Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?

However, he is definitely not a person who beats around the bush, dares not speak his mind, or tells lies.

What comes out of his mouth is absolutely trustworthy.

In other words, am I really that important to him?

Futaba's hands, which had already been placed on her knees, trembled slightly. She tried hard to sort out her tangled thoughts, but she could no longer regain her usual composure.

Futaba knew it from the beginning. If Hoshimi knew that she was planning to sacrifice herself, he would definitely find her and stop her at all costs.

It has nothing to do with feelings, it's just because this person is very upright.

But she had also hoped for it.

If, there is such a possibility.

There might be even a hint of emotional factor involved in his action of stopping me.

"...You're determined to make it impossible for me to ever repay the favor I owe you, aren't you?"

After a long time, she lowered her head and refused to look directly at the boy before she spoke slowly. Her voice, which she tried to keep calm, seemed to be choked with a little imperceptible sob.

"You never owe me anything... Futaba. If I have to say I owe someone a favor, it should be me who owes you."

"...?"

"Thank you... for being willing to accompany a guy like me through high school."

The boy's eyes sparkled with bright and sincere light, as if no lie could escape such sincerity and straightforwardness.

"Our relationship is actually much more equal than you think, Futaba."

"------"

Is that so.

That's right, even if he knew about my past, he wouldn't treat me differently. That's this guy's style.

This guy is indomitable, speaks his mind, and sticks to what he wants to do. This is his usual style.

In comparison, it is true that I have been complaining to myself and blaming others.

“…………Ah, I’m truly defeated by someone like you.”

As if after a long ideological struggle, Futaba rubbed her head with her hands in some trouble, and let out a sigh of frustration.

"………Hello."

"Ok?"

She seemed reluctant to call the boy in front of her by the name of her old friend - even though he was exactly the same as that person in both personality and memory.

"... You, this guy, have never made me feel at ease."

"Ugh—it hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

When he realized it, his cheek had been pinched hard by the sullen-faced Futaba. She seemed to be very annoyed that Huoxing had interrupted him, and her expression was unfriendly.

But one could vaguely catch a glimpse of something glistening and moist in the corner of her eyes.

The familiar feeling is back.

How to say it, in Hoshimi's memory, Futaba is the image of a little parent who is a little worried about herself - although she is actually very inferior and sensitive in her heart.

"...When you successfully return and meet the past Futaba Rio."

"Well?"

“…No, nothing.”

Xingjian noticed that the gray-haired woman seemed to loosen her grip on her face, turning it into a gentle and soft caress.

A faint smile finally appeared on the face that was always gloomy and full of sorrow.

"It might be too late for me to say it now, so please, let her know what you're thinking."

"what………"

This feeling is a bit strange.

Xingjian moved his Adam's apple, feeling a little at a loss as to what to do under the gaze of the mature woman in front of him.

Although she had a face exactly like his best friend, the sight of a mature woman still made him subconsciously feel a little dry in the mouth.

Moreover, Futaba's eyes seemed to be filled with many complex emotions that had never been expressed - that sincerity and affection were absolutely not disguised or fabricated.

"...If you keep putting off saying something, it will just sink into oblivion. Don't wait until you've lost it to regret it."

She stared into the boy's eyes, or perhaps she was looking at her own reflection in his pupils.

"...If you can convey your feelings to her, I believe she will have a lot to tell you."

In that case, their relationship might change a little.

Futaba smiled softly, and the elegance and maturity she showed in her every move made Xingjian feel unfamiliar.

But I couldn't help but feel my heart beating.

It's like a friend of the opposite sex who always jokes with you suddenly turns into an intellectual and mature woman overnight - this contrast is really hard to bear.

"Since you've already dissuaded me, then take responsibility and change the future for me."

It was hard to connect the Futaba who always teased and ridiculed herself with the gentle and considerate person in front of her.

But once the connection is made, perhaps something else will quietly emerge.

"Then, her future will be in your hands."

"—"

She said this in a gentle voice, but it sounded as if she was saying goodbye forever.

"Please don't let her be me."

[Futaba Line] Destiny: Chapter 9: Necessary Changes (Part 1)

The transparent reagent slowly flowed from the mouth into the throat, and the familiar sweet taste made Xingjian unconsciously relax his frown.

The next changes followed one after another.

Even though he had closed his eyes, the reflections of the past ten years were still rewinding in his mind like a kaleidoscope, and the fragments of memory turned into mottled light and shadow that kept flashing back.

While Hoshimi was in a state of confusion, she vaguely heard Futaba's voice.

“…Can you tell me?”

"Well……?"

Xingjian felt as if this time it was he who was being gently embraced by her, or it was possible that he fell on her after drinking the potion and was about to travel through time.

"...Why did you go to the shrine that night?"

“Ah… this…”

My body also began to feel light and floating, as if I was standing on a horizontal line without the ground.

It felt like the body would cease to exist in the next moment.

Even so, Xingjian gave an answer just before his consciousness faded.

"Because... I was inexplicably tempted to make a wish."

The next second he opened his eyes again.

"call--!"

The black-haired boy suddenly sat up from the bed and opened his eyes instantly. The cold sweat oozing out of his body had already soaked his tight shirt.

——He must have really returned to the past time and space.

For some reason, Xingjian, who felt a little palpitating and dizzy, managed to calm himself down and then began to look around in a daze.

A traditional Japanese-style room with clean and tidy tatami mats. In the dim dormitory, only the moonlight from outside the window seeps in as the only decorative light.

He seemed to have thought of something, and then began to feel around for something on his body.

Finally, he took out his smartphone from his pocket and successfully turned it on.

The signal was full, and it was 1 a.m. on the night of our trip.

“I’m…back!”

To be honest, if he hadn't realized that his palm was still tightly holding the test tube that once contained a transparent reagent but was now empty, he would even suspect that everything he had experienced before was just a dream.

"........."

Although she woke up in the middle of the night, Xingjian, who had long since lost all sleep, stood up, stood on tiptoe, and looked out the window with a somewhat complicated look.

At the end of the sight, you can vaguely see the torii gate leading to a shrine.

According to Futaba in the future, she fell to her death there.

Now he would definitely not be stupid enough to go to that place alone for a trivial matter like he did last time, but that doesn't mean he is not in danger.

Under the influence of the world's correction force, when an established fact is tampered with, there will inevitably be another corresponding change to neutralize the impact of the change in this established fact.

To put it simply, it can be described as income and expenditure.

To achieve a constant value, you must gain an equal amount of money as you spend.

Just like the possibility of leading to another world created by Futaba - the world where Hoshimi Haru survives, it was the world she exchanged for her own disappearance.

Is there really a world where the two of them can survive together...?

Xingjian scratched the back of his head in distress, and then seemed to have a flash of inspiration as if he had figured something out.

“…Right.”

The change Futaba made was to replace "death" with "disappearance".

Apart from that, she actually didn't change anything, perhaps out of a desire to maintain the stability of the world's correction force.

But if you change the prerequisites that lead to this outcome before you die, what will the future be like?

For example, the reason to go to the shrine no longer exists.

In this case, can death be avoided?

He let out a sigh, the reason he had gone to the shrine coming back to mind.

That was what happened after he experienced a week of repetitive cycles, traveled through time and space, and met Futaba in the past.

At that time, even when I went to the shrine to pray, I had to make a wish, which was actually related to Futaba.

I hope our friendship will last forever.

That was the thought that came to him when he realized that his fate had long been intertwined with this guy, and it was also the wish he wanted to make.

At that time, Hoshimi Haru still regarded Futaba as an irreplaceable friend. Even after traveling to another world led by Futaba ten years later, she seemed to define their ideal relationship as "best friends."

How can we fundamentally change our motivation for going to the shrine, thereby changing the ending of death, and then changing Futaba's future together?

The answer is actually very obvious.

"...By the way, Futaba."

The boy cheered himself up, then casually put on his coat. As he was used to the dark environment, he rushed out without turning on the lights and found Futaba's room in the corridor.

He knocked on the door with some hasty force, and after a long wait that seemed like an eternity, he heard slow footsteps from inside the door.

With a swish, the door was opened.

"It's so late, who is it...ah, it's you, Xingjian."

The girl with long grey curly hair opened the door sleepily, her dazed voice tinged with a hint of anger – this displeasure only intensified when she put on her glasses and took in the breathless boy in front of her.

"Hey, do you have any common sense? It's two in the morning, a time when normal humans with fully developed brains should be resting. If you need medication or an autopsy, please come back to me tomorrow—hmm?"

Futaba rolled her eyes, somewhat unhappily criticizing the boy's rude behavior with her usual sarcastic tone. But the next second, she realized that her shoulder was being held by this guy.

To be precise, he held her down with both hands, and then the boy looked her up and down carefully with a very strange look.

"…Did you really take the wrong medicine in the middle of the night?"

The bad mood that had been lingering in Futaba's heart completely disappeared. She was actually not very good at dealing with this kind of situation, so she subconsciously looked away.

"Hey, let me go... ugh."

Xingjian's strength was also surprisingly great, and he managed to hold her steady and prevent her from breaking free.