Youthful Days (Book 1)

65. Dark Dreams

Ayuna woke up with a shriek at midnight.

Upon waking, she instinctively clawed at her bedsheets as an affirmation of reality. She was drenched in cold sweat. Once her heartbeat slowed, she was astounded that the guttural sound didn't rouse her parents.

She had that bad dream again. It was all the same and different this time around. There were those three desperate voices, the bullet firing and the same sickening impact... Except, she was no longer the victim: the gunshot was aimed at Fuji and there was blood everywhere.

Doubled over from terror, Ayuna clutched the front of her nightgown and took in long, measured breaths. She shook her head several times before looking out the windows to dispel her nightmare. Outside, a full moon was on the rise, its luminescence slanting through the window in pearly streaks. The night was deep and the air was still. Ayuna focused on the faraway twinkling of the Tokyo cityscape, reminding herself that these horrors weren't real—they were illusions tucked away in a dark, fictitious dimension.

She laid back down and forced her mind to relax. But the gory images tormented her, incessantly playing on repeat. With the clammy bedsheet and the smothering summer humidity, Ayuna suddenly found her room unbearable. Sitting up again, she leaped to her feet and tiptoed down the stairs.

Easing the front door shut, she walked into the courtyard and gazed up at the ghostly silhouettes of cherry blossom trees. Faint moonlight fell through the crevices of the branches and showered the tiny yard with a fine, silvery mist.

She stood underneath the shadows of the trees, admiring the graceful curves of the trunks. The moist warmth of summer enveloped her, filling the air with the sweet scent of soil and teeming life. Gazing at the moon and the stars beyond, Ayuna momentarily lost a sense of time and space, almost as if a part of her was departing from this physical body.

A string of rapping came from the front gates, abruptly shattering her reverie. Cautiously, she shuffled towards the wooden gates and took a peek: standing on the other side was Fuji Shuusuke.

Before a gasp escaped her, Fuji put a finger to his lips and motioned towards the lock. Ayuna nodded and opened the latch to let him in. The neighborhood was sound asleep with only the sporadic chirps of crickets filling the gaps of silence.

"What are you doing here?" Ayuna whispered in disbelief. "And how did you even get here at this hour?"

"Let's just say I couldn't sleep and was in the mood for a long walk," he said to her softly. "I thought I'd try my luck and come here."

"And what would you have done if I didn't happen to be awake, too?"

Fuji opened his hand to reveal a handful of pebbles in his palm. "I was hoping to try your window. Though it looks like I got lucky."

Ayuna met his blue gaze, an unexplained relief washing over her. "Actually, I was just thinking of you."

"You were?"

She nodded, her hand still on the wooden latch of the half-open gate. "Maybe it's the effect of the full moon or something. I thought it'd be nice if you were here."

"Ah, I see," Fuji teased, "it's all because of the moon."

Ayuna merely shook her head, "No. I think... I've missed you."

Fuji examined her face for a second. In dim lighting, there was fragile transparency to her complexion that alarmed him. "Is something the matter? You don't look so good."

Gingerly closing the gate behind her, Ayuna kept her voice low. "To tell you the truth, I'm not feeling very well. Something's been weighing down on me for the past few months. I've been trying to ignore it, though all my efforts seem to be fruitless tonight."