Lesson 7: Perchance to dream

The train car had only a few passengers heading home aside from Ayumu and Rei as they rode out of the Trinity District and back to D.U. Shiratori City. Despite the late hour, Kazusa had seen them off at the station, bidding them farewell and good night with a grateful smile. She had taken the opportunity to hand Rei the box of macarons that she had purchased earlier in the day. The cat-eared girl's smile had turned sheepish as she apologized for the two missing confections, but she had assured the taciturn blue-haired girl that the box itself was both pretty and sturdy enough that it could be used to store various knick-knacks once it was emptied out. Rei had replied with a soft thank you and accepted the box, an undiscernible expression on her face.

As stations passed the two girls by, passengers boarded and left, and Trinity was left further and further behind, Ayumu came to realize something about the uncomfortable silence that she was sharing with the halo-less girl.

Rei was sulking.

Ayumu had been doing her best to pay attention to Rei since their conversation at the After-School Sweets Club Room earlier. The curt answer the strange girl had given to her innocuous question about friends had set off warning bells in the General Student Council officer's mind. While the Academy City was run by students and for students, she could not even begin to imagine how difficult life must have been for someone born outside of its borders. Because of both these things, the answer given and her own worries, Ayumu had been observing Rei closely enough to notice the minor shifts in her demeanor.

The younger girl's red eyes were downcast and unfocused rather than trained straight ahead or upon some other passenger. The ever-present tension in her shoulders was gone, replaced by a distracted languidness that echoed through the rest of her posture.

Perhaps the most telling clue was that she was not playing with her tablet.

"Um… is everything alright?" Ayumu asked, her voice tinged with concern.

Rei twitched ever so slightly, clearly startled out of her thoughts by Ayumu's question. She took a moment to consider the words and then replied only with a short nod, ending the conversation before it began.

Ayumu was not deterred, however.

"Are you sure?" she pressed again. The air around the girl was as cold and prickly as ever, but her concern over Rei's stranger than usual behavior won out over her own discomfort. "Is something bothering you?"

The halo-less girl took a moment to consider once more before once again nodding wordlessly.

You can do it, Ayumu, the blonde girl cheered herself on mentally. Third time's the charm, she thought to herself as she rallied her patience and tried again.

"What's bothering you?" she asked again, green eyes searching for minute changes in Rei's expression.

Rei considered and, finally, spoke.

"I do not understand," she replied in a soft voice. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, and the barest hint of frustration sneaked into her voice. "Kyoyama's actions, Yurizono's actions…" She trailed off and did not elaborate further.

They stopped at another station and more passengers departed while Ayumu looked at the younger girl with a puzzled expression. She hadn't been present for Rei's conversation with Yurizono Seia but, from the limited interactions she had with her, the petite blonde Trinity President seemed to be a polite -if somewhat withdrawn- young lady. The sort of girl that gave Trinity its reputation as a school for 'princesses'. The GSC officer couldn't imagine Seia saying anything that could have left Rei out of sorts and Kazusa had just been grateful. What was there to understand? A sneaking suspicion rose to the forefront of her thoughts, and she hesitated only briefly before voicing it.

"Are you maybe," Ayumu asked tentatively, "not used to getting gifts?"

Ayumu saw, for the first time, the clearest expression on the young SCHALE representative's face. This was no small furrowing of her brow, no slight turn to her lips, no barely there smile hidden behind a hand; No, Rei's eyes widened in surprise and a small gasp escaped her lips in absolute shock.

"A gift," Rei whispered, sounding amazed. "I have never received one before. Why was I given one?"

The scowl that crossed Ayumu's normally gentle features was only a brief one as the blonde rapidly switched to a kindly smiled directed at the younger girl. Now was not the time for anger, she decided. Outrage and the quest for answers could wait until she could talk to Rin in private. Now, there were more important things to attend to. Namely a neglected young girl receiving her first ever gift.

"Well," Ayumu started, speaking slowly as she carefully picked out her words, "You stood up for Kazusa's friend, right? She wanted to express her gratitude to you." She paused briefly when Rei nodded, taking in her explanation. "And since you seemed to really enjoy the macarons this morning, Kazusa probably felt they would make a good gift."

"I see. I understand."

Ayumu nodded in satisfaction. It was a small victory, but she would take it. One down, one to go.

"Um… About your conversation with Seia…" the blonde student stopped when she saw the younger girl tense and she hurried to reassure her. "No! No! I don't mean to pry! Honest! I know she wanted to talk privately so you don't have to tell me any specifics, but maybe you can tell me what's been bothering you?"

Rei seemed mollified by her words and nodded again.

"Yurizono laughed."

Ayumu blinked and waited for Rei to elaborate.

Rei did not elaborate.

"…That's it?"

Rei nodded.

Ayumu had no idea what to say at that point so her lips just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"…Did she laugh at you?"

Rei shook her head and Ayumu sighed in relief. The GSC Officer did not believe Yurizono Seia to be the sort who would do that, but she had spoken without thinking. She thanked her lucky stars that Rei did not seem outwardly angry and that she definitely did not seem like the type to gossip. She was about to ask another question, but she instead found herself shocked into silence by Rei speaking up of her own volition.

"She laughed at something I said," Rei explained to the flummoxed older girl. Confusion was as evident in her voice as it was on Ayumu's features. "I said nothing to elicit such a reaction." She paused, seemingly struggling to put her thoughts into words as Ayumu waited patiently. "I-"

Ayumu's phone chose that moment to ring. Rei stopped speaking and Ayumu's face went through several shades of red as the cheerful tune blared loudly inside the train car. Mercifully they were the only passengers left, but Ayumu nevertheless looked mortified as she searched for her phone, babbling apologies and explanations as she riffled through her purse.

"Sorry! Sorry!" the blonde apologized frantically. "I usually have it set to silence, but I needed to be on-call in case Ri- Oh, it's Rin. S-sorry! I need to take this. Hold on."

Rei nodded silently and returned to musing on her thoughts, trying to make sense of their disarray while she waited for Ayumu to finish her call. If it was from Rin, it must be important.

It was important.

Rather than staying at Nanagami Rin's office once again, it had been arranged that Rei would be staying with Nanagami Rin at her dormitory for the time that it took for the SCHALE building to be repaired. Rei nodded in agreement as Ayumu explained the situation. It would be convenient to have a place to sleep and it seemed that, as Ayumu explained it, Rin did not currently have a roommate. The blonde girl had seemed troubled by that information, but she did not explain further and so Rei did not inquire further. They settled into silence for the remainder of the train ride, although Ayumu seemed like she wanted to pick up their conversation but was unsure of how to broach the subject again.

The hour was late indeed when they finally arrived at Shiratori Station, so Ayumu opted to call for a taxi. Rei had nodded in agreement again. It was a sound idea and Ayumu had more experience than her with distances and locations involved so she easily deferred to her in that regard. The driver was another of the sapient robotic citizens that Rei had noticed while at Trinity and on the train as well. They were yet another sign that she was no longer anywhere familiar at all. During the drive through the sleeping city, Ayumu seemed ready to continue their conversation from the train, but the driver had engaged her in meaningless small talk, and she had politely responded again and again. In the end, they arrived at their destination before the subject of Yurizono Seia could be brought up again.

The dormitory was, as with many other buildings in Kivotos, a white building with copious amounts of glass used in its constructions. It was sleek, modern, and opulent and far too large to house only a single person. A pair of guards stationed outside saluted Ayumu, and Nanagami Rin awaited them at the door. The bespectacled girl ushered them inside quickly and closed the door behind them.

"Rin, is something the matter?" Ayumu asked with a worried look on her face due to her friend's hasty actions.

The dark-haired girl shook her head, a small and tired smile on her lips.

"No, not really," she explained, and the exhaustion was clear in her voice. "It's just late and I would like to get some rest before another long day tomorrow. Can't afford to pull another all-nighter." She laughed softly. "Ayumu, please stay here tonight. I'd rather you don't head out again given the hour."

"A sleepover?" the blonde asked, her green eyes shining with excitement.

"You'll have to gossip by yourself. I really need to sleep. You remember where the guest room is?"

Ayumu nodded in reply, but her expression immediately clouded over and became troubled.

"Wait, if I'm in the guest room, then you really are…"

"Let's get you settled in, Rei," Rin had already turned towards the younger girl who had, as expected, remained silent. The pale girl nodded in reply to Rin's statement and extended the box she was carrying towards the older girl.

"I would like to place this in the refrigerator. Please."

The taller girl looked briefly confused before nodding in agreement and guiding Rei first to the kitchen and then to the room she would be spending the night in. The room was furnished and cluttered with books and personal effects. The helmet that Rei had carried around the day before was placed upon a table, but the room itself was evidently in use and belonged to someone else. It was also evidently in the middle of being cleared out and stored away: several cardboard boxes were tucked away into a corner with neatly organized stacks of books and other belongings waiting to a side.

"I apologize for the mess. I did not have time to finish cleaning it for you," Rin apologized as she guided the silent girl inside. Ayumu hovered behind them, her face a kaleidoscope of emotions. "We'll talk in the morning. I think we could all use some rest right now."

"Understood. Good night."

The door closed and Ayanami Rei was left by herself.

In her dreams, Ayanami Rei was on a train car.

In the window in front of her, was the same view she had seen the night before. The sun was beginning to rise over a seemingly endless sea and the sky was painted in hues of violet and gold as darkness gave way to a new dawn.

In the row of seats in front of her, there was no one. There were only empty seats giving a clear view of the windows and the skyline beyond them. She noticed that the seat directly before her was stained in drying blood and so was the floor directly beneath it. There were no bloodied footprints leading away and no sign of a struggle. Nothing more than herself, empty seats, and the dried blood of someone who was not there any longer.

"Miss, a moment of your dream, if you would."

She turned around.

Behind her was a shadowed city bathed only in the light of the moon and stars. Even the windows were completely dark. If there was any light within not even a trace of light managed to seep through closed curtains. There were no neon signs present and no streetlights. Only a long, dirty alleyway illuminated dimly by moonlight.

At the end of the distant alleyway, stood a person.

As Ayanami Rei got closer, she realized that what stood before her now was not a man. It was something odd, something foreign, like herself. It had the general shape of a man, but it was something less, and something more.

"Mm, yes. You are, as we thought, something less, and something more," the thing that looked vaguely like a man spoke. She stood before him now and details which were impossible to make out at a distance were now clear. The man wore a heavy trench-coat colored a dusty brown and rested their left hand on a cane. Their right hand carried a small painting of the back of a man's head wearing a bowler hat.

The man himself had no head.

It was not a decapitated body. There were no injuries, no blood, no sign that anything had ever been attached to the stump of their neck. The body simply ended at that point, and nothing followed.

Rei blinked in confusion.

"We hope that you will forgive our rudeness for stepping into your dream. The others insisted that we wait to meet you in the waking world, but we could not," the portrait explained. "The thrill of discovery moved us, you see, and the idea of waiting was altogether unbearable."

"BUT OF COURSE!" the headless torso shouted.

Rei tilted her head quizzically at the sight. The portrait chuckled.

"Truly, nothing startles you," the portrait spoke mirthfully. "I must apologize again for our rudeness. I am called Golconde. My inseparable partner is Decalcomania. Similar to yourself, we are foreigners to this land. Unlike yourself, we were not brought here, but rather arrived in search of knowledge. You see, we are researchers, of a sort."

"OF COURSE!"

It was not the torso in front of her that had spoken, but another identical pair of headless body and portrait that had simply appeared beside the first as if it were always there. Rei turned to face the new speaker.

"Truly, you are quite stoic," the portrait spoke with a certain amusement. "No curiosity about what it is we study? It matters not, for I will say it regardless. We are group of likeminded individuals: scholars of the Mystic, the Terror…" The portrait spoke softly now. "The Sublime."

"THAT IS SO!"

The voice came from behind her now and Rei turned to find no one there. No one at eye-level, at least. She followed the voice and found a new pair of headless body and portrait floating in the air, as casually as if standing on the ground.

No, not one.

There were dozens of them.

"Imagine our glee upon seeing the signs of your arrival," a Golconde spoke excitedly. "Here is one that surpasses all of those! One beyond Mystic, beyond Terror, beyond even the Sublime!"

"Imagine our disappointment upon seeing the signs of a broken…thing," another Golconde spoke with distaste.

"Here is one of blood more ancient and more terrible than the Forgotten Gods," one remarked in a voice full of pity.

"Here is one of blood more mysterious and more dreadful than the Nameless Gods," another replied in a voice full of awe.

"CORRECT!" a deafening chorus of voices rang out all at once.

"And yet for all that puissance, what arrived was only a piteous wretch of a child," the one to speak was standing beside her and Rei took a small step to the side to allow him to pass. The torso inclined slightly in acknowledgement, a full body nod from one without a head. "It truly is a regrettable state of affairs. You are so much more than what we anticipated and so much less as well."

"For you see, the signs all indicate that you do not belong here, miss," Golconde spoke in the tone of a teacher explaining something to a hopeless student. "You are not protagonist material. You are a side-character who forgot to get off the stage."

"At best a living plot device to resolve otherwise unwinnable conflicts in the narrative," another pondered in a contemplative tone. "But what the narrative demands is not a juggernaut, but rather one that can inspire."

"TRULY!"

"And how can you inspire," Golconde asked in a sad voice, "when there is nothing inside your heart?"

"INDEED!"

"Ambitions. Desires. Passions. You have none of these."

"INDEED!"

"Aspirations. Dreams. Goals. You have none of these."

"INDEED!"

"You should walk away, miss," the portrait said in a voice brimming with pity and regret. "The narrative has already been wrecked with your arrival and all the might within that scrawny frame will avail you not. The sign of the black moon's doom hangs over one and all. Your lack of motivations and goals will see you ruined. To use a colloquial turn of phrase: the writing is on the wall."

"BUT OF COURSE!" The chorus rang out one last time.

The crowd of doppelgangers did not walk away, instead slowly disappearing one by one as if they had never existed. Only one remained when the solitary child found her voice.

"You are wrong," Ayanami Rei spoke in a soft voice, her eyes downcast. "I have a goal. There is something that I want."

"Oh? Tell us, then. If it would have you disregard foreshadowing, we are most curious what a misplaced doll keeps within her heart of hearts."

Ayanami Rei lifted her gaze, looked at the remaining figure before her, and spoke the words she had struggled to find and had been unable to say earlier that day.

"I want to hear Yurizono laugh again."

A bright and bell-like sound followed her proclamation. Within the darkened city of dreams, not another sound was heard as dawn broke, ushering away moonlight and darkness.

"VERY WELL!"

"I see. So, it's to be character development, then?" Golconde said, sounding amused. They slowly started disappearing as the dream started to end. "'Very well' indeed. Then, please show us how a side-character hijacks the stage. We shall look forward to your doomed struggle with rapt fascination."

Ayanami Rei woke up.

"Rei-chan-sensei, there is a new request!" The girl in the tablet computer chirped cheerfully as the sleeping girl awoke and blinked her red eyes blearily. Arona, as the sunny Artificial Intelligence had introduced herself the day prior, seemed oddly familiar, but Rei could not quite place where the familiarity stemmed from. Suddenly, Arona's eyes widened, and she gasped. "You're smiling! Did you have a nice dream?"

The dream slipped away at Arona's comment. In the end only one thing remained and so Rei nodded in reply to Arona's question. It had been a nice dream.

"Hee!" the childish AI giggled. "I'm glad! Oh! Before I forget, you'll want to hear this request! It's really funny!" Arona cleared her throat loudly and began to read from her databanks, laughter in her voice.

"Oh, hero! Oh, savior of the city! Please accept our quest!"

Lesson 7: End

What did we learn today, class?

Yes, that's correct!

Be sure to set your ringtone to mute or vibrate while on public transportation! It's polite!

Join us again next time for Lesson 8: Youth means videogames. We'll have: Twins! Pop-culture references! Creatively (sorta) renamed Intellectual Property-please don't sue me! A Demon King! And the beginning of a quest of epic proportions!

Don't be late!

AN: Oct 1, 2023. Free time to write has become scarce. I won't be able to keep up the once-a-week update schedule for October. For now, I'll aim to have the next update on Oct. 22, but if I miss that deadline then it'll be on Oct. 29. If the next chapter is finished early, it'll be posted early although that's a slim chance. Hopefully things will ease up next month. Drawings, however, are a lot faster so those will be going up at the usual places even as the next chapter is being worked on. As always, thanks for reading my story -Kero