Author's Note: I had the first half of this chapter written out several years ago. Ironically, three years have passed since I updated this story, as well as in this chapter. I have to laugh at myself for that.

Story Note: Some moments are taken directly from earlier chapters, to parallel events that have occurred. There's a lot of "this happened, then this happened" in this chapter, and very little dialogue and tender moments. I usually try to avoid that through detail and introspection, but it is necessary this time to move the plot forward. Once again, any critique on what I can do to improve the quality of this chapter would be greatly appreciated.

And now, without further ado, here is the third chapter of this little tale. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mirai Nikki.

Warning: Semi-detailed violence and gore. Angst ensues.

Time Looped

Chapter 3 – Time

Created By: x-LittleMissAlice-x

xXx

"In the first time, I did my best to prevail against the inevitable tragedy...

In the second time, I became disgusted with the inevitable tragedy...

In the third time, disgust was overwhelmed with painfulness...

But by the seventh time, it all became a farce comedy."

Frederika Bernkastel

xXx

So much time had passed since that vow...

Three years. Three entire years had passed since Akise Aru had promised to save him, to break the cycle that tormented them both; yet no matter what he did, the date would not change. It was still, and always would be, July 28th.

He had tried. Akise had explored every avenue, every possible place they could hide within Sakurami City, yet it always ended the same...

Before the sun could set (before the stars could come out to glitter and shine in the night sky), the boy known as Yukiteru Amano died.

It was accidents, at first - falling down stairs, getting crushed by a vehicle, and so on. Then it was mother nature - being held under by thrashing waves and drowning in the ocean, or being ripped apart by an earthquake or hurricane... Then Akise realized there were people targeting them. They were many of them, of different ages and genders and demeanors. Everyone seemed to be their enemy.

The first one Akise noticed was hiding within the same abandoned building as before. They had decided to take the elevator instead of the stairs, and just like his phantom had foretold, there was someone waiting for them both on the 19th floor. Long, wild and unruly auburn locks; a gas mask slipped over his face, over his undoubtedly crazed eyes; a glinting dagger waving in his palm; a blood-thirsty mad man, laughing maniacally. He had lunged at them, slicing through Akise's defensive forearms. He had maneuvered around Akise and stabbed Yukiteru repeatedly in the chest, in the neck with frenzied motions. The killer had relished in the crimson liquid expelling from the boy's body, in Yukiteru's screams, in his agony until the moment the boy took his last breath, and the world reset.

The second was a purple-haired woman in a lolita dress. She was a terrorist, a pyromaniac. With a mere click of her detonator, she triggered an explosion within the Quad Towers... But she seemed to have little interest in the high-security bank on the top floor, and the money contained within; she merely thrived off the chaos, off the destruction her bombs would cause. The fallen debris crushed Yukiteru, killing him instantly. The world reset again.

The third was a child- sweet, freckled smile, wide green eyes full of wonder, and adorable sock puppets slipped over his small hands. He had seemed so wholesome, so innocent... until he had injected Yukiteru with syringe full of an unknown, deadly poison. Akise had tried to find a cure, had consulted with nurses and doctors alike as Yukiteru sweat and trembled and gasped for breath, suffering in a hospital bed... but any concoction could not completely rid of his affliction, nor the damage it had caused. The world reset once again.

In another time, Akise stumbled across a police chief he had once worked with as a boy detective. Akise had trusted him; admired him, even. Maybe that was why he had approached him, falling onto his hands and knees, begging him sincerely for help; to look over and protect Yukiteru at the police station for at least 24 hours... In the end, he shot Yukiteru- not once or twice, but four times, through the boy's skull. The world reset once more.

From that point onward, Akise noticed the entire police force tracking them. Then, eventually, it was members of a cult. Then it was men in suits (who Akise later learned were either politicians, or security guards that worked for them). Then, their most formidable foe of all: a teenage girl with twin tailed pink locks. She scared Akise the most.

She was nearly impossible to thwart, relentlessly appearing at every turn. Her blood was as noxious as the child's poison, her words more manipulative than the police chief's, her smile as wide as the female bomber's, and her eyes more crazed than the serial killer's. Her gaze was always fixated on Yukiteru, filled with craving, with lust. Psychotic murmurs escaped her glossy lips, deeply reverberating her twisted desires: "Give him to me... My Yukki... Let me have him so I can feel something... feel the way you do."

Perhaps it was her presence that pushed Akise over the edge. With each attempt, with each world he failed in (over time, time, time; so much time), Akise became notably more unhinged. He gave up speaking to the boy he had sworn to protect with gentle words, or indulging in light-hearted conversations. They no longer brushed shoulders and laughed without a worry in the world. He no longer saw that sweet smile- the smile Akise would fight Gods for.

Akise couldn't do it anymore, not when he knew that girl- no, that psychopath was after Yukiteru. Not when he knew it was them against the world.

So Akise would dash as far as his pumping adrenaline could take him, as fast as his burning legs could carry him to that god forsaken park so he could meet the boy of his dreams, of his destiny. He would grab his sunkissed arm without any warning (without so much as a greeting), and they would begin the fruitless feat of running for their lives. Yukiteru would struggle and scream and trash against his protective grip, demanding to know who he was and what he was doing.

All he could do was reply with "Akise Aru, your friend," and push on.

xXx

After the 500th world (after the 500th attempt and failure and reset), Akise Aru realized his phantom had been right: Ignorance was bliss, and Akise would suffer eternally with the knowledge of the future, of the inevitable events that would unfold.

But it was more than that. It wasn't just knowing what would happen, or the pain of losing Yukiteru over and over again. It wasn't just the anxiety of being chased, or the despair of seeing the boy he had sworn to protect pushing him away, or screaming at him, or bleeding profusely, or being blown apart...

The most grueling part of experiencing the same day repeatedly was losing not only his own identity, but the once pure and tender fondness he had held towards Yukiteru.

Akise had noticed his feelings changing, morphing, twisting into something else entirely the first time he took Yukiteru to his house. He had been impatient, desperate (of the pink haired girl hearing Yukiteru as Akise grabbed him, pulling him along), so Akise had done something... something he hated to admit, even to himself.

Akise had knocked Yukiteru out, carrying him to his home. He laid the boy down on his bedroom floor, in the middle of the heart of everything circulating in his mind; next to the clusters of paperwork containing background information on the people chasing them piled high on his wooden desk; surrounded by a complex map of Sakurami City tacked to his walls, all of their previous obstacles connected together with green, yellow, and red string. Seeing all of those threats (of the gravity of their situation) made Akise decide to do something he never thought in a thousand worlds he would do:

He put Yukiteru in a cage.

It was made of refined steel, large enough for him to lie down in, with plenty of pillows and blankets within... But it was undoubtedly confining- wrong, even. So, so wrong to put someone he had cared about so deeply and completely in captivity. But... it was to protect Yukiteru. Not from the outside world. Not from the elements, or from the people chasing after them. It was to protect Yukiteru from himself.

In that moment, in that world, Akise had felt his thought process shifting. He had felt his noble and righteous identity breaking when Yukiteru woke up in that cage, eyes filled with fear. He had felt his intentions faltering when the boy cried and begged and pleaded for Akise to let him go, that he was scaring him, that Yukiteru would do anything if he could just leave his cage and stretch for a few minutes...

Akise would by lying if he said he hadn't felt tempted. A part of him had wanted to dig his nose in raven locks and inhale sweet peppermint, to force those soft and quivering lips between his teeth, to burrow deep within the boy's heat...

A part of him had wanted to justify those actions. That it would be some cheap "reward" for all the worlds and turmoil he had been through. That he should take advantage of the situation, because the next Yukiteru wouldn't remember anything when time inevitably reset again.

But he... he couldn't do it. Because Akise would remember what he had done, would personally know the pain he would have inflicted on Yukiteru. If he did that, Akise would never be able to bring himself to hold that sunkissed hand again.

So he kept the cage door locked, had blindly thrown away the key in a place even Akise couldn't easily find it.

Perhaps that was why he was helpless when an electrical fire he could not seem to prevent engulfed his home, his room, and his Yukiteru, leaving nothing but wafting smoke and glowing cinders.

Perhaps that was also why Akise felt continuously more jaded when time reset once more.

xXx

After the 1000th world, Akise Aru gave up on trying to fulfill his promise to see the stars with Yukiteru. He gave up trying to save the boy from his inevitable fate, or even to keep him alive until evening. Akise settled for creating the best ending he could manage.

He would meet Yukiteru at the park, like he always did. He would introduce himself as "Akise Aru, your friend." He would ask Yukiteru if they could go to his home, pleasantly offering to escape the summer's brutal heat for a cold soda... Then, unbeknownst to the boy, he would lace Yukiteru's drink with an entire bottle of sleeping pills.

Though they didn't last long (before the residents in the next worlds adapted accordingly, before they figured out where they were going), those time lines were one of the most delicate.

No running. No anxiety, or anger, or tears- only Yukiteru's honey-like voice as he spoke to him, so sweet and oblivious (to what had happened, to what would happen), simply excited to have a friend (his first friend, he always said) over at his otherwise empty house.

Akise could drink in his peppermint scent and pretend for just a moment (just one, brief moment) that he couldn't remember all the times it had been masked by copper or zinc or charcoal.

Akise could spend just a few precious minutes with his beloved, passed out cold (but not quite dead to the world; not yet), head resting softly in his lap.

Akise could stroke those silky raven locks through his fingertips, could feel the fluttering of his eyelashes against his thigh if only for that brief snippet of time.

Akise could enjoying the peace of Yukiteru's gentle breathing, becoming lighter and lighter with each exhale...

Until it stopped, and the day reset again.

It may have been selfish (cruel, even), but a part of Akise wished those moments could have lasted forever.

xXx

It was the next timeline - the 1095th world, Akise concluded - and he was approaching a literal crossroad: the first place he had ever seen Yukiteru die, right before his eyes.

Yes, the first time he had seen the boy's body bloody and limp and broken in his arms...

The first time that coppery stench of blood had burned into his nostrils...

The first time the sound of sirens had slammed against his skull...

The first time his phantom had whispered to the wind, for all the world to hear, his unforgivable sin:

"It's all your fault, you know... but it's alright. You will get what's coming to you."

But right now, in this moment, Yukiteru was still alive- still able to exude heat from his exposed sunkissed shoulders, still able to create pitter-pattering steps against the concrete, still able to respond to Akise's questions; questions Akise knew the answers to, long before they escaped his parted lips...

Akise dared to ask him that final, inevitable question.

"Yukiteru-kun... Do you believe our fate is written in the stars?"

The boy's footsteps faltered. The shoulder that had grazed against Akise's body with each stride abruptly stopped, leaving their arms just barely touching. The boy's head cocked to the side, brunette locks settling over his features, over his slipping smile. Bright blue aquamarine eyes peered from beneath his bangs, narrowing with interest, with curiosity.

Thoughtfully, Yukiteru responded: "I don't know, but... I would like to believe our meeting today was fate, like I was destined to meet you today. I would also like to think... everything happens for a reason."

Everything happens for a reason...

The albino's hand moved, slipping into and lacing with tanned fingers. Akise held onto his anchor tightly, firmly (don't let go, don't let go), briefly thinking how adorable it was when Yukiteru jolted upright, his cheeks flushed in surprise. But he continued to stare at Akise. He did not pull away.

Akise sucked in a deep breath.

No more running. There was no where else they could go... Only one option remained, one last thing Akise could do for this beautiful, precious person he had met time and time again.

This had to be the last cycle. Akise would make certain of it.

"Yukiteru-kun..." he murmured softly, drowning in vivid oceanic eyes; eyes that were somehow more gorgeous up close than afar. "No matter what happens, just remember that this... all of this has been for you."

He knew he wasn't making sense, that this Yukiteru wouldn't understand, but he had to know. Even if he wasn't aware of all the other worlds, of all the different ways he had died again and again... Even if he didn't know the lengths Akise had gone through to try to save him, Yukiteru had to know just one thing:

What happened next wasn't his fault.

"Akise-kun?!" Yukiteru exclaimed as Akise Aru took a leap of faith.

The hand that held his so tenderly slipped away, and the events he had observed so many times began to unfold once again. But this time, he knew, he wouldn't have to see the boy suffer... Akise wouldn't have to see Yukiteru die.

This time, the trickling from the sands of time didn't stop. They continued to steadily fall and shift as Akise's fluffy white hair lifted from his neck, floating weightlessly, his body falling back, back, back.

And for a second, if only for just a fraction of a second, Akise could have sworn he had seen his phantom watching him from within the heated haze. But it didn't express a cruel or twisted grin- this time, its mouth was slightly parted, eyes wide with disbelief.

That was satisfaction enough for Akise...

(Squealing tires. Echoing honks. Panicked screams. Pain.)

...Yes, that was enough for Akise to finally smile - smile as the very large, very fast, very deadly, and very real speeding truck collided with his body.

He could smile through the audible crack of his bones bending and breaking, through the burning shooting through the nerves of his unnaturally twisted arms and legs.

Seeing that dumbfounded expression on his phantom's face was enough to make gurgling on his own hot and sticky blood bearable.

Even though Yukiteru collapsed to his side, shaking and crying and clinging onto his body... even though the boy repeatedly choked out "Oh my God, oh my God..." under his breath, Akise knew it would be worth it.

Yes, after trying and failing so many times, the time loop would end. Finally, Yukiteru would be saved from this pain, from this destiny...

Those thoughts were what drove Akise to stay awake through the sensation of slipping; to keep his dropping eyelids risen and to stare at his phantom, if only for a few moments longer. It was the only thing pushing his crumbling, feeble body to stay active, for his consciousness to remain in the present. His diaphragm was collapsing, his lungs wheezing, begging for the end, but he would cling on...

Just a few more moments, for his Yukiteru...

Just a few more moments, so everything would end for good this time.

"I choose this fate... of my own... free will," Akise managed to force out, his voice hoarse, copper bubbling in his throat- But smug. So damn smug. And so ready for this to be over.

His phantom (his personal death God) shifted from the haze radiating off the concrete, moving to loom over Akise's body, blood splattered and pooling beneath him. It had never been this... close before- close enough for Akise to see that those crimson eyes were in fact suns burning brightly within their sockets; close enough to observe its pasty white skin sparkled like starlight; close enough to notice its inky black hair not only held the dark blues and greens of midnight, but contained shifting galaxies within.

It was breathtaking... Beautiful. Akise thought he had finally fulfilled his promise... He had finally seen the stars.

The entity before him said only this:

"You got what was coming to you, Akise Aru... but it is still not enough. You do not know what your sin is."

That was the last thing Akise heard before his consciousness slipped, his vision fading into red.

Your update, as promised.

If this story could reach 65 reviews before I upload the next chapter, I would greatly appreciate it. Reviews of your thoughts and feelings and critiques not only help me improve the quality of this story, but motivate me to edit faster.

That's all then. Have a lovely evening.

xLMAx