Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 201, Section 3: "Looking Towards the Moon Over the Sea, Lobsters and Girls"

Masumi has always slept very well since she was a child.

Perhaps for this reason, he often had many bizarre and fantastical dreams—

Looking ahead, there was a vast expanse of ultramarine blue that could encompass even the most dazzling sunlight.

Surrounded by this deep blue water, yet without the suffocating or painful sensation of water seeping into her lungs, Masumi easily realized that she was dreaming.

Once you realize you're dreaming, it means you're not far from returning to reality.

But the opportunity was too good to pass up, and Masumi wanted to take this chance to experience the dream again.

If you are focused enough, you can actually wake up from a dream a little later, which is what is known as a "lucid dream".

So he swam forward a bit.

For some reason, I felt that my limbs were very short in the dream and that I moved very clumsily, but they seemed to be particularly agile in the water.

Using her body adapted to the water, Masumi kept swimming upwards, but no matter what she did, she could not touch the surface of the sea, and her body sank lower and lower.

Correspondingly, the surrounding light grew dimmer and dimmer, threatening to plunge into complete darkness—

It's like lighting up a tiny, insignificant point of light that no one notices.

Faint blue-green light particles drifted along the water and enveloped the body.

Masumi looked up, and unlike the blinding, scorching sunlight just now, this halo was incredibly gentle, like a tender moon in the sea.

He paused slightly, then cautiously approached the moon.

The moon is a little girl who is hugging her knees and curling up.

She was wearing a pure white dress, her shoulders were bare, and her calves, which peeked out from under the hem, were straight and slender, without socks, and her toes were curled up.

She looks so young that carrying a primary school student's backpack is no problem for her.

Her beautiful, shoulder-length flaxen hair was adorned with blue-green light particles that made her look like plankton in the sea.

With her eyes closed, her profile looked somewhat familiar to Masumi.

Her face, as beautiful as a doll's, seemed vaguely familiar.

Humans often have this kind of déjà vu feeling, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

However, when the girl slowly opened her eyes, Masumi was stunned.

That small figure was deeply imprinted in the depths of his pupils:

Her still-childish face, with eyebrows and features all too familiar, and her expressionless yet natural demeanor, were exactly like the girl in the coffee shop.

The only difference from reality is that the girl's body has shrunk several sizes, making her appear petite and adorable, while also arousing people's protective instincts to the greatest extent, making them want to protect her until the day she becomes strong.

"... Haiyue?"

The name that was uttered in the water naturally became indistinct, accompanied by the bubbling sound of the water.

Only when the girl opened her soft lips could every word be heard exceptionally clearly.

"Oh~ it's a lobster, Mr. Lobster."

"Little Sea Moon" said expressionlessly.

Masumi: "Glug glug." (Mr. Lobster?)
He stared in astonishment at his outstretched palm, where the slender outline of pincers emerged under the faint bluish-green light.

what's the situation?
In my dream, I was actually a lobster.

Based on the saying "what you think about during the day, you dream about at night," I can infer that my current appearance is likely the Ise lobster I bought at the Miyakojima Market not long ago.

"Mr. Lobster".

Little Moon spoke again.

"Lend me your eyes..."

This sounds a bit nonsensical, depending on the context. Sometimes it can even be a little creepy, like in a horror movie.

Lost in thought, Masumi paused for a few seconds before tentatively brandishing her pincers in front of the girl.

The little moon did not react.

She seems to be blind.

Her entire body shimmered with a bluish-green light, but her beautiful eyes were empty and devoid of emotion.

"Glug glug." (If that's the case, how did you know I was a lobster?)
The flowing water seemed to transmit the frequency of the vibrations to the girl, weaving words into her ears.

The little moon lily replied calmly, "Because... only lobsters can get here..."

After calmly and methodically answering Masumi's questions, she repeated what she had just said:

"Lend me your eyes......" A jellyfish without a lobster.

Masumi suddenly thought of this legend again.

In ancient legends, jellyfish use the eyes of lobsters to navigate in the sea.

"Glug glug glug." (That's possible, but how can I lend it to you?)
"If you agree... then there's no problem..."

After speaking, Little Haiyue suddenly moved her arms and legs, and her light white dress fluttered in the water, making her look like a jellyfish. It was more like she was being pushed by the current than swimming.

Upon getting closer, Masumi realized that the girl was incredibly small.

Compared to my physique in the dream, I'm probably like a juvenile moon jellyfish with its umbrella not yet spread, compared to an adult lobster.

She stretched out her hands and grasped the lobster Masumi's antennae to prevent them from being swept away by the water flow, while her small feet stepped on her claws and pushed upwards with all her might.

The ten toes, round like pearls, are taut, the arch of the foot is raised, outlining an arc, and a few slender blue veins are faintly visible on the instep.

Then the little moon climbed onto the lobster's back using both its hands and feet.

Even through the thick shell, Masumi could feel the soft, squishy jellyfish girl's presence, and he was a little worried that the uneven shell might hurt her.

"Can you see what's in front of you now?" Masumi asked.

From the moment the girl rode onto his back, their body temperatures connected, and he could communicate with the little moon without having to force himself to speak.

In short, it was a rather absurd and bizarre scene.

This made Masumi realize once again that she was indeed dreaming.

“I can see it,” she replied.

"But... I can't see it either..."

The little moon drooped its head and uttered a weak murmur.

"Because there was nothing in front of Mr. Lobster..."

◇

Today is a public holiday.

Masumi opened her eyes, her gaze momentarily blank: she had done that... well, it was all a dream.

What was the meaning of Little Moon's last words?

Because she woke up at the most confusing moment, Masumi became quite concerned about what happened next in the dream.

After squinting and pondering for a moment, Masumi couldn't help but chuckle: When did she become so childish as to seriously consider the logic of dreams?

He propped himself up on the bed and stretched.

Because she stayed up late in the room with a few girls yesterday, Masumi slept in today, which is quite rare for her.

I drew back the curtains, and it was a gloomy, rainy day early in the morning. The sound of the rain was like a cat gently scratching at the window with its paws.

Apart from that, there was no other noise in the coffee shop.

Rinne has a full day of classes today, and after class she plans to visit her grandmother and children at the orphanage.

Asami and Mio made plans to go to Sannomiya's book-off to buy reference books, and Chiai is going too. By this time in the future, they should be at school.

Only Masumi and Kaigetsu remained in the coffee shop, along with the goldfish named "Matan".

Masumi hesitated for a moment between "sleeping in" and "getting up," then realized that since she was thinking about it clearly, there was no need to agonize over the choice anymore.

He got out of bed, opened the window, and stared blankly at the raindrops for a moment. It was mid-October, and the heat was completely gone.

The world outside the window is like this: summer has gone, and autumn has arrived.

Time that cannot be turned back can only become memories, settling in the corners of people's hearts, then we either hold onto confusion or let go of it and step into the next season.

Since the past cannot be lingered in, and the present cannot be lingered in, all one can do is move forward.

—Masumi meticulously wrote down every single one of these seemingly poetic but actually meaningless sentences in her phone's memo app.

It might be useful for writing novels.

But doesn't it seem a bit out of place with my own novel style?

Who cares, no problem.

Since light novels are sold by volume, people's moods will inevitably fluctuate and shift depending on the season and time, so it doesn't matter.

Gathering her thoughts, without changing her clothes or fixing her unruly hair, Masumi simply walked out of the room.

The doors to the coffee shop rooms all slid inwards. The moment I pressed down on the doorknob, the view suddenly went blank, and a frail figure burst into my field of vision.

(End of this chapter)