Arc 1 Chapter 6: the end of yume

    I woke up in the morning and headed to the student council room. I wanted to sincerely apologize for what happened yesterday... I said a lot of things impulsively, but I didn't really mean it. I should have been happy when they called me their hope and happiness.

　

"Yume-senpai, I'm back. Just be careful next time."

　

　What was the point of apologizing sincerely? I feel a little disgusted with myself for not being able to be sincere even in a time like this.

　

　Since my senpai always comes to school early, I thought she would be in the student council room today as well.

　

"senpai....?"

　

　However, contrary to my expectations, senpai wasn't there. ...I wonder if it was because I said that. I'm sure it was.

　

　Then, all of a sudden, I found something.

　

"Did you have a note like this?"

　

"'Thank you as always! Take care, Hoshino-chan!'"

　

　What is this... this note... I have a bad feeling about it. Anyway, I'll contact my senpai.

　

　Just as I was thinking that, I got a call from my senpai.

　

"Hoshino-chan, I'm sorry.&#^@I can hear you.."

　

"Senpai! Where are you?"

　

"I'm sorry, Hoshino-chan. I was in the desert and got caught in a sandstorm... I lost my compass."

　

　I can hear my senpai's voice mixed with noise. Considering that she was in the desert, I guess there was no signal.

　

　But more importantly, you got caught in a sandstorm...? And you lost your compass....how on earth....and why in the desert....

　

　

"Hoshino-chan....I'm sorry, I need you to come help me."

　

"Also, I left a note, but please let me know here too&@#. My notebook is over there#^@&"

　

"Hoshino-chan knows me well too^#@&#@&^@. I think you'll understand right away."

　

"Hoshino-chan, I am-"

　

　At this point, the call from my senpai ended. It must have been because the signal was lost.

　

　This is no time to be thinking about such things. You were caught in a sandstorm in the desert and lost your compass. I don't know any other details, but no matter how you look at it, I'm sure your lost. And I heard her say, "Help me." If that's the case, I need to hurry, or Yume-senpai might...

　

"Huh?! Yume-senpai!!"

　

　As if to shake off the unpleasant thought, I yelled out loud and ran out of the student council room, going out to look for my senpai.

　

---

"Yume-senpai!!! Where are you!! Senpai!!"

　

　

　On the first day, I searched in many places but couldn't find my senpai.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

"Yume-senpai!!!"

　

　Even after 10 days of searching, we still couldn't find Senpai. I can't stop thinking about the bad things that happened. It's my fault, it's my fault that Senpai... But I can't give up... Even Senpai... "Help me"

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

"Yume....senpai...."

　

　A month passed, and I still couldn't find Senpai. I heard voices in my head telling me it was no use, that I should give up, that it was my fault that Senpai had died. Why, why... I couldn't find Senpai...

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　It's been 33 days since we started searching. Even as an amateur, I can easily imagine what would happen if someone was in the desert for such a long period of time. But still...

　

"!!"

　

　There was a person a little further ahead. Oh, oh!　

　

　

"Senpai!! Yume-senpai!!"

　

　

　Finally, I was able to find my senpai. Moreover, judging from the way she was walking, she seemed to be conscious. My senpai was safe. At that moment, I was so relieved that I nearly broke down in tears.

　

　But even if she survived, she would be suffering from dehydration and heat stroke and would not be in a good condition. We must take her to the hospital as soon as possible.

　

"Hoshino....chan....."

　

　The moment I thought that, my senpai lost consciousness and collapsed.

　

　

"...S-senpai? Yume-senpai!!"

　

　I quickly ran over and managed to check, and found that my senpai was still breathing. She was alive and well.

　

　However, her complexion is poor and her temperature is abnormally high.

　

"Hurry, I have to hurry and get her to the hospital!!"

　

　With that decision in mind, I picked up my senpai and ran as fast as I could to the hospital.

　

　

---

    When I arrived at the hospital, I explained the situation and left my senpai in the care of the doctor, then I prayed for her safety and thought about many things.

　

　Why on earth did my senpai head into the desert that day? Why was she caught in a sandstorm that wasn't in the forecast? What happened to my senpai that day?

　

　

　While I was thinking about this, my senior doctor told me he had something to talk to me about.

　

"Please calm down and listen."

　

　Those words brought back unpleasant thoughts. Senpai... Could it be...?

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

"Kuchinashi yume has managed to survive. The situation is still unpredictable, but for the time being, her life is not in danger."

　

"Oh, that's good....Thank you very much."

　

　I desperately try to hold back the tears that threaten to spill.

　

"We did a number of tests and it seemed that she he had been able to take in water and food without any problems for a while. I should say that she was saved thanks to that. She had probably brought plenty of water and portable food with her in case she got lost."

　

　I'm glad... I'm really glad. Now, Senpai...

　

"But...there's one thing I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

　

　

　The cold sweat I had been drowning in suddenly disappeared, and unpleasant thoughts began to form.

　

　

"As I said before, her life is not in danger, but she has not yet regained consciousness. On top of that, even if she had been able to stay hydrated, she had been in the desert for over a month, so it would not be surprising if she had suffered some kind of brain damage."

　

　

"In the end, even if she were to make a full recovery, it's still unclear whether she would regain consciousness... and there's a high possibility that she would suffer some kind of after-effect."

　

　Hearing those words, I finally collapsed. It was my fault... I was late in finding her, and it was my fault...

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　I don't remember much after that. The next thing I knew, I was at home, lying on my bed, hugging a stuffed whale. I wondered how on earth I'd ended up like this.

　

　No, there's no need to think about it. It's because I took out my anger on my senior selfishly, and because I was late in finding him. It's all my fault.

　

　Why was Senpai in the desert?...Come to think of it, she said on the phone that day that she had her notebook, her student council president notebook, there. Maybe there's something written in it.

　

"I need to find the notebook."

　

　With that thought in mind, I fell asleep.

---

    When I came to, I was somehow in the desert, and my senpai was right in front of me.

　

"senpai!!"

　

"Hoshino-chan? It's your fault that I died, you know?"

　

"What... what are you saying... I'm... looking for you... and you're not dead!"

　

"But because of Hoshino-chan, I can't even wake up anymore. Is that any different from being dead?"

　

　

"That's..."

　

　

"You can't deny it, right? Hey Hoshino-chan,."

　

"I've always hated Hoshino-chan, you know?"

　

"What....."

　

"You always have high ideals and deny everything I say, but you haven't been able to do anything yourself, have you?"

　

"What made you think I wouldn't feel anything, wouldn't be angry or resentful?"

　

"Th-that's..."

　

"Besides... I died because of Hoshino-chan, right? There's no way I wouldn't resent her, right?"

　

　

　

　

　

　The next day, I woke up feeling terrible. The reason is obvious: I had a dream in which my senpai was scolding me.

　

　

　I know, I know. Senpai is not the kind of person who would say something like that. I know that she's a fake Senpai, a product of my imagination, and that she would never say something like that. But... still...

　

　

　At the time, all I could think was that those were my senpai's true feelings.

---

I managed to get up and headed straight for the student council room, where she kept her notebook. I couldn't tell because of the signal, but this was definitely a place I knew well. However...

　

"It's not there... anywhere... why...?"

　

　In the end, I searched all day but couldn't find it. Maybe it's in a different place. I've decided to check the entire school building tomorrow.

　

　

　When I got home, I couldn't sleep. If I fell asleep and had that dream again, I would be scolded by my senpai again, and the thought of that just took my sleepiness away. Since I couldn't sleep anyway, I decided to go outside.

　

　

　At night, there is nothing in Abydos, so you can see the starry sky clearly. It is exactly the same view as the one I saw on the way back from the aquarium that day.

　

"Hoshino-chan...the night sky of Abydos is beautiful."

　

　Even though it was the same, the view from my perspective was completely different, and I couldn't think of it as beautiful at all.

　

　Senpai said that she was alone in her second year. Perhaps because she knew this view, she told me that the reason the starry sky is so beautiful is because "Hoshino-chan is here." But even so... I...

After searching every nook and cranny of the school but still unable to find my notebook, I decided to look for it in the desert. I wondered if it might have flown away somewhere when she got caught in a sandstorm. I knew that wasn't the case, but I still had no choice but to cling to it.

　

"Huh....is this...?"

　

　After three days of searching in the desert, I found something.

　

"Her... notebook?"

　

　It wasn't the weirdly designed student council president notebook that Senpai always had, but the one I saw for the first time on the day we first went treasure hunting. I remember her getting very flustered when I pointed out that she had dropped it. It was the first and last time I ever saw Senpai look so flustered.

　

　At the time, she even said, "I might die if I lose it." Perhaps there was something important written there that she didn't want anyone to see.

　

But I had reached my limit. I started reading the diary , thinking that I could just apologize when she woke up. But...

　

"...what does this...what does it say?"

　

　It was written in characters I had never seen before, so I couldn't read it. The amount of text was enough to fill an entire notepad, but even after looking at every page, the only characters I recognized were numbers.

　

　Maybe it was an ancient language I didn't know. Besides, Senpai had treasured it so much. I had to give it to her when she woke up. With that thought in mind, I took the notebook home with me.

　

　

　After that, I searched and looked in various dictionaries, but I couldn't find the characters that my senpai had written. How did my senior know these characters? What on earth was she writing?　

　

　

　What on earth was Senpai carrying? The person who could answer her call was still asleep.

　

　

　

　

　

　Yume-senpai, why did you go to the desert? What was your "business"? What happened while I was away... What did you know?

　

　...Where is your notebook? What's in that notebook....What's in that notebook? ...Can't I read your notebook...?　

　

"Please do it on your own from the beginning! I don't know anything about you, Senpai!"

　

　It's my fault, isn't it? Those words hurt you and drove you away... That's why you still haven't woken up, right?　

　

"Hoshino-chan, I am"

　

　What was the rest of that message? I don't know...

　

　

　Yume-senpai....why...I...