In front of me stretched the funeral hall where I had stood on that day, the day I recalled my memories from my past life.
However, there was only one framed photo surrounded by flowers, and in it was…
(…me)
Not me as Kanazaki Eiji.
It was the owner of the memories from thirty years of my previous life that I suddenly recalled at that funeral.
The unremarkable identification photo of me before I became Kanazaki Eiji, who died at the young age of thirty, was displayed.
As I looked around again, I noticed it was even smaller in scale than the place where my uncle and aunt’s funeral was held.
A cozy space for a family funeral… where attendees sat, their faces hidden from view.
And in the very front row,
(Dad, Mom…!)
My parents sat there, tears streaming down their faces.
That’s right. On that day, on my way home from work, I was struck by a truck that ran a red light… and I died.
It was so sudden. In the confusion of what had just happened, I lost consciousness and easily ended my life.
What did my parents think when they heard of my death?
Since I graduated from university, I hadn’t returned home even once, too caught up in the busyness of work.
My mother frequently called, asking about the same uneventful updates over and over. Just hearing my voice brought her joy… yet I found even those occasional calls to be bothersome.
When they suddenly received a call from an unknown number and learned that I had died in an accident, what would they have thought?
Could they have immediately accepted that reality? Did they blame themselves, thinking, “If only we had talked more”?
Was Dad still able to continue working as before? Did Mom stop her hobby of blogging?
Thinking of them, my chest tightened. Losing their only son—what must Dad and Mom have felt?
I, who was dead, couldn’t know. I had no right to know.
Even the funeral that looked like a phantom wasn’t surely real. I understood that.
Perhaps my parents weren’t that sad. They might have accepted it with a sense of relief… if that were true, I wished they were those kinds of people.
I couldn’t leave anything behind for them. I couldn’t do anything for them. I couldn’t even introduce them to my wife or show them my children.
Even with phone calls, if I hadn’t found them bothersome and had just said, “I’m doing well,” it would have been enough.
Even such trivial matters surfaced as regrets. It was too late to do anything about it. I had nothing, nothing…
“Eiji-san?”
Wakana called out to me, worry in her voice.
Before I knew it, I had collapsed to my knees.
I was miserably supporting myself with my hands, groaning as tears overflowed.
I was dead.
I was supposed to have understood it as a memory from my past life, but now, for the first time, I finally grasped that fact.
Come to think of it, I feel like I had intentionally avoided the word “reincarnation” until now.
If I considered the revived memories as from a past life, I could remain detached, thinking it was something that had already ended, allowing me not to think about it.
However… the very act of avoiding it unconsciously was evidence that there was an unavoidable regret smoldering within me.
Surely it was because of that reluctance that when I discovered this was the world of the game I had played in my previous life, I cut my ties with Kanazaki Eiji (my current life) somewhere in my mind and gave up.
After all, I was a side character. An inconsequential supporting role. Since I could do nothing and sange nothing, it was easy to think that way.
I could face it without any expectations.
(But… if that’s the case, I can’t face them.)
Regret pulled at my feet, paralyzing me. I wanted to give up and let everything be as it was. I wanted to escape from the wall in front of me.
If I kept repeating such things, more regrets would pile up, eventually tightening my chest and throat to the point where I couldn’t breathe.
(Whatever I do now won’t sange anything from my past life. But if I keep smoldering here, it will mean that it all truly had no meaning.)
Dad and Mom… I couldn’t repay my parents from my past life. I couldn’t meet their expectations.
But because of that, I can’t be pathetic. Everything is interconnected.
Once I realized my regrets, I can’t run away with easy excuses.
“…I’m sorry, Wakana.”
“E-Eiji-san, I’m sorry! I really hit you hard…”
“No, it’s thanks to you that I woke up.”
Breathing was painful, and my head throbbed, but I felt ashamed.
Tears flowed one after another, showing no signs of stopping.
But thanks to that, the garbage was washed away, and my vision cleared.
“You’re right, Wakana. I thought I had grown up and understood, trying to look cool, but I was just a brat making excuses.”
“I-I don’t think you went that far… probably.”
“But I’m done!”
I vigorously wiped my tears. Rubbing them so much that it stung and tingled, I forced myself to stop crying.
I didn’t want to regret any more without doing anything. I might think later, “I should have done it,” but if that happened, I would regret it to death, but that was a problem for later.
So for now—
“No matter if I’m a side character or whatever, it doesn’t matter! I’m going to save Suzuna! I’ll become the best big brother she could ever have!”
“S-Side character…? I don’t really get it, but you finally sound like yourself again!”
Wakana was momentarily taken aback by my sudden determination, but she quickly broke into a smile.
“Ah! B-But, I’m sorry, about the way you’re addressed…!”
But her expression soon turned troubled. Despite being so much more mature than me, she still lacked confidence; it was so typical of her.
“It’s fine, about the way you call me. Whether it’s Eiji-san, Eiji, Kanazaki-kun, idiot, fool, or coward, it’s all good.”
“Are you holding a grudge?!”
“Yeah, I’ll hold it forever.”
“That’s because… well, you see, Eiji-san…”
“So I’ll repay this debt over my whole life. Absolutely.”
“For a lifetime… does that mean I can still be with you from now on?!”
With surprise, Wakana’s face blossomed with an expectant smile.
Being childhood friends with her contradicted the future depicted in the game—this was surely a pivotal moment.
But I didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
“Of course. I’m sorry, Wakana. It was because of the strange things I said before we entered middle school that things got awkward…”
“No, it’s fine. As long as I can be with you again, Eiji-san!”
Wakana tightly grasped my hand, tears welling up again.
Seeing her like that made my chest warm.
First, a step.
Even though I knew it would never reach, I could no longer stand still.
I was reborn.
So, as myself, I stepped forward to live a life without regrets.
