02小说网

原稿（第2页）

（“Great，I’matinychildnamedKagaminow。Just。Great。Yup。”herthoughtwent。）

Hitomihashadherfairsharesofbdreams。FromGrade7tosedyearuy，shehashaddreamswhereshewouldgotoschool，workonassigs，writeexams，walkhome，dochores，onlytowakeupandredoalltheaforementioasksinreallife。Booooorrrriiing。。。

However，Hitomihasfoundoneaspectforcertain:shenevergetstoenjoyfoodinadream。Herdreamwouldendassoonassheisabouttoenjoygourmetentrees。Ifshedreamsofeatingastaledrysandwich，shewouldtinuedreaming，butifappetizingfoodisabouttobeed，shewakesupwithoutexception。

Hitomihadmixedfeelingswhenshesawfriedmushrooms，gourmetItaliansausages，friedIrishsodabread，spinachquiche，prosciuttoandfinemelonsatbreakfasttime。（“ThosearesomeofmyfavoriteswhenIwastravelinginEurope。Well，hereeswakingup。”）

Hitomiplacedsomeprosciuttointohermouthwithapieelon。

“MmmHmmm!Delicious!Iwonderiftheyalsohavethree-yearagedGouda。。。”

“Kagami，yousaythateverytimeyouhavedrycuredham。”Saidthedaycarestaffassheservedcrepetoanotherchild。“WhydoyoucallcheeseHow-dahanyway?”

“Ick”，Hitomirealizedthatshewaseatinggoodfoodandnotwakingup，“Iwonderwhat’sgoingon。”

ChapterTwo

NotaDream（Yumejanai夢じゃない）

“Well”，Hitomisighedlightlyasshefinishedherquiche，（“thisiseitheranewwayofhavingdreams，ormaybethere’ssomethingmoretoit。”）Despitehavinghadalargevarietyofbaremelyrealisticdreamsinthepast，Hitomithoughtthissituationwasintriguinglydifferent，asshehasneverdreamedherselfatadifferentagefromtheagesheisinthewakingworld。Shemighthaveabdreamwhereshe’ssomehowbaherelementaryschoolclassroomwithherelementaryschoolclassmates，andshemightaswellwonderwhy，lookinglikeasedyearuystudentintermsofappearance，wouldshebesittingataGrade3deskwithGrade3students。

Rememberingamoviesheoncesawwhereoneofthecharactershadaspinningtoptotestwhetheritsadream，Hitomidecidedtogooutside，outofthecave。Shehysicsteacherintraining，andiftherefraindexofwaterwasanydifferentfromtheordinary，shewouldknow，providedthatshewouldntfethergoalacarriedawaybybeinginacrazydream。

“Hi，ugh。。。”Hitomididntknowanybody’sname，andnotwantingtoappearrude，shetriedtotalktooneofthestaffwithhersoft，gentlevoiottheoneforquietingaGrade8sceclassroom），“sorryifI’minterruptingyourwork，butmayIgooutsidetorelaxforawhile，please?”

“Kagami，otherswanttogooutsideatagethree，andyoufinallywanttogowhenyouarealmostsix。。。”smiledthestaff。

（“Okay，apparentlyIamfiveatthepresentmoment”，thoughtHitomi）“So，mayI?”

“No，notyet。Soon，though。Thetestisihanamonth。”

（“There’satestfoingoutside?!”Hitomishoutedindisbeliefinsideherself。）“Couldyoupleasebesokindastorefreshmymemoryonthewholeissue?”

“Kagami，。。。youusuallydon’ttalkmuch，butwhatyoujustsaid。。。Nooneevertalkslikethathere。。。Howdidyou。。。”Thedaycarestafflookedbothedanddeeplysuspicious。

（“Gagh!Ifottotalklikeachild!”）Hitomiwasalmostcertainbythispointthatitwasnotanordinarydream。Shehasnevergottenintroublefortalkingprofessionallyinadreambefore，andholy，shehadnoinklingonhowtogetoutofthepresentawkwardness。“Well，I。。。well，。。。Idon’tknow。。。Idon’tknowatallwhat’sgoingon”Hitomistuttered。Thankfullythedaycarestaffdidn’thavetheluxuryofleisuretimeonherhand，andhadtohelpi。Hitomibreathedasighofrelief，（“untilthefauxpas。。。Igettoliveforalittlewhilelonger。Whoknowswhattheywoulddowithmeiftheyfoundout。。。Idontevenknowwhattheycouldfindout，sinceIdontknowwhatsgoingon，buttheycouldrealizeIamnottherealKagami。”）

（“Well，it’sdecided。Adreamornot，IwouldliketonotgetintroublelikeIdidjustnow。”）Hitomimadearesolutiontoherself，（“EventhoughthisKagamiseemstobejustwaitingformetoeandassumeheridentity，withalltheGoudathatnobodyhereuands，Iamnotgoingtogamblewithmyluck。Iwillstaylow，listencarefully，keepquiet，andsourformationfromothers’versations。UntilIwakeupagain，IamKagami，agefivepresently，whodoesn’ttalkmuch。Atleastthatsablessing，IdonthavetotrytoimitatehowsomeoneIvenevermetwouldtalk，becauseshedoesnttalkmuch。Idothat。”）

Ittookawhile，butafterthemealrotationhadefullcircletwiceforbreakfast，andshehadarrivednaturallyatjustcallingit“hardyellowcheese”insteadof“threeyearGouda”，（notthatedugpeoplewholiveinacaveonthedistaweeownsofGoudaandEdamhadeverbeenahighpriorityanyway，）Kagami--shewasfortablewiththatnamenow--hadetotermswiththefactthatshewouldNOTjustonedaywakeupandbeinherapartmentagain。Thiswasthenewnorm。Shewasinadifferentworldnow。

Aworldwherechildrenhavetoliveinacaveuntiltheagesix。Kagamiheardsomedaycarestaffexplaiuationtosomethree-year-olds。

“It’sdangerousoutthereforyou。Youknowwhatearthis，thisdirtthing，andwind，likefromthisfan，andwateryouknowthatwedrinkandwashwith，andfire，fhta，andthesearecalledtheelements。Yesthat’sabigword，butdon’tworry。Well，yousee，sometimesyouseedustintheair，andothertimesyouseealittlebugflyby。Theoutsidehastih，wind，water，andfireflyingintheairlikedustorlittlebugs，andyourbodyistooyoung。Theelementswillgocrazyinyourbodyandyouwillgethurtveryverybadly，andtherewillbelotsofblood。。。”

（“That’sagooddaycarestaff”，）thoughtKagami，（“explainingmagicalelementstothreeyearoldchildren。”）Kagamikeptlistening，stayingquietandstillinthebackgroundsoasnottobenoticed。

“Whenbigpeople，adults，givebirthtobabies，themother’slove，theessence，keepsthebabysafefromtheelementsforthreedays。Duringthosethreedays，babiesarequicklybroughttothesespecialcaveswheretheshinyrocksinthewall，wecallthemcrystals，helptokeepyousafe。”

（“Idon’tthinkthechildrenarelisteninganymore”，）thoughtKagami，seeingthechildren’seyeswander。

“SoIgooutsidenow?”

（yup。）

Bylisteningtoversationshereandthere，Kagamimoreorlessfiguredoutthelargerpictureeventually。Whenchildrenturnsix，theyaregiventhefirstinstruonhowtosurviveoutside。Thereisamagicmatrixatthemouthofthecave，andinstructorsfromsomeacademieswillgivedemonstrationsonhowtoutilizethematrix，withproperfootworkandbodymovements，ttheelementsintoone’sbodyinatrolledmanner。

Ifasuccessisachieved，thenthechildbeeastudentinoneoftheacademies。Oncegraduated，suffitpreparationhasbeenmadeforthispersontoliveisideworld。Oherhand，ifachildisnotsuccessfulinutilizingthematrixtobeabletobreatheoutsideair，anotheryearhastobewaitedbeforeoneattemptagain。

Ifbyageeighteenoneisstilluoreinintheelements，suchapersonhastobeeadaycarestaffinthecave。Thishasbeenthewaytheworldoperatedsiimeimmemorial，andpeoplearequitetenteveniftheyarespendingtherestoftheiryearsincaves。

（“NowohatIwastoldthatinashortwhiletherewouldbeatestfoingoutside。Thebatchof，wellwhoknowswhat’stheyearinthisworld，aretakingtheirfirstgradeentranceexam。”）Kagamismiledandthoughtofher“formativeassessments”thatshehadpiledforstudeeringphysiGrade11。（“Thatfeelslikealifetimeawayalready。。。”）

Afewdayslaterallthechildrenwhohadturnedsixsincelastyearwereliningup。Aftergoingthroughwindingtunnelsandafewdoorsengravedwithmagicspells，Kagami，oneoftheyouwhosebirthdaywasjustlastweek，sawtheskyattheendofalongwalk。

Itsnotblue。ButKagamicouldntdecidewithfirmnesswhetheritwasbesttocallitturquoise，，oraquamarisacalmingworld，albeitwithravingmagicelements。Towardthehorizon，theskyturnsjustthemostdelicatehueoflavender。（"Iamfortunate，regardlessofhowslighttheluckmightbe，"）thoughtKagami，（"tobeinaworldfilledwithmyfavoritecolours。"）

Theopeningofthecavelookedlikeanamphitheatre，withmultiplemagicmatricesontheground，glowingfaintlywithpurplelight。Acrossfromthechildren，standingosidehalfofthespace，weretherepresentativesfromthevariousacademies。

Afterlisteningtosomesuperficialintrodusontheacademiesfromthedaycarestaff，KagamibelievedthatshewouldjoinAohiyamashouldshesucceed。Itwastheuniformthatattractedher。Classiavybluesuitsseempleasingtotheeye，whereastheotherswerealittletoo“lively”。Yes，Kagamiwasonceamorenerdytypeofphysicsteacherintraining，notanartteacherordaeacherordramateacher。

Kagamirecalledonlinevideosoftaichiasshewatchedthedemonstrationonhowtotakeadvantageofthematrix，（“someoftheseposeslooklikeyoga，whileothershavefootworkresemblingtaichi。。。”）