Utsuro no Hako:Volume1 0th time (2) (ch21)

Utsuro no Hako:Volume1 0th time (2)

Aah, I'm going to die.
While still living on for an unbelievable time after being blown away by the truck, this thought continued on and on. I can't possibly survive such an impact. I'm going to die. My life ends here.
N-No, I don't want to---
These are the silly words of someone who has never seriously thought about the concept of death, despite having thought about dying several times.
To die. To end. There's nothing ahead. I've realized its dreadfulness, now that I'm about to die.
If this was going to happen anyway, then couldn't it at least have happened before love changed my world!

By now, I know love!
I have a goal!
I haven't done anything for him yet!
---this is just too cruel.

"Mhm, a situation that draws my interest."
A man (woman?) appears out of the blue. I have no clue how he appeared. To begin with, why can he even speak to me normally? Neither can I clearly perceive where he is standing. I'm twisted all over so I don't even know which direction I'm looking. And still, that person doesn't avert his eyes from me. This is an impossible situation. Ah, no, that's not right. I am at another, unfamiliar place and stand in front of that person. I don't know where I am. I don't receive any impression from this place, but it's a special one.
"Do not get me wrong, I am not talking about your accident. Such incidents are ordinary and happen everywhere in the world. What draws my interest is that this accident happened close to the boy I am interested in."
What is he talking about?
I have heard that you see a playback of your life when you die, but I haven't heard anything about being brought to this weird place here and talking to that person.
Is that person the grim reaper or something?
A person who doesn't look like anyone, while looking like everyone.
But one thing is for sure. He is charming. His appearance, his voice, his fragrance fascinate me.
"I want to see how this boy reacts to 'boxes' used in his vicinity. Ah, but I am also interested in how you use your 'box' of course. After all I am interested in all of mankind. Well, but naturally you are just an «extra»."
Saying these incomprehensible things, that person smiled.
"Do you have a wish?"
A wish?
Of course I have one.
"This is a 'box' that grants any wish."
I accept it.
I immediately realize that this is the real thing. Therefore, I'm resolute to not let go of this 'box'.
Please, if I can't change this end, then please, just let me redo a bit. I'm fine even if it's just yesterday. There is something I have left to do. Even if it's just yesterday, I can convey my feelings. If I'm able to do just this, I'm sure that I won't have any regrets. No matter what his answer is, I won't have any regrets. Please, turn back the time for a tiny little bit. I'm aware that this is not possible. But still, it's what I wish for.
When I wished so, the 'box' opened like the mouth of a carnivore and vanished, merging with the space.
Alright. It should be fine like this.
"Fufu--"
The charmingly smiling person comments on my wish with a single sentence.
"--that is what you get from restraining yourself."
Then he disappears.
And I get thrown out of this special place that didn't leave any impression on me.
I arrive in a chamber enveloped in darkness, in which an intensive stench strikes my nose as if countless corpses had been left alone here. It's a disgusting room, to which a prison would seem like paradise in comparison. Aah, if I stay here for just an hour I'll collapse. But the room starts to get painted in white. The whiteness makes me lose sight of the boundaries of the room. Then, as if someone ignited an incense made of sweets, a sweet fragrance erases the rotten smell. Each time I blink, necessary things like a blackboard, desks and chairs appear. The room finishes being filled up and the only thing left is to call the necessary actors. Insert the people that entered our classroom yesterday. If that's done, I can redo things. I can redo yesterday.
But no matter how cleanly painted over this place may be, it is still that chamber worse than any prison.
The world after my death, packed with white, white,　white hope.
So, yeah. If it looks like I can't achieve my goal---
---I will have to destroy this box myself. Before the pretty decoration here comes unstuck, exposing that shameful sight to me.