The Morning Deja Vu
The ceiling was the same shade of off-white as always, but the way it stared back at me felt… wrong.
I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and muttered,
"Again…?"
My alarm hadn't even gone off yet, but my chest already carried the weight of something I couldn't explain. The air smelled of burnt toast — my mom's bad habit of multitasking breakfast with her phone in hand. It was so familiar that it hurt.
Dragging myself out of bed, I whispered, "I know this day… I've lived it."
The floor creaked under my steps in perfect rhythm, like it was reading from a script. By the time I shuffled into the kitchen, my suspicions had already started screaming.
"Morning, Tokai!" My mom smiled with the same tilt of her head, waving a spatula like it was a magic wand.
I froze. The exact same words. The exact same tilt.
"…Morning." My voice cracked.
Across the table, Kai — my best friend since forever, practically a brother — was already stuffing his mouth with eggs like a starving wolf. He looked up and grinned, yolk staining the corner of his lips.
"Late again, huh? What were you doing, dreaming about your crush?" He laughed, almost choking on his own joke.
That. That exact line. I had heard it before. Not yesterday. Not last week. But somewhere. Some when.
I forced a smile. "Yeah, maybe I was."
Kai pointed his fork at me like he'd scored a victory. "Knew it. You're so easy to read, man."
The laughter that followed was natural. Real. And yet my skin crawled, like I was a puppet dancing in a play I hadn't agreed to.
---
On the walk to school, Kai wouldn't shut up about a video game update. He spoke so fast I barely needed to respond. But my mind wasn't on his words. It was on the way his hand gestured mid-sentence, the way his shoelace slapped the ground, the way he glanced both ways at the crosswalk.
Every detail was déjà vu. Every moment screamed script.
"…You're quiet today," Kai finally said, giving me a side glance.
I shrugged. "Just tired."
But in my head, I wasn't tired. I was terrified.
Because if I said something out of place… would the world still follow the same lines? Or would it break?
I tested it. "Hey, Kai," I said suddenly. "What if today wasn't real?"
He stopped walking, frowning like I'd grown two heads. "…What? You good, man?"
"Just a thought. What if… we're just repeating something we already did?"
Kai blinked. Then he snorted and shoved my shoulder. "Bro, you've been reading too many weird forums. Stop creeping me out before class."
His reaction was normal. Too normal. Like the line had already been written.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. This is insane. I need proof.
---
By the time we sat in class, the weight of my paranoia had doubled. I barely heard the teacher. I just stared at Kai sitting beside me, laughing with the girl in front of us, cracking jokes he'd cracked before.
He's real, I told myself. He's my best friend. We've been through everything together.
So why did my gut scream otherwise?
And why did the thought hit me so hard—
What if Kai isn't really Kai? What if he's just another line in the script?
The pen scratching on the teacher's chalkboard blurred. My fists clenched.
"…I've lived this day before," I whispered.
No one heard me.
But the words tasted like truth.
---
Testing the Script
The bell rang, sharp enough to slice through my thoughts. Everyone shuffled, bags unzipped, papers shuffled — the same symphony of noise I already expected.
I didn't open my notebook. I just watched.
The girl in front of me, Miyo, always turned around at the start of class to borrow a pen. Always. My stomach tightened.
Do it. Prove it.
She twisted in her seat. Her ponytail swayed like a metronome keeping time.
"Hey, Tokai, do you have—"
"A black pen," I finished before she could.
She blinked. "…Yeah. How'd you—"
I handed it over with a shaky grin. "Lucky guess."
Her brow furrowed. For a second, the lines of the script stuttered, like she'd forgotten what came next. Then she smiled and turned back around.
Kai leaned over, whispering. "Dude, how did you—"
"I told you. I've seen this before."
His laugh was soft, nervous. "You're seriously creeping me out."
Good. That meant I was getting somewhere.
---
Second period. Same history lesson. Same exact words spilling from the teacher's mouth, down to the cough between sentences.
I mouthed the lines before he said them. Each one landed like a punch in my gut. I wasn't imagining it.
When Kai passed me a note halfway through class, I didn't even need to open it. Want to ditch lunch and grab bread from the cafeteria? I already knew.
I scrawled back: You always write this. Every time.
Kai squinted at the paper. Then at me. "…Every time? Bro, what are you even saying?"
"Exactly what I mean." My pen dug into the desk. "This isn't the first time. It's not even the second. It's… I don't know how many times."
He stared like I'd lost my mind. Maybe I had. But insanity didn't explain why I could predict conversations before they happened.
---
Lunch break.
Kai dragged me outside, cornered me under the shade of a tree. His face was tight, serious for once.
"Alright, spill it. What's going on with you?"
I hesitated. If I told him, would it even matter? Would he just laugh and call me crazy again?
Still, my chest was too heavy to keep it inside. "I think the world's repeating."
"…Repeating." He crossed his arms. "Like déjà vu?"
"Like déjà vu that doesn't end. Like… everything we're doing, we already did. This conversation, right now — I've had it before. With the same words. The same look on your face."
Kai exhaled, long and sharp. Then he laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. "Man, you're stressing out too much. Exams got you fried."
"I'm serious."
"So am I. Chill. You're not in some sci-fi movie."
But I could tell — behind his laugh, his eyes flickered with something else. Worry? Suspicion?
It didn't matter. Whether he believed me or not, I had my proof.
I wasn't imagining it.
The script was real.
---
By the end of the day, my head was spinning. I started saying random things in the middle of conversations just to see reactions. Sometimes I got confused stares, sometimes laughter. But the moment I let things flow naturally, it was like dominoes falling perfectly in place.
Kai nudged me on the walk home. "You've been acting weird all day. You good?"
We passed the same barking dog at the corner. The same lady watering her plants. The same kid dropping his ice cream and crying.
"I don't know," I admitted. "But something's wrong."
Kai rolled his eyes. "You're just tired. Go home, eat, sleep. Tomorrow you'll feel normal."
That word — tomorrow — made me flinch. What if tomorrow wasn't tomorrow at all? What if it was just today again, rewritten?
I clenched my fists. No. I needed answers. And I needed to know if Kai was really my anchor… or just another actor reading lines.
---
When we split at the street corner, he raised his hand in that same casual wave. "Later, man."
"…Yeah. Later."
I watched him walk away, my stomach sinking.
How many times have I seen that back already? How many times has he left me standing here, wondering if any of this is real?
The thought made me shiver. Because the more I tested the script, the more convinced I became.
This wasn't life.
It was a rerun.
And I was the only one who knew.
---
The Betrayal
Night came too quickly.
I couldn't focus on dinner, couldn't focus on my mom's casual chatter about groceries. I just nodded at the right times, fork clinking against my plate. All I could hear was the echo of Kai's laughter, the way he dismissed me, the way he looked at me like I'd lost it.
What if he's part of it? What if he knows?
The thought gnawed at me.
My phone buzzed. A message.
Kai: Meet me at the park. Need to talk.
I stared at the screen. My pulse kicked. This wasn't part of the script. This line was new.
I grabbed my jacket and left without a word.
---
The park was nearly empty, shadows stretching long under the streetlamps. Kai sat on the swing set, rocking gently, his face unreadable in the dim light.
"You came fast," he said, voice too casual.
I shoved my hands in my pockets. "What's this about?"
He let the chains creak for a moment before answering. "…You really believe it, huh? That the world's repeating."
"Yes." The word was sharper than I intended. "And I know you don't believe me. But you've felt it too, haven't you? Things being too perfect? Too rehearsed?"
His lips curled into something halfway between a smirk and a frown. "You always were stubborn."
"That's not an answer."
Kai stood, dusting his hands on his pants. He took a slow step toward me. Then another. His shadow stretched across mine.
"You think you're the only one who notices?" His voice dropped, almost a whisper. "You're not special, Tokai. You're just… a mistake."
My chest tightened. "…What did you say?"
His eyes gleamed under the lamplight. Cold. Empty. Like I'd never seen them before.
"A mistake," he repeated. "An error in the script. And errors have to be corrected."
Before I could react, something cold and sharp slid into my stomach.
I gasped, looking down. The knife in his hand glinted red under the light.
My knees buckled. Pain screamed through my body, but my mind couldn't catch up.
"Why…" My voice was broken, trembling. "Why, Kai?"
He leaned close, whisper hot against my ear. "Because that's the line I was given."
The world tilted. My vision blurred.
I hit the ground, clutching the wound, staring up at the boy I thought was my brother.
Kai looked down at me, no trace of regret, no trace of the friend I'd known. Only a cruel smile.
"Don't worry," he said softly. "You won't even remember this."
Darkness swallowed me whole.
And as it did, a thought carved itself into my fading mind:
This has happened before.
---
The Reset
I jolted upright, gasping for air.
My hands clawed at my stomach. No blood. No wound. Just fabric bunched in my fists.
My ceiling stared back at me, off-white and flawless. The same crack in the corner. The same damn sunlight slicing through the blinds.
"No… no, no, no."
I staggered out of bed, pulling my shirt up. Smooth skin. No scar. No evidence.
But I remembered. I remembered the blade. I remembered Kai's eyes, empty and merciless. I remembered the words—
That's the line I was given.
The sound of my alarm ripped through the room. 7:00 a.m.
Exactly the same as yesterday.
My mom's voice floated in from the kitchen. "Morning, Tokai! Breakfast's ready!"
My blood turned to ice.
It wasn't a dream. It wasn't hallucination. It wasn't exhaustion.
The world had started over.
---
I stumbled into the kitchen, every step trembling.
Mom smiled at me, spatula in hand, burnt toast smoking behind her. "Morning, Tokai!"
The exact same words. The exact same smile.
Kai sat at the table, fork in hand, wolfing down eggs. He grinned at me like nothing had happened.
"Late again, huh? What were you doing, dreaming about your crush?"
I froze. My mouth went dry.
He said it. He said it again.
The same line.
"…You—" I choked on the word. My chest heaved.
Kai frowned. "What's wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost."
I couldn't answer. I couldn't breathe.
All I could see was his hand gripping that knife. His smile when I bled out. His whisper: errors must be corrected.
And now he sat there, laughing, like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't killed me.
I backed away from the table, chair legs screeching against the floor.
"Tokai?" Mom blinked at me, confused. "What's wrong?"
Kai tilted his head. Concern painted across his face. Concern that I knew was fake. "Bro, you okay?"
My legs shook. I ran.
---
The cold air outside slapped me awake. My breaths came ragged, each one fogging in front of me.
I ran past the barking dog. Past the woman watering her plants. Past the kid who dropped his ice cream and cried.
All the same. All exactly the same.
I stopped, bending over, hands on my knees, bile rising in my throat.
This isn't real. This is a script. A play. A loop.
And I was trapped in it.
---
School was worse. Every conversation, every laugh, every cough from the teacher — I knew them all before they happened.
Miyo turned around, asking for a pen. I threw one at her desk before she could speak.
Her eyes widened. "Uh… thanks?"
Kai leaned over, whispering. "Dude, what's going on with you?"
I couldn't look at him. Couldn't look at the face that had already betrayed me once.
The memory stabbed deeper than his knife ever did.
Why, Kai? Why did it have to be you?
---
By lunch, my paranoia had calcified into certainty. The world wasn't broken. I was.
I sat under the same tree as yesterday, clutching my head in my hands. My thoughts spun too fast.
"If it repeats… if I die… does it just start over?" I whispered.
And if it does… am I the only one who remembers?
"Talking to yourself again?"
Kai's voice. Too close. Too normal.
I jerked back, my heart pounding. "Stay away from me."
His brows furrowed. "What's your problem today?"
I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch him, to demand why, to force him to admit he knew. But all I could do was choke on my own fear.
Because if I pushed too hard, if I said the wrong words—
What if he pulled out that knife again?
---
The final bell rang. I bolted before he could catch up, before he could wave and say "Later, man."
I ran all the way home, slammed my door shut, and collapsed against it.
My body shook. My breath came in shallow bursts.
"Okay. Okay, think."
If the world reset once, it could reset again. If Kai killed me again… maybe I'd wake up again.
But how many times? How many times could I die before something changed?
And why me? Why am I the only one who remembers?
The silence of my room pressed in heavy. My reflection in the window stared back at me, pale and trembling.
That's when the words appeared.
Not spoken. Not written. Just… there.
[ERROR DETECTED.]
I stumbled back, heart hammering. The text hovered in the air like neon letters burned into my brain.
[Subject persists beyond reset.]
[Correction required.]
My mouth went dry. "What the hell… is this?"
The letters flickered once. Twice. Then vanished.
I was left in silence, alone with the echo of my ragged breathing.
---
But I understood one thing.
This wasn't just déjà vu.
It wasn't luck.
It wasn't coincidence.
I was an error.
And the world wanted me gone.
---
Defying the Script
My room was silent. Too silent.
No TV hum from the living room. No footsteps from Mom. No cars outside. Just my heartbeat pounding like a drum that wanted to burst out of my chest.
The words still burned in my skull.
[ERROR DETECTED.]
[Subject persists beyond reset.]
[Correction required.]
"Correction…" I whispered. My hands shook as I gripped the edge of my desk. "That means… it's going to try again."
The thought dragged cold sweat down my back. The betrayal. The knife. The blood. It wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't just Kai.
It was the script.
Kai wasn't acting of his own will. He was a puppet. A line written by something — someone.
I sank into my chair, burying my face in my hands. My voice came out broken, trembling. "What am I supposed to do? Just die again? Over and over? Until I'm erased?"
No answer. Just silence pressing down on me like a weight.
But the silence was an answer.
If I did nothing, I'd die. If I did nothing, the world would reset. If I did nothing, I'd fade until I wasn't even a memory.
I clenched my fists. Nails dug into my palms.
"No."
The word slipped out, barely a whisper. But once I said it, I couldn't stop.
"No. I won't."
I slammed my hand against the desk. The sound cracked through the stillness.
"I don't care if I'm an error. I don't care if this world wants me gone. I won't just… follow the script."
My reflection in the window stared back, pale but burning with something new. Resolve.
"I'll break it. I'll tear it apart, line by line, until I find whoever's writing this damn story."
The memory of Kai's smile when the knife sank into me flashed in my head. My stomach turned, but I forced myself to hold it. To remember.
"Even if everyone turns against me."
The silence pressed harder, as if the world itself was listening. Testing me.
I stood. My legs still shook, but they held. "You hear me?!" I shouted into the empty room. "I'm not your puppet! Not your mistake! If you want me gone, then come erase me yourself!"
The words hung heavy in the air. For a moment, I thought nothing would happen.
Then the letters burned into my vision again.
[Acknowledged.]
[Correction protocol escalating.]
My stomach dropped. "Escalating…?"
The letters flickered, and with them, my lightbulb buzzed. The shadows in the room seemed to stretch, clawing toward me like fingers reaching out of the dark.
I stumbled back. My breath caught in my throat.
Then, just as quickly, the words vanished. The shadows snapped back to normal.
But my heart didn't slow. My skin stayed cold.
I wasn't crazy. I wasn't imagining this.
The world itself was my enemy.
And it had just promised to try harder.
---
I collapsed back onto my bed, chest heaving. Every instinct screamed at me to hide, to beg, to accept my role and fade away.
But beneath the fear, something else burned.
A spark.
If I'm really the only one who remembers… doesn't that make me stronger than the script?
It could kill me, reset me, twist everything around me… but as long as I remembered, I wasn't its puppet.
I was its enemy.
And enemies fight back.
---
The ceiling blurred above me. My body felt heavy, exhaustion dragging me under. But before my eyes closed, I clenched my fists and whispered one last promise.
"I don't care how many times you reset me. I'll remember. I'll resist. And one day… I'll rewrite you."
Darkness claimed me, but this time, it wasn't death. It was resolve.
Somewhere, in the silence of the void between sleep and reality, I thought I heard a faint whisper.
Not mine. Not Kai's. Not anyone human.