In this crossover anime, I've been bound to two systems.

It wasn't that she was sad or angry, but rather that she was somewhat...confused.

Yes, it's a question.

The reason she was like this was naturally the strange dream she had last night.

It's not that the content of her dreams was strange; she's had all sorts of strange dreams, such as being chased by something in a dream, living in a house made of candy and cookies, and growing wings so she could fly in the sky like a bird.

Who hasn't had a dream like this—a dream that's inexplicable, bizarre, and has absolutely no connection to reality?

But the reason why Isshiki Iroha labeled last night's dream as eerie is naturally because it had something unusual about it.

What puzzled her most was the bizarre form of the dream.

In her dream, she sat blankly on the sofa, watching TV all night, and the female protagonist in the TV series was herself.

Then there's the memory of that dream after waking up.

According to common scientific knowledge, when a person sleeps, most of the brain cells are at rest. Therefore, after waking up, the content of the dream is usually not remembered. Even if a part is remembered, it is only fragmented and general content.

Iroha Isshiki's past dream experiences also corroborate this point.

But this time was different. She remembered the dream she had last night very clearly, as if it were engraved in her mind and she couldn't forget it even if she wanted to.

At the beginning of the dream, she came to the living room and saw the DVD with her picture on it. Out of curiosity, she put it in the DVD player and sat on the sofa to watch it.

Then she was shocked at the beginning. On the TV screen, she saw her parents, who looked much younger, holding a baby and looking happy.

And the baby in their arms was undoubtedly herself.

For a considerable period afterward, the plot revolved around Iroha Isshiki, depicting her growth from babbling to walking.

She witnessed her parents' doting love for her and was deeply moved. The heartwarming and touching storyline kept her glued to the screen until the very end, leaving her wanting more.

Then, starting with the second episode, the content of the film changed.

The plot no longer focuses on her, but on another couple, with the camera focusing on a baby boy named Suzumiya Chisato.

Similar to the first episode, he grew up quickly under the care of his parents. However, this harmonious daily life did not last long. When he was two years old and still unaware of the world, his parents died in an accident.

When I was three years old, my maternal grandparents also passed away.

At four years old, it's the grandparents' turn.

The pain of losing a loved one came crashing down on him over the past three years.

Even if Iroha Isshiki were viewing this story from a third-person perspective, she would still find it incredibly painful.

Especially when she saw the little boy named Suzumiya Chisato alone in the empty, lifeless room, an overwhelming sense of sadness welled up inside her and overwhelmed her.

The later plot is very realistic; the children who lost their families were sent to an orphanage.

As the story progresses, Isshiki Iroha sees many kind and wonderful qualities in Suzumiya Chisato.

He would pay attention to places that other children didn't notice, often feeding the ants in the corner of the wall, and worrying that the two bad-tempered dogs in the yard would fight and get hurt, so he would always tie them separately on both sides.

Seeing the two dogs, separated and tied up, barking wildly at each other despite not being able to touch each other, Iroha Isshiki realized that Suzumiya Chisato's actions were absolutely necessary.

If they are separated, they will end up like this. If they are not separated, won't they bite each other to death?

In short, from the perspective of the film featuring Chisato Suzumiya, Iroha Isshiki, who was initially uninterested, gradually became engrossed.

After that, Suzumiya Chisato's life was only carefree and without worries for a few times. Suffering seemed to have a target for him, always striking him precisely at regular intervals.

The orphanage he had grown accustomed to suddenly caught fire, forcing him to leave once again the familiar and settled place.

The story then moves on to Suzumiya Chisato, who has arrived at a new orphanage and is taken in by a kind couple who happen to be the Isshiki family's neighbors in the film.

At the end of the second episode, the camera freezes on the two people who meet for the first time, giving them a close-up shot before gradually pulling back, but you can still see them each taking a step forward and reaching out to hold hands.

Two people who were originally unrelated became connected at this moment.

The moment the second episode ended, Iroha Isshiki slowly woke up; the time displayed on the alarm clock was exactly eight o'clock in the morning.

Because of being immersed in the movie's plot during the dream, one is able to regain clarity upon returning to reality.

Numerous questions, both big and small, filled her little mind, leaving her utterly perplexed. Even if dreams are ethereal and cannot be considered or deduced using common sense, the dream she experienced last night was far too detached from reality and too free-spirited.

She still remembers the film's plot, camera techniques, and the deeply moving background music intricately linked to each scene clearly.

Are those really things that a high school student's brain could imagine and construct in a dream state?

Iroha was puzzled by this all day.

During the morning, she had no interest in studying and instead searched online for a lot of information about dreams.

In the afternoon, because she knew she would be late if she didn't finish her homework, she forced herself to suppress her worries and finish it first.

Around six o'clock in the evening, after her parents returned, she immediately went downstairs, pulled her mother aside, and asked her questions.

Did we move when I was very young?

After researching, Isshiki Hatake interpreted her dream as a re-projection of her childhood memories. Although it was somewhat far-fetched, she couldn't find any other reasonable explanation for the situation.

"It happened once, but why are you suddenly asking this?"

Iroha didn't answer her mother's question, but eagerly asked again.

"What did our neighbors do back then? Were they a couple who ran a ramen shop?"

"You were only two or three years old then. How could I remember so clearly after all these years? But you were probably just an ordinary office worker, definitely not someone who owned a ramen shop."

Mrs. Isshiki tried her best to recall.

“After you were born, we thought the apartment was too small, so not long after, we borrowed money from your grandparents to buy this land and build a house.”

"That's it..."

Upon hearing this answer, Isshiki realized that her speculation might not be entirely correct.

The situation is somewhat complicated. The situations in the films I saw in my dream are almost identical to those in reality, such as interpersonal relationships and personalities.

However, there are many things that are not yet connected, such as the environment and location where the plot progresses.

If I have that dream again tonight and watch the rest of the movie, I might come to some new conclusions.

But will that dream really come true tonight?

With her mind preoccupied, Isshiki Shiro slowly returned to her room, leaving Mrs. Isshiki standing there, watching her departing figure with a puzzled expression.

…………

Chapter 166 The Date

By the time I realized what was happening, it was already past 5 p.m.

Suzumiya Senri found it a little strange. He wasn't the kind of person who didn't have a sense of time, but when he was by Touma Kazusa's side, watching her slender fingers dance on the piano keys, he would unconsciously forget the passage of time.

If he hadn't made a prior arrangement with that light novel author, he really wanted to stay a little longer, at least to have dinner there before going back.

Anyway, Touma lives alone, so she doesn't have to worry about the other person's elders' opinions or other tedious things.

"Let's get here first today."

After the song ended, Suzumiya Senri spoke up to say goodbye.

"Oh……"

Touma Kazusa seemed to have been mentally prepared for this, and remained calm as she led him out of the practice room.

As Suzumiya Chisato changed his shoes in the entryway, Touma Kazusa stood quietly beside him, arms crossed, observing him intently.

"Oh, by the way, you should go through the exercises I mentioned before tonight to reinforce your knowledge."

"That's what I should be saying. Try to practice those stiff fingers properly. The next thing I teach you won't be at the beginner level for preschoolers."

Suzumiya Chisato smiled nonchalantly.

See you at school tomorrow.

"..."

Suzumiya Senri left, and the gate was closed.

Touma Kazusa turned on the monitor in the entrance hall and was able to see him leave the gate and slowly disappear from her sight from different camera angles.

She slowly returned to the living room, where the loneliness of being all alone once again enveloped her.

She glanced at the time: 5:18.

There are still fifteen hours until we meet tomorrow.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

As Suzumiya Chisato walked from the Touma residence to the nearest train station, she took out her cell phone, which had been vibrating intermittently ever since she left the practice room.

Messages sent at different times popped up all at once, which he guessed was because the underground practice room blocked cell phone signals.

Two of the messages I received were from Ichiri Goto: a simple greeting followed by a video, a video of the band members finishing their performance and saying, "We're so sorry for being so cute."

After boarding the train, Suzumiya Chisato put on her headphones and watched the video carefully. She found that the performance of the song and the coordination between the four members were much better than yesterday. She then gave a meme of a cat giving a thumbs-up in approval.

Goto Ichiri didn't reply immediately; her phone was probably not with her.

He then opened his chat with Kasumigaoka Utaha. She first sent a greeting around 1 p.m., and then two hours later she changed the specific meeting place. It wasn't too far from the original agreed location, so it wasn't a big problem.

The most recent message was a simple "?" sent after he hadn't replied.

Just as Suzumiya Chisato was about to reply to the message, Kasumigaoka Utaha called. He hesitated for a moment, then stood up and went to a quiet corner to answer the call.

"Qianli?"

"Sorry, the cell phone signal was bad, so I didn't see your message."

"call……"

You could clearly hear Kasumigaoka Utaha exhale a long breath.

"how is it going?"

Another familiar female voice came from the microphone; it was Eriri Sawamura's voice.

"fine."

After dealing with her, Kasumigaoka Utaha spoke again.

"If we couldn't get through on this call, we were planning to go straight to your house. Eriri, that idiot, keeps saying that you might have suffered some kind of accident, like carbon monoxide poisoning."