It has been three months since I came into this world and my plans have been progressing exactly how I wanted them.
"Mornin' Yosuke-kun!" Ayako greeted me. She was waiting outside my house with Shiro.
I saw her appearance clearly now. She had the same colour hair as Shiro however, her eyes were a deep blue, almost purple. She was extremely attractive.
"Good morning, Shiro-kun and Ayako-san."
We walked together to school every day for the past three months. It seems that my plan had worked exactly as I had wanted it to and now Ayako's perspective of me has increased.
"You have the top scores now, Yosuke-kun." Ayako smiled at me and I could sense Shiro becoming enraged however he controlled himself, for now.
"Yeah."
"You really did do an academic comeback." Shiro sighed.
We reached the school after a few more minutes. The school didn't have many intelligent people, well, no one was intelligent enough to see through my plan.
* * * * * *
"Twelve seconds!" A student cheered Shiro on his gifted physical attributes.
Twelve seconds to run a hundred meters? This world truly is weak.
"Hashimoto, your turn." The student with the stopwatch said before he counted down. "3…2…1…GO!"
I shouldn't stand out too much so I guess fifteen seconds is the average.
"14 seconds."
Next was grip strength.
"Hashimoto, how much did you get?"
"53.8kg." I said as I showed Shiro the meter. He then wrote it down.
The fitness exam finished half an hour later.
"Oh, Yosuke-kun!" I found Ayako and her friends in the hallway.
"Oh, Ayako-chan!" I waved and she blushed for a moment.
"Yosuke-kun, have you grown taller? You look more muscular now as well." She said as she used her arm to measure our height difference.
"Yeah I did, I was 173cm before and now I'm 186cm."
"You're around Shiro's height then aren't you?"
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" One of Ayako's friends asked her. It seems that the four friends who were with Ayako were interested in me.
"What do you mean? He's Hashimoto-kun."
"Hashimoto-san? Oh…HUH?"
"Don't you think he's a bit more…attractive?"
"Yeah, Hashimoto-san's not like that!"
The girls tried their hardest to believe that I wasn't Yosuke Hashimoto. It seems that he wasn't popular and attractive and now that I took his place I have become a different person.
"I'm Hashimoto Yosuke, pleased to meet you." I smiled at them.
The girls screamed in horror.
* * * * * *
It has been almost a year since I came into this world. I have become extremely popular in this school and my second year has almost ended. I have lived peacefully with no problems, I have even fixed my parents' financial problems and now we have at least a few dozen million yen.
I now have a whole company with several other branches in different countries. The name Yosuke Hashimoto has become extremely famous even overseas. I sent my parents abroad on vacation so I had no problems here in Japan.
I enjoyed the night so I walked around the city of Okazaki. I walked through the streets which I was now familiar with. The people knew me so they waved at me and I waved back. I went inside an abandoned building and walked up the stairs to the rooftop. I heard footsteps behind me and someone breathing heavily.
"The nights are cold now, don't you think, Shiro-kun?"
There wasn't any reply. I didn't expect a reply but I just said it to tell him I knew who it was. To tell him I knew who has been stalking me for the past month.
My dark-coloured trench coat swayed in the cold breeze.
I turned around to face him. I saw him now. His true feelings which he kept concealed for almost a year. His anger and jealousy, all of it.
"YOSUKE YOU BASTARD!" Shiro yelled as he ran to me and punched me in the face. He then grabbed my neck and threw me near the rooftop entrance. He then went on top of me and punched my face repetitively.
"SHIRO! NO!" Ayako yelled at the top of her voice as she ran up the stairs and jumped on Shiro.
Shiro was blinded with rage and threw Ayako near the edge of the roof. The impact knocked Ayako out.
"AYAKO!" I yelled as I punched Shiro. I made sure to not punch him hard so that he wouldn't be killed in a single punch.
Shiro punched me and I dodged it and delivered a heavy blow to his chest. He then kicked my ribs then turned his body and smashed my face with his elbow. I recovered from the hit instantly as I have endured much worse. I grabbed his head and smashed it into my knee. He then grabbed me and threw me onto the ground. He then leapt on top of me and punched me. I blocked his punch and kicked him off and after I got up I quickly delivered a spin kick which dislocated his jaw. He then kicked me multiple times and I blocked them with my forearm. I then did a roundhouse kick hitting his neck. Shiro fell onto the ground but got back up instantly. He ran at me and threw a punch however, Ayako came in between us and instead, she had been punched. The impact threw her to her right and she rolled off the roof.
I quickly grabbed her and I was also hanging off of the roof, holding her hand. Her hand was slippery but I couldn't let it go.
Shit!
My grip was too strong and the part of the building I was holding was crumbling off.
If I threw her onto the rooftop what will Shiro do?
I couldn't properly analyse the situation and my vision became blurry. I couldn't lose this life in which I had progressed. I couldn't. Not with everything I had accomplished.
Wait…have I really developed feelings for this world? This person, Yosuke Hashimoto isn't me. This isn't my world yet I feel so close towards it. This girl whose life is hanging on a thread. This girl whose hand I'm holding, hoping she will survive. All of this. Why do I feel close to it all?
Why?
"Fuck! SHIRO!" I yelled. "HELP ME!"
I saw Shiro poke his head and smile at me. He then left us. I then saw him again. He placed his foot on my finger and stepped on them.
"Do you think that's gonna do anything? After everything I've endured, you think that's gonna kill me?"
Shiro looked at me in fear. I was dangling off of the rooftop of a tall building holding a girl in my hand while also having my fingers being stepped on yet my face didn't change.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance." I muttered.
"You can do that in your next life!" Shiro cackled as he slid the heel of his shoe across the edge of the building to throw it off my fingers off the building however my fingers didn't move. The part of the building I held crumbled.
I lifted myself and Ayako. Ayako had fainted so I put her on the ground with her blazer under her head and my coat as a blanket.
"What was that about my next life?" Shiro stared back at me with fear. "Do you want to know something, Shiro Arakawa? I'm not the same Yosuke Hashimoto you were friends with since the age of two. To die at your best friend's hand, what's a better way to die?"
Shiro ran towards me. I grabbed his neck and kept walking towards the rooftop entrance. I squeezed my hand but I then let go. Shiro fell to the ground. He held his neck and gasped for air.
"I'm not gonna kill you because Ayako's gonna hate me then." I said to him before I walked back to Ayako and picked her up and took her to the nearest hospital.
* * * * * *
It has been five years since I came into this world and my life has started to take shape. Ayako was now my girlfriend and our second anniversary was coming.
My company was now valued at over a trillion dollars. It had grown exponentially and now I could rest. My parents liked staying abroad and had travelled the world trying to go to every country.
Shiro's whereabouts were unknown however I knew Shiho missed him.
"It's almost been two years!" Ayako giggled. "How the years changed us."
"Ah well we've been through a lot together I sighed as I lay down on the grass, looking up at the sky. "Wanna get married?"
"H-H-Wha—"
"I'm joking." I laughed.
"Well I wouldn't mind that."
* * * * * *
"Already married now!" Shiho jumped with joy.
The wedding was over however Shiho and a few of Ayako's other friends and some of my close employees stayed. The atmosphere felt warm. It was like nothing I felt before. The world was at peace and I could rest. I could finally rest in peace.
We all fell asleep after we had drank the whole night. I felt someone moving which woke me up. It was Ayako. She went outside to the balcony with a cup of hot tea in her hand. She took a sip of the tea as she watched the stars.
"The moon looks nice today." I said which startled Ayako.
"A full moon." Ayako smiled at the night sky. The cold winter airbrushed on our faces.
I didn't want it to end. I didn't want this time to end. I wanted time to just stop.
* * * * * *
"What happened?!"
"The baby…"
"What…WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DAUGHTER?!"
"It didn't survive."
I collapsed on the ground.
No. This can't be.
I punched the floor and the whole hospital shook.
* * * * * *
Twenty-five years have passed and I am now in my forties. Life had taken a turn and now all that has happened were disaster after disaster but Ayako stayed with me.
Even though my child had died; Even though my company went bankrupt! EVEN THOUGH WE'RE LIVING IN THE COLD!
Even with all that has happened, she stayed with me.
Yeah, I don't mind dying like this but I can't die before Ayako.
"Torture her."
Huh? What the hell was that?
I heard a voice but I couldn't understand it.
"Torture her."
I now heard the voice clearly. I tried to understand what it meant until it hit me.
I wasn't from this world. I was in some sort of training. This isn't real. Ayako wasn't real but I still can't torture her. I still can't.
My hand moved on its own. My shoulder moved on its own and Ayako, who was sleeping on my shoulder fell off of my shoulder and hit the hard ground. She woke up.
"What are you doing?" She asked. I couldn't answer her. I couldn't speak. Tears filled my eyes and dripped from my cheeks. "What's wrong?" She said as she brushed my hair away and wiped my tears with her hands.
I mouthed the words "I'm sorry" while tears dripped from my face. I looked at her and she looked just like she did when I first saw her in this world. Her bright hair and deep dark blue eyes. Her eyes didn't just look like the deep ocean but now mimicked it. Water filled her eyes and dripped from them. The tears fell onto the floor and she tried to open her mouth. She tried to say something but she couldn't.
I looked at my hand and it had pierced something into her abdomen. I then unsheathed the weapon from her stomach and cut open the last clothing she had.
She was still alive.
After I had cut open her clothes, I dug the blade into her neck and dragged it downwards. I also felt everything, almost as if we were the same person.
I grabbed her heart which was still beating and held it in my hands. I couldn't do it anymore and the heart fell out of my hands. I then collapsed. The light faded from my vision and darkness devoured me.