In the afternoon, the windows of the school building next to Yotsuya Station were crystal clear, and a breeze blew into the activity room, causing the white curtains to flutter in the wind.
By the window, a hardcover book with a bookmark;
On the sofa, comic books were scattered all over;
There are various game consoles not put away in front of the TV.
The beech tree outside seemed to be about to grow into the house. On the beech table with the sunlight and leaves swaying, a young man was sleeping soundly.
Thoroughly… Thoroughly…
There's always a feeling that I've forgotten something.
Watanabe... Watanabe...
You can always hear someone's voice calling someone.
The sunlight swayed the air, and the boy who was sleeping on the beech table slowly woke up and yawned leisurely.
◇
White ceiling and bright but not glaring ceiling lights.
There is a faint fragrance at the tip of the nose, familiar and intimate.
Toru Watanabe turned his head and saw the sleeping face of Miki Kujo.
The two of them lay on a luxurious single bed, with her taking up most of the space and most of the quilt covering her.
Not to mention the pillow, she slept in the middle, and if the pillow itself wasn't long enough, he would have nothing.
Toru Watanabe reached out his hand, stroked her delicate little face, tidied her messy hair, and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“……” Miki Kujo opened her eyes.
Watanabe Toru laughed and asked in a whispering voice:
"Meiji, my Meiji, are you okay?"
Feeling each other's breath, the two looked at each other.
"Do you have my permission?" asked Miki Kujo.
"What's allowed?"
"Wake up, touch my face, and stand in front of me."
"Forget about touching the face, but aren't the other two too harsh? Can we approve it after the fact?"
"no."
"That's difficult. It's better not to approve it."
"Heh." Kujo Miki sneered and sat up, "Watanabe Toru, do you think that just because you blocked for me once, you can act so unbridled in front of me?"
Watanabe Toru followed suit and sat up.
"Meiji, my Meiji, I want to hug you."
"..." Kujo Miki glanced at Watanabe Toru and raised her arrogant face, "I allow it."
Watanabe Toru hugged her graceful body, one hand around her slender waist and the other hand stroking her slightly messy long hair.
Miki Kujo snuggled in his arms, her body trembling slightly.
She used all her strength to hug Watanabe Toru tightly as if to prevent him from moving.
"From now on, you are not allowed to do anything without my permission." She ordered without any explanation.
Watanabe Toru hugged her even tighter, smelled the fragrance of her hair, and felt peace in his heart.
The two didn't say anything and hugged each other for a long time.
When they separated, they could clearly feel each other's reluctance to part, and they wished it could continue like this forever.
Toru Watanabe looked around the room.
The curtains are solemn, and outside the window is Tokyo at night.
A luxurious sofa and coffee table combination, a TV covering half of the wall, a huge refrigerator, and a luxury suite.
"Where is this?"
"Where's Qingye?" He wanted to ask a question, but in the end he didn't ask it.
While waiting for an answer, Kujo Miki suddenly pinched him hard on the waist.
"Hiss——" Watanabe Toru endured the pain, "Meiji, what are you doing? I'm still a patient."
"Look around, what are you looking for?" Kujo Miki sneered.
"Room……"
"Kiyono Rin?"
"It really hurts, can you please let go first?"
"Or Koizumi Aina?"
"I didn't say anything."
Miki Kujo glanced at Toru Watanabe who had a painful expression, and reached out to press the button on the bedside.
"Call for help? Meiji, I think you can do it yourself. If it's you, I will never return it..."
"What's wrong?" With a cold voice and a hint of panic and nervousness, Qingye Rin walked out of the small compartment of the suite.
She seemed to have just woken up.
The cherry-colored lips were stained with hair, and the bow on the chest of the school uniform was long on one side and short on the other.
He wasn't wearing his school uniform jacket and his shirt had some wrinkles.
Because Kujo Miki was still twisting her waist under the quilt, Watanabe Toru, with a painful look on his face, looked at Kiyono Rin.
"Hello, Kiyono-san."
My waist really hurts.
"You look very happy, Watanabe Toru." Kiyono Rin said with a smile without a trace of warmth.
"I suggest you go see an ophthalmologist."
"Huh? Are you unhappy?" Kujo Miki came face to face.
"Happy, I'm super happy." Toru Watanabe laughed while crying.
It really hurts.
The three of them spoke as usual, suppressing the heat of magma.
Kiyono Rin looked into Watanabe Toru's eyes, which were shining brightly.
Toru Watanabe didn't know what happened during this period.
Why did Kujo Miki allow Kiyono Rin to stay here? Why didn't Kujo Miki get angry when he was looking for Kiyono Rin and she pinched his waist? Did their relationship improve?
Also, where is "Koizumi Aona" now?
Did you get back safely?
It was pitch black outside the window. Through his own reflection, Toru Watanabe looked at the orange Tokyo Tower in the distance.
It was a nurse who brought the midnight snack. Only then did Watanabe Toru realize that this was neither a villa nor a high-end hotel, but just a high-end ward in a hospital.
The portions were small but varied, with a small plate of each filling the entire table.
Toru Watanabe and Miki Kujo got out of bed, and the three of them sat on the sofa and coffee table to eat.
"It looks delicious and very nutritious." Watanabe Toru was already hungry after sleeping since the first class in the morning.
"Then eat more." said Kujo Miki.
"You just woke up, so eat a small amount." Qingye Rin had a different opinion.
"What did my doctor say?" Toru Watanabe finally remembered to care about himself.
As usual, Qingye Rin took a sip of soup and said with satisfaction, "Very healthy, I fell asleep."
"Nothing happened?" Toru Watanabe finished a dish in one bite and looked at Miki Kujo.
"I gave you a pill of that medicine," said Kujo Miki.
Watanabe Toru picked up the tofu in his bowl and said, "Here, Meiji, this is for you."
Kujo Miki glanced at him.
With the separate dining system, they both had what Watanabe Toru had, and they also had what Watanabe Toru didn't have.
Miki Kujo and Rin Kiyono finished their portions and ate some fruit at the end. They also hadn't eaten for the whole day.
It was past one in the morning. The two had been worried all day, so after eating and taking a short rest, they went back home.
The lights in the room were turned off, and it fell into complete darkness.
Toru Watanabe lay on the bed, with the quilt covering only his lower abdomen, his head resting on his left hand, staring at the ceiling for a while.
There was silence all around and the moonlight was flowing.
I seemed to hear frogs croaking in my ears, and for a moment I couldn’t tell whether I was missing my hometown or there were really frogs around the hospital.
Toru Watanabe was ready to go to sleep, so he adjusted his sleeping position and faced the floor-to-ceiling window.
The Tokyo Tower emitted an orange-yellow halo. He stretched out his hand and pulled the light into his dream.
◇
At night, the dense woods cast layers of shadows, and this is a quiet mountain path.
Accompanied by the croaking of frogs and following the guidance of fireflies, Toru Watanabe arrived at the end of the trail, where a shrine was located.
On the steps in front of the shrine, sixteen-year-old "Koizumi Aona" curled up there, hugging her soft, girlish legs.
Toru Watanabe walked up and sat next to her.
"If I don't go back, my family will be worried," he said.
'Koizumi Aona' still hugged her legs tightly and buried her face in her knees.
Toru Watanabe looked at the fireflies, and following the light of the fireflies, he could see the mountain below through the woods.
There is a small town there. The light it emits at night is not as bright and dense as that of Tokyo, but it is a little bit smaller, warm and quiet, just right.
"Is this your hometown?" Toru Watanabe looked at everything.
The night wind was blowing gently, and from somewhere in the tree came the sound of some insect flapping its wings.
In the forest, countless green lights are floating, and fireflies gather there.
"I didn't mean it." Koizumi Aona didn't speak for a long time and her voice was hoarse.
Watanabe Toru glanced at her; she still had her face buried in her knees.
"I know," he said. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
『Koizumi Aona』 hugged her knees even tighter, not letting any wind in.
The way she curled up looked like a child who ran away from home in the night and was waiting for her family to find her.
"I don't blame you at all," Watanabe Toru continued.
"No matter what you do, I won't blame you. If you make any mistakes, I will apologize on your behalf. It doesn't matter if you are willful or don't like it, or if others don't like you or even hate you, but I accept it all."
A firefly leaves the forest and flies over the shrine path.
"Why?" Koizumi Aona's voice was dry.
Why?
What caused all this?
Is it the system's fault? Is it intentionally unclear? Is it a vague concept?
What is the system? It is himself.
It is innate, more intimate than hands, feet, or appearance, and is something deep in the soul.
When it brings convenience, the system is his; when it causes trouble, the system is still his.
The only thing to blame is him for accepting the mission. Everything was caused by him. It was the fault of Toru Watanabe.
"Koizumi Aona" should have spent her new semester in this town, pure and happy, instead of going to a place like Tokyo, to suffer the grievances of a young lady and to be pointed at with a gun.
Miki Kujo is jealous and possessive. Her boyfriend's body is occupied by a woman and she does what she does.
There is nothing wrong with "Koizumi Aona". She has no obligation to accommodate others. It's not like she wants to do that and occupy someone else's boyfriend's body.
The person who brought her from ten years ago to the present was Toru Watanabe.
There is no need to worry about whether Koizumi Aona did anything wrong, or analyze her personality. There is no need to count who should bear how much responsibility.
In the eyes of outsiders, there are thousands of reasons, but in his heart, everything is his fault.
It was he who made the sixteen-year-old girl experience everything she shouldn't have experienced.
Anyone could blame her except him.
However, he was not allowed to say the real reason.
Watanabe Toru was filled with guilt and couldn't help but reach out and gently stroke Koizumi Aona's hair.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice soft and sad, "for making you go through this."
This unintentional action had a kind of tenderness that suffocated Koizumi Aona.
The emptiness of being alone in the future;
The inferiority complex of being compared to urban girls like Kiyono, Kujo, and Asuka;
I know I can get into Waseda University in the future, but I just can’t keep working hard.
Surrounded by bodyguards, pointed at with guns, and motionless, Toru Watanabe...
She had reached her limit and was on the verge of collapse.
"Ah——" 'Koizumi Aona' suddenly burst into tears.
She threw herself into Watanabe Toru's arms, clutching his clothes tightly with both hands, and desperately squeezed out the sound from her throat, saying:
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so glad you're okay... I'm sorry..."
Toru Watanabe stroked her hair and watched the firefly dancing. More fireflies flew over to the shrine path.
"It has nothing to do with you. It's all my fault."
No matter what Watanabe Toru said, "Koizumi Aona" just kept crying loudly, and his tears soon wet his clothes.
Watanabe Toru felt even more sad.
These were the tears that Koizumi Aona didn't need to shed.
Today is Friday, and on this warm night, she should be with her family, or discussing with new friends on the phone where to go on Saturday.
No, it should be morning at Koizumi Aona's place.
She should have gotten up in a hurry, put on her new skirt hastily, picked up the bread, and ran to class.
Instead of being here, shedding damn tears with the guilt of almost killing someone.
"It's all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Toru Watanabe had never been so sad.
She cried for a long time, until Watanabe Toru's clothes were like a cup of water was poured on them, and then "Koizumi Aona" slowly turned into sobbing and her tears gradually stopped.
"I'm sorry," she choked.
"This is all my fault, and I should be the one saying sorry."
"I almost killed you."
"That's my fault, and it has nothing to do with you." Watanabe Toru said firmly.
"Are you comforting me?" 'Koizumi Aona' raised her face.
That sixteen-year-old oval face was beautiful, youthful, full of energy and tears.
"No." Watanabe Toru shook his head and answered in a low voice.
"Why? It was because my future self was curious about the handsome guy in Tokyo that I took over your body, causing you and your girlfriend to have conflicts, and making your life chaotic. In the end, I almost..."
Watanabe Toru closed his eyes.
In Koizumi Aona's heart, she was just like him, taking all the responsibility for everything on herself.
But she was innocent, and he was the one who was really wrong.
"It's my fault. " He patted her shoulder.
"Why?"
"I can't tell you the reason. Anyway, it's my fault."
"What's the matter?" 'Koizumi Aona' hit Watanabe Toru on the chest in dissatisfaction.
When her hand touched the part wet with tears, she left his arms embarrassedly.
"...I'll help you wash it tomorrow." She adjusted her skirt slightly and hugged her slender calves embarrassedly.
"I wear one piece of clothing a day."
"Hmph, rich man." Koizumi Aona said with a gloomy look on her face.
The rich are high above us, out of reach.
She is a high school girl from the countryside.
"I often say this," Watanabe Toru looked at the town in the distance, "The happiest time for me was not when I had 1 billion yen, but when I just came to Tokyo from Iwate Prefecture and held up a billboard under the scorching sun, earning hourly wages."
“It’s a lie.”
Watanabe Toru ignored her and continued:
"At that time, I had nothing and lived in a small apartment, but I felt like I owned the world and had a head full of great dreams."
"What now?" Koizumi Aona couldn't help but ask.
"I am very happy now. I love my K-san and Mai very much, and they love me too."
"After all, I still prefer the life of rich people." 'Koizumi Aona' looked at the fireflies on the path.
"I say this just to tell you that having money or not has nothing to do with whether I'm happy or not. Meiji can give me money, and I'm also very happy to work and earn money on my own."
"You're the only one who does this. Everyone likes to be given money."
Just like everyone naturally likes urban fashionable girls rather than country girls.
Watanabe Toru turned his head and looked at the girl: "You too."
"Me?" Koizumi Aona turned her head in disbelief and looked at Watanabe Toru.
"In the future, you will be admitted to Waseda University through your own efforts, and then you will buy an apartment in Tokyo by yourself. You didn't ask anyone for a yen. Can't you get it? You have such a beautiful oval face, a good figure, and you are a teacher."
“I don’t make that kind of money.”
"See, you are this kind of person, right? And I'm not just talking, your future self will be exactly like what you said." said Toru Watanabe.
"Koizumi Aona" lowered her head and looked at her shoes.
"Watanabe."
"Um?"
"Where is this?" Before saying this, Koizumi Aona was silent for a long time.
Maybe what you want to say is not this, but thank you? Or something else?
"Dream on." Watanabe Toru said casually.
"I guess it wasn't a dream."
"oh?"
"It is very likely a gap between time and space, and our two souls are communicating across time and space!" Koizumi Aona speculated seriously.
"I see." Watanabe Toru nodded, "That makes sense."
The truth is not that romantic.
In order to so-called protect basic human rights, the system does not allow the soul of "Koizumi Aona" to escape reality and go to places where it should not go.
That's all.
As for why he appeared here, only the system knew.
"Koizumi-san..."
"Call the teacher!"
"Teacher Koizumi, no matter whose fault it is, let it go. People can't always dwell on the past. This way, they will never be happy."
"But...I almost killed you."
"Isn't it all right? If you're talking about regrets, then there's no need to do that. Even I have a lot of regrets that I wish I could start my life over again."
"'Even if it's me'? You say that as if you're something great." Koizumi Aona said unconvinced.
“I’m nothing special, so I want to be special.”
"No, no, I think... you are already amazing."
"Thank you." Watanabe Toru said with a smile.
Koizumi Aona felt embarrassed. She scratched her snow-white neck and changed the subject:
"By the way, this is the first time you see me, right? How is it?"
"Stand up and let me see."
"Okay!" Koizumi Aona jumped up, ran to the steps, and stood on the shrine path.
She turned around and looked expectantly at Toru Watanabe who was sitting on the steps.
With the help of fireflies and the bright moonlight, Watanabe Toru looked at the sixteen-year-old "Koizumi Aona" in front of him.
She was wearing a custom-made shirt from school, with the sleeves rolled up to her arms in a cool way, a knee-length skirt, and beautiful eyes, looking fearless.
Noticing Toru Watanabe's gaze, 'Koizumi Aona' put down her sleeves embarrassedly.
"Very cute." said Toru Watanabe.
"Hehe." 'Koizumi Aona' laughed proudly and shyly.
“It’s like a New Year’s shrine bonfire.”
"The New Year's shrine bonfire?" Koizumi Aona asked in confusion.
"On a cold day, a huge bonfire with a bunch of whole logs lit, throw some firewood on it, and the sparks will drift like rain and mist. You are so lovely."
"I don't understand." She shook her head and then laughed inexplicably.
Watanabe Toru also laughed.
Across the steps of the shrine, "Koizumi Aona" stared at Watanabe Toru.
"What's wrong? What's the difference between my soul and body?" Watanabe Toru stood up and let her look at him.
“A little.”
"Not handsome enough?"
"No, I just feel that your soul looks so gentle."
"gentle?"
"Yes, she is a soul that does not blame others, forgives everything, and is full of tenderness." Koizumi Aona affirmed.
"I won't forgive everything." Watanabe Toru laughed, "It's just that instead of finding fault with others, I prefer to find my own faults first, and then, um - how should I put it, I don't like to impose anything on others."
"Don't like to impose on others? What do you mean?"
“For example, if you are willful, I don’t like it, but I won’t make you not willful so that I can like it.”
"I am willful?!"
"Um?"
"I, I, I just spoke a little louder!"
"Ah, I really can't hate Mr. Koizumi's way of improvising." Watanabe Toru said with a smile.
"Koizumi Aona" burst out laughing.
Toru Watanabe walked up the steps and came to her side.
"Go back. If you don't wake up, your parents will be worried," he said.
"Yeah." Koizumi Aona nodded.
She took a few steps toward the swarms of fireflies - they seemed to have been waiting for her - and then she turned back.
Watanabe Toru raised his arm slightly, and "Koizumi Aona" also shook her hand gently.
"See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."