Chapter VII: Sliver

Hibari Kyoya was plunged in a slumber unlike what he had experienced to present date. It was a deep, dark slumber that brought no comfort like sleep is supposed to do. His body was tensed instead of relaxed. Every muscle tightened to respond to external stimuli, Every sense heightened to a state of an emergency alert... yet he couldn't open his eyes... and he couldn't escape the dreamworld unfolding underneath his closed eyelids. His breathing was haggard and arduous as if he had to place great effort to keep it going... until he realized that he could no longer breathe nor was there a need to breathe in this state of consciousness... in this world. Because he no longer was his physical self. That part of him was asleep. He knew he was asleep, conscious inside his dream.

Deciding to accept the new state of things instead of trying to oppose it he made a second try in opening his eyes this time succeeding into doing so. He rose to his feet slowly and moved to inspect his blank surroundings. His dreamworld was a clean slate, nothing existed within it, maybe because it was the first time he actually paid it a visit consciously or maybe he didn't really have any dreams which was unlikely -for every person dreams even though they might not remember it afterwards. It was also because soon, he saw there actually was something... all around him. He was standing in a field of carefully groomed crops. The wheat stalks moved slightly at the breeze that blew them in its whim creating a small continuous motion and sound that appeared akin to an ocean. But there was no sky over his head. Only deep, unpenetratable blackness.

Kyoya walked ahead, not knowing what else he could do. There was nothing there to see, to inspect, and yet he felt compelled to keep walking, as if there was a destination he had to reach. And then he saw it, standing solemn, still, in the middle of the field, all on its own. It was not animal nor human being, just a flower, rearing its pure white head to the blackness above. And then Kyoya looked and he saw that there was a dark velvet sky embroidered with myriads of small stars and there was no sign nor trace of a cloud. It was a peaceful dark night in nature he could place sometime during late spring, the part of the year he liked the most.

He loved late spring more than any other time of the year. The weather was almost always warm, yet not yet unbearably so. It would take about two months for the heat and humidity to start settling in. He didn't like the humidity, it made him feel exhausted. During those days he'd just be lazy sometimes and stay to collect warmth in the sunlight while sleeping outside, accompanied by but the mesmerizing whispers of the wind and its lightweight caresses and the solace it brought. He liked those quiet days and the even quieter evenings and those clear nights -even though you couldn't always see the stars underneath the city's lights.

Kyoya looked back down at the flower. It looked nothing like flowers he had seen. Its petals were white but that was the only thing he recognized about it. He wasn't an expert at plants and flowers but he would be able to tell if the flower was akin to a rose or an iris or an orchid or a common wildflower. And yet this blossom seemed to defy all rules. It was large, enormous in comparison to its stalk that looked fragile and thin. Its oblong, pointed petals curled around themselves and bent towards the flower's middle as if to protect the flower's weak and soft center that was painted in the most vivid pink color. The breeze made the blossom sway lightly in a motion that seemed almost like breathing. It surprised Kyoya that he would think of it that way... a breathing blossom...

For some reason he extended one hand to touch it. His fingers ran along the outside part of the delicate petals that felt like liquid velvet and around the flower's bottom. The sensation was pleasant and so he repeated his motion for a second time, then a third and a fourth... but he never considered cutting that blossom to take it home with him even though most people would. It felt almost sacrilegious... an unholy act, to even consider such a thing.

He reached to touch the velveteen center of the flower but before he could do so the flower bled underneath his fingers. He pulled his hands away, surprised at the sudden turn of events -not so at the sight of blood, he was used to that, after all-. A breathing blossom that bled. Now that was really something... But as the blossom of unknown origins did bleed the wind picked up and clouds gathered out of nowhere as to mourn its impending death and thunder fell crackling from the sky, leaving behind the burnt smell of brimstone. Kyoya looked around, trying to find the cause of the sudden tempest within his dreams.

The clouds seemed to have lowered over his head, threatening to crush him with their unbearable pressure. They were black, thick stormclouds circling around themselves to create an ominous eye in the sky, an ominous eye with a pupil painted a malicious yellow in the center, an eye that looked straight at him. Fear. That feeling that Kyoya didn't quite know how to feel flooded his existence crawling deep to the center of his being tinting everything in a shade of white. Fear was crimson... white was desperation. Desperation was the color of fresh-fallen snow, the color of winter. Fear was the blood marring it.

He sought to run away but there was no escape because everything was painted white -white like the nothingness- and everything dissolved into naught again and there was no field, no bleeding flower, no sky, no eye and no tempest and there was silence and nothingness and he was all by himself and he knew inside of him that running was not the answer because there was nothing to run from and nothing to escape from aside, maybe, the nothingness itself.

Kyoya shot awake at the sound of glass breaking, the sharp sound rattling the unchanging silence of his dreamworld.

His eyelids felt heavy, his mouth dry and his tongue like paper. His whole body was numb from not moving, his arms and legs like lead and aching faintly as if he was sick. He tried turning his head to the side to look at the clock but the motion made him dizzy and he had to close his eyes and clench his teeth to stop the unpleasant feeling that starting building up in his bowels. But he didn't feel like he could throw up even if he wanted to. He felt his stomach empty, as empty as it could be, just like a bottomless pit.

He could hear the sound of voices speaking in a low-tone somewhere away from his current position. He vaguely wondered who it was but he was still dizzy and his head was now aching and he didn't feel like trying to get up. He also wondered about what that sound was... that glass breaking... yet all he could do was nothing... so he allowed himself to slip into yet another slumber.

But this time it was a comforting, warm, welcoming sleep. A sleep without dreams. A healing sort of sleep.

Hello, Snow here! Thank you for reading my story this long and please forgive my slow updates -University is evil.

This story is going from being odd to being more odd to even MORE odd... but it should slowly start to clear up soon.

Next chapter has a bit of crack and romance mixed in it so you can look forward to it with a more lighthearted note. :

Last, but not least, comments, critique, reviews and everything else are always loved and welcome!