03/09/20xx

I've been having these weird dreams lately…

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

…Like, is any of this for real… or-

"Pay attention Intruder!" "Whoa!"

A little girl wearing what looks like a blue prison guard uniform and an eyepatch yanks my chains. Wait what? "He doesn't seem to comprehend the situation yet." Someone who looks like her twin answers. "What's with the cosplay?" Taking a look around, I was being led into some sort of prison. Oh even I have an outfit. "Cosplay…?" Now that one looks as confused as I am.

"This place exists between dream and reality." A man(is that a nose?) sitting behind a desk announces. So this is a dream then? "Mind and mat-" "Who are you?" This time the force from the yank brings me to my knees. That actually hurt! I thought this was a dream!? "Know you place Intruder!"

"I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well..." He continues, "…and you..." He pauses and stares at me.

"…Hm?" The staring contest got awkward fast. This time I'm yanked face to face with the aggressive one, "Who are you?!" Don't wanna test her strength anymore so I'll comply for now. "Hikigaya Hachiman."

"…Hachiman…" his smile widens, "you are an unexpected guest, but not an unwelcome one." He chuckles. An alarm clock starts ringing from… somewhere. Hearing it is making me feel sleepy though. "If you find your way back here again then we'll have more introductions to make." He juts his nose towards the twins. I feel my body get pulled back but I'm too drowsy to react at this point.


03/10/20xx

I open my eyes and immediately regret it. "Ugh… too bright." "You're awake!" And now it's too loud… wait… I try to peek at the source of the voice while letting my eyes adjust and notice two figures looking down at me. Their most prominent feature is their hair color. "Um..." I'm trying to remember if I met these two redheads. Twins? Maybe, but their getups couldn't be any more different. One looks cheerful and had her hair tied with a red ribbon while the other one had her hair down and was wearing glasses. Glasses-san was starting to stare.

"My name's Kasumi Yoshizawa!" The expressive one answers. The quiet one just stares. "She's Sumire Yoshizawa, my sister." Kasumi answers in her stead. Sumire's gaze shifts from me to my leg. I sit up to see what she's looking at and find a cast. Huh. Focusing less on the sisters and more on my surroundings I could see the white room I was sleeping in. So it's a hospital huh? Are these two visiting the wrong room?

"Sorry about your leg! But also… thank you so much Hikigaya-kun!" Kasumi grabs my hands and takes me out of my thoughts. Sorry? And thanks? "What happened?" It gets quiet after I ask that but Sumire starts fidgeting. "Sumir-" "I lost my balance on the sidewalk and fell in front of a car. My sister tried to save me." I looked passed Kasumi and see Sumire looking to the side. "Ok, but how did I end up like this?" I would push Komachi out of the way of a speeding vehicle too, no hesitation, but that doesn't explain why I'm the one in the hospital.

"I don't know how much you remember but when Sumire fell into the street I tried to help her, but you pulled me back and pushed Sumire out of the way. It was pretty incredible how you did that while on a bike!" Kasumi gives the other half of Sumire's explanation. Oh. So I was hit instead. "How long was I out?" I try asking them, "and when will I be good to leave this place?" I was on my way to Sojiro's…

"We tried visiting yesterday but they wouldn't allow us in yet. So a day." Hm? Sumire stares at me for a few seconds before continuing, "Your bike took most of the hit but you hurt your leg as well." I look to Kasumi. "We overheard the doctor saying you would be cleared in a couple weeks so at least you can skip school for a bit!" She smiles. Whoa, deja vu. "AND we'll stop by everyday until your release."

They're coming back? I'm getting tired just thinking about it. "We'll let the doctor know you woke up while we're leaving. See you tomorrow!" Kasumi waves as she walks out with Sumire offering a small nod.

I turn to look out the window and see it's dark outside but some movement catches my eye. Huh, never seen a butterfly that blue before. Must be the moonlight giving it that shine. It's gone after I blink. Yep just gonna lay down. I'll think about this later. "I heard you woke up from those two twins Hachiman. Anything feel off?" Sojiro walks into the room looking like he was in a hurry.

I offer him a slow blink and then turn to my leg, "Nah I feel just fine." He just sighs. "This is why I used to tell you not to get involved in other people's business." He did do that a lot. "You'll be here for at least two weeks depending on your recovery so don't try to exert yourself, you understand?" He looks a little worked up now. "I get it Sojiro. I was planning on taking it easy since I can't do much while my leg is like this. Probably read or browse the web on my phone."

"Kid, your phones done." Huh? "It got smashed in the crash." Ah. "Reading it is then." I was supposed to spend my second year of high school at Shujin Academy but that's on hold for now. I originally attended Sobu but some... complications near the end of my first year required me to transfer. My parents sent me to stay with a friend of theirs for my second year. That friend being Sojiro Sakura, the owner of a coffee shop called Leblanc.

They used to stop by Cafe Leblanc a lot after work and would sometimes bring me or Komachi. That was years ago though, they stopped going to Leblanc after they got busier with work. I was supposed to start staying with Sojiro this week but that's a bit delayed now. "By the way, I'll be taking in another kid. Troublemaker like you, same year too." I'm a troublemaker? Wait that's not important right now.

"What do you mean?" Does he normally house high school students? Sojiro looks around before answering. "They have nowhere else to go after what they did so..." he seems reluctant. "They'll be here in about a month so you'd better behave! ...and don't try anything! ...though she could probably handle you." It's a girl? What kind of romcom situation is this? "I would argue with your judgement of my character but I'm feeling a little worn out with all this news."

"Ok ok," Sojiro smirks "Was just teasing, you were a quiet kid back then and you still seem that way now." Uh huh. "I'll pick you up when you get discharged to make sure you make it to the cafe next time." Sojiro leaves.

Ugh, prison dream, two pairs of twins, a messed up leg, broken phone... What a way to wake up. With heavy eyelids, I laid back and let sleep take me.