Opening her heavy eyelids, she saw a familiar ceiling.
She was lying on her back in her own bed.
Moving only her head, she watched the pale light of the morning sun stream through the window alongside a chilly breeze.
"I..."
A dense fog seemed to hang over her mind, making it impossible to gather her thoughts.
At any rate, it was morning. She had to get ready for school, or she would be late.
Whipping her sluggish body into action, she climbed out of bed—
"Mornin', lass."
The sudden voice made her flinch, pulling her shoulders tight in surprise. Apprehensively shifting only her eyes toward the sound, she found her cherished wooden carving doll.
The voice had come from the carved wooden cat. Under normal circumstances, an easily frightened girl like Lumine would have let out a shriek. Yet, for some reason, she felt no fear at all.
"The doll is talking..."
The moment that utterly flat observation left her lips, the wooden doll began to float into the air, radiating a brilliant light.
The dazzling glow converged, knitting itself into a physical form. Standing there on two legs was a cat clad in exotic clothes and waraji.
"Name's Susanoo. Pleasure to meet ya."
Raising its right paw, it offered a cheerful greeting.
The cat had an extraordinarily massive head and carried an exotic greatsword on its back.
"Wh-What on earth are you?!"
Unable to process such a bizarre situation, she raised her voice in bewilderment.
"...Hmm, see, that's the thing. Why is it, I wonder? Aside from my name, I can't remember a single thing."
Instead of explaining, the cat crossed its arms and sank into deep contemplation.
"Are you... that doll?"
When she asked hesitantly, it replied:
"Seems that way. Well, as long as I've got a body that can move, the rest don't matter much."
With that, it let out a wide yawn. In that very instant, it reverted to a wooden doll.
"Ah well. Looks like that happens whenever I let my guard down. Guess I haven't settled into this doll yet, or maybe the problem's on your end, lass... Well, whatever. Yaaawn, time for a second nap. G'night."
Having said its piece, the doll gave another hearty yawn and immediately began to snore.
A doll had spoken to her, and then transformed into a living cat with an enormous head. In such an absurd predicament, intense panic would have been the natural reaction. Yet, what Lumine felt in that moment was—
"Hehe..."
An overwhelming sense of relief.
Then, at last, yesterday's memories came flooding back.
Yesterday, Lumine had gone to her classroom at Ouboro Academy to retrieve that very wooden doll—the one currently snoring away—only to find that someone had already taken it. In its place was a scrap of parchment specifying a meeting place. When she went there, she found boys from her class alongside shady figures who clearly belonged to the underworld, and they had ambushed her. They had shoved her down onto a bed, but in the nick of time, that guy had come to save her.
Where had the dream begun? Even so, a strange sense of reassurance lingered. There was no doubt that he had safely rescued her.
(How strange...)
He was weak. Yet, for some reason, she was utterly certain that the lingering sensation of being held in his arms and the profound relief she felt were no hallucination, but the absolute truth. Amid these contradictory thoughts, Lumine felt a strange, pleasant comfort, as though she were wrapped in a refreshing breeze.
The door clicked open, and Laila entered the room carrying a breakfast tray. Catching sight of Lumine sitting up in bed, her eyes went wide.
"Lumine!"
Setting the tray on a nearby table, she rushed over and pulled Lumine into a tight embrace.
Enveloped in the sweet scent and gentle warmth of her older cousin, a wave of deep emotion welled up inside Lumine, making her nose sting with impending tears.
"I'm sorry for making you worry, Lady Laila."
Clinging to Laila, she let out a heartfelt apology.