I Time-Leaped Back to High School with My Childhood Friend–Turned–Wife, But I Don’t Know Why We Returned to the Past. Also, My Wife as a High Schooler Is Kinda Sexy.

A park in a residential area, a short distance from the back alley.

A simple playground with iron bars, swings, and a sandbox in a space about the size of one residential lot. Two benches had been placed there. Sitting on those benches, Aizawa and I continued our earlier conversation.

To get to the conclusion, Aizawa was not a person from the future. She didn’t possess the power of time leaping either.

What convinced me that she wasn’t from the future?

It was the knowledge of the future that I tested her with—

“Ehh! HUNTER×HUNTER is still on hiatus even in 2021? Togashi-sensei, isn’t that taking too much time off work?”

One of those tests was Aizawa’s reaction to HUNTER×HUNTER.

That’s right, it’s unbelievable to someone from the past.

That we’d continue to have our hearts captured by that manga for nearly ten years. Of course you’d be surprised if you heard that. That this would continue for another ten years.

If you want to check if someone was from the future, just talk about HUNTER×HUNTER.

Because no one could imagine the developments, the serialization period, or the frequency of hiatuses.

Anyone would be genuinely surprised.

Only those who know the serializing Togashi-sensei wouldn’t be surprised or would show a muted reaction.

And so, from this reaction, I became convinced that Aizawa was a person from the past.

“Well, Senpai? Do you believe me now?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Aizawa, for saying strange things.”

“No, it’s fine. Rather, I’m the one who’s surprised. To think that Senpai came from the future through a time leap. What did you come back to do?”

“That’s what I’m struggling to figure out…”

Conversely, Aizawa readily accepted that I had come from the future.

After already making such a scene, I figured it would be faster to explain the circumstances, so I deliberately revealed that I was from the future, and she accepted my words with surprising ease.

No. Perhaps it was precisely because of that intense exchange that she believed me.

I think it was an incident where we hurt each other. There probably could have been a better approach.

But thanks to that, I gained an ally who understood me in this past world.

“Senpai! Don’t be discouraged! I’m sure there’s definitely a way to return to the original future! I’ll help too, so let’s work hard together!”

“Ah. That’s right.”

“It’s okay! With the genius beautiful high school detective Ikuna Aizawa-chan by your side, you have the strength of a hundred people! I’ll support you with all my might so you can return to the future!”

“That’s reassuring.”

I felt as if a warm light had broken through the fear of having to walk in the dark, not knowing the reason why Chiho and I had been thrown into the past world in solitude.

Having Aizawa’s help wouldn’t dramatically advance things. But I was truly grateful for her encouragement.

Thank you, Aizawa.

If I successfully return to the future, I’ll surely express my gratitude to you. My gratitude for quietly staying by my side and supporting me all this time.

Even if it was too late and it was not the answer she wanted, I wanted to return at least some genuine feelings to Aizawa who had thought of me this much.

That’s what I thought.

Now.

One question remained.

“…How did Chiho know that Aizawa wasn’t from the future?”

The prophecy my wife had given me before I confronted Aizawa had hit the mark perfectly.

But I couldn’t find any logical correctness in it.

Chiho wasn’t the type to gamble. While she might seem like she was not thinking about anything, she was actually thinking a lot about things. So there must be a proper reason for this too.

I fell silent for a moment in front of Aizawa. Seeing me like this, Aizawa suddenly gave a wry smile.

“So your future wife really is Chiho-san, isn’t it?”

“…Huh? Wait a minute? How does Aizawa know about Chiho?”

“…Ehehe.”

“Wait a minute, you two were supposed to have met after I entered university, right? I believe I introduced Aizawa for the first time when the three of us went to see a movie together.”

“Ah, so in the future, that’s how the relationship between Chiho-san and me is set up.”

Such a setup.

In the future.

What does that mean?

There was no doubt that the current Aizawa knew about Chiho. However, she didn’t know about her future relationship with Chiho at this point.

Aizawa was indeed a person from the past.

Then why does she know Chiho?

In front of my perplexed self, Aizawa laughed again with an “ehehe.”

She scratched her cheek with her hand, now completely dry of tears, then reached for her bag.

A green backpack.

Opening it, Aizawa took out a pink mobile phone.

A flip phone. With that simple form in hand, she apologized to me with a “please wait a moment,” and promptly made a call.

The nostalgic ringtone flowed into the still blue summer sky. But the sound was soon cut off.

[Helloooo, Ikuna-channn.]

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry, is now a good time?”

[It’s fine. I was thinking it might be about time]

Instead of the ringtone, a distinctive, drawn-out speech echoed.

Aizawa said with a smile, though slightly awkwardly.

“Um, Senpai. I’ve connected you to your future wife.”

“…Connected, you say.”

[Hello, A-channnn? Are you surpriseddd?]

“Chiho? Why do you have Aizawa’s phone number! I mean, you two!”

Laughter escaped both from the mobile phone’s speaker and from Aizawa’s mouth as she gripped it.

[Ikuna-chan and I have been friendsss since high schoolll.]

“No way!”

[It’s trueee. And you know whattt, this was a secret from A-channn. I asked Ikuna-chan, who was close to A-chan in high schoolll, to observe A-channn.]

“…Observe?”

What’s this about observation?

Stop it. Aizawa, don’t look at me with that sympathetic wry smile. And Chiho, don’t hold back your laughter on the other end of the phone.

Scary! Girls are scary!

“You see, actually, I was a skilled female high school spy specializing in Senpai, commissioned by Chiho-san.”

“What’s with that super niche spy role that seems to have no transferable skills?”

[And I was the commander who gave orders to that spyy~.]

“Not the employer! And why did you two do something like that!”

“That’s obvious—because Senpai’s virgin-like reactions were cute!”

[We were having fun teasing A-channn!]

“So it was something worthless after all!”

“Eheheheee! And you know whattt, we’ve been communicating by email during morning homeroom and lunch breaks! The content of those emails didn’t show any knowledge of time leaping~, so I thought, this must not be Ikuna-channnn!”

I see, so that’s what it was.

That’s why Aizawa was able to act suggestively towards me with such precision. I seriously thought this might be something I could misunderstand.

I see, so back then, the mastermind was Chiho. No wonder she could take such accurate actions based on her understanding of me.

Oh my, really.

What’s with my wife and her rival cooperating to tease me?

Whether main or side, this is behavior unbecoming of a heroine. Cruel, truly cruel.

Girls were scary.

“Wha-wha! Wha-what! What’s that, what’s that, what’s thaaaat! So I’ve been the clown all along! Not Aizawa, but I’ve been the clown!”

“…Well, that’s how it turned out, yes.”

[That’s how it turned out, though it’s a shame.]

“Though it’s a shame! Chiho! Aizawa! What kind of people are you!”

[Yaaan. Even your angry move is so virgin high school boy-like. So cute~.]

“I’m sorry, Senpai. At first, I was teasing you alone. Midway through, Chiho-san said she wanted to join in… and then, it became more fun with two people.”

“Don’t say ‘became’! Can’t you two take romantic comedies seriously!”

[See, even now~, A-chan says things like this~]

“…Ugh, saying things like a romantic comedy protagonist. No, it’s too embarrassing.”

“Just kill me already, damn it!”

Aizawa let out a laugh like incomplete combustion. And my wife said, “Geez, really, what can we do.”

Seriously? They were playing around teasing me with my wife’s approval? Seriously?

No wonder these two get along. They were secretly playing together behind my back. They were playing together using me.

Of course they’d get along. They’d even become close friends.

And this feeling. It seems like Chiho iwas also aware of Aizawa’s feelings for me.

Sigh. It’s only men who don’t know, huh?

[I don’t want you to misunderstand~, but we have a fair relationship~.]

“That’s right. I approach Senpai and play pranks on him in place of Chiho-san, who can’t get close to him. In return, Chiho-san provides me with her best teasing material to make Senpai flustered. It’s a win-win relationship.”

“It’s not win-win. I’m getting thoroughly beaten. It’s a complete defeat.”

[That’s because it’s A-channn]

“That’s because it’s Senpai.”

“Terrible, these girls are truly terrible. There are demons, demons right here.”

My wife and junior’s treatment of me was crueler than I thought.

I dropped my shoulders, appalled by the truth I discovered for the first time in ten years.

“But,” said Aizawa as she took back the phone from my hand.

“My feelings for Senpai are real. Neither Chiho-san’s nor mine have changed in that regard. It’s because my feelings for Senpai were genuine that I accepted Chiho-san’s proposal and decided to form a ceasefire agreement and team up with her.”

“…Aizawa.”

[Heyyy, normally, you’d never give information about someone you like to a love rival, right? And yet, Ikuna-chan said she felt sorry for me~, and helped me out~.]

“…Chiho.”

“Um, I mean, we’re both the ‘We Want to Tease Senpai Alliance’ and the ‘We Love Senpai Alliance,’ you could say. As girls who like the same Senpai, we could understand each other, you could say. Um, what am I saying anyway?”

Aizawa blushed bright red and looked embarrassed again.

Seeing her scratching her cheek bashfully to cool down her face, I became convinced her words were true.

Well, I guess that’s fine then.

It was certainly a harsh story, but they truly had been thinking about me. It seemed to me that the price for continuously betraying Aizawa’s feelings was quite cheap if it was just this cute little secret.

[Heyyy, isn’t Ikuna-chan cute~?]

“Alright, I forgive Aizawa.”

“I’m sorry, Senpai.”

[Yayyy! As expected of A-channn, you understand~!]

“But Chiho, I’m not quite forgiving you. What were you doing, seriously?”

Is there such a thing as a wife who enjoys teasing her future husband together with her love rival?

I glared at Chiho through Aizawa’s phone, saying we’d talk later. She said “Yaaan, scary~,” but she wasn’t serious at all.

This was probably exactly what she had expected.

Aizawa was scary, but my wife was definitely one step ahead.

“Ah, please don’t blame Chiho-san! After she fought with you and couldn’t see you anymore, she was really troubled!”

“Really?”

“Yes! When she first brought this up, she was looking super embarrassed! Even though she knew I liked Senpai, she still wanted to have some connection with Senpai somehow, so she brought it up!”

[Wait, Ikuna-channn! Stoppp! That’s a secret story~!]

So that’s how it was. She had been quite depressed when she couldn’t see me.

I see, I see.

Another cute story about Chiho to add to my collection.

[Geezz! Ikuna-channn! I’ll explain to A-channn, let me have the phone for a moment~!]

“Ah, yes.”

“Here you go, Senpai,” Aizawa said, holding out the phone to me again.

I took the pink flip phone and held it to my ear. Perhaps concerned about the content of the conversation, Aizawa stood up and moved a short distance away from me.

After a moment, Chiho on the other end of the phone let out a deep sigh.

This wasn’t the atmosphere of her complaining to me.

When Chiho complained, she approached me with a strong tone. It was also unusual for her to suddenly start talking with such a heavy atmosphere. And my wife wouldn’t be this dejected just from having a secret exposed.

Having fully intended to have a light conversation, I steeled myself in response to this atmosphere.

[From Ikuna-chan’s tone, I can tell~… A-channn, you made Ikuna-chan cry~, didn’t you~?]

“…Yeah.”

[Geezz! I told you it’s not like that~! Reallyy, A-channn, you’re such a hopeless blockhead in these matters~!]

“…Yeah.”

I see.

So that’s what Chiho had blurted out, when she could have stayed silent and I wouldn’t have known, or could have just left it alone.

She was trying to subtly protect Aizawa from getting hurt. So she really was an important friend to her.

If I had known this would happen, I should have just honestly believed what my wife said.

[Ikuna-chan and I met in the same committee, the school beautification committee~. You know, Ikuna-chan had a bit of a late start~.]

“…Yeah. I know.”

[And sooo, as I was teaching her various things as her senpai~, we became friends~. Then she was coming and going to your house~? Ikuna-chan also realized I lived next door~, and that’s how this happened~.]

“…I see.”

Aizawa probably thinks I’m getting chewed out by Chiho from our conversation. It would be cruel to break that misunderstanding.

I responded with another pathetic “Yeah” to my wife on the other end of the phone.

[For two years of high school~, I was getting help from Ikuna-channn, so I was holding back from making moves on A-channn. But Ikuna-chan couldn’t confess to A-chan in the end~]

“…So that’s what happened.”

[She told me crying on graduation day~ that just being able to be together was enough~. So I didn’t want her to feel the same way~.]

“…I’m sorry.”

[If you’re going to apologize~! It should be to Ikuna-channn! Geez, you blockhead~!]

My wife’s scolding penetrated deep into my heart.

She was absolutely right, and I had nothing to say back.

In the end, it was all my fault. Ignoring Chiho in the first place was the beginning of this fragile love triangle.

You and your messed-up adolescence. What were you doing, high school me?

Even though there were girls who cared about me this much. Suddenly, I simply accepted the silence that fell between Chiho and me.

I had no right to say anything to them. I deliberately accepted that painful silence.

As if unable to endure it any longer, the one who cut through the silence was—her older friend who understood Aizawa much better than I did.

[Oh wellll. For the sake of my hopeless A-channn, should I let something slip~?]