[35] Nightmare

Intense pain—

Accompanied by a wave of intense pain.

Kazuya woke up from his slumber.

"It's that... familiar feeling again," Kazuya sat up in bed, accompanied by the usual pain. He poured himself a cup of hot water from the kettle at the bedside.

Before this, in his dream.

In the world of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," he had died...

At that time, Dio charged at him—

His speed, combined with the overwhelming force.

Although he had tried his best to dodge, he still couldn't avoid getting hit. In an instant—his lower body lost all sensation, and he was almost completely defenseless. Although Jonathan had tried to divert Dio's attention, saving him like he had saved Speedwagon, it might have been because he had disrupted Dio's plans several times that Dio directly pierced his brain with his finger, absorbing his brain matter and blood, everything.

However—

Inside his dream...

Even though he had died, as long as he didn't want to wake up, he could stay in that dream briefly, like experiencing a lucid dream, continuing to observe the world of that place... but it would become increasingly blurry.

So... he watched Dio.

He watched Dio's battle with Jonathan...

And then, he had to admit—

Even though he had undergone systematic training in that world, he was still no match for Jonathan Joestar's physical abilities. While his strength and speed couldn't compare to Dio's, he was still much stronger than him.

Genius was a real thing—

Jonathan was a genius, a genius in terms of explosive power.

Afterward, the Joestar family mansion caught fire... He couldn't see what had happened next because the flames blocked his view.

Everything in front of him became increasingly blurry...

But, this time, he learned something he hadn't known before—after he died, even if the flames were burning, he couldn't feel the pain anymore.

"Stone Mask... I never expected it to be so powerful." He looked at the only item in his storage space, and for a moment, he couldn't help but have the urge to put it on and become invulnerable...

But he quickly suppressed that urge.

It wasn't necessary...

This time, he had witnessed the power of the Stone Mask... next time, he would be better prepared. Next time, he would obtain Ripple!

For now, he didn't need to take that thing with him. As long as he continued, he would have better options... there was no need for it.

He also knew that he was simply momentarily awed by that power.

After relieving the pain a bit and drinking two cups of versatile hot water, feeling much better, he prepared breakfast and called his sister to wake up.

"Hey, Kazumi, did you tell her?" Chitanda Yoko, who came to school with Kazumi, asked while sitting next to Kazumi, who was having breakfast.

On the sidelines, Kawamoto Hanako slowly took a few sips of water and then looked at the small cat walking by not far away.

"Huh? Are you talking about the home visit?" Kazumi frowned and laughed a little embarrassed. "I forgot..."

"Home visit? What's wrong?" Kazuya asked his sister.

"Because our class's teacher has changed," Chitanda Yoko said to Kazuya.

"I said it myself, I said it myself." Interrupting Chitanda Yoko, Kazumi stuck out her tongue and said to her brother, Kazuya, "Well, our class's previous teacher had some problems, I heard it was a car accident, it seems like he died... now a new teacher has come to teach us, and she wants to visit our home."

"When is it?" Kazuya frowned slightly.

"It should be this weekend... I remember it's my turn on the weekend to visit my house," Kazumi thought for a moment.

"Right, your house is on the weekend, and mine is tomorrow. Hanako's is tonight, isn't it?" Chitanda Yoko looked at Kawamoto Hanako, who was playing with the small cat nearby.

"Yeah... tonight, the teacher will come to my house," Kawamoto Hanako thought for a moment and nodded. Maybe she had become less nervous over time, but she was still a bit tense.

"I'm full! Yoko! Hanako! Let's go." Kazumi said, finishing her glass of milk in one breath, picking up her bag from the side.

"Be careful," Kazuya called out.

Then, when Kazumi left with her friends and the distance was about the same, he quietly followed.

He followed her all the way to school, then returned home and continued creating character designs for the new manga he had in mind.

.....

Night—

The day ended.

Kazumi lay down in bed and fell asleep peacefully—

However...

"Where is this?"

Kazumi suddenly woke up from her sleep, she found herself in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by misty surroundings. She didn't know how she got here or why she came here...

She was just... walking around aimlessly.

Then... at some point, a white-haired man appeared in front of her.

"I finally see you, Kurokawa Kazumi. You answered my call."

"Who are you?"

The man's appearance was unclear, hidden in a fog... he was very tall, but compared to her, he was slightly shorter than Kazuya, her brother, probably around 6 feet.

"Who I am doesn't matter. The question is, do you know who you are?"

"I am... Kurokawa Kazumi..." The girl's eyes were somewhat confused. She didn't know why this person was asking, but... one thing is certain, she didn't realize that she was different from her usual self. If she were in reality, she would never talk so much to strangers.

She had a strong sense of caution.

However, for some reason, the person in front of her emitted a comforting feeling.

"Yes, you are Kurokawa Kazumi, that's correct. So... do you know who you live with?"

"Live with? Onii-chan... is Kurokawa Kazuya."

"Is that so... Is he really Kurokawa Kazuya? You, didn't you make any mistakes?"

"Huh?" Kazumi was stunned for a moment, and inexplicably remembered her brother's change from some time ago, no, to be more precise, about two years ago—it was like the transformation of a completely different person.

"No... that's not right, he's Onii-chan—" Suddenly, her gaze became firm, and the confusion disappeared.

The dream shattered, and when she came to her senses, everything had changed. She had returned to her own room once again, and her brother, Kazuya, was standing at the door.

"It's strange, you didn't sleep in too much today?" Kazuya said in surprise.

"Yeah... well, I had a bit of a nightmare." Kazumi smiled a little embarrassed.

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