18] These Nightmares... Do they mean something?

(Shin PoV, His house)

It's been kind of hectic at school, but it wasn't really anything important. Ray Black... He's suspicious, but he hasn't done anything yet. I guess keeping an eye on him for now is good enough.

Hikari walks into the living room and plops down beside me on the couch.

Hikari- "So, whacha thinkin' about?" She doesn't normally speak like this, must be in a happy mood.

Shin- "Nothing much, just pondering about school." She lays her head down on my shoulder.

Hikari- "Did you ever find that person you were looking for?"

Shin- "Yeah, luckily I found her before school started. It would have been too late otherwise." She snuggles up closer to me.

Hikari- "I see." She slowly wraps her arms around mine, hugging it gently. I lightly pat her head as I turn my attention back to the TV, watching some random YouTube videos.

*** (The next morning)

I wake up early, and look to the drawer that contains my book of future knowledge. With a sigh I find myself re-reading the whole thing to keep myself topped up with the information.

Shin- "Seems like Ray actually didn't show up. There weren't supposed to be any new students at this point in time..." After a few seconds of silence I sigh once again.

"Guess I should right down everything that I've gone through to see how much the story has changed... I need a new notebook."

Just then someone knocks on my door.

"Hikari?"

She opens the door, and seems a little pale.

"Are you alright?" She slowly nods, but I can see the hesitation.

Hikari- "I had a nightmare... But it felt so real. Do you mind if I stay here with you for a while?"

Shin- "You can stay as long as you want. Do you want to tell me about it?" She sits down on my lap, her legs facing to my right.

Hikari- "Only if you'll hold me." 

I smile weakly and embrace her, holding her carefully.

"Okay, so it started like this."

*** (Hikari's dream)

She finds herself standing in a ruins, surrounded by chaos. The world seems to have lost half of it's color, and she is now taller than normal.

Hikari- "Where am I?" 

She could hear a silent weeping, but couldn't find where it was coming from. So she started looking around the area.

The buildings were collapsed, the sky seemed almost gray, No other living people in sight. But she did see corpses; Corpses of men, women, children, elderly, and animals.

The place she was in reminded her of somewhere but she couldn't put a finger on it, as she was currently panicking.

"Hello!? Where am I!?"

It was then that a horror unable to be described by Hikari had made it's presence known. It spared no words nor pity as it immediately shredded Hikari into pieces.

*** (The present)

"I can still remember the pain, the trauma, and the fear of death." 

A flash from a moment of my death resurfaces, and my stomach churns. I can still remember how it felt to have my skin peeled off inches at a time, chunks of flesh sloshing to the floor.

Shin- "It's okay... I'm here."

I hold her tighter, and I can hear the soft sniffles as she cries. I gently pet her hair, trying my best to sooth her and forget my past.

*** (8:00 A.M.)

We end up just staying like that for a while, occasionally talking about this or that. When my alarm goes off signifying that it's eight o'clock, Hikari groans a little before she gets up and meanders to my bed.

"Um, Kari, what are you doing?" She sends an annoyed glare at me.

Hikari- "Waiting like usual." 

Shin- "You do realize that you're coming with me to school, right?" Her eyes open wide in realization.

Hikari- "I totally forgot! That dream had me confused."

We go to the kitchen and eat breakfast, and when we're done we get our stuff in order and leave. When we get to school, I notice Ray flash into view for a moment before disappearing again.

*** (During lunch)

Hikari and I are sitting on the roof of the school eating food when Aiya approaches us.

Aiya- "Hey... I know we aren't very good friends, but-"

Shin- "Nonsense, you saved my dear sister. I'd say we're great friends." I flash her a smile, and she seems slightly shocked.

Aiya- "Oh, in that case, do you mind if I confide in you guys for a moment?" I internally smirk, as I think this is about her brother. After all, I did save him... Not that she knows.

Shin- "Of course, I promise to not tell a single soul." If I would tell somebody, I'm telling it to their face, not their soul.

Aiya- "Thanks, I'd rather this not get out." I scoot over and pat the empty spot next to me.

"I had a horrible nightmare about that disaster, at least I think it was that." Alright, now to make her thankful to the 'hero' who saved her brother.

Shin- "Was it about your brother?" She shakes her head.

Aiya- "No, it was just me. I was in this ruined part of the city, and before long I ended up getting killed." Huh? Isn't that basically the same thing Hikari dreamt?"

Shin- "How did you die?" I have to make sure.

Aiya shudders a bit as she recalls.

Aiya- "It was some monstrosity that I can't explain." My and Hikari's eyes widen, though mine was exaggerated enough to seem normal.

Hikari- "I had a dream just like that last night, did we have the same dream?"

They then go into more detail, sometimes even finishing what the other was going to say. Meanwhile, I'm just listening.

Maybe it's a premonition, but this didn't happen in the novel either... Things are going off track wildly, and I don't even know if I'm the main cause of it.

If only I had the same type of dream, maybe I could figure this out. We eventually go home, without any homework of course.

If there's one thing I like about this school, the normal school stuff is optional. There's no homework, and school starts at 9:00 A.M. instead of 8:00 or 7:00. It also ends at 2:00 P.M.

We do our normal things before heading to bed once again. Only for me to be woken up at around 5:00 A.M. by Hikari once more.

Hikari- "Shin, It happened again." I get up, and rub my eyes.

Shin- "Are you alright?" 

Hikari- "Yeah, I can handle it better since I already died once... But it's still pretty bad. Do you mind if I just sleep with you for a while?"

Shin- "I don't mind, maybe it'll help deal with those nightmares."

She couldn't get back to sleep, so we started talking again.

"When did this start happening, was yesterday the first time?"

Hikari- "Yeah, maybe it's the school thing." I nod, as that is a logical conclusion from her perspective.

Shin- "Let's skip school tomorrow and see if that does anything."

Hikari- "Can we just skip today?"

Shin- "I guess, but we can't sleep together tonight. Because we won't know what fixed it, if it even gets fixed." She lowers her head slightly.

Hikari- "I see."

So that's what we do, we skip school. I call Atlas and tell him that we're not able to be in school for some bull crap reason. Hikari and I play video games and watch TV all day, and eventually it turns night.

Shin- "Good luck."

Hikari- "Thanks."

*** (A week later)

I'll save you the trouble of going through every single day, she kept having those dreams no matter what we did.

On the eleventh day, I get woken up by Hikari a little more violently than usual.

Shin- "Another one?" She quickly shakes her head.

"Really? That's great!"

Hikari- "I didn't die this time, but nearing the end of my sleep i found myself in a void of sorts. In front of me, was an older me..."

Shin- "Really?"

Hikari- "Yeah, but she had gray skin and scars all over. Her eyes were black, and her clothes were a mess."

Shin- "Weird. Anything else?"

Hikari- "She was also like, six feet tall."

Shin- "I meant, did anything else happen in the dream?"

Hikari- "Oh! Yeah, I was forced to mirror her movements. She ended up getting close to me and reaching toward me, which my body responded in kind. When our hands touched, I felt a weird sensation before I woke up."

Shin- "Can you describe the sensation?" She nods.

Hikari- "Yeah, it felt like a piece of my soul had left my body. I don't feel anything missing, and there aren't any extra gaps in my memory. I think it was just the feeling."

I squint my eyes in contemplation, thinking about what might be happening to her. Whatever it is, I hope it's done for good.