Restarting My Life After Failing to Protect Girls in My Class – The Day I Was Called the "Demon God of Dragon Slaying" - Episode 2

―It might be the curse of summer 2016 that I die at thirty-seven―

In the year Reiwa 18―the summer of 2036 was brutally hot. Even after Obon holiday, the scorching heat showed no signs of letting up, and today, August 22, the sun’s rays are probably beating down mercilessly.

Goo――

A two-story house with a parking space, built thirty-five years ago.

My family home, from which I’ve never been apart.

The old air conditioner mounted on the living room wall is rattling as it spews out cold air.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I’m lying on a bed I brought into the living room just because it’s close to the bathroom, looking weakly up at an elderly man in a short-sleeved dress shirt.

“…pancreatic cancer… I should have forced you into advanced treatment, even if it meant beating you up…”

The elderly man standing by the bed—close to 190 centimeters tall—looks like a cool business person in his casual attire, but the aura he exudes is anything but ordinary.

Most notably, his arms, emerging from the short-sleeved shirt, are unnaturally muscular.

And the chest of his white dress shirt is stretched tight against thick pectoral muscles.

Moreover, his black slacks are desperately trying to hide the long, thick legs lurking beneath.

Above all, his youthful face and voice, which defy the fact that he’s sixty, carry the weight of decades spent in martial arts.

“I come back after a long time, and my adorable nephew is half-dead with terminal cancer… How do I apologize to my sister?”

“…There’s no need to apologize to a dead person… It’s just me left in this house now…”

As for me—I’m on the brink of death. I’m a terminal cancer patient with advanced pancreatic cancer that was discovered at the start of the year.

“…Mom died of cancer… then Dad followed her with a stroke… I’m the last one left…”

I can no longer make it to the bathroom without a cane, and I might be dead by tomorrow given my condition.

I can hardly eat solid food anymore, so my cheeks are sunken, and my body is nothing but skin and bones.

On top of that, I’m enduring excruciating pain centered around my back and waist. I’m desperately hanging on.

―Just an ordinary sick person and an extraordinary martial artist―

To my uncle, who knew me when I was healthy, my current state must be incredibly painful to witness.

“You… how are you feeling—”

It’s rare for my usually calm uncle to hesitate like that.

“No, never mind. You don’t have to say it.”

He cut me off, as if he didn’t want to hear what I had to say.

Then, my uncle moved slowly.

He took a chair from a table that hadn’t been used for a while since I started eating and drinking in bed, and sat forward to meet my gaze.

“……………………”

“……………………”

A sick person struggling to sit up in bed and a martial artist resting his chin on his knees exchanged glances. The martial artist spoke first.

“What about your job at the city office?”

The sick person took a deep breath and mustered all his strength. For me now, even casual conversation is a heavy labor that requires every ounce of muscle and willpower I have.

“I quit at the end of March. When I told them I had stage IV pancreatic cancer, they didn’t try to keep me.”

“You’re getting meals from Mr. Miki across the street, right?”

“Yeah. If he hadn’t brought me jelly, I would have starved to death last month. I’m even relying on him to take out the trash every week.”

“…Why aren’t you going to the hospital? I heard from Mr. Miki that even though it’s too late, you’re not going to the hospital in this condition… What the hell are you thinking?”

“Not much. I just want to stay in this house. If I’m in this state, they’ll definitely admit me.”

“You want to die at home?”

“Something like that.”

“Is that a fair price to pay for the pain of terminal cancer?”

“……………………”

“You can tell just by looking. You’re in excruciating pain even now, right? You probably faint from the pain and then get jolted awake, so you can hardly sleep at all, right?”

“……………………”

Silence while staring into the martial artist’s eyes.

I didn’t look away, but eventually, the martial artist was the first to glance away.

He picked up a comic book from the pile scattered around the bed and muttered the title, “…’The reason I’m invincible is because I worked hard after being reincarnated’…”

After putting the comic book back on the floor, I let out a sigh of exasperation.

“Looks like you still like this kind of stuff, huh?”

“You don’t like it, do you, Uncle?”

“I just don’t have a taste for it. Relying on reincarnation or cheats to find meaning in life is just pathetic.”

Pathetic, huh? That was quite the harsh thing to say in front of someone who enjoys reincarnation cheats.

But I couldn’t help but think it was very much like my uncle, so I gave a weak smile.

“Most people are just stuck in a cycle of losing, and I think they often wish they could start over.”

“Are you saying Togo Kizuki is losing too?”

When he said that, I couldn’t help but smirk. With a determined tone, I replied.

“Big losses, massive losses. Ever since ‘that day,’ I’ve been living a loser’s life. While you were wandering around, I had my share of troubles too.”

Then my uncle went, “Hmm…” with a thoughtful sound.

“Can I ask about the reason behind ‘that eye’?”

“My eye, you mean?”

“Normally, regular folks don’t have that kind of look before they die. That’s the gaze of a beast or someone from ‘our side.’”

“Is it glaring?”

“It’s enough to surprise even me.”

“Haha. I didn’t think even the wizard of the underground fighting world, Taiichi Homura, could be surprised.”

“…It’s been a while since I faced Kano Hyoma.”

“Kano Hyoma. He was the heir of the Kano style of ancient martial arts, right?”

“…I’m not impressed by how a regular person knows so much about ‘this side.’”

“Sorry about that. I had a vague idea you were amazing since I was a kid, but I really wanted to know just how amazing. I went straight to Mr. Onaka’s company right after I quit my job.”

“Geez—Onaka, still so loose-lipped. And you even went all the way to Nagoya.”

My uncle clicked his tongue lightly, but he didn’t seem genuinely upset. So, I continued the conversation with a hint of a smile.

“But I didn’t expect such a big general contractor. Last time I visited you, the president seemed like a fun guy, and I thought it was just an ordinary construction company.”

“If it were a small business that doesn’t make money, the old Raiseikai wouldn’t have kidnapped someone like Onaka Kenta. I wouldn’t need to step in.”

At that, I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, thinking about how my uncle had once stormed the headquarters of a major yakuza group with just karate.

On the other hand, my uncle had a disgruntled frown.

“It wasn’t a storming. I was just pushed through since they stopped me at the entrance. Besides, don’t bring up a story from thirty years ago now.”

“I heard about it. Ever since then, you’ve been deeply admired, and now you’re a special advisor for Onaka Construction, huh? I finally understand where your money comes from.”

“That kid who saw my seriousness seems to have made quite a bit from underground fights later on.”

“I see. If Mr. Onaka saw you, the one who takes out armed yakuza, then he’d bet on you no matter who the opponent is. Easy money, right?”

While I chuckled, I couldn’t take my eyes off my uncle, thinking, ‘…This guy is one hell of a cheat…’ and ‘…Honestly…if I were Taiichi Homura…’ feeling a bit envious.

Then—

“Don’t look at me with ‘that eye.’ I almost lose control.”

My uncle lightly scolded me in a serious tone.

With a big grin, I boldly replied, “I’m in the middle of a challenge.”

“With whom?”

“With God, Buddha, and this world.”

“Why?”

“Because if I can endure this pain—endure, endure, endure, and keep enduring until I die—”

“Then?”

“I want to be sent back to the past.”

“……The past?”

“I’m talking about time leaping. I want to go back to the past with my current memories intact.”

“So you’re praying to the gods and Buddhas for that?”

“Yeah. Exactly. Even Kasuga no Tsubone, who was the wet nurse for Tokugawa Iemitsu, saved the sick young Iemitsu with her famous ‘no medicine’ vow, right? And she stopped taking all medicine until her death, right? I believe—if I wish with all my heart, it could come true. If I sincerely wish to give up all this pain, I might just go back to the past. That’s what I believe, and that’s what I’m practicing right now.”

“Ridiculous”

Immediately, it was dismissed. My words didn’t even reach the level of being laughed at, and my uncle, who was listening, didn’t even raise an eyebrow. Then, he spat out his words.

“Such a miracle—no, there’s no way such a ridiculous phenomenon could happen. If you get to that point from watching too much manga and anime, that’s quite something. So impressive that I want to kill you right now just to put you out of your misery.”

I could feel the clear anger in my uncle’s words.

Then my mouth, acting on its own, let out a strange laugh, “Hehehe…” I leaned forward and looked at my uncle, a martial artist who was a billion times stronger than I was.

“Uncle, I really want to go back to the past. I have to go back to the past—no matter what.”

“…Togo. What exactly do you feel you have left undone?”

“To become a hero.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Haha—of course you wouldn’t.”

I’ve already talked too much today. I’ve laughed too much.

Because I’ve talked so much in this half-dead state with terminal cancer, my back hurts, my throat and chest feel awful, my fragile lungs feel like they’re being shredded, and I’m hit with an overwhelming nausea that feels like all my insides might come spilling out.

But still.

“Do you know about the ‘Headless High School Girl Incident in Nishifuchu City’?”

I didn’t stop the laughter in my words. I was determined to talk it all out, even if I had to cough up bl00d.

“Two beautiful girls from Ichiko High School went missing after being spotted on the afternoon of August 29, 2016, and were found dead without their heads after summer vacation—it’s that kind of incident.”

“…I know the outline. It was the worst serial murder in our town that happened while I was traveling abroad, right?”

“That was me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was the male student who last passed by Noma-san and Aoki-san by the river.”

“……Oh?”

“We were the same age. We were in the same class. Even on that day twenty years ago, I talked to them by the river, saying, ‘It’s hot, where are you going?’ They dodged my questions and wouldn’t tell me anything—!!”

As I reached out, laughing because I wanted to tell this story to my uncle, his thick right hand took mine and gently squeezed it. He gripped it with such overwhelming strength that it felt like my bones were about to break. He gave me a fresh pain entirely different from the cancerous agony, just enough to keep me from passing out.

So I could still talk. I could raise my voice with my emotions.

“I was questioned by the police several times, and I was hounded by weekly magazines! But, but I don’t know anything—nothing at all! I just saw them off without a care—!!”

“…Do you regret it?”

“—Regret it—?”

“Do you regret that you might have been able to save them?”

“…Yeah. Yeah. I regret it so much it hurts. I’ve been regretting it, over and over, all this time.”

“If you had chased after them that day, then?”

“That’s right. That day, I was the closest person to the incident. When I talked to them, I felt something was off. I realized they might have been caught up in something, or there was a reason they couldn’t talk openly. But I—ignored that feeling and saw them off.”

“What a fool.”

“I’m not just a fool; I’m an ultra-dumb fool. Because of that, my life is the worst. No matter what I do, I remember that day. It’s like something’s stuck between my teeth, like there’s an itch inside my body that won’t go away. No matter how hard I study or work, it’s always ‘But that day, I—’ for twenty years since I was seventeen, everything feels tainted.”

And then I pulled on the hand that was gripping mine with all my strength, bringing my uncle’s face closer to me.

I leaned in even more, bringing my face right in front of his.

Looking into my uncle’s eyes at such a close distance, like lovers sharing sweet nothings… I forced out my voice, which sounded like I was about to cry.

“Having courage is amazing, isn’t it?—I missed the chance to protect Noma-san and Aoki-san and be adored by them.”

My uncle looked at me with a stunned expression, his face showing shock.

After a long silence, he frowned and said, “Isn’t it a bit impure to regret not saving your classmates’ lives?”

“You can say that because you don’t know how beautiful those two were.”

“Were you in love with them?”

“It’s not about wanting to be their boyfriend or anything. Their feelings matter too, and I’m not hoping for that. I just—wanted those beautiful girls to think I was ‘amazing.’”

Then, once my uncle took his eyes off me, he glanced at the manga sprawled out on the floor—the “I Became Invincible Because I Worked Hard After Reincarnation” series—and muttered to himself.

“…I see, it’s the nature of men…”

His gaze returned to me. He wore a small smile, as if he somewhat understood my situation.

“So, you want to time leap to ‘that day’?”

“It’s not ‘that day.’”

“Oh?”

“The two of them were killed by extreme violence. They were assaulted repeatedly and had their throats cut while still alive—what can a culture club high school student who’s never even been in a fight do?”

“That’s the truth.”

“If I’m going back to the past, it has to be further back—I need to secure time to learn the karate of the magician, Taiichi Homura.”

When I said this in a perfectly reasonable tone, my uncle’s expression changed drastically. His face was a mix of shock, disbelief, and annoyance as he complained.

“Are you planning to drag me into this?”

I flashed him a charming smile and took it in stride.

“Isn’t it fine? It’s not like it’s going to cost you anything. Teaching your cute nephew karate?”

“If you’re wishing for a time leap, you might as well wish for an invincible cheat skill too.”

To his further complaints, I shot back, “I don’t need that.”

I was talking too much, my voice was hoarse, and my breathing was ragged, but I didn’t stop.

“I don’t need holy swords, magic, or unique skills. I just want muscles and fighting. Something simple that anyone in this world can understand—something I can confidently say I acquired through my own will and effort. Otherwise, things like the quality of weapons, divine protection, or excessive luck will come into play, and I won’t be the one getting all the attention, right?”

Then, my uncle, who seemed to have passed the point of disbelief, grinned.

“Just within reach, huh?”

I too, despite the intense pain and discomfort from terminal cancer, managed to put on a defiant smile.

“Exactly. I want to achieve it just within my reach—only within my reach.”

“…Got it. Do as you like.”

The moment my uncle stopped crushing my hand.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

I bit down hard to endure the pain of cancer.

Hugging my body as tightly as I could with limbs that hardly moved, I curled up on the bed, and a “guh—” escaped my throat.

I was in such a terrible state that I didn’t know how much longer I could live.

Even so, I intended to keep wishing for a time leap with all my might—without resorting to medication and without choosing to end my own life—until the very last moment, until the cancer cells stopped my heart.

I couldn’t just die peacefully without first being pampered by Noma and Aoki.

Suddenly—

“There’s a saying that ‘a determined heart can move a rock.’ Even your desire, full of a need for validation, might reach a real miracle.”

My uncle, who had been watching me endure the pain from beside the bed, slowly stood up and scratched his head, saying, “It can’t be helped.”

Then, standing in a position where he was fully visible from the bed, he said this while showing his body front-on.

“Even for me, Togo was still immature as a child. Just in case, I’ll show you ‘the peak of unarmed combat.’”

Right after that—

From a natural standing position with both hands lowered, he threw a right straight punch. Then a left straight punch.

It was only natural that my reaction speed couldn’t keep up with his hand speed, but I felt the shock of the air hitting me shake my insides, even from a distance.

“Use both hands freely.”

From a natural standing position with both hands lowered, he executed a right knife-hand strike. Then a left knife-hand strike.

It was so sharp that it felt like he could have sliced through not just the opponent’s neck but even the very space around us with his knife-hand.

“There’s no need to kick on purpose, but if you’re going to kick, focus on thrusting kicks rather than sweeping ones.”

From a natural standing position with arms lowered, he delivered a right middle front kick, then a left middle front kick.

“…Thank you. This will be a good keepsake for my new beginning.”

I forced a smile through the pain and groaned, “Guh, uuuuh—” as I tightly shut my eyes.

I wanted to see my uncle a bit longer, but the excruciating pain, which I could confidently say was the worst I had ever felt, made my eyelids drop naturally.

—I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore—

—I could hear the sound of life slipping away in my head, deep in my belly—

“………………..”

Eventually, it seemed my uncle sat silently in the chair next to the bed.

He just stared at me as I was dying, calmly watching my pain and death without calling for an ambulance.

—————————————————————————————

Maybe because I fainted from the pain, I lost track of time; there was no night, no morning, no afternoon, no evening

—————————————————————————————

My back hurt, my stomach hurt, everything hurt, it was just pain, pain, pain, pain, pain

—————————————————————————————

I didn’t know what day it was or what time, but I thought for just a moment that I wanted to drink a little water

—————————————————————————————

Suddenly, I thought I heard a short sound like tearing paper

—————————————————————————————

“Togo. We’ve arrived. Your mom and dad are here, so please wake up by yourself.”

I was gritting my teeth to endure the pain, putting all my strength into my body, when unexpectedly, I heard an ‘impossible voice’—my heart raced with a thump.

It was my mom’s voice, who had died five years ago. No doubt about it.

—No way

When I tried to open my eyes, my eyelids moved easily. My limbs moved properly too. There was no pain.

“…………..”

Cautiously lifting my body and looking around, it seemed I was in the back seat of someone’s car.

I had been lying down and… it seemed I was sleeping so deeply that I had drooled all over the fabric seat.

“…………..”

I didn’t feel any pain anywhere. Nothing made me feel sick.

If I had to pick one discomfort, it was just that the texture of the fabric seat left an imprint on my cheek.

That said, there was still something off.

Everything I could see was just too big.

Even though I was in the back seat, the car’s interior looked like a compact car, and there was no way an adult man could lie down and stretch out his arms and legs…

With a thud—like a muffled sound, the car door opened, and my dad, who was supposed to have died three years ago—looking younger than the thirty-seven-year-old me—peeked in and said, “Togo. Did you have fun at the amusement park?”

……I see… so that’s how it is…

I get out of the car with my arms and legs feeling so much shorter and start waddling through the parking lot of my childhood home from thirty years ago.

Little green shoes for kids. Khaki shorts. A child’s fine hair swaying in the evening breeze.

My youthful mom, who had been inside, came out in her sandals and said to Dad,

“Hey, I’m going to see Taiichi. It seems like he’s back home.”

“Don’t be too hard on him. He’s probably got his own stuff going on.”

“Huh? No matter how much of a karate nut he is, there’s no way he can skip Grandma’s funeral!”

“Maybe there’s a reason he couldn’t come back.”

“That makes it worse! It means he’s probably gotten himself into some trouble again!”

My uncle— Taiichi Homura—lives right next door. He’s usually not home, but today, maybe because she heard some noise, Mom seemed convinced that her “troublesome little brother” was around.

The sound of her sandals pattering stopped right in front of me. Mom was looking at me.

“…What’s wrong, Togo? Why are you smiling…?”

“Nah, it’s nothing, Mom. But you know, I had a really funny dream.”

A high-pitched voice like a girl’s. My voice before I hit puberty, something I had completely forgotten.

I couldn’t quite remember how I spoke as a kid, but it must’ve been something like this. There’s no way Mom would ever guess that inside her cute little child lurked a “middle-aged man with fifteen years of working experience.”

“A dream? Can you tell me what it was about?”

“Ehehe♪ I forgot.”

The shy smile of a child. Mom gently patted my head and then hurried off to my uncle’s house, sandals clapping. “Taiichi! Come out for a second!” she yelled in anger.

As I listened to Mom’s shouting from behind, I looked up at the sky—how incredibly beautiful the eerie purple of the summer sunset was.

“—”

I wanted to thank the gods and the universe for a “huge miracle,” reaching out towards the cumulonimbus clouds bathed in the sunset.

Today must be… some day in the summer of 2006.

During my summer vacation in first grade, I remember being taken to an amusement park. That memory was faint.

A seven-year-old body with the consciousness of a thirty-seven-year-old—this was the real deal, a time leap.

Only my consciousness had accomplished a “thirty-year time jump.”

In other words, this is what it means—thinking that, I twisted the corners of my mouth and laughed silently.