Chapter publish date: 2/26/2017

Author's Notes: Hello! Welcome to my first published fic!

Pairing: Takashi/Saeko. No harem here folks. That will never change.

Please consider giving this story a fav and a follow if you like it. That would really make me happy.

I Hope you have fun reading! :D

Disclaimer: Highschool of the Dead does not belong to me, nor does anything else you may recognize from other licensed works. I only own my ideas. I gain nothing from writing this.

Prologue

"You brain-dead wrinkled fuckfaces just can't give me a break, can you?"

Slash!

Two of them dropped to their knees before falling backwards, their heads rolling away from their bodies. But with their brain still intact, they were far from 'dead'. They groaned and bit at air.

Takashi flicked his katana sideways and splattered a bit of blood on the ground then sheathed the blade. Now normally, Takashi would stomp on the heads to kill them. However, today he was irritated. Today, he was feeling vindictive. Today, he would leave these two heads uncrushed on the ground to rot for eternity— or at least until someone puts them out of their misery. At least they weren't alone. They could bond— if groaning and biting at dirt could be considered bonding.

It was unreasonable of course. He knew he was being childish. They were mindless reanimated corpses. Of course it wasn't their fault that the mall was completely silent and empty an hour ago.

His eye twitched.

Of course it also wasn't their fault that an honest-to-goodness meteor crashed right outside the mall sometime after he opened his big fat mouth and said, "No sign of anyone, or them. Sweet! I'll just go in, get Saeko a present, and get out. Easy peazy. What could possibly go wrong?"

The veins in his forehead throbbed.

And of course it wasn't their fault that the main entrance and the path leading to his bike were now suddenly filled with hundreds of them.

The distinct sound of glass cracking was heard in the background.

Takashi gripped the railing at the edge of the roof, leaned forward, looked up to the clear blue sky, took in a deep relaxing breath and then calmly said, "WHAT?! THE?! FUCK?!"

. . .

His loud scream got the attention of the undead below. They looked up at the human high above them and gave a confused groan. What was he so upset about? It's not like he hasn't been able to brush his teeth, nor take a bath since forever like them. He had no right to scream at the sky about the unfairness of the world.

They reasoned that since he wasn't wearing a hospital gown, then that means: he hadn't just woken up from a coma; hadn't just found out that he woke up to a zombie apocalypse; hadn't just figured out that he has no idea if his wife and son are even still alive; hadn't been clueless to the fact that his best friend has been creepily stalking his wife in the forest every time she goes under the pretense of foraging, then fucking her silly, and then spraying his thick semen all over her naked body!

They concluded that, yes, clearly the human was being a drama queen.

. . .

Up on the roof, Takashi's grip on the railing slackened, his irritation spent.

And then he sneezed. He suddenly had this feeling that someone was talking about him, and that it was somehow loosely related to Rei and Hisashi (R.I.P.) when they were in highschool. He shrugged. It was 10 years ago. He had moved on in less than two months after she broke up with him. Having the thought randomly pop up out of nowhere was beyond weird indeed.

And besides, he was way happier now with Saeko anyway. Saying he was 'happier' though, was a huge understatement. It was like comparing a banshee to an angel— an angel of death, Takashi amended. My angel of death, a soft smile on his lips.

Feeling strangely relieved at the fact that his dreams in these 10 years were constantly occupied by a certain purple-haired angel of death instead of an incessant drunk banshee screaming "TAH-KAH-SHII!", he turned around and whistled at the faint trail in the sky left by the meteor. It certainly crashed somewhere behind the mall.

Wait a sec... So if it crashed 'behind' the mall, why did they gather in 'front' of the mall?

A tick mark threatened to form above his eyebrow. It didn't make any sense! And it probably wasn't going to anytime soon, so he just gave up trying altogether.

Takashi slipped on his backpack. He already got Saeko an anniversary present and he was done confirming that, yes, a meteor really did fall out of the sky. So now, it was time to leave. He walked towards the metal door— and abruptly stopped. Right, there were hundreds of them still in the way.

All because of that stupid meteor! Fucking Murphy's law.

He gave a tired sigh. If only they didn't suddenly pop up here, or if they didn't exist period, then doing something so simple like getting a present would be so much easier. Takashi felt a little like an old geezer, sighing and yelling at every little thing.

He shook his head. Enough fooling around. He'll have to do something about them first if he wants to get to his bike without having to fight hundreds of them by himself.

It was time for a small detour. Maybe he could find something that could make enough noise to divert them away from his bike. Idly, he also thought to investigate the meteor. He might as well take a look at the chunk of rock responsible for his current situation. And maybe, he could give it a kick or two while talking trash to it. That will definitely teach it a lesson not to crash anywhere near him and spawn hundreds of them out of thin air!

As Takashi walked away, the two heads of them on the ground were also cursing at their fate, but in the form of groans and biting noises. Why the did they appear on the roof and not with the rest of them down below? This is, sadly, a mystery that will never be solved.

.
. .

Unfortunately for one Komuro Takashi, the universe still wasn't done playing with his sanity.

Impossible...

A wide-eyed Takashi watched on in his binoculars.

There was no possible way that a man wearing a white lab coat could be here. He looked too clean, too well-groomed. If not for that white lab coat, the man could be easily mistaken for someone who was about to attend a high-class party. There was also no possible way that he was carrying the meteorite out of its crater, it was five times his size!

There's just no way—

The stranger set the large chunk of rock on the ground with a loud thud that Takashi could hear even in his hiding spot 50 meters away.

His eyes comically bulged out of his binocular's lenses.

"N-No way... this is... really happening," he whispered.

The man quickly spun around, looking straight at him like a deer at night caught in headlights.

Takashi was in a similar state of panic. He instantly dropped down so that the bushes could conceal him better.

What the fuck was that?

That guy looked him in the eyes! He was quite sure he was hidden! Maybe the stranger heard him even from far away? But that was just—

He gripped the handle of his sword, his knuckles turning white. Ten years into the apocalypse has given Takashi very good instincts. He learned how to quickly identify dangerous situations and deal with them resourcefully, it's what kept them all alive for a decade. And right now those instincts were on overdrive.

Shit! This isn't good.

He's been detected, it didn't look like he was going to be able to sneak away. If the stranger was hostile, he'd lose in melee combat even if he had a sword. He had a feeling that his skill couldn't match the strength and whatever else the stranger was capable of. He had to run for it— and shoot, if he had to. He forcefully calmed himself down. He knows from experience that panicking now wouldn't do him any good. He stored the binoculars and reached for his shotgun.

.
. .

Unknown to Takashi, the man in the white lab coat did hear his whisper because of his enhanced senses. He should've heard Takashi's initial approach, but he was too distracted grumbling about how bad his day had been.

And now he was panicking. He shouldn't have been seen in this universe. Traveller's were not allowed to be seen by those who don't already know about them.

In the first place, how could my standard issue Don'tGoAnywhereNearThisInvisibleDome raygun not work on this terran?

He fumbled around his dimensional pocket and took the thing out. It looked to be in perfect condition. So why didn't it work? It was a mystery.

He irritably shoved the stupid thing back inside, not caring whether it gets damaged this time. He didn't know it yet, but he was going to regret this later.

Of course everything was going wrong today.

The now identified unnamed traveller rubbed his forehead in frustration. It was supposed to be a simple mission: go after the meteoroid that passed through a wormhole into another universe, and recover it before it crashes on a planet.

Unfortunately for him, when Takashi opened his big fat mouth, he had done so at the exact same time, saying words with the exact same amount of syllables, and finishing the last sentence in perfect unison; unwittingly cursing himself with the rare Murphy's law raised to the power of two, and making the situation much worse for himself who's just an unnamed, no plot armor, supporting character.

"A simple retrieval mission. Sweet! I'll just go in, grab this thing for easy cash, and get out. Easy as pie. What could possibly go wrong?"

A lot of things apparently. In space, the meteoroid continuously slipped from his fingers no matter what he tried. And when he made for a desperate grab, he overextended his reach and sent himself careening into a nearby sun that roasted his hair and eyebrows. Good thing he had instant regeneration. At one point, he tripped on the emptiness of space— the traveller winced because, yes, as impossible as it sounds, that really happened— and almost stumbled into a nearby black hole, his entire life flashed before his eyes. Then, just when he thought that he finally had the accursed thing in his grasp, a 20-kilo ferrous slug came out of nowhere and hit him right in the face! Good thing he could regenerate from being atomized.

This was all ridiculous! And to further tortu— emphasize this point, he asked himself,

What was more likely to happen: get hit in the face by a stray space missile of mass destruction, or get your first kiss?

Dark clouds formed above his head. Apparently for the traveller, it was the former. When he realized this, he cried many anime tears.

Stupid eyeballing wannabe space cowboy recruits that don't know how to wait for a damn computer to give them a firing solution!

After a lot more seemingly random unfortunate events and even more grumbling, he now has to face this current dilemma: the meteor crashed, he was not getting paid; an inhabitant of the planet was now staring at him with bulging eyes, he was going to be severely punished for gross incompetence.

Aaand he's going for a gun.

He needed to diffuse the situation quickly. Sure, he was mostly invulnerable thanks to his godly regeneration, but he was tired and grumpy. And if he snapped and accidentally killed anyone in this universe, severe punishments would be the least of his worries.

Crappy day aside, he still had to solve this new problem, which in this case, means erasing Takashi's memories.

.
. .

Takashi took out his shotgun and turned to make a break for it.

The traveller saw this and cast a translation spell on himself, then teleported in front of Takashi to introduce himself. It was a big mistake, as Murphy's law raised to the power of two made itself known once again.

"Hemphh mmphh nyphh—" he tried to get out. Wait, that's not right.

He then realized his predicament. First, he was upside down. Second, his head was buried underground while the rest of his body was upright. Third, with his x-ray vision, his eyes saw Takashi's shotgun conveniently pointed at his family jewels. Fourth, in slow motion, he saw Takashi's startled look, his fingers were on the trigger, squeezing on reflex...

Oh no. Nonononon—

Bang!

"AAAGHMMMMMMMMMPH!"

. . .

His muffled scream caused a of couple birds nearby to fly away in fear. Although, one in particular stayed to sway its head from side to side and made 'tisking' noises.

The bird then asked,

What was more likely to happen: get shot in the dick by a shotgun, or lose your virginity?

The bird winced in pity. Somehow, it knew that the poor soul down below belonged to the former category.

. . .

Takashi jumped back from the traveller who was currently doing an impression of a screaming upside down headless chicken that just got a hole blown through its balls.

He winced. He didn't mean to do that.

However, before he could process what he had just seen, another amazing thing happened: the blood that splattered from the traveller's manhood crawled back from whence it came!

His shotgun lowered, his jaw slackened, and his eyes widened as he watched the traveller's balls magically repair itself. It was amazing. It was inappropriate. It was disgusting. It was probably going to scar him for life. And Takashi couldn't look away no matter how hard he tried.

The traveller, having finished his intricate dance, sneezed with such force that it pushed his head out of the ground. He plopped back down and rolled around while pitifully groaning and using his two hands to vainly shield his genitals from the phantom pain.

Takashi would've winced again, but his survival instincts kicked in and he became wary once again.

"WAIT!" the traveller shouted, frantically flapping his arms, "For the love of god, don't shoot!"

Takashi kept his shotgun pointed at the man, but removed his finger from the trigger.

The traveller sighed in relief, brushing dirt from himself as he stood up. Good. My translation spell is working at least.

Takashi internally rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, but you just suddenly popped up in front of me... and... a-and what the hell are you? How are you doing these... these—"

"I'm a traveller," he cut in, "a multiverse enforcer. The name's..."

Takashi blinked. Traveller?... Multiverse?... Multiverse enforcer?... Is this guy for real?...

"... and that's why it's always been my dream to become Hokage!" the traveller finished grandly.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Back up for a sec, Traveller-san. How do I know that you are what you say you are, and not some crazy nut that evolved from them— or whatever explains how you do all these weird shit."

The newly named Traveller-san pinched the bridge of his nose. Seriously? He didn't even hear my name? All that time spent detailing my life story for nothing. And what does he mean by 'them'?

In response, he sighed and lazily opened his palm facing up, then produced a holographic image of his badge.

Traveller-san watched in smug satisfaction as Takashi's mouth opened and closed with no words coming out. With his confidence restored and falsely thinking that he now had a fan, he decided to introduce himself once more and explain the duties of a traveller.

Takashi, however, was too busy staring at the floating hologram in disbelief. Multiverse... t-there's a whole world out there?... Ugh... my head... I wish Saya was here to make sense of all this crap... wait... maybe I'm dreaming all this. He then gave himself a hard slap on the face.

"Ow!" he rubbed his face, "So that's what it feels like."

Traveller-san gave Takashi a weird look. "Sooo anyway, now that we've settled that, I need to erase your memories. Standard procedure." Believe my lie simpleton!

"What?!" Takashi exclaimed, his eyes narrowed, "You're serious... How much of my memories? And why?" He knew he had a bad feeling about the guy, but he never expected something like that. All things considered, Takashi was taking things fairly well.

"All of it, unfortunately. We can't afford to take risks. Knowledge of our existence must remain secret." His hands started to glow white. "Now if you would stand still and—"

Takashi pumped his shotgun, ejecting a shell casing. "Sorry, Traveller-san," he said in a tone that didn't sound sorry at all, "but multiverse enforcer or no, it's not gonna happen," he scoffed. Does this doofus really expect me to just let my memories be erased just like that?

The enforcer sighed. And he still didn't hear my name. Was he even listening to my boring exposition dump? Then his expression turned grim. "Well, I'm sorry to say that you have no choice on the matter."

Traveller-san normally wouldn't resort to what he was about to do next— and it wasn't going to be diplomatic or pleasant— but it was the quickest way to end his current problem. It would also probably cause Takashi some brain damage, but in light of what he's had to endure so far, he's running empty on patience. Thus, he reasoned that since his penis didn't get any diplomacy, his next course of action was justified. After all, as long as he didn't kill anyone in this universe, then there was no problem at all.

Takashi knew he had no chance, but he wasn't going to just lay down and give in without a fight. He steeled his resolve and aimed for the place he knew was the most effective against this lame excuse of an enforcer. In this messed up world, he has learned to fight dirty in every fight.

Traveller-san's hands blazed white.

Takashi aimed his shotgun lower.

. . .

Inside Traveller-san's pocket dimension, Murphy's law raised to the power of two was wreaking havoc.

After a certain standard issue Don'tGoAnywhereNearThisInvisibleDome raygun was carelessly shoved in, it conveniently landed on a spring-loaded rod which was somehow set to propel anything on it at full force. The raygun launched and pinballed around every object inside the dimension.

Miraculously, only three objects broke: the raygun— which disintegrated when it broke an overloaded power core after its 'power up x2' button was hit over and over again— and a microwave phone capable of sending messages to the past; this was sitting next to the power core when it exploded.

As this was happening, outside the pocket dimension, Takashi's plot armor activated, and repurposed the explosion.

. . .

Traveller-san's breathing was ragged. He was in pain. Huge amounts of pain. Once again, his family jewels suffered from getting a hole blown right through it. Takashi had somehow tricked him into revealing that he's not allowed to kill anyone in this universe, and used this knowledge to his advantage. Looking back on it, he had no excuses other than being outwitted and outplayed. He really should've seen it coming the second time around... and the fourth... and the eighth... and the—

It. Doesn't. MATTER!

It doesn't matter indeed because he had a hand on Takashi's neck, who was now out of all kinds of shotgun ammo, all of which were expended on Traveller-san's, once again, regenerating nuts. Wait, nuts?... it kind of feels... as small as a nut now... that's not right...

An ominous black fog surrounded him.

With Takashi paralyzed from his spell, Traveller-san could finally go about erasing his memories. But first, he was going to make a speech and gloat to his quarry's face.

"Well, terran weakling! You may have delayed me, but this, is the difference between a boot and an a—"

A white portal suddenly appeared next to him.

"W-What sort of sorcery is this?" His grip slackened. His powers weren't working. And the portal was sucking him in! His eyes widened as he vaguely recognized the inside of the portal. It was his dimensional pocket! He then remembered irritably shoving his standard issue Don'tGoAnywhereNearThisInvisibleDome raygun inside the thing.

Damn it!

Takashi came out of his paralysis and slapped away the hand on his neck. He had a feeling he'd won once he saw it appear. It seemed to paralyze the enforcer and it wasn't trying to suck him in along with the guy in front of him. So when he saw Traveller-san's panicked 'I am so screwed' face and his vain struggles at trying to not get sucked in, that basically sealed the idea.

He reached for his pistol— and got an even better idea. Takashi had a serene smile on his face as he very slowly unsheathed his sword. Apart from learning to fight dirty in every fight, he's also picked up some of Saeko's quirks. I bet she'd be so wet if she were in my shoes right now.

Shit!

"So, Traveller-san, I was wondering," Takashi said slowly, his serene smile on full force, "before you were interrupted earlier, what was it you were trying to say about boots and ants?"

Crap!

"N-Now, now, T-Terran-sama," he gulped, "m-may I c-call you, T-Terran-sama?" His panicks were panicking. His powers weren't working and he can't pull anything out from his dimensional pocket because it was trying to pull him in.

Fuck!

Takashi drew his katana, which made a loud metallic 'schwing' as it was fully drawn from its scabbard. "Actually, my name's Komuro Takashi."

FuckShitCrapFuckShitCrap!

"Well, K-Komuro-sama, you see... I wasn't r-really going to e-erase your memories... i-it was just... a p-prank?" he finished in a small hopeful voice.

Takashi didn't buy it for one second. He got into a stance, the tip of his sword brushing the ground.

Oh. Fuck. My. Life.

Murphy's Law raised to the power of two, apparently heard his plea and moved the portal— which was containing a condensed explosion of the overloaded power core— close enough to touch his arm. Its contained energy passed through his body. Also, at the same time, Takashi's sword slashed upwards—

"AAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"

—and stopped before it reached Traveller-san's nethers.

Takashi stared at the screaming idiot. He failed to notice the portal subtly touching Traveller-san's arm from behind.

Did he really think I was gonna cut up a helpless opponent? It was just a prank, bro!

It was mean-spirited— and maybe, he was also feeling a little vengeful that he came really close to having his memories erased— but Takashi blames them for his acquired macabre sense of humor.

Yes, he and Saeko had a sadistic streak— more so Saeko— but that was towards them, and scum like the ones who thought that molesting schoolgirls on their way home was a perfectly normal hobby.

While the unnamed traveller had no regard over Takashi's personal well-being, he never tried to kill him either; even when he was tricked and shot many, many times in the dick. Takashi could respect that— or as much as you could respect someone who was trying to erase your memories.

"—HHHHHHHHH!"

Takashi facepalmed. Seriously? All that contemplating done, and he's still screaming? He sheathed his sword, and promptly decked the still screaming idiot on his cheek. And although Takashi wasn't harmed by the energy coursing through Traveller-san, it definitely did something.

"—HHHHHHHHH-oomph!"

Takashi had only intended to make the noisy idiot shut up, but he had inadvertently punched Traveller-san right into the portal.

Also, the large meteorite that was forgotten until now finally finished its nap and woke up; crashing on a planet took out a lot of its energy. The meteorite heard Traveller-san's screaming and decided to flying super glomp its favorite plaything in the face, all the while making a sound that suspiciously sounded like a drawn out 'nyaa~' as it flew happily towards him.

Takashi jumped out of the way of the kitty-meteorite thingy.

Mommy...

"AAAGHHHMMMPH!"

The now identified kitty-meteorite thingy purred in excitement as it rubbed its metaphorical face on Traveller-san's regenerating face. It can't wait to play Tag with him again in space! And this time, it would forever play the role of 'IT' while it would continuously try to flying super glomp its favorite plaything in the face.

Both idiotic enforcer and his new unwanted pet kitty-meteorite thingy were swallowed by the portal, and vanished from this universe forever.

Takashi blinked, shrugged, then sighed in relief. It wasn't his problem. And his memory was no longer in danger of being erased. He picked up his shotgun and walked over to his backpack. It's been a long day for him. Saeko and the others were probably getting worried.

And to think this all started because Takashi wanted to get Saeko an anniversary gift.

"No, that's not right," Takashi thought out loud, "this was all because I said, 'No sign of anyone, or them. Sweet! I'll just go in, get Saeko a present, and get out. Easy peazy. What could possibly go wrong?'"

. . .

Unfortunately for one unnamed traveller, the place he was currently in was devoid of the concept of time and space. Thus, when Takashi opened his big fat mouth, his statement— which went through the portal that conveniently reappeared in the form of an invisible mic in front of his mouth— echoed around for eternity. This was heard by none other than Murphy's law raised to the power of two— correction: Murphy's law raised to the power of infinity.

"NYAAAAAAAAA~!"

The kitty-meteorite thingy was barreling towards Traveller-san's face at beyond light speed. It was so happy it could cry! It was finally happily reunited with its long lost favorite plaything after infinite light years of searching, and after what literally seemed like forever!

How is it... that this thing can move... or even find me... in a place where... TIME AND SPACE DOESN'T EVEN EXIST?!

"AAAGHHHMMMPH!"

.
. .

[Somewhere in an alternate timeline]

Komuro Takashi was slumped on the staircase's metal railing feeling sorry for himself. He was busy lamenting on his failed relationship with Hisashi. How could Hisashi dump him for Rei? Hadn't they promised to marry each other when they were little? Didn't they have fun every summer chasing each other on the beach, half-naked, laughing blissfully while saying things like, "Catch me if you can, Hisashi! Teeheehee~"

W-wha?!... WHAT?!

"W-What the hell?!" Takashi shouted, violently recoiling from shock, "Where did that come from?!"

It was a strange thought indeed. He was, after all, dumped by Rei— who he may, or may not, have been in love with— and replaced by Hisashi. It was most definitely not Hisashi he was in love with. And he most certainly did not do those things with Hisashi while making that embarrassing cutesy "teeheehee~" noise.

Yes, he was brooding over his backstabbing best friend before that weird random thought. He was not having weird fantasies about him. Should he continue brooding over Hisashi? Maybe he should switch to Rei instead?

Rei?... Oh joy... Nah, still too early in the day for that. Lunch break hasn't even ended yet. I'll do that when 5th period starts. Maybe I should brood over—

Takashi's vision was suddenly filled with white. He knelt down, grabbing both sides of his head with his hands, and opening his mouth in a silent scream.

Ten years of worth of memories, events, images, people, THEM— all came flooding into his mind.

When his vision returned, he was on all fours and his skin was clammy. He grabbed the metal bars in front of him and used it to prop himself up. Groggily, he surveyed the scenery in front of him. He was in Fujimi Academy—

What in the— this can't be right...

Finding himself in an unfamiliar situation, his instincts kicked in. Takashi closed his eyes, calmed himself, and took a few moments to gather his thoughts.

Alright, so last thing I remember was punching the screaming idiot... wait, no... last thing I remember was fantasizing about a half-naked Hisashi— NO!... Where the fuck did that come from again?!

Takashi shook his head. None of this was helping him at all. He oddly felt that, no, it was not supposed to help him at all, but rather, it was supposed to be for people to laugh at. Weird, I'm the only one here tho—

"Komuro Takashi," an imposing voice said from behind Takashi.

Takashi abruptly turned to face the one who sneaked up behind him. His eyes grew wide. Standing on the upper staircase, was a woman wearing a distinct white lab coat, behind her were two armed men in uniform. It was another traveller, and this one came prepared.

Takashi reached for his sword— Oh... Right...

The two guards visibly tensed, but otherwise did nothing.

"Relax, Komuro-san," the woman began, "we come in peace."

Takashi did not relax. "Yeah? There's three of you, one of me. Two of your goons have weapons, you can probably do the same crazy shit as the other guy. And then there's me: no powers, no weapons."

"A dozen, actually," she replied easily, her voice betraying no emotion, "the other nine are making sure nothing goes wrong."

Takashi was stunned, but he dare not show it in his face.

"As for you possessing no powers or weapons," here, the corner of the traveller's lips curled slightly upward, "records indicate that you're able to fight a traveller with nothing but your wits and primitive weapons," she said with a hint of admiration that momentarily broke her stoic facade. It was quite impressive after all. So impressive in fact, that they had to send a female traveller just to avoid a potential repeat of that embarrassing smackdown.

"So, all this just to wipe my memory, huh? Pretty overkill don'cha think, lady?" Takashi said conversationally. Internally, he was working out a strategy to steal one of the two guard's weapons.

"Actually, the higher-ups decided to let you keep your memories, both in this timeline and the original you from the other one; less trouble that way."

That gave Takashi pause. "Oh. So— wait... what?"

"Ah, yes, let me explain. That's why I'm here after all." The traveller turned around and addressed the two men behind her, "You two, go make sure the others are actually freezing time properly and not playing Galaga."

"Yes, Ma'am!" the guards chorused. They saluted in unison and walked off.

Freezing time?! Takashi looked below and found that the people had indeed stopped walking, some mid-step. In the sky, some birds were frozen in the air. Takashi stared in awe.

. . .

After checking that the TimeFreezingDome rayguns were working properly, the two guards met up with the rest of their unit who had set up a LAN party in the tent. They arrived to an intense intellectual debate.

"But I wanna go Teemo top!"

"Too late! My Yasuo top is locked in."

"Eww! Insta lock. I'm feeding!"

"I'm going ADC. Just letting you guys know."

"Ha! ADC in 2017?! LOL!"

"Dude, it's fine. Play support."

"Nah, I'm going Teemo top. Fuck this Yasuo main."

"Guys? I still need a support... guys?"

"Toxic player spotted! I'm reporting you after this game!"

"Let's win with the power of friendship! Say it with me, everyone! THE POWER OF—"

""""FUCK YOU!""""

The two guards looked at each other and nodded to the unspoken question. They were playing Galaga instead.

. . .

Takashi was looking around in wonder. The traveller had expanded the platform of the staircase and added two fabric armchairs along with a small round table. She sat primly and took out a tea set from her dimensional pocket.

"Have a seat, Komuro-san. Tea?"

"Neat trick." Takashi took the seat across her. "Yes, please," he indulged her. Many years of dealing with scum and dangerous people made Takashi sensitive to hostility and deception. And right now, he didn't get any of that from the woman sipping tea in front of him. He took a sip and found it quite nice; soothing and relaxing. He hasn't had a decent cup of tea in nine ye—

No, that's not right... Rei dragged me to this tea shop just last month... ohh... this is— will get confusing real fast.

Takashi took one more sip of the tea, and found that it immediately made the headache disappear. "Man, this is good shit. What'd you put in it?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"I'm glad you like it. It was prepared beforehand. This particular brew is especially helpful against the effects of time and soul displacement."

"I see. It does help a lot. Thanks." So now they're... helping me? Heh, guess I'll roll with it for now. "'Displacement', huh? You said something about another me? What does that mean exactly?"

Thinking about the incompetent idiot that started this whole mess made the traveller drain her tea. She set the empty cup down and began, "When you punched the clown, the portal he accidentally created was discharging huge amounts of energy into his body—"

Oh, is that why he was screaming?

"—it didn't harm you... for reasons we still can't understand why, but it made a copy of your soul—" she held up a hand to stall any questions and pressed on, "this copy went through the portal into the void to protect itself from being erased. You see, two identical souls can't stay in the same universe. But it still needed a vessel. We don't know how it did this, but somehow, it was able to open a wormhole into a universe close enough to its original one, this timeline specifically. And when it passed through, it instantly merged with you. All of the memories and experiences it accumulated in that universe have now been added to this universe's you."

The traveller poured tea on her empty cup and took a sip as Takashi processed the new information.

Takashi wished Saya was here. He'd become used to her explaining these kinds of things to him. Still, you don't spend a decade with a genius and not learn anything from them, especially when said genius made it a point to remind him every now and then, that he needed be at least half as intelligent as her if he was to lead them properly. Damn harpy, he thought without any real malice.

With the tea helping Takashi clear his mind, he was now able to examine his memories without getting a massive headache. Hmm... I can remember things much more clearly than before... is this the tea's doing?... Anyway, as far as I can tell, the memories from before the apocalypse are exactly the same... except for that one fantasy about me and Hisashi on a beach— god damn it! My eyes!

Takashi immediately gulped down all of his tea. Ahh... much better...

The traveller looked at him sympathetically as she refilled his teacup.

He gave a nod of thanks. "So let me see if I understood this correctly: I'm not some clone, I'm still me; only now, I have the added memories and experiences of my future self from another universe?"

"Correct, Komuro-san."

"And your superiors are fine with this?" he asked, his eyes watching the traveller closely, "Last time I checked, the other guy tried to zap my head just coz I saw him."

The traveller picked up her teacup and downed the tea in one gulp. Takashi was starting to sympathize with her.

"Yes, they are." She set the cup down and refilled it. "And while, yes, our existence must be kept secret, he was also trying to erase your memories for another reason: to remove evidence of his incompetence, of which there are many. It will take us at least a century to fully repair all the damage he's caused—"

Takashi winced at that. He had a nagging feeling that he might (a very puny teensy tiny 'might') have maybe, possibly contributed to that damage in some small way.

"—We recognize that the fault lies entirely on one of our own, so we're willing to overlook this incident if you're willing to keep our existence a secret. Do this for us, and we will never bother you ever again."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Well, if you even attempt to make our existence public knowledge, then there will be no warning when we come for you. But yes, Komuro-san, 'just like that'," she said with a tone of finality, "do we have an agreement?"

Takashi didn't need to think twice. "It's a deal."

Takashi held out his hand and they shook on it. Relieved to be finally done with the whole thing.

After Takashi thanked her for the tea and for taking the time to explain everything to him, the traveller returned the platform to what it was before, said her goodbyes, and promptly vanished as if she was never there.

The surrounding area unfroze as time flowed again. Takashi whistled at that. Then he remembered something.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to ask for her name. And whatever happened to that idiot Traveller-san?"

In the distance, Takashi heard something that suspiciously sounded like a drawn out 'nyaa~' followed by a scream that turned to a muffled scream.

"Eh, whatever. Too late to ask about it now."