"!"
Yami's eyes snapped open.
This time, it seemed she was alone in a coffee cup ride. Her blurry consciousness instantly became sharp.
The dusty sepia-toned amusement park. She'd never forget it. Why had she forgotten it until now? She had been here last night.
"This is bad...!"
She had come here again without any countermeasures. If this continued, it would be a repeat of last night—no, she might be subjected to something even worse.
She couldn't remember what happened here while she was awake. She couldn't even consult anyone about it.
But this time, she woke up in a wide-open space. It shouldn't be like last time.
If this world truly moved according to the will of the voice from yesterday, then a fight was impossible.
In fact, yesterday her Transformation Trance ability was taken away, and tentacles crawled inside her clothes.
A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of that sensation, and then a girl appeared.
"! Himeragi Yukina...?"
"Ah! Yami-san?! Why are you here? Do you know where this is?"
Yukina, in a familiar uniform, rushed over to Yami, a face she finally recognized.
However,
"Stop!"
"!! Um, is something wrong?"
Yukina stopped as she was told.
"Don't move from there."
"Huh? O-okay, but..."
Yami knew how absurd this world was. Her thoughts were:
(This Himeragi Yukina is suspicious.)
It wouldn't be surprising if an elaborate fake appeared.
"Yami-san, what happened to you?"
"Seriously, what is this?"
As she circled Yukina to confirm her authenticity, Kurumi and Kuro also appeared.
"Huh? Everyone's here?"
"It seems this isn't just a dream."
Asuna and Sakura also appeared in their usual school uniforms. With everyone gathered, Yami couldn't tell who was real and who wasn't. She gave up and decided to assume they were all real for now.
(I can't tell the difference even if I'm suspicious, and it's better to stay together if they're real.)
Even so, she didn't know if they could fight in this dream world.
"So,"
The five girls besides Yami seemed to know nothing about this world. Asuna took the lead and took control of the situation.
"What is this world? Does everyone remember what happened before coming here?"
"Not at all. I went to sleep last night and found myself standing here when I woke up."
Hearing that, the other girls, except Yami, all said, "I don't know." It was up to Yami to explain. Even if she knew almost nothing.
"I came to this world yesterday."
"Really?!"
"Yes. In short, this is a dream world. It was created by someone's ability, and the enemy has complete control over this world—"
"—Oh, look at everyone, all together. Hello. Hm? No, it's night, so is 'good evening' more appropriate?"
A comical voice overlapped with Yami's words.
Even though they were all highly skilled individuals, they hadn't noticed his presence.
In a word, he was a grim reaper with a clown's face. He wore a cloak that covered his entire body and held a large scythe. At that size, it seemed a bit cumbersome to use as an actual weapon. The clown face made the scythe look like a toy.
But he was clearly an abnormal existence.
Everyone went into a combat stance.
"Oh, hey? Why isn't that guy here...?"
The clown mumbled to himself, but the girls couldn't hear him.
"Well, whatever. They can't mess with my world anyway..."
"What are you mumbling about?!"
"Yeah, yeah! What do you think you're doing?! I was finally sleeping next to my brother!"
"""Huh?"""
"Eh?"
"Kuro-chan, we'll talk about that later, okay?"
"Eh? What?"
"Everyone, be careful. We probably can't attack him properly. It might even be difficult to escape."
"Why are you moving on? I might be getting a lecture later!"
Ignoring the flustered Kuro, Yami explained what she knew about their opponent.
"Then—the first strike is key!!"
Kurumi pulled a handgun from her shadow and aimed it at the clown.
"It's useless. You can't attack in this world—"
Yami said, recalling her experience from yesterday. But contrary to her warning, a gunshot rang out as the trigger was pulled.
"!? Why—"
This was an attack against the supposed master of this world, the clown. And a straightforward one at that, a shot from a gun. An enemy who could handle even a Transformation Trance attack wouldn't overlook something like that.
Yami focused on the clown to see the result of the attack, but there was no change.
"Wh-what is this...?"
"K-Kurumi-chan, is that...?"
At Asuna's voice, everyone looked at the handgun in Kurumi's hand. Kurumi, holding the gun, seemed the most surprised.
And for good reason. The muzzle, which usually spat out bullets woven from spiritual power, was now spewing out colorful flowers, like a cheap magic trick.
"No, no, a Stand like me isn't affected by bullets, so there's no need to do anything, you know? But since you went to all that trouble, I decided to make it a little prettier for the sake of the performance! What do you think? Did you like it?"
"As you can see, don't assume this world operates on the rules of the real world. Not only can he create unknown objects, but he can also interfere with and manipulate our abilities."
"Yami-chan had it rough yesterday, didn't you? It's a dream world, so there's no record of it, but it was an unforgettable experience, wasn't it?"
"~~~!!"
Yami's face turned red at the clown's words. If he had blurted out what happened yesterday right there, she would have ignored her own advice and charged at him.
Yami was that much of a maiden. If she wasn't, she wouldn't react so sensitively to lewd topics.
And with the current sight and explanation, everyone was frozen, unable to move.
"You're a Stand, right? Then the user must be in this world too..."
"Hmm, I wonder? They might be here, or they might not. They might exist, or they might not. If you want to search, you can. But if you do, I'll be the 'It' in our game of tag and get in your way."
"That's tough... If our attacks don't work and we can't even use our abilities..."
Sakura also had a bitter look on her face.
"Haaah, everyone is just so cute. Surrounded by all these beautiful girls, I can't forgive Yozuki Sho...!"
The clown mumbled, and then the world began to collapse rapidly—
---------
"!!"
The figure clinging to the wall like a spider dodged my 'Magic Archer' and kicked off the side of the building. Incredibly, it continued to kick off the wall and escaped to the rooftop.
"You're not getting away!"
But I, too, was capable of such a feat.
I kicked off the wall in the same way, climbing the reinforced concrete.
I wasn't in a full sprint. This escape was just a show.
As I expected, the hooded culprit was waiting for me on the rooftop. I couldn't have mistaken her. The familiar combat suit and the braided red pigtails that shone even in the moonlight.
It was Kurosaki Mea.
"What a coincidence. What are you doing, Mea?"
"Let's say hello first, Yozuki-kun... Oh, and to answer your question. Hmm, I was taking a walk, maybe?"
It was clear she had no intention of answering seriously. First of all,
"You're clinging to someone's house. That's not a walk."
"Ah, so that's Yozuki-kun's house."
Mea laughed, saying she didn't know. I decided that I would just be teased if I continued, so I got to the point.
I hadn't mentioned it until now, but Mea wasn't empty-handed. She was carrying something on her back. Something so big—a person—couldn't possibly be part of a walk.
"What was your goal? No, that's a pointless question. Your goal is Yami. So that's not what I want to know. What I want to know is what you were doing. And with a person on your back. Who is that?"
"Hahaha, so many questions, Yozuki-kun... What I was doing, huh?"
"Yeah. You did something to Yami, didn't you? She was clearly acting strange this morning."
Her sleeping form was too alluring to simply be a nightMea. My guard wasn't low enough to conclude that nothing was wrong.
Even though we had become closer, Yami, who had never shown any weakness in the house, oversleeping and letting me into her room of all things? Impossible.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't lay a hand on Yami? Or were you here for me?"
"I don't recall ever saying I wouldn't lay a hand on my 'sister.' She's 'family,' so I do want to 'play' with her a little... And I don't have any particular plans for Sho-kun either. I don't have any plans for you."
Then why did she come here? To enemy territory. To a dangerous place where everyone was gathered. In the middle of the night.
I was curious about the 'person' on Mea's back. They seemed to be conscious, but their face was hidden, so I couldn't make out who it was. Looking at their build, it could be a child or a woman. Was it someone I knew? Or a new enemy?
But I could feel the desire to leave the area. They were tapping Mea's shoulder, urging her.
"Can I go now? It's late, and I was thinking of going back to sleep."
The only way to stop her now was to fight. But starting a fight here... I couldn't do anything. I had a reason to stop her, but no right.
"Or will you accompany me tonight, from now on?"
"...That's not happening."
"I see. Good night, Yozuki-kun."
The negotiation failed.
Mea's shadow became smaller and smaller until it was no longer visible.
After that, nothing strange happened to Yami. She was her usual, regular self, and at least in front of me, she never dropped her cool expression again.
---------
"Ah, geez..."
Mea finished her shower and was alone in her room, staring out the window with the lights off.
She had a towel draped around her neck and was only wearing her underwear. Although the towel hid the peaks of her chest, she was still in a vulnerable state.
If her room wasn't on a higher floor than the other buildings, someone might have seen her.
The room was spartan. In fact, there was no furniture at all. Perhaps she was using the room as she had just rented it, as there was nothing unnecessary.
The only things present were a few changes of clothes stuffed into a duffel bag, a discarded uniform, and a plastic bag full of snacks.
She didn't seem to have a concept of tidying up, as her few belongings were scattered around.
Mea was alone, but to be precise, she wasn't.
In the corner of the room. Even though the lights were off, the high location and the moonlight allowed her to vaguely see the room. But even so, there was a corner where the light didn't reach.
In that corner, a girl stood. A girl like a haze, a black mist.
"What's your plan, Mea? What was the purpose of what you just did?"
"Yozuki Sho also noticed. This approach was too careless. You knew it was dangerous to mess with them using a Stand, even if it was just a little."
"It's okay, Master. The girls forget what happened when they wake up."
"..."
She answered in a light tone.
"Besides, if you're asking about my goal, I had an important one: to learn about Yami's friendships."
"Did you make any progress?"
"If you ask that, well?"
"In other words, it was a bust?"
"Something like that this time. But I did learn that Yami is getting along well with everyone."
Getting along, in this case, simply meant she was actively trying to share information, but for Mea, that was enough to be considered "getting along well."
"...Hmph. A flimsy relationship like that is irrelevant whether you understand it or not. It will disappear in the end. You even used that relationship, didn't you? No, I'm a little doubtful as to whether it went well."
"Yeah, well. It helped that there are all kinds of people at school."
The user of Death 13 was one of Mea's friends. The desires of a girl who got excited about mixing with other girls, not boys, and Mea's own small interest, aligned.
That girl had recently developed a crush on Yami, who had just transferred. At the same time, she felt a kind of jealousy toward Sho, who was rumored (and it was true) to be living with many girls, including Yami.
As a result of their negotiation, they decided to mess with them. Surprisingly, a new Stand, Death 13, manifested as a bonus.
In reality, Mea was able to peek into that world using her psycho-dive. To ensure Death 13, which had a short range, would hit, Mea took on the role of clinging to the wall and being a guard.
In fact, what Mea wanted to see was a little different.
(Some people like girls, so I'm still not sure. What's so good about it? But it felt so good that time. Yeah.)
She had secretly tried it again when her master wasn't around, but she couldn't achieve the same euphoric feeling as "that time."
She had initially given up, thinking it was because she was doing it herself, but unable to abandon her curiosity, she decided to act. It was an experiment to see how the other girls would react. The result was as expected.
Even though she had acted so carelessly, she gained nothing. Both of them learned their lesson this time and decided to stop doing such things.
In that case, there was only one remaining factor. Yozuki Sho.
This time, she had planned to pull Sho into the dream as well, but he had been on his guard and hadn't been asleep in the first place.
(But messing with Yozuki-kun is dangerous, isn't it? Master says so too, and I can't take any more risks for something unrelated.)
As her body grew cold, she put on a T-shirt and let her mind wander.
For now, they were enemies. Even Mea hesitated to ask for a favor from such a person.
(It has nothing to do with Yami, nothing at all, but I'm interested... Hmm, does it really have nothing to do with it? But that reaction... she's definitely never done it before...)
Perhaps, this wasn't a useful thought. An idea flashed in Mea's mind.
(If I could make Yozuki-kun my ally. If I could make Yami weak to lewd things, maybe I could achieve my goal? And I'd have fun, too. But does a weapon need a 'reward'? Besides, I can't even say I'm back to normal.)
"Hmm, it's not working out..."
"What isn't?"
Mea agonized over her scattered thoughts.
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