Chapter 14: I do not exist

As they stepped into the garden, a somber hush fell over the once lively atmosphere.

The flowers, once vibrant and colorful, now hung their heads as if in mourning.

The leaves of the trees rustled ominously as if whispering secrets of sorrow and despair.

The two people walking side by side were visibly

Their steps were slow and deliberate as if they were afraid of disturbing the uneasy peace of the garden.

As they approached a small stone bench, hikaru glanced at Kurumi

"Sit here and wait for me, I have to do something", hikaru said as she turned her back to her.

"Take your time~" Kurumi answered as she takes a sit

hikaru clutched her dog corps close to her chest as she made her way through the dark garden.

The garden was a shadowy maze, the trees and bushes twisted and gnarled like grasping fingers.

The ground was littered with dead leaves and twigs, and the air was thick with the scent of decay.

hikaru finally found a small clearing, the only spot in the garden that seemed less oppressive than the rest. She knelt down

Kurumi watched in silence as the hikaru dug a shallow grave for her dog.

hikaru gently laid her dog on the ground, "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."

as she finally gives her dog a small Funeral, she turned to Kurumi approaching her and then taking a sit beside her

both of them didn't say anything for like a min, the silence surrounded everything around them

but that didn't last as Kurumi start to talk

"I want you to control your emotions if you want to know what's happening here," Kurumi said to Hikaru, her voice tense and serious.

Hikaru remained silent, her eyes fixed on the grave of the dog she had just buried.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Kurumi said, her tone still serious.

"First, I need to ask you some questions so I can make sure my answers are correct. Do you understand?"

Hikaru still didn't answer

"Tell me everything that happened with this dog,", Kurumi said, waiting patiently, her eyes fixed on Hikaru, until finally, Hikaru spoke.

"I saved that dog four days ago, or that's what I thought," Hikaru said. "I woke up in this world four days ago, after running away from the AST. I walked around the place that I decided to hide in, and I entered a dark alleyway to change my astral dress as they were getting so much attention."

Hikaru paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "After I changed, I was on my way out, but I stopped as I heard some weird noise at the end of the alleyway. So, I decided to check it out, and I found some guys beating a dog. The same guys that I just killed," Hikaru said, her voice filled with anger and pain.

"Back then, I saved the dog but I didn't kill them. instead, I left them in a condition that there would be no way to heal from it in 4 days. The weirder thing was that they didn't remember even who I am when i meet them a moment ago," Hikaru said, her eyes flashing with confusion.

"I saved him, and I took care of him, though I neglected him in the last two days. but I was sure there was someone taking care of him. When I asked them about the dog, they denied the fact I had one before," Hikaru finished

Hikaru shifted her gaze to Kurumi", i told you my part, now it's your turn" Hikaru said, her voice calm.

"You've not existed," Kurumi replied,

"Explain further," she urged, her voice still steady.

Kurumi rose from the bench and walked in front of Hikaru. "Explaining that would be hard..."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "You see, your whole existence is centered around one point in the whole timelines, which is the <present>. You don't have any existence in the past nor in the future."

Hikaru was confused. "The present is the offspring of the past, how am I not existing in the past and I don't have a future?" she asked

"In every point in the timelines, there's something like an autosave to the event. The <world> saves the history of its reality every second, every millisecond, every microsecond, every nanosecond, and it's gone on," Kurumi explained.

She started to walk around Hikaru. "Every moment in this timeline and in every timeline that it exists is documented and preserved by the <world> and you," Kurumi pointed her finger at Hikaru. "You exist in just one moment, one point, from the whole timelines." Kurumi finished, still seeing the confusion in Hikaru's eyes.

she sighed and sat back down beside Hikaru. "Look, I'm talking to you now, right? Is that what's happening now, right? But what it saved in history is me talking to nothing. From the <present> perspective, you exist and I'm talking to you. From... let's say, a <nanosecond ago> perspective, you do not exist and I'm talking to myself."

"You're basically saying I don't have any means to exist, right?" Hikaru said, her tone emotionless.

"The <world> doesn't even know of Your existence. The concepts such as fate, past, future, karma, existence, and more do not apply on you," Kurumi replied.

"So the reason my dog died, and no one remembers me having one was because..." Hikaru trailed off.

"It wasn't supposed to live. The dog's fate was to die four days ago. You saved the dog, which caused confusion in the world's saving history. To solve that, the world reset what happened without resetting the whole timeline. We're lucky that it didn't happen or else you would be erased from existence," Kurumi explained. She put her finger to her chin. "Actually, you're still in danger as you did kill those guys. Let's hope the world doesn't make too much impact on the current timeline."

Hikaru trembled, realizing that she could be erased from existence at any moment. "H-How did you know all of that?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Well, I found out by accident. You know we met three days ago in the library, right? I have the ability to make clones of myself from different timelines, and I can gain their memories when they return to my shadow," Kurumi explained, smiling. "I gained the experience of meeting you in the library, but later when I asked the same clone that met you about you, she was confused. She didn't remember meeting you. After that, I did some experiments and came up with this theory."

Hikaru was silent.

"What would happen if I died?" she finally asked.

"Nothing actually. The people who know you in this timeline will remember you for some time, but they will forget your existence after the <world> realizes something's wrong. You would be as if you didn't exist in the first place,"

Hikaru let out a long sigh, her eyes were empty and devoid of hope. "it's so unfair. Why do I have to go through this?" Her voice trailed off, and tears began to trickle down her face. "I-I don't even have the right to exist."

Kurumi just glances at the girl, she was about to say something but stopped as she saw a familiar face approach," "Well, it seems your savior is coming for you. Until next time, Hikaru-san... I hope," she said before disappearing into the shadows.

Hikaru didn't pay any attention to Kurumi's words. She just sat there, her gaze fixed on the ground, lost in her own despair.

Someone started to walk towards Hikaru. A figure with blue hair and golden eyes that's shone in the dark garden. He sat down beside her and didn't say a word. Hikaru didn't look up or acknowledge his presence.

nothing can be heard except for the wind's voice, whispering in the ear of those who want someone to talk to,

Hikaru-san started to bite her lips, her only way to express her emotions. She didn't know how to feel anymore

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(A/N): i was planning for this chapter to be longer, but i figure out that the conversation between shido and hikaru would be so long and complex, and that would make this chapter harder to follow

i tried my best to explain the first plot twist, if someone didn't understand, don't worry the plot gonna be explained more as the story goes on

anyway thanks for reading and see ya