Hikigaya Hachiman was a boy who had suffered isolation and scrutiny merely for what he appeared. He is by no means a monster, far from it. But in a peaceful era of which wars are fought not physically but verbally, even the littlest of flaws are seen as a faulty to be condemned.

Since childhood, children of his age would avoid him like a plague. It was no different when he graduated and enter junior high where he once again faces the same treatment. Hachiman always thought it was unfair. That it was unreasonable, that he couldn't change what he looked like. And as days passed by, the treatment got worst and over time, loneliness was his beloved.

Everyday was suffering, everyday he was tormented, humiliated. Under the gaze of the ignorant and the truly evil, he could only clutch his head as the madness of it all consume him. It was truly a nightmare...

But oh, how he is wrong.

For a nightmare to truly be a nightmare, it is an experience that would drive one into the path of madness. To lose one's mind, to throw their humanity away, to embrace the madness and all of its insanity, to...forget the waking world.

Yharnam is a place hostile to any who dare to traverse in it, and even more so to foreigners trying to become hunters and join the night of the hunt. For all its miracles with the blood healing, it is no more than a pit of death for those unprepared.

Hachiman is one of those people.

And the nightmare is not kind enough to let him die once, twice and thrice - no. To be in Yharnam is to forsake one's sanity and if they can't do so, then death shall be their helper.

Hachiman is no stranger to the concept of death, but the pain it brings drives him mad. He was just an unlucky teenager who got caught up in this nightmare, he was naïve. The nightmare is not so kind to be considerate to people like him, death is merely a temporary inconvenience as well as punishment. There exist no hell, heaven or afterlife for that matter.

This world is hell.

And so Hachiman had forsaken everything he once held in the waking world, even memories he held dearly.

To survive Yharnam, the very thing he needs to forsake...was himself.

Do not hope.

Do not believe.

Do not try.

For those who does, they would only torment under the presence of the moon. In this world of nightmare, there is only one logical thing to do; hunt. Continuously hunt and hunt until the very beasts that fed on flesh and fear of mankind cower. And by time, you either became beast yourself or face liberation.

Hope.

Believe.

And try.

"You've done well. The night is near its end."

Tormented and suffered, losing constantly facing deaths multiple instances. In the battlefield of losing, Hachiman is the very champion. And so, the journey ends in a hopeful look. All it took was a hunter's helper, a former hunter.

"Now, I will show you mercy."

And words that made him grew more hopeful. He believed, he certainly tried. This was it, his liberation. The nightmare...can finally end.

"You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun."

A sweet whisper to his decaying mind.

"You will be freed...from this terrible hunter's dream..."

He care not the debt that was left in his hand, he wants to forget everything. Everything he experienced here, this nightmare. He want to escape from it, to be...liberated. All of the hope he held will finally be worth it.

Hachiman slowly turns around and drop on his knees. He places the partner that helped him in this nightmare, Chikage beside him. Like an honorable samurai, he prepares himself as he heard the hunter's helper behind him stand up from his wheelchair.

Hachiman visibly and eagerly smiles as he stares at the field of haunting white flowers. They shine brilliantly like the moon, like the hope he held deep inside. The night of the hunt feels long, longer than his time in the waking world before even if he couldn't recollect what it was like.

He could see in the furthest corner of his vision a scythe. Bandaged and old but prepared to do what was necessary.

Finally, he could see it.

His-

͎̺̗͗͢"̥͇̔̈͟L̶̹͉͚̺̫͔̠̹ͨI̭̟̞̦̝̹͎͆ͨ͡Ḅ̶̠̼͖͊̂͒̑Ę̝̦̪̮̤ͨ͛R̟͖̗͎̙̯̎͌̈́A̛̭͓͖̗̦̣̻͌T̮͖̰̭́̿̐͡Į̺̞̝̰̣̗̦̖͒Ó̢̞̱ͧŅ͚͈͖̣̣̞̤̙̯̘̙̈́̌̐̚͜"̧̺̘̙̲ͬ͊͆̚

"Gomi-chan, wake up! You'll be late for school! You haven't even cook any breakfast yet!"

Cold sweat.

Beating heart.

Jolt of electricity.

Hair standing up.

Eyes wide.

Breathless.

He stood up, hands and body shaking in pure terror. Clothes are wet with sweat he did not felt until now. He could see unfamiliar yet familiar rays of sunlight on his left. He swiped it open and the blinding rays enveloped his vision. Teeth clattering, he could not remember it.

You hoped.

His eyes trailed all around the room he was in, he could not remember it. Why couldn't he remember!? Paranoia settles in and he frantically tap his hand on his side, coming into contact with something.

You believed.

The shake became uncontrollable as he slowly turns to witness what it was, hoping and believing that it was nothing, that it was all nothing. That whatever he's feeling right now is not real, nothing is real.

And you tried.

His eyes widened when he sees a blade - a katana. Then it all settles in.

The nightmare of Yharnam was still ingrained in his mind. The horrors, the beasts, the blood and the hunt. It was all fresh in his mind, yet he could not remember the waking world. His memories of Yharnam...stayed, he didn't forget any of it. He couldn't forget it.

And now with Chikage beside him, it all comes together.

The nightmare persists.

A scream of terror soon filled and shook the Hikigaya household.

Ņ̞̝͎̈ͬ̀̌o͇̙̪̤̖̦͑̐͞w̐ͯ͗҉̮̹͈̜̠̙͉ͅ,̙͇̞̉͋͜ ̽ͨ̍̈́͏͉͉̝̼̦̰ͅy̹͍̘̝͈̆ͮͬ͟ͅͅͅö͕̤̮͐̓ͩ́u̝̞ͦ͐́ ̲̖̬͇̒͟ẉ̴̪̪̰̺̅͌̏̀i̳͚̹̔̕l̫͇̥̻̥̼̃ͯ̀ͅl̵͓̩̬̙͂̈́ͩͨ ͕̹̠͖͔͙̱͈ͥͤͨ̀d̢̞͉̣͖̺̗ͥͩͥ̏ͅe̫̘ͯ́̉͠s̺͈̱͎̰̗̻̩͌͝p̮͈̜̤̫̥ͪ͑́å̡̹̱̺̰̭̞̼̇̒̌ȉ̢͉̩̬̗͔̥̦̗ͪͤṛ̱̎̕.̳͕̙̝̲͚̯̰̾ͧ̍ͯ̕

For the secrets of Yharnam lay buried with you.

Prelude End

I'm feeling a bit sadistic at the moment so I decided to write another random idea that no one had done before...I think. Like with Great Sister Komachi which I'm still confused why anyone hasn't done it yet, I had this idea sitting in my mind for the longest time.

And now that prelude is done, I feel like fanfics like these held more potential than I first thought. At first, the title for this fanfic is "The Waking World is Stranger than I Initially Thought" and it was all about Hachiman who experienced the nightmare that is Yharnam, went through canon OreGairu which is somewhat of staple with OoC Hachiman fanfics.

But then when I was writing, my mind went into a different direction as I take it more seriously. Then the story somewhat changed. While he will be going through canon OreGairu, he will be, as you can see (read), very...unstable. So I decided to rename it "The Secrets Lay Buried with You" which sounds mysterious and ominous.

I had discussed this idea with a friend whom I always mentioned in the newer OreGairu fics since he always liked to talk about it (yeah, it's you Wilt). If any normal person experienced Yharnam, they would lose their minds and unfortunately, that includes Hachiman. While Hachiman does have mental fortitude, it isn't enough to tank experiences like Bloodborne.

So shit went to hell and now, Hachiman comes back...with no memories of the waking world he once knew but kept the ones relating to Yharnam. Yeah, that's going to fuck him up real bad. Healing process of his mental state would take a very long time, but you can't heal from something you can't forget.

The fanfic is going to be him dealing with the canonical events whilst also dealing with nightmares haunting him. Don't expect cooler, perceptive and observant Hachiman, expect colder, paranoid and at times violent Hachiman.

That being said, thanks for reading. Do leave reviews, I love reading those even though GSK had these anonymous reviews flaming me. I assume they came from The Superior Yukinoshita and they're pretty salty with how I described Haruno as the superior Yukinoshita. Of all the flavors and you choose to be salty, smh.

Favs and follows are also appreciated.

See ya guys.