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Memory 6: Dream and Curse (?) and I
“Mm…Yaaaawwn…Ahh, I slept really good…”
Huh…When did I even go to bed last night…? I remember being terribly sleepy, but more than that just feels fuzzy…
“Well, whatever…”
Either way, I got off the bed, opened up the curtains of my windows, and made up my way to wash my face. But there, I realized.
“Hm?”
Just now, it felt like something was off—No, not just felt like it. I went back to my window, and took a good glance outside…only to be left dumbfounded.
“Huh?! Where is this?!”
What’s with all this nature outside?! There’s a lake in front of my eyes, and it looks like I’m inside…a forest? No, more importantly, this ain’t even my own room?!
“Why did it take me so long to realize!?”
Retorting to myself, I opened the door in a panic, and was greeted by yet another unfamiliar room. It was wide, the furniture made out of stone and wood (?), a residence truly worshipping nature…Getting a bit excited, I stormed out of the back door—
“…Mother nature has descended upon me?!” I couldn’t hold back my voice.
Ehhhh, seriously, where am I? Back behind the lake, I could see beautiful mountains, with an actual forest right around me, the air being absurdly fresh…I have to take a picture of this…
“Huh?”
That reminds me, where did I even put my smartphone? I feel like I put it on the bed, but it wasn’t there, was it? …Well, whatever. The lake’s crazy beautiful, so I wanna see it up closer. Ah, is this a lawn…Lawn?
I really don’t get what’s going on, but this really is some holiday house, right? Is this…even Japan? Doesn’t feel overseas either…And why am I here in the first place? …Well, who cares~ Rather than that, the lake~
“—What are you doing?”
Ah, it’s Senpai! Eh…what’s with these clothes?! Huh?! Some knight cosplay?! Looks so cool! What’s going on here, this is so funny…I have to get my smartphone to—
…Hm? Wait a second? Why…is my voice not coming out?
Senpaaaai!
“Kairi.”
Huh? No no no no no! Why’d I suddenly call him by first name?! I’m sorry, just wait a second…That might have not been my voice after all. It’s like I called out, but also didn’t at the same time…It worked just a while ago, but now my voice vanished…? I can still move my body, and my voice would come out normally, but it’s actually not my voice…Hmm??? What’s going on?
As I was left confused, Senpai once again spoke up, a rather agitated expression on his face.
“…Let me ask you one more time. What are you doing…? Answer me, Luris.”
…Luris? That crossdressing girl Luris-chan from one of the worlds Senpai visited? Why would she suddenly be here…I wondered, and when I peeked into the lake, I found Luris-chan.
—I was Luris-chan.
…Huh?! Wha—Ehhh?! Why did I turn into Luris-chan?! Now that I think about it, Senpai always thought of Luris-chan as a boy, the two were really close, and Luris-chan was actually mad in love with Senpai…so much that it turned rather risky towards the end, right?
“—Rather risky, huh…Fufu, now you’ve said it.”
Eh. Did she just…?
“That’s right. Of course I answered…After all, this is my1 body…”
“…What are you talking about?”
Luris-chan smiled as she heard Senpai’s question. As if she was really, really enjoying herself.
“Let me give you some wonderful information, Kairi. Your precious Koori Nano is actually inside of me right now…!”
“…!”
Senpai had a terribly shocked expression on his face, and Luris-chan (Me) looked so saddened, yet happy at the same time…Eh? Huh? Luris-chan (Me)? What what what what…??? In a panic, I looked deeper into the lake again, where Luris-chan’s face was reflected, beautiful, cute, and yet dark, ominous at the same time, giving me the shivers.
“Now, Koori Nano…I will become you, and finally make Kairi mine…”
Like this, Luris-chan reached out for her hand towards me. Eh. No. I don’t wanna. No no no! Stop stop stop stop stop!
“Stooooooooo—Eh?”
Huh? …I’m on my bed? In my room? There’s…my smartphone. Outside the window…is the same usual scenery.
“………A dream?”
**
“And that’s the dream I had! That was so scary!”
On our way to school, I told Senpai about the dream I had…but it looks like he’s angry at something? Did I say something bad?
“W-Well, the forest was really beautiful! It looked crazy real, so I’d love to see it again.”
“You definitely can’t.”
Being told rather forcefully, I was surprised.
“Eh…Eh? But, it was really beautiful! I guess that it being a dream, I won’t be able to see it again though.”
“It might not be impossible. That was probably Lake Shurosularium.”
“…Shuro…?”
What’d he say?
“It’s also called the ‘Reflection of the Next World’. It lies at the [Ex2] of [Rigreid], located in the undiscovered region of the [Magias3 Race Alma]—In other words, the root of the world called [Rigreid].”
“…Hmmm?!”
Eh, what? Why does Senpai…
“H-Huh…? Did I ever visit that place?”
The last scenery Senpai showed me that had Luris-chan in it had no lake in sight…or did I just forget about that?
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Figures…”
Hm?? But then…?
“So, what I’ve seen…wasn’t just a dream…?”
“…That possibility is awfully high.” Senpai said with a similar expression he had during my dream. “Luris was…until the very end…awfully keen on keeping me in her world, even resorting to quite dangerous methods.”
“A-Ahhh…yes, I remember her words back then…”
—Kairi, if you to leave this world, I will not refrain from destroying this world all together with you!!
…Her eyes were definitely serious…But, she looked like she was about to break out in tears, looking so heartbreakingly lonely…Even if she threatened him, I still feel bad…
“If I had to guess, Luris probably cast ‘Zagiar’ on you—A curse inducing nightmares.”
“…Seriously?!”
C-Cursed…?! I was cursed…?!
“The seriously serious type?!”
“………”
Him growing silent means that it’s definitely serious!!
“E-Ehhhh?! S-So then?! That’s why I saw that scary dream?!”
“…Most likely.”
Ehhhhaaaaaahhh…W-What should we do then?!
“Calm down, Koori.”
Senpai grabbed my shoulders as I was panicking…Woah, his hands really are big…Somehow, this really is comforting…Is he fine…? Being this close to me…
“There’s a method to dispel ‘Zagiar’.”
“Ah…is that so…”
That’s cool and all, but…Isn’t he seriously close?
“Yes, but for a bit…No, I guess I can’t tell you the rest…Sorry about this, Koori.”
“Eh?”
Senpai approached me even further. And then, he tightly hugged me.
Eh.
Eheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuaaaeeeeeeeh?! Senpai’s body Senpai’s chest Senpai’s scent Senpai’s Senpai’s Senpai’s—
“The beating sound.”
“…Ye…sh…?”
Beating sound? The sound of his heart?
“Put your ear on my chest, and slowly count…”
…I mean, I’m already doing that, but my own heart was beating all the louder, not even allowing me to hear anything—Also, more importantly. I’m at my limit.
“—!”
As I separated from Senpai, I couldn’t raise my head, which was probably boiling at this point, just staring at the ground.
“The curse…was lifted…”
“Really?”
“Yes………probably.”
I’m pretty sure that’s definitely not the case, but rather than this curse killing me, my heart was about to explode…W-We’re outside right? On a normal sideroad…And pretty close to my house…
“I see…Thank god…”
Senpai looked relieved at first, only to show me an apologetic gaze.
“With ‘Zagiar’, the declaration is the most important when trying to lift the curse…Apparently, you wouldn’t even be able to say that it was lifted if the curse was still active. It was the same for Luris as well.”
“Eh? Is that so? So then…Hm?”
What was that I heard in there?
“Senpai, did you just say ‘for Luris as well’?”
“Yeah. Luris had been cursed by ‘Zagiar’ as well, so she knew how to lift it.”
“……….Hmmm?!”
Isn’t this going into a weird direction?! Maybe this is the same as back with Shaltinia-san…?
“Um…so basically, you did the same with Luris-chan…embracing each other so that she could listen to your heartbeat…?”
“No, in Luris’ case, that wasn’t enough. We had to put our foreheads together, our eyes closed, take off our clothes, kiss each other on arms and feet, and so on. It sure took some time.”
“………”
~~~Guilty!! I mean, no matter how you look at it?! Ahhh, what am I supposed to do with these feelings…! And Senpai is totally fine talking about it…! Huh…He’s looking…embarrassed?
“Since I still thought Luris was a boy back then, I had no resistance…B-But, I’m really glad that I managed to remove the curse with just having you hear my heartbeat…”
Ah, he’s really just embarrassed…! Ahhh, I see, that’s good…I think?
“To be honest, if we had to go further than that…I don’t have the confidence that I could have held back…”
“Um…I-If it’s not here…you don’t have to hold back…”
“——”
Ahhh, I can’t!
“R-Rather than that! About my nightmare…”
“You shouldn’t be seeing them anymore.”
“Umm…So, Luris-chan went through the same method as me…and said that it worked, right?”
“Yeah. After that, she was not experiencing them anymore…Basically, you might still be seeing nightmares of this world, but nothing related to that.”
“Is…that so.”
Hmm…?? I’m pretty sure that Luris-chan just wanted to be lovey-dovey with Senpai though…Or was that actually the truth? I mean, a curse where you keep seeing nightmares is a bit…
“K-Koori.”
“Yes?”
“Um…about what you just said…that I wouldn’t have to hold back if it’s not here…”
“—!”
That’s what he picked up?! That’s where he bites in?! Eh?! Can I get my hopes up?!
“—No, forget about it. Sorry.”
And now you’re giving up already?! Why though?! Well, not like I was hoping for anything?! Gaah…sometimes…Senpai really sucks at this. Well, it’s better than him being overly assertive, I guess? I can still feel his body on mine after that intense hug just now…How warm he felt…the scent he gave off…this feeling of comfort…
“Koori, are you listening?”
“Eh?! What did you say?!”
I didn’t! Totally didn’t! I was busy thinking about something weird, I’m sorry!
“…You don’t have to be so desperate…”
Yeaaaaah right! Ahhh, so embarrassing…
“Luris said that ‘Zagiar’ would not appear a second time once the curse was lifted, but we don’t know for certain. If you were to see a nightmare like that again, tell me right away, and we’ll have to go to the next step of dispelling it.”
“Next step…?”
Pushing forehead and forehead together, taking off our clothes, kissing hands and feet…?
“—Ah, no! I-It’s just to dispel the curse! So…it’s fine.”
“W-What is…?”
“…!”
Ohhh, Senpai is crazy flustered! So cute…really cute, but I’m reaching my limit here…If he says all of that, of course I’d imagine that, you know?! …Maybe I’ll have to buy some new underwear soon—J-Just to make sure, of course! Just…in case…
“A-Anyway, let’s go to school, Senpai.”
“Y-Yeah…”
Ah, he’s not looking me in the face…I feel like, rather than some nightmare, I’ll probably see a dream about hugging Senpai again…Aw man, the day has barely started, and I’m already at my limit. Will I even survive until the end of the day? But…I feel like we’ve made some progress, so that should be fine, right? The End.
1 She uses the pronoun ‘Boku’ which is normally used by a boy.
2 Written as [Core Root]
3 It’s written as magical disguise
CClaw Translations 