174: A Long Dream

Hakuto slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Nao's delicate face.

"You're awake~ Congratulations, the surgery was a success. You're officially a girl now."

"Huh?!"

Hearing those words, the groggy Hakuto was instantly jolted awake!

But in the next second, he realized what was going on and impatiently pushed Nao's face away.

"Get lost..."

Hakuto slowly sat up and noticed that he and Nao were sitting on a bench in a park.

Just a moment ago, he had been lying on Nao's lap, which explained why their faces had been so close.

For a split second, Hakuto had actually thought Nao was about to perform surgery on him.

"Falling asleep while listening to rock music..." Nao toyed with the camera in her hands. "I thought you were joking when you said that."

If Hakuto hadn't warned her in advance, he wouldn't have been lying on her lap just now—he'd be on a hospital bed instead.

"So, are you planning to explain this?" Nao closed the camera. "Is this a side effect of supercomputing?"

Although Hakuto had never told Nao about the side effects of supercomputing, she had her own suspicions.

It wasn't hard to guess. Just looking at the half-dead expression he wore every day was enough to tell that supercomputing drained his mental energy.

Besides, the way he had just collapsed—it was too deep for regular sleep, but his breathing had remained steady, so it didn't seem like he had fainted either.

Nao had even secretly slapped him a few times, but he didn't react at all. She even put a stack of bills on his face, and still, there was no response.

With all that in mind, Nao couldn't just chalk it up to ordinary sleep. Naturally, she thought of supercomputing.

However, when Hakuto heard her question, he shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with supercomputing. I just had a very long dream..."

He really had just dreamed a long dream, and the memories left behind felt just like a dream—

He couldn't remember the details, only vague impressions.

"A dream? And here I thought it was impressive enough that you could sleep through rock music."

Nao remarked sarcastically and handed him the camera.

"Hmm?"

"I recorded the whole concert. You came all this way—you can't just sleep through it and go home."

Nao had no idea why he fell asleep, but since he didn't want to explain, she couldn't be bothered to ask either. It didn't really matter.

After all, it was already nice enough that he had come with her to the concert. But still...

A tick mark appeared on Nao's forehead.

She had felt like something was missing during the concert—then she turned her head and saw Hakuto, fast asleep beside her!

At that moment, she had barely resisted the urge to kick him awake!

At the time, she didn't think too much about it. Since he had simply fallen asleep, she decided to let him be and focused on the concert.

But even after the concert ended, he was still asleep. Nao couldn't even remember how much effort it had taken to drag him to the park bench.

Hakuto took the camera from her hands and chuckled.

Say what you want—Nao was really a good friend!

She gave him a free ticket, took care of him while he was unconscious, and even recorded the whole concert for him.

He felt a little guilty now. Maybe he shouldn't have bickered with her so much before—maybe he should have been more patient with her...

"Oh, by the way, since you kept moving around on my lap, your newly pierced ear might get infected."

"Huh?"

Hearing that, Hakuto touched his left earlobe in disbelief. Sure enough, it was hot, red, and slightly painful...

"What? Why didn't you stop me?"

"Hah~? You were rolling around on my lap like it was a pillow. What could I have done?"

Nao was exhausted herself. The part of her leg where he had been resting still felt a little numb.

"What, should I just throw you on the ground next time?"

"Uh... maybe not..."

That was close... for a second, he almost felt genuinely guilty and was about to offer to treat her to a meal.

But then again, even if she hadn't done anything extraordinary, she had still helped him out.

Today, not only did he receive her gift, but he also caused her a lot of trouble.

A small expense wasn't a big deal. After all, he had plenty of money...

All thanks to the generous sponsorship of Sawamura Sayuri!

Sayuri: Achoo—why do I feel like someone's talking about me...?

Wait a second—if Sayuri found out that he was using the salary she paid him to treat another girl to a meal (excluding Eriri), wouldn't she be... surprised?

After all, everything Sayuri had entrusted him with was for Eriri's sake.

Wouldn't this technically count as a different kind of NTR...?

Hakuto shook his head—no point in thinking about it. It wouldn't change anything.

Suddenly, a scene from his dream flashed through his mind.

The moment he activated supercomputing and went on a rampage—just thinking about it made him frown.

Even though it was just a dream, it had shaken him deeply. 

He hadn't felt like a spectator watching from the outside; it was more like he had relived the whole experience himself.

No wonder Otosaka Shunsuke had been avoiding him. There were rules in place...

Even though the timelines were different, he could understand what his past self had been thinking at that moment.

As the saying goes... 

May those I love, and those who love me, find happiness...

Even time travel couldn't sever the bonds between people.

At least, that was the case for Ginko and Hakuto.

Thinking of Ginko's final words, Hakuto couldn't help but smile.

He had always known that Ginko had deep feelings for him, but he hadn't realized just how deep...

"My surname is Sora... but I'd rather it be Shiratori..."

Recalling those words, a warmth spread in his heart...

But just then, a wave of soreness in his muscles pulled him back to reality.

His body shuddered slightly from the sensation. Maybe because he was finally waking up from the dream, he suddenly remembered more details.

He looked down at his hands and sighed...

His past self had used supercomputing to calculate his lifespan, and the result must not have been satisfactory.

Back then, Hakuto had activated supercomputing and fought for two whole days and nights. 

It had been both a mental and physical ordeal, and because of time travel, he hadn't cared about the side effects.

That only made the repercussions of supercomputing even worse...

Hakuto swallowed hard. Even though he wasn't using supercomputing as recklessly as before, he was still using it.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously prepared to activate supercomputing to check his lifespan.

But just then, Nao suddenly smacked him on the back.

"Let's go. Time to eat."

Hakuto hesitated, then instinctively turned to look at her.

"What? Are you not hungry?"

"No..." He shook his head. "I was just thinking about how much time I have left."

"Hah~? Your personality is all over the place. What are you now, an emo prince?"

Nao had no idea what was going through his mind—she just assumed he was up to some new trick.

"Maybe..." Hakuto shook his head. "Let's go eat. My treat."

"Hah~?"

"What? Surprised?"

"You're treating me to a meal? You're not going to drug my food, are you?"

"What, you figured it out?!"

With Nao's interruption, Hakuto no longer felt like using supercomputing to check his lifespan.

It didn't matter.

Who cared how long he had left?

As long as he was with the people he cared about, that was enough.

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