Cheated and Restarted Chapter 7

There Was No Such Thing as Destiny in Loving Someone

That was during my third year in the previous world. The shitty reality of job hunting was coming into view. Frustrated with my empty self that had nothing despite attending a good university, I sat on a rock by the pond in the Hongo Campus and drew a picture in my sketchbook with a pencil to distract myself. I'm good at sketching. I think I'm skilled. But I failed the creative assignment for the art university entrance exam. I have no talent. But I couldn't stop drawing.

It was then.

"Huh? You're Tokiwa-kun, my classmate, right?"

When I noticed, my wife was beside me. Even though we had been attending the same department at the same university for three years, that was the first time we spoke. I got flustered and couldn't reply.

"Are you drawing? Can I see?"

My wife peered at my drawing. Someone was looking intently and seriously at my drawing. That made me very happy and embarrassed.

"It's not that good. It's not something I can show people."

I was belittling myself. An In-kya loner who couldn't live well in a gray world. A weak man who couldn't recover from setbacks, learned nothing, and just smashed into new walls only to shatter. Showing such a figure to my wife, who shone sparklingly even on campus, was miserable.

"Is that so? I think this is a good picture. Look. The shading here. It looks much more beautiful than the real pond. So this is how you see this world. I wish I could see it that way too."

The part my wife praised was the part I had put effort into drawing myself. It's an In-kya habit, just being treated a little kindly made me assume this person understood me. Thinking back on it now, I was truly an idiot.

"The architectural model Tokiwa-kun made the other day was cool too. Everyone was bashing it terribly, but that wasn't true. It was a very, very beautiful building. A house that makes you think you want to live there. It makes you want to be a cute wife in a house like this. Ufufu."

It was a very beautiful and cute smile.

Just that. That was the only reason I fell in love with her. And I wanted her. I wanted her so, so much.

"Heey! Ririse! Let's go!!"

A man's voice was heard from afar. Her boyfriend at the time was calling my wife.

"I have to go. See you later, Tokiwa-kun."

She waved her hand and left. I was left alone. After that, I never spoke to her at the university. But I remembered being praised by her for a long, long time. I worked hard with that as encouragement. And a certain famous architect who saw the architectural model and design I made introduced me to the architectural design department of a major company, and my employment was decided. If my wife hadn't praised me, my future would have been shit. My life was something my wife gave me. That's why I liked her. I loved her. It was just a story about that.

Remembering a love that now has no trace left in this world, I unintentionally smile. A very good memory. That's exactly why the betrayal was so painful.

＊

I am avoiding my wife. That should have been conveyed to her too.

"Tokiwa-kun! I'll pair up with you!"

My wife in front of me said that looking truly happy. Honestly speaking, I want to avoid her. But I also had circumstances where I couldn't avoid this proposal. I had forgotten. That even in university, there are group practicals.

This time, in the lecture for the Architecture Department, the professor instructed us to build a model of a detached house in pairs. I was supposed to pair up with a guy. But the number of guys in our department is odd, so one guy is guaranteed to be left over. Before I knew it, I had become a loner. My standing within the department is currently in a delicate spot due to my wife. Hence the loner status. My wife, who noticed this, approached me. There was no option to refuse here. I don't feel like I can pair up with anyone other than my wife. So I nodded reluctantly. Of course, the gazes of the surrounding guys were full of murderous intent. It's not my fault. Give me a break.

"What kind of house shall we make? What do you think, Tokiwa-kun?"

We borrowed a table in the drafting room, gathered materials, and were deliberating.

"Even if you ask me what I think..."

It's about the previous world. A little before the affair was discovered, I was making plans for a custom-built home. Study, living room, kitchen—I designed them in my delusions, believing without doubt in the future happiness that would come. Remembering that made me slightly nervous.

"Tokiwa-kun, you'll marry someone in the future too, right? Then you'll buy a custom home, right? Haven't you at least imagined it?"

Yeah. I married you. That's why I don't want to imagine it.

"What about you? What kind of house do you want to live in?"

"Eh? Hmm. Hmm? Let's see... hmm."

My wife crossed her arms and groaned. Then said,

"But that might depend on what kind of person my husband is."

An incredibly troublesome answer came back. Or rather, in that lack of initiative, I sense a glimpse of my wife from when we first started dating in the previous world.

"Is that so. Then it depends on the wife for me too."

"Ehh. Hmm. Then! Try thinking with the setting that I am Tokiwa-kun's wife!"

An even more unpleasant answer came back. My head hurts from a headache. Incidentally, I feel like my stomach hurts from a stomachache too. It's painful and unbearable. But I can't fail the credit here.

"Hah... Fine. Let's just try doing it for now."

Why do I have to do something that gouges my heart like this? Didn't I time leap to escape the pain? I might be cursed by my wife.

We’re restricted with a detached house model, but other than that, I’m free to do whatever I want. For the time being, starting with the first-floor design, I try assembling the model from the paper pattern. My wife is watching me somewhat happily. Note: she is not working.

"You work too."

I pushed the paper pattern and scissors onto my wife and instructed her to work. My wife started working as I told her. And for the time being, the first-floor part was completed.

"Wow, amazing! Tokiwa-kun, you're dexterous!"

I am someone who was actually involved in construction as a construction worker for several years. This much is nothing. The living space is perfectly aligned, and the room layout is well thought out.

"Okay. With this, the first floor is complete. Next, the second floor..."

"Wait a sec! We have to check if it's actually easy to live in!"

Saying that, my wife started cutting the paper pattern with scissors. And what she made were a masculine doll with an inverted triangle attached to a round head, and a feminine doll that looked like it was wearing a triangular skirt attached to a round head.

"What's that?"

"Here! Tokiwa-kun is that male doll over there. I'm this one!"

Saying that, she handed me the male doll. My wife held the female doll in her hand and made it stand in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

My head can't keep up with the sheer eccentricity.

"Tokiwa-kun! Look! Your wife is waiting at home!"

Could it be she wants to play house like this? I can't understand my wife's thought circuit at all... Reluctantly, I made the male doll in my hand stand in the middle of the living room.

"Wrong! You can't just warp in suddenly! Come home properly through the entrance!"

"Ehh... it's that realistic?"

I made the doll stand in front of the entrance. Then made it pass through the entrance and into the house.

"Wait a sec!? Tokiwa-kun! You're forgetting something!"

"What?"

"The greeting when coming home! Okay! Do it again!"

Annoying! Endlessly annoying! Reluctantly, I returned the doll to the entrance and made it pretend to knock on the door.

"Yees! I'm comiiing!"

My wife replied energetically and made the doll trot toward the entrance. I also moved the doll and made it pass through the entrance.

"Welcome home!"

At those words, a sharp pain ran through my heart. I still remembered the warmth of that voice even now.

"I-I'm... home."

My voice became small. I don't feel like I can speak clearly.

"Do you want dinner? Do you want a bath? Or is it…♡"

My wife is joking around. I ignored it and passed by my wife's doll toward the living room.

"Oh my? Tokiwa-kun, could it be you're shy? Ufufu."

"That's not it. Married couples in the world don't do that kind of thing."

In the previous world, after saying "Welcome home," my wife didn't ask anything. Instead, she gently kissed me. That was how we were as a married couple.

"Today is Nikujaga (meat and potato stew)!"

My wife's doll pretended to carry something from the kitchen. And my wife's doll sat on the dining chair. My doll also sat opposite my wife's doll. This is a scene I don't know. When we were together in the previous world, my wife and I sat next to each other at the table. The distance where our shoulders touched was comfortable.

"Thanks for the meal."

I said that immediately and made the doll stand up from the seat. Then I didn't know where to make the doll go. I got flustered. Then my wife smiled gently.

"Let's watch TV together."

My wife's doll sat on the sofa in front of the TV. Invited, I also made my doll sit on the sofa.

It was then. The back of my hand touched my wife's hand.

"Ah, sorry."

"Eh, no. It's fine. Don't worry..."

My wife's cheeks were dyed slightly red. Silence flowed between us. I couldn't bear it, so I lifted the hand holding the doll, intending to end this playing house. But.

"No. Wait."

Releasing her hand from the doll, my wife timidly grabbed my hand. In that moment, the doll left my hand too.

"This is just playing house."

"But I had fun."

My wife holding my hand is smiling faintly. That smile was so beautiful. But that is no longer mine. It is nothing but something that already stolen and lost.

"Come back. Let's continue."

My wife said that to me. But I didn't feel like continuing this playing house any longer.

"But... ah."

Looking at the dolls in the model, I was surprised.

"Hmm? What's wrong? ...Kya..."

The dolls were entangled on the sofa. As if seeking each other. My wife and I looked at that and both our faces turned bright red.

"Maybe it's a bit too realistic... ahaha..."

My wife muttered that embarrassedly. As expected, the atmosphere didn't allow for playing house anymore. We silently entered the production of the second floor.

I couldn't help but feel that the finished model of the house held the very shape of the happiness that was now gone. The dazzling brilliance of something I can no longer obtain was right there before me.

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