10:30 PM. The darkness of night covered the town of Morioh. In the sky, clouds passed by the full moon hanging brightly. The moon was the only illumination on the street, save for one light still on. That light could be found in the Nagata residence, in the room of the young Diya Nagata.
Though the light was on, Diya had been asleep for hours without his medicine. Without his medicine, sleep was much like a gauntlet for Diya. Dreams happen due to the phenomenon known as rapid eye movement, or REM. This stage of sleep is marked by things such as accelerated breathing, twitching in the eyes, and, most dangerous for Diya, increased brain activity. After sleeping for ninety minutes, a sleeping human enters the first stage of REM sleep, which lasts for ten minutes. After each stage, the brain rests for a period of time before beginning the next, longer stage of REM sleep. The final stage of REM sleep takes an entire hour to finish.
Dreams are a result of this increased brain activity in REM sleep; but in the dream world, ten minutes feels like twenty. When Diya didn't take his medicine, he would have vivid nightmares in his REM sleep. He had successfully slept through his first stage of REM. He was in his bed, still dressed. His blankets were kicked on the floor and his face was locked into a grimace. Almost by instinct, Diya gripped onto his bed sheet as the next round of REM began.
Diya shot up. The heat and humidity in the room had woken him up. But… Diya held his head as he tried to reorient himself, why is it so hot? It's October. Diya began to realize that something was off. The room was dark, pitch black. I never go to sleep without the light on. Even if I did, the moonlight should be coming through the window. He began to breathe heavily in fear.
"Calm down Diya. You need to calm down!" Diya screamed at himself and punched the ground. It was cold and hard, not like a bed at all. He realized there was no warmth to be found anywhere. It finally dawned on him: he hadn't taken his medicine. He was dreaming.
At the moment of realization, two torches lit up on either side of Diya, illuminating the cold stone around him. He sat helplessly on his knees staring down an infinite black hallway. Two by two, torches illuminated equidistant from one another. Diya's heart filled with dread; he knew the only path to take was forward. He struggled to his feet but fell in fear before he could even stand halfway. He laid on the ground, feeling as though his breathing was futile. He took huge breaths but felt no oxygen enter his body.
On his hands and knees, Diya watched down the hall as torches continued to light. The further from him the torches were, the dimmer and dimmer the flames lit. Eventually the torches stopped lighting, beyond the final torches was still more stone tunnel cloaked in complete darkness. In the distant darkness, he saw a glint, as though something was watching him in the darkness. Diya gasped and threw himself against the wall, sitting and trying to simply breathe.
From the darkness, he began to see a shadow stirring in the darkness. In the distance, he heard a deep demonic laugh. Suddenly, something else caught Diya's attention. In the middle of the stone tunnel, exactly at the halfway point between Diya and the dark hallway. Something big and blue laid on the ground. He wasn't sure what he was looking at until the object moved.
"Okuyasu!" Diya realized the object was his friend, sleeping on the ground.
As soon as he cried out, the shadow Diya saw began rushing forward out of the darkness. He heard a wicked laugh as it rushed forward towards Okuyasu.
I know this is just a dream, but I can't let that thing get Okuyasu! Diya once again felt courage build in his heart. He rose to his feet and steadied himself. He then looked forward and launched off, sprinting towards Okuyasu.
He tried to keep his eyes focused on his friend, but for a moment, he glanced forward to look at his opponent in this terrifying race. The creature from the shadow finally escaped the darkness but the shadows seemed to stick onto it, even in the light. Diya couldn't make out what it was but chose to focus on getting to Okuyasu, who still lay sleeping on the ground.
The two continued to race towards their prey. Diya quickly realized that the creature was going to reach Okuyasu before he could. With uncertainty in his heart, Diya stopped.
I'm never going to reach Okuyasu before that creature, Diya felt shame for a split second, before looking to his left. He saw the torch in front of him and soon felt a new wellspring of resolve, But maybe I don't have to get there first!
Diya grabbed the torch off the wall and threw it towards the creature cloaked by shadow. As the light hit it, it began to writhe and scream. The shadows caught flame and collapsed as it's cries ceased. Diya took the opportunity to push forward as he reached Okuyasu. He shook Okuyasu's unconscious body.
"Okuyasu? Okuyasu, wake up! We're in danger! My dreams are unsafe!"
"Huh?" Okuyasu began to wake up. "Diya? What's happening?" Okuyasu sat up and looked at the figure, slumped over and burning in the light.
The figure shot up into the air, shadows only obscuring its upper half, as if the shadows had burned off. Diya screamed as he watched the shadowy figure, now with uncovered black and purple robes rushed forward towards them.
As Diya screamed he felt his body rise up rapidly, as if he was being launched into orbit. He sat up in his bed, still screaming. The door flew open as Ichiro rushed into his son's brightly lit room.
"Diya! Are you alright?" Ichiro rushed to his son, forgetting everything about why he was angry. Diya hugged his father and sobbed.
"Dad, I'm so sorry I fought in school. I was so upset when you yelled and I fell asleep without my pills." Diya continued to cry, face red and streaming with tears. He could barely breathe through the mucus in his nose.
"Diya, my son. I never should have gotten angry at you like that. You were right, sometimes you have to do frightening things to save innocent people, or people you care about. I was afraid you would get hurt, so I got angry," Ichiro's voice was gentle as he delivered his apology. "I'm sorry that this happened because of our fight Diya."
The two of them hugged, remembering their father-son bond was more important than any justified schoolyard altercation. Diya returned to his bed and Ichiro laid on Diya's couch. The two of them talked for hours about life before Diya nodded off to sleep, with Ichiro following on the couch soon after.