After the girl finished speaking, Shikime Natsu smiled faintly and looked at the girl before him — adorably flustered in her panic.
Matsushita Chiaki had her head lowered, fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her skirt, the blush on her face spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.
Matsushita Chiaki felt like her entire mind had gone numb. In class, she was always remarkably composed — capable of coldly and rationally analyzing Class D's situation, knowing exactly which students were indispensable to its future.
But... right now, facing Shikime Natsu, her psychological defenses were simply nonexistent. She blamed it entirely on that dream she'd had. She hadn't expected that a single dream could affect her so profoundly.
Leaving her mind completely full of Shikime Natsu.
If only she hadn't had that strange dream. Without it, even if she were here alone with him like this, she could have handled any topic he threw at her with ease.
But there were no "if only"s. The bottom line was: she was extremely nervous right now.
The corners of Shikime Natsu's lips curved upward, a gentle warmth flickering in his gaze. That kind of smile — like a spring breeze grazing your cheek, effortlessly smoothing out the restless knots in your heart.
"If something's putting you off balance..."
He softened his tone, asking quietly:
"...is there anything I can do to help?"
"Like... keeping you company for a chat, or letting you vent a little?"
Hearing those words — especially that voice, gentle to the point of being almost unfair.
Matsushita Chiaki shivered, just slightly.
In a daze.
The images from that dream flooded back into her mind without warning.
In that bizarre yet vivid dream, whenever she'd grown exhausted or lost amid everything she was doing for the class, Shikime Natsu would use that exact same gentle voice — pulling her aside to some quiet, secluded corner to reassure her, to help her think things through.
That feeling...
It had been nothing but an absurd dream.
And yet right now, listening to that familiar timbre of his voice, looking at that familiar face before her.
Matsushita Chiaki found herself struck by an illusion — that she and Shikime Natsu weren't the kind of people who merely exchanged polite nods. That they had known each other for a very, very long time, bound together by a deep and unspoken connection.
And yet, in reality?
Her rational mind kept reminding her.
Wake up, Matsushita Chiaki.
In reality, the two of you barely know each other.
You could even say... the times you've been alone together could be counted on one hand.
This is the first time. Truly the first time. Just the two of you in the same space.
And yet.
The more clearly she saw that, the stronger the sense of dissonance became.
Matsushita Chiaki found herself involuntarily comparing the real Shikime Natsu before her to the Shikime Natsu from the dream.
The result...
No matter how she looked at it — the real Shikime Natsu and the one from her dream felt exactly the same.
That unhurried, composed bearing.
Those eyes that seemed to see right through to the heart of a person.
And especially right now — that gentle smile with which he was looking at her... it was as if he had walked straight out of her dream.
It felt like...
As if the dream hadn't been an illusion at all. As if Shikime Natsu had genuinely, personally visited her dreaming mind.
And... every time her gaze settled on him, that sense of familiarity only grew stronger.
The angle at which his brow lifted. The curve of his smile at the corner of his mouth. Even the faint, elusive light that sparkled in his eyes when he laughed... she already knew all of it. Had always known it.
That feeling... was strangely nostalgic.
Shikime Natsu had, of course, noticed Matsushita Chiaki's unguarded, lingering stare.
He didn't feel uncomfortable — if anything, he found it rather amusing.
So he reached up and lightly touched his own cheek, smiling as he teased:
"Matsushita-san..."
"Is there... something on my face? You keep staring."
"Ah! N-no! There isn't!"
Caught red-handed, Matsushita Chiaki flinched like a startled rabbit, yanking her gaze away as she stumbled over her words:
"N-nothing on your face..."
"I just... I just spaced out for a second!"
Even as she said that.
Shikime Natsu's face seemed to carry some kind of magnetic pull — or rather, it was like a magnet in its own right, invisibly and inexorably drawing Matsushita Chiaki's gaze back toward it.
No matter how hard she tried to look at the screen, the table, the ceiling —
Those eyes of hers would drift back, almost against her will, sneaking another glance at his face.
Matsushita Chiaki knew perfectly well that her gaze kept falling on him — but there was nothing she could do about it. If Satou Maya and Karuizawa Kei were still here, at least she'd have cover. She could look at him freely and it would just blend into the natural flow of the group.
Even though this was the first time they'd ever been truly alone together in reality — even though they weren't particularly close — looking at Shikime Natsu's face still gave Matsushita Chiaki a feeling of inexplicable ease.
Just like the Shikime Natsu from her dream.
Watching her valiant and thoroughly unconvincing attempt at playing it cool, Shikime Natsu couldn't help but muse quietly to himself.
Ah, the curse of being too good-looking, I suppose.
It's actually making Matsushita Chiaki — usually so composed and reserved — completely unable to tear her eyes away.
Of course.
Beyond the obvious factor of appearances, Shikime Natsu knew full well what the real reason was.
It had to be the effect of the dream.
He'd only intervened slightly using the Dream Entry skill at the time, and plenty of the important plot points had been skipped over entirely...
But unexpectedly...
Even that "rough" dream experience had left such a deep impression on Matsushita Chiaki.
Which was probably...
All thanks to his own irresistible personal charm, with nowhere left to go but outward.
After all — in the dream, that image of someone who strategized from the shadows and maneuvered effortlessly toward a goal, powerful yet gentle — for a girl like Matsushita Chiaki, who harbored real ambition but preferred to keep her strength carefully hidden, that was simply devastating.
Shikime Natsu watched Matsushita Chiaki's little performance — gaze drifting away, then helplessly drifting back — and let out a quiet, amused laugh.
He decided to stop teasing her and took the initiative to steer the conversation.
"Speaking of which..."
"We've known each other for a while now, I suppose."
"But a proper one-on-one conversation like this — this might actually be a first, hm?"
Matsushita Chiaki gave a small nod, her reply a touch stilted:
"Yeah... that's true."
"We're usually all gathered together."
She thought quietly to herself.
If only... if only this were a dream right now.
In a dream, she could joke around with him naturally. Could even pout and complain without a second thought.
But right now...
This wasn't a dream.
This was reality.
Just sitting across from Shikime Natsu like this — breathing the same air — was enough to make Matsushita Chiaki's heart race at an embarrassing pace.
Shikime Natsu took in her nervous state and let out a soft laugh, his expression still perfectly composed.
"Though..."
"Even though this is our first time alone together."
"For some reason..."
"I get this feeling... like I've already talked with Matsushita-san like this for a very long time."
"A very strong sense of... déjà vu."
"!!!"
At those words.
Matsushita Chiaki went completely still.
She jerked her head up, staring at Shikime Natsu with an expression that bordered on disbelief.
Déjà vu?!
Shikime Natsu had a sense of déjà vu too?!
This... this was the exact same feeling she was having right now?!
Every time Matsushita Chiaki looked at Shikime Natsu's face, she'd instinctively think of all those moments from the dream — the unspoken synergy between them, the wordless understanding exchanged in every glance.
In the dream, they had been the perfect partnership. One in the light, one in the shadows.
That familiarity had been carved into her very bones.
But...
That had been a dream.
If Shikime Natsu was feeling this too... what did that mean?
The moment that thought crossed her mind.
Matsushita Chiaki's heart stirred with a restless, uneasy flutter — like something inside her chest was jabbing at her again and again.
She swallowed, and ventured cautiously:
"Um..."
"Actually... I have that feeling too."
"I keep thinking... like I'm a little familiar with Shiki-san somehow. Like we've had long conversations before."
Since he'd said it first, there was no reason for her to keep hiding it.
Shikime Natsu looked at that anxious little expression of hers, and a glimmer of slyness flickered through his eyes.
So.
He let a meaningful smile settle onto his face — as if something crucial had just surfaced in his memory — and spoke slowly:
"Ah, right."
"I think I remember now."
"I know why I have this sense of déjà vu."
At those words.
Matsushita Chiaki immediately held her breath. Those beautiful eyes of hers locked onto Shikime Natsu, filled with tension and anticipation.
She waited. Waited for him to give his answer. What would the reason be? Had he once met a girl who resembled her? Or was it... the same as hers... a dream?
Shikime Natsu looked into her eyes and spoke, each word deliberate and unhurried:
"Because..."
"I think I had a dream."
"In that dream... you and I, Matsushita-san, were in the same class."
"—!!"
Even though she had briefly entertained that absurd possibility as a candidate answer...
When Shikime Natsu actually said it out loud, Matsushita Chiaki's mind went completely blank.
How was this even possible?
Dreaming about someone was perfectly normal — anyone could wander through a stranger's dream. But... the same class — wasn't that far too much of a coincidence?
It was exactly like her own dream. No — surely it was just a coincidence...
Though he hadn't specified which class, Matsushita Chiaki instinctively knew. It was Class D. The very Class D they were both in right now.
Could it be...
The two of them had shared the same dream? A connected dream?!
Matsushita Chiaki's first instinct was to reject that idea outright.
After all...
Two people sharing the exact same dream — that was far too fantastical, far too strange. It simply defied all scientific logic.
Of course.
Beyond the scientific skepticism, there was another very important reason Matsushita Chiaki was desperately trying to deny it — and that reason was shame.
If she didn't acknowledge it as the same dream, then those embarrassing scenes were just her own imagination — at worst, she'd been having impure thoughts about him. That was manageable.
But if...
If the two of them had genuinely met inside the same dream space.
Then that would mean...
Everything she had done to Shikime Natsu in that dream — all those shameful things she'd felt rather than clearly seen, hazy in image but crystal clear in sensation...
He would know. He would know all of it.
And besides...
In the dream, by the end, the two of them had become that kind of couple.
In the dream, that intimacy had been natural. It had flowed without effort.
But this was reality.
And in reality, Shikime Natsu wasn't just someone else's boyfriend — he was the boyfriend of two girls.
Under those circumstances — if he knew what she'd done with him in the dream...
That would be a complete and utter social death sentence.
Matsushita Chiaki felt her face burning as though it might actually catch fire.
But at the same time... her curiosity was tearing her apart.
She had to confirm it.
So... Matsushita Chiaki drew a deep breath, doing her best to suppress the turmoil rising inside her, and asked with careful, measured words:
"Um... Shiki-san."
"What... what happened in the dream exactly?"
"Besides being in the same class... did anything else happen?"
She needed to know more. She needed to confirm whether this was just a cursed coincidence — or if it really was...
Shikime Natsu watched that expression of hers — equal parts terrified and expectant — and laughed inwardly.
He had no intention of laying all his cards on the table just yet.
Instead, like a patient fisherman, he let the line out one piece at a time.
"Hmm... the contents are a bit hazy now."
Shikime Natsu pretended to think it over, then spoke unhurriedly:
"But I vaguely remember..."
"In the dream, we seemed to be working hard together to help our class advance to Class A."
"And also..."
His gaze settled on Matsushita Chiaki's face, the corners of his mouth curving into a playful arc:
"Behind the scenes, Matsushita-san, you gave me quite a bit of support."
"You could even say... you were my most capable partner. We fought side by side, and by the time third year came around, we'd achieved victory together."
Having said that.
Shikime Natsu went quiet, and simply observed Matsushita Chiaki's reaction.
As expected.
After hearing those words.
Matsushita Chiaki's expression became something truly spectacular.
Shock, embarrassment, panic... all manner of emotions tangled together, making that delicate face of hers extraordinarily vivid.
A match.
It was all a match.
Whether it was "working to advance the class," or "providing support from the shadows," or successfully reaching Class A in their third year —
That was precisely the path she had walked in the dream.
The dread rising in Matsushita Chiaki's chest grew stronger and stronger.
Could it be...
The two of them really had shared a connected dream?!
If it truly was...
Then what came next in that dream...
Just thinking about the face-reddening, heart-pounding developments that had followed — even though certain scenes had been skipped over entirely, that breathless, racing feeling was still vivid... and then that morning...
Matsushita Chiaki felt like she was about to faint.
Good lord...
If he also remembered those things...
How was she ever supposed to face Shikime Natsu again?!
She was supposed to be a composed type of person. How had her composure completely abandoned her in front of Shikime Natsu this time around? Who on earth had stolen her composure?
____
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