Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [86]
“There’s no monster,” Mitsuru said quietly and assuredly, using the same voice he used when he answered the teacher’s questions in cram school. “You were dreaming. It’s nothing. Just a dream.”
“It’s not a dream,” Wataru said, with much more confidence than he felt. Unable to stand, his body swayed, and he fell to the ground once again. Or he would have, if Mitsuru hadn’t caught him at the last moment.
“Why did you come here?”
“Huh? Why…”
“I didn’t call for you,” Mitsuru spat. He sounded upset.
“I don’t know. I just came…”
“You came even though I didn’t call for you—you have nothing to do with this…” Then, suddenly, Mitsuru smiled. “But you saved me.”
What is he talking about?
“You really are a handful,” Mitsuru said, and he mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like another spell. Wataru felt a warm white light spill down on him from above. The light wrapped around his body, suffusing him, and unbelievably, the pain began to fade. It felt good.
He looked up in a daze to see Mitsuru waving.
So long. Goodbye.
And Wataru slept.
When his eyes opened, he was lying in his own bed and the alarm clock was ringing.
It was seven in the morning. He wouldn’t have believed the clock if he didn’t see the morning sunlight spilling through the checkered curtains of his room.
It was already getting warm, and his pajamas clung to his body.
“Wataru, time to get up!” he heard Kuniko shout from outside his door. She was knocking at the door now. “Don’t be late on the last day of school! You’ll be the laughingstock of your class!”
The last day of school.
Wataru cradled his head in his hands. He was here. His head was on his shoulders. He blinked his eyes. He could see. He could smell. Mom was frying an egg in the kitchen.
But what was that? What did I see last night?
Was I dreaming?
Did I stay in last night? Did I only think I had gone out, while I was really here under the covers? Was I only dreaming that I wanted to sneak out to Katchan’s house?
And what was that—that monster?
His memory was foggy, but some details were clear. Mitsuru, and the jet black creature in the form of a winged woman. Those golden eyes. The snick snick of hooked claws.
Kenji Ishioka screaming.
Wataru rolled out of his room and into the living room. Kuniko, about to set a piece of toast on his plate, gave a startled cry.
“Wh-what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Mom, I…”
“What, Wataru?”
Wataru’s shoulders sagged. He couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t put what he’d seen into words. No way. Not going to happen. Impossible.
“Don’t tell me you were still dreaming?” Kuniko said with a smile, picking up the piece of toast from where she had dropped it on the table. “Go wash your face. Why, you’re covered in sweat.”
Wataru nodded, and went to the bathroom. He peered into the mirror to see an average-looking sleepy kid’s face staring back at him. No wounds, no scars. Just messy bed hair, and that was all.
The last day of school! A fond farewell to books and classes. Forty days of summer vacation lying in wait. The sun singing warmly in the sky. Don’t let us down, make it a hot one, because today is when real summer begins!
The principal had begun his usual address to the entire school assembled out in the schoolyard, and Wataru felt displaced from reality—lost in thought about the dream that wasn’t like a dream at all the night before. Around him, his classmates giggled and told jokes, and the teachers frowned and looked stern, and Wataru couldn’t care less. Katchan, sitting way ahead of him, would occasionally turn when the teachers weren’t looking to shoot some sort of signals in his direction. Wataru noticed, but didn’t bother to respond.
At last the principal’s speech finished, and everyone began shuffling toward the classrooms. Katchan came running up to Wataru.
“Oh man, can you believe it?!”
Wataru stared blankly at Katchan.
“Yo, sleepyhead wake up! What, don’t tell me you were up playing games all night?” Katchan seemed extremely excited, even