Beyond the Closed Dream (閉じた夢の先, Tojita Yume no Saki?) is the third chapter of Volume 6 of the My Happy Marriage series.
Summary[]
Miyo, accompanied by Kiyo and Kazushi, arrives at the military headquarters just before sunset. She had foreseen that there would be no guards at this very moment, allowing the three to slip through the gate. Guided by her dream, she leads them to the prison area. When they find the entrance to the administration building locked, Kazushi opens a window on the side, and the three land in an archive room. As they turn a corner, they nearly run into a soldier, but Kazushi swiftly strangles him until he loses consciousness. They continue their journey until they reach a junction, which is closed off with a barbed wire fence. Using a key taken from the soldier, Kazushi opens the gateway, and they move from the outdoor corridor into the prison building. Kazushi reflects on how much Miyo has changed from her former gloomy self.
As they reach the deepest part of the prison, Kazushi unlocks a fence, and they descend a dark, steep staircase to the underground dungeon, using lanterns from the archive room. Everything unfolds in line with Miyo's dream, including finding necessary items. In the dungeon, they discover empty cells, except for one containing a wooden altar used to seal the usage of Gifts. Kazushi dispels the altar with a touch of his fan. Moving past the cells, they continue along the retaining wall. Miyo rushes forward when Kazushi senses a person ahead. She finds Kiyoka breaking free from his cell and escaping on his own. Hugging him, Miyo expresses her love for him, and Kiyoka accepts her words, promising to stay by her side. Noticing his injuries, Miyo learns that he used a lot of energy to break the sealed chains through brute force. Kiyoka then places his hand on Kiyo's shoulder, who nods and disappears. When Miyo asks if she will see Kiyo again, Kiyoka is reluctant to respond. Kazushi reveals that Kiyoka has been controlling the familiar and sharing its vision and hearing for a long time. Miyo is embarrassed when she remembers she treated Kiyo, but Kiyoka finds it refreshing and asks her to call him by his name properly in the future.
In order to conserve Kiyoka's energy, Kazushi sends a familiar on his behalf to inform Godou of Kiyoka's rescue. Tadakiyo also reaches out, expressing that he will gather enough Gift-users to assist in the afternoon. After a loud rumbling sound signals the start of unit's attack, Miyo's group departs from the dungeon. They encounter few soldiers on their way, who are quickly dealt with by Kiyoka and Kazushi. However, at the exit, they are confronted by Arata and his soldiers. Miyo once again questions Arata's actions, to which he explains that the vision of the Gifted Communion aligns with his desire for a future where the Usubas are treated fairly. He points his gun at them, coldly stating he received orders to take Miyo by force if necessary.
Behind Arata, Usui appears, welcoming Miyo's group into his stronghold. When Kiyoka inquires about the Emperor's well-being, Naoshi orders his subordinates to throw the body of the Emperor before them. He reveals he has been torturing the Emperor and is almost ready to kill him. Kicking the man, he blames him for Sumi Usuba's death. Usui then questions Miyo about her desire for greater Usuba power and compares it to his own quest for more power to change destiny. Miyo initially struggles to respond, but ultimately states that unlike him, she won't use her powers to harm others. Usui reminds her that in order to save Kiyoka, she has already caused harm to soldiers they encountered and that she is now also planning to hurt him. Miyo then uses Dream-Sight to place everyone present in a dream where no one will be hurt. Usui asserts that Miyo, like in this dream, can create a world where no one will be hurt by standing at the top of the country. Kiyoka retorts that instead of dominating the world, Gift-users should adapt to the changing situation, as the numbers of Gifts and Grotesqueries are dwindling already, but Usui suggests artificially increasing the number of Gift-users and Grotesqueries to solve the issue. He questions whether they fear change or just blindly worship the Imperial family as the supreme monarch.
The discussion becomes heated when Naoshi once more brings up Miyo's desire for more power, irritating her. She angrily accuses him of usurping the status of other powerful people while she merely seeks the power rightfully hers. Usui becomes furious, shattering his glasses, while he argues how Miyo also took away the stable life of the Saimoris and elevated her own status to that of a Kudou fiancée. He believes that when someone becomes happy, others inevitably become unfortunate. However, Miyo counters by saying that it's still wrong to take other people's things or hurt others. Even if one is powerless, they can rely on their own strength to strive for survival within their means and be rewarded eventually. She cites Arata's earlier attempt to change the fate of the Usubas as an example. Miyo accuses Usui of feigning actions for the benefit of others, while his motives are rooted in his own self-interest. Usui, in anger, reaches out to touch Miyo's neck, but she slaps him, startling both of them, and replays Sumi's voice from the past when Sumi advises him to remember his true desire. Usui then turns away, bitterly saying he doesn't need a daughter who can't understand him and that she, as someone blissfully content, forces less unfortunate people to accept her perspective. As Usui and Arata use brute force to awaken themselves from the dream, Miyo urgently tells Kiyoka and Kazushi to stop them, sensing something bad was about to happen. but it's too late. The dream world disintegrates, and back in reality, Arata shoots Usui, who simultaneously throws his dagger at his side. Both collapse on the ground. Kazushi confirms Usui's death, while the injured Arata asks the crying Miyo for forgiveness for deceiving her before closing his eyes.
Some time earlier, the unit launched an attack on the concentrated combat power of the headquarters. Ordinary soldiers of the Imperial Army retreated after being attacked with fire, snow, and water. However, the eighty Gifted Communion members with artificial powers, along with a hundred Grotesqueries fighting alongside them, had a numerical advantage over the thirty unit members. Godou believed they would have been defeated if not for the accumulated resentment of being locked up in the station. The battle that began in the morning continued into the noon, when the reinforcements of twenty Gift-users led by Tadakiyo arrive. Seeing Tadakiyo quickly incapacitate multiple people using lightning, Godou finds his fighting style unsettling, more assassin-like compared to Kiyoka's. Kazushi joins them after arriving from the prison, while shortly later, Kiyoka walks out of the main building with a group of army generals and freezes all the water on the ground throughout the headquarters grounds. A general orders everyone to stop fighting. As weapons are lowered, a government loyalist force led by Ookaito enter through the main gate. Houjou orders his forces to continue fighting, but almost no one is still alive or conscious, as the imitation Gift-Users are far less powerful than legitimate Gift-Users, leading to the end of the conflict.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Miyo Saimori
- Kiyo
- Kazushi Tatsuishi
- Kiyoka Kudou
- Arata Usuba
- Naoshi Usui
- Emperor
- Sumi Usuba (voice)
- Yoshito Godou
- Mukadeyama
- Tadakiyo Kudou
- Masashi Ookaito
- Houjou
Mentioned characters[]
Chapter Notes[]
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