Chapter 169 - The “Present” and the Present Becoming One

summer—in other words, the summer I turned 27. We released a completed app game for the smartphone. Just as I predicted, it caught on as a trend and made a lot of money.

I was so happy that I ended up drinking a lot at the launch party. I didn’t remember much after that, but it was probably entertaining.

Things continue to operate steadily, and the planned Christmas event became a hot topic on SNS. It became the industry’s top-grossing app.

“Senpai~ The end of the year party with ASW, where would you want it? If you want, I can set it up.”

The self-proclaimed secretary in charge of miscellaneous work came over to my desk.

…Huh? I feel like I’ve seen this before— Is this déjà vu?

“Ah, Senpai, you returned again?”

Rei-chan made an astounded expression.

Aaaah, that’s right. It’s this. The last time I saw the “present”.

“Senpai, at the end of fall last time, you got super drunk at the bar telling me stuff like ‘we did it, Rei-chan… it’s the highest profit we ever had in a quarter.’ It should be a big success.”

I had continued walking along the path until I reached the ‘present’ that I last saw.

“I thought at the time that you might take me home. But Senpai, you easily just left like that. Such a disappointment.”

She puffed her cheeks and turned her head to the side.

“But, that’s what I like about you…”

I glanced at her, causing our eyes to meet. As if predicting that Rei-chan went “Kya~” before averting her face.

“What I’m most troubled by, is that it’s not that I like my beloved Senpai. It’s that I love my Senpai who loves Hiiragi-chan.”

I patted her head a bit violently.

“Yaan, Senpai, so forceful.”

[Finish your work at a good stopping point! Today’s the end of the year party after all.]

Speaking of which, Natsumi-chan’s message arrived.

“At the time, Sana-san and I were both indignant. “Why?” “Why now?” We would think. However, getting to this age… we’re already proper adults, and thinking from the same position, it’s not that that I don’t understand Sensei’s feelings.”

It seems that Rei-chan thinks that I’m the me that returned to the present.

“You understand?”

“That’s right. It might be a little cliché, but there are answers like that that come out because you like them… If she knew that you time leaped, then she would know that you were an adult inside, but that wasn’t the case. From her perspective, you were just a normal high school student. As an adult and teacher, she perceives you from the side of a guardian. Thinking about Senpai’s happiness, one point would stick out, and that’s the age difference…”

I don’t think that it’s good that we broke up, but if it’s something that lifts a weight off of Hiiragi-chan’s heart, then that’s something I would wish for. Teacher and student, adult and child— it’s not like that anymore, now, we’re both adults that have experienced various things.

“Senpai, you changed the past multiple times, shifting the present in a direction you wanted. Hearing it from you, it seems like you worked hard towards your goal of being with Sensei. Even with the failing performance of this company, you improved it to gain the best results. However, you couldn’t avoid breaking up with Sensei—Why do you think that is?”

This is the answer to the question that I didn’t hear before.

“It must be just something that was unavoidable—It’s not in the negative sense, rather the exact opposite.”

That’s right, Rei-chan said.

“It’s a necessary action to for Hiiragi-chan’s happiness—”

If she had made the decision not to break up with me, our relationship would continue while pretending that the thorn stuck in her side didn’t exist—Is it okay for her to be my partner? That would have been a question somewhere within herself.

There was probably a bit of guilt towards me. The jealousy or contempt due to age difference and the desire for monopolizing me due to that.

“Now and back in high school, please remember what has always driven you.”

Of course, now. Why, well, I—‘We’, went back into the past and changed it for the present Hiiragi-chan’s happiness.

The high school days were merely a stepping stone. We only have what we have now due to that.

I don’t know what will happen from now on, as I have never had a time leap release after that. Even in my original memories, I don’t know anything that happened past springtime of this year.

…Maybe that means, it’s okay for me to go to her now.

Even a car’s navigation would stop once you reach somewhere close to your destination. As if saying, ‘It’s here. You know what to do now, right?’

The past is done being modified. The time leap that isn’t released. Following that route, I arrived at the present. The timeline of the past has met with the present.

I was never shown a happy ending with Hiiragi-chan in the ‘present’. There was a mountain of problems, and the more I fixed, the more problems appeared.

As for the last problem, maybe it was settled with time?

Does this mean that I should walk on my own two feet from now on?

By the time I cleaned up after getting to a good stopping point, it had already turned 9 PM.

A call came from my boss, scolding me, “Didn’t I tell you it was the end of the year party? We were supposed to get praised a lot.”

She seemed to be quite happy, as Natsumi-chan’s voice had a bit of a bounce to it. She seemed to be drunk, unlike usual. “It all starts here, Thief-kun.” Such a nostalgic way of calling me, as she continued to talk about various things.

Holding that back, I made sure to ask only about the information I needed and headed towards the parking lot. I got into my car and directed it with the steering wheel towards an all too familiar location.