Chapter 514: Spring Dreams Without a Trace

He drifted, groggy, in a dream. Yes, it had to be a dream.

After finishing those wild, disgraceful things, Himekoji gasped softly. He propped himself up on outstretched arms.

Moonlight streamed through the window. Beneath him, the girl’s long neck and elegant collarbone glowed. Her tangled hair spread across the bed like jade laid bare. Cradled by moonlight, her smooth body seemed polished, shining with a delicate, pearly light, pure and beautiful as ivory or white jade.

He freed one hand and slid it into her hair, tracing downward. His fingers moved over the smooth, satin-like skin of her back. He felt her muscles tighten instantly, trembling with tension.

This lifelike sensation only deepened the absurdity Himekoji felt.

For a moment, he almost mistook the dream for reality.

“Hey… who are you?”

Asking this after doing the deed was irresponsible. But then, it was just a dream. Dreams didn’t count.

No answer came from below. Muddy-headed, Himekoji strained to open his eyes wider, trying to see her face clearly.

Her calm features were veiled by dim, hazy moonlight. Only a vague outline was visible. Yet he glimpsed a complex whirlpool of emotions in her eyes—

Confusion and doubt, shyness and fear, mixed with a forced pretense of calm and clarity.

Himekoji shook his head, dismissing it as a trick of the eye. Just a vivid dream, way too colorful for its own good.

No, not just a dream. These past few days… almost every night, his dreams had been like this. Well, spring dreams.

“Ha—”

He exhaled, leaving the questions behind. He bent closer, burying himself in this silly dream.

This was the upside of dreams—no need to hold back. Instinct ruled.

“So petite…”

But the next moment, Himekoji flexed his fingers and sighed in disappointment.

If it’s a dream, why couldn’t it be plenty?

“Big! Bigger! Biggest!”

As the dreamer, could he shape the dream? Thinking this, Himekoji tried it. Without hesitation.

“PONG!”

His dream fought back. Fiercely.

He took a solid kick right in the ribs. Sent flying by that chest-small, spirit-smaller dream girl. Plummeting, hard, off the bed…

The pain felt real.

Gritting his teeth, Himekoji rubbed his aching rear end… and opened his eyes.

Weird. Even though his eyes were already open… it felt like he’d opened them again.

Dawn tinted the window grey.

Awake.

The realization flashed through his mind. Instinctively, he looked toward the bed.

The bed lay empty, sheets tangled. He was sprawled on the floor, his tailbone burning from the fall, his belly tender where he’d been kicked.

Hold on…

Kicked?

But… wasn’t that a dream?

A jolt of panic shot through Himekoji. He scrambled upright, sitting cross-legged. The ache in his gut and rear throbbed. Definitely real.

Maybe he’d tossed himself off the bed while sleeping?

The study was cramped. Only a tiny bed—no space to roll around.

With so many people at home, not enough bedrooms, Himekoji crashed in the study. Falling off was plausible.

Yet something felt off.

Abruptly, he glanced down. Then he saw it—the real wrongness.

Where were his underwear?!

He found them nowhere—not the bed, not the chair. Finally, spotted behind him on the floor. A crumpled heap. Beside them: the pillow, a crumpled summer blanket, and his shirt, torn open at the collar.

He stared. The sight screamed ‘chaotic scene after a battle’…

This spring dream felt too vivid. More vivid every day.

Ghosts must be haunting him!

It seemed ridiculous, yet also laughable. Just a dream. Definitely a dream. Still, Himekoji found himself distracted throughout the day.

Distracted enough that when Hiratsuka-sensei grabbed him that afternoon, he stupidly agreed.

…

Saturday. Four in the afternoon. Sunlight dazzling his eyes.

Himekoji got ambushed. One moment, planning to laze at home blasting A/C and gaming, the next… Hiratsuka-sensei had reeled him out. Now they faced each other across a café table, awkwardly sipping tea.

Himekoji sulked. He’d been drafted as a designated driver.

All because of that reckless joyride during the last school trip. Officer Nakamura had hooked him up with a driver’s license after that.

Hence today.

The female teacher was attending some tedious matchmaking party later. Planning to drink hard. Tossed her car keys to Himekoji.

“Then don’t drink?”

Himekoji rested his cheek on his hand. Lazy. Trying to wriggle out.

“What else could I do there then?”

He shot her a glance. So her main plan was just boozing?

Sitting opposite, Hiraskuka-sensei frowned and complained. Himekoji just sighed.

“Then don’t go.”

She’d dressed up—rare sight. He’d stupidly thought it might be for him. Instead… she was hunting another guy at this party? That thought pricked at his pride. A familiar ache stirred.

“My folks… nagging every single day…” Hiratsuka-sensei eyed him sideways, then huffed, “So? What option do I have? Unless you marry me?”

Danger zone. Any answer backfired hard. But Himekoji knew the female teacher was kidding. He sipped coffee. Pretended to ponder, dodging the question.

“But…”

“But what?”

“But… even if you do go… nobody will marry you anyway?”

“Bah! Himekoji! You little jinx!”

The female teacher’s brows shot up in fury. Her hand snapped out, grabbing straight for Himekoji’s ear.

Familiar territory. He played along, instantly wheedling. “Sorry! Sorry!”

Too late. Her grip tightened. A veteran tactician, Himekoji scrunched his face in ‘agony’ before she even pulled hard—proper surrender.

She relented. Preparing to scold him ‘as teacher’ then release him, when another sound hit her ears—Knock. Knock. Knock.

Hiratsuksa-sensei turned—

“Mashiro?” Himekoji blurted automatically.

The girl stood on the street outside. Separated only by the café’s clear glass wall. Right hand clutching her sketchbook. Left hand steadily knocking… Knock, knock, knock. Her stare locked onto the female teacher—serious, displeased—as Hiratsuka-sensei kept hold of Himekoji’s ear.

Stunned, Hiratsuka blinked. Frozen in Mashiro’s glare, her fingers forgot to let go.

Mashiro only bristled more. Lips pursed, cheeks puffed… like a little cat puffing her fur up in fury.

“Wh-What’s this?” Hiratsuka stammered after a frozen moment, finally looking at Himekoji.

“No clue… Also—letting go would really help now!”

…