5

Kirito.

It felt like someone was calling my name…and it pulled me out of a nap.

I lifted my eyelids and saw a multitude of ultrafine particles floating in orange light.

Slowly but surely, my hazy vision began to sharpen.

Wavering white fabric—curtains.

Silver window frame. Old, faded glass.

Rustling leaves. Sky colored by sun beginning to set. Slowly trailing jet streams.

I sat up, inhaling dusty air, and saw the back of someone in a high school uniform standing before a dark-green chalkboard. An eraser slid across its surface, smearing away white chalk words.

“…Um, Kirigaya?”

The mention of my name again drew my attention to the face of a different girl, who was standing over me, looking both hesitant and annoyed.

“I want to move that desk.”

Apparently, I’d fallen asleep in homeroom, and now I was intruding on cleaning time.

“Oh…sorry,” I mumbled, lifting the school bag that was hanging from the side of the desk and getting to my feet.

My head felt heavy.

I was exhausted, like I’d just finished watching some unfathomably long movie. I couldn’t remember a single thing about the story, but the last remnants of bitter, powerful emotions stuck in my mind like cobwebs that I shook my head to disperse.

The girl was looking at me with suspicion now, but I turned away from her and began walking toward the door at the back of the classroom, muttering as I went.

“Oh…just a dream………”

(To be continued)