Thirty Years

Leg Up

"Please don't leave me." Dark, topaz eyes stared at Via in despair. Via found herself in someone's arms. That person, who strangely felt familiar, held her gently. Who is this? Why do they seem so familiar? Is it someone from her past life? Why are they trembling? She realized that this person must not be from her past life as no one besides her brothers cared for her to this extent.

Looking around, Via realized that her vision was limited. My body felt numb and weak. Via could tell that the person holding her in their arms was a male, but could not see any details of his face. She heard sirens in the background and smelled smoke.

"H-hang on Via. Even if you hate me, you have to live. I won't let you go, not like this." Once she was finally able to move her arm, Via put a hand on his chest and felt him trembling. Is this her future? Is she only meant to go from life of heartbreak to another?

Reaching up to cup his face Via had out the faint outline of his face. Clearly this person was not Gavin.

"I'm sorry," She whispered before her vision faded and she could no longer see the tears that fell down his face.

. . .

"Via."

"Via?"

"Hey sis, get up!'

Via woke up to Maix's concerned face. That must have all been a dream.

"Bad dream?" her older brother asked as he wrapped his arms around her. Via numbly nodded. It had been much too long since she was able to be with her older brother. However, realizing that she could not stay in bed forever, Via asked Maix what day it was.

"Monday, and the first day of school for us," was his reply. At that moment Asa ran into the room covered in flour.

"Asa! What have you done?" smiling innocently, Asa also wrapped his arms around her, hiding from Maix and covering her with flour.

"I forgot the mixer was broken. . . "

Sighing helplessly, Maix kicked them out the bedroom and left to clean of the mess in the kitchen.

Via made her way over to the bathroom to clean up. Looking in the mirror, she found a dark haired, young girl staring back at her.

"This is it. Your last chance." Via told herself. The young girl in the mirror nodded with her. Looking away, she smiled.

"This time, I will live for myself."

Walking out of the bedroom, Via saw that Maix had laid out both of our school uniforms as usual. Seeing that the uniform was different from Theradin's plain grey suit-and-tie attire, she came up with an idea.

Since I have been given a second chance, I should use all the resources I have right?

With knowledge from her past life at ten years old, Via knew as much as any 30 year old. Going through years of lessons would be a waste of time, so Via decided to simply test out of school. Ignoring the neatly folded uniform on her bed, she quickly changed into a pair of plain black jeans and a knitted sweater.

"Breakfast!" Maix called to us. While Asa was (surprisingly) a good cook, Maix often made breakfast for them as, in his words, he felt it was his "brotherly duty" to feed them. Thankfully, Maix was also a good cook, unlike herself. In her past life, she never learned to cook well and usually ate out. Now, seeing how skilled her brothers were even at such young ages she resolved to learn this time around.

While the Dos siblings grew up as typical kids, they did so without their parents. After Asa and Via were born, the Dos siblings' parents split up, each going their separate ways, abandoning their three children. As a result, the children lived with a distant aunt who provided them with all the basic necessities, but was rarely around. Previously, once Maix turned 18, the aunt gave them a large sum (enough for them to live comfortably, but not lavishly until they were able to go to university and work on their own).

"What are you wearing sis?" Asa looked up from his breakfast at her in surprise.

"I want to go to Theradin this year," Via said to Maix, ignoring Asa's confused looks. Maix turned around to watch her slowly. After a moment of silence during which he debated what to say next, he sighed.

"I'll take you with me." Smiling in understanding, Via walked up and gently kissed him on the cheek. Even at 14 years old, her older brother was already prepared to support her in any way. They both knew that it would be unlikely for her to be accepted in the school after graduating primary school, let alone be able to walk in a year early and join the class; however, Maix agreed to help her with those five words despite this.

"What? I want to go too!" Maix and Via turned around to stare at Asa.

"Not unless you study harder." Maix said sternly while ruffling Asa's light curly hair. While Asa was undoubtedly intelligent for his age, he had trouble focusing on his studies, and thus was overlooked because of his poor grades.

"If I become first in her class can I go?" Maix gave Asa a look.

"Do it in three months and I'll take you with me as soon as ranks come out."

Via laughed to herself as Asa shot her a dry look at Maix's challenge. Perhaps it was her change in behavior or decision to test out of school, but she did not remember her brothers as such dedicated academics in the past. Of course they were skilled at their studies when they wanted to be, but they were not as driven as she was at school. Perhaps this change is good. Afterall anything that happens now will be due to their own actions and not dictated by the past.