“You didn’t worry about it at all.”
“I did! About what excuse to give Mai if I flunked the exams.”
He handed the panda mug to Kaede.
“But you passed.”
“I couldn’t think of an excuse she’d buy. Had to study my ass off.”
“……”
Kaede took a long sip of cocoa.
“If you had failed, Sakuta—what do you think you’d have said?”
“Well, Mai’s the one who helped me study.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“So I’d probably have gone with ‘You didn’t teach me right.’”
“……”
Kaede froze, mouth hanging open. Flabbergasted.
“Naturally, I’d make it sound like a joke!”
“Most people wouldn’t. Couldn’t!”
“Well, I didn’t.”
Kaede let out a long sigh, but she no longer looked nearly as downcast. He could see a smile playing near the corners of her mouth.
“Then if I fail my exams, it’s your fault,” she said.
“How is that?”
“I’m gonna go to college.”
“I thought you were struggling with your future plans.”
“And I just made up my mind. I’m still not great with crowds, but…yesterday, Komi said her top pick is the same school you go to.”
By Komi, Kaede meant her oldest friend, Kotomi Kano.
“I thought it would be nice if I could go there with her. Is that allowed?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I mean, it’s kind of a flimsy motivation.”
“My motivation was one hundred percent going to college with Mai.”
“You’re just doing what she tells you to do.”
“Is that what it looks like?”
It was true, but Kaede made him sound totally whipped.
“Kaede, in your case, going to college is also about your desire to get out more, to go farther away…right?”
“Yeah, but…it sounds cringe when you spell it out like that.”
“You should do what you want to do.”
“Mm. Thanks.”
“How are you on time? Your shift’s at six?”
He glanced at the clock; it was 5:40.
“Ack! Sakuta, say that sooner!”
Kaede hustled off to her room and emerged a moment later in the same clothes with a coat over them. She went straight to the front door.
“I’m outta here!” she yelled.
“’Kay. Take care.”
“Lock the door for me!”
“Sure.”
He got up and went to the door, but Kaede was already gone. The door slammed shut, so he turned the latch and went back to the living room.
“She dreamed about the other Kaede, huh?”
The murmur escaped his lips.
If that dream was real, he could hardly just stand by. When she’d overcome her disorder and gone back to the original Kaede, the doctors had warned him there was every chance of a relapse. That’s how dissociative disorder worked.
But he’d consciously avoided tying that idea to the other Kaede. Even if his sister’s symptoms flared up again, it might not lead to the same outcome—so he’d avoided thinking about it.
Especially after Kaede got through high school admissions.
Now she was successfully taking online classes and working a part-time job.
Kaede was doing well, so well he didn’t need to worry about a relapse. She was leading a normal life.
“Guess we’ll just have to keep an eye on her,” he said, looking at Nasuno, who offered an encouraging meow.
Intending to rest a moment, he reached for his mug. The coffee was getting lukewarm, but he took a sip…and his eyes lit upon the phone.
“Oh, right.”
That reminded him of a question he had to ask.
He picked up the receiver and dug an eleven-digit number out of his memory. The one he’d dialed in his dream—Ikumi Akagi’s phone number.
Holding the phone to his ear, he could hear it ringing. The call had gone through. The number was in service.
It rang five times to no avail. No one answered.
He was sent to voice mail.
So he left a message.
“Is this Ikumi Akagi’s number? I’m Sakuta Azusagawa. If I’m right, I’d appreciate a call back. Thanks.”
With that, he hung up. If that actually was Ikumi’s number, he figured she’d call back quickly. She was diligent like that and would act on the message the moment she heard it.
That assessment of her proved accurate, and the phone rang less than a minute later.
The display showed the number he’d just dialed.
“Hello?”
Not sure it was actually Ikumi, he answered like a stranger was calling.
“This is Akagi,” she said, just as formally.
But the way she took this in stride was very Ikumi.
“Oh, it’s me. Azusagawa,” he said, switching to his normal tone.
“Mm-hmm,” she said, likely nodding.
“Sorry to spring this on you today.”
It was December 25. Christmas.
“It’s fine. We were just cleaning up after a Christmas party.”
“For the educational support volunteer thing?”
“Yeah. They all had a good time.”
“Then well worth doing.”
“You’ve got that lovely girlfriend, so should you really be calling me?”
“We already went on our date. And we’re eating dinner together later.”
“So? Who told you my number?”
Not interested in his bragging, Ikumi got to the point.
“Nobody.”
“Then how…?”
“I dreamed about it. Dreamed I was calling you.”
“And you remembered the number and decided to try it?”
“You sure saved me from spelling it all out.”
“That’s…really unsettling.”
“By which you mean the implications?”
“That’s half of it.”
“And the other half is my decision to call?”
“……”
She answered with silence. Silence signaled agreement. He’d at least have liked her to say so out loud.
“You think the dream you had is part of what’s on the news?”
“Likely, yeah.”
“And since my number was real, it might actually show the future.”
This was an absurd conversation on the face of it, but Ikumi seemed unperturbed. That was so very like her, Sakuta thought. Ikumi had been through her own share of the weirdness Adolescence Syndrome brought, and that had made her flexible enough to roll with things like this.
“And I called you to confirm that, Akagi. I know it’s out of the blue.”
“No problem. I had something to share with you myself.”
“You had a dream, too?”
“I imagine it was about the same day and time. I dreamed you called me.”
“……Oh.”
This was surprising, but he wasn’t sure what part of it he should be surprised by, which ironically helped him accept it.
“What did we talk about?”
“You rang me up out of nowhere and wanted to meet at Yokohama Station right away. Sounded like you needed my help with something serious. And it was from a cell phone number. After sunset.”
“That certainly matches my dream.”
The differences were down to perspective. Caller versus callee, Sakuta’s POV versus Akagi’s. Everything else lined up.
Was that coincidence? Possibly. But given what he’d seen on the news, it was hard to just dismiss it like that.
“Azusagawa…”
Ikumi’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Mm?”
“I think I’ve figured something out.”
“About the dreams?”
“About what they really are.”
“Yeah…?!”
His voice got a bit loud and Nasuno jumped.
“These dreams are actually…”
Staring at the buttons on the phone, Sakuta listened closely to what Ikumi said next. He wasn’t conscious of what he was looking at—his entire focus was on his ears alone, on Ikumi’s words.
What she said was something only Ikumi could have worked out. It rattled him. But more than that—it made sense. Her explanation lined up perfectly with what he knew about the dreams.
“Coming from you, Akagi, I’m inclined to believe it.”