Before my eyes was a bright white light.
"Is this the afterlife?" I begin to think to myself, being overcome by an unstable feeling, as if I'm floating midair dropping into an abyss.
"..hurito! Yo Yahurito!" I heard a voice calling out to me.
Is this the voice of an angel?
I guess angels have much deeper voices than I expected.
Eventually the light died down and was finally able to fully open my eyes.
"Yahurito, are you okay?" Someone asked me with concern, waving a hand in front of my face.
The person is none other than Yoshito. No sign of guilt from him, not the face of a man that stole someone else's wife. But as soon as I noticed him, I instantly thought of Miyuki's face and voice from the last time I saw her, nothing but pain is what gives me.
Either way, where am I? I really didn't think I'd end up seeing Yoshito in the afterlife. Maybe I'm in hell? What I did to Miyuki was a bad enough sin to warrant that, and if that's the case, then I fully understand seeing Yoshito here as well. He may be a demon, taking that form in order to condemn me for my sins. So I'm forced to atone all of my wrongdoings here.
"Yoooo! Did you hit your head or something? A look of concerrn came from Yoshito's face.
This is a compassionate demon, I'll admit that.
"You've been muttering words to yourself this entire time… it's getting weird."
"Plus, this isn't hell, it's the cafeteria, see?" Yoshito put out his arm, as if he's showcasing something interesting.
"The cafeteria?" I asked looking around, and sure enough, we're in the cafeteria at the college that I enrolled in ten years ago. This scenery sure brings back memories.
Hold on, I was just hit by a car. Why am I here? And on top of that, I have no injuries, nor am I feeling any sort of pain. Now that I look closely at Yoshito, I notice something. He looks a lot younger compared to when I last saw him, looking like he did back in our college days.
"What the hell's going on?! You look terrified." Yoshito began to shake me by the shoulders.
"Could you tell me today's date?" I pushed away his arms.
"Are you serious? You must be messing around with me." He expressed lots of confusion, then made a big deal of showing off flipping open his phone and showed it to me.
It's some old model that's been in drama reruns.
"No way…." I brought my hand to my mouth.
The phone displayed the date from the spring of my third year of college, the same time that Miyuki and I met. I can't believe it, but it seems that the exact cause of the crash, I slipped back in time.
In a panic, I went to one of the windows and looked at the reflection of myself, and here I am, looking young, just as Yoshito does. As soon as I sat back down,Yoshito began to speak, seemingly unbothered by what I did.
"Man, you don't understand how glad I am that we were able to move into this campus for our third year." He sighed with relief, putting his arms in the back of his head.
"Why?" I asked.
"What do you mean, why..?" Cause it's the same campus as the literature department. There's plenty of cute girls around." He explained, looking ever so proud.
"You mentioned hell, but nah this is clearly heaven. I mean, how could anyone possibly think this is hell?"
I begin to feel a little irritated with Yoshito.
"Jeez, you're so.." I expressed annoyance.
"I mean, look! The three of them over there are cute."
Yoshito punched my arm and chuckled.
I mean, I never disliked his boisterous, and carefree personality, but it's different now, I couldn't help but find him annoying.
"You know, you're as difficult as always, you should at least get a girlfriend."
"And you could try to take everything a little more serious once in a while." I snapped without meaning to.
"Yasuhito… something definitely seems off with you today, I was just messing around like usual." He appeared to be taken aback.
And seeing that made me realize how angry I am.
My separation from Miyuki, Yoshito and her getting together, and jumping back time after an accident. Now that I think about it, my heart hasn't really had any much time to process everything that's been happening. Too much has been happening all at once, all I could really think about is handling the pain that's been tearing through my chest. I haven't really been thinking about what I could or should do from here.
"Yasuhito? You snapped all of a sudden and now look depressed, something's got to be going on with you." Yoshito asked in a worried tone.
"Is there something on your mind? You know you could talk to me about it. Maybe we should go out for drinks tonight."
Maybe a bit of alcohol could put my thoughts to rest and forget about things for a little bit.
When I turned to look in a different direction, my eyes widened as soon as I saw someone familiar.
Feeling all sorts of emotion, I noticed Miyuki walking by in front of me. Her round, almond-like eyes, the upturned corner of her lips that makes it seem as if she's always smiling, looking younger, but I know for a fact that's Miyuki. The young version of my wife was gesturing wildly as she began to speak, just as she always had. Miyuki, being the lively person that she is, can light up everything around her.
Being in a state of shock, all I could do was stare directly at her, then Yoshito spoke out of nowhere.
"What, is she your type, Yasuhito?? She's definitely cute, but not what I expected from you man.. wait here!" He suddenly got up.
"Huh? H-hey what are you doing?l" I tried to reach out to him but failed.
He had already gotten to Miyuki, who appears to be with her best friend, Eri.
Based on his attitude, this must be before we all officially met, but it's odd because I don't remember this happening. Miyuki and I met at a party, but of course we may have passed by each other at times while walking around campus. But this is completely different.
Wait, can I change events that have occurred? Is that really possible?
As soon as I have those thoughts, I notice Miyuki laughing while Yoshito is speaking to her, he must've told some joke. Obviously I can't hear their conversation, but I could somewhat hear that lighthearted laugh. Next to Miyuki is Eri, who appears to be acting cold as their conversation went on.
Seeing Miyuki smile and laugh caused pain to spread throughout my heart.
That's right, Miyuki, is someone who would always laugh, is a cheerful and wonderful woman, an amazing person in general.
When their conversation appeared to be over, Yoshito looked at me and waved, with Miyuki looking back at me, smiling, and giving a small nod. My amazing, innocent wife, who wasn't aware of what would happen in the future was so lively to me that it's difficult to remember what happened. In an attempt to hold back tears, I clenched my knees so hard that my nails dug in.
I'm the reason her smile faded away, I just wanted to make her happy, have her life filled with joy.
This must be the reason why I was sent back in time. Now I understand that this type of thing is what people meant by "divine revelation," I can't allow a future where that beautiful smile disappears. I'll make a vow in my heart. I will help fulfill Miyuki's love. I want her to live a future filled with joy and love where doesn't marry me, but instead, married Yoshito, the one who she loved all along, the one who was right for her. I'm aware this isn't a normal way of thinking, it's completely crazy to want my wife and best friend to end up together, but marrying me prevented her from living a happy life. That could possibly change with Yoshito, he may not be the brightest, but unlike me, he had always been positive. He's kind, which helped him get close to many people who have been hurt, but what's more important is he always speaks his mind, and has never been afraid of the possible outcomes.
Compared to someone like me, who used to mistake cowardness with,"Consideration of others." He is full of honesty, I want to bet on Yoshito.
This really seems like hell to me, having to let go of the person I love, nothing's more painful than this.
"But, I don't think it's the worst possible place." I said to myself with a smile.
At least while I'm here, I'm able to pull my beloved wife out of hell, having a chance to do everything all over again. I want to take that chance, for Miyuki's sake. This is the final wish that I can grant for her.