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 Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:06 pm
The trip had a rather long lasting effect on Mitsu’s mental status that seemed to linger when she was both awake and asleep. The sun was already fairly high in the sky, peeking in through the cracks in the curtains covering the window. Groaning from lack of sleep Mitsu rolled over in her bed, grabbing her pillow and pulling it over her head to block out the light. Today would be no better. At least she was fairly certain. The only thing she had to look forward to was dragging herself out of bed so that she could see Shun. If she had just spent that night she could have skipped the getting up part.
With a frustrated sigh the lycan finally tossed her pillow aside and crawled to the side of the bed where she sat for the longest time. A lot had changed in just a couple of days and it was hard letting it all sink in. She also worried that she wasn’t getting any better. There was no real improvement to hearing the whispers and murmurs in her mind and it made her wonder if they were there to stay.
Leaning forward Mitsu rested her elbows on her knees, placing her head in her hands as she tried to pep herself up to move. It wasn’t that long of a walk to the reaper dorms and when she got there Shun would hold her and kiss her and make her feel better. That alone would have gotten her moving if the knock at the door hadn’t gotten her attention first. Curiously she lifted her head hearing no one call out to her from the other side. It made her leery as she cautiously pushed herself from the bed and moved to the door.
“W…who is it?”
“What do you mean who is it? You asked me to bring you your stuff from home because you left your books….”
That voice….it couldn’t be. Almost too eagerly Mitsu opened the door to find a face she hadn’t seen in over three years. Her brother stood there with a grin, the gnome that had escorted him to the room scampering off as it muttered and cursed.
“I think I stepped on him once or twice,” Ginji whispered, feeling for the door frame before he moved into the room. In one hand he held a back pack, obviously laden with books and supplies. “You should really think about investing in a locker to keep your things. This thing is heavy.”
Mitsu only stared in disbelief, tears already brimming her eyes. This…this wasn’t real was it? She was surely hallucinating. Her brother wasn’t truly here. “Gi….Ginji?”
“What’s wrong? You sound upset? Your reaper boy toy isn’t being a jerk to you is he? I know Mom likes him but I think I agree with Dad, he seems like an a**.”
The question, while strange, didn’t even phase her. Mitsu only took a step closer, her hand tentatively reaching out to touch Ginji’s arm. “I…is it really you?”
“…Of course it’s me. You act like you haven’t seen me in ages and you just left home yesterday.” Ginji’s brow creased with concern as he set the bag down, feeling Mitsu’s hesitant touch. Taking her hand he pulled her closer, bringing her into a tight hug. “It’s alright.” He soothed, a hand stroking the top of her head lightly.
“B..but you were gone and Mom and Dad are gone and,” She continued to murmur some sort of explanation on what her time had been like without him, tears flowing down her cheeks and the looming sobs making her stammer in her speech. When she was done Ginji continued to hold her, the arm around her shoulder holding her close.
“Shh, it was just a dream Little Pup, only a dream. I’m still here and Mom and Dad are too. If you calm down and think you’ll remember you saw them only yesterday."
“O…Only yesterday?” Mitsu tried to pause and think and though it seemed obscure it actually sounded convincing. It had been only yesterday hadn’t it? She had waved goodbye to her parents when Shun had come to pick her up and take her back to school after the long weekend. It was unfortunate that she had forgotten her school bag in the process but Ginji had agreed to bring it over the next day so she wouldn’t be without it for classes.
“Yes, just yesterday. Do you want to give them a call? Will that put your mind at ease?” Ginji pulled back just a bit, hands following Mitsu’s shoulders up her neck to her face where he cupped her cheeks, wiping away the tears with his thumbs.
Confused Mitsu only stared at Ginji a bit longer before she pulled away to go retrieve her phone from her night stand. When she looked through her contacts, which were many, there they were….Mom and Dad. Something about this was all settling in. Maybe it had all been a bad dream. With another deep breath she was starting to feel better, calmer.
“I..I might call them in a bit,” Mitsu quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, moving back toward Ginji so that he wasn’t left standing by the door. “Thank you for bringing me my bag. I guess I was just stressed out from leaving my school work with exams so close.”
“Sounds about right, you always were a worry wart,” Ginji’s grin was back, a hand reaching out to ruffle Mitsu’s hair. “And a bit of a crybaby.”
“Heeey,” Mitsu complained trying to shoo away his hand.
Chuckling Ginji pulled back. “Well, since I’m here you want to have breakfast? I still have some time before the next train back.”
“Sure! Let me get ready and call Shun!” Mitsu finally smiled moving back into the room to search for something to put on.
“Awww…does he really have to come?”
“He’s my boilfriend and mom told you and Dad to be nice to him,” Mitsu huffed from somewhere inside her closet. “So yes, he’s coming.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:06 pm
As the days passed Mitsu found life settling back in as it should be. Her only real worries were exams and school work which when she focused on it wasn’t a worry at all. She spoke to her parents and brother often on the phone and spent the evenings after school with Shun. It was nothing short of perfect. Perhaps too perfect. Though she couldn’t wish for anything else something didn’t seem quite right. A heavy feeling settled over her, something telling her this wasn’t real. That this couldn’t last and she didn’t belong her. At the end of the day it would have her on edge again though Shun was usually good at soothing her worries telling her it was just nerves from looming exams. It was important after all. She was going to be a Third Year soon.
It was just so hard to shake that feeling, she wished she could but instead she found herself fretting about it more and more. It was silly really, Shun was probably right. She was just nervous about the exams because they were going to be harder than the ones they had faced for their second year. Still, it didn’t hurt to ask right?
When the weekend finally came Mitsu was determined to ask and when she spotted her brother in the distance waiting for her at the gate she hurried over to him, Shun not far behind. She smiled as she greeted him, hugging her brother before she pulled back.
“Ready to go home for the weekend?”
“Yeah, but I have something to ask.”
“Oh? What would that be?” Ginji seemed to noticed Shun was close by but only offered the reaper a short nod in exchange.
“Well….” Mitsu hesitated. “This will probably seem….strange. But where are we?”
Ginji paused for a moment before he chuckled. “You’re right, that is odd.” He pulled Mitsu close, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “It doesn’t really matter though, does it? Not as long as you’re happy.”
Those words, for some reason they sent a shiver down her spine. They sounded ominous and were far from answering what she had asked. What did he mean it didn’t matter?
“I…I guess not.” Mitsu said reluctantly, turning to Shun, her expression asking for help on the matter. She knew it was strange but it seemed like a question worth asking. This life felt too perfect and with her experiences with trances she wanted to make sure it wasn’t a dream.
“Don’t worry so much,” Shun said, pulling Mitsu into a hug. “It doesn’t really matter where your body is, if you stay this way you can remain here forever.”
Mitsu’s eyes flew wide going rigid in Shun’s grasp. What had he said? That it didn’t matter where her body was? Where was her body? The thought made her start to tremble, flashes of her previous nightmare starting to surface.
“S..Shun….y…your eye..” Mitsu pulled back looking her reaper in the face. As he was right now his face was fine, his left eye still intact but somehow…that wasn’t right.
“My eye is fine…” Shun said with a quirked brow.
“N…no it wasn’t….isn’t,” Mitsu corrected herself. “Y…You lost your eye.”
Shun frowned, placing a hand on Mitsu’s shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with my eye. Nothing happened…”
“Come on, Mitsu, we’re going to miss the train.” Ginji tried to coax her onward but Mitsu was now torn, the whispers from her dreams suddenly present while she was awake. The doubt was starting to seep in. This was all wrong. This wasn’t real. Her brother really was gone and this person wasn’t Shun. It was a nice dream though….perhaps she could stay. There was nothing wrong with that was there?
NO! No she couldn’t afford to think like that. This was a trap not a simple dream. If she didn’t wake up what would happen to her body?
“This is all wrong…”
“What are you talking about? Are you having odd dreams again?” Ginji asked.
“Shun….” Mitsu turned to her reaper, seeking answers wondering if she could break herself from this oh so perfect dream. “Your Dad….he runs an underground operation right? H…He was helping to kidnap students…and handing them over to the hunters. We confronted one of them and you....you killed him...” It was the one thing she wished she could forget but couldn't. It was so ingrained in her memory it had to be real.
Shun looked at Mitsu for a long moment actually baffled. Then slowly a smile started to creep across his face before he chuckled. Not long after that chuckle turned into a laugh. “What are you talking about?”
But it was too late, the illusion was broken. Mitsu knew as soon as she heard that chuckle….this was not Shun. This was not reality and she had to find a way to escape.
Breaking away from the two Mitsu took off in a run, back toward the school, the whispers growing louder until they were nearly overwhelming. Panic was starting to fill her and without thinking she looked back seeing Shun and her brother, her friends and her family following her gaining ground quickly. They kept yelling for her to stay, that it would be alright. This was how things were meant to be. Life would be better this way, there would be no pain.
Flashes of her time on the Isles hit her, the people she had met that she now knew were gone, Riley who she had seen earlier in the day she knew wasn’t there. She was a statue, petrified forever in the same pose until someone found a cure. This reality wasn’t real and it was becoming more and more apparent she was trapped.
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 4:42 pm
Pushing passed the few students that blocked her path Mitsu made her way into the school, running down the hall at full speed. Her intent was the take the back exit and run into the woods but suddenly found her path blocked by a massive amount of people. There would be no way through, she would get caught for sure.
Skidding to a halt, Mitsu toppled forward, skinning her knees against the tile floor. When she finally gained her bearings again she pushed her way up and headed toward the stairs. People were filing in from all angles, her friends and classmates. These weren’t the people she knew, they weren’t the people she was familiar with. They wanted to keep her in this false reality she was certain would turn into a nightmare.
Up on the second floor Mitsu met the same resistance and was forced to continue her trek upward. Each floor she reached there was nothing but the same until she finally found herself on the roof with nowhere else to go. Up this high the wind was blowing fiercely, whipping her hair around her as she stared out at the setting pumpkin sun, turning twilight into night. Her heart was thundering in her chest. Where could she go? There was nowhere to hide up here and nowhere to escape.
She had only managed to take a step further onto the roof when the door behind her slammed open and she looked back to see her brother and Shun among many others filing one by one onto the roof.
“Don’t do something foolish, Mitsu,” Shun said.
“You’re scared, that’s understandable. But stay with us, it will be alright,” Ginji continued.
“That would be alright wouldn’t it? Look how nice it is here,” Xiu said stepping up beside Shun.
“Pain doesn’t exist here, only good moments, isn’t that what you want?” Lizzy said.
“It doesn’t matter what happens to your body, just give into it..”
Each phrase had Mitsu take a step back, her eyes as wide as saucers. She only came to a stop when she felt something hit her back and looked over her shoulder to find that she had found the edge of the roof. Looking over she could see the ground so very far away, tunnel vision hitting her but her panic to escape had her scrambling onto the ledge.
“Mitsu, what are you doing?” Shun stepped forward, raising his arms out to Mitsu as she wobbly stood to her feet on the ledge of the roof, nothing between her and a long fall to the ground. “Come back down. It will be okay.”
“Y…you’re not the real Shun.” Mitsu stammered, edging back until her heels were no longer supported by the ledge. “You’re just…an illusion. Shun doesn’t laugh…not like that. Ginji isn’t here and neither are my parents….they are all gone….all gone.”
“But we’re right here,” Ginji and her parents echoed as one. “We’re all here.” Everyone else sounded.
The masses began to move forward and in a last second decision Mitsu took the last step back feeling herself begin to fall.
Mitsu awoke with a start, eyes searching and finding no one but Shun beside her asleep on the bed. She had taken a nap and fallen to sleep beside him. Everything had been a dream….a dream she had wanted to escape and stay in at the same time. For a moment she had her family back and it was like they had been taken away from her all over again. It only added to the pain of the most recent events and Mitsu quickly curled into a ball laying back down. Tears fell silently down her cheeks as she nuzzled next to Shun trying to seek what comfort she could in knowing that he was at least really there.
At least she hoped this was reality and not another dream..
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