A Shallow Dream (4) is the forty-sixth chapter of Takashi Shiina's Zettai Karen Children.
Synopsis[]
The Children are lying unconscious in an oil tanker which is on fire. Kaoru Akashi wakes up and angrily interrogates Fujiko Tsubomi who had attacked them and is now holding Naomi Umegae hostage. Fujiko plays dumb, claiming to not understand why Kaoru would be so angry.
Kaoru demands Fujiko release Naomi and prepares to attack. Fujiko places Naomi between them, and Kaoru's attack hits her. Fujiko teleports behind Kaoru and teases her before slamming her into the ground with Psychokinesis.
Naomi attempts to intervene, but Fujiko hits her from behind, and then asks her not get involved. She claims to not be an enemy, while explaining that she is the one who destroyed the ship, but ensured no oil would leak out and that the insurance company would cover the costs.
Fujiko starts to explain her plot; that knowing The Children are in danger, Kōichi Minamoto would disobey orders and come to their aid. Aoi Nogami and Shiho Sannomiya wake up and listen. Fujiko continues that Minamoto only views The Children as children, as if they were his little sisters. He may begin to see them as adult in a few years, but she suggests that is a bit slow. Naomi doesn't understand and asks her to clarify, but Aoi and Shiho interrupt, wanting Fujiko to continue.
Each of The Children imagine Minamoto arriving to find them unconscious on the floor of the oil tanker. They wake up in his arms and refuse medical attention, they just want him to hold them. Minamoto tells them he loves them. Each of their daydreams ends in an embrace and a kiss.
Naomi questions the morality of playing such a trick, but Fujiko says it doesn't matter. Ichirō Tanizaki bursts through the door to rescue Naomi, but she beats him down. Fujiko uses the interruption as evidence that her plan will work. She leaves to bring Minamoto to them, and The Children each plot how to make Minamoto choose them over the others. Kaoru rushes away by herself to the kitchen, and Shiho explains why to Aoi.
Minamoto and Shūji Sakaki arrive by helicopter and land on the oil tanker. Sakaki is concerned that it has all been too easy. When Minamoto gets inside, Fujiko greets him. She accuses him of ignoring orders. Minamoto refuses to be separated from The Children by only an order. Fujiko is pleased with her how her plan has gone. She requires the power of love to change The Children's fate, and with this has planted a seed in Minamoto's heart. She is however concerned over The Children's part in this, as she teleports herself and Minamoto into the room they find The Children covering themselves in tomato juice and ketchup to make themselves look wounded.