Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139843121925685/episodes/822139844267573595
“Guh…?!?”
The moment I finished reading the notebook—a splitting headache struck me like a hammer blow.
“Huh?! Senpai?! Are you okay?!”
Karen rushed over, looking worried.
“Ah, ah… I’m… I’m okay—”
That was when it happened.
Everything within my field of vision began to distort.
Like colors splashed into a bucket while painting, they mixed and mixed and mixed.
—Until finally, everything was dyed pitch black.
—◇—◇—◇—
When I woke up… there was nothing there.
Nothing.
Infinite pitch blackness stretched out around me… and I stood alone in the middle of it.
What… is this place?
As I looked around… the sound of an engine reached my ears from behind.
The sound was approaching at an insane speed.
I instinctively turned around—
“――Guh?!”
There was a car approaching at breakneck speed.
It was the same car that had tried to run over Karen and the other two.
By the time I turned around, the car was already right in front of me… and it hit me.
Intense pain surged through my entire body.
But… there wasn’t a single injury anywhere on my body.
“…Wh-what is this? This place…”
Could this be… inside my mind?
Just as I thought that—three figures came into view within the pitch-black space.
It was—Karen and the others.
They were walking along, chatting and laughing happily together—but a car was approaching from their blind spot.
“Danger!”
I instinctively rushed toward them and shoved them out of the way.
Then, in their place… I was hit by the car.
“Gah…”
It felt like every bone in my body was broken, like my internal organs were rupturing… such excruciating pain.
Crawling on the ground, I fixed my gaze on Karen and the others—and yet again, a car was approaching from their blind spot.
No… no way—
“Is this… a replay of my death loop…?!?”
So… that means this hell… will continue… over ten thousand more times…
“No… way?”
You’ve got to be kidding me…?
Even thinking that, the car barreling toward Karen and the others showed no sign of stopping.
I forced my body to obey and started running.
And this time… to protect myself too, I fled with the three of them away from the car’s path.
――The next instant, the car’s direction changed in a flash.
As if fate itself had intervened… the car spun, defying the laws of physics… and ran us all over.
After that, I tried every possible way to survive and save the three of them.
――All of it was futile.
Even after trying every conceivable method, no matter what I did… I couldn’t change fate.
And so… around the hundredth time I died.
My heart… broke.
“Ah… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Driven by impulse, I clasped both hands around my own neck.
I had to endure this hell… this place with no hope whatsoever… an infinite number of times, ten thousand times over.
And all… completely alone.
There’s no way I can endure this!
This… this is bound to destroy my mind!
Enough.
Just give up. Do nothing.
Then… I won’t feel any more pain.
—But… then I’d probably never escape this darkness.
But… I don’t care anymore.
Everything.
It doesn’t matter.
—I gave up on everything and sprawled out on the ground.
Listening to the distant sound of engines… I slowly closed my eyes.
And surrendered myself to a drowsiness like being buried in warm mud… and just like that—
“…Pai… pai… SENPAI!”
A voice came from somewhere.
A familiar voice.
A voice mixed with childishness… a voice full of worry.
Ah, right.
If I break down here now… what would happen to Karen?
She’d live forever without ever confessing… tormented by guilt over breaking me.
Tsukino and Yukina would surely end up the same way.
That… that can’t happen.
At the very least… I have to make sure those three live happily…
“…O-open your eyes… Senpai!”
Karen’s voice gradually grew clearer.
That’s right.
This time… I’m not alone like I was back then.
I have people cheering me on. People who need me. People who care about me… who like me.
Unlike last time, I have a reason I absolutely can’t give up.
“…Let’s do this.”
I stood up.
And this time—I know.
This shitty fate can be changed.
Think.
Why was I able to change fate back then and save Karen and the others?
Think.
Think, think, think.
“Try… the same actions?”
If I do that, maybe I’ll see something.
“—Wait a second!”
I lunged in front of the three of them.
Then, I shoved them into a safe spot.
Sure enough, the car ignored the laws of physics, changed direction, and came barreling toward us.
If I push the three of them away now—
—Huh? Isn’t the car’s speed… too fast?
It’s different from that time.
It’s far too… fast.
At this rate, I won’t even have time to push them out of the way…?!
“—Wish for it strongly.”
In that instant—a mysterious voice echoed inside my head.
It wasn’t Karen’s voice. But… it was a woman’s voice with a hint of youthfulness.
“—Just wish strongly that you want to save the heroines!”
“…Got it.”
I wondered if such a motivational speech would actually work… but I decided to follow the voice for now.
I want to save them, absolutely, no matter what… I have to save them…!
The next instant—the car’s speed visibly slowed.
This… this might work!
“!!!”
I shoved all three of them away with all my strength—then threw myself forward too, leaping from the car as if escaping.
The car… roared away somewhere, its engine bellowing.
Everyone was safe.
The three of them, me… even my right leg.
In an instant, the darkness was replaced by light.
“…Hm…?”
When the light cleared, I opened my eyes.
“—Senpai!”
Karen threw herself at me.
“…I’m so glad… Senpai woke up… I’m so glad…”
Burying her face in my chest, Karen repeated those words over and over.
I slowly stroked her head.
Thanks to Karen calling out to me again and again… I didn’t give up like I did back then.
And so, I regained all my memories.
They were indescribably painful, terrifying memories that made me tremble just recalling them… but now, I felt like I could somehow manage to live with those memories too.
And so… a happy ending.
—Or so I’d like to say…
“…By the way… who exactly are you?”
There was a presence that had been staring intently at us since earlier.
After a moment of silence, the figure wearing a coat with the hood pulled low over their eyes answered my question.
“Nice to meet you, Yu-san. I am… a reincarnated person.”
And so it was.
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