Yume o Dakishimete

Disclaimer: Many of the characters in this story were made up by yours truly or by my friends; any resemblance to other characters is strictly coincidence unless stated otherwise. Basis of the storyline is influenced by Magic Knight Rayearth, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and Soul Calibur II (cool game.) Contains characters from Naruto, Soul Calibur II, Magic Knight Rayearth, DN Angel and InuYasha. All of which I do not own!

It would seem to have been a day like any other in upstate New York as a group of friends wandered around the local mall. The group of teens was quite diversified, containing young adults from all over the world. It was interesting to see they had made it past cultural barriers to become friends, but what seemed to be even more interesting was the fact that they all were born in their native lands. The oldest, by a month, was an eighteen-year-old male whom hailed from South Korea. He was only about 5'8" in height, but it wasn't height or strength that had made him the bully of the group, but his mind. He went by the name Kwon, Sun. Sun was an enigmatic type person who enjoyed testing others with random trivia. He had the traditional black hair, which was kept spiked and brown eyes of an Asian. Sun's best friend, who seemed to travel everywhere with him, was Saito Hiroshi. Hiroshi came to the United States many years after Sun, who had come when he was still an infant. Hiroshi was born in Oka Village in Japan and came to America on board a ship at the age of eleven.

Hiroshi was also eighteen, born six days shy of a month apart from Sun. Hiroshi's hair was black also, and kept a bit longer and somewhat messy. He and Sun had met one day at a kendo school located in New York. Hiroshi was quite familiar with the Japanese fencing fighting style, but it was Sun who was trying something new. Their personalities were similar, though Hiroshi seemed to have more of a free spirit crazed with history. Since then the two have become nearly inseparable... Except for the moments when Hiroshi was seen cuddling and all kissy kissy on the third floor of the mall against the railing with another Japanese girl. Gray-silver eyes gazed up into the blue eyes of Hiroshi as if telling him to give her space. The girl was known as Yamazaki Yume, a beautiful Japanese girl born in Osaka, Japan. She and her family were aboard the ship to America along with Hiroshi when she was ten. The two were eight months apart, so that made her seventeen. Since the moment they met, they became friends. It was only after several harsh relationships did the two decide to turn to each other for the relationship they desired. Yume was a very beautiful girl and as her name suggests, she was a "dream." Her long black hair was kept in a low braid, which stopped at her waist. It would seem by her attire that she came against her will with her friends to the mall. Yume wore simple black wife beater, baggy black sweatpants and a pair of sneakers. Whereas Sun and Hiroshi both dressed nicely in shorts, sneakers and a t-shirt. It was odd to see someone dressed in sweatpants in the middle of the summer, but it was just her style. Yume was the one with many hobbies and a student of Ninjitsu.

When she came to America, she took up activities such as ice skating, dancing and her favorite past time: singing. She was generally a very quiet girl, affectionate only when she felt like it, outspoken and straightforward. She seemed to be the only person who Sun couldn't beat with his trivia. Yume was just as mysterious as he was, but simply because she never said anything about herself unless she was asked. She glanced up when she saw three of her friends approach them from a store. Two of the three were sisters; Tsukimoto Kagen and Aley. Aley was the youngest of the group of friends, only fourteen. She was always honest, headstrong and maybe more straightforward than people should be. She got along best with Kagen and Yume and seemed to enjoy attacking and threatening people with bats, which was a bit odd but to each his own. Kagen and Aley came to New York during the seventh grade and also came from Osaka. When Kagen and Yume were placed in the same class, they almost instantly became friends. Aley and Kagen were similar when it came to dressing. Aley wore simple blue jeans and her favorite shoes with a pink tank top, while Kagen wore a denim skirt with an orange and yellow t-shirt with a pair of boots she seemed to wear throughout the year, no matter what the season.

Kagen was the tallest among the girls, reaching 5'9" in height and closest to Hiroshi's; who was 6'1". She was a sweet and innocent girl, easily confused and cheerful, which was odd because she had just turned seventeen and still acted more youthful than her age... At least until she was angry, then you'd better run. It seemed as though her personality became the complete opposite and she suddenly became a violent little child...! The last member of their party was an eighteen-year-old girl who had come from India. She was short, about 5'4"-- the same as Aley-- but much like the others, very beautiful. Her eyes were greenish gray in color and her long black hair gave her an exotic look. She was very familiar with traditional Indian dance and went by the name Riya Khan. Riya had just turned eighteen and was living up her new social status. Her attire was simple; a pair of jeans, sandals and a t-shirt and she was good to go!

"What TOOK you so long!" snapped Sun, who had grown impatient.

"There were so many things in there, I couldn't decide!" Kagen explained.

"You're going to look the same no matter how many outfit you buy, so why bother spending so much time choosing something to wear?" He continued.

"Shut up you! You're just jealous because I'M beautiful and you're an ugly Korean!" She retorted and beat him with all her bags. The two always seemed to be butting heads.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Suddenly, Aley jumped onto Sun's back and began to beat him down along with her sister. This seemed to have gone on often.

"Riyaaaaaaa..." Yume suddenly called with a small smile and a seductive look.

"Oh, Yumeeeeee...!" She blushed in embarrassment and made her way over to the couple.

"Let's go to the movies after this! Or the arcade! Or... THE BOOKSTORE!" Hiroshi was suddenly inspired by the very thought. All the while, Yume and Riya held both of each other's hands at chest level and teary-eyed explained their plans for the day.

"I am going to Riya's... For a late movie night and some lovin'...!" Yume explained.

"WHAT?" Hiroshi exclaimed in jealousy. "No, no, no. You can't do that. You're MY lover. I'M supposed to give you all the lovin'! Riya! Stoooop!" He suddenly grabbed Yume and embraced her tightly and tried to drag her off to another store.

Suddenly, as Hiroshi took his first step a bright white light seemed to surround the group. Sun glanced around with Aley on his back, noticing everything had gone white and their surroundings disappeared. Then, it seemed that the white had turned into a sky blue color. It seemed so real, as though they really were in the sky. Kagen looked down and the next thing they all knew, they were free falling from the sky and it seemed they were going to fall in the great vast blue ocean...!

DD: Hey all. Its le author. Sorry for this chapter being so long and crazy. I wanted to introduce the main characters in the first chapter and try not to bore you all, but also try and be as descriptive as I could for now. Chapter 2 will be up shortly! Please review! Here's some translations:

Yume o Dakishimete - Story title; means "Embrace the Dream."

Sun - Korean name for "goodness"

Yume - Japanese for "Dream"

Hiroshi - Meaning "generous"

Kendo - Japanese form of fencing