Chapter 14: Nightmare
I wake up to find that I am not in my studio apartment. My surroundings have changed to forgotten walls from a life that I have left behind. The pastel blue walls of my old room are dirty with dust and cobwebs. The sun does not shine through the window. I peek out the glass to find that it is cloudy and the sky threatens the coming of a storm. I turn my back to the window and head for the door. The manor I remembered to be warm and lively is now dark, cold, and quiet. Making my way to the staircase, I call out to anyone who is here with me. No answer. As if on autopilot, I find myself heading for the front door even though I wish to explore the manor. The door opens and leads to my old homeroom. All of the students are seated with their heads down so that I cannot see their faces. I walk down the center aisle and take a seat at my old desk in the center of the room. After waiting patiently, Shimizu-sensei walks into the classroom wearing a black dress and black veil. Looking around in confusion, I realize that everyone is dressed in black; but I am wearing what looks to be a white hospital gown.
"The Uematsu family is one that I will always remember," Shimizu-sensei begins at the front of the classroom, "Itchiro-sama and Chitose-sama were a power couple, but unlike most they were kind hearted and always made time for their daughter. Sometimes I would wonder when they found time to rest between running their law firm and attending the various events Sakura was involved in. Whether it was piano recitals, performances put on by the Music Club, quiz-offs, or charity events; her parents always made certain to be there. Sakura was one of the star students at this school. An exceptional role model: many of her younger peers looked up to her like a heroine."
Shimizu-sensei finished and steps down from the front of the room. The phantom student next to me gets up from the desk and seemingly floats to the front. They turn around, and I see Yumi's face. At that moment I feel a leather belt-like strap wrap around my waist.
"It was my first year of high school when I joined the Music Club and met Sakura. She was sitting at the piano playing to herself as we all shuffled in. She was so skilled that I became captivated and found myself next to her watching as her fingers pressed on each key. I thought she would be annoyed with me gawking at her like a fan girl, but she wasn't. She smiled her bright trademark smile to me for the first time and immediately asked to hear my life story. That same day she invited me over to her house for dinner like we have been friends for a long time. I obliged and soon found myself listening to her play the guitar on her porch as her mother made dinner. Her father brought us milk and cookies, and he made us promise to not tell her mother. I was so stressed about coming to Shikon Academy. None of my friends got in, so I was alone and knew that mostly everyone who came here previously went to Shikon Junior High and Shikon Elementary. I feared that I wouldn't fit into any of the already formed cliques, but I never felt like I belonged more than when I was with Sakura."
She looks down, wiping tears from her eyes. And fades away as she moves from her place at the front of the classroom. I feel more straps wrap around my ankles, and look down at them with wide eyes.
"I transferred to Shikon Academy at the start of the second term during my first year. I sat behind Sakura, who always forgot to bring her lunch but always remembered her homework," I look up to see Takako at the front now. She is wearing a black dress with lacy sleeves. "In the middle of homeroom her mother would knock on the door, immaculately dressed in a suit with lunchbox in hand, and give a forgiving wave and smile to her daughter. I thought that it was inappropriate to drop off such items to your kid's classroom, but Mama Bear had to make sure for herself that her daughter would not go without a meal. Sakura definitely stuck out from the rest of Shikon's female students. She carried herself with the same gracefulness and poise as a princess, but she remained as humble as a farmer. She is… Was… Without a doubt her parents daughter."
Takako takes a step back and fades just as another strap snakes its way around my shoulders. I panic with so many questions running through my mind. "Why am I being referred to in the past tense? What is the meaning of these straps? How is everyone fading away?" The sound of a male clearing his throat calls for my attention to the front of the room. Kyo leans against the blackboard and readies himself.
"I loved Sakura since the very first day of school," he begins running his hand through his bleached hair, "her locker was across from mine, so I would slip notes through the vents. I would write her encouraging words when she seemed stressed, let her know how beautiful I thought her smile was when she looked sad, and I would write about how one day I would have the courage to reveal myself. That day came by surprise when she caught me slipping a note into her locker. I thought that a girl as popular as her would tease and laugh at me. She politely smiled at me, but turned down my advances reasoning that she knows only my name and nothing more about me. It didn't stop there. She invited me to join her and her friends for lunch in the courtyard every lunch hour. She waited until we were on a comfortable level to reveal that she was actually terror-stricken by my notes," Kyo chuckles. "She laughed that all of the foreign crime shows she watched made her paranoid about those kinds of things—stalkers—to the point that she couldn't be flattered. That didn't bother me as I found that I developed amorous feelings for her friend Yumi, and my love for Sakura revealed itself to be only on a sibling level. She was very encouraging about that and would sometimes call me Onii-san as I am older than her by a couple months. She would also push Yumi and I together whenever we would hangout outside of school. Sakura always wanted to make other's happy."
Kyo fades away and another figure steps up. I find myself to be so astonished by this person that the leather strap wrapping around my arms almost goes unnoticed. I gape at the girl in the front with her eyes brimmed with tears. "Minami…?"
"My first assignment given to me by my Kohai in the Newspaper Club was to report on a concert held by the Music Club," she says while holding back tears. "That is when I first set eyes on Sakura-sama. You see, my parents are always working, and my older brother is always mean to me. All my life I wished that I had a big sister who would guide me, so that I wouldn't have to pave the trail as I walked it. My breath was taken away during her performance. She was so beautiful, so graceful, and so talented. She was like a real life pop star that went to my school. I abandoned my original assignment and snuck backstage to interview my new idol. I was nervous that she would shrug me off, being busy with the show and all. But she flashed me a gorgeous smile, took my hand, and lead me to her dressing room. She got ready for the next set while answering my questions and showed no irritation that I wasn't prepared. When she was done she turned around and caught me staring enviously at her makeup box. She didn't smirk or give me a haughty remark, instead she plopped me in front of the mirror and proceeded to dust on eye shadow and blush then paint my lips. She began to ask me questions about my life while she combed and curled my hair. Before I left she asked for my name and what homeroom I was in. The next day I found a makeup bag in my locker fully stocked with brand new products from the higher end. She even gave me new brushes and a note telling me to ask her if I need any tips. I was blown away by such kindness that it brought me to my knees. I cried ignoring the stares around me. I found the older sister that I was looking for, and she was everything I missed."
"Wait, I'm not done yet!" Minami shouts at a figure that wishes to take her place at the front. "After that I went to every event put on by the Music Club to cheer for my sister. I also cheered her on during academic competitions held within the school that would decide who would represent our academy when the schools would go head-to-head. I went to cheer for her at those events even though some would be across town or in the next city over. My brother would always make fun out of me and say that I am a nuisance to Sakura-sama. I denied what he said, but deep down I was afraid that he was right. She was always busy with school, extracurricular activities, and her friends. I couldn't be selfish by taking her away from things that were in her life before me, so I made myself scarce. I admired her from a distance and that was enough. Knowing my kind big sister was around if I needed her was all I needed to make it through."
My heart wrenches as tears roll down her cheeks. A headache racks my brain as I remember the adorable first-year I met a couple years ago sneaking around backstage. I could see the excitement in her eyes when she saw what I was going to do to her in my makeup chair. She told me about how her brother would call her ugly and dull-faced, and how her mother became mad when she touched her makeup box. She said her parents would not buy her a set of her own on grounds of it being unnecessary for a girl her age who should be focusing on school, but they were not around when her brother and his friends called her ugly. Hearing her story made me really sad inside, so after the show I stopped by the shopping center half an hour before they closed and bought her everything I thought she would like with the allowance I saved for months. "She is adorable. She does not see it now, but if wearing makeup can help boost her confidence until she realizes it then bring on the haul," I remember thinking to myself as I scanned the aisles. She appeared at every one of my events after receiving my gift. I remember seeing less of her over the year, and I only briefly wondered why. At the time, I guessed that she made some new friends and was busy with them. I thought positively over her disappearance.
"But you abandoned me!" the tear choked statement makes my head jerk up. "You left me and I needed you!" Minami points a shaking finger at me as sobs slowly bring her to her knees. I want to get up from the chair and go to her, but the straps get tighter as I struggle. Soon, I am being pulled back as the chair morphs into a gurney. Minami's cries: "I needed you! I needed you…" fade into silence.
"You must let them all go now, Sakura. You're dead to the world at this point," I look in the direction of the voice to see Yuzuki-sama rolling me up a brick path.
"No! Take me back," I plead. "I have to see them! I have to be with them!"
"The time for that has passed, Sakura-chan. This is real life and there are no do-overs," she sighs as she rolls me past a gate and into a stonewalled fortress. "You did not realize that your parents weren't the only ones who loved you. Many others needed you, but you chose to hide from them. Here in your castle, you hid from them."
"The castle keeps me safe, Yuzuki-sama! You know that!"
"It protects you from what you deem as bad, yes. But it also keeps the good from getting to you. Good and bad come walking up to you hand-in-hand. Bad will attack and hack away at your weak points. The experience you take away from the attack, what you have learned, is what you use to rebuild your armor to make you stronger. The strength that you come out with is Good."
Yuzuki-sama waves goodbye to me as the castle doors shut with her on the other end. A man walks into my line of site. He is wearing white scrubs, a white cap, and a white facemask. I cease my struggling against the leather straps when he moves to undo them. Once I am free I make a break for the doors. I yank on the handles and beat my fists against the wood to force them open. They do not budge.
"You have been hiding in here for too long now," the man clad in white says from behind me. "You have missed your chances to strengthen yourself, and now the bad that is heading your way will tear you apart. Forget who you once were and hide within your castle. You will be safe."
At his words, I fall to my knees and wrap my arms around myself. Tears stream down my face and the cold and heavy weight of loneliness settles on my back. I rock back and forth mumbling incoherently.
"Sakura! Sakura! Wake-up, Sakura! It's just a nightmare!"
My eyes finally open, and through my tears I can make out light and the familiar silhouette of my liberator. I find that I can move freely; my body does what I ask it to with no restraints. My hands move to wipe away the tears that cloud my vision, but his warm hands beat me to it. With my vision finally cleared, I rejoice at the site of Sesshomaru and just about leap into his arms without any hesitation. I sob into the crook of his neck for moments while he gently rubs my back.
"What time is it?" I manage to say after calming down.
"0300 hours. Do you need for me to retrieve your medicine?"
"No, thank you. If I take it before sleeping it makes me feel sluggish after waking up," I say to him then think to myself, "It also brings about strange dreams, and dreaming is the last thing I want to do right now."
"Are you going to be well?" he frowns at me.
"This is going to be significantly out there, but will you sleep next to me for the rest of the night?" I do not feel guilty or like a tramp by asking this from him; I feel that I will rest easier if he does.
He nods his answer to me, and I scoot closer to the wall to make room for him. He climbs in next to me and shuts the light off. Tentatively, I curl up at his side with my head resting on his chest. I concentrate on the feel of his fingers soothingly drawing patterns on my back until I fall asleep.
Hi!
Two updates in one week? Awww-yeeeaaah! Thank you to my third reviewer, Loving Neko! You guys have no idea how much I appreciate the feedback. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I wanted to make it really good as a thank you to all reviewers, followers, and those who favorited my story.
See you next time!