Infinite Moment

A Future Diary Fanfiction

We all have those special moments in our lives when a sudden inspiration takes control over us completely, when a simple moment of courage can make the difference between "Oh how I wish it would happen…" and ''I will obtain it no matter what!" One of those moments happened to young Yukiteru Amano. Nothing special, nothing planned, merely a few words stringed together that would have a profound impact on his whole being. One special moment when he managed to view life in a different perspective; some would say an idealistic one, while others-those who were once called idealistic but now are well known as ''those particular people who seized their dream and made it happen''-all bow down in respect before this young soul, who accomplished in that little time he had, what others couldn't achieve in a lifetime.

'This wasn't supposed to happen…why are they fighting? They should be planning the trip they promised me a few weeks ago,' Young Yukiteru was thinking to himself while hiding in a corner, watching from the shadows while his parents got in yet another fight. This time it seemed it wouldn't end so nicely.

His father recently arrived from a so-called ''business'' travel abroad, and wasted no time in complaining about his newest debts and how he's "the only one who finances this family." This particular event wouldn't be out of the ordinary, if only he hadn't begun to criticize everything he knew would badly insult his wife. The pressure kept building for months, but now, something snapped. She finally decided to strike back.

"I wish I never married a lowlife like you!" Rea Amano snarled. "All you do is complain about everything every time you come home! I can't take it anymore! I refuse to be with someone who drags his family into debts, ruining every day with everything that comes out of his mouth!"

We couldn't say his father, Kurou Amano, was a man of words: one could best describe him as a man of action, and that he did. Refusing to hear anymore words, he raised his hand against the devoted wife that has been by his side in good and bad for so many years, and he began to hit her with everything near his reach, striking with thirst for blood until finally she lost conscious out of sheer pain.

Not wasting anymore time, he quickly searched all possible hiding spots for the money his wife had surely hidden. After a few minutes of frantic movement, he was satisfied with the amount of cash found. Grinning in victory he took his already packed suitcase with all the necessary "equipment" for a new life, and opened the door as casually as if he was leaving for a stroll.

Back then, not even Yukiteru could find a reason for his action. There was no explanation but pure love for his family that drove him to stop his father mid-step, timidly grabbing his left sleeve, and pleading with a pair of eyes that could melt even the coldest ice.

"Dad, please stay! You promised we go and watch the stars together, don't you remember?"

He supported his words by pointing to the newly purchased telescope laying near the door. It worked innocently in his mind; dad would see what he did, and would deeply regret it, dad would hug him and tell him everything will be alright, dad would come back and stay forever with them…childish dreams.

Kurou Amano lost in that day everything that gave him the right to be called a human. He casually jerked the young's child grasp, walked over to the telescope, and showed it to him, exposing a wicked smile, one that a child should never see in his life.

"Is this the telescope you kept bragging about?" he asked viciously.

Not showing any sign of emotion he unpacked the telescope and proceeded to sadistically destroy it beyond all recognizable comprehension. Yukiteru watched with a mixture of shock and horror as his father destroyed the only thing that kept them together. He embraced himself in a gesture of self-protection, well aware that nothing would stop his father from doing the same thing with him. To his surprise, however, no such thing happened.

His father, throwing a disgusted glance over at his wife and son, opened the door to leave, and then paused as if he forgot something important. He turned around to face his son.

"You're the reason I hated this place in the beginning," he snarled venomously, his words cutting through the boy like a burning knife. "I never wanted a pathetic child like you! No friends no life, you're nothing! No one would ever care if you would die right here and now! I regret the day I even had the thought to make you!"

As his father was about to leave, he grimaced at his frightened offspring, and uttered the final words that in his mind, would make his statement complete: "You are nothing more than a stupid little coward!"

And with that he vanished, like a thief who beats helpless women unconscious, robs their wealth and mentally scars young children for life.

With that, Yukiteru, ran to his mother and tried desperately to wake her up. After a failed attempt he dialed the ambulance, as he had seen on television, and told the person on the other line everything that had happened. As he waited for the paramedics to arrive, he walked into a corner, crouched down and buried his face in his hands, exploding in torrent of tears and repeating throw sobs:

"Stupid coward! Stupid coward! That's everything that I am, and that's the reason why dad left! I'm nothing more than a stupid little coward!...And no one can change that."

And while it continued long after the paramedics arrived, nothing could erase that memory. The most vicious disease ever created by man, an idea, an idea implanted that would weigh his life down for all his days left.

Months after those events, there weren't enough days in the week for all the psychology he needed to wash that nightmare away. His mother eventually had to give up on all those sessions, fearing that she would become like her ex-husband: buried in depth. Nevertheless, she comforted her child on every occasion she could, assuring him that nothing was his fault, and that everything would be alright. Nothing worked. Moreover, he seemed to become more and more solitary every day: no social contact at all, he began to fear people, and even refused to watch television. Weeks past by, but his condition never improved.

And now we find Yukiteru in his classroom, as far as he knew all alone, struggling at an assignment his teacher gave him to improve his grades. He always sat in the same row, same desk, same position, near the window watching as time went by, praying that sometimes it would end faster.

The question that wouldn't let him leave was 'What do you want to do in your future?' He thought what to write, he honestly tried, but all he would think of was 'I don't want to be a stupid coward.' And it somehow felt impossible to change.

On the opposite row, a girl was struggling at the same assignment, although not to improve her grades as for the extra credit it offered. She watched curiously as the lonely boy was bumping his pencil repeatedly on his forehead. In a way it made him look cute, all hopeless and innocent. Eventually she decided to see what he managed to write so far.

The young girl carefully slid the chair away so she wouldn't make her presence noticed, brushed her hair instinctively for a better view, and walked quietly towards him, hands together behind her back, as though not to perturb the silence that was already settled. She leaned in close to see his paper, and frowned when she saw the words written. After a few seconds of thought she casually tapped his shoulder waiting for a surprised reaction.

As expected, when the boy looked at her, he thought he'd seen a ghost. The pink-haired girl chuckled softly at her prediction, and leaned closer to the boy so that they were at eye level. As though chatting with a scared kitten she asked in a soft, almost comforting voice, "Why don't you write something positive? It doesn't suit you to be this dark and gloomy all the time."

He looked at her, a bit shocked by her presence, but after so many days of a sheltered life, he decided just a few minutes of casual chat would actually put his mind on something else. He looked back in his paper, a bit disappointed, and replied with a voice full of sorrow, "I can't think of anything else. These words haunted me ever since my dad…cursed me with them. I simply don't know what else to think."

She looked a bit disappointed as well. Looking at the young boy, she immediately had an interesting idea. The pink-haired girl rose up, grabbed his pencil, and scrawled away his depressing words, while writing a new dream, she looked at the boy and said in the same cheerful tone, "You can't simply expect a change in your life if you keep wishing for it to happen. It's impossible, in the end those bad things will reach you and they will drag you into the deepest pit of sadness. Try this for a change: use a different way of viewing life, what do you want to attract, and what do you want to reach, something like…this, here!"

And she handed over the newly forged dream, quite the opposite from his previous one: this one was more positive, and come to think of it, it even sounded realistic…even achievable.

"'I want to become a brave genius, and if I never give up, nothing and no one in this world will be able to stop me!'"

He read the newly written sentence, wondering just why would she even think he would be capable of something like this.

"Umm…you see, the problem is…"

But he never got to finish his excuse, because the pink-haired girl hastily interrupted him, placing a finger on his lips, and smiling as if all the world was hers.

"I don't want to hear it; there were plenty of other inspirational phrases to use."

There certainly were benefts for being a clever young girl, and why she was on the top of her class was made quite obvious withher next statement. She casually begun to number those uplifting quotes in her own order, raising one finger for each one:

"If you never give up, you never lose; there no losing, only delayed victory; no one is taller than the last man standing; the world is against you-it wouldn't be fair otherwise; the doctors called it 'impossible disease', I call it challenge; pain is temporary, glory is eternal. And my favorite one: courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear, thus a man of courage never wants a weapon. That's why I tried to sum these all up in one simple sentence that would describe both you and your goal."

And she exhaled deeply as if she was holding her breath the whole time, after smiling joyfully at her little speech she looked at the boy in hope of a positive reaction. Her efforts would be meaningless otherwise.

And surprise-surprise, a positive reaction she had. He looked at her in awe, eyes gazing at her as if she grew a second head. After a few seconds he blinked, a bit stunned, and tried to process the current situation. After some moments of thought he replied in a low voice, "How can I become brave and smart when I have no reason to? No one ever wanted me to become someone better. They all want just want me to stop feeling sorry for myself."

She cocked her head to the side a bit and stared at him, a bit annoyed by his response. "Geez, you're really stubborn, how about this then? 'Don't believe in yourself, believe in me who believes in you!'"

Again, the boy blinked a bit surprised, not even noticing the young girl leaning over to write something else.

"And to be sure you never stray away from this path, I'll become your bride in the future!"

Those final words were written on the paper, near his new dream, like an eternal declaration of love and commitment. Yukiteru was, for the first time in many months, amused by something. That declaration alone was enough to invigorate him. In the end, he had to submit.

"Alright, when we grow up. Until then I will do everything in my power to make this dream a reality."

The young girl looked as if she was blushing. Nevertheless, she seemed pleased by his statement. She shook her head in approval, murmuring her own response in a low voice, only for his ears, "Okay! And that's a promise!"

He blushed as well, not knowing exactly why, and had time to think of a single question before he watched her leave, "Wait, can you tell me your name, please?"

Just as she was about to leave, she stopped and looked back into his eyes for a moment and replied with a smile on her face that could light up the entire world:

"Gasai Yuno, and yours?"

He tried to match her smile, mostly from his desire to make her leave with a happy face.

"Amano Yukiteru, recently known as that one brave genius!"

She chuckled cheerfully after waving him goodbye, and so he was left again all alone in that solitary aura that defined his reputation.

Something was different this time, something he couldn't explain. He leaned on the chair and said to himself, "Waw, just…waw. This girl was everything I needed get myself up from that sad phase of life. Come to think of it, I wasted a lot of time dwelling in my own misery, all that time wasted for nothing…when I could have put it to oh, so many better objectives. Sad thought I admit, but at the end it is. or most likely was, just a thought, and nothing else."

He couldn't keep a grin from spreading across his face. He felt... something strange, a feeling he never experienced before possessed his entire being, he tried to remember the name: "I believe this is what people call confidence. Hmph." He closed his eyes as if to visualize the word

"What this power is, I cannot say, all I know is that it exists...and it's chanting continuously two words that this time, I know will guide my life on the right path: brave and genius."

He felt like laughing, but any sound of amusement he might have uttered died in his throat when his teacher, Mr. Hiyama, walked in, his clothes formal, his composure relaxed. "Amano? I thought I heard someone speaking. Was that you, young man?"

Yukiteru looked over his shoulder and for the first time in his life, he wasn't afraid of the sudden appearance or the need to answer questions, quite the opposite actually.

"Hmm? No, I didn't heard anything, must have been your imagination, Mr. Hiyama. Quite convenient that you arrived, I just finished my assignment, if you would be so kind as to check it."

And with those words he casually rose up, grabbing the paper and politely handing it over with a sacrastic smirk on his expression. The teacher saw that, but decided to ignore it. He also knew about Yukiteru's condition, and thought reactions like these would be unavoidable. After looking over the assignment for a few moments, his eyes rested on the answer he gave to the last question, and asked with a bit of mockery in his voice, "So you actually want to become a brave genius?" He couldn't keep a chuckle from escaping.

The young boy looked at him in the exact way he handed the paper, only this time, he replied in a more authoritative tone than usual , almost as if he was demanding to be taken seriously-also, there was something in his eyes, something that was too intense for even the teacher to ignore, almost like...fire?

"You see, Mr. Hiyama, here we find ourselves in small conflict. You were wrong, I don't want to become one, that statement is open to the possibility of failure, which is something I cannot accept. This time, I'm fighting to become someone real, but allow me to eliminate any sense of doubt. I'm not fighting because I want to become that person. I'm fighting because I have to be that person. If not for myself, then for the one who believes in me, the only one who did, and the only one who I need to."

And with that, he left the once mocking teacher, petrified at the boy's statement, having a hard time believing this determined character was once the same solitary soul.

Not waiting for his reaction, young Yukiteru turned to leave, waving right above his head two fingers in a sarcastic goodbye to his teacher, replying instead of a normal salute, "And if this assignment doesn't brighten up my grades, rest assured, starting tomorrow everyone will see an oh so joyful improvement in both my marks and my attitude. I'm supposed to be a genius after all."

On the way home, he had never felt the air taste so fresh, had never seen the sun shine so bright. Even his steps seemed to hold a purpose. In the end he really was a new man, all thanks to that pink-haired girl, Gasai Yuno. Maybe that was all he needed: someone to believe in him. Asking for more would be an insult to this divine inspiration. He looked at his hands, paused in his walk, and closed his eyes to visualize yet again her own words.

"In my hands, the means-in my heart, the will."

He opened his eyes, unable to restrain a bright smile.

"Simply wonderful."

After a few weeks, drastic changes could be seen in his attitude, marks, social skills, basically his whole life. To line them all up would require too much effort. Fortunately, one day he decided to sum up all his experiences in one phrase. A simple phrase composed of nothing but how he left and what that feeling manifested:

"Recalling back on that day I can honestly say that was the turning point. Since that day, I've lived a lie: The lie of living. My inner self, too, was a lie. My personal history, a lie. Nothing but lies. I was sick to death of a world that couldn't be changed. But even in my lies, I somehow refused to give up in despair, she refused to give up on me. And now, this incredible power, because that's the only way I can name this change, now…it's mine."

Yukiteru Amano grinned, trying (effortlessly) to mask his utter delight.

"Well, then…"

Author's note:

And no, this is not a one-shot, I plan to continue this story following the anime entirely, however, completely ignoring old Yukiteru and focusing on developing my own version, just to create a plot very few could imagine. Believe me, what I have in stored has everything an avid reader would want, humour, reasoning, strategic planning, a bit of horror mixed with the same amount of romance, fictional events maybe to stretched for my own mental health. And so… so much more.

I do require one thing though, one review that will simply say something like ''Me, Like, Another!'' (and perhaps if it's not too much of a bother a mark from 1 to 10 on how good the story war, that, and my writing skills. Not to worry, I honestly don't care if it's 1 or 0,0001, I just need to know if it's worth continuing).

Until then dear reader I bow down respect waving my stylish hat in a mysterious:

– Oh, stay tuned, this show Will go on!