It was very eventful if Akari had to describe this day.
The end was rather anticlimactic with her feeling the pain of her fractured leg but it wasn't something that pain medication can't alleviate. She also did exert her body when she had slept for so long so it was understandable that her usual stamina was in shambles. Thankfully, after a healthy dinner and medicine, the pain finally subsided as Akari lay on her bed.
Yumi will be accompanying her tonight since she'll be discharged tomorrow. Shoyo already left with his three friends and was tasked by his mother to look after the house and Natsu. Yumi instructed him to maintain cleanliness at home since she'll take Akari home tomorrow. Knowing that Akari is going to live with them tomorrow, he left happily.
Speaking of Yumi, it was quite a scary encounter when all five of them got in the room a while ago and were met with a dark smile from Yumi. The boys were frozen in horror and were bracing themselves for their impending doom as Akari watched on thinking it was rather humorous. Though before it escalated, Akari spoke first and took all the blame, pacifying her worried aunt in time before she unleashes her anger upon them.
Yumi only sighed in exasperation then since she can't really scold the mastermind of the fiasco, to begin with. Seeing Akari even enjoying everything as she sat at the side made Yumi want to scold her even just a bit so she doesn't get used to always getting her way all the time but again, she could not. Akari looking pale and sickly is just plain cheating.
"Aunty, please don't blame them. I just wanted to play for a bit since it's been a while. This is completely on me." Akari said at that time.
With those words, on that night, four boys still lived to see another day after coming face to face with the wrath of mama Hinata.
Thinking of that scene made Akari chuckle to herself as she lay in bed. She can hear the deep and rhythmic breathing of her aunt who laid on the couch at the side yet she doesn't feel like sleeping.
She already slept enough. Also… she fears she might take another journey and will have to sleep for so long again.
Yes, today was truly eventful, but Akari is referring to something only she had experienced before waking up.
—
Lily.
That was 'her' name. That was her name in another life.
The reason why Akari acted as if she had already come to terms with her plight was simply that she had somehow lived that other life, though it was in fast forward.
The Hinatas, in one way or another, may have noticed this strange behavior of hers but they just thought that Akari should rather be feeling okay than breaking apart and despairing at everything that happened to her. Whenever they all act to cater to her whims, Akari knows what they are trying to do, they're distracting her from having the time to think.
So it was helpful that Akari actually tacitly agrees with this setup since the amount of information she got simply does not allow her to further wallow in despair, leaving her with much time to think about this matter that only she knows. It took her more than a week just to absorb all those memories, right?
What totally blew her mind was finding out that she is now living in a fictional world. Though, just like that egg paradox, Akari could not really decide whether to just accept that her world now is fictional and 'hers' was not. Everything around her, every event, every being she encounters, they feel as real as herself, it was 'her' life as another that felt unreal and fictional.
As things stand, her being Akari in this life and being Lily from another, and her being born and raised in this world yet having memories from another life; she has decided to take them all as real.
She's not losing anything… well, anymore this time around. In fact, she truly gained a lot.
As Lily in that past life, she also wasn't lacking in aptitude but was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Whatever she doesn't have as Akari, Lily completes them all.
As she is very athletic and into sports, as she is now, Lily was the studious and bookworm type. This is the reason for Shoyo's shock when she was able to teach them well when she was initially the same academic scum as him. Lily is self-taught in much DIY stuff too since she tends to take interest in different things whenever something catches her fancy. To make it more unbelievable, Lily has a photographic memory, this does not entail she is a genius and a superior learner but she is just good at acquiring and retaining memories.
As she watched on in that life, Akari got herself familiarized with terms such as 'isekai', 'systems', 'cheats', and all other jargon commonly used since Lily liked reading. And she has read a lot. She also enjoyed watching. It was through these hobbies that she found out that she's related to one of the characters in Haikyuu, her cousin Hinata Shoyo.
If this was fanfiction, as she has learned of the term too, she would be a reincarnated person or a self-insert character. Maybe both. Whichever the case, she may not have a system but she is one bugged individual with simply the addition of Lily's talents, traits, and characteristics which are truly cheat-like at its finest.
But…
Somehow, watching Lily live her life, she wasn't able to reach any peak she desired.
After seeing her past, all questions that ran through Akari's mind were answered by her other self, Lily.
—
Akari closes her eyes and, having her photographic abilities now, replays her encounter with her other self.
—
Akari regained consciousness for the third time.
The first served as reminiscing her last moments with her parents and a reminder that she may have lost them but she won't be alone since she still has her teammates, her friends, and her relatives. She will never be alone as long as she never closes herself from others, she knows that now.
She thought she just needed to keep that in mind that's why this weird phenomenon happened to her but what greeted her the second time she regained consciousness was another life. She only realized that she was just in the memory because she wasn't able to affect everything around her. She was just a viewer.
'But why do I have to see all of that?'
"Was it unpleasant?"
Akari did not expect to hear a reply right then and she turned toward where she heard the voice and found herself facing a full-body mirror.
But the mirror did not reflect herself, instead, it was the one whose life she just got to see.
"Lily," Akari whispers the name she has long gotten familiar with. "Not exactly."
"I see, Akari," Lily answers back with a nod. "I believe there are questions that need answering, yes?"
"Why?" Akari did not know how to proceed with her question but she just maintained eye contact with her counterpart, she knew deep down there won't be a repeat of this and somehow, she feels sad that there will be an end to this.
That she has to move on and leave 'her' behind.
"It's how pasts are, you take steps away from them to move to the present. I know I won't be forgotten through you." Lily smiles, it was gentle and reassuring.
Akari rarely had seen that in Lily's most recent memories. At least, at this moment, it's there for her. She is there with her.
"I wasn't supposed to appear." Lily smiles as she runs her fingers through her brown shoulder-length hair. It was one of the tics that Akari has seen her do throughout her life.
"In my opinion, you did not need to know me since I have seen you live your life to the fullest. Even though there were ups and downs, you moved on from them so I see no point in letting you carry my baggage."
"Then why now?"
"You–no, I should stop saying this since it'll keep confusing things for us–we were about to go the path that I had chosen before. I don't want a repeat of the past since we were given this second chance in life, I wanted to make sure we cherish it this time."
"I… I don't know what to do anymore." Akari admitted.
"I know, we do have the tendency to get stumped at some point. I ended up blaming everyone when nothing comes out of actions made or choices taken and I failed to own up to my own mistakes. So I appear now to mark our own crossroads this time."
Akari ponders deeply the words she just heard, and somehow, she gets it. She laughs at this and grins at her reflection, it may look completely different but it is still herself. "I'm a continuation of our lives, after all, right?" She extends a hand and places it against the mirror.
Lily grins back and places her hand against Akari's. "A big plus is that we are learning vicariously from our own experiences even though I did not reach old age but still, that's a good chunk of experiences to learn from."
Akari's smile falters.
Lily smiles knowingly and somehow, her hand clasps Akari's. "Silly, as long as all is well for us now, nothing will end with me."
"You're my beginning then," Akari says.
"And you're my end? You better make it a blast! Don't regret anything ever again or I might haunt you."
They both laughed at their silly selves. They talked on and on about many other things. Questions were asked and answers were given for both sides.
Until finally, Lily was able to give Akari an embrace.
"Enjoy it to the fullest."
Lily slowly turns into light particles and the glitter merges with Akari. Akari still felt melancholic but it did not last because as she was showered with the glittering light, she felt the gentle care. It was just as reassuring as before.
"I will."
There used to be two halves.
And as the last glitter vanished…
Now, there is just…one.