“That was there before you got hit with the ball.” Yukio explained.
“Now tell me, what the hell happened for you to get such a bad wound, and I know that isn’t just any regular wound. It’s a damn stab wound.” Yukio continued as the tone of his voice got angrier and angrier.
“This is just a guess. But, answer this. Did you try to ki–”
“No. I didn’t” Haruto said, immediately cutting off Yukio to try to clear his misunderstandings.
“Then what. Why do you have it?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Haruto said, with much doubt.
“Wanna test that out? Just tell me already. I can’t just sit here not knowing what the hell happened to my friend.” Yukio said in reply.
“.. I had a nightmare last night, and there was this demon-like thing. It kept saying ‘I’m real’. I got closer.. and then it jumped on me, stabbing me with its arm. Somehow, it physically hurt me in real life. I know you won’t belie–”
“I believe you.” Yukio said completely cutting Haruto off.
“What?”
“I believe you. Is it that hard to understand?”
“I– how–” Haruto said, he was shocked.
“Kuroki has the same problem. She has to survive every night from those monsters, though I’ve never heard of a creature directly stabbing her or even noticing her.” Yukio said.
“Oh. Do you know what the creatures look like from her own description of them?” Haruto questioned.
“Yeah, so far she’s seen two. A tall demonic creature with long claws and a smiling mask. The strange thing about that one is that it’s like it doesn’t have any bones. It’ll twist and turn in every way possible. The other doesn’t really have a clear description of it.. all she knows is that it looks like a female.” Yukio explained.
“That must be rough.” Haruto murmured.
“Yukio, you will have to head over to class in a minute. Bushida, are you feeling well enough to head over to lunch?” The nurse said as she walked back over to Haruto’s bed.
“Yeah, I think I could go over to lunch. Thank you for your concern, ma’am.” Haruto replied.
“Well then, I’ll see you later. Be careful please, probably nobody in that lunch room besides Kuroki knows what happened during P.E.” Yukio said, reminding Haruto of what to watch out for.
“Alright. See you.” Haruto said while buttoning his shirt and putting back on the rest of his uniform. After that, the bell rang and both Yukio and Haruto gathered their things and left the nurse’s office. ‘Lunch, hopefully I don’t get picked on today. It wouldn’t be a good outcome.’ Haruto thought. Today when he went to the lunch line, he was able to purchase lunch now that they were able to add him into the lunch system.
“Hey, look who it is! The little guy who got saved by the bell yesterday!” The guy from the day prior said.
“Please just leave me alone.. I can’t deal with this today.”
“Oh look, he’s got a little attitude.” His classmate said sarcastically. Then all of the guys in the friend group gave each other a little signal that Haruto couldn’t understand. That is until one of them tripped him.
“His name is Bushida, right? Look at how pathetic he looks!” Everyone in that area began to laugh at him.
“Can’t you guys just shut the hell up?” Somebody said while approaching Haruto. Everybody got quiet and began whispering stuff to each other.
“Bushida, take my hand. I’ll help you up.” Said a girl so it seems. Haruto simply just did what she said and couldn’t really see who she was.
“Thank you… uhm–”
“Kuroki. My name’s Yume Kuroki.” Yume said as she helped him up.
“Oh, so you’re Yukio’s friend, right? He talks about you a lot.” Haruto said.
“Oh. That’s uhm..”
“In a good way. Don’t worry he doesn’t talk bad about you behind your back.” Haruto said, assuring her.
“But how exactly do you know my name, Kuroki?” Haruto questioned.
“...we sit next to each other in class.” Yume replied, with a puzzled look on her face. It was clear that she didn’t quite understand why he was asking that. Haruto thought for a moment. Then it clicked.
“Oh… OH. I’m so sorry I never got your name–!” Haruto said prior to coughing up some blood.
“Come sit with me, I want to ask you a few questions.” Yume said as she was already leading the way. Haruto nodded. After Yume led him over to an empty table, they both took a seat.
“So what do you want to ask me..?”
“Is it true what Yukio told me? That you have nightmares just like me? Not just normal ones but.. well, you know what I mean.” Yume immediately asked.
“...yeah. It was terrifying. Have you ever been attacked by the monsters before?” Haruto questioned.
“Most definitely. A puppet-like monster always seems to be trying to kill me. It gave me a little present a month ago.”
“What would that b—” Haruto stopped. Yume lifted her scarf revealing marks of claws jabbing into her neck. Like it was trying to strangle her.
“I was caught by it, and it grabbed my neck. My cousin had to take me to the hospital to get it stitched up.” Yume said while pulling her scarf back up to cover it.
“..Though I don’t have to deal with the nightmares anymore.” Yume added on.
“Wait, ho–” The bell rang.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to go our separate ways. We can talk another time. Just not during class.” Yume said as she already began walking away from Haruto.
“..ok..” Haruto quietly replied. He began to walk to his next class, but this time he didn’t see Yukio for the rest of the day. ‘I wonder where Yukio went.. honestly, he probably went home early.’ His final classes went by very quickly, he was quite happy about that. But he had just realized that his school may have emailed his mother about his situation. After walking home from school, he stood at his door anxiously. He then unlocked the door and opened it. He prepared for the worst.
“Mom, I’m home.” He said loudly.
“Haruto! Honey!” His mother came rushing over, she had tears on her cheeks. She went for a big hug.
“My baby’s ok!” She said, from small tears to sobbing.
“What h-happened to you..?” She said anxiously.
“Your s-school emailed me.”
“... some… someone jumped me on my way to school.” Haruto lied. He knew lying wasn’t the best route, but she wouldn’t believe him if he told her about the nightmares.
“...”
“I’m going to start driving you to school from now on. I don’t want something like that happening again!” His mother said, it was obvious that she believed Haruto’s lie.
“Go and take a shower, Haruto. Please be careful when you’re in there, I don’t want you getting any more hurt than you already are. When you get out of the shower, dinner will be ready.” Haruto’s mother reminded him.
“Will do.” Haruto said right before getting into the shower. Fifteen minutes passed, and Haruto had gotten out and went into the dining room.
“Big brother!” Both Yuki and Tsuki came rushing over to Haruto, both happy to see him.
“Hey Tsuki and Yuki.” He was pretty relieved to see them too.
“Haruto, I made some soup for you.” Said his mother. Haruto figured it was ok to eat it since knowing his mother, she probably did some research. About thirty minutes had passed and it was time for his little sisters to go to bed.
“Good night Yuki and Tsuki. Get good sleep.” Haruto told his sisters. After that, he went to his room and his phone began ringing. It was an unknown number, but he picked it up anyway.
“Hello…?” Haruto said.
“Bushida, it’s me, Kuroki.”
“Oh, wha–”
“What’s up Haruto, me, Yukio is here too.” Yukio yelled into the phone.
“Oh, hey Yukio, Kuroki.” Haruto said.
“Bushida, I need to talk to you about the nightmares. Since it happened once, don’t think it won’t happen again. This time you’ll have to avoid getting killed by the monsters.” Yume said right after Haruto spoke, almost cutting him off.
“Wait, they can kill me too..?”
“Yeah, they can. If they can hurt you with a few scratches then yes they can kill you.” Yume said. At that point, she was just making Haruto look like an idiot.
“How did you survive them?” Haruto questioned.
“Why’d you think I called you? Anyways, keep QUIET. Make a sound and it’ll probably know where you are. I did some research on the previous ones I encountered, and apparently, they’re ancient creatures, like forgotten gods or demons. Listen to this though, if you hear ANY sound then run, stay out of sight.” Yume explained.
“That’s… a lot.” Haruto muttered.
“Well, you better have been paying attention because all of the information I just gave you is going to help get you through the night, without dying.” Yume said.
“Yeah, I was listening–”
“Haruto, it’s time to go to sleep. Say goodnight to your friend, you have school tomorrow.” Haruto’s mother said right after opening the door to his room.
“Alright, mom. Goodnight Kuroki and Yukio, I’ve got to go to sleep now.
“OK, be careful. If one of those monsters finds you, they won’t hesitate to kill you. Goodnight.” Yume said prior to hanging up. Haruto was nervous to go to sleep, but he did, prepared to face the worst.
“GET OUT.”
“Haruto, time to get up! I’m driving you to school from now on like I said, so you’ll have to get up a little earlier than before.” Haruto’s mother said.
“What..” Haruto said very quietly. He was confused. The only thing he remembered was someone saying ‘get out’. There were no nightmares. He began to wonder if he finally had some luck. He began doing his morning routine as usual. He still had to change his bandages from his stab wound, though when he sat up, it hurt a lot. Haruto forgot he still had it. ‘Why weren't there any nightmares tonight? It doesn’t make sense..’ Haruto wondered. After eating his breakfast and saying goodbye to his sisters, he and his mother began walking to the car.
“Please be careful today, and don’t believe anything bullies might say about you. Ok? Love you, have a great day.” Haruto’s mother said, right after they pulled up onto the parking lot.
“OK, love you mom. Have a good day.” Haruto said, prior to getting out of the car.
“Bushida! Morning!” Yukio said, running from a distance.
“Good morning, Yukio.” Haruto said.
“Did you get hurt at all? How was it?” Yukio immediately began asking questions.
“No.”
“That’s gre–”
“I.. I didn’t have them last night. I don’t know why.” Haruto told Yukio.
“What? Tha-that’s not possible. As happy as I am for you concerning that matter, it’s strange that it didn’t happen again. Did you play any music? Nightlights? Another person in the room?” Yukio questioned.
“No, I didn’t do anything. I just went to sleep like any other night. But I did hear someone say something.” Haruto answered.
“What’d you hear?”
“Someone said ‘get out’,” Haruto said worryingly.
“Is it possible whoever said that was either warning you or helping you? Kuroki never had something like that happen to her.” Right after Yukio said that, the bell rang.
“We’ve got to get to class. I’ll talk with Kuroki during lunch about this, and maybe we can talk more during P.E.” Haruto said.
“Yeah, but I think you’ll be sitting out because of your wound.” Yukio made a good point.
“Oh, yeah. It’s healing, but not very quick at all.” Haruto said.
“Well, duh. It’s a stab wound. But be careful, Bushida. I’ll be heading off to my class now. See you.” Yukio said.
“..bye.” Haruto said right before him and Yukio departed. It felt like time just flew by for Haruto, as if he was only 15 minutes into his day. It was already P.E. After the accident with the ball, Haruto wasn’t sure how his classmates would view him, with empathy or thinking Haruto just wanted attention.
“Yukio! There you are!” Haruto said, struggling to pick up some speed to chase Yukio down.
“Oh, hey Bushida.”
“It’s already P.E., doesn’t it feel like time flew by quickly?” Haruto asked. In response, Yukio just gave a thumbs up.
“Haruto Bushida, you will be sitting out this class period. You can go and wait on the bleachers in the gym.” His P.E. instructor told him.
“Yes sir.” Haruto responded. As Haruto walked by Yukio, he passed him a note. Yukio did a small nod after seeing what it said very quickly.
“OK class! Pick your teams and start practicing, tomorrow you’ll practice your plays against other teams.” The P.E. instructor said out loud, after that, everyone got in teams, and Yukio went with Yume and one other person. Haruto was able to see Yukio telling Kuroki what happened. After about fifteen minutes of practice, Haruto went to the bathroom, and Yukio asked if he could go.
“Go ahead, make it quick. Be back out here in five minutes at MOST.” The teacher said.
“Thank you, sir.”
“So, what’d Kuroki say?” Haruto asked once Yukio was in the bathroom.
“She said something like that had never happened before. There had to be something that prevented those nightmares from happening last night.” Yukio said.
“There wasn’t anything necessarily comforting or anything to prevent nightmares from happening in my room last night.” Haruto replied.
“That’s strange. Look, I have to get back to class, I’m pretty sure Kuroki will talk to you at lunch. I’ll see you later.” Yukio said before leaving the bathroom.
About forty-five minutes passed by and it was time to head out to lunch for those with A lunch.
“Bye Yukio.” Haruto said prior to walking towards the cafeteria.
“See you.” Yukio responded.
Once Haruto entered the cafeteria, he began looking around for Yume; he had no luck finding her at the moment. He decided to go and get lunch and just sit down and hope that she was trying to find him.
“Bushida.”
Haruto turned around and he saw Yume right behind him.
“I was looking for you.” Yume said, she took a seat next to him.
“I was looking for you too before I got my lunch, y–”
“How did you avoid the nightmares? Even if it was for just one night?” Yume said, while immediately getting to the point.
“Like I told Yukio, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’m just as confused as you are.” Haruto told Yume.
“Why does it even matter so much as to why the nightmares stopped randomly? First of all, I don’t even know if that was temporary or permanent. They still might come back.” Haruto explained.
“Yes, I know. The reason why I keep asking how is because it took me three years to get rid of them. Even if it was temporary. I was never able to have the luxury of even having a break from it.” Yume said.
“What exactly happened..?”
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–CHAPTER 3 END–
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