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Entry tags:
memory; an ideal future
until 22:00
The sky rends apart, and the world goes white.
--Light filters through your bedroom window. Your alarm goes off for the third time. You check the clock.
"Huh...? Oh... it's that time already?"
You get up, get cleaned up, get dressed. Your uniform is beginning to feel a little small as you head toward the end of your middle school life and that growth spurt has finally hit. By the time you open the door, the familiar voice of your aunt yelling in lateness-induced distress has been echoing down the hall for a couple of minutes.
"Aah, I won't make it in time!" Mikuru continues as you round the corner.
"Mikuru-san...?"
"Morning, Chrono! See you later!"
And she's off in a fluster, like every morning. You smile, bemused. At least you have breakfast waiting for you.
"Morning," you say, like every morning, as you enter the kitchen. Your mother is finishing up the preparations, your father sits at the table with the newspaper. Like every morning.
"Oh, good morning."
"Good morning, Chrono. Aren't you a little late?"
Your parents greet as you take your seat.
"Then you should have woken me up."
Your mother brings you breakfast, smiling kindly despite her scolding. Your favourites, like every morning, are delicious.
"Is everything going well with your team?" Your father asks, genuine despite not looking up from his reading.
"I guess," you answer, as if you don't know that everything is going perfectly. There's appearances to keep.
"There's an upcoming interleague match with participants from overseas. Do you guys wanna participate?"
You brighten immediately. It's just what you've been wanting to hear. "Really?! You mean it?!"
"Yeah."
You feel light, proud. It'll be great news to tell them - on cue, your phone buzzes. Out the window, they're waiting for you. Shion, poised as usual. Tokoha, raring to go. Your best friends, who you are so lucky to have found. It's good to see them so happy, even after--
--it's like this every morning.
"See you later!"
Your parents wish you a good day, and you have to double back for your deck left on the counter. An upcoming match, huh? Today's practice will be--
Chrono Dran stares up at you.
How did you meet them, your friends?
How did you end up here, with Vanguard?
How much suffering did you go through, to hold this in your hands?
(It's like this every morning.)
"Chrono... Dran."
There are tears in your eyes immediately. They sting-- why do they sting? It's a perfect morning.
"What's wrong?" Your mother, loving, kind, solid and real in front of you. She cares so much. Isn't this what you wanted?
"What's the matter?" Your father, caring, honest, present and genuine in front of you. He'll be there to support you. Isn't this what you wanted?
The veil slips.
(It has never been like this.)
Your eyes hurt. Your mind and heart ring with it, wrong wrong wrong wake up. You have to wake up.
It has never been like this.
------
The world goes white, again. Your eyes snap open, blinded by the glow of the pillar of light pouring from the sky. Tears spill from your eyes as you sit up, aware of others around you doing the same.
"What the heck... what was that... just now?"
Confusion gives way to sorrow, and then the white-hot lance of absolute fury hits your chest.
"Was that... a dream?" Shion, pushing himself upward.
"Were we sleeping? Why...?" Tokoha, voice hollow.
Behind you, Chouno wakes wordlessly. You're silently, selfishly glad she chooses to say nothing.
You glance to the figure of Taiyou, facing away. It seems he awoke before you-- oh. His arms are curled tightly around himself but it does nothing to halt the horrified shuddering. You wonder, briefly, what he saw.
No one else will wake. It is the five of you, it seems, left to face your fates, the taste of temptation still in your throats.
The sky rends apart, and the world goes white.
--Light filters through your bedroom window. Your alarm goes off for the third time. You check the clock.
"Huh...? Oh... it's that time already?"
You get up, get cleaned up, get dressed. Your uniform is beginning to feel a little small as you head toward the end of your middle school life and that growth spurt has finally hit. By the time you open the door, the familiar voice of your aunt yelling in lateness-induced distress has been echoing down the hall for a couple of minutes.
"Aah, I won't make it in time!" Mikuru continues as you round the corner.
"Mikuru-san...?"
"Morning, Chrono! See you later!"
And she's off in a fluster, like every morning. You smile, bemused. At least you have breakfast waiting for you.
"Morning," you say, like every morning, as you enter the kitchen. Your mother is finishing up the preparations, your father sits at the table with the newspaper. Like every morning.
"Oh, good morning."
"Good morning, Chrono. Aren't you a little late?"
Your parents greet as you take your seat.
"Then you should have woken me up."
Your mother brings you breakfast, smiling kindly despite her scolding. Your favourites, like every morning, are delicious.
"Is everything going well with your team?" Your father asks, genuine despite not looking up from his reading.
"I guess," you answer, as if you don't know that everything is going perfectly. There's appearances to keep.
"There's an upcoming interleague match with participants from overseas. Do you guys wanna participate?"
You brighten immediately. It's just what you've been wanting to hear. "Really?! You mean it?!"
"Yeah."
You feel light, proud. It'll be great news to tell them - on cue, your phone buzzes. Out the window, they're waiting for you. Shion, poised as usual. Tokoha, raring to go. Your best friends, who you are so lucky to have found. It's good to see them so happy, even after--
--it's like this every morning.
"See you later!"
Your parents wish you a good day, and you have to double back for your deck left on the counter. An upcoming match, huh? Today's practice will be--
Chrono Dran stares up at you.
How did you meet them, your friends?
How did you end up here, with Vanguard?
How much suffering did you go through, to hold this in your hands?
(It's like this every morning.)
"Chrono... Dran."
There are tears in your eyes immediately. They sting-- why do they sting? It's a perfect morning.
"What's wrong?" Your mother, loving, kind, solid and real in front of you. She cares so much. Isn't this what you wanted?
"What's the matter?" Your father, caring, honest, present and genuine in front of you. He'll be there to support you. Isn't this what you wanted?
The veil slips.
(It has never been like this.)
Your eyes hurt. Your mind and heart ring with it, wrong wrong wrong wake up. You have to wake up.
It has never been like this.
------
The world goes white, again. Your eyes snap open, blinded by the glow of the pillar of light pouring from the sky. Tears spill from your eyes as you sit up, aware of others around you doing the same.
"What the heck... what was that... just now?"
Confusion gives way to sorrow, and then the white-hot lance of absolute fury hits your chest.
"Was that... a dream?" Shion, pushing himself upward.
"Were we sleeping? Why...?" Tokoha, voice hollow.
Behind you, Chouno wakes wordlessly. You're silently, selfishly glad she chooses to say nothing.
You glance to the figure of Taiyou, facing away. It seems he awoke before you-- oh. His arms are curled tightly around himself but it does nothing to halt the horrified shuddering. You wonder, briefly, what he saw.
No one else will wake. It is the five of you, it seems, left to face your fates, the taste of temptation still in your throats.