Tsukiko soon fell into a deep slumber. Her mind was constantly occupied with a lot of thoughts. Some good, some bad, regardless she could never stop those little voices in her head. Though she really never tried to in the first place. Even as she sleeps, she thinks.
She was getting along just fine with those intrusive worrisome thoughts when all of a sudden, she felt a huge constricting force on her chest. She opened her eyes abruptly, only to find out that she was no longer in her room, but in a sort of room.
There was no light around her and every step she took felt like the heaviest of weights were bound to her feet.
"Hello? Is anyone out there", she asked yelling into the foreboding darkness. Suddenly, she felt a force pull her back roughly as she hit her head against a solid wall.
Slowly, she got up with the help of said wall.
"Ouch...", she said as she rubbed the area her head had hit. She took a good look at the wall as it was the only solid thing that existed in this space she'd found herself in. Tsukiko had her two palms against the surface of the wall. She found that it was very smooth to touch and seemed to go on for miles and miles.
She tried breaking the wall with her magic, but if she was able to use it in this situation, that'd be too much of an easy way out.
When magic didn't work, she tried ramming herself against the wall, but apart from a sore arm, nothing more was achieved.
She could feel her spirit dwindle as it had so many times in her past dreams. A feeling of hopelessness would soon consume her.
Her dreams never made any sense, but they always managed to make her feel empty and hurt and most of all; useless.
She curled herself up into a ball and lay against the side of the wall. She wanted to cry so badly, but it was almost as if her eyes refused to produce any form of moisture. They were completely dry.
"Now I can't even cry?", she thought to herself.
She stayed still for a few moments before abruptly getting up.
"Since I can't cry anymore, I'll just look for a way out instead"
Now she felt less hopeless and afraid as she turned away from the wall and walked in the opposite direction. Though her steps faltered for a moment
"I can do this, right?", she asked herself.
Tsukiko inhaled deeply as she shook out those thoughts from her head and bravely continued on.
Though she'd talked herself into being brave and whatnot, the voices in her head weren't getting any quieter. In fact, they were the exact opposite. They had now grown so loud, that she wasn't even sure they were only speaking in her subconscious. They seemed to reverberate round the area, with her current position being where they were the loudest.
And then, she heard it.
Though it wasn't a very loud sound nor was it for a very long time, Tsukiko had heard the sound of a single footstep against the floor. It echoed against her eardrums as multiple possibilities began to reveal themselves from the inner folds of her mind.
She slowly turned in the direction of the noise. Usually, in your average horror film, if the main character happened to hear a noise, especially a quiet one, they'd turn around and see nothing. This time however was not the same.
Normally, she could see quite well in the dark but this time, for whatever reason she could barely see. However, the lack of light didn't stop her from seeing what she did.
Tsukiko was met with a frighteningly tall figure who'd donned a cloak that shrouded its identity in darkness and mystery. It was a few feet away from her as it raised its head to stare her down. It had green glowing eyes and they were the only thing that could be seen.
Tsukiko didn't move an inch. Not because she was scared, moreso that she hoped it wouldn't see her if she stayed still enough. Unfortunately, she was wrong.
It stayed still for another few moments before finally, it sprinted towards her at a frightening speed.
"Oh no--"
Tsukiko immediately turned around and fled at record speed. She didn't even know where she was going, all that she knew was that she had to leave that thing in the dust. She wasn't sure what it was about that hooded figure, but she felt something horribly wrong about the way it looked at her.
So, she ran and ran until she could barely take in any oxygen. Still, the figure still chased after her.
It didn't even sound like it was tired as she couldn't hear any strained breaths or heavy feet dragging and struggling, well excluding hers.
Everything she was good at doing; seeing in the dark, getting out of dangerous situations and even running for her life, everything seemed to fail her now as she could only keep running for her life. The hooded figure wasn't getting any slower or farther so what else could she do?
"Arghh, I don't know what to do!", she thought hopelessly.
However, all of a sudden, she didn't need to do anything.
The wall she'd found earlier had decided to bond with her once more in an inseparable connection as she hit it face first.
"Ouch...", she said as she laid sprawled across the floor, unable to get up as she closed her eyes in pain.
She still had her eyes closed as she'd come to a sudden realization. As she was running for dear life, she could always hear the soft and speedy footsteps of the hooded figure, that was how she knew he was still behind her. Now, however she couldn't hear a single thing.
Slowly, she cracked upon her eyes and much to her horror, the hooded figure stood right above her head, its eyes shining an even wickeder green.
Tsukiko paled in shock as she quickly moved away from the it, starting nervously to her feet. This time, it didn't run at her, instead it looked on motionless. It seemed to have shrunk by half its past size and looked less frightening.
She maintained a safe distance away from it, though now she felt that it looked...different. It was still the same hooded figure, though now shrunken, and its eyes were still the evilest of greens, but something seemed melancholy about that green--and sad.
Tsukiko approached it carefully, still not sure of its intentions with her. Surprisingly it didn't run at her, instead it looked deeply into her eyes, an unmistakable sadness filling them.
Now, she might be wrong, but Tsukiko couldn't help but feel like this was a call for help, a silent one at that.
Not feeling scared anymore, Tsukiko stood directly in front of it. Though it was less tall now, it was still a bit taller than Tsukiko, then again, who isn't?
She reached out her hand to touch it, but it seemed to be scared of her.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you", she said convincingly.
This worked as the figure didn't look as frightened as it did before.
Tsukiko smiled softly at it, once again reaching at it. She touched it, but whatever it was, didn't feel solid. Instead, it was airy and warm.
She was surprised to see that it was warm and not icy cold. She was often taught by one of her teachers that evil beings were usually cold and dark.
She assumed that was what the hooded figure was, but now as she kept feeling it, Tsukiko realized that she was wrong.
The hooded figure had stayed silent throughout and barely moved. Suddenly, it decided to speak.
"No..."
Tsukiko wasn't able to hear its whisper of a voice and raised her head in confusion.
"Huh?"
The hooded figure looked back at her, a mixture of hopeless anxiety pooling in as it spoke again in a louder and raspier voice.
"Leave..."
"Leave...NOW!"
Tsukiko was baffled by its sudden aggression but had no time to think as she felt like she had the wind knocked out of her. With a heavy thud, she fell to the ground and watched the hooded figure retreat into the darkness.
Her eyelids felt heavy, and her head was a spinning mess. Soon, she could no longer stay conscious as she closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber. She heard whisper all around her but couldn't grasp onto any of the owners' words. Though there was one that was particularly loud. It sounded like it was saying 'wake up' but wasn't sure.
Soon, that voice grew louder until finally, her eyes opened.
She looked around in confusion. It was already morning and her self-made alarm had been going off.
"Wake up! wake up!", it said over and over again.
Tsukiko felt like her head had become too heavy for her body. She shut the alarm off and made her way out of bed. It was a school day so she couldn't afford to be late.
Quickly, she got brushed her teeth, took a bath and put on her school uniform. She sat in front of her mirror and brushed her hair repeatedly before finally putting on a little hair accessory of a cute cartoon bunny.
She took her bag from where she'd thrown it to last night which was a bean bag that she used for reading and whatnot.
Taking one last look at her room, she headed out and closed the door.
Downstairs, Hirano had already gotten up and prepared her lunch for school. He also made a little snack for her to eat on her way to school which she'd sincerely thanked him for.
"Have fun at school today", said Hirano as he waved goodbye to Tsukiko. She reciprocated this action and made a mad dash in the direction of Maho High.
Though the Kurosawa's were a well-off family, Tsukiko never felt the need to be driven to school. She preferred to walk by herself so she could be alone with her thoughts. She even had a special path that she'd decorated with various flowers and acorns that she'd take on her way if she felt like fantasizing a little.
Now however, she couldn't fantasize, nor could she find comfort in being alone with her thoughts. Not after a dream like that.
Tsukiko always remembered all her dreams contrary to most people who didn't. She didn't know how to feel about it.
She'd had a lot of dreams, but they mostly involved her loved ones being hurt and were never really about her. But this dream seemed to be centered around her and whoever that hooded figure was.
Why did it look so sad?
Was it a boy or a girl?
Why was it there with her?
She'd pondered over these questions so much that she didn't even realize that she had already passed through the school gates and even bumped into someone.
"I'm so sorry, I--", she stopped.
It turns out that the person she had bumped into was Jae-sung. He seemed taller than usual and even managed to block out the sun and provide shade for Tsukiko.
Speaking of which, after realizing it was in fact Jae-sung she'd bumped into, she felt somewhat relieved. After everything that had happened in her dream, she really wanted to see a familiar face. Not just her schoolmates that were merely acquaintances, but actual people she called friends.
"Oh, hello", she said pleasantly.
Jae-sung's face looked a little blank as he let out a yawn.
"Hi", he replied.
They proceeded to walk together towards the school's main entrance and Tsukiko couldn't help but feel he looked a bit fatigued.
"Did you sleep well?", asked a concerned Tsukiko.
Jae-sung let out another stifling yawn before replying.
"No, my mother talked my ear off after you both left and by the time she was done, I could already hear birds singing"
Tsukiko was baffled and grew more concerned.
"Really?! That must have been tough. Did you do something wrong?"
They both went to their respective shoe cubby's and removed their shoes before putting on their indoor shoes.
"Not really, she mostly talked about you and told me I had to make sure you visit yawn regularly. She also told me to be yawn nice to you"
Tsukiko, "...huh?"
Jae-sung rubbed the nape of his neck in embarrassment.
"Yeah, but don't worry about it, my mom's just like that sometimes"
Tsukiko didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she closed her locker and made her way to her class.
They were having most of their classes together that day, including first comma. Yes, they call their classes by commas and not periods. Magic users liked to be spontaneous after all.
They both got to their class and sat down at their respective seats. Tsukiko quickly spotted Miyuki who would also be having that class with her and Jae-sung.
"Tsukiko! Jae-sung! Over here!!", she yelled enthusiastically.
Tsukiko quickly waved back to her but Jae-sung simply nodded at her. Tsukiko found this funny, especially after finding out they were related.
Soon, their homeroom teacher, Miss Akihiko, walked in with a face full of smiles.
"Good morning class", she said.
The entire class echoed back, "Good morning, Miss"
"I have an exciting announcement to make. Since your yearly holidays are approaching, I arranged for three students to take part in a special program at Yuganda Yume Clan Ancestral Home. These students are going to be learning all about the use of dream magic while knowing more about their rich history. We're going to decide on who these three students are by drawing names. This program is going to last for all three months of your holiday so if you have any plans, better start hoping you don't end up as one of the three lucky students"
The class boo-ed at her for this but she simply rolled her eyes as she waved her hand. A porcelain cat which had a little slot appeared in front of her and landed on the table.
The students quickly wrote their names down and put it into the slot.
After each student had done so, the porcelain cat turned into a real one and said three names clearly.
"Miyuki"
"Jae-sung"
"Tsukiko"