Rinko clambered towards Shinichi, almost hysterical. Her nails dug into Shinichi's leg, her harsh breath warming it. "I woke up and its foot was just about to smash my head in. It's so fucking big--no one told it was going to be this big! And--and--" her tongue twisted as she poured all her thoughts in one breath. "Oh god, oh god, I almost died--"

Shinichi placed a hand on her tangled locks. Some dirt fell off it at his touch. He retracted his hand. "Steady breaths, Rinko."

He fell to his knees, hunching until he was eye level with her. Two steady hands settled on her shoulders, polarising to Rinko's own shaking figure.

"Listen to me carefully, Rinko," Shinichi began gently.

Rinko's eyes were shining with fresh tears yet she still nodded.

"That thing over there?" Shinichi jerked his head on the drunk monster. "It can't hurt you."

Rinko's brain slowed. She slowly turned her head back to the monster.

The devourer was slowly walking away from their direction. Its silhouette wobbled from left to right. Its intimidating height diminished at each step it took.

Rinko faced Shinichi again, tears rolling off her scratched cheeks. "It--It can't?" her voice was weak and full of disbelief.

Shinichi smiled softly. "It couldn't have harmed you. You're safe, Rinko."

The last words seemed to trigger something inside Rinko. Her shoulders rose, her lips quivered, and her eyes became more liquid than solid. It was as though her body was preparing to launch an explosion.

Gods, I thought Nokori was the crybaby, Shinichi groaned internally. I pray for my ears…

And Rinko blew up. "I thought I was gonna die!" she wailed. Thick bullets of tears shot out her lashes, sticking into Shinichi's dark shirt like needles. If Shinichi was in his material body, he would have holes on his delicate flesh. Rinko howled out to the sky her uncontrollable distress, her voice a shrill bomb.

Shinichi hurriedly fell into the comforter role. "There, there," his voice lowered into a soothing whisper. "It's gone. You can rest easy now."

Rinko nodded on where her face was buried on Shinichi's shirt.

Shinichi embraced her closer, whispering comforting words to hee ear. Well, he hoped it sounded comforting.

Rinko then wiped her face on Shinichi's shirt and stood up. "Ok, I'm good now."

Shinichi's hands hang aloft.

Rinko wrinkled her nose, eyes trained at the monster. "What do you mean it can't harm me?"

Shinichi took his time to stand up. His fingers rubbed his temples. He released a long sigh. "The most logical explanation I could think of is that devourer over there is living in a whole other plane of existence entirely."

"Oh," she said. She pressed her lips and hummed. "That kinda--" Her eyes widened, head cutting through the air as it whipped to Shinichi's direction.

"We're dreaming right now."

Her expression twisted. "Dreaming? Wha--what do you mean?"

"Exactly as I said, we're dreaming right now. This right here," he points to his spectral-like figure. "This is not our physical bodies."

Rinko's left eye twitched. Her jaw remained agape.

"Have you heard of astral projection? It's sort of like that," he explained. His fingers curled on his black shirt. "Yet also more than that…"

Rinko frowned and shook her head at him. "Stop fooling around, mister!" she threw her hands up, walking away from him "I'm not as gullible as Nokori, you know?"

"Rinko, I'm serious--"

"It's too late for this, I'm going back to my tent--"

Shinichi caught up to her, whose figure had ceased all movements. When he stood next to her, he immediately knew why. Shinichi flushed and hid his face behind his palms.

Rinko snatched his shirt's arm. One shaking finger pointed forward. "T-that's…!"

"Indeed."

In front of Rinko were the crouched figures of Zero and Irish, continuing on with their devious deed. But what shocked Rinko was not their misconduct but the body that was dead asleep. Despite the multitude of crass depictions of human genitalia smeared on his pretty face, the blue hair undeniably belonged to the man next to her.

Rinko slowly turned her head, pale as a ghost.

Shinichi gave a sheepish smile.

She screamed.

It was as though thunder struck inside of her. Lightning bolts travelled through her veins, shocking her entire being into a trance.

Rinko's eyes bulged out into circles as it darted along with her finger, swinging back and forth to the two bodies. Her mouth contorted, twitching open and close. She screamed again. Shinichi resisted the urge to cover his ears.

"What the hell?" the hysteria came back to her voice. "I--I--"

Shinichi moved towards the two villains. He gave a halfhearted kick. His foot phased through Zero's head.

Rinko squeaked.

"As I've said, we're dreaming right now. These bodies we move in is seperate from our physical ones. It isn't corporeal or even visible to the people in front of us nor to the monster before. The monster we saw couldn't have harmed us," he then paused, noticing Rinko's scandalous expression.

Rinko averted her gaze from the ongoing crime, one hand raised to shield her eyes from it. "Oh, Mr. Janitor," she said in a solemn tone. "I'm so sorry…"

Shinichi looked back down. He sighed.

Zero and Irish have now expanded their canvas. His shirt has been unbuttoned, exposing milky skin to the moonlight. Black lines slowly engulfed the once blank sheet. Zero and Irish's lips were set in a frown, their brows drawn together in concentration. Their imagination possessed their hands as it never stopped its strokes.

Shinichi dragged Rinko away from the scene of the crime. "Come, Rinko. Let's move away from these evil-doers," he said, voice steady. "You see that tavern over there?"

This time, Rinko swallowed down her surprise. "When was that there? Wait, why's it huge?? Why're you dragging me there!? Oh, fuck--"

Getting through the giant doorway was a simple task. They just simply needed to think of slipping through it and that thought easily became reality.

The tavern was a damp and dingy place. Despite the warm colours that embrace it, the old rotting wood that decorated it sucked out all the life it held. Chairs and tables were crookedly fashioned, almost as bad as Shinichi's treehouse, with rusting spikes poking through the surface. At least Shinichi maintained the cleanliness of the treehouse, this tavern had dust everywhere. And what was that heavy smell? Almost like rotten eggs.

Shinichi snapped his fingers and human-sized tables and chairs bubbled into existence, its appearance blending in with the rundown theme of the tavern.

Rinko's face was almost blue when they settled into their seats. A hand covered her mouth and nose but her eyes were locked into the other three figures that shared the tavern with them.

"See? They don't see us at all," said Shinichi, a hand pointing to the devourers. "If not, we would be ground meat by now."

Still, Rinko leaned forward, voice lowered into a whisper. "What the hell is happening here?"

Shinichi rested his head on his hand and hummed, one finger circling over a protruding nail. "I'm honestly confused myself," he swept his hands over the tavern, a bit of smugness slipping into his face. "This body of mine, or perhaps soul would be more accurate, is something that could freely venture the universe during my sleep."

Shinichi's face suddenly darkened as he turned back to Rinko. His voice grew eerie. He still had that same smile yet his eyes are cold.

"You, however, are an anomaly."

Rinko heart lurched. She visibly gulped.

"In all my years travelling through this world, I've never encountered another person in the dream realm. I was always alone here. So, imagine my surprise seeing you here."

Rinko may be sitting with him but she may as well be on the dinner table. Each word that fell off his tongue was a phantom fork. It toyed at her form as though she was his food, poking her with its sharp edges, digging into her layers of skin until it reached inside her. Her lungs were taken away and Rinko could do nothing but watch as it was consumed bit by bit

"You didn't do anything out of the ordinary last night, did you?"

The nerves on her hands tightened. "I just…" Rinko's eye twitched unnaturally. "I fell asleep as soon as I entered my tent. This whole thing is a surprise to me. I have no idea what's going on."

Shinichi's fierce gaze never left hers. The way his eyes observed her, as though her very flesh was being eaten away.

Each second felt like a whole minute.

Shinichi hummed before smiling his sunny smile.

"Okay then."