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Chapter 138
Chapter 4 — Sleep, until your life is over • Episode 4–5 — Happy Dream ②
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
Suddenly, Chisaki looks up and sees the sun setting on the horizon. The twilight sky is tinged with a beautiful crimson, reminding us that the end of the day is near.
The shrine is not located very far from her house, but she doesn’t visit it often because she didn’t have any errands to run. She remember the old days when she wore a kimono and bought a Chitose Ame for her Shichi-Go-San. It must have been only a few years ago, but it felt like a long time ago, and even though she had not left her hometown, she felt a strange sense of nostalgia.
Usually, the shrine is not so crowded, with only the occasional tourist or the elderly with a deeply held religious beliefs worshipping at the shrine. Families, young couples, or students, people from all walks of life sit on benches to rest or chat in the empty spaces.
Looking closely, she can see men and women in yukata here and there, holding various kinds of food in their hands, such as takoyaki, yakisoba, and cotton candy. Some of the children with their families were carrying masks, shiny toys, and water balloons, and from these sights and the sounds of musical accompaniment coming from somewhere, Chisaki realized that today was the day of the annual autumn festival.
To tell the truth, Chisaki didn’t clearly remember why she was in this place. It makes sense now that she remember that today is the day of the festival, but she had completely forgotten about it until just a few days ago. More to the point, she wasn’t even aware that she was wearing a bright yukata with small white and red goldfish on a light blue background until she recognized that today was the day of the festival.
She just somehow felt like she was waiting for someone at this place. She felt like she had promised to meet someone at this place. Since Chisaki goes around the festival, which is held over several days, with her family or with friends depending on the day each year, she figured that if she was waiting for someone at the shrine like this, it was probably to meet up with a friend.
However, she had never been so enthusiastic as to wear a yukata when enjoying a festival with friends and family, and she also wondered if she had such a yukata in the first place, however, as long as she’s actually wearing it now, she guess she just didn’t remember it, and such questions were quickly relegated to the corner of her mind as unimportant.
While Chisaki was waiting for someone, feeling a sense of discomfort in some places but remaining self-contained and unaware of any decisive change, a voice somewhat younger than Chisaki had expected called out to her.
「I apologize for making you wait, Chisaki-san.」
「…Ryō-chan?」
「What’s wrong? Is there something strange with me?」
Chisaki’s rendezvous was with Mizukami Ryōichi, aka Tyrant Sylph, a colleague and friend of Chisaki’s who protects this town as Magical Girl Elephant. She is originally a man who has already reached adulthood, but through the trickery of a fairy, she has been transformed into a young girl, living her daily life as Mizukami Ryō, the daughter of Mizukami Ryōichi.
She doesn’t know why, but there was nothing in Chisaki’s expectation that she was meeting up with Ryō. When she saw Ryō thus appearing in front of her, when she heard her voice, she felt that she was supposed to go to the festival with her, but she had naturally eliminated that option until now. It was as if that future had been dismissed as impossible.
One of the reasons why Chisaki looked at Ryō and had a blank expression on her face was because of this unexpected situation, but to tell the truth, that is not the main reason.
「You’re not weird at all. I think you’re very cute.」
「Ehehe, thank you! If you say so, it was worth the trouble of wearing something so hard to move in!」
Chisaki is speechless at the sight of Ryō, her cheeks flushed pink and beaming with joy.
Ryō, who usually wears only Magical Girl outfits, a drab T-shirt for loungewear, or the clothes Chisaki picked out for her, was voluntarily dressing up for today.
She is wearing a yukata with a blue-green leaf pattern on a white background, her long emerald green hair is braided into an updo, she is wearing gorgeous polka-dot geta with a gorgeous nose, and she is holding a light pink purse. They are a perfect complement to the already adorable Ryō’s charm.
Quite simply, Ryō was a sight to behold.
Even when she was first approached, there was a kind of anticipation and apprehension as to whether the overly pretty girl was really the one waiting for her.
And Chisaki was so taken by Ryō, who smiled so happily and said such teasing things just because she was praised, that she could not even speak out.
The prettiest girl in the world is smiling at her.
Without any exaggeration, Chisaki had no doubt in her mind.
「You looked great in a yukata, Chisaki-san. You look very beautiful.」
「Y–Yeah, thanks, Ryō-chan.」
Chisaki was so taken aback by Ryo’s unprecedented aggressiveness that she involuntarily flinched. Normally, she’s the one who actively tries to close the distance between Ryō and herself in order to get to know each other better, so when Ryō comes to her in this way, she is happy, but at the same time, she is confused. That should be a welcome change, but it doesn’t feel right, Chisaki thought. It’s not that she’s not happy about it, but it feels somewhat strange, just like the fact that today is a festival day and that she’s somehow at a shrine and wearing a yukata that she don’t remember having.
「I’m new to festivals, so please tell me all about them!」
「Yeah, right. Okay, leave it to me. I’ll escort you.」
Seeing Ryō’s eyes sparkling and her voice bubbling, Chisaki switched her mind to the fact that she should be thinking about “entertaining Ryō-chan” rather than about her discomfort at the moment and held out her hand to Ryō while lightly tapping her own chest.
It’s a traditional local festival, and Chisaki has been to many of them since she was a child. She knows exactly where to find the food stalls and the best places to watch the fireworks at the end of the festival. She was confident that Ryō would at least be more entertained than if she had to go around the festival by herself.
「Fufu, I’m looking forward to it. Then let’s get going!」
「Eh, h–hold on a second, Ryō-chan? What’s wrong?」
Walking hand in hand between friends is not a common sight even among elementary school students today, and Chisaki didn’t offer her hand in the hope that Ryō would take it, but rather as a kind of joke on the word “escort.” She had expected to be a little offended and asked not to be treated like a child, but what Ryō did far exceeded Chisaki’s expectations, and to her surprise, she put her arm around Chisaki’s hand and intertwined their arms like a lover would.
「What is it? You do this all the time.」
「E–Eh? I was? All the time?」
「Mmph, what’s wrong with you, Chisaki-san? You’re getting weird today? Even though this is just a date…」
「Date!?」
「Eh… is it not? Going to a festival with two lovers is a date, no matter what anyone thinks!」
「Lovers, both of us…」
Chisaki’s understanding had not caught up with Ryō’s words, which she spoke as if it were a matter of course.
Always walking arm in arm? On a date?　Lovers? Surely she was in love with Ryō, but wasn’t she the one who dumped her? She was not going to give up, but wasn’t there some reason, some uncontrollable reason, that compelled her to give up? However, Chisaki was not sure if what she was thinking was really correct, just that she somehow felt it was so. If she said she gave up, what was the reason? She can’t recall that.
「….I, I thought you dumped me, Ryō-chan.」
「Umm, are you alright? Did you hit your head hard? It’s true that I turned you down once, but because you never gave up and repeatedly expressed your love to me, and because you made me realize that my feelings for you, Chisaki-san, were love, we became lovers. Did you perhaps forget…?」
「No! I’m just joking around! How could I have forgotten something so important…」
Chisaki’s discomfort was blown away when Ryō asked her with an anxious, trembling voice, with a face that seemed to cloud the joyful expression she had earlier, and with a face that looked as if she might start crying.
What am I saying? Why had I forgotten? I was ashamed of my actions, thinking that I should have vowed to Ryō-chan when she responded to my feelings so that she would never be lonely or sad again.
Right, at first she was rejected for a number of reasons: because it was friendship, because she would one day return to her former self, and because she was not worthy of her. But she told Ryō how much she loved her in the best way she could, and Ryō fell in love with Chisaki. They had become lovers. She can remember how much Ryō was looking forward to today’s date, but why did she forget about it until just now, as if it had never happened?
「Please don’t make jokes like that…」
「Sorry, I’m really sorry Ryō. I won’t say it again.」
「You’ve already made a promise! Come on, let’s go!」
「Wah, don’t be in such a hurry, the festival won’t run away!」
Chisaki apologizes repeatedly from the bottom of her heart to Ryō, who mutters with a look of pity like an abandoned puppy, and begs for forgiveness. Ryō, perhaps not too pleased with the situation, puffed up her cheeks to show that she was clearly angry, however, perhaps she couldn’t resist the charm of the festival in front of her, she pulled Chisaki’s hand and started walking, as if she couldn’t wait any longer after she finished complaining about it.
Relieved and relieved to have her beloved lover’s permission, Chisaki chuckles inwardly as Ryō pulls her hand as they step into the crowd of food stalls, wondering which one of them is escorting her.