Fatigue

Fatigue (03)

Mizuki opened her eyes, a young girl, in front of her, a familiar person. However she could not recall who the girl is, just that she used to know her. Mizuki is chasing her, as if playfully. But she can't keep up, the girl is running too fast, and Mizuki's leg is too short, she's a child. A scenery from her childhood. She called out to the familiar girl "No! Wait, don't go!!" But the faster she gave chase the further the girl escapes, into the horizon. Vanished.

Mizuki overheard a conversation. The voice sounded familiar, but this time she recognized it "Mom and dad..?" She's outside her room on the second floor, but the sound is coming from downstairs, muffled by the wall but still distressed. She goes down the stairs stealthily, half of it to not alarm them, half of it because she's scared to find out why they sound so, grieving. But why? Maybe because she somehow felt like she is partly responsible, maybe because she is the one who disappointed them so, maybe she is the reason why they're so sad. "We've tried everything... I don't know where to look anymore.." her mother's voice, it's rare for her to sound so, despaired. At least, not in front of Mizuki. "Tone down, what if she overheard you" her father hugged her mother, trying to calm the crying woman. They both look like they'd just sent away some visitors, visitors that had brought in bad news for them, bad enough to make up this scenery. Mother cannot contain her emotions, "But what else can we do for her? at this rate-"

"Here we go again.. of course it's her.." Before Mizuki could finish hearing mother's sentence, she overheard another conversation. It cut off the sentence from earlier, but somehow awkwardly answers the question she'd had in mind, as to the source of her parent's distressed tone "There it is, Ms. Can't-Get-Enough-Attention." another voice in the distant turned her head, she finds herself not at home anymore, but in school. Her middle school. She's walking down the corridor, nobody is blocking her route, but the walk alone felt very heavy. The weight of all the eyes staring at her, the gaze of judgement. Another chattering caught her attention from behind her, but this time she didn't turn her head. She keeps her gaze down on the floor, unable to lift her head "I heard she did it again.. this time in the Science Lab" a girl told her friend "Really? How many time has it been this week?" the chattering between the 2 girls in the distance registers clearly in her ear, almost forcing it's way in. Even without looking she knew she's the subject of the conversation. "Its not even funny at this point! go be crazy somewhere else!" The condemnation, the judgement, the mocking laughter in the background. The weight of all that emotion crushed her as she walked through. Too heavy, they sink her beneath the floor, she's drowning, unable to stay afloat, a force pulled her down as she desperately reach upwards.

"GAAAHHH!!" Mizuki gasped. She woke up. This time in her room, this time for real.

"Ugghh, my head hurts like crazy" she massaged her forehead. For some reason she felt more exhausted after her sleep, with a headache to greet her wake "It's been a long time since I have dreams like that" she can still recall what she'd dreamt off earlier. Or rather, its a part of her memory that she find quite hard to forget. Though for some reason only today do she remember even having them in the first place. As unforgettable as they are.

"I guess I'll go wash my fac-" as she pulls herself out of bed, she stepped onto something on the side of her bed. It has a rather peculiar texture. Her headache pulses ever so slightly as she stepped onto that thing. She turns to her feet to investigate. "Oh what? it's just Fuu chan" although a bit hazy, she can make out that it is just her favourite plushies that she stepped onto. Not alarmed by that normal incident, she goes ahead to wash her face in the bathroom. Half hoping that it could also wash away her headache.

'But still... why does my head hurt so much today..?' unfortunately she still has it. And the pulsing is getting stronger the more she move around her room. As if simply keeping her eye open is a constant trigger for her headache to grow more and more painful. Almost too painful that it's causing her to see things 'J-just now.. on the bed..' she shook away the image, the headache is getting to her. Perhaps a change in scenery could wash away her cerebral agony. "I must have imagined it.. let me get some fresh air in.." she places her hand on the window pane. Hoping to unlock them and let in some morning breeze, but she couldnt. The view outside her window that was supposed to be all too familiar to her is different today. Too different that it stopped her on her track. She can't fathom them, those things, outside. In her familiar neighborhood, those unfamiliar things are scattered all around.

In the mountain nearby the residential area, a boy is leaning onto a tree, it is Daisuke. He's at a clearing in a forest. "I guess.. it's about time.. huh.." he says to himself. Anticipating.

In Mizuki's room she finds a whole different world layered on top of her familiar neighborhood. Creatures that she'd only seen in books and TVs are now crawling, ,trotting, slithering, flying, floating, sprinting, walking about in the neighborhood. Outside her window. Ghosts. In all shapes and sizes, some familiar but mostly very alien. Some she'd seen and heard of, but a majority of them look so bizzare she can't even comprehend. Those headaches were just her brain trying to shut off what she's perceiving. But this time, the filter broke, she can no longer unsee them. They're right in front of her, registered in her sight.

A woman abnormally tall and walking in an uncannily human way but at the same time almost like it's awkwardly mimicking a human.

An eye, a group of eyes, floating about, dressed in flames.

That thing, its body is circling almost every house in the residential area, a snake-like body, but also partly human skinned. She looked everywhere but can't find it's head. One thing for sure is that it is still moving.

A dark figure, towering over Hokubu residence. Its size alone is already imposing, but it walks without disrupting the houses at its feet. If it even has one. The figure is gigantic, and covered with hairs, ghastly hairs. It's head sways each time it takes a step, like it's balanced on its neck, loosely attached.

As the figure brought her attention to the sky, she sees plenty more creature, some human like, some animal like, mostly indescribable. Floating, swimming, even rolling, maneuvering in the sky. Obeying none of the physic law, or even anatomical conventions for that matter.

She see ghosts, lots of them. Most of them notices her, some even displays hostility, but the majority of them continued with their daily life as normal as can be. freaked out doesn't even begin to describe her developing sense of fear, she's aghast. She turned her face down to escape the horror. But there she sees the source of her unsettledness from before. The thing she'd stepped on early on wasn't Fuu chan at all, this thing is hideous. It bites into her leg, as if sucking the soul out of her. A head, a severed head, but alive. Before this countless hostilities of different sizes in every corner of her eyes, Mizuki stood alone, defenseless, unprotected, naked. Even in her own room she could not escape them. The absolute fear gripped her throat, she couldn't let out any sound at first, but when she could she let out a hysterical cry while covering her face, the whole neighborhood echoes with her unworldly screams. The sudden change seems too much to bear too fast, Mizuki's way too overwhelmed to realize that she's coming down with a high fever. The person who find that out first is none other than her mom, who bust in through her door responding to that cry. She's shaken at first seeing her daughter's state, but quickly rushes in to provide security for her. It's the only thing she can do in these situation. She never could've shared her fear, she never could've understood what Mizuki had been dealing with. The least she can do "It's okay honey, I'm right here! They won't get you now.." is lie. The extreme terror still squeezes out her scream, she still lets out a continuous cry as her mom tries desperately to calm her down. But the only thing that would stop her soon is exhaustion. Both from the physical reaction and mental fatigue. Though at the very least, even if her conscious mind couldn't see it, her subconscious body perceived her mom. That provides at least some semblance of comfort for Mizuki now, to feel that she's covered by something, blanketed by someone, protected by another . Amidst the extreme fear, a tinge of comfort. Not enough to quell her fear, but enough to calm her enough to send her into a slumber. Mizuki passed out.1

She felt that familiar sensation again, the soothing feeling. Beneath the crushing terror, a warmth of another soul. The warmth eventually melts away the terror surrounding her, like ice. She regain mobility, she can move, she broke free.

Mizuki woke up, feeling heavy, as if something is holding her down, and something is, or rather someone. "Welcome back!" She faintly hears immediately after waking up, it was Mom.

"Mom what's this.. I'm not a child anymore" she shy away from her mother's hug.

Hearing that, Mom immediately snap back and carefully observe her daughter's condition, followed by a barrage of question "Did anything happen at school? Did anyone harass you? Or was it on the way back? Are you hurt? Are you feeling alright?"

"Mom...? What's all this about.. you're scaring me..." Confused and overwhelmed, she couldn't come up with any answer to all her question, but instead her own. Her mother's overly concerned line of questioning is worrying her.

"That's my line!" Mom mildly scold her. A swift karate chop bites Mizuki's forehead, but in a loving manner. But still stings a little.

"Ouch! What was that for...?" Mizuki complain.

"That's for almost giving me a heart attack!" Mom answers. "Don't scare me like that, you really don't remember?" Even she is puzzled by her daughter's inconsistent shift of emotions. She recounts the events to Mizuki to remind her.

"You returned very late last week, didn't respond to me and shut yourself in your room for the whole day. The next day you woke up you started crying uncontrollably. You cried so much for hours until you pass out. Then when you woke up again, you went unresponsive again. Awake but barely responding to anything I say. Just eating and sleeping on this bed all day till now. I thought I'd lost y-" she stopped "it's been a while since you'd have one of this fit, you used to-"

"A WEEK?!!" Mizuki's reaction cut her off, shocked at how much time actually passed. Mom grew more worried instead "Gosh, you didn't even realize how long you're out. Maybe you really aren't ready for school yet" she says as Mizuki hurriedly putting on her socks and get ready for school.

They're both worried about different things. Deep inside Mizuki just smiles at the thought. It's not as if she don't have the same idea. She was actually considering it after she woke up earlier all tired and since these past few days have been a bit too hectic in her life. However, a whole week is already too much time and she is not planning to extend her day off "Thanks Mom, but I'm okay now" she heads to the door "If I stayed any longer, I'm not sure if I'll be able to go back" she worries for her healthy school life. Learning from her past mistakes, the forgotten past, she has no desire to recreate that feeling.

"Good grief, this stubborn girl..." Even if she's still concerned about her well being, she understands what her daughter is talking about too. Mizuki's trying very hard to change herself, push herself forward, it doesn't feel right to stop her but also too heavy to let her go that easily either. But it's Mizuki's choice. She respects it, she's thinking for her own good too.

At school, as the other students are idly chattering among themselves, Mizuki sits alone, staring out the window. She just sighes "only in front of Mom do I act all excited, my school life is still..." Something stopped her. It was just a swift instance but it interrupted her enough to raise concern. She thought she'd seen a spectral figure passing by the school ground outside. A girl, a pale girl. She's white all over, hairs, eyes and everything. But as she blinks, it's already gone.

"Alright class, get back to your seat, we're starting soon." The teacher's announcement breaks her focus before she could develop further conclusion about what she'd just witnessed. "Also today we'll be joined by a new friend, so put up a smile and give a warm welcome, okay". The class started getting busy about the news.

"A transfer student? At this time of the year?" One student asks.

"Maybe they're from the city? Do you think it's a guy?" A hopeful female students brought up to her friend next to her.

"I hope it's a cute girl" an optimistic boy wishes out loud.

As the transfer student enters the class, a familiar voice greets the class. Or rather it's only familiar to only one student Mizuki stares in disbelief from her seat. Daisuke's sudden entrance to her school as a transfer student. It doesn't get anymore cliché than this, even more in the same class. "I'm Kishimoto Daisuke, Looking forward to learning with all of you!" He just shows a wide grin on his face, politely he bows. Paying no attention to Mizuki.

Mizuki surprised "HEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!!!"