The Barrier Between Us

A Wish To The Stars

Tekan

"A-Akio Takahashi?" Mayu mumbles to herself, looking down at the letter. She was certain that she has never heard nor met this person before, but the single piece of paper she is holding is enough for her to feel a deep connection.

"I'll wait for you, Akio." Mayu places the letter on her chest as the breezy wind continues to blow.

Sekai, 9:32 PM

"How do you even sleep in these? These pajamas are way too short!" Akio struggles to put on Toshiro's spare pajamas.

"It's not the pajamas that are too short, it's the thing between your legs that's too big! Be grateful you're at least getting to wear something, Aki."

Both Akio and Toshiro climb into the bunk bed as Shiro sets his alarm for the next day. He looks down at the bunk bed and sees Akio already deep in sleep. "Goodnight, Aki," he softly whispers as he slowly falls asleep too.

With nothing unusual happening so far, Akio starts to feel a cold breeze hitting his leg while in bed. Not bothered by it, assuming it's coming from the room's window, he continues to sleep. But soon, Akio starts to feel increasingly uncomfortable as the intensity of the wind grows stronger with every passing second.

"Ugh, Toshiro! Didn't you close the windo-"

He slowly opens his eyes to find himself in the Touhukaze valley yet again. Frightened and confused, he screams out for help, slapping his own face to wake himself up, but to no avail. With each heavy breath he takes, he feels helpless and starts to run down the valley, desperate to escape. Suddenly, he feels the ground shaking violently.

"W-What now?!" The clouds turn grey, and the sky darkens as Akio sees a giant meteor hurtling toward him.

Screaming for help, he runs for his life. He turns around and sees the meteor getting even closer. In a moment of panic, he trips over a rock and falls to the ground. Akio curls up, wrapping his arms around himself, and begins to cry, closing his tear-filled eyes, accepting his impending fate as the sound of the meteor draws nearer.

But suddenly, there is a dead drop silence.

"A-Am I dead?"

Akio slowly opens his eyes and finds himself lying on the same green grass as the surroundings change from dark to beautiful. He carefully stands up on his two feet.

"Why? Why me? Why here?" He softly talks to himself.

"I can't go back empty-handed." Akio is petrified but determined to find an answer this time to the place that fate keeps bringing him. Wasting no time, he runs to the place where he kept his letter hidden in the bushes. However, after several attempts at searching, he finds nothing, making him wonder if someone had actually taken it. He searches for any signs of answers but finds no one else around. Discouraged and disheartened, Akio falls to his knees.

"W-Why? What is it that you want from me?" He lands a punch on the ground, clenching his fists over the green grass, and breaks down with tears streaming down his face.

"Huh?"

Akio is soon distracted by an alluring humming sound coming from a distance. Without wasting any time, he follows the humming, desperate to find the person behind it in a world where he can find nobody else. His heartbeat rises with every step he takes, and he starts to feel his body glitching, realizing that he is about to snap out of this world.

"Not yet! Not yet!"

Dashing with increasing speed to find the source of the voice and with very little time left, Akio finally sees a figure in the distance. It's none other than Mayu Harada, standing at the end of a tree. His face lights up, and he runs towards her. However, his eyes start to blur, and he struggles to see clearly. His body grows weaker, and he begins to doze off, disappearing into thin air before he can reach her.

"What was that?" Mayu stops humming and turns around but sees nothing in the cold, breezy green scenery.

"I thought I saw something... Never mind," she mutters to herself, continuing to pluck pink petals off the blossom tree.

...

"AKIO! WAKE UP! GET UP, AKI!"

Toshiro shakes Akio vigorously, trying to bring him back to reality.

"W-Where am I?" Akio screams, his eyes darting around as everything trembles with fear.

"Snap out of it, Aki!" Toshiro splashes water on Akio's face, which eventually calms him down. Toshiro hands him a glass of water, and as things settle down, Akio asks, "What happened there, Shiro?"

Toshiro replies, "Well, where do I even begin? We were both asleep until I heard you groaning, shivering with fear. I tried to wake you up, but I couldn't, and for a moment, you even stopped breathing before finally waking up. You had me worried there, Akio. You better not do that to me again. But the real question now is, what happened to you?"

Akio stammers, "I-I saw her, Shiro."

Toshiro raises an eyebrow, "Um, there are over a billion females in the world, Akio. Which 'her' are you talking about?"

Akio sighs, "That's the problem. I just don't know. I woke up in that valley again, Shiro, and this time, a meteor was headed right towards me. I ran for my life and even called out your name in desperation. I thought my life was over, but out of the blue, I was transported to the same place I told you about—the same grass, the same aroma, the same environment—and I think I finally saw her. It felt like there was a spark, a strong connection, and it wa-"

Toshiro interrupts, "Okay, stop. The Touhukaze valley, a meteor coming for you, magically transported to a beautiful place where you feel a connection? Look, Akio, I'm someone who believes in all kinds of conspiracy theories, but the story you're telling me sounds like you tore a page out of a supernatural romance genre manga, ate it, and now it's playing inside your head. Trust me, I want to believe you, but you're probably hallucinating or maybe the Touhukaze monolith I showed you that day is taking a toll on you, or maybe our upcoming finals are getting to your head."

Akio responds, "It's none of that, Shiro. I'm telling you, I'm missing something, even the smallest of things. There's something in that valley, I'm certain. It wants to show me something."

Toshiro lets out a sigh, realizing that convincing Akio otherwise might be futile. "Well then, I guess I have no choice. How about this? After our classes tomorrow, we'll go for a cycling ride to the Touhukaze valley in the afternoon. We'll check it out, and I'll show you that there's nothing strange or magical there, and that all of this is just a silly nightmare of yours.

Akio nods slowly, willing to give it a try. "You're probably right, Shiro. Maybe I just need some fresh air and a change of scenery. Hopefully, after we leave that valley tomorrow, I'll be at peace."

Toshiro gives him an encouraging smile. "Trust me, you will be. But for now, let's get some rest. We have a busy Wednesday ahead of us." With that, they both settle back into their beds, hoping for a peaceful night's sleep.

As the night unfolds, the plane of dimension shifts to Tekan, where Mayu is sitting atop a rock, gazing at the breathtaking sunset. Thoughts fill her mind as she reflects on her upcoming 18th birthday.

"I remember sitting here when I was just 8, and now in the blink of an eye, I'll turn 18 in two weeks. Time goes by so fast. I need to savor every moment as if it's my last," she murmurs softly to herself.

Looking up at the sky, she notices a bright shooting star streaking across the heavens. A glimmer of hope lights up in her eyes.

"Oh!"

Without hesitation, Mayu quickly closes her eyes, clasps her hands together, and makes a wish with all her heart.

"I wish to see Akio on my 18th birthday!"