My Blond, Dark-Skinned Childhood Friend Is Always Afraid I'll Turn Evil

In his past life, Furuya's impression of Chaki Natsuki was of a cold, pure-hearted person who seemed nothing like what his name suggested.

After being reborn, the younger Chaki Natsuki was still firmly set in his cold and indifferent ways.

Furuya: "Natsuki..."

Chaki Natsuki: "We're not close enough to call each other by our first names. Call me Chaki!"

Furuya: "...Chaki, come over to my place this weekend."

Chaki Natsuki: "I have plans with Akemi, so... no!"

Furuya: "...All right."

If anything, Chaki Natsuki was even colder toward him than he had been in his past life.

But he didn't seem nearly so cold with other people. Furuya happened to pass by and saw Chaki Natsuki chatting and laughing with Akemi, so he tilted his head in puzzlement.

Furuya: "Chaki, do you really hate me?"

One day, when they were alone, Furuya finally couldn't hold back his doubts and asked.

Chaki Natsuki: "No."

Furuya: "Then why are you so cold to me?"

Chaki Natsuki turned to him. "You're the one who's cold to me!"

What! He was cold to Chaki Natsuki? Furuya was stunned.

Chaki Natsuki's gaze sharpened. "You never really look at me... Who are you always looking at through me?!"

Furuya's pupils shook with shock.

The longer they knew each other, the stranger Furuya seemed to Chaki Natsuki.

When they first met:

At the clinic belonging to his childhood friend Akemi's family, Chaki Natsuki saw Furuya for the first time.

The unfamiliar, blond-haired, dark-skinned young man looked dazed and troubled in a way Chaki Natsuki couldn't understand. After a long moment, he finally greeted him.

Furuya: "Hi, Natsuki. I'm Furuya. You can call me Big Brother Rei."

Chaki Natsuki tilted his head. Were they close?

During an experiment:

Furuya, tentatively: "Chaki, what do you think about uploading consciousness? Are you interested in researching it?"

Chaki Natsuki: A word he'd never heard before?

While they were out together:

Furuya blurted out, "Chaki, here, your favorite dessert."

Chaki Natsuki: But he'd never even tried this dessert!

So... who was Furuya looking at through him?

Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, consciousness uploads, digital immortality, rejuvenation, time machines...

In his past life, while undercover in the distillery, Furuya had witnessed Chaki Natsuki lead one groundbreaking research project after another. As he advanced technology for all of humanity, he also made the distillery's position all but unshakable.

He must never let Chaki Natsuki fall into the distillery's hands again! Once Furuya realized he had been reborn, this was his only thought.

And so...

He prevented Chaki's parents from dying in a car accident and Chaki Natsuki from being adopted by the Miyano family and exploited, used what he knew from his past life to strike at the distillery's forces, and diverted the distillery's attention from the Miyano family...

With his short little legs, Furuya pulled off one extreme maneuver after another in a very short time, accomplishing all of the above. At last, in this life, he saw Chaki Natsuki for the first time.

Furuya: There's only one important thing left. In his past life, Chaki Natsuki strongly believed in the distillery's vision. What can I do in this life to stop him from going "dark" again?

Furuya gazed solemnly at the young Chaki Natsuki in the Miyano clinic.

Furuya: After all, he never wanted to be Chaki Natsuki's enemy, or the enemy of his... Schrodinger's lover.

Reader's guide:

1. Furuya is reborn as a child, and will make up for his own regrets himself.

2. In their past lives, Chaki Natsuki and Furuya were Schrodinger's lovers at the distillery. They were Schrodinger's lovers because their positions as an undercover agent and a true member of the distillery put them at odds, and Furuya didn't dare give himself over to the relationship completely.

Theme: Turn back time and fall in love with you