4

Today, there was no wind, and the skies were completely clear. The sunlight was warm and soft. If she laid out in the sun for awhile, she wouldn’t burn, and wouldn’t catch a chill. In other words, it was the ideal day for an afternoon nap.

In this blessed weather, next to the fence that wrapped all the way around the roof, Hitsuji Konparu slept.

She was laying in such a way that the shade would fall on her face, and the sun would shine on her feet. There was a blanket over the lower half of her body, and her airy hair cascaded over the pillow beneath her head.

“...She’s here,” Saya mumbled, then snapped back to her senses and looked around; she found neither hide nor hair of the suiju. It concerned her that she didn’t know what it had been, but Saya didn’t have the composure right now to keep worrying about that.

Crossing the roof, she walked up to the sleeping Hitsuji Konparu, tip-toeing without realizing it.

When she got closer, she felt a sense that something was pulling her in.

Like her futon tempting her back to sleep in the morning. Or like the comfort of a secret soft bed. This wasn’t just her imagination anymore. The force of attraction was growing stronger.

Her eyelids grew heavy. Her thoughts lost cohesion, and only the desire to lie next to the girl dominated her head...

Oh, I knew it.

This is it. This is what got me.

It really has to be her. If it’s her, she can drag me into sleep.

With each step, sleep drew nearer— the restful sleep that Saya craved more than anything.

Suddenly, behind her was the sound of a door closing.

When she jumped a bit and turned around, a short-haired student was there; the school badge on the breast of her uniform marked her as a third-year. With a sharp look cast in Saya’s direction, she opened her mouth.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

The suddenness of it made Saya stand bolt upright. With her dulled wits, an instantaneous response was out of the question.

Perhaps growing impatient with Saya’s meaningless “um”s and “er”s, the third-year seemed to walk pointedly towards her, only to interpose herself between Saya and Hitsuji Konparu instead.

“Get out.”

“Uh, no,” Saya replied.

“You should be in class now, shouldn’t you? Hurry along.”

I could say the same to you, was the thought that crossed Saya’s mind, but arguing in her drowsy state took too much effort. Moving her clumsy tongue, Saya spoke.

“I was looking... for her.”

“Why?”

“I... I wanna sleep with her.”

Her feet moved of their own accord, and her body stumbled forward.

“Huh? What are you... Hey.”

The third-year apparently tried to stop her, but Saya barely noticed. Hitsuji Konparu’s horizontal form was like a black hole of sleep. When she closed in with two, three more steps, a wave of sleepiness struck her. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing suddenly opening its jaws, drowsiness rapidly seized Saya and pulled her in.

I knew it was her...!

While lying down next to Hitsuji Konparu, Saya was moved by a strong feeling akin to the satisfaction of a lightbulb moment.

When she knelt at the edge of the blanket, before lying down, Saya’s consciousness had already been swallowed up by the darkness.

The hospital halls were congested, and many people were sitting on the leather benches against the walls, waiting for their turn to come. As I pushed my way through the crowd, no one paid any attention to me. The walls were plastered with posters about preventing the spread of infection, and they said to always gargle with coffee after waking from a nightmare. There was a long line in front of the coffee vending machine, and after gargling, the children were spitting their coffee out in the attached sink.

Opening the door to the examination room, my lover, who was wearing a nurse’s uniform, poked her head out.

“Next,” my lover said before noticing me. “Oh, you’re late,” she said with a smile, and I hugged her and gave her a kiss, like always.

“It doesn’t taste like coffee,” my lover said in an accusatory tone once our lips had parted.

“That’s because I’ve never had coffee in my life.”

“That’s dangerous. There, look.”

My lover pointed behind me. When I turned, all the patients were now gone, and the many-legged suiju was approaching down the white hall.

“It was drawn here, to your sleep. Get back. I’ll take it out.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I can handle one like that.”

I laid down a yellow pylon in front of the suiju, its legs clicking as it moved them, closing in. When I put a coin in the vending machine, hot coffee came out, so I threw it—cup and all—at the suiju. The suiju collapsed and spread out across the floor.

“How’s that?” I asked.

When I turned around, quite proud with myself, my lover gave me a scrutinizing look. I was captivated by her sparkling eyes in spite of myself.

“You... Who are you?” Hitsuji Konbaru asked with knit brows.

“Hahh?!”

Waking with a start, the first thing Saya saw was the face of Hitsuji Konparu, who was on top of her and looking down.

The affection she’d felt in the dream was fading, much like the last light of the setting sun. Hitsuji Konparu looked at her with an unchanging expression, her head tilted slightly to the side. Saya timidly opened her mouth.

“H-Hey.”

“Heeeey?”

When Hituji Konparu responded in such a way, Saya had no idea what she was thinking, and cringed.

“Um... Can I get up?”

“Gooood morning!”

“G-Good morning...”

She was kind of scary. The third-year from before entered a confused Saya’s vision from the side.

“Saya Hokage-san.”

“Huh? Yes!”

Why does she know my name? Saya started to wonder, then noticed her student handbook in the third-year’s hand.

“Hokage-san of Class 2-C, Roll Call No. 30. May I ask you to explain why you came here?”

Though she said, “May I ask you to,” her tone was not one that was asking for permission.

“Give that back.”

“Once you answer my questions properly, I will. This is an interrogation.”

“An interrogation?”

Hitsuji Konparu leaned in close, peering at her face. “So, your name’s Saya, huh? Have we met somewhere before?”

“Before, in the health room...”

Her eyes wandered in thought for a brief moment, before Hitsuji Konparu clapped her hands together.

“Ohh! From that time!”

“Y-Yeah.”

“The girl who kissed me out of nowhere for some reason!”

In response to that sudden fastball, Saya couldn’t come up with a single excuse.

“Uh, uh, that was, um...”

“Kissed you...? What’s this about?” The third-year furrowed her brow dubiously.

“I... I’m sorry!” Saya covered her face with both hands. With someone on top of her and no way to escape, that was about all she could do.

“I see... Your insomnia was that bad, huh?” The third-year said after listening to Saya explain her situation while kneeling. “And you say you’re fine now?”

“Yes... For some reason, when Konparu-san is next to me, I’m out like a light in seconds.”

“Just Hitsuji is fine. I’ll call you Saya.”

“Huh? I can’t treat you that informally so quickly like some sort of American.”

Hitsuji narrowed her eyes at the slightly disturbed Saya. “Even though you kissed me?”

“Urkh.”

“Not even Americans kiss people they’ve just met for the first time, you know?”

“Urrrrkh.”

“They could get shot, right?” the third-year piped in.

“Or sued, yeah.”

“I-I said I was sorry, okay?”

Unsure how to deal with a grinning Hitsuji, Saya was at a loss.

Hitsuji suddenly took on a very polite tone of voice. “Black Player Konparu, sleeping together.”

“Huh?”

“White Player Hokage, kissing.”

“Guh.”

Hitsuji went on like this with an over-serious look on her face, like she was announcing moves in a shogi match.

“Black Player Konparu, taking an afternoon nap. White Player Hokage, sneaking into her target’s bed at night.”

“I-It’s not even night yet.”

With Saya’s breathing labored and her excuses—which were barely excuses—increasingly desperate, the third-year must have taken pity on her, because she stepped in. “Konparu-san, let’s leave it at that. Hokage-san, you too. Don’t worry too much.”

“But...”

“You were close to Konparu-san in the dream, right?”

“Y-Yes. Though we’d never met before.”

“I understand. In the gap between Dayland and Nightland, those sorts of inconsistencies can occur sometimes.”

“Co... Come again?”

While Saya was bewildered this sudden nonsensical stuff she was being told, this time the third-year brought her face up close to Saya’s.

“There are a number of things I’ll want to ask you about in detail. Hokage-san, how are you feeling?”

She felt... good. Amazing, actually. It had only been a brief sleep, but her thoughts were clear.

“I feel really good. Not tired at all, either.”

“How long did the insomnia persist for?”

“It started gradually last fall, until I couldn’t sleep at all... So, I guess about six months, maybe?”

“Six months!”

“Half a year?! Woah, that’s rough.” Hitsuji’s eyes were wide.

“If it went on that long, your cognitive level should have degraded to the point where you could barely manage your day-to-day lifestyle. Yet, you were still making it to school every day?”

“I was just barely able to keep walking and talking... I couldn’t follow lectures, and my grades cratered.”

The two of them looked at each other.

“This girl... She’s a Never Sleeper, isn’t she?”

“That’s what I was thinking, too. Konparu-san, what do you think after actually sleeping with her?”

“It wasn’t perfect, but she seemed to be able to act with lucidity in Nightland. It shocked me when she defeated the suiju.”

“Um... What are you talking about?”

They looked back to Saya, staring as if they were appraising her. “Want to try inviting her?” Hitsuji asked, watching Saya cringe.

“Are you sure? Is that what you want, Konparu-san?”

Hitsuji nodded.

“Okay.” The third-year returned Saya’s pilfered student handbook, giving her name as she did. “I’m Ran Aizome. A Sleepwalker, like Konparu-san.”

“Sleep... Walker?”

Seeing Saya’s confusion, Ran Aizome proceeded to explain.

“I think you have potential. You’re probably a rare Neversleeper, too. How about it? If you cooperate with us, I think we can provide you with restful sleep.”