“Reicchan, wake up!” 

At the call of my name, I was thrust back into consciousness. When my eyes opened, I saw a young girl’s face staring down at me with a wide grin. 

Huh? Where was this? Didn’t I die already?

The young girl tilted her head and gave me a confused look. “Earth to Reicchan, are you still asleep?” She waved her hands in front of my face. 

Those honey-colored eyes looked straight at me, and my memories began to stir. This young girl with the long brown hair and forehead bangs was none other than my childhood best friend Asuka Kudo. 

“Acchan…” 

How was this possible? Asuka looked to be no more than fifteen years old. This appearance was exactly the last way that I remembered her because Asuka died in our first year of high school. I didn’t even get to say goodbye properly because I moved away and went to a different high school. 

Somehow… Was it possible that the heavens had pitied me and returned me to the past? Or was this just my brain playing tricks on me, and in reality, I was still dying on that cold hard ground? Is this what people mean when they say that a person’s life flashes before their eyes when they die?

“Huh, why are you crying Reicchan?” Asuka looked flustered and reached forward to pat my back awkwardly. “Did you have a bad dream?” 

Without noticing, tears had sprung from my eyes and began to wet my cheeks silently. The hand on my back was warm. This was real. “Acchan…” I cried, unable to restrain myself and threw my arms around my childhood best friend. “Acchan!” 

“Oi, oi, who bullied you? I’ll go beat them up right now!” Asuka declared loudly, but her warm hands still wrapped around me and patted my back. She definitely wasn’t used to such an intimate gesture so she used a little too much force, but the small bit of pain cemented me. It made me realize that this was reality. Asuka was real! 

“Nobody,” I sniffled with a laugh, rubbing my eyes dry. “I… just had a long bad dream.” 

Asuka stayed with me until my emotions could calm down. During this time, I took a good look at my surroundings. We were on a bus surrounded by many other female students. Everybody looked exhausted, and they were either sleeping or quietly minding their own business. Looking down at myself, I realized that we all wore the same casual sporty clothes. 

“Acchan, what’s the date?” 

“August 6th.” 

“What year?” 

Asuka gave me a strange look at that question. “Obviously, 2011! Did you hit your head or something when the bus moved?” 

August 6th, 2011. The last day of the Shohoku Middle School’s special summer soccer camp for girls which I had participated in during my last life. This was also the day I returned home and learned about my parents’ plan to divorce! 

“Reicchan, you’re acting weird, I’m gonna get the teacher-” Asuka turned to get up, but I quickly grabbed her arm and held her back. 

“I’m fine! I promise.” I smiled, though it was probably a little wobbly as my emotions were still settling down. “I’m just tired, that’s all.” 

Asuka didn’t look convinced, but she also didn’t try to get up anymore. Pursing her lips, the young girl gave me a pouting glare. “You’ve never cried like that in front of me before, not since we were kids anyway.” 

I knew what Asuka meant. When I was young, I was a bit of a crybaby, but when I got older, I stopped crying. 

“There’s no room for weakness. Don’t disappoint me, Reiko.” 

My father’s words echoed in my head. Always striving to be the perfect daughter who was good at school, have a reasonable temperament, be great in athletics- this was the me who was carved by my father’s strict upbringing. If Asuka and I hadn’t been neighbors and childhood playmates, she probably wouldn’t have cared about such a stiff perfectionist like myself. I didn’t have many friends because I always strived to be number one at everything I did, neglecting the social circles around me on my way to the top. 

But this time, it’ll be different. I won’t live for my father’s expectations any longer! 

Soon, the bus came to a stop, and the people began to stir awake. As we exited the bus, Kawamura-sensei, the special athletics coach and chaperone, had us return our gear and sign out before returning home. 

Asuka and I grabbed our bags and began our long trek back to our houses which were next to each other. Walking down the familiar path, I was reminded of so many little things that I had forgotten. We passed a convenience store a few blocks from school where people used to buy a lot of snacks after school; there was also a playground park not far where the neighborhood kids would play until it got dark. 

In a slightly deserted parking lot between a couple of buildings, a few figures could be seen. Two kids, probably ninth graders, were laughing obnoxiously while seemingly bullying a young kid who looked significantly smaller than them. The smaller kid had his back turned to us, but he seemed familiar at a glance. There was no way I would mistake it- that was my little brother Kei-chan! 

Before I knew it, my feet propelled me forward into a run. “Kei-chan!” 

The two ninth graders stopped and looked at me. The small kid turned around and stared at me with a familiar gaze. Those dark black eyes widened in surprise. “Nee-san?” 

I felt my lungs squeeze tight in my chest. How long has it been since I’ve heard his voice calling out to me like this? This was my beloved little brother, Kei-chan. I couldn’t help pulling him forward into a hug and crying. He was alive, warm and breathing in my arms! 

“Nee-san, stop it!” Kei-chan’s squeaky voice shouted as small arms tried to push me away. He was surprisingly strong for a scrawny eleven-year old kid, but he was no match for me. However, I reluctantly still abided by his wishes and stopped squeezing him in my arms, stepping back from my hug. It must be weird for him to be hugged by me huh… I didn’t hug him much after we got older. In fact, I didn’t really interact with him much these years because I’d been so focused on getting a scholarship to a good sports high school at father’s encouragement. Well, it wasn’t really encouragement so much as demand. 

“Huuuh, you had to go and tattle to your big sister? How embarrassing!” One of the eighth graders laughed. He had a lanky physique and was almost as tall as me. His face had a few pimples, and he looked to be in the throes of puberty. 

“Imagine having to call a girl to come protect you! I always knew you were pathetic, Ikeda, but this is another level!” The second eight grader cackled, showing a mouth full of misaligned yellow teeth. His cheeks bulged under the weight of his flesh, and his large stomach jiggled with his laughter. 

Keisuke bared his teeth and screamed at the two men, lunging out of my arms and towards them. “Shut up!” 

The lanky eighth grader cried out as Keisuke hit him square in the face, causing him to fall back onto his ass as he clutched his nose. A trickle of blood dribbled down onto his upper lip. “Y-You dare to hit me!?”

His friend, the chubby eighth grader, lunged forward and swung a fist towards Keisuke. 

“Look out!” Asuka’s voice rang in the air. 

Luckily, my reflexes had been faster. As soon as I saw Keisuke move, my feet had already taken a step forward. With his imminent danger, I lunged forward and managed to grab him in my arms and roll away from the kid’s punch. 

The fist only met air, making the chubby kid fall forward with the momentum of his missed punch. 

I looked down at Keisuke, who I noticed upon closer inspection, also sported a few bruises and scrapes on his arms. Had they been pushing him around too? 

Now I didn’t feel as bad at not stopping Keisuke’s punch earlier. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But my little brother had more of a temper than I remembered. 

“Let’s take it easy, alright?” I said calmly, releasing my hold on Keisuke who glared at me. The two eighth graders glanced between the two of us, and upon seeing Asuka coming by, they back tracked and began to run away. 

“You’re lucky I don’t hit girls!” They shouted in their retreat. 

Asuka rolled her eyes at that remark, but she quickly gave a worried glance in our direction. “You guys okay?” 

“We’re fine,” I smiled at Asuka and stood up, patting away the dirt from my legs. “Let’s go home.” 

“Hmph.” Keisuke turned away without a backward glance, heading straight in the direction of home. 

Asuka gave me a questioning look. I could only answer her with a small smile. 

For years, I had neglected my little brother due to my father’s strict upbringing, focusing only on my studies and competitive athletics. My little brother had originally been the apple of my father’s eye upon being born, but since he always cried at the sight of my father and showed mediocre aptitude academically, my father had given up on him. But he was only an elementary schooler right now… My father was too much. 

The walk home was quiet, and we parted ways once reaching our houses. Asuka bid us goodbye and entered the house on the left while Keisuke and I walked into the house on our right. 

“We’re back!” I shouted instinctively in greeting upon entering the house. 

Keisuke didn’t utter a word as he kicked off his shoes and ran upstairs straight to his room. I leaned down to straighten his shoes to the side as I dipped my feet into my home slippers. 

The house was eerily silent. It had been a long time since I’d been back in my childhood house. My eyes lingered at the wall of family pictures hanging in the hallway. My mother loved to decorate the house with pictures and crafts that she did. A hand-crafted wooden frame held one of the only pictures of our entire family. My father stood tall in the back, bearing a stern expression but there was a hint of a smile on his lips. His hand was placed on the shoulder of my mother who sat in a chair in front of him. Her face was beaming with happiness as she cradled a small bundle in her arms. The small bundle was none other than a newborn Keisuke; he still had a wrinkly little face, and I recalled calling him a monkey back then. Seated next to my mother in a big chair was a young me, who gave a big toothy grin despite missing one of my front teeth. This picture was taken when times weren’t so bad; Keisuke had just been born, and I was still an innocent and naive four year old. My parents still loved each other back then. Silently, I wondered how it all fell apart. 

Shaking my head with a sigh, I quietly made my way to the kitchen. With surprise, I found my mother there wiping her tears at the sight of me. 

“Mom,” I murmured softly. My mother, Aya Ikeda, passed away two years after my parents divorced; the doctor said it was due to a weak heart and depression. I could never forget the face of my crying mother because it was all I saw day after day. 

“Ah, you guys are home already.” My mother said in a nonchalant manner as she got up from the table and began to busy herself at the stove. “Let me heat up dinner now. Your father will be home any minute now.” 

With her back turned to me, I couldn’t see her expression, but her shoulders trembled slightly as she moved around. 

Then suddenly, there was the sound of the front door opening. 

I felt a deep thump in my chest as a heaviness settled in my gut. Then something ignited a spark of anger and resentment that I hadn't realized were boiling on the surface of my emotions I turned around to see a familiar figure entering the house. 

He had piercing black eyes hidden behind a pair of metal glasses that sat atop a thin nose. His sharp face bore expression that was stern without a hint of a smile. Cold and unfeeling. Nothing like the man from the photo that I’d just seen. This man, with a face that looked just like mine, was none other than my father, Masahi Ikeda.