Chapter Two – Dreams and Music

Tsubasa banged into his apartment with the grin still on his face. He could barely remember what they had talked about, but it hardly seemed to matter to him just then. She had laughed at his jokes, they had smiled at each other and, most importantly, they had exchanged phone numbers.

"Kimura Yumi," he murmured to the empty room. With the feeling that his heart was going to fly out of his chest, he dropped his bag on the floor and threw his jacket across the couch. He pulled his Magiphone out of his pocket and stared at it for a moment. He debated calling Kai first, but quickly changed to calling his mother.

"Moshi-moshi," her voice caroled from the earpiece and he grinned just to hear the sound of it.

"O-kaa-san, I met a really wonderful girl today," he told her and her pleased response made him even happier. They talked for a while and it was wonderful just to be able to share his excitement with her.

Yumi stepped into her apartment with a feeling of unreality. She had dreamed of him only last night and now she had met him in the street. It didn't seem possible that he could really exist in the waking world. She spun in a circle, feeling giddy and lightheaded. She hung her scarf by the door and carried her bag over to the piano.

Settling down before the keyboard, she began picking out notes with a dreamy smile. While the feelings possessed her, she wanted to find a way to make them into music. She wanted to capture the way her heart was racing and her face was flushed and turn it into a song. Each note she searched for with her fingers became a moment, that little riff was his chuckle, throaty and full of a wry amusement. This little bouncy rill was the way his hands gestured as he talked. She wove his lop-sided grin, his uncertainty and shyness, his quick mind and sharp wit together and built a tune around it all.

She quickly had a melody and chorus fleshed out and words seemed to come to her of their own volition. She jotted down the notation and penned in the lyrics with a smile still on her face.

The phone was ringing and she started in surprise, so absorbed had she become. Jumping up she ran and grabbed the receiver form its cradle.

"Moshi-moshi!" she called out, rather breathless from her mad dash.

"Yumi-san!" Chi-chan's voice was full of eagerness and she found her mouth curling up as she heard it. "So, did the "Lightning Fist" ask you out?"

"What? Why did you call him that?"

"What? How can you not know? He's a famous boxer! I told you so before!" Chi-chan's exasperated tone wasn't lost on Yumi, but the term "boxer" made her pause. Tsubasa was a boxer? It seemed an odd choice for someone as smart as he was.

"You did, I remember, but I wasn't paying close attention, forgive me," she responded, trying to picture sweet, somewhat shy Tsubasa hitting someone in a ring. It was hard for her to imagine.

"So did he ask you out?" came the impatient idol singer's voice again, breaking into her reverie.

"Yes, yes, we went for coffee and he is going to take me for noodles tomorrow at lunch," she answered absently, more interested in replaying the memory of his arms around her than in talking to Chi-chan.

"That's fast! He must be really interested!" the younger girl replied with a gleeful tone. "I'm very happy for you, but try not to run off and get married before we finish the album, okay," the other girl teased.

"What? You're the one moving much too fast, Chi-chan! I only just met him today!" she cried out, suddenly feeling entirely off balance and nervous.

"Huh? You two talked like you had known each other for years!" Yumi heard the words and yet could find no answer to give that made any sense at all.

"It seemed that way, I admit, but really we only just met," she answered, trying to figure out in her head how you explained that you had known someone from a dream. She gave up and just listened for a while to Chi-chan's excited chatter.

"Now if we could only get that last song written," sighed the idol singer and Yumi looked down at the sheets in her hand.

"I may have something for you," she admitted and the thrilled little squeal from the earpiece made her chuckle. She wasn't sure how she felt about giving the song to Chi-chan, but she knew the other girl would do well with it. With a sigh, she wished that she could play it for Tsubasa-san first, but he would think it odd if she called him now to play a song for him.

She finished her conversation and then hung up the phone. She stood for a long time, watching the sun setting and thinking that her life had been turned upside down and she wasn't at all certain what to make of it.

In the dream she remembered singing for him, something that she doubted she could do in real life. Still, for her boy in the yellow jacket, she could do almost anything, she thought. Maybe she could do even that.

Urara had put the book back on the shelf and carefully tidied up after herself, but she still wondered if she had done the right thing. Maybe Tsubasa was better off without her meddling. Still, she shrugged, what was done was done.

Hopefully, Hikaru wouldn't be upset when he found out what she had been up to. She grinned a little at the thought. It was upsetting to fight with her husband, but making up afterwards was always wonderful. With a little spring in her step, she wandered off to see what he was up to.

Tsubasa woke the next morning feeling lighter and happier than he had in some time. It took him a moment to remember why, but then it all came flooding back and he jumped out of bed with a smile. He almost laughed at himself, realizing that he was acting more like Kai at the moment.

He stepped into the shower, the hot water soothing and let himself relive the moment. She had been stepping forwards into traffic and he had grabbed her. The feel of her in his arms had been delightful. She had felt like Rei had, in that moment before she vanished, but so warm and alive. Her scent was light and clean, soap, and sunlight, and something indefinable that was unique to Yumi alone.

He was smiling under the spray and he groaned. How was he to fight tonight when all he wanted to do was find Yumi and spend every second with her?

Lunch, they were having lunch, he recalled. He had training in the morning, but the afternoon was for resting up before the fight. He could spend it with her, then maybe she could come to the fight and then they could have dinner. Well, they could if he was up to eating afterwards. He snorted at the thought.

Toweling himself off, it occurred to him to wonder if she would want to see him fight. She wasn't the usual sort of girl that hung around at a boxing ring. Well, he supposed that the only thing that he could do was ask.

Yumi sat at the piano and played the new song for Chi-chan and the others. When it was just her friends and co-workers she could make herself sing, though it was hard. The terrible stage fright that gripped her when she sang for others made her voice sound reedy and thin. Still, the song was good and Chi-chan quickly picked it up and took over the singing, letting her concentrate on the playing alone.

"I like this!" Kawahashi-san enthused, his fingers plucking out a bass line, and the rest of the musicians all agreed. The Producer nodded slowly and gestured them to keep rehearsing the song. Yumi smiled in pleasure. She loved writing songs and she loved playing them, she was very happy not to have to sing them though. The fear and apprehension that gripped her made the experience much too unpleasant.

They had some tracks laid in by the time lunch rolled around and Chi-chan waved her out of the recording studio with a grin.

"Go and get yourself a "lightning" lunch," she quipped and Yumi stuck out a tongue in mock irritation, much to the idol singer's amusement.

Stepping out into the sunshine she looked around and spotted him by the fountain nearby, just as promised. A smile was blossoming on her face even as she walked towards him. It was like stepping into her dream, but without the feeling of sorrow and despair that usually came with her nighttime visits.

"Oy!" he called out and the smile became a grin. His voice was the same as it was in her dreams and she felt as though she had waited years just to be able to stride up to him and look into his eyes.

"Oy," she mimicked, still smiling. He grinned down at her, his eyes filled with humor and then as one, they turned and began to walk.

"There's a great little noodle shop two blocks down," he informed her and she nodded content just to be there with him, not really caring about where they went and what they did. They took off, side by side, not touching, just enjoying the day, when suddenly something made her shiver.

She spun on her heel, searching the area with her eyes and with that extra sense that told her when there was something wrong. Tsubasa paused beside her and followed her gaze with confusion.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as she scanned around them.

"I don't know for sure, but something is off," she replied, with only half of her mind on the conversation. She continued turning until she could feel a cold wind blowing towards her. "That way," she pointed and then realized what she was doing.

There was a moment when she was certain that he was going to laugh, or make an excuse to leave, like so many others had. Instead, he merely nodded and headed in the direction she had indicated.

She could feel the icy blast getting stronger as they went forwards and wondered why she wasn't more afraid. She was nervous, of course, usually she ran away from anything that gave her this feeling. Tsubasa, however, had simply moved towards the source of her feeling and she had followed him without question.

They stepped into a park, trees waving gently in the soft breeze, flowers blooming and everything seemed too peaceful and pretty for there to be any evil. The icy wind seemed to be coming from the center, where a fountain played merrily under a warm sun. She pointed, feeling as though the cold was seeping into her bones and Tsubasa moved forwards, eyes moving back and forth. She flashed back to her dream, remembering how he had performed magic and she wondered if the dream was more than merely symbolic, because he seemed to be taking her premonition completely in stride.

There was a stirring in the trees and she cried out a warning to him as something shot out and tried to knock him down. Tsubasa dodged nimbly and the blur resolved into a slimy frog-like creature, with long webbed fingers and a huge grinning mouth.

"Yumi-san, take cover," he called to her and with a quick nod, she obeyed. She darted behind a tree and ducked down. When she peeked out again, a yellow suited warrior was fighting the monster and she knew then that her dream was far more than mere symbol.

The frog creature spat goo at Tsubasa, for she knew somehow that it was Tsubasa, and he tried to dodge. He managed to evade the worst of it, but his left side was caught in the stream. Coated down one side, in rapidly hardening muck, he was greatly slowed and Yumi's breath caught in her throat to see it.

He continued to fight, pulling a weapon from his belt and firing off bursts of lightning at the toad creature. She had to keep reminding herself to breathe as they traded blows. There was a flurry of exchanges and then suddenly Tsubasa was on his back, hand clutched to his shoulder. The creature took the opportunity to attack and Yumi gave a shriek of fear.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed and grabbed a rock from the ground. She chucked it at the monster, drawing it away from Tsubasa's prone form.

"Yumi!" he cried out, as the slimy beast charged her. She grabbed and chucked a second rock and then took to her heels. She knew she couldn't fight it, but she could at least draw it away from him for a moment.

There was another blast of lightning and the creature seemed to lift off of the ground and then explode. She threw herself to the ground and covered her head with her arms, terror making her heart stutter.

Hands gripped her and she looked up into Tsubasa's face.

"Is it over?" she asked, still winded and shaky.

"Are you crazy? That thing could have killed you!" he shouted and she found herself being shaken by him as he raged at her.

"He was going to kill you, did you want me to just stand there and let him?" she asked, far more calmly than she had imagined that she could. He stilled and just stared at her for a moment. Slowly a smile spread across his face.

"Crazy, definitely crazy," he told her, still smiling. He stood up and then reached a hand down to her. She looked up at him, with a strange feeling in her heart, like she had been here before. She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet.

"I knew you would be up again quickly, you just needed a moment," she told him and his smile faded to a more serious look. "What was that thing, anyway?"

"A kappa, I think. But, you're changing the subject. You shouldn't take such chances, Yumi-san," he scolded. "That was really dangerous."

"It was fine, you were right there to protect me," she reassured him and he shook his head slowly. "It's all right, Tsubasa-san, I have faith in you." His expression was unreadable and she wasn't certain what he was thinking.

"Then you remember your past life?" he asked and she blinked at him in confusion.

"What?" She stared at him, trying to divine his meaning.

"When we met, you said I was 'the boy in the yellow jacket"; I thought that meant that you remembered who you were." He shook his head as though to clear it.

"You were in my dream," she admitted feeling a certain degree of trepidation as she spoke. Would he think that she really was crazy?

"Dream?"

"For as long as I can remember I have had the same dream. I am sitting by a lake, playing a harp, singing, and I am terrified. It's so cold and I'm so scared, but I have to sing or something terrible will happen to me." She blurted it all out in nearly one breath, frightened to be telling him this.

"What happens next?" he asked, but there was something in his eyes that calmed her, he believed her, she could see it.

"You show up, the birds fly up in fright, and I am surprised and snap my finger against the harp string." He nodded as she spoke and then cut into her narration.

"So I checked your hand, but you weren't hurt." She froze, his words making her suddenly scared and she wasn't certain why.

"How did you know that?"

"Because it wasn't a dream, Yumi-san, it happened." She shook her head, unable to believe. Even after seeing him fighting as the yellow warrior, she still couldn't quite accept it. It was all so much like her dreams, but different. He was a little older than he had been, his hair was shorter, though he still bleached it lighter, and he seemed sadder and somehow wiser as well.

"How can that be?" she asked and now it was his turn to shake his head.

"I don't know. I just know that you are the same girl who played and sang by the water. The same girl I tried to save from the Siren." She shivered again at that name, fear gripping her just from the sound of it. She was suddenly so cold and shaky.

He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her as her teeth started to chatter.

"Why am I so cold?" she asked, as the day still seemed bright and sunny.

"You are in shock," he told her and put an arm around her. Tsubasa guided her out of the park and towards the nearest café. "Let's get something warm into you."

She sat there, huddled in his coat, feeling silly. Why was she reacting so strongly to what he had told her? So her dream had really happened at some point, so what? The waiter brought them tea and cookies and she cradled the cup in her hands with a feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again for her.

"I don't understand, Tsubasa-san, but I will take it on faith, okay?" she told him, with a small smile and he nodded back at her. Maybe they were both crazy, she thought to herself. Maybe they were sharing a delusion or something of the sort. Whatever it was, it was certainly not what she was used to. She was used to being alone in her strangeness, not to having someone just accept it and not even blink an eye.

That sat at the café in silence for a while, each lost in thought, before she looked at her watch and sighed at the time.

"You have to get back?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Chi-chan is working on the new song this afternoon." She paused, not wanting to seem presumptuous and then plunged ahead. "You want to come and hear it?"

"Sure," he answered with a casual tone and she thought at first that he was only being polite in accepting, but then saw the tiny smile he was trying to hide behind the menu.

She took a sip of tea to hide her own smile and, glancing at his sharp profile, decided that whether or not they were crazy didn't matter so much to her. She was happier today than she had been in a long time and, if it was madness, then she no longer cared to be sane.