The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

addition to thinking of yourself in bed, you were also wishing to be far away in terms of time. That’s why you leapt through time to a place way before the incident.”

“But why was I able to—”

“Do such a thing? Well, that’s the thing,” said Mr Fukushima, jotting more things down in his notebook. “I think it was triggered by that chemical you smelt in the science lab four days ago. If I remember correctly, you fainted after smelling that lavender-scented chemical?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The problem is that chemical. That chemical probably gave you these powers. By the way, don’t you like having this power?”

“No, I don’t!” blurted Kazuko. “I don’t like being the only one with powers.”

“I understand. And that’s a normal reaction. You don’t want others thinking you’re not a normal human, right? I understand how you feel. But what you need to do now is to use this power of yours to return to that science lab four days ago when this incident started.”

“What! Why?… And how?”

All three of them were surprised by his suggestion.

“By leaping through time, of course!” said Mr Fuku-shima, sounding even more surprised than Kazuko. “I mean, you have the powers, and you’ve already done it once, right?”

“But I was terrified of being hit by that truck and…”

Mr Fukushima raised his hand and stopped her.

“I know. And by looking into what psychological and physical state you were in at the time, we should be able to recreate the same conditions.”

“But Mr Fukushima, even if Kazuko can leap back in time by four days, what will she do when she gets there?” asked Kazuo, looking worried.

“She will need to meet that mysterious person who made the chemical,” explained Mr Fukushima, beaming at Kazuko. “She will have to get to that person before he or she makes the chemical. I think that will solve the problem. It might be a little risky, but I think Kazuko can do it.”

Kazuko fell silent, lost in thought. That’s right! she thought. If I can prevent that person from making the chemical, maybe I can make everything go back to normal.

“The biggest problem here is…” Kazuo said thoughtfully, “how are we going to make Kazuko leap back in time?”

Mr Fukushima reflected on this for a moment. “Kazuko, can you remember what you were thinking and feeling when the truck was about to hit you?”

“I’m afraid not,” Kazuko said with a sad expression, shaking her head. “I don’t think I’d have any idea unless I was in a similar situation again.”

“I totally understand,” said Goro, feeling a slight shiver as he remembered the accident in the morning. “And we can’t put Kazuko in such a dangerous situation again…”

“Okay. I will think of a way,” said Mr Fukushima as he got to his feet.

When they looked around, they realized that all the other teachers had already gone home and the staff room was now empty.

“You guys are going home, right? Should we walk out together?”

The three of them left the school with Mr Fukushima. As they stepped out and walked home along the edge of a building site, the cold wind blew gusts at them as they passed gaps in its large boarding fence.

“If I were to go back four days, would you all be willing to help me?”

“I’d say yes,” replied Kazuo, “but I can’t promise anything. I didn’t know about anything mysterious four days ago. So if you’d told me anything then, I’m afraid I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

“And I might be even more sceptical,” added Goro.

“So you’re saying I need to work out this problem all on my own?”

But before anyone could answer, Mr Fukushima ran off the pavement and shouted, “Run! There’s a steel beam falling!”

Only two or three days ago, at this precise location, a piece of lumber had fallen onto the pavement injuring several people. Kazuo and Goro screamed and followed Mr Fukushima, but Kazuko remained rooted to the spot in terror. I’m going to be crushed to death! she thought. And the moment that thought came to her mind, a strange feeling engulfed her.

ALONE IN THE CITY AT NIGHT

Kazuko felt her body lift lightly in the air, as if picked up by some large invisible being. I need to move! she thought. Got to get away before I’m crushed!

It was almost as if her sheer need to be somewhere else had actually made her body become weightless. What’s more, Kazuko’s vision suddenly darkened, her ears rang, and then finally… there was silence.

When Kazuko regained consciousness, it was already midnight. Stars sparkled in the night sky. But only a little while earlier, she remembered seeing the late afternoon sun as it tinged the buildings a blushing red.

“Mr Fukushima!” called out Kazuko. She was about to call for Kazuo and Goro too, but instead she noticed that she was now all alone. She was standing on the road, right where she’d wanted to be to escape the falling beam. But when she turned back to the pavement, the beam was nowhere to be seen.

Kazuko gasped and covered her face with both hands. She glanced along the road that had been teeming with traffic and pedestrians just moments earlier, but there were no cars and no people any more. So it really was late after all, and she really was all alone — just Kazuko on a dreary street corner at midnight. Then it all started to make sense to her. A-ha! she thought. I must have leapt through time. That would explain everything!

As she stood there clutching her bag in the freezing night air, she wondered if there had even been a falling beam at all. Perhaps Mr Fukushima had just said that to see if it would make her time-leap. If that was his plan, then it must have worked. But how far in time had she leapt? What time was it now? Was it a different day? Or had she gone back more than a day?

Kazuko thought hard for several minutes, then she had an idea. She pulled out the notebook she always used in class and wondered if it might answer her questions. As she flipped through the pages, she noticed that all the notes she’d taken that day were already gone, and so were her notes from yesterday, which meant that she had travelled back two days to either the night of Monday the seventeenth or the early morning on Tuesday the eighteenth. Judging by the biting cold of the air, Kazuko felt pretty sure it was early on Tuesday morning.

In that case, I should be fast asleep in my bed at this very moment, thought Kazuko. But then, she thought, I’m standing here. So if I’m here now, does that mean there’s another me asleep in my bed?

Kazuko shook her head vigorously. So many unbelievable things had happened to her since just the other day that it was difficult to take everything in. And if there was another Kazuko asleep at her house right now, then where should the time-leaping Kazuko go? It was all so very confusing, and Kazuko hadn’t a clue what to do. If she tried to stay out all night, then surely she’d freeze to death. Or what if a patrolling policeman came across her? He’d think she was a runaway, and probably insist on taking her to the station. So what on earth should she do? Without making any clear decision, Kazuko simply started wandering in the direction of her house.

I could at least try going home, she thought to herself. Maybe I could peek through the window first. It would be extremely scary, of course, to see myself asleep in my own bed. But I have to know!

Kazuko plodded along, shivering, until she arrived at her doorstep. Unsurprisingly, the front door was locked, so she opened the gate at the side of the house and made her way to the back instead. Quietly and carefully, she approached her window, worrying all the while that someone might see her and think she was a burglar. But luckily, there were no policemen around and no dogs to bark at her either. So, slowly, she pressed