17

When she opened the front door to greet Saya, Hitsuji had bags under her eyes, making it clear as day that she had not been getting proper sleep.

“Whoa. Your face looks awful.” Saya said, prompting an angry look to appear on Hitsuji’s face.

“What do you want?”

“I’ve got something to discuss. Can I come in?”

“...You can.”

Though she acted suspicious, Hitsuji invited Saya inside. The house was silent, with no sign of anyone but the two of them.

“You’re alone?”

“Yeah. My parents evacuated to my grandparents’ place. Because, of course... being my parents, they’re well aware of my sleepy, sleepy powers. I’m enjoying the single life, now.”

“Oh, I see... My family, on the other hand, are all suffering from insomnia. Come over and play sometime. For their sake.”

“I’d be fine with that, but it’s the getting there that’s the problem. When I’m walking down the road, passing drivers fall asleep at the wheel.” As she spoke, Hitsuji cocked her head to the side and scrutinized Saya. “...You’re not sleepy, Saya?”

“I’m super sleepy. But I can still take it.”

Even as she said that, a yawn slipped out. If Saya was like this despite her resistance, someone who wasn’t a Neversleeper wouldn’t have lasted thirty seconds.

“Hmm. Well, don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I know that... Fwah.”

When they entered Hitsuji’s room, she was met by the gazes of stuffed animals lined up on Hitsuji’s bed.

“Just sit wherever,” Hitsuji said curtly, sitting down on the chair at her desk. When Saya tried to sit on the floor, Hitsuji pointed to the bed.

“You sure?”

“I’ll give you special permission. I’ll even let you hug just one of my stuffed animals, too.”

“Okay. Well... Don’t mind if I do.” Saya sat down on Hitsuji’s bed and hugged a big owl. The soft terrycloth smelled just like Hitsuji.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Before that, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Hm?”

“That your Blanket ability had gotten so strong you couldn’t go outside. When I found out everyone but me knew, it was a real shock.”

“I didn’t want to make you worry any more than I had to.”

“That’s being way too distant! Okay, maybe if this was back when we’d just met, I could have accepted it, but now... we’re already... well, you know! Am I wrong? Was I the only one who felt that way?!”

“That’s... got nothing to do with this.”

“It does, too! This plan... if no one had told me, I could never have come up with it!”

“What plan?”

“The plan that’s going to get us out of this mess. So we can take out the Suiju, and rest peacefully.”

“Oh, yeah...?”

Urged on by the dubious look Hitsuji gave her, Saya began to explain her idea.

“For all this time up until now, you’ve been leading me to sleep, right? I was wondering what’d happen if we tried the opposite.”

“Hm? So, basically... What does that mean?”

“Instead of having you sleep at my side, I sleep at yours. Basically, I act as your Blanket.”

“And what happens then?

“We can make everyone but us insomniacs.”

“Huh?” Hitsuji blinked. “Erm... First off, aren’t they kind of turning out that way already?”

“It’s not enough. We’ll take even more from them. Make them completely unable to sleep. Sorry to say it, but if you call yourself an insomniac when you can still use sleep meds to get to sleep, you’re just a poser. I’ll show them what real sleeplessness is.”

While Saya rambled on quickly, Hitsuji gave her a suspicious look.

“Saya, when did you betray humanity?”

“I don’t mean forever, obviously. It’ll be temporary. Probably. Just for a little while...”

“This is already sounding dodgy.”

“You were saying all of Nightland is connected, right? If the Suiju are using humans as a medium to increase their numbers, that means they can’t survive without sleep. With humans, when there’s someone awake, someone else is asleep, and if they move from sleep to sleep they can exist forever. Normally, at least.”

“And you want to eliminate that sleep? Is that possible?”

“Not on my own. But you have your Blanket ability, don’t you? We’ll share a bit of my insomnia with everyone using your power. The only sleep left in Nightland will be mine and yours. If we do that...”

“If we do that...?”

“If there’s no one else sleeping, the Suiju have no choice but to come into our sleep, right? Then we wake up together.”

“Take them all out in one fell swoop. You’ve thought this through,” Hitsuji said in a quiet voice. Saya felt a tinge of uncertainty as she continued to string her words together.

“I mean, obviously, I question whether it’s okay to do it. We’d be affecting all of humanity. But I think we have to do it now. If we don’t, we’ll all turn to dreams...”

Hitsuji stood up and came closer. She stood next to the uncertain Saya, then sat down on the bed next to her. The mattress sank in, and their shoulders touched.

“Hitsuji?”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“You... You’re sure?”

“You were the one who suggested it. So, what do I do? I always go to sleep on my own, so I’ve never had someone put me to sleep before.”

Hitsuji lay on her back in bed, looking up to Saya.

“Sleep next to me, Saya.”

“Uh, o-okay.” Saya carefully lay down next to Hitsuji.

They would steal the last of humanity’s sleep, so that they could sleep soundly themselves.