One thing nobody ever expects is to turn back the clock in the literal sense. Time travel, once thought an impossibility, gifted to one special human girl. That girl.
“Kazue, Kazue? May you come down here?” Calls her mother.
Kazue dressed her bow tight into her hair, it braided one corner of her otherwise pale dirt hair. She always thought of it that way, dirty. Not dirty blonde, dirt-plain and boring. The red-hue bow brought life to her otherwise drab follicles.
“Coming!” She shouts down. Getting up readying to run down the stairs she stops forgetting something. In a flash she goes back to her bed plopping on it and reaching beneath her pillow. Underneath it is a watch, appearing to be one from the 1800’s, a fine gentleman wouldn’t be found without it. She pretends to twirl an imaginary mustache.
“Can’t forget you little pup, can I?” she tucks it into her pants-pocket and heads to the stairs and downward.
“Was there something you needed, mom?” She caught the whiff of dinner, oh so glorious it was, a delicious symphony of flavored-air drags her closer. She sets herself besides her mother giving her a hug.
“It’s almost time for dinner.” She smiles. “Please get the table ready for your brother and father.”
“Uh, can’t they do it themselves?” She complains. Her mother stops her chopping of the meat for curry. Her blanket-brown eyes peer down at her. One could say her mother was a 43-year-old puppy, her eyes were always the most adorable, her father loved that about her and it pasted in the shade of a darker down to Kazue whose motherly and teenage eyes met.
“Dear, be respectful to your family always. Family is all you got when you got nothing in life.” Her mother responds soft.
“Yeah, I get that mom, but it’s still a hassle I feel I don’t have to always do.” Reluctant as she is, she does grab the bowls stacked in four and hustles to the table. She was in a hurry to get done with dinner, in a satisfying way of course, gorging food to her wasn’t the most fun but today was important. She had to set the bowls down in quick session, one after the other.
“Mom, when will you say dinner will be done?”
“About ten more minutes, why do you ask dear?”
“Oh boy-howdy!” she says in a smiley mood. “I’ll be right back before then, I just need to step out for a moment.”
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“Where?” her mother looks back.
“Oh no worries,” she says hurrying to the door. “It’ll just be a moment of time, I promise.” She rushes out running down the street. Everyone of her steps had one purpose, to meet her friend who was waiting in a corner store, Hideki.
Hideki awaited against the whirling of two vending machines, blue and red, full of soda, treats, rarely would you see one missing here. It was a wonder how this place stayed in business, the owner must count tarot cards or wish upon every falling star. Or falling time watches. He picked his own watch from his pants-pocket staring down. Unlike an ordinary pocket watch this one was more digital, having dates, times, and an adjustment setting side to pick your destination.
“Hey, Hideki! You get me a soda for running all the way here on short notice!?” Out of breath, she keeps over to her knees holding them tight. A two mile run in around five minutes is no easy feat, especially for her sixteen-year-old short legs. She always hopes to grow more, but with time passing that seems less and less likely.
“Don’t give me that, Kazue. I told you days ago, you’re just a stumpy, slump.” His brash voice said.
“Don’t call me a stumpy, slump! You butter-less bread!” she retorts
“That’s not even bad, I like bread without all that fat.” He tossed his watch in his hand, catching it with ease. He had been known to throw objects for fun, mostly baseballs for his team in high school.
“Honestly though, I don’t know how you expect us to keep our job if you’re so careless.”
“It’s not like I ask for that part of it…” she sighs. “The actual traveling part, oh yes, I love that so much it would make my heart explode like a nuclear bomb! We should go see that sometime, give our little now I am become death friend a visit, huh?” she smirks.
“The invention of the bomb is no joke. You making a joke of a man with humanities ultimate grief is just like you though.”
“Ah come on, things that happened already happened, no cha- Oh. Wait. Yeah I guess can we change that… but still point stands.” Her remembrance of them going back and changing something, similar to the grandfather paradox is possible. Going back in time can be scary, butterfly effects can easily occur which is why after their trip, they have to go to time headquarters to make sure any effect wasn’t significant.
“And we don’t want to end up spending hours in time headquarters getting lectured again, do we?” he scowls.
“No, I hate spending time there.”
“And you give us the most reason to be there.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t mess up with that kid discovering our abilities that one time!”
“Hmph.” He huffs.
Hideki twists the dials of the watch.
“The year we’re going, 1923, location, New York, United States. The person we’re searching for this time is named, Raymond Reed.”
“Raymond Reed, huh?” she adjusts her own to the same inputs. “And what’s the deal with this guy?”
“Apparently, the anomaly will occur in the next few days if we don’t change it. A war that leads to nuclear Armageddon, y’know, the usual?” he states.
“Raymond Reed, Raymond Reed… You naughty boy. Let’s take care of that.” She completes the date with a click.
“Our job is to make contact with him first, he will be at a party, art deco, very nice aesthetic. We have to figure out how to get in, ready?” He asks.
“Ready.” She smiles.
In a brilliant light and electricity surrounding them, in that flash, both of them disappear leaving only the trace of a light black marked circle beneath.