Stolen from Shadownia's computer. This is real reason why she hates Ryuko, I never thought it could be so deep.

There was mist.

Soft flutters of it everywhere.

Ah, another nightmare, I thought. I'll wake up soon; they're always hazy enough that I forget them anyway. No point in pondering over it. So I let my mind drift as I waited for the dream to pass me by. I merely stood there, but the peace was interrupted soon enough. There was someone there, someone who looked a bit like me. He could be consider my twin if he was about my age.

He's a few hundred years over that though.

But a more concerning matter held me.

"You…Why have you invaded my dreams?"

Those real red eyes continued to stare softly into my artificial ones. I felt my eyes burn when he looked at them, but I reasoned well even in my dreams and concluded I should open my eyes to rinse out my eyes. After they were melded onto the surface of my eyes after the accident, they occasionally stung if I moved my eyes too fast. My rapid eye movement for this dream was obviously skyrocketing if my eyes stung so badly and images of mist and Ryuko were so clear.

But for some reason I didn't want to wake up. No matter how much my eyes burned, no matter how much hate I felt when I looked into the other pair of crimson spheres, I couldn't wake up. So I took control. I wished for Kurojigoku to appear and sure enough he did. I released him into his second form, not even having to say "bankai" in any shape or form, after all this is my dream, I should be able to do at least that much. I charged at him, the shackles of Hakai no Kurojigoku rattling loudly as I spun to gain speed when I chose a scythe to materialize to the end of the shackle on my right wrist.

But all I cut through was mist.

On instinct I turned behind me and I didn't even think, I lashed out my left arm, throwing the chain of the shackle towards the direction as a scythe formed at the end of it and I saw it impale Ryuko.

But I only cut through mist again.

I searched the room's surroundings for any sign of the Rei King, even though I knew it was useless. I was in denial, I wouldn't admit.

I refused to admit to something so…human.

You see, no matter how much I hate him, there are just certain things about Ryuko that soothe people. His calm composure and soft attitude seem to be willing to accept almost anything. While this might only be in my world, I had a feeling that he might still try to make friends with me even if I told him up front that I would kill him in a moment's notice. That even if I didn't have any specific grudge against him, I'll just kill him for the fun of it. That triggered a side of me that I have never even thought I had. Because, in Reality, there was no one willing to make friends with such a scary looking girl who had a very scary personality. Those who were, they were scared off when they saw how angry I could get and how heavily injured the other party was when I had finished with them.

So when I first met Ryuko and saw how he acted, I felt the every need to protect him from everything. Even from myself.

I had begun to obsess over it, I begun sealing the more dangerous fragments of my imagination away to protect Ryuko from ever getting hurt in my mind. To stop Ryuko from ever getting killed in my mind. It would hurt me too much to see that. A part of me liked Ryuko, he was a good friend. He was a good shoulder to cry on and I found my imagination conjuring images of him whispering condolences and holding me when I hid from people to shed tears. My imagination was like a river with a ferry, but for a long time, whenever Ryuko was passenger, it never drifted down to the stormy seas. That side of me scared me. I treated Ryuko with so much love and adoration, I began to hate him.

He had gotten close, too close and I got scared.

I hated him, anger and hatred boiling all the emotions that flowed past my mind. I was angry, angry at myself for being seduced so easily by such a soft personality. All of this let out the darker side of me and set her course upon Ryuko. Soon, images of Ryuko covered and drowning in his own blood swarmed my head and excited me. I smiled in glee as I dreamed of Ryuko's head being torn off his shoulders by my bare hands. I soothed my anger by the taste of his blood as I ripped his throat out with my fangs and the feel of my claws ripping his body to shreds. My world was stained in his blood, which smelled and tasted so sweet.

For so long, I truly believed that I hated him. But I knew it wasn't true.

How could you hate the only person who accepted something within you everyone deemed dangerous?

How could I hate the only person who died willingly with a soft smile on his face as I bathed myself in his blood?

I couldn't.

I loved him, almost as much as I loved Akira or Shirogane.

That's why I couldn't get him in this room full of darkness and mist. The level of my hatred descended into pure darkness, I was willing to surrender myself to it in order to destroy him, but at the same time, that hatred wasn't solid, like mist, so transparent and hollow. I was protecting him by telling myself I never truly hated him. This side of me couldn't get to him, even in darkness, because there was never hatred in the first place. This room and mist is mocking me, I became dizzy and nauseous. I couldn't keep my balance and my legs gave away beneath me. But I couldn't fall, not completely. A single arm caught me around my waist and another around my shoulders.

My heart raced. This was it, the point of defeat. He had caught me. I knew it was either humiliation of surrender or pain of defeat. I hated losing. I clenched my teeth and growled.

"Don't."

I stopped. My body relaxed and limply lay in his arms. I only felt a tear slip and I didn't know if it was from the unbearable pain in my eyes or the unbearable pain in my heart. I felt his face slide next to mine, his breath on my face. The only thought that ran through me was how I should apologize. I didn't have to.

He placed a gloved hand over my eyes, obscuring the mocking mist that surrounded us and kissed the corner of my mouth.

"I forgive you."

I was pulled from his arms and into the world I regretted being born into. My mother knocked and opened the door not a moment later, calling me up into the morning for school. After a greeting, she shut the door and went about her day. I didn't move.

I thought I would've forgotten the dream, but it lingered in my mind. And I couldn't help but notice…

It was really misty that day…

~*-END-*~