CH 20

Sleeping In a Way That Raises the Question of Whether It’s Really a Dream for a Girl

I spent the rest of the afternoon in class without incident on the surface.

Yes, on the surface…

In fact, I don’t even remember what subject or which teacher came today, let alone if there are any classes in the afternoon.

The reason was… The weight still lingers on my right arm……… It was because I hadn’t been able to come up with my own understanding of the fact that I had been holding Amane in my arms during lunch break.

……Well, we’re childhood friends, even though we’ve been estranged for a while.

We’re closer than most boys and girls, I won’t say that I wasn’t confident that once we were back together, we’d be as close as we’d ever been…but….

Even so, she suddenly makes my hand a pillow………… Isn’t she so defenseless!?

If that’s the case, I would rather be worried about a lot of things because she seems like a “defenseless girl”.

No… But I’m not sure she’s defenseless to anyone, and even in friendships, when she is selective, she is never completely defenseless…

Considering Amane’s friendships, there are only two people who are allowed to be in that close position, Kagura-san and Kamui-san…

In other words, I’m as trustworthy as those two…?

No, that’s not right either!? The other day I got carried away and did all sorts of things to Amane, even in my dreams, and in a way I’m the most dangerous person in the world!!

Then… then why!? Isn’t it my delusion including the arm pillow?

Ah…… But there’s still a lingering, lingering scent coming from my right arm………….

“Why are you making such a troubled face all the while?”

“U-Ueh!? A-Are? The lesson??”

“It’s already… I mean, it’s been, like, an hour since it ended, you know?”

“Lie……”

It’s not a lie.

When Amane told me to look at the clock, I saw that it was already past three in the afternoon and approaching four.

It seems that a lot of time had passed while I was agonizing over various things.

“Look, the number of people in the school building is decreasing, so let’s go to the next site inspection.”

When Amane said that much to me, I finally realized what I was supposed to do after school.

The courtyard where I failed at noon or the back of the school building where the potted plants fell, which was another site, would be a place for muscle training for those who couldn’t use the gym or ground for club activities after school, so it was indeed impossible for me to sleep there.

Naturally, there is only one place to aim for after school, but when dreaming about the past, the location is far more difficult than the courtyard in the daytime, so I had to wait until after school…

“Well then… how can I see past dreams here…”

“It’s going to be unnatural no matter how we try.”

We arrived at the third site, the main staircase, and twisted our heads about it.

Of course, stairs are not made for sleeping. No matter how you look at it, it’s a very unsuitable place to do “sleeping”.

“I wish I could see the moment Amane was pushed down the stairs… hm~m.”

If this were a stairway leading to the rooftop, I could make it work, but unfortunately, the site is on the second floor, the front stairs, and I’m in a position where I can see the landing, not unnaturally, so I’m not sure how I’m going to sleep…….

“Lie down on the step?”

“Don’t do that… It’ll turn into a school ghost story”

I couldn’t help but retort when Amane said it so bluntly.

Even if it’s an urban legend that the steps are different on the way up and the way back, I don’t want to have to bear the cross of a brave man peeking up my skirt at the bottom of the stairs if someone catches me.　

“Would it be safest if I sat down on the stairs to sleep?”

I say this in the pose of someone who actually sits down to think, but Amane twists her head, “Hm~m”.

“But Yumeji-kun, do you remember the exact time when I fell down the stairs?”

“Hm? No… when it comes to the exact time… maybe between 4:00 and 5:00?”

Because my perception that day was only ‘the time of day when the sun sets in the school’…

“Yeah, I think that’s about right, too… Can you sit and sleep for an hour in a place like this? If you sleep on the stairs that much, wouldn’t someone be worried if they saw you?”

“Uu……”

That is certainly true.

If this were a staircase with few people on it, it would still be the front stairs, even after school, and it’s definitely a busy corridor… If not only students but also teachers find us like that, we will be called out.

“Umu… To not worry about the weird stuff, we will be called weird item…”

I looked at the “dream book” in my hand and couldn’t help but complain.

If it weren’t for this book, I wouldn’t have taken such precautions in the first place, but without it, I might not have known what would happen to Amane… I’m not sure I should complain.

“Yes, then you can sleep while standing!”

“While standing?”

Amane shouts as soon as she comes up with a good idea… But I didn’t think the idea was a good one.

Standing is so much more unnatural than sitting, isn’t it…?

However, despite my reluctance, Amane said with pride.

“You can’t hide the unnatural in a place like this. On the contrary, you should sleep in an unnatural but undisturbed way!”

“…………Eh?”

“Yeah, put your hands on the wall like that…”

“Etto… Amane-san? Are you serious?”

“Hmm? Is it no good?”

I was more flustered by her casual, unconcerned attitude.

Don’t make it unnatural to sleep standing up, but rather cover it up by emphasizing the unnaturalness… The idea is… good.

But that doesn’t mean we have to do Kabedon (this) nowadays!?

It’s true that they won’t pay attention to the fact that I am sleeping, and it’s hard for them to talk to me!?

In my mind, I was retorting, however, when I am in the position of giving Kabedon to Amane as I am being carried along, I am aware of the fact that my retort is lukewarm.

I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity to do this to a woman in my life… When I actually tried it, I knew that the hurdle was extremely high.

Hands on the wall… Of course, Amane’s face was at close range in front of me, and I could feel her breath even more naturally.

If I am willing… My ego was on the verge of collapse at the close range where I could take her lips, which were almost captivating just by looking at it…

“I-It may be difficult to fall asleep as it is …………”

I managed to look away and squeezed my voice out of my mouth, because looking at her from the front made my face feel hot and strange.

I don’t feel like I can fall asleep in this position, no matter how many “dream books” I have.

When I showed a slight sign of consideration, she prepared a ridiculous alternative.

“Hmm~? I think it’s a great idea~~~… Then there’s the Hollywood trope of a man and woman on the run, hugging each other to fend off pursuers…”

“Oh no, as expected of Amane! If it’s a boy and girl in the middle of a Kabedon, everyone’s going to be smart enough to avoid them, so it’s no problem!”

I decided to go with the first idea.

I mean, can you please not say something like that in this situation right now!?

Seriously, I could hug you and kiss you if I wanted to… I’m trying my best to suppress the desire to do so! I’m sure I’ll be fiercely aware of it!!

However, when I had a complicated expression on my face, Amane stuck out her tongue in a mischievous manner.

“Eh”

Don’t tell me this girl is… planning all this?

*

”I can sleep…”

The place is still the same as before, but everything around is in sepia-toned reminiscence, which means that the current situation is a “past dream,” and in short, I was able to sleep…

The fact that I was able to fall asleep in that position(Kabedon) is something that doesn’t make sense to me… or maybe it’s the effect of the “dream book” that I put my left hand between…

Well… What time am I currently watching after regaining my mind?

I looked around but couldn’t find anything that looked like a clock in this location, so I couldn’t check the exact time.

I can only guess that it is the evening in the west sun pointing from the window.

…… This past dream is very difficult to use, isn’t it? You can’t even tell if the present time is the same time as the day of the incident, and without a clock at the scene, you can’t even tell the time.

As I was thinking about this, I could hear the voices of several men and women talking in the hallway, even though most of the students were gone after school.

The voice of one of them was familiar to me.

“A~h, that’s so irritating… I invited her, but she refused it!?”

The man who keeps complaining to the people around him, without even trying to hide his displeasure was Kawaguya Yuichi, also known as the shallow playboy.

After a while, three by three men and women, all dressed in the same type of flashy outfits, approached the stairs and revealed themselves.

“Shit, even though I’m going out with her…”

“Ah? Did she fall for you?”

The shallow playboy frowns blatantly at his companion’s words and clicks his tongue.

“The neighboring classes are already talking about it, so that means we’re already dating, okay?”

Isn’t that obvious? But the look on his face when he says something like that, annoyed me, and at the same time, I could predict who and what he was talking about.

This day, he had indeed asked Amane out after school and she had refused.

Apparently, that’s what he complaining about… But I don’t understand how this guy thinks.

“Well, it’s fine, isn’t it, that kind of woman… I’m here for you today.”

I have no idea what’s good about a guy like that, but she still twines her arms around him to try to get him in a good mood.

However, he shook her arm in a bad mood.

“Ah!? What are you talking about? I’ve decided to spend today with her, so without her, there’s no point. What are you doing pretending to be my real girlfriend!?”

“………… I didn’t mean to”

“”Uwa………””

What a selfish line of thought… I think it’s better for this guy to die because of his rotten guts.

Girlfriend (?), who is shocked and looks down, even his male friends are a little taken aback by what he just said.

“Tchi! That woman… Maybe it’s time I showed her what happens when she defies me.”

Without breaking the frustrating attitude, they walked down the stairs and out of the school building.

What he just said… No matter how you look at it, it’s malice against Amane.

So, is that the man who was killing Amane in the premonition dream as I had originally predicted?

That self-centered, misunderstood man, he will continue to flirt with Amane, get dumped, and then bring out a knife and force her to go out with him… It is quite possible that the development will occur.

After that, no one went through the stairs for a while.

I guess this is what a school building looks like after the evening school closing time…

But as I was biding my time, a flustered-looking girl suddenly ran up the stairs in front of me.

“I’m pretty sure it’s in my desk…”

It’s Amane!!

The reason why she is running to the classroom in the evening in a panic is because she has come to retrieve her smartphone that she left in the classroom.

Then, after this……… In a few minutes, Amane came back this way, looking relieved.

Trying to go down the stairs to get back to the school gate where her friends are waiting…

I witnessed it.

Amane steps off the stairs and floats in the air.

I saw myself running as fast as I could to rush to the bottom of the stairs.

And … the person who pushed Amane’s back from the top of the stairs in passing, but with a clear intention…

“…………Eh?”

I couldn’t help but let out a stupid sound.　

That person is ………….

*

“……… I think it’s time for you guys to leave school?”

I probably slept for close to an hour this time, but I was awakened by a gentle sounding male voice that I heard.

When I opened my eyes, the evening had passed and it was getting a little dark.

From the bottom of the stairs, our classics teacher Nakura-sensei looked up at us with concern.

“Ah, Nakura-sensei…”

“Or rather, Amachi-kun? What are you doing to a girl?”

The words were so stern that it was hard to believe they were coming from the normally mild-mannered Nakura-sensei.

That’s when I realized that I was in a pretty bad position at the moment.

The so-called Kabedon has been said to be synonymous with wanting to be a handsome boy from a while, but other than that, if you do something like this even though you don’t care about girls, it’s just a threat.

“Oh no… this is…”　

“Amachi-kun… I’m not impressed with the intimidating behavior of women …”

However, when I looked back to make some excuses, Amane started talking to Nakura-sensei.

“Sensei… I’m sorry, I was just messing around with Yumeji-kun. Can you do a little drama for me? I said…”

“Eh? Is that so?”

He had thought that she was “the one who was being attacked”, so when Amane followed up with a nod, Nakura-sensei looked at me with a puzzled look on his face, but when I nodded, he instantly returned to his usual mild-mannered expression of relief.

“I see~~, so you two were that close~. No~, in reverse, I’m sorry to interrupt you, huh?”

“No, that kind of thing… I’m sure it’s already past the time to leave school…”

Nakura-sensei smiles wryly, but I feel rather bad for him.

As for him, he interceded in the unlikely event of trouble between students…

“Come to think of it, you two used to have a childhood friend relationship, didn’t you? That’s nice~ a youth.”

“Haha… it’s like that.”

“A little… messing around too much…”

When someone from the outside says something like that, it instantly makes me feel more embarrassed.

After all, Kabedon in everyday scenes can only cause discomfort, can’t they?

“They say that sometimes a man needs to be forceful, but that doesn’t mean I want you to be just that kind of man either~ as your teacher…”　

“You’re absolutely right.”

I know the importance of those words because I just had a dream a while ago about a pathetic man who has been emphasized with only forcefulness in such a way.

I don’t want to be that man.

“I know I sound like a big deal, but on the contrary, I’m not very forceful and I’m weak-willed…”

“”I can see that.””

We couldn’t help but agree to Nakura-sensei’s monologue.

Just because you were forced to… The school courtyard is not a good place, teachers…