Mikomi noticed the look on Ryan’s face. He knew that he was wrestling with his emotions and what the social ramifications could be for him should he attempt to befriend Serah. Unlike himself who has already resolved to face whatever social backlash was thrown at him, he knew that Ryan may not have that level of conviction in him. Still, he wanted him to try.

“What are you afraid of, Ryan? Are you afraid people might see you with Serah and start looking down on you as well? Are you scared that you, too, would be considered an outcast? Honestly, who would abandon you? I’m like, the only friend you have and I wouldn’t turn my back on you so who cares what other people think? I think you owe it to yourself to see the truth behind her.”

Maybe it was the fact that Mikomi told Ryan that he was his only friend but he suddenly became agitated. He narrowed his eyes and then swatted Mikomi’s arm, knocking his hand off his shoulder.

Mikomi was a bit stunned that he would do such a thing and took a step back. Ryan looked down at the ground and gritted his teeth, looking as if he wanted to say something but the words just wouldn’t come out. It was obvious that he was conflicted over this situation but he could only choose the option he felt most comfortable with and began to walk away.

“I… don’t think I can do this.”

“Are you willing to throw away our friendship over something like peer pressure? What about thinking for your damn self?” said Mikomi with an angered tone in his voice.

“That’s the thing… I AM thinking for my damn self. You’re the one who’s trying to change my thinking. Your little lecture just now shows that you are nothing more than a hypocrite.”

Ryan was, technically, right but all Mikomi wanted was for him to know the Serah he knew. To show him that even though he was thinking for himself, his way of thinking was wrong. It appeared as if this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.

“You’re right. It was selfish of me to try and get you to see Serah in the same light that I do. I’m sorry. I do hope that you decide to give her a chance, though. I only wanted you to meet her because I just think people are completely wrong about her.”

Ryan still didn’t know what to think as Mikomi continued his little lecture. This time, he was taking the handcuffs off as he decided not to sugarcoat anything.

“I will say this, though, Ryan. You call me a hypocrite for trying to change your way of thinking but in the end, you’re the one who can’t think in more than one direction. All you see before you is a path of ridicule and torment because people you don’t even know or care about MIGHT say something about you for associating yourself with her. You never once stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, your way of thinking is wrong. What good is thinking for yourself if you can’t even explore all of the possibilities? To me, that’s not only petty but completely stupid.”

“So… I’m an idiot now?”

“Yes,” replied Mikomi with zero hesitation.

“I see.”

Ryan turned and began to walk away. Mikomi wasn’t going to try and stop him. This was something Ryan needed to figure out for himself. Mikomi simply stood there and watched as Ryan got further and further away.

“Even though it doesn’t look like it, things have changed. He didn’t flat-out reject our friendship but I did give him something to think about. It’s not the most ideal outcome but it is different. I can only hope that he will find the right answer on his own; that way this world can begin to change. I don’t care about playing it safe anymore. If this is truly my world to shape, then I’m going to shape it the way I want to. I want Ryan to remain my friend, I want Serah to live and be by my side forever. I want my father to find happiness and success and most importantly, I want to find whoever killed me and prevent it so I can enjoy everything I have changed for the rest of my life.”

“I know I’m being selfish here but what is the point of this second chance, then? If I’m not allowed to change the things I want to change, then why even bother? If I’m not allowed to change the world, then I might as well have been left to die. I shouldn’t have been saved in the first place. I still don’t know why I was chosen when so many others are more worthy of this than I am but I can’t worry about things anymore. I need to make the most of this second chance and that means having a Coming-to-Jesus conversation with a certain someone. It’s Saturday so maybe mom left to do her grocery shopping. If so, then I’ll have all the time in the world to set things straight with him.”

Mikomi turned to head back home but took one more look down Serah’s street before doing so. He stuck his hands back into his pockets and went on his way. He entered through the front door and didn’t see a note on the table. Mikomi knew that was a red flag for not being alone in the house. He took a look around but didn’t see his mother in any of the rooms. In fact, it was pretty quiet. He went into the garage and noticed that the car was missing. He thought it was odd for his mother not to leave him a note as it was almost like a tradition for her.

Just to be on the safe side, Mikomi called out for his mother and was met with complete silence. Feeling that the coast was clear, he only had one other name to call out but before he could, Sebastian materialized in front of him. Mikomi jumped back, not expecting to see him appear without being called out to.

“Geez, give me a heart attack, will ya?”

“My apologies, my dear Mikomi. It was painfully obvious that my presence was required, therefore, I took the liberty of just showing up.”

“Well, now that you’re here, I have some questions that I need answers to.”

Sebastian held up his hand and halted him. He walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing his legs.

“Don’t mind if I make myself comfortable. I have a feeling that I’ll be here for quite a spell. Now, my dear Mikomi. You must remember that I am always observing. I can already guess what you wish to inquire about so feel free to take a seat and I will give you the information you seek, although… I’m afraid you may not agree with some of it.”

Mikomi slowly walked over and sat in one of the leather chairs. He looked across the room at Sebastian who leaned back into the couch and crossed his arms.

“Firstly, let’s go over why you were given this second chance. As I’ve told you before, we usually select candidates if their lives were cut short and they had something left unfinished. No doubt that you carried on your father’s work and when all of that came to an abrupt halt, you couldn’t reap the fruits of your labors. We felt that, due to the good life that you lived, some events withstanding, you would be a prime candidate. Alas, you were selected and here you are all prim and proper and ready to reshape your destiny.” said Sebastian before taking a brief pause.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“However, you must be asking yourself “How can I reshape my destiny if Sebastian locked away some of my memories?” right? Well, Mikomi, as I’ve explained before, some things are not necessary to complete your objective. No doubt your goal is to find your killer and prevent your death so that you can continue with your life. I simply made it so that you could focus on that one goal. I understand it may not seem fair to erase the memories of the one you loved dying but I feared, that you would do everything in your power to prevent that and if you did, that would drastically change everything. This world line was not meant for such drastic changes so I had a duty to fulfill to protect it. However, I gave in and I granted you your memories back of Serah. Now I fear that this conversation we’re having is going to be the catalyst to something rather unpleasant.”

Mikomi balled up his fist. He didn’t like the fact that Sebastian could sit there so calmly and not act like anything he did was wrong. Mikomi did his best to hold back his anger and replied to Sebastian.

“Of course, this is going to get unpleasant. You hid my true memories away from me! Of course, if I remembered what happened to Serah that I’d do anything in my power to make sure she’d stay alive! I love Serah more than anything in the world and if it means I have to drastically change this world to make sure that she lives, I’m going to do it. You, yourself, told me when this all began that this is my world to shape. Well, I’m going to shape this world in the way I want it to be… and that’s a world where Serah lives, Ryan is still my friend, my father doesn’t die and I continue his work the right way… not out of obligation as his son but because I want to of my own free will! That is the world I desire and that is the world I will shape. If you want to protect this timeline, that’s fine, but you’re going to have to protect the world I create!”

“So you’re telling me that you’re going to play God, Mikomi?”

Mikomi sat there for a moment. Sebastian did say that he had to regulate people who were given a second chance because they did, over time, develop a God complex. Mikomi thought about Sebastian’s question and came up with an answer.

“Playing God means trying to change the entire world. I’m not interested in that. All I want to do is change MY world. Everyone else’s lives can remain the same… I’m only here to change my own.”

“You do realize that is the same as playing God. You said it yourself. You want Serah to be alive, you want Ryan to remain your mate. That would mean changing their lives and their destinies. That would also change the lives of the people around them and then that would spiral out to even more people and soon, you would have created a chain reaction that could not and will not stop. I simply cannot allow that, Mikomi.”

Mikomi gritted his teeth even more. He was at his boiling point because while he understood Sebastian’s position, it seemed like he didn’t, or more accurately, couldn’t understand his.

“Sebastian… Can you tell me what hurts more? Is it remembering, or forgetting?”

Sebastian actually looked perplexed by that question. Mikomi; however, wouldn’t give him the chance to answer.

“Remembering that Serah died was very painful. Recalling the one I loved taking her own life broke my heart. Every time I look at her now, all I can think about is how lonely she must have felt… how much hopelessness filled her heart. I try to imagine what she went through in her final moments… recalling all the ridicule, her sadness, and the fact that she was truly alone in this world. Just thinking about it now, rips at my heart in such a way that I want to break down and cry for hours on end.”

Mikomi did begin to tear up, but it wasn’t because of what he was saying. He began to cry over what he was about to say.

“But… that pain is nothing compared to knowing that I was made to forget all of that. Going through life and not remembering the pain you endured is an insult to the ones who suffered. Serah may have died but how can the dead rest in peace if they are never remembered? Not being able to remember Serah means that I have abandoned her just like everybody else did. That is a pain far greater than anything else in the world… so… I’m going to ask this question of you right now, Sebastian, and I want you to give me a straight answer.”

Mikomi, his eyes red from tears and with a look of absolute anger on his face, asked his question.

“Did you erase any more of my memories?”

Sebastian closed his eyes as he knew that he couldn’t cover anything up anymore. Mikomi probably wouldn’t have bought a lie at this point anyway. Sebastian decided to lay it all out on the table for him.

“Yes and no. I didn’t erase any other memories, per se, but since I did erase some, I had to, well… rearrange some of the others so some memories might be altered.”

“Like how I took an interest in my father’s company after he announced his breakthrough when, in reality, I didn’t take an interest until Serah died?”

Sebastian simply nodded in agreement.

“So, you remember that, too?” asked Sebastian.

“I first felt something was off when I was writing the letter to my father. I knew every detail of the code and how to make the A.I. work, but there was one bit of information I left out of that letter. One little piece of information I couldn’t recall and it was driving me insane. In the end, I left it out because time was against me. I had that same feeling when I met Serah for the first time. I knew that something was completely off but I didn’t know what or why. Now that I know it was because of you, things have been coming back to me.”

Mikomi took a brief pause.

“The one piece of information I was missing was the name of the project. My father never had a name for it but when I took over the company, there was only one name I could give it. It was Project: Serah. I completed the A.I. because I was determined to recreate the one I loved… and I did it. The advanced A.I. that would blur the line between machine and human… reality and fantasy. I saw the project through and I did it on nothing but my burning determination, my will, and most importantly, my desire just to hear her voice one last time. Even if it wasn’t the real thing, I could have Serah back in my life.”

Mikomi stood up from his chair and walked over to the coffee table, slamming his hands down on top of it. He looked Sebastian right in the eye.

“But you knew that if I could save Serah, there would be no reason for me to go to my father’s company. There would be no reason for me to create the A.I. and then the entire world would change, wouldn’t it? That’s what you feared most.”

Sebastian nodded.

“Then answer me this. Why didn’t you stop me from giving my father the answer? After all, I completed his work for him after he died. Now, he’s still alive and the work will be seen through and he will get to enjoy the fruits of his labor. That, alone, was enough to change this world so why didn’t you stop me then? Why were you trying so hard to stop me now?”

“Because whether your father finished the project or not, he is still going to die. The memories of you taking over his company would have pressed you forward into the same role and nothing would have changed. Different path. Same destination. That’s all there is to it.”

Mikomi stood up straight. It was as if an epiphany had struck him. He knew deep down there was something else Sebastian was hiding from him. He knew that the time for keeping secrets was over. Mikomi was going to get the final piece of the puzzle one way or another.