If I had to pick the most memorable scene from the animation I watched during my childhood, it would undoubtedly be this phrase.
Dum dum dum…
“Next time!”
I don’t know what it’s like in Japan, but when I was a kid, the animations I watched often had the network cutting out bits just to squeeze in another advertisement. They didn’t really cut the main story, but the opening and ending themes became the sacrificial lambs.
They’d edit just the part where the title comes up in the opening, and then the animation would start right away. At the end, instead of an ending theme, you’d see “Next time!” right after the ads.
And every time I saw that phrase, I felt a sense of relief.
“Next time” basically meant exactly that. It meant the same thing as, “We’ll have more of this animation!”
So here I was, watching an animation on TV without any opening or ending, feeling wistful as I watched the episode end, and then feeling reassured when I saw “Next time!” I’d wait with my heart racing for that “next time” to come around next week.
But eventually, there’s always an end.
No matter how long the animation is, that final episode always comes. Even if it’s a collection of unrelated short episodes, it’s the same.
When the episodes prepared for the year come to an end, instead of seeing “Next time!” you see, “Thank you for your love up until now!”
And every time I saw that, I felt a lump in my heart.
It’s as if I felt that once that line passed, something wouldn’t come back again, that kind of feeling.
Isn’t it strange?
Even though it’s not in an animation, the feeling I’m having right now is like that.
“Feeling empty?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you!”
For some reason, I answered like this because I didn’t want to lose against Lucas.
It felt like I had to see this at least once, so I came to find Lucas.
Not just him. Before, I had met Bella, Jayden, and Damien. I hadn’t met the Emperor yet, though.
Surprisingly, it seemed like these people didn’t have any particular desire toward me. Damien was the type who didn’t show much emotion because he was a stiff guy by nature, but Bella greeted me with a somewhat laid-back expression, while Jayden welcomed me with a slightly overwhelming smile. During our light conversations, I even wondered if these two really were trapped.
I intentionally made the order of meeting Lucas and the Emperor the last on my list. It was because seeing these two was a bit… intimidating.
If I had to pick the people whose lives changed the most because of me, it would be these two. In a negative way, of course.
“Looks like you’ve taken off your mask?”
Lucas slouched on the table with his legs crossed, lifting up the front legs of his chair while leaning on the back two legs, saying so in a ridiculously laid-back posture. He had his hands clasped behind his head in what looked like multiple meanings.
“Guess you don’t need it anymore?”
“Really? It’s not like someone told you to do that?”
“Nope.”
I cut him off sharply.
“Well, given that you wouldn’t be here without a reason, it’s not like someone asked you to do this. Now that I think about it, you’ve always acted as you wanted from the beginning to the end.”
“You seem to remember everything.”
“Of course.”
Lucas frowned a bit.
“Why did you act like I pulled a fast one on you?”
At my words, Lucas stared at me intently.
After a long silence, Lucas snorted as if to say that it didn’t even matter.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“…….”
How ridiculous! It’s just like a terrestrial broadcast station cutting scenes just to shove in ads during the opening and ending of an animation.
“What are you sorry for?”
When I bluntly asked, Lucas looked at me as if surprised.
“Aren’t you resentful of me?”
“Why would I be?”
“Because I pushed you to death multiple times.”
“…….”
Oh, right.
I thought Lucas would remember how I “defeated him,” but on second thought, it wouldn’t just be those memories that came to mind.
He probably had many more memories of defeating me.
“Looks like you remember everything, huh?”
Before I realized I could turn back time, Lucas didn’t really dislike me. In fact, when he attacked me with a sword, it was probably more of a half-joking action than a serious attempt to kill me.
Wasn’t that called Baldur? I think in Norse mythology, the invincible one was teased by the gods by throwing various things at him, and that was just it. Lucas thought I’d dodge all those attacks and not get hurt.
In reality, if Lucas had wanted to, he could’ve easily beheaded me, who was just a little kid back then. Because he saw me as a somewhat funny opponent, he didn’t seriously swing the sword to kill me, so I just ended up bleeding a lot, with swords sticking into me or getting my arm or leg severed, or my waist almost cut in half.
And surprisingly, Lucas panicked every time. Yeah, that Lucas. He would go pale, tremble, freeze, and tongue-tie himself.
“I-I didn’t mean to—”
That was the line I heard most often in those situations.
The Emperor’s children thought they hadn’t mixed blood at that time, but there was a bond of sorts among us. Though we didn’t often see each other’s faces, we would occasionally ask how each other was doing when we met.
And Lucas, treating me like a real little sister, frequently teased me when I appeared.
What would a brother’s reaction be if he playfully pushed his little sister, and she broke her neck and died?
Since Lucas only remembered the outcomes, he probably had no idea what happened in between.
“So… did you hurt a lot?”
“What do you think?”
Lucas fell silent at my question.
And I found every one of Lucas’s reactions quite refreshing. The Lucas I knew had swung a sword at his little sister, thought it was unfair that I defeated him after I rewound time, and so he thought of killing me, making him a rather dangerously simple-minded person.
We probably weren’t understanding each other at all.
“I can’t even remember how many times I was slashed. It happened every time we met. And also when I dodged. It was good luck if I got slashed once and managed to dodge right after; it took me a few times rewinding time to escape.”
“I know.”
Lucas replied with a slightly dazed expression.
“That old guy said not to overlook how many times you tried by rewinding time. Back then, I thought I understood what that meant, but now that I think about it, my thoughts were extremely short-sighted.”
“…….”
I stared at Lucas for a long time, then spoke.
“Hey, are you really Lucas?”
“Of course I am. If I went through something so monumental, I’d learn something.”
“Pff.”
Should I praise him or not?
I pondered for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and said,
“Well, anyway, it’s practically all water under the bridge now. Plus, I’ve already killed you at least once, so I’ll settle for that.”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Lucas looked at me directly and asked.
“You killed me?”
“So what?”
“You?”
“Right.”
“How? By rewinding time so many times? Did you even try to assassinate me?”
“No, it wasn’t like that.”
I exhaled before continuing.
“It was just that I shot a warning shot while turning around, and it went out too accurately, piercing your neck.”
“…….”
At my words, Lucas turned pale.
“I actually died?”
“It seems you don’t really recall the memories of that time in detail. Thank goodness.”
“No, hey, thank goodness?”
At the very least, it would’ve been fortunate not to suffer from PTSD for the rest of your life after dying even once in the battlefield of that illusionary world.
“…… whatever.”
He seemed like he had a lot more questions to ask, but realizing I wasn’t inclined to answer any further, Lucas let out a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, let’s just pretend it never happened, just like you said.”
“Honestly, I’m the one who feels wronged here.”
“…… Yeah, you’re the more wronged one.”
Nodding at my additional comment, Lucas conceded.
“How’s the Sword Saint doing?”
“Too well, actually.”
“Let me out before the Sword Saint kicks the bucket. We need to settle who actually won.”
“I’m worried I might actually kill you, though. And the reason you’re here right now is because of what you did with the former Emperor, right? There’s nothing I can do about it. Maybe write a petition to the Crown Princess?”
At my words, Lucas sighed again.
… Saying sorry or whatever, it seems people really don’t change that easily.
Well, to be honest, even though I acted like that, I hadn’t totally cleared my resentment yet. Maybe I’d take a little more time to think it over.
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