Unlimited Chances

|12| Turning Back the Clock

{} Aria's POV {}

I shut the door to my dorm room behind me, hearing it satisfyingly slide close. I lazily toss the DVD in my hand onto the round table as I pass it. I don't check to see if I made the throw.

I let out a frustrated sigh as I plop down on the edge of my bed. I brush strands of my brown hair from my face, pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes. Everything is so confusing... That video, can I really trust it's contents? And if it really is real, that it was actually me in the past. Why can't I remember that? I had amnesia then, just as I do now. What caused it in the first place? And losing my memory a second time?! If lightning doesn't strike twice then amnesia certainly shouldn't! It.. It makes no sense! I grip the sides of my head, my jumbled thoughts running rampant over the video I just watched. Reanalyzing it again and again, looking for answers hidden within minute details. Trying to make sense of the confounding new information.

"I have no time for this," I muttered under my breath, shaking my head and opening my eyes. I have lives that count on me. I need to get myself together and figure out this time traveling thing. Despite it being... impossible on every scale. Having no machine or any idea on how it works... Or how this may effect the time continuum, not to mention I may screw up how far I go back. And- I shake my thoughts clear, standing up. No, no, no, stop going on tangents and just focus!

I begin to pace back and forth in front of my bed. I absently rub my thumb over the cool surface of my silver flame pendant. Okay, think. What triggered me going back in time? What was happening and how did I feel? I think back to the moment before I traveled back in time. It.. It was when I first saw Sayaka's dead body. I remember being in complete shock. Which meant... my emotional distress must have caused this! I stop and slam my fist down on my other open palm. Smirking as I come to the realization.

But... The smirk fell. I start to pace again, twirling a strand of hair in thought. How do I trigger such strong emotions again? They of course have to be extreme, I can't just fake it. I'll have to work myself up in a frenzy. I bit the inside of my lip. Perhaps, if I concentrate on what I felt when I saw Sayaka's body, it could trigger those same emotions!

Alright, I nodded to myself. Let's see... I was horrified, sad, and in disbelief when I saw Sayaka. That's what I felt... Right?

No,... I shake my head. I need to dig deeper, get to the root of my raw emotions.

What really got me so shaken up? I did feel horrified, but why so badly? I hum in thought. Let's break this down. First it was the state of the room, telling me that something terrible had transpired. Then it was Makoto, his unconscious form after he had screamed. And finally, in the bathroom... I saw Sayaka's dead body.

I... I was so taken by surprise. My eyes seeing, but my mind refusing to comprehend. Just... not being able to believe that someone I had talked to the day before, who looked happy and lively, now lies dead, covered in her own blood.

My pacing slows to a stop, leaving me staring at the tiled floor. Seeing the once beautiful, healthy skin, glowing with beauty, look as dull and pale as paper. Glazing in disbelief at the kitchen knife, one that I had used to make ramen with Hina and Sakura, sticking out from Pop Sensation's abdomen, spattered with her own crimson blood. A knife I knew she took, yet I failed to take action against. A knife she claimed to need for self defensive. A knife someone else used to cause her demise. A knife that was wielded by a fellow classmate. A knife I touched in the same place as a killer's hand.

I might as well have been the one to kill her.

I start to feel tingling, pins and needles pricking me. I had the opportunity to stop her. I was the only one to know of her taking the knife. I was the only one who confronted her. I was the only one who knew of her fate, yet still... did nothing.