ゆめうつつ
Dreams and Reality
A voice calling me...
A voice calling me.
---: Kei, come on, stay with us!
Sakuya-san's voice, coming closer, and...
---: Kei-chan!
The voice of Yumei-oneechan. (TN: At last, Yumei's name is shown in kanji. The "yu" is from "yuzu," a Japanese citrus fruit that tastes similar to limes. "Mei" means "bright," or "light.")
Kei: Ah...... onee-chan.
Dressed in a blue kimono I've never seen before, Yumei-oneechan peeks down at my face.
Her face looks ready to cry, surely, because I'm such a bad girl.
Kei: I'm so sorry... It's because I... because I went into that shed...
Sakuya: Don't you worry about that. How do you feel?
Kei: ............
Kei: ......What's Aunt Sakuya doin' here?
Yumei: ---!?
Sakuya: Kei, just now, no way... you......
Kei: Eh?
Sakuya: Did you just call me Aunt Sakuya? Did you just call Yumei "onee-chan?"
Kei: But, onee-chan is one---
Red.
Kei: Huh? Why is Yumei-oneechan---
Red pain.
Kei: Huh? I... why am I---
The fingers covering my face, like onee-chan's or mommy's fingers, are long and thin. The shape of the face they're covering is different, too. And my hair... it was supposed to be short, but---
Kei: ...Ah... why... how...?
*zukun zukun* Thrusting, stabbing red.
Sakuya: Come on, Yumei! Somethin's wrong with Kei! Calling you onee-chan... her memories're coming back!
Yumei: Yes... I believe so......
Sakuya: "You believe so"? but, Yumei! You... you can't do anything!?
Facing Sakuya-san in her desperation, onee-chan lowers her eyes sadly, and shakes her head.
Yumei: Kei-chan was saying she wanted to remember, and I figured, if she stayed in this house, before long, she would...
Yumei: And I...
Yumei: Somewhere inside, I too... even knowing that Kei-chan would suffer for it, for her to remember... that's what I wanted...
Sakuya: Yumei, you......
Like those times when she would check for a fever, onee-chan's gentle hand presses to my forehead.
Ahh... so that's it. I must have a cold, with a fever. That's why my head's hurting like this. After all, I was out in that thundering rain without an umbrella.
Yumei: Let's have her sleep. We'll have her put today's events in order in the mean time.
The slightly cool fingers of Yumei-oneechan's hand seem to suck away the heat, and the pain along with it...
Dazedly, I close my eyes.
She has such a nice smell...
The sweet smell of those white flowers peels away my chaotic thoughts, and the red pain with it.
Yumei: Whether to seal it again as a dream, or to accept it as a memory... everything rests on Kei-chan's shoulders, now.