Chapter 5

When I suddenly stopped Yumi almost lost her balance. 

- What's wrong? Was I walking too fast? Did you put weight on your right leg? I'm sorry... 

I was looking around to see the boy while Yumi was apologizing. But I couldn't see him anywhere even though he was here just now. Was it my imagination? But he was wearing the school uniform and his expression was different from what I've seen in my dream. His face was serious with a blank expression, like he doesn't care about what's going on around him. Unlike everyone else in the schoolyard, he wasn't looking at us. He just walked past. But if he wasn't a pigment of my imagination it means he's a student in the same school as me and this means I can see him again and meet him. 

- Nina? Is everything alright? 

Yumi was holding onto me with a scared expession on her face, I was so busy looking for the boy that I forgot to respond. I felt bad for making her worry;

- Oh, sorry Yumi. I thought I saw someone I knew. 

Her shoulders relaxed then she smiled;

- Don't scare me like that again. Tell me to stop next time, okay? 

She became a kinder person now, it was hard to believe she was the same Yumi who told me that she was leaving me behind when I fell into the mud and hurt my ankle. But even then she ran to ask someone to help me and she came back with Shin and the others. I must have felt really hurt when she said she was leaving, I remember crying a lot about how mean she was to me. I smiled and say;

- Alright, I will. Sorry...

We started walking again, she asked me;

- So who was the person you saw? 

How can I tell her that it was someone I saw in my dream? No matter how kind she is now, she would definetely laugh at it if I told her that. There is no way I'm telling her that. 

- Oh I was mistaken. It wasn't the person I know. 

She looked like she didn't believe me;

- Hm... Is that so? Well if so it's fine, I was just gonna say that I can help you looking for them. 

Then her expression changed and she smiled mischievously;

- So, who did you think you saw then? Someone you had a crush on? A boyfriend? An ex?

Having a crush on someone you only saw in a dream... Have I finally lost my mind? It's true that I still think about him a lot, I can't get his crying face out of my mind. I want to see him again. Wait- does it mean that I like him then? I suddenly felt the blood rising to my cheecks, my face felt so hot.

- ... 

- Hahaha I knew it! So which is it? Tell me all the details now. 

- It's not like that. 

She leaned closer to my face;

- You can't fool me when you're red to your ears. Anyway, you can tell me whenever you want.

We were in front of the elevator then. She didn't say anything about it afterwards, instead she started talking about how excited she was to be in the same class as me;

- Aren't we lucky? Not just you and me but even Ken and Ryota is in our class too. Though maybe it would be better if those two were in another class haha. 

She was smiling but the air around her was different now, she was probably upset because she thought I didn't want to tell her about the boy. Would it be better to tell her about my dream? Maybe I could, but later. 

We arrived the class but there was still the opening ceremony, I was excused because of my leg luckily. But Yumi had to go. Since I was all alone in the class I can use this time to take a short nap. 

- ...na... Nina, wake up. 

Hm? How long have I been sleeping? I slowly lifted my head, the face I see right in front of made me blink quickly. The silver hair, tanned skin, bright green eyes. It was definetely him. Though he looked a bit different, his hair is shorter and combed backwards. He has smile lines in the corner of his eyes, he looks older than I remember him. 

- ... Taiga? 

Wait- that's his name? How do I know his name? He chuckled and leaned closer to my face;

- How long were you sleeping that you even forgot your husband? 

What? Husband? Is this another dream? Or maybe I just woke up from a dream... He slowly closed the gap between us and kissed my on my cheek, then he put his hand on my forehead;

- Hm? You don't have a fever, but if you're feeling under the weather I have some pain killers in my bag. Do you want it? 

He is looking at me with a tender smile. I shake my head and take his hand on my forehead. The warmth of his hand feels real. Is this the reality? Even if this was a dream I am happy to see him again. I smile;

- I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry. I just feel like I had a really long dream. 

- Oh, what was it about? 

He looked really interested.

- It was a dream about my highschool days.

He suddenly looked down and he pouted;

- Hm, is that so? That means I wasn't there then. 

- You were there actually, you were even wearing my school's uniform. 

This made him chuckle;

- Haha, really? Studying highshool with you sounds really nice. I wish we could meet earlier. 

- Do you remember the time when we first met? 

We were still holding hands, he took my hand to his lips and kissed;

- Of course. We were in our second year of university. It was the best day in my life. 

I put my hand on his neck, I can feel his heartbeat under my hand. How could I doubt that this isn't real? All the memories from the day we met, our first date, the trips we went together, his proposal, our wedding, our honeymoon came flooding into my mind... I remember all the moments I spent with him. And now he is right in front of me, this moment is my reality. I don't want to waste my time with useless thoughts. 

- It was the best day of my life too... I still remember the look on your face. Your eyes were wide open and you were frozen for a good minute. I had to check if you were still breathing. That scared me so much, I thought I'd accidently killed you. 

He blushed and chuckled lightly;

- Haha, well I almost had a heartattack the moment my eyes landed on you. I had never seen someone as stunning as you. 

- There you go again! So it wasn't because I hit you with my car?

- It was my fault for running across the road. I was fine until I saw you. But you still took me to the hospital and I'm glad you did. 

Right he suddenly jumped in front of my car. But I don't remember why he was in such a hurry;

- By the way, why were you running? 

He seriously thought about it for a moment;

- I forgot. 

This made me laugh, even though he was running in a hurry he didn't even remember why. 

- Haha, I remember they took X-rays to check if your head was alright. But are you sure you didn't hit your head and had an amnesia?

- No way. 

Then he started to gather the stuff on my desk;

- Anyway, if we waste more time we're going to be late for your parents' anniversary dinner. Come on, hurry. 

- Ah, I completely forgot about it. 

Then with his help I clean my desk and we get ready to leave the office. I hold onto him while we were leaving. Suddenly he asked;

- Why are you limping? Did you hurt your foot? 

I didn't even realize that I was limping. I tried to put my weight on my right leg and it didn't hurt at all. 

- Oh, it's nothing. I'm alright. It's probably because my leg was fractured in my dream.

He asked with a concerned look on his face;

- So it was one of those vivid dreams again... Shall we stop by the pharmacy to buy your pills? 

- No no, let's go to my parents' directly. We can't be late.

He still looked concerned but he agreed and we got into the car. He is driving us to my parents' house. On the way I suddenly remember the cave I saw in the dream. It was the same cave as the one we went while we were on our honeymoon. I ask him;

- Do you remember that cave we went on our honeymoon? 

He looked a bit surprised to hear this, but then he smiled;

- Yeah, I do. We really took our time there, we were lucky there wasn't anyone else. 

- Mhm. I was there in my dream. I slipped while getting out of the sea and you saved me from falling. 

He suddenly furrowed his eyesbrows;

- How many dreams did you see in a 20 minute nap? Don't forget to take your meds tonight.

- It's fine. It's been a long time since I saw a dream anyway. It's kind of refreshing.

I actually wanted to tell him more about what happened in that cave, in my dream. But maybe it wasn't a good idea to make him worry.