Chapter 1: The Nightmare

"Yuya-san...yuya-san...!", Akari shouted, trying to wake her up."Yuya you have to be strong, Kyo is fighting for you...don't die Yuya-san!"

Blood kept flowing out. Feeling faint, Yuya could hear nothing."Kyo...I love you...sorry...''

Darkness surrounded her and she felt herself fall into a deep well. Pain stabbed her whole body as she heard a familiar voice she loved calling her,"Yuya...!"

"Miss Shiina Yuya if you don't wake up right this moment you will find yourself in front of the principal's office. MISS YUYA!"

Yuya snapped out of her dream and stood up. She looked at her Sensai blankly as if she didn't recognize him.

"This is ridiculous Miss Yuya. I called out your name numerous times but it seemed like...er...Miss Yuya...er...are you alright." Her teacher asked her anxiously when he saw Yuya staring at him and tears flowing down her cheeks. Instinctively her hands went up to hide her face as she cried, loudly. "I...I...don't know...I fe...feel p..pain...it...it's hurting...b..bad...I..I don't know ..wh..what to...to do..."

"It would be better if you go to the nurse for a checkup Miss Yuya...don't cry, you'll be all right. Come on now go ahead." Her teacher ordered her in a gentle voice. Everyone watched her go. No one had ever seen Yuya cry. Usually bubbly and full of life, they were worried for her.

Yuya, not listening to him, which was not unusual as rarely did she listen to any one, went to the toilet. After washing her face she thought about her dream.'It didn't feel like a dream. It felt so real, the voices, the blood, the shouting, the voice of cold amusement, most of all the pain of hearing a voice calling out for me', she mused. The anguish she could feel in that voice penetrated her bones, making her shiver and cry out aloud. Who was that person? It was familiar yet she couldn't recognize it. All she wanted to do was to go to the person who was calling her and wrap her arms around him.

It wasn't new, this feeling she had. But this was the first time she felt as if she was dying. She had had dreams like this. Sometimes she was in an open field, lush green grass and light blue sky, trees which were filled with blooming Sakura flowers. It felt so real and she wasn't alone. There were unfamiliar people with her whom she knew, in an unfamiliar place. There were many dreams like these, it seemed to her that she was traveling with many people, but the most important one for her and the most frequent one was a particular person wearing a black kimono, his back towards her as she ran towards him. She couldn't see him properly. At times she was laughing when she went to him at times she was angry. But there was something she felt when she reached him, a sense of belonging. Whenever she reached him she woke up, not being able to see him.

But this was different. Usually Yuya always looked forward to these dreams but today for the first time she felt afraid. She didn't want to go though that ordeal again. The pain, anguish, fear, made her want to shrink away from herself.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Yuya tried to ignore the feelings the dream evoked and was successful. Her friend Haruko helped her. She knew everything, and believed in Yuya.

Finally when Yuya started to think that the day wouldn't end, the school got over.

"Phew", Yuya said. "Finally time to go home"

"Er...Yuya?" Haruko called out.

Giving her, her best smile, Yuya waited Haruko to continue.

"Yuya...you know these dreams of yours...?"

"So how was your day?" someone said in a loud voice, behind them.

"Damn it Shuichi, when will you stop doing that. You scare the hell out of us when you do that. Grow up", Haruko said in an exasperated voice.

"What if I don't want to stop doing that and also don't want to grow up?"

"Then go to hell and leave us alone", Haruko said angrily. Yuya just stared at them, lost in her own world.

"So Yuya, how was your day? Are you feeling okay? I heard that you weren't well during the class." There was concern look on his face, Haruko noticed.

"Don't worry. I'm just fine. Thanks for asking", Yuya said with a small smile.

"Yeah Shuichi, don't fret over it. Yuya, how about you go ahead slowly. I'll catch up with you. I need to take some notes from Shuichi." They saw Yuya leave. Then suddenly Haruko said,

"I've told you this before Shuichi and I'll tell you again, it would be better if you try to stop liking her. This infatuation of yours won't take you anywhere. She isn't interested in you"

Shuichi face hardened."Why don't you mind your own business?"

"It is my business. Yuya has been my friend since childhood and it's my responsibility to help her and I know that when she gets to know about your silly crush she won't be happy. She is already very troubled. You'll just increase her worries. Also, I happen to know that she likes someone else"

Shuichi grabbed her arm and in a low menacing voice, sending chills down her spine, said "It isn't some kind of crush or infatuation, Haruko. I happen to love Yuya. And no one else will love her except for me. I'll make sure that she only loves me. So who ever the person is, who Yuya likes, won't get her"

With that he left and Haruko could only stare at him. She shivered and whispered "You've gone mad...Yuya can never love you..."

Catching up with Yuya, she brought up the topic again,

"Yuya, remember before Shuichi interrupted, I was going to say something about your dreams"

"Yeah... What about it?" Yuya frowned.

"I have had a bad feeling about this for a long time"

"I don't know what you are trying to say Haruko. Could you please explain it to me?" Yuya said with a frustrated sigh.

"What I'm trying to say is that whatever you see and feel in your dreams could be real"

Yuya just stared, trying to understand what her friend meant.

"I mean that these dreams could be incidents of your previous life..."