Chapter 64: A Series of Nightmares

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Translator: Soafp

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“So basically, Kokoa-san gets pushed by someone on the train platform and dies after being hit by a train?”

On the morning of the final day at the inn, I explained the “nightmare” to Nodoka and Airi as soon as I woke up.

“I didn't actually see the accident itself. I only learn about it through the news.”

It was probably because I had become acquainted with Kokoa-san.

The reality of someone I knew losing their life in an accident stabbed sharply into my chest.
And on top of that, she was someone I had already saved once.

If I had no connection to her, I probably wouldn't have seen that “nightmare” at all.

Nodoka asked hesitantly.

“Do you think someone pushed her on purpose?”

“I don't know that much. The news said the police were investigating both possibilities—intentional and accidental.”

I could only hope it was just an accident.

If someone was deliberately targeting Kokoa-san, that would be a completely different story.

No matter how many times I prevented it, it wouldn't end unless the culprit was caught.

Airi looked at me seriously.

“Ren-kun, since it's on the news, you know when it happens, right?”

“Yeah. The news said it happened last night, so…”

It was a morning broadcast, so the time and date had been displayed in the corner of the screen.
Tracing that memory, I opened my calendar app.

“Three days from now.”

“Three days!? That's so soon!”

“…Yeah.”

Just like with the guerrilla live event, why was there so little time when it came to Kokoa-san?

No—more than that, it was the first time for me that the same person had appeared in consecutive “nightmares” involving different events.

Airi asked with a serious expression.

“Ren-kun, you're going to save her again, right?”

“Well… yeah.”

I had already saved her from the lightning strike.

It would be unbearable if she ended up dying in a train accident now.

“W-wait a second!”

Nodoka grabbed my shirt, her face pale.

“You're not thinking of letting yourself get pushed instead, are you!? Like you did for me!!”

“No, that would only be a last resort.”

“A last resort means you are thinking about it!! Absolutely not!!”

“If I get pushed off the platform, I could regain my footing and slip into the evacuation space under the platform… It's definitely dangerous, but as a last resort—”

“No!!”

Nodoka shouted, shaking her head.

“I hate the idea that you might die, even by the smallest chance!! I still regret it!! If I hadn't ignored your warning back then, you wouldn't have been hit by that car!!”

“Nodoka…”

“Call me selfish if you want!! I don't care about that idol—I care about your life more!! No matter what happens to her, I just want you to stay alive!!”

Tears had welled up in Nodoka's eyes.

She was genuinely afraid that I might do something reckless.

Airi placed her hand on my shoulder.

“Ren-kun, I agree with Nodoka. So let me make this clear in advance: even if you risk your life to save her… I won't let her live.”

“…Why?”

“Because I'll kill her myself.”

The pressure of her fingers digging into my shoulder made it clear she wasn't joking.

“No, Airi, that's completely misplaced anger.”

“Maybe it is. But I'm that kind of idiot who would lose all sense over something like that. So shouldn't we just make sure it never happens? You're smarter than me, Ren-kun—I trust you'll think of something.”

“…Yeah.”

It was practically a threat.

But I understood it came from concern for me.

It's not like I didn't value my own life either.

I wasn't trying to play hero.

“Alright. I won't do anything reckless like throwing my life away. But in exchange, I'll need your help again.”

Nodoka held out her pinky finger toward me.

“…You promise?”

“I promise, I promise.”

When I lightly smiled and hooked my finger with hers, Nodoka finally seemed reassured and quietly wiped her tears.

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[Yuzuki PoV]

After finishing the one-night, two-day summer training camp for the photography club, Yuzuki returned home.

As soon as she got back, she loaded the memory card from the small camera she had planted at the inn into her laptop.

During the daytime, they had been out shooting almost constantly.

So she assumed that if anything happened, it would be at night.

But the moment she saw the footage, that assumption was shattered.

It had already happened during the day.

“I-it's my first time…! Ah…!! I-it feels good…!!”

“I ended up taking the virginity you saved for your boyfriend.”

“B-because Tak-kun said I was important to him and wouldn't do anything…!!”

The footage vividly captured a first-year club member and Nagasawa intertwined together.

Yuzuki was speechless.

If it weren't for Ren's foresight, she would have been the one pinned down in that room by Nagasawa.
That realization weighed heavily on her entire body.

“So that's why those two suddenly disappeared…!”

On the way to the first shooting location, the first-year member had said, “I think I left my filter behind,” and ran back to the inn.
Nagasawa followed her, saying it was dangerous for a girl to walk alone in an unfamiliar place.

Rewatching the footage, Yuzuki saw that just before leaving the inn, Nagasawa had secretly taken the filter out of the girl's bag.

Later, when the club president questioned why they were late, Nagasawa casually lied.

“She got lost, just like I expected. Took a while to find her. Right?”

“Ah, y-yes…”

Thinking back, the girl's face had been oddly flushed when she answered.

Yuzuki had just assumed it was the heat.

She realized now how oblivious she had been.

But that wasn't the only shocking scene.

“You slept with that first-year earlier, didn't you?”

The club president—who had supposedly left the bath early because she gets overheated—was speaking while servicing Nagasawa.

Nagasawa proudly showed her the playback screen of the Leica.

“Man, got some great shots. This is my kind of photoshoot.”

“You're the worst…”

“And yet you dumped your boyfriend and came to me.”

“…!”

The president didn't argue back.

She simply focused on pleasing him, trembling slightly even as he filmed her.

“Man, I really wanted to go after that big-ch*sted one though.”

“…You mean Yuzuki?”

The moment her name came up, Yuzuki's body stiffened.

“She's totally my type—face, voice, body, everything. I really wanted to knock her up.”

“When have you ever cared about contraception…?”

“I do care. That's why I give the girls pills every time. But girls I actually want to knock up? I wouldn't give them a single one. I'd aim for their dangerous days and fill them up completely. Then when I get bored, I just hand them back to their boyfriends.”

“You're seriously the worst…”

“Ugh—!”

Yuzuki covered her mouth with trembling hands, suppressing the urge to vomit.

Why had she ever thought—even for a moment—that he was a decent person?

Ren's request, his warning—none of it had been wrong.

She wanted to punch her past self for ignoring his words.

In the continuing footage, Nagasawa reached his climax.

The president—almost as if it were routine—received it in her mouth and swallowed.

“Feels thinner than usual… How many times did you go at it with that first-year?”

“She was a virgin. Honestly, virgins can be a hassle, but they've got their own kind of appeal.”

“Like I care… But why did you stop targeting Yuzuki? Was it because her boyfriend—what was it, Fukagawa?—suddenly dumped her?”

“Yeah, that too. And that guy gives off a bad vibe. Feels like the type who wouldn't hesitate to pull a knife if you pissed him off.”

“Even someone like you is scared of knives?”

“Of course. Doesn't matter how tough I am if someone brings a weapon.”

“…I see.”

The president removed her yukata, laid Nagasawa down, and straddled him.

“What if that Fukagawa guy didn't do anything?”

“Then I'd have gone ahead as planned. Girls who've been with their boyfriends for a long time are the easiest to take. Same with you, same with that first-year.”

“…Really?”

“Memories fade over time. Even why you fell for your current boyfriend in the first place. But if a completely different type of guy makes your heart skip even once? Especially if your boyfriend is the passive type—you start comparing without even realizing it. Once that happens, it's game over.”

At that moment, Ayumi's words flashed through Yuzuki's mind.

—Ren protected you again.

Only now did she truly understand what that meant.

“Ren… I'm really sorry…”

As she selected footage to send to Ayumi, Yuzuki thought:

She no longer had the right to be Ren's girlfriend.

Being dumped was only natural.

Tears of regret flowed endlessly.