EPILOGUE
YEAR 2125
The universe is a wide place with a lot of hidden wonders. One of the best factors about it is the flow of time itself. The ever-enigmatic time. It never stops and one can never bring it back even a second to where it used to before. No one can truly unravel the mysteries of time that exist beyond the grasps of physics. It is really fascinating that—
"(Y/N)!" Someone from behind you calls and you blink innocently as you grasp your slightly heavy backpack tightly.
From afar, you see a long blonde haired girl running closer to you. She's waving her hands to make you stop from walking. Her eyes are excited and because of how fast she's running, she almost trips multiple times. She's also carrying tons of books in her arms. When she's finally in front of you, she breathes heavily. You can't blame her though. She basically runs almost the entire school ground just to chase after you.
"Yes, Emma? Did you left your wallet in my bag again this time?" You asked and Emma chuckles while wiping her sweat.
She's your best friend and her name is Emma Michelle, but she loves it when you call her Emma since she said she has the same name as her great grandmother, Emma.
"No!" She chuckled tiredly, "Actually, I have found a great classical book in the school library! You know, it's quite famous but you haven't read the entire thing yet since you always read classics like 'The way of the fist: Manual on how to knock the shit out of people in an elegant way,' like seriously?" She straightened and breathed repeatedly, "Oh, that book resembles the book inside our house. It is the book that's been taken care of by my ancestors, I don't exactly know why."
You blink innocently. Your bag is quite heavy right now since you just borrowed books in the library about martial arts earlier. In the current age of technological devices, you prefer reading hard copies of books since it's all better. You also love classical books published around the year 2000's. You just feel that the stated year is sentimental for some unknown reason.
"What's wrong with reading tactical books?" You asked calmly, remembering how 75% of your bag contains tactical books, "They're... uh, tactical?" you added cluelessly and Emma laughed.
"Nothing, but sometimes, you should try checking other genres— oh, actually, I chased after you to give you these! Those are the one's I found in the library earlier, I know you would love them."
Emma handed you three books and you accepted them without any hesitation. The book at the top is entitled, "Kick that ass: Fighting techniques for noobs," and you blink awkwardly. Emma is smiling wide like she's waiting to hear your heartfelt gratitude.
You give her an excited smile, "Thank you for this, Emma!"
She proudly nods, "No problem. Actually, I added another book with a quite different genre there. It's the famous classic that I've been talking about earlier. I've seen the same book in my grandpa's house once. There are rumors that said how the book started from piles of letters. My mom once joked that her grandfather named Mirey... Micey? Something like that name, wrote that book, but that's impossible, hahaha. I don't know though. But did you know the best thing about the book?" She smirks.
"Uh, no?"
"The main character has the same name as you! And a certain character in the books has the same name as me! It even has the name of my great grandpa, Draken!" Emma smiles enthusiastically.
Your brows furrowed in confusion but you just shrug, "Coincidence can be quite great at times." You nodded and Emma just giggled.
"Whatever. I've read the first part of the book earlier, but I realized maybe you should read it first. You can read that book and tell me the summary hahahaha. Anyway, I still need to meet with Hina right now, we need to work on our assignments. Bye, (Y/N)!"
"Bye!" You replied as Emma ran away from you. You are holding three different books in your arms as you follow her with your eyes.
In your whole eighteen years of existence, you've always loved books especially when it comes to martial arts. That is the reason why despite being on the school grounds where different students are running and chatting around, you open the upper book and chuckle at the title once again. Kick that ass, nice.
In the school ground, the clouds are peaceful and gentle. The wind breeze that touches you is all tranquil as well. There are a lot of students around but you're too focused on the books that are in your hands.
You are reading the introduction of the book silently while walking and you are amazed by how well written it is. There's a humor and a glint of—
"Oi, Mikey, give my bento back!" You hear someone shouts from a distance.
Before you can raise your head to look at wherever the voice comes from, a strong body crashes over you, making your eyes widened before you fall on the floor, butt first. You groan hard from the pain and the person who bumps on you stops on his pace before looking down at you with slightly wide eyes. The book scattered on the ground and you are still wincing on the pain from the impact.
"I'm sorry," He started— his calm voice familiarly soothing and comforting in some ways, "Where does it hurt?"
You didn't give him a glance as you stood up and dust your uniform before raising your head and looking at the person.
That's when your eyes met.
...and your heart skipped a beat.
"I'm fine but be careful next time." You answered and you can't take your eyes away from the man looking at you with an observingly calm eyes.
He has blonde locks of hair that hang on his shoulders and his eyes are calm and interesting. He's wearing a school uniform and a dark hoodie that hangs around his shoulders aesthetically. He's holding a bento box on one hand while his other hand is inside his pocket. He blinked and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Don't read while walking, it's dangerous. Some clumsy kids might crash themselves on you, you don't want that to happen again, do you?" He asked calmly.
"Clumsy kids... like you?" You replied and his lips curve automatically into a small amused smile.
When you see his smile, you feel your entire body freeze. What the hell is this bodily reaction?
"Hmm." The man nodded and took a closer step towards you before staring at you more observingly, "You're getting flushed. Is falling like that really painful for you to turn this red?"
He blinks and your brows raise a little before you take a single step backwards. For a stranger, this man should really consider social distance proximity.
"It's because the sun is hot, and people blushes when it's hot." You replied and the man smiles again. You feel your face turn even warmer. You don't understand what's wrong with your system right now. It's probably because of the breakfast you've eaten earlier.
"But isn't it cloudy right now?" He asked, voice teasing a little and you unconsciously gave him a small glare.
"It's still hot." You mumbled and the man nodded as if he understood you.
"If you say so." He glances at all the books laying on the ground, "You like reading martial art books?" He asked calmly. His voice has this kind of magnetic pull you can't quite explain and he's charismatic as well. You don't honestly know why he's starting this kind of random conversation with you.
But to be polite enough, you nodded, "Yes. They fascinate me."
"Hmm, did you know any martial arts?" He asked and you shook your head.
"I did read a lot about them but I haven't really tried practicing any of them since aside from I have little time, I personally know no one who teaches these kinds of things." You answered honestly.
The man looks at you with a calm gaze as if he's thinking of something, and his lips form into a small smile again as he says, "I'm a part of our school's martial arts team, taekwondo to be precise. Maybe I can teach and train you personally if you want? You can apply the principles and fundamentals that you've learned from the books while I can teach you the moves."
Your eyes widened and your lips parted, "Wait, really?" You can't hide the excitement in your voice as you really want to learn actual martial arts. Your brother Guren is a policeman but he's too workaholic so he doesn't have the time to teach you any of those, "Oh god, are you sure? Why would you, a stranger, suddenly offer something like that?"
The man shrugged, "As an apology for the crash? Maybe a small gratitude, too? Ken-chin stopped chasing me when he saw I'm talking to you. I'm saved."
You laugh at his response and he laughs with you, too.
"I see, I can't wait to try martial arts. Thank you for your offer. It's such a good opportunity to learn."
The man stares into your eyes, "You'll be my future student, then." He closed his eyes for a second and smiled a little, "Good. Hmm, by the way, what's your name?"
You don't like giving your name to strangers but you don't know why your mouth suddenly speaks without you noticing, "(Y/N). You are?"
The gentle wind breeze touches you again and you shiver as your heart thumps a little faster.
"Manjiro." He answered with a small smile still plastered on his lips, "Sano Manjiro."
You feel everything around the two of you blurries as you focus entirely on him. A weird sensation flows down your heart and you silently curse your hypothalamus for reacting this way again. Weird.
But you regained your own focus and blinked repeatedly, "I see. Nice to meet you, Manjiro" You give him a genuine smile and the man named Manjiro reciprocates it. He exhales thinly as he tilt his head a little to observe you more.
"I can sense this odd feeling of familiarity," He whispers and takes a step closer towards you while still looking deep into your eyes, "Have I met you before?"
Have we ever met before? Absolutely not.
"No, I..." You gulped and averted your gaze from his stare, "I don't think I've met you before. But maybe we've seen each other once around the school? Who knows?" You chuckle as your heart beats really weirdly inside your chest.
He looks convinced with your answer so he just nods, "I understand. It's nice meeting you, too."
He offers his hand for a handshake. For a moment, you feel everything stops around the two of you. Literally. While staring into his eyes, you feel some longing flowing down your veins. You tried blinking it away but it didn't vanish. His eyes are telling you something, something unexplainable. He doesn't look like he knows what that something unexplainable is himself. But his eyes are filled with little galaxies, like those pairs of magnificent dark eyes are holding a universe on them, holding a myriad of enigma within.
You accepted his hand.
And as your palms touch, an odd feeling starts churning inside your stomach. Above all those weird sensations, you feel comfortable and safe. His hand is warm and he gently grips your hand before shaking it.
You can't wait to see him again and practice martial arts with him.
After the odd encounter, you kneel down and start picking the books that Emma recommends you to read. Because of the slight dizziness that you get from staring too much at Manjiro, the books clumsily fall on your arms again. Manjiro kneels beside you and picks some book as well, and the two of you stop when you see a certain book on the ground opened wide— probably on its last page since it seems like the conclusion of the book.
You read that specific line for a moment and Manjiro seems to read it as well since he silently glances at the book, too.
"If there's a possibility to rewrite the stars, and rearrange the galaxy for us to meet again, I will gladly do it. I made a promise to you once, my only promise, that I'll find you in a different time. In a different universe. I'll find you in a different situation where you can love freely. If such a thing is possible, I will do it. I will find you so you better wait for me."
You blink as your heart tightens longingly while reading those lines. You feel Manjiro stayed silent beside you.
"This is not a martial art book, it's actually a recommendation from my friend—"
He looks into your eyes and a familiar feeling rushes over your senses again.
"What's the title of that book, (Y/N)?"
You slightly disregard how your heart beats weirdly when he calls your name as you gently pick the book written from a hundred years ago. You give Manjiro a glance as the two of you check the title on the front.
Your heart skipped a beat.
"Rewritten."
>>> THE END