Azumanga Daioh Fan Fiction ❯ Tomo's Wish ❯ Act 5 Tomo's Dream ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I don't own Azumanga Daioh. It is owned by Kiyohiko Azuma

Tomo called it a night. She hasn't slept in class for a long time. That is, after Yukari gave her justice...she wasn't willing take her chances. She decided she was going to go to sleep. She placed her phone on her nightstand, then turned her light off; and she made sure that her radio was off, then curled into her bed. She drifted into dreamland. Unaware of what kind of dream she was going to have...she was in for an adventure. She then found herself...in a very dark corridor. She started walking. It felt like the hallway was never ending. She felt...some of her clothing shed. First, her tops...exposing her breasts...then her sweatpants exposing everything else. The more she walked, her clothing was replaced. She now was fitted in a snow-white summer dress. Once she got to the end of the Corridor...she opened the door. She found herself in a field full of sunflowers, and jasmine. She looked down and stepped carefully. The ground felt like carpet. That is, it felt like house carpet. She laughed, when she passed through the jasmine fields. It did tickle her a bit on her bare arms. She came on a very grassy hill, which was under a cherry tree. She came to Yom, who was in a similar dress.

"Tomo-chan, come on up," Yomi said sweetly.

"Yomi-san, what are you planning?" Tomo asked softly.

"I'm planning a picnic for the both of us," she smiled.

Tomo went up to Yomi's position. It felt like the dream was going to take a turn. It did. It started to rain...and Tomo fell in a bottomless pit. Before it got any worse...she woke up quick as flash. Her clock flashed 1:18 a.m. She went to the bathroom, and washed her face in cold water. She dried her face off. She couldn't exactly go back to sleep, just yet. She went to the kitchen to get some of the left over juice. She poured a glass, and sat at the table. Her father came down.

"Kiddo, it's quite late," he said yawning.

"I had a nightmare," Tomo said softly.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Well...if i remember...it started with me walking down a very long hallway..." she started, "then, I was briefly naked, and I was in these snow-white clothes."

"Go on," her father requested.

"Then, I was in a field of flowers...jasmine and sunflowers I think...and Yomi was on a hill," she continued.

"Did she invite you to do a picnic related thing?" he asked.

"Yup, and I ended up falling into a bottomless pit," Tomo finished.

"Try to get some sleep," he said. "Yukari will have a cow if you're late."

"I will...I need some advice..."

"What's up?"

"How should I take that?" Tomo asked.

"I don't know," he started. "You should take it as it comes you know...think about how your brother deals with getting a losing move on a video game."

"I think I should do the opposite...he has a rage quite tendency..."

"Not that," her father said, "when you stopped him from making a huge mistake."

"Oh...when that camper took him out...and he got his revenge," Tomo remembered.

"Right," he said. "In your case, you do need to get back to sleep to see how he dream ends...because it will screw with you."

Tomo knew her father was right. She put her glass in the sink, and kissed him on his forehead. She went upstairs, and went back to sleep. She closed her door, and she went back to sleep. Again the dream happened...and again the same result. Only this time, Tomo found herself in a dark void. With a spotlight over her. Still in a now, tattered white dress. Yomi wasn't there. Nobody was there. She called out...there was no answer. It was echoing her name back. Tomo got scared. She felt like she was abandoned. at that point. There was no reason for her to feel that way. Tomo again woke up...she wanted to cry. She wanted to break down. She decided she was going to put on a brave face. That is, she was going to be her pre-angst obnoxious self. Then again...she couldn't even put on a false face. After she got ready for school, she picked up her MP3 player. She got the FM tuner on, and placed it on the smooth jazz channel.

"Oh yeah," Tomo said, "something I can have for the day."

"You had a bad dream?" her mother asked...as her dad groaned. He dropped his toast butter side down.

"Yeah, it was terrible..." Tomo said evenly.

"If you want to take a day, I'd understand," she returned.

"I can't," Tomo said. "Eventually, I do have to face up to whatever's causing me to have these dreams."

RIght as Tomo put her shoes on, she was greeted by Osaka and Kagura. Tomo explained the dream to them...both went pale as a ghost. Osaka quickly interpreted the dream as something bad. She decided at lunch...she was going to go to the old building with Tomo and Kagura. On the hour, Osaka got the two and left. Sakaki wondered what was going on. Yomi figured they were going to try to copy incorrect homework. The ironic part is that Tomo has started to do her homework correctly.

"So...what did you want to talk to me about?" Tomo asked.

"That dream...I want you to go over in detail what happened," Osaka ordered.

"Yeah, that's major," Kagura said, taking a seat. She locked the door so nobody would wander in.

"Well...how it started...I was in a very long hallway...stripped briefly, and changed into a snow-white dress," Tomo started.

"Was there a door that led to anywhere?" Kagura asked.

"Yup, a flower field of jasmine, and Sunflowers..." Tomo continued.

"Go on," Osaka ordered.

"Well, Yomi was there on a hill, and she asked me to sit with her..." Tomo continued.

"I think this is going to be a bit worse than Kaorin's new year's dream," Osaka said plainly.

"It is...once Yomi opened up that picnic basket...I fell into a very dark pit...once i hit rock bottom..."

"It's the feeling of abandonment," Kagura said boldly. "She doesn't know who she can trust about now."

"That's beyond bad," Osaka said. "You can't feel like that!"

"She can," Kagura said. "The worst thing is...the feeling always come against best friends..."

She was right. Tomo knew exactly where Kagura was coming from. She has read those angst-filled romance novels. She knew this was the very first thing that had happened. She personally had seen how some of her other friends had gone through this. It was not very good at all. Kagura knew they'd be eating here, so she got their lunch from the co-op earlier. She looked over to Tomo who felt like somebody sucked he energy out of her.

"Tell me, did you have trouble sleeping?" Kagura asked. "You have had a rough time during class."

"I have," Tomo said softly.

"I just hope you don't do it during Yukari's class..." Osaka groaned.

"Right, she's been on a tear these days," Kagura warned.

"I can ask to go to the nurse's station," Tomo reasoned.

From there, they ate their lunch in relative quiet. Osaka knew to keep quiet about it. She didn't want to earn the wrath of Kagura...who exacted justice against Tomo a couple of times. After their lunch, they went back to the classroom. Everybody minded their own business. They assumed they didn't want to clean up the classroom for after. They also were groaning because they had to stay in-class for the health unit, taught by Nyamo. Today's topic, was healthy sleeping habits.

"Okay," Nyamo said, "many of us are guilty of poor sleeping habits."

"What kind of poor sleeping habits?" Chiyo asked.

"Let's take somebody like Osaka," she started, "she tends to be a night owl, and gets punished by Yukari harshly."

"Yeah, the last time, I slept sitting up without realizing it," Osaka rememberd. "It wasn't worth it."

"Now, we're not here to judge," Nyamo said. "There's a lot of things we do without realizing it."

"Like what for example," Tomo asked.

"For example, some of us have a huge meal after seven...not giving enough time for proper digestion," she started.

"Oh...is that how sometimes bad dreams happen?" Tomo asked.

"It depends on the person, but it has happened," Nyamo answered.

"What about those who have a routine but still are on the wrong end?" Kagura asked.

"That depends on what else you do before bed," Nyamo said. "You really can't exercise and expect to get some sleep."

This lecture went on quite quickly. Tomo actually took notes. Secretly...she wanted to do something more. She wanted assurance that she wasn't going to be abandoned by Yomi at all. Yomi noticed that Tomo wasn't her usual self. She thought she was sick, or a boy was making her that way. She was half right. She did not know it was it was her. In fact she was quite clueless. She did do one simple thing to quell Tomo's fears.

"Hey...what's going on?" Yomi asked.

"Oh, I just had a very bad dream," Tomo started.

"Have you eaten before bed?" Yomi asked.

"Sometimes, but it wasn't that bad..." Tomo trailed off.

"You should try to have some white water sounds to help you sleep better," Yomi suggested.

"Yomi...is there anything else I can do?" Tomo asked. "I've been going to bed early these days."

"There's not much you can do," she said. "Just don't force yourself to go to sleep."

Tomo's fears were unfounded. She still felt Yomi was that far away. This is when they're both in the same classroom. Later on...during clean-up duties, Tomo swept the floor. She was thinking about how things are going with Yomi. Sure sometimes they got a bit rough. However, she loved Yomi dearly. She then regret making fun of her weight. Yomi was not fat! She was crazy flexible, and athletic. She never understood why she obsessed about her weight. She saw Yomi get that look in her eyes. She decided she was going to tell the truth.

"Hey Yomi, what's going on?" Tomo asked clear across the room.

"Damn it!" Yomi roared, "I was in the middle of..."

"Let me guess...you're counting calories for imaginary weight," Tomo huffed.

"What...no wise-ass remarks?" she asked confused.

"Damn it, you're not fat!" Tomo hissed.

"You...I mean..." Yomi started as she really didn't comprehend.

"I mean if you want to watch your weight for health then do it," Tomo said, "don't do it at the price of your health!"

"I never thought of it that way..."

"Listen...I know I've made fun...but I'm sorry for that..."

Yomi really was surprised. She didn't know if Tomo was sincere. However...this wasn't registering on her radar. Tomo still felt Yomi would abandon her a bit. After all, Tomo came out and was making her point. Yomi was trying to make sense of everything. Why would Tomo suddenly come out like that. Was she being sincere...or was she just playing? What did she have to gain by telling her all of this. Either way...she put Yomi on notice that things were going to change. Yomi then sighed, and decided she was going to have to ask around. Though...Osaka and Kagura would be the worst candidates. However, she really didn't know that they know exactly what was going on.