Chapter Text
Part 3: The Last
“Shinazugawa-kun…”
I call his name repeatedly. I’m afraid he’ll never wake up.
Shinobu’s crow tells me she’s on her way to us. I feel a burden being lifted off of my shoulders, but Sanemi still makes me anxious. He’s sweating all over, and looks like he’s on the verge of death.
There’s no sign of the demon that traps us inside the dream world. Maybe it just turned into a demon recently and used us as guinea pigs for its blood demon technique. Playing with us with the dream it conjured, manifesting our memories that we miss every day. Though those memories have gone blown by the wind and grown like tulips inside our minds. No one has the right to disturb and destroy those precious flowers.
After some time, Sanemi finally wakes up with red eyes and a pale face. I smile in relief.
“I was dreaming,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
“Ara, a good dream or a bad dream, Shinazugawa-kun?” I tease him.
He doesn’t take the bait. Instead he looks like he wants to tell me. “I don’t know, Kochou. It feels weird.”
“Are you thirsty?” He cleared his throat as he forces himself to sit beside me. “Truth to be told, we’re having the same dream. It’s a blood demon technique.” Sanemi’s face looks surprised. Then I continue, “But the demon is already gone, and Shinobu is on her way.”
“You sure it’s gone, Kochou?”
“Yes, Shinazugawa-kun. Also we have to undo this knot on our hands. It’s the medium of our memories in that dream world.”
He hurriedly cut the rope that connects our wrists with his folding knife. When he looks at my face, it’s clear that he’s studying me, and it makes me feel embarrassed.
“... Your hair is longer now.”
My heart almost breaks through my chest when Sanemi holds the end of my hair in his hand. Without me noticing, I have set millions of butterflies free from their cages.
oOo
The shine on Kanae’s black hair catches my eyes. Unconsciously I reach out and take some strands in my hold. In my memory her hair hasn’t reached her waist. The butterfly pins on her hair looks a bit different from the ones she wore when she was thirteen, but it still suits her all the same.
“... Your hair is longer now.”
I blurt out those words accidentally, and I see roses bloom on Kanae’s cheeks, colouring it sweetly with the colour of scarlet. Maybe it’s puberty, but I feel I can’t look at her, so I turn away to the side. As I mentally curse at my own spontaneity, I tighten my fists. We don’t say a single word afterwards. It’s so embarrassing that I want to strangle myself to death right at that moment. But I hear Kanae’s soft voice trying to break the awkwardness.
“Ohagi-kun, do you want to see fireworks together tonight?”
“O-Ohagi-kun?” I blink, barely believing when I hear that nickname from her lips once again. “D-Don’t call me that, Kochou!”
She giggles and I notice the dimple on her right cheek. Everything seems to vanish in that moment, it’s just her and her sweet laugh. Without me knowing, sakura has blossomed in full in my heart.
The End