To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

by Vigilante6

A series of dream fics that peer into the minds of the girls and guys of Yamaku High School. Be careful, for sometimes the nightmare doesn't end when you wake up... Rated T for occasional disturbing images and sexual references.

'I couldn't have gotten lost this easily.'

The analytical blue eyes took in the strange scene around her. She had made the same series of turns she always did walking back to school from the Shanghai on this warm sunny Sunday, but now she was standing in a part of town she no longer recognized.

'Did I make a turn too early?'

Surrounding her were several crudely made shacks, a handful of ragged tents and a mountain of refuse. It looked like some kind of refuge camp from a war movie. The smell told the same story, the rancid scent of old food mixed with hints of smoke and...something else she couldn't quite place.

'There isn't any place like this in or near the town, where am I?'

She spun on her heels to leave, and to her horror, found herself surrounded on all sides by an endless stretch of shacks, decrepit buildings and broken roads, a dull gray overcast sky hiding the sun's warming rays. Columns of smoke rose menacingly from several damaged buildings in the distance, and the unusual, unknown smell from before suddenly became overpowering. Shizune covered her mouth and nose, coughing slightly from the stench.

'What...what happened...the town...'

A thousand questions arose in her mind, but answers were nowhere to be found. A harsh breeze picked up and it was only then that she realized how cold it was, goosebumps rose on her arms as her breath coalesced as a light mist as it left her mouth. Shivering and breathing into her cupped hands she came to a decision.

'The school... I've got to get back... I need to find...'

She froze, embedded in place by a sudden thought. Who? Who did she need to find? A teacher? No. Misha? Maybe she could explain what was going on. Hisao? What had happened to him, to the other students... to everyone? From where she was she couldn't see any people, and strangely no birds in the sky or trees, usually birds were everywhere in this part of town.

'Get back to the school, look for an answer there.'

Taking a moment to take a closer look around her, she quickly located the long road going uphill that would lead her to her destination, and hopefully, an explanation. Wasting no time she broke into a full run, she was no track star like the twin-tailed Emi, but she had no problem jogging a mile when she needed to. As she passed landmarks she recognized, their condition didn't help her feel any better. Broken doors, flame-scarred walls, roofs peppered with holes and not an unshattered window in sight. Overturned cars, large craters in the middle of the street and a section of scattered debris where a group of stores once stood only added to the horror of this depressing scene.

Another mountain of trash could be seen off in an otherwise empty parking lot, only this pile of garbage was engulfed in flame, giving off a choking black ash. As the wind shifted it dragged the thick smoke with it and threw it into Shizune's face. She felt her dark blue hair get blown into a mess by the stinking cloud and the resulting coughing fit from inhaling the toxic wind brought her to her knees. As she caught her breath she could feel the sweat running down her face, down her back.

'I've only been running for a minute, I can't be this worked up already...why am I so...hot?'

It hit her then, it was blazing hot right now, middle of July standing on blacktop hot. As she rose to her feet more and more questions assaulted her mind.

'It was so cold back near the tents I could see my breath...when...when did it get so warm?'

She started moving again, pressing on to reach the school and find her friends. The overbearing heat sapped her strength and made breathing difficult, she could only manage a fast walk at this point. But the smell of burning garbage was still around her. She was almost at the top of the hill, she could see Yamaku in the distance, most of it shrouded by the walls surrounding the building and the trees scattered throughout. But something was nagging her, a sense of... dread?

She couldn't explain why she stopped walking. If someone stopped to ask her why she slowly turned around they wouldn't have received an answer. But she did just that. As she turned her back to Yamaku the sense of dread faded and was replaced by nothing short of terror. The black, stinking cloud of toxic ash from the mound of burning trash was creeping up the hill, it covered the entire width of the street and extended at least 10 feet above the concrete. It was continuing to crawl up the incline of the hill, so thick was the ashen mist that anything it passed over disappeared in an instant.

As voiceless woman stood and watched the deadly cloud approach, it began to change. As it came within several yards of her its progression forward stopped and instead the black cloud began to grow taller, transforming from a ground hugging mist into an opaque wall rising hundreds of feet into the air.

Regaining control over her legs, she began to back up. Wobbly steps made with shaking knees moved her slowly away from the impossible sight before her. A sharp pain in the back stopped her retreat, and it took her a moment to realize she had backed into the side mirror of a car that was parked sideways in the middle of the street. The jolt of pain brought her back to her senses for a split second, granting her the presence of thought to turn around and go around the damaged vehicle and continue her goal of reaching the school. But as she orientated herself in the right direction she was unprepared for the sight that stood before her.

From the time she found herself in the shanty town until now, she had not seen anyone, or anything, else around. No people, no birds, no stray cats or dogs. Nothing. But here in the driver's seat of the damaged car blocking her path was someone. Or, more precisely, what was left of them. No hair was left on the body, the skin, covered with scabbed over sores, stretched tight across the bones. The mouth was frozen in a wicked toothless grin and the eye sockets lay empty.

If she was able to scream, this would have been a perfect opportunity to do so. But all her body would let her do at this terrifying moment was collapse to her knees and throw up the light lunch she had at the tea shop. Food never does taste nearly as good coming back up the throat as the first time it went down. Wiping the last bits of almost digested sandwich from her mouth she felt that sensation again...dread. Like the march of an army of spiders up her back, that prickling feeling made its way up her spine to the back of her neck. Slowly, so very, very slowly, her head began to turn.

'No, don't do it, don't turn around.'

Ignoring her mind's pleas, her shoulders rotated, out of the corner of her peripheral vision she could see it. The wall of black ash was still there. It was all that was there. Encompassing every part of the town she had walked away from.

'Stop! Stop it! Don't look back at it!'

With her back once again facing the the one place were she hoped to find an answer to the events that shaped the post-apocalyptic scene surrounding her, she looked to where the ground met the ashen barrier before her.

'STOP IT! RUN! JUST RUN!'

Her body was on autopilot, tilting her neck back and forcing her gaze to travel up the towering, impenetrable wall of black in front of her.

'STOP IT! DON'T LOOK AT IT! DON'T LO-'

The wall of ash extended to the clouds now, an endless blackness reaching up to the heavens. Two enormous burning embers floated in the sheet of darkness and the swirling mist began to form a shape on the inky canvas of cloud. In only a few moments the shape became more pronounced and took its final appearance: a wicked, malevolent grin matching the horrifying one permanently etching the face of the unfortunate soul inside the car. Before Shizune could process a thought, the mouth opened, and the world around her came to an end.

Shizune knew how sound worked, it was a simple matter really. It was just a vibration that passed through the air until it came into contact with an object. The three small bones in her ear that passed that vibration to a set of nerves that sent signals to her brain were deformed, preventing her from being aware of the light vibrations of everyday noise and speech. But there were times when she could feel a loud enough sound wave on her body, like that of a firework or a car stereo turned up too loud.

When the inky cloud opened its "mouth", being deaf did nothing to stop her from understanding the roar that erupted around her. The force of the sound wave shook the car, the ground, everything. The walls of the buildings on either side of the street cracked and crumbled, windows exploded and the concrete beneath her feet ruptured. Her mind didn't need to give orders this time, her body finally moved on its own in the right way. Bursting into a full sprint she raced towards the only thing that seemed unscathed by the shattered and torn world around her: Yamaku.

She felt the monstrosity behind her once again unleash a sonic onslaught upon the world. The sound wave pulsed through her body and rattled around her skull as if to yell "Is this loud enough for you to hear?" It caused her to lose her balance for a moment, but she didn't fall, she just kept running with all the strength she had. She glanced back, and the scene that reached her eyes would have broken the resolve of the bravest man- it was chasing her, gaining on her, mouth open as wide as the street, preparing to swallow her. Shizune snapped her head forward once more, letting the adrenaline fuel her sprint.

Again the endless entity released a wave of noise as it gave chase, causing a wall on her right to shatter and the street beneath her to convulse. The impact of the vibration knocked the breath from her lungs and jarred her vision. She gasped for air as pieces of rock peppered her face, a small stone hitting at just the perfect angle to break through the right lens in front of her eye. She winced as bits of glass imbedded themselves into her face, the trickle of blood down her cheek soon following.

Her vision began to grow hazy and unfocused, not from the lack of a corrective lens, but from lack of oxygen. It was still impossible hot, the air grew thinner, her legs heavier and her breathing ragged. On the edges of her vision came darkness, not the darkness of a lack of oxygen, but the darkness that was chasing her and trying to swallow her whole.

'Almost to the...gates...don't pass out now...'

Fifty feet from the entrance, Shizune's legs gave out on her and she hit the ground hard. Her face connected with the unforgiving concrete of the sidewalk and her her vision went blank for a split second. In an instant it returned and she sprung to her feet, ignoring the taste of blood in her mouth and the shooting pain coming from her tongue. But gravity won once again as her legs failed to support her weight any longer. She caught herself this time, the harsh walkway taking more than a few layers of the smooth skin from her hands and elbows as a price.

'Is this it...is this how I'm going to die?'

Sweat poured from her body, mixing with drops of blood from her face, raining onto the ground beneath her and soaking the pavement. This was it. It was all she could do to brace herself for being engulfed the the entity of Armageddon that was so desperately trying to consume her. Seconds trickled by, but the end did not come for her. She turned, curious as to why her cataclysmic pursuer had given her a respite. Shizune sat, hands bracing her wobbly form from falling over completely, as she stared at the ashen wall. It no longer had a horrifying visage, or any visage at all. No longer did it reach to the heavens, it was back to being just a few feet deep. No longer did it roll towards her, it stood its ground a mere five or six feet from her, unmoving but for an occasional swirl.

There was no telling how long Shizune sat and stared at her once-earth shaking enemy. It was long enough for her heart to return to an almost normal rate and for the sweat to stop pouring from her face. At last she was aware her breathing had returned to normal and she took a moment to stand and take in her current surroundings. From the hill that Yamaku rested on she could see over a good portion of the town, all of it knee deep in the toxic inky cloud. The deadly fog seemed to have formed a ring around the school as far as she could tell, but she couldn't confirm that until she got to a higher vantage point.

As she turned to walk through the gates it struck her: nothing seemed out of place here. The walls surrounding the school, the building itself, the grounds, all of it was untouched by the destruction that permeated the town below. The trees were in full bloom, the grass as green as it had ever been, even the gray overcast sky had parted to a blue cloudless ceiling, the warmth of the sun once again caressing Shizune's skin. The only thing this scene shared with the world at the bottom of the hill was the lack of any people. With one last glance back to make sure the black cloud had stopped its pursuit, the student body president stepped through the tall iron gates and gently closed them behind her.

'Dorms or school first? School, if there was an emergency the faculty would have gathered the students into the basement to keep track of everyone.'

Making her way to the large double doors of the school entrance, Shizune hesitated for a brief moment with her hand on the door. What was she hoping to find through these doors? Misha? Hisao? Would anyone really have an answer to what she had seen in town? Or did she just want to find someone else so she wouldn't have to face this...this...nightmare world alone? Taking several deep breaths to steady herself, she placed both hands on the door handle.

'Stop being afraid. You will go nowhere if you can't go forward.'

With one final deep breath she yanked the doors to the school entrance open, letting the familiar smell of the halls wash over her. All the lights were on as if it were a normal school day, no broken windows, no cracked floors, nothing out of place. Nothing except for the reoccurring theme of her being the only person in the vicinity. She made her way past the entrance and down the hall to were she knew the door to the basement was located. Finding the door brought her a small sliver of relief, one that was lost when she tried the door and found it locked. Several minutes of banging on the door and waiting yielded nothing, then Shizune remembered her secret stash of keys in the student council room. Shizune had methodically swiped and copied keys from the janitors and various faculty until she had a complete set for every room in the school hidden in a false bottom of the desk in the student council room.

Making her way there she couldn't help but think that something was slightly off about the school, something she hadn't noticed as she first entered. Everything seems to have a slight dullness to it. The floors seemed to lack their usual amount to shine.

'Is it...dirtier than normal?'

Pushing the thoughts out of her mind Shizune pressed on. Finding the door to the council room on the second floor, she tried the handle and was unsurprised that it was locked. Unfortunately for whoever deemed it necessary to bar access to this room, Shizune was prepared. Kneeling down, she reached for a section of the molding along the floor next to the door, and pried against it with her fingernails. As it flexed out a mere half inch she slid her pinky finger into the crack and fished out her prize: the spare key to her personal kingdom. Without hesitation she inserted the shiny metal key, opened the door and stepped inside. Walking quickly to the familiar desk she opened the bottom drawer to fetch the ring of keys she was searching for...and was shocked to find nothing inside.

'There's nothing here...nothing at all. No papers, no pencils, why is it completely empty?'

Every drawer opened yielded the same result: nothing. There wasn't even scraps of paper or bits of eraser, it was as if the desk had never been used at all. Sitting on the desk as another barrage of questions assaulted her mind, Shizune looked aimlessly around the room, taking note of the drawn window shades and noticing once again that everything had a... dull... look to it. The dark haired girl removed her half broken glasses and wiped her face on her sleeve, only just then seeing something answered one question, and yet raised many more.

'Why is my hand so dirty? Were did it get so caked with dust?'

As she looked down to the wooden object she had sat upon she finally understood what had seemed so off about the school when she entered: everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, a layer almost a quarter inch thick. Standing up from her seated position she left the student council room and looked down the halls, sure enough, the dust was everywhere. It was as if the place had not been cleaned in months, left abandoned when whatever travesty that had struck the town first occurred.

With a weak exhale that was somewhere between a sigh and a sob, Shizune collapsed. Not only had she been thrown into a war-torn rendition of her former life, but the only thing that had been a beacon of hope in this twisted shadow world had led her to one final, soul-numbing truth: Shizune was alone here. Alone in a place that taunted her at every turn with visions of life after war, a monstrous darkness that wanted to consume her, and the knowledge that her one gift of drawing people to her was useless in a land were the population was one.

She buried her face in her palms and felt the tears welling up in her eyes, if there was any time more fitting for a good cry Shizune would probably never encounter it in her lifetime. But the tears never came, deep down she wanted to just let them flow, to let them comfort her just for a moment. But she couldn't. Not now.

'This is not the time for tears. This is the time to keep moving. I'll cry when I find my friends.'

Wiping the one tear from her eye before it could escape down her cheek, she took a deep breath and forced herself to think about this logically. Even in this world, were her only companions were fear and a black stalker cloud, logic was the only thing she could draw on to keep herself calm.

'The roof. I can see farther from there than any other place in Yamaku, maybe there is a marker somewhere in the town for anyone left behind.'

She spun on her heel to begin her trek to the stairwell when she caught a blur just out of the corner of her eye. Movement. By the snack machine. Snapping her head in the direction it came from she froze. From the time she had entered this warped world until now, she had not seen any people or even any animals. Could it be someone else had been hiding in the school, waiting for a rescuer? She took a step in the direction she had seen the blur before she hesitated. What if it wasn't friendly, what if it was a hungry animal or worse, something like the toxic cloud that chased her here?

'I need to know. Stop being afraid Shizune. You can do this.'

One shaky step after another seemed to take an eternity as her mind raced with an endless stream of images of what could be behind the snack machine. Four steps was as far as she got before the source of the movement poked its furry white head into view. A cat. Shizune fell straight onto her butt as a tidal wave of relief washed over her. And then she did the one thing she never did in front of others: she laughed. She didn't know what it sounded like, her brother had said it was distorted and strange so she never let herself make that noise in front of anyone, even Misha. She laughed at the irony of her being afraid of a cat, of the impossibility of this whole situation, and the whole damn insane world. The snow-colored feline sat looking at the strange scene with its head tilted slightly to the side, soft gold eyes peering at the chuckling human.

Regaining her composer after a few moments Shizune made a "come here" motion with her hand, and after a brief hesitation the small animal obliged and walked up to the girl. Petting its head gently Shizune could feel the feline's body begin to vibrate, signaling the cat's pleasure at her touch. The furry white creature took advantage of the human's position to climb onto her lap and sit, bringing its head up until golden cat eyes met blue human ones. For a few brief moments the world was calm and Shizune didn't feel that crushing lonesomeness that had struck her a minute ago. The cat opened its mouth and its chest puffed out for a moment, Shizune assumed this was the animal trying to meow at her. She silently laughed to herself at the futility of the creature's effort.

'Sorry little one didn't catch that, you'll have to speak up.'

As if to answer the thoughts in her head the white cat puffed out its chest even more, opened its mouth wider and let loose more noise that fell on ears not capable of transmitting the sound waves into a pattern Shizune's brain could understand. A small smile found its way onto the deaf girl's face as she shook her head slowly at the determined feline. The expression on the small white animal's face changed slightly, it looked down as it began to shift its weight back and forth on its front legs before hopping off Shizune's lap and sitting on the floor directly in front of her. A look that could only be described as determination seemed to cross its face as it took a deep breath and stretched its tiny mouth open one last time.

'I appreciate the effort but its not going-'

Once again the world exploded around her. Glass from the door and overhead lights shattered, glittering shards raining down on the deaf girl's head. The floors cracked and tiles ruptured as a mountain shaking sound wave erupted from the pale furry creature's mouth. In an instant it was over and the world stood still once more. Shizune was frozen to the ground by the abject terror that had replaced the momentary calm inside of her. When the small animal took a step forward and opened its mouth again, the student council president didn't wait to experience the event she knew was coming.

Racing down the hall she felt the impact just the same, it rocked her, made her lose her balance, and sent her tumbling to the ground. Her glasses slipped from her exhausted face and the last good lens it had crumbled as it struck the ground. Vision blurred and head swimming, Shizune got back on her feet and took off running once more, taking a right at the end of the hall as another shock wave cracked the walls around her, sending that ugly painting at the end of the hall crashing to the floor and unleashing a shower of glass upon her head. She saw the stairway just ahead of her and without a moment's hesitation leaped up the stairs two at a time. As she turned to follow the upward path she caught a glimpse of the small white cat that was no longer small, but the size of a lion, its short pale hair had become a flowing white mane.

As she reached the top of the stairs to the third floor she took a left and headed down the hall she knew would lead her to the roof. At the moment it was the only place she could think of to go. Thirty feet down the hall she had yet to feel another sonic assault from the beast and she would have felt a sliver of relief if the floor had not chosen that very moment to violently shift under her feet as a huge crack split open the floor inches behind her. Missing her glasses didn't stop her from seeing exactly what was going on. With one final quake the floor gave way and a massive white paw, far too large even for a full-grown lion, forced its way through the hole and dug its enormous claws into the tile. The thick muscles underneath the fur rippled as the beast pulled the rest of its body through the opening in one fluid motion. Only when it was standing fully in view could Shizune bear witness to the monster before her, standing over eight feet tall at the shoulder the creature could barely fit in the hallway. Blood oozed from a wound on its forehead, staining its white fur pink as it trickled down its massive head. The white fur had grown long not just on its mane, but over the entire body of the beast.

Her running had been stopped by initial shock, but Shizune quickly continued her sprint once her legs found the ability to move. Bursting through the door to the roof she caught a breath of fresh air and felt the warm sun rays on her skin once again. She could feel the floor beneath her rumble and she knew that her pursuer had not given up the chase yet. Reaching the edge of the roof Shizune's face grew pale as the last spark of hope drained from her soul. Surrounding the school on all sides was the black ashen cloud, no other buildings could even be seen underneath its thick toxic vapors. A crash behind her told her the creature had ripped through the door meant for normal sized school occupants and she turned to face her fate.

The blood from the monsters face had stained its entire upper body a pink...an unnaturally bright pink... hue. Its long flowing hair had begun to swirl, forming long curls that hung from its body as it took steps forward. Shizune backed up slowly until she felt her foot bump the edge of the building, the fence normally present to prevent falls mysteriously gone. Ten feet from her the creature stopped and its gold eyes peered into Shizune, not into her eyes, but into her. The golden orbs of the monster had lost their murderous glow, replaced instead with...sadness, almost, it seemed, a look of regret. In an instant the though struck Shizune like a runaway locomotive.

'Y-you...its...you...'

The monster opened its mouth again and the roof of Yamaku could take no more. The entire building shook and ground beneath her began to sag, the side of the school was sliding and crumbling. Her footing gave way and Shizune tumbled over the ledge, losing herself to gravity's ever-present grasp. As she fell helplessly towards her inevitable final meeting with the black smoke surrounding the school, her eyes met with those of the monster one last time. No longer was it the massive pink and white monster twice the height of a normal person, but just a small, white house cat, alone on the shattered roof of a broken school meant for broken people.

The image of the roof grew more and more distant, her already blurry vision being further obscured by her dark blue hair fluttering in front of her imperfect eyes. A tear leaked from her eye and the air rushing past her face plucked it from her cheek and flung it across her field of vision. As the glittering drop streaked past her eyes, she could have sworn it almost looked like a shooting star. Shizune felt her heart pound fiercely in her chest as she closed her eyes and latched on to one last foolish, childish hope.

'I wish...'

*WHAM*

Shizune opened her eyes groggily, a hazy darkness obscuring her surroundings. Slowly the world around her came into focus and she recognized the plain beige colored walls of her dorm room. She slowly sat up and looked at the alarm clock next to her bed that read 4:17. Eventually she made her way to her bathroom letting the searing light from the incandescent bulbs blind her for a few moments. Turning on the cold water she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was horribly messy and, like the rest of her body, soaked with sweat. Her blue eyes were puffy and reddened, her cheeks streaked with the remnants of tears.

The sink was filling with water and Shizune dunked her whole head in without flinching, holding it under as long as her stamina would allow. Moments passed and she let the air out of her lungs, bubbles rushed past her face racing for the surface. When the burning in her lungs could be ignored no longer she let her face rise above the cold liquid and inhaled sharply as her head broke the surface. Standing there, eyes locked with those of her reflection, lungs gasping for oxygen, Shizune cried. Tears of relief mixed with tears of pain and formed a river of mixed thoughts and feelings that flowed down her face, long after the water from the sink had dried from her chin still dripped with moisture. She didn't know how long she stayed there, but after a time she collected herself and dried her face of with a nearby towel. Making her way back to her bed she hesitated, a nagging thought in the back of her mind had not left her since she saw that...thing...on the roof in her dream.

Putting on her glasses Shizune silently made her way out of her room and a few feet down the hall to another door, making each step slowly so as to make as little noise as possible. She turned the handle of the door as slowly as she could, letting it take as long as it wanted to open. Pushing the door open just a crack she peered inside, looking around for its occupant. Finding the sleeping form tangled up in the sheets of the bed, Shizune breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Misha as usual, pink curled hair spilling over the sides of the bed, most of the covers wrapped around her legs leaving her upper body exposed to the cool night air. Even her pajama top, white with pink bunnies stitched on it, was bunched up and out of place, her stomach laying bare to the pale moonlight that washed over the small room.

With ever careful steps the student council president made her way to the bed were her best friend lay sleeping. Gently pulling her messy shirt down into place and pulling the covers up to the pink haired girl's shoulders, Shizune tucked Misha into bed with the loving touch of a dotting mother. Gazing at her sleeping face for a moment, the dark-blue haired girl leaned over and gave the slumbering young woman a light kiss on the forehead before making her way out the door. Stopping as she slowly closed the door, Shizune took one last look at the sleeping figure on the bed and smiled.

Making her way back to her own room, Shizune flicked the light switch on, chasing the shadows of the night from around her. Shedding her still-damp pajamas she made her way into the shower and washed the dirty feeling of dried sweat from her body. After spending a few minutes too long letting the hot water rain down on her she finally turned the handle off and dried herself. Sleep wasn't going to come again tonight anyway so she put on her school uniform and sat on her bed, staring at her alarm clock and let her mind wander wherever it may until it was time to meet up with Misha for breakfast.

As she went through her day as normally as she could, one thought kept her company the entire time. The memory of falling from the roof. The sight of the single, glittering tear streaking across her vision. That final desperate moment that she did something so pointless and childish. But every time she replayed the event in her head, it made her smile.

'I'm glad my wish came true...'

A/N: Somniloquy is the scientific term for "talking in your sleep"

This is the start of a series of stories involving dreams of the KS girls, and eventually Hisao and Kenji. I think the concept of how a dream forms to someone lacking one of the five senses or has a body unable to perform an otherwise normal function is interesting and looks like it will be fun and challenging to write. At the moment Lilly's seems like it will be the most difficult to write and I have yet to complete Hanako's route as of writing this so those two will probably be the last of the girl's dreams to be published. Any feedback/comments are greatly appreciated, and thanks for reading!