25 - Behind the hustle and bustle, there is always silence (Patreon)

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“It sure was fun, the Sports Festival.”
“So true. I enjoyed it too.”

In the dream.
Hiuri and I are talking in my seat in my classroom, inside the school building that I recreated based on my memories.

During the sports festival, the only times I had any interaction with Hiuri were lunch and the scavenger race.

I cheered for both Tadashi and Hiuri in the relay, but in the end, the yellow team took first place.
The red team was 3rd place and the blue team was 4th place.

And the final result for both the red and blue team was disappointing.

“Kazuki-kun, you did your best too.”
“My participation was over after the scavenger race though. Besides, no matter what rank I got, the final result wouldn’t change.”

I don't know the reason, but they probably have a lot of members of sports clubs or something. The yellow team won by a landslide.
I think there was a difference of about 50 points in the total score.

“Well, let's do our best again next year.”
“That's true. If possible, I wish we could be in the same class next year.”

I was cheering for Hiuri even when she was on the enemy team, but as expected, I'd rather cheer for her when we are on the same team.
If we were on the same team, I would be able to cheer for her a little more clearly too.

Even if I don't do it, Hiuri is popular, so there will be a lot of people who would cheer for her.
Still, I want to support her the most.

“Also, Kazuki-kun.”

Hiuri's cheerful atmosphere up until now takes a complete change, and she now has a worried expression on her face.
When Hiuri makes this face, it's usually when she's troubled.

“What’s wrong?”
“It's about that time during lunch...”

...That one huh? Is it about her family?

“It’s because my real life self still doesn't trust Kazuki-kun enough to talk about my family yet... I'm sorry for stopping mid-way.”
“It's not Hiuri's fault. She probably doesn't want to talk about it unless we understand each other quite well.”

Hiuri's family is peculiar. However, this may be a rare phenomenon in modern times.
Let's take this opportunity to introduce Hiuri's family a little bit.

Hiuri's mother rarely comes home. Even now, she's probably staying at some guy's house. That's the kind of mother she is.
Hiuri's father also rarely comes home. He is at his workplace all the time, and he probably sleeps there.

Hiuri's parents see her once a month. Then, after telling her only what she needs to know, they return to their own world.

“There's no particular problem right now, right? You didn't bring it up during lunch because you had a problem, right?”
“Don't worry. I’m okay. At that time I genuinely thought it might be okay to talk to Kazuki-kun about it. I think I changed my mind thinking it's not something I should talk about during the sports festival.”

I’m the only one who knows about Hiuri's family situation.
Even Kannazuki-san and Hayashi-san, who are good friends with Hiuri, only seem to know that her parents are not at home. She hasn't told them why.

This family environment is connected to why Hiuri wants to be treated like a princess.
It’s because there is no one who understands and loves Hiuri. She wants to be happy even if it's only in a fantasy story, thinking like that isn’t a bad thing, rather, it's only natural.

“You said before that you were even thinking about suicide, but you were not thinking it again, right?”
“Like I said, I’m okay. At the very least as long as Kazuki-kun loves me here, I'm okay.”

In this dream, we basically don't hide anything. Hiuri is honestly telling me about the current situation.

From my point of view, it feels a little bit embarrassing, but it seems like I am the one who is keeping Hiuri alive.
Apparently, because I am reducing Hiuri's stress in the dream, she is able to avoid exploding in real life.

“I even thought the sports festival was fun, so rest assured.”
“...Ok.”

The reason I'm so eager to make Hiuri my girlfriend in real life is also partly because of her condition.

After all, this dream world could disappear at any moment. Since it is unknown where this dream world came from and how it exists, it would not be strange if it suddenly disappears.

And if this place disappears, I don't know what will happen to Hiuri's stress.
Perhaps it will actually explode this time.

Then Hiuri would...

“...Chuu.”
“Nn!? Puha-, Hiuri!?”

Hiuri suddenly kissed me. Partly because I was thinking about something, my mind went into a panic.

When our lips separated, Hiuri looked into my eyes.

“Don't look so gloomy. It's my problem anyway... Kazuki-kun will take me in the future, right?”
“Eh, well, that’s what I intend to do, but...”
“Then you don't have to think about all the maybe's. Look at me now?”

Hiuri and I stare at each other from a point-blank range.
No, the kiss was so shocking that just looking at each other made me go crazy though.

“Ufufu! Kazuki-kun, your face is weird.”
“Wha-t! That's terrible, Hiuri.”
“It's Kazuki-kun's fault. Come on, give me something sweet today too?”

Hiuri asked for something sweet to change the topic.

Losing to Hiuri's energy, I make a soft serve ice cream appear.
The idea is that you can choose your own toppings and put them on it.

“Even my real life self has a conviction that Kazuki-kun will save me, even if it is unconsciously and only slightly. Then, we have no choice but to accumulate it little by little, right?”
“......Yeah, that's true. I'll do my best for Hiuri too.”

I sprinkled chocolate chips on the soft serve ice cream and put it in my mouth.
Its sweetness permeates well into my murky heart.

――――

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