“Since when did she start calling her ‘Ms. Wridra’?” I wondered. Kaoruko was head over heels for her. I debated whether I should tell Toru something or if he’d be better off not knowing. I eventually decided the latter would be for the best, and kept my mouth shut.
“And you, Marie-chan—to think, you’re an elf much older than me. I’d always thought there was a mystical air about you, like a character from a fairy tale. I’m so glad I got to know you,” said Kaoruko, moving her face closer to Marie’s.
Marie was a bit taken aback. Even though she had always gotten a lot of attention, this felt different somehow.
“Th-Thank you, but this is all a bit much. There aren’t too many elves out there, but we aren’t all that rare,” said Marie.
“Oh, don’t be so modest,” continued Kaoruko. “If there were many people as cute as you, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself! Ah, I just might faint from seeing you so up close! You may not know this about me, but I love beautiful women!”
Did she just say what I think she said? Sweat rolled down my face as I drove, but she didn’t mean it that way. She probably meant she appreciated those women the way one would with art, not in a romantic sense. I decided to believe that was the case.
Kaoruko was similar to me in that she loved fantasy worlds from the bottom of her heart. That was why the elves and dragons moved her, making her giddy about visiting the other world. It would explain why she quickly accepted the situation despite it being so unbelievable. So when she said she loved women, she must have meant those from fantasy worlds. Yes, that had to be it. I wasn’t sure why I was so intent on convincing myself, but it made some sense to me.
Her next question didn’t just surprise me, but the other two as well.
“So, which language should I learn first?”
Anyone who had taken a foreign language class in school knew how much time and effort it took to learn a new language. What she planned to do was akin to learning English from scratch, and her willingness to take on the challenge surprised me.
Marie put a finger on her chin thoughtfully, then turned to me.
“It would be faster to ask someone who has experience in that field. Which language from our world would you suggest she learn first?”
I’d nearly forgotten that I had learned multiple languages. It was fun expanding my horizons with each new language I’d attained, though they were useless in my world. After I thought about it for a while, I decided to share my perspective.
“Considering what Wridra said about traits, I suggest Elvish. It’s uncommon, but everyone here can speak it. The important thing is that you can use it to control spirits. For communicating with other people, the common language is useful too. But...” We hit some more traffic, so I turned around. Kaoruko’s eyes were alight with a fascination for the unknown. I felt like I should tell what I truly wanted to recommend. “You should learn the ancient language somewhere along the line. It’s the origin and center of all culture. With your drive to learn anything and everything, I definitely recommend you learn it.”
I thought I’d seen something change in her eyes, like lights sparkling as she absorbed my words. Maybe I’d imagined it, but that was how it seemed to me.
“I will, Kitase-sensei,” she said and flashed a pretty smile, her shoulder-length black hair swaying with the movement. Her eyes were full of joy, and I found her expression dazzling.
We were close in age, but the teacher and student relationship felt right to me.
“Welcome to the dream world,” I told her. “And welcome to Toru, even though he’s not here. I hope you enjoy learning many things that will enrich your lives.”
It felt like some cheesy words of welcome at a school entrance ceremony. As someone who had spent nearly twenty years visiting the dream world, no one else was more qualified than me to say them.
But I wasn’t sure how Kaoruko was feeling, though I saw her shudder. She hugged herself as if overcome with a wave of emotion, then let out a heated sigh. She moved her face up to mine, a bit too close for someone who was just a neighbor, and parted her lustrous lips.
“I’m looking forward to it. And...I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about it too much because I can hardly wait as is.”
She must have been more excited about it than I’d imagined, seeing that a tear rolled down her rosy cheeks. Then, she quickly wiped it with a finger while surprising me, but her reaction wasn’t negative.
Wridra patted her head comfortingly. She was finally ready to step into this new world in earnest. Perhaps she envisioned a future where her friends would welcome her with open arms and discuss what they would do for the day. I wanted her to enjoy the dream world fully and would do what I could to help.
The traffic died down before I knew it, and the drive became much smoother. We had only left about thirty minutes ago, and I was glad to see how close the ladies had gotten already.
I couldn’t help but wonder why my words earlier seemed to have affected Kaoruko so profoundly. At that moment, I thought perhaps something I said had tugged at her heartstrings somehow and slowly pressed my foot down on the accelerator.
§
I watched as a yellow leaf slowly fell to the ground. The cycle of seasons existed here like in any world, and there was a distinct air of melancholy as winter approached. Yet this was the way of nature and something other than what we humans could do. The changing of seasons was inevitable, and I had experienced the transition to winter many times already. It was part of the predetermined events that occurred repeatedly, like working, doing chores, or going to school when I was still a student. I should have been bored of it all by now.
The sight was definitely one I had seen countless times already. I had no reason to have it affect me at my age, or so I thought. Before I knew it, I had stopped walking among the myriad leaves dancing in the air around me. They gently fell into a pile on the ground beside a bench where a beautiful girl who looked like a fairy was sitting.