“Takinaaa… Let’s go…”
Takina awoke with a start, hearing Chisato’s whisper right next to her ear. Her whole body tensed up. She quickly looked around, trying to remember where she was and what was happening. As to the first question, she was in a car, but it wasn’t the van she had been in before. The interior looked familiar… It was Mizuki’s car, and Takina and Chisato were in the back seat.
Takina looked out of the window next. They were driving on the highway toward the old radio tower. Based on the sun’s position relative to the tower, it was late morning.
“Oh, you’re awake?” Mizuki glanced at Takina in the rearview mirror. “The handover to DA took so long, didn’t it? It turned into an all-nighter. It’s okay if you want to nap some more.”
“No, I’m fine…”
Memories were slowly returning to Takina, like droplets of water soaking into a piece of fabric until it was fully saturated. She remembered they’d been working on a drug dealing case, uncovering the supply route. They’d had to pursue their target, and they were on their way back from handing them over.
“You’re going to work after we get back to the café, right? You’d better take a page out of Chisato’s book and rest while you can.”
At the mention of Chisato’s name, Takina suddenly realized why she was feeling strangely heavier on one side. Chisato was in the seat next to her, but she’d fallen asleep with her head on Takina’s shoulder.
“Shoot… Keep shootiiing…”
Takina pushed Chisato away toward the other side of the car, but as soon as she let go of her, Chisato slumped onto her shoulder again. Takina was annoyed, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Look at her grinning like an idiot in her sleep. Must be having a fun dream.”
“Yes, probably…”
“You were making faces in your sleep too, Takina.”
“Was I…?”
“You moaned a bit, too.”
“Please erase it from your memory.”
As she had suspected, it was all but a dream. Takina breathed with relief and sunk back into the seat.
“You still look really tired.”
“I had a tiring dream.”
“Oh, was it a nightmare?”
Takina had to think about it.
“Not quite.”
“Shoot… Shoooooot, Takinaaa… We have to…save…the world…,” Chisato muttered in her sleep, her breath tickling Takina’s ear.