Alright… so this is me.
My name is Kousaki Yuuma.
Just an ordinary high school student living in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture—a quiet town wrapped in the lingering breath of old Japan. The streets here are lined with weathered wooden houses, their faded walls whispering stories from a time long gone. In the early morning, mist clings to the ground like a forgotten memory, drifting lazily between narrow alleys.
Sometimes, when I walk through those streets, I feel like I've stepped into a fairy tale—one of those old, melancholic ones where something beautiful is always hiding behind something unsettling.
And yet… this has always been my normal.
At least, it was.
Until I started dreaming about that girl.
…
"Why do I keep having the same dream… over and over again…?"
My voice slipped out into the quiet morning air as I walked down the familiar road toward school. My hands were tucked into my pockets, my steps slow and absent-minded.
The sky above was pale, washed in soft shades of blue. The kind of peaceful morning that should've made me feel at ease.
But it didn't.
I glanced around.
Something felt off.
"…Huh?"
I stopped walking.
Kanon and Amane… weren't there.
They always walked this route at the same time as me. It had become such a normal part of my routine that their absence felt… unnatural. Like a missing piece in a puzzle I didn't realize I was solving.
"…Weird."
I shook it off and continued walking.
Maybe they were just late today.
Yeah. That had to be it.
Just as I convinced myself, a voice called out from behind me,
"Yuuma-kun!"
My steps froze.
That voice…
Slowly, I turned around.
"…Shiori?"
There she was.
Standing a few steps away from me, smiling as if nothing was wrong. Her hair swayed gently with the breeze, her presence as familiar and comforting as ever.
But…
"Gud' morning, Yuuma-kun."
"…Yuuma…-kun?"
My brows furrowed.
Something about the way she said it felt… off. The tone, the slight delay, the unnatural pause, it didn't sound like her.
A cold sensation crawled up my spine.
"…Are you really Shiori?"
The moment the words left my mouth,
Her smile froze.
Then, her body began to distort.
"…What...?"
Her figure twisted unnaturally, as if something invisible was crushing her form inward. Her face melted into darkness, her limbs dissolving into something shapeless.
A black mass.
A writhing, suffocating lump of shadow.
Before I could even react, It lunged.
"!!"
Darkness swallowed me whole.
…
My eyes snapped open.
"Hah!"
I gasped sharply, my breath ragged as if I had just surfaced from deep water.
"…What the hell…?"
My chest rose and fell rapidly as I stared at the ceiling above me.
My room.
My own room.
The familiar sight grounded me, but my heart was still pounding violently against my ribs.
"…It was… a dream?"
I slowly pushed myself up, running a hand through my hair.
"…Yeah. Of course it was."
There was no way something like that could happen in reality.
Still…
It felt too real.
Too vivid.
"…Damn it."
I swung my legs off the bed and stood up, dragging myself toward the mirror.
The reflection staring back at me looked just as uneasy as I felt.
Messy black hair…
"…This again."
Near the ends, faint strands of greenish-yellow caught the light.
A strange highlight.
Something I'd inherited from my mother.
I reached up, lightly touching it, as if confirming it was still there.
"…Seriously…"
As I stared at my reflection, a thought quietly surfaced...
That girl in the dream…
Why did she feel so familiar?
Before I could think any further,
"Yuuma! Wake up! It's time for school!"
My mother's voice echoed from downstairs.
"…!"
For a moment, I froze.
Then, "…Heh."
A small, unconscious smile formed on my lips.
That voice…
Warm.
Real.
Grounding.
"Alright, Mom!"
I replied, my voice finally steady.
And just like that, the lingering darkness of the dream began to fade, but not completely.
The morning air greeted me the moment I stepped outside, cool and faintly damp, as if the town itself had only just awakened from sleep.
I paused at the doorway.
For a brief moment, I didn't move.
A thin layer of mist lingered along the narrow street, curling lazily around the feet of old wooden houses that had stood here longer than anyone could remember. Their darkened beams and sliding doors carried the quiet dignity of age, as though each one held a story it refused to share.
The faint scent of earth and dew filled the air. Peaceful. Ordinary.
Exactly the kind of morning that should have washed away the uneasiness lingering in my chest.
"…It really was just a dream."
I whispered it to myself, testing the words.
But they felt hollow.
My fingers tightened slightly around the strap of my bag as I stepped forward, my shoes brushing softly against the ground. Each step echoed just a little louder than it should have, as if the silence of the street was amplifying everything.
"…Shiori…"
Her name slipped out before I could stop it.
It didn't make sense.
She was just a transfer student.
Someone who had appeared in our class a few weeks ago with a polite bow and a quiet voice. Someone who smiled when spoken to, yet never quite let anyone get too close.
Someone distant.
And yet…
Why did it feel like that distance was an illusion? And why did it feel like I had known her for far longer than I should have?
"…This is stupid."
I exhaled slowly, shaking my head as if I could physically throw the thoughts away. The dream still clung to me. The way she had looked at me. The way her voice had called my name.
And then…
My chest tightened slightly.
"…Tch."
I clicked my tongue and forced myself to keep walking.
The road curved gently ahead, leading toward the school I had walked to every single day without fail. It was a path so familiar that I could probably walk it with my eyes closed.
Which was why…
The absence felt so loud.
"…They're not here."
I glanced around again.
Kanon and Amane were nowhere to be seen.
Normally, by this point, Kanon would have already called out to me from behind, complaining about something trivial about modern city.
And Amane would be there too, quiet but present, occasionally adding a dry comment that somehow made everything sharper.
But today…
Nothing.
Just silence.
"…Maybe I left earlier than usual."
It was a weak excuse, and I knew it.
Still, I held onto it.
Because the alternative felt… uncomfortable.
Just as that thought crossed my mind—
"Oi, Yuuma!"
A familiar voice cut through the quiet.
"…Speak of the devil."
I turned around.
"Kanon."
She stood there, slightly out of breath, one hand raised as she waved at me. The sunlight caught in her dark long hair, giving it a soft glow as she jogged over, her expression shifting into a teasing grin the moment she got close enough.
"Don't 'Kanon' me like that," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "You didn't even notice me coming. That's kind of rude, you know?"
"…You're loud enough. I noticed."
"Liar. You were totally spacing out."
"…Was not."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"…Tch."
She leaned in slightly, narrowing her eyes as if she were examining something important.
"Wow… you look terrible."
"Good morning to you too."
"I'm serious," she continued, ignoring my reply. "Your eyes look dead. Like, actually dead. Did you even sleep?"
"…Barely."
Before she could respond,
"Morning."
A calm voice slipped into the conversation.
I shifted my gaze.
Amane approached from behind Kanon, his steps steady, his expression as composed as ever. His presence was quieter than hers, but somehow heavier, like he carried a constant awareness of everything around him.
He stopped beside us, his eyes scanning my face for a brief moment.
"…You look worse than usual."
"…You're both really starting strong today."
Kanon snorted. "He's right though."
"I'm aware."
Amane tilted his head slightly.
"…You're distracted."
"…Am I?"
"Yes."
Kanon nodded immediately. "See? Even he noticed."
"…You two are annoying."
"And you're avoiding the question," she shot back.
"…I'm not avoiding anything."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"…Can you stop repeating that?"
"No."
"…Tch."
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.
They weren't going to drop it.
"…Fine."
Kanon's eyes lit up instantly. "Oh? Confession time?"
"…Don't make it sound weird."
"Too late."
Amane remained silent, but his gaze sharpened slightly.
"…I had a dream," I said.
Kanon blinked. "A dream?"
"…Yeah."
"…That's it?"
"It wasn't normal."
"…Okay, now we're getting somewhere," she said, leaning in again. "What kind of dream?"
I hesitated.
The images came back instantly.
It is too clear and too vivid.
"…I saw someone."
"Someone?"
"…Yeah."
"Who?"
I looked ahead.
The school gate was visible now, students gathering in small clusters, their voices are blending.
Everything looked so normal.
For a moment, no one spoke, and yet the world refused to pause alongside us, continuing forward with the same steady rhythm it always had, as if nothing unusual had occurred.
Students passed by in small clusters, their voices overlapping into a soft, constant hum that filled the air with a sense of routine familiarity. Laughter rose from somewhere near the school gate, light and careless, while the distant sound of footsteps and rustling uniforms blended into the background like a quiet reminder that this was just another ordinary morning.
And yet, standing there, I couldn't bring myself to fully accept that reality.
"…Shiori?"
Kanon's voice carried a slight hesitation, the kind that came from uncertainty rather than fear, as if she wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to react in this situation.
"What about me?" Shiori replied.
I turned toward her.
She stood only a few steps away, her posture straight and composed, her expression as calm and neutral as ever, as though she had simply approached us at the most natural moment possible. The soft morning light rested gently on her figure, catching faintly on the strands of her hair as they swayed with the passing breeze, giving her an almost delicate presence that blended quietly into the scenery rather than standing out from it.
"Good morning, Yuuma, Kanon, Amane."
There was a subtle pause between each name, not long enough to be called awkward, but just noticeable enough to remind me that, despite standing here together, there was still a distance between her and the rest of us.
"…Morning," Kanon replied, lifting her hand in a small, slightly awkward wave that lacked the usual energy she showed when talking to someone she was comfortable with.
"Morning," Amane added shortly, his tone even and controlled, offering nothing more than the bare minimum.
"…Yeah. Morning," I followed, though my voice came out a little slower than I intended.
Shiori gave a small nod in response, her expression unchanged, and for a brief moment, silence settled over us again, not heavy enough to be uncomfortable, but not light enough to feel natural either.
"You're early today," Kanon said after a short pause, clearly trying to fill the gap that none of us seemed willing to address directly.
"Yes," Shiori answered, her voice soft but clear. "I left home earlier than usual this morning."
"I see…" Kanon murmured, though she didn't seem to know how to continue from there, her words trailing off as quickly as they had begun.
The conversation faltered almost immediately, as if it had never truly taken shape in the first place.
"You were talking about me just now, weren't you?" Shiori asked.
Her tone remained gentle, but there was a quiet directness to it that made it difficult to avoid answering.
"…Ah…"
I hesitated, unsure of how to respond, but before I could gather my thoughts, Kanon spoke up without restraint.
"Yuuma said he dreamed about you."
"…Kanon."
"What? It's true."
"…You didn't have to say it like that."
Shiori blinked once, her reaction minimal, as if she were simply processing the information without attaching any strong emotion to it.
"…A dream?" she repeated softly.
"It's nothing," I said quickly, almost reflexively, the words leaving my mouth before I could reconsider them. "Just something random."
"Ehh? You were making it sound serious a second ago," Kanon said, leaning slightly toward me with clear curiosity.
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"…Can you not turn this into a loop?"
"No promises."
A small, quiet laugh escaped from Shiori, barely louder than the rustling of the breeze, yet enough to draw my attention back to her.
"…If it involved me," she said gently, "then I am a little curious."
"It really wasn't anything important," I replied, forcing a casual tone, even though the lingering memory of the dream pressed uncomfortably against the back of my mind. "Just one of those dreams that don't make sense after you wake up."
"…Was it unpleasant?" she asked.
"…A little."
"I see…"
Her gaze lingered on me for a brief moment longer than necessary, not in a way that felt intrusive, but in a way that suggested she was quietly observing something she didn't fully understand yet.
"…I'm sorry," she said.
The words caught me off guard.
"…Why?"
"…If I appeared in it and it caused you discomfort, then I feel that I should apologize."
"That's not something you need to apologize for," I replied, shaking my head slightly, though her calm sincerity made it difficult to dismiss the comment entirely.
"…Even so," she answered simply.
Kanon let out a small, awkward laugh, rubbing the back of her neck as if trying to lighten the mood that had unintentionally grown heavier.
"…This is kind of a serious conversation for this early in the morning."
"You're the one who brought it up," I muttered.
"That's not the point."
Amane exhaled quietly, his gaze shifting toward the school gate, where more students had begun to gather.
"…We should head inside before the bell rings," he said, his voice steady, grounding the moment back into something practical.
"…Yeah, you're right," Kanon replied quickly, clearly relieved to move on from the topic.
We began walking again.
Not quite together, but not completely apart either.
Shiori moved slightly ahead of us, her pace steady and unhurried, leaving just enough distance to remind us that, despite sharing the same path, she was still separate from our small circle.
Kanon leaned slightly closer to me, lowering her voice just enough that it wouldn't carry forward.
"…She's kind of hard to read," she whispered, her tone thoughtful rather than critical.
"It's only your second day talking to her," I replied quietly.
"I know, but still… it feels like there's something I can't quite get a grasp on," she said, her eyes briefly shifting toward Shiori's back before returning forward.
Amane glanced in the same direction, his expression unchanged, though there was a faint sharpness in his gaze.
"She's just reserved," he said.
"…Maybe," Kanon murmured, though she didn't sound entirely convinced.
I didn't add anything.
My eyes remained fixed ahead, watching the small distance between us and Shiori as we approached the school gate, where the noise of students grew louder and more chaotic, filling the space with the unmistakable energy of a normal school morning.
Everything around us continued as it always had.
Nothing stood out.
Nothing felt out of place.
And yet, as I watched her walking just a few steps ahead, moving quietly through the crowd without drawing attention to herself, I couldn't shake the faint, lingering uneasiness that clung to the edges of my thoughts, not strong enough to form into something concrete, but persistent enough to remain.
"…It's just a dream," I told myself again, repeating the words internally as if they would carry more weight the more times I said them.
Because that was all it was supposed to be.
Just a dream.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
And yet, even as I tried to convince myself of that, the memory of it remained vivid, refusing to fade, quietly reminding me that, no matter how normal everything appeared on the surface, there was still something I didn't understand.