The Revenge of My Youth: My Re Life with a Girl Who Was Too Much of an Angel Light Novel - Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Start of My Second Youth

“Shijouin-san.”
　
My heart fluttered as the jewel of my past appeared before my eyes.
　
Her hair was long and beautiful.
　
Her eyes were big and clear as a jewel.
　
She was the embodiment of the word ‘Yamato Nadeshiko’.
　
Her carefree smile expressed the beauty of her heart.
　
The girl I’ve been yearning for since I was a student, Shijouin-san, was there.

“Huh? Is something wrong? You surprised me a little…”
　
She spoke in a gentle tone and her mannerism was elegant, just as I remembered.
　
Her family, the Shijouin family, had been a prominent family for a long time, and her father was the president of a large bookstore that operates nationwide. You could say that she was a princess born in modern times.

“A-Ahh…no… I’m just a little sleepy. Anyway, good morning, Shijoin-san.”
“Yes, good morning!”
　
Shijoin-san smiled at me. She was so cute.
　
Despite her look and background, she never acted pompous in front of even me, the member of the lowest caste at school.

Her breasts were ample, her waist was tight, and her proportions were perfect. No wonder that the boys were fascinated by her.

Even though she’s such a nice girl…
　
As I looked at her face, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. The memories of her fate back in my previous life came back to me.

After graduating from high school, Shijouin-san went to college and got a job at a certain company. Apparently, her beauty and cheerfulness made her very popular in her company and she was able to do her job well.
　
However, fierce bullying started against her by her female co-workers because of that. It was said that they became jealous of her because she hoarded the attention of all the male employees.
　
Things such as hiding her personal belongings, blaming her for the failures that they made, spreading bad rumors about her and forcing her to do a huge amount of work were just the beginning. Every day they would approach her and in groups and abuse her physically.
　
Perhaps because she was a serious person, Shijoin-san continued to work desperately without consulting her family. But as a result of that, she fell into depression…
　
Moreover, at the same time, her family’s business was in a slump, and eventually, the Shijoin family, fell into bankruptcy. This was another reason why her family failed to notice her condition.
　
In the end, Shijouin-san took her life…
　
As she was the daughter of a large company, the news reported in detail, and I learned the cruel truth in the midst of my life as a company slave.

At that time, I was so shocked that I lost my appetite for a while…
　
In my previous life, I was not particularly close to Shijouin-san.
　
But inside the gray world of my youth, the small conversations I had with her were my only salvation.
　
I was glad that she was able to bare her innocent heart open to me, even if it was only for a moment. The fact that such a girl existed in this world saved me.

But, even a precious girl like that couldn’t stand the world’s cruelty…　

Her fate was similar to mine. Even though we experienced different things, in the end, both of us were tormented by the unreasonable part of the society.　

Even in the moment of my death, my grief toward her loss didn’t disappear…

…Can I… change her fate?

If I could change the future, I would definitely try to save her.
　
I just didn’t know how.
　
But for now, I just wanted to exchange a few words with her for the first time in twelve years.

“Shijouin-san, you seem to be happy, what’s up?”
“Hehe… I was up late reading last night. I was actually having a slight trouble waking up… But, anyway, I was up reading this! Look, it’s the seventh volume of the Errand Boy of Zero!” (TLN: still idk the reference) (ED: Zero no Tsukaima/Familiar of Zero reference)
　
Shijouin-san giggled as she pulled out a light novel from her bag. It was filled with books, some of them should be the books she borrowed from the library. Ah, right, she was an avid reader. Ever since the time she asked me about light novels, she had been reading different genres of light novels.

“Oh! That volume is really good! Especially the part where the protagonist stood on his own against an army of seventy thousands to protect his master!”
“I know right? I got really excited at that scene!”

Our trivial conversation went on. I was surprised to find myself being able to converse with her like this.　

I could never manage to do it back in my previous life.

“Huh… Niihama-kun, aren’t you acting differently today?”
“Eh? R-really?”
“Yes. You usually keep your gaze down and only speak when you have to… But today you seem more cheerful than usual! I’m surprised!”

She was absolutely correct.　
　
Shijouin-san and I were on the same library committee, and we had our first conversation when I helped her look for a light novel.
　
After that, the cheerful Shijouin-san continued to try to talk to me. Sometimes she would say something like, ‘This book is so interesting!’ But as a virgin, I could only reply with a weak, ‘A-ah… Y-yes… It sure is…’ Moreover, she was practically an idol at school, our conversation didn’t expand much more than that.

Well, it isn’t like I became cheerful or anything as I grew older… Society urges adults like me to be able to speak our minds properly, so right now, I’m just good at speaking.

At any rate, at work, whether it’s a beautiful woman, a dangerous client or an abusive boss, you have to get your point across even if you don’t want to.
　
If you couldn’t do that, slanders and sarcasm were the least thing you’ll receive from people around you, so naturally you had to learn some conversational skills.

“Ah, it was because of, you, Shijouin-san.”
“Because of… me?”
“Yes, I thought that you are really easy to talk to because you always look so cheerful. So, I decided to follow your example and try to speak my mind more from now on.”

Well, actually, my boss back in my previous life would snap at me if I were to stutter even a single word, so I had to learn how to speak properly in order to survive.

“I-is that so…? Umm… Being complimented directly like that… Hehe… Thank you…”

She scratched her cheeks in embarrassment at my words.
　
While she was kind and cheerful, she was quite childish.
　
That was why, even though there were plenty of boys trying to gain her attention, she was oblivious to all that and she never nailed herself on a date despite her good looks.

“Ah right, those books, you’re returning to the library, right? Those seem heavy, let me carry them all for you.”
“Eh, It’s fine! I can handle this much…”
“Don’t hold yourself back, school is just around the corner anyway..”
　
I said as I quickly picked up the bag filled with books that she was carrying.
　
…Wait a second… What am I doing? Did I do all that unconsciously?

Oh no, that’s my habit at work…

There were a number of annoying old women at work. Whenever I came across them, they would say, ‘You’re a man, be more considerate! Whenever you see an older woman holding her luggage like this, immediately offer your help!’
　
This happened to me so many times that I eventually developed a habit of calling out and offering my help to old women who were carrying heavy looking luggage.

“Oh, thank you very much. To be honest, I think I borrowed too many books… My arms are weak… so this is actually a big help for me.”

Nice… At least she didn’t think that I’m being creepy or something.

Sometimes your memory was beautified by your nostalgia and it seemed to be sweeter than it actually was. But in Shijouin-san’s case, everything about her was exactly as I remembered.

And this was the first time I’ve been able to talk properly with her. This fact made me very happy.

“Not only the way you talk… Even your mannerisms are so different now, Niihama-kun!”
“I-is that so?”
“Yes! You’re more boyish and less reserved! You’re so cool!”
“…Guh!…”

This girl, Shijouin Haruka was a girl that could casually say things like that with a big smile on her face.　

Her smile was so impactful! My heart…

Haha… well… to be able to listen to her compliments like this… I guess living through those hellish twelve years was worth it.

“T-thank you. I’m happy to hear that from you. Anyway, Shijouin-san, you borrowed a lot of books, didn’t you? Was there anything else that caught your fancy?”
“Ah, yes! Actually, all of them were interesting! There is this one…”

Shijouin-san and I walked together to school, talking about trivial things.
　
There weren’t too many students from our school nearby, but those who were nearby didn’t like the fact that a gloomy nerd like me and the beautiful and famous Shijouin-san were walking together.
　
But I didn’t care. I’ve decided to live a different life this time after all.
　
And it was because of this determination that I was able to go to school with Shijouin-san, which I could not have done in my previous life when I was constantly in the eyes of others.
　
I was determined to get my revenge on my youth again. I felt a warmth in my heart as I talked with the girl I was never supposed to see again.

　　　　＊

My old classroom…So nostalgic…
　
I was deeply moved when I stepped through the school gate and changed into my indoor shoes, but that feeling couldn’t compare to the moment when I stepped inside the classroom.
　
Desks, chairs, chalkboards, and this buzzing atmosphere… This was my old classroom, alright.

“Then, Niihama-kun. See you after school.”
“Eh?… Ah, right, see you.”
　
Said Shijouin-san as we parted at the entrance of the classroom. Although I replied to her words, I couldn’t immediately remember what she was talking about.
　
After school? …Why after school?
　
Ah, right. The library committee!

The only reason why me and Shijouin-san have any connection is because we were on the library committee together… Right, I remember now.
　
And apparently, our shift was today..
　
Well, that could wait until later, for now, let’s try to finish the first day of school first.

Now, where is my seat again? …Ah, there it is… Woah, this wooden desk and chair… It feels nostalgic seeing them.

Truthfully, I didn’t remember where exactly my seat was, but my gym uniform bag was hanging by the seat, so I was able to identify it.
　
As I searched through my desk, I found textbooks and notebooks that I had left inside. Seeing it, I felt both amused and nostalgic, as if I had unearthed a time capsule.

Woah! …My notes from back then! My writing was so messy back in the day, huh?

After sinking into nostalgia, the bell rang and the homeroom finally began. It had been twelve years since I last attended a class, but I was able to respond to the class rep’s instructions for the morning greetings. It felt nice.
　
After the homeroom teacher’s talk, one of the girls came up to the front.
　
Her hair was neither long nor short. She wore glasses and her face was quite cute. She was expressionless though, I could never figure out what she was thinking.

Honestly, she didn’t leave any impression on me.　

Uhh… her name was… Kaza… something?

“I’m Kazamihara. I’ve been appointed as a member of the committee for the school festival. For now the thing on our agenda is to decide what event we should hold for the festival. If you have any ideas, please contact me as soon as possible since we only have one week deadline for this. Also, if there are any dumb ideas like ‘bikini cafe’ or ‘indoor campfire’…”
　
The girl with the glasses, Kazamihara, informed us in a mechanical manner without any hint of change in her expression before she quickly returned to her seat. The way she did this reminded me of a bored OL.

Still, the cultural festival… It’s that time of the year, huh?

Now I remember. Our school held its cultural festival in spring. To be honest, the event didn’t leave much impression on me, it couldn’t be helped that it completely slipped off my mind.

Well, I’ll leave that for later. The most important thing right now is to get used to high school life. I have to relearn everything from scratch again, huh?

It was only the first day, so I had a lot of things to get used to. Also I had to keep the whole festival thing in the back of my mind.

By the way, today’s class was math… How did you do differential and integral again? What the fuck is calculus? (TL: just use wolframalpha)

　　　　＊

“Oi, Niihama…”
“Eh? You are… Ginji, huh?…”

It was currently break time between classes.　
　
The boy who called me out was the only friend I had in high school.
　
His name was Yamahira Ginji. He was a nerd like me, but his hair was short and his appearance was neat. He looked more like a jock than a nerd. Regarding this, he said, ‘If I dress like a nerd, I’ll be bullied right away. This is my way of defending myself.’
　
This is the only guy I’ve had a few drinks with after graduation.

“Hah? What’s with that confused face? …Well, that isn’t important… So, what the hell was that?”
“What the hell was what?”
“Don’t play dumb! I’m talking about Shijouin-san! What were you doing, flirting with her early in the morning?!”
“What? No, I just met her on the way to school. She was carrying a bunch of books, so I gave her a hand.”
“Huh? HUH?! YOU WHAT?! You who couldn’t even form a sentence properly whenever you tried to talk to girls? Why are you acting like a shoujo manga ikemen now?!”

To be fair, I did it unconsciously, okay? Well, I guess if he was familiar with my gloomy self, my action was so out of character, huh?　

“Anyway, you… Wait, you don’t look any different… But that way of speaking… and the gloomy aura around you is gone… Were you maybe, reincarnated into another world and came back yesterday after beating a demon lord somewhere?”

Close, but it was actually a time leap, my friend.　

“Jackpot, Ginji! I was actually in a different world until yesterday. I had to endure twelve years of unpaid labor. I had to work from early morning until late night while being constantly harassed by my co-workers!”
“Haha, now that’s a dark world you got transported to!”

Unfortunately, that happened in the real world　

To him who were untainted by the dark side of society, it might sound like a funny joke. But sadly, it was reality. Demon did exist in this day and age.
　
Yeah, but it had been a while since I’ve had this conversation with him.
　
The feeling that I’m back to that time now became stronger.

“Well, Shijouin-san is kind and gentle, so she’s open to people like us, but you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself. The leader of the jocks and the riajuu are all after her, and you simply have no chance.”
　
Wow, I didn’t know that the word “riajuu” already existed in this age.

“Sadly, nerds like us have the lowest caste in school. If you stand out a little bit and those in the higher caste notice you, you could be a target of bullying.”

Ah, right… School caste… I remember that…
　
Thinking back, it was an unwritten rule that a group of kids would fight over positions.
　
Actually wait, even when we grew up we still made a fuss about trivial things like that…

“Well, I’ll be careful. Thanks for the advice, Ginji.”
　
Still, no matter who was trying to keep me in check, I wouldn’t let this second life of mine become a failure again.

The result of doing nothing because of the constant fear of being attacked by others was a bland life as a youth and a future of becoming a corporate slave and being worked hard like an animal..
　
I’m going to do what I want.
　
This time, I won’t regret anything.

　　　　＊

And during the same day when I made that resolution, he showed up.

“Oi, you disgusting nerd, Niihama. Turn around.”
　
It was lunchtime. As I was taking out my wallet in front of the vending machine, he called out to me.

This guy… Hino…
　
I could immediately remember the name of the rude boy in front of me. His uniform looked worn out and he wore piercings on his ears.
　
He was someone who targeted the weak-minded students and said, ‘Hey, give me some money. We’re friends, right?’ And if they showed any sign of refusing him, he’ll threaten them by saying, ‘Oh, you’re looking down on me, aren’t you?’
　
I remember the blood-curdling sensation of running into this guy on campus, and the fear of him grabbing me by the chest and yelling at me.
　
At the time, this guy was an object of fear for me, and I was so frightened that I had to sneak around and hide in order to avoid running into him…

Huh… He isn’t scary at all…
　
I didn’t feel intimidated by him at all. It was to the point where I wanted to say, ‘What was I afraid about back then?’ On the contrary, his rebellious look made him look childish and I had to resist the urge to laugh at him.

“Nice place you got here. Hey, give me some money Niihama, my friend. I forgot to bring some money for my lunch.”
　
He was looking at me with a smirk on his face, as if I was a fool. In fact, at the time, I was probably a lowly sucker for him. But… I’m different now.

“Hah? Are you dumb? Why would I give you my money?”
“Wh-wha?”
　
Maybe he didn’t expect me to reject him, but he looked surprised.

“Are you fucking with me?! You think you’re good enough to talk back to me like that? Don’t get cocky you piece of shit! I’ll beat the crap out of you!”
“Shut the fuck up. I don’t have time for your delinquent plays.”
“P-plays? …You fucker, you really want me to hit you, don’t you?”
“I mean, everything is just acting, right? You aren’t a real delinquent, you are just acting like one. You don’t have big enough balls to actually hit someone, hah!”
　
Yes, I didn’t know it at the time, but I never heard anything about him actually hitting someone. He didn’t try to defy the teachers or anything too. He was clearly not a real delinquent, he was all talk.

“Also, I know you went around taking small amounts of money from a number of students so that everything won’t become a big deal. If you were to take a big amount of money, you’ll get in trouble after all. Acting like a delinquent when you don’t have the balls to become one, pathetic.”
“Oi, oi! …You fucker! Niihama! You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?! I’m going to show you!…”

As I expected, Hino’s face turned red and he snapped. He threatened me with his signature loud voice, but I wasn’t green enough anymore for such threats to work. (TLN: green means naive or newbie btw if I remember correctly)
　
In my former life as a corporate slave, my bosses had threatened me in various ways.

‘You have to do this job. Otherwise, I’ll lower your job evaluation.’
‘Stick with me. Starting tomorrow, your job is going to be organizing supplies in an underground warehouse that hasn’t been organized for years.’
‘There is no such thing as power harassment! Say things like this one more time, I’ll turn you into a harasser!’
　
I was often moved to tears by the immense power of the powerful people who controlled the small world of the company.

Compared to that, he’s just a powerless kid. No matter how loudly he shouts, it doesn’t scare me.

“So, what are you gonna do? You wanna hit me? Then, do it. C’mon, do it. What? You can’t do it now because we’re in the middle of a crowd? Look at you, all barks but no bite. In the end you’re scared of getting suspended, what a joke.”
“You fucking nerd! …Don’t fuck with me!”

Hino extended his hand toward me.
　
It would have been convenient for me if he had punched me, but he was aiming for the wallet in my hand.
　
He took my wallet, which contained the three thousand yen that my mother had given me.

“Ha! I’ll take your wallet today as a punishment for being so cocky! Well, inside there is… The heck? It’s only three thousand?”
　
Only 3,000 yen.
　
Hahaha, only 3,000 yen, he said.
　
This little brat… How dare he…!

“Don’t think it’s over, next time I’ll make sure–”
　
He was about to leave, but stopped in mid-sentence.
　
It was because I grabbed him by the chest with both my arms.

“You fucker… What do you think you–”
“Shut the fuck up.”
　
When I looked at him with anger, he stared back at me. The fake delinquent’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t been expecting an aggressive response from me.

“You’re going to take the money, aren’t you?”
　
The voice that slipped out of my mouth sounded more cold-hearted than he had ever heard it.

“You said it was only three thousand yen and you tried to take it from me.”
“Yeah? So wha–”
“Don’t fuck with me!”
　
When I shouted loudly, Hino and the students around him froze.

“What’s three thousand yen, you fucker?! …Do you have any idea how much hard work it takes to earn that much?”
　
I was completely pissed.
　
No doubt, Hino had never earned any money on his own.
　
He didn’t understand the weight and value of money at all.
　
I was incredibly angry that such a brat had tried to take the money my mother had earned from her work.

“I work on the keyboard so hard that my arms are killing me! Sometimes you have to bow and scrape while crazy clients yell at you! If I made even one mistake, they would call me idiot, dumb or even told me to kill myself!”
　
It should be an excusable offense for a kid who didn’t know what he’s doing to act like a delinquent and carelessly take other people’s money. It was beyond the scope of what can be allowed for ignorance.

“I don’t care how much you pretend to be a delinquent, you’re just a shitty little who still depends on your parents for everything! Next time you try to wrangle some of my parents’ hard-earned money! I’m going to kill you… got it?”
“Ah… Oh…”
“I said… DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”
“A-ahh…”
　
Perhaps my anger at the idiot for taking my money so lightly had taken effect, Hino replied while staring at me in confusion.
　
I took my hand off the fake delinquent’s chest, retrieved my wallet, and left. I was perfectly aware that I was attracting a lot of attention.