Chapter 12: The Two Mikis

Chapter 12: The Two Mikis

Rick's lungs gasped for air as he jolted awake.

His dorm. Again.

His fingers clenched the sheets, his mind racing. The train. The crash. The void.

It had all felt so real—but here he was, back in bed, the morning sun bleeding through his window.

For a moment, his breath slowed, his mind struggling to adjust to the crushing familiarity.

Then, his stomach twisted.

His notebook was already open on the desk. But the pages weren't blank.

There were new entries.

Notes he didn't remember writing.

Rick's pulse pounded as he staggered toward it, eyes scanning the scrawled handwriting.

"Miki is missing."

"Find the train."

"The loop is real."

And then—

A sentence written in jagged, frantic strokes, as if his own hand had been trembling when he wrote it.

"She doesn't remember you."

Rick's breath caught in his throat.

His hand shot toward his phone. His fingers trembled as he pulled up his contacts—

Miki Hoshino.

Her name was there.

His chest tightened. He hit call.

The phone rang. Once. Twice.

Then—

"Hello?"

A wave of relief crashed over him. Miki was here. In this timeline.

But then—something about her tone made his body go cold.

"…Who is this?"

Rick's stomach plummeted.

"Miki, it's me! Rick!" he said quickly, gripping the phone tighter.

A pause. Then—

"I think you have the wrong number."

Rick's heart stopped.

No.

No, that wasn't possible.

"Miki, listen to me." He swallowed, forcing his voice to stay steady. "We've known each other for years. You… You don't remember?"

Her hesitation stretched longer this time. He could hear the faint rustling of her breath, as if she was trying to think—trying to remember.

But when she spoke again, her voice was distant, polite, but detached.

"I'm sorry. I don't know who you are."

A quiet click.

The call disconnected.

Rick stood frozen, his mind spinning.

She wasn't just ignoring the past.

To this Miki, Rick had never existed.

Rick raced across campus, his breath coming in ragged bursts.

He found her in the library, sitting at a table by the window, absorbed in a book.

Rick's stomach twisted.

She looked the same—same brown hair, same sharp eyes scanning the pages—but something was missing.

She felt… lighter. Like a stranger wearing Miki's face.

Rick forced himself forward.

She looked up, blinking in confusion.

"…Can I help you?" she asked, tilting her head.

Rick's throat tightened.

It was her. But at the same time, it wasn't.

"You really don't know me?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Miki frowned slightly. "Should I?"

Rick swallowed hard. "We were friends. We studied together. We—"

Before he could finish—

A loud gasp cut through the silence.

Rick turned—

And his entire world shattered.

Standing in the entrance of the library was another Miki.

Her chest rose and fell in panic, her eyes darting across the room before locking onto him.

Rick felt his breath leave his lungs.

She looked pale, disoriented—like someone who had just woken up from a nightmare.

And then, she saw herself.

Her gaze landed on the other Miki, the one sitting at the desk.

Her face contorted into pure shock.

The other Miki?

She just stared back—completely confused.

"What the hell?" the looped Miki whispered.

The other Miki's brows furrowed. "Who—who are you?"

The library fell into absolute silence.

Rick could barely breathe.

He had just broken the loop.

For a long moment, nobody spoke.

Then, the looped Miki slowly turned to Rick, her breath shaky.

"…Rick?"

Hearing his name in her voice again—full of emotion, of recognition—almost made his knees buckle.

"Yeah," he whispered. "It's me."

Her hands trembled, her eyes flicking between him and her other self.

"…What is happening?" she breathed.

Rick took a step closer, his voice careful but urgent.

"You've been stuck in a time loop, Miki," he said. "You just didn't remember."

The moment he said it, the looped Miki staggered backward, gripping her head.

Her breath hitched as flashes of memories began breaking through—the train crash, Rose's screams, the endless resets.

She let out a shaken gasp, her fingers clutching the sides of her skull.

Rick reached for her. "Miki—"

And then, her knees buckled.

Her memories were coming back too fast.

Her body convulsed slightly, her eyes flickering with half-formed visions.

The other Miki—the one who **had never experienced the loop—**stared in horror.

"W-What's wrong with her?"

Rick turned to her, realization hitting him.

This Miki… was never supposed to exist.

She was just a replacement created by the loop.

And now, with the real Miki's return—

Reality was beginning to break.

The ground shuddered.

A deep, distant rumbling echoed through the library, making the bookshelves tremble.

The air flickered.

Rick's stomach plummeted.

The loop was reacting to the real Miki's return.

If she fully regained her memories—what would happen to this timeline?

Rick barely had time to process it before—

A sharp, screeching noise filled the air.

The lights flickered violently.

Then—

The library door slammed shut on its own.

Rick and both Mikis whipped around—

And what they saw made their blood run cold.

On the library window—

A message had appeared, scratched violently into the glass.

Three words.

"TIME'S RUNNING OUT."

Then—the glass shattered.