5
in which Tohru goes to the dread counselor's lair
Tohru sat down in the office guest chair gingerly, not wanting to appear too nervous or too excitable. Across the little room, an elderly man with soft eyes waited for her to begin.
"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Takahashi."
"Tohru, it is good to see you as well. You haven't been by in nearly 3 months."
"Well, there didn't seem to be a need, but I'm sorry I didn't come by to say hello! Forgive me."
He laughed, and she could see familiar dimples. "No need, no need Tohru. Actually I was pleased. You've made such amazing progress in so short a time from waking up; it was nice to know you felt comfortable enough not need it. Besides, we've been busy as always, with finals coming up." He shook his head with a long-suffering smile, and Tohru felt herself smiling back. "All the stress you kids take on, it's amazing most of you are still sane. However, I doubt that's why you've come. What is bothering you?"
Tohru ducked her head, and examined the hands in her lap. If she wrung them any more she'd tear her skirt up in no time at all. Time. What was she doing here? She shouldn't be wasting his time over something this foolish. Surely he had other students to see.
"I... I've been having a repeating dream." She waited for some prompting to give her courage; when he didn't say anything she bit her lip and went on anyway.
"It always starts out on a beach. I don't recognize it, but I don't think that's really important anyway. I'm usually in a swimsuit, but sometimes in my normal clothes or my apron. Once I was in my old high school uniform. It's warm, and I'm... happy."
"Are you alone?"
"No. There's always another person there. A young man, a boy, my age I think. I can never remember what he looks like, but I think we're about the same age. He..."
"He is always facing me, with his back to the ocean. He calls me by nicknames-- fruit, usually. And he smiles at me. But, I can see the ocean rising behind him. I try to tell him to turn around, to look at the sea and not at me, but he refuses. And then a wave crashes in front of me, and he's gone. Like he was never there at all, but at the same time I know the ocean ate him. It carried him away."
Mr. Takahashi leaned back in his chair, and chewed on the end of a highlighter. "How long have these dreams been coming?"
"Nearly two months."
"I see. Well after your coma then. And they're always the same?"
"Sometimes he says other things, almost like... like he wants to flirt with me, but is shy. I'm not certain because I don't have a lot experience with flirting. It always ends the same way though."
"Does the boy in your dream resemble anyone you know?"
Tohru shook her head swiftly. "Oh no. I can't remember what he looks like, but I know, I know that he's not one of the boys in class, or from the restaurant. I'm certain of it."
"Alright, well, have you ever tried to change the dream?"
"I'm sorry. I don't think I understand."
The old counselor's smile widened, showing faint dimples. "Next time you feel yourself in the dream, try to inciate a change. Instigate. Be a catalyst. Try to stop the boy from getting pulled into the ocean, or try to lure him away." One shrewd look at how Tohru's eyes darted to the side told him maybe she had already tried that approach. "Or, if that doesn't work, go in after him."
It surprised her. She had never considered following the boy into the ocean. It was always so huge, and dark, and things usually happened too fast for her to think about reacting. "Oh. I never imagined doing that."
"It can't hurt."
Tohru was tempted to tell him that it could hurt, because she was desperately afraid of the ocean of her dreams. She could not trust something that would hurt this boy over and over again before her eyes, simply because he turned his back to it.
"Thank you for your advice, Mr. Takahaahi." She needed a breath of air outside.