enough resentment to be a monster.”

Taiga cleared his throat and said with conviction, “I’m aware of my privileges, but at least I did something, at least I didn’t sit idle-”

“Jesse is not the only one born out of wedlock in this family.” 

Taiga was too dumbfounded to react. What was his aunt talking about? 

“I’m my father’s daughter from another woman,” his aunt added. “I was treated with nothing but kindness growing up, but in my brothers’ and stepmother’s eyes, I can see them telling me that I should know how high on the ladder I could climb, and I should know when to step back and stop. My children, of course, should also abide by that unspoken rule.” 

Cold sweat ran down Taiga’s back, his grandmother’s words echoed at the back of his mind, “ only my children shall inherit everything”. She never considered Jesse as her own, because his mother wasn’t even from her, so it was easy for her to dispose of a threat to her children’s future. Does that make sense? He never expected his family to be perfect, but how could they be so rotten? 

“Taiga? Taiga, are you okay?” 

Taiga looked back at his aunt and slowly shook his head, he wished his soul would just leave his body so he didn’t have to feel anything. 

“Taiga-”

“Let’s talk again next time, I have to be somewhere else,” he said in a quiet voice, he doubted even his aunt heard him. Time seemed to have moved swiftly as he found himself back at his apartment, his eyes focused on the top shelf of his bookcase while Pikachu stared back at him. 

***

“That was the best carbonara I had!” Hokuto exclaimed while they made a toast.

“You don’t need to flatter me,” Taiga said, smirking before he sipped his red wine. “I know my limitations as a cook.”

“But it’s the truth! I would never have thought of using soya milk.” 

Taiga giggled sheepishly. “Now you’re really making fun of me. It wasn’t intentional when I first made it, I just ran out of milk to make bechamel sauce so I tried soya.”

“Which really tastes good,” Hokuto mused, planting a kiss on his forehead. “Glad to see you’re smiling - genuinely.” 

“Hokuto-”

“I’m sure you didn’t go here to cook carbonara for me, what’s wrong? Is it that Hokuto?”

Taiga smiled, before sighing as though he wanted to deflate his lungs. “Everything.” 

“I’ll help you make it right.” 

Taiga shook his head. “I wish it were that easy. I thought I didn’t care about my family, but I cared enough when the people involved turned out to be the people that really mattered to me.” 

“I’m sure you’ve heard from the other one, but if you want me to stop digging dirt on your uncle, just say so.”

“Will you really do that for me? Will you really do that despite what my family did to people who are important to you?” 

“Yes,” Hokuto said firmly and Taiga felt elated because he made the right decision. 

“You can stop digging dirt on my uncle…because I’m giving you everything you will need.”

Hokuto simply gaped. 

“Someone told me that if I want to chase evil, I should be more wicked. But I’m not cut out for that, I will never have the same drive of someone who truly experienced suffering.” He grabbed his bag, took out a leather pouch, and gave it to Hokuto. 

“I hope to make things right with this, use it as you see fit.” 

***

“Wooh!” Morimoto gasped as they scanned all the lists filled with names of politicians, police, prosecutors, and other business leaders who were involved in bribery and bid-rigging. 

“I also saw a file of where they put their slush funds, under what name, and in what country,” Hokuto said. “The list is endless and the people involved were staggering.” 

“There’s going to be mayhem once this list is revealed. Absolute chaos. A pandemo – are you okay?” 

Hokuto crouched on the floor as a crippling pain shot through his nape and radiated all over his head. 

“Matsumura! Matsumura!” 

He could hear Morimoto’s voice in a panic, as his mind swirled, his memories jumbled endlessly, and as the pain subsided, he was left stricken with what he saw. Taiga gave the hard drive to Hokuto, and what Hokuto did with it. 

“Matsumura! What’s happening?” 

Hokuto looked up at Morimoto, their surroundings started shifting as the time-warp started. 

“Y-your h-hands!” 

Hokuto raised his hands and saw it slowly disappearing. He looked back at Morimoto, both of them wide-eyed, and before he could utter any sound, he disappeared into nothing.