Nightmare 01 - She found me.

The room was dark with the thick miasma permeating through the surrounding. Inside was shrouded in eerie silence that if it continued, it might just swallow everything.

However, soon, a beautiful voice would be heard as the girl before me opened her mouth. Her saving grace from this deadly silence was none other than—

"Die."

This deadly word.

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die."

What do they call this feeling again?

That thought entered my mind as I locked eyes with her.

Her black straight hair draped down on my sides as I looked at her face directly above mine. She possessed attractive features that complemented well with delicate frame. And the smile on her lips right now, symbolizing her desire to kill me was simply lovely.

I just gazed at her.

The girl was strangling me to death as she sat atop my stomach. Her cold hands were wrapped around my neck as she showered me with nothing but bloodlust.

Yet for some reason, my heart was beating fast. It was pounding so hard that I could hear it clearly. I was not afraid of her. I was not afraid to die. The reason was not urgency nor danger.

It was nothing but a simple and an obvious reason. An emotion that made humans different from other organisms.

Putting it in a simple sentence, yes, I love her.

"I…I think…I…love…y-you."

A pathetic confession was all I could do in my current state. But I had given my best, hoping she would notice my earnest feelings.

Her hands stopped gripping and her eyes widened for a bit. The pink lips parted and she spoke.

"…I." She was smiling sweetly. "I love you too."

—She gripped my neck even harder. I could no longer breathe nor even talk. At the same time, my eyes widened but I knew that she must had not mean it at all.

"I really, really love you so much that I must kill you no matter what."

I really, really love you so much that dying won't stop me no matter what…

Ahh. I wished I could had said that.

Right, I still haven't asked your name.

I would ask that too next time. Next time, I surely would.

—Then my vision twisted and my consciousness clouded.

I could barely recognize her beautiful figure as I felt my mind fading away.

In the next instant. All went black.

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A dream where I die is a nightmare. A nightmare where I can see you is a dream.

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Gradually passing rows of trees, I stepped on the long road of asphalt as I headed to my school. I breathed in the fresh air of the morning, feeling the coolness inside my lungs before I gazed upwards.

It was splendid like always. The sky was in magnificent blue with the clouds perfectly fitting within it as if some sort of decoration. This scene was something I always admire. It is beautiful.

But I sometimes wonder if there was something beyond that endlessly stretching sky. Something that might just solve all my questions, something that I was missing. The clouds themselves might be hiding something too. Behind them, there might be a hint or there might be storm brewing instead.

I took a breath in and out. "Okay." I muttered, pumping myself.

"Morning," A cheerful voice said. I turned to my back and saw my best friend, Hirata Masayuki. Or also known as Maki.

"Yo." I replied.

"Have you heard the news this evening? A storm will arrive tonight, they say." He grinned. "Do you think classes will be canceled tomorrow?"

"Maybe." I simply shrugged. "Anyway, Maki, wanna race to top?" I suddenly proposed. Our way to the school was an uphill path.

He looked at me blankly before his expression brightened. "All right!"

We both crouched and planted our feet on the ground firmly. In the corner of my eye, I could see a familiar figure approaching.

"Geez, you two really loves childish things."

"We know that, Class rep," I confidently stated without looking at her, focused on the road in my front. "The signal please."

She shook her head in resignation. "Well then. On your marks!" she shouted. "Ready, set, GO!"

I kicked the ground, and then I ran uphill, cutting the wind. I took sharp cornering and efficiently weaved my way through other students. However, Masayuki was a bit ahead of me and although his running wasn't proficient, his pure speed was outrunning me. I stepped my feet even stronger until I could hear my chest about to burst any second by now.

I was panting soon after I crossed the gate. The end result, Masayuki still won.

"Damn…You're fast…Maki."

"Heh..See the winner now."

I smiled wryly at him. We waited for our class representative, Shirazawa Yuka to arrive. I faced my back to see the road, she had yet to arrive. So I shifted my gaze to the city, viewing the place where I lived.

A cool breeze blew against me, it was a damp, carrying bit of water with it.

"I finally found you."

A sudden voice of a girl echoed.

…I was dumfounded when I heard that. I quickly scanned my surroundings but I could not find anyone who could had whispered those words to me.

"What was that…?" I unconsciously muttered.

"What's the matter, Reiji?"

I turned to look at my friend. Yuka had been with him now and they were looking at me skeptically. "…No, nothing."

"Man, has your memories returned and you remembered your porn that I hadn't returned?" He joked.

"Ugh. You two are disgusting…" Yuka glared at us.

"I was joking, you know," he simply replied. He then faced me with a serious face. "More importantly, have you remembered anything?"

The atmosphere seemed fitting for another joke so I went with it and declared. "Yeah. All of the mysteries had just been unraveled…"

They suddenly stopped as if they froze. They were shocked as if they couldn't believe what I sad. It was only a moment later when the two finally laughed.

"…God, you had us there."

"Really, you should refrain from joking with serious matters, Reiji-kun." Yuka said quietly. "It could give me a heart attack, you know."

"Ah…okay?"

"We should be going soon." Masayuki said as he walked towards the school building. Yuka walked as well with me following them mindlessly as I was lost in thought.

That voice…

The voice that I heard was something that I was familiar with. A voice that felt like I had heard many times before. But there was no one there.

Is it really my imagination? A fantasy?

Then suddenly, a freezing morning wind blew, touched my skin and then ran down on my spine. In that instant, her words flashed within my memories.

She found me…

Whether fantasy or not, I couldn't ignore those words.

I lifted my gaze at the sky and in one of the clouds, I could see a dark spot emerging. I exhaled deeply.

"It seemed that tonight, a storm will really come," I said to one in particular as I shook the thought inside my head and entered the school building.