Kyoko’s dark yellow eyes opened, waking up to yet another sleepy morning. Wiping the tired from her eyes as she began to go about her morning routine. Shower, brush teeth, and finally her favorite part of the morning, nice warm breakfast served by her mother, Kiyomi. She took a seat in her normal spot, waiting for the meal to be served. Her mother’s kind eyes peeked over at her daughter,

    “Morning sweetie. Did you sleep well?” She smiled, clearly a little tired herself, nursing a cup of coffee as she waited for the food to finish cooking.

    “Yeah. Just a little groggy still. I had the strangest dream though.” She leaned forwards in her seat as she tried to rack her brain to remember the dream itself. It was exciting, while she was showering it was almost like she was lipping some words from the dreams unconsciously.

    “Oh? Tell me about it.” She pulled the pan of sizzling bacon off of the stove and started to distribute the meal onto a set of three different plates.

    “I can’t make out too many details, but I remember a blue gem, and I felt really good when I picked it up. It made me feel… like it was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. I dunno if that makes sense?” She tried to explain to the best of her abilities, but she was still young, an eleven-year-old only has so deep of a vocabulary.

    “A blue gem, well that does sound fun. Was it a beautiful sapphire? Or perhaps a rare blue ruby? Oh, I do love a pretty jewel.” She put a hand to her cheek and giggled as the mention of gems came up.

    “Good morning honey, you too Kiyo.” Another deeper voice rang throughout the room as the taller blue-haired man walked into the room, it was Kyoko’s father, Hiroshi. He ruffled his daughter’s matching colored head. “Heard something about a blue dream? You’re not feeling sad are ya kiddo?” He took a seat next to Kyoko.

    “Oh no, nothing like that. It was actually a fun dream. I just found a blue gem in a dream. I remember it being exciting, but not much else.” Kyoko re-explained to her father, looking down at the plate her mother just set down in front of her, practically salivating at the smell.

    “Breakfast is served!” Kiyomi smiled happily at her family as she finally took her place at the table and began to eat her breakfast.

    “Well, that reminds me actually. I think they just got in the special shipment I was looking forward to for you, dear.” Hiroshi explained.

    “Oh, that’s wonderful! I can’t wait to see it all finished, I’ve been waiting for that necklace for months!” She just barely stopped herself from clapping in excitement. “And you’re going out with Satoko today, right, Kyoko?”

    “Yeah! We’re gonna go to our hideout. I’ve got some new game ideas that I want to run by her.” Kyoko spoke, mouth full of food.

    “Kyoko, manners!” She scolded, but it was hardly harsh in tone. But just hearing it from her kind mother was enough to make her want to obey. Kyoko finished swallowing her food before continuing.

    “Sorry, mom.” She held her head down before Hiroshi gave her a pat on the head.

    “No problem Kiyo, we all make mistakes. The important part is that you make sure to tell your mother that she’s right.” He chuckled, causing the whole table to smile and break out into a laugh.

    The rest of the dinner was mostly quiet, the family just enjoying the warm food and the good company of each other, until finally, they had all finished their food. Kyoko got her stuff together and met her dad at the door just as he was about to leave.

    “Alright mom, dad, I’m heading out! I’ll be back later today, okay?” She called into the living room towards her mom as she joined them in the foyer.

    “We’ll see you tonight!” The parents said in unison, jinxing each other in the process.

    “See you two tonight! Hopefully, you’ll be able to talk again by the time I get back, dad.” She chuckled at the loser of the jinxing. Without another moment wasted, she got up on her tip-toes and gave a hug to both of her parents.

    It was nice and cool that day, the sun was out, but there was a cool breeze that was just chilling enough to call for a light jacket. Kyoko walked down the street, whistling a tune until she bumped into Satoko, her purple-haired friend, who also happened to be whistling. As they bumped into each other, each of them stumbled back for a moment, gripping their heads to dull the pain.

    “Ouch!” Satoko’s softer voice yelped in response. As she took her hand off her face, she saw her friend standing there, and immediately forgot any pain she was in. “Heeeey Kyoko!” She smiled.

    “That was a killer headbutt, didn’t know you had it in you, Satoko!” She giggled and put a hand on her shoulder. “Are we heading to the hideout?”

    “Definitely! Let’s get going, I brought a blanket to fight this cold in case we need it.” Satoko pulls some soft fabric from her backpack. “It’s nice and soft.”

    The pair of them regrouped, still rubbing their respective heads to try to get rid of the pain from moments before. Thankfully as soon as the conversation started, the pain was more or less just an afterthought and soon enough it faded away as if it had never happened.

    After a ten-minute walk outside of town, the pair arrived just inside of the edge of the woods. Looking at the various landmarks they’ve set up for themselves, they find their usual hangout. An impressively built treehouse that makes use of two closeby trees with a small porch outside of a humble shack-like building that made up the majority and a rope to climb to reach the top. It was high up so any non-avian animals couldn’t disturb them, but it was an easy climb for the pair. After a brief moment, the two pulled themselves up onto the porch. Kyoko Stretched her arms and looked over the trees. With a new vigor from her sleepy self, she let out a call throughout the woods to let the entire world know that she was here. Though of course, it was just for herself and Satoko, but it always made her feel like she was really ready for the day.

    “You’re such a dork.” Satoko giggled in response, but despite her words, she took a spot next to Kyoko and cupped her hands over her mouth. “I told you, if you wanna make it really loud, you gotta boost the noise like this! ECHO!” And just as she said, the voice resounded much louder among the trees in the woods.

    “No fair! Alright, come on, I want a do-over!” She gave her friend a couple of joke punches and cupped her hands over her mouth to follow up with her act. “Okay, one last time! GOOD MORNING WORLD!” And just like a charm, her naturally louder voice overtook even her friend’s. But this time, it wasn’t just a shout. Something felt a little different this time. It was familiar, yet she couldn’t quite place her finger on the feeling. “Like something out of a dre- Wait a second. It feels just like last night!” She looked over to her friend. “Hey, did you feel that?”

    “Feel what? Your really loud voice making my ears ring? I definitely felt that.” She grinned, but as soon as her eyes saw the serious look on her friend’s face, she tilted her head out of curiosity.

    “That like… chill. Not from the temperature, like… we’re supposed to be here!” She shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing how to better explain herself. “I got that feeling last night in a dream, I found a blue gem I think.” She started to ramble, desperately trying to figure out the right words. While she continued on, Satoko raised an eyebrow at her friend, then something in her sight glittered and shined.

    “Wait… Kyoko hold on.” She raised a hand and pointed past her. “Look over there.”

    “Look over…” Her eyes followed the direction of her finger until she saw it. A blue gem-encrusted into a silver necklace. It wasn’t normal though, there was something… mystical about its appearance. The gem glowed ever so slightly. If it caught the sun just right, it would probably blind someone. She immediately started walking towards the gem. It was hanging just on the branch next to the house. “I’m gonna try to get it. Watch my back?”

    “Always.” Satoko nodded without even thinking about it. Kyoko reached out for the gem, looking around to make sure there were no birds or squirrels that would try to snatch at the gem, after being sure that she was in the clear, she grabbed the gem. The second that her hand made contact, the world seemed to slow down to a crawl until everything felt… calm. As if the world had turned into a tranquil flowing river, the only other noise she was able to hear was one phrase.

    “I’ve been waiting for you…”