41 - I've seen this before. (Patreon)

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“...”
“Hiuri?”
“...”
“Hiuri!”
“Eh!? What, what’s wrong?”

In the dream, Hiuri was spacing out, and when I called out to her, her response was more sluggish than usual.

“Are you okay?”
“What? I’m okay.”

Even if this is a dream, Hiuri is usually dignified. Therefore, the fact that she doesn’t respond when I call her means there is some kind of abnormality...

“Did something happen at home?”
“Like I said, I’m okay. Do I look that weird?”

When a problem arises regarding her parents, Hiuri immediately asks for advice.
　In the dream, I know that this is Hiuri's way of releasing stress. In fact, she once told me that ever since she started asking for advice in the dream, her real life has been fulfilling.

She probably wouldn’t hide anything after all this time, does that mean it’s really nothing?

“That’s because you didn’t immediately respond even when I called out to you...”
“...”
“Hiuri?”
“Eh? Aah, that’s true. It’s nothing.”

Hmm, she’s kind of incoherent. It seems like the conversation exchange isn't going well...

“Hiuri, perhaps you are not feeling well?”
“I’m okay. There is no problem.”

No matter what I say, she insists that there is no problem. Or rather, I feel like the conversation isn’t going well after all.

We were talking in the white space as is, but I made a futon and a pillow appear there.

“Hiuri, sleep.”
“...I’m okay.”
“I have a feeling that this is like that time I went to Hiuri’s house though?”

A few months ago, Hiuri caught a cold and I, who knew where her house was even though I was in the next class, went to her house.
Hiuri had been acting strange the night before that day as well. At that time, she was acting as if she were drunk, but when I think about it like that, she doesn’t look like she's drunk today.

They say people react differently when drinking alcohol, but in Hiuri's case, she may react differently depending on the day.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep.”
“Hmm, I said I’m okay, didn’t I...”

Of course, we don't actually sleep. But, it is also true that if you don't do any activities in your dreams, it puts that much less strain on your brain.
Even if I give her medicine here, I can only hope for a placebo effect, but there is a solid reason why I am putting Hiuri to sleep here.

“Come one, good night...”
“I guess it can't be helped... Then, Kazuki-kun will be the one doing the lap pillow today.”
“...I got it.”

I erase the pillow that I have made appear and sit up in seiza.
Hiuri puts her head on my lap. Because she wears her nightwear while I wear shorts, Hiuri's hair feels a little ticklish.

She even asks me for a lullaby, but I gently decline and spend the night there.

...

“Did you hear, Kazuki? It seems that the Black Thorn Princess is taking a day off today.”
“I see...”

Even though Hiuri slept in the dream, it seems that she couldn’t recover.

“It's rare for the princess to take a day off... Hey, Kazuki, haven't I said this to you before?”
“Yeah. A few months ago.”

Tadashi's conversation made me feel deja vu. What he said should be pretty much the same.

“Are, at that time, I heard from the grapevine that Kazuki went to the princess's house or something.”
“Eh, where did you get that information from?”
“There are so many information networks that you don’t know about, you know?”

School is scary. I don't think it’s at the level of ‘the walls have ears and the door has eyes’.
When Morimoto-san came to tell me her business, there should be no one within the range of my sight. In the first place, even if they were there, they wouldn't be able to hear what we said.
Morimoto-san isn't the type to say things like that herself, so there's definitely another third party there, but... hmm, I don't get it.

“So, are you going this time?”
“I probably won’t, right?”

At that time, I had an important business, so I went there in their stead.

“Hmm?”
“What’s with that face?”
“It’s a face that says ‘I don’t think so’.”

...

Tadashi, correct. One point.

For some reason, I’m in front of Hiuri's house again today. What’s more, just like that time, I have a printout that has to be submitted the day after tomorrow. If the printout is that important, give it out earlier!

At that time, I received it because I heard that no one in the next class knew where her house was, but now that I think about it, wouldn’t Hayashi-san and Kannazuki-san know?
That's what I thought, so I asked them, but they both said they didn't know the exact location of her house. It seemed like they knew the general area where she lives.

They were both surprised to learn that I knew where her house was. Even Kannazuki-san, who is always calm, has a little bit of surprise appear on her face. Apparently Hiuri hasn't even told her two best friends where her house is.

“Hiuri—”

Since it was my second time, I immediately pressed the intercom.
Come to think of it, when Hiuri has a cold, on top of being fluttery, she also has memories of the dream... it’s cute, but since it puts a strain on Hiuri, it's a precious thing that I rarely see.

After a while the door opened.

“For a boy to come to deliver it, your ulterior motive is obvious. Yes, thank you very much.”

Nn? What happened?
When I came to, the envelope with the printout that fit my hand was gone, and the door was closed.

What if that was... all right, let's go home and sleep today! Let's do that.
This is probably the most horrible one Hiuri has ever experienced and she must be worn out.

――――

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