Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read this story, and also thanks to all of you who are reviewing! I'm feeling very happy (my friend taught me how to play 2 new songs on my guitar) so I am bound and determined to make this chapter a good one! (and also I'm trying to make up for updating so late -;)
Chapter 9- The Nightmares That Haunt Us
Ryuhou tossed and turned, sweat slowly trickling down his face and drenching his bed. Even though he was asleep, his expressions still showed pain and troubles. His dream was a nightmare; he hadn't been expecting that, especially since the last part of his night with Mimori was an overall good one. In the next room, the same thing was occurring with Mimori. Ryuhou couldn't stand it, he hated this dream, and he wanted to end it, but for some reason, he just couldn't.
In the beginning, he had been with Mimori, and everything was fine. Both of them were little kids again, Ryuhou was actually happy, and was smiling on a normal basis. But then the darkness came and snatched Mimori out of his grasp, and no matter how hard he tried to get to her, she seemed to slip further and further away.
"Mimori!" He shouted with his arm stretched out in front of him as he tried to grab her.
"Ryuhou!" Her voice echoed as she called out his name. He turned around sadly to look at his mother, who wore a comforting smile on her face. He smiled back at her sadly, but before she could say anything, she was brutally murdered.
Right in front of her son. How could the criminal be so fast? Ryuhou's eyes widened, and his pupils dilated, as the blood from his mother poured out and formed a pool around her. The tears fell like waterfalls, each tear containing just as much pain, sadness, remorse, anger and hatred as the one before it. NOTHING he had ever experienced before had been this painful. At least he knew Mimori was safe with her parents, while Ryuhou's mother lay there dead, and the cold blooded murderer standing right before him. This man was unlike any Ryuhou had seen before, this man reminded him somewhat of Zetsuei. He was black and white, with black and white flames emitting from the sides of his arms. He had no pupils, his hair looked like fire as well.
"NOOO!" Ryuhou exclaimed. The land around him dissipated and formed Zetsuei. The man, however, was not phased by this, and easily defeated.
Ryuhou knew it was a dream, but the pain he felt sure wasn't. 'What are you doing? WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!' he yelled to himself mentally, but he couldn't awaken from his slumber. Apparently the dream wasn't done yet….
In Mimori's room, her dream began the same way. She and Mimori were kids again, and once again they were separated. She saw everything that had happened, even though she had left in the car. It was as though she were in two bodies: her real self, the one who had driven away before the death of Ryuhou's mother, and then this body, which seemed to be a ghost looking through a window.
The person who she was now clutched her heart as she watched the man kill Ryuhou's mom. She watched helplessly as Ryuhou screamed in agony. His screams seemed as though they were needles to Mimori's heart, and his tears were slaps in the face. She wanted to destroy this man, who would do such a thing to a child and his mother? She knew how she had died, but she had never known how gruesome it was, especially for Ryuhou.
'I'm beginning to understand how Ryuhou became so cold towards Alter Users…' Her physical self thought. 'But right now I have to wake up!' Her dream went white, as did Ryuhou's. Both of them became hopeful that this was their chance to break free of whatever was binding them to these dreams, but soon after the dream was a pure white, the scenery became that of the present day. This time Ryuhou could see Mimori, but she couldn't see or hear him. She looked around, recognizing what was happening.
"Deja vu?" she said to herself. She clutched her necklace and looked around. "Ryuhou? Ryuhou where are you?" Ryuhou's words echoed through her dreams.
"Go back to the mainland…. You will never be like Scheris….. Stop living in the past and move on…. Take your capabilities and leave…. Miss Kiryu…. Nothing of the sort! But as long as she's in my protection, I must take care f her…. What did you do? Did you use it on her?...What did you tell him?... You idiot!... It's all your fault….. It's all your fault…. All your fault…."
Mimori fell to her knees and covered her ears. "Ryuhou stop saying that! Don't tell me those things! Why must you act so hateful towards me? Do you hate me Ryuhou?"
"No I don't!" Ryuhou said. But of course, Mimori couldn't hear or see him.
"Ryuhou, why must you insist on pushing me away? Why must you act so coldly? Do you honestly feel nothing for me anymore?" She held the necklace close to her chest and closed her eyes and cried. Her tears burned the scenery, and the dream ended.
They both awoke with a start, panting. Both of their hearts were still hurting. Mimori got out of bed and went to the bathroom sink. Cupping her hands with water, she splashed it onto her face. That dream had really affected both of them. It was as though they could feel each other's pain. She made her way to the fridge to find that Ryuhou was already eating a bowl of ice cream and had a cup of steaming coffee next to him.
"Mind if I join?" Ryuhou pulled out a chair for and she got a bowl of ice cream, a cup of coffee and sat down next to him. "I couldn't sleep."
"Me neither. I suppose it's from recent events that we've been through."
"I guess," she yawned and stretched. "What time is it?"
"3:17 am. And we have to be up in 2 ½ hours…."
"But I don't wanna go back to sleep," Mimori pouted.
"But we need to, you never know when the Native Alters are going to attack.."
"But Ryuhou," She said in a sweet voice. "I wanna stay up! The boogieman might be under my bed!"
"Fine, I suppose if you're going to stay up then I might as well stay up too…."
"YAY!" She grabbed the ice cream and refilled both of their bowls. After putting on a pot of coffee, she sat down with him. "Um Ryuhou? What was your dream about?"
Ryuhou stiffened inside, but didn't dare show it. "I would rather not talk about it…" Then he felt it. "Mimori are you getting…."
"….Sleepy again?" she finished with yawn. "Yeah, but I'm not tired at all….. What's going on Ryuhou?"
"I….I don't know…." They both fell to the floor. Their eyelids felt as though they weighed as much as bricks. "This has to be the work of an Alter….. Mimori don't-" He slowly looked over to see that she had already fallen asleep. "No… Mimori, wake up…..Mimori!...Mi….ri….." he felt himself slipping away from the world in which things could be explained with at least a little bit of logic, and crashing headfirst into the world where his memories transformed into nightmares and took over. He finally sighed and joined Mimori in a deep sleep.
Ryuhou appeared before Mimori in a place that was purely white. "So you made it?" She asked. Ryuhou gave her a strange look.
"Are you in my dream?" he asked.
"No, we're in each other's dreams. I think you're right, I think an Alter User is behind this…"
"So how do you plan on getting out?"
Mimori smiled and sweat dropped. "I was hoping you had figured out a way…." He looked at her dully.
"So now what?" right after he said this, the scenery appeared. Mimori changed from her present-day adult figure into her younger self, and watched helplessly as she walked towards the playground of her new school. "Mimori what are you doing! Get back here and help me figure out a plan!"
She couldn't help it, her eyes were glazed over and she was forced to relive her memories right in front of Ryuhou. She tried to fight it but there was nothing she could do. It was as though she were merely a puppet on strings, and her master was using these strings to make her take every step she took and move every way she did. She couldn't even look back at Ryuhou to ask for help, she had absolutely no control over her actions.
"MIRI!" Ryuhou tried to run towards her, but there was a barrier that was blocking him from moving any closer.
She walked to the swing-set and was about to sit on the swings when an older girl came and pushed her. Mimori looked up and recognized the girl as a student in her class. "Can I please sit there?" Mimori asked, a bit intimidated by this girl.
"No! I'm swinging here! Get your own!"
"Mimori looked down at the ground. "Ryuhou…" she whispered as she let a tear fall from her face and onto the ground. In her mind she hated this, she knew Ryuhou was watching her.
"Oh Ryuhou, Ryuhou! Come save me Ryuhou!" The girl mocked Mimori, and the rest of the kids laughed. Ryuhou watched this, getting angrier by the minute.
"Ryuhou will protect me….Ryuhou and Zetsuei will-"
"Oh shut up!" the girl slapped Mimori, and Ryuhou's fuse blew. His heart pounded, and his pupils dilated.
"ZETSUEI!" he summoned him, and the scenery changed. Mimori was back to her adult self, and this time, neither of them knew where they were or what was going on. "Mimori are you ok? Is that what really happened to you?"
Mimori looked down. "It's fine, I'm fine so it doesn't matter."
"It does matter," Ryuhou insisted. "Why didn't you do anything to the girl? Why didn't you defend yourself?"
"Because I was just a scared little girl who had been taken away from her only friend in the entire world, my mind wasn't focused in the girl, my mind, and my heart for that matter, was focused solely on you."
Ryuhou was silent for a minute. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure." They scanned the room and saw that it was some sort of office. The doorknob turned, and Ryuhou got a serious look on his face.
"Get down!" he pulled her down to the ground with him and used his body as a shield in case it was someone who was going to try to harm them. He didn't care if he got hurt, but whoever it was wasn't even going to TOUCH Mimori! She was in his care after all! So he had to protect her!
'Is that the only reason?' Kazuma's voice entered in Ryuhou's thoughts. Ryuhou got that poking feeling again, the feeling that always bugged him when he was around Mimori.
'Yes that is the only reason, it has to be….' He answered himself. After making sure they were hidden, they looked to see who it was. Both of their eyes widened when they saw him. "Father…" Ryuhou whispered.
His father got on the phone, his expression unreadable. Like father like son right? "Hello? I would like to speak to Mr. Kiryu, if possible. Yes I'll hold. Thank you." After a few moments, Ryuhou and Mimori watched intently. "Hello old friend, how are you? I was actually calling to see how Mimori was doing. I see, Ryuhou's in the same condition unfortunately. The ring he bought for Mimori fell off while you were leaving, and he hasn't taken it out of his grasp since you left."
Ryuhou shifted uncomfortably where they were hiding. He didn't like the fact that they were in a memory where his father announced, in front of Mimori, how much he had missed her. She was now giving him a small smile, but then their hiding spot was found.
"Who's there!" Ryuhou's father demanded. Ryuhou stood up with absolutely no fear circulating through his body. "Ahh Ryuhou, I've been expecting you," his father grinned. "Come here son, I have something I want to tell you."
"You aren't my father, my father is dead. You're nothing more than a figment of my imagination created by an idiot Alter User who thinks he can control me."
Ryuhou's father frowned, then transformed into a shadow-like thing. "Pitiful, and here I was hoping I could have some fun…. But there really is something I want to tell you…. It's your fault your family is dead."
"Never say that again," Ryuhou said through gritted teeth. Mimori could tell that his anger was rising. The imposter grinned wider.
"Oh but it's true, you're the one that summoned the Alter User there, the same one that killed your mother. How sad to be killed by your own child…"
"Shut up," he said firmer, his eyes covered in the shadows. "You're wrong."
"Now is that any way to repay her for loving you? Did you hate her that much, Ryuhou, that you had to attract an Alter User to murder her?"
"Shut up! I loved her! She was my mom!"
"So then why did you kill her?"
"SHUT UP!" Ryuhou was surprised when Mimori screamed this. Flames surrounded her body, once again torching her clothes. But she wasn't embarrassed, she had no time to be, and no one could see her through the flames anyway. "Ryuhou's not like that! He might not be the same person he once was but he still has a heart that's beating, and no matter how much he's changed he would never do that to his mother! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE HIM OF THAT!"
"And what do we have here? A little girl who calls for her 'precious Ryuhou' to save her from danger?"
"Ryuhou's not the only one who's changed," Mimori grinned. "My feelings may not have changed, but I can fight for myself now! And Ryuhou is right…. You're just a figment of my imagination, and therefore there's nothing you can do to harm me! SO LEAVE NOW!" Mimori charged at him full force, the fire that surrounded her was getting bigger as she got closer to him.
"Foolish girl!" He pulled out a dagger and simply held it in front of him. She attacked him and went passed him, and stood there for a while before she realized what had happened. He had evaded the attack, but she hadn't evaded his. On the side of her right upper arm, the blood began to pour out. She winced as the pain finally caught up to her and held her arm. The blood continued to flow, and ran across her fingers as it dripped onto the carpet.
Ryuhou stared in wonder. "How did……MIRI!" He ran over to her. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," she gave him a small smile through her wincing, and he gave her a small smile of relief through his seriousness.
"I've you ever lay a hand on her again, I will tear your body limb from limb and separate the pieces to the four corners of the earth."
"My my, that sounds like a threat!" the figure mused.
"Oh no, you can be certain it's no threat- it's a promise!" Zetsuei appeared again, and Zetsuei transformed into his second stage. This one was bigger, more powerful, and ready to kill the imposter who hurt Mimori. He began to glow, however, and so did Zetsuei. He felt himself being pulled away from Mimori and the dream.
"What! What's going on! He shouldn't be able to break the barrier!" The figure seemed very disturbed about this, but not nearly as disturbed as Ryuhou. He wasn't going to dare to leave Mimori alone with that maniac!
"RYU!" Mimori cried.
"MIRI!" he extended his hand, and she extended hers, but to no avail, for he was already slipping back into the other world, the world where he would have to wake up from the nightmares that haunted him, the world in which Mimori was still asleep. He awoke with a start on the floor, Mimori next to him. Through the shirt that she as wearing, he noticed the blood that was seeping through the cloth. It was in the exact same spot where she had been injured when they were both asleep. He stared at her for a while, then noticed another cut forming on her cheek, along with a bruise. "Miri wake up! Miri wake up! MIRIIIIIII!"
well I hope you guys liked it and I'll try to update sooner. See ya!