"Seiko?! Seiko! Nooooo! Please, don't leave me! Please don't leave me here, alone! Seeeiiiikkkoooooooo!" *sob*
Naomi woke with tears running down here cheeks. She looked around frantically and began to calm herself once she realized she was in her own bedroom. Why had she dreamed something so violent, so terrible, so...cruel? She shook her head and wiped away the tears from her face. She picked up her phone and looked at Seiko's number. "Maybe I should call her..." Naomi mumbled, "No, no, she's fine. I saw her just today. Besides, it was only a dream. I just need to go back to sleep." Naomi forced herself to put down her phone and lay back down. She twisted and turned, unable to get comfortable in her bed. After over 30 minutes of restless turning, Naomi was finally able to fall asleep. This did nothing to ease her however, for in her dreams, she was forced to stare at Seiko's hanging body. And she suffered through this torment the rest of the night.
The next day Naomi woke with a feeling of anxiety, and she could not shake it from herself. She tried to convince herself it was just a dream, but she couldn't get the picture of Seiko's lifeless body out of her mind. The anxiety continued at school. When she reached the grounds, she began looking all over for Seiko. When she couldn't find her, she began hyperventilating. "No, this can't be..." Naomi said. There had to be some explanation. "Seiko? Seiko?! SEIKO, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Naomi began to cry out. All of this sudden,
"Yes? I'm here Naomi!" A voice cried out from behind her. Naomi spun around and instantly the worry fell away as she saw Seiko's smiling face.
"Oh...there you are." A relieved Naomi said.
"Were you worried? Did you miss me?" Seiko said with a sly grin on her face. She hugged Naomi very tightly, putting her own face against Naomi's chest.
Naomi turned bright red and tried to push Seiko off of her, "Seiko! Seiko, what are you doing? Come on, we have to get to class. Seiko, cut it out!" Reluctantly, Seiko let go of Naomi, and they both went to class together.
Throughout the day Naomi had times where she couldn't pay attention in class. Now, this was pretty typical for Naomi. She often got distracted in class. But the one usually distracting her was Satoshi. Today, it was Seiko who she couldn't keep her eyes off of. For some reason, she just had this feeling of dread whenever she looked at Seiko. "No. It doesn't mean anything. I just need to forget about that dream." Naomi told herself over and over again. Eventually she found she could focus, and for the time being, she forgot about the dream.
When school let out, Naomi and Seiko met up with each other and started heading towards Seiko's house. Seiko had to get home fairly quickly after school, as she had to take care of her younger siblings. She had to clean, help them with any work they had, and then she would make dinner. A little later in the evenings, their dad would come home and Seiko could relax. They didn't have a mom, so Seiko took it upon herself to be a sort of replacement. She didn't mind though. She actually had quite a bit fun with it sometimes.
When Naomi and Seiko reached their destination, Seiko quickly gave Naomi another hug (this time a proper hug) and she said a "goodbye" before going inside. As Naomi walked away, she could hear the laughs of children throughout the house. She smiled at this and kept going home. As she walked home she once again thought of her dream. By now she had accepted it as just a dream and a bit of paranoia. But she still couldn't help but cringe at the image of Seiko hanging.
That night as Naomi lie in bed, she attempted to push the dream entirely out of her mind. That way it couldn't make a reappearance. Once Naomi was confident she wouldn't be having that nightmare anymore, she let herself drift off into sleep. Unknowing that the real nightmare was not her dream.