Chapter 13: The Loop

Hiro woke up.

He lifted his face from his desk immediately. He had a terrible headache, and his ears were ringing.

Hiro checked his watch, as he always did whenever he woke up from a nap, but this time it wasn't out of habit.

7:32 P.M.

Hiro quickly stood up, and stopped in front of the mirror as he noticed some of his hair had turned white. He examined the strands up close in the mirror-- they were white as snow.

Hiro shook his head. He couldn't dwell on this right now. There was something he had to confirm.

Hiro opened his door to the hallway. The hallway wasn't enveloped in wispy darkness yet, and he barged into Yumi's room.

[Hiro: Yumi!]

Yumi, still in her penguin pajamas, was sitting on the floor playing with her stuffed animals. Yumi turned her head to look at Hiro.

[Hiro: Yumi, did you hear anything? Maybe something that sounded like a scream?]

Yumi tilted her head in confusion.

[Yumi: A scream? What do you mean?]

Hiro put his hand on his chin, deep in thought. He left Yumi's room and closed her door, walking into his room.

He paced back and forth.

There was no doubt about it, Hiro's suspicion was right. He had seen the future. Or he had travelled back in time. One of the two.

Those horrible dreams weren't dreams at all; they actually happened.

Or more accurately, they will happen.

Hiro checked his watch.

7:34 P.M.

His mother would perish at 7:38 P.M., and the attackers would attack his father right afterwards.

He still had time. He had to think of why this was happening.

Why was he reliving these moments over again?

Could it be that he was already dead, and he was experiencing his life over again?

No, that couldn't be it… He changed the outcome of his first life in his second life.

If he remembered correctly, this was his third time experiencing this. He had experienced death twice already.

Yeah, he would never forget himself dying. He shuddered at the thought of experiencing the pain and terror, getting stabbed and shot.

Hiro was surprised at how rationally he was thinking, despite knowing that his parents would soon be killed if he didn't do anything. He was almost proud of himself.

Still, he had to figure out exactly what was happening, and save his parents before they were murdered. He had to figure this out fast.

What was the cause of this phenomenon? If he died again, would he come back? Did he have a limited amount of lives? Could he keep trying to find a way to save everyone?

No, he shouldn't be thinking about that. He cannot be careless.

Not to mention…

He put his hand to his stomach. He could still see the knife threw his abdomen and the blood pooling around him.

Dying hurt like hell.

It seemed like something that would be obvious to everyone, but experiencing it himself was a different story. There was a fear instilled in him at the moment of each death, making it impossible for him to even think of dying purposely as a viable option.

Of course he didn't want to die, but he didn't like his chances against the two maniacs invading his home. So the real question to ask was "how many times was he willing to die to save his family?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something.

The hourglass he kept in his room was running. The grains of sand were glowing, flowing upward.

[Hiro: No way…]

He walked over to the hourglass, and removed it from the bookshelf, holding it in his hands. As he got closer, the hourglass' grains glowed brighter, and when he made contact with it, the hourglass shone so brightly that it was hard to look at.

[Hiro: No way…]

The hourglass he kept in his room had special grains, and was made with a divider so that the grains couldn't pass through. The grains were made of a special material that glowed when reacting with mana. Hiro had seen it glow before, which was nothing special. Whenever Shuuki walked into the room, the hourglass would always glow like crazy.

However, what was shocking was that the grains were flowing. Upwards at that.

The divider in the hourglass was fine-tuned so that it would only react to Hiro's mana, and was set to deteriorate when he unleashed a massive amount of mana-- AKA when he unlocked his magical ability.

All of his siblings had an hourglass of their own; Kobu, Shuuki, and Yumi all had their hourglasses. His parents bought all of them hourglasses so that they would know exactly when they unlocked their magical ability (even though it cost them a few big bucks).

Kobu's hourglass was always without a divider for as long as Hiro could remember, and Yumi still had hers. For Shuuki, Hiro was there when it happened.

It was just a random moment. They were watching Saturday morning anime in Shuuki's room, until his hourglass began glowing, and two flat plates that looked like mirrors appeared out of nowhere. They were no larger than their fists.

The boys were confused about what they were until Shuuki realized he could stick his arms through them. They were portals!

Shuuki got his arm stuck in them, and the siblings had to call their parents for help.

Ah man, Hiro missed those times.

If he had unlocked a magical ability, what was it?

Then it hit him.

Hiro realized something so astounding and terrifyingly painful that he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

[Hiro: Ha… Hahahaha…]

Hiro felt light-headed and put his hand against the wall to stop himself from falling over.

The repeats of his family dying, him living for a third time-- it was his ability.

His magical ability… was to die.

It was so bad it was funny. This whole situation was laughable.

He wasn't sure if he was lucky, or if he was cursed. He had another chance to save his family, but with this ability he would never be able to become a combat mage…

{Hiro: Ugh, stop being so selfish! Focus!}

If he had to die to use the ability, it was useless. He didn't want to die. Sure, he gets a second chance at life, but how many times was he going to die?

Most people only die once.

Of course, Hiro got this ability. His ability was so hilariously useless, he hated it.

So whenever he dies, he is able to go back to some point in time… however, he didn't plan on dying. He didn't want anything to do with death.

But here he was.

Of course he got stuck with this ability. His hope of unlocking some crazy powerful ability to catch up to Shuuki's level just went down the drain… He wouldn't be able to become a combat mage with this type of power…

Out of all the abilities out there… he could've been able to shoot blasts of fire, break brick walls with his fists, fly in the air-- but no. He can die.

{Hiro: C'mon me, FOCUS!}

Hiro mentally reprimanded himself. He shouldn't be thinking about trivial things like that, especially in the situation he's in.

Plus, he couldn't complain. His ability had saved his life twice before. Or did it really? He had actually died back then.

So if Hiro was able to go back in time, he had a temporal mana affiliation-- the rarest mana type. But what was the point if it was borderline useless?

However, going back in time… it was an ability never heard of before. Most time magic abilities were limited to speeding things up and slowing things down, or even stopping time in extremely rare cases.

But never reversing time.

What kind of box did Hiro just open for himself?

Pacing around his room, something absolutely horrible occurred to him.

He lost track of time.

If his mother died now, it would be his fault.

He frantically opened the door to his room while checking his watch.

7:37 P.M.

He still had one more minute!

He rushed down the hallway, darkness enveloping every inch of the house.

Now that he thought about it, this murky darkness was most likely the product of the attackers' magic. The invisibility, the weakness, the head explosions– they were all magic from the murderers.

But there was no time for thought. He ran down the stairs and--

An ear-curdling scream stabbed its way through Hiro's ears.

His mother was murdered right in front of him.

It was all his fault. He forgot. He waited too long.

He fought back the urge to throw up, or he would make himself known to the intruder only a few meters in front of him. Hiro gagged, tasting the bile in his mouth, holding his lips shut with his hands.

Hiro didn't know this much blood could come from one person.

The blue-haired attacker was standing in the kitchen, with his mother pressed into the kitchen sink. Two chunks in her sides began twisting violently, then exploded. Blood splattered all over the kitchen, and blood poured out of her body like a stream.

There was so much blood.

Why did he have to do that?

She was already dead.

The blue-haired attacker wiped off the blood splatter on his coat, and walked out of the kitchen towards the living room.

Ishiyaka. That was his name.

Suddenly, a blur of motion came from his parent's bedroom, dashing towards Ishiyaka.

Even though it was completely silent to Hiro, Ishiyaka must have noticed something, and ducked.

A swipe went right over his head, and an exchange of jabs, dodges, and blocks occurred. He was fighting someone.

Through the darkness it was hard to tell who it was, but he knew it was his father, Kota.

Ishiyaka looked extremely surprised, but still had a dead-serious face. Kota had both of his arms covered in brick and floor tile, rigid stones sticking from his hands.

Ishiyaka kept trying to back away from him, but Kota wouldn't let him. He relentlessly attacked Ishiyaka, and Ishiyaka was losing his ground.

Hiro could tell. Ishiyaka was responding slower and slower with every powerful attack from Kota.

Ishiyaka was striking back at Kota and connecting, but Kota didn't seem to be affected at all.

Hiro noticed something. Kota had his whole torso covered in stone, and acting as armor and cushion for the hits.

Ishiyaka was getting pushed around the room, unable to do anything, until–

bang bang!

Two shots hit Hiro's father, breaking off stone fragments. His father remained standing, and was unharmed.

The black-haired attacker was standing by the front door, the moon right behind him, casting his shadow.

Taking this opportunity, Ishiyaka escaped Kota's barrage of attacks and stepped back to where his partner was.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Having some trouble?]

[Ishiyaka: Just a little bit.]

bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

The black-haired attacker shot more rounds of bullets, many of them hitting Kota. Kota tried to dodge them, but his heavy armor limited his movement, taking him by surprise.

Kota backed up by a shelf in the living room, using it as cover.

Hiro knew his father had some experience fighting, but by no means was he a combat mage. He wouldn't last much longer.

His torso armor was nearly all gone, so he dropped it. The stones encasing his chest and back fell.

Kota hit the wall next to him with his fist, shattering the brick to reinforce his arm with it.

bang bang bang bang!

Bullets shot right next to Kota, shattering the shelf into splinters.

At the sounds of shooting, Kota ducked and rolled to the other side of the living room.

bang bang bang!

On his knees, Kota deflected the bullets coming his way, pieces of stone breaking off of his arm.

bang!

The bullet shattered the layer of rock protecting his arm.

bang bang bang!

Kota dodged the bullets, then smacked his arm against the chimney wall. The brick broke into a bunch of fragments, then collected onto his arm once again.

bang bang!

Kota blocked one of the bullets with one of his arms, but the other hit him in the abdomen.

He winced in pain, but couldn't afford to take his focus off of the attacker.

What was Hiro doing right now? Hiro had been so entranced by the fight, he almost forgot he had to take action. He had to help him.

He couldn't repeat what happened last time. He couldn't let his father die. He couldn't let himself die.

But when was the best time to attack? Hiro had a terrible flashback to what happened last time, where he missed his chance to attack Ishiyaka when he was completely open, and he had to watch his father die.

He had to attack at precisely that moment. Hiro had to attack when he didn't have the courage to last time. Hiro's whole body was shaking, but he knew he could do it. He had to.

Hiro walked into the kitchen, trying his hardest to not pay attention to the mangled body to his right. He took the same knife from the same drawer he opened the last time.

bang!

Hiro's father blocked the bullet with his arm, then dove behind the couch for cover.

bang bang bang bang bang!

An array of bullets flew through the couch, sending fluff and wood flying everywhere. Hiro's father was miraculously uninjured from that barrage, and rolled behind the wall next to the stairs, closing in on the attackers. It was where Hiro was just a moment ago.

Hiro's father tried peeking past the wall to get a view, but––

bang bang!

Both bullets shot right past Kota's face, missing him only by an inch.

bang! click click click––

This was where his father was going to run and try to attack them!––

Exactly as Hiro remembered it, Kota dashed out from behind the wall, putting his arm down to make a sharp turn, and sprinted towards the attackers.

Hiro saw a shift in the space. A refraction of light in the air. It was Ishiyaka.

Hiro had to make his move now!

Ishiyaka was standing at the front door and dissolved into a dark puff of smoke, as he appeared right behind Hiro's father, ready to grab him.

Hiro was ready this time. Don't get it wrong, he was still terrified; however, this time he was thinking rationally and fully understood what would happen if he failed his objective.

Hiro leaped from behind the kitchen wall, dashing forward towards Ishiyaka.

Hiro lifted his arm to stab him in the neck, and--

Ishiyaka twisted his body around and smacked Hiro's wrist, knocking the knife right out of his hand.

Hiro couldn't hesitate or waste a single second.

Hiro attempted punches and kicks on Ishiyaka, but he was able to dodge and block them all. Hiro launched a flurry of attacks, but Ishiyaka dealt with him without difficulty.

Hiro tried to do a big kick, but then Ishiyaka caught his ankle.

[Ishiyaka: Slow.]

Ishiyaka responded with a kick of his own, in which Hiro slid and rolled across the floor, but still landed on his feet. His knife was right next to him.

During this, Kota passed Ishiyaka and Hiro without noticing them, still going straight for the kill.

The black-haired attacker took a silver blade out of his jacket, and began slashing and defending himself from Kota's sledgehammer arms.

The black-haired attacker was very fast, able to get shallow slices into Kota while circling around him, dodging his attacks.

Kota couldn't last much longer against him. It was not a good matchup at all. The black-haired attacker's speed completely countered Kota's durability and attack power.

[Black-Haired Attacker: An opening.]

After many attacks and blocks and dodges, the black-haired attacker found a solid opening. With one powerful thrust, he stabbed right through Kota's back, blood bursting from the openings.

Meanwhile, Hiro was fighting a battle of his own.

Hiro and Ishiyaka stood at a distance from each other, waiting for the other to move first.

On one knee, Hiro was ready to pounce at any moment, his knife in his hands.

Ishiyaka seemed to look at Hiro with disdain, and it really angered him.

What did Hiro do to deserve this?

With a shout, Hiro sprung towards Ishiyaka. However, Ishiyaka remained still.

Hiro raised his arm and attempted a downwards stab into Ishiyaka's chest, but then a sickening squishing sound interrupted Hiro, and needles of pain traveled from his hand to where he was holding the knife rocketed throughout his body.

shhhhk--!

His hand felt like it was on fire. No, it was worse than that. It felt like he had just dipped his hand into a vat of acid.

It hurt so much.

This might've hurt more than when he had gotten stabbed through the chest.

Bringing his arm down for the stab, nothing had hit.

Having missed his target, his momentum pulled him, making him lose balance and fall over.

{Hiro: Huh?}

He wasn't holding the knife anymore. His hand hurt so much. His hand felt like it was on fire.

Hiro tried rolling over to get to safety, but he couldn't.

Ishiyaka stood there, Hiro right at his feet, Ishiyaka looking down upon him.

{Hiro: Huh..?}

Hiro lifted his hand, and… oh… he didn't have a hand.

His hand was gone, his arm just had a stub, and vast amounts of blood were flowing from it.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

[Hiro: AAAAAAAAGH--!]

Hiro began screaming. His arm was gone. His arm was gone. His arm was gone.

[Hiro: AAAAAAAAGH--!]

Hiro held his arm close to his body, cradling it, as if that would make things better. He crumpled into a fetal position on the ground, just wanting the pain to stop.

Feeling his vocal cords giving out, his screaming turned into shrill air passing through his throat. Hiro began hyperventilating, having trouble breathing.

Ishiyaka kneeled down, about to place a hand on the boy's head to end his life.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Wait.]

The murderer walked over to Hiro, with his hands in his pockets. Ishiyaka raised his head to look at his partner.

The black-haired attacker had a serious look on his face, and looked as if he were assessing the boy crying on the floor, studying him closely. His serious face slowly became a smile, and his eyes lit up.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Don't kill him yet. Actually, clot up his blood. I want to... enjoy my time here before I have to go.]

[Ishiyaka: Don't kill him? Aren't we supposed to?]

[Black-Haired Attacker: Well yes, but… Don't worry about it, I'll kill him later.]

Ishiyaka raised an eyebrow.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Eh, it doesn't matter, he'll die in the end. He won't get out of this place with those kinds of wounds anyways.]

Ishiyaka looked at Hiro, wondering what decision he should make.

[Ishiyaka: You know, I feel bad for everyone that happens to cross paths with you. Including myself.]

Ishiyaka looked at Hiro with sorry eyes, knowing his fate.

[Ishiyaka: He seems like a good kid. He tried saving his father. Plus, I commend his bravery and his combat skills.]

Ishiyaka looked at Razan.

[Ishiyaka: Don't make his death last too long, okay?]

The black-haired attacker put his hands behind his neck, resting his head lazily on his hands.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Yeah, yeah.]

[Ishiyaka: Don't go overboard this time.]

He sighed, placed his hands on Hiro's bloody stub, and stopped the bleeding. The blood dried up.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Th-a-n-k-s.]

Ishiyaka walked away from the scene, removed all the blood from his clothes, and stepped out to the front door.

[Ishiyaka: I trust you can take care of the rest?]

[Black-Haired Attacker: Of course.]

Ishiyaka left the house, disappearing from sight.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Well then, you certainly have something interesting, don't you?]

The smile became disgustingly wider, as the black-haired attacker laughed at Hiro, who was crying and whimpering in pain, holding his arm.

[Black-Haired Attacker: Hahaha! You're going to enjoy what I have in store for you.]