A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the very sweet and lovely Minniemiss123.
CHAPTER 3: Nightmares
He stepped out of the small wooden shop with a heavy heart, he tightened his grip on the brown bag in his hand in an attempt to keep himself from falling apart. He felt like he was standing on the edge of a mountain and the ground he was standing on was ready to collapse. He could feel his sanity slowly slipping away each day as he watches her condition getting worse. The medicines that were supposed to help her feel better was not doing anything to help her. He shook his head and change his course, he didn't want her to see him in that state.
He began walking towards the market when he noticed a familiar lady across the street arranging a set of cards on top of a wooden table. It was the diviner he encountered a long time ago. She looked up at the same time and grinned at his direction. He loosened his grip around the bag and walked towards her with a sudden curiosity.
"Do you finally want to know about your future?" she asked
"No,"
She arched her brows and studied him carefully, "But you want to know about the raven-haired girl's future,"
He tried to remain impassive, but the surprise was evident on his face, "H-how did you know?"
She looked down at her cards, "You wouldn't believe me if I tell you,"
"How long does she have left?" he asked almost in a whisper.
"Three or maybe four years," she replied, her attention focused on the cards in front of her.
Blood rushed to the surface of his skin, a line formed between his brows as he narrowed his eyes at her. How could she casually put a sentence on someone's life and act disinterested.
She noticed the sudden shift of his mood and chuckled, "Don't get mad at me now,"
He drew in deep breaths to compose himself, "Is there anyway she could be saved?"
She looked up and stared at him for a few seconds, noticing the determination in his eyes, she put down her cards and faced him, "There's nothing you can do to save her," she paused, "except- "she shook her head and quickly dismissed the thought as if it was too terrifying to be considered.
"No. there's nothing else you can do," she added
He furrowed his brows, "Tell me what you were going to say,"
She sighed, "There is a folk's tale about a sorceress living in the forest. A few people claimed to have met her. They said she is the most powerful being in the land and she can grant you any wish but not many people have returned alive to share the tale,"
He furrowed his brows, "How could you believe in something you have never seen before?"
"Young man, there are many things in this world that is almost impossible to explain. I am a firm believer that anything is possible even sorcery and witchcraft,"
He was stupefied on his feet as he pondered on her notion.
"I am warning you, it is not a clever idea to seek her. Interfering with someone's destiny is against the nature of life and comes with a big price,"
He jolted awake, heart pounding loudly against his chest and eyes glossed with fear. He frantically looked around his surrounding to realize it was just another dream. He sighed and sat up on his bed, it has been a week since he started having nightmares and it all started the day he came back to Japan. It almost seemed like a bad omen but if he was heading a dangerous road, there was no going back.
He couldn't shrug off the feeling that it had something to do with her. And if it was, maybe he was close to finding her.
xxx
It was the last day of the cultural festival and Hinata and Takumi decided to stay behind after the assembly to enjoy the event. They walked by a booth with a sign that read 'psychic reading,' Takumi paused and stared at the sign.
"I guess, she didn't show up today," Hinata shrugged before walking towards a food cart.
"Yeah," he whispered. One of the reasons he decided to stay was in hope to talk to her and clarify what she meant by her prediction.
He has turned to many psychics or those claiming to have a spiritual ability for help, after all it was a diviner that opened his eyes about the impossible in this world. But through the long years he lived, he hasn't met anyone else that have the abilities until now.
"Takumi," he snapped out of his reverie and looked over his friend, "Do you want one too?" he called over.
Hinata was like a child enjoying himself jumping from one cart to another stuffing his face with different food. Discovering and getting in touch with his Japanese roots definitely increased his appetite and brought out the gluttony side of him. He laughed at his friend's overzealous attempt to finish the crepe in his hand.
"I am good. I think you can finish all of those by yourself," he called out to Hinata who only glared at him in response.
Takumi shook his head in amazement and followed him
Hinata whipped out his phone and stared at the screen, "Takumi, Mr. Endo sent an email and he wants us to meet him at the faculty office,"
"Alright, this is a good time to take a break from eating," he teased.
He lead the way towards the administration building, it might be about their meeting with the rest of the school board to see their final design. They weaved through the crowd of students making their way around in groups. He soaked in the experience, if it was going to be his end, he realized there was no better way of putting an end to it at the place were it all started.
He paused when he noticed something in his peripheral vision, he looked back and narrowed his eyes at the small group huddled across them, trying to distinguish the familiar silhouette.
"What's wrong?" Hinata asked
"Nothing," he murmured, he couldn't take his eyes off the figure. There was something awfully familiar to her that he couldn't put his finger on it but the sinking feeling in his stomach warned him that something was not quiet right.
She must have felt someone watching her and she moved her head back to look at the crowd. He finally got a better look of her face and her amber pools locked onto his. His steps came to a halt as he felt a cold chill ran down his back.
"It can't be," he said under his breath.
Was it just his mind playing tricks on him? But as he held her gaze and waited for reality to kick in and wake him up from this bittersweet dream, a hand shook him out of his daze.
"Are you okay?" Hinata looked over at where he was staring, "There is Mr. Endo with his colleagues,"
She gave him a passing look and redirected her attention back to her friend.
Like his feet had their mind of their own, he began walking towards her. His picked up the pace as he got closer to her. The noise around him and the beckoning of his friend was muted out and was replaced with the loud hammering in his chest. Excitement and fear pooled together in the pit of his stomach.
How was it possible? He could not think much of the reality, he just wanted to reach her, touch her and hope that it wasn't just another one of his nightmares.
He stopped on his tracks once he was a few feet away from her, she looked up and met his gaze once again. The other people around her also paused to look at the disheveled and disoriented man standing in front of them.
He shook his head, unable to process what his eyes were seeing. How was it possible? One step at a time, he slowly closed on her. It might have been more than a decade, but he couldn't make a mistake. He still remembers her like it was just yesterday, her face will forever be engraved in the back of his head. How could he forget the face of the one person that he loved the most?
If it was just another dream, then he doesn't want to wake up anymore.
"Mr. Walker," he heard someone say.
He did not take notice of his surrounding as his sole focus was on the person in front of him. He could feel a lump forming in the back of his throat, he craved for this moment for so long, to see her and to finally have the chance to hold her again, even for just a few moments.
"Hiromi," he whispered, saying her name out loud after so many years felt foreign yet comforting to hear.
There she stood in front of him, healthy and unscathed. His eyes welled up with tears, "It is you,"
He took another step and engulfed her into a hug. He didn't know how it was possible, but she was there in front of him in the flesh. He couldn't contain his emotions and tears streamed down his cheeks as he held her tightly against him, desperately holding onto her to make up for all the time they lost.
For a moment, he felt a ray of light shine through the fog clouding his whole being and for that tiny moment he felt pure bliss. All the sadness, heartbreak and the heaviness he carried in his heart for so many years was suddenly lifted off him and for a second, he believed that everything was going to be okay now that she was there.
She placed her hands against his chest and pushed him away. She took a step back, her brows were knitted together in confusion. The way her amber eyes regarded him made him realize that something was amiss. His arms fell back to his sides.
"Do I know you?" she asked
It took him a second to piece it together that those words came from her mouth, "Hiromi, I-its me," he choked out.
"I think you have mistaken me for someone else," her amber eyes were apologetic as she took in the sight of him.
He fell into silence as her words registered into his mind, he could feel his world spinning as questions circled his confused mind. He glanced around him, all the spectators' faces mirrored hers as they looked him over.
"Are you sure you don't know Mr. Walker, Misaki?" the others asked in concern
"I am sure," the crease in her forehead never left her face.
As fast as the feeling of euphoria came rushing to him, the faster the darkness enveloped him and put him back in a pit of despair. He could feel a growing ache crawling its way into his chest and shattering his already broken heart into tiny pieces. This time he wanted to wish that it was just another nightmare.