2.5.5

Subaru's consciousness felt like a floating cloud, trapped between dream and reality.

He'd heard somewhere that dreams had the side effect of organizing the waking brain's information. That would explain why Subaru, having delayed his sleep so long, beheld a string of such clear and vivid memories, as if they meant to haunt his dreams.

Subaru's vivid, "dead" memories replayed over and over, etching themselves deeper into his mind.

He moaned, tossed, turned; he made anguished sounds as sweat drenched his entire body. Immersed in tears and faint sounds, his soul was whittled down, down, down, and when the final thread was cut, surely nothing would remain.

That was how far he had been worn down, both mentally and physically.

"—"

Abruptly, the tension in Subaru's body vanished.

It was as if the cold and terror that made his body shake had been swept aside.

—It was his hands.

Someone was holding Subaru's hands.

Someone's touch from the real world pulled back Subaru, drifting in unconsciousness in the bed. It was a warm sensation, a gentle sensation, one that conveyed compassion.

He felt like he'd been saved. He felt like a gentle breeze blew into his tattered mind. His ragged breathing eased; he forgot his suffering and returned to peaceful sleep.

Who did it? What was it? Was it real or just a convenient trick of the dream?

He continued to feel warmth lingering between the palms of his hands—