Chapter 12: Ayamei's Nightmare

Ayamei was falling in a pit of darkness. She felt like she was falling at extreme speed. And to worsen things, she couldn't see shit. After a few minutes, she felt the ground form under her. When she looked ahead, she saw that she was outside of Mihara's house. When she walked in the house, she heard Toshiki and her deceased "grandfather" arguing.

"So you were the reason Ayamei would cry in the closet and try to starve herself! What the hell did you do to her Toshiki?!" the grandfather yelled. "Relax old man. She's not even your granddaughter and you know that," Toshiki smirked. "You…You raped her didn't you?! You raped her just like you raped my daughter! I knew there was something strange about you!" The old man yelled, running at Toshiki with a kunai.

"No…This can't be how it happened…But if this is his death…Why does he care about me?" Ayamei thought frantically. She stood and watched as Toshiki beat her "grandfather" to death. And the only reason she watched was because she couldn't tear her eyes away from the pain that she was witnessing. Nor could Ayamei get the rest of her body to move.

In the end, an old-aged man's body lay motionless and bloody as Toshiki fled the scene. He hops out of Mihara's bedroom window, leaving the old man's body on the bed. A few minutes after Toshiki flees the scene, Mihara enters her bedroom to find her husband lying in their bed, bloody and battered.

Ayamei watched as Mihara wept for several minutes. While weeping, Mihara went around the room throwing around all of the things that reminded her of her husband. She especially kicked around the mysterious box of papers that her husband had sealed.

For the first time since the day she killed Toshiki, Ayamei actually felt pity for Mihara. But then again, Ayamei couldn't. Mihara thought this was all Ayamei's doing in the first place. But still, Ayamei wondered what it felt like to lose someone that close to you like that.

And then to enter your bedroom and find that person in the bed where the two of you made your precious children. That must have really blown it for Mihara. Ayamei wished she could feel the pain that Mihara was feeling at this moment. Ayamei wanted to know what it was like to cry over someone the way Mihara was over her husband.

Even if that meant crying over Shikamaru, Ayamei would want to. She thought it was worth it to cry over him. Well, he was worth it. She wanted to feel that kind of compassion for a person. But that would mean she'd have to…Fall in love. For starters, Ayamei didn't even know what it was like to be in love.

The scene changed: Ayamei now saw herself talking to Sasuke. They were in the same exact spot where they first kissed. "Hey, Sasuke! Man, I haven't talked to him in a while now," the real Ayamei thought. "You're still an important part of me. You always will be Sasuke," she said, "I love you."

What the—this hasn't even happened yet! And does this mean…Me and Shikamaru break up?" the actual Ayamei thought. The whole scene grew blurry when Ayamei saw her and Sasuke moving closer to each other. "Damn, so I'm actually gonna go with Sasuke? Great, now Sakura and Naruto won't shut up! This is such a drag!" she continued to think.

The scene changes: Ayamei now saw herself in an unfamiliar place. It looked like a warehouse sort of. She couldn't see anything but she could hear. She heard Kiyoshi, Ryuichi, and Ryoichi laughing about something. Then, she hears Kiyoshi yell something but couldn't make out the words. This scene was sort of weird for her.

Ayamei had barely known the Kawashima Triplets since Seilin died. And because of this, Ayamei couldn't tell if they were happy or mad when they were laughing. But she did know that Kiyoshi as a clash between the two when she heard him yell something. But what did it have to do with her?

The scene changes again: Ayamei was standing outside in the rain with Shikamaru. They were right outside his apartment to be particular. It looked like they were in a really heated discussion. "It's like I was an accident! Nobody wants me and nobody needs me!" Ayamei had screeched.

She gave Shikamaru an evil look that looked a little scared and sad. He looked at her for a second and then he slapped her. Then the scene got blurry and Ayamei couldn't see anything really. "Damn…What the fuck is my problem? Why would I say that? Is this really me?" the actual Ayamei thought.

Just then, everything Ayamei had seen in her dream turned into a tornado. It was a giant tornado of thoughts, flashbacks, and flash-forwards. And there she was in the middle of it all. She still felt paralyzed all over her body. She couldn't do anything when everything was starting to fall apart or when everything had fallen apart.

She couldn't stop Toshiki from killing her grandfather. Although they weren't blood, Ayamei still loved him as if they were blood. She couldn't stop Mihara from all the tears she cried when she found her husband beaten to death in their bed. It was the bed where the two made life. Where Kalin and Juline were created.

Ayamei didn't know what to think of herself telling Sasuke that she loved him. It was strange; new. Ayamei just knew she couldn't fall in love. It just didn't happen. But then again, that type of thing never happened to Ayamei. But more importantly, why would she lash out at Shikamaru? That type of thing was less believable then Ayamei even falling in love! What happened? What went wrong?

And what about her cousins? Why were they laughing and punching and yelling? Did that even have anything to do with her? Why did she have to envision that in the first place? All that did was make her think more and her mind would begin to confuse her. And then the voices would return like they always did. But why? Why was all this happening to her?