My Childhood Friend Seems to be the Main Heroine. - Chapter 1

Prologue

　In this world, there is something called fate.

　When and where. Who you meet, fall in love with, and marry.

　It is decided from the beginning. No one can change it.

　That’s what I thought.

　But one summer day, when the cicadas were chirping loudly, fate did indeed change.

* * *

“Yoo, whoa, whoops! “

　In the remote mountains, a boy was playing and throwing flying rocks that were peeking out from the creek.

　It was his first time here, though he was an expert at finding the right rock and flying them above the water with rhythm and nimbleness.

　Just the other day. Seeing that he is now six years old and has grown up to a certain extent, his parents decided it was time for the family to go on an outing, so they brought him camping.

　First mountain.

　First river.

　First time camping.

　The outside world suddenly opened up.

　Everything was new and bright for a boy who had lived only in the small world of a small town.

“Ah, fish!”

　He sees a big fish as he looks down to aim at the next rock to fly to.

　Startled by the boy’s jump over the rock, which was his territory, the fish emerged from the rock’s shadow.

　The boy’s interest changed from throwing flying rocks to catching the fish.

　He approached the fish slowly and silently to close a certain distance so that the fish would not notice him, and the next moment, he jumped in.

“Horyaa! “

　Splash-

　With the boy’s enthusiastic voice, there was a huge splash, and the river water surged.

　He takes out his hands from the river and finds a flopping fish.

“I got youーーー! “

　The young boy is pleased and imitates a comedian he had seen on TV the other day.

“Ah !?”

　But it was wrong for him to be so careless.

　The moment the boy relaxes, the fish slips out of the restraints and returns to the river.

“Wait! I’m going to eat you! Don’t run away!”

　The boy rushes to catch up with his prey, but his feet are caught in the water, and he cannot go as fast as he wants.

　In the meantime, the fish runs away at a great speed and quickly disappears from his sight.

“Where did it go? It’s gone!”

　But the boy had not given up yet.

　He’s going to catch it and fry it.

　He never misses his prey. Like a wolf, the boy set off in pursuit.

　With a splash, he moves his heavy, waterlogged legs toward the fish.

　He was unaware that doing so would cause the vibration-sensitive fish to flee even further.

　The boy moves upstream, looking for the fish.

“Huh? where’s Saito?”

“Isn’t he in the river? He was throwing flying rocks just now. “

　The boy’s parents, who were concentrating on building a tent, looked down to the river, but the boy was already gone.

“Haa-haaah, where are the fish〜〜? “

　Zap- zap-

　An hour has passed since Saito chased the fish.

　He has not found his catch yet.

　There was no sign of the energetic Saito, who had been walking against the river’s current even though it was gentle, and he was exhausted.

　However, he has not given up on the fish yet, and his legs are still slowly moving.

　Saito seems to be the type of person who will do something once he decides to do it.

　Despite his desire, his physical strength could not keep up with him, and he finally stopped.

“I haven’t caught him yet.”

　Not yet. I can still go.

　The fire of willpower has not yet diminished, but his body, which has reached its limits, refuses to listen to me.

　It pleads with him to take some rest.

　Saito does not want to stop here because he feels like he is losing, but he rests briefly in response to his body’s plea.

“Haa-haaah, I haven’t lost yet, you know.”

　Saito said, regretting his defeat, as he climbed out of the river and lay down on the bank of the river.

　He looked up at the cloudless clear sky, breathing hard.

　Normally, the summer sunlight is bothersome, but it is pleasant now that it has cooled down after being in the river for a long time.

　Saito, who has regained some of his composure, gazes at the sky for a while, and then he hears the sounds around him.

　The noisy sound of cicadas and the swaying of plants and trees by the wind are the same as ever, but there is an unfamiliar sound among them.

　Among them, there was an unfamiliar sound: the sound of falling water.

　Intrigued, he moved his face toward the sound and saw a large waterfall and a girl-like figure.

“What are you doing? “

　He didn’t know how old she was, but she was probably the same age as Saito since she seemed to be about the same height as himself when he looked at her with his eyes.

　It was very strange to see a girl of the same age staring at the waterfall alone without her parents.

　Is there something interesting there?

　He followed the girl’s gaze and looked at the waterfall, but I did not see anything interesting, perhaps because I was looking at it from a distance.

　There is nothing but falling water.

　He doesn’t know why the girl keeps staring at it.

　Then…

“I’ll ask her.”

　If you don’t know, just ask her.

　Ask her, and she’ll tell you why.

　Fish are on hold.

　I’m not giving up.

　Saito got up and went to the girl.

* * *

　As is often the case in fiction, the girl made a time leap.

　She found herself in a time leap from twenty-six years old to four years old.

　The reason for this is not quite clear. She doesn’t remember being in an accident, such as being run over by a truck, and she doesn’t remember meeting anyone with a mysterious power.

　She was just suddenly transported back to the past.

　The girl (who is an adult inside) was naturally confused immediately after the time leap, but she accepted the fact that she had time leaped, thinking that she would rather be grateful if she could start her life all over again…

“Sigh, it’s not going well at all.”

　She doesn’t know what the cause is, but she can’t change the past at all.

　Even if she tries to change it, the end result is the same as the first life.

　It’s the same thing all over again.

　She doesn’t know why she returned to the past with her memories.

　Staring at the waterfall, unchanged from her past memories, the girl lets out a big sigh.

“Will that happen again? If so… I might as well…”

　─Should I just die?

“Dangerous!”

　Before she can even speak, someone pulls the girl’s hand from behind.

　Startled by the suddenness of the situation, she turns around to see a dark-haired boy she has never seen before holding her hand.