Side: Tsumugi
Before I knew it, I was in my own room.
“…Huh?”
In my field of vision was the white ceiling, whose every tiny stain I knew by heart. On the wall was a poster I’d put up back in elementary school. One corner was peeling slightly, showing the marks of having been re-taped many times.
When I sat up, I could see a half-used notebook and a pen missing its cap on the desk. The stuffed animal by the bed, the pattern of the curtains—I knew them all well.
…This wasn’t that woman’s house. This was the room in the house I lived in with my sister.
Realizing that, my heart gave a huge leap.
“…What is this?”
I couldn’t help but think that everything up until now had been a bad dream. The day I cried helplessly after my sister disappeared. The time I spent in that woman’s house… All of it.
I kicked off the covers and got up, flying out of the room barefoot. The cold feel of the doorknob, the creaking of the floorboards—they were all familiar.
And when the kitchen came into view, there was a figure.
A back view, wearing an apron, clumsily stirring a pot. Shoulder-length hair swaying, one side sticking up a little.
“…!”
I forgot to breathe, standing frozen.
I knew that back. I’d seen it morning and night, when I cried, when I laughed, for so, so long.
…It’s my sister.
The moment I understood, tears overflowed like a broken dam. My vision blurred, outlines smudging. My feet moved on their own, and before I knew it, I was clinging to her back.
“…Sis!”
Burying my face in her back, I smelled that familiar, nostalgic scent. That alone filled my chest.
“Whoa, you scared me!”
My sister laughed, staggering a little. Her voice, her tone—nothing had changed.
“What’s wrong, Tsumugi? Why so flustered? Did you have a scary dream?”
“I did… I saw so many things I didn’t want to see…”
Dreams of my sister disappearing. Dreams of being alone. Dreams of calling for help that never came.
All of them were terrifying.
“I see, I see.”
My sister turned off the stove and turned around. Seeing my tear-streaked face, she smiled as if troubled. Seeing that smile, tears overflowed again.
“Well, I’ll fix your hair like always, so let’s go over there.”
Those words filled my chest again. The phrase “like always” seemed to have restored the world.
Nodding, I sat in the chair. My sister touched my hair with practiced hands. The feeling of the brush running through my hair was nostalgic. When it snagged, she’d ease up a little, just like before… I remembered it all.
This time was my favorite.
A time when I could truly feel I wasn’t alone. Because my sister was my only remaining family, the most important person in the world to me.
“You’re as cute as ever today, Tsumugi.”
Hearing her laugh and say that from behind, a gentle warmth spread deep in my chest.
If I could stay here… If I could stay like this forever, I didn’t care if it was a dream or anything else. Please, don’t let me wake up.
Wishing that, I desperately kept feeling the warmth of my sister’s hands.
“But your bedhead is especially bad today.”
My sister chuckled. Moving the brush, she deliberately pinched and lifted my bangs.
“Did you sleep in a weird position?”
“Probably. But it’s okay because you’ll fix it.”
“Honestly…”
An exasperated, yet gentle voice reached me.
“You’re still such a baby, Tsumugi. Even though you’re a high schooler now.”
“…!”
At those words, my chest suddenly turned cold. It had been so warm until now.
Ah, that’s right! This is a dream after all. My sister doesn’t know me as a high schooler. I have no memory of her coming to my entrance ceremony. Because… before she could come to the entrance ceremony—
My sister died.
That fact slowly, but surely, began to eat away at my entire body.
My fingertips trembled, tears wouldn’t stop. Plip-plop, they fell on my lap, spreading stains on my clothes.
Then, my sister hugged me tightly from behind.
“Hey, hey, don’t cry. Really, what’s wrong with you today?”
The body warmth from her back, the strength of her arms wrapped around me, my sister’s scent… I missed it all. It was all something I’d lost, something I could never touch again.
“Sis, I want to stay here forever…”
In this house, in this moment, I want to stay like this with just my sister. I don’t need anything else.
“You can’t skip school, you know.”
“That’s not it! I want to be with you forever!”
Before I knew it, my sister was standing in front of me. Holding both my hands firmly.
“Hmm… You can’t stay forever, you know.”
“Why… why!?”
I screamed until my throat hurt. My chest ached as if it would tear apart.
“Why? Because I’ll become a grandma first, you know. We’ll have to say goodbye someday.”
“No… No… Don’t leave me! If you disappear, what am I supposed to do!?”
Desperately, I gripped her hands so she wouldn’t leave, so I’d never lose her again. But the feeling in my fingertips was gradually fading. Even though her hands should be in mine, I couldn’t hold them properly.
Before I knew it, my sister’s form was blurring too.
I was going to wake up from this dream soon. Thinking that, I desperately closed my eyes.
If I slept, I felt I could still stay here. But even though my eyes were closed, the scene before me didn’t change.
My sister was getting farther and farther away.
“Tsumugi.”
Only her voice echoed clearly.
“Find someone important to you. It can be someone you love, or even if it’s not.”
One step, then another, the distance grew.
“If you do, I’m sure you won’t be lonely.”
“Wait… wait!”
Not wanting to be apart, I desperately reached out and chased her. But no matter how much I ran, the distance didn’t shrink.
“And you know, I’ll always live on in your heart, Tsumugi.”
“No…!”
My outstretched hand grabbed at empty air, light slipping through my fingers.
“No… No…! Don’t go, Sis!”
“I love you, Tsumugi.”
With those final words, the light burst apart, the warmth vanished—
And I was expelled from the dream.