Mikomi didn’t get much sleep that night as his thoughts plagued him until sunrise. He didn’t do or say much for the majority of the day. He simply spent most of his time in his room, locked away in deep thought, only coming out to use the restroom or to eat lunch and dinner. What Mikomi had realized last night was taking a toll on his mind. He had a nagging suspicion that something was off about the hidden information that Sebastian might be keeping from him but he never thought to truly question it until now. Whatever he had realized, though, he wasn’t quite sure if he was right. Until he could be certain, he would move forward with his plan to save his father.

The weekend passed and Monday morning came. Christmas was at the end of the week but Mikomi wasn’t in the mood to celebrate. After all, today was the day that his father would be calling the doctor to make his appointment. So many uncontrollable variables were at play here that Mikomi felt as if he were taking a wild shot in the dark but he had no choice. If this failed, he would have to find another way to save his father but that would take some heavy ingenuity and intervention on his part. He wasn’t even sure if he could push changing the world that far but if it came down to it, he was more than prepared to do so.

Without getting much sleep over the weekend, his fatigue had caught up with him and he ended up oversleeping. It was almost 11 AM by the time he woke up. When he came out of his room, his father was there adjusting his tie in the bathroom mirror. He was a bit startled to see him as he thought he would have been at work. His father glanced over and saw Mikomi standing there.

“You can put your mind at ease, Mikomi. I called the doctor’s office as soon as they opened and they can fit me in today thanks to a cancellation. My appointment is in about thirty minutes so I told the office that I would be late. Soon you will see that there’s nothing to worry about and that your father is as strong as an ox!”

And about as stubborn as one, too…

Mikomi breathed an internal sigh of relief. He was happy that things worked out better than he expected. One of the variables was getting an appointment before the holidays. Maybe it was his good fortune that someone canceled and his father got the appointment slot. Now all he had to worry about was a clean bill of health.

“I’m glad they could get you in as soon as they could. Thank you for doing this, Dad.”

Ryunosuke walked past Mikomi and patted him on the head. Mikomi flinched as being petted by his father at the age of eighteen was downright embarrassing for him, even though there was no one around but his mother to see. His father chuckled to himself as he headed to the living room and grabbed his coat off the rack by the door.

“I’m heading off to the doctor’s office now and then I’ll be heading into work. I’ll probably be late since I’ll have some work to do in the morning.”

“Okay, dear,” replied Karoline who had been sitting on the sofa reading a clothing magazine.

With that, Ryunosuke left the house. Mikomi stood there in the hallway with his hands in his pockets. All he could do now is wait and see what the results of his exam would be. He couldn’t stand just sitting around and waiting so he took his shower, got dressed, and told his mother that he was going to go for a walk. After he grabbed his coat, he stepped outside and turned left as if he were going to school. As he walked, he could almost feel Ryan calling out his name right before the moment of impact but when Mikomi stopped and turned around, nobody was there.

He laughed to himself as he felt a bit foolish to be recalling his memories. Even though they weren’t all that long ago, life had moved on. He wasn’t in high school anymore so there was no reason for Ryan to be out this early. Shaking it off, he decided to kill some time by heading to the mall. As he walked, he got lost in thought as per his custom.

It’s funny how some habits never die. To think that I believed Ryan would be there to tackle me… heh. Then again, after what I said to him at the cemetery, would he even have a reason to come by? It’s only been a month and a half since I last saw him but I wonder how things are going for him. I could head over to his house and ask but… for some reason, I just don’t feel like that’s the right thing to do. Still, I’m curious since nothing has really affected him from the so-called ripples that I caused. One thing at a time, though. Once Dad gets through his check-up, then I’ll have more time to worry about what to do with Ryan.

His thoughts carried him the entire way to the mall. When he arrived there, he instinctively went to Game Lot as it was the one place he and Ryan would always go. When he got there, Mikomi’s eyes widened.

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The store was closed. Permanently.

An Out of Business sign was attached to the shutters which were drawn shut. Through the openings in the metal, you could see inside the store to see that the lights were off and all of the shelves were completely empty. The store looked like a ghost town but Mikomi never really recalled the store ever going out of business.

Game Lot is closed!? How in the world did this happen? Even with the changes I made, it shouldn’t have affected anyone here at the store. Even in the original timeline, Serah still died, and even though Ryan wasn’t my friend anymore, I would often see him shopping here. I went out of my way not to go into the store when I saw him to avoid making a public scene. What could have changed to have caused this to happen?

Mikomi took a step back and looked around. What he saw was a very unsettling scene. It wasn’t just Game Lot… There were about four or five other stores with their shutters drawn with Out of Business signs attached to them. Mikomi turned around and looked down the other half of the mall where he could see another two stores sharing the same fate.

What the hell is going on here!? There is no way in hell the changes I made caused this! Every change I made had to deal with Ryan and Serah. Alice wouldn’t have caused this because that change was already made by Sebastian before I got here. So how…

It hit Mikomi out of the blue. Mikomi’s eyes widened as he took in a heavy breath.

Sebastian… He changed things with Serah’s parents. Serah’s parents were venture capitalists. They would invest money into businesses and help them grow and when their success paid off, they would move on to the next business and repeat the process. Two Rivers Mall was one of their accounts and when Sebastian changed the dates of their deaths, moving them up, the money dried up for these stores!

Mikomi gritted his teeth in anger.

All of the lectures he gave me about balance... about causing ripples that could spiral out of control. What the hell were they for? I know you’re watching me now Sebastian so take a good look around and then tell me why I should be careful with causing a ripple when you carelessly caused all of this! You’re nothing more than a hypocrite!

Mikomi couldn’t stand being in the mall any longer. He decided that he was going to head back home but he didn’t go home immediately. He traveled to Szot Park and visited the spot where he used to sit with Serah and gaze up at the night sky. With the sun out, there wouldn’t be any stars to see but Mikomi sat there on the hill nevertheless. As he sat there, more thoughts began to flow through his mind.

Am I being too selfish? Should I have lived my life again the same way? So far, nothing I’ve done has mattered, and even more, people are suffering because of the choices I’ve made. What if I can’t save Dad? What am I going to do then? Everything will just be the same as it was in the other timeline. That means that I will still take over Onyx Technology Ventures and I’ll still complete the A.I. Although, I’ve done a lot of the work already this time around. I guess I would be perfecting it rather than finding the breakthrough myself. In the end… is any of this even going to matter?

Mikomi leaned back up against the hill and closed his eyes. Even though the air was cold, the warmth of the sun shined down on his face. For a few moments, he felt at peace but that only lasted until the wind blew and gave him a stern reminder that it was in the middle of December. Oddly enough, the ground wasn’t covered with snow but the weather forecast was set to change all of that in just a few days. Even people at the college were talking about the possibility of a white Christmas before they, too, went home to be with their families. Mikomi reached up with his hand as if he were trying to grab the sun with it.

If only you could be here with me. Even though it would be cold, to lay here with you one more time at night to see the stars… what a wonderful gift that could have been. I promise, Serah… I will not squander what I have left for your sake. I’ll make sure that Dad, Mom, and Ryan continue living the best lives that they can. I know that seems selfish of me to say after I couldn’t do the same for you. Forgie me for my selfishness but I am going to see this through. Not just for me but for you, too.

Mikomi spent about an hour lying there on the hill before deciding to pack it in and head home. He pulled himself up and walked back to his house. The journey took another fifteen minutes. Mikomi had been gone for close to two hours by the time he made it back to his house. He walked up the sidewalk to his front porch but before he could even step foot onto it, the door flew open. Karoline stood there in the doorway trembling and Mikomi instantly knew that something was wrong.

“Mikomi… your father called. His doctor sent him to the emergency room. He said there’s something wrong with his heart!”

Mikomi’s eyes widened. He knew that he had to act shocked but on the inside, he was filled with joy. The worst-case scenario had played out but for Mikomi, it was the best-case scenario. Even he knew how messed up it was to wish for the worst to happen but now that the problem was discovered, the doctors can treat his father’s heart condition and that meant he could be saved. Even still, Mikomi put on one of his best acts and tried to act surprised.

“I-is he going to be okay!?”

“I don’t know. All I know is he’s at the hospital now getting checked and we’re going there to find out what’s going on.”

Mikomi nodded as Karoline closed the door and locked it behind her. The two of them hopped in the car and drove off. While Mikomi continued to look concerned on the outside, inside he was smiling. The first steps to saving his father were now complete!