Prolog SideStep

 Have you ever tried typing "previous life" into a search bar?

If you haven't, I suggest giving it a try at least once.

Most search engines have a feature called "suggestions" that shows you related keywords that others often search for.

So, when you actually type in "previous life," you’ll likely see words like "fortune telling" or "diagnosis" come up near the top.

Well, these suggestions are apparently based on each individual's search history, so it's possible that not everyone will see the same thing.

Still, it seems that this "past life diagnosis" thing is surprisingly popular, with tons of websites offering it.

Their content varies, but most of them feel like just renamed personality tests or psychological quizzes.

In short, to put it bluntly, they’re not very reliable.

I mean, how many people actually open these kinds of sites seriously hoping to find out about their past lives?

Maybe it’s just my impression, but most people probably do it for fun or just out of curiosity.

Actually, these past life tests can be a great conversation starter during gatherings or drinking parties when the talk starts to dry up.

Of course, classic psychological tests can do the trick too, but with those, if you dig too much into the results, you risk insulting someone's personality.

Even if they're laughing on the outside, you might end up hurting their feelings deep down—and labeling them as "too sensitive" would just feel wrong.

But when it comes to past life diagnoses—there’s no problem!

Nobody really believes what their past life was anyway.

So even if the result says something like, "You were a gorilla in your past life," people can usually laugh it off.

As long as it doesn’t turn into personal attacks, it can actually make for a fun conversation.

Though, I do feel a little sorry for the gorillas catching stray bullets.

But still—what if past lives really did exist?

And what if, through one of these so-called diagnoses or some other way, you actually found out about your own?

Would you really be able to laugh it off, telling yourself, "It's just a past life, it has nothing to do with me now"?

Could you really just close the lid on that life and shove it into the back of your mental closet?

If there’s anyone out there who has been reincarnated with memories of their past life, I’d love to ask them:

How did you come to terms with it?

◇◇◇

"...What are you spacing out for?"

Suddenly, I felt a poke on my arm from the side.

I quickly raised my head and turned to look—and there sat an angel, her straight black hair suiting her perfectly.

Her name is Suzuna Kanzaki. She's currently a first-year in middle school.

It's hard to believe that just a month ago, she was still carrying a little elementary school backpack—she looks so grown-up now.

"Are you praying?"

She tilted her head slightly, casting a curious glance from my face down to my hands.

Without realizing it, I had my fingers intertwined.

Now that she mentioned it, it probably did look like the kind of prayer Christians do.

By the way, a little trivia: even within Christianity, there are different ways to pray.

Typically, Catholics pray by pressing their palms together with their fingers extended.

On the other hand, clasping your hands with your fingers interlocked, like I'm doing now, is more Protestant-style.

"...Nah, I'm not praying or anything," I said, letting out a small, tired laugh.

Honestly, I was just a little too relaxed.

I hadn’t been sleeping very well lately.

Still, even though I was finally getting some precious time to spend with my little sister, of all times to zone out... not good.

Really not good.

"By the way, they say you can tell your past life's gender by how you clasp your hands," I said, trying to change the subject.

"Past life?"

"Yeah. Supposedly, if your left thumb is on top, your past life was female.

And if your right thumb is on top, it means you were male."

"Huh."

Suzuna responded with a disinterested-sounding reply, but she clasped her hands together anyway.

Her angelic vibe somehow felt even stronger when she did that.

"...Left thumb on top," she said, glancing at her hands.

"Oh, that means you were a woman in your past life! Same as me, actually."

I showed her my own hands with a proud little grin.

"So that means... Eiji-san, you were a woman in your past life too?"

"Looks like it," I chuckled.

"Hmm,"

She replied in the same uninterested tone.

Well, not that I could blame her.

It’s not like this stuff is reliable or anything.

I mean, the fact that my supposed past life was female already proves it's nonsense.

Even a 50-50 guess managed to miss the mark.

"By the way, Eiji-san. It’s your serve."

"Ah, right!"

Thanks to Suzuna’s reminder, I snapped back to reality.

We weren’t just chatting for no reason.

If we could just sit around doing nothing together like that, we’d probably feel more like real siblings...

Unfortunately, that's not the kind of relationship we have right now.

Still, today—early April!

On a warm Sunday afternoon, with the pleasant spring weather—we were together!

I turned my eyes forward, toward the TV set up in front of the couch.

Displayed on the screen was a tennis game we were currently in the middle of.

Its name was "Makio Tennis Grand Slam."

It was a tennis game playable on the Tankudou Change, the latest console released by Tankudou, a game developer that Japan proudly presented to the world.

The biggest feature of the game was that you could control anime-style characters related to Makio, Tankudou’s iconic character.

Makio first appeared as a mustached old man in a game called "Super Makio Brothers." Although his profession was a gardener (specifically, a landscape artist), he had a rather complicated relationship with Princess Plum from a certain castle—a setting quite muddled for a family-friendly game.

Makio, true to his image, often set aside his gardening duties to go on adventures or engage in various sports. Thanks to that fun-loving image, he had earned overwhelming popularity among families and casual gamers.

This tennis game was no different.

Sure, there were games where you could play as real professional players, but those tended to be niche, catering more to hardcore fans.

For people who didn’t know much about real-world tennis but wanted to have fun with family or friends, casual character games like this were much easier to get into.

Even just within the Makio Tennis series, this was probably the fifth or sixth installment, proving its trust and solid track record.

I myself had been drawn in by that casual appeal, broke into my New Year’s savings, and went out of my way to buy this game.

All for the sake of playing with Suzuna!!

"If you're not gonna play..."

"Ah, no! I’m playing, I’m playing!"

Back to the topic—no, I had gotten sidetracked again.

I regripped the controller with renewed focus.

Even though my main goal—playing games together with my little sister—had already been achieved, a match was still a match.

Even if my opponent was an adorable little sister, letting my guard down would be disrespectful.

Alright, my partner Gekini! Together, let's defeat Suzuna's controlled character, Makio, and show off a little!

Thus, the game started!

"Here we go."

"……"

The match began with my serve.

Since the game was geared toward casual players, it was designed to be easy even for beginners.

Because of that, skill gaps weren’t too noticeable, and for beginners like us, it was pretty hard to score points.

(Still, I'm surprised she agreed to play...)

I stole a glance at Suzuna sitting beside me.

Her gaze was glued to the TV, and she had a serious air about her.

Like I said earlier, we didn’t really have the kind of warm relationship where we could just mess around together on weekends.

Still, I hoped... that one day it could be that way. Even if I didn’t know if that day would ever come.

── Love, fifteen.

"Ah."

Because I was busy looking at Suzuna, I lost focus on the game.

She quickly scored a point.

"You were looking away."

"Ugh..."

She properly called me out on it.

It conveyed her serious attitude: if we were going to compete, we should compete seriously.

Honestly, I kind of wanted a more casual, fun match... but seeing her so eagerly involved made me genuinely happy.

Watching her like this was refreshing.

I already knew she was competitive, but when Suzuna got into a game, her expressions changed rapidly.

When she scored, she’d sigh in relief; when she lost a point, she'd groan in frustration.

Forgetting I was even beside her, she was completely absorbed in the game—and I kept stealing glances, burning her image into my memory.

(Yeah... this is the real Suzuna. If only she hadn’t gone through so much pain, maybe she could always be like this...)

── Game, 2P.

"Ahh!?"

"Got it."

She scored!

Catching me off guard, she quickly took four points straight, winning a game.

"You’re good, Suzuna...!"

"Maybe you’re just bad at it, Eiji-san."

"I'm not bad!! I just needed time to get used to the controls, okay?!"

The truth was, I was too distracted by watching Suzuna...

But anyway!

"Hmph, thanks to that, I've now mastered the controls!"

Because I sacrificed some points, I managed to learn something:

How to both keep an eye on Suzuna and the TV screen at the same time!

"Now it's comeback time! Get ready, Suzuna!!"

...Thirty minutes later.

── Forty, fifteen.

"Ghh..."

Suzuna’s smash landed right in the corner of the court.

Current score: 1-5. Naturally, Suzuna was in the lead.

Despite trying to fight back, this was the result.

To be honest, Suzuna was just better. She had a natural sense for games.

Even though I played games myself, I mostly stuck to RPGs, tactical games, and adventure games—genres without action elements.

No matter how much the controls were simplified, it was no use.

And, honestly...

I kept wanting to watch Suzuna’s focused, lively expressions, something I rarely got to see.

"Now it's match point," Suzuna said.

"Hey, hey, the game's not over 'til the bottom of the ninth inning, two strikes left!"

"This is tennis, though."

"I-I know that!"

Honestly, I couldn't even picture a way to win...

Still, I served.

Even though it was easily returned, I desperately chased after the ball.

This was the most serious I’d been all day.

Because once this match ended, this fun time would end, too.

Sure, losing stung—but even more, I just wanted to keep spending time with her.

It didn't matter how Suzuna felt.

As long as I could keep having these moments that felt like we were truly brother and sister, I didn’t want to lose them.

"Ugh...! Ngh...!"

I chased after the ball with everything I had.

Suzuna, too, seemed frustrated that she couldn’t land a finishing blow.

That’s right—the only game I managed to win earlier was because I hung on until she slipped up.

(…Come to think of it, Suzuna’s frustrated face was kinda cute too…)

── Pakon.

"Ah."

Just for a moment.

In the moment I recalled Suzuna’s adorably frustrated expression, she sent a return shot to the opposite side.

── 2P, Win!

"Aaah..."

"Yes!"

Suzuna clenched her fist in triumph.

Even though losing sucked, seeing that bright smile of hers more than made up for it.

And then I couldn't help but think:

(She’s already really beautiful, isn't she...)

Moments when she smiled were rare.

She usually hid behind a stern, expressionless mask.

But it wasn’t her fault.

There were circumstances far beyond her control.

"T-this doesn’t mean anything!"

Noticing my gaze, Suzuna hurriedly wiped the smile off her face again.

That reaction made me a little sad—but I swallowed those feelings down.

"Hey, how about one more match? Let me have a rematch!"

"...I have homework to do."

I tried inviting her for another match, but Suzuna turned me down and left.

I considered chasing after her for a second...

But I stopped myself.

The fact that she played with me even once today was enough.

If I pushed too hard, she might close her heart even more.

"Feels like I was the only one getting all excited, huh."

I flopped down onto the sofa, letting all the tension out.

The truth was...

Suzuna wasn't actually my real sister.

About two weeks ago—sometime after April had started—she had come to live with us due to certain circumstances.

She was originally my uncle's daughter, which made her my cousin by blood.

But even so...

I decided to become her brother.

I chose to become her real family.

"Still... the road ahead is long."

I pulled a small notebook from my pocket and drew a line through the item labeled "Bond through gaming."

"...Wait, hold on. She actually seemed pretty into the game, didn’t she? She even knew a lot about Makio Tennis."

I quickly added an arrow from the crossed-out section and scribbled, "Next chance: Hopeful!"

A little bit like a wish.

"Alright, what’s the next move? I don’t have time to waste."

I flipped through the notebook, searching for hints.

It was filled with information about Suzuna—

Or rather, about Kanazaki Suzuna.

And more precisely, it was information about her three years into the future.

Not because I came from the future or anything crazy like that.

I just... knew.

I knew what was going to happen to Suzuna, and what she was already going through now.

And I wanted to save her from all of it.

I wanted to make her happy.

As her family.

My name is Kanazaki Eiji.

Currently a third-year middle school student.

The adoptive older brother of Kanazaki Suzuna.

And—

A reincarnator who knows this world's future and its possibilities.

Share: