Novel 'Reincarnation Can Go to Hell' Chapter 3: The Taste of Reappearance

We decided to do our shopping at a supermarket about a fifteen-minute walk from school, and then head to his place.

“Takoyaki is fine for the menu, right?”

He brought it up just as the supermarket sign came into view.

“It’s your birthday, so why don’t you just do whatever you want?”

Although I gave a plausible reply, it wasn't entirely sincere. For this 'body' that has lost its sense of taste, choosing what to eat is synonymous with choosing which nutrients to consume, and it is literally a joyless act. Therefore, 'anything is fine' was my true feeling.

“Then let’s go with takoyaki.”

According to the memories of this 'body,' it seems he has ordered takoyaki every time there was some kind of celebration since he was young. It appears his favorite food hasn't changed even now that he's a high school student.

“Huh? Shinsei?”

Just before entering the supermarket, we heard a voice calling his name from the direction of the bicycle parking area, and we both turned toward the sound. There stood an unexpected person, holding a bicycle wire lock in his hand and looking our way.

“Eh? Ryuji?”

Shinsei looked surprised, stopped entering the supermarket, and walked toward Ryuji Makuhara, so I followed along behind him, sneaking after them.

“That’s rare, meeting you in a place like this.”
“Ryuji, I thought you’d be out at karaoke with some girls or something.”
“I’m not really in the mood for that today. I actually thought you were the type who wasn't very interested in girls, Shinsei.”
“Wh-! That’s not it! Kasumi is a childhood friend from way back, and today she... well, she said she’d celebrate my birthday.”

I wondered why he was phrasing it as if I had offered, but pointing it out was a hassle, so I let it slide.

“Oh, I see. So today is your birthday, Shinsei. In that case, would you mind if I joined in the celebration too?”
“Eh?”

I was startled by the sound that escaped my lips and hurriedly clamped my mouth shut. However, at this distance, I couldn't hide it.

“Oh, am I intruding, perhaps?”

There didn't seem to be any teasing intent behind those words; he was wearing a genuinely refreshing smile.

“N-no!? You’re not intruding at all!? I’m actually happy you asked!”

I had a headache over Shinsei’s overreaction, which was likely to cause a misunderstanding, but Ryuji Makuhara’s response to it was perfectly reasonable.

“I see. That’s good then. I have to go home once, but where should we meet up?”
“Ah, in that case, I’d like you to come to my place, but...”

Watching their exchange out of the corner of my eye, I felt complicated emotions about Ryuji Makuhara coming along. Even though we had been in the same class since our first year, we hadn't really interacted much, so I couldn't quite grasp the right distance to keep. However, since Shinsei, the star of today, said it was fine for him to come, I hesitated to voice any objections.

“See you later then.”
“Yeah.”

As we headed into the supermarket, we heard the sound of a bicycle leaving the parking area behind us.

“Green onions, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and then octopus... I was told we have eggs, so next is green laver and okonomiyaki sauce... and maybe dried bonito flakes.”

Relying on the old memories of this 'body,' I walked around the supermarket, checking the ingredients in my head one by one. Then, a small jolt ran through the basket I was holding, and when I looked inside, strangely enough, cheese had been added.

“Why do we need cheese?”
“Eh, you don't know? It's super good if you put cheese in instead of octopus, you know?”
“Really?”
“For real.”

While I felt somewhat skeptical of his words, I didn't bother removing the cheese from the basket, and instead continued around the store to add the remaining ingredients on top of it.

“I think this should be enough.”

Having gathered all the ingredients for making takoyaki, I handed the shopping basket to Shinsei with a bit of hesitation. In any case, the meager coins in my wallet couldn't cover a purchase of this size, so I had no choice but to let him pay for the ingredients, but I still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt.

“Okay. Then next is—”

Thinking he would head straight to the checkout, I tilted my head in wonder at what he intended to buy as I watched him turn his back on the register and start walking. But the answer was simple and clear; he was heading toward the snack aisle.

“Kasumi, you can pick whatever you like too.”

He said that while tossing snacks into the basket one after another. I felt like I saw a glimpse of his old self in that, and letting out a sigh that was neither relief nor exasperation, I decided to head to the supermarket exit a step ahead of him.

However, on the way, I stopped in my tracks when something caught the corner of my eye. I immediately took out my wallet, counted the coins I had, and after confirming it was just enough to pay, I picked it up and headed to the register.

He lived in a studio apartment. Opening the door marked 201, he beckoned me in.

“Excuse me.”

I took off my shoes in the small entryway where there was barely enough room to stand, and stepped into the room. Given his sloppy personality, I had expected it to be messy, but the room was unexpectedly tidy.

“Make yourself at home. It’s a small place, though.”

He gave a wry smile as he unfolded the legs of the folding desk that had been leaning against the wall.

“Oh, there’s a shower room.”

Considering the area taken up by the entrance and the size of the room, I had suspected there might be some kind of space next to the entrance, and I had found a white door in the room facing that space.

“It’s combined with the toilet, though. But all things considered, I’m grateful to have it. Well, if you want to take a bath, you’ll have to go to a public bathhouse.”

He said this while starting to change clothes in front of me without a hint of shame. Then again, he was just taking off his uniform to reveal a T-shirt and shorts, so there didn't seem to be anything he needed to hide.

“Ah, shoot. Kasuka, did you happen to bring a jersey or something today? It’d be bad to cook in your uniform, right...”

He was displaying his characteristic lack of planning here. Even though he looked like he was living alone properly, it seemed those scatterbrained parts of him hadn't changed.

“It’s fine, I always carry one with me.”

Because of my peculiar morning routine, I always carry a jersey and T-shirt with me, so his concern was unfounded. But that wasn't the issue.

“So? Are you telling me to change here?”

I felt a slight sense of shame even as I said it myself. However, he seemed to feel it far more than I did; his face turned bright red to the tips of his ears as he blurted out,

“W-wha!? No, there’s a shower room, right! Don’t say weird things!”

His flustered state was amusing, so I burst out laughing. Then, with both teasing and a warning in mind, I emphasized,

“Don’t peek, okay?”
“I won’t peek!”

In the midst of this exchange, 'I' felt that this kind of relationship was nice. It wasn't quite friends, and it wasn't quite lovers; it was the unique distance of childhood friends. There was a unique sense of peace in this relationship that I had never felt before.

“Oh, that’s right. Kasuka.”

He called out to stop me as I took my change of clothes out of the bag and was about to enter the shower room.

“Why don’t you take a shower?”
“Eh?”
“Uh, well... you know, you don’t really get many chances for that, right?”

Though he was hesitant, he was making a suggestion I hadn't expected at all.

“You can use the towel sitting over there, and if you put your change of clothes on the toilet side and partition it with the curtain, they won’t get wet.”

Looking in the direction he pointed, I could see several folded towels stacked on top of a three-tier storage box placed next to the shower room entrance. I turned my gaze back to him, intending to tease him, and spoke the words.

"You're not expecting anything weird, are you?"
"I told you I'm not!"

Of course, I knew his suggestion came from pure kindness. However, there is such a thing as courtesy even among friends. Since it would be rude to push him any further, I concluded with these final words.

"Well then, I'll take you up on your offer."

With that, I took a towel and went into the shower room.

Living a life so filthy that I was lucky to go to a public bath once a week, I enjoyed the shower as much as I could without burdening his living expenses. I wiped the water droplets off with the clean white towel, put on my underwear, and left the shower room wearing a T-shirt and the school-issued shorts embroidered with my name.

"Oh, Isosawa-san. Sorry to intrude."

The one who called out to me was Ryuji Makuhara, whom I had bumped into at the supermarket earlier. It seems he arrived while I was taking a shower. Not knowing how to respond, I gave a slight nod, then went over to where Shinsei was heading toward the small kitchen and spoke to him.

"What should I do with the used towel?"
"Oh, uh, just put it in the washing machine over there—"

He stopped chopping the green onions and looked at me, his words trailing off. He looked blank, and not understanding why, I tilted my head and asked again.

"Should I just put the towel in the washing machine?"
"Oh, ah, yeah."

It was a somewhat vague response, but I threw the towel into the washing machine as instructed anyway.

"You know, Isosawa-san, your hair is beautiful."
"Huh?"

Suddenly, an unexpected compliment was thrown at me from behind. Caught off guard by the sudden situation, I was flustered and didn't know how to respond.

"Oh, um... thank you."

Seeing the smile Ryuji Makuhara showed at that moment, I understood. He was a natural-born lady-killer. Minami Ishimoto must have fallen for this. His words and actions had enough destructive power to make me certain of that.

And I was shaken by the situation, which was something that would never happen at school. Trying to dispel this strange atmosphere somehow, I spoke to Shinsei again as he headed to the kitchen.

"Shinsei, let me take over cutting the ingredients. It's your birthday, so you should relax."
"I don't really mind, though?"
"I mind! You paid for the ingredients, so let me at least do this."
"O-oh. Is that so?"

Pressured by me, he reluctantly gave up the kitchen. On the cutting board was a half-cut green onion. It felt a bit thick to be called julienned, but it seemed much better than it used to be. Perhaps his cooking skills had improved somewhat through living alone.

"Should I help with something?"

Turning around at those words, I saw Ryuji Makuhara standing next to me. The words "It's okay" were on the tip of my tongue, but after a moment's thought, I picked up the takoyaki flour.

"Then, could you mix this takoyaki flour? It says on the back of the bag what needs to be mixed in."
"Okay."

As I handed him the takoyaki flour, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Shinsei looked somewhat dissatisfied. It was likely frustration at being the only one left with nothing to do, but I thought that on his birthday, he should just be content to be taken care of.

　Sizzle.

　The heated takoyaki plate was completely covered in a thin, cream-colored batter. I filled half with cheese and half with octopus, and as the batter that had spilled out of the hemispherical indentations began to cook and harden, I used a bamboo skewer to push it back into the holes. Then, gauging the moment when the inside was still runny and not yet fully cooked, I used the skewer to deftly rotate them.

"Shinsei and Isosawa, you're both quite skilled at this."
"Well, yeah. Since it's my favorite food, we've often made takoyaki together since we were kids."
"I see. Actually, this is my first time having a takoyaki party."
"You'll be amazed. It's definitely better than the stuff from the festival stalls."
"That's something to look forward to."

While listening to their conversation without really paying attention, I silently kept flipping the takoyaki. After a while, they became loose enough to rotate by inertia when tapped on top with the skewer, and they finished with a golden-brown color all over.

"Shinsei, bring the plates."
"Coming right up."

I placed the cooked takoyaki onto the large plate he held out, being careful not to mix the cheese ones with the octopus ones. Once I had finished moving all the takoyaki to the plate, I drizzled them with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise, and finally sprinkled them with dried green seaweed and bonito flakes.

"There, all done."
"Awesome! Well then, let's dig in."

The clock on the wall had already passed three in the afternoon, and our hunger, having not eaten lunch, had reached its limit.

"Hot!"

Shinsei, who had thoughtlessly bitten into a takoyaki with gusto, was opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, trying to cool the takoyaki he had on his tongue. The scene synchronized perfectly with the memories within this "body."

"This is certainly incomparable to the festival stalls."

Ryuji Makuhara shared his thoughts after eating one of the takoyaki.

"Right!? Don't hold back, keep eating."
"Thanks. But isn't Shinsei the guest of honor today?"
"Oh, that's right."
"Honestly, Shinsei is the same as ever."

Glancing at the two of them chatting, I also reached for a takoyaki. To avoid repeating Shinsei's mistake, I blew on it two or three times before carefully bringing it to my mouth. The crispy outer shell broke, and the piping hot filling spilled out. Inside was the melted, gooey cheese.

"Delicious..."

I was astonished. Setting aside all concerns about the ingredients or the fact that it was freshly baked, I simply felt that it was delicious.

I was able to feel that it was delicious.

Praying that this wasn't a hallucination, I hurriedly shoved the remaining half into my mouth. Just like before, my tongue could definitely taste the takoyaki. This 'body' had regained the sense of taste that I hadn't been able to experience even once since losing it several years ago.

Hey, Yu?

When I looked up after being called by name, I saw Shinsei looking at me with a somewhat anxious expression. Not understanding the intent behind his look, I waited for his next words, wondering what was wrong.

Why are you crying?
Huh?

It was then that I first realized my cheeks were wet with transparent droplets.

Oh, what? What is this?

I hurriedly wiped them away with my hand. But as if realizing it was too late, I couldn't stop the tears that kept flowing no matter how many times I wiped them, and I ended up crying out loud right there, not caring that the two of them were watching.

Geez, don't scare me like that. I thought I'd accidentally made wasabi takoyaki from the start.
Don't make something like that, you idiot.

I rubbed my reddened eyes and protested to Shinsei, who had produced a tube of wasabi from out of nowhere.

I was surprised too. I never imagined Oisawa-san had a taste disorder.

Although I had confessed to having a taste disorder, I didn't intend to tell someone I had only just started talking to properly today about the background behind it, so Ryuji Makuhara dismissed it as just an illness.

Well, since it's cured, that's all that matters, so let's have a blast today!

The takoyaki party, which had been temporarily interrupted by my sudden weeping, resumed at his words. The batter, enough for over four servings, was shaped into balls one after another and disappeared into our stomachs.

Ignoring my protests, Shinsei forcibly made a bomb without octopus, without cheese, but with wasabi, and mixed it up when transferring it to the plate, shouting, 'It's Russian roulette!' However, he ended up drawing that bomb himself on the very first round, and the fact that he performed such a magnificent self-destruction made not only Ryuji Makuhara but also me laugh until my sides hurt. Laughing this much was an experience that this 'body'—and 'I'—had forgotten for a very long time.

By the time everyone was satisfied and stopped eating, about half a large plate of takoyaki and a No. 5 cake, with exactly one-quarter left, remained on the table. The cake was something Ryuji Makuhara had ordered through a delivery service.

Huh? Ryuji, where are you going?

While we were enjoying playing cards and Uno, Shinsei stopped Ryuji Makuhara as he slowly stood up from his seat and headed toward the entrance.

I forgot to tell my parents I'd be late. Oh, and I also need to tell them I won't be needing dinner tonight.

He said that with a wry smile, made a gesture of holding a phone to his ear with his right hand, and then stepped out of the entrance. Thinking this was my only chance, I held out the item I had prepared in my pocket toward Shinsei.

Shinsei, here.
Hm?

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I held out my left hand without meeting his eyes, clutching the box of caramels he had given me that one night.

A birthday present. It's all I could manage to get, but...

It was lucky that I was able to find something that was originally meant to be sold as a souvenir at the supermarket, but because of its nature, it was priced on the high side at 500 yen, so I could only afford to buy one.

He looked blank for a moment, then took the box of caramels from my hand and said with a beaming smile:

Yu, thanks!

Time passed at a speed I hadn't experienced in years, and before I knew it, the sun had set and the veil of night had begun to fall. At the same time, the modest birthday party came to an end. As I went down the stairs of the outer corridor with him, Ryuji Makuhara was waiting for us below, straddling his road bike.

It was fun today, Shinsei. And thank you for everything, Isobawa-san.

Thinking that I hadn't really done anything to deserve his thanks, I replied, You're welcome. Seeing Ryuji Makuhara treat me the same way he treated the other students, despite me being an outcast in class, made me realize I had misunderstood him. At the very least, he didn't seem to be just a womanizer.

I guess the next time we meet will be after summer vacation.
Yeah. Good luck with the tournament during summer vacation, Shinsei.
You bet!

After leaving those words of encouragement for Shinsei, Ryuji Makuhara pedaled his road bike and disappeared into the darkness of the night. As I watched him go, I finally began to feel the weight of the fact that I had to go home, and I gradually started to feel gloomy.

Well... shall we go?
...Yeah.

The voice I let out had lost its luster and was as dark and sunken as usual. But it wasn't just from simple melancholy. A certain conflict had arisen within me.

By the way, how long does it take from here?

I asked the question that had popped into my head, just to distract myself. So, the question itself had no special meaning. However, he hesitated for a few seconds for some reason, then looked in the opposite direction and muttered in a tone that sounded like he was bluffing.

About forty minutes, I guess...?
Huh?

One of his lies had been exposed.

“Kon, chikurappe.”

　Naturally, the words from when I lived in the countryside came back to me.

　Just like always, we walked home without exchanging a word. He matched his pace to my gradually shortening stride without saying a thing. Beside him, I was desperate to keep him from sensing my complicated state of mind.

“Hey, Yu.”

　When we finally reached the entrance to the side path, he called my name. I turned at the sound of his voice and met his gaze.

“Will you come cheer for me at the summer tournament?”
“Huh?”

　In that instant, an intense hesitation arose within me. No, to be precise, that wasn't quite right. It was merely that the hesitation which had already existed was now manifesting with concrete meaning.

“I really feel like I can make it to nationals this year.”

　I knew he had been putting in the effort for a long time. In fact, he had won the regional tournament last year and made it all the way to participating in the tournament for a ticket to nationals. Last year, he had suffered a defeat in the first round of that tournament because he had the bad luck of facing one of the favorites to win the national title, but he must be burning for revenge this year.

“...I’ll think about it.”

　“I” was wavering. Today was trying to change something about “me.”

“The tournament is in two weeks, so let me know by then.”

　After saying that, he turned on his heel and ran off toward his apartment, which was by no means close. I watched him go, then began to walk the rest of the way home slowly.

　My hand, which I had casually put in my jersey pocket, touched a small lump. It was a piece of the gift I had given Shinsei, which he had shared with me, saying, “Eat it and enjoy the taste.”

　It was ridiculous to hope for the possibility of happiness that would match this misfortune. I should just move on to the next thing already. Even though I thought I had decided that, “I” could not hide my confusion at the current situation where my resolve from this morning was wavering.

　I took out my smartphone and opened the chat screen with him on social media. The unsent message saved by the app was displayed there.

　Now, I didn't know how to handle this message. Should I send it or not? Before I knew it, I was standing still, staring at the screen. Only the rustling of the forest and the chirping of insects flowed by, and all other time stood still.

　If I hadn't hesitated at this moment, perhaps my future fate might have changed.

　Suddenly, my mouth was covered from behind. While I was stunned by the sudden event, I dropped my belongings and struggled desperately to push the hand away. However, the next moment, a sharp pain shot through my neck, coursing through my entire body and forcing it to convulse. Even after the stimulation, which lasted for several seconds, ceased, it still robbed my body of its freedom, and without being allowed to resist, I was blindfolded, gagged, and my hands and feet were bound. A stinging pain shot through my wrists, and then I was thrown into what seemed to be the inside of a car.

As my consciousness rapidly faded, I desperately screamed for help. However, that voice was crushed at my lips by the gag, becoming nothing more than a moan. Just as I could no longer even perceive the swaying of the moving car, the last thing I thought of was his carefree smile.

And then, 'I' once again looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling from my memories.