Are all that matters.

=7=

A few weeks have passed since the last time Subaru and Yume hung out, and to Yume's surprise, the pair has gotten considerably closer. Of course, Yume was initially trying to shut Subaru out at first due to the fact that he was the main cause of most problems that she had. No one knows why she didn't decide to confront the problem itself, not even she herself knew.

The wall that was supposed to be building up slowly was hindered by Subaru. Knowing that Yume still somewhat cared for him, even if she didn't show it openly, gave him hope. Subaru persisted and always found a way to hang out with Yume in the end.

Almost everyday, they would be studying together at the dorms, occasionally leaving the campus to study if they had enough time to do so. Otherwise, they'd be at one of their rooms. The others at the dorm has also noticed how close the potential couple have gotten, and would tease them all the time when they spot them together, which was almost every single second and minute.

But just as how someone might be happy to see both of them closer, there is also the other side of the coin. There were also people who didn't like to see the king and queen of the school together. Of course, Yume and Subaru would bicker every now and then at the smallest things, but they're more friendly with each other now.

On the extreme side of the 'happy' party, they had Mahiru spying on them while they were studying together at the dorms. However, as of right now, perhaps it shouldn't even be called spying anymore. Subaru and Yume were well aware of the stalker that hides quite well amongst the trees that were outside of the balcony.

They got used to her presence soon enough and began to wonder how Mahiru was actually sitting on the tree for such a long time considering that they study for quite long. However, everything that is normal in one's life become a routine. Routines are things that you do on a daily basis or at a regular interval, and ignoring Mahiru sitting on the tree outside has become a routine for them while they studied.

And on the extreme side of the 'unhappy' party, they- well, Yume had an increasing number (at an unhealthy rate) of people. The rumours spread throughout the academy were no longer able to stay under Yume's radar. She began to hear and learn about the insults and gossip the students have been sharing about her.

What was the first thing she did when she first heard about them? She shut them out. But no matter how much one human being can try to shut negative feelings or thoughts out, there will always be a limit to how much one can handle. This was a match of endurance, to see which could blow up and destroy themselves first.

Among the student population, there were not many students who stayed neutral or sided with the victim other than the top 10 rankers. With Mahiru in the party, she was the first to pick up on the nasty rumours. With enough time, the others slowly began to pick up the whispers and grew worried about Yume. Not wanting to make the issue any worse than necessary, they never brought it up. Only because Yume didn't look like she was affected by it.

~

"Subaru, is Mahiru watching us right now?" Yume asked as she was completing the Math question that she was currently working on.

Subaru looked up and discreetly looked for Mahiru, he shook his head after checking and asked, "Nope, think she has something to do today. Why?"

Yume stopped writing but continued to keep her head facing the worksheet. For the past few days, she's been debating whether she should talk to Subaru about her dreams and her forgotten memories. The only reason as to why she thinks that it's so hard to talk to him about it is because those memories were supposed to be memories of Subaru, or at least that's what she overheard from her parents' conversation.

"I... I just wanted to talk to you about something, and I didn't want Mahiru-chan to overhear it."

I mean, I don't even know how she's going to eavesdrop on us when there's literally a whole wall separating us. But you can never be too careful when it comes to her.

"Okay, I'll listen to you for as long as you want." Subaru said as he put his pen down, showing her that he's giving her his full attention.

"So I've been having dreams for quite a while now. They're always about these two kids doing things together, one of them is me and the other is a young boy, but I can never manage to see his face. And each time I have the same dream again, it just becomes more vivid in my mind. When I wake up, I just have this huge headache. I think it only started since I started going to school again. Like, I'm actually starting to think that I know him.

Also, during the holidays I overheard my parents saying that I actually have forgotten memories. To be honest, I don't really know if I want to remember those again. They said that those memories hurt me so much that it took a toll on me mentally and my body decided to suppress those memories to cope with it. If it hurt me that much, maybe I'm better off forgetting it right...?"

Yume slowly brought herself to take a look at how Subaru reacted to her rant. He had a slight frown on his face, but that was all. He turned to face her after a few moments and told her what he personally thought about it, "There's probably a chance that those dreams of yours are your forgotten memories. I get that you might not want to remember them ever again after being told that you suffered from it, but I truly believe that every memory that I have with me is worth keeping. No matter how much pain it cost me. In the end, it's your choice, but I'm happy that you decided to tell me about it."

Subaru went back to studying after their talk but Yume decided to stop for the day. She leaned against his bed while sitting on the ground and faced his back. Countless thoughts went through her mind. It took her what it felt like a long time to find the courage for her to resolve to this decision.

I'll give it a go. I'll do it for my sake, if not for Subaru's.

[To be continued...]

Written on: 15 November 2019

This chapter was a bit more wordy than usual. I didn't actually think I could write so much without actually have them as dialogues. Regardless, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and if there's anything you want to tell me, like feedback and stuff, feel free to put them down in the comments.

(Because I wanna know too.)

See you guys in the next chapter!

Next update: 23 November 2019