Big Book of Writing

Bitter Dreams (Reimiku, Fatal Frame)

It had been a week since the curse on the Kuze Shrine had been lifted. But even then, Miku could still hear footsteps outside her door in the middle of the night.

The assistant sighed, knowing exactly who would be up at such an ungodly hour. It wasn't like she was going to be getting any rest anytime soon though, not after their ordeal. With a small sigh, Miku crawled out of bed and began her trip downstairs.

As she guessed, the kitchen light was on and the weak smell of coffee was present in the living room. With careful steps, Miku walked around the couch, hoping to not disturb the sleeping Kei. He had refused Rei's offer of temporarily sleeping in Yuu's room, giving it to his niece Mio while he took the couch.

Miku went into the kitchen, where she saw Rei pouring herself some coffee. "You really shouldn't be having that this late..." she quietly chided, though accidentally startling Rei in the process.

A bit of coffee splashed out of the mug and onto the floor. "I'll get that," Rei quickly decided before Miku could. She opened a drawer and took out a cloth, telling the other girl, "You can help yourself, if you want."

After weighing the options, Miku took the coffeepot and poured out the rest of the coffee. she didn't want the photojournalist staying up all night again. "Are you having trouble sleeping again?" she asked.

Rei was quiet for a moment as she mopped the spilled coffee up. "...I thought we'd be able to sleep again. I cast Reika to the Other Side, but even then..." She let out a small sigh and stood up, putting the used cloth beside the sink.

Miku grimaced as she thought of the cleaning she was going to have to do soon. Rei was never a tidy person at the best of times, but after the Manor of Sleep incident, she was starting to neglect herself a bit more. At least she could ask Kei or Mio for a hand if she needed it.

"Let's go sit on the couch," Miku suggested, and she gently tugged Rei's arm to get her moving out of the kitchen.

"We might wake Kei though," Rei quietly protested. She took the mug of coffee with her, to her assistant's chagrin.

"He's only on one part of the couch. If we're quiet, he'll be fine," she insisted. Rei didn't protest after that, and they went to the other end of her couch together.

Miku listened to the wind blow against the trees outside as Rei sipped at her coffee. It had been raining for several days already, but it had began letting up when Kei came over, according to Rei. The silence was comforting, after everything that happened.

Rei put her mug on the table in front of her, then leaned back with a sigh. "...Hey, Miku?"

"Yeah?" she looked over at the other girl.

"Do you ever wonder if the police might show up?" Rei asked, looking up at the ceiling. "I mean, I visited the hospital as that woman Yoshino disappeared, and I had you look up weird things..."

Miku let out a breathy laugh. "Now I know you're really tired, asking something like that," she remarked.

Rei let out a small huff and shook her head in amusement. "Maybe I am, or I'm just going crazy. It's been a long couple of weeks," she sighed. "Maybe I need to take a break for a while."

"I keep telling you, you've been working too hard," Miku agreed.

"But every time I try to sleep..."

Miku understood. Whether it was about the events of the manor or about Yuu, Rei had no end of nightmares. She understood the feeling, having lost Mafuyu to the depths of the cursed Himuro Mansion. Fear and loss just don't go away that easily, she had grown to know that.

"Let's sleep with each other then," Miku suggested. "If it's the two of us, maybe we might be able to sleep tonight."

Rei blinked in surprise, but realized quickly that her assistant's request was completely innocent. "Maybe they will, or maybe I'll walk into your dreams again. You better not dream of embarrassing things," she joked as she playfully poked the other girl, eliciting a little squeak from her.

Rei looked over at Kei, wondering how they would do this without waking him up, but she needn't have worried. Kei had shifted onto his side in his sleep while they were talking, and he had tucked his feet closer to his body.

The girls laid across the length of the couch, with Rei's back to the couch. She wrapped her arms around Miku's small body to prevent her from falling off the couch, and she could feel Miku's hands being nestled between both of them.

"You better sleep too. Alright, Miku?" Rei gently squeezed her body for a moment, assuring her that she was there.

"Even if it's a little difficult, I'll try," Miku promised, smiling as she closed her eyes.

Rei began smiling too. "If we both have trouble after this, we can always get Kei to protect us again."

"Rei, don't wake him up for that!" the other girl quietly giggled. Rei was glad to hear her laugh again.

She closed her own eyes and held Miku a little closer, happy that the two of them would take a happy moment into their dreams. If Miku was right, that sleeping like this would drive off the nightmares, then perhaps moving her things into Miku's room and letting Kei take her room would be in the near future.

Silence resumed in the house again as the girls fell asleep together. Rei's coffee never did end up getting finished.