It was June 6th, once again. I was walking on my way to school, just like every other day, but something felt undeniably different this time. I had faint, unsettling memories of what had happened before the day repeated itself. I still didn't know how many times I had already gone through this exact day. It could have been a million, and I wouldn't have known the difference until now. A sudden wave of panic washed over me, and I started running towards the school, desperate to uncover the cause of this abnormal situation.
No, abnormal was an understatement. It was supernatural, or whatever other ridiculous word existed to describe this garbage situation ripped straight from a bad novel. Who decided to allow me, a random high schooler, to experience something as crazy as a time loop?
I finally arrived at school, my lungs burning as I stopped to catch my breath. Without a moment to lose, I immediately began searching for Aira, intent on asking her why she was doing all of this killing. I was still unsure if it was merely a delusion or a dream, but I had to know.
I ran around the campus for about five minutes, my eyes scanning every familiar face until I finally spotted her, sitting alone on the staircase. Only five more minutes until classes started. Despite the nagging possibility of her stabbing me out of the blue, I gathered my resolve and walked towards her.
"Yo," I said, trying to sound casual, my voice a little breathless.
She slowly looked up at me, her eyes empty and dead, devoid of any warmth. I didn't waste any time.
"What were you doing?" I asked, my voice direct and unwavering.
Aira's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. But she immediately recovered her composure, a seemingly cheerful smile plastered on her lips.
"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, her voice light and innocent, a stark contrast to her lifeless gaze. It was painful to watch her pretend she was fine.
I knew then that I had no choice. I needed to be as straightforward as possible.
"I remember what you did before today repeated again," I stated, watching her closely.
"I don't remember the times before that, but I'm pretty sure it happened multiple times."
Aira's eyes widened further, and the forced cheerfulness vanished, replaced by a sad, resigned look. She simply replied, "I see."
Before I let her say anything more, there was one question I desperately needed answered. "...Have you killed me before?"
She barely flinched to the point I could've missed it. But this served as a clear confirmation. So, she had.
"Why?" I pressed, my voice barely a whisper.
"I guess I have no other choice but to tell you," she began, her gaze distant.
"But before that, how do you remember what I did? You aren't supposed to remember." Aira asked, tilting her head in confusion. A reason immediately popped into my head, though I wasn't entirely sure if it was the actual cause.
"Maybe... Because I had a weird dream."
As soon as she heard this, a complex expression mixed with worry and relief washed over her face.
"...I did too," she admitted, her voice soft. "That's why I'm trying to find the culprit behind the day repeating."
...What? She thought the culprit was within the school, but why? "Why do you think they're in this school?" I asked, my brow furrowed.
"Well, if you got caught in a time loop situation, you'd always check the places with the people that would know who you are, right? Especially if it's just you being affected by it." she reasoned, her voice a little tired.
"You're not wrong," I conceded. "Did you initially not kill people out of the blue, though?"
"Yeah. There's no way I could do that unless there wasn't any other option." Aira exhaled loudly, looking completely exhausted, like she had lost all hope. She must have gone through this many more times than I could possibly know.
Hmm... I scratched my head, my mind racing as I tried to think of a way to get us out of this mess.
Aira looked scared and hesitant, but then she said something that would irrevocably end my normal days. "Veritas."
That single word unlocked a cascade of memories I didn't even know were there. It felt like my mind was going to explode. Just when I thought I understood that the dream was probably the reason this was happening, I hadn't actually uncovered who was behind that dream. "That" word unlocked everything that had happened in the other timelines, like a secret cheat code. I didn't even know who or what "that" was.
As all the "memories" flashed back in my head, I recalled that she had been killing every single person in the school, and she was about to finish up by doing it to the entire classroom. In one of my "memories," she had declared in front of the entire class that if she couldn't find the culprit, she would either give up or search outside the school, until she had killed every single person on the planet, just so that she could find the culprit and escape. She knew that whatever she did, it wouldn't change anything, because nobody would remember it anyway.
In the past loops, I had been observing her because, apparently, I was able to recall the other retries like what happened to me just now. I had also worked together with her before, though I had forgotten about it.
Initially, she would observe every little detail that happened today. Then she tried a more direct approach by asking everybody about it, to no avail. Aira repeated this day so many times, to the point that she was about to break and resort to killing people.
Once you killed someone, you couldn't turn back. Actually, if she was killing people out of nowhere, maybe she had already broken. Luckily, she could still hold a conversation.
"But why were you killing yourself too?" I asked, a knot forming in my stomach.
"...Because if I don't, one important person to me will vanish," she explained, her voice barely a whisper. "It's gonna keep happening until I have nobody left. The day's gonna repeat anyway, so I can go ahead and kill myself all I need."
I never knew about this, nor did I remember her telling me about it in the other loops. That meant there might be a new opportunity this time. But Aira looked like she was about to cry, scared for her life, not wanting to lose those important to her.
"I found out about this after my first loop... I woke up and I saw a figure... something that I couldn't recognize or remember at all, and whatever they told me, it was just muffled. Then, words flashed into my mind, telling me what was going on." Aira explained, as she slowly got quieter during her explanation.
"Why me, of all people...?" Aira mumbled to herself, her expression blank, as if she had given up entirely. The cheerful, happy girl I knew, Aira, was now completely broken.
That struck a chord with me. I felt a strong, undeniable desire to help her, to get her—no, the both of us—out of this mess.
"Let's work together," I said, my voice firm.
Aira didn't react, her gaze fixed on something beyond me.
"I'll help you get out of this," I repeated, stepping closer.
"You said that more than a hundred times before. And you forgot every single time. I've given up." Aira responded, a hint of anger lacing her voice, and she started trembling, on the verge of tears.
"I'll help you. Give me one more chance," I pleaded, reaching out a hand.
As I said these words, Aira finally broke down, unable to keep up the strong girl facade anymore.
"...This is what I hate about you..." Aira sobbed, tears streaming down her face, but then, slowly, she nodded.