CH 101

Chapter 101: Dream

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“Huh?”

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar sight of the ceiling of my apartment.

Pipipipipipipi.

The familiar sound of an alarm reverberated.

………. I needed to turn the alarm before it went off again.

Though my consciousness was still hazy at best, I unlocked my smartphone that was resting on my bedside table and turned the alarm off. 

【12/16 (Friday) 7:10】

“If I don’t wake up now, I’m going to be late for work….”

While still in a delirious state as if I was still half dreaming, I repeatedly opened my eyes, trying to urge myself to wake up.

But still… What a dream I had.

Though vague, I tried to recall some portions of the dream I just had. It was a dream where a Maou had to give birth to a demon. I could only recall the R18 parts of the dream. A Maou with his harem of demons……

……Just what kind of BL is that? 

With my head hanging low, I grew perplexed with the dream I just had. I didn’t really understand why but I was left with a sense of loss. 

What? What is it? I don’t know. I don’t know but….

I feel…. Denied by the world.

I took a quick shower and changed into my suit. For my breakfast, I had toast with plenty of margarine and a cup of coffee which I brewed using my coffee maker that I had won from a bingo competition last year at the end of year party.

This month, I didn’t get to finish my work in time so I had to work overtime on the weekends. I became so irritated that I ended up purchasing expensive coffee beans from online shopping but… 

Not bad. It has a deep flavour.

I didn’t subscribe to any newspaper so I checked the morning news through my smartphone. I put on the shirt I had ironed on my day off and fastened my necktie. I finished my morning routine just in time and left the house.

I had to endure the cold air as soon as I left my house. I buried my face beneath my muffler that I had wrapped around my neck beforehand and rub the pocket heater against my hand. We were already halfway through December, the end of year was dawning soon. (Christmas was the kind of event that I had nothing to do with so I completely erased its existence from my mind.)

…… Really. The only thing I want to do is to quickly deliver the product so I can finally feel at ease as soon as possible… 

I was exhausted by the never-ending debugging work but it seemed like I could meet my deadline on time. 

I squeezed myself into the crowded train and headed to the office looking worse for wear. On my way to the office from the station, I stopped by the convenience store first and bought some onigiri and chocolates. Oh and also, a blue energy drink. My coworker, Aoki, who joined the company at the same year as me, said that he liked the green one but I preferred this fighting bull brand better.

I finished the transaction while I was busy thinking to myself. 

Maybe because my department had flexible working hours, there were not many people here at this hour. I held my employee ID card, which had my last name written on it,『Otonashi』, against the card reader and went into the room. I was already used to working until late at night but I was actually a morning person hence, I preferred to carry on with my work at a time when my mind was still clear. My hand then moved accordingly to my daily routine, starting up my computer before inputting my user ID and password.

Now then… Let’s start our mundane life again today.

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Done with my morning shift, I sat on my desk and stuffed my cheeks with the onigiri I had bought this morning while fiddling with my smartphone. After finishing with my meal, I went to the vending machine in my office building for a short while to buy a drink. Because, only the vending machine located on the first floor sold 『warm cocoa』.

“Oh, Aoki.”

There was already someone in front of the vending machine that sold chocolate. It was Aoki, my handsome coworker from the sales department that joined the company in the same year as me. 

“Well if it isn’t Mao-chan.”

“…… Stop it. I told you my name is Mahiro, didn’t I?”

“Don’t be mad, Otonashi.”

“No, seriously. People have been mispronouncing my name ever since I was little.”

I had given up during middle school and high school. No matter how you look at it, people would be more inclined to read 真央 as Mao instead of Mahiro. Whenever I introduced myself, I’d clearly tell everyone my name was Mahiro Otonashi but after the introduction, people would always end up calling me Mao in the end…

“Aoki, you’re drinking something weird again, huh.”

“This is the only vending machine that sells Furufuru milk pudding shake flavour after all.”

Aoki was the young and promising employee in the sales department of this floor. He was a handsome man but because the two of us had the same hobby to some extent, we were closer with each other compared with other people. 

“Hey, look at this for a second.”

Aoki said, showing his smartphone to me. 

“…..Sick. Is that armour handmade? The weapon is too damn dope too. The costume’s quality is so damn high.”

“I know right?! That Shizuka,she said she’s been working on this for two nights straight.”

“This costume, is this yours?”

“No matter what, she said she wanted to have a brother-younger brother pair cosplay after all.”

This guy was grinning with a complacent look on his face as he showed off the cosplay costume his girlfriend had made for him. Yes. This guy might be pretending to be a handsome, dashing and functioning white-collar worker but actually he was a cosplay nerd. 

“But still, your girlfriend is so beautiful.”

“I know right?! She’s damn pretty! Her figure is perfect, her costume and makeup is so on point too!!”

“She’s the perfect pair for you too.”

“Yup, yup!”

“If only it weren’t for her BL addiction, huh.”

“You’re right on point on that one tooooo. Seriously, I don’t mind even if she likes BL but … No, seriously. I’ve been begging her to let me be the pitcher but each and every time… No matter how much I beg, I always end up cosplaying the catcher.”

“Shizuka-san is more beautiful and to top it all off, she’s more handsome than you too after all.”

“….. Well…. But really, recently when we have a photoshoot, I’ve been the one getting kabendon-ed instead of the one kabendon-ing so I’m feeling  a little heartbroken.”

Aoki met her during a cosplay event and they immediately hit it off. The two of them often cosplay together, attracting the attention of everyone around them.

I met Aoki at that kind of event as well. I bumped into Aoki during a cosplay event in winter and then, we immediately formed the “I won’t tell anyone in the company about this hobby” alliance. Ever since then, we often go for a drink and events together.

Ah, as for me, I just liked to enjoy watching people doing cosplay from a distance. In the first place, my main goal in attending an event like that was to try my luck on finding a good doujin game.

“Ah… Today I had a weird dream but… The hell…”

“Huh?”

Well I guess I can tell Aoki about it.

And so, I told Aoki bits and pieces about the dream I had today.

“Huh? What kind of hentai game is that? The loli is one thing but you also need to have sex with things like slime, tentacles, dark elves and give birth to their babies AND! You are stuck in perpetual state of virginity no matter how many times you fuck? Don’t you think you’re cramming way too many fetishes there?”

I know right.

I didn’t tell him that Maou was a man. I only told him my dream while avoiding some details but no matter what, it did sound like a hentai game with a convenient plot just for the sake of hentai.

“Well of course you’d think like that.”

“What? Mao-chan, are you pent up? Should I lend you one of my best games?”

“Don’t call me Mao and no, I don’t need your game.”

“It’s a game where you have 12 younger sisters.”

“That’s way too many sisters.”

“Oh which reminds me, Otonashi, the doujin game from before is up for pre-order now.”

“Seriously? Oh, I think I saw it on my feed too.”

“That company’s angsty game was so amazing. Seriously, to be able to think that kind of story, they must be the god themselves. I was thinking that I really can’t wait to see the sequel and then… Suddenly it’s up for pre-order. Today is Friday, right? Let’s go for a drink after work.”

“Okay. I need to launch the product to live this afternoon so if nothing happened, I can leave on time today. I guess I’ll contact you later.”

I drank up the last remaining bits of my too-sweet chocolate drink and threw the empty can into the trash can with a loud clunk. I had told Aoki about my dream but my memories about the dream started to grow faint. 

Someone. 

It felt like I almost forgot about someone. Someone beautiful with blue hair. 

The memory became so faint that I couldn’t remember what I had forgotten about.

――― The 【memory】of that world disappeared from my mind.