Paramnesia: "a distortion of memory in which fact and fantasy are confused."
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("Isn't my girl Shun the best? Let's give her a clap and a half, everybody. Where were we? Ah yes, nightmares. Let's do this.")

Paramnesia, if there's one word to describe that world, it would be paramnesia. Like an illusion that I can never remember properly. You step inside, all you hear is static. You can see the world, but it's through a shroud of disorientation.

It's confining, but you have the choice to leave at any time. It doesn't feel like a choice. I always feel tense there, like I'm not safe. It forces your thoughts to become louder as every word shouts across your own mind. And there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

I was looking at the darkness as it was beginning to fade. In front of me was my dad. I would have been happy, but he didn't have his usual smile. He raised his hand to his chest.

As he placed his hand there, he began cracking like old porcelain. I wanted to scream at him to stop, but I couldn't remember how to speak. The cracks spread across his body, pieces started to fall, shattering on the ground.

I fell to my knees, it seemed like hours as I watched, unable to move. When he was gone, he was replaced with my other family members. Each one fallowing in turn. Until I was left alone, standing in a pile of broken glass. I fell to my hands and knees, sobbing into the shattered remains.

"Mari, Mari, wake up." I was jostled awake. Looking around the room, I noticed mom sitting in front of me. "Mama?" I was more confused than normal, in that state where your bain is still booting up. "Shun's getting some tea." She said, soothingly rubbing my back.

"You were screaming again, it was only a nightmare." I didn't feel like crying. Instead, I laid back down and hugged my knees to my chest. I started shivering, and mom tried to calm me down with tranquil words.

Later she had me sit up to drink some tea. Mom suggested, "Maybe it would help if you told us what your nightmare was about." I really didn't want to talk about it. But I was also desperate. "I don't want you to be scared." Mom and Shun looked at each other. "It'll be fine."

I told them everything, making a point to avoid their eyes. When I was done, I stayed silent, waiting for someone to speak. "I'm going to hug you now," Mom spoke up, breaking the silence. We stayed there for a while, as I cried softly into her. I was sick and tired of crying all the damn time. But just for a moment, I let myself give in.

Tōru jumped up and down excitedly. We sat down with our boba, Tōru got caramel, and I got mango. "How did your entrance exam go?" I asked. "It was so fun! I got to wear my hero costume because I filled out this request form. And I have to tell you, it was really comfortable. Except for the shoes, the shoes are really thin. I'll have to build up my callouses."

I nodded. "Hm, I'm glad the suit worked for you. But what happened?" I asked, smiling. "I'm getting there." She laughed at my impatience. "I don't think the entrance exam will be the same when you take it. So I guess it's fine if I tell you."

I took a sip of my drink as she explained the rules of the exam. "So we all gathered up together, no one could tell I was there. Actually, that reminds me. They had to implant a tracking device into my hand to track my movement." I nearly choked on my tea.

"Really? Is it still there?" I asked. "They took it afterward. But I'm sure I have a scar." I nodded, not really understanding what she meant. "It was chaos, everyone nearly running into me. Robots being destroyed."

I was trying hard to concentrate, but I had just thought of so many questions to ask her. "I'm so sorry to interrupt. But I just thought of a question I wanted to ask." I felt bad for stopping her story. "No, that's fine, go ahead." I thanked her and asked,

"You can't see yourself right? Does closing your eyes do anything? Do you have to sleep with a blindfold? How does your power even work? Is it light-based invisibility? If so, how do you see, at all? Do your parents have the exact same quirk?

Are you on a list of potentially dangerous people to national security? Have you ever met anyone who could see you? What would happen if you put makeup on? Do things that come into contact with your skin also turn invisible? Does your quirk rewrite the known laws of-"

I stopped as I noticed that other people in the shop were staring. Tōru started laughing uncontrollably. "Can I hire you to be my science tutor?" My face reddened. "I'm sorry." She laughed again.

"No need to apologize. If you can remember your questions, I'll answer them later." We decided to head back to her house to have dinner. We talked about how she passed the entrance exam, and she answered as many questions as she could. When it was time to go, I said goodbye and took the train home.

("The narrator was back! Hey everybody, how are you doing? Next time, we will be caught up. Which means Mari's story will be told slightly differently. Basically, in the third person. I guess I will still be part of the story, but I won't be the narrator anymore. This is kinda a goodbye. Or should I say, take it sleazy.")