"Good Hunter."

"Lone Lantern."

"What are you going to do...?"

"...I do what I must."

"Hunting?"

"Yes...that too."

A Hunter always hunts.

Even in dreams.

And in dreams, he severed all.

A Progress - Intermission

Another year had passed, Hikigaya Hachiman was in his third year of middle school. And this day was his last day receiving therapy.

"Well, Hikigaya-kun. This may be our last session together but do remember my advice." The doctor said as she smiled. "You seem much better prior to two years ago."

"Yes." Hachiman replied, looking a bit nostalgic despite feeling that the two years he's been in the waking world couldn't compare to the time he spent on Yharnam. "I'm...getting used to the world."

"You say that as if you're from another world." The doctor replied with a giggle. "Just remember, your...Chikage will be placed and preserved in a better place. I know it means so much to you and it helps your mental stability but you don't need it anymore. You're fine now, okay?"

"Of course." Hachiman nods, he had parted with his partner for quite some time now and with the lack of threats, it was a necessary decision.

"Hikigaya-kun, I enjoyed our time together even if we had a rough start. You're mature for your age so you'll be fine walking in society." She then handed her card. "But if you do need help, don't hesitate to contact me. My job is to help people like you."

Hachiman took the card and nodded. "I will, thank you for your consideration Ichikawa-hakase."

The doctor, Ichikawa Jun, smiled in response. "It's fine. Hope you have nice days ahead of you, Hikigaya-kun."

"Yes, I hope so too."

And so, the secret remains buried.

"Hachiman!" Someone called from a distance.

School was safe and uneventful, but the chemistry classes or any science classes were interesting. His knowledge of the many chemical properties and understanding of physics was broadened to a horizon he thought not possible before. Weapons capable of mass destruction...if he had made use of this knowledge, Old Yharnam would be gone. No, maybe everything Yharnam included would be gone.

Nuclear weapons are dangerous but undoubtedly powerful.

That was what he thought.

Because right now, the one calling him had gotten so close to him he could practically call her a friend. Just like he did with the Good Hunter.

"Kaori." He replied, blinking and remained stoic in his expression. "Good morning."

"Good morning!" She beamed a smile. "Let's go to class together."

Change was a word he thought was ridiculous. He heard so many tales from Yharnam regarding changing, changing for the better more specifically. The Healing Church and the countless lies they procure to change Yharnam to a better place. Ludwig the supposed hero who served the Healing Church as one of the finest hunters who also was supposed to save Yharnam but ultimately succumbed into becoming a beast himself. They all tried to change but failed.

When he first arrived at the waking world, he still held on to that belief. But who knew even he himself could change for the better?

Orimoto Kaori is a close friend of Hachiman whose presence was comforting and someone whom Hachiman can hold conversations with properly without it being simple short replies. She understood him to an extent and knew the right time to converse.

Even though she originally was a pretentious nice girl, she also proved she could change. The murmurs around him are still present but not as many anymore thanks to Kaori. Although there were not many people who'd talk to him, they were at least not bothering him. Perhaps Kaori's presence helped.

Prior to a year ago, he'd not expected their relationship would grow this much but it did, and he was thankful for it.

'Thankful...' Hachiman looks at the skies. 'As expected, gratitude does not suit me.'

"Hachiman," Kaori called and he turned towards her. "Let's hang out after school?"

"Sure." Hachiman nods, he didn't mind spending more time with her.

"Yes!!!" She whispered to herself with a fist pump.

'Mary, may your soul rest in peace.' Hachiman curved his lips a bit. 'I'm sorry I couldn't save you but I know you're in a better place now.' He closed his eyes as he envisioned the girl he was with during his time in Yharnam. 'I know I am.'

And that was when it struck.

The bell rang and school was over. Hachiman gathered his things and walked out of the class. All things considered, he had gone out with Kaori a few times but they were mostly grocery shopping courtesy of their parents knowing each other and somehow keen on making them spend more time together. He does not know why but it was fine. He didn't mind it.

Still, she must've wanted to go to an arcade since she has been staring at it during their trips. He does not understand the appeal behind games or arcades but that was more of him being a hardened veteran hunter rather than Kaori being strange. Entertaining one's self is quite normal in the waking world.

"Hachiman, let's go!" Kaori said excitedly as they walked together out of school.

As they walked across the football field, Hachiman's senses flared and he immediately caught a ball in his hand.

"What the!?" Kaori gasped in shock. "That was dangerous! Hachiman, are you okay?"

Hachiman merely blinked and looked at the ball in his hand. "I'm fine..."

The trajectory was too specific.

"Sorry, sorry!" A guy ran towards them with an apologetic smile. "My aiming was off! Man, I need to practice more."

The Lone Lantern did not miss the darkness that was present on the guy's face for the brief moment his eyes landed on him.

"Careful next time, okay? You could've hurt someone and it won't be hilarious." Kaori scolded.

"Yeah, sorry! How'd you rate my shot? Haha!" The guy was pretentious, Hachiman eyed him carefully to see his intent.

"The heck? Your shot was way off! And you shouldn't ask that when you nearly hit us!" Kaori replied, serious but at the same time playful. "But I didn't expect Hachiman here to catch that! That was pretty cool!"

"Tch."

There.

He could see it, the reasoning.

His objective was Kaori.

He was intent on hurting him.

"Yeah, it was pretty rad!" The plastic smile remains plastered on his face.

"Anyway, we gotta go!" Kaori said and tugged his sleeves. "Come on, Hachiman." She said as she walked ahead.

Slanted eyes.

Plastic smile.

A crafty mask.

A dubious lie.

A threat.

"Yes, let's go." Hachiman grips on the ball. "Here." With a slight movement and perfect control of his wrist, he threw the ball back.

The guy widened his eyes and caught the ball with both hands, smirking as he did so.

"Ggh!?"

What he did not expect was the force behind the ball was strong enough to send him skidding back a bit as the ball remained spinning in his grip for a few seconds before stopping.

Hachiman with eyes narrowed stared at the guy's eyes. "Be careful, there won't be next time." Hachiman finished and walked forward.

The guy with the ball in hand and his palms riddled with lacerations glared at Hachiman. "You cocky..." Vein starts to pop on his forehead as his mask collapses. "Don't get ahead of yourself! Who do you think you are?"

Hachiman stops his tracks, not looking behind as his figure stood motionlessly. "Nobody." He slightly turned his face, his dead fish eyes merely glancing at the ground. "Just like you."

With that, Hachiman follows Kaori, leaving the guy to grip the ball tightly.

In the waking world, social constructs worked differently but there is a hierarchy involved. One Hachiman thought he wouldn't have to deal with but the reality is that nearly everything has hierarchy. But in the grand scheme of things, he was a victim of the nightmare. And as such, things like that don't bother him.

Yes, it doesn't...until it does.

Ichikawa Jun is a doctor, more specifically a therapist who excelled in psychology. She had many patients before and most of them she managed to save. While some she had failed, leading into serious situations where they ended up in solitary prisons, her latest patient Hikigaya Hachiman, she does not know. In all of her time as a doctor, this was the first time she wasn't sure whether she had managed to save him or not.

Because while he looked fine, underneath the many layers of the surfaces she saw, she could not see it. The abyss hiding under those layers. But she was sure he could walk in society just fine given he understands the many percussions of standing out. After all, Japan's society is obsessed with normality. Standing out would only make things worse.

Hachiman was an enigma who, unlike many boys his age, does not seek attention nor does he possess semblances of a healthy one. He is healthy physically but his lack of interest in many things–opposite sex included–was strange. From the info she gained from his family, he wasn't asexual. Far from it, he was a normal heterosexual boy who does have an unpleasant history interacting with the opposite sex. But while that could contribute to a change in personality, it certainly wasn't enough to change a person overnight.

Because that was what happened; one morning he woke up and completely changed as a person. Even his own family admitted that he wasn't the Hachiman they knew and that was enforced when he doesn't recognize his own family.

His medical results told her that he had experienced a traumatic event so bad it caused him to forsaken everything he knew and held dear which was still baffling. Such experiences should extend to years, not a single night. And the feedback from experiencing it should still be not enough to make one forget everything even down to basic technology like televisions and smartphones. No medical history had this kind of patient before, this was new. Sure, some had received shock enough to constantly see visions of what they experienced but once snapping out of it, their memory of their former lives remained.

Completely forgetting the world was not possible, how could one forget he was born and lived in Japan? It was ridiculous.

And that brings her to the things he used to keep on his being all the time; a clearly dangerous weapon he calls "Chikage".

She had seen various katanas in her life being Japanese and all but the designs on his Chikage were completely foreign. The design philosophy completely differs from Japan's and the intricate details on the blade felt more western than it is eastern. Like a combination of both which in of itself is bizarre. The weapon was unheard of, no one knew of its existence prior to Hachiman's change overnight.

The feeling of dread was wrapping her body like a snake, she felt out of depth. She knew she was trying to temper with things beyond her comprehension. So she did what she thought was best, rehabilitating him and convinced him he did not need Chikage in his life. In doing so, she separated him and Chikage apart, and brought it to experts for them to conduct research for it.

One might call her unprofessional, a complete busybody, sticking her nose to where it doesn't belong. She knew that, but she needed to do it. To understand, to comprehend. Her job is as such; she is a therapist. Understanding her patients is what she does. It is her number one priority, to identify who or what she was dealing with. And save them from it.

Being unsure whether or not she had managed to save him was the biggest block in her life. Because she understood everyone. She was supposed to understand everyone.

She...was a seeker of truth.

Jun shook her head, she needed to think later. For now, she had a new patient.

"Hakase," A young man greeted with a smile, one she knew wasn't real. "Good afternoon."

She nods, "Good afternoon." Jun took the papers and her brows immediately furrowed in confusion. "So you're the one who can do magic tricks? Your parents mentioned you have...say, an imaginary scenario where you returned from a different world?"

"It's not imaginary, and they're not tricks. I can do real magic." The young man replied.

There were no lies, his body language lacked any strange movements meaning he was telling the truth. But then again, eighth-grade syndrome is a thing. She had some patients who believed they're characters from a fictional work or an imaginary work they've thought of. But the amount of confidence he has in his voice is concerning...

Even they, as in Chuunibyou, knew that they are merely playing their fantasies.

"I see..." Jun internally sighs, another strange patient. "Hm...your name is..."

"Hayato. Hayama Hayato."

And the twisted wheels of fate continue to spin...

I am Lone Lantern.

I am a hunter.

I did not know what happened to the dream but they still remain in my memories. A secret only I bear and suffer for.

In the waking world, I am referred to as Hikigaya Hachiman. A young man who lived in a normal world with peace riddled all over. I have a father, a mother and a sister. All of whom I've come to accept, ans even including one named Orimoto Kaori. She is...a friend of mine.

It has been nearly three years since I've woken up from the dream. The waking world is strange but pleasant. I did not need to hunt beasts nor do I need to lose something. I am a normal person who lives a normal life.

That's what is supposed to happen.

That's what it should've been.

But...

"Y-You sick...b-bastard!" A man cried out. "You just killed him!"

I yank out my hand out of the supposed yakuza member, blood drips down as a familiarity overrides my senses. I was...angry. Sad. Tormented.

Seeing the blood on my hands, I feel it again.

"Crap, the hell are you guys doing!? Kill him!"

I looked at them but they weren't there. I could only see those white eyes staring at its meal.

'The...the beasts. They've returned.' My eyes widen in realization. 'They've...RETURNED!!!!'

The once silhouette of scared men changed into the beasts. Those...damn beasts. Craving for blood and flesh, they see me. I was back in Yharnam.

My throat was dry, and sore. I couldn't put my voice out.

That was because I was screaming.

No, I was roaring.

I have kill again.

To suffer again.

To...dream again.

"H-Hel–"

"A monster...a monster!"

"Please no–"

"R-Run!!"

I was never back in Yharnam.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Because the nightmare persists.

Short chapter, I know.

I have no excuses, it's just your typical writer's block. But seeing this fanfic getting more attention, I think it's just normal for me to update this.

Yeah, it's just me procrastinating.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter tho. Thanks for the reviews as well, reading them is always a joy.

That being said, I'll see you guys again in the next chapter.