Before the rewind happened, two men were talking alone in the principal's office of the Milshyre Academy.
The orange rays coming from the sunset peeked through the dark red curtains which revealed the men's figures and appearances.
The older one, in a black tuxedo and already with white hair, was sitting on the principal's chair, while the younger one, clearly a well built highschool student still in his uniform, was in a state of dogeza, his forehead directly touching the carpet on the floor.
"Izanagi... You must already know what happened to my daughter, don't you?" There was a grave tone in the older man's husky voice.
"I... Yes, sir." The other one replied, his head still deep in submission.
The man who spoke first then made a deep sigh before talking to himself. Looking out the window and onto the setting sun, he muttered, "I should've known... It was my own fault."
Looking back towards the younger male in front of him, he took another sigh and closed his eyes.
"Do you know what you must do now? I took you in here to become Kaoru's bodyguard, Izanagi. I do admit that it was partially my fault, but you should've known better than to let my daughter become alone at the very start of the Walpurgis Nights."
"My humblest apologies, sir. I don't have any excuse for my lack of action and attention."
"I'll use my remaining inherited power to rewind time. That's the most I can do now as the head of the Ikeda clan, for I have already reached the age where our powers diminish significantly. Make it right this time, Izanagi."
"Thank you, Ikeda-sama."
"I'll be counting on you to protect the future of the Ikeda clan. Kaoru will soon awaken to her powers. Guide her well, Izanagi Takeshi."
"Yes." The younger man replied.
Then, before everything turned back into a day before, Izanagi Takeshi heard two words.
"Chronus Reversium."
It was a pretty normal day.
Same old, same old. Just nothing but the usual routine of waking up, taking a bath, making breakfast, eating what I made or cooked, brushing my teeth, drinking water, packing up my stuff, etc.
Has it always been the same though? I looked back towards the living room of the house before completely closing the door and I knew, that it'll never be the same.
They aren't there anymore after all.
Then, the loud cheering of my classmates and a whole lot other people woke me up back to reality.
They were surrounding two prominent persons in the school and they were too loud, which somehow irritated me, but I was surprised when I finally got to see who the two people were in the middle.
"Oh, Mika, it's Ikeda-san." I said nonchalantly when I saw the girl in the midst of the crowd, "And... Izanagi-senpai."
"I guess they became a couple then." The girl who replied was Mika
Mika didn't seem to be concerned about what happened so I also let it go.
"Yeah. It doesn't really matter, does it? Let's go home, Mika."
"Yes. Let's go home, Tetsuya-san."
"Well then, I'm off." I bade goodbye to Mika, a classmate of mine since middle school, as I dropped her off by her house's gate.
She waved goodbye and gave me her never wavering gentle smile that she only shows to the people she trusts.
She's a very shy person but she tends to talk a lot about things she like with her friends, me included, of course.
We would always talk about Mythology during lunchtime on the school's rooftop and maybe it wouldn't be too far of a stretch if I were to say that I've gotten to like Mika very much.
"Oh, come to think about it. It was this famous senpai at school named Izanagi Takeshi who got confessed to by Ikeda when I was waiting out of the school gates for Mika." I smiled a bit as a delusion came up in my mind.
"What if Mika would do the same for me?"
I chuckled to myself. Now that's something that I would call far-fetched.
"The day's good." I grinned to myself.
"I'm home no-" When I was about to greet no one in the house, a sudden chill ran up my spine and I came to the conclusion that...
"Didn't this happen already?"
Meanwhile, at the school library, Izanagi Takeshi and Ikeda Kaoru were talking.
The orange and yellow rays of the sunset made beautiful hues on Kaoru's pinkish-white skin and Takeshi wasn't able to help but smile at the sight of the beautiful girl in front of him.
The beautiful girl who's about to get killed tonight if he can't do the job he was given. Takeshi gave off a sigh before smiling at Kaoru.
"Say, Kaoru. Why don't you stay here with me for a while? I want to know you a lot more."
Ikeda Kaoru smiled in return and nodded, "Yes, Takeshi-senpai."
The upperclassman decided to caress the girl's cheek, but as soon as his fingertips touched her smooth, warm skin, chilling memories of being killed ran through Kaoru's mind like a speeding train.
Ikeda Kaoru froze and Izanagi Takeshi exactly knew what was wrong.
"Do you remember?" Takeshi's smile faded and his face took a stern yet reliable expression.
"W-what do you mean?... Senpai-" Kaoru's rose-pink lips shuddered and her hands trembled on her lap.
"I don't want to spill everything, but, you remember dying, don't you, Ikeda Kaoru?"
"H-How do you know-" Kaoru stutters in pure shock, remembering more of what happened that night when she was killed. That night which is supposed to be tonight.
"It did happen. But, things changed, Kaoru. I'll save you. A lot of people will."
The girl bursted into tears and covered her face with her hands.
"No-... How... Why? What did I do? Somebody, please... tell me." Kaoru spoke in between sobs.
Takeshi knew that that was supposed to happen. He has gone through a lot of cases like this after all.
"It's alright." He withdrew his hand from Kaoru's cheek and settled it on her head before patting it gently.
"I'll protect you, Kaoru. So, just stick with me here, alright? After tonight's over, I'll tell you everything you need to know.