Genre: Drama, Dystopis, Time Travel

Summary: Hitomi had only one goal, to kill Kim Chaewon. The said girl betrayed her and vanished into thin air after mass murdering their 'friends', resulting in Hitomi being exalted from her country. Chasing the girl through defying times, Hitomi didn't expect that she will fall in love helplessly again with the girl. Will Chaewon betray her one more time?

Word Count: 11060

Hashtag: #SSBB_ReverseHourglass

Reverse Hourglass

“Are you sure that this is what you want, Hii?”

She can hear her friend’s nervous question as she positioned herself into the small pod. Boring blank stares onto her one and only remaining friend on this planet, she tried carving a simple smile but failed to do so because half of her paralyzed face couldn’t function properly. Instead, she replied monotonously, “Our life turned upside down because of her, Nako. I won’t ever forgive her for betraying us. Our friends and everyone who trusted her.”

“Still, wouldn’t it is better if I accompany you? The world you are heading to filled with uncertainties. How will you survive there alone?”

Hitomi stared at Nako with a grateful gaze. She knows and well aware of her friend’s hidden feelings and truly appreciates Nako for always sticking by her side no matter what people said. However, her heart didn’t seem to respond to her best friend’s feelings. Thus, she grabbed Nako’s hand and brings it closer towards her chest, “I’ll survive, no matter what. Even if I don’t, promise me that you’ll live happily in here and find someone who will love you more than I can ever do.”

“What are you saying? You’ll come back, right?”

To Nako’s question, she just turned her head and buckled up inside the dingy looking spaceship which both of them crafted from scratch using anything they find from the elitist dumpster. Before, Hitomi will never spare any glance at this site as she is one of the established members of IzTopia, the country they currently reside in. She is at the peak of the society, famous for being a prime example for all ladies in the country as the one who is an embodiment of justice and elegant princess. Everyone used to hold her in high regard but everything changed upon the appearance of a girl with long, wavy black hair paired with mesmerizing doe-like eyes.

“Hii-chan?”

“Ah, I’ll be fine though I won’t promise about coming here back in one piece.”

Her long-lost gaze returned and focusing on Nako who is expressing her worries through the touch of her petite hands. Truly, Hitomi appreciates Nako’s presence who is staying by her side no matter what people talked about her. This tiny girl who held the highest position as IzTopia counselor resigned almost immediately upon finding that Hitomi was banished from their country.

“In the future, will we have a chance to be happy together?”

She couldn’t contain her sigh as Nako’s cracked voice trembles at the edge of her pod. Reaching out to her best friend, Hitomi whispered, “If we are meant to meet again in the future, I do hope that we both will have a chance to be in love with each other.”

Hugging the small but smart girl with a tight embrace, Hitomi returned to her pod and closed the door of it. She waved her only trusted friend a final goodbye before lying in her spaceship. Crossing her arms across the hollowing chest, Hitomi took a deep breath before activating her pod.

“Activate, Sablier.”

Her body felt like being shredded into pieces as blinding light engulfed Hitomi’s whole body as well as the pod she resides in, leaving behind the country which she holds no values anymore. Her target now is to find a girl who is the cause of her misery, Kim Chaewon!

///

Consciousness returned to Hitomi’s body as she can feel a loud bang pounding from the outside of her spaceship. Equipping her weapon, she slowly removed her seat belt before tying her blonde, silky hair into a high ponytail before wrapping a band of a dagger on her arms and put on a mask on top of her face.

The noise didn’t reside after all this time and Hitomi thought that maybe the Heat is aiming for her life. Heat; a name presented by people of this world for the ferocious monster which suddenly emerged after those rains of meteorite hits the Earth. Many had died in the hand of this vicious monster while trying to find a place to stay. She learned about the history of Heat back in IzTopiand also had a few chances to fight with the hideous, savage beast. Her skills earned Hitomi high recognition from her country, making her one of the most respected personnel who excels in both fighting and etiquette. 

Those are things in the past already.

She whispered to herself while heaving a deep sigh. Shaking her head lightly, Hitomi shut her eyes before gathering her attention to the battlefield. She didn’t know whether she had succeeded or not in her gambles riding on that spaceship but she will know nothing if she just lay in here. Thus, she decided to face whatever pounding this spaceship and embark on a journey to get her revenge.

Kicking the lid of the spaceship, she swiftly dashed towards a ruined establishment while skillfully assessing her current situation. She can see a group of Heat which resembles an oversize black colored dog with dripping saliva hitting on the shell of her spaceship. Visible wreckage can be seen from the outer shell and Hitomi is glad that she chooses to run away a second earlier as the spaceship completely being ravaged by those Heats. 

“I’m glad that it’s just the dog Heat.”

She whispered while calculating her next move. Heat might be aggressive and all but their meat taste quite tasty. Fishing out a cube from her right pocket, Hitomi peeks inside of the box and realized that her stock might dwindle soon if she didn’t hurt. This box, a Carrier, acts as an item box with a finite load. For her, this one can carry a maximum of 500 kg of things and that’s it. She didn’t manage to smuggle out her more able Carrier because Hitomi was kicked out from her house before she can even retaliate. 

If anyone asked her whether she regrets her decision to abandon all those fame just because of a girl, Hitomi definitely will say no. What makes her want to move based on revenge is because the girl goes back on her words which caused so much pain to people around them. She needs to make sure Chaewon won’t cause any more harm to people. The blonde girl felt responsible because she somehow thought that she is partly one of the reasons behind Chaewon’s deeds.

“Enough daydreaming, fool.”

Scolding herself, Hitomi squatted on the ground before gliding through the wind, wielding her long katana and slashing those Heat with ease. Using the Carrier, she absorbed that mincemeat and rushed again to seek protection from another ruined building. Within a split second, her spaceship slowly being surrounded by all kinds of Heat in various shapes.

Before she will proudly slash all of those Heat in one swoop before going back to her comfy home but she can’t possibly do it now. Not when she had limited resources to sharpen her weapons as well as didn’t have a place where she can take a good rest after beating all those Heat. While she is carefully devising her plan, Hitomi is startled seeing a young girl wearing a goggle and wrapping her face with a red bandana with long, pink hair suddenly dashing along the wrecked road, yelling for help desperately.

“HELP! HELP ME!”

Turning her head toward the right, Hitomi gasped in horror seeing the girl is pursued by a pack of lion Heat who is getting closer towards the slender girl. Leaning her back against the cold concrete, Hitomi bit her lips hard, pondering what she shall do next. Part of her wants to save the girl because that’s the normal reaction most people would do but the rest of her said that the girl is already a goner. In this distorted world, one must know how to save themselves first before trying to extend one hand towards others. There are no chivalry codes or whatsoever left on this planet because everyone just trying to survive.

“NO! GET OFF!”

Turning her back from the girl, Hitomi ran towards the higher floor, trying to erase her guilt from leaving the distressed girl. Her hand shakes vigorously because she couldn’t stand the thought of letting the girl being ravaged by those beasts but what can she do? Is the girl worth it for Hitomi to risk her life?

“HELP, PLEASE HELP!”

Gluing her eyes, Hitomi steeled her heart from sympathizing with the soon to be lost cause kid. She rotates her heels and about to roam the enormous building before a voice suddenly crossed her mind.

You’re so righteous. I think I fell for that part of you.

“Shut up.”

Saving someone in trouble can never be easy, I wonder what makes you want to save me?

“Silence!”

Hitoma, please keep on being this righteous. You never let anyone in trouble despite your situation. For me, that what makes you attractive.

“Damn it. Curse you. Chaewon!”

Hitomi admits it, she hates Chaewon with all her might but still, that girl holds a special spot in her hard. No matter what she tried committing, Chaewon still comes to her mind spouting every bit of smart words to make Hitomi move. Truthfully, she despises this. Why would she go to such length for that traitor?

Her mind is buzzing with countless questions and before she can realize it, the blonde girl already sheathing her katana and mercilessly slaughtered those lion Heats. With every swing of her blades, she can hear Chaewon’s voice cheering on her which makes everything becoming more painful. She dislikes this. Thus, she doubled her speed and slaughtered each Heat on the road, turning the once empty, silent road into a pool of bloodbath.

Panting hard, Hitomi leaned on her sword which is planted deep on the mountain of Heat carcass beneath her feet. “Not good,” she muttered. Her vision turned triple and by the times she blinked again, it multiplied. She is fully aware of these signs. It is a way her body told Hitomi to take a break because she already breaks her limit to save that one strawberry, haired girl. 

Talk about that girl, Hitomi whipped her head towards the direction of the trembling girl who seems mesmerized by the blonde girl’s skill. Taking out her Carrier, Hitomi most of the valuable meats before gesturing the girl to come closer.

“You. What are you doing here alone?”

Okay, maybe her voice seems colder than she intended to be but she couldn’t help it. Fatigue already eats her rationality away and Hitomi got no time to play nice in front of a stranger. She needs to act fast and gather as much information as she can before constructing a plan in searching for Chaewon and teach that girl a lesson.

“I-I’m trying to scavenge for s-some food.”

“By killing yourself? From what I see, you are in no position to scavenge. You’re slow and must be stupid to get those lion Heats chasing you.”

“I-I’ve got no choice! Minjoo is sick and someone needs to go out and fetch some food or we’ll die of hunger faster than those Heat eating us!”

“What you say?”

Hitomi didn’t want to assume upon hearing that name blurted out from this girl’s mouth. There are tons of people with such names scattered around this world but for some reason, her heart is beating out loud upon analyzing this girl’s features.

“Thank you for saving me. I’ll try to repay your-”

“Bring me to your place.”

“What the heck? Why would I-”

“You want me to turn you into some Heat fodder?”

“Is that the way you ask for some help?”

Clicking her tongue, Hitomi couldn’t even feel her feet anymore as she staggered towards the girl and clenching her collar. “Listen here, your smart mouth,” she hissed at the girl with the goggle. “Bring me back to your place or else we’ll both die at the hand of those Heat.”

She couldn’t remember what happened next because what Hitomi can say is a strong scent of mint laced with strawberry hits her nose before losing her consciousness.

///

“Pipe down or else she will wake up!”

A melodious voice whispered urgently towards some sources of muttering which reached Hitomi’s ears. She twitched her eyebrows as instead of the place where she at being a little bit quieter filled with a few hissed, protested the warning.

“You shut up! Your voice is loud enough to attract those Heats!”

A husky voice seems to retaliate which makes Hitomi’s head felt even dizzier than ever. Ugh, she just wants a nice, long slumber but it didn’t seem the situation permit her to do so, Hitomi thought as she fluttered open her eyes wide, greeting a group of four wounded girls with her gaze.

“Look, she already wakes up because of your loudness!”

“Uh oh, she looks rather grumpy eh?”

“Just shut up, guys. I’ll talk to her.”

It took the blonde girl all of her strength not to curse out loud upon seeing the girl with wavy, mid-length jet black hair paired with her stunning Indian dimples on both of that upper cheeks. Hitomi blinked in aghast for a few times, in disbelief of this figure who is carefully kneeling by her side.

“Hi there, it seems that you had saved our friends before passing out. I thanked you for your amazing deed.”

Bowing her head to Hitomi, the latter gulped hard as she blurted, “Ghost?”

“No, we are not some ghost! We are humans, like you!”

The girl seems flustered by Hitomi’s question and hastily explained their situation. They are currently in the year 3031 which is five years from Hitomi’s current timeline before she used her spaceship, Sablier. Not only that, but she also finds out that the IzTopia is still unknown in this timeline despite the place is quite well-known among other survivors who want to seek a place to have a long, stable life in exchange for a vow to expend all their effort in maintaining public order in IzTopia. 

She internally smirks upon remembering the part where people need to slave away their life for the sake of IzTopia. Before, she thought that it is the right thing to do as she is being told by her parents since she was born about IzTopia being the only place they can live like a normal human. However, upon meeting with Chaewon, she learned that all her belief is wrong. This world is bigger than IzTopia and there are endless possibilities that exist out there which come along with risks.

“You are amazing, able to fend off those Heats without losing any of your body parts.”

The girl with a sweet smile grinned at Hitomi while scratching her cheek. At those words, Hitomi widened her eyes and redirected her gaze at Minjoo’s feet. She sees a crutch supporting the girl who loses her left leg and before Hitomi can say anything, another pair of a girl emerged from the dark and greeted the blonde girl with a wide smile.

“Hey, thanks for saving my buddy!”

A girl with ash blonde hair with a high-pitched rasp voice bowed at Hitomi while leaning on the other girl who had quite similar features to her but is shorter.

“Chaewon might be a little bit grumpy but she is a good girl!”

Her heart sank upon seeing the condition of the other two. Minjoo noticed Hitomi’s stares and quickly explained their situation, “Do excuse our appearance. Must be horrifying to see us in this state right?”

“No, it’s just-”

“It’s alright. You don’t need to be polite to us. I’m Minjoo, and this one with ash blonde hair is Yena, the other one with husky voice is Yuri.”

“I am Hitomi. You can call me Hii or Tomi or anything. I’m fine with it.”

Minjoo’s introduction caught her off guard for a split second because she already knew the girl’s name. Courtesy of someone who often speaks off that name while staring at the locket necklace hanging on that slender neck. She felt like screaming in joy considering that both her and Nako able to construct a time-travel machine using limited resources. Maybe they’ll able to build even more robust machines if they had better resources back then. Well, nothing can be changed now, Hitomi whispered to herself. At least I got to find Chaewon faster than I anticipated. Mustn’t waste this opportunity.

Trying to move away from the hard rock make-shift bed, Hitomi can hear a loud growl coming out from her tummy which makes her blushing hard. She just realized that expending all of her strength in fending off those Heat wasn’t a nice idea as she felt extremely famished right now. Yena and Yuri’s loud laugh didn’t help her at all in dismissing her thundering stomach’s noise. Covering it, Hitomi is weighing the choice of smacking those two to shut them up but the appearance of a tray of piping hot soup with a bun of kebab makes her halted all of those violent thoughts.

“Here, you need to eat after working hard.”

Chaewon’s monotonous voice chimes in the room as she placed those tray of food beside Hitomi before shuffling back to join both Yena and Yuri. Hitomi almost chokes on her soup when she sees those trio standing side by side. 

“You girls look like a triplet in a glance.”

Yena barked out her laugh followed by Yuri before being smacked by Chaewon, asking them to pipe down or else they will attract Heat’s attention to their shelter. This is a new side of Chaewon where Hitomi didn’t get a chance to witness back when they are in IzTopia. 

“Right? I said that before but they didn’t trust my words at all.”

“Maybe they need a mirror.”

This time, it’s Minjoo who chuckled at Hitomi’s remarks as Yena scooted closer with Yuri towards Hitomi before patting the girl’s back and steal a bite of the kebab.

“I like you already. Welcome to the club!”

“You stupid duck-”

“Manners, Chaewon! Yena is still our leader!”

Chaewon just clicked her tongue at Minjoo’s words. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall while placing her right sole on the back too. “Whatever,” she muttered while grumbling in a low tone.

“Don’t mind her. Chaewon might act like a sometimes but she’s a real angel, y’know. She’s just tired searching for food to feed four mouths after all.”

Yena grinned at Hitomi but the girl can see that there’s a hint of grievance within that pools of eyes, tried masking her misery of losing a right leg. Hitomi then glances at Yuri who loses her dominant arm as the girl seems awkward in using her remaining limb.

No wonder Chaewon is hella strong. So she goes and hunts by herself before reaching IzTopia.

Munching her food slowly, Hitomi is devising a few plans in helping them. She put her revenge on hold for now as she felt obliged in helping them. She didn’t know the exact reasons behind her deduction too but it’s just felt wrong not helping these girls. They did nothing wrong with her and if anything, her target is Chaewon. This latter’s friends didn’t need to be caught in the middle of Hitomi’s revenge after all.

“Now you all didn’t have to worry about food anymore. I’ve more than enough for 6 months of supply here.”

Bringing out her Carrier, Hitomi explained that she managed to procure extra food for everyone. In exchange, she wants to stay at their shelter while searching for her purpose in life; or that is the flimsy excuse she could think about at the moment. She didn’t expect them to cheer and hug her immediately after hearing Hitomi’s words.

“Great, we find another friend with us!”

Yena chortled in happiness as she wiggled her eyebrows at Yuri who just laughed merrily, replying, “Right? I thought we’ll rot away with just four of us.”

“We’ll be more than grateful if you want to join our humble group, Hii-chan!”

Minjoo beamed at Hitomi which caused the girl to flinch at the new nickname from the girl with sweet dimples, causing her to blurt out, “Hii-chan?”

“Ah, I read in a book that people often add -chan behind the name of a cute person.”

“Am I cute? I can cut a Heat faster than you can blink though.”

“Then it’s your hidden charm.”

At Minjoo’s positiveness, Hitomi just shakes her head while trying to offer a single smile but couldn’t. It seems that her condition noticed by Chaewon who muttered, “You can’t smile?”

Dropping her head, Hitomi just silently nodded before Yena hissed at Chaewon for being insensitive. The leader then turned her attention back at Hitomi and commented, “It’s alright. Maybe we can find some medicine to cure your condition. I believe Chaewon had found a hospital nearby earlier, right?”

Yena’s words inviting grumbling from Chaewon who just scratching her head in frustration before rolling out a hand-drawn map beside Hitomi. 

“This is the place where you saved me earlier. I tried scavenging for some medicine but getting caught by some Heats. It’s useless going there again, that place swarm by Heats. Countless of them.”

“Didn’t you say Minjoo is sick earlier? Too scared to go there because your being beaten once?”

Okay, maybe her words sound harsher than she intended to be but little did Hitomi expect that Chaewon will come at her and pounce the girl towards the hard rock bed with Minjoo’s scream filled the vicinity. With ragged breath and red eyes, Chaewon barked at Hitomi, “Shut your hole if you didn’t know anything, outsider.”

“Now I’m an outsider, huh? Care to hear these so-called outsider words? You’re a coward. You face little difficulties and run away, is this is the way you want to protect your friends?”

She didn’t bat an eyelid when Chaewon swings that bony fist of hers but Hitomi didn’t anticipate that Minjoo would take the hit in her stead. Even Chaewon is perplexed seeing Minjoo’s head-turning sideways as she is being punched by her own best friend.

“Enough, Chaewon. Don’t resort to violence.”

There’s a hint of regrets flooded in Chaewon’s eyes before the girl rotating her heels and storming away from the room, leaving behind the rest of the girls. Yena snapped out of her confusion and dragged Yuri to chase Chaewon who might commit an irrational act with her unstable emotion, letting Hitomi tend to Minjoo’s slight cut at the corner of .

“You’re too reckless. You should just let her hit me.”

“And let another healthy member of ours be unable to scavenge for food? This much is a little price for me, Hii-chan.”

“It’s such a waste for your pretty face to be bruised.”

Fortunately, Hitomi had a small box of first aid stashed inside her jacket which she utilized in healing Minjoo, disinfecting her wound. Chaewon had a precise, strong punch albeit being small. Patching up Minjoo who seems to have something to say Hitomi just sighed a little before uttering her apology.

“I’m sorry. It seems that my presence here just makes you girls turn haywire.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“You know that I only spit the fact.”

“Chaewon is a bit sensitive because we lose our limbs in the recent food hunt.”

Her breath hitched upon listening to Minjoo’s explanation. It seems the girl comes to trust Hitomi as she freely opens up about the unfortunate incident that occurred before Hitomi joined the group. She scooted closer towards Minjoo who was wearing a forlorn expression while biting those chapped lips.

“You see, we all didn’t get to eat much and had little energy left in us when we decided to go out to scour for some food. At first, everything is doing great until we are being ambushed by a group of Heats.”

Pausing for a bit, Minjoo shut her eyes, seemingly trying to reminisce about the day she lost her leg as she continued, “It’s bizarre. Our weapon broke, the vehicle ran out of gas and before I could realize it, I lost my leg while running away. Yena lost hers when she tried pulling me away from those beasts and Yuri cut off her arm while defending Chaewon.”

This is certainly news to Hitomi as she didn’t get to hear such things from Chaewon before. Now she realized why Chaewon is thinking twice to go back there. The girl almost loses her own life if Hitomi is not around earlier. Well, Hitomi might want to get her revenge but then, upon hearing such hardships befall the group, a tinge of hesitation spread inside her heart. 

Steeled your heart, Hii. Don’t falter just because of a few people who act as they care.

She whispered in her heart before walking away from Minjoo who looked rather devastated upon recalling those bitter memories. “Thank you for sharing your stories with me,” Hitomi muttered as she turned towards the left of the room and found herself in a room connected to the staircase. Heading upstairs, she can hear Yena’s voice quacking at Chaewon who still felt bitter about Hitomi’s provocation earlier. It is all a part of Hitomi’s plan to find some time with Chaewon alone and end the girl’s life before running away, maybe heading back to IzTopia and building another time machine to travel back to her original timeline.

“You shouldn’t hit her, Chaewon-ah.”

Different from earlier, Yena's voice sounds a little bit stern and yet has a mix of gentleness in it. Hitomi halted her steps as she leaned against the handrail, waiting for the friends to finish their talks first. Since the first encounter with Chaewon back when the girl was being chased by those Heats, Hitomi had arrhythmic heartbeats. It's as if something inside her is eager to come out and take over her sanity. More than her urge to revenge, Hitomi had something more complicated that felt nested deep inside her. It is something that makes people go crazy and go to unimaginable lengths to obtain it. However, she didn’t want to admit it. Not when she can see how the other party didn’t reciprocate her feelings at all.

“Oh, Tomi-ya. What are you doing up here?”

Maybe she is too engrossed in her thoughts, Hitomi didn’t realize that those trios already finished with their peep talk and both Yena and Yuri were already heading back downstairs. She tried carving a smile at them but failed miserably due to her health condition and thus, she curtly nodded at them instead, acknowledging their presence before answering, “I think I’m way too harsh with my words earlier.”

“Well, you are straightforward and that’s a plus point for you. She’s up there, maybe hanging by the semi-destroyed balcony again. Need some fresh air or something like that.”

Yuri replied which Hitomi gratefully noted inside her head after thanking the pair of good friends. She carefully heads towards the upper floor, searching for a certain slim figure who is hanging out in the open air, clearly spacing out after unleashing her rage earlier.

“Hey.”

She greeted the girl who responded with a snort. It seems Chaewon still is disturbed by Hitomi’s words from earlier.  Didn’t bother to hide her sigh, Hitomi exhaled loudly before uttering, “I’m sorry for being harsh earlier.”