Chapter 541

Swoosh—!!

A torrential downpour began to fall heavily.

Miyuki, who had been leisurely making her way to Matsuda's house, quickened her pace.

'What's going on?'

The rain was so fierce it seemed as if the sky itself had grown enraged.

She had grown to like rainy days because of Matsuda, but this felt like a bit too much.

Splash, splash.

It hadn't been raining for long, yet puddles were already forming on the ground.

She had debated between wearing sneakers or sandals before leaving, and she was glad she had chosen the latter.

Rumble—!

The sky flashed, and a loud crack made her ears ring.

Lightning was even striking. In the movies, bad things always happened in weather like this.

But Miyuki didn't feel anxious. In fact, influenced by Matsuda, she liked rainy days.

Good things always happen at times like this.

That was what Matsuda often said.

Listening to the sound of rain hitting her umbrella like a song, Miyuki arrived at Matsuda's house, inserted the key into the Main Gate, and turned it.

Clack—!

As the gate opened, the first thing that caught Miyuki's eye through the gap was an open window.

If it stayed like that, rainwater would blow in and ruin the tatami mats... Matsuda had to be asleep.

Stepping over the engawa, she glanced into the dim room and saw Matsuda fast asleep with his mouth open.

He was sleeping entirely at ease. On a normal day, he would have noticed her arrival and woken up; had he pushed himself a bit too hard yesterday?

Who was it? Asahina? Inoo-sunbae? Senior Nanase?

She didn't know. But she felt inexplicably annoyed.

To be honest, the other three besides her and Matsuda had joined them far too suddenly.

Things had progressed so quickly that she had been left with no way to intervene.

Matters like this were supposed to be decided slowly, after much more discussion... It struck her once again just how incredible Matsuda's drive really was.

'Did he do it on purpose...?'

Even though Matsuda seemed incredibly reckless, he sometimes showed a calculating side.

That calculating side seemed to have surfaced when he revealed his ambitions regarding the others to her.

Did he do it because he thought she would refuse if he dragged it out?

Whatever the case, she felt like she had been led by the nose before she could even come to her senses.

That was why she was a little dissatisfied.

Entering the bathroom, Miyuki turned the faucet on very lightly and washed her hands and feet.

She had originally planned to take a shower, but she was worried she might wake Matsuda, and more than anything, she couldn't be bothered.

Her mental fatigue was particularly heavy today. She didn't know why, but all she wanted was to fall asleep in Matsuda's arms while listening to the rain.

Because of that, Miyuki came out without even drying her hands and feet properly and immediately lay down on the futon.

Rustle.

Then, a thick arm naturally draped over her chest and wrapped around her body.

He hadn't woken up; it was an instinctive action.

Knowing that full well, Miyuki silently curled up against Matsuda's chest.

He probably did sweet things like this to the others too, right?

She felt sullen. Toward the highly flirtatious Matsuda.

Chomp—!

Unable to suppress her feelings, Miyuki bit Matsuda's chest.

Then, she closed her eyes in his arms as he let out a muffled groan, seemingly feeling the pain even in his sleep.

"Miyuki, wake up."

At the sound of the familiar voice, Miyuki's sleepy eyes fluttered open.

Even in her daze, a question arose. The tone of the voice calling her was clearly a woman's.

Furthermore, it was very familiar and warm.

"Mom...? Is that you, Mom...?"

"Yes, it's your mom."

"Where am I...?"

"What's wrong with you...? It's your room, where else would it be?"

Her room? She had definitely slept in Matsuda's arms yesterday, hadn't she?

Then why was she here? Had she started sleepwalking or something?

Or had Matsuda moved her here while she was fast asleep?

Forcing her groggy eyes to focus and looking around, she saw that it was definitely her room.

Turning her head blankly from side to side, Miyuki slowly looked up at Midori, who was standing with her hands on her hips.

"Did Matsuda-kun bring me here yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if Matsuda-kun brought me here."

"Who brought you where? Did you have a dream?"

"No... how did I get here yesterday?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting...? You must have had one heck of a wild dream. Hurry up and wash."

"What is going on...?"

"Aren't you going to school?"

"No... I have to. Yeah... but isn't today a holiday...?"

"You're still half-asleep. Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and wash. I'll leave some toast on the dining table, so grab it on your way out."

With that said, Midori left the room.

Not long after, a whining sound came from the next room.

Listening to the sound of her older sister complaining to their mom, Miyuki got out of bed, her shoulders slumped.

'Does that mean I slept for a whole day...?'

She definitely hadn't been tired enough to pass out... This was strange.

There were more than a couple of suspicious things, but Miyuki headed to the bathroom for now.

Overall, it was a very strange morning.

Not only had she suddenly ended up in her room, but it was highly suspicious that she had absolutely no memory of the process.

Her mom's reaction was the same.

Come to think of it, her room seemed a little different, too.

She had been half-asleep so she couldn't remember clearly, but it felt like the room gave off a distinctly older vibe.

Walking limply, Miyuki opened the bathroom door, looked inside, and frowned.

Matsuda's toothbrush should have been together with hers in her toothbrush holder, but it wasn't there.

There should have been Matsuda's cup for rinsing his mouth, too. But right now, there was only her sister's and her own.

'What...?'

Rattle.

Inside the cabinet, the navy blue towel she had brought from Matsuda's house because she liked its fluffy texture was missing as well.

Her sister might have used it, but she had brought a total of five towels.

She had even checked them yesterday; did they use that many towels in a single day? It made no sense.

"What is this, really...!"

Miyuki trembled.

She was suddenly gripped by fear. It felt as if Matsuda's existence had just vanished.

Rushing back to her room to check her Cell Phone, Miyuki stopped dead in her tracks.

"Huh...?"

She had noticed something different when she looked in the mirror.

The face was definitely hers, but the bangs she had let grow out slightly were a bit shorter now.

The same went for the back of her hair, which usually reached her waist; the overall length had shrunk.

She had overeaten a bit recently, causing her face to get a little chubby, but even that was gone.

Slam—!

Throwing her body against the bathroom door that was naturally swinging shut, Miyuki sprinted out, returned to her room, and checked her Cell Phone.

There was one new message.

The sender wasn't Matsuda, but Tetsuya.

[Miyuki, I have to go first because of an errand for my mom. Let's meet at Academy Station.]

It hadn't been long since she had given him a severe scolding, yet how could he act this intimately?

Did he expect that if he acted naturally, their relationship would go back to how it was?

No, rather than that, it felt as if he had never experienced that incident at all.

"Haa... Haa..."

Barely managing to control her trembling hand, she pressed the home button, and the date appeared.

And seeing the time displayed on the lock screen, along with the date below it, Miyuki's mouth fell open slightly.

The date was quite a few days removed from yesterday's.

On the other hand, the year had gone down.

As if she had regressed into the past.

"D-Does this make any sense...?"

Was she still half-asleep, just like her mom had said?

She pulled her cheek, smacked her forehead, and pinched the inside of her thigh hard, but she felt the pain from all of it.

Was she not waking up because these were old-fashioned methods?

How did people check these days?

Harboring such questions, Miyuki swallowed dryly and scrolled through her contacts.

Matsuda's phone number was not saved.

The only recent call records were with her friends and Tetsuya.

Now, she was starting to get genuinely, truly terrified.

With ragged breaths, Miyuki typed in Matsuda's phone number.

After taking one deep breath, she pressed the call button.

Ring, ring—!

—Hello.

To her sheer relief, the voice coming from the other end of the phone belonged to Matsuda.

"Haa..."

A wave of relief washed over her, and Miyuki swept a hand over her chest as she spoke.

"Matsuda-kun?"

—What do you want? Who... Wait a minute, that's a familiar voice.

Matsuda was not the type of person to confuse her voice.

Besides, his phone should have displayed her name on the screen when he received the call, yet for him to react like that meant...

It meant that her phone number wasn't saved in his phone, either.

Or else, he was playing a prank on her.

—Hello. Hey, who are you?

At Matsuda's subsequent question, Miyuki tried to answer, but the words caught in her throat.

Her mind was in such a state of chaos that she couldn't figure out what to say.

"Um..."

Rolling her eyes around as she desperately tried to squeeze out something to say, Miyuki suddenly gasped.

The color of the name tag sitting on her desk.

It happened right after she saw that color, which indicated her grade level.

'First year...?'

The color of the name tag with "Hanazawa" written on it clearly indicated she was a first-year student.

—Are you messing with me...

Click.

Even though the call was cut off just like that, Miyuki couldn't even think to pull the Cell Phone away from her ear.

"M-My room..."

The room where she had built up memories with Matsuda one by one had returned to its exact past state.

Something... Something massive was happening.

No, it had already happened.

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