Jirachi's Twin Bonus Stories (btyu and others ♥)

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL | Breaking the Ice

She was crying.

The room was dark and silent, other than the pitiful sound of wet tears falling at the opposite end of the room. Bede blinked rapidly, searching blindly for the source of the sobs. He could tell the person crying was clearly a woman, based on the pitch of her squeaky hiccups. However, it was the voice itself Bede couldn't seem to understand.

Familiar and bone-chilling, the sort of voice that demands attention with every whisper. It was a voice normally so clear and pronounced, the sound of her sobs was almost uncanny to listen to. It stung the insides of his eardrums.

"I really don't mean to hurt you..." it whispered: "What more could I have done...?"

Bede's eyes continued to strain as he took his first step towards the voice. His foot immediately landed on nothing—a space of empty air that dragged his weight below him into an pit somehow even darker than the room itself.

He opened his mouth, but his voice seemed to be locked. His vocal chords, though clearly vibrating, weren't producing any sound whatsoever. Eyes now wide and his arms flailing, Bede frantically grasped at the empty air, but it was as if his invisible platform had disappeared.

The world descended into deeper and deeper darkness, her crying voice becoming increasingly louder by the second.

"I'm sorry, I—"

His eyes locked on the girl's. It was only a millisecond, but a millisecond was all he needed to recognize her. Eyes wide and brown, hair long and ruffled like a chocolate waterfall, and that stunned frown—the one she made when she didn't want to admit her own pain.

But then a loud screech flooded his ears, and the image spiraled out of his vision. His hands flew up to his ears instinctively, and light finally broke through his shut eyelashes.

Bede was in his bedroom. His back was pressed against the cold, hardwood floor, and his left ankle was tangled in a mess of blankets and sheets. At the opposite end of the room, his alarm clock was repeatedly screaming for him to wake up, and a cold, winter glow was filling the room through his half-open blinds.

A dream, he realized, relieving a deep, trembling sigh.

Cautious not to slip, Bede sat up and shuffled his foot out of the tangled blankets. Upon freeing himself, he grasped the corners of each sheet and carefully tucked them back into place on his bedspread. Then, finally tired of listening to his obnoxious alarm, Bede strode across the room and slammed his palm on the snooze button. After flicking the "off" switch also, Bede stretched his arms past his head and yawned.

"Ow—!" he winced.

The back of his head was throbbing from some sort of impact—likely when he'd fallen off of his bed. He rubbed it gingerly for a moment before finally snatching up his gym uniform from the floor.

What a dream... he marveled, approaching his doorknob, I wonder what it was all about? Something felt familiar about it... his hand paused on the handle for a moment, The girl—wasn't that Gloria? I don't know anyone else with brown hair like that, after all...

Bede stared off into space momentarily before his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden coughing fit.

"Ugh..." he moaned, shaking away a dizzy spell. Not only was his head throbbing, Bede's throat was also stinging with each inhale, It seems I'm coming down with a cold... maybe I shouldn't come to work today.

He blinked once, suddenly realizing he didn't even know the time, That's right... what time is it again? he glanced at his alarm. It was eight o'clock in the morning—an hour after he was supposed to be at the gym, CRAP—I'm late! Opal's gonna kill me!