DREAMS

“For as long as I have been here, only one person at a time can leave. But you make me want to believe it’s possible for all of us to go home,” Peony chuckled.

When he suggested that they all work together to leave the labyrinth, he was including Peony in that thought. Chinatsu wasn’t sure if it was what Peony wanted, but this confirmed it–Peony did want to return home.

“What will you do when you make it out of here?” Chinatsu asked.

Peony looked away from Chinatsu and up to the stars again. They had a somewhat melancholic look on their face as they were lost in thought.

“I…don’t know. I’m not actually sure there’s anything for me to return to,” Peony said.

Chinatsu realized he was sending the Elf into an existential crisis and began to panic. The two of them locked eyes again as he was thinking of something to say in response to that when Peony’s expression shifted to amusement. They sat up again.

“I think I got swept up in your enthusiasm. It made me want to go home again,” Peony chuckled and ruffled Chinatsu’s hair. “Don’t worry about me.”

Masha relaxed her posture and tucked her legs to the side as she leaned on one arm.

“Peony, did you have any dreams in your old world?” she asked.

“Dreams? I think everyone dreams when they sleep…” The Elf looked puzzled.

“She means goals,” Miyabi clarified. She sat cross-legged and leaned back on both arms, looking up at the starry sky. “Like who you want to be or what you want to do in the future.”

The campfire hissed and popped as Peony appeared to consider the question.

“Everything in that world,” Peony began, “was decided for me because I was the Saint. So I never thought about my own desires until…”

“Until…?” Masha urged as she leaned in closer to Peony.

“U-until…I met L-Leonheart…” Peony stammered. The Elf quickly covered their face with their hands. Though it was dark, from the firelight, it was obvious that Peony’s pale white skin had turned a deep red.

“Don’t tell me you fell in love with him!?” Miyabi exclaimed, leaning across Chinatsu.

Ah great. Love talk, Chinatsu thought. He had zero interest in this stuff but…he watched Peony nod bashfully and felt his heart skip a beat.

Peony was cute, but this was cute cute. He had this image in his mind of Elves being stoic and aromantic, so this middle school level reaction from Peony shocked and awed Chinatsu.

“Did you ever tell him!?” Masha pressed.

“W-well…yes,” Peony mumbled. They twiddled their fingers as they spoke. “I confessed to him after we had arrived here.”

“Tell me! Did you kiss him!?” Miyabi grabbed Peony by the shoulders. She had invaded Chinatsu’s personal space like he wasn’t even there.

Masha and Miyabi cheered. Peony covered their face with their hands once again and silently nodded. They were so red in the face that the Elf looked like they might produce steam from their head at any moment.

“Miyabi! I had no idea you were such a romantic,” Masha said in a sing-song voice.

“I can’t help it,” Miyabi giggled. “I just love reading romance novels and watching romance dramas.”

She was still stuck in Chinatsu’s personal space, completely oblivious to it. It was like playing that game where you have to put your hands and feet on the differently colored dots as she leaned over Chinatsu, and he leaned back to shrink away from her.

“Seems a little unusual for a boy,” Joel commented.

A boy…

Miyabi flinched at the comment and shrank back out of Chinatsu’s personal space. Chinatsu could tell she was embarrassed–he’d done the same thing when he got too comfortable and forgot who he was, or rather, who he looked like.

Still, he felt irritated that Joel made such a rude comment. So what if a boy likes that kind of thing? Chinatsu was about to come to Miyabi’s defense, trying to think of the right words...

“Maybe not every young man is as emotionally stunted as you. Is it wrong for Miyabi to be in tune with his feelings?” Peony sneered.

Chinatsu was surprised they seemed to snap out of their embarrassment so suddenly, but felt impressed by their ability to come back at Joel.

“Tch.” Joel clicked his tongue.

“Anyway, weren’t we talking about dreams?” Peony sighed. The sensitive Elf tried to look nonchalant, but Chinatsu could see that their ears were still flushed red at the tips. With their size, it was kinda hard not to notice. “Joel, why don’t you share yours?”

Ah, I get it, Chinatsu thought. Peony was trying to shift the attention away from themself and perhaps try to steer the conversation in a different direction.

“Revenge.” Joel punctuated this by spitting into the fire.

“I…see…” Peony responded. The Elf was trembling, but Chinatsu could tell that they were trying really really hard to stifle laughter.

“I’m gonna pay back those bastards that did me in. Every last one of ‘em,” Joel continued. “I can’t imagine anything better than that. Not even money, or cars, or–”

“I thought you said you were murdered by some thugs,” Chinatsu interrupted.

“I did and I was,” he said through gritted teeth. “I just happen to know the exact thugs who did it.”

Joel glared at him. Chinatsu suddenly felt uneasy. He had a feeling this guy was shady, so it was probably not a good idea to continue pushing his buttons.

Peony yawned loudly in a dramatic fashion. “Anyway! Next person! What about you, Masha?”

Masha seemed surprised to be put on the spot. Chinatsu noticed she was always very good at putting others on the spot and deflecting attention away from herself–likely a habit she developed to avoid discrimination in her world.

“I think for me, my dream was to make lots of friends and fall in love,” she said, pushing down on her ears.

What a lame dream. Isn’t that kind of thing just the normal sort of life you’d expect to live?

“What about money? Power? Fame? Is that really all you ever wanted!?” Chinatsu blurted out.

“Chinatsu!” Miyabi hissed, punching him in the side. But he realized the things he thought and said were incredibly belittling and rude.

“I’m sor–”

But Masha just shook her head and smiled.

“It’s okay. I know it’s simple, but I only had my granny and gramps growing up. The people in the village avoided me my whole life. After they passed, I left the village and was traveling to find a new home. Meeting new people who might accept me was all I wanted over everything else.

“When we were ambushed by bandits, I fought back as fiercely as I could. When an arrow pierced my chest, and everything around me grew fuzzy, all I could think about was how I’d never even been kissed. Isn’t that silly?”

Masha chuckled and looked at Miyabi. “You see, I also like to read romance novels.”

Miyabi looked completely disarmed. A shy smile crept across her face.

“We’re the same. When I got hit by the bus, all I could think was, ‘Oh no! I never got to confess to the person I like,’” Miyabi laughed.

Huh? Who?

Chinatsu wasn’t aware of any crushes that Miyabi had. He racked his brain over it. She’d mentioned confessing to several different boys at their school to Chinatsu before, but she never actually went out with any of them. Did they all reject her? He tried to remember if there was one she had recently mentioned before the accident.

“I thought you two were already going out,” Joel quipped. He pointed two fingers at Miyabi and Chinatsu.

Chinatsu felt his face flush. What the hell could even give him that impression!? Because they’re a boy and a girl!?

“Ew! No way! We’re practically siblings!” Chinatsu laughed. He felt a pang in his chest. Why did saying that just now suddenly make it feel like his feelings were hurt?

He looked over at Miyabi to see if she’d back him up. Her bashful joy was gone. She held a poker face and avoided eye contact with him.

“It’s true, we’re not going out,” she said curtly.

Was the air awkward, or did it only feel that way to Chinatsu?

“I-it’s not that I think you’re ugly or anything!”

What am I saying?

“I’m just not interested in you like that! Besides–”

Why am I doubling down?

“I’m not your type, right? There’s someone else, isn’t there?”

Miyabi snapped her neck to look at Chinatsu. Her jaw was clenched. Her cheeks and ears flushed red. She was pissed. She looked like she wanted to kill him.

“Are you done!? I already said we’re not going out!” she yelled.

Chinatsu deflated. The trickle of water from the fountain sounded like a waterfall, while the crackle of the fire sounded like a great inferno. Crickets stopped their chirping momentarily before resuming again after the interruption.

Chinatsu’s ears felt so hot. He drew his knees to his chest and hugged them, trying to shrink himself as much as possible.

“My dream…” he mumbled. “I want to play professional baseball…”

Everyone just stared.

“Okay…” Joel replied. “Dream on, kid.”

Chinatsu suddenly felt like his dream was the lame one. How childish! How basic! How…unrealistic for the current state he was in. He felt like a huge moron.

But that was the end of the conversation. It was late, everyone was tired, and it was time to figure out the order of night watch duty. Peony had explained that it would be difficult to put up and maintain a barrier large enough to encompass the courtyard due to its many outlets. One person would have to stay awake while the others slept in case of danger.

Miyabi elected to go first since she seemed to be the hardest to wake up. After her, Masha volunteered, followed by Joel, leaving Chinatsu as the last watch. Peony explained that sleep was needed for mana recovery, so it was decided that they didn’t have to take a shift.

The first light of dawn woke Chinatsu as it had been for the past few days. He was shivering slightly. Early mornings seemed to be the coldest in this world, though it did start to immediately cool down after the sun set every day. The small campfires usually kept them warm enough.

Chinatsu noticed the campfire had died down significantly. It was still burning, but was starting to naturally fizzle out. They’d agreed that whoever was keeping watch would keep the fire going.

Joel was fast asleep. Not a care in the world. Chinatsu felt like he could kill that guy.