Yuiga Nariyuki wakes from a nightmare he can't shake—because it wasn't a nightmare. It was a memory. Five years from now, he died. And before he did, he watched every person he cared about slip away, one by one, into darkness he couldn't reach.
But when he opens his eyes, it's April of his third year of high school. He's been given a second chance.
Armed with a battered notebook recording the future he's desperate to prevent, Nariyuki accepts the role of education supervisor for three brillian
We Cannot Change Fate - The Despairing Three-Way Meeting — A Cornered Ordinary Person
The parent-teacher conferences had begun.
May sunlight poured through the classroom windows, bleaching the papers on the desk white.
Yuiga Nariyuki stared at them.
Career aspiration surveys.
Three of them.
Rizu. Fumino. Uruka.
Three futures, written there in ink.
"...Is this for real?"
His voice shook.
Across from him, Kirusu Mafuyu tossed her long iris-colored hair and fixed him with ice-blue eyes.
Math teacher at Ichinose Academy.
Homeroom teacher of Class 3-A.
Swimming club advisor.
The woman they called the Ice Queen.
Twenty-eight years old.
Her suit was immaculate. Her posture, ramrod straight.
"The students wrote these themselves. There's no mistake."
Her voice carried no warmth, as always.
Nariyuki looked at the three papers again.
Ogata Rizu.
First choice: Department of Psychology.
Humanities.
A girl in the top one percent nationwide in math and physics—applying for humanities.
Furuhashi Fumino.
First choice: Department of Astronomy.
Sciences.
A girl in the top zero-point-five percent nationwide in classical literature—applying for sciences.
Takemoto Uruka.
Path: overseas athletic scholarship.
A swimming prodigy—leaving Japan.
All three.
Every one of them.
Choosing the exact opposite of their strengths.
"Why... why is this happening?"
Nariyuki clutched his head.
In his memories of the future, was it like this?
No.
Different.
In the future, he'd learned about their career choices much later.
(Fate is changing.)
(Because I know the future.)
(Because I got involved with all three of them.)
(The gears are spinning faster.)
His fingertips went cold.
"Yuiga."
Mafuyu took a step closer.
"Your face is white as a sheet. What's wrong?"
"...Nothing. I'm fine."
Nariyuki forced a smile.
Mafuyu's ice-blue eyes pierced through him.
"Liar."
Instant.
"You've been off for weeks now. You're hiding something."
His heart lurched.
"...I'm not hiding anything."
"Look me in the eye and say that."
Mafuyu crossed her arms.
Her eyes were cold as ice.
But somewhere behind them, just barely, there was a flicker of worry.
Nariyuki looked away.
"...I'm sorry. I can't tell you right now."
Mafuyu studied him for a while.
Then she let out a small breath.
"I see. Then I won't ask."
She tapped the three surveys on the desk with her fingertip.
"But I'll say this much. A student's path is their own to decide. It's not your place to interfere."
"...I know."
"Do you? Because it looks to me like you're trying to force their choices to change."
Bull's-eye.
Nariyuki went silent.
Mafuyu continued, her voice cold.
"It's negligence. Ignoring their wishes and pushing your own ideas on them. That's not like you."
"...I just—"
"I just want to protect their futures. That's all."
Mafuyu's brow twitched.
"Protect their futures? How dramatic."
"...Yeah. You're right. Dramatic."
Nariyuki smiled bitterly.
If he talked about the future, fate would twist.
He couldn't tell anyone.
Anyone at all.
Mafuyu kept her eyes fixed on his face.
"...If something happens, tell me. I'm your homeroom teacher."
Her voice was just slightly softer than before.
Nariyuki gave a small nod.
"Thank you."
He left the staff room.
The hallway was quiet.
During conference period, students were sparse.
Nariyuki leaned against the wall.
(Rizu, humanities.)
(Fumino, sciences.)
(Uruka, overseas.)
The choices that ruined all three of them in the future.
Those choices were right here, right now.
(I have to stop it.)
(But how?)
(What can I even do?)
No answer came.
Afternoon sunlight cast long shadows across the hallway floor.
Then—
"—That's what I'm telling you!"
A shout.
From the principal's office.
Nariyuki's head snapped up.
Down the hall.
The principal's door was half open.
A man's voice spilled out.
"Remove Yuiga Nariyuki from his position as education advisor!"
Nariyuki's feet stopped.
That voice.
He knew it.
Furuhashi Reiji.
Fumino's father.
Education critic.
University professor.
"That commoner, involved in my daughter's life? Absolutely unacceptable!"
Reiji's voice echoed through the entire hallway.
Nariyuki pressed himself into the shadow of the wall.
His heart pounded like a drum.
"Mr. Furuhashi, please calm down. Yuiga is an excellent student. He performs well as an education advisor, too."
The principal's voice was low and calm, trying to soothe.
"Excellent? That mediocrity? Don't make me laugh. My daughter is a literary genius. And that man is trying to lead her down the worthless path of the sciences!"
"Fumino's choice reflects her own wishes—"
"Her wishes? That girl can't make a proper judgment! I am the one who must cultivate her talent correctly!"
Reiji's voice grew louder.
"I may have to reconsider my donations to this academy as well."
The principal's office went silent.
A heavy pause.
Nariyuki clenched his fist.
His nails dug into his palm.
(He's using donations as a shield. Threatening them.)
(Fumino's future, bought with money.)
(My place here, taken by power.)
He bit his lip.
He tasted blood.
"...I understand. Yuiga's position as education advisor will be suspended temporarily. His recommendation letter will also be placed on hold."
The principal's voice was heavy, pained.
Nariyuki's vision went white.
Education advisor.
Suspended.
Recommendation letter.
On hold.
In other words.
The means to save Rizu, Fumino, and Uruka—taken from him.
And his path to university, too.
(Ah.)
(I see.)
(So once again.)
(I can't do anything.)
His legs trembled.
He pressed a hand against the wall.
Cold.
The hallway wall was cold as ice.
After a while, the principal's door opened.
Reiji stepped out.
A tall man.
Black suit.
Silver-rimmed glasses.
Cold eyes.
Fumino's father.
Reiji noticed Nariyuki standing in the shadow of the hallway.
He stopped.
"...It's you."
Nariyuki raised his head.
Reiji's eyes looked down at him, appraising.
"You heard all that. Good. Let me make it clear. As long as you go near Fumino, the recommendation letter will never exist. That's all."
Reiji's voice was cold and flat.
No emotion.
Just a voice stating facts.
Nariyuki took a step forward.
"...Fumino isn't your property."
His voice shook.
"She has her own life. If she wants to study astronomy, that's her—"
"Silence."
Reiji's voice rang through the hallway.
"What would a commoner like you know about Fumino's talent? Do you have any idea how brilliant a scholar her mother was? That girl's gift is the only thing she inherited from her mother. And you would destroy it?"
Nariyuki couldn't speak.
Fumino's mother.
Deceased.
The person who first kindled Fumino's love of literature.
Reiji's eyes wavered—just for an instant.
"...I must protect that girl. So she doesn't walk the same path as her mother and get hurt."
That was all Reiji said before turning his back.
"Never go near my daughter again."
His footsteps receded.
Nariyuki stood frozen.
Unable to move.
(Fumino's mother.)
(Reiji lost his wife, and it changed him.)
(He became overbearing.)
(But even so.)
(His way of doing things is wrong.)
He slammed his fist against the wall.
A dull thud.
His fist throbbed.
But the pain in his heart was far greater.
Evening.
His phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Takemoto Tsuyoshi.
Uruka's father.
Owner of Takemoto Sports.
Nariyuki pressed the call button.
"Hello?"
"Yuiga? It's me. Takemoto."
Tsuyoshi's voice was low and heavy.
"Uruka's study abroad is officially decided. Sydney, Australia. She leaves the middle of next month."
Nariyuki's breath stopped.
Next month.
In his memories of the future, Uruka quit swimming right before her departure and vanished.
That time was approaching.
"...I see."
The words barely came out.
"I'm grateful for everything you've done. But there's no need for you to be involved as her education advisor anymore. Her parents will take responsibility for her."
"Wait. I want Uruka to keep swimming. Her talent is—"
"Did you forget what we talked about before?"
Tsuyoshi's voice sharpened.
"I told you—if Uruka is going to keep swimming, you need to step down as education advisor. I still haven't heard your answer."
Nariyuki went silent.
He couldn't answer.
If he quit as education advisor, he couldn't save Rizu and Fumino.
If he didn't, Uruka might quit swimming.
Caught between.
"...I won't rush your answer. But there isn't much time left."
That was all Tsuyoshi said before hanging up.
Click.
Dial tone.
Nariyuki gripped his phone.
(Uruka.)
(Study abroad. Decided.)
(The future is closing in.)
He couldn't sit still. He headed for the pool.
The twenty-five-meter pool by the club building.
The smell of water.
The scent of chlorine.
Dusk light stained the water's surface orange.
Uruka was there.
Alone.
Sitting at the poolside, staring at the water.
Red-purple, medium-length hair.
Tanned skin.
A cowlick springing up.
Purple eyes.
Takemoto Uruka.
The swimming club's ace.
The girl who secretly harbored feelings for Nariyuki.
"Takemoto."
He called out.
Uruka turned around.
"Oh, Nariyuki. What's up?"
Uruka smiled.
Her usual bright smile.
But.
Nariyuki noticed.
Her eyes.
Weren't smiling.
"I heard. About the study abroad. It's decided."
"Yeah. It's decided. I'll keep swimming over there too."
Uruka stood up.
"Sydney's supposed to have beautiful ocean. And lots of pools. I might get even faster."
A bright voice.
But.
Her eyes.
Weren't smiling.
"...Are you really going?"
"Yeah. It's decided. Dad's supporting me too."
"Is that what you want?"
Uruka's smile froze for a moment.
"...What do you mean?"
"I'm asking if you want to keep swimming."
Uruka looked away.
"I'll keep swimming. I love swimming."
"Liar."
The word came out on its own.
Uruka's shoulders flinched.
"Your eyes aren't smiling right now. You're forcing it. Am I wrong?"
Uruka went silent.
Dusk light stretched their shadows long.
"...Nariyuki, you're busy with Rizu, right?"
Uruka spoke quietly.
"Don't worry about me. You should protect Rizu."
Uruka's voice was trembling.
Still smiling.
But only her voice shook.
"Takemoto—"
"I'll be fine. You don't have to trouble yourself over me."
With that, Uruka ran off along the poolside.
Nariyuki tried to chase her.
But his legs wouldn't move.
(Uruka.)
(Is this really what you want?)
(I just want to save you.)
The sun sank.
The pool's surface was slowly swallowed by darkness.
Night.
Nariyuki walked through Hoshimi-zaka Shopping Street.
Near Rizu's house.
A quiet street in a residential neighborhood.
Streetlights cast orange light.
Then—
He saw a woman coming out of the Ogata family's front door.
Rizu's mother.
She held a large suitcase in both hands.
"...You're really leaving."
Rizu's voice.
Nariyuki hid behind a utility pole.
Rizu stood at the entrance.
Apricot-colored short hair.
Glasses.
Ultramarine eyes.
A tiny frame—barely over four and a half feet tall.
Ogata Rizu.
A math genius.
One of Nariyuki's assigned students.
Rizu's mother turned around.
"Rizu... I'm sorry."
Her voice was tearful.
"You didn't do anything wrong. But I can't stay with your father anymore."
Rizu's face was blank.
But her lips trembled, just slightly.
"...Mom. Is it my fault? Because I tried to make that game?"
"No. It's not your fault. That game was your grandmother's keepsake. Of course you'd treasure it."
"But Dad says the game is tearing our family apart."
"...Your father never thought well of your grandmother. That's why he hates that game too."
Rizu hung her head.
"...I don't care about the game anymore."
A tiny voice.
It stabbed through Nariyuki's chest.
(Rizu.)
(The thing you love most.)
(Don't talk about it like that.)
Rizu's mother climbed into a taxi, crying.
Red taillights faded into the night road.
Rizu stood frozen at the entrance.
Nariyuki stepped out from behind the pole.
"Ogata—"
Rizu turned aroun
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