CHAPTER ONE – AN ENIGMATIC ENCOUNTER (YuKi)

For Yuri, every turn of a page, every word that she took in silently, every second she spent reading Laughing at the Shadows, all of them allowed her to dive deeper and deeper into a world vastly different from the one she lived in. It was always a euphoric sensation for her, to be swept away in a quiet adventure through the streets of Brookdale, an adventure that worked the mind and riled the emotions with every paragraph and chapter. In no time at all, Yuri became deaf, blind and mute to all the facets of the real world as she walked and spoke and thought with the characters in her book. There was Hugo, fearless and selfless in his bid to defend his family; Cassandra, wise and cryptic in her knowledge of the world around her; and of course, young Natasha, tempered in a turbulent world like iron being smelted in a crucible.

The plot was full of turmoil and even despair. Natasha was a young girl who was born with a gift, something that enabled her to somehow see into the future for a random amount of time while she was dreaming. Such dreams—or visions, as Yuri had read—were so vivid and harrowing that Natasha could not hold back from sharing them with her friends as well as Hugo and Cassandra, her parents. Things soon take a turn for the worse when a number of her visions begin manifesting into reality in the form of tragedy and death. Soon, Natasha begins dreading her sleeping hours, opting instead to stay awake for as long as she could without telling anyone, but this is where the shadows came in, shadows that seemed all too real within both the confines of her room and her mind. Before, the shadows only took on simpler forms, like mirages in the desert, but the longer Natasha denies herself the chance of sleeping to stave off any future tragedies, the stronger and more sinister they become. The question that remained was whether Natasha would use the experiences and her power to find a way out of her predicament, or if she would succumb to insanity and be doomed to forever laugh at the shadows around her—hence the book's title.

Yuri's heart was hit with a sense of longing. She wanted to converse with Cassandra for hours on end about the ills and makings of the world. She desired to hear Hugo's inspirational talk in person whenever life seemed to throttle her. Most of all, she positively craved the chance to be able to walk in Natasha's shoes, to experience the world of the book from her perspective instead of being her unseen companion and an audience to her ordeals, which would undoubtedly be a welcome change from the dreariness and pains of real life even with all of Natasha's trials and tribulations—with Natasha, at least, there were choices to be made and paths to be taken. In the real world, it seemed more mundane, more inert. She knew that other people might chide her for thinking that such a torturous existence was better than living normally, but there simply were aspects about Natasha's experiences that Yuri wanted to cling on to.

The more she read, the more Yuri could sense that things wouldn't end well for the trio of protagonists that the story had, and yet that was what spurred her to keep reading and finish the book. She had become drawn towards Hugo, Cassandra and Natasha for too long that it felt like a betrayal to them if she stopped or slowed down. Sometimes, she would read with bated breath, and there were even moments when a chapter would end and she would be left staring at the pages blankly, digesting every little detail she had just seen, imagining what it would be like to actually live in that moment, feeling what the characters felt, see what they saw, and hear what they heard. Indeed, it helped keep a lot of her personal shadows at bay.

And yet, she could only sigh and read and watch everything unfold. A small pang of sadness coursed through Yuri as she stroked her left forearm.

The bell rang, heralding the last thirty minutes of the morning and signaling the students across the school grounds to prepare for their first class and the first day of the academic year. Almost immediately, Brookdale vanished around her, and Yuri was soon thrown back to the school library, sitting alone on one of the private study booths. Marking off where she had been interrupted with a bookmark, she quietly slung her schoolbag around her shoulder, held the book against her chest, and made her way timidly to the 3-C classroom to continue reading there. Though she could continue reading in the library if she wished, Yuri wanted to get to the classroom early so that she can choose a good seat—one that would be far away from the front of the class before her classmates could deny her that chance.

Students passed by without even glancing at her. To them, Yuri sensed that she must be like a ghost, drifting in and out of reality inside her mind and invisible most of the time, with the only differences being that she could at least speak and do whatever human beings can do. That was in the real world, though; in the world of literature, she really was a ghost, unseen by the characters, a helpless observer who could only watch as things took place, desiring to just fall into a book's pages and be reborn in its universe for a while only to be pulled out forcibly from it once she was done reading.

Yuri sighed. It wasn't that she didn't like the real world that she lived in; it was more of the fact that in reading and understanding the characters and setting of a book such as Laughing at the Shadows, she felt understood and even appreciated in return as she saw imaginary people having the same thoughts, emotions and sentiments that she did. That was in stark contrast with what she had experienced by far in real life, where her every move, mannerism and thought could be judged. In her books, she felt tangible, real, and secure. In her books, she felt that she could become anyone and converse with anyone without the worry of experiencing pain, judgment or rejection. As she walked, she glanced at her reflection in the windows of the school's hallway, smiling sadly as she saw how somber she looked and how fragmented she felt.

Everything was suddenly interrupted, however, as Yuri collided with someone. She was immediately startled out of her reverie, and her bag's strap almost slipped off her shoulder from the impact. A couple of notebooks fell to the floor, along with Yuri's copy of Laughing at the Shadows, and some pieces of paper flew as well. Brushing her bangs away from her face, Yuri steadied her balance and quickly looked around to see who she had bumped into.

A boy she had never met before stood in front of her—or perhaps she did see him in the past, but then again, she never truly remembered a lot of her fellow students. He was tall as she was, with short black hair, a round face, and cool grey eyes. He was clutching a black leather backpack that had its flap open, and a pair of eyeglasses lay askew atop his nose. He quickly straightened them with his free hand and glanced directly at Yuri. Immediately, Yuri began blushing—both at the fact that she had bumped into someone and the fact that somehow, the boy practically took her breath away.

"I'm sorry, I'm really s-sorry!" she cried out, bowing in apology.

"It's okay, I wasn't l-looking where I was going as well," the boy replied with a nervous laugh. "I was checking out a few things in my backpack and, well . . ."

With that, he bent down and began picking up his fallen notebooks and papers. Self-conscious now, Yuri knelt down and began helping him pick everything up. She could feel her face's temperature hiking up the longer she remained in the hallway, and her mortification grew as she imagined what the boy was thinking right now. Is he angry? Is he annoyed at me? Oh, why did this have to happen? Though the boy didn't look irritated, Yuri's mind began filling up with all types of hurtful words that he could be shouting towards her.

When the two of them were finished gathering up everything that had fallen, Yuri straightened up and held out the papers she had helped pick up with trembling hands. "Here y-you go. . ." she whispered, expecting a tirade of sorts.

"Thank you," said the boy. In sharp contrast to what she was expecting, he gave her a kind smile that made her want to melt into nothingness. He reached out and took the papers from her, carefully placing them atop his backpack. "And I believe this is yours?" he added.

Yuri looked up slightly and saw that he was holding out her book towards her with his free hand. She quickly took it back and clutched it tightly against her chest. "Thank y-you," she stammered.

Not knowing what else she could say, and dreading the idea of standing awkwardly in the hallway and in front of such a boy in silence, Yuri bowed her head and cried out, "I'm really s-sorry!" With that, she bolted down the corridor, her breath rising rapidly with each step.

The 3-C classroom already had quite a few students inside, but none of them paid much attention as she dashed inside. She immediately made her way to the farthest corner of the classroom and sat down on the chair there, panting as she stroked her left forearm. She had never felt so giddy before, and though her embarrassment at what had happened in the hallway was still there, she also felt energized. She reflected on the boy's looks, and she suddenly found herself replaying in her mind's eye the way he had smiled at her. Yuri bit her lip and shook her head as if to ward off such thoughts, and she silently reprimanded herself for having them.

At the moment, the only solace that Yuri could go to was in the form of Laughing at the Shadows. Indeed, the feel of the book's leather-bound cover against her hands allowed her to regain her composure even further. She glanced up at the classroom's wall clock and saw that there were still around ten more minutes before classes would start. Musing that a few extra paragraphs to both advance her reading progress and soothe her nerves wouldn't hurt, Yuri sighed deeply and opened up Laughing at the Shadows. Within a few seconds, she would be back to being a ghost as Brookdale beckoned once more before her. Yes, that would be good.

Only a minute had passed, however, before a familiar voice startled Yuri for the second time that morning. "Hello!"

Yuri looked up and felt faint. The same boy that she had bumped into earlier was standing next to her chair. Her hands slackened, and Brookdale was suddenly forgotten. Wild thoughts ran rampant in Yuri's mind as she fumbled at any reason as to why he was here in front of her; the harshest of them told her that he had come back to tell her off for bumping into him.

The boy spoke brightly, "I didn't expect that you'd be one of my classmates."

"I . . . U-Um . . ." Yuri stammered as she slowly closed her book. She could feel her face turning scarlet. "Y-You're in 3-C as w-well . . . ?"

"Yep!" The boy laughed nervously, sending Yuri's heart fluttering. "I was going to get a few things from my locker when I, ah . . . when I ran into you in the corridor. Anyway, my name's Naoki. Naoki Nakajima!"

He held out his hand. Not used to such a gesture, Yuri reached out gingerly, shook his hand briefly, and let go like it was scalding hot. "Yu . . . Yuri! I mean, my name's Y-Yuri Hoshino," she stuttered.

"A pleasure to meet you, Yuri," said Naoki, grinning. "Anyway, um, do you mind if I sit right here? I usually sit at the back with one of my buddies and, well . . . I mean, if it's not too much to ask, of course!"

"Ah, n-no, I don't mind!" Yuri squeezed her hand so hard that her fingers began hurting. "T-That is, um . . . Well, is it alright if I s-sit here?"

"Of course!" said Naoki. "I just hope that my friend and I won't bother you that much. He does tend to be a bit talkative sometimes," he added with a small laugh.

"No, it's okay!" said Yuri. Her breathing began to rise. "I was j-just afraid that I might, um . . . disturb you t-two or s-something."

"Ah, well, that's okay," Naoki remarked reassuringly as he sat down. "And, um . . . I couldn't help but notice that you were reading when I arrived. I'm sorry if I d-disturbed you or anything."

"Not at all!" said Yuri again. "I w-was just finishing a few p-pages. . ."

With that, Yuri took her book off her chair's armrest and made to stow it away in her bag. Naoki remarked, "So you're reading Laughing at the Shadows as well?"

Yuri's heart skipped a beat. "Y-Yes," she replied, looking at Naoki. "Why?"

"It's one of my favorite books," said Naoki. "I read that last year, and sometimes I just keep coming back to it. I was rather surprised when I saw that it was the book you dropped earlier. I would've asked you about it, but, well . . . you took off."

"Ah, I'm really s-sorry for that!" Yuri cried out. "Oh, why did I have to run off like that? I'm really, really sorry!"

"No, no, I understand, it's fine!" Naoki waved his hands. "I was just surprised because, well, sometimes I feel that I'm the only one who's managed to read a certain book, you know?"

"Oh, is that s-so?" Yuri tried looking at Naoki directly, but her eyes seemed to move downward of their own accord. "Well, t-that's how I f-feel most of the time, too!"

And then, as if she had just blurted out an obscene word, Yuri quickly covered her hand with her mouth. "That w-was embarrassing of me. . ." she stammered.

"Er, t-there's nothing embarrassing about what you said, Yuri," said Naoki with a tentative chuckle.

He said my name again. Yuri felt faint, but she tightened her resolve and exhaled to ease her nervousness. "I'm s-sorry," she said. "I'm really n-not used to talking to someone like t-this. . . You see, I, um . . . I usually do things alone, like I've always done f-for a long time now."

"Oh, I see," said Naoki earnestly. "Are you, um . . . are you sure I didn't disturb you?"

"No, y-you didn't." Yuri laughed a little. "It just takes some g-getting used to for me, I guess. . ."

"I understand." Naoki glanced at her book. "Do you mind if I ask which part you're on in Shadows?"

"Ah, not at all. I'm almost at the end, actually," Yuri replied. "More specifically, the part where Natasha ran away from home."

"I see. When did you start reading Shadows?"

"L-Last Friday."

Naoki's eyes widened a little behind his eyeglasses. "Wow, you're a pretty fast reader!" he cried out. "That took me around two or three weeks to finish!"

Yuri blushed and began playing with her hair. "It's okay," she remarked. And then, as if of her own accord, she perked up a little. "I just like r-reading quickly sometimes so that I can s-start analyzing what's behind the words and meanings I've just read by writing down notes and ideas. It kind of works that w-way for me with long novels as well."

"Wait, so you read novels this quickly and still manage to analyze and dwell on what you've read at the same time?" asked Naoki in amazement. "That's . . . that's something."

"Ah, w-well. . . Um. . ." Yuri tugged at her hair more nervously, twirling a few strands around her fingers. The drive to keep talking seemed to die down within her.

"Not that that's a bad thing, of course!" Naoki quickly added. "It's actually pretty amazing."

Did he call me amazing? Yuri felt that she was turning pale, her tongue positively in knots now. Before she could reply, however, someone called out to Naoki.

"Dammit, Naoki, and here I thought I arrived earlier than you or Daisuke for once!" Both Yuri and Naoki looked up from where they were sitting, and Naoki grinned. The speaker was a tall, fit boy with spiky, gelled red hair whom Yuri could not remember. Almost immediately, she realized what Naoki meant by having a talkative seatmate as the boy sat down on the chair to Naoki's right and began speaking.

"Monday, Monday, Monday," he said vehemently, treating the word like a curse. "Really swell day to look forward to. If Kanae didn't wake me up, I would've forgotten that school's starting today, you know? Well, at least I saw Monika in the corridor on the way here."

"You're here earlier than I'd expect you to be, Kenta," said Naoki, grinning. "But yeah, Daisuke arrived around the same time I did. Not that he wanted to go off to class already. He'd hang around here if he could."

The boy, whose name was apparently Kenta, let out a bark of laughter. "Poor sap. All alone in another class again. He's gonna die of boredom in 3-D, I'm calling it now. I know I did in freshman year. Remember that?"

"Well, if you died of boredom then, it's a mystery you're still here, alive and kicking," said Naoki drolly. "And besides, you had Monika as your classmate then, right? So it wasn't all that bad."

"Ah, uh, well . . . I guess you're right about that," Kenta mumbled.

Yuri, who saw no other reason to keep conversing with Naoki now that he was talking to someone else, reopened Laughing at the Shadows and quickly sought out the part where she was. Before she could find it, however, she heard Naoki speak again, prompting her to almost slam the book shut as she looked up, not wanting to be rude.

"Ah, that reminds me, Kenta. I want to introduce you to a new classmate—well, not exactly new, but she's a schoolmate that we've never had in class before. Yuri?"

Yuri could almost hear her heart beating out loud. She looked at Naoki. "Y-Yes?" she asked anxiously.

"This here's one of my buddies that I was talking about," said Naoki. "His name's Kenta Yamaguchi. Kenta, this is Yuri Hoshino."

"Pleasedtameetcha!" said Kenta, saluting with a flourish.

"A p-pleasure to meet you, too," Yuri said politely. Being introduced to other people was always a torturous experience, particularly because she never knew how to reply or act. Almost immediately, she looked away and back at her book, but she found that she could not concentrate, not with Naoki speaking once more.

"So, Yuri, what section were you in the past years?" he asked. "I mean, it's pretty remarkable that during our first two years in high school, we never got the chance to be classmates."

"W-Well, I was in, um . . ." Try as she might, however, Yuri could not think straight with Naoki looking at her directly. The only memory she could bring up at the moment was her class section last year. "I was in 2-B last year. . ."

"2-B? Why, that's the same as Daisuke's section then," said Naoki. "I guess you're probably familiar with him, then? Daisuke Matsuda? He's this blonde-haired guy, the one who likes sketching a lot. I'm pretty sure that you can catch him doodling in a sketch pad in between classes."

"Yeah, big anime and manga fanatic, too," said Kenta. "Likes drawing cute anime girls and maybe even a bit of hen—"

"He likes anime and drawing," Naoki interrupted with a pointed look at Kenta.

"Um . . . I guess so. . ." To be honest, just like with Kenta, Yuri only vaguely remembered who this Daisuke Matsuda was. The same goes for nearly every single one of the classmates she had in the past, and those she did remember brought back some rather embarrassing memories. The only focus of her mind right now, however, was Naoki. "I d-don't really remember a lot of the people that I m-meet. . ." she added.

"Ah, that's fine," Kenta remarked. "Anyway, Naoki here's pretty much the opposite of Daisuke. He likes reading more formal stuff like novels and stories, things like that. He's real serious about them."

Naoki shrugged. "Daisuke's a serious reader as well when it comes to manga, so don't take that away from him, Kenta. Anyway, yeah, novels are my forte and favorite. The creative stuff, if you would. Actually, I think that's what Yuri here likes as well, right, Yuri?"

Yuri smiled nervously. "In a way, y-yes. . ." she replied. With another sigh, she straightened up a little, focused her thoughts about reading, and started speaking more fluidly. "I absolutely adore novels that build deep and complex fantasy worlds. The thought process and work that goes behind their craftsmanship, the way the twists and turns can just pull you in and give you an incredibly meaningful experience, the way that a writer can take advantage of someone's lack of imagination and throw them for a loop. . . If a story really makes me think, or if it completely spirits me away into another world, then I don't think I'll be able to put it down.

"Romances with complex plot webs, fantasy stories and epics with numerous multifaceted characters, seemingly ordinary accounts that are grounded in everyday life but come with a dash of intricacy that makes their stories meaningful . . . all of these are the types of literary works that I truly enjoy, and sometimes I just end up getting so immersed in them that I often don't want to be free of them. . . This is one of the fantastic perks of literature, just like what I've been experiencing in Laughing at the Shadows. I'm certain that if others took the time to read and appreciate everything behind such a work, they would be able to perceive what I mean and not simply dismiss it as an ordinary work, but instead treat it as the brainchild of an individual whose heart and soul is poured into its pages."

A short silence fell. In her focused litany on reading, Yuri was unaware that she had droned on with her eyes closed. Her ideas, transformed into words, gave her a feeling of self-confidence that temporarily blotted out any nervousness or anxiety she was feeling before. The silence made her conscious once again, however, and her eyes snapped back open to see Naoki and Kenta looking at her directly. There was a look of amazement in Naoki's eyes, while Kenta's mouth was hanging slightly open. Just like that, the anxiety in her came back, this time mixed with embarrassment.

"Did I just . . . j-just . . . ?" she stammered. Her face grew hot, and her hands began trembling a little again. By instinct, she began caressing her left forearm.

Kenta closed his mouth. "Well, that was, um. . ."

Naoki, on the other hand, spoke up quietly. ". . . That's an exceptional way to put it."

"E-E-Exceptional . . . ?" Yuri looked at Naoki.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Naoki quickly rallied. "I just meant that . . . well, hearing how much passion you have for reading is really something. And I agree. I wholeheartedly agree with that."

"Y-You do?" Yuri murmured.

"Yes! That's basically the fantastic experience that reading has to offer, isn't it?" Naoki continued. "Fantasy, horror, romance. . . Everything is just worth the experience when you know it's well-written and well-formed, and the credit to that falls on the writer. I mean, I know I got hooked for weeks and weeks just reading Without Honor and Twilight of the Ancients."

"Ooh, y-you've also read Without Honor?" asked Yuri. Her nervousness stopped for a moment. "Um, as far as fantasy epics go, I liked that one for its postmodern touch. I personally t-think it's in the same vein as this other work I've read, Intrepid Vagabonds."

"Oh, how could I forget Vagabonds?" said Naoki. "Yes, that was written with a bit of postmodernism as a theme, but you can only analyze it that way once you've finished reading the entire book. It even touches on surrealism at times, especially when the characters were trapped in the Ephemeral Planes, remember that?"

"Yes, yes!" replied Yuri. "And it's just an exceptional experience when you try to analyze the things that they had seen there, or the effects it had on them in the long run."

"Okay, I think this is the part where I can't relate anymore," Kenta interjected. "You two have fun talking, alright?"

"Ah, c'mon, Kenta, we're just sharing a bit," Naoki remarked with a laugh.

"I know, I know," said Kenta, waving his hand airily.

Naoki turned back to her. "Anyway, what are the other books you've read, Yuri?"

"Um . . . Well, so far I've been reading more horror novels," Yuri replied shyly. "Psychological horror, mostly. Are y-you familiar with Blinded by Faith and The Interloper?"

"I'm afraid not," said Naoki. "So far, the only horror novels I've managed to read are the first three books of the Hallowed series, and then there's Dreams from Dystopium, plus Laughing at the Shadows, of course."

"Ooh, so you've also read Hallowed?" asked Yuri. Her voice was starting to become steadier, more poised. "That's a really interesting series. I like its mixed take on the modern and olden ages and how the plot tends to interweave both together with the conflict and the characters. I enjoyed reading that immensely. It's . . . It's very much like the way reading just bridges the gap between fiction and reality sometimes, don't you agree?"

"Yes! And the way the symbolism is hidden in the chapters, you'd really take the time to go back and make sure you didn't miss anything," said Naoki excitedly. "There are times when I'd read the books all over again and I'd just be caught off guard because I'll find this little detail that I overlooked during the first time I read the series. It's really astonishing."

"I agree!" The sensation of enjoyment in Yuri's system at their discussion made her feel exhilarated. "And how about the open-endedness of the novels sometimes? In my opinion, a novel does not have to be too literal or direct in order to be effective most of the time. Sometimes, it's better if the story just ends on a certain note and then leaves the task of deciphering whatever its meaning or resolution was to the reader. It allows your imagination to fly, and it leaves your emotions longing for some closure that only you can find."

Naoki nodded. "It adds more to the mystery of everything, just like with life, right?"

Yuri became breathless again. "Yes, e-exactly. . ." she said almost dreamily.

At that exact moment, the bell rang. The volume of noise in the classroom rose to a crescendo as students quickly began running inside and sitting down. In the school hallways and corridors, the same could be said as students ran past, desperate not to be late on the first day of school. Next to Naoki, Kenta let out an audible groan. "Here we go, ladies and gentlemen!" he cried out right before their first professor for the year entered their classroom.

Yuri stared at Naoki, and he stared back. The enthusiasm between them as they talked still lingered, its afterglow causing them to grow speechless as the class settled down around them. Yuri's breath came in silent pants, as if she had been running, and her heart was beating so forcefully against her chest. Her eyes just rested for a long while on Naoki, taking in his handsome face, his grey eyes, his short black hair, and his eyeglasses. She smiled with bated breath at him, not knowing what else to do or say, and for a moment she began to wonder whether he found their entire opening conversation weird or her smile awkward.

To her immense relief, Naoki grinned back at her. Yuri wouldn't have cared if she fainted at that moment on the spot, but thankfully she didn't.

"Well, I look forward to talking to you a lot more from now on, Yuri," he said affably before he sat a bit straighter in his seat and faced forward.

The afterglow subsided slowly, leaving Yuri blushing and unable to reply as their professor began speaking. Her confidence and excitement ebbed away a little as well, though it left her happy instead of dejected. Hastily, as if to ward off the giddy sensations that were creeping up her heart and mind, she picked up her book from her armrest, stowed it away in her bag, and faced forward as well. Even as she did so, she could not suppress her smile even if her life depended on it. She caressed her left forearm once more, remembering the years she had felt so fragmented and almost transparent, a ghost drifting in and out of reality.

She exhaled. If she was a ghost, then it was a wonder that she felt so . . . real right now.