Rei stirred in his sleep, tangled in a dream that felt more real than any he could recall. A strange fog blanketed the world around him, and within it, a girl stood, her figure flickering like a wisp in the mist. Her voice pierced the haze with urgency, and though her face remained shrouded in shadow, the desperation in her tone was unmistakable.

"Rei, find me," she cried, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and hope. "Please, you have to find me."

He reached out, his hands trembling as he strained to close the distance between them, but the girl seemed to fade further into the darkness with each step. "Wait!" Rei shouted, panic rising in his chest. But his voice, like his hands, could not reach her.

Suddenly, Rei jolted awake, his heart pounding in his chest. The dim light of early morning flooded his room as his sister's voice, sharp and insistent, cut through the lingering fog of his dream.

"Rei! Wake up!" Her voice was louder this time, almost frantic.

Groggily, he groaned, clutching the blanket to his head. "Five more minutes..." he muttered, too drained to process anything, his body heavy with exhaustion from staying up late again. He had been glued to his computer screen the night before, scrolling through endless feeds, barely noticing the passing hours.

"It's already 7 AM!" Ayumi's voice, now tinged with annoyance, broke through. "Wake up or you'll be late again!"

Rei's eyes shot open, a wave of panic surging through him as he quickly glanced at the clock. The harsh red numbers blinked back at him like a cruel reminder of his irresponsibility. "What? You should've woken me up earlier!" he snapped, scrambling out of bed, his heart thudding in his chest, as if trying to make up for lost time.

Ayumi, ever the tease, stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "Who told you to stay up all night playing games?" she said, her voice dripping with mock reproach.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Rei grumbled, running a hand through his messy hair, trying to shake off the remnants of the dream that clung to his mind like cobwebs. "Don't shout so loud," he muttered as he stumbled toward the bathroom, his body protesting the sudden burst of activity.

Ayumi's voice trailed after him. "Wake up, or I'll tell Mom you were up all night again."

"Fine, fine! I'm up!" Rei groaned, raising his hands in surrender. He moved quickly through the motions of his morning routine—shower, brushing teeth, tossing on clothes—his mind far from focused. He couldn't shake the image of the girl from his dream. Who was she? And why did it feel like he was being pulled toward her, like a magnet drawing him in?

By the time he stumbled downstairs, breakfast was already waiting for him. His mother and father were seated at the table, their soft murmurs and the smell of freshly made pancakes offering some semblance of comfort. He grabbed a plate, barely tasting the food as he shoved it into his mouth. His thoughts remained tangled in the remnants of his dream, the girl's voice echoing in his ears.

"Are you alright, Rei?" His mother's soft voice broke through his thoughts, and Rei blinked, realizing that he hadn't been paying attention to the conversation.

"Yeah, just tired," he said quickly, offering a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

His father raised an eyebrow. "Tired? You look more like you're still in dreamland," he joked, his eyes crinkling in a knowing smile.

Rei chuckled weakly, but the knot in his stomach remained. He tried to shake off the sense of unease that had been building inside him all morning, but it wouldn't go away.

Once he was dressed and ready, Rei stepped outside into the crisp morning air. The streets were alive with the usual sounds—the hum of bicycles, the chatter of neighbors, and the distant bark of a dog—but today, it all felt distant. A strange heaviness hung in the air, as if the world was holding its breath.

He was halfway to school when he stopped at the corner, adjusting the strap on his bag. That's when he saw her.

She stood at the end of the street, her figure bathed in the soft glow of the morning sun. Tall, with long, dark hair that shimmered like silk, she appeared almost ethereal, her presence both calming and unsettling at once. Her eyes—deep and knowing—met his, and for a split second, Rei's heart stuttered in his chest. There was something about her, something inexplicably familiar, that tugged at him, as though he had known her his whole life.

Before he could move or speak, the girl's lips parted, and in a voice barely louder than a whisper, she said, "I have finally found you."

The words drifted toward him, carried on the morning breeze, but it felt like they were meant only for him. Rei blinked, his breath catching in his throat.

"Huh? What's that?" he muttered aloud, his eyes scanning the street in confusion, but when he looked back at the girl, she was gone. There was no sign of her—no trace, not even the sound of footsteps. She had vanished, swallowed by the world around her.

Rei stood frozen, his heart pounding in his chest, the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. He turned slowly, his gaze searching the street for any sign of the mysterious girl, but she was nowhere to be found.

His mind raced, spinning with questions he couldn't answer. Was she real? Was she part of the dream? Or had it all been some bizarre coincidence? He swallowed hard, trying to shake the unease crawling under his skin. "What the hell was that?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head as if that could make sense of it.

But no matter how much he tried to dismiss it, the feeling lingered. Something had happened. Something important.

With a nervous glance over his shoulder, Rei forced himself to keep walking toward school, but the nagging sense of recognition, the feeling that he had seen her before—maybe in another time, another place—refused to fade.

His day passed in a blur, the mystery of the girl haunting him, her words repeating in his mind. *"I have finally found you."* But found him? Found him for what? And why did he feel like she was the answer to something he couldn't yet understand?

The world felt off-balance, and no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, the pull of that unknown connection was stronger than ever..