V4C5

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Chapter 5 | "I've Decided"

| Remake our Life!

Part 1

My memories have been

incomplete since I came to this world.

I talked with Tsurayuki on the

hill, then we parted, and without remembering anything from that point on, I

found myself transported to the world of 2018.

I don't know how I was making

the game. I remembered making the game with the members of Share House

Kitayama. But that wasn't all, there must have been someone who navigated me. Sensei?

No, wrong. Kiryu-san... it's also wrong.

"Well, this is that, I think

it's about time."

Tomioka Keiko. Also known

as Keiko-san. She is a mysterious young woman who is a master of game

production and speaks with an egregious Kansai dialect. She is the person who

supported us in making our doujin game, from start to finish.

I wondered how this powerful

presence had slipped my memory, but with one certainty, I was beginning to

figure out why.

"Um, Keiko-san, you're"

I was about to say something,

"Whoops, stop stop"

She panicked and stopped me,

"Don't ask me about that

now. You'll understand it over time."

It was easily guarded.

"Well, now"

Keiko-san spoke again, cutting

off my words,

"You already know, don't

you? It's about time."

"Yes, I understand...

maybe."

She didn't say anything

specific, but I could imagine that this was probably the case.

It's about time... for me to

finish this world I'm in, and to understand why I flew from the world of 2007 to

the world of 2018.

And that the key is probably in

the hands of senpai in front of me, who only looks like a little girl.

"You want to go back,

right"

That one word she said summed

it all up.

I wanted to go back to the

world where they were in 2007. After parting with Kawasegawa, I kept thinking

about it.

"Nonetheless"

Keiko-san's face suddenly

became serious.

Then she began to talk to me,

trying to remind me.

"Aren’t you so blessed

right now? You work as a skilled worker at a medium-sized game maker, everyone

trusts you, and you have a very cute wife and daughter waiting for you when you

get home. Nothing to complain about, it's a picture of happiness."

With her back to me, she looks

up at the sky as the plane flies high into the sky.

I could see the pure white

aircraft glistening in the sunlight.

"Even if you choose to

live in this world as it is, no one will blame you. Or rather, you're probably

thinking, "Why should I choose anything else"."

Keiko-san remained still and

looked down.

"But when you go back to the

former world, of course, all of this will disappear. Your irreplaceable family,

your satisfying job, your friends, everything."

She turned around. I'd never

seen anything like it before, no...

That, there was the same

intense look in her eyes that I hadn't seen since the day I parted ways with Tsurayuki.

"Are you willing to throw

all this happiness away to go back in time, boy?"

Coming to the future has taught

me a lot. I learned how selfish, arrogant, and ignorant I was. I also learned

that there were people who needed me for a long time.

"..........."

Another strong wind blew, and

the humid air of the sea enveloped the area. The heat clung to me and I could

feel the sweat running down my skin.

Suddenly, I remembered.

When I was in Osaka, the area

where the university was located had a drastic difference in temperature.

Winters were so cold. In summer, it was hot. We had no air conditioning, but we

had a lot of fun... that was my daily life.

"I... I am"

The story with him and the

girls continues. If only I had been more confident in my actions. If only I had

realized the kindness of Kawasegawa, known how everyone felt, and talked more

instead of carrying everything on my shoulders alone.

"I... I didn't go back in

time because I wanted to be happy."

I wanted to make something.

Keep choosing to run away, the

thoughts of the past that I dyingly wished for in regret.

It's not the time to flirt with

someone, or to cheat and become a hero.

I just wished that,

"I want to be troubled. I

want to be in pain. I want to despair. I want to be driven to the point where I

can't think about anything else. With everyone... If I can do that with

them, that's more than a happy future, that's what I want."

I enjoyed the production.

Even though we bumped into each

other, even though we fought, and even though there was a big parting ahead of

us. But I still wanted to create. I wanted to be with him, her, and everyone at

the place where we made things.

"I... with everyone"

Tears spilled out of my eyes. I

had been able to hold back earlier, but I couldn't take it anymore.

I could picture Tsurayuki's beaming

smile.

Nanako's cheerful smile came to

mind.

And then there was Shinoaki's

welcoming smile.

As one thought came to mind

after another, something burst out in me.

"I want to go back, I-I...

want to go back, to that time, with everyone... at the time I was with

everyone... I want to go back !!"

Like a child begging for

something with tears streaming down my nose and eyes, I hung on to Keiko-san

and begged her madly.

I'm not going to say that

everything will be fine just because I start over. Rather, I think I will

continue to make big mistakes. There will be times when I lose my way.

Even so, I wanted to go back. I

wanted to spend time with everyone and grow up.

For a while, I was holding on

to her and crying. Keiko-san gently patted my head and stayed like that.

It must have looked quite

strange to others. A grown man crying over a cute little girl.

But... I couldn't stop. The

combination of what I had been carrying and the strong feelings I had finally

regained had drained me of all other emotions.

"……I am sorry"

I finally stopped crying,

apologized and raised my face.

Keiko's expression was so gentle......

that it almost made me cry again.

"That's a good look"

I stood on the bench,

"All right, let's go"

Quickly, I held up my hand.

She tried to shake her hand, but

I stopped her in a panic.

"Wawawa, stop stop!"

"What's wrong, after this

far, do you miss this world?"

I don’t.

There are so many people I love

in this world. In the past few months alone, I've come into contact with so many

different people.

――So at least.

"There's someone I want to

say goodbye to."

Because I had someone special.

I wanted to say goodbye to

those people.

She still looks like a little

girl, she said to me as she squeezed me,

"...Right, go ahead, then."

She smiled gently, like a

mother seeing her child off,

"Once you're done, it's

time to say goodbye to this world."

Then she mumbled, "See you

later," and walked away.

The sound of the plane taking

off echoed loudly in the back of my head.

The sun's strong rays were

searing my head. The high humidity was making my body sweat, but strangely

enough, I didn't feel uncomfortable.

I looked up firmly and started

walking with my back to the blue sky.

Part 2

By the time I boarded the train

and returned to the city center, it was almost evening.

I didn't stop at the office,

but went straight home. I wanted to see all the staff I had spent some time

with, but I limited myself to those I really wanted to see.

I got off the train at Noborito

station and walked straight to my apartment from there.

Looking back, it was only a few

months ago that this place became "my home".

But when I came to this place,

I felt at ease. The person I love has always been here, and the child I had

with her has always been a comfort to me.

"I'm home"

I opened the door with the

greeting I was already used to.

That was the moment.

"Ne~Ne~, Otou-san!

Look at this!"

Maki came running from the back

with a clatter and a loud footstep. And,

"Okaa-san is real――ly good

at drawing!"

She said unbelievable words and

showed me unbelievable things.

"This...... is....... "

A small LCD tablet that seems

to have been bought last year for Maki's drawings.

There was an illustration with

that touch that I had loved so much.

"Shinoaki's... drawing..."

It was a picture of summer.

A girl in a one-piece dress

against a background of blue sky and sea.

Even the theme seemed to bring

back the image of Shinoaki from that time.

I couldn't believe it at first.

I even wondered if the world had already been warped from here.

That's how hopeless I thought

it would be to see it in this world, but there it was.

"Otou-san, welcome bac... Ah,

Maki has shown it?"

From the back of the room,

Shinoaki appeared, wearing an apron.

"Because Okaa-san is so

good at it!"

"Fufu, but you know, your

father sees a lot of people who draw better than that."

Shinoaki laughed and picked

Maki up in her arms.

"What happened... you draw"

I finally spoke up, and that

was the best I was able to say.

"……Yes"

She looked embarrassed, then

smiled as if she'd just been blown away from something,

"I tried to play the game

that Kyouya-kun said."

"MysClo?"

Shinoaki nodded,

"Minori Ayaka-san...

wasn't it? I thought her drawings were really nice. So I thought I'd like to

try drawing them."

I felt as if my whole body was

filled with power.

An inexplicable feeling of

excitement went through me from head to toe.

The next thing I knew, I was

hugging them while holding the tablet.

"Eh, what's up Kyouya-kun?"

"Otou-san, what's wrong, Otou-san?"

While they were confused, I

just stayed in that position and cried.

(There is nothing in this world

that is in vain, I am sure)

Kawasegawa's words kept

repeating in my head.

Shinoaki's drawings inspired Minori

Ayaka to become an illustrator, which in turn inspired Shinoaki to draw again.

From the events of the world,

it's probably a trivial matter.

For me, it was an irreplaceable

...... joy.

Part 3

The last day. I spent time with

two of them as I always do.

Put Maki in the bath, playing

with her for a little while, and said goodnight to her.

I went to bed with Shinoaki and

gave her a good night kiss.

And.

"It's weird"

We had a long, long talk.

"I hadn't drawn in such a long

time, but the moment I decided I wanted to, I was unable to resist."

The time between seeing Minori Ayaka's

illustration and her drawing it was incredibly short. More than anything, she

was surprised.

"... Really, it was just a

little thing, wasn't it."

I felt the loneliness fade from

Shinoaki's face.

The connection between her and

the drawings was still very important.

"Sorry, Shinoaki"

"It's nothing for Kyouya-kun

to apologize for."

Stroking my cheek, Shinoaki

smiles.

And then, taking a deep breath,

"I stopped drawing, but I

had Kyouya-kun and Maki, and I thought that was okay, that each day would come

and go and there would be no problems."

Shinoaki moved closer to me and

continued, "But, you know."

"The feeling of entering

the world while drawing, the joy of getting closer and closer to what is in my

head, and more than anything, the feeling of wanting to draw... Things I had

forgotten suddenly came back to me, that’s very... "

She paused there. There was a

sparkle in the corner of her eye.

"Fun... very much"

"Un Un"

I patted Shinoaki on the head.

I felt as if I was looking at her old self in front of me.

"Next... what are you

going to draw?"

It was what I wanted to hear.

"Well, I want to draw

something big. At first, I made the background smaller because I didn't know

how it would turn out, but next time I'd like to draw a bigger and bigger place.

It could be in nature, or in a building. And girls. I haven't really looked at

what kind of girls everyone draws lately, so I'd like to see what other people

draw..."

Shinoaki's words never stopped.

One after another, the things she was interested in overflowed out as if they

had been stored up for years.

After talking for a long time,

Shinoaki suddenly came to her senses,

"Ne~e, Kyouya-kun"

She looked up at me, her tone

hesitant,

"I want to draw... a lot

of illustrations again. And when I'm drawing, I think I'm going to be very

...... focused, so about Maki... Fua."

In the middle of talking, I

squeezed Shinoaki into my arms.

Then I say into her ear.

"Don't worry. I will do my

best to support Shinoaki. So..."

I am so happy to be able to say

these words. I thought...... I would

never be able to say again in this world.

"It's okay for Shinoaki to

draw."

I felt Shinoaki nodding

repeatedly in my chest.

"Thank you, Kyouya-kun"

Naturally, we pressed our lips

together.

Our lips repeatedly touched,

then parted, then came together again.

Both of us had fallen asleep in

each other's arms.

Part 4

Morning. As soon as we woke up,

we looked at each other and giggled.

Shinoaki turned into a mother's

face, and I turned into a father's face. Then I woke Maki up, and the day began.

We ate breakfast as usual. We

laughed about trivial things.

"I'm off then"

Usual time to leave the house.

I put on my shoes in front of

the door as Shinoaki and Maki saw me off.

"Yes, be careful."

"Otou-san, have a good day!"

As usual, Shinoaki had an

embracing smile.

Maki had a bursting smile on

her face, as usual.

I'm sure they think I'm the

same person I've always been.

A salaryman working for a game

production company, went out early in the morning and came back late at night. They

thought that I would come home again today, saying, "I'm home".

But I'll never see them again.

Even if by some twist of fate

we were to meet, it would be a different set of girls.

But I can't just say "goodbye".

That's why,

"I'm off"

I hugged them both again, one

at a time.

"Have a good day"

Shinoaki mumbled a few words

and patted me on the back. She couldn't possibly know the reason why I said

that. But she was as gentle as always.

So I was finally ready to leave

this world.

I opened the door and stepped

outside. There were a few tears stinging the edges of my eyes. I didn't want

them to see me crying, so I headed straight for the elevator hall without

looking back.

The moment the elevator doors

opened,

"I'm here"

It was almost as if she was

setting up a surprise visit, and Keiko-san was waiting there.

"It's much sooner than I

thought."

"That's right. We've got

to do this before you change your mind."

I took the elevator down to the

first floor and started walking without any particular direction.

I asked her what I had been

wondering about anyway.

"Um, Keiko-san. After I

flew back to the original era, this world"

Perhaps she had already predicted

the question, "Am I going to disappear?"

"Don't worry, when you

jump back in time, 30-year-old Hashiba Kyouya, who was originally here, will

come back with shoulder and back pain."

Ahaha, she laughed and replied with a smile.

Don't say anything extra,

really.

There is a small park on the

way to the station. It was during commuting time, so it was empty and quiet.

There were two benches lined up

at the end of it. A little-used water fountain had been set up, and water was

constantly flowing out of it, as if the plug had been broken.

The sound of falling water and

the footsteps of people heading for the station echoed in the air. Only the two

of us stopped, then faced each other.

I took a deep breath. Somehow,

I felt like I wanted to, because I knew I would never breathe the air of this

world again.

It smelled like a mixture of

grass foliage and dry sand.

Keiko-san stared at me and said,

"There's nothing to

regret, is there?"

That was the last confirmation.

" ―― Yes"

I wonder if Shinoaki will

continue to draw illustrations one after another. Will Minori Ayaka be able to

recover? What will Maki do when she grows up? Will everyone on the B team

be able to get along? Will the president start to think about development a

little more? And Kawasegawa... Will she continue her days of fighting again?

I want to know the future of

this world, too.

After all, I want to live in that

future....... I want to live with everyone.

"Okay, let's go"

With that, Keiko-san quickly

raised her hand.

Will I finally return to that

past?

I wonder how everyone is doing.

Even though it has been a few months, it felt like a really...... really long

time to me.

"Oh yeah, there were only

two things I needed to tell you."

"Needed... to tell me?"

"Right. First, let's talk

about the skills you have."

Keiko-san smiled and said,

"Ever since you came to

this future, you've always felt like you're being held back by your skills,

like you're a cheat or a fraud. I know the future, so it's a matter of course,

that's what you think, right."

Pon, her hand was placed on my shoulder.

"But you never did

anything really underhanded. You never misused information to trick people or

make money. You only worked on your own, for the good of everyone. That's why

you were able to gain their trust."

"... Is, that so?"

"That's right. That's why

Kawasegawa-chan and Shinoaki-chan were grateful to you. I'm sure it's the same

for Nanako-chan and Tsurayuki-kun."

I thought it was a convenient

thing to say, but Kawasegawa, Shinoaki, and everyone I talked to directly said

that to me.

I don't know what qualifies as

a ticket back to ten years ago, but if I'm to rely on what Keiko says, it's

probably a good thing that I was the one who used that fortune to make things

right.

"But of course, you are

not a hero. The intruders who suddenly came from somewhere else and disturbed

the future that was supposed to be there. And you already know it's not for

everyone or I'll gonna save them...... or anything like that, right?"

I nodded strongly at Keiko-san's

words.

"I realized how conceited

I really was."

Before I jumped to the future,

I had hoped to use my abilities for the benefit of others. I was grateful for

that. But when I was interfering with the past, all I was doing was changing

the course of events.

"That's why... I'm going

to stop thinking like a hero. I believe in everyone, but most of all I believe

in myself, and I'm going to do it seriously."

Kihihihi, Keiko-san made a

nostalgic laugh.

"Welcome back,

protagonist. It's hell again from here."

Keiko-san moved a little away

from me and raised her hand above her head. Perhaps the journey through time

will begin when she waves it.

"So, Keiko-san, what's the

other thing."

When she was told, Keiko looked

as if she'd just remembered.

"You're right,

that..."

I was sure I had heard

something. But there, I forgot everything I had heard, even what I had heard.

Instead of being swallowed up

in a whirlpool or surrounded by a plethora of digital clocks, I just lost

consciousness as if I were fast asleep, and then.

――The time flew.

"Nn..."

When I woke up, there was the

ceiling I had missed so much: an eight-mat room with two fluorescent lights,

one of which was blinking repeatedly.

"I'm... back?"

Make sure the arms and legs are

working properly.

I could move my fingertips

properly, and what made me most happy was that my body didn't easily cramp up

even if I bent it in a strange way. When I was in my thirty-year-old body,

it was easy to get a cramp in one part of my body just by moving it a little

weird anyway.

I looked around, but there

didn't seem to be anyone there.

I wondered when this was a room

in a share house in Kitayama. I couldn't even find out without talking to

someone.

"Ah, this is"

I saw the bag of instant

noodles that Shinoaki had brought.

A soft touch on my back. My

feet were wrapped in something warm underneath.

"I see, I hadn't put the

kotatsu away yet."

That would mean at least winter

or around winter.

The moment I tried to sit up,

"Ah, Kyouya! Shinoaki, Kyouya's

awake!"

With a cheerful voice, I heard

a sound coming down the stairs.

She has light brown hair and a

well-shaped face. And large chest.

"Kyouya, are you alright?

I was worried when I saw you lying in front of the house!"

When I saw the worried look on her

face, I almost burst into tears.

"Nanako... I'm home"

"Eh, ah, welcome

back..."

Perhaps it was a word out of

focus, but Nanako's big eyes blinked.

And almost as soon as Nanako

tilted her head,

"Ah, Kyouya-kun! You're

awake!"

Quickly, I saw the other side.

"Shinoaki..."

She had a soft smile and a soft

voice with a mixture of dialects.

Aa~, I'm finally... back.

"And then, Kyouya, it's bad...

Tsurayuki came back just now."

Nanako gave me a tearful look,

"He said... He was

quitting the university. He said he talked to Kyouya earlier, and he greeted me

and Shinoaki."

"Kyouya-kun, what happened

to... Tsurayuki-kun?"

...... I see. So this is just a

continuation of what happened after.

"Okay. Then...... We're

just getting started"

"Eh?"

"What do you

mean...?"

I sat up,

"I'm going to go outside

for a minute. I'll be right back."

"Ah, yeah..."

"Kyouya-kun will be back,

right?"

I said to the two anxious

people, making a vow.

"Don't worry. I'm... not

going anywhere."

I smiled and opened the old,

nostalgic door and stepped outside.

It was a beautiful day outside.

The sky that had suddenly clouded over that day was not there.

In the midst of the blue, a

white line runs right across.

I followed the trail with my

eyes as it disappeared into the eastern sky and started walking.

The May breeze was still a

little chilly, and sometimes my body shivered.

But I didn't crouch or dodge

the wind, I just walked.

I walked up the hill. This was

the doorstep of the place where I had parted with Tsurayuki. I walked

straight through the side of the residential area and through the park, not

changing my pace.

The asphalt road soon turned

into a dirt road and the mountains loomed in front of me.

Still, I kept walking.

Eventually, the road came to a

dead end. Out of breath, I put my hand on a telegraph pole to catch my breath.

I took a deep breath, wiped off the sweat, and turned around to look at the

path I had taken.

I didn't mean to do anything.

I just wanted to walk and step

on it and confirm it.

"I'll do it from

here."

I mumbled to no one in

particular and clenched my fists tightly.

I was trying to take

responsibility for other people's lives. That's why I felt so despairing about

the future.

That's because I knew their

true future, and my involvement ruined it.

But it's not other people who

determine the value of your life. It's you. In that future, they made their own

choices and created their own lives. Even if my intentions or actions

intervened in that. But to look at them from the outside and say that they were

unhappy or no good was clearly arrogant behavior.

Kawasegawa's words finally made

me realize that. The affirmation of life was not only for me, but for everyone

who was there at that time.

So I don't regret it anymore.

I'm not always right. I am not on the side of justice, nor am I a hero. Let's

engrave that in my mind and body, and go after what I want.

Don't feel like somehow

managing it. Push myself to the very limit, and seriously confront the answer

that comes out of it.

I want to make something. I

want to make something, and that's why I went back ten years ago.

It's not a cheat ability that I

took with me into the past. It's the passion that I'll never get back.

"Have a good day"

I thought I heard Shinoaki's

voice at that time from the other side of the sky.

I could feel the dirt on my

shoes, brush it, and finally get the feeling of walking.

――I was finally able to feel it.

――That, this is the beginning

of our remake.