When the lights go out (Read Description!!!)

The return

"Tao, wake up... Wake up Tao! Come on! It's boring when you're not awake,"

Tao woke up to the feeling of his body being shaken by somebody whose voice was familiar. He recognised it, but it was almost as if it was someone who was... gone. The person didn't stay with him until Tao died. Who was it? Tao opened his eyes and...

He was greeted by a boy. A boy with purple hair that seemed fluffier than usual and the hair was long enough to cover one of the boy's eyes. The visible eye was a mixture of colours, but the overall appearance of the eye was almost black. There was a burn scar barely visible due to the hair covering the boy's eye. There was no mistaking who it was.

Leon.

Tao was under an oak tree, in the shade, hiding from the sun. It was a warm day with a light breeze. Barely any clouds were in the sky, there were just white lines where the planes had flown by. It seemed like a utopian day.

"Finally, you've woken up. What took you so long? You must have had a good dream if you've slept like that," Leon laughed. His smile was comforting, it was just so sweet. Tao felt horrible though. Leon died, didn't he?

Were the murders just a dream?

"I... My dream was about a lockdown in our school. Harvey, Hiro, Rita, Sayori... they were all killed. You were, too, Leon. I hated every second of it," Tao mumbled after a while. Leon looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry you had a dream like that, but hey, it's not real, I'm still alive and we're living our best life," He said with a smile. Tao smiled back. Maybe it was all a dream. Thank goodness. Tao looked to his side and saw his backpack was lying there. He reached inside and took out a drink. He saw another and gave it to Leon.

"Say, did you dye your hair?" Leon asked. He had climbed up into the tree and was dangling his feet from the branch. Tao found that his hair was the same as he last saw it in his dream. It wasn't just a jet black, the side where more hair was gathered was now white. That was odd. Tao's hair had turned into that naturally, it was like the amount of stress he'd felt had caused it. Tao ruffled his hair slightly.

"Yeah, I felt like I ought to try a new style," he lied. Leon smiled and said that the style suited Tao. Tao smiled. This was it. This was the life he wanted. The two spent their time talking, laughing, drinking... it was a great situation. Tao was over the moon to know that Leon was alive. Before they knew it, they fell into silence. It wasn't bad though. Tao enjoyed just the presence of Leon. Tao's best friend was alive.

"Tao, you know it was your fault, don't you?"

Tao's eyes widened. Had Leon... said that? No, Leon was alive. This was reality. The murders never happened. Lunar, Lucy, Sayori, Harvey, Hiro, Rita, Leon... their deaths were in the dream weren't they?

"They all died because of you. You know that, with every fibre of your being," Leon whispered into Tao's ear. Tao's breathing started getting heavy, he was sweating slightly.

"I died, it's your fault. You couldn't stop me from going off by myself," Leon said before he walked off, behind Tao. Tao turned around saw Leon walking towards the entrance of a school...

The school that blew up.

"You know what? You're such a good for nothing boy, because of that, nobody was saved. You could do nothing, you didn't even try," Leon yelled. He then walked into the school. Tao froze. This scenario... it... can't happen... again, can it? Then the sound of an explosion filled his ears. The school blew up again. Leon was gone again. Leon was dead.

Then he woke up.

Tao was awake, drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. His mind was blank, he couldn't focus on anything, he tried to stop himself from crying. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Then it hit him. The explosion. The bodies. The blood. He saw every horrible part of the scenario again. He couldn't stop it. The series of dreams he was having never stopped.