Chapter 243: Past and Future, the Day They Meet (Part 1)
The fourth class in the morning starts at 11:25.
There was still one minute before class started, and the boys around her returned to their seats, and "Koizumi Aona" opened the window next to her desk.
The breeze that blew in was mixed with the scent of cherry blossoms.
The sky is cloudless, making one want to sleep.
"It should be okay to sleep in my class, right?" Koizumi Aonai was particularly tolerant of herself.
Looking back on her 16 years of life, she is confident that she will be selected as a representative of people who are lenient towards themselves.
But the next moment, she remembered: falling asleep here (the future) means waking up in the middle of the night there (the past).
"This is a nightmare." She slumped over the table weakly.
"What's wrong?" Aoi Ikki, who was sitting on the right, sorted out the English textbooks she would need for the next class and looked over curiously.
"I've been studying all night. I must be so tired, Aoi." 'Koizumi Aona' kept her face against the table and turned her head to look at Aoi Ikki.
"Xiao, Xiao Aoi?" Ikki Aoi's face began to turn red slowly, which was very interesting.
In the corner of her eye, she saw Kiyono Rin's cold gaze from the right rear, and Koizumi Aona suddenly woke up.
"Sorry sorry, I'm sleep deprived and my head is fuzzy."
"It's okay, it's okay." Ikki Aoi waved her hand quickly, "Watanabe-kun, just call me Aoi."
"Uh——" 'Koizumi Aona' looked at Kiyono Rin as if seeking advice.
The answer is of course no, but how can I refuse Aoi Ikki?
Just when "Koizumi Aona" was struggling, Koizumi Aona came in and eased her embarrassment.
As expected, I still have to rely on myself, Koizumi Aona breathed a sigh of relief.
"Before class, we will have a vocabulary test. Everyone put away your books." Koizumi Aona handed the test paper to the first student in each group.
"..." 'Koizumi Aona' stared at Koizumi Aona with resentment.
"What's wrong with you, Qingna! Why are you living the life you hate the most!" She complained in her heart and looked at Qingye Rin at a loss.
“I can’t,” she mouthed.
Her grades were only slightly above the average for a rural public school. She would memorize vocabulary tests a day in advance and barely pass them.
Qingye Rin glanced at her, and then, gone... gone?
The classmate in front of her turned around and put two test papers on Koizumi Aona's desk. She picked up one and turned around to put it on Kujo Miki's desk.
At the same time, she whispered to Kiyono Rin:
"I won't!"
Kiyono Rin took the test paper from Ikki Aoi and wrote her name and student number.
"My sister ignored me!"
"Koizumi Aona" picked up the pen and slowly filled in Watanabe Toru's name and student number.
Question 1: Awkward ()
Won't.
Question 2: Be careful ()
This meeting, cation.
Is this how it's written? It looks weird, is it a cantion?
Never mind, next question!
Question 3: Realize ()
Two? English man, please be more serious!
Won't!
"Koizumi Aona" glanced at "herself" walking around in the classroom, found an angle, supported her chin with her hand, pretended to think, but actually closed her eyes and prepared to change people.
But I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep at all!
What should I do? What should I do?
Watanabe Toru, come out quickly!
Why would you cheat on your own exam? Why would you let someone else take the exam for you?
Come out! If you don't come out, I will be angry!
"Watanabe." A soft voice came from above.
『Koizumi Aona』 opened her eyes and looked up at herself ten years later.
She has a beautiful oval face with a very graceful curve from the chin to the neck , and her skin is fair and without a trace of fat.
She has a curvy figure and the teacher's suit looks very good on her.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Koizumi Aona looked at Watanabe Toru, but her gaze was on the test paper.
Apart from the class and student number, only one blank was added, and it was written incorrectly.
Is the soul of my sixteen-year-old self really the soul of the man living in Toru Watanabe's body?
Koizumi Aona's eyes flickered.
"A little bit." Koizumi Aona immediately pretended to be unwell, "Teacher, can I go to the infirmary?"
"Seino-san," Koizumi Aono turned around, "Can you take Watanabe to the infirmary? You don't have to take the test."
"Koizumi Aona" was behind Koizumi Aona, winking at her elder sister desperately.
Qing Ye Lin sighed and put down the pen: "Okay, teacher."
"I'm counting on you." Koizumi Aona said with a smile.
Watching the two people walk out of the classroom through the back door, she looked around the classroom to make sure that the students were answering the questions seriously, and then she reached into Watanabe Toru's drawer.
I fumbled around for a while based on my memory from the dream, and when I came out, I had a notebook in my hand.
I turned two pages and saw familiar words.
Those were words that I had never seen in the real world, and only appeared in my dreams:
"Vote for female voice actors"
「Toyosaki Aiki: 2 votes」
「Ogura Yui: 1 vote」
◇
During lunch break, Koizumi Aona called Watanabe Toru over to instruct him on filling out a career survey form.
This is a separate conference room, only one-fourth the size of an ordinary classroom.
There are sofas, water dispensers, conference tables, and green plants in the corners.
"Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?" asked Koizumi Aona.
"Handsome guy from Tokyo." 'Koizumi Aona' threw out the preset answer.
According to her thoughts, there was nothing wrong in telling her future self about her own affairs, but just now in the infirmary, Qingye Rin reminded her that in order to reduce the risk of exposure, the fewer people who knew, the safer it would be.
Moreover, keeping it a secret from her future self is also protecting her.
"A year has passed, and you haven't changed at all."
"Teacher, it is very difficult for people to change." "Koizumi Aona" admires Kiyono Rin very much and has completely guessed the conversation.
"Not necessarily." Koizumi Aona said with a smile, "The teacher completely changed himself when he was in the second year of high school."
"Why? Did something happen?" Koizumi Aona asked curiously.
Koizumi Aona looked into the eyes of 'Koizumi Aona' and said nothing.
Being stared at like this by her future self, the curiosity in Koizumi Aona's eyes gradually disappeared, and finally she had to avoid his gaze.
She picked up the paper cup on the table, looked at the green plants in the corner and took a sip.
"Your movements seem to have become more delicate." Koizumi Aona looked at every move of "Watanabe Toru".
"Well, no one stays the same."
"'It's hard for people to change', 'No one will remain unchanged.'" Koizumi Aona nodded and repeated these two sentences.
"Koizumi Aona" continued to drink water.
"You are me from the past, right?" Koizumi Aona suddenly said.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Koizumi Aona used her sleeve to wipe the water that sprayed out of her mouth.
"To be precise, it was ten years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school." This time, Koizumi Aona's tone was particularly affirmative.
The conference room fell silent, and the clock on the wall began to tick.
Just then, the water dispenser made a buzzing sound and started to boil water.
"You, have discovered it?" Koizumi Aona's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you discover it?"
"This actually happened." Although it had already been confirmed, Koizumi Aona still murmured in disbelief.
She raised her head and looked at herself ten years ago:
"From the night of April 2nd, I will have dreams."
"dream?"
"Well, I was dreaming. I dreamed that..." Koizumi Aona stopped when she thought of what 'Koizumi Aona' had done.
"What did you dream about? Tell me quickly!" Koizumi Aona asked anxiously.
"I dreamed about what you did with Watanabe's body." Koizumi Aona glanced away, looked at the green plants in the corner, picked up the paper cup and took a sip.
"……all?"
“I don’t know.”
"Fitting room?" Koizumi Aona asked cautiously.
"I'm talking to you!" Koizumi Aona put down the paper cup, her ears red. "I know you're at an age where you're curious about the opposite sex, but you can't do that kind of... that kind of thing!"
"What?" Koizumi Aonai's ears also turned red, "You did it ten years ago! What does it have to do with me?"
The conference room fell silent again. The two of them picked up the paper cups and took a sip at the same time, and then fell into awkwardness at the same time.
With a "click", the hot water in the water dispenser is ready.
"What do you mean by you didn't understand it just now? Wasn't it very clear?" Koizumi Aona asked in a tone that was angry because of shyness.
Compared to her, Koizumi Aona was much calmer ten years later.
"What you did is like a dream to me. Everything is so vague and ambiguous that I can't be sure if I remember everything."
"Then why don't you forget about the fitting room." Koizumi Aona complained in a low voice.
"It's not just about the fitting room!" Koizumi Aona blushed again, "How can you waste other people's money? And buy such expensive things."
"I thought it was a dream, but who knew it was a parallel world ten years later! Also, you are such a loser. You are so pretty, why haven't you even held a boy's hand?"
Koizumi Aona's face turned even redder, and it was hard to tell whether she was shy or angry.
"Do you think we can get into Waseda University with our intelligence without sacrificing anything? I read even when I eat! You too, you are so cute, why don't you have a boyfriend in 16 years?"
Koizumi Aona's face also turned red.
"I don't want to find one! Besides, I will definitely live a better life than you in the future!"
"Depending on horse racing lottery and memorizing Tokyo University exam papers?" Koizumi Aona's tone calmed down a little.
“That’s right!”
"Don't do that."
『Koizumi Aonai』Looking at Koizumi Aonai's serious expression, he asked timidly and stubbornly, "What?"
"I'm sorry." Koizumi Aona calmed herself down and her tone returned to her usual gentleness.
She looked tenderly at her sixteen-year-old self, a girl in her prime.
"I cherish my current life, my job as a teacher, and my friendship with Akiko and Miyuki. Even if it takes three people ten years to buy the apartment we live in now, I like this kind of life. I like the feeling of having my feet on the ground and becoming happy step by step."
"Koizumi Aona" said nothing and looked away.
"You...I'll call you Xiaonai, Xiaonai, can you promise me? Please." Koizumi Aona requested.
'Koizumi Aona' glanced at her and said, "I really want to agree to you, but I can't get into Waseda University."
"We are one family. If I can pass, you can definitely pass!"
"You can make up your mind and work hard, but I can't. Besides, this is a parallel world, right? Even if I do something, it won't affect you." said "Koizumi Aona".
After that, she asked curiously, "By the way, what did the me in that world encounter in the future, and why did I become so powerful?"
"I don't know either."
"Perhaps something has also happened in your parallel world during this period of time."
"I don't know. I have no memory of that month at all." Koizumi Aona rubbed his eyebrows.
She suddenly remembered something, and she looked up and asked Koizumi Aona:
"Xiao Nai, have you ever approached Akiko and Miyuki about going to Tokyo together in the future and becoming close friends?"
"How do you know?" Koizumi Aona asked in surprise.
"When did this happen?"
"Today, no, it's daytime where I am."
Koizumi Aona's eyes were blank, but if you looked closely at her expression, it was clear that she was thinking about something.
"What's wrong?" asked Koizumi Aona.
"...Xiao Nai, this may not be a parallel world."
"Not a parallel world?"
“This is the future.”
The clock ticked and the water dispenser hummed again to boil water.
Outside the meeting room, you can hear the door of the next meeting room opening.
"Impossible!" Koizumi Aonai's voice was at a loss, "I clearly have already written down the betting on horses and lottery tickets, and I plan to go to the city to buy them during the holidays!"
"What you said to Akiko and Miyuki is exactly the same thing I said to them when I was a sophomore in high school."
"But you don't remember it, do you?"
"I don't remember, but they do. That's what they told me this morning."
"You mean, I didn't buy the lottery ticket, nor did I go to the University of Tokyo, but worked very hard and went to Waseda University on my own?"
Koizumi Aona nodded blankly, she couldn't figure it out either.
This kind of thing is beyond their understanding.
"If this speculation is true, then the so-called history was actually determined at the beginning?" "Koizumi Aona" couldn't believe it, "I will definitely become a teacher in ten years, and I will definitely meet myself here ten years ago?"
Koizumi Aona clenched her hands and said nothing.
Anyone who knew that fate really exists and that history was determined in the distant past would be shocked, right?
"Then what's the point? I don't have to do anything, I'll definitely get into Waseda University anyway." "Koizumi Aona" looked confused and at a loss.
"I think," Koizumi Aona said, "something must have happened in the month since then that made you... and us, work harder."
"What happened?"
"I don't remember. I only remember what you did these two days. I don't remember anything about the first month of the second year of high school, but there was a voice in my head telling me: work hard and go to Tokyo."
"Who deleted our memories? The space-time manager who maintains history?" Koizumi Aona guessed.
Koizumi Aona felt nostalgic, thinking that she was also at such an age and loved to fantasize.
“It’s not necessarily about preserving history,” she whispered.
"Then why did you delete our memories?" Koizumi Aona asked puzzledly.
"Assuming that history is certain, no matter whether we decide to work hard or not, something will happen in the end to make us work hard. In the future, you will definitely sit in my position and talk to yourself ten years ago. Then... will the person who deleted our history protect us?"
"Protect?"
"Yes." Koizumi Aona nodded, "Because the future is certain, so that we don't have to spend the next ten years without any expectations."
The two of them fell into deep thought, considering various possibilities.
The water dispenser was silent again, the heat lamp went out, and the keep warm lamp came on.
After a long while, Koizumi Aona said to himself: "Then what's the point of you coming to the future? Is there someone who wants us to do something?"
"Ah! I know that!"
"Huh?" Koizumi Aona looked at her past self in surprise.
"Didn't you dream about it? Or did you forget? It's because you were curious about what a "Tokyo handsome guy" is that I took over Watanabe Toru's body!"
Koizumi Aona remembered.
What "Koizumi Aona" did was just a dream to her, so she didn't remember it clearly... Or was it that at the age of 25, her memory had begun to decline and was no longer as good as her 16-year-old self?
It doesn’t matter. The key point is, this series of events were all caused by her?
"By the way." Koizumi Aona remembered something that she cared about very much.
She lowered her voice and asked her past self seriously: "Watanabe, do you know what you did?"
"…I don't know, I guess?"
"Ah——" After a brief silence, the two shouted at the same time.
One is gentle and shy, the other is angry and shy.
