Digimon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Kouseki no Izou ❯ What Dreams May Come ( Chapter 2 )

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

2: What Dreams May Come

Koushiro stood in a great hall of a palace.

He stared around, wondering what the hell he was doing here, when a sound from behind him made him whirl around. A small figure- a young boy, maybe ten years old, was running towards him, his face white and streaked with tears, clutching his arm close to his chest.

It's me, Koushiro murmured, his eyes wide. That's me.

The ten-year-old Koushiro ran right past him, as though he weren't there. He was sobbing under his breath now, and Koushiro followed him, a numb feeling sweeping over him, and a vague one of fear, like remembering a bad memory he didn't want to. Why is he so scared?

The sounds of heavy, belated breathing came from behind him, and Koushiro whirled around, and froze. A man, his eyes glittering with insane malice, approached the boy, who had retreated into a dark corner, his sobs still audible. "Iie- iie, leave me alone-"

"You've done wrong, Koushiro," the man said, in a guttural whisper. "And you must be punished..." He brought up the object he held in his hands, and Koushiro's blood ran cold.

It was a scythe. A double-bladed scythe. He felt another flash of indescribable fear, seeing the blade flash in the darkness.

"I didn't do anything!" the boy cried. "Father, it's all in your head- father, don't hurt me again-"

"You've done wrong," the man repeated, now standing in front of the boy. "And... you must be punished..."

He brought the scythe down in an arc, straight toward the boy.

;)

Hikari tried to follow Koushiro the best she could, but he was moving amazingly fast for one being out in a dark city in the middle of a horrible storm. Her body felt wasted and numb, and by the time Koushiro ran into the police officer, she felt ready to drop. She didn't see him run into the alley, and gasped when she realized she had lost him.

"Kou- Koushiro-kun?" Hikari called in a hoarse voice. "Whe-where are you?"

In the alley, a voice in her head told her. He's in the alley.

Not sure if she should be listening to voices in her head, Hikari padded down the alley, ready to run if something tried to attack her. A low muttering came to her ears, and she froze; there was someone slumped against a building, muttering something under their breath. Hikari squinted in the limited light, and gasped. "Kou-Koushiro-kun!"

Koushiro was curled up in a tight ball, his eyes open but unseeing, oblivious to the rain that poured down upon his head. He was muttering something under his breath, over and over.

"Koushiro-kun?" Hikari kneeled by his side, her eyes wide. "Koushiro, what..." She listened intently to his mumblings, her eyes growing bigger and rounder with every word.

Red to red and black to black

Twist the blood and turn it black

Planet of Silence and planet of Death

Take the black and spill the red

The darkness inside will take you away

Don't think to see another day

Red to red and black to black

Turn around

You won't come back

Over and over he mumbled this in a hoarse voice. An emblem burned jet black on his forehead for a split second, then vanished. Hikari sat back on her heels and wondered whether she should try to wake him up or not. Aaiie, onnichan, I wish you were here.

;)

The Pokemon had long since fallen asleep in the darkness. Kojiro and Musashi had as well, leaning against each other. Sakura had said she was going to check on the other Pokemon, and hadn't returned yet. Botan, though she had insisted she would stay awake, was nodding off on the couch.

Satoshi had fainted, right after the lights went out.

Kasumi was the only one fully awake. She sat on the floor, all alone, with Satoshi's head in her lap. There was no doubt in her mind that his odd behavior and the storm were linked now, as well as his passing out.

She stared sadly at his face, half incased in shadows. "Oh, Sao-kun. What is happening to you?" A bolt of lightning lit up the room, and she stared out the rain-streaked window. "Why does everything always happen to you?"

His body spasmed, and Kasumi gasped, thinking he could be having some sort of seizure. His eyes shot open, and at first she thought he had woken up, but it wasn't so- his eyes were sightless and dull.

"Satoshi- Satoshi-kun-" Kasumi shook him lightly, but his only response was a flash of black light from his forehead- an emblem of some kind- that was gone as soon as it had appeared. Kasumi frowned, and traced where it had been with her finger. "Nani-?"

Satoshi began to murmur something under his breath. Kasumi frowned, trying to listen, and bits of words began to come to her, until she was sure of what he was saying.

Red to red and black to black

Twist the blood and turn it black

Planet of Silence and planet of Death

Take the black and spill the red

The darkness inside will take you away

Don't think to see another day

Red to red and black to black

Turn around

You won't come back

"Satoshi... you're scaring me..." Kasumi stared at him. He had never been like this before, not that she could remember. "Sao-kun?

"Pi?" A chibi voice asked sleepily. Kasumi turned to see Pikachu, sitting back on its haunches, staring at her with half-open eyes.

"Pi-chan," Kasumi said affectionately, remembering her old nickname for the electric Pokemon.

"Pi pi chu?" Pikachu inquired, hopping over to where Satoshi lay. It stared at its best friend, confused, and its eyes filled with tears as it stared at Kasumi, awaiting an explanation.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, Pi-chan," Kasumi murmured, her fingers brushing Satoshi's hair back from his face. "But... there's something wrong with him. And it has something to do with this storm..."

"Chu..." Pikachu's lip trembled, and it jumped into Kasumi's lap, to wait with her for Satoshi to awaken again.

;)

The room was huge, decorated all in aquamarine, with a large pool on one end, and an intricate bed at the other. Statues stood all over the place. Satoshi stood in the middle of it all, feeling very small and insignificant.

"You have to leave- my father, he'll kill you if he finds you here."

"Iie. I won't leave you, Kasumi-chan. You're the only friend I ever had, and I'll stick by you no matter what."

Satoshi turned around, slowly, and saw two teenagers, both around fourteen, conversing in the middle of the floor. The girl was dressed in some sort of royal dress that was the same color as the rest of the room. The boy had some sort of shabby, dirty robe and a bandana around his head, hiding his forehead from view. They looked exactly like himself and Kasumi.

"Nani..." A low croak came out of Satoshi's throat, but he was interrupted by the sound of the door being broken down. Several guards and a very royal-looking man entered. "Seize that boy!" the man yelled.

Faster than seemed possible, the guards had the boy in their grasp, He struggled, but it did no good.

"Satoshi-kun!" the girl cried, and Satoshi winced, hearing his name come out of her mouth. "IIE! Please, father, leave him alone!"

The man paid her no attention. "Tell me, boy," he said in a soft and dangerous voice. "Why do you wear that thing on your head?" His voice got more dangerous still. "Is there something you're hiding?"

The boy's face paled. "Iie," he whispered, and squirmed even harder. "Iie, don't- please-"

One of the guards ripped the bandana from his head, and the entire place filled with black light...

;)

"Damn, this was a bad idea," Motomiya Daisuke, age fourteen, muttered through chattering teeth. "We shouldn't have come out when a storm was coming."

"That's the problem," the other boy, Takaishi Takeru, said dully. "It came up so quickly, we had no idea it was coming."

Daisuke hit his head against the brick building a couple times. "Ugh. I forgot. This baka storm is making my brain go bonk."

The two boys were barricaded near a Dumpster somewhere in Odaiba.They had just been in the park, fooling around like all teenage boys do, when the storm had come out. They had only run a couple of blocks before the storm sucked the energy out of both of them and they hid in this alley, waiting for the storm to clear up. Which, at the moment, looked near impossible.

Daisuke sank against the wall and sighed. "This keeps getting better and better." Takeru said nothing, just stared off into space blankly, and Daisuke twisted his head to frown at the blonde boy. "Takeru-kun? What's the matter with you?"

Takeru still didn't move. Even in the darkness Daisuke could detect the dullness in his eyes. Feeling slightly scared, Daisuke stared up at the street sign, wondering if they were close to any dry place they could wait until the storm was over. Makabi street.

Daisuke frowned. Makabi... Makabi... why does that sound so familiar? Makabi...

He gasped. That's where Takeru lives! And Miyako and Iori!

"Takeru-kun, can you get up?" He asked his friend. "Your apartment is just down the street."

Takeru didn't move. "I don't think I can," he said weakly. "You could just... leave me here..."

Daisuke's face twisted and he pulled Takeru to his feet. "Iie, you baka idiot! I'd never leave one of friends out in a storm, and you know it! Come on, let's get you home..."

Daisuke somehow had the energy to pull Takeru along the street to the apartment building, and pulled him inside. Takeru collapsed on the cement floor. "231," he murmured, his eyes on the ground. "That's Miyako's apartment.... Iori will be there... we should stick together..."

Daisuke nodded, and said in a low voice, "Come on, you've got to get up again. Do you know the way by heart?"

When Takeru nodded slowly, Daisuke sighed with with relief. "Good, because I can't see a thing in here. The power must have gone out."

Takeru managed to get to his feet again- without the rain pouring down on his head, his energy was returning- and he, with Daisuke's help, led the way to Miyako's apartment.

~

Inoue Miyako, aged fifteen, leaned against the wall, a candle in her hand. The light
danced a flickering dance, illuminating her face eerily. "Iori-kun, what's going to happen now?"

Her friend Hida Iori, eleven, sat on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. "I don't know," he said hopelessly. "At least we're not outside."

"Hai," Miyako said halfheartedly. "But it would be better if we had our friends here. Something keeps telling me there's something wrong..."

"Me, too," Iori said miserably. "But what can we do?"

There was a loud knocking on the door. Miyako and Iori glanced curiously at each other. "Who could that be?" Iori mused.

"It's us!" A voice called. "Open the door!"

Miyako gasped. "That's Daisuke!" She opened the door, and Daisuke and Takeru fell onto the floor. "Hi," Takeru mumbled.

"You're all wet!" Miyako cried, pulling them both to their feet. "Were you two out in the storm?"

When both teenage boys nodded mutely, Miyako sighed. "Shouldn't have expected more, I guess..."

"Something's wrong with Takeru," Daisuke said weakly. "I think he's sick."

"I'm fine," Takeru insisted, falling to the ground again as Miyako let go of his arm.

"Baka male bravado," Miyako muttered, throwing them both towels she had retrieved from the linen closet. "Dry yourselves off or you'll get hypothermia."

They did so, and Iori asked, "What were you doing out in that storm, anyway?"

Takeru told him the story, painstakingly. Daisuke, the towel hanging loosely over his thin shoulders, sat near the door, curled up in a tight ball. Miyako leant by him, concern etched on her face. "Are you all right, Daisuke-kun?"

"Hai, I think so," Daisuke murmured. "I just-" He quickly clapped his hand over his mouth and leaped down the hall to the bathroom. They could clearly hear the sounds of vomiting from inside. After about thirty seconds, Daisuke stepped out again, trembling violently. The three others stared at him. "Okay, maybe I'm not so fine."

;)

Kobayashi Washu sat in a swinger chair on a beautiful porch, holding a baby in her arms.

It was so peaceful, with only the singing of the birds to disturb them. Washu was in her adult form, singing to the baby.

"Sleep my baby, sleep my baby

Dream of places far away

Will you remember still

How I hope you always will

That day so long ago

When the world was born..."

The baby gurgled happily, and Washu felt tears come to her her eyes. "Oh..."

A sharp pain in her chest erupted suddenly, awakening the sleeping scientist. Her scream echoed around the empty lab, reverberating into the dark corners. Panting hard and cursing under her breath, she slipped out of the cot she slept in (she could have slept in a better bed, but then it was harder to get up to work) and crossed the room, rubbing her eyes and mumbling to herself, and looking in short like hell.

She slammed her fist into the computer console, awakening it as suddenly as she had been, and snapped, "What the hell just happened? I was having a good dream!"

"What happened, Washu?"

Washu scowled, her 12-year-old features making her look like an angry child. "I dunno, some kind of pain in my chest. What caused it?"

"Perhaps your heart imploded."

Washu kicked the machine with a bare foot, only to unleash a very loud "DAMN!" at impact. Holding the abused foot, she said sharply. "That isn't very funny, bolts-for-brains."

"I was making a serious suggestion!" The computer whirred, and said slowly, "Would you like me to trace the Earth for similar pains happening at this same time?"

"That might help," Washu said poisonously, feeling incredibly pissed off at the computer for having a better suggestion than her own.

"If you're going to talk to me like that I won't do it."

Washu took a deep breath to steady herself. "It is twelve-thirty in the morning," she said in a conversational tone. "I am having a nice dream, when I wake up because of some mysterious pain that will probably end up as some incurable disease that will end my worthless, 20,00 year life. So, it would help if you cooperated."

"All right, now that you asked nicely," the computer agreed. Washu groaned. "Why do I have to make machines with personalities...?"

The machine whirred, and said, "Success! There are five other points here in Japan."

Washu frowned. "None in the rest of the world?"

"Iie."

The pink-haired girl smirked. "Well, of course. Everything does happen in Japan. The Sailor Senshi, the DigiDestined, and us."

"You could call yourselves the 'Tenchi clan'."

"Guess we could. And now... this." Washu stared at the dark ceiling. Something was bothering her, like a memory that wouldn't come... closer, ever closer...

There were five others...

Washu gasped. "Oh- oh, my God-"

"Washu?"

Washu waved the machine's concerns away. "I- think I remember- something. But- where are those pinpoints located, exactly?"

"Two are somewhere in Shikoku- I believe they are part of the infamous 'Pokemon World'. The other three are in Tokyo."

Washu nodded. "All right, then- I'm going to meet them. Have they actually felt the pain yet?"

"Iie... but- why? Why go?"

She was already running to her dimensional transporter, still in her raggedy pajamas. "To sort this out." Maybe then I will remember...

"Well, could you at least turn me off?" the computer asked despairingly, right before the doors shut.

;)


Satoshi was no longer muttering under his breath, but he was still unconscious. Kasumi's mind kept going back to what he had said before...

I just feel like there's something that's going to happen tonight. And it's bad, really bad. And I can't stop it.

"How right you were," Kasumi murmured. "But- what's going to happen now?"

A sudden, sharp pain, like being hit by a bullet, penetrated her chest. She spasmed, and tried to keep from screaming. At the exact same time, Satoshi sat up, breathing hard. "Ow," he muttered. "That hurt."

"Pi?" Pikachu glanced, confused, from one to the other.

"Satoshi-kun?" Kasumi asked. "You're awake!"

He turned to face her. "Nani? Oh, hai. Listen, Kasumi, did you just feel..."

"A pain in my chest? Hai," She said breathlessly. "What do you think-"
At that moment, a rip appeared in the wall and a person fell out. A little pink-haired girl. She rolled over and stopped next to Pikachu. "Ka chu..." Pikachu commented. The girl looked up, and saw it. "Ooh, KAWAII!" she exclaimed, grabbing it. "PI PI CHU!" Pikachu screeched, shocking her.

"Aw, you're no fun!" The girl scowled, pushing the Pokemon away. She didn't appear electrocuted in the least.

Kasumi caught herself staring blankly and slapped herself mentally. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my gym?" she demanded of the girl.

The girl smiled brightly. "I am Kobayashi Washu!"

"Yawa Kasumi," Kasumi said, smiling despite herself.

"Tajiri Satoshi," Satoshi added. "And what are you doing here?"

"All right," Washu said in a businesslike tone, ignoring him. "You two just felt a sort of pain right now?"

"H-hai," Kasumi stammered. "How'd you know that?"

"The same thing happened to me," Washu replied.

Satoshi cocked his head. "But... why?"

Washu sighed. "I'm not sure. But the three of us aren't the only ones that it's happened to. And I can't remember..." Her eyes flickered. "Maybe when we're all together I'll remember..."

"Where are we going?" Kasumi asked nervously.

"To Tokyo," Washu replied, pressing a button on her device. Another rip opened in the wall. Satoshi gasped. "Hai..." he murmured distantly. "To Tokyo... we have to go to Tokyo..." They're there in Tokyo.

"Why to Tokyo?" Kasumi demanded.

"Just because," Washu said primly. "Now- come on, this won't take that long."

Before they could say a word, she had grabbed their hands and jumped through the rip right before it closed up.

;)

"Hotaru," Setsuna whispered. "Hotaru-chan, wake up."

The Senshi of Saturn didn't oblige; she stayed quite immobile, and continued muttering under her breath, her eyes open and glassy. Setsuna sighed, and pulled a strand of dark green hair out of her eyes. "She isn't coming to," she said sadly to the other Senshi. They had been there for several hours, and were a rather sad-looking group.

Tenoh Haruka, Sailoruranus, frowned. It was absolutely maddening the way her adopted "daughter" was unconscious, and she couldn't do a thing. "What's she keep saying?"

"I don't know what it means, but it's scaring me," Usagi shivered.

"I think it could be some sort of Saturn rhyme," Kino Makoto, Sailorjupiter, twirled a ringlet of soaking wet chestnut hair around her finger. "I mean... 'planet of Silence and planet of Death'?"

"I can't stand this!" the Senshi of Neptune, Kaioh Michiru, exclaimed, hitting her henshin pen on the muddy ground. "Hotaru-chan has always been the most mysterious, but this is ridiculous! What could possibly happen now?"

The rest of the Senshi stared at her in surprise. Michiru was by far the most mature of the Sailor Senshi (Michiru actually means 'mature' in Japanese :), and this kind of outbreak was quite rare. Michiru shrugged. "Gomen, I'm just so annoyed..." she gave up with a sigh.

Mizuno Ami, Sailormercury, patted her on the arm (and received a murderous glare from Haruka). "It's all right, Michiru-san. We're all worried about Hotaru-san."

"And whether we'll ever get out of this mess," ChibiUsa, who was both Sailorchibimoon and Usagi's future daughter, added, staring up at the sky.

Hotaru twitched, and Setsuna turned back to her excitedly, thinking she was waking up, but the girl merely murmured, "Minako..." before dropping back into her trance.

"Nani?" The rest of the Senshi turned to look at Aino Minako, who was being unusually quiet. She was pressed against a wall, looking more washed-out and tired than the rest of them put together. At that moment, she hissed and she clutched her fist to her chest, breathing hard.

"Mina-chan!" Usagi was immediately at her friend's side, concern showing in her enormous blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Ha-hai," Minako said through chattering teeth. "Just... it hurts... right here..."

"Why?" Usagi asked her, her lip trembling. "Mina-chan, is something wrong?"

"She's fine," a voice said. Usagi looked up. There was another girl, on the other side of Minako, only about twelve years old. "She's just received the signal..."

"The signal for what?" Usagi asked.

"We don't know." Another girl was behind her. She was apparently Usagi's age, with long red hair in a braid. She turned to the younger girl. "Washu-san, did she also feel it?"

"Hai," the pink-haired girl, Washu, murmured. "There are six of us... the two others are here. In Tokyo. Somewhere..."

The red-haired girl's eyes flickered. "Where's Satoshi-kun?"

"Here." The rest of them whirled around. Satoshi was standing in front of Hotaru, an indecipherable look on his face. Haruka narrowed her eyes dangerously, but Michiru laid a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes, however, were on Kasumi. There's something about that girl... why do I get the feeling I've seen her before?

Satoshi's confused look slowly melted into a dull one of a trance. "Hotaru," he murmured. "Wake up."

Hotaru's eyes opened, and she stared up at him. "You're here."