Outside, Sakuta and Tomoe headed toward Fujisawa Station.
“You had a Christmas Eve dream, then, Koga?”
“Seems like everyone did. Nana, my friends in class… Did anyone miss out? It’s feeling like a no.”
It was limited to their generation, but to Sakuta’s knowledge, Mai was the only one who hadn’t had a dream. If that was true for Tomoe’s circles, too, then the exceptions were rare indeed.
They passed the station and headed east. Foot traffic died down, and Sakuta got to the point.
“So did you see Mai’s big announcement?”
“I did not.”
“Then what?”
“My dream started a good deal earlier than April first.”
“How much earlier?”
“February fourth.”
A very specific date. And not one that rang a bell. It was the day after Setsubun…but that was all he could really say.
“What happened?”
“Sakurajima-senpai was working with Fujisawa PD, acting as police chief for a day.”
“She was?”
That was news to him.
“There was an accident during the event. In my dream, the news said she was seriously injured and had not regained consciousness.”
That was also a first.
“You mean it?”
“I wouldn’t make something like this up.”
“I know.”
“The news said some equipment fell on her, and she was rushed to the hospital.”
It was just a dream, but Tomoe’s tone was grim, like she’d witnessed this firsthand. The look on her face was every bit as dire.
Neither the police chief thing nor the equipment collapse had shown up in the dreaming hashtag posts. Everything Mai-related he’d seen was about the music festival on April 1 and her shocking announcement.
Sakuta’s own dream had been about that. Ikumi’s dream had been about the same day, the same time.
“What happened to Mai after she reached the hospital?”
“There was no news about her recovery. At least, not as of April ninth.”
“……Huh?”
He uttered a very dull-witted noise. What had she just said?
“As of April ninth, there was no further news.”
Sakuta had not misheard her.
“I asked you, but you wouldn’t tell me much.”
Tomoe glared at him, holding him responsible for what he’d done in her dream.
That was hardly the only strange thing here.
What on earth was Tomoe talking about?
The specifics and extent of her dream were far beyond what Sakuta had seen or what any #dreaming post involved. This was a huge departure. And within that dream, she’d made a conscious effort to get in touch with him. As if she’d just been living a normal life…
“Uh, Koga.”
“What?”
“Your dream went on that long?”
He’d experienced something very similar once. With Tomoe. Summer of his second year in high school. Strange memories of looping through the same few days.
“I guess.” She looked away, clearly not wanting to say more.
Which told him all he needed to know.
“You saw everything from Christmas Eve until April ninth?”
“So what if I did?”
She made a face at him, practically admitting it.
This matched Tomoe’s previous Adolescence Syndrome symptoms. The future simulation. The return of Laplace’s demon.
“I didn’t loop through the same time on repeat or anything,” she said evasively.
“So you realized high school graduation was coming up and got nervous about whether you’d make friends in college?”
“Shut up.”
He’d definitely got it in one.
“How you doing?” she asked.
“Mm?”
“Did you make friends?”
A forced change of subject.
“Got one or two I talk to often.”
Takumi was probably safe to call a friend. Takumi would likely throw a fit if he said they weren’t.
There was also Miori, who’d described them as potential friends. That could mean they still weren’t friends. Sakuta himself would be perfectly fine with making that leap, though.
“But it’s different from high school.”
“Like, how?”
“We just kinda hang out. Without getting to know each other as well as I did Kunimi or Futaba.”
In high school, everyone’s lives overlapped, and that deepened the connections. Like, without even trying, you wound up with a good idea where people lived. They were that close.
But in college, everyone’s active range expanded, and there was little to no overlap. Once you left campus, you had no clue what anyone else was up to. And that distance kept relationships thin.
That was neither good nor bad.
It was just how things worked.
And it let people keep a safer distance and avoid hurting each other.
“Huh, okay.”
Tomoe took his word for it but also clearly didn’t get it. It didn’t feel real to her yet.
“Koga, just don’t panic and try to join a group that’s not right for you again.”
“Well, if I do, I’ll come to you to grumble.”
“No more than once a week.”
“Also, this is me.”
They’d hit an intersection, and Tomoe paused in her tracks. She would have to turn left there, and Sakuta would go right.
“Thanks for sharing, Koga. It was a huge help.”
He was mildly concerned by the reemergence of the petite devil, but he had learned something vital from it.
“Then treat me to a Mont Blanc that’s only good for two hours.”
“Is ten good?”
“One’s plenty!”
“No need to hold back.”
“If you wanna thank me, just be normal about it!”
“That’s asking a lot.”
“Suuuure. Later, Senpai.”
Tomoe waved and walked away. He watched her go, and she soon turned back.
“You’re making this weird!”
She pointed down the road, urging him to get moving. Then she ran off, trying to get out of his sight. He soon lost track of her.
“I never get bored watching her,” he muttered, then turned the opposite way down the road.
For a while, his footsteps echoed through the residential streets. His breathing was the only other sound.
All he’d done was show up for work, but he’d ended up hearing a lot of strange stories.
Sara’s news about all the people who’d shared his dream.
And Tomoe’s simulation of the future.
Too much baffling information at once, but one piece of the puzzle had slotted into place.
Mai would be in a coma.
What Tomoe had seen could not line up better with the Mai’s in danger warning. And he was glad to know about it in advance. If she was bound to have equipment fall on her, it shouldn’t be that hard to prevent.
Most of this made no sense, but that alone seemed safe.
Not that he didn’t have concerns—he had no idea how this connected to the other part of the message: Find Touko Kirishima.
And why had he dreamed about Mai calling herself by that name? That still made no sense.
How did the pieces fit together? What parts of it weren’t related at all?
Just thinking about it made his head spin.
“I’m so lost.”
The words slipped out, but they were a clear reflection of his state of mind.