On a cold winter morning in the middle of December, a passerby let out a surprised shout as he rode past Hajime and Yue on a bicycle.
“Hajime...are you listening?” Yue asked as she walked beside him, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
“Y-Yeah, I am.”
Since Yue was so much shorter than Hajime, she always had to look up at him, and while Hajime had seen her look pleadingly up at him many times now, her expression never failed to make his heart skip a beat. As a result, Hajime stopped thinking about the poor biker who’d been enraptured by her appearance and ran into a telephone pole, and focused his attention back on Yue.
She jogged a few steps in front of him and twirled around to face him. Her golden-blonde hair sparkled in the cold winter sun and her skirt twirled up a little, revealing a tiny thigh gap.
Another passerby let out a surprised squawk as he tripped over the gutter. However, Hajime was so entranced by Yue that he didn’t even notice.
“It’s dangerous to walk backward on the street,” he said.
“Mmm... But this way, we can look at each other while we walk.”
Yue’s expression softened slightly, and she gave him a small smile. That dazzling smile also captivated a nearby delivery driver, and he got so distracted he had to slam the brakes to avoid running into a car parked on the side of the street. The delivery van actually drifted for a bit before grinding to a halt inches from the rear bumper of the car ahead.
“Hajime?” Yue asked, cocking her head at Hajime. He looked like he’d been spacing out, but in truth, he’d been feeling a sense of déjà vu.
After a few seconds, he finally realized why and he muttered, “Oh, that dream finally turned into a reality.”
Upon hearing that, Yue shot him a questioning look. Her expression was so cute that Hajime wanted to hug her right then and there, but he held the desire in. Meanwhile, a schoolgirl walking past the two of them suddenly crouched down and tried to stem a nosebleed.
“I-I got to see her again today. She truly is an angel!” the girl muttered to herself. She’d started taking this route to school the past few days solely so that she could walk past Yue each day.
“I saw you wearing these clothes and walking to school with me once before,” Hajime explained to Yue.
“Hm? I don’t remember wearing this uniform before...”
“It wasn’t in real life. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but remember the perfect dreams we all saw in Haltina’s labyrinth?”
“Oh... He he. So that’s what you saw, huh?”
“Don’t laugh,” Hajime said, blushing and looking away in embarrassment. He knew it was a bit late to be getting embarrassed over Yue knowing his innermost desires, but he couldn’t help it.
Indeed, Hajime had seen Yue do the exact same thing in his ideal world dream back when they’d been making their way through the labyrinth built into the beastmen’s sacred tree. Hajime’s ideal world had been one where he’d never suffered in that hellish abyss of despair and got to spend his days peacefully with those he loved. That had, of course, included going to school with Yue without having to worry about fighting enemies or finding a way back home. In that dream, she’d been wearing his school’s uniform as well: a sky-blue blazer with a red ribbon, a knee-length skirt, and brown loafers.
After having overcome numerous trials in Tortus, that dream of Hajime’s had finally become a reality.
“Have you gotten used to school, by the way?” Hajime asked, changing the subject.
Still smiling, Yue nodded.
“Mhm... Everything’s new, but it’s also really fun...especially when I get to walk to school alone with you.”
“I feel like you didn’t have to put that much effort into making a schedule for which days each of you gets to walk to school with me, though. Everyone else is taking the train even though you could probably bike there faster if you used some of the shortcuts I know.”
“You just don’t understand how important it is for us to walk to school with you, Hajime. Everyone agreed to this, so no complaints.”
“I-I know, but...”
For the first week or so, Yue and Shea had timidly walked to school with Hajime, but once they’d gotten used to school life, they’d colluded with Kaori and Shizuku to work out a schedule where everyone got to walk to school with Hajime alone on different days of the week.
They’d gone through two rotations now, and it seemed this schedule was here to stay. Hajime could see why they all placed so much value in walking to school with just him, since it was rare to get one-on-one time with him because he was always surrounded by so many people. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but think Yue and the others were taking this far more seriously than they needed to.
“Do you not want to be alone with me?” Yue asked.
“That’s not it and you know it,” Hajime replied immediately.
Upon seeing Yue’s pleading expression, everyone on the street tripped, got a nosebleed, or crashed into a telephone pole. This always happened when Hajime was walking to school with Yue. Incidentally, he’d gotten very good at shooting the smartphones of all the people who tried to secretly sneak pictures of her.
Hajime pulled a pair of red-rimmed glasses out of his pocket and put them on Yue. She blinked twice as he did so.
Hajime had already given Yue a perception-altering Artifact that made her less conspicuous, but for whatever reason when it was just the two of them going to school together, it didn’t seem to work well enough. Hence why he’d just given her another Artifact to strengthen the effect.