Side-By-Side Dreamers Read online

  “You’re not drowsy?”

  “Huh... Why?”

  “Your eyes are open in a way I haven’t seen from you lately. You look like a startled cat. Did something happen?”

  “I guess... you could say something did,” Saya said, then went quiet. She lacked the words to describe her earlier experience.

  “What’s up?”

  “I dunno... I had a nightmare... or something like that.”

  “What, you managed to sleep?”

  “Huh? Well... Just a little...?”

  “Hey, good for you. Your complexion’s kind of looking better. Although, you could also say your usual complexion’s not exactly the best.”

  “Oh, shove off.”

  “Huh, where’s your bag?”

  When Aya pointed it out, Saya realized she was empty handed. She’d left it in her classroom.

  “I forgot it...”

  “What are you even doing? You gonna go back? Should I bring the car out?”

  “Nah. Gonna rest a bit.”

  She took off her shoes, entered the house, and went upstairs.

  “At least wash your face!”

  “I know.” With a half-hearted response to her big sister downstairs, she entered her second-floor bedroom. She closed the door, then collapsed onto her bed. Next to her pillow there were a number of stuffed animals she’d had since she was little; they were there to do what little they could to help her get restful sleep. Laying in a bed that smelled like her body scent, Saya’s mind wandered.

  What was that, again...?

  What happened to me?

  Okay, calm down. Let’s sort this out, one bit at a time.

  Fortunately, my head’s clear now... Like it hasn’t been for a while. Why? Because I slept.

  I slept... Seriously? That’s amazing.

  I thought I was going to just waste away and die of insomnia, but I managed to sleep.

  Aw, yeah...

  “Ohhhhh, thank goodness,” Saya whispered in a low voice.

  Now that she could get some sleep again, she could start to piece her crumbling life back together. Her studies, her relationships... she’d need to work at it to redeem herself, but that was nothing compared with the long bout of sleeplessness she’d been through.

  It’s really great... Yeah, this is totally good news.

  So, what’s the other news?

  I woke up, still thinking someone I didn’t know was my lover from the dream, and kissed her hard. Is that good news? Bad news?

  Saya covered her face with both hands, letting out a deep sigh.

  “That’s a sex crime...”

  It wasn’t clear she’d be held accountable for her actions, but it had to be sexual harassment at the very least.

  “Can we pretend it didn’t happen...? No...? Did she notice...? She did, didn’t she? No matter how I look at it...”

  If that came to light, Saya could only guess that she might find herself in a difficult position going forward.

  “I was convinced we were lovers at the time...”

  That the love she had been so certain of in the dream went and rapidly dissipated about ten seconds after she woke up had been a shock, too. Thanks to that, she felt something like a sense of loss and lingering affection swirling around inside her chest. It was a completely baseless, unnecessary sense of loss, though.

  That feeling of certainty that she was in love, and loved in return, that she tasted during the kiss... This had been the first time in the seventeen years of her life that she had experienced it.

  Noticing that she had been unconsciously touching her lips, Saya moved her hand away from them, feeling awkward.

  “Ugh, I dunno anymore.”

  Hugging her pillow, Saya groaned powerlessly.

  “None of this makes sense...”

  No, enough. I’m done. Thinking about it isn’t helping.

  There was one thing for certain, and that was that she could sleep again.

  For now, just sleep. Sleep like before, and recover. Thinking about the difficult stuff can wait. The fact of the matter is, I’m already this tired...

  Saya shut her eyes, shifting into an easier sleeping position, and breathed softly.

  Breathe in... Breathe out...

  Breathe in... Breathe out...

  ...

  Not long after, Saya opened her eyes.

  “...Huh?”

  She couldn’t sleep.

  No different from any time before this, slumber showed no sign of coming for her.

  3

  When Saya opened the door, the school doctor looked up from the sandwich she was eating.

  “Oh, Hokage-san.”

  “Heya.” After a cursory bow, Saya’s eyes darted around the room. The curtain around the bed inside was drawn back, so no one was sleeping there today.

  The school doctor looked hard at Saya’s face, her expression darkening. “You look like you’re having a hard time. Still can’t sleep?”

  “Yeah...”

  It had been two days since then; Saya was once again stricken with insomnia.

  For a fleeting moment, slumber had come, but try as she might, she couldn’t seem to replicate the experience. Ultimately, the drowsy days began once again. Having been robbed of restful sleep once more when it had been right before her eyes, Saya’s irritation was already at its limit.

  The school doctor peeked at the clock. “You want to rest here for the afternoon?”

  “Oh, no. Uh, I had something to ask you,” Saya said with some hesitance. “The last time I was resting here, a girl I don’t know came in. She kinda had airy, long hair, and was probably shorter than me...”

  Saya made vague gestures with both hands as she described her, then lowered her hands. “...That’s about all I know, though,” she concluded weakly. The school doctor got a suspicious look on her face.

  “Airy and short? Anything else?”

  Other than that... She had been soft, and smelled like sunshine, but Saya obviously was hesitant to say either of those things.

  “It was only for a moment, so... I dunno.”

  “So, why ask about that girl?”

  “She suddenly fell into bed with me and started sleeping. I wanted to ask if you had any clue who she might be, but... Now I think about it, you wouldn’t know from just that, would you? Sorry.”

  Saya turned to leave, but the school doctor called out to her.

  “Could it be Konparu-san, maybe?”

  “Konparu?” When Saya turned back, the school doctor nodded.

  “If it is, it’s unusual she’d come to the health room. I believe she’s a second-year, like you, but she’s your polar opposite, in a way.”

  “My polar opposite... How so?”

  “Konparu-san would fall asleep anywhere and everywhere.”

  Anywhere and everywhere. In the classroom during lectures, in the courtyard during lunch, and in the library after school.

  This Konparu didn’t need to go out of her way to sleep in the health room’s bed. She had apparently been sighted sleeping everywhere in the school.

  How enviable.

  When Saya left the health room, she wandered the school aimlessly. By the time she realized it, it had been more than ten minutes since afternoon classes began.

  As she walked the empty halls, she could hear voices coming from the classes in each of the rooms she passed by. The windows were frosted, so she couldn’t see inside all that well. She could only see vague shadows and hear muffled voices. From beyond the wall came the noisy sounds of a gaggle of girls taking class— it felt similar to walking past a tank at the aquarium. The moment they noticed she was here, dozens of eyes would swivel in her direction.

  Thinking about that made her feel awkward; with quiet footsteps, Saya walked through the classroom building.

  She didn’t feel like returning to her own class at this point. She’d kill time somewhere until the next break. No, what am I even doing? she suddenly thought.

  When she
went from the classroom building into the corridor between buildings, the courtyard came into view. The rim of the dry fountain was a perfect height and width for sitting on, and would make the ideal spot for a midday nap, but it was visible from every window of the school building. It was class time, so if the teachers caught her, she’d be heading straight to the student guidance room.

  While looking at the fountain—where no one was sitting—Saya remembered at last.

  Right. I was searching for her.

  Hitsuji Konparu... the airy girl.

  In these two days of being tormented by insomnia once more, Saya had had a lot of time to think. Why had she been able to sleep just that one time? What was different about the situation?

  Even with her mind dulled by drowsiness, the answer was clear. Hitsuji Konparu. The moment that girl had fallen into bed, she’d been suddenly dragged down into sleep.

  Maybe I can sleep if it’s with someone else...? That thought had led her to ask her big sister to sleep with her last night.

  Not only had she not been able to sleep, her sister’s tossing and turning caused her to fall out of bed.

  That let her narrow down the answer even more.

  “It has to be her,” Saya mumbled indistinctly.

  Where was Hitsuji Konparu, who was said to sleep anywhere and everywhere, right now?

  Did she have a secret place where the teachers wouldn’t find her? Or because it was class time, was she asleep at her desk? That would make what Saya was doing absolutely pointless, but looking around was still easier on her nerves.

  Going through the corridor, she crossed over to the neighboring school building.

  In the moment when her eyes were adjusting to moving from a bright place to a dark one, something strange appeared in Saya’s vision.

  It was like the keys of a keyboard instrument had stretched to be long and thin, had turned into legs, and were walking. It was something she couldn’t quite place as a living being or a machine, and it was silently climbing the stairs.

  “Hm?”

  When she blinked and looked again, there was nothing left to see.

  Was it an illusion?

  It was true that when she had been deprived of sleep for a long time her eyes played more tricks on her, and she was plagued by strange visions, but something about it tugged at Saya’s frayed psyche.

  That thing just now... I’ve seen it somewhere...

  No, but how could I have? Where would I even see something like that?

  A game? A video online? A manga? A movie? A museum?

  If not, then... a dream, maybe?

  When her train of thought reached that point, a vague memory resurfaced.

  Right! I saw it! That thing—I saw it in a dream!

  Two days ago. That short dream in the health room... Just before I woke up, it entered my vision, with all those legs in a horizontal line...

  Unconsciously, Saya had been heading to the roof, but the thing from before was nowhere to be seen. She only saw it for an instant, but it had definitely been climbing the stairs.

  From out of her foggy memory, a single name surfaced.

  “...It’s a Suiju.”

  That’s what she’d been calling it—a Suiju—though she had no idea what that meant.

  Chasing after the Suiju, Saya climbed the stairs. The second floor was quiet and dimly lit, and the closest science room didn’t seem to be in use. Looking up, she could see it again. In the contrasting light of the dimly lit indoors and the bright outdoors, she caught sight of it for just a moment, many legs clicking along as it passed through the third floor and went even higher.

  When she chased after it all the way up the stairs, she came to the door to the roof; it was bright on the other side of the frosted glass. She tried the doorknob and found it was unlocked, so she opened the door and went out on the roof.

  There, Saya found Hitsuji Konparu.

  4

  Today, there was no wind, and the skies were completely clear. The sunlight was warm and soft. If she laid out in the sun for awhile, she wouldn’t burn, and wouldn’t catch a chill. In other words, it was the ideal day for an afternoon nap.

  In this blessed weather, next to the fence that wrapped all the way around the roof, Hitsuji Konparu slept.

  She was laying in such a way that the shade would fall on her face, and the sun would shine on her feet. There was a blanket over the lower half of her body, and her airy hair cascaded over the pillow beneath her head.

  “...She’s here,” Saya mumbled, then snapped back to her senses and looked around; she found neither hide nor hair of the suiju. It concerned her that she didn’t know what it had been, but Saya didn’t have the composure right now to keep worrying about that.

  Crossing the roof, she walked up to the sleeping Hitsuji Konparu, tip-toeing without realizing it.

  When she got closer, she felt a sense that something was pulling her in.

  Like her futon tempting her back to sleep in the morning. Or like the comfort of a secret soft bed. This wasn’t just her imagination anymore. The force of attraction was growing stronger.

  Her eyelids grew heavy. Her thoughts lost cohesion, and only the desire to lie next to the girl dominated her head...

  Oh, I knew it.

  This is it. This is what got me.

  It really has to be her. If it’s her, she can drag me into sleep.

  With each step, sleep drew nearer— the restful sleep that Saya craved more than anything.

  Suddenly, behind her was the sound of a door closing.

  When she jumped a bit and turned around, a short-haired student was there; the school badge on the breast of her uniform marked her as a third-year. With a sharp look cast in Saya’s direction, she opened her mouth.

  “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

  The suddenness of it made Saya stand bolt upright. With her dulled wits, an instantaneous response was out of the question.

  Perhaps growing impatient with Saya’s meaningless “um”s and “er”s, the third-year seemed to walk pointedly towards her, only to interpose herself between Saya and Hitsuji Konparu instead.

  “Get out.”

  “Uh, no,” Saya replied.

  “You should be in class now, shouldn’t you? Hurry along.”

  I could say the same to you, was the thought that crossed Saya’s mind, but arguing in her drowsy state took too much effort. Moving her clumsy tongue, Saya spoke.

  “I was looking... for her.”

  “Why?”

  “I... I wanna sleep with her.”

  Her feet moved of their own accord, and her body stumbled forward.

  “Huh? What are you... Hey.”

  The third-year apparently tried to stop her, but Saya barely noticed. Hitsuji Konparu’s horizontal form was like a black hole of sleep. When she closed in with two, three more steps, a wave of sleepiness struck her. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing suddenly opening its jaws, drowsiness rapidly seized Saya and pulled her in.

  I knew it was her...!

  While lying down next to Hitsuji Konparu, Saya was moved by a strong feeling akin to the satisfaction of a lightbulb moment.

  When she knelt at the edge of the blanket, before lying down, Saya’s consciousness had already been swallowed up by the darkness.

  The hospital halls were congested, and many people were sitting on the leather benches against the walls, waiting for their turn to come. As I pushed my way through the crowd, no one paid any attention to me. The walls were plastered with posters about preventing the spread of infection, and they said to always gargle with coffee after waking from a nightmare. There was a long line in front of the coffee vending machine, and after gargling, the children were spitting their coffee out in the attached sink.

  Opening the door to the examination room, my lover, who was wearing a nurse’s uniform, poked her head out.

  “Next,” my lover said before noticing me. “Oh, you’re late,” she said with a smile, and I hugged her and gave
her a kiss, like always.

  “It doesn’t taste like coffee,” my lover said in an accusatory tone once our lips had parted.

  “That’s because I’ve never had coffee in my life.”

  “That’s dangerous. There, look.”

  My lover pointed behind me. When I turned, all the patients were now gone, and the many-legged suiju was approaching down the white hall.

  “It was drawn here, to your sleep. Get back. I’ll take it out.”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I can handle one like that.”

  I laid down a yellow pylon in front of the suiju, its legs clicking as it moved them, closing in. When I put a coin in the vending machine, hot coffee came out, so I threw it—cup and all—at the suiju. The suiju collapsed and spread out across the floor.

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  When I turned around, quite proud with myself, my lover gave me a scrutinizing look. I was captivated by her sparkling eyes in spite of myself.

  “You... Who are you?” Hitsuji Konbaru asked with knit brows.

  “Hahh?!”

  Waking with a start, the first thing Saya saw was the face of Hitsuji Konparu, who was on top of her and looking down.

  The affection she’d felt in the dream was fading, much like the last light of the setting sun. Hitsuji Konparu looked at her with an unchanging expression, her head tilted slightly to the side. Saya timidly opened her mouth.

  “H-Hey.”

  “Heeeey?”

  When Hituji Konparu responded in such a way, Saya had no idea what she was thinking, and cringed.

  “Um... Can I get up?”

  “Gooood morning!”

  “G-Good morning...”

  She was kind of scary. The third-year from before entered a confused Saya’s vision from the side.

  “Saya Hokage-san.”

  “Huh? Yes!”

  Why does she know my name? Saya started to wonder, then noticed her student handbook in the third-year’s hand.

  “Hokage-san of Class 2-C, Roll Call No. 30. May I ask you to explain why you came here?”

  Though she said, “May I ask you to,” her tone was not one that was asking for permission.

  “Give that back.”

  “Once you answer my questions properly, I will. This is an interrogation.”