Chapter 1.6 (1/2)

Chapter 1: One Morning, After Opening My Eyes

Part 6

Jiriririririririri!

My alarm clock wasn’t a digital one; rather, it had a metallic bell chime and a round clock face, with two silver bells on top.

This alarm clock jolted my heart and brain awake.

As I lay on top of my bed, I could see the blue sky from the gaps between the curtains.

Blue as the sky was, I felt my mood cloud over, spirits plummeting.

I had an unpleasant dream.

Some weird girl had appeared, and replayed yesterday’s cringe-worthy events in black and white.

I couldn’t help but resist as hard as I could in front of that screen. However, it had continued to play.

Man, why did I have to think so much about something that I never want to remember again?

And because of that, my day started out terribly.

Strangely, though I usually one to savor the comfort of the futon just one more second, last night I was so unsettled that I had tossed and turned all night.

It’s today already…

Just as it dawned for everyone else, the day dawned for me. Even for someone like me who s.h.i.+t his pants in cla.s.s…

The first order of business was to find an excuse to take the day off from school.

I mean, of course I would call in absent the day after s.h.i.+tting myself in cla.s.s, but I needed some kind of official leave. If I went to school people would definitely call me the Pooman - well, they would call me the Pooman even if I didn’t attend, but being called that directly, seeing people snicker at me out of the corner of my eye, and having people look at me like I was some dirty object was something I couldn’t stand.

Well, that’s right.

I was something they couldn’t stand.

I, who was striving to be perfect, had become the pinnacle of imperfection, the Pooman. That was too paradoxical―one of them had to go.

Either the fact that I had s.h.i.+t my pants had to go, or the me who had s.h.i.+t my pants had to go…

While mulling over those thoughts, I flipped over onto my back and faced the ceiling.

I didn’t think about it too deeply, but at some point, I noticed a small box floating in the s.p.a.ce between me and the ceiling.

The hexahedron rotated in midair, alternating between tilting and straightening itself.

I stared at the cube without touching it, almost forgetting to blink.

Hmmm.

Close your eyes. Count to 3. Open.

Still floating.

This time, count to 10.

Still floating, rotating.

I remembered. The dream that I had had last night reconstructed itself in my head. It was all real. In that monochrome-dyed world, I had received a b.u.t.ton from a girl named Maki-chan. Oh yeah, didn’t she tell me to yell out my wish? And that my life would go as I pleased.

―Will you wish? Or will you not?

she’d asked.

And I had answered.

I’ll make a wis.h.!.+

I want to redo it all!

As if trying to grasp my vividly recalled memories, I reached out with both my hands to capture the object before me. The instant my fingertips brushed against the box, it dropped onto the bed. Reflexively, I made to catch it, only to lose my balance and tumble from the bed.

I crawled toward the bed and took the box in my hand.

It was a small enough to fit in my palm. It felt too dense to be plastic, too light to be metal.

―Will you wish? Or will you not?

The words “Go ask her what to do” echoed in my head. Do you have something you wish for? Or do you not?

I wrapped my hands around the box, and thought of my wish. As the wish formed clearly in my head, I could feel my hands getting warmer. I opened them up, and saw that the cube had changed its shape. The box part was somewhat thinner, there there was now a red b.u.t.ton on the top. It was probably―no, definitely―the b.u.t.ton.

If I push this b.u.t.ton―

If I…

Hm?

Did Maki-chan even say what would happen if I pressed the b.u.t.ton? Wait, wait. Did I even ask how to use it?

Ah, but at that time she had said,

“Yell out your wish, Yuuto.”

My wish? The thing I had wished for back then?

Maki-chan!

I called out to her silently. You know, since it was morning and all, and if my parents heard me they’d certainly think of it as weird…

I didn’t feel even a hint of a response that time, so I called again, softly, out loud.

“Maki-chan…”

No reply. Was she ignoring me?

“Maki-chan!”

What the h.e.l.l’s with that, just leaving a b.u.t.ton and disappearing, and not showing up when I call for her in my time of need? Besides that, where’s my user’s manual? What about my customer service?

I’ll press it and see what happens…

Now this was the most intuitive interface I’d ever seen. When faced with a small round b.u.t.ton rising from its base, the most basic human reflex is to press it. I don’t have the stats to back it up, but I’m sure it’s true.

On the other hand, what if it were a self-destruct switch? That would certainly be a troublesome way to grant my wish for myself to disappear. I wonder if it would start blaring sirens and a countdown if I were to press it.

Maki-chan had asked me, “Do you have a strong wish?”

―You could redo your life.

Is that true, I wondered.

Could people’s strong wishes be granted simply at the push of a b.u.t.ton?

I mean, with humans, even when there is absolutely nothing they can do, even when their lives are screwed up beyond possible repair, the fact there there is no such thing as a b.u.t.ton that can reset your life is a given.

Of course, if this were indeed that sort of b.u.t.ton, I would not hesitate in the slightest. After all, I was already screwed up beyond repair; whatever happened to me now, there was no way I could fall further than I already had…

I placed my finger on the b.u.t.ton.

―Do you have a strong wish?

I have it right here.

―Your life will go as you please.

I certainly hope so.

―Switching out Yuuto’s memories.

I had been making a fool of myself, trapping myself in the past. Better to face forward―to live facing no direction but forward.

For my future.

For the sake of my perfect and tidy future, I would use this b.u.t.ton.

What exactly would happen when I pushed it?

There was only one way to find out―

Boom!

I had the feeling that I was blurry. Like I had been in an earthquake…no, like that time I watched a 3D movie without the gla.s.ses…

Another big wave shook me. It really was an earthquake!

I lay down on my stomach. My surroundings continued to shake. Everything was unstable. I had no idea what was going on.

I looked for a place where the bookshelves wouldn’t fall on me. Was the the bed safe? As I looked up, I became aware of a feeling of discomfort, if I could even call it that.

My room itself was shaking. In the way that my bookshelves had no chance of falling. There was no possibility that the bed would slide, or that the things on my desk would go flying. My room, and everything inside of it, wavered back and forth. Except for me.

The room started rumbling.

Gradually the oscillations became stronger, and as they did, I was thrown off balance.

What is this? ―Time and s.p.a.ce itself…?

The foundation of the room disappeared, and I was promptly flung out from “reality”.

A blinding light surrounded all the matter that had been there before, which then dissolved into grains of light moving farther and farther from me. The light rotated once around me, and reverted to its former state. it was like being told “farewell” and “welcome back” at the same time. I felt both unease and relief. And then unease again.

Where did I come from?

Where should I look to?

Everything was flowing by. ―Flowing away.

I had been whisked away from my reality, and would probably land in a new one soon.

There were still no shadows. That proved that I still hadn’t actually landed anywhere yet. I was not yet a resident of this reality.

The world continued to waver. It still wasn’t “definite”.

While I mulled over the situation, Maki-chan’s voice resounded far above me.

―That b.u.t.ton has the power to reset your life. Wonderful, is it not?

Eh?

―So, this is the start of a perfect New Game.

With this one step forward, the world would be defined. A new world to start a new game.

―Something like that.

My heart was firm.

The wavering stopped abruptly, and then―

Jiriririririririri!

My alarm clock wasn’t a digital one; rather, it had a metallic bell chime and a round clock face, with two silver bells on top.

This alarm clock jolted my heart and brain awake.

Seconds later, I was struck with intense vertigo. Though I knew that I had just now been lying down asleep, an inability to distinguish vertical from horizontal washed over me and receded, like a wave.

At that moment, my head cleared, and I was slowly filled with a sense of discomfort.

―Right. I had pushed the b.u.t.ton.

I leapt from the bed and checked my clock and calendar. It was cla.s.s observation day.

Did I…go back in time?

No, perhaps I had unconsciously changed the date on the clock and calendar.

I plugged the charger into the wireless notebook on my desk and opened up a news site. The date was the same.

I had returned to the morning of that day!

It all felt very unreal. Aside from the date on the calendar, it felt like any other morning.

But the fact of the matter was that I had gone back in time.

Was it because of that wish of mine? Maki-chan had told me that she would switch out my memories and all that, but it didn’t seem like I had forgotten anything or that there was anything wrong with my head at all.

Well, that was no difficult matter to ascertain.

I changed clothes and went down to the kitchen for breakfast. My mom was there,

“I’m going today.”

Hearing these words for the second time made me set aside my disbelief. If this were merely an elaborate ruse planned by everyone to trick me, then well, I had no choice but to wish to redo that horrific day again.

Still, even as I went to school, and sat in cla.s.s, I was torn between acceptance and doubt, until, at lunchtime―

“Has.h.i.+date, c’mere.”

A group huddled in the corner by the window called me over.

Ah, here it is. This is where it all started.

I gave a reply and moved toward the window.

“Try drinking this, it’s really gross.”

“No thanks.”

“C’mon, just one little sip.”

“Nope.”

I s.n.a.t.c.hed the bottle from my friend’s hand and chucked it out the window. I could hear what sounded like a teacher’s angry voice from down below, and people ducking for cover.

Not my problem.

And with that, I had thrown away the starting point of that horrible day. Thanks to that reset b.u.t.ton.

I went back to my seat and began preparations for math cla.s.s.

“Has.h.i.+date, lend me your notebook,”

demanded my friend, and grabbed my notebook. I thought, I have questions to prepare for, so even though it’s a bother, I’ll deny you coldly so you know who’s in charge here. Before I could, he said,

“Sorry, but I’ll be borrowing this.”

and went back to his seat.

Lunch ended, and cla.s.s began. At the next break, I went to retrieve my notebook, but the culprit was nowhere to be found. I secretly riffled through his desk, but it wasn’t there either.

Cla.s.s started.

When my math teacher entered the cla.s.sroom, my parents, who’d been waiting in the hallway, came in.

“For the next problem…Has.h.i.+date-kun.”

I have no notebook!

Just as I decided, there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll just think on the spot, I noticed something important.

“Oh, that’s right!”

“What’s the matter, Has.h.i.+date?”

Ignoring the suspicious look the teacher was giving me, I took the b.u.t.ton from my bag.

Simple, isn’t it. I should just reset.

If I mess up just a little, all I have to do is redo it.

―I want to go back to lunch break!

I wished in my head, and pressed the reset b.u.t.ton.

I arrived once again at lunch break.

Clutching the notebook I took from my desk, I dashed off to the restroom.

I’ll just stay here until the bell rings. And study while I’m at it.

I went back to the cla.s.sroom when the bell rang, went through fifth period again, and came back at lunch to hide in the restroom.

When I heard the bell ring, I headed back to the cla.s.sroom. My math teaher was already there, and my parents were lining up at the back entrace.

“What’s the matter, Has.h.i.+date?”