“Sorry to make you use my pillow, though.”
“Wait, this is your pillow?” Hitsuji hugged the pillow and sniffed it. “It is.”
“Hold on! Stop that, you’re embarrassing me.” While I was protesting despite myself, I used my imagination to produce another tool. A light summer bed cover. I put the pillow down on the mattress, laid out the bed cover, and invited Hitsuji to join me.
“Come on, we need to sleep quickly. Scary things are coming.”
“What do you mean...?”
“If you sleep during a Sleepwalk, you’ll be swallowed up by Nightland—I’m pretty sure that’s what I was told,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“It’s all or nothing. Let’s bet on that. Just maybe, like the Suiju turn Dayland to Nightland, we might be able to turn Nightland to Dayland with our Sleepwalk. This could be a double suicide, it could be an escape, but we won’t know which it is until we find out ourselves.” Taking a wide-eyed Hitsuji’s hand, I sat down on top of the covers and pet her soft hair.
“Sorry. This is about all I can think of. If you’ve got anything better, tell me.”
“No. Saya... if I’m with you, I can handle any nightmare.”
I kissed Hitsuji on the forehead. “You be the one to put me to sleep this time, Hitsuji. Like always.”
“Okay, my beloved.” Hitsuji got under the covers with me. Together in bed, the two of us side-by-side, we looked at one another. I saw myself reflected in Hitsuji’s eyes.
“Good night, Hitsuji.”
“Good night, Saya.”
When Hitsuji closed her eyes and relaxed, her Blanket immediately wrapped around me.
In the middle of this apocalyptic scene, as Suiju rushed in from all sides, we went to sleep in Nightland.
20
Hokage Aya suddenly awoke, sitting up lethargically in bed. The late afternoon sun had warmed the room to the point she was sweating, but despite that, it wasn’t that unpleasant of an awakening.
The dream she’d been having was an odd one. She was in a wide tatami room with a lot of other people, unable to get to sleep even if she tried. While she was tossing and turning as if from nightmares, even though she was already in a dream, suddenly the bedding was pulled from beneath her and she was cast out... Was that the shock that woke her up? With her vague memories growing indistinct, she was soon unable to remember.
Standing up to go wash her face, she went out into the hall. She passed by Saya’s room, but there was no sign of her little sister. Now that she thought of it, she felt like she had a hazy memory of seeing her sister’s face in that dream. It had looked like she was having fun. The way she’d been having a riot while her sister was tormented by nightmares, it was a little frustrating, but... It had been completely different from the usual taciturn impression she gave off.
Going down to the first floor, she washed her face in the washroom. Even though she hadn’t been asleep long, her head was clearer than it had been in a while. On her way back to her room, she looked towards the entrance hall. Saya’s shoes hadn’t returned yet. Come to think of it, she’d said something about going to see a friend.
The jolly laughter of Saya from the dream returned to her ears. It had been a surprising impression, but maybe that was how she acted when she was with her friends.
Aya threw on a pair of sandals and opened the front door. The mix of light purple and crimson created by the setting sun was beautiful, and for a while she remained captivated by it. A quiet evening had settled over the town. Behind Aya, there was a sound from the house. Her parents had apparently woken up, too.
I wonder if she’ll be back by dinner. Standing in the entrance hall, Aya subconsciously searched for Saya as she watched the town at twilight.
In the bedroom at Sakaimori Bed & Bedding, three people simultaneously regained consciousness.
They’d been sitting together on the sofa, and they fell asleep... Or it felt more like they’d had a momentary lapse of consciousness. Though they were surprised by the short rift in their memories, the three realized. For the first time in a while, the three had been able to sleep without resistance.
Had they done it, then? Had Saya and Hitsuji defeated the Suiju, and regained the sleep they had stolen?
The three looked to one another, nodding, and then leaned back on the sofa again. With Ran in the center, Kaede and Midori both leaned their heads against her. Closing their eyes, they went to sleep again, this time of their own volition. It was no match for Hitsuji’s power, but the feeling of security from having one’s companions nearby steadily lead them toward sleep.
They still did not know what Nightland was like now. However, if Saya and Hitsuji were still there, they had to go and get them.
Sparkling patterns danced in the darkness behind their eyelids. As they dove deeper into sleep, those patterns gradually transitioned into Nightland’s starry sky.
I woke in bed. It was quiet outside the curtained windows, and pitch dark inside the room.
Reaching out, I felt around beside me; when my fingers touched warm flesh, I was relieved.
I didn’t know what sort of place we had reached by traveling through Dayland and Nightland yet, but for now, I couldn’t sense any Suiju.
Her eyes opened, and I could feel her beginning to stir.
“...Morning.”
“Good morning.”
Even if I couldn’t see her, I knew she had smiled. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the little light that shone in through the curtains. As if a beast in human form was lying there.
Sign up for our mailing list at J-Novel Club to hear about new releases!
Newsletter
And you can read the latest chapters of novels like this by becoming a J-Novel Club Member -
J-Novel Club Membership
Copyright
Side-By-Side Dreamers
by Iori Miyazawa
Cover Illustration by Akane Malbeni
Translated by Sean McCann
Edited by Joi
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 Iori Miyazawa
All rights reserved.
First published in Japan in 2018 by Hayakawa Publishing Corporation
The book is published by arrangement with Hayakawa Publishing Corporation
English translation © 2019 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
J-Novel Club LLC
j-novel.club
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: July 2019
Side-By-Side Dreamers Page 14