"You don't know?" Rio asked.
"Yeah..." the girl nodded sadly.
"But you know who I am, right?"
"Haruto? Haruto... Haruto is... just Haruto."
"That's not much of an answer. Okay, then why do you know me?"
Her somewhat philosophical yet redundant answer made Rio give a
strained smile and change his line of questioning. She reached up to touch
Rio's cheek gently and, after a beat, squeezed his hand. It felt so natural for
her to be doing so... Rio simply stood there and held his hand out as she
wanted. Her hand felt so unreal, it was almost artificially drained of life —
yet at the same time, it was strangely warm.
"I am... connected to Haruto."
"Connected to me?" Rio didn't really understand what she was saying.
"Yup. But now is not the time... Haruto, I only belong to you, and I will
always be by your side. Your weaknesses, your strengths, your everything —
I accept them all. So don't give up. Don't be afraid. And believe in yourself a
little."
"W... Why...?"
A dumbfounded expression overcame Rio's face; he was just barely able
to find his voice. The girl smiled as though she had regained some of her lost
emotion.
"Because you're the only one left for me... for... for what?" she said,
blinking with a somewhat confused and mystified expression. Then, the girl
widened her eyes with a gasp as her figure suddenly started to fade away.
"...Sorry. It looks like... time's up."
"Time?" Rio asked the girl, but she didn't answer him.
"Sorry. I can only... do this much... for you. Sweet... dreams..."
She hugged Rio softly. Her eyes sluggishly struggled to stay open, as
though her consciousness was fading away. Rio, too, followed her into that
darkness soon after.
Then, not long after, another voice —
"Haru-kun."
He thought he heard a familiar voice. A girl. Rio knew this girl's voice...
No, Amakawa Haruto knew this girl's voice. The memories he had
desperately tried to seal so long ago came rushing back to him clearly, as
though they had happened just yesterday.
"Wake up, Haru-kun!"
Haruto's childhood friend — Ayase Miharu — was shaking his shoulder.
"...I'm awake."
"Ah! Haru-kun's up!"
Haruto blinked his eyes open against the dazzling light to see Miharu
beaming at him. Miharu's smile... Just seeing it made Haruto happy, filling
his heart with warmth.
"What's up...? I was sleeping so nicely too."
He glanced at the clock. It was still early in the morning.
"Don't give me that! Today's the day of the excursion! You have to get
up early!"
Excursion? Why are we going on excursions at this age? Wait, that's
right! Today was the first excursion of first grade — Haruto widened his eyes
with a gasp as he remembered that. But after a few moments hesitation...
"Hmm. Good night, Mii-chan," Haruto said, burrowing back into his
blankets, despite being more than awake now.
He was really looking forward to the excursion — that was why he
hadn't been able to sleep the night before. But for some reason, he really
wanted to spend the day with just Miharu. However, she had been really
looking forward to the excursion, so she whined like a child whose precious
item was being taken from her.
"Y-You can't do that! We agreed to sit next to each other on the bus and
go together!"
Oh, that kind of sounds tempting too, Haruto thought at Miharu's words,
but he made no move to leave the blankets. Wanting to see her reaction, he
couldn't help but tease her a little.
"Come on, Haru-kun, get up. Pretty please?" Miharu shook Haruto
gently.
"Mmph..." Haruto grumbled in response. Then, somewhere next to the
bed, Miharu began fidgeting with something.
I guess I should get up now, Haruto thought, but just as he did —
"Geez! I'll definitely get you up!" Miharu said, jumping on top of his
blankets.
"Whoa, huh?! Wait! Hold it, Mii-chan! I surrender! I'll get up!"
Haruto resurfaced from his blankets in a hurry to find Miharu smiling
smugly down at him.
"Fufu! Good morning, Haru-kun."
Honestly, that cuteness was unfair... But Haruto wasn't about to take it lying down, either.
"There!" Haruto mischievously dragged Miharu into the blankets with
him.
"W-Wah! Haru-kun!" Miharu blushed furiously at being hugged so
tightly by him under the blankets.
"Do you want me to let go?" Haruto asked cheekily. Miharu was in front
of him. That was enough to make him very happy.
"Uugh... What's wrong, Haru-kun? You're awfully bold today."
"It's because I love Mii-chan. Well? Do you want me to let go?"
He really was being bold today, Haruto thought impassively as he spoke.
"Y-You're being mean, Haru-kun. There's no way I want you to let go."
Miharu flushed an even deeper scarlet as she mumbled.
"Really. ...Then is it okay if we stay like this a little longer?"
Just for now, at least, Haruto thought as he hugged Miharu.
For an instant, it felt as though Miharu would drift somewhere far away...
Haruto continued to pester Miharu to distract himself from his worries.
"Yeah," Miharu nodded with a small smile.
Haruto gently brushed away strands of Miharu's hair, then gently stroked
her cheek.
...But his hands suddenly refused to move, as though they had been
restrained by something.
Before he knew it, Miharu's warmth disappeared.
"Please get up."
Haruto — no, Rio — returned to reality, summoned awake by someone's
voice. It was an unfamiliar voice; one of a young girl, but definitely not
Miharu's.
Let me stay asleep, I want to see this dream a little longer... Rio deeply
wished for that from the bottom of his heart. However, his consciousness
wouldn't allow that now that he was awake.
"Um, please get up."
Rio was shaken awake with a blink. Then, his expression immediately
changed into one of devastation. Of course, it wasn't Miharu before him — it
was the elf girl Orphia and the dwarf girl Alma.
Was it... a dream? Rio thought hazily through his burning fever and
fatigue.
An indescribable feeling of loss overcame him, making tears fall
suddenly from his eyes.
Amakawa Haruto was dead, and he would never meet Miharu again. That
was why he did his best to stop remembering Miharu. The thoughts and
feelings he had sealed until now flowed out of him alongside his tears.
Rio still had regretful feelings towards Miharu inside him; his dream just
now had emphasized that keenly. However, even with that awareness, Miharu
did not exist in this world.
Reality was cruel.
"Erm... Good morning." Orphia said hesitantly as Rio sadly shed his
tears.
"Good... morning," Rio responded on reflex, despite not seeing Orphia
and Alma at all. He bit down on his lip in an attempt to stifle his emotions.
Suddenly, he felt someone wrap a blanket over his body. They probably
couldn't bear seeing a similar-aged boy in his underwear, even one of a
different race. Well, who cares about that, Rio thought offhandedly.
An awkward silence fell over the room — over Orphia and Alma, to be
precise. That was when the door flew open with a bang.
"Onii-chan!"
Latifa appeared in the doorway. A few moments later, Sara and Uzuma
entered, too. As soon as Latifa entered the room, she burst into tears and
clung onto Rio's horizontal form in the bed.
"...Why are you crying, Latifa?"
"Because you were gone, Onii-chan. I don't want that... Please don't
leave me. Stay by my side, please?"
"I'm right here, aren't I?" Rio said gently with a strained smile. Seeing
Latifa cry had somehow made him calm down instantly; his emotional
disposition had disappeared.
"Then will you always be with me? You'll never leave, right?" Latifa
asked, squeezing Rio's body even tighter.
"Oh, dear. Could you hug me a little softer? It hurts," Rio said with a
troubled face, evading the question.
He couldn't answer yes. If he did, it would probably be a lie. It felt
somewhat shameful to lie directly to the face of a young girl who admired
him.
"Huh, you're hurt? Why — What's this?!" Latifa finally noticed the cuffs
around Rio's hands and feet. She tried to pry them open by force, but it was
futile.
"Don't worry about me. Did they do anything bad to you, Latifa?"