Bound By Fate

Chapter 8: Dream a Little World

Kaigura POV:

I saw only black. But I could hear it. I heard snapshots. Footsteps. Sirens. Gasps. Engines. Sobs. Doors. People. I couldn't wake up. I wanted to wake up. I needed to wake up.

Flashes of colour. And I was back in my world.

So this was all... a dream?

"Inko?" I shout?

"Who's that?"

I turn around. "Ryu?" I ask.

"What? Did someone give you a concussion?" he said.

"Where am I?" I say.

"Where else? Kaguya Mall!" he says.

"Oh. Ok." I reply. I had gone there the day before. I took a look around. And it looked different. There wasn't a thing that I could recognise about it.

"Where's Atsujin Arcade?" I question.

"Atsuwhat Arcade? There's no arcade here. You alright?" Ryuji puzzled.

Where was I? A strange feeling welled up in me.

"Hurry up, Ken! We gotta go to the food court!" Ryu shouts and points to the left.

"Right," I say, and I catch up to him.

"So today... He's gotta get... Sekushi might want... Are you..." I was too occupied to notice his talking. I had something in mind, but it was too unreasonable.

"Hello?"

"What?"

"You're acting strange today," he observes.

"It's just something that seems... out of place."

"Alright, bud. What do you wanna get today?"

"You can choose."

"Let's go! I get to choose for the third time in a row! Let's eat chicken!"

"K."

We wait in line.

"Welcome to Fried, what can I get for you," the cashier says.

"One box of Supreme Chicken Crispy," he says and holds up a finger.

"Are you gonna order, Ken?"

"I'm fine. I'm not hungry. I'm just gonna go home." I tell him.

I walk out of the door, the warm wind blowing in my face. There was something I had to do before I went home. The site of the accident.

The alleyway was dimly lit. There were streetlights, some broken, some brighter than others.

"Buzz off. You aren't supposed to be here. Who're you anyway?"

"Sorry. I'll be on my way." I say.

"You'd better be."

This place was very strange.

I walk to the bus stop, and the giant vehicle pulls up in front of me. The door opens, and I step inside.

The bus was very empty, only a few people were sitting on the seats. I sit down on a chair. It had been bothering me for a while. An empty feeling, small at first, was growing bigger, every time I had acknowledged the unreasonable, harsh but true idea. She was gone.

"She isn't real," I told myself. "She isn't real."

But something of me felt missing. Long forgotten in the world of dreams. I buried my face in my hands. I was on the verge of tears.