Chapter 5 - Unlikely Trios and Club Invitations
With Hikata's wild energy and Riki's unpredictable strength, Akio found himself part of an unlikely but unbreakable trio. In a past life, at age thirty-two, he would have never imagined aligning with such chaotic forces of nature. Yet here they were, a future pharmacist, an aspiring game show host-slash-ninja detective, and a misunderstood delinquent, each shaping the others in ways none of them fully understood. In the halls of Nakamura High, they became known not just for their antics, but for their strange balance.
After weeks of testing routines, awkward school events, and late-night study sessions, the trio found their rhythm. Akio began tutoring Riki in biology. Hikata volunteered to "study" with them but ended up drawing caricatures of famous scientists with explosive hairstyles. Even their teachers began to notice the shift. Riki's behavior mellowed, and Hikata's grades inched from comically low to impressively average.
One spring afternoon, they gathered beneath the cherry blossoms, sharing convenience store sandwiches and poking fun at each other. The petals fell like silent confetti.
"Woww, how does someone get perfect marks in chemistry and still flinch at juice boxes?" Riki teased, jabbing Akio.
Akio adjusted his glasses. "Because this box didn't exist when I was your age... I mean—never mind."
Hikata twitched his head. "You say the weirdest stuff sometimes, Akio."
Before Akio could respond, a student walked past.
Mature. Still. Like a ghost refusing to haunt. Her long black hair shimmered with a quiet defiance. Her face, often fixed in a neutral scowl, read every detail of the world and dismissed it. She carried a note book close to them like armor.
"Rumane Kaskesuba," Hikata whispered.
Akio followed his gaze. "You know her?"
"No one really does," Riki replied. "She's quiet. Never talks. Always has that silver-haired person with her—Yasahute Yakanuke. Total shadow-type. He looks like he's going to start a revolution with a stapler."
They watched Rumane take her seat in the far corner of the courtyard. Yasahute joined silently. They didn't speak. Didn't need to.
"I heard she aced a college-level pharmacy test," Hikata said. "Didn't even look up from her book."
Akio's curiosity piqued. That kind of brilliance always hid a story.
The New Faculty and the Winds of Change
The new semester brought a gust of fresh energy—and with it, three new teachers:
Ms. Akatsuchi, homeroom and literature teacher, whose poetic voice held stories of loss and myserty. Rumors claimed she once worked as a grief counselor, though she never spoke of it.
Mr. Sutahara, chemistry teacher, with a voice like thunder and posture like a retired general. He respected silence and demanded excellence.
Ms. Granahana, the tempestuous art teacher, who painted there nails black and wore earrings shaped like broken clocks. Her smile was rare. Her compassion, volcanic.
Each of them, in their own way, found themselves drawn to Akio. Ms. Akatsuchi most of all.
"You have the eyes of someone who has seen too much, too soon," she told him one day after class. "Some souls are older than their bones."
Akio stiffened. Could she know? Was it just intuition? Or had his adult mind slipped through too easily into his expressions?
He shrugged it off, but her words lingered but all it was is that she observant of course she would never expect him to actually be 32 and thus he ignored it knowing it was fine.
The Student in the Library
It took several days before Akio finally approached Rumane.
It was raining—just the kind of day he liked. He found her alone in the library, pouring over pharmaceutical chemistry textbooks. Her fingers traced on the page like someone playing a piano for ghosts.
"I didn't expect you to study pharmacy," he said.
She looked up, her eyes scanning him with a surgical coldness. "I didn't expect you to talk."
Yasahute was nearby, watching. Always watching.
"I've always been interested," Akio continued. "It's more than just pills. It's stories. Healing. Redemption."
Rumane stared at him. "Redemption?"
Akio nodded. "We've all made mistakes. Medicine helps undo some of them."
Silence passed. Then she closed her book gently.
"My brother died last year. In a lab accident. He wanted to become a pharmaceutical researcher."
Akio's breath caught.
"He used to say... medicine can heal, or it can destroy. Depends on the hands. I promised him I'd be the kind that healed."
Akio placed his hand on her book. "Then let's heal. Together."
She didn't answer. But Yasahute gave the faintest nod.
And that was the start of something new.
Of Clubs, Fireflies, and Confessions
With midterms over, the school organized a spring trip to a countryside temple—traditional, quiet, surrounded by blooming fields and mountain air.
On the second night, students wandered the firefly-lit hills.
Rumane stood alone near the creek, her silhouette flickering with lantern light.
Akio approached, his steps slow, deliberate.
"Do you ever feel like your minds here, but your heart stayed somewhere else?" she asked.
Akio nodded. "Every day."
She looked at him, her mask slipping. "I miss him so much. I want to do this... for him. But sometimes I wonder if I even deserve to."
"You do," Akio said. "Your grief doesn't make you weaker. It gives you purpose."
Behind them, Yasahute lit a lantern. Hikata chased fireflies, stumbling into the grass. Riki was tending to a younger student's scraped knee, muttering something gruff but kind.
In that moment, everything clicked.
Akio turned to Rumane, eyes steady. "This is what I never had before. Not in my first life. I chased a title, not a life. But this? These moments? They matter."
Rumane watched the lanterns rise. "You talk like someone who's already lived."
Akio smiled faintly. "Maybe I have."
She didn't ask what he meant. But she stood closer like the others.
As the lanterns floated upward, Akio looked at his friends. At the night sky. At the possibilities.
And he realized something monumental.
He wasn't just rewriting the past.
He was creating a future.
[To be continued in Chapter 6: Deadlines and Dreams Collide]