Prologue

 

I met him when I was 12. My mother and father just got divorced and my mom and I left our house. They always argued because of my dad’s drinking problems and one day, Mom finally got fed up and divorced him.

So, we moved out. We left the house and moved to my grandparents’ house. And there I met the person who would change my life. My neighbour named Watanabe Hitoshi. He was the only son of the family who lives right next to us.

He also became my first ever friend. I was too shy to make friends before, but I was able to become friends with him because he was very nice to me. And so, years passed. I slowly developed feelings for him. And at the age of 16, In our first year of High School. I realised that this feeling was love.

And now, we are 2nd years. I hid my feelings for a year. But now, I’ve resolved myself to confess. Today, on December 5, 2008, I finally decided to confess. I thought that this confession will change my life. And it did… but not in the way that I hoped for.

“Hitoshi-kun… please go out with me!”

“Eh? Hanako-chan..I never thought that you felt that way… umm sorry, I don’t think I can date you right now… I’d like to stay friends for the time being so um.. Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

“Eh? Wai-“

He sprint away; I tried to stop him but I didn’t. It was already too late. After this incident, we stopped talking to each other. And after a year, I heard people talking about him.

“Hey did you know, Watanabe started dating the school princess?”

“Ehh really?”

“Hmm, I kinda get it. Watanabe is really kind so naturally, girls would be attracted to him.”

I heard this conversation betweeen 3 girls. And in my mind I said:

Ahh so that was why he rejected me… he already liked someone else.

It hurt. Learning this still hurt me even 1 year after. Why? It’s because for some reason I can’t get him out of my head. He is still my classmate so I unconsciously stare at his face sometimes. I still love him. Most people would easily be able to move on, but not me.

And this feeling would stay with me to today. 8 years after I confessed and got rejected, I still loved him. I looked forward to meeting him today because we’re having a school reunion. But instead of meeting him, I heard bad news instead.

“Have you guys heard, Watanabe’s girlfriend died 2 years ago from an accident. And since then he never left their house again.”

This was the first time I’ve heard of this. I moved out 4 years ago for college and so did Watanabe. We’ve never met each other after that but to think that such a thing would happen to him…

Just imagining the pain that he must’ve went through to become like that, hurts me as well. The kind and sweet Hitoshi, now gone, and became depressed. Suffering from the loss of his loved one.

I want to be there for him.

This is what went through my mind. I decided to go back to my grandparent’s and try to look for him. After the school reunion ended, I immediately left. But as I was going down the stairs, I tripped and everything suddenly felt like it was in slow motion.

How stupid of me…

My vision slowly became black… and then it was suddenly filled with light. I looked around, but everything was white. There was… nothing. I then heard a voice:

“Are you Nakamura Hanako?” A voice said.

“Yes… who are you?”

“I am the god of this world.”

“…God?”

“Yes, I decided to summon you here because of a request made by 1 soul.”

“Summoned? Did I die?”

“No, you are currently in a hospital.”

“I see… so why was I summoned here?”

“A soul has been making a request about wanting to meet you here you see… She also made a request about something else… we’ll talk about that in a moment. But for now, please meet this soul”

Soul? What’s happening? Someone wants to meet me? But why…

Someone’s figure slowly started appearing. It was someone I recognised immediately.

“…Hitoshi’s girlfriend…”

Hearing my words, she smiled.

“Yes. I am his girlfriend… or was.” Her smile turned into a frown.

“So… why did you want to meet me?” I asked her nervously.

“Yes, I want you to go back in time and steal Hitoshi from me.”

“Eh?”

What’s this girl talking about…

She then went back to her cheerful mode and started to speak again.

“Yes, you see I’ve been watching Hitoshi-kun from here and… seeing what happened to him hurts me a lot.”

“I see…”

“And that’s where you come in!”

“Me?”

“Yes! I want you to go back in time and make Hitoshi your boyfriend!”

“EH?… but why me? Couldn’t it be you?”

“Well, of course I want to but…” Her smile once again turned into a frown as she said these words.

She then started to explain what god told her.

“Dead people can’t go back on time. Plus, even if I do come back there on my own, I’ll still die from the same reasons I did last time even If I try everything I could do to prevent it.”

“…But why?”

“Well, you see. When time traveling, most things can be changed. Things like the future… but death… you can’t change when you’ll die.”

“Oh…”

“And that’s why I want you to make Hitoshi happy!”

I thought for a moment to decide if I should this do this or not, and not even a minute later, I already knew what I want to do.

“…I have one more question”

“Sure.”

“Why did you pick me?”

“Oh that’s simple. It’s because your love for him is equal with my love for him. And I thought that you’ll surely make him happy…”

“…”

“So, are you going to do it?”

“…yes."

“Good! 2 years of trying to convince god finally paid off!”

Her body then slowly turned into particles.

“Good luck okay? Make him happy for me…” She said, as tears slowly came out from her eyes.

“I will.”

She finally turned into nothingness and the voice from before came back.

“Are you sure about this… It’s going to be dangerous, you know?”

“I am.”

“sigh Fine. I’ll explain what’s going to happen during the time travelling process.”

And so, my journey to make Hitoshi mine began.