You're Not Sleeping with Sakiko, Are You?

--Ringing ears.

Toyokawa Sakiko stared at the empty room before her, slumped on the floor. All she could hear was a piercing buzz—a physical reaction caused by too much stress.

It took her a long time to come back to her senses.

"Oh, right. It's probably just like before. I accidentally crossed over to somewhere else, didn't I?" Toyokawa Sakiko sighed in relief, patting her chest with a smile.

Honestly, she'd been so worried.

She'd have to complain to Riki about it later.

Toyokawa Sakiko picked up her phone and messaged Riki as she searched for him in the nearby park and streets. She even checked Ring.

But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find Riki.

Her heart gave a jolt. She hurriedly pulled out her phone and checked the messages she'd sent earlier.

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Riki, where did you go? I'll come find you.]

--No reply.

Five hours had passed since she sent the message, but there was no reply. Only dead silence.

"M-maybe he can't reply right now, or maybe he's preparing a surprise for me? This surprise is a little too much." Toyokawa Sakiko's smile grew strained.

--No. The thing she feared most wouldn't happen.

She'd made a wish. Surely even her last little bit of hope wouldn't be taken away from her?

Toyokawa Sakiko clutched her phone and went home. Hearing a sound inside, she hurriedly opened the door and called, "Riki..."

The only person in the room was her father. He was wolfing down the cake Riki had bought her. He turned and frowned. "What did you say?"

There were no illusions before her, only the bloody truth.

Toyokawa Sakiko felt as if a piece of her heart had gone missing, with cold wind whistling through the empty space.

She returned to her "room" in a daze. Her schoolbag hit the ground with a thud.

Right. Maybe something had just gone wrong today. She'd be able to see Riki tomorrow.

Toyokawa Sakiko's eyes brightened again.

No.

Not the next day.

Not the third day.

Not even the fourth.

Toyokawa Sakiko clutched her chest and took a sharp breath. Her classmates looked at her in confusion as she braced herself and walked out of the classroom.

As she walked down the corridor, Toyokawa Sakiko even began to wonder whether Riki had never existed in the first place. Otherwise, why couldn't she find him, no matter what she did? Maybe this was just an illusion she'd created to cope with the cruel reality.

Looking at the four-leaf clover necklace in her hand, Toyokawa Sakiko murmured, "Where are you?"

As she walked out of Haneoka High School, Toyokawa Sakiko suddenly saw a familiar figure. The girl wore Tsukinomori's elegant school uniform, her brown hair falling around her shoulders and a gentle smile on her face. It was Nagasaki Sose.

"Sakiko-chan, I finally found you. So you're at Haneoka!" Nagasaki Sose hurried over.

Suppressing her impatience, Toyokawa Sakiko walked straight out of the school gate and said coldly, "Please don't follow me. I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

"Wait! Let's talk this through. Wasn't Crychic something that belonged to all of us?" Nagasaki Sose hurried after her.

"You already have your own band, don't you?" Toyokawa Sakiko frowned and quickened her pace.

"That band isn't what you think, and Riki is—"

"You said Riki?" Toyokawa Sakiko stopped and turned to look at Nagasaki Sose. "Do you know where he is?"

"I don't. He hasn't replied to my messages either, but what happened between us has nothing to do with him, does it?"

"It does! It has everything to do with him!" Toyokawa Sakiko suppressed her voice as she cried out, "I need him here! I absolutely can't go on without Riki!"

Nagasaki Sose froze. She'd never imagined that Riki meant so much to Toyokawa Sakiko.

"Someone who knows nothing shouldn't jump to conclusions. A person like you would never understand!" Toyokawa Sakiko stared coldly at Nagasaki Sose, then turned and left.

Nagasaki Sose stood there, staring blankly at Toyokawa Sakiko's retreating figure.

Toyokawa Sakiko buried herself beneath the blankets and curled up with her hands over her ears. That way, she wouldn't hear her father in the living room cursing after losing money on horse racing while drinking beer.

She felt the light inside her slowly being worn away.

She'd once fallen to rock bottom, then found the light again. But that was what made this so painful: she'd lost the light once more, and this time she'd fallen even farther.

Toyokawa Sakiko silently tapped out messages on her phone.

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Riki, are you there?]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [It's nighttime here already.]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [I'm sorry I didn't cook for you today. Let's cook together next time.]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Oh, we still haven't gone to the festival like we said we would. I heard our school is having a culture festival soon. We can go together.]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Riki... are you there?]

The light from the phone screen reflected in Toyokawa Sakiko's eyes. She stared silently at the last message she'd sent. There was no reply from the other side, only her own lonely monologue. She felt her heart slowly sinking into darkness.

No reply on the fifth day, nor the sixth or seventh.

Toyokawa Sakiko gave up.

Sky Tree was already closed. The dark floors were silent.

Toyokawa Sakiko stood unsteadily on the railing, feeling the breeze against her. She jumped down onto the steel framework around Sky Tree, a dangerous area where only staff were supposed to go.

But Toyokawa Sakiko simply hummed the song "Love" that Riki had written. Only after humming the whole song did she tremblingly take out her phone and close her eyes when she saw there were still no replies.

She took the four-leaf clover necklace from her pocket and clutched it to her chest. Toyokawa Sakiko whispered, "Riki, save me."

She was doing something terrifying, something she'd never imagined she would do.

All she had to do was take one more step, and she would enter another world—a silent one without the cruelty of reality.

Her heartbeat grew faster and faster, like the beat of a drum. She could no longer hear the wind over the pounding in her ears.

Toyokawa Sakiko was about to step forward.

I hope I don't scare anyone... A flash of guilt crossed Toyokawa Sakiko's mind.

Then,

she stepped forward.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, the night wind picked up and blew the four-leaf clover necklace from Toyokawa Sakiko's hand.

"My necklace!"

It was the only precious thing she had left.

Toyokawa Sakiko's face paled in alarm. She reached out to grab it, but slipped and fell against the steel framework, clutching the four-leaf clover necklace tightly in her hand.

It hurt.

Toyokawa Sakiko rubbed her scraped knee, then suddenly realized there was no point in cleaning it now. After she went down, she wouldn't be able to see anything anyway.

Toyokawa Sakiko was about to step forward again when her ear twitched. Amid the night wind, she heard her phone ringing. She turned and saw the name glowing on the screen—Riki.

"Huh?" Toyokawa Sakiko froze.

Something stirred in her heart once more.

What are "ordinary" and "taken for granted"?

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Chapter 29: You're Not Sleeping with Sakiko, Are You?

Toyokawa Sakiko snatched up her phone as if it were a lifeline. The ringing sounded like heaven to her, but her trembling fingers missed the answer button several times.

"Please... it has to be Riki."

Toyokawa Sakiko murmured to herself, finally answering the call. A familiar voice came from the other end.

"Crackle... hello, hello... is that you, Sakiko?" Riki's voice came through, but the call was badly distorted.

"Yes, it's me!" Toyokawa Sakiko hurriedly replied.

"I got your messages, but for some reason I couldn't send anything back. I tried calling several times, but couldn't get through. I was almost ready to give up, but thankfully I got through this time. I think the way we're crossing over has changed. Let's keep in touch by phone while we wait and see if anything else changes."

"Mm!" Toyokawa Sakiko nodded hard, weeping uncontrollably.

"Get some sleep early. If the call can get through, that means we'll be able to see each other again. Remember to wait for me. You can treat me to takoyaki next time."

"Mm!" Toyokawa Sakiko wiped away her tears and nodded.

After staying on the call for half an hour, Riki finally hung up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Even through the phone, he'd heard the strong wind on the other end. Tokyo was a concrete jungle; only somewhere high up would the night wind blow that hard.

And the reason Toyokawa Sakiko had gone somewhere high up so late at night was obvious.

--Sakiko, flying through the air.

Riki had guessed what she was up to, but didn't want to upset her further. He just talked about everyday things and coaxed her into going home. He didn't let out a huge sigh of relief until he heard she'd made it back.

That had almost scared the piss out of him.

"It's not like you're going to die just because you can't see me. You're Teacher Da Xiang, for goodness' sake." Riki was glad to know he meant so much to Toyokawa Sakiko, but it also worried him.

For a moment, he saw a man named Makoto calling out to him, warning him to watch out for the cleaver. Don't answer. Don't answer.

Who are you?

I'm not some womanizer.

"Phew, it's finally been a week. I can relax now. Since I can get through on the phone, unlike at the beginning when I couldn't even receive Sakiko's messages, things must be getting better." Riki thought it over and decided to take a shower to calm down first.

Brother Riki, go change your pants. I can see you pissed yourself.

Still barking?

Riki filled the bathtub, which had a cozy, luxurious feel, with hot water. Then he grabbed his beloved SpongeBob bath towel and sank into the warmth with a contented sigh. He thought of Sakiko, still at home, and couldn't help worrying about how she was doing. After a hurried shower, he opened the bathroom door wearing only his underwear.

Then he saw a familiar person in the living room.

Seeing Riki standing there in nothing but his underwear, his lean, athletic build on display, the other person froze too. Nagasaki Sose backed away in alarm and pointed at him. "Y-you, what are you doing? Why are you only wearing underwear? And where is this place? Did you kidnap me? I can't believe you're this kind of person!"

Riki froze too.

Nagasaki Sose? When did she get here?

How many people had Sacred Kara contacted? Was she going to summon that big blond guy next?

No, first he had to figure out how to handle the situation. The best way to calm her down was...

"Have you seen Sakiko these past few days?" Riki hurriedly asked.

"Sakiko?" Nagasaki Sose calmed down, just as he'd expected. Remembering the things Toyokawa Sakiko had said to her, and how much she'd emphasized Riki's importance, she couldn't help looking at him with cold hostility.

What's with that look?

Are you jealous because Sakiko and I are so close?

What, got a problem with that?

Riki rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to get dressed, so Nagasaki Sose couldn't sneak a peek at his muscles.

Seeing that Nagasaki Sose was still on guard, Riki explained, "You're at my house right now. This place and your world are two different worlds. In other words, you've crossed over into my home, you know?"