The twenty-mile run was supposed to clear his head. Instead, it was making everything worse.
Takeshi's legs pounded against the pavement in a punishing rhythm, sweat streaming down his face despite the cool morning air. But no matter how hard he pushed his eight-year-old body, he couldn't outrun the chaos in his mind.
Ajax wants me in a week. Division A starts next month. Everyone's expecting miracles.
His lungs burned, but he kept pushing harder, faster, like the physical pain could somehow drown out everything else.
What if I make the wrong choice? What if I destroy everyone's dreams? What if...
He stumbled, catching himself on a concrete barrier before his legs gave out completely. He was at the Sumida River, under one of the smaller bridges, where the morning joggers couldn't see him.
I can't do this. I'm eight years old. I shouldn't have to make these decisions.
Takeshi collapsed onto the grass beside the riverbank, staring up at the bridge's concrete underside. The water flowed peacefully below, completely indifferent to his crisis.
In my previous life, everything was simple. Dream of Liverpool, train hard, make it happen. Now I'm changing everyone's timeline, and I have no idea what I'm doing.
His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, but the weight pressing down on him wasn't physical exhaustion. It was the crushing realisation that success was just another kind of prison.
Maybe I should just say no to everything. Stay normal. Let things happen naturally.
But even as he thought it, he knew he couldn't. Too many people were counting on him now. His teammates, his parents, and Coach Tanaka they all believed in something bigger because of what he'd shown them.
I'm trapped by my own success.
"So you're the school champ."
Takeshi's heart nearly exploded out of his chest. He hadn't heard anyone approaching, who the hell was sneaking up on him?
He rolled over and looked up, and his entire world stopped.
Standing there in a simple yellow dress, her long black hair tied back in a ponytail, was the most important person from his entire previous life.
No. No way. This is impossible.
"Akari," he whispered, the name escaping before he could stop it.
Akari Hayashi. His first love. His greatest regret. The girl he'd destroyed when he chose Liverpool over everything else.
She tilted her head curiously. "How do you know my name? We've never talked before."
Because I loved you for five years, broke your heart, and spent the next sixteen years wishing I could take it all back.
"I... heard someone mention it," he managed, his voice cracking.
She smiled.
That same radiant smile that had once been his entire world, and sat down on the grass beside him like it was the most natural thing ever.
She looks the same. Just... younger. Innocent.
"You looked pretty overwhelmed just now," she said gently. "Want to talk about it?"
How is this happening? Why is she here?
In his previous timeline, they hadn't become friends until middle school. They'd barely known each other existed at this age. But here she was, appearing exactly when he needed her most, just like she always had before.
"It's complicated," he said, still trying to process that she was real, that she was here.
"Try me. I'm good with complicated."
God, even at eight years old, she's perfect.
The conversation flowed like they'd been friends for years. She asked about football, but not in the celebrity-obsessed way his classmates did.
She wanted to know how it felt to carry everyone's expectations, whether the pressure scared him, if he ever wished he could just be normal.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm living someone else's life," Takeshi found himself saying. "Like I'm pretending to be something I'm not."
I'm literally living someone else's life.
"That sounds lonely," Akari said softly.
It is. God, it's so lonely.
"What about you?" he asked, desperate to change the subject before he said something that would give him away. "Do you have dreams that scare you?"
She was quiet for a moment, staring out at the river. "I want to be a teacher someday. Help kids who feel lost or different. But sometimes I wonder if I'm just being naive."
In our previous life, you became the best teacher I ever knew. You helped so many kids.
"That's not naive," he said earnestly. "That's beautiful."
She looked at him with those dark eyes that had haunted his dreams for decades. "You're different from what I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know. Someone more... arrogant, I guess? The way people talk about you at school, I thought you'd be full of yourself."
In my previous life, I was. Success made me into an arrogant asshole who threw away the best thing that ever happened to him.
"Success doesn't mean much if you don't have people to share it with," he said quietly.
"That's very wise for someone our age."
If only you knew how old I really am.
They talked about everything and nothing, books, movies, the weird lunch combinations their classmates brought, the way autumn made everything feel melancholy and hopeful at the same time. Every word felt familiar, like picking up a conversation they'd paused years ago.
This is exactly how it was before. The connection was instant, natural, like we'd known each other forever.
But this time, he wasn't taking it for granted. This time, he was memorising every smile, every laugh, every moment of her attention.
"You know what's funny?" Akari said as the sun climbed higher. "I feel like I've known you for years, but we've only been talking for an hour."
Takeshi's breath caught in his throat. She feels it too. The connection. But what does that mean?
"Yeah," he whispered. "I feel that too."
Something flickered in her eyes, confusion, recognition, something deeper than eight-year-old understanding.
Is it possible? Could she be like me? Could she remember?
Before he could figure out how to ask without sounding insane, she stood up and brushed grass off her dress.
"I have to go. My mom's making lunch, and she gets worried if I'm gone too long."
Don't leave. Please don't leave. I just found you again.
"Will I... will I see you around?" he asked, trying not to sound desperate.
She smiled that smile that had once been his whole world. "I hope so."
As she started to walk away, she turned back with a look that was exactly like the ones she used to give him when they were teenagers, mischievous, knowing, full of affection.
"Take care of yourself, Takeshi. And remember, the best dreams are the ones worth being scared for."
Then she was gone, leaving him sitting by the river with his heart in pieces and his head spinning with possibilities.
She's here. She's real. And somehow, impossibly, we found each other again.
The scout decision, Division A, all the pressure that had been crushing him an hour ago, none of it seemed to matter anymore.
I spent my entire previous life climbing toward success, and I lost the only thing that actually mattered. I chose football over love, ambition over happiness.
I'm not making that mistake again.
For the first time since his reincarnation, Takeshi knew exactly what he wanted. Not just football glory or system achievements or European contracts.
He wanted to do right by the girl who'd given him another chance he didn't deserve.
This time, I'll protect you. This time, I'll choose you.
This time, I'll prove that some people really can change.
The river kept flowing, indifferent to his revolution. But Takeshi sat there on the grass, making promises to a girl who might not even remember loving him, swearing that this second chance would be different.
Love first. Everything else second.
That's the real quest.