When the splitting headache of a hangover finally dragged Dream Weaver back to consciousness, she spent a good half-hour staring blankly at her dormitory ceiling before her brain could even process why it hurt so much.
Most of her memories had evaporated into the ether along with the alcohol.
Dream Weaver could only vaguely recall that, in the hollow aftermath of her first failure, she'd given in to Sugar Lights' prodding.
The two of them had ended up in the clubroom, knocking back beers and babbling nonsense.
At some point, Agnes Tachyon seemed to have appeared, and the three of them had gone charging out of the school gates on a wheelchair.
Beyond that, however, her memory was a complete void. All she knew was that when she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a very familiar ceiling.
If she wasn't mistaken, this was her faculty quarters at the Central Tracen Academy.
She had no idea how she'd managed to navigate back here while her brain was a foggy mess, but at least she wasn't sleeping on the streets.
"Tachyon, probably..."
Dream Weaver sat up, cradling her forehead with a heavy sigh.
The girl might be unreliable enough to drag two drunks to a pub, but she was easily the soberest one among them yesterday—and the most likely candidate to have hauled Dream Weaver back to her room.
Dream Weaver decided not to fret over what she couldn't remember; at worst, it was just some drunken rambling. Compared to that, the fact that her throat felt like it was currently on fire was a much more pressing concern.
Squinting against the light, she tossed back the duvet, intending to go boil some water. But then she froze. Tens of seconds passed, and she still hadn't moved to get out of bed.
It wasn't because she was clinging to the warmth of the covers. It was because someone who absolutely, positively should not have been there had suddenly entered her field of vision.
Dream Weaver blinked once, then again, before rubbing her eyes vigorously for good measure. But no matter how much she struggled, the image before her remained stubbornly unchanged.
Fluffy brown short hair lay scattered across the pillow like a tangled ball of yarn. That white lab coat she seemed to practically live in was nowhere to be seen, discarded who-knows-where.
The sleeping Uma Musume's mouth hung slightly open, occasionally letting out a soft, dreamy mumble. A thin, glistening trail of drool escaped the corner of her lips and pooled onto Dream Weaver's pillow.
It was a messy sight, yet against the backdrop of her delicate features, it somehow managed to look almost… cute.
But Dream Weaver didn't have the luxury of dwelling on that. At this moment, only one thought occupied her mind.
"Why on earth are you here?!"
Clearly, in her state of utter shock, she had failed to keep that thought internal and instead shouted it at the top of her lungs.
Agnes Tachyon knitted her brows, looking a bit miffed at having a pleasant dream interrupted. She forced her eyes open, and the first thing out of her mouth upon seeing Dream Weaver was:
"Morning... is there breakfast?"
"Go buy it yourself! No, wait—why are you acting like it's perfectly natural to be saying that in my bed?!"
"Why shouldn't I be? Have you already forgotten what happened yesterday?"
Agnes Tachyon's voice was thick with grogginess, her mind clearly not yet fully online. But that single sentence was enough to snap Dream Weaver wide awake.
In an instant, every rumor she'd ever read on the campus forums came rushing into her head like a tidal wave. She'd read plenty of romance stories like this, and in those stories, there was one—and only one—reason for a scene like this to occur.
Just as Dream Weaver was breaking into a cold sweat, desperately trying to piece together the events of the previous night, a soft murmur drifted from behind her.
Dream Weaver's body went rigid. With agonizing slowness, she turned her head and swallowed hard. Like someone gingerly opening Pandora's Box, she carefully lifted the other side of the duvet.
Sugar Lights let out a disgruntled groan as the sudden draft of cold air hit her, instinctively huddling closer to Dream Weaver.
"D-Doctor?!"
Dream Weaver's voice cracked, sounding even more shell-shocked than when she'd discovered Agnes Tachyon.
Disturbed by the noise, Sugar Lights very reluctantly cracked her eyes open. She looked up and met Dream Weaver's gaze.
"Dream... what time is it? Have a little heart for someone with a hangover. Being woken up like this is torture."
Dream Weaver plummeted into a deep pit of self-doubt.
Dealing with Agnes Tachyon alone would have been enough to send her into a panic, but finding Sugar Lights tucked in beside her as well meant her brain had officially short-circuited.
"Honestly, what's with that look on your face?"
Having been jolted awake by two consecutive shouts, Agnes Tachyon was starting to clear the cobwebs. She reached over and poked Dream Weaver in the ribs.
"We just slept in your bed, that's all. Is there any need for such a look of pure disgust? Fine, I'll buy you a new set of sheets if it'll stop you from pouting."
"Is that really the point here?! The point is why you're both in my bed, and what the hell actually happened last night!"
Agnes Tachyon scratched at her messy bedhead, looking genuinely puzzled.
"It's because dragging you two back to the dorms last night was an ordeal in itself. Sugar Lights' wheelchair ran out of juice, and I wasn't about to carry her up another flight of stairs. So, we just crashed here. Simple."
"It was... that simple?"
"Simple?! It was anything but!"
Upon hearing that, Agnes Tachyon immediately began to pour out her grievances, prattling on about how difficult it had been to haul them both back to the room once the wheelchair died halfway.
Hearing this, Dream Weaver actually felt a wave of relief wash over her.
She let out a long, shaky breath, thinking to herself that at least none of the scandalous nonsense from the forums had actually taken place.
But just as she began to relax, there was a sudden knock at the door.
"Master? Are you in there? I didn't see you in the clubroom yesterday, and I couldn't find you last night either, so I was a bit worried."
"Oh, is the door unlocked?"
Before Dream Weaver could shout a warning, Liberty Island offered a small "sorry for the intrusion" and pushed the door open.
The faculty rooms weren't particularly large, and the bed was positioned directly facing the door.
Dream Weaver had zero time to react before Liberty Island laid eyes on the three of them, huddled together in bed in various states of disarray.
The girl blinked, seemingly unable to comprehend the sight before her. But a second later, her jaw dropped, and she froze on the spot, letting out a string of incoherent stammers.
"Wait... Master? Miss Tachyon? Doctor Lights? Huh? How? Is... is this what the adult world is like?!"
Realizing that Liberty Island was jumping to the exact same conclusions she had moments ago, Dream Weaver reached out a frantic hand to explain.
But before she could get a word out, Liberty Island snapped back to reality. A deep crimson flush spread from her neck to her cheeks in record time. She gave a hurried, panicked bow and shrieked:
"I'm so sorry! Don't let me stop you! Please, carry on!"
With a resounding thud, she slammed the door shut. Dream Weaver sat there, hand still outstretched, watching her reputation shatter into a thousand pieces in the eyes of her student.
"Is it over? Can we go back to sleep now?"
"And close the curtains while you're at it, thanks."
Sugar Lights didn't seem to care about the drama. She muttered her request and pulled the duvet back over her head, leaving Dream Weaver alone to bury her face in her hands and sigh in silence.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.