Along for the ride

　When Akira woke up, he found himself in a familiar white room.

"――――What the..."

　What the hell happened?
　The familiar sound of monitors reached his ears. An IV bag hanging from a rack and an IV tube extending into his own arm. When he reached for the uncomfortable feeling that covered his mouth, an oxygen mask was there.
　The clamor coming from outside the door was something he had heard before.
　The content was the same: someone was injured by a monster.

　The small room, which should have been covered in darkness just a few moments ago, was now bathed in warm sunlight, illuminating the interior.
　A breeze blowing in through the slightly opened window ruffled the partially opened light peach-colored curtains.


　All of these things were familiar to him.


　Akira was stunned by the scene for a while, and then suddenly remembered the screen he had seen just before he lost consciousness.


(That's right!　A screen came up saying that Nao-san was dead, or something like that, and then……)

　Then that screen that appeared next.


(Return from Hell was activated.)


　Wildly, Akira's heart leaped.
　As his sight rapidly narrowed, Akira realized that he had now returned to the past by Return from Hell.
　Akira then let out a small word as his lips trembled.


"……Why? "

　Muttering in dismay, Akira pulled off the oxygen mask from his mouth.


"If so, why here?"


　Akira scratched at the monitor cord attached to his chest, the IV tubing connected to his arm, and everything else as he tried to get up.
　However, his body wracked with wounds, did not allow him to do so.
　Akira, scratching his head, sank straight down on the bed, his voice filled with anger and confusion.


"I thought I would appear 'there' when coming back with Return from Hell!　I thought that if I died, I would go back to that night, right!? "


　That night when it all began.
　Having died and come back to life so many times before, it all went back to that moment.
　Yet that was not the case this time.
　This moment, when he returned from hell, was the moment when he lost consciousness after defeating the Minotaur and woke up again!!


"――――No way. The starting point for Return from Hell has been changed……? "


　If so, the situation would be terrible.
　The advantage of going back to that night was that no matter how badly he was wounded, if he died, he could start all over again.
　But this restart was different.
　Over time, Auto Regen's healing would work, and eventually, his body would make a full recovery, but if he died beyond that point, he would wake up again with this full body of wounds.

(……Why at this point in time? Why is this place the next restart point?)

　Could it be because I beat the boss?
　No. If so, I don't understand why the starting point has been changed at this time, two days after the boss was defeated.


(……What is the cause of this?)


　Akira clutched his head and groaned.
　Then, letting out one sigh, he took a few big deep breaths to calm down for a moment.
　After repeating the process several times, Akira regained some composure and began to sort out the current situation with a deep crease etched between his eyebrows.


(…………I understand that the starting point for the Return from Hell has been changed. It would be better to think like that…… that I will never be able to return to that night again in the future. I should keep in mind that I can't just go back and start over at random, as I don't know when the next change in death destination will happen again).


　Repeating trial and error is a fundamental part of game strategy, but it is not so easy if the game saves itself after a wrong choice is made, even if it is not by your own will.
　Even this time, how much better it would have been if the destination of Return from Hell had been decided after his body had been healed by Auto Regen.

(For now, let's assume this is the next restart point…… Now all I need to know is why my Return from Hell was triggered……)

　If one were to believe what was on that screen, there was no doubt that Nao's death was the reason for it.
　But even if so, why did Nao die, and moreover, why was Akira's Return from Hell triggered by her death?

(Because of the effects of the scenario, Nao-san would remember everything up to the time of her death. If that's the case, I guess I can ask her about the cause of her death later…………)

　Akira thought for a moment and then opened the skill details for Return from Hell.
　Then, he looked over the phrases lined up there again, carefully.


("If a person meets certain conditions, for a certain period of time, when the skill holder dies and returns to a specific point in the past, the person who met those conditions also returns with all causality laws distorted," huh?)


　A new effect added by defeating the Minotaur.
　The only thing that could be confirmed here, as far as this sentence was concerned, was that the death of Ichijou Akira would also bring those who met certain conditions back to the past.
　There was no mention here of what would happen to Akira himself upon the death of a person who met the specified conditions.
　Considering the timing of Akira's Return from Hell being triggered this time, there must be another factor somewhere other than this added effect.


(――――Come to think of it, there was something on the scenario screen that said something like, 『Your Return from Hell power will be applied to Nanase Nao』.)

　Akira thought about it, and then suddenly remembered.


(That was at the start of the scenario, which meant that it was up to me to decide what would happen to myself when the original scenario person died―― or something like that? )


　In this case, the power of Ichijou Akira's Return from Hell was applied to Nanase Nao.
　Since the Return from Hell was essentially Akira's own power, the Return from Hell, triggered by Nao's death, took both of them, Nao and Akira, back to the past.
　――――Or so he thought.


(I guess this is like that saying "If you die, we die together", huh? In a nicer way, you could say that we are all in this together, or that we share a common destiny, but this……)

　This could be called being 'along for the ride'.
　If either one of them were to die, it would also trigger the time leap, regardless of any other factor.

(――――So, I had a choice whether or not to accept the scenario.)

　This was the first choice given to him in the time leap he was forced to be a part of.
　Akira let out a loud sigh at the meaning of this.

(And the scenario in question is……)

　Glancing at the screen, Akira turned his attention to it.



　 ――――――――――――――――――

　Nanase Nao's scenario 【With You】 is in progress.

　 ――――――――――――――――――



(Unlike quests, this carries over, even after returning from death.)

　Turning his eyes to the screen that had appeared before him, Akira let out a sigh.


(So once you've accepted the mission, you're in this situation until you've completed the scenario.)

　Akira muttered this in his mind and brushed off the screen in mid-air with his hand.


(……If so. Now that it's come to this, I don't have a choice. I need to share this information with Nao-san first.)


　Just as Akira thought this, it happened.


　Outside the door, footsteps echoed down the hallway.
　Then, the owner of the footsteps came straight to Akira's room and opened the door wide with great momentum.

"Ichijou!! "

　It was Nao Nanase who raised her voice as she stormed into the room.
　Nao approached Akira straight away and grabbed his body as if to cling to him and shouted.


"It was my fault!　It's my fault, we went back!!　Because I was, I was out there at that time!　That's why!! "


　Nao bit her lip, her shoulders trembling slightly as she recalled her near-death horror.
　Akira's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Nao burst into the room, but he quickly regained his composure and gently placed his hand on Nao's slender shoulder.
　Then, slowly and soothingly, he uttered a few words.


"……It's all right. It's okay now. Please calm down. Can you tell me, after you calm down, what happened to you? "


　Nao looked at Akira's face as the words were slowly spoken.
　And then, with a small gesture, Nao nodded her head.

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 ToC    

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