Noise echoed around my ears. My head heavy, my blurred vision gradually became clear. A group of people surrounded me, their mouths constantly moving, saying something.
The moment awareness returned, I saw that person. On the track outside the gym wall, a girl stood there, hair drenched with sweat clinging to her cheeks, her dark eyes looking straight at me, deep as a bottomless lake, no emotion visible.
I tried to stand up, but my knee throbbed with pain, the pain gradually spreading through my nerves. Looking at my scraped, bleeding knee, my ankle swollen, I looked around at all those young, vibrant faces. Beside me was the PE teacher directing the students.
Memory gradually returned. I remembered. This was the eight-hundred-meter run test in senior year. Back then, I'd fallen right before the finish line.
I had been reborn. This world had restarted once again. But why this time did I retain memories from my previous life? This was exactly what Aju had called awakening.
I pulled down my pant leg, then had a classmate help me to the nurse's office. As I stepped up the gym stairs, I turned back to look toward the starting line. I saw Vanessa preparing to run. She shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, wind blowing through her hair, cheers and encouragement echoing from the guys standing outside. Brilliant and proud.
Somehow I felt a trace of sadness. Would she still choose to end in death?
After applying medicine, I returned to class to rest. Sitting in the classroom, I looked around at everything. Looking at the class schedule posted on my desk, the next period was self-study. The mountain of books piled on my desk made me hold my forehead and sigh. Such a headache. Why did I have to go through senior year again? This nightmare I had to experience once more.
I propped my chin, looking at the blackboard where Mr. Jackson had left chalk marks. Dazed, memories of death in the previous world still hazy.
Was this the fate of a side character? Aju once said side characters had no clear, independent destiny line. So even death came suddenly and arbitrarily. Though every year I had normal health checkups, I still had to accept the outcome of death and disappearance, eliminated by the world. Fortunately, I didn't feel pain, more like an exhausted person sinking into sleep.
I just didn't understand why Aju suddenly came looking for me again. What did his last words mean?
Sitting in class for another half hour, I heard the dismissal bell ring. Classmates gradually returned to the room. Vanessa walked in just as the class bell rang. She pulled out her chair and sat down beside me.
Seeing her again, my mood was somewhat complicated. Memories of the final moment in my previous life were still too vivid. To say my heart wasn't moved at all would be a lie. I didn't understand how an ordinary, insignificant person like me could make someone like her, surrounded by pursuing guys, have feelings for me.
After school, I didn't leave immediately, but stayed to help the students on classroom duty. Only when ready to leave did I slowly pack up. My injured foot made me walk slowly and limp. I didn't like the feeling of being noticed by others, so I deliberately chose to leave when few people were around.
I'd just stepped down the stairs, hadn't gone far, when I saw a bicycle blocking my path. A bright, beaming face appeared before my eyes. It was the campus beauty from the neighboring class, Grace Shu.
"What happened to your foot? Let me give you a ride home."
Grace and I lived in the same neighborhood and had known each other since childhood, but weren't close. From kindergarten through high school, we'd been classmates a few times. She was lively and beautiful, the kind of person I admired. But I'd never thought about confessing to her, never had any intention of pursuing her. My feelings for her were like a fan's for their idol, a pure kind of admiration.
I was about to nod and look at the backseat of her bike when suddenly a bicycle rushed over and braked sharply. Long legs planted on the ground, the wheel blocking across Grace's bike. Eyes beneath a white baseball cap staring straight at me.
"Get on. I'll take you home."
I looked bewildered at Vanessa's sudden appearance, surprised by her action. Grace laughed awkwardly and said, "Oh, so someone's already waiting for you. I'll go ahead then."
Then she pedaled away, leaving only me standing there with a confused expression. In this life, were Vanessa and I such close deskmates?
I still climbed onto the backseat of Vanessa's bike. Pedestrians were sparse, the sky also darkening quickly. Streetlights along the roads lit up one by one. Wind blowing, the loose flap of her uniform jacket occasionally brushing against my face. The scent of laundry detergent.
I looked at Vanessa's back. In my mind appeared that silhouette in the rain that year, and that silhouette under the lights in front of the teahouse. A gentle ache spread through my heart. She had stood at the peak, had everything. Why still choose to end her life?
Arriving at my neighborhood, I got off the bike, turned to say thank you to Vanessa.
"Nathan Shaw." She seemed about to say something, but changed it to, "See you tomorrow."
I frowned, looking at the person before me. Eyebrows and eyes beneath the cap's brim hidden in shadow, but those eyes were incredibly bright. This was the Vanessa I once knew. She'd never looked at me with eyes like these, a gaze strangely serious and focused.
Too many things had happened today. I needed to sort everything out, then replied with an "Mm." After saying "See you tomorrow," I turned to leave, but felt the gaze from behind making me uncomfortable. I turned back. Vanessa hadn't left yet. She was watching me. Seeing me turn around, she gently pulled down the brim of her cap, then turned her bike around. Very quickly after, her figure disappeared from my view.
In this life, I hadn't seen any task takers appear, hadn't seen Aju return either. The banyan tree at the street entrance was still lush as before. Just no longer did I see that orange figure. Would Aju still appear? Too many doubts in my heart. The person who could answer me was Aju, but he left no trace.
Vanessa seemed somehow different. That dark, weary aura she had before had changed. Before, she was like a withered tree, scorched by the sun until cracked. Now she was like a deep lake, no one knowing what lay beneath.
I couldn't see through Vanessa, and her attitude toward me was also different from before. Just earlier, the classroom duty to clean the board was mine, but she went up to help me clean it. I reminded her today was my turn. Tomorrow was hers. My foot still hadn't healed.
"I'll help you." She answered naturally and straightforwardly.
I couldn't help but feel doubtful again. Could it be that each time the world regenerated, personalities and relationships between characters also changed slightly? This version of Vanessa was no longer as cold and unapproachable as before.