Rewind Time (I)

<Kiyro>

Feb. 22, 2046. Thursday. 10 years old.

"Mom! Mom!" Kiyro yelled with excitement, pulling his lovely mother by her hand. Then, he ran into the kitchen.

She was a petite lady with shining light brown hair. Dimples appeared on her round face while she held onto her son's hand. Her figure, for someone so small, was quite voluptuous; what was even more surprising was that she didn't look anywhere near her age. At age ten, Kiyro's mother is still in her mid-twenties. Not a single sign of wrinkles could be seen on her face.

Sometimes, Kiyro wondered how his mother could still look so young. She was his light; he dearly loved his mother just as much as he loved his family. Every day was an endless blessing of happiness and bliss. His stiff father smiled often; his stone-cold face would soften whenever he saw her. Everyone who saw them could tell them that they were a perfect couple, a perfect family that anyone would envy.

Kiyro was proud of that, and he would flaunt it around everywhere he went. These were the times he always believed it would stay like this forever.

"What is Kiyro?" She squats down and gives him a sweet smile.

Kiyro ran over and smashed into his mother with open arms. "I love you, mom!" His hand wrapped around her neck and pecked her on her cheek.

Her soft hands wrapped around Kiyro, scooped him up by the butt, and stood up with a mischievous grin on her face. She then buried her head into his small neck and blew a loud sound, tickling him into a giggle.

"Stop it! It tickles!" Kiyro laughed, pulling away from his mother.

"Oh no, you don't!" Her hands moved up and down onto his side, ruthlessly tickling until he burst into loud laughter.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooo!" He screamed out loud, laughing at the same time. Then, he threw his head back while his hand flailed around him. "Please, no! I'm a dying mom! You're killing me!"

"Really?" She stopped and wiggled her eyebrow. "Then that's even better! Ticklish attack! Rawr!"

"Nooooooo~" He pretended to faint, sticking out his tongue as if he was dead.

"Oh no! I killed Kiyro!" She laughs and smacks a kiss into his cheek. Then, with a fierce blow of air, a loud sound could be heard erupting from her mouth.

To Kiyro, it sounded like she farted. But then, he woke up with a crinkle of his nose and frowned. "Ewwwww. Mom. You farted."

"I did? I swear, I thought it was you." She pretended to sniff him, and then she stopped. Her face turned into partial disgust, and she pretended to smell something horrible. "You did fart. My son farted!"

"I did not." He huffed. His hand rested on his hips, looking into her eyes in outrage. "I do not fart."

"You don't? I swear last time you farted in the kitchen when you were sneaking a cookie away from the jar."

Kiyro turned bright red; his head hung down in embarrassment. "I didn't steal a cookie." He mumbled low, ashamed that his mother found out so quickly.

"Mhmm. I caught you red-handed."

"I-I-I didn't steal any cookies! I was borrowing it for research purposes."

"Now?" His mom gave him a stern gaze.

Kiyro looked up. "Yes, for research purposes." He didn't budge from his answer.

"So, when will you bring back the research material?" His mother placed him down. She raised her hand to her hip and cock her hips to the side. "I'm sure, in your research, you did some field testing as well."

"Yes."

"Taking a couple of bites to see if it's good."

"Yes."

"Maybe even sharing it with your brother."

Kiyro went silent. "Yes?"

"Is that a question?"

"Uh...No."

"Kiyro, you know it's not good to lie. Now fess up, or you'll not have a cookie tonight."

Kiyro's face went completely pale. The thought of not having any cookies horrified him, especially the delicious gooeyness from the chocolate, oozing out when it had just been cooked. That was his favorite part; he especially hated it when he missed eating his mother's delicious cookies. They were too good to give up.

With a stern gaze, his mother waited. Kiyro withered in her gaze, unable to say anything. His hand slipped behind him; his foot kicked back and forth, unable to hide his nervousness. For a moment, his mouth opened up to tell her, but it quickly closed.

"Come on, Kiyro. I know it's hard to tell the truth, and easier to tell a lie, but that's not a habit you should get into. People won't trust you anymore if you constantly lie. It'll break my heart if you lie to me." She squatted down and brought his head up so they could lock their gaze.

Kiyro could see the love in her eyes, and he felt a tinge of sadness and hurt for what he had done to his mother. "I'm sorry. I ate the cookie and didn't share it with Kyle."

"I know. Thank you for telling me the truth Kiyro." She pulled him into a big hug. "I'm proud of you."

A smile broke out on Kiyro's face.

"Now, why don't we have some cookies while we sit by the fireplace."

Kiyro let go in excitement. He paced back and forth, trying to get a good look at the cookies that were supposed to come out of the oven. Finally, his mother got up and started to open up the oven. A strong wash of delicious chocolate chip cookies hit him in full force. A loud rumble was heard through his stomach; he gripped his hand and leaned towards the fresh batch of cookies in the oven.

His mother pulled them out with a mitten and started to put the cookies on a plate. She then poured two cups of milk.

"Kiyro, help me carry the glass of milk. Go place them on the table near the fireplace." She turned around and handed it to him. "Try not to spill it."

"Yes, mom." He happily took both glasses of milk and carefully walked towards the living room. There he saw Kyle, his twin brother, hunched over on the desk doing homework in front of the burning fireplace. The warmth hit his body, making him feel toasty. With careful hands, he placed the glass of milk on the table. Kyle graciously took the milk from Kiyro and took a sip of it.

"Did mom finish baking the cookies?" Kyle asked hopefully.

"Yep." Kiyro shook his head hard. He then sat down on the opposite side, waiting for his mother.

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Yep," Kiyro stated proudly. He smirked at his brother in a know-it-all smile.

Kyle rolled his eyes and went back to doing his homework. Their mother finally came out from the kitchen, bringing out a large baked cookie on a plate. She walked over and placed them next to her sons.

"Now then. Kiyro, you finished your homework?"

"Yes~" He called out in a sing-song voice, excited to eat the cookie on hand.

"Good. Kyle pushes your book aside. You don't want to put cookie crumbles in your workbook."

"Yes, mom." Kyle listened and closed his book.

"Now, just as you promised. I'll tell you a story of your grandmother and her strange encounters."

Kiyro grabbed a cookie and started to nibble on it. He was waiting all day to hear about his famous grandmother and her crazy adventures. He especially liked her last story, where she came face-to-face with a bear and escaped with her life intact. That was one of the most thrilling adventures of his grandmother Lucy.

"Well then," Kiyro's mother sank into her armchair, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace that spread across her whole body. "Your grandmother was a powerful psychic."

"Psychic?" Kyle asked.

"Think of it as a superpowered human."

"Like Superman?" Kiyro burst out in excitement. It was rare that mother would say something spectacular about grandma. She was already idolized to the point where he wanted to be like her one day.

"Something like that, but only a sliver of his power."

"Eh?" Kiyro cocked his head.

"You remember I told you your grandma defeated the giant black bear?"

Both Kyle and Kiyro shook their heads up and down viciously.

"At the age of 21, your grandma had the ability to control the power of her strength. She was able to pull three-fourths of what no normal human could. A simple punch had the power to create a dent in a metal wall; her energy control was both amazing and fearful. But there was more to her than just a simple punch; any hit from her could damage the inner body but not leave a single mark on the skin. She was a master martial artist, able to fight hand-to-hand, which gave her the edge she needed."

"Can't a lot of martial artists do that?" Kyle was just a little hyped about what his mother had said. "I saw some of the Black Dragon Ninjitsu Masters and other Martial Artists at high levels do that already. There's nothing special about it." He huffed.

Kiyro frowned. "Be quiet. You're ruining the story." He shot an annoyed look at Kyle. He knew what Kyle was talking about, especially since they both had been going into the Academy. Kiyro has heard many mystical events that could be considered unbelievable to the normal human being.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders, and he went back to eating his cookie.

On the other hand, Kiyro dunked his cookie into his glass of milk. Then, with a quick bite out of his cookie, he gave a pleasant smile of bliss.

"What Kyle says is true, but there was more. She was able to see and talk to the spirits. They would come to her seeking help, some to leave messages to their loved ones, others to scare the living, and some are too dark to mention."

Kiyro gulped. "Why did they come to grandma?"

"That is something that not many people know, but the reason is very simple. Once we let ourselves be open to the spiritual world, we allow the spirit to talk to her; she becomes a medium for the dead. The spirit knows when a special person is born, for what they see on the other side differs from what we see on this plane of life."

Kiyro shook his head. Seeing and talking to the spirits, he knew exactly what his mother meant, giving chills down his spine. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't. The thought of reliving that moment with the people who came to him scared him.