Only I, Her Future Husband, Know How to Make Her Act All Lovey-Dovey - Chapter 2

Episode 2: When You Get Used to a Smartphone, You’re Shocked by the Small Screen of a Flip Phone

“Sorry, teacher. I think I caught a cold.”

There was no way I could immediately comprehend this strange situation, so I decided to skip school for the time being.

Who would have thought I’d be skipping school at this age? After finishing a call with my middle school homeroom teacher on my flip phone, I took a deep breath.

“Alright. I’ve managed to calm down.”

Well, not exactly calm. 

My hands were still shaking, and my heart was racing with cold sweat. But I had to tell myself that, or I was going to lose it.

First, I needed to assess the situation.

It was November 25, 2008.

In my room, I found a PSP with Monster Hunter inside, a CRT TV that didn’t support digital broadcasts, and beneath it, a VHS player and a slim PS2.

I opened my cheap Velcro wallet to find just 6,000 yen—strangely, there was also a 2,000 yen bill mixed in.

And there was no sign of any time machine. 

The fact that I had turned younger meant this wasn’t a time travel incident—it was a time leap.

So, I decided to try and figure out how to return to my original timeline.

I tried going back to sleep.

I considered playing an online game that had ended long ago.

I even held up the flip phone and yelled, “Time, go back.”

None of it worked, and before I knew it, it was already evening.

“Caught a cold? Get well soon. (　ﾟДﾟ)”

I received a message from my middle school friend, Tamura. 

I replied, “Caught something worse than a cold,” and he responded with a concerned message, “Is it the flu?”

I hadn’t hung out with him since high school. 

A wave of nostalgia and a hint of loneliness washed over me.

“…Maybe I should go for a walk.”

Staying in my room wouldn’t bring any solutions, and I was starting to feel down.

I threw on my coat and stepped outside.

The 2008 scenery wasn’t much different from today, but there were two major differences.

First, there were fewer people wearing masks.

That was probably because the COVID-19 pandemic hadn’t happened yet.

The second difference was that there was no one walking around looking at their smartphones.

Everyone had a flip phone instead.

Smartphones were already on the market, but they hadn’t become widespread in Japan just yet.

“I really did time leap, didn’t I?”

I walked for about 30 minutes, stopping at a bridge that connected to a neighboring town.

I rested my arms on the bridge’s railing and stared at the river.

The winter wind bit at my skin.

“……”

I might not be able to return to the present. 

Staring at my reflection on the surface of the river, I suddenly thought that.

“…Come to think of it, I haven’t tried this…”

I climbed up on the bridge’s railing and looked down at the river. It seemed like it had rained yesterday, and the water was slightly higher and murkier than usual.

You know how it goes. When you’re faced with death, sometimes you end up traveling through time.

Maybe if I jumped from here, I could return to the future?

In stories like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, characters often leap through time by jumping or diving into water.

“……Just kidding.”

How ridiculous. 

What if I really did die?

I was getting cold, so I decided to head back and think of another way.

As I was about to climb down from the railing, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“What are you doing?”

It was a voice I recognized, but with a slightly younger tone.

Standing there was a middle school girl.

She had semi-long silver hair and a light blue hairpin.

She was small in stature, with a slender frame and modest chest.

Her eyes were cold and blue, like ice.

She was dressed in a blazer, with a large school bag slung over her back.

I’d never seen her before, but something deep inside me told me—through her voice and expression—that this was her.

“Y… Yuki…?”

There, standing in front of me, was my middle school wife.