Chapter 4: Butterfly Effect

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I have the mind of a 26 years, but I found myself back 10 years ago, when I was in high school. What’s the ideal course of action here? I think it’s pretty obvious what I should be avoiding. I don’t want a rerun of my first run at life, being kicked out of my band and ending up in a shitty situation. I’ll enjoy the high school days I’ve been blessed to experience again. At the very least, my wish to redo my life came true. I’m pretty much over the moon that it happened. As I get ready, I swear to enjoy myself as much as I can. I feel so wistful, commuting on the train during the school rush. It’s a scene I’ve seen so many times. Today’s the day after the entrance ceremony. Despite it being my second day of high school, I feel so sentimental about everything. I’m probably the only student who’s feeling like this. I have to mask the nostalgic expression on my face, lest I want weird stares my way. “Morning, Shibakusa.” I hear a voice call out to me as I’m nearing the school gates. I look towards the direction of the voice and see a dearly familiar face. “M-morning… Y-you’re Noguchi, right?” “The hell, man? That’s such a stupid question. Did you hit your head and lose your memory or something?” “H-haha… come on, just kidding. Of course I wouldn’t forget my friend of 10 years.” “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did forget someone’s face, Shibakusa.” “Well, in order to not forget again, I better burn your face into my brain.” “Damn, that’s gross, man. You better not be staring at dudes at the beginning of the new school year.” It’s great to crack jokes before school with my friend from elementary school, Noguchi. This guy is straight up average in every category, whether it be looks, grades or athletics. From what I can recall, he graduated high school and attended a local university before getting a job with the municipal government. He also married his girlfriend, who was in the same club as him, after getting his job. !0 years later, he has a happy family. Remembering his relatively easy path makes me a bit envious. Still, he’s a great guy at heart, I mean he would sometimes come to our live concerts. He was also the first one to buy our first album. I owe him a lot, looking back. Even considering all that, the fact that we’re having such absurd conversations even if I owe him a lot in the future really goes to show that we are, in fact, just high schoolers right now. “Hey Shibakusa, you decided what club you want to join?” “No… not yet.” “Huh? Weren’t you gonna join the light music club because you wanted to form a band?” “I mean yeah, but… I haven’t really decided…” Our conversations turned to which clubs we might join. Of course, I want to join the light music club so I can join a band, but if I do that, I’ll just be retracing the steps of my first go around of life. Regardless, I met Yousuke at the light music club. And without a doubt, I would be kicked out of the band if I follow the same path. I should be careful about which club I join. “What club are you thinking about, anyways?” “I’ve narrowed it down to two options, but I have decided yet.” “Oh, which two are you stuck between?” I remember this exact conversation. Noguchi is debating between the literature and science clubs, and here he is, asking me for my opinion. And that’s when I say, “Why not the science club?” for whatever reason. And I remember Noguchi saying “Then I’ll join the literature club” just to jokingly spite me. Well, I do think he has the hots for a nice literary girl anyways. “Well, it’s either between the literature or science club. I’m not really the athletic sort.” “You’re torn between the two extremes of humanities and sciences.” “Yep. What should I choose anyways?” Disregarding what Noguchi has his mind set on, I wait for him to speak up again. “So Shibakusa, what should I choose?” “Well…” 10 years ago, we had this same conversation, and this is exactly where I said “Why not the science club?”, and that’s where he chose the literature club to spite me. Through that, he met his future wife. I should continue to wish for his happiness. But what if I decide to say the literature club instead? I’m interested in the results. Since he’ll want to spite me, I can see him joining the science club instead. That’ll make the future 10 years from now something fundamentally different from the one I know. This single sentence will unequivocally change his future. I mean, I am interested in seeing how his future would change, but at the same time, I’d feel guilty about messing with the wonderful future waiting for him. I take a moment to brood on all of this. I should really use this as a test run. My goal is to redo my life, so seeing the power of my choices and words isn’t a bad idea. And hey, maybe Noguchi will have an equally good future with another girl he meets in the science club. That being said, since he’ll join the science club, his future will probably change from the government to some local manufacturer. But at the end of the day, whatever happens is not really in my hands. The final decision is up to Noguchi. So in order to change my fate, I’ll give a different response than I did my first time. “The literature club doesn’t sound bad.” “Huh… I’m not so sure if you’re the one to tell me… I’ll go with the science club then.” So Noguchi really did choose the science club. I probably made a pretty shocked face. Even minute changes in my words and actions can have a major impact on the future. Seems like my experiment yielded fruitful results. “What the hell, trying to spite me or something? Are you really a science club kind of guy? You really want to get all down and dirty?” “What do you mean? We live in an era of females in STEM. Girls in lab coats are the new in.” “Sure buddy… Looks like you’re just chasing girls after all.” “Hell yeah. Finding love is what youth is all about. Wanna join too, Shibakusa?” “No way. I’m more of a music kid after all.” I feel like if I want a proper second chance at life, I shouldn’t balk away from choosing a band. However, I’ll join a different band than my first go around. Yousuke and his buddies won’t be on my radar. It’d be ideal if I could recruit Shigure Narahara, before she quits school. That way, I won’t be betrayed by Yousuke 10 years down the line and I might be able to prevent Shigure from ending her own miserable life. I’m plenty optimistic about my second chance, even if I don’t have a proper plan. Hey, I might as well enjoy the time I got right now.

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Author’s Note: Thank you so much for reading! If you could, it would be great if you rate this series five stars and book mark it! Thanks as always.

Also, the title for this chapter is named after 9mm Parabellum Bullet’s Butterfly Effect. It’s a great song so please give it a listen!

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Translator’s Note: Next chapter done! Interesting the protagonist is now using his friend to see if can change the future. Also, hopefully I found a way to solve the formatting. I’ve been having issues with it recently, but I hope it’s all good now.