Childhood Friend Heroine V1 Prologue
Prologue
In this world, there exists what is known as destiny.
When and where you will be, who you will meet, with whom you will fall in love, and who you will marry—all of it is determined from the very beginning. It is a fate that no one can alter.
Or so it was supposed to be.
But on a certain summer day, when the cicadas buzzed with an almost annoying intensity, destiny was undeniably rewritten.
While it’s a common trope in stories, this was the second time she had found herself in such a predicament.
She didn’t know what had triggered it. All she knew was that time had rewound, taking
her all the way back to childhood
. She had experienced what people call a time leap.
At first, she was simply shocked. And who could blame her? No one would ever expect to encounter something straight out of a work of fiction. Her initial thought was that it must be a dream, so she pinched her cheek. A sharp, stinging pain radiated from the spot, teaching her—quite literally—that this was no dream world.
…I can start over.
Once she grasped that she had truly returned to the past, the next
emotion that washed over her was overwhelming joy.
If only I had done that back then.
If only I had done this instead.
Every person has, at some point, regretted their actions and wished they could go back to do things differently. For her, those “
what-ifs
” had become reality. Of course, she was overjoyed. Having lived a life that was decidedly below average, that joy felt all the more profound.
In her early childhood, she was bullied for the flax-colored hair and indigo eyes she inherited from her mother.
During elementary school, a friend’s crush fell for her instead, creating a rift between them and leading to relentless bullying from someone who should have been a close friend.
In middle school, she found a measure of peace by taking classes in a separate room, but she had no friends. The time spent in an empty classroom was unbearably lonely.
High school marked a major turning point. A prince on a white horse saved her when she was being terrorized by a stalker. For the first time in her life, someone had come to her rescue. That encounter became the catalyst for her to discover love, and after two years of fierce competition, she finally won his heart and became the prince’s girlfriend. Looking back, that was the happiest time of her life.
Her college years taught her that even princes are merely human.
He would never betray me.
He would love only me.
That was what she had believed. She had even told her prince that they should maintain a pure relationship until marriage. But such innocent ideals
could
only last for so long.
What reality demanded was something else entirely.
“Sorry, Senpai! I stole ○○-san from you. He’s my boyfriend now.”
“No, Lily, this is… you’re mistaken!”
“Oh? But he whispered so many sweet things to me. He said, ‘I love you,’ and ‘You’re the only one who can satisfy me’~”
“Ahhhhh~~~!!”
—A physical relationship.
Without it
, romantic relationships crumbled away with disappointing ease. Machigane
Lily
learned this
lesson with soul-
crushing despair.
It was a past so revolting it made her want to vomit just thinking about it. A truly hopeless life. Once was more than enough.
This time, I’m going to be happy.
She didn’t need anything special. Just ordinary happiness
. She wanted nothing more
. With that modest wish in her heart, she began to take action, but—
“Haah… I can’t take this anymore…”
The world was more stubborn and merciless than
Lily
had imagined.
Deep in the mountains, at a campsite far from civilization, she had lied to her parents about taking a look around. Now, in a secluded spot with no one in sight, she sank to the ground, a complaint escaping her lips.
Beneath her unseasonably long sleeves were bruises and scrapes. As she hugged herself, a dull pain shot through her entire body. Grimacing,
Lily
reflected on how things had come to this.
Her time leap had returned her to the age of three. She was already enrolled in kindergarten and being bullied. First, she tried to address the situation. She explained to her mother that the other children were being cruel because she looked different, and she had her hair dyed black. Whenever she was bullied, she would immediately run crying to the teacher and made sure to stay by her side as much as possible.
At times, she even tried to logically argue back or retaliate, but that proved to be a mistake. Her adult-like responses and behavior only earned her the resentment of the other children.
Her hair color suddenly
changed.
It’s creepy.She’s hogging the teacher all to herself.
It’s not fair.Just because the teacher protects her, she thinks she can say whatever she wants.
For various reasons,
Lily
became hated by everyone and was completely isolated. The teacher was her only ally. But there were inevitably moments when the teacher wasn’t around, and the children timed their attacks for precisely those moments. They would hit her where the injuries wouldn’t be visible, throw mud at her, and trip her—the bullying was even more malicious than what she remembered from her first life.
A major failure right after her time leap.
She only made things worse
.
Thisshattered Lily’s spirit
. She wasn’t mentally strong to begin with, and her heart, already broken by her boyfriend’s infidelity, was now utterly crushed.
“…I want to die.”
Lately, whenever she found herself alone, these words would escape her lips. It wasn’t a joke; she was serious. She had even begun to think of it as the most effective means of escaping this world of suffering.
If she couldn’t change anything anyway, if she was just going to repeat the same life, then struggling was pointless. She didn’t want to think about anything anymore.
“……………Die…”
Having abandoned all thought, the word “die” slipped from her lips in her empty state. Just as her body began to move unsteadily, ready to act on that single word, a scream echoed from above.
“Ahhhhh—! I’m gonna die, gonna die, gonna die~~~!!”
“Kyaa!”
“Fgyaah!”
Looking toward the source of the voice, she saw a boy tumbling down from the mountaintop.
Lily
reflexively stepped back as he passed right in front of her at a tremendous speed, crashing into the bushes with great force.
“Puhaah! I’m alive. Hahah, awesome! That was fun! Ahahaha!”
After pulling himself from the bushes and confirming that he was in one piece, the boy began to laugh as if he’d just had the time of his life.
Lily
, struggling to process the sudden turn of events, stared at him in bewilderment. Then, their eyes met.
“Yo! Hey, wasn’t that amazing!? I fell from way up there, but I’m totally fine!”
“Uh, yeah… I guess so,” she managed.
“Man, when I slipped, I thought I was a goner. But hey, things
worked
out somehow.”
The boy pointed up the mountain, saying, “Probably from around there.” It was a height from which no one would normally escape uninjured. To have sustained no major injuries was nothing short of a miracle. Yet, despite the life-threatening experience, the boy seemed completely carefree.
Does he have no sense of fear?
Or maybe he’s just too young to understand the danger?
She suspected
it was the latter. As rude as it was, her first impression of the boy was that he seemed… stupid. To be clear, it wasn’t that his face looked dumb, but he had the air of someone who didn’t think things through—a show-off.
No offense…
“You should try it too! It was surprisingly fun.”
“…I’ll pass.”
“Aww, but it’s fun.”
Her observation seemed to be on point, as the boy made a ridiculous suggestion. When she declined, he let out a dissatisfied sound.
“If I get my clothes dirty, my mom will get mad at me.”
“I see. My mom’s the same— Ah! Oh crap! My clothes are all torn up. Mom’s gonna yell at me! This is bad, this is bad! Hey, you don’t have any clean clothes, do you? If I go back like this, she’s gonna give me hell.”
Sensing he wasn’t ready to give up, she added an excuse. The boy nodded in understanding, but then his face turned pale as he asked to borrow her clothes. Looking at him, she saw that while he wasn’t injured, his clothes were torn in several places and were in tatters. It was easy to imagine the scolding he would receive.
“Um, if we go back to the campsite… I think… there might be something there…”
“Really!? Please, I’m begging you, lend them to me! Just until I get back to my tent.”
“Um… well… I only brought a dress.”
“What’s a dress? That thing on TV?”
“I don’t know about the TV one, but it’s a single piece that covers your body, and the bottom is a skirt.”
“The thing girls wear, huh. Hmm. My mom’s kinda dumb, so maybe it’ll work?”
“…I really don’t think so.”
What does he think will work?
No matter
how you looked at it, that was pushing it. If a son came back from the forest wearing girls’ clothing, any parent would interrogate him. At least, she certainly would. Not that she’d ever had a child.
“I see~. I thought it was a good idea, though~”
“…Aren’t you embarrassed about wearing girls’ clothes?”
“Not really. It’s all just fabric, right? As long as it covers the important parts.”
“Ah… you’re one of those types.”
When she asked if he wasn’t embarrassed, his extreme response
took her aback.
Did this boy have no sense of shame whatsoever?
No, he probably
didn’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say that anything wearable was fine. She found herself worrying about whether he would grow into a proper adult, though it was none of her business.
“Hmm… Ah, whatever, this is getting annoying. Alright, let’s play!”
He had been trying to think of other options but apparently gave up and invited her to play instead.
“You gave up… Um, I’ll pass. I need to get back to my mom soon.”
She politely declined. The shocking way they met and his odd comments had led to a surprisingly normal conversation, but the truth was, she was terrible with people, especially men. Normally, she wouldn’t have said a word. She had thoroughly avoided any involvement with them. The reason, of course, stemmed from the male-related trauma she’d experienced in her first life. It was only natural that she’d end up this way.
“It’s still right after lunch. A little while will be fine. Let’s go on an adventure in the mountains!”
“Uwahh… Wait, wait!”
But the boy, oblivious to her circumstances, forcibly grabbed her hand and started running. Gripped with unchildlike strength, she was unable to shake him off and was helplessly dragged away into the depths of the forest.
After that, she was semi-forcibly made to go along with his games.
“Did you know this leaf makes a sound?”
“…No.”
“Huh. Well, try blowing on it. It makes a pretty cool sound.”
“…puff~”
“Pfft! Kuhaha, that sounds like a fart!”
“…It can’t be helped. It’s my first time.”
“Don’t get mad, don’t get mad. My bad. I’ll teach you, so watch.”
“Those berries look tasty. I wonder if you can eat them?”
“…I think they’re edible. I read about it in a book.”
“Really!? Alright, I’ll go get some.”
“Ah, wait! That’s dangerous.”
“This much is totally fine. Yo, ho, there… Alright, made it. I’ll drop them down, so you catch. Here.”
“That was fast… Hey, uwah! Drop them somewhere easier to catch.”
“Sorry~. How about like this?”
“That’s good.”
“Alright, then I’ll keep picking them.”
““……..””
“Sour!”
“It’s really acidic… The book said they were edible, but it might not have said they were delicious.”
“Stone skipping contest. Whoever gets the most bounces wins.”
“Hah, fine by me. But I’ve never done it before.”
“I haven’t either, so it’s fine.”
“How is that fine?”
““……..””
“Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. It bounced so much!”
“One… Argh~! Why won’t mine bounce~!!”
“…pfft.”
“Ah, you laughed!”
“I didn’t laugh.”
“You totally laughed!?”
“I did not!”
They played with grass whistles, tried eating wild berries, and had stone-skipping contests—games that made use of nature, as befitting the mountains. At first, she was reluctant, but as they played, she found herself getting absorbed in it.
To put it plainly, it was fun.
The reason she was able to enjoy it so much was probably because everything they did was new to her, and also because her partner was a complete stranger with no place in her memories. Her trauma wasn’t triggered, and she was able to focus on playing like a child should.
But fun times pass in the blink of an eye, and as the sun began to set, it was time to say goodbye. Walking along the now-dim mountain path one step behind the boy, the campsite came into view.
“Saito! Where did you go!?”
“Ugh, it’s Mom. I’m definitely gonna get yelled at. Anyway, today was fun. See ya.”
“Ah… um!”
“Mm? What is it?”
As soon as they entered the campsite, a woman who seemed to be the boy’s mother ran toward them, shouting. Her face was a mixture of anger and relief. The boy,
sensing the anger more
, tried to make a quick escape.
However, she stopped him. She felt that if she missed this chance, she would never get to ask. She had to ask the question that had been on her mind.
“Hey, why did you force me to play with you?”
Through their brief interaction, she had realized something. This boy was kind. He observed people well and wouldn’t do anything that someone genuinely disliked. So, she was curious why he had forcibly dragged her away when she had been so reluctant.
The boy stopped walking and, after a moment of thought, said:
“Um, I just wanted someone to play with.”
“But… I was clearly reluctant.”
“Huh? Really? You didn’t look reluctant to me. If that’s the case, then sorry.”
“…No, well… I ended up having fun, so it’s okay. Um, you don’t need to be so down about it, really.”
“I see, then that’s good.”
Hearing that she had been reluctant, the boy felt a little bad. But when she immediately told him she’d had fun, his expression brightened.
But his reaction didn’t matter to
Lily
right now. What he had just said echoed in her head.
You didn’t look reluctant to me.
She had genuinely been reluctant at that moment. She had wanted to shake off his hand and run away. But his grip had been too strong, and she couldn’t escape, so she had reluctantly gone along.
—She hadn’t been reluctant?
That couldn’t be possible. She was bad with boys. She didn’t like forceful people. Because of the bullying, she didn’t like children either. She was afraid of interacting with people. If possible, she wanted to live her life without getting involved with anyone.
That’s what… she thought. What she was supposed to think.
—Really?
“Hey! Saito. What are you trying to run away for!?”
“Ah, ah, oh no!? When did she…”
“Ah… I see. That’s it.”
As the boy was caught by his mother,
Lily
let out a small sound of understanding.
“I haven’t given up yet.”
When she thought about it, it was simple. If she had truly wanted to die, if she was truly rejecting all interaction, she would have resisted much more strongly. But she hadn’t. Because deep down, she still didn’t want to die. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to connect with someone
more
.
Apparently, she was much more stubborn than she thought.
“Thank you!”
“?”
It was something she never would have realized on her own. To the boy who had given her the chance to realize her true feelings,
Lily offered words of gratitude from the bottom of her heart.
The boy, not understanding what he was being thanked for, tilted his head with an amusingly dumbfounded expression.
Lily
let out a small laugh. When she looked up, the sky was dyed a beautiful crimson.
This was her meeting with Minazuki Saito, who would later become her childhood friend.
This meeting, which should never have happened, would greatly alter
MachiganeLily’s destiny.
But at this moment, she had no idea.
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