Dangerous Souls

Nightmare

Chapter 1-"Better"

February Sunday 2:28 P.M.

It was a good thing that Mai never told Shouta about her friends' plans, he decided to take her out to dinner again. Not that she ate much. And once again, Shouta made a suggestion for Mai to stay over his place or he stay over hers. Her stomach turned over at the thought.

She sat at her kitchen table staring out at the snow as it fell. She thought back to the events of the past few days. Her mental conversation with one of her best friends ended with her literally getting sick. She didn't sleep this past night. Shouta wanted to go intimate in their relationship, how would she explain to him her nightmares and her insomnia? She felt hollow as she remembered that demon from her dream. He just wouldn't leave her alone.

Suddenly, she thought back to what Ayako had told her a few cases ago. You need to go on a date...Accept a date from whichever boy has been crushing on you in math or whatever.

And I did, she replied in her head. I also found someone to try and help me get over my nightmares and everything I've seen since I started working for SPR, but I seem to be getting worse.

She let out a breath, it forced the steam from her cup of tea to dissipate. She took a sip, closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. Three months. It had been three months since her nightmares and insomnia started. And she had done just about everything she could to try to gain some normalcy back into her life, yet her life seemed to continue spiraling out of control. To top it off, Shouta wanted her to work at the same office as his internship. She had been asked before if she thought she should leave her job. What had she said again?

Would you ever consider quitting your job?...No, I couldn't...There are some things I would miss...That answers that question, can you think of what the other is?...Are you all right?...No, but I will be.

The small amount of confidence that she had felt back then seemed to have faded away. What had changed? She let out another breath and took a sip. "I think Ayako was wrong," she found herself saying. A date here or there was fine, but I don't think I'm ready for anything too serious just yet. Not with my psychological issues, at least. I should just stick to making friends and nothing more.

Her eyes drifted over to the pink cell phone across the table. "Now I just have to get a nerve to talk to him, but why do I feel like throwing up? I need to do this for my mental health, I shouldn't feel this lousy..."

Today seemed like the perfect day to talk to herself and she was silently happy that she lived alone. No one could tease her for having to literally talk herself into something.

She was snapped out of her reverie by her ringing doorbell. She stood and walked towards the door. Why do I feel so nauseous? She opened the door and there stood none other than Shouta with a sloppy grin plastered on his face. Mai managed a smile as she greeted him. "Hey, Shouta."

"Hey, Babe," he greeted. Mai's smile almost immediately turned into a frown. He walked in anyway. Mai reluctantly closed the door.

"You didn't drive here did you?" was her first response. Shouta wobbled a little, but turned to face her in the small walkway. He leaned his arm on the wall.

"Of course I did, I just had to see you," he said, his cheeks were a nice rosy color. But not from the cold. Mai reminded herself.

"How much did you have to drink?" she finally asked, as he got closer to her, the smell of alcohol reminded her of the case she was on several months ago. It didn't help her nausea. Shouta took his weight off of the wall and continued to grin.