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You know you're dreaming.
It's annoying to know you're dreaming.
After spending hours outside in the rain trapped in a weird world and knowing it's full of monsters and other creepy things, it'd just be nice to have a peaceful rest and dream of something soothing and comforting.
Like your pet cat, Kizaemon.
Instead, your dream has you stuck in a room with a shogi board set up. It's ready to play. There's no reason to not follow along with the dream logic and sit down. Staring hard at the board, you realize this is your little sister's shogi board. You start fiddling with a pawn out of boredom and advance it. Immediately in response, you hear the clack of a piece on the opposite side. In surprise, you look up and see...
Nagumo Kyouya...
Why are you dreaming about Nagumo Kyouya, of all people?!
"Can't I dream about your really hot older brother? His name was Kyouichi, right?" You can't help but needle the illusion a little, even though it's pointless.
"What do you have in trade to make it worth my while... and his? And no, you can't offer <span class="mu-s">your</span> older brother in exchange," Kyouya counters with a roll of her eyes.
Wow, Dream Kyouya is really true to the real life version. It's hard to remember that you only really started interacting with this annoying girl in the third year of middle school. You were not an academically gifted child or hardworking. Much to the dismay of your parents, you ended up going to the very average Tanigaki Middle School because you didn't do too well on the entrance exams. It took a lot of effort to pass the entrance exam for Kusatsu High School.
Kyouya, on the other hand, attended the much more prestigious Ohtori Middle School, which your older brother attended and where your little sister is now. Your older brother, Touma, seemed impressed with Kyouya and probably had a crush on her. While your little sister Sakura kept on gushing about 'Kyouya-sempai' all the time after joining the Shogi club.
You remember how the constant praise annoyed you. You try to bury your irritation and make a move with another pawn on the shogi board. Kyouya is absolutely ruthless on her turns. Her aggressive climbing silver strategy completely overwhelms your defenses and captures so many of your pieces. Worse, she almost immediately redeploys the captured pieces to bolster her attack at certain points.
"This is the end! Tsumi!" Dream Kyouya calls out.
"What is the point of destroying me so thoroughly? I mean, have some mercy against a complete amateur!" You cry out as Kyouya checkmates your king with her lance piece.
"Are you serious? You always try to wheedle out of hard situations with smooth talk. Sometimes the best way is to learn to do better by not dodging the hard lessons. Besides, it's better to lose badly and learn from a friendly match than from a serious one." Dream Kyouya grumpily folds her arm and glares at you.
