Disclaimer: I own nothing

The strangest thing about life is that the smallest choices make the biggest changes.

In Another Life

"Hey, Jintan."

Jinta, a young boy with short spikey hair, a glaring red shirt, and who was often called Jintan by his friends, looked up from the dirt floor of the shack he and his friends had made their base. Deep down, the boy knew that the Super Peace Buster's fort was kind of torn down, but it was theirs and that was all that mattered, "Huh?"

He looked towards the girl who addressed him. Sitting halfway up the latter to the admittedly smaller second floor of the shack was a girl with bushy brown hair and wide glasses. Anaru, known as Naruko to everyone outside their friend group, gripped the cloth of her shorts tightly and stared at him with expecting eyes, "You like Menma, don't you?"

That instantly caught Jintan's attention. His eyes widened in surprise, but it was nothing compared to the reaction of other people in the room. Beside him, Poppo snapped his head up from his video game to stare at the glasses wearing girl. His usually wide and awe-filled eyes seemed to spread even further up into his shaved head. A tiny 'oh' formed over his mouth as he instantly forgot about his game.

Even then, that was not the biggest reaction. At the far end of the shack, a beautiful girl's face lit up with a crimson red. She shook her head in embarrassment causing her silvery white locks, comparable only to the white purity of her dress, to shake about at random. Menma and Jintan looked towards to a brief moment, before the shock was vocalized, "What are you talking about?!"

"Be honest about it," A third boy in the shack spoke up. His calm face slightly covered by his ball cap stared at Jintan as he leaned against the wall opposite of Jintan all the while keeping his hands in his pockets. Jintan was surprised by the seriousness in Yukiatsu's voice. He looked almost confrontational. This shocked Jintan as the boy whose true name was Atsumu never really seemed interested in confronting the leader of the Super Peace Busters about anything, "There aren't any secrets among the Super Peace Busters."

Jintan's face flushed with embarrassment, "Yukiatsu!"

Poppo let out a grin as the situation finally sat in. He began to pump his fist up and down and cheer, "Say it! Say it! Say it!"

Seeing this, the only person that had to reaction to the situation let out a sigh. Tsuruko closed her eyes and lowered her head. This caused the tiny pony tail of dark hair at the side of head to bounce lightly. With a light tone, Tsuruko spoke as well, "Just let it go already."

The urge to deny the claims instantly rushed up his throat but was stopped as his heart was beating too fast for him to even speak. He felt paralyzed as his body fought against him. His chest tightened in an agonizing way. The boy tried to clench his hands to fists to regain control, but that did nothing. His face flushed with enough heat that he thought his hair would burst into flames. His heart was so loud and powerful that he was sure it was ready to burst through his chest.

His friends obviously saw his embarrassment, his fear as they stared at him. Unblinking eyes peered at him. They judged him in ways that he wasn't prepared to deal with. A desperate need of relief came as he realized he couldn't breathe.

"Jintan…" A soft calming voice managed to push its way past the ringing in his ears. Jintan peered to the keeper of the voice. Menma's pure blue eyes gently locked with his. The comforted him in ways that Jintan had only ever experience from his mother. The fear instantly faded away. The embarrassment disappeared into the air. There was no shame in liking this angel. Jintan would feel more shame if he didn't like being around someone like Menma.

"Of course I do," The words came out as a soft whisper, but everyone heard it very easily judging by either the hardened looks or smiles that appeared across the shack. Realization sunk in at that moment.

Kami! He just confessed to Menma in front of all his friends! Everyone knew and was looking at him. The desire to disappear instantly crashed into the front of his mind. At the same time, though, Jintan felt that he couldn't be away from Menma right now. She was the only thing keeping him from dying from the unending stares.

Jumping to his feet, Jintan rushed to Menma and grabbed her hand. With his face more red than it had ever been, the boy began to pull the girl away from everyone. Despite her surprise, Menma didn't fight Jintan's actions. In fact, she quickly kept pace with him as they exited the shack and the gazes that had caused them to flee.

Watching as the two left, the other four people in the shack remained absolutely silent. They noticed how Menma was now running beside their leader instead of being dragged by him. Despite this, though, neither of the children released the hand that they were holding. The last sight the other friends saw of them before the images disappeared were the boy and girl running side-by-side with their hands grasped together.

Both Anaru and Yukiatsu lowered their gazes in defeat. Tsuruko noticed this and gazed at her feet as well. Poppo looked at his friends in confusing, not really understanding what was happening. Still, he knew the same thing as the others. Something had just changed. Jintan and Menma needed to be alone right now. As such, no one went after the retreating boy and girl.

By the time the boy and girl stopped running, they had completely exited the forest and now stood on the large bridge leading back to their town. Gasping for breath and rest, the duo stopped, released their hands, and kneeled over to allow more air in. Looking over his shoulder, Jintan saw that none of his friends were following them. That was good. He couldn't deal with them right now.

Looking to Menma, Jintan's face flushed for what felt like the hundredth time that day, "S-sorry! I don't know what I was thinking. I just…I needed to get out of there."

"It's fine," Menma gave him a bright smile as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "That was a nice run! If we keep training like that, we'll be Olympic level runners in no time."

Jintan grinned at the claim, "Yeah! We'll leave them all in the dust!"

Standing to her full height, Menma folded her hands in front of her and laughed, "Super Peace Busters for the win!"

"Yeah…Super Peace Busters…" Jintan felt like screaming as his face heated up again, "Look, um, I'm sorry about what happened back there. I didn't know they would put the two of us on the spot like that."

"It was mostly you," Menma tilted her head to the side cutely.

"Y-yeah…" Jintan desperately looked away, "They really wanted an answer. I was going to say no, but when I looked at you, I couldn't lie…Wait! That's not what I mean! I just…I do…"

"It's okay," Menma gave him a comforting look, "Menma understands."

Trying to change the topic, Jintan looked back into the hills they just exited, "Jeeze! Those guys! I'm going to kick their butts big time! They should have known better!"

"Jintan," Menma stated sternly. This caused Jintan to turn around and look at her adorable face and eyes as bright as the sea. He could tell by her look that he wasn't going to change the topic. She stepped forward so that her face was right in front of his, "Hmm…"

Feelings of fluster and nervousness filled his chest as he stared to her eyes.

"How does Jintan feel?"

Jintan blinked, "What do you mean? At them? Angry, I guess."

Menma appeared to be frustrated as she stepped back. Her face twisted as she seemed conflicted about something, "Nothing else?"

"No," Jintan shook his head.

Menma turned away from the boy so that her back was facing him, "And…And what if Menma told you that she doesn't feel the same way?"

Jintan had felt a lot of emotions that day. Nothing was close to what those words did to him. Suddenly, it felt like a knife was sticking into his chest. Despair rushed through his veins with every beat of his chest. This outcome had not even crossed his mind. He never imagined that Menma would say that, "You…you don't?"

Menma took a deep breath, "No."

Suddenly, Jintan wanted the embarrassment and anger back. Those emotions were a lot better than this. For months, he had been holding back any form of sadness. Especially with how sick his mother had been. It had only been his friends that kept him so strong. Now, though, they weren't there for him. The ones back at the shack had turned against in a display of public embarrassment and now the girl he cared about the most was saying that she didn't care about him like he did about her.

It was the final crack that burst the floodgate. The wall shattered and allowed the waters of sadness to rush through. His limbs felt numb. Hopelessness tickled his brain. In that moment, life didn't feel so great. Suddenly, he felt all alone.

Tears began to pour out of his eyes. They were silent at first, but that quickly changed. First, there was a sniff. Then came a loud sob. Finally, Jintan placed his arm over his eyes and began to openly cry. Any desire to appear strong and cool disappeared as all light suddenly disappeared before Jintan. He wailed in despair and whimpered at how things had gone so bad so quickly.

An almost tackle shocked Jintan out of his corner of despair. Menma had rushed to him and was now tightly hugging him. Her face was tucked into his chest, and Jintan was surprised when his shirt suddenly felt wet, "Menma is sorry! She didn't mean it!"

"W-what?" Jintan whispered in shock.

"Menma is so sorry that she said that! She's sorry that she allowed the others to do that! Menma didn't want to hurt Jintan, but she made a promise!" Menma sobbed and her hands clenched at the back of his shirt, "You had to cry, but I shouldn't have done that! Menma is a terrible person!"

"I don't understand…" Jintan wiped his eyes and stared at the girl.

"Jintan's Kaa-san wanted Jintan to stop bottling up his sadness. It was hurting her," Menma explained with a shuddering voice, "Menma promised to help, but now Menma hurt Jintan! Stupid promise! Stupid Menma!"

"Hey!" Jintan pushed her away and held her by her thin shoulders. His cloudy eyes met her tear filled ones, "You are not stupid! Menma is the nicest person in the world! You care more than anyone! I don't really get the promise thing, but I do know that that you're the best person in the world! That's why I love you!"

"Y-you love me?"

"Of course! I said that earlier!" Tears once more danced in his eyes, "But Menma doesn't like me the same way…"

"Yes, I do! I lied!" Menma wailed, "Menma loves Jintan! She always has! I only said that because I had to. I am so so sorry…"

"You never have to apologize," Jintan pulled her back into a hug as he once again began to cry openly, "I could never stay angry with you."

Things were different after that. That much Jintan could understand, even if he was at a loss for everything else. He didn't really understand why Anaru and Yukiatsu did that. They were always a little weird, but they never tried to hurt anyone like that before. It all confused him, especially when both of them began avoiding the rest of the Super Peace Busters. That was odd. They were the ones that were mean, shouldn't he be the one avoiding them?

On the other hand, Poppo and Tsuruko didn't seem to change their attitude about Jintan and Menma at all. The day after the incident, they were right at the base like usual.

"So, what happened? Are you two dating now?" Poppo asked directly.

"Poppo!" Tsuruko admonished the boy, "It's rude to say it like that."

"But we were just talking about it," Poppo noted. He then began to jump up and down, "Besides, when two people are together, they should scream it to the world like they do on the TV. So tell us! Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"

Finding his courage, Jintan puffed out his chest and put on a brave face, "Isn't it obvious? We're boyfriend and girlfriend now."

"Ha! I knew it! I knew it~ I knew it~" Poppo cheered happily.

"And…what does that mean?" Tsuruko questioned with pursed lips, "How will things be now? Are we still the Super Peace Busters?"

"Of course we are!" Menma rapidly nodded her head, "Jintan and Menma haven't really figured out what being boyfriend and girlfriend means besides calling each other that. But we're all still friends no matter what!"

"Which reminds me!" Jintan quickly got Poppo into a headlock, "You cheered Anaru and Yukiatsu on yesterday! Apologize!"

"Gah! I'm sorry!" Poppo desperately shouted.

"Good," Jintan quickly released Poppo and patted him on the back all the while having a friendly grin on his face. He then looked to Tsuruko, "You too."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Tsuruko bowed her head to Menma.

"No! No! It's fine!" Menma quickly shook her hands defensively.

"Now with that done, there's only two," Jintan began to stroke his chin, "I can't say that I get what Anaru and Yukiatsu were trying to do, but they must have wanted something. We'll need to confront them and get them to apologize too."

"C-can't we just forget it?" Menma questioned, "Menma already forgives them."

"I do too, but we need to clear the air so we can move past all this," Jintan pumped his fist, "So now, the Super Peace Busters have a new mission. I call it 'Operation Talking Sense into Anaru and Yukiatsu'!"

Tsuruko stared at Jintan, "That's too long of a name.

"It's…It's a work in progress, alright?"

Unfortunately, the group of four never got a chance to enact any plan to get their whole group back together. Life decided to get in the way of innocent plans of forgiveness. Jintan's Kaa-san had been sick for a long time, and there was only so long she was able to hold out before her body gave out.

Jintan stood in front the dull stone of his mother's grave. Hot tears ran down his face. He quickly wiped them away with his the sleeve of his dark suit. Menma held onto his other arm trying to comfort him, but she was crying herself. Like Jintan, she wore darker clothing for the occasion. In any other situation, Jintan would have commented on how the clothes didn't suit her, but this wasn't the time or place for that.

Despite not looking back, Jintan knew that Poppo and Tsuruko were behind him. He could hear them crying as well. The adults were somewhere else, talking about something. They were saying things he didn't understand and sayings of comfort that Jintan didn't want to hear right now. Of course, he doubted his Tou-san wanted to hear them either, but apparently it was something adults had to put up with. Jintan was just grateful that Tou-san understood what he needed enough to let him stay with Kaa-san a bit longer.

"J-Jintan?"

The boy tore his eyes away from the grave and looked to the voice. Anaru stood a few meters away. She was being trailed by Yukiatsu. Like everyone else at the funeral, they both wore the black cloth of mourning. Idly, Jintan saw out of the corner of his eye that Tsuruko tensed at the sight of the two. He didn't know why, and he really didn't have the emotional capacity to care right now.

"Anaru…Yukiatsu…" Menma clenched his arm.

This sight caused the estranged friends to flinch for a brief second, but they quickly regained their calm. Yukiatsu stormed forward and got right in front of the leader of the Super Peace Busters. Several different emotions danced across his face an eyes, but it finally settled on remorse and sadness. The boy bowed as tears began to fall down his face, "I'm sorry. For everything."

"M-me too!" Anaru shouted out as she moved her eyes away to wipe her tears, "We were stupid, and we shouldn't have been mean and…and…your Kaa-san…"

Taking a steady breath, Jintan looked over his two friends, "It has already been decided by the court of Super Peace Busters that the members known as Anaru and Yukiatsu shall be forgiven. Granted I wanted to do this in better circumstances, but…we want you to come back to the clubhouse. We miss you."

"Yeah…" Yukiatsu stood up and looked at them with mixed forms of sadness, "I miss that too."

"Let's just be friends again, and not do anything stupid again," Anaru agreed, "After all, we can only be the Super Peace Busters if we're all together."

"Right!" Menma rubbed her arm across her eyes, "Best friends forever."

Jintan looked back to his mother's grave, "Just like Kaa-san would have wanted."

"Jintan…" Poppo muttered beside him.

Jintan shook his head as tears once again began to fall, "I'm fine. I'm…fine…"

For the most part, things returned to normal after that. The Super Peace Busters continued their quests and games. The only difference were the change in titles between Jintan and Menma. Even then, the children did little more than hold hands at times and share tiny pecks on the cheek.

Like always, though, time continued to march on for the group of friends. What was once cool and fun was now immature and embarrassing…to most of them at least. After a few years, the group stopped officially calling themselves the Super Peace Busters. Though Menma wasn't completely willing to let that go, and she absolutely refused to drop the nicknames. Throughout the changes, the friends stayed together, even if there was more pain from love loss in others than they would have life.

One of the biggest changes to them, though, happened when puberty decided to smack them upside the head. Jintan and Menma eventually did learn what boyfriends and girlfriends did beside kisses, hugs, and hand holding. It was after this realization that neither one was willing to talk to each other for a week. They quickly moved on, though, and continued what most people would refer to as a dream relationship with two childhood friends staying together through everything. Still…every couple has their arguments…

"Menma, I won't wear the smiley stickers on my cheeks like you."

"But they're cute~"

"I'm a guy. I'm not supposed to be cute."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Pretty please?" Cue the puppy dog eyes.

"…Fine, but when Yukiatsu and Poppo make fun of me, you have to make them wear stickers too."

"Deal."

There were also problems on the physical department…

"Were you looking at Anaru's chest, Jintan?"

"W-what?! Of course not!"

"Yeah, you were, Jintan. I was just pointing them out."

"Poppo! You perv! Who's side are you on!?"

"I knew it…My chest is too small for you…"

"No! Don't say that! I love everything about you, Menma."

"But I'm so petite. I don't have the curves others have. Plus, there's plenty of more experienced girls than Menma…"

"Oh Kami," Jintan smacked his forehead as he realized that he would be spending the day reassuring and comforting his girlfriend.

…Not to mention high school presented a new level of challenge they weren't used to…

"I am so going to fail!"

"Don't say that, Jintan. You studied really hard."

"But I can't remember anything! Kami! My brain hurts too much to think. Can't I just play hooky once?"

"No! No missing school! You have to be responsible, Jintan! I won't let you become a shut in!"

Despite the bumps, Jintan and Menma were satisfied with how things turned out. One extremely emotional and raw day had turned out to the best thing that ever happened to them. Overall, they were happy, and that was all that mattered.

"Gah…What a day…" Jinta muttered as he loosed his tie. The setting sun beat down on his back and caused sweat down roll down his back and bled into his high school uniform. His log shaggy hair dripped down over his face and neck to absorb the sweat. He and his friends had just gotten off the train from their school and were walking home. The other had already left in separate directions, but he and Menma wanted to stay together a bit longer.

"How do you think you did on your exam?" Menma questioned as she walked by her boyfriend. She held her back over her chest. The skirt of her uniform swayed in the wind to reveal part of her creamy legs. Jinta loved how she looked in her uniform, but he liked her better out of it…

"Terrible," Jinta shrugged.

Menma let out a giggle, "Jintan says that every time you take a test, and you always do fine."

Jinta smiled at her, "I don't want to jinx myself by saying that I did good."

"Mah~ Menma didn't know that Jintan was so superstitious~" Menma tilted her head back and forth.

"Guess my old man's rubbing off on me," Jinta joked.

"Well, Menma guesses you could be copying a worse person," Menma placed a finger over her lips in thought, "Like those guys in your video games. Always killing things and seducing women. Menma doesn't want Jintan to be like that."

"It's just a game, Menma. A fantasy," Jinta let out a snort, "It's not real….Menma?"

Menma had stopped and was looking off to the sunset. The red and orange rays of sun danced over her and enhanced her natural beauty even further, which Jinta didn't think was possible. Still, there was an odd look about her. She seemed oddly serious despite joking only a few seconds earlier.

"You okay?" Jintan questioned.

"Yeah…Hey, Jintan, Menma has an important question for you," Menma's eyes shined in the sunlight.

"Alright, what is it?"

"When does Jintan think that he and Menma will get married?"

"W-what?! Why would you ask that all of a sudden?" Jinta squirmed nervously.

"We've been together all of our lives basically," Menma noted, "Not much left left for us to go to, and Menma loves Jintan. She loves Jintan in the 'I want to marry you' kind of way."

"I-I love you like that too," Jintan's face flushed in ways that didn't involve the heat of the sun, "But we're not even out of high school yet. We still have college."

"But we'll be old enough to get married soon," Menma tilted her head to the side, "I'm just curious. After all, you've never been with another women. Once we get married, that door will be closed. Aren't you curious about what other women are like?"

"I'd be lying if I said I never thought about it," Jinta stated honestly, "But I love you, and only you. Nothing will ever change that."

"Then Jintan should promise Menma!" Menma let out a bright smile, "Promise Menma that you'll marry her. It doesn't have to be soon, but she wants to hear it."

Jinta stepped up to her and pulled her into a hug, "Jintan wants to stay with Menma forever."

"Forever and ever?"

"Yep."

"You promise?"

Jinta smiled. He leaned down and gently placed his lips over hers. After a few brief seconds, he moved his back and smiled, "I promise."

The sound of his alarm blared into his ears almost violently ripping him from his slumber. With a loud groan, he rolled over and forced himself out of the bed. He had learned long ago if he didn't put the alarm far enough away that he would have to get up to shut it off then he would just go back to sleep. Slamming the button on top of the clock, Jinta silently dragged himself to the bathroom to prepare for his morning routine.

Stepping inside the bathroom, he quickly turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. While he waited, he leaned against the sink and stared into his reflection. For once, he didn't have tired bangs under his eyes. He was grateful to finally be sleeping better, but his dreams seriously sucked.

It was hard to believe that it had already been a month since Menma had moved on. He remembered her showing up like an illusion of summer. She quickly turned his life upside down, and he was thankful for it. He was finally on some sort of path again, and he had his friends back, even if it wasn't the same as it had once been.

"Still don't know what to do about Anaru," Jinta sighed and looked down while rubbing his temples. His feelings for Menma still fresh on his mind and heart if his stupid dreams were any sign. Dealing with Anaru's looks of want was still something he didn't want to deal with, not until feelings had faded.

Looking back up to his reflection, Jinta paused. Reaching up, he quickly wiped the tears away that had decided on their own that they wanted to fall from his eyes. This happened every time he had that dream. He just couldn't get control over his tears.

Tossing off his clothes, he jumped into the shower and allowed the hot water to wash the tears away. The heat of the water reminded him of the sunset he just felt in his dream, though, and caused even more tears to fall. The words of his promise were fresh in his mind. He meant what he said, even in this crappy reality where Menma had died long ago. If she was still here, he wouldn't even be thinking about being with another woman. Jinta loved Menma too much for that.

Standing beneath the rush of water, Jinta lowered his head and quietly began to sob knowing that no one was here to comfort him. He remembered the difference a few small choices could make. He remembered everything he felt all those years ago and how he dealt with it, by running away. And most of all, he remembered everything he could have had in another life.

Thank you all for reading and please remember to...

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