Trapped Behind Words: InuOkko

Chapter 14: Again

Even if he could somehow manage to keep everything the same, he didn't want to. Toge knew that it was a chance, assuming everything had the possibility to run the same way, for him to change the events of the future. The only thing was, Yuta needed to be happy. Nothing could go wrong.

Everything didn't need to stay the same; he had the freedom of choice. That was unless his fate was predetermined. But what kind of fate would force someone else to experience life over again? Was everyone sent back in time? That meant there was a possibility Yuta was in pain anyway.

There were too many variables in the new future Toge held in his hands. He would need to test it. But he didn't know who to check with or how to ask. Out of everyone he knew, only one person came to mind who would be level-headed enough to not freak out.

Toge started a new message, "Hey Maki. How's your day?"

It was benign enough. If she too were experiencing the world over again, she would respond knowing Toge was aware. They hadn't texted each other in months. When they did, Toge never was one to ask her how she was; he always went straight to the point with her. That was something she liked."

She responded quickly, "Did you mean to send that? Was it one of those auto message things in Teams? If you figured out how to connect Teams to your phone messages, show me how today. I need that."

"Shit!" Toge shouted.

That was the moment Toge took responsibility for the future. Yuta would be introduced later that day; until then, Toge would have time to prepare for the storm that would be coming, assuming that life would follow the same course of action.

"I heard a rumor that Geto Suguru has been seen around," Toge responded to Maki.

He saw that she read the message, but she didn't respond for a few minutes. In that time, Toge dressed himself, asked for the next few days off of work, and tried to replicate the changes he had made in his TTS application in the month that had been taken from him.

Yuta wasn't the only part of the equation. There was the problem of Fushiguro as well. Certain aspects would need to change, but others would need to stay. There was no guarantee that everything would work the way he wanted them to and no way to tell if he would get a third chance to create rifts in the future. All he needed was a drop to create ripples.

Fushiguro said that it was appropriate to dress well to impress someone. Toge couldn't remember what he had been wearing at their first meeting. There was no time to dwell on it. White only washed him out, so Toge decided it would be better to wear a black coat with lighter accents.

The day was moving faster than he wanted it to, but that made sense; there was only a finite amount of time between that day and Itadori's death. The man that killed Itadori had blue hair, which was strange, but a good token to remember what the guy looked like. However, it wasn't too much of a concern at the time since Toge's mission was calling the police. He didn't get a good look at the murderer.

Maki texted him back after several hours, "I confirmed he is on the move. Where did you hear that from?"

"A snake told me," Toge replied with a laughing emoticon.

"Cryptic as ever. I'll see you at the meeting. Don't be late," Maki responded.

On their first meeting, Toge was late. Yuta had been placed next to Maki. It was a surprise that Maki didn't get along with him better. Then again, Yuta had spent most of his free time with Toge. In that way, the silver-haired man was greedy. But, those were happy memories that couldn't be sullied. He would have to repeat them as much as he could.

The walk to the meeting hall was quiet. Toge could hear the slap of his shoes as they tapped the surface of cobblestones on the street. In a matter of minutes, Yuta would be within reach. He would be close enough to touch. The meeting would be entirely different since Toge was planning to arrive early.