Volume 5 - CH 1

“Kouki ku~n, hurry up or the train will leave !”

“……I know.”

Shinobu jumped around at the incredibly ragged and empty station platform as if she were dancing. According to the timetable, the train could have already left, but apparently they are waiting for us to board the train. ……So unnecessary…….

“Okay~, I’m glad you made it in time !”

“….Yeah.”

Shinobu laughed as we sat in a box seat on the train. I sat down next to her, too, but I felt melancholy.

“Are you okay~? Train sickness~?”

“No……”

“Geez~ Kouki kun, you made the decision yourself, didn’t you~? If you don’t like it, why don’t you go home~?”

“I’m going……I’m going……”

As the rural area spreads outside the window, I feel more depressed. Sigh……Why in a place like this……

“I’m looking forward to it~ Meeting  Kouki kun’s parents~”

Why did they move to a place like this….?

“I’ve never met them before～ What are your parents like～?”

“I told you. They’re just normal adults who put their pride and respect first.”

A few days after I returned to my changed future. I had a day off from shooting videos, so I decided to travel with Shinou to the countryside to meet my parents. Yes. It was my decision. To meet my parents. But when it was about time……It’s so troublesome, I hate it.

“….I guess we should go home. As far as I’m concerned, several months ago Kouki kun was abandoned by his parents.”

Shinobu knows everything about me. She knew that I went back in time and altered the past, that I came back only a short time ago, that I’ve been back to 10 years in the future.

“……Don’t worry about it. I’m really fine about that.”

More or less, I asked my agent to put my experience in this world line into my head. So, as far as I’m concerned, that event happened 10 years ago. My life in the past was like a dream.

“We didn’t really get along in our original history either…….No, that’s okay.”

That’s right. Everything up until now has been a dream. A dream that definitely happened in my head, but not in reality. So there’s no point in thinking about it.

The present moment with Shinobu is the best reality for me.

“～～～～! I like you, I like you, I really like you…..”

“Look, this is the station.”

I dodged Shinobu’s attempt to hug me and got off at the station as we had arrived.  There’s also the embarrassment of not being used to it, but it seems like I’ve always been like this in this world line.       I’m probably the same. Whether I’m a big-name broadcaster or a low class salaryman, my fundamental character remains the same. In the end, it depends on my actions. Even if my personality doesn’t change, the rails of my life will change with just one small action.

“Do we have to walk a lot~?”

“Yeah.. According to the information from the credit agency Hikari asked for. I wish I could get a cab…..”

“Then we should’ve come by car～”

“…..I can’t drive on the left side of the road.”

In my original world I had only driven rental cars, but in this world I had bought a foreign car worth several years of my original income for tax purposes. I would be able to drive it because I have the memory, but I’m still scared. If it was just me, it’s fine, but if I had Shinobu riding next to me. ……Change is not always a good thing.

“That’s it.”

“Fwee—baa—!”

I threw an origami ax into a rice field filled with water and called out the agent.

“Agent, please teleport us to my parents’ house.”

“I don’t mind, but……aren’t you a bit rough with people? Ah, Goddess Messenger.”

“It’s okay. Me and Agent were on good terms, you know?”

“Sigh…… It can’t be helped…..”

Speaking of changes, the relationship between me and the agent has also changed. The agent herself has always been with me, but now I can honestly rely on her. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I’d much rather be able to see her whenever I want to call her..

“……Here?”

The next moment I asked the agent, Shinobu and I were in front of a certain apartment. It was in the countryside, where there should be plenty of land, but it wasn’t that much bigger than the one in the city. But the quality of the place was far inferior to anything I had ever known, and the half-rotten wood exterior was crawling with insects.

“…..Let’s go.”

I knocked on the door of a room on the first floor, where there’s no intercom, and spoke to an old man I didn’t recognize who answered.

“This is my fiancée, Shinobu-san.”

And then.

“I’ve come to cut ties with you guys today.”