YUUJI'S day started when the morning sun was still nowhere in sight. He huffed a heavy breath and wiped the beads of sweat lining upon his forehead as he woke up again after having that dream again.
He had a lot of questions, yet he also knew that there would be no one to answer, so instead of dwelling in that, Yuuji decided to shake it all off for now and prepare for the day's practice. He wasn't the type to worry others just because of some dream he saw.
The Nationals are only a few months away and knowing that his team is already good enough as it is, they also can't be too confident. After all, a lot of unexpected stuff happened in the other prefectures for the Qualifying rounds and Yuuji was itching to stand again in that huge arena where a lot of people are watching and rooting for their team.
After a quick bath, Yuuji headed to the kitchen and took the bento box his own grandmother prepared. He hastily grabbed his bag and slung it on his shoulders, he fit into his shoes and opened the door in front of him.
"Grandma, I'll head off to school now" he bids his farewell to the old lady busy cleaning the vegetables she just picked from the Garden.
"Be sure to bring back a bride for me this time Yuuji!" Said the old lady, namely Shikuro Yumie, as soon as she heard her grandson close the door.
The boy could only shake his head and went on his way. He made sure that he fixed his shoes and tightened the straps of his bag before he started.
Every morning, Yuuji would take a long morning jog from his house to Inariyama high. Aside from the fact that he enjoyed the peaceful hums of the morning birds, Yuuji wanted to exercise his body and improve his stamina by doing so.
He quietly listened to the sound of his surroundings, perceiving which belonged to which and smiled whenever he takes a look and actually gets it right. Yuuji usually lets himself drown in his inner thoughts yet after he turned 16, he found more comfort into distracting himself.
The main reason are the dreams no one ever knew he had and was still having every single night.
His dreams started like a dark world carved out of a fantasy book, and no normal human being was in sight. He was watching a white-haired woman one leg inside a grave as she was in the middle of giving birth. A man with the same hair color and glowing eyes in the mixed colors of brown and yellow.
It was all the weirder after the woman gave birth, the weird creatures with tails and ears and some had distorted faces, celebrated along with the couple. Yuuji found it intriguing because every day was the same dream, yet different days and situations presented to himself. It was as if seeing another person's life as his from birth up until now.
Before long, Yuuji was sure that he saw supernatural beings that were believed to exist during the Edo Period. It was the same dream about a boy who had a face he was overly familiar with. From the moment he was born up until his parents died when they got caught by a group of exorcists.
The very same boy in his dreams dreamed and yearned for revenge as he ruled and ordered his people out to search his parent's killer. And it was that moment that his dreams began changing. Because for the very first time, he saw a living human.
She had no wings, no ears, no tails, no scary faces nor wielded large spears or bows like the creatures he usually sees in his dreams, yet the boy he was watching in his dreams had his sight glued on the woman.
"Her body danced with the cold chilling wind, so swift and so delicate with her thin pink lips pursed slightly.
"I knew she was with them, yet I couldn't move myself."
"I couldn't look away because I was afraid that she might disappear."
Said the boy he was always watching, and it was true even for Yuuji. He watched still as her lips, which was the only part visible to him, curl up into an amused smile. It sent arrows to his heart and shocked him whenever he thought about it.
Again, Yuuji shrugged off every single thought about that matter. A few minutes around the corner, he saw Matsumoto's figure leaning back on a wall. He waved slightly as he jogged a bit faster to him, "Did you wait long Matsumoto-kun?"
The said boy shook his head, "I just arrived a few minutes earlier, I knew you'd be here a bit late since you liked jogging slowly" Matsumoto replied with a generic smile on his face.
Yuuji chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "I have to work on my stamina, so this is better. Let's go Matsumoto-kun?"
"Yes"