PROLOGUE 1 – FROM NOW ON, I AM

Part 01

——

Today is my sixteenth birthday.

It is also the day of the opening ceremony for my high school.

I am currently attending the event, which started about 30 minutes ago. While this is just as boring as the opening ceremony for my middle school, I did my best to keep up appearances, pretending to look like an enthusiastic and eager student.

It was at that moment when a girl with shoulder-length blue hair appeared before me.

She was small, with child-like features, and seemed like to be of middle school freshman age, maybe even younger. Dressed in a uniform resembling that from the Japanese Army, which I’ve seen in my textbooks, she gazed at me, unsmiling…while floating upside down before my eyes.

“Are you Namidare Rekka-sama?”

How did she know my name?

“???”

Who is this girl? And why was she floating in midair?

Flustered, I flapped my hands futilely in the air between us, causing the bespectacled guy next to me to throw a suspicious glance my way. It seems like I was the only person who could see and hear the girl.

“My name is R. You can call me R-chan if you like.”

The girl started to introduce herself in an over-friendly manner, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Hey, wait. Slow down. Let’s start over, you and I and common sense together.

But one problem. Who is this girl, R?

A hallucination? Delusion? Or is she…a ghost?

I have no wish to encounter any of those, and if I am, what shall I do?!

The situation made me want to grab my head and steady myself, but I was stuck in this opening ceremony. I need to man up and appear like a serious student, and not attract attention to myself.

I hate being the center of attention. “Ordinary is the best” is my life motto.

Being ordinary is really the best. No exceptions.

Though most people would call such a life boring, I’d say that they have no idea what it means to really be ordinary. A ordinary dude gets to pursue his interests, have fun with his friends, and generally enjoy doing normal, fun things. Is there anyone who doesn’t like hanging out with friends? In truth, striving to want to become different from other people just naturally makes one lose sight of the really important things.

So, being ordinary is definitely the best way to go.

“Hello~, can you hear me?”

And now, this entity, here to thoroughly destroy my precious ordinary life, was waving her hands in front of my face…

“He~y, Namidare-sama? Hmm, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it? Rekka? Can I call you that instead?”

Hey hey, don’t act so familiar with me yet. I can’t stand it. I am listening, but just ignoring you. Anyway, why are you acting so friendly with me?

“Hey, shitty weakling, can you hear me? Answer me right now.”

Who are you calling a shitty weakling? And what’s with the sudden loss of courtesy? Did I do something wrong? Did I do anything to warrant you calling me a shitty weakling? No!

Wait. I need to calm down…! She just wants me to acknowledge her.

“Oh, your nose hair is sticking out.”

R taunted as she pointed at my nose.

Huh? Really?

Before I knew it, I’d reached for my nose.

“Not the right side. Left, left.”

Alright, the left side. Now I just need to pluck it out before anyone notices… Huh?

“I lied. Gotcha.”

“Now you’re asking for it!!”

“So, you could hear me all along.”

“…Oh.”

She got me, alright.

“That new student over there. Who’s asking for it?”

That was the final blow. The principal, all the other students, even the parents were staring at me. Shit!

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

“Then please take a seat.”

“Yes sir…”

How those stares burn. I think the embarrassment will kill me soon, and I would be glad to die. My head feels like exploding.

“Well, I already knew you could hear me the moment you reached for your nose.”

And this brat still manages to sound so nonchalant…!

I stopped myself before I shouted at her again.

“Now that we’ve made contact, I’d love to get down to business. May I?”

Not at all. But if I ignore her now, who knows what she will do to me next?

I needed to find a way to speak to her without anyone noticing… Hmm? That’s right.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened up a new message.

*type type*

[Who are you?]

Having typed out my message, I signalled subtly for R to take a look.

Doing a turn in midair, R righted herself and gazed at my phone.

“That appears to be a really old communication device.”

Old? I’d just bought the newest model available on the market.

“But I guess that’s expected. I come from the future.”

The future?

[Did you just say future?]

“That’s right. I’m from the future.”

From the future… Seriously?

For the moment, my annoyance was replaced by countless questions.

[Am I the only one who can see you?]

“Yes. Rekka-san is the only one who can see or touch me.”

[Can I touch you?]

“Yes. Similarly, I can’t touch or speak to anyone else except Rekka-san. I’m in a state of half-materialized existence right now. Would you like a detailed explanation?”

[……]

“There’s no need to type that. I can tell from your expression.”

Ignoring her quip, I typed out the most pressing question.

[Why is someone from the future looking for me?]

“I’ve come to save the future from doom; to alter it because you of the ‘Namidare Lineage’ have messed things up,” R replied smoothly.

The future in a mess, because of me?

My life motto is to lead an ordinary life. It’s almost impossible to imagine me having any impact on the future world.

But I do have a slight clue as to what R was talking about.

The “Namidare Lineage”… My old man had told me about the significance of the “blood” that flows within me.

And it just happened yesterday.

PROLOGUE 1 – FROM NOW ON, I AM

PART 02

——

The Namidare home echoed with the sound of party crackers that night.

“Happy birthday, Rekka. Yahoo!!”

“Don’t point the crackers at me, old man. And don’t say things like ‘yahoo’.”

“Boo. You’re so boring, Rekka-chan.”

This old man sulking like an aged child is my father, Namidare Jigen, a strange stay-at-home dad who looks best with his apron and unshaven face. And the delicious-looking fragrant dishes spread on our dining table were all thanks to him. He even baked the birthday cake himself, no mean feat if you ask me, but I could have done without the “Rekka-chan I love you” written on the cake with chocolate.

“So, shall we dig in?”

“But mum isn’t here yet.”

“Your Mama is busy preparing for tomorrow, so she told us to start first.”

“Oh, I see.”

Mum’s preparation for tomorrow was probably related to her business trip.

My mum is the typical career woman, and had been fortunate enough to be selected to work at the company’s overseas headquarters. Worried since she had no idea how to go about household chores, my old man would be going overseas together with her. But since I would miss Japan too much, I’d decided to stay behind. Truth be told, I’d always wanted to try living on my own, and thankfully, both my parents agreed to the arrangement.

Because of that, we decided to celebrate my birthday today, though the actual day was tomorrow.

“Rekka-chan, do you want candles on your cake?”

“No.”

Because blowing out candles on a birthday cake just seemed so childish.

To be honest, I hadn’t even wanted to celebrate my birthday like this.

“Oh yeah. You didn’t invite Satsuki this year?”

“No. There’s something really important I have to tell Rekka-chan this year, so I didn’t invite her over.”

“…Humph.”

“Oh~, is Rekka-chan feeling lonely without Satsuki-chan?”

“What?! That’s not the case! Birthdays only come once a year, so I just feel bad for not inviting a neighbor.”

Besides, we’d celebrated birthdays together for the past ten years, so her absence now felt slightly strange.

“Is that so~?”

“Shut up. And stop grinning before I kick your ass.”

“Alright alright. I’m sorry.”

Why did I have to end up with such a frivolous old man? Not that I hate him, but I wish he could act more like an adult at times.

But the part about how he had “something really important” to tell me had captured my interest.

“So, what’s this important thing you need to tell me?”

“Well, let’s begin, then.”

Taking a bite of parsley, my old man started to speak.

“In truth, those in the Namidare family have a special blood running in our veins.”

“Special blood?”

“Yes. I guess you can call it the ‘Namidare Lineage’. When a male Namidare turns sixteen, his disposition or special constitution or something awakens.”

“I’ve never heard about this before… And special blood? That sounds like something a protagonist from a manga or novel would possess.”

“How perceptive of you, Rekka-chan.”

I was shocked by the sudden praise. How was I being perceptive?

“This ‘special disposition’ will turn Rekka-chan into a protagonist, just like those in a manga or novel.”

“…You mean like I can travel to other dimensions?”

“Doesn’t everyone wish to do that? Though you may not be able to return once you get there.”

“Now that’ll be a headache…”

I’d concluded that my old man was just pulling my leg or spouting nonsense, and decided to play along.

“So, what exactly is this ‘Lineage’ about?” I asked seriously. Exposing the old man’s joke at this point would just spoil things, and that’s not how you cultivate a happy family.

“But it’s hard to explain what it is exactly-nyaa.”

“Don’t end your sentences with ‘nyaa’. It’s disturbing.”

“That’s what I was aiming for. Anyway, back on topic… That’s right. Try to imagine a ‘story’, be it a manga or novel, in which a prince saves a princess from a Demon King.”

“A ‘story’?”

“Yes. Now imagine, what if the prince loses to the Demon King? Or if there was no prince in the story to begin with? How do you think the story would end, Rekka-chan?”

“…Well, it’ll naturally have a bad ending, right?”

“Yes—. Now, we of the Namidare family will get dragged into these ‘stories’ which lack a protagonist. In short, these ‘stories’ are unimaginable scenarios which we need to be a part of.”

“‘Stories’, huh…?”

It sounded really abstract, but I felt like I understood the gist of it.

“To summarize, this ‘Lineage’ makes it really easy for us to be dragged into weird encounters, and that’s our family’s destiny?”

“And you’ll get to meet aliens and people from the future and mutants with superpowers and more-nyo.”

“Don’t end your sentences with ‘nyo’. And why would I want to meet such people?”

In fact, I had no wish to even be dragged into these “stories”. Not that I really believed such things could happen.

But as I munched on the lettuce in my salad, doubts kept surfacing in my mind.

Even if what the old man said was true, I would just ignore the “stories” and run away from them. And since he said that I would be “dragged” into the stories, it also meant that they were nothing but nuisances which had nothing to do with me, right? If that’s the case, I had no obligation or reason to lend anyone my help. Not that I would ever want to, anyway.

“What a tough destiny our family has.”

“Ha ha ha. You don’t believe me, do you, Rekka-chan?”

“Why would I ever believe such an absurd story? If it’s really true, then why aren’t you out there helping to maintain world peace right now, old man?”

My jolly old man, cheeks stuffed with chicken wings, looked just like a stay-at-home dad, and nothing else.

“According to our ancestors’ records, while it differs for each of us, we usually stop getting dragged into these ‘stories’ once we become adults.”

“How convenient for you then, old man.”

“You still don’t believe me… Oh well, not that I expected you to, until you’re really dragged into such a ‘story’ yourself… Anyway, you should be prepared for things to happen tomorrow, Rekka-chan.”

“If you say so.”

Finally, the nonsense was over.

Oh well, it was quite a fun conversation to add to the festive birthday mood.

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention.”

“What? There’s still more?”

“Yes, this is really important,” the old man said as he put down his chopsticks.

I looked up, and was shocked to see an utterly serious expression on the old man’s face as he stared at me. I sat up straighter in my chair.

“Rekka-chan, you’ll be going through tough times from now on. We are human, afterall, not real heroes, so we won’t be able to have a solution for everything. And it’s ok to run away if our lives are in peril… However, I hope that you won’t mindlessly cast aside the ‘stories’ that you will be dragged into. Can you promise me that?”

I had not seen him so serious in a long while.

The last time I saw him this way was when I was still a boy…when we had spotted a cat in a cardboard box being swept down a river swollen with water.

While I panicked, pacing side to side not knowing what to do, my old man had quickly stripped off his clothes and jumped into the river without a second thought. After the rescue, he brought the weakened cat to the vet, and when it was nursed back to health, he went out of his way to find it a good home. Back then, my old man had seemed like a real hero.

“Alright, I promise, though I doubt anyone would want me as a hero,” I said, my mind still full of thoughts of my old man back then.

It didn’t matter that I still thought the whole story about the “Lineage” was just my old man’s fabrication.

At that moment, mum appeared in the dining room, presumably having finished packing for tomorrow.

“Sorry for waiting you wait—”

My mum is a beautiful woman, and that’s saying a lot coming from me, her son. Many people often mistake her for being ten years younger than her actual age, and it was a miracle how my old man managed to capture her heart.

“Took you long enough, Mama. The food’s almost all gone, and to think I put my heart into cooking it all.”

“That’s because I was packing your stuff too, Jigen-san.”

“That’s because you said you would pack my stuff for me, Mama.”

“That’s because you wouldn’t have been able to do it properly alone, Jigen-san.”

“Ha ha ha, sorry.”

Taking her usual seat, our harmonious family was together again, and because we would be separated tomorrow, there just seemed to be so much to talk about. Thus, the talk about the “Namidare Lineage” was pushed to the back of my mind…

PROLOGUE 1 – FROM NOW ON, I AM

PART 03

——

…So why is R talking about my “blood” now too?

[Anyway, why are you talking about my ‘Lineage’?]

“Because Rekka-san is the most important person in the ‘All Of War’. I’ve done all my research on you, as well as the bloodline of the Namidare family.”

Whatever happened to privacy? But more importantly,

[What is this ‘All Of War’?]

“As its name suggests, it’s a battle that involves everything. I can’t tell you much about it.”

[Why not?]

“Because it’s got to do with my mission.”

[So it has something to do with saving the future?]

“Yes. You’ve heard about the ‘Namidare Lineage’ from your father, Namidare Jigen, last night, right?”

[Yep.]

“You still don’t fully believe in it now, but I’m going to tell you something which will prove that it’s all real. Please listen.”

R moved in midair to assume a kneeling position, probably to establish a serious mood.

“According to history from the future that I come from, Namidare Rekka is someone who had been dragged into many ‘stories’ to rescue many ‘heroines’.”

[‘Heroines’?]

“Heroines like a kingdom’s princess, or a mysterious beautiful transfer student. ‘Stories’ usually have their own ‘heroines’, right?”

Well, that’s true.

“By the way, Rekka-san,”

“Aside from being quite indecisive, you’re also really weak at rejecting girls, right?”

What is with this girl? Before I knew it, I’d gasped out loud. Oh no, don’t look at me like that, dude in glasses.

[W-well, there are some things which girls can’t do alone, right…? Does that really matter here?]

“Of course it matters. Rekka-san, in the future, you would rescue as many ‘heroines’ as there are stars in the sky, but having accomplished that, you would leave them alone… In the end, the neglected girls started to surround the future Rekka-san in a rage, and the war that occurs then is the ‘All Of War’.”

[Seriously?]

“Seriously. If not, I won’t be here right now, and the ‘All Of War’ won’t be happening too.”

[Wait a minute! My old man told me that I wouldn’t be dragged into anymore ‘stories’ once I became an adult?!]

“Even when you stop getting involved in the ‘stories’, the ‘heroines’ don’t just disappear, you know? And neither will their feelings. It’s really providence for them to feel that strongly about you.”

[……]

“I told you, there’s no need to type that.”

But I’m just so overwhelmed that I can’t think of what to say. Can’t you be more sensitive of my delicate civilian’s heart?

[Well, why is such a huge war happening, anyway? It’s just a battle started by a bunch of girls, right? Why must it all lead to something as terrible as a war?]

“You’re too naive. According to the records, Rekka-san rescued hundreds of ‘heroines’ from different ‘stories’ in total. Though I didn’t share much details with you earlier, the ‘stories’ in which you did your rescues resemble manga and novel plots. Just imagine. What do you think would happen if all the characters from different story genres and perspectives come to fight on the same plane?”

[My imagination says that even a planet ten times the size of Earth would be destroyed without a trace.]

“So, isn’t that a little apocalyptic?”

Of course, all this is just a big what-if. But if this were to really happen… It’s almost unimaginable.

However, R is here, right before my eyes.

[Just for my sake, can you prove that you aren’t some 3D projection trick? May I touch you?]

“Of course you may. Touch me anywhere you like,” R exclaimed as she puffed out her chest.

Am I supposed to touch her there?

[Can we just shake hands?]

“Give me your left.”

*shake shake*

Yes, I can really touch her. So it is true that I’m the only one who can see and touch R, the only one who can hear her voice. Does that mean that the stories about “All Of War” and the “Namidare Lineage” are true too…?

“My mission is to tag along with Rekka-san and the ‘heroines’ in order to prevent the ‘All Of War’ from happening. I’ll be watching over Rekka-san until my mission is over, so do hurry and start seducing some ‘heroines’.”

“What do you mean, seduce?!”

No thanks to R’s blunt manner, I had spoken out loud again.

The stares from the dude in glasses and the teachers around just make me wish I didn’t exist.

PROLOGUE 1 – FROM NOW ON, I AM

PART 04

——

Aside from my embarrassing outburst, the opening ceremony went on without a hitch, and the freshmen all filed to our respective homerooms where we had rounds of introductions. By afternoon, school was out.

“By the way, you mentioned that I will be rescuing people in ‘stories’ in the near future. Let’s just say I get dragged into something really complicated. I won’t end up losing my life, right?”

“Rekka-san, you’re such an idiot,” R sighed as she shook her head at me.

It seems like she can’t stay more than five meters away from me, so she has been tagging along no matter where I went. I wonder what would happen if I needed to visit the bathroom?

“I told you that I’ve come to alter the future, right? The moment I traveled back in time, the future has already changed. Thus, no one really knows if you’ll still be able to pull through and save those ‘stories’ the way you did in my version of the future.”

“Wait, that’s not very good news for me.”

“Anyway, Rekka-san is the reason why the future is messed up in the first place, so maybe it’ll be for the best if you inadvertently die along the way.”

“…I somehow don’t feel like helping you guys anymore.”

Today, my sixteenth birthday, my first day as a high school freshman, I’m finally living on my own… And now, I’ve been given no choice but to help save the future. The high expectations I had for my new life is slowly being crushed.

“Anyway, Rekka-san, your name just doesn’t sound very ambitious, nor are you very good-looking. I really wonder why all the girls seem to want to go after you.”

“Shut up.”

R’s words usually come as a veiled insult. I wonder if it’s just her personality, or something more sinister…

“Do you really hate me so much that you’d rather I die?”

“Who knows? I’m a Kikrum, an artificial being created just for this mission, so while I know lots about the future world, I don’t really have many feelings.”

“An artificial being? I see.”

“By the way, I’m two years old. If you touch me, you’ll be considered a pedophile.”

“You’re precocious for someone who probably still wears diapers.”

“How rude. I may look tough on the outside, but my underwear can be really sexy, you know. Wanna take a look?”

“No.”

So she is only two years old. Maybe that’s the reason why she’s so lacking in subtle expression and words?

Well, at least that explains her slightly unbalanced attitude towards me.

“Oh? What’s that, Rekka-san?”

R suddenly grabbed my head and forcefully turned it to the side, as she pointed to a small electronics store along the shopping district. A large TV sat in the display window of the store, and was showing the afternoon news.

“That’s a TV.”

“I know. But what is it showing?”

“Hmm? [Vast power outage in XX Town, residents claimed to see lightning strikes on a sunny day]?”

“I can hear them saying that. Is that what they call a news programme?”

“Huh, that? …Well, I guess it is.”

So she was asking about the programme itself, not the content.

“So this is it… Rekka-san, come over here.”

I move closer to the TV set as R started to gaze at the screen intently from right to left.

“There’s no TV in the future?”

“How rude, of course there is. I know they exist, but this is the first time I’m actually seeing one. That’s because my mission doesn’t require me to come into contact with any of these.”

“…I see.”

R, who had been glancing over the TV set with sparkling eyes, seemed just like a child. I don’t know what exactly Kikrums are, but this one looks just like an ordinary little girl.

Though I guess she’s never had the chance to experience ordinary things, like playing with friends, just for the sake of it.

What a strange life.

Though I’d love to believe her, it is hard to imagine myself as the cause of a messed up future… Just what were the adults in the future thinking, sending a little girl like her to settle this problem? She said that she was created for this purpose, but it just sounds too extraordinary. Then again, if the future is really in shambles, maybe it isn’t too extraordinary after all.

But how can I take responsibility for a future I don’t even know?

Yet R has been sent here, back to the past, and that at least is probably my fault. Besides, if I’m the only one who can touch and speak to R… If I’m the only one who can save the future… Well, I can’t just ignore her, then. She may have a sharp tongue, but it can be charming as long as I remind myself that she’s still a kid.

“I have a TV at home too, so you can watch that if you want. We can also get movies and dramas from the rental store if you like.”

R, who had been captivated by the TV screen thus far, turned around to face me.

“…Really,” she asked as she tilted her head to one side, her face expressionless as always. I wonder if it’s just my imagination that she seemed happy somehow.

Oh well, not that it matters. I nodded.

“I’ll be living alone from now on, so let’s throw a mini-party to celebrate that. But I doubt you’d eat things like sweets. I’ll go rent lots of DVDs then.”

I knew it was a luxurious offer from a student without a part-time job like me, since I don’t have much cash. R stared at me dubiously.

“…Just saying, I’m not here to be your walk-through guide for life.”

My first time demonstrating a show of generosity in my life, and I’d been shot down by this harsh reaction.

“Don’t say silly things. Come, let’s go.”

With that, I took R’s hand and started walking. As she was floating in midair, it was a breeze pulling her along, and the palm of her hand felt warm.

Future world, special lineage; so many complicated things piling up, but we’ll worry about them later. Right now, the most important question is how I’m going to adapt to having this curious entity in my life.

And that was how I met R.

Since that moment, I’d already sunk one foot into an extraordinary life, much to my reluctance.

…I didn’t want to admit that soon, it would suck me in so deep, like a sticky swamp, that I wouldn’t be able to escape again.