Isekaid 40ish Man Returns, Regressed as a Peerless 17-Year-Old - Chapter 1.3

From the school to the station is a quiet residential area if you go to the side streets.

I walk alongside Yui on that street.

Yui, a beautiful girl who’s even featured on a poster for the school’s entrance guide, was very popular among the other students in her grade.

Most students look back just because she’s walking with a man though there’s no rumor of her having an affair with anyone.

「Isn’t this the first time since we entered high school that we will go home together? Did anything happen?」

「No, nothing. I just wanted to go home with you once in a while.」

Yui answered with a full smile.

It’s the kind of smile that makes men and women alike fall in love with her.

But to me, who knew Yui since we were children, it was a smile that felt somewhat strange.

I had started to distance myself from Yui since I was in junior high school. She started to smile like this since then.

It is also true that I feel the embarrassment peculiar to an adolescent guy for being with a girl but it’s not the reason I instinctively avoided her.

The reason is the way Yui “looks” right now.

「I thought you’d go home first.」

「Well」

Yui’s intuition was right. I was like that in my previous life.

「What do you mean well?」

Yui’s cheeks puffed out in a teasing manner.

The expression I once thought was cute but now, she looks very sad.

「What happened?」

「There were times—」

「Not that. What happened since a few years ago?」

I don’t know if it’s a good time to step in here.

Even though I saved another world, it was all about fighting. My communication power has not been polished.

Still, my heart, which had been forcibly trained at a black company, and the regret of not being able to do anything back then, made me take the first step.

「………」

Yui stared into my eyes with a serious expression.

「What happened to you, Kazu?」

「No, nothing.」

When I replied that way, Yui replied with a smile, “Then, me too.”.

What do you mean by that?

Yui would not say anything else.

Even though this childhood friend of mine looks gentle, she’s actually stubborn.

「More than anything, why don’t we sit for a moment?」

Yui pointed to a bench in a small park.

We sat down on the bench with a little space between us.

「Do you remember this place?」

「This is where Shiratory and I first met when we were in kindergarten.」

「I remember sneaking out of our house and getting lost. While I was lost, you played with me.」

I didn’t know she was the daughter of the Shiratori family and made her play with mud…later on, my parents got mad at me.

What did you do to the daughter of the president of one of the world’s largest corporations?

Why did they even ask that to a child….

「I was happy at that time. I was alone and feeling lonely and it was the first time I’d ever played outside with a friend.」

Yui narrowed her eyes as she looked up at the sky, which was beginning to turn red.

It’s a look of regret for a past that will never return rather than a happy recollection of memories.

「Shiratori…?」

「Nothing. Thanks for today.」

「Is that it?」

「Yeah. That’s it or I will cause more trouble to the driver.」

As if waiting for Yui to say that, a black car appeared around the corner.

「See you later.」

Yui stood up, gave me a full smile, and walked toward the car.

It was just an ordinary scene.

But I’ve seen it in that world.

What Yui showed me was the smile of someone who’s about to die.