Chapter One:

It had all happened so quickly. One minute Satoru had been talking casually with the man who was like a father to him. Then everything changed and he realized that man had just been an act. Now here he was, sinking into the freezing water, unable to get free as that same man walked away unscated. Ready to kill again.

More people losing their loved ones and being framed for it. More mothers losing daughters and sons, maybe even being framed for their murder.

He couldn't let that happen! He couldn't!

'Yashiro!' he roared 'I know your future!'

A blue butterfly flew overhead. And then the water was gone and he was staring at a pack of laxitives in the dashboard of Yashiro's car.

'-oh and about the car,' Yashiro was saying. 'I borrowed this one earlier.'

He had mere moments. He'd gone back onto a few seconds but maybe he could do something.

'I was looking for something specific for today.' continued Yashiro, oblivious. 'Generic model, generic paintjob. A car that's so ubiqudious no one would even miss it.'

What could he do? He'd been unable to unbuckle the strap, but maybe he could wriggle out of it? No, there was no time. He needed to distract Yashiro. The wheel. They were moving very quick.

'You know, this was the first time I put that theory into practice.'

Satoru grabbed the wheel and hauled on it. It took Yashiro by surprise and he pulled it to a sharp left. The car swerved off the road, hitting a stone and flipped over. Satoru was thrown around in his seat as they slid down toward the ice, which cracked with the impact.

Now he was hanging upside down, the airbags, smashing into him. For a moment everything was a blur. Gradually he came to and found himself hanging upside down from the top. Beneath him through the sun roof he could see the ice. It was cracking.

Struggling with the seat belt he tried to pull it off. But it was rigged. Wriggling in it he managed to slip out to hit the ceiling and the cracks widened. Then a hand gripped his leg. Yashiro had gotten from the drivers seat, and his forehead was bloody. A smile was still on his face.

'Don't go anywhere, Satoru.'

'Let go!' roared Satoru 'The ice is breaking!'

'All the better.' said Yashiro, forcing him down and gripping him by the throat. 'To tell you the truth, murder was getting a bit stale. Every child I kill is just a little less satisfying. We really are just rodents scurrying to keep our heads above the water just a few moments longer, even if it means climbing over the corpses of our siblings.

Sooner or later we drown. Why not sooner?'

This guy was nuts. Saturo couldn't breath, and the ice cracked further. Bringing up a foot Saturo kicked Yashiro in the face with both feet. The grip loosened and he slipped out. But Yashiro stood and rushed after him.

Saturo pulled himself out of the car onto the ice. Turning around he saw Yashiro halfway out of the car. But he'd gotten tangled up in the seatbelt. Then the ice began to break. Satoru ran and got to the shore just in time to see the ice break and the car sink into it.

Get got one last glimpse of Yashiro gripping the edge of the ice, a smile on his face, before he was hauled downwards into oblivion. For a moment Saturo stared as he watched the pool of icy water where his teacher, the person he'd sometimes wished was his dad had been a moment ago. Now he was dead. All that was left was a void he had to fill.

Turning he made his way up the slope back toward the road. It had begun to snow slowly and it was getting colder. He'd have to hitchhike a ride or he'd probably freeze to death on his way back. So he began to run. Where was he anyway? He hadn't really been paying attention to the directions. Only that they had gone through a tunnel.

Mr. Yashiro was dead.

It struck Satoru suddenly. He had killed his teacher. The teacher who in an alternate timeline had killed his mother, Kayo, Hiromi and Aya and so many others. And Saturo had killed him.

No one could blame him for what he had done, could they? It had been him or Yashiro.

What happened now? What did he tell Kenya, and the others? Everyone had liked Yashiro. He'd been one of the most popular teachers. Would they believe him when he told them that he had been a serial killer? Especially when there had been no killings in this timeline? Not here at any rate.

Of course not. Saturo didn't have any evidence anyway. The truth wasn't going to save any of the people Yashiro wrongfully convicted. It would probably only upset people.

He was shivering. Clutching himself close he tried to ignore his shaking limbs and chattering teeth as he made his way to the tunnel. It was less windy in here, so it was a bit of an improvement. But there also wasn't as much room to walk. No sideway, no sidelane. If a car came by he'd have to stick close to the wall to avoid getting killed.

He ran and he ran until eventually he saw some headlights coming toward him. A car stopped before him and the window lowered. 'Hey kid, what are you doing out here?'

'I… I'm lost.' said Saturo 'There was a car wreck and Mr. Yashiro he… I need to get home.'

'Where is home?' asked the man 'I'll give you a lift.'

Saturo gave him directions and was driven back toward home. He spent the ride in silence. When at last he arrived he thanked the driver and got out before approaching the door. It was over. He knocked.

The door opened and Mom looked out at him. 'Satoru, where have you been kiddo? I was worried to death?'

'Mom I…' Saturo gasped. 'Mr. Yashiro and I were driving and we crashed. He… he got pulled down into the lake. He got me out of the car, but I couldn't do anything to save him! I could have saved him!'

'Oh my god.' said Mom 'Come in, I'll, I'll call the police.'

He'd lied. Lied about the killers identity. No one would ever know but him.

It was over.

He'd won. Yashiro was dead. Kayo was safe. Saturo suddenly felt more exhausted then he ever had in his life and he fell asleep and slept like the dead. When he awoke he brushed his teeth and went about his daily routine. Then it hit him.

He didn't snap back from revival. He'd only done it once when he'd failed to save Kayo the second time. But he hadn't snapped back yet.

'Oh my god.' he said at breakfast.

'Are you alright?' asked Mom.

'I just realized that I'm going to have to live the next eighteen years in real time.' said Saturo.

'Well that's how time works.' said Mom. 'You've got to live one day at a time.' She paused. 'Kiddo, I've got some news.'

'Yes?' asked Satoru.

'They got the car out of the water.' said Mom 'I think they got there a little after you walked away. Mr. Yashiro is alive.'

Satoru froze. 'He… he is?' Had he managed to keep the dread out of his voice.

'Yes,' said Mom 'but… he's in a coma.'

'He…' Saturo tried to control his hands shaking. 'he will wake up eventually though, right?'

'We don't know.' said Mom 'It's too early to say.'

Things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

Authors Note:

Okay so I finished Erased a couple of days ago. Great show, though the ending was a bit lackluster. Anyway this is my take on an alternate ending. Enjoy. I may make more chapters in the future.