"And the jerk I used to think was a decent human being is too busy staring at Sandra Bozini's rear end to give me the time of day!" I ranted, as my mom patiently listened to the tirade. I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed.

"Well, Friday, maybe if you stopped dying your hair such a hideous shade of purple-" she attempted to reason with me. I wouldn't hear it.

"I like this hideous shade of purple," I retorted, tugging on a strand. Hey, it was nice. Dark, like the filling of a baked blueberry pie. A thick stripe of long, white-blonde hair fell into my right eye. Ah, my natural hair color. We meet again… I blew it harshly out of my face.

My pent-up frustration suddenly dissipated and I sighed. I knew why I was ranting like this about college-life. And it didn't have anything to do with dorm drama, or even my mother, so she really shouldn't have to listen to this. It was that ridiculous dream from last night. I don't usually remember much about my dreams, but this one stuck with me. And so did all the mood swings and crazy emotions that went with it. And now they'd successfully hijacked my morning, too.

"Sorry, mom. I don't mean to rant like this… I just… I had an awful dream last night," I opted for the truth, deflating as walked over to plop my head down on her shoulder. We stood there for a moment, and she patted my head.

"Let's make some more cookies," she suggested a moment later, "Take your mind off things."

"A tribe of gingerbread Cyclops?" I suggested hopefully.

She laughed, responding with a "Sure," and we set about filling the house with the wondrous scent of baked goods.

.

.

.

Another dream? Noise pounded rhythmically at my eardrums, begging to be let in. From the darkness, bright colored lights flashed into my eyes, blinding me. I blinked, an arm up to shield my eyes. Slowly, I lowered my hand, and looked around curiously. A club? I'll admit I'd never been in one. I absolutely loved to dance, that's for sure. But that passion mostly just extended to school dances and participating in the exclusive school dance team, a fact that I'm actually quite proud of. I guess that meant I was a pretty decent hip-hop dancer. I wouldn't know about that. All I knew is that I loved it. The feel of music moving through my body and my body responding.

A circle formed, just in front of me, and I watched as others took their fill of the spotlight. Now, normally, the very thought of clearing a circle so everyone could watch me would have made me shudder, despite the fact that I'd had my share of solos on the dance team. It's just a different atmosphere, when you're on the dance floor surrounded by others, like a formless beast that watches you with judgmental eyes. So, naturally, I was surprised when my body jumped into the circle, seemingly of its own accord, and began to dance to the beat of the music. But it was just a dream, and so I felt no fear or hesitation. Just the music.

I let the music fill me as I danced the frustrations of the day away, and when I was done I vacated the clearing, letting another take my place. I ran my fingers through the slightly sweaty locks that met my scalp, and shook my hair out. Now the rush of adrenaline was fading, and the loud music and flashing lights were beginning to press down on me like an invisible weight. I decided to get out of there, slipping out into the cool night air.

I unzipped my jacket, letting the breeze cool me down. As it did, I took stock of my clothing. Nice choice, subconscious. Certainly much better than the last time. It was unusual, punkish, but not revealing or slutty. I looked like a hip-hop dancer, plain and simple, which I was. Actually, this looked like stuff I would wear on a normal day outside my little dream world.

And it really was a little dream world, I realized with a frown. I could've sworn I'd passed some of this same stuff last time. Only last time I hadn't exactly had the time to stop and admire any of my surroundings. The signs were in Japanese. With a start, I realized the faces I was passing were Japanese, as were the people I had just left behind in the club. Where exactly was this dream world, anyway? I craned my neck, looking around for any landmark I might recognize.

A tall, orange tower rose in the distance: Tokyo tower. So, I was in Tokyo. Well, that was nice. I'd always wanted to see Tokyo. And what better time than now? I decided to have myself a nice look around.

I was quite enjoying my little tour of the city, having just poked my head into one of many small stores to have a peek. The streets were growing progressively emptier as I moved away from the hub of the city.

A scream nearby caused my whole body to tense. Before my brain had really registered what I was doing, I found my feet running toward the source of the sound. I had to do a double take when I almost passed the alley. A blue-haired woman was backed up against the wall, being cornered by two men in suits. She held a shoulder, like it had been injured. The woman bent to pick up a baseball bat that had fallen at her feet. "I'm warning you," she began, but her hand she clutched the bat in was shaking.

My body hijacked my brain once again, like it had in the club, and I charged down the alley, thinking nothing of consequences. There are no serious consequences in dreams, anyway. I could afford to be reckless. Apparently that approach worked, and the two men were taken by surprise. "Kiyaaaa!" I shouted, jumping up and delivering a swift roundhouse kick to their stupid heads. Yup. Definitely dreaming. There was no way the waking me had the strength or courage to do something both so bold and incredibly foolish. I'd never so much as punched anyone before... though admittedly I had always wanted to try, just to see what I could do.

The two men hit the ground with dull thuds.

"Uh… thanks," the woman said, rather shakily.

"Don't mention it," I replied, feeling rather proud of myself nonetheless.

She quickly bent down and sprayed… bug spray… in their faces? What on earth? My eyes nearly popped out of my head at what I saw next. I couldn't suppress a shudder as two of the most deformed bugs I've ever seen crawled out of the two men who I now noticed had strangely tinted skin.

"B-b-b-bugs!" I exclaimed. Now, I wasn't so prissy as to let a bug or two scare me. But a parasite bug infestation… There's only one thing I can say in that situation: eek!

"O-oh! You can see them?" the blue haired girl said, jumping up and putting a hand behind her head in a nervous gesture.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"Oh, it's nothing. Forget I said anything. I was just sent down here by my boss to take care of a… um… slight bug infestation… um… bot flies, and the like… Nothing to worry yourself about!" she said by way of explanation. I got the feeling her mouth was running away with her a bit, because she looked like my sister caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I see…" I replied, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Well, I'll be off now. Thanks for the help. I was in a real pinch there!" she said in a bubbly way, and bounced out.

"Uh… yeah. No problem," I muttered, but I think she was out of earshot.

Looking at the collapsed men, I got the same unpleasant tingling feeling as my cat-senses went off. "Yeah, I hear ya," I muttered to myself, not liking this one bit. I was starting to wish for another dream world. The kind I used to have: simple and thoroughly uncomplicated.

I decided to follow the strange, blue-haired woman's example and bounce before these thugs woke up. However, I couldn't help but notice one last thing before I left. These men didn't look like the type to attack a woman in an alley. They were clean-shaven, and I could tell that the suits they wore looked expensive, even roughed up as they were. Did this have something to do with the bugs? I shuddered again. What was this: mad bug disease? I left the alley and its secrets behind as soon as possible. After that, my self-tour lost some of its excitement. Truthfully, I dragged my feet most of the way around the city. It was already into the early hours of the morning in Tokyo by the time I escaped that dream world and opened my eyes back in my familiar room.

.

.

.

"Aiiiieeeeee!" my little sister screeched, swaying on Dale's tall shoulders as she tried to wrestle the top of the tree into the wire frame of the star topper.

"Jeez, Kaiya. I think you just made my eardrums burst," Dale complained loudly.

I watched from the floor, where I was currently playing keep-away with Mr. Persnickety who desperately wanted the dangling ornament. My dad was working on getting the little train running around the base of the tree, and my mom was fixing the stockings to the mantle.

I waited until Kaiya had gotten the star placed just to her liking before resuming my task of hanging the ornaments, knowing better than to be underfoot while she was working on such a delicate task. For all I knew, the tree could topple on me. Last year it had been Dale.

Our family was never in too much of a hurry to get our tree decorated. We left it up until the last possible moment, anyway. Besides, there were still a few long weeks of wonderful winter break ahead in which to enjoy the Christmas cheer.

.

.

.

I was starting to get the hang of this routine. First the blackness, then the sound, then light and color bursting into my vision. I wasn't really surprised to find I was in Tokyo. Nor that it was just around 5:30, judging by the setting winter sun. Seeing the sky change over dream-world Tokyo in the light of sunset was starting to feel like an ordinary occurrence. This was a pleasant little spot I'd found myself in, under a bridge on the bank of the river.

Sighing, I walked out onto the uncovered grass and stretched out on my back, folding my arms behind my head as the sky overhead did a wonderful impression of rainbow sherbet. A rustling sound from under the bridge disturbed my thoughts, followed by a clang as something metal tipped over. I peered with narrowed eyes through the twilight, trying to see into the darkness under the bridge.

There was a sharp yelp, and a large, dark grey, furry body was sent tumbling out into the light. It stood, limping, leg bleeding, and I realized that it was a dog: a scruffy, street-mutt from the looks of it. And it was in trouble.

I saw the shadowy mass under the bridge move through my peripherals. My eyes snapped up to be met with a very large pair that stared back at me, seeming to glow with a light of their own. I jerked to a seated position, my breath catching in my throat.

The large, luminous eyes moved from my own to stare down at the poor dog. Why didn't it move? Despite the situation, the dog stood its ground, growling and baring teeth at the thing in the darkness. Its pointed ears were pressed flat against its skull in an expression of anger, and its lips curled back from its sharp snout. It was going to get seriously hurt. As I was contemplating convincing the dog to run off, the thing suddenly lunged.

There was no time. Before I could form a coherent thought in my head, I found myself in front of the dog, blocking it from the attack. I regained some of my confidence that I could only seem to find in sleep, and jumped to meet the thing, delivering a swift uppercut to its jaw that sent it reeling backwards despite its massive size.

And so the fight continued. While the creature had the upper hand in size and possibly strength, I found that I was considerably faster and more agile. I delivered a finishing blow that sent it reeling into the river with a terrible shriek. It went under with a splash, and though I couldn't see it, I somehow felt it disappearing, like it was crumbling away. The creature wouldn't be coming back, of that I was positive.

Panting, I turned to face the dog, reaching out a hand to check its injury, but it snapped at me, and I snatched my hand back to my chest. The dog ran from the place faster than I would have expected with a bleeding leg, disappearing into the street before I could make a move to follow. "How's that for gratitude," I grumbled to myself, sinking down to sit on the grass, arms on my knees. I rested my head on folded arms and closed my eyes, thinking.

.

.

.

The dream that followed the next night was much like the last, except this time it happened in a playground, and in the dog's place was a small child. The creature like a shadowy beast was the same, though it looked a little bit different from the other two I'd seen. Maybe they were relatives?

I couldn't seem to make much sense of the dreams, except that I woke up exceptionally tired each morning. It was a good thing there were still a few weeks of break. There was no way I could concentrate on something like school when all I wanted to do was crawl back in bed. I had to get these dreams under control by then.

But I have to say, although the dreams were exhausting, they were also thrilling. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I got to fight back when confronted by creatures from my nightmares. It was… well… awesome, for lack of a better word. I was like Sailor Moon, except I literally kicked ass. No sissy magic words or fancy items for me. Just the strength of my own dream-body alone. It felt good.

.

AN: Uh, yeah... think of that last portion (you know, where I skipped a whole fight) less as laziness and more as economy of words... And by the way, ever notice the Makai insects seem to be the first on the scene whenever there's any type of disturbance in the human world? It's weird.

(Alternate title: A Small Dream, After All) ((And now the song is stuck in your head :D))

Please review! Thank you for reading :)