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nThis vision of the study session was a year later.

nSophomore Sam laid on the chair lazily, looking down at a textbook while twirling a pencil in his hand. It was fairly clear that he had gotten used to being here. On the other side was Ananta. She had a notebook open along with a mechanical pencil next to it. However, she wasn’t looking at that, but rather the person across from her.

nA drawn out sight came from Sophomore Sam.

n“Ironic how it’s called Stoke’s Theorem, but I’m really not stoked to learn it.”

nAnanta laughed and placed one hand on her cheek.

n“It’s not his fault that his last name was that.”

nSophomore Sam leaned back in the chair.

n“Why are these people named after all these theorems anyway? So many of them are just basically the same formula, like this one and Green’s Theorem.”

nAnanta shrugged her shoulders.

n“What? You don’t want your name passed down in history?”

nSophomore Sam clicked his tongue and rested his head on the top of the backrest.

n“That’s lame as hell. I don’t care about what happens after I die. At the very least, I don’t care enough to be this pompous.”

nAnanta rested her elbow on the table and supported her head by the chin. There was a small smile on her face.

n“Haha, that’s a bit harsh. Though, at the same time, it’s just like you.”

nSophomore Sam tilted his head to the side.

n“Just like me? What does that even mean?”

nAnanta leaned in a little and giggled.

n“Hm? Are you trying to get at something?”

nAs the person revisiting this memory, Sam let out a soft sigh. He could still vividly remember where this was going.

nAs for his younger self, he had no idea.

n“Huh? Am I trying to get at something?”

nAnanta rolled her eyes as her smile grew slightly wider.

n“Your words just now were… just like me.”

nSophomore Sam slowly nodded.

n“Uh, yeah?”

nAnanta let out a soft sigh.

n“Yes.”

nThis confused Sophomore Sam tremendously.

n“Huh?”

nAnanta pouted.

n“You really are making me spell it out, huh? Yes, I like you.”

nThough she was quite clear, it didn’t seem to clear up the confusion the oblivious man was facing.

nBut thankfully, after about thirty seconds or so, Sophomore Sam was eventually able to piece together the meaning of this sentence. Though, he still wasn’t able to believe that he was getting confessed to.

n“Wait. Are you saying you like me… like that way?”

nAnanta clicked her tongue.

n“What else is it supposed to mean? Come on, you can’t tell me that you really weren’t expecting this.”

nSam opened his mouth and closed it a few times, trying to speak, but unable to formulate the words.

nAnanta crossed her arms and looked to the side.

n“We are basically already a couple, y’know? Like, just think about it.”

nSophomore Sam put a finger on his chin and did just that. However, to him, he didn’t really see it. They just seemed like close friends.

n“Uh… is it?”

nAnanta stood up and grabbed onto his shoulders before shaking them.

n“Don’t lie to me! You’ve been teasing me so much, yet you’re pretending to be innocent?”

nSophomore Sam raised his hands up like he was being yelled at by the police.

n“Ehhh?”

nAnanta let out a soft sigh.

n“I’ve bought you things, and you’ve bought me things. We got out to eat together with just the two of us frequently. You even come over to my place all of the time!”

nShe pointed at him accusingly.

n“But the kicker that lets me know that you know is that you always wrap your arm around my shoulder! I’ve been letting you do it without even shying away, so you obviously know by now!”

nSam looked at his younger self’s bewildered expression and couldn’t help but laugh, but the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

nSophomore Sam shut his eyes tightly and furrowed his brows.

n“…Oh, those are all things that people dating do.”

nAnanta leaned back into her chair with a small pout.

n“I mean, pretty much everyone already thinks we are a couple, and we basically are. I’m just making it official.”

nSophomore Sam scratched the side of his head.

n“But those things could also be considered a thing friends do, right?”

nAnanta rolled her eyes.

n“What kind of friend has that much skinship and stays at each other’s places this much?”

nShe let out a soft sigh.

n“I guess we haven’t gotten that far, especially because all our friends think we are just **ing all the time.”

nIf Sophomore Sam was drinking something, he would’ve spit it out. In fact, despite only having saliva in his mouth, he nearly spat that out.

n“What?”

nHe grabbed onto the side of his head, then seemed to come to a realization.

n“Oh… that’s why Tony always gives me those weird looks when I’m walking to your place.”

nAnanta grabbed onto his hand with a smile.

n“Well, do you want…”

nShe ended up blushing and awkwardly cleared her throat.

n“I mean uh, you haven’t said that you liked me back. It’s only fair, you know?”

nSophomore Sam was stunned for a moment. There was a forlorn look on his face for a brief moment.

nBut eventually, a trembling smile formed on his face.

n“I uh, like you too.”

nSam took a deep breath as he watched his younger self say that.

nIt wasn’t technically a lie, but he really didn’t see her that way at all before. It was kind of an oversight on his part considering the circumstances, but he thought that Ananta also saw it at least somewhat similarly.

nSam just always wanted a friend, and it just so happened to be that Ananta ended up being one of them. He really did enjoy spending time with her and would probably even die for her.

nBut he still thought of her as a friend.

nIt wasn’t that he liked guys or anything. Sam just always thought of her in that way. He didn’t think it was weird, but from how everyone else acted, he couldn’t help but accept that was the case.

nWhen confronted with the sudden confession, his first instinct was to be honest and tell how he actually felt. But then, he also imagined their relationship would take irreparable damage.

nIn the end, he paused for a moment to think.

nIf he had to choose someone to always spend time with for the rest of his life, he would without a doubt choose Ananta. So even though it was out of the blue for him, he decided to accept it.

nSam sat down on the floor and looked up to the ceiling.

nIt was a little dirty.

nHe never really understood why there couldn’t just be friendship between opposite genders. It seemed like there never really just was a place for only friends. It was either acquaintances, or lovers.

nThere was technically a friend phase, but it would have quotation marks around it so much of the time. It seemed that the only way this was possible was if it was a business relationship, or if it was one made while being an adult.

nSam didn’t decide to fight with this notion.

nHe was the kind that just went with things. And that’s how he ended up marrying Ananta.

nSam then thought of something he wanted to try out as he looked towards his younger self. Without really knowing why, he decided to place his hand on the back of his younger self.

nHis hand phased through, making him think that his test failed.

nBut then, time began to reverse. It started off slow, but very rapidly picked up in speed. After remaining in this position for quite a while, Sam suddenly released it.

nAnd once he did, Sam saw his younger self when he was just a kid.

nThis version of him was sitting down on a bench at the park. He watched the other children playing around, while he was just kicking at the woodchips covering the ground.

nThere was a natural frown on his face, and he looked rather grumpy.

nBut then, a little girl ran over and waved towards him.

n“Hey! Why are you just sitting here at the park? You should be playing!”

nThe kid version of Sam just grumbled, not willing to respond.

nThen, without even asking, the little girl grabbed onto his hand and pulled him up from the bench.

n“Don’t be like that, dummy! Why don’t you play with me?”

nThe kid version of Sam seemed a bit apprehensive, but muttered an agreement.

n“Ok…”

nThe girl smiled brightly.

n“My name is Ananta, what is yours?”

nHe muttered.

n“S-Sam.”

nThe two of them proceeded to just run around the park, where the majority of the time was just Ananta pulling him along. Yet, it did not take long for the frown to turn into a smile.

nSam’s eyes began to dull slightly as he watched this. He could feel some sort of resistance, that he could leave this strange realm of memories by now.

nBut he didn’t want to.

nHe justified it to himself by saying that he would only stay for just a little bit longer.

n“Not so fast, Ananta! I’m scared!”

n“What is there to be scared of, dummy!”

nSam saw himself grow up, becoming older along with Ananta. Both of them had changed considerably over time, but they were still very close to each other.

nWhen they were in middle school, they had both gotten very used to each other’s presence.

n“Yo, Sam! I got a hundred dollar restaurant gift card, let’s go get something right now.”

n“Seriously?!”

nMiddle school Sam had his eyes open in shock. As for Ananta, she just laughed.

n“Yeah, that would be a dirty lie to tell!”

nHe then grabbed her arm and pointed in a direction.

n“I want at least one box of chicken nuggets!”

nThen, they were highschoolers.

n“Ananta! Let’s go use up this movie gift card I got for my birthday!”

n“Don’t add so much butter to the popcorn next time!”

nBefore Sam even realized, he was once again looking at himself and Ananta together. And Ananta confessing to him again.

nSam reversed the time once more, taking him all the way back.

nAnd he watched the entire process again.

nAnd again.

nBy now, so long as he somewhat willed it, he could leave this place. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

nIt made one wonder if he would actually leave this place at all.

nAs for the person carrying his unconscious body in reality, Kairos, this delayed wake up was stressing him out by quite a bit.

nBy now, the group had been running for nearly thirty minutes. Chase had already begun running using his own feet, and the general consensus among everyone was that they were really tired.

nHowever, none of them suggested to stop running. In fact, none of them dared to stop.

nEveryone kept their eyes forward, but there was an extremely bad looming feeling coming from behind. Far off in the distance, there was a massive set of red tentacles that were smashing apart the surrounding infrastructure.

nAll of them could agree that they wanted to run away.

nThere was some sort of strange pressure that made them feel afraid. There was a natural instinct in their bodies telling them that they had to escape, further propelling that desperate desire to flee.

nAnd the unfortunate thing was that the giant tentacles were approaching them.

nThe distance between them was still quite huge, but it seemed like the monster had somehow noticed them.

nKairos’ eyes were bloodshot, as carrying someone while running really did weigh him down, especially when he was running at full speed. He really hoped that Sam would wake up soon, but that seemed like a pipe dream at this point.

nThere was also another lingering fear in Kairos’ mind.

nAt some point, he turned around to look at the monster, and that fear ended up being well placed.

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