Falling into the dream, still thinking while consciousness is blurred.
Zhi is no longer here, and I am now alone.
Why did he exchange and then disappear? Did he disappear to protect something
After tracing back Ryougi Shiki's memories, I finally understood.
I'm afraid... Zhi is trying to protect his dream, his dream of living happily.
Was it that classmate? Or was it that boy who made him think of him as the person he wanted to be
There is no way of knowing that.
Zhi disappeared so that both he and Ryougi Shiki could exist.
Leaving me with such deep loneliness.
... ...
The morning sun shone through the curtains, illuminating the ward. Shi's eyes, which had regained their sight, opened from their warm sleep.
There was a clean white hospital bed beneath him. It seemed that the magician named Orange had dealt with the events of last night properly. No, those were just small matters. Instead of those things, I just wanted to think about his affairs.
He maintained the side-lying position, feeling the morning air without moving his head.
Waking up because of the light, that's something I haven't experienced for a long time. The faint desire is just a fresh sunshine, which illuminates the darkness in my heart.
What I have now is a temporary life... The other me who can no longer return, melted away in the light. Ryougi Shiki's existence disappeared along with the things he dreamed of.
If she could cry, Shi would also want to cry. But her eyes were always dry. She could only cry once... Because crying about this kind of thing was wrong. Even if she couldn't go back, she would not regret it a second time.
Just like a shadow gradually fading under the morning sun, it just disappeared cleanly, which was probably what he hoped for.
"Good morning, Shiki." came a voice beside him.
The way is to turn your head to one side, and there is a friend I have known for a long time.
The black-framed glasses and the untrimmed black hair really haven't changed at all.
"Remember, me...?" The voice trembled slightly.
Ah, I remember, how could I forget? You have been waiting for the formula.
Only you have been protecting me.
"Kurotogi Kan'ya, sounds like the name of a French poet."
Hearing Shiki's words, Kan also smiled. It was a normal smile, just like they met at school after a day apart.
No one knows how much effort was hidden in it, but... he still remembers the promise.
"It's great that it's a sunny day today. I'll take you back." With tears in his eyes, he tried to act naturally.
For the empty Shika, that was warmer than anything else.
If you appreciate smiling faces more than tearful eyes, choose this friend.
To accept loneliness rather than isolation, choose weaving.
—Although I haven't chosen either side yet.
"Ah, there are some things that will never disappear."
Shi stared blankly at his smile, as gentle as the sunshine, until she had seen enough.
Even though that kind of thing wouldn't help fill the hole in her chest, she didn't want to do anything else right now.
His smile was gentle, because it was the same smile that she remembered.
Just like that afternoon that year, when my classmate came to me and talked to me persistently, he had a smile on his face that never faded.
Gan Ye did the same, staring at Shiki quietly and in a trance.
He looked at the girl who had opened her eyes after two years of slumber, allowing her own time to flow again, so that his longing would finally not be left in vain.
The first meeting on a snowy night, the reunion at the beginning of school, the conversations after class, the casual chats at noon, the dates on holidays, the affectionate confessions, the persistent perseverance, everything seems like yesterday and is still vivid in my mind.
All the waiting was not in vain, all the efforts were rewarded at this moment.
He felt that everything was enough just to see her wake up, to look at him like she used to, to hear her voice again.
She looked at him.
He looked at her too.
This continued, as if forever—
—If no one disturbs you.
First there was a creaking sound, as if some material had reached its limit and could not bear the weight.
Then there was another loud crash, "bang", followed by "oops", "oh", "be careful", both male and female voices.
The long-awaited touching reunion and the world of two people that had been apart for two years were broken.
Shi frowned in dissatisfaction and looked sideways towards the place where the noise came from, the entrance to the ward.
The white-painted wooden door was crushed to the ground, with the culprits who had crushed it lying on top.
There were children around ten years old and teenage girls around fifteen or sixteen years old.
Outside the door, there was a sickly girl in a wheelchair and a foreign woman who was a few years older than the girl pushing the wheelchair.
At the end of his gaze, he locked onto a woman smoking by the window in the corridor.
"Ms. Orange—" Shiki was about to speak, but Kaneya spoke first, "And Shinji, Sakura, and Ms. Fujino, as well as the two I met for the first time, what are you doing..."
"Uh..." Sakura lowered her head embarrassedly.
"That..." Fujino blushed.
"Nothing, nothing, just go on and don't worry about us."
Shinji was thick-skinned though. He stood up as if nothing had happened, dusted himself off, and walked out with Sakura and Fujino, who had been peeping with him.
"We've set up a barrier at the door, so no matter what happens, we won't be discovered - come on, Kan'ya."
"... ... "
Even Gan, who is known as an elder and was appointed by Mushroom as the "mature old man", could not withstand Shinji's shamelessness and could only look embarrassed and remain speechless.
Instead, he spoke in a purely natural and straightforward manner without any scruples, using the same tone he used in school to ask his only friend.
"Are they all your friends?"
"Yeah, they're all an interesting bunch of people, they're probably here to help."
Hearing Shiki's voice, Kan'ya's mood calmed down strangely. Yes, as long as she was there, nothing else mattered.
"Shinji, stop hiding outside and come in, and everyone else too."
Upon hearing this, Shinji immediately stuck his head out and saw Inuya waving at him, and then walked in with a group of people.
"Shiki, you've met Miss Orange, but you haven't met the others yet. This is Matou Shinji, my friend; this is Shinji's sister, Sakura; this is Asagami Fujino, Miss Orange's apprentice... This one should be Miss Mujo Kirie that Shinji mentioned. Like you, she lives in this ward and was also discharged today; the last one is Miss Yustisa, Miss Mujo's attending physician and Miss Orange's friend."
Gan Ye introduced them one by one, and even guessed the identities of two people he had never met before.
The people who were called nodded in turn and greeted Shiki on the bed.
Perhaps it was because his mentality had changed after experiencing a life and death experience, or perhaps it was because of Kan'ye's influence, Shiki was no longer indifferent to everyone like before, but sat up and imitated the gone Ori and greeted them in a very normal way.
"Hi, I'm Ryougi Shiki."
PS: Black-framed glasses, untrimmed black hair, belt pulled up high, the demeanor of an elder.
PS2: The sweet scenes between Shiki and Mikiya are almost over here. In the future, they will only be mentioned once or twice at most, and there won’t be any more long sweet scenes.