Chapter Text
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Day ??
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I had a dream.
A dream about kissing.
Not with Karua, or even with Nozomi.
But with Kurara.
With Kyoshika.
With Tsubasa.
And with Ima. Wait, Ima? Ima?
…
.....
I opened my eyes and saw a familiar ceiling.
I remembered glimpses from here and there; how I came back in time, how I stopped Eito, how I told nobody about my time traveling…
But most of my memories were just blurry. I covered my eyes, trying to clear the images, but they just disappeared even further. Even the dream was starting to fade away…
Click. I heard my door opening.
”Oh? You’re finally awake!” Moko stood by my bed with a surprised, yet pleased, look on her face.
”What are you doing here? Wait, how did you get in? And what do you mean finally?”
”….Takumi, do you have any idea what day it is today?”
”Uh… Day 4?”
”Mm, I see…”, Moko smiled faintly. ”Well, as long as you’re alive and well, that’s all that matters….”
She led me to the cafeteria, where everyone was already gathered. There, I learned the truth.
It was actually Day 24! What a shock!
I learned how Hiruko and I had fallen off the roof on Day 9 and lost consciousness until today.
There was something wrong with the resurrection machine, so we had been brought back with incomplete memories. Hiruko didn’t remember anything either, so whatever had led to us falling off the roof was as much a mystery to her as it was to me.
"Thankfully you're both okay," Moko said before glancing around. "Although... Kurara, Kyoshika, Tsubasa, Ima- you four were the most worried, yet you've barely said a word today."
"...I wasn't worried", Ima smiled a half-smile, playing with a strand of hair. "...It would've just been inconvenient if you stayed asleep. For the mission."
"O-Of course I'm happy you're back," Tsubasa stammered. "Welcome back.”
"I-I'm simply overwhelmed," Kyoshika added, with a tear in her eye.
"Hmph! Like I was worried or anything. Don't get the wrong idea!" Kurara scoffed, crossing her arms.
Something about those four felt oddly familiar, but I couldn’t remember exactly what. I was still feeling light-headed, so after the breakfast I returned to my room to rest.
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Day 25
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I was deep in thought when making my way to the cafeteria. I was feeling a lot better than yesterday, but the gaps in my memory still bothered me.
I guess there is no sense dwelling on it, since there is no way of getting them back.
I tried to distract myself with positive thoughts when I suddenly heard a voice, no, multiple voices arguing in the cafeteria.
“How many times do I have to tell you?! No means no! And that's final!”
“And how many times must I tell you? You have no right to decide that for me, Lady Kurara!” A second voice argued back.
“H-Hey, you two! Calm down!” The third voice tried to intervene.
“Oh, please don’t stop. This is getting interesting.” The fourth voice chimed in with a lazy laugh.
“This concerns you too, you know!” Kurara’s voice snapped. “You're just standing there acting like this has nothing to do with you!”
“I never said it didn't.”
“You're making it worse!”
”Or am I improving it?”
'Are they fighting? I need to stop this!'
”Hey, what’s going on!?” I yelled, barging in the room.
Kurara, Kyoshika, Tsubasa, and Ima were each standing on the different sides of the cafeteria. They had just been screaming at each other, yet it was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
”Are you… fighting about something?”
”Um… I don’t exactly know how to explain it…” Tsubasa avoided my eyes.
”Why did you of all people have to show up now?” Kurara’s mask couldn’t hide her annoyance.
”Me? Is there some kind of problem with me?” I asked.
”Well… Not exactly with you”, Tsubasa said quietly. ”More because of you.”
”We all had dreams!” Kyoshika suddenly stepped forward. ”Dreams about you!”
”O-oh.” This seemed familiar, and I had a feeling I knew where this was going.
“Dreams where we kissed you, Sir Takumi!” Kyoshika declared, cheeks bright red. “It proved we're connected by the red string of fate!”
“Hold it!” Kurara interrupted. “You're not the only one!”
“W-Wait... what is going on here?!”
Kurara groaned. “Ugh... I can't say it out loud... Tsubasa, you explain!”
“H-Huh?! Why me?”
“Because you're involved too!”
“I-I know that, but...”
Tsubasa took a deep breath. “Takumi... it's embarrassing, but... Kyoshika isn't the only one who had that kind of dream.”
“She means a dream where she kissed you,” Ima said casually.
The other three immediately froze.
“What?” Ima shrugged. “She was taking forever.”
“T-That's because I was trying to say it gently!” Tsubasa cried.
“And ruin the dramatic reveal?”
“K-Keep quiet!”
“She was trying to be indirect, you idiot!” Kurara pointed accusingly at Ima.
“I know.”
“…Then why did you say it?!”
“Because watching all of you die from embarrassment is surprisingly entertaining.”
It took me a moment to collect myself and process everything.
'So, let me get this straight…'
While I was unconscious, all four of them had the same dream of kissing me, just like I dreamed about them. And after they found out about the others having the same dream, things escalated.
Kyoshika claimed she was destined to be with me….
Kurara was not amused, so this kicked off a squabble…
Tsubasa tried to intervene, but since she had the same dream, so she got tangled up in the argument, too...
Ima kept fanning the flames for his own amusement, yet ended up in the argument as well…
”I see, I see… I see”, was all I could say. Somehow I felt… pleased?
“I swear, if you say 'I see' one more time, I'm going to lose it! I'm already dying of embarrassment!” Kurara yelled.
“Well... I've never been in a situation like this before!”
“Even a child could tell that!”
“A child wouldn't know anything about my love life!”
“M-More importantly!” Kyoshika exclaimed. “Did you have a dream about kissing me, Sir Takumi?”
“I... uh...”
“Then we're bound by fate!”
“Well...”
“Huh...? Did you really dream about her?” Tsubasa looked at me nervously.
“What?!” Kurara shouted. “That's impossible! It had to be me!”
All pairs of eyes locked onto me and even Ima looked curious.
I wish I could say I had no idea what they were talking about. But hearing them speak made me remember.
'This is so embarrassing… I wish I could disappear... But there's no point hiding it anymore.'
“Um... actually… I had dreams about... all four of you.”
Silence filled the room.
“WHAAAT?!” everyone shouted in unison.
“All four of us?!” Kyoshika gasped. “So we're all bound by fate?!”
“T-That's ridiculous!” Kurara's face turned bright red.
Tsubasa was dry-heaving, she looked like she was about to faint any second now.
Ima blinked. “…So this is a harem route.”
“H-Harem?!” the others yelled.
“Well”, Ima continued thoughtfully, “either that, or fate couldn't decide and clicked 'Select All.'”
“Stop joking around!”
“I would”, Ima replied, “but this situation keeps setting me up.”
I rubbed my temples, trying to find some kind of solution to this chaos.
'This whole situation is unbelievably strange.'
'These dreams have to mean something.'
'The real question is... what?'
Moko suddenly burst into the room.
”I heard everything!” she declared, pointing dramatically at the group. "I’ll handle this love affair!”
Everyone stared at her in confusion, which she took as a sign to keep rambling.
"Normally, people should stay out of other people’s relationships,” Moko continued. "Everyone is free to make their own choices. But this time, destiny has called me to guide you. If everyone just falls in love however they want, our sense of unity will fall apart. Especially if several people fall for the same person.”
She raised a finger proudly.
"So, from now on, you’ll fall in love according to my rules!”
Kurara frowned. "So you think you can just walk in here and- "
"Without further ado,” Moko interrupted, "here are the rules! There will be one round every twenty-five days. One-on-one! We have seventy-five days left... divided between the four of you... Umm…”
"Kyoshika! How much is that?” Kurara quickly turned to Kyoshika, who froze at the command.
"Uh... um...” She started counting on her fingers.
Moko suddenly clapped her hands.
"Never mind! We’ll just make it seventy-two days. That divides perfectly into eighteen days each!”
"…That reasoning is completely half-baked”, Ima sighed.
"Shhh!” Moko shrugged him off. "From tomorrow, Day 26 until Day 43, one of you will have your chance to pursue Takumi. Then Day 44 to 61, Day 62 to 79, and finally Day 80 to 97.”
Tsubasa raised a hand. "What about the last three days?”
"We’ll... figure something out later! Don’t worry about that!” Moko smiled nervously.
Everyone exchanged doubtful looks.
"During your assigned period,” Moko continued, "you may confess your feelings and receive Takumi’s answer. Outside your own time slot, absolutely no flirting, no dating, and no trying to win him over.”
"So that's why you wanted nice, even numbers…” Kyoshika nodded slowly.
"Exactly!” Moko said proudly. "Any questions?”
Kurara immediately crossed her arms. "Yeah. Who put you in charge? Stay out of our business!”
"Sh-she’s right!” Kyoshika added. "Nobody asked for rules! You just talked so much that we couldn't stop you!”
Moko's smile disappeared. She stared at Kurara with a completely blank expression.
"Wow... your best friend Moko goes out of her way to help you... and this is how you thank her?”
The room instantly became silent.
"You... didn't mean that, right?” Moko asked quietly, the menacing look in her eyes making Kurara stiffen.
"I-I suppose...” Kurara muttered, looking away. "Rules... could be useful.”
"Wonderful!” Moko's smile instantly returned. "Tsubasa? Takumi? Any objections?”
"No…” Tsubasa shook her head.
"I do! I have a lot of objections! This whole thing is ridiculous! What about what I want?” I threw my hands in the air.
"Huh?” Moko tilted her head. "But that's exactly what we're trying to find out.”
She suddenly leaned closer.
"Wait... is there already another girl in your heart? Because if there is, that changes everything.”
I paused. The first person that came to my mind was Nozomi Karua
'Do I love her? Romantically...?
I don't know. Right now, I can't answer that.'
After a long silence, I shook my head.
"No... not really.”
"Then no objections!” Moko declared before I could retort.
Kurara raised another question.
"Wait. What about the first time slot? If the first person confesses, and Takumi chooses to date her... wouldn't the competition end immediately? The first slot has a huge advantage.”
"To keep things fair!" Moko gave a playful wink. "The winner of rock-paper-scissors gets to choose which time slot they want.”
Nobody looked completely satisfied, but nobody argued further. I was shooed away to make sure that the raffle could go down peacefully.
Back in my room, I collapsed onto the bed. I stared at the ceiling for who knows how long.
"Starting tomorrow... there's going to be a competition for my love?”
I let out a long sigh.
"…Maybe I'm still in a coma.”