Densetsu: A Beautiful Day

Chapter Eleven: Go Back

Kotaro's eyes widened with a stupefied expression, rendered speechless to witness his younger self with another companion whom he hardly recognized. The two boys reached the top, and the young Kotaro energetically analyzed his surroundings with his eyes--when his chestnut eyes caught his older self, he immediately gasped. "Hey, Kotaro! That tall guy over there looks like me! And that blonde dude, he looks a lot like you!"

He froze, stupefied by the new information. Keeping his eyes on the boy who bore the same name, Kotaro noticed the similar visage of both the young boy and Yuuki--like he was a younger Yuuki. "Those two...they are us..."

"What? What do you mean by that, Kotaro?" asked the unnamed boy.

Kotaro approached the younger Kotaro, reaching to his height. "What's your name?"

"My name?" Kotaro nodded. "My name's T--,"

"It's rude to approach little children like that," Yuuki interrupted. Immediately, he created a portal beneath the children's feet--and they fell into it unknowingly.

"Why did you do that?" Suddenly, a jolt within his head halted his aggression towards Yuuki. More phantasmagorias flashed into his sight, bringing up the exact same event when he reached the top of the shrine and meeting an older Kotaro including the shrine maiden, Yuuki, and Noel. "Why did I remember meeting my future self? Why do I remember being here in the first place?"

"What do you mean by that?" Yuuki wondered.

"I don't know how to explain it, but it feels like deja vu. Like I've been here before."

"That's rather...odd. Normally, this place has always been a first-time for all outsiders. You probably spirited away in our world while you were sleeping, and my theory is that you're remembering the memories within your dreams."

Kotaro pondered the thought on Yuuki's dream theory. The series of illusion reminisced within his mind, and he could still remember most of it. "I may have spirited away into Densetsu again last night, and I dreamt of a warrior."

"A warrior?"

Disaster overran the unknown town by monsters. He remembered it all, describing every scenery he witnessed to Yuuki and the others. Yuuki nodded slowly, ingesting all of the information into his ears.

"A weird phenomenon, indeed. It seems like you're not just spiriting away from the past, but you're also doing it in the future. Perhaps you're bound to meet this warrior sometime in the future. Anyway, you and Noel have school. I may as well take you two to school," he opened a portal beneath their feet, causing them to fall into it, and Yuuki was alone with the shrine maiden. She began sweeping the floors, ignoring the Legend's existence.

"Spirit away by dreaming, huh? No one's ever spirited away into Densetsu by dreaming," said Riku. "I give you credit for making yourself sound believable, but that doesn't explain that phenomenon we just witnessed. Why were those kids here?"

"They were spiriting away too," he quickly created himself a portal in front of him, transporting the thrown object back to the shrine maiden's hand. "There's no need for aggression. Like I said, those kids spirited away much like Kotaro did. It's as simple as that."

"You're hiding the truth behind it all. Well, Kotaro's not around to hear what you have to say."

"Sorry, but you're here."

"I see, so you don't even trust me with your secrets either," replied Riku.

"So it seems. I'm not the only one who's hiding secrets. You should take a good look at yourself in the mirror."