Chapter 2 A World Away

Kai found himself in a world that felt far too vivid to be a dream. The colors were richer, the air carried a weight he had never experienced before, and the sounds of rustling leaves and distant chatter were far too real. Yet, in his heart, he clung to the belief that this was all in his mind. After all, dreams were supposed to reflect one’s desires, and this place offered him the one thing he yearned for — an escape.

Back in the real world, Kai's life had been a constant uphill climb. As an art teacher, he occupied the lowest rung on the professional ladder. His kindness and naivety made him an easy target for students who took advantage of his gentle nature. One incident stood out vividly in his mind — students destroying classroom materials right before his eyes, daring him to react, and threatening to call their parents if he tried to intervene. Another memory was darker, more painful. A group of students had bullied an autistic child, threatening him with violence. When Kai stepped in to protect the boy, the students accused him of playing favorites.

Then there was the time he had to physically restrain a larger student who was about to beat up a younger child. He acted on instinct, on the need to keep the boy safe. Yet, the administration saw it differently. They looked down on him, criticizing his methods and questioning his judgment. Another administrator dismissed him entirely, believing he was ineffective because he

couldn't provide the necessary data to show his understanding of the 800 students he taught from grades 1 to 6.

His home life was no better. He had married the love of his life, or so he thought. Over time, it became clear that love was one-sided. His wife controlled every aspect of his day — his time, his money, even his conversations with family. He had to report to her during lunch breaks, and intimacy was a delicate, conditional matter. It was as if he existed solely on her terms.

But here, in this strange new world, none of that mattered. Here, he could be whoever he wanted to be. He had no connections, and he wanted to keep it that way. He slept under the stars, worked at the nearby quarry to earn a meager wage, and used his earnings to pay for food and a warm bath at a local inn. He bought a sack with three days' worth of clothes and paid the innkeeper to wash them when needed. It was a simple existence, but it offered him something his old life never had — peace.

Kai spent his days with a rhythm that brought him solace. He would wake at dawn, the chill of the morning air biting at his skin, and head to the quarry. The work was hard and backbreaking, but he welcomed the pain. It reminded him that he was alive. He lifted stones, dug trenches, and wiped the sweat from his brow until the sun hung low in the sky. At noon, he would sit on a flat rock overlooking the fields, eating simple bread and dried meat while watching the workers laugh and chat amongst themselves. He never joined them. He preferred the silence.

In the evenings, he returned to the inn, where he paid for a warm meal and a bath. He often found himself sitting by the fireplace, staring into the flames until his thoughts drifted. He thought about his old life, the things he left behind, and the burdens he no longer carried. The flames danced, crackled, and whispered to him, but he never spoke back.

In reality, Kai often wished he could cease to exist. He felt invisible, unimportant. The thought made his eyes water even now. But in this world, he could change things. It was like the stories he had heard of lucid dreaming — if he could realize he was dreaming, he could control it. He could rewrite the rules.

For now, though, simply existing was enough.

The next morning, Kai awakens with the warm sun glowing overhead, its golden rays stretching across the sky. The birds chirped merrily from the nearby trees, their songs filling the air with peaceful harmony. The wind was still, the world quiet and serene. It felt like the perfect morning, a gentle reminder of the calm he had found in this strange world. For a brief moment, the burdens of his past life — the school, the constant failures, the pressures of living — seemed to vanish from his mind. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, a rare sensation, one he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

But that moment of peace was short-lived.

"Finally tracked you down."

A voice called out, breaking the tranquility. Kai stirred slightly but didn’t fully awaken. The voice came from under the shadow of a nearby tree, lingering just at the edge of his awareness. He barely registered it at first, his body still heavy with the remnants of sleep. Kai gave a slow, lazy shrug, a gesture of indifference, before rolling over, burying his face into the soft grass beneath him.

"Did you not hear me?" the voice insisted, sharper this time.

In response, Kai let out a loud, exaggerated snore, deliberately brushing off the interruption. The figure, now visibly frustrated, took a step forward. Kai’s ears twitched as he felt the ground shift slightly under the figure’s movement.

Without warning, a foot shot forward, aiming straight for Kai’s face in an attempt to wake him more forcefully.

In a swift, fluid motion, Kai’s hand shot out, grabbing the offending foot before it could make contact. With ease, he yanked the figure forward, pulling them into a firm headlock, his arm wrapping around their neck. The sudden movement left the figure momentarily gasping for air, struggling against his grip.

Kai yawned loudly, stretching slightly as he kept the person locked in place. "Didn’t you get the memo?" he drawled, his voice dripping with nonchalance. "I’m trying to sleep here."

He tightened his hold just enough to remind them that he wasn’t in the mood for games. The figure, now fully awake and struggling in his grasp, squirmed but found little success in breaking free. Kai wasn’t bothered. His mind was still hazy from sleep, but the strange sensation of someone trying to disrupt his peace only annoyed him further. "Who are you, anyway?" he asked, his tone still casual, as if this were a typical morning encounter.

The figure didn’t answer right away, still trying to regain composure and wiggle free.

Kai's grip shifted slightly as he adjusted his hold on the squirming figure. There was something strange — a soft brush against his arm, something warm and fuzzy. His brow furrowed. Curious, he reached back and felt a long, slender tail flicking nervously against him.

Without a second thought, he grabbed it and gave it a firm tug.

"Meow!"

The high-pitched yelp echoed through the clearing. The figure froze in shock, body going rigid. Kai blinked in surprise as the hood fell back from their head, revealing two twitching cat ears perched atop messy black hair. Big, round eyes stared at him in both panic and embarrassment.

It was the neko girl from the pub.

"You again?" Kai muttered. He loosened his hold slightly, but not enough to let her slip away. "Didn’t think you’d have the guts to follow me."

The girl glared at him, cheeks flushed with humiliation. "I… I wasn’t following you!" she spat, voice cracking slightly. "I was… tracking you!"

"Uh-huh." Kai raised an eyebrow. "Totally different."

Her tail flicked irritably in his grip. She squirmed again, trying to pull herself free. "Let go of me, you brute!"

Kai gave the tail another light tug, earning a sharp hiss. "You tried to kick me in the face," he said with a shrug. "Seems fair."

Her ears flattened against her head as her frustration bubbled over. "Y-You humiliated us at the pub! The others… they sent me to—"

"Let me guess. Teach me a lesson?" Kai cut in, finally releasing her with a casual shove. She stumbled backward, landing on the grass with an indignant huff.

She shot him a glare, dusting herself off. "You're lucky I was the one who found you first. The others aren't as… nice."

Kai stretched his arms over his head with a bored yawn. "Oh no, not the bullies with fragile egos," he said sarcastically. "What am I going to do?"

The neko girl narrowed her eyes. "You should take this seriously. They won’t stop until you regret what you did."

Kai shrugged again. "They can try."

He turned away, ready to lie back down and reclaim the peace of his morning. But something about the way her tail flicked, the nervous way her ears twitched, gave him pause.

"...You don't actually want to be here, do you?" he asked over his shoulder.

She stiffened. "I… That's none of your business!"

Kai let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head. "Sure. Whatever you say."

As he settled back down on the grass, eyes half-lidded against the warm sun, he had a nagging feeling this wouldn't be the last time their paths crossed.

Kai exhaled, running a hand through his hair as he watched the neko girl dust herself off. There was something off about the way her tail flicked low and slow, the way her ears drooped slightly despite her best attempt to look defiant. He sighed.

“It’s pretty obvious,” he said quietly.

She stiffened. “What is?”

“That they’re taking advantage of you.”

Her shoulders tensed. She didn’t turn around.

“They sent you after me because they didn’t have the guts to come themselves,” Kai continued. “They thought you'd be enough. Probably figured you'd either slow me down or... get hurt trying.”

The neko girl’s tail drooped lower. Her back remained turned, but Kai caught the slightest tremble in her hands.

“You don’t want to go back… because they treat you like garbage, don’t they?”

For a long moment, there was only silence. The breeze stirred the grass, carrying the distant chirp of birds. The girl’s head dipped further, black hair falling in front of her face.

“…It’s not like that,” she said softly. Her voice wavered, barely above a whisper. “They’re my team. I owe them.”

Kai shook his head. “Owe them what? Being their punching bag?”

She flinched. “You don’t get it,” she shot back, though her voice lacked the venom from before. “They took me in when no one else would. I’m… I’m not strong like them. I have to prove I’m useful.”

Kai rubbed his face with a tired sigh. “Being useful doesn't mean letting people walk all over you.”

She finally turned to look at him, wide eyes shimmering with something close to vulnerability. “Why do you care?”

Kai hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to answer that. Maybe it was because he’d seen people like her before — kids in his classroom who tried too hard to fit in, who let others trample them just to feel accepted. Maybe it was because he’d been that person once.

Or maybe it was because, deep down, he didn’t want to admit he was starting to care.

“I don’t,” he said finally, more to convince himself than her. “But no one deserves to be treated like that.”

She blinked at him, processing his words. For a moment, the tough exterior she’d been clinging to cracked.

“…Thanks,” she whispered.

Kai looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah. Whatever.”

The two sat in awkward silence as the morning sun continued to rise, painting the sky in soft hues of gold. Neither of them noticed how much time had passed — or how, despite themselves, the distance between them felt a little smaller.

Kai leaned back against the tree, letting out a long breath. He tilted his head toward the sky, eyes half-lidded as the warm sunlight filtered through the branches. The morning felt calm again, the kind of peace he hadn’t realized he needed until now.

“I’m not gonna say anything,” he said quietly. “If you just decide to sit down and enjoy the sun on your face... I won’t even take advantage if you fall asleep. Just stay in your spot.”

The neko girl blinked at him, her ears twitching. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to argue — maybe throw another snarky comment his way. But something about his tone stopped her. It wasn’t condescending or pitying. It just… was.

She hesitated, then slowly lowered herself onto the grass a few feet away. Her tail curled lazily around her legs as she stared ahead, letting the sun warm her face.

Minutes passed in comfortable silence. The world moved on around them — birds singing in the distance, the rustle of leaves in the breeze. For the first time in a long while, neither of them felt the need to fill the quiet.

Kai closed his eyes. Maybe this dream wasn’t so bad after all.