It was pitch-black out, and luckily no one else was around. I had made a huge blunder by bumping my head, but at least it was late at night. Still, I wondered where I would wake up since I never lost consciousness like that before. It seemed I had nothing to worry about, as I had reappeared at the same alley I was in earlier. I had expected that Toru wouldn’t wake up here with me since he was still in the dream world. And so I rose, rolling the fallen trash can out of my way.
Despite wanting to check my surroundings a bit more, I had bigger priorities. I looked at my watch to find it was almost midnight.
“This will be my first time going home this late. I hope Marie is already asleep.” Knowing her, I had a feeling she would still be up. I picked up my bag, then started walking with unsteady steps.
I inserted my key into the door and heard a click. The doorknob was cold to the touch, but I stepped into warmth when entering the building and saw Marie rising next to the interior light. She had seemingly already taken a bath and changed into loungewear. But Marie was holding a book, presumably reading as she waited for me to get home. I felt a pang in my heart as she turned around with a tear rolling down her face.
The black cat jumped off the bed as Marie rushed to me in her slippers. My heart ached again to see she was holding back more tears. She continued to run toward me and dived into my chest to embrace me. I quickly put my arms around her back.
I wasn’t sure what to say. We always had fun chatting away, but she remained still with her arms around me and said nothing. I took a few deep breaths and slowly started to speak.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Marie buried her face in my arms and muttered. I couldn’t tell if she was angry, sad, or both. She sobbed a few times, then looked up at me, her purple eyes covered with tears. It was the first time I had seen her cry.
“It’s strange. I wasn’t supposed to cry. Knowing you, I knew you would be okay, so I waited here, wondering when you’d get home. I was having fun reading a book with Wridra until a moment ago,” she said, yet the tears wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t wipe them away for her with our arms around each other, so I just stared into her eyes.
She had a troubled expression, likely due to having trouble processing her emotions. I expected her to get angry with me, so I was rather taken aback that she was even more bewildered than me.
I was glad I had come home despite the circumstances. Otherwise, I would have made her even more sad. I finally breathed out of relief, then gently stroked her back. She stared at me with those tearful eyes. Her expression had changed, and it seemed she understood her emotions.
“You know, I think my feelings for you are a lot stronger than I realized. That’s the only explanation that makes sense. I always knew you were precious to me, but why else would I cry like this just because we were apart for a little while?”
My mind went blank when she said those words in her beautiful voice. It was as if her feelings flowed into me from where her slender body touched mine. She got so caught up in her speculation that she had blurted out her unfiltered feelings, and her face gradually grew red as she realized what she had just said.
Marie suddenly pushed me away, trying to put distance between us. “I-I just said something very cheesy, didn’t I?!” She still kept me away. I couldn’t see her expression clearly with her face lowered, but she was turning red up to her ears. It was pretty obvious, and I started blushing.
“Um, I didn’t think it was cheesy,” I said. “I’m happy to hear you say that.”
While I clearly expressed gratitude, she glared at me and wanted to say something.
“You don’t get it, do you? Fine. As someone who reads lots of romance novels, let me give you a bit of advice. You should never, ever indulge girls who cry just because their boyfriend is gone for a little while. It’s only going to lead to trouble,” declared Marie.
“Uh? Sorry, but what do you mean?”
Though I hardly ever read romance novels, I’d always wondered about them. I had seen those books on the table and near her pillow, and they had different covers pretty much every day. She must have been going through them at an incredibly fast pace.
Marie moved her face closer to mine, tilted her head, and said, “I mean, this sort of thing will keep happening again and again. You should have reached out to me and explained everything, although it was my fault for letting my negative thoughts run wild. So we’ll call it even.”
Her tears had subsided, and I was relieved she was starting to feel better. I accepted the blame for what had happened tonight and couldn’t help but wonder what she’d meant just now. Thus, I asked her as I removed my shoes.
“What sorts of negative thoughts?”
“Well, what if you just disappeared and never came back.”
That would’ve made me anxious since she would be left in Japan alone, which was a chilling thought. It was strange that thought had never crossed my mind.
Marie reached for my suit to help me remove it. To my surprise, she seemed completely fine now. Our eyes met, and she said, “Oh, did I pique your interest in my romance novels?”
“N-No, not really. More importantly, if I do ever disappear someday―” I paused, noticing her expression. Her eyes were partially closed, a strange smile on her lips.
“That makes me sad. You don’t think we’ll always be together?”
I worried when trying to figure out why she had said it with that unconcerned expression, perhaps too much.
“No, I do. I want to always be with you and want you to stay by my side,” I said calmly.
“Ah?!” she squealed, then hid her face with the suit she was holding.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Marie? Doesn’t that suit reek of alcohol?”
“...right now,” she mumbled.
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you.”
“Don’t talk to me right now! Look away and get dressed, okay?!”
“Okay! I’m sorry!” I said. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask what had upset her. I quickly undid my necktie in a fluster, then headed to the dressing area by the bathroom. Since we lived in a one-room condo, it was big enough to fit two. Next to the dressing area was a dresser full of clothes and a closet for suits and coats. More than half of the clothes belonged to Marie. Speaking of, she seemed to have settled, as I heard her footsteps behind me while opening the closet.
“You must be cold. Why don’t you warm up in the shower? And what did you talk about with Toru?” she asked.
“Oh, right, I completely forgot about that. Boy, it was a mess. I ended up accidentally taking him into the dream world. It looks like I’ll have to go and bring him back.”
I muttered about what a crazy night it had been, only to find Marie standing frozen in place. The suit she had been holding fell to the floor, but she still didn’t move an inch. She tilted her head repeatedly as if she had no idea what to think, and I could almost see question marks floating over her head.
“Huh? What? What do you mean? If he’s in the dream world, does that mean you slept with him?”
“Please don’t phrase it that way...and no. We got drunk, and we both passed out in the alley. I have to be careful not to drink so much from now on,” I explained as I picked up my suit jacket. I smoothed out the wrinkles with my hand, put it on a hanger, and placed it in the cabinet. Marie still hadn’t moved.
“S-So, what is he doing now?” she asked.
“Who knows? Maybe he’s been talking to Wridra after getting dressed. I was worried about you more than anything.” I said, yawning. “Whew, I’m tired.”
I considered changing into my pajamas and going to bed without showering. There would be hot springs on the other side, after all. Such thoughts were going through my mind when I heard Marie’s trembling voice from behind.
“Y-You... You really are careless with people other than me. I kind of knew that already, and it made me feel special. But you should realize someone’s life is at stake here.”
“Ha ha, that’s a bit overdramatic. The dream world is safe and fun, so there’s nothing to worry about. It’s not like there are monsters that will attack him or―”
Wait, some monsters attacked humans there. In fact, all monsters attacked humans. They always hated humans, funnily enough.
“I get it!” I said. “If he learns how to fight monsters, he’d have so much fun that he wouldn’t want to return to Japan! Is that what you’re worried about?”
“No, it’s not! You’re always like this. Not everyone thinks fighting monsters is fun, you know! Though, I suppose he should be okay with Wridra there.”
She worried too much. Who wouldn’t enjoy fighting monsters as if you were in a video game? I was about to say it out loud, but she started pushing me from behind for some reason.
“In that case, no shower for you! We’re going to bed!” she declared.
“Oh, if you say so. I have a feeling we’re forgetting something, but... Oh, well.”
It probably wasn’t important if I couldn’t remember it, so I went to bed as told. This decision was a huge mistake I would end up paying for a few days later. For now, it completely slipped my mind as we buried ourselves under the futon and held each other in a warm embrace.
Maybe I was too careless, as Marie had said. I didn’t think of myself that way and hadn’t realized another person was concerned for Toru’s safety.