It was supposed to be a relaxed and happy Sunday, but Iroha wasn't feeling all that cheerful.
She wasn't exactly sad or angry, either. Rather, she was... puzzled.
Yes, puzzled.
The reason for this confusion was, of course, the strange dream she had last night.
It wasn't that the content of the dream was especially odd.
She had experienced plenty of bizarre dreams before—like being chased by some unknown force, living in a house made of candy and cookies, or growing wings and flying through the sky like a bird.
We've all had those kinds of weird, inexplicable dreams that have no connection to reality, right?
But what made last night's dream so strange to her was its unusual nature.
The most puzzling part was the format of the dream.
In it, she found herself just sitting blankly on a sofa, watching a TV drama all night. And the strangest thing?
The main character of the show was none other than herself.
And then there was what happened after she woke up—the memory of the dream.
According to basic science, when people sleep, most of their brain cells are resting, which is why, after waking up, they usually can't recall their dreams.
Even if they do remember some parts, it's usually just fragmented details.
Iroha's past experiences with dreams confirmed this point.
But this time was different. She remembered last night's dream with startling clarity, as if it had been engraved in her mind, impossible to forget.
The dream began with her walking into the living room, where she saw a film disc with her picture on it.
Out of curiosity, she put it in the DVD player and sat on the sofa to watch.
Right from the start, she was shocked. On the TV screen, she saw her parents, much younger than they are now, holding a baby with happy expressions.
The baby, without a doubt, was her.
The scene continued for a long time, focusing entirely on Iroha—her early life, from her first words to her first steps.
She watched her parents dote on her, and it warmed her heart.
It was such a sweet and touching story that she couldn't take her eyes off the screen, watching the first episode to the very end, still wanting more.
Then the second episode began, and the content changed.
The focus shifted away from her, turning to another couple. The camera centered on a baby boy named Chisato.
Much like the first episode, it followed his early childhood, growing up under his parents' care.
However, this peaceful life didn't last long. When he was only two, his parents died in an accident.
At three, his grandparents also passed away.
By four, he lost his paternal grandparents.
In the span of three years, all his closest family members were gone, and he was left to bear the pain of losing them all.
Even though Iroha watched from a third-person perspective, she couldn't help but feel the overwhelming sadness of the situation.
Especially when she saw young Chisato sitting alone in a cold, empty room. That sadness seeped into her, making her feel the depth of his isolation.
The rest of the story was painfully realistic. After losing his family, the boy was sent to an orphanage.
As the story progressed, Iroha saw many good qualities in Chisato.
He paid attention to things other children didn't notice, like feeding ants in the corner or worrying about two aggressive dogs in the yard, separating them to prevent fights.
When Iroha saw the two dogs barking and growling at each other from a distance, unable to reach one another, she realized how necessary Chisato's actions were.
If this was what happened when they were separated, who knows how bad it would've been if they were left together?
As the film focused on Chisato's life, Iroha went from mildly interested to fully engrossed.
Chisato's life wasn't free of troubles. Hardship seemed to target him, hitting him time and again.
One day, the orphanage he had become accustomed to caught fire, forcing him to leave the only stable place he knew.
Later in the story, after arriving at a new orphanage, Chisato was taken in by a kind couple.
Coincidentally, this couple was neighbors with Iroha's family in the film.
The second episode ended with a shot of Iroha and Chisato meeting for the first time.
The camera zoomed in on each of them, then pulled back to show them stepping forward and shaking hands.
Two strangers had just formed a connection.
As the episode ended, Iroha woke up. The clock read exactly 8:00 a.m.
Though she was back in reality, the emotions and thoughts from the dream lingered in her mind.
Her head filled with questions she couldn't answer. Even if dreams are meant to be fleeting and beyond logic, last night's dream felt far too vivid and surreal.
The storyline, camera angles, and even the moving background music—she remembered them all so clearly.
Could all of this really have been imagined by a high school girl like herself in a dream?
Because of this, Iroha remained puzzled all day.
She couldn't focus on her studies that morning and spent a lot of time researching dream-related topics online.
By the afternoon, knowing she had to finish her homework or it would be too late, she pushed her thoughts aside and forced herself to complete her assignments.
Around 6 p.m., when her parents came home, she immediately ran downstairs to ask her mom a question.
"Mom, did we ever move when I was little?"
Iroha had come to believe her dream was a projection of her childhood memories. It was a bit far-fetched, but she couldn't think of any other explanation.
"We moved once, but why are you asking about this all of a sudden?" her mom replied.
Iroha ignored the question and eagerly asked another, "Back then, did our neighbors run a ramen shop?"
"You were only two or three years old back then. How could I remember all the details? But no, I'm pretty sure they were just regular office workers, definitely not running a ramen shop," her mother said, trying her best to recall.
"After you were born, we thought our apartment was too small, so we borrowed money from your grandparents to buy the land and build this house."
"I see…"
Iroha realized that her theory wasn't quite right.
The situation was complicated. The relationships and personalities in the dream seemed accurate, but the settings and events didn't quite match up with reality.
Maybe if she had the same dream again tonight and watched the next part of the film, she could draw some new conclusions.
But would that dream really come again tonight?
With that thought lingering, Iroha slowly returned to her room, leaving her mother standing there, confused as she watched her daughter walk away.
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