360° Material [Chapter 5]

Summarized by: Sarah

Did We Meet in a Dream!?

The chapter begins where Chapter 4 ended, with Mio still surprised to hear Taki calling out her name in his sleep. Is he sleep-talking? He seems to be calling out to the dream version of Mio; she wonders what sort of dream that is. She starts to feel envious of her dream self...Taki makes another noise and Mio notices that he looks like he's in pain. It doesn't seem like he is having a good dream. Mio remembers what the nurse said - he was suffering from a lack of sleep. But maybe, she should just wake him up. She starts to shake him a little while calling out his name when he suddenly yells, "Watch out!" and grabs Mio's arm, pulling her down on top of him. This wakes him up, and they both realize that she's on top of him. Mio turns red and starts apologizing, explaining that he seemed to be having a nightmare and she was trying to decide if she should wake him up. Taki, on the other hand, is still not completely out of his dream state. He utters"...Mio..." and hugs her. Mio questions whether he's aware of what he's doing or if he is still just half-asleep. Just as she starts to put her arm around him tentatively, the nurse walks in, asking if Taki has woken up. Upon seeing them like that on the bed, she yells, "If you're feeling well enough, then you can go!" and kicks them both out of the infirmary. Mio is deeply embarassed but Taki doesn't seem to be the least bothered. He looks behind him and sees the sign on the door, and asks Mio, "Ah, I was in the infirmary?" She explains that he collapsed in the middle of his game, and he says that he thinks he can recalls falling down. How long did he sleep? Not even thirty minutes. Taki wonders if the game is over, and Mio tells him that she isn't sure. Taki yawns while Mio is thinking that, if things had continued in the infirmary, her heart might have stopped altogether. On the other hand, even if it was too soon for that, she may have been a little too eager... Mio stops Taki to ask if he was dreaming about something and he answers that he was. Before she can ask him about the content of his dream, a girl comes up to them and tells Mio that Shii-chan and the others need her to come to her match. She has forgotten about it!

The chapter flashes forward to Mio's table tennis game, in which Shii-chan is mercilessly thrashing her. Mio asks Shii-can to take it easy on her. Shii-chan yells, "There is no mercy in battle!" Taki and Marui are watching (with Marui commenting on how cool Shii-can is). Mio is a bit embarassed to have Taki witnessing all this. The narration says that the games are coming to an end, and their class 1-2's only hope to advance through to the finals lies with Marui's basketball team. As they talk at the vending machine about how they seem to have a chance in winning, even though basketball is the second years' strong point, Marui approaches them, sneezing. They notice that he is pale and asks if he feels all right, to which he responds that the match earlier has run for far too long and therefore, he got overheated. He sits down and sneezes, then starts to complain that he feels cold... Mio goes off to tell the team that it seems Marui can't play. They exclaim that their next match-up is against 2-1, and they will definitely lose without him! But they guess that there's no helping it... As they try to think of who can fill in for Marui, Marui shows up, looking terrible. He tells them that he's fine - and to not go deciding on their own on who to replace him. He then slinks back to the ground, sneezing, and Mio wonder if he will actually be OK. She notices that Taki is walking away, and then the announcer calls for the teams to report. Shii-chan and Yuni note that, while it would be better to replace Marui, it might result in a full-scale battle with him if they try. Taki returns and offers Marui some pills, telling him that he'll be better if he takes them. Taki explains that it is a fast-acting medicine for cold so they'll take effect in five minutes. The team thanks Taki and Marui takes the pills. The match begins and Mio asked Taki if he has a cold or something. No, he doesn't. Then why did he have those pills? As they watch Marui running down the court, Taki holds up the box of pills and explains that they are only vitamin pills. The girls are shocked. Taki tells them that Marui is probably experiencing a placebo effect; combining what he thinks is cold medicine with his desire to play to produce a good effect. Taki explains that there is no way for the pills to help other than to reduce his anxiety. Mio thinks that Taki has done a good thing for Marui; everyone else is also doing their part by cheering him along. The match ends, and everyone congratulates Marui. Even though he was a little unsteady, he still played a great game. Now though, he should go and rest in the infirmary. Marui asked why should he do that for and his team mates are a little amazed that he seems to have forgotten that he has a cold. Oh, right... Marui turns to Taki and tells him that those were some amazing cold pills. Mio and Taki start to laugh and the narration explains that, unfortunately, the final outcome of the tournament wasn't in their favor. Like what Shii-chan shas aid, the second years' strong point is basketball. However, Mio feels like they have gained something even more important.

On the way home. Marui spots Akane on the train. He calls out to her but she doesn't respond. Where does she know this guy from? Probably from that study group... Marui guesses that she must be leaving from her mock exams. Akane wonders why does he even knows about that. Marui realizes that she's ignoring him and tells her that it's fine; he's tired anyway. He starts messing with his phone, and it occurs to Akane that she can ask him about something. Smiling, she asks if those two were fighting today. Ootaka and Taki? No? Her face falls, and Marui puts on a smile instead. Actually, he tells her, it was the opposite –there was nothing but a pleasant atmosphere surrounding them today. They gazed at each other like they were having a conversation with their eyes. What did she think would happen? Looking more seriously in her direction, Marui tells Akane that she shouldn't get in their way; it would be too pitiful. She should think more about Taki's feelings before she does anything... At that, Akane cuts him off, pulling on his cheeks. She tells him to shut up – she doesn't need to hear that sort of criticism from him! With tears welling in her eyes, she says that she is thinking about Taki; people like Marui... even though he doesn't know anything about Nao... There's an announcement about the next train stop, and Akane runs out in tears. Marui stays behind, looking rather uncomfortable. Back at home, Mio is holding a bottle of vitamins and telling herself that they're special pills that will turn mathematics into her strongest subject... maybe. She thinks that every day, she is discovering things about Taki, and the reasons why she likes him just keep piling up. She flashes back to him calling her “Mio” and hugging her in the infirmary, and she curls up in bed, blushing. Did she hear that right? What was he dreaming about... Her thoughts are interrupted by her phone, and she picks it up to find a message from Akane. The message says that she has found an interesting picture; want Akane to send it? Mio asks what it is, and the next message arrives with the subject, “Nao and his ex-girlfriend.” Mio stares nervously at it for a moment before opening the file, remembering what Akane has said about how different she was from Taki's last girlfriend. The picture shows a smiling girl with a flower, pulling Taki into the frame as he looks rather uncomfortable while hiding his eyes behind his hair. As Mio looks at it, we see Akane looking a bit determined, then stomping down the street.

The chapter flashes forward to Mio saying that she was sorry to ask Akane to meet her, since Mio knows that Akane is busy. Akane tells her that it's fine; she's on her way home from her exams and is nearby. Is that so? Mio thanks her for her hard work, fidgeting awkwardly. Akane asks her what it is that she wants to talk to her about, then lights up as she asks Mio if she has looked at the picture. She just happened to come across it when she was sorting through the files, and thought that she should send it to Mio before she deleted it. Akane starts to explain that the picture was from the girl's graduation ceremony, but Mio stops her. First... is it all right [to interrupt]? Akane tells Mio to go ahead. Mio tells her that she has looked at the picture. Seeing it, she has some sort of the same feeling as she has toward Akane-chan. Hearing that, Akane pulls back, saying that they aren't alike. Looking a little sad, Mio thinks about the picture. That smiling girl seemed like an adult. She had pulled Taki-kun's head into an embrace and Mio couldn't see his expression behind his hair, but, most likely... Mio speaks up again, telling Akane that she has erased the picture. Huh? Standing up, Mio says that she's going to go on as if that picture was something she didn't see. Akane looks a little angry, and asks Mio why. Mio tells her that, to be honest, it was something that has been weighing on her mind. She felt like she wanted to know everything, but... While looking off in the distance, Mio explains that she thinks that if she was Taki-kun, this isn't how she would want this sort of thing to come out. It gave her a bad feeling. If she's going to know about that girl, she wants to hear about it from Taki himself. Mio thinks to herself that someday, naturally, when the time is right, she wants to talk to Taki-kun about it. Akane seems surprised at this reaction, and Mio sits back down and smiles at her. Mio tells Akane that, in the future, please do not send her any more gossip about that girl. It flashes forward to Mio saying good-bye to Akane, who looks back at Mio over her shoulder with an almost shy blush, then stomps away, huffing.

The next morning at school, Mio spots Taki on the roof, gazing up at the sky. She thinks that with Taki-kun here in front of her, she'll be fine without hearing stories about his ex-girlfriend. Smiling brightly, she calls out to him, asking him if he's cold up there, and he replies with, “Mio.” She freezes for a moment, thinking that, just now did he called her...? Meanwhile, he explains that the sun heats this spot up, so it's warm. Mio joins him, and finds that it is indeed, warm. He turns to look at her, and her face turns red. She shakes it off and notes that yesterday in the infirmary, he seemed to be having a nightmare. What was that about? With a withering look, he says that it's probably better not to say, but... This only causes Mio to be more intrigued, and Taki continues. He thinks that he was being chased by a hit-man? In the beginning, he was in his house as usual, but then a fight broke out amongst a group of gun-carrying hit-men. There was something like twenty guys! It was probably his house, but the arrangement of the rooms was different. As he narrates the dream, Mio is confused – this doesn't seem to have anything to do with her at all. Taki goes on that the run-down house across the street erupted into a shoot-out, and Mio opened the umbrella she was carrying... There it is, Mio thinks. Come to think of it, he's been calling her by her first name ever since. He's establishing more familiarity ...! Taki explains that Mio was repelling the bullets with her umbrella –that part was really awesome! He smiles, picturing Mio with her umbrella. But, from around the back of the house, she was hit (Mio slumps down in disappointment at this; so, her part in the dream was a disaster). Taki looks away, saying that he thinks that that part must have been when he woke up. Seriously... he's really happy that it was a dream. He looks back at Mio, blushing a little, and tells her, “I'm glad that you're safe.” They hear the warning bell ring, and head off to class holding hands. The chapter ends with Mio thinking again about how her feelings for Taki-kun just keep growing; by now, they can probably touch the sky.

Translator's Comment: It seems that, beyond simple jealousy, Akane really hates Taki's last girlfriend. Maybe she did something awful. Taki's dream was a nice combination of silly and disturbing. Next chapter: Some of Taki and Akane's backstory, Mio and Taki finally go on an actual date, and an official introduction to Taki's ex-girlfriend.

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