The details were't quite clear, but the sinking feeling in her chest elucidated everything she needed to know.
"She was gone," Umi wrote, hand shaking slightly.
"Have you seen Umi?"
Eli looked up from her paper and frowned, taking notice, "No, I haven't, actually. Is she ok?"
Shortly thereafter, Eli received a text from Umi saying that she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to help.
Umi looked up from a half written equation, wondering idly if Eli and Nozomi had gotten on fine without her. As much as she was loathe to walk away from them like that, she didn't think she would have been able to handle Nozomi inevitably cracking her and asking her about the previous night.
As the cars outside began to pass with less frequency and the streetlights came alive, she found her eyelids beginning to droop. When she stood to go to bed, she stood out of her own body.
Very well.
She supposed she must have gotten into the habit of doing it such that she didn't need to consciously try anymore.
It was silent. For the first time, she noticed that there was nothing outside her window.
She glided down the hall and left herself fall into the sand outside her front door. Her limbs were leaden; having sunken to a satisfying depth already, she willed the desert to simply swallow her. Once it became clear that it had no such intentions, she slowly pulled herself back to her feet and lurched to the path.
Without the crashing sand in the distance, a vast, vacuum-like silence weighed upon her.
Had the walk always been this long?
Her sunken gaze slipped over the signs.
There was nothing to meet her gaze as she came to the crest of the final dune. The bridge was now well and truly gone.
"Ah."
"Why would you have expected anything different?" she asked herself.
And once she had crossed the desert once more, she felt a muted curiosity at the sight of the newly forming bridge. The bittersweetness at her memories of previous nights was now informing her that she didn't merely want to go back, she wanted to replay her experiences with Kotori.
The dream journal remained unopened for several consecutive nights.
"Hello?"
"Umi?"
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you're ok? Do you want us to visit you? You haven't dropped by in days."
"No, no, you don't have to worry about me. I'll come back once I'm feeling a bit better."
"Hey...if this is actually about your workload, it's fine if you're just too busy to help right now. Our feelings won't be hurt or anything; we can handle the student council work."
"Really, I'll be fine. I think I'll be back within a few days."
"Ok, we'll take your word on it."
Eli hung up and shrugged. Nozomi furrowed her brow.
Umi lay curled on her side in the sand.
Through half-lidded eyes, she watched the final stages of the new bridge's construction.
She wasn't ready to get up yet.
She shifted, feeling more of the warm particulate pour over her, and focused on the mind-numbingly gradual shifting of the sand across the sky ahead.
The navy haired girl hesitated with her hand on the door to the student council room.
Pulling out her phone, she skimmed over an inane text from Honoka and looked at the rings under her eyes. Then she turned and walked away, telling herself that tomorrow would be the day.
The principal walked by, and for one glorious second, she was convinced that it was Kotori. It was a striking resemblance from what the image she could hold onto of the girl, which only made it harder when reality came knocking immediately after.
Was she losing her mind?
It had been days since her last good sleep and she was plagued regularly with fantasies.
Throwing opening the front doors of the school, she stepped out into a cool spring day. If she couldn't focus anyway, she figured, there could be no harm in taking a long stroll to try and clear her head.
Come to think of it, wandering like this wasn't much to different from what they-
"No, no. Don't think about that."
There was something calming about the rhythm of her feet against the pavement. As she walked, the din of noise from the other students faded away.
Akihabara's bright lights in the distance still weren't quite as beautiful or saturated as the ones in her dreams...
Umi shook head head, deciding that the noise and bustle of the electric town were exactly what she needed. Still, even as she entered the district proper, the blaring music and advertising calls rung distant and hollow, and the sights weren't enough to distract her from the sky.
Before she knew it, she was sprawled on the pavement beside a maid she hadn't noticed.
Once the two had collected themselves, the girl offered her a flier which she felt too guilty to refuse.
"Tea Angels?" Umi read, nearly tripping over the curb as her eyes traced the patterns. Ordinarily, she would consider going to a maid cafe far too shameful a use of her time, but once she was standing in front of the place, she suddenly became aware of the powerful itch to investigate.
Entering with poster in hand, she was whisked away to a table with a menu waiting.
"Angel cake...tea...milk shakes..."
She needed something more overbearing. A maid with glasses stood dutifully by to accept her order.
"I'll have a deluxe parfait, please."
The girl nodded, writing it on her note pad and assuring Umi that it would be brought shortly.
She deflated slightly and leaned back in her chair. The place was so twee, with its vintage cottage-style furniture, sweets and French maids that it was almost obnoxious. Well suited to keeping one distracted.
Still, it was difficult keeping her mind's wanderings tightly reigned.
It couldn't hurt to get a little homework done, especially when it would keep her busy. Drawing her books and supplies from her bag, she threw herself into her work.
English, loathe as she was to do it.
She pushed aside the thought of all the student council work she could have done.
Chemistry.
Math.
"Prove the there exists a root between X equals five and-"
"A deluxe parfait for my lovely, lovely master!"
Umi looked up and nodded her thanks to the gray haired maid, but the girl wasn't about to let it go.
"Just to make sure it's extra delicious for you," she exclaimed, "I'll cast my magic spell on it!"
With that, she spun once on her toes and began to gently sing, "Life means more, because you keep my going. I dreamed that we had another moment, still..."
Her voice rang out as sweetly as a silver bell, washing all else from Umi's notice. That was at least, until she abruptly cut herself off.
"Master? M-miss? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
The navy haired girl was distantly aware of the fact that her vision was starting to swim with tears, but she still managed to breathe out, "Kotori...?"
The maid looked around conspiratorially before saying, "Um, my name is Minalinsky, remember?"
Umi stood, willing herself to stop trembling and articulate. The girl stared, confused. After a long moment, the former inhaled sharply and simply said, "Just tell me one thing. Does the term 'astral projection' mean anything to you?"
Seconds later, both were crying.
Kotori threw her arms around Umi in the recapitulation of a dozen magical night together, and it was sweeter than any dream either had hoped for.
The ashen haired girl hiked up the stairs to the shrine; it was faster to cut across the grounds on her way home from Umi's house. Her smile from their date was still fresh and the night was clear and cool, with the constellations lighting her path. One of the things she appreciated about places like this was the way the relative lack of light pollution opened the purity of the night sky.
Bounding to the level ground at the top, she began striding across when a familiar voice caught her attention, "Well, there's a familiar face. You're out pretty late aren't you?"
Kotori turned to find the purple-haired shrine-maiden some five meters away.
She simply left it at, "I was visiting someone special," with her reply.
The shrine maiden smiled knowingly as she drew closer.
"So then," she asked, "Did you find what you were searching for?"
Kotori smiled in turn.
"Yes, I did."
A/N: And so, like with Sunset, another daydream of mine comes to fruition. Though this story was more modest, I hope you all enjoyed the ride. Expect a small series of oneshots next.