The gloomy, humid rainy season had passed in the capital, giving way to summer.
Cicadas sang tirelessly from the thicket, and harsh sunlight streamed down on the land below, robbing the air of its moisture.
Although the heat wasn’t too oppressive just after dawn broke, in short order, the hot summer air would blanket the area long before noontime.
Miyo Kudou, formerly Miyo Saimori, stood in the garden holding a watering can.
The yard was vibrantly colored with summer flowers. In one section, sunflowers stretched their large heads toward the sun, and on the veranda, morning glories in flowerpots bloomed in shades of blue and purple. There were also crepe myrtles, balloon flowers, and more; just gazing at the medley of colors made Miyo feel excited and happy.
Still, the heat posed a challenge. When she watered the plants and flowers, the ground would grow wet and dark, only to dry out completely a few moments later. Figuring out the right amount of water to give during the summer was truly difficult.
What was I doing this time last year…?
Miyo had become a Kudou only a few months prior. However, this was her second summer in this house.
Last spring—
Miyo had left the Saimori estate, the place where she was born and raised, and had come to this house to be wed. Despite being the child of two Gift-users, Miyo had been unable to awaken her supernatural abilities, a defect for which she was ostracized in her own home. Her father and her stepmother had all but driven her out in order to marry her off to a man with a horrible reputation.
However, it turned out the man was kind and generous, nothing like what others said about him.
It had been over a year since—and a tumultuous one at that. Miyo had parted from her father, her stepmother, and her stepsister; awakened as a Gift-user; and confronted the man who had been connected with her mother.
Inwardly, Miyo forced a smile as she reflected on the events of the past year.
Last summer, she hadn’t had the mental capacity to spare on small details like how to best water the garden. All her energy had been spent worrying about herself.
For a brief moment, the light of the sun intensified, and she was dazzled by the glare.
What is that…?
A phantom came into view, like heat haze rising from the hot earth.
Instantly, her bodily senses faded away. Both the heat of summer and the cries of the cicadas abruptly vanished from her perception.
“Huh…”
Her vision went white until, all of a sudden, she saw two hazy silhouettes lingering a short distance from her.
Who were they? With vague questions in her mind, Miyo strained her eyes.
“Kiyoka?”
One of the two figures appeared to be a man. He wore a light summer kimono without hakama pants, and his long, straight hair went past his shoulders. He had a striking resemblance to her beloved husband, Kiyoka Kudou.
The shade stood completely motionless, without even glancing in Miyo’s direction.
He really did seem like a phantom of some kind. No, a daydream perhaps.
Standing by his side, meanwhile…
Huh…? What’s going on?
Miyo’s eyes widened in surprise.
She found it hard to think straight due to the heat. Nevertheless, she instantly realized something was off about the scene before her.
Is that…me?
Nestled up close to the Kiyoka silhouette was a woman in a kimono. There was no mistaking her. It was the same face Miyo saw in the mirror every day.
The two shades gazed at each other, nuzzled together, then turned away from Miyo.
Miyo wondered why this was happening.
The visions Miyo saw in her sleep were special. With her supernatural power of Dream Sight, she could enter the dreams of others and manipulate them at will. It was a powerful ability that, once mastered, could give a clear view of the past, the present, and the future.
However, this was just a daydream, and even if it was an effect of Dream Sight, there was a significant difference between this vision and her usual ones.
I’ve never seen myself in a dream before.
In her visions, Miyo had never watched herself as an outside observer. She would either view the events of a dream with her own two eyes or be shown situations that didn’t involve her through the eyes of another.
Her heart gave a disquieting thump.
One of the two shades, the woman resembling Miyo, slowly turned around.
Her familiar face broke into a graceful, almost lustrous smile.
Was that really her? Did Miyo really smile like that?
As Miyo stood there dumbfounded, the shade with her face moved her rouged lips, never dropping her bewitching smile.
Huh…? Is she saying something?
Miyo focused on trying to read the shade’s lips, but the next moment, the two silhouettes shimmered before melting into the air like steam, disappearing completely.
Suddenly, the sounds and the heat of her surroundings returned. Miyo felt sweat trace her temple.
What on earth had just happened? Momentarily disoriented, she froze in place.
“Miyo.”
Just then, a pair of long arms gently wrapped around her from behind, and Miyo returned to her senses.
The pale arms, peeking out from a light-gray summer kimono with a willow tree pattern, had just the right amount of muscle, reflecting their owner’s daily training. She had become fully accustomed to this embrace, so a feeling of safety overcame her nerves.
“…Kiyoka.”
Though she didn’t need to look to know whose arms these were, Miyo turned her head to gaze into the eyes of the man behind her.
Beautiful features, blue-tinged irises, and a peaceful smile. This was the face of Kiyoka Kudou, the man who had become her husband last spring and the current head of the Kudou family.
Though his visage made Miyo question if a man this handsome could really be of this world, she caught a twinkle of worry for her in his gaze.
“You were spacing out for a second there. Is something wrong? Not feeling well?”
Miyo’s eyes softened.
“No. I’m feeling just fine. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“I’m happy to worry over you, Miyo.”
“That’s…going a bit too far.”
When he put it like that, he made it sound as though Miyo was always being reckless and doing things to make him fret.
However, she couldn’t necessarily say Kiyoka was exaggerating, either.
In fact, during the previous summer—the one she had been thinking back on a short while ago—Miyo’s Gift had gone out of control after she left the confines of her childhood home. It was a terrible time. Night after night, she would be visited by horrible nightmares, and she even collapsed one day on a trip outside the house. Things were so bad that her relationship with Kiyoka had gotten a bit rocky.
Kiyoka remembered it all clearly, which explained why he was overly concerned about Miyo’s physical health at that moment.
“I’ll be sure to let you know if I start to feel unwell, so could you put a bit more trust in me?” Miyo asked.
“That’s not… I do trust you, it’s just, I can’t help but worry.”
Right when she heard Kiyoka protest in a sullen tone, Miyo felt his arms tighten around her.
Miyo couldn’t help breaking into a strained smile.
Since getting married, Kiyoka had been more openly affectionate toward Miyo and had been paying much more attention to her, to the point where he seemed overprotective at times.
Perhaps this was less a result of their marriage and more a consequence of his decision to retire from military life and offload the burden of his former position.
Still, Kiyoka’s change in behavior did make Miyo very happy, and she found it sweet, too.
“You only just got home yourself, Kiyoka. Are you sure you don’t need to rest?”
Her husband had been on duty at the station last night, and he hadn’t gotten home until after sunrise. As impressive as his stamina was, surely he was exhausted.
Miyo placed her hand on Kiyoka’s arm.
“I’m fine,” he replied.
“I’ll prepare some tea, so why don’t we go inside and relax for a bit?”
Miyo got everything ready in the kitchen, and then they each had a cup in the living room.
Deciding it would be best to be open with him, Miyo told Kiyoka about the dreamlike illusion she had seen earlier.
“An illusion. And you can’t say for sure it was a dream?”
Kiyoka furrowed his brows lightly, questioning Miyo after listening to the whole story.
“That’s right. If it was a dream, then…that would mean I fell asleep while watering the garden.”
When she thought it all over again, it was really quite embarrassing.
It was disgraceful to think she might’ve nodded off with a watering can in her hand, but even if that wasn’t the case, it was quite alarming to consider the possibility she had passed out where she stood from the heat.
“Still, suddenly seeing an illusion without any cause isn’t—”
“Pardon me.” The voice of a man came from the opened doors along the veranda.
Both Miyo and Kiyoka immediately recognized the guest’s voice, and Miyo was surprised by how perfectly timed his arrival was.
“Oh, Arata. Welcome.”
A well-dressed man in his three-piece suit, Arata Usuba wore the same well-mannered smile as always, yet he seemed to pick up on the unusual tension between Miyo and Kiyoka, blinking his eyes repeatedly.
“Did something happen? The day has barely started, and you two already have such grim looks on your faces.”
“What a rude thing to say after showing up uninvited.”
Kiyoka’s lips bent in a grimace as he glared at the man. Arata, on the other hand, didn’t pay him any attention. It was their usual back- and-forth.
“Kiyoka…do you think we should tell Arata what I just told you?”
He huffed and reluctantly answered Miyo with a nod.
“Hmm? Did something happen?”
Bewildered, Arata came up into the living room, and after Miyo served him tea, she explained the illusion, or daydream, she had just experienced in the garden.