Rebirth of Eternity
Iwatobi went on a one day field trip to Tokyo. When they visited a museum, and a quantum laboratory, something terrible happened and they ended up experience unfavorable or favorable things. It depends on how they see it. However, it began with Rei's nightmare and the death of a classmate.
Truthfully, I hate filler, especially in prologue
"Who are you, mister?" the soaked bespectacled boy gulped. He eyed the man as his appearance starting to glitch.
"Who do you think I am? I'm just a good old fisherman," The old man started to laugh again. "Well then, I would have to say congratulation for passing that river! It's actually hard for a kid like you, I'm very proud of you."
"Am I the only one who managed to go to your boat?" The boy asked again. Feeling as scared as ever.
"No kid, you're the third. The first and the second were actually married couple. They helped each other climb to my boat. Like I said, it's hard for a kid your age." The old man chuckled, his large white mustache failed to cover his wide grin.
"But I fell at the end! If the other also did not manage to climb, then I should have been somewhere with them! What should have happen after falling from that waterfall? Why do I end up in this desert?" He shouted, but deep inside his heart he's very glad. He is a survivor, he knew that.
"Do you know what that river is, kid?" The old man turned serious.
"N-no." The 'kid' answered mortified to no end.
"I see, it's uncommon nowadays, huh? Back at my younger days, it was a very popular story… and experience." He laughed. "Unlike you, I loved fighting through that river."
What?
"That is a shimizu river*."
oOo
It was a sunny Wednesday, a very lovely weather said by the forecaster. The air is quite humid yet nicely warmed by the sunrays. No rain although yesterday seems like there was a never ending storm. A perfect day to swim in an outdoor pool, the raven thought as his lips curled up.
Yet he can't do that, he grumped at the thought of it even. As he let out a sigh underwater, bubbles came out flowing to the surface like boiled water. Yes, he wanted to stay there a little bit longer. He always thinks that somehow bathtub is way better than pool, because he can always setup a nice and warm tap water.
So he closes his eyes and feels the sensation as he drowned himself to nose level.
"Haru, can I come in?"
Dear ****** god
His eyes cracked to the reality, yet he never answers the question. He doesn't have to, although he knew it's rude. It's even rude to enter your friend's bathroom without permission. His olive eyed best friend peeked in and walked to the side of his bathtub, as if watching his friend ****. He squatted and bore his eyes to him as he flashed his trademark friendly smile.
"Amakata-sensei told us to gather earlier, I know…." The friend paused as he studied up his drowning friend's reaction, "…you are bothered."
The raven let out a shrug and drowned himself even deeper. That woman must be excited to the fact they'll be visiting a museum, where even a broken ancient stuff were put on. Including old manuscript if you asked why she was too excited.
"I'm not going." The raven stated monotonously. His friend shook his head at his simple yet demanding answer, "You can't. They will give us some booklet and chores to do, and said that it will also determine whether or not we can graduate." He smiled to his friend, "yet you're still bothered, huh? Haru-chan."
"Shut up." The raven retorted as he lifted himself from the water, although he felt like being pulled out from a peaceful grave he had. His friend quickly took a dry and folded towel and dried his best friend's hair. "Yet you can never argue with that right?" The large teenage boy named Makoto chuckled before staring down at his friend's downer part.
"What?" Haru questioned feeling uncomfortable.
"Seriously, Haru? Swimming trunk on a bathtub again?"
oOo
As Haru finished up drying himself, he goes to open his wardrobe. It's warm outside so picked up one casual cloth that favored the weather, blue shirt made of cotton and a pair of navy jeans. He combed his hair to make that usual neat hair with his bangs dangling before his eyes. Makoto watched his friend dressed up so quickly as if he was late on a very important meeting.
Once he was all done, his friend rose up from his seat and goes to his side. "I'll prepare the dishes."
The raven eyebrow rose, "Who said we're going to make a breakfast?"
His friend's jaw dropped, "Eeeehh?"
They ended up buying snacks from a convenient store as a breakfast.
oOo
"Everyone already gathered here? Alright! You can now go to your bus! I repeat, class 1-A at bus 1 and bus 2, class 2-B…." An excited woman voice rang through the school hall as she explained about the bus categories. Other adults were sitting and chatting on a seat in the front, but the woman was on the podium shouting cheers at her grumpy-looking students, except a blonde teenager beside his bespectacled friend.
"We're going to a field trip! At last!" This blonde teen shouted on a same voice level as his teacher before, his friend demanded, "Nagisa-kun! You're too loud!" He said, "and I thought you hate studying, this is a part of learning!"
"Nonsense! I do hate studying but I looove history. And Rei-chan! Why are you looking so in bad mood lately?"
Their seniors stared at each other at that fact. Yes, Ryugazaki Rei has been in bad mood for the past few days. And that matters, because he started to have fear to water, especially flowing water. Including tap water and pool. None have known what really happened as the blue haired boy practically letting out something sounded like witch chanting while hugging his knees.
"I-I don't! I just… having this usual nightmare" He mumbled. 'Nagisa' let out an 'oooh' before saying, "just tell it to me, Rei-chan! And I'll bring you out of the misery!" He showed his angelic smile, faltering anyone who saw that. His senpai began to bore a pitying look at him, so Rei hesitates whether to tell or not to, but quickly decided to be opened up to them.
"Lately I've been suffering a nightmare where I was alone on a very deep river with strong currency, almost dragging me away. So strong, it felt like ten people pulling my body to take me somewhere. It's so cold and I always use the school uniform each time I suffer the nightmare,"
"yet I always saw this old man with a straw hat fishing on a boat before me, sitting alone like there's nothing happened. I always shouted for his help, yet he never answers." He sighed, "What's annoying is the fact that his boat was floating perfectly on the surface and didn't seem to be dragged by the strong water river. We're on the same river for god's sake!"
"Last night it the first time after several days that I realized that it was the dream I had suffered for days, I tried to wake myself up but never succeed. Later I gave up and went up to a new idea : walking to the man's boat and sitting together with him for a chat. It's worth a try, I thought like that that time. He's not even ten meters from me."
"What felt like a half hour was paid as I managed to climb to his boat. I couldn't see his face; he covered it with his large straw hat. The first thing I asked is why he never helps me although I was shouting at him for a help. Again, he didn't answer. It's scary! You could have understood if he was something related to paranormal things."
"Suddenly, that happened!" He boomed, and Makoto let out a yelp and jumped to Haruka's back.
"W-What happened?" Makoto trembled.
"He rose from his seat, pointing at me and then I lifted from that boat magically and fell to the river again, this time, I really was dragged by the water it's pulling me to its end." He trembled, "and I ended up falling through a very high waterfall, and there I thought Im falling to my grave!"
"At the end, I fell to a desert. A very large and dead desert but no wind, no tree, no footstep, no end and nobody. Suddenly, he appeared before me."
"Did he say anything?" Haruka already gained interest at the story.
"He laughed like an old man, yes that time I could see a half of his face, although I couldn't see his eyes. He has a white mustache and looked fit for his age, he resembled an old sheriff. And then I looked at his feet, I nearly died!"
"Why Rei-chann? Is he floating? Or that he has a tail? or maybe he's actually a mermaid?"
"No! He has no feet!"
The four suddenly goes quiet but their eyes showed that they had the same thought.
"He congratulated me for reaching his boat, saying it was a very hard thing to do for my age. I questioned if there was anyone else having this kind of dream, he said yes, there were. And I'm the one of the three only survivor of the lucid dream. Two of them were married couple on the same dream."
"L-lucid dream?!" Makoto yelled horrified.
"And then I asked about the river, it was a shimizu river*. But because I never actually do a sin, although I'm dragged by the water force, I didn't die." He whispered the last thing mortified. "He warned me something unfavorable or favorable thing may happen to me and my friends, but it just about how we see the thing."
"What does it mean?" Haruka perked up. No, this can't be a curse, right?
"Like he said, it may be good or bad, it depends to what we see and think."
*Shimizu river : Shi means dead, Mizu means water. Literally, it's a river containing the spirit of dead people. In ancient times, some people may go to shimizu river under lucid dream after being questioned about their sin (shimizu river is for people who have done very bad things). The rumor is that if they didn't manage to answer the question, they will be dragged through the river by the spirit of previous victim of this dream (who also didn't manage) and then in the real life, the person would be lifeless (dead).
*Lucid dream : A lucid dream is any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. In relation to this phenomenon, Greek philosopher Aristotle observed: "often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream" yup, wikipedia tells these all. It's a very vivid dream, for those who might not know. Insidious series actually tells about one creepy lucid dream /btw, I haven't see the third one, Im exciteeed!/
This is my second fanfic and I'm still really nervous ;-; . I've been an artist for a long time and I feel up to writing something with my lazy fingers, at least before I would have to do chemotherapy. I don't have a beta and I don't really understand how someone does beta reading. And most importantly, I'm not native English and English is like my.. fourth language. I think my nervousness makes this fic too serious.
That shimizu river one was actually my dream when I was having throat surgery. It was all the same thing, me drowning alone, in a river, extremely cold, falling to a desert, meeting an old man. I don't link my dream to the legend of shimizu river, though. I just noticed the similarity. Nevertheless, I'm also scared that 'he' might haunt me back, kowaiiii