Afterword
I, Nora Usagi, decided I wanted to write a novel around the beginning of 2017.
It was when I had closed down my shop in Hase, Kamakura…
I’ve loved stories ever since I was a child, reading manga, anime, movies, and the hardboiled detective and mystery novels on my dad’s shelf. I think the first light novel I read was Ys. Kenzo Kitakata’s style and foundations of novel writing are my bible.
Novels are a wonderful medium that influence the reader’s emotions through text.
Once I started working, I got into reading light books (like ranobe) a lot. I have the type of personality where I feel restless if I’m not following text with my eyes during baths or meals.
When I closed down my shop and hit rock bottom in despair, I read a volume of a certain light novel (Weak Character Tomozaki-kun) on the train. Strangely, it felt like my depressed heart recovered.
At that time I decided in my heart that I would try writing a light novel someday.
I actually started writing quite a bit later, but that’s how I came to start posting on Narou.
Before I knew it, I had become a novelist from continuing to write. I think the total number of words I’ve written is over 250,000.
Rather than write long epic tales, I focused on completing works of 50,000-100,000 words. Even if it matched current trends, if I didn’t feel like writing it I wouldn’t continue. So without plotting and without studying writing techniques, I wrote freely based on feel.
As a child, after finishing reading a certain novel, I felt a sensation pierce my heart. I’ve fallen into that feeling at times with anime, movies, and games too. There’s an emotion of wanting to read more quickly and not wanting it to end coexisting together. Like Record of Lodoss war volume 2, Mikeneko Holmes volume 1, FFX, Xenogears, etc etc.
I wanted to write the kind of story that would pierce hearts like that.
This work, “Reset Youth”, is a work I poured my soul into writing. To be honest, there are agonizing parts as a light novel. There are many everyday, mundane scenes. But Toudou breaks it all down.
The protagonist of “Reset Youth” is Toudou. Without him, this story wouldn’t work.
And from the beginning of the story, he’s a character moving freely as he pleases.
I look forward to seeing how the story continues too. That’s why I’ll keep writing with my soul. I aim for a story that pierces the heart.
I understand this is an atypical work as a love comedy. To the editor who discovered a work like this, I’m grateful.
To the illustrator ReTake who drew the shocking illustrations, everyone involved with this work, the staff working at my shop, and my family who watched over me, I want to express my thanks.
–Truly, thank you very much.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Ebook Bonus Short Story
[Tanaka and Toudou’s First Meeting]
For me, Tanaka Haru, my part-time job is like a life lesson.
I can learn about society in a way I can’t at school. The older male coworkers sometimes bother me and it’s annoying,
but the female seniors and chef are really good people, so I’ve been able to enjoy continuing this job.
In the middle of my first year of high school, a weird guy joined my part-time workplace.
“I-I’m Toudou Tsuyoshi. I was introduced by the chef to work here.”
“Oh, I’m Tanaka. Nice to meet you.”
I tried to immediately walk away, but the guy named Toudou stopped me.
“No, the chef instructed me to have you teach me the work.”
“Huh? Seriously… Haah, fine then, I’ll start by teaching you dishwashing.”
“Understood. By the way, what kind of shop is this?”
“…What, you came to work here without even knowing that? How annoying.”
Toudou Tusyoshi was a weird guy. When he talked to me, his body was shaking. He seemed extremely nervous. At first I thought maybe he wasn’t used to women, but it was simply that he was bad at interacting with people.
Unlike with other guys, I didn’t feel any ulterior motives from him at all… That’s rare.
This was my first meeting with Toudou. At that time, despite his attitude, Toudou looked straight at me with cold eyes, and to be honest I thought he was a somewhat scary person.
But that impression gradually changed.
“Hey, you can’t put bleach in the washing machine! That’s not allowed!”
“Hmm? Isn’t this detergent?”
“Don’t just stand there spacing out, clear the customer’s dishes!”
“Clear the dishes…what does that mean? What should I do?”
“Ugh…you have to work with me until break time? Haah, what was the chef thinking…”
“The chef is a very nice person. You are kind to me too. You are a very good person.”
“W-What are you saying! It’s just work, that’s all!”
“You made the customer angry again!? What did you say this time…Come on, we have to go apologize together.”
“I’m sorry, Tanaka senpai. I’m always causing trouble.”
“It’s fine, really. It’s just work. And stop with the ‘senpai’ thing.”
My peaceful part-time job life was thrown into disarray…
Toudou is a really weird guy. He seems to lack common sense. But once you teach him a job, he remembers all the details perfectly, even without taking notes.
At first I thought he was scary, but it turns out he just doesn’t understand distance between people.
He seemed like a robot, but I realized he’s actually very emotionally sensitive.
When someone hurts him, Toudou desperately tries to understand their words like a child.
I didn’t want to see Toudou like that. At least when he’s with me, I don’t want him to feel that way.
One morning on the way to school, I saw Toudou walking alone. Since he was by himself, I tried to run over to him.
“Yo, Toudou– Huh?”
When I tried to call out to him, I saw a girl running over to Toudou. When the girl spoke to him, Toudou happily responded.
Toudou was smiling. It was the first time I’d seen that expression. I’d never seen him smile at work.
“Good morning, Tsuyoshi. Did you study properly for the test?”
“Yeah, more or less. How about you, Hanazono…”
I stood frozen, watching their backs as they walked away.
–Oh, so he does have friends. Even though he said he didn’t. They looked like they were getting along well. Should I tease him about it at work? I’ve never seen Toudou make a face like that with me…For some reason it’s kind of irritating.
Meaningless words keep spilling out in my head. It’s not like Toudou is anything more than a coworker. Not a friend or anything.
” …Sigh, I don’t understand the reason.”
For some reason, a sigh escaped, and I remember feeling a sense of darkness. I don’t know the reason. Because, you see, I’ve been alone for a long time.
“Hmm, so her name is Hanazono-san. She’s such a cute girl. You two looked good together. Are you dating?”
“N-No, we don’t have that kind of relationship. …There’s a faint affection, but I’m not sure.”
“Oh, really? Well, that’s cool, that’s cool. I’m rooting for you guys!”
“But I always end up causing trouble for her, so she probably dislikes me.”
“Eh, it doesn’t seem like that kind of atmosphere. Anyway, I have to get back to work. Let’s continue this later when I get off, okay?”
Somehow, at work I’d started casually chatting with Toudou. Toudou is interested in Hanazono. From what I can see, that girl probably has feelings for Toudou too.
As second-years in high school, our relationship stayed the same.
Coworkers, senior and junior. Toudou doesn’t try to get closer to me. And I…I’m scared to get close with people.
Because you never know what they’re really thinking deep down.
After changing out of our work clothes, Toudou was waiting for me at the shop’s back door like always. Our routine, on days we get off work together.
“Hey, hey, how was your date with Hanazono?”
“For some reason she got angry and went home…I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“Geez…as usual, huh. You should try being more straightforward…”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”
“Ah, nevermind.”
I thought this relationship would continue forever.
Toudou is an important coworker. Nothing more, nothing less. Not a friend, we don’t talk at school either.
I don’t know, thinking about it makes me feel a little lonely.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot to buy a juice from the vending machine. I’ll go get one now.”
“It’s fine, come on, let’s go home.”
Somehow, this routine had become comforting to me…
Actually, today my dad gave me an expensive-looking juice as a souvenir.
I thought Toudou, who likes juice, might be happy if I gave it to him. That’s why I brought it, even though it was heavy I only brought one.
“What’s wrong, Tanaka? I detect a rise in your body temperature and breathing irregularities.”
“Huh? N-nothing’s wrong!” His weird way of talking as usual…Ugh, whatever. Toudou, you’ve been working hard lately so I’ll give you this.”
I took out the juice in a glass bottle. Toudou stared intently at it.
“Th-that’s…such a delicious looking juice. …Is it really okay for me to have it?”
“I’m giving it to you, aren’t I! You’ve been making less mistakes lately, and you always listen to what I say right? It’d be rude not to accept it.”
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
“That’s how it is!”
Toudou accepted the juice from me and quickly opened it and started drinking. After two sips he froze up and stopped moving.
Still holding the bottle, he turned and looked at me. No…he was looking past me, staring into space.
“H-Hey, are you okay!?”
Toudou’s expression was like he was reliving a distant memory, looking sad and happy at the same time…like he was reflecting on his life up until now.
I’ve seen lots of adults because of my parents’ jobs, but right now Toudou looked incredibly mature
–like he was shaking off all those feelings and only his smile remained.
“Thank you, Tanaka. It’s really…delicious.”
“Eh!? A-ah, y-yeah…”
I don’t know what meaning was behind those words.
But I can’t take my eyes off of Toudou’s smile. It’s stuck in my head. My heart feels squeezed tight…
“Tanaka should have some too. We have to share this.”
Toudou’s half-finished juice…I-I’m not a middle schooler, it’s not embarrassing!
“R-right. Then I’ll have some too.”
Toudou and I are just coworkers, senior and junior. I don’t want him to see me shaken up.
I bring the bottle to my lips and drink the juice. I can’t even taste it. I can feel my face turning bright red.
“Mm, delicious. Hey, that’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh, Toudou.”
“Oh? Is that so, I laughed? I’m not really sure myself.”
“There you go again with the ‘not really sure’ stuff. You say that way too much. Anyway, go ahead and finish the rest. This is a present for you, Toudou.”
“I see, understood…Maybe I should give it to Hanazono instead.”
Ah, I must be jealous of Hanazono. Even though he’s a little odd, Toudou is very pure-hearted and relaxing to be around.
I should support them,
hope it works out between those two.
At that time, I felt something small sprouting deep in my heart…Even though it’s probably just my imagination.
“Tanaka, what’s wrong? You’ve stopped walking.”
“Nah, it’s nothing. Let’s hurry home!”
We’re just coworkers. Nothing more, nothing less.
…But, it would be nice if we could become friends someday.
As I walked ahead, I glanced back at Toudou’s broad back and thought that.
Suppressing the faint something welling up inside me–
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