Invitation From The Nightmare[1]

“Huh…Where am..I?”

I murmured in a low voice, the words barely escaping my lips as I came to my senses in a dark and unfamiliar place.

"I can't see anything"

I was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness, it was as if I'd lost my vision. It felt so surreal as I questioned where I was. While I was grasping the situation In the midst of darkness, I heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind me. As I turned, wondering what it was, I saw a man wearing a white glowing coat. He approached me and started speaking,

"Why-"

His voice sounded like a faint murmur, as if my ears were struggling to catch every word, or perhaps my hearing was impaired in the darkness.

He’s saying something?

"Why don't you have any d-AGXGAHGXAXHBZ”

Guhhh!

All of a sudden, the space started to shift. A strong yet alarming glitch annoyed my ears. Every one of my senses started to hurt in pain as I tried to control my scream with each second passed. It was unbearable yet unavoidable. Alas…It lasted only until I heard a strange voice–

“Araki-kun”

It's like that voice pulled me from the darkness, I found myself in yet another strange place.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in a dimly lit space. It was about time I finally took a breath. And just when I thought I could finally take some rest, that's when It came to my notice. It seems like I can’t move forward. Because,

THERE WAS NO GROUND BEFORE ME.

One wrong step and I could fall anytime. I was standing on a thin cliff, no way forward. To make it worse, it was no ordinary cliff– it was a doorway to hell. Because, I am staring right into a volcano.

I began to sweat,The heavy humidity pressed against my skin. It’s so hot I feel like I’m melting.

I have to go somewhere safe quickly.

“Araki-kun”

Once again, that voice called out to me. As I turned behind, I saw a girl. I couldn't make out her details, but there's no doubt that she was the source of that voice. Curiously I asked her,

“Who are yo–”

“You’ll pay for this”

“Huh?”

“You’ll pay for this”

“You’ll pay for this”

“You’ll pay for this”

A dark, ominous fog made its way through behind me and quickly surrounded us. It felt like countless hands were wrapping around my neck as she repeated those words.

It…hurts…stop…

Those hands pressed against my neck, I could feel their desperation to tear my skin with their fingers. It was painful and hard to breathe.

“Dont worry, it’ll be alright…You are free from now on”

“What..?”

Before I could move, she stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around my waist as she said those words and then for a final touch.

“Goodbye, Araki-kun”

The next moment, I found myself in the air. For a second, even the sound of my heartbeat has disappeared. The image of her growing smaller and smaller. It was not too late that I realised,

SHE PUSHED ME.

“please…W⏹k⏹ ⏹p, Araki-Ryo–”

beep beep beep

“HA!!”

As I heard the blaring sound of my mobile alarm, my eyes slowly opened. I reached over, woke up, and promptly silenced it, muttering to myself.

"A dream?....Ghh”, My head started to hurt lightly, so this is what I get for staying up too late.

I should have slept earlier.

My phone displayed 7:30am as soon as I grabbed it.

“Again…? Give me a break…” I slowly whispered.

Recently, I’ve been having a certain dream. Everyday, I have the same dream, over and over like a repeat. I wonder how many times it's been now. Five times? Ten times? I lost the count. Everytime, the same space, the same cliff. But in every dream a different person comes and throws me off of that cliff.

Maybe this is what people call, “A NIGHTMARE”

That said, even after all these times, I still couldn't remember the dream clearly, but apart from it, it felt like I had a long conversation with someone talking about something important. Even though the details were fuzzy, His face appeared blurry in my mind. but it left me with a strong sense of connection. Either way it doesn't matter cause it's just a dream.

“Well, whatever.”

With a sigh, I dragged myself out of bed and pulled open the curtains. Morning sunlight poured into the room, flooding it with a pale, ordinary warmth.

"Here we go, off to another boring day."

With a sigh, I resigned to the prospect of facing yet another uneventful routine. I took a quick shower, changed into my school uniform, and headed off to school.

【September 4th, 2025】

It was the end of summer. The long vacation came to an end and Autumn was right around the corner. The road that was almost empty in the morning is now bustling with high school students.

As you might have already guessed, I'm also a high school student. As a matter of fact I live alone. Fortunately, my school is only a ten-minute walk from my apartment so it's rather a breeze to commute.

The second term started with reunions, memories, and fun talks. I couldn't help but overhear students talking about various stuff they did over the break as I walked.

But none of that concerns me. Afterall, it's a world unknown to me. Maybe that's the reason a part of me tends to think…

“...annoying”

I somehow find myself feel irritated in this crowd. But weirdly enough, I don't feel the irritation I usually do. Because, something more important is still weighing on my mind. Yes, that dream still concerns me.

‘Dreams’

For a long time, I've been wondering about this question. What are dreams?

An ideal world? A fantasy? An illusion?

Or

an alternate reality that resides within our subconsciousness.

Who knows, there might not be a right answer. Maybe dreams themselves aren’t even significant to our lives. But that question still lingers in my mind–Something I could never know in my life yet I can't help but want to know.

<<08:23>>, my phone displayed.

Shoot! I have to hurry.

I guess there's no time to ponder about this stuff. In the end, it's not worth my time.

The ticking clock pushed me to move faster as I headed towards a certain store. Normally, I would prepare my own breakfast and lunch but today well…due to various reasons I ended up oversleeping. So I decided to stop by a convenience store to buy my breakfast and lunch. I definitely don't want to eat my school's canteen food.

After a quick two-minute walk from the convenience store, I arrived at the school.

As usual, The hallways echoed with the lively conversations of students, filling the air with the sound of their voices.

But without stopping anywhere, I proceeded directly to my classroom, avoiding any unnecessary detours, and took my seat at the back by the window, from the left corner far from the back door.

There's still two minutes before homeroom, guess I'll sleep till the–

"Good morning"

Just when I was about to nap, a guy entered the classroom through the backdoor, greeting as he made his way inside. I couldn't help but notice his gaze directed towards me.

Eh? Is he perhaps greeting me? Why?

Feeling a bit confused by his greeting, I decided to return the gesture and greet him back.

"Go—"

"Good morning Shimizu! It's been a long time!"

Before I could finish my greeting, another voice interrupted me. It came from a boy seated diagonally across from me. I realized then that the initial greeting was not meant for me.

Well…right.

Ofcourse, it's not meant for me. It's weird enough that someone was willing to talk with me. because I am known for my cold demeanour, a guy who never smiles or speaks, and always eats alone and stays alone—a true loner. The name's Araki Ryota is who I am.

So having friends is out of the question–is what everyone thinks.

I can't blame them and I don't want to bother changing my image. I couldn't care less about what someone thinks about me. On the note, friends are rather a pain. They eat your time, invade your privacy and demand. And once they had their fill, they discard you–like nothing happened between you.

I couldn't fathom the concept of this so-called ‘friendship’. I can only see it as a ‘Use and throw’ relationship. Honestly it's a waste of time.

But, they are wrong about one thing, I'm not a loner, afterall…

【Library–12:55 PM】

While everyone is occupied with their lunch in the canteen, the library will be left empty. It's a perfect place to spend some peaceful time. Since today it's not my usual meal I completed a bit fast and arrived at the library and just as I guessed…

“Oya, you came pretty fast today. Convenience store again?”

“Well yeah, unfortunately”

“Or maybe you wanted to see me so badly after a long time that's why you came early–”

“You wish”

She’s here again. Aoki Seiha.

I wouldn’t call her a friend — more like an acquaintance whom I can’t seem to shake off.

Her teasing yet calm demeanor made her oddly popular in our year. Not to mention those faintly pink eyes that matched her hair — subtle, but hard not to notice. On top of that she's smart.

The only reason I talk to her is because we went to the same middle school.

That’s the only connection between us. Nothing more, nothing less.

Despite her suggestive behaviour, I'm sure Aoki also thinks the same. We rely on each other to fill the gaps in this loneliness. Honestly, talking with her feels… somehow refreshing,

“By the way, long time no see. How was your vacation?” Seiha asked, leaning forward with that curious glint in her eyes.

“Spare me from that stuff, I'm not interested in sharing how mundanely I spent my summer break”

“Even if it's boring, I want to know how you spent it. Afterall I'm your friend, right? Araki Ryota-kun.”

“Looks like you are misunderstanding something. First, we are not friends. Second, I don't want to waste time on such things.”

“Again with that attitude, we've been together since a long time right?”

“Don't say it like we're dating,” sigh “More importantly I came to look for something”,

“Oh, so that's why you showed up early? Now that you mention it, you’ve been rummaging through the shelves like a madman.”

It's true that today's meal was pretty fast to complete. But actually, there's one more reason why I came earlier than usual…

“Here it is”

I'm glad it didn't take a lot of time. If I hadn’t found it, all that desperate searching through the bookshelves would’ve been pointless.

“That is…Origin of Dreams? What kind of book is that?” Seiha tilted her head as she sat across from me.

“No idea, it's the only book I found about it”

“It?”

“About dreams"

“Heh. That’s unexpected. So, Ryota-kun is interested in dreams–”

“Araki-kun” I interrupted, my focus remained unchanged.

“Tsk, fine fine. So Araki-kun, what's the occasion?”

An occasion , huh, I don't really need to tell her but if it's Aoki, there's no harm in sharing my experience with her. If it helps me sort out my problem then…

“Actually…”

. . .

“I see... so you’ve been having the same nightmare every night.”

Seiha’s tone softened, her eyes narrowing slightly in thought. “That sounds complicated. In short, you’re experiencing what’s called a recurring dream.”

“Recurring dreams?” I repeated.

“Mm. It’s when you dream the same thing over and over again. It usually happens because of unresolved emotions, mental stress, or…”

She paused for a moment — her gaze drifting away as if choosing her next word carefully.

“…trauma.”

My eyes widened at that. The word echoed louder in my mind than it should have.

“Araki-kun,” she continued quietly, “are you… dealing with any of those?”

The atmosphere became heavy all of a sudden.

My ears went deaf for a moment, Aoki’s question left me hanging deep in my thoughts.

Trauma…?

【“YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS”】

“...ki-kun…ki-kun…Araki kun!” Aoki called out.

“Ah!” I snapped out of it.

“What’s wrong? You’re spacing out”

“No, it’s nothing. Thinking back, I-I don’t have any. Anyway, following your reasoning, I suppose it’s just stress.”

“I see. Try to sleep early, it might help you.”

“I’ll consider it. By the way, you seem pretty knowledgeable about this.”

“Haha, not really,” she said, brushing her hair back. “I just got to learn a few things about dreams this morning. What a coincidence, huh?”

“Morning? What do you mean?”

“Ah, you haven’t heard? There’s a new science teacher at our school. In today’s class, he talked about some fascinating things.”

A new science teacher?

“Like what dreams are, why humans dream… and all sorts of stuff related to that. It was actually quite interesting.”

This is unexpected, those are exactly my questions…

If this is fate then I couldn't be more surprised. Because, I couldn't pass it off as mere coincidence.

What are dreams?–I thought I would never know the answer to this question in my lifetime. But now, I feel like the answer is wandering near me.

So close yet so far.

Ring, ring!

The school bell echoed through the corridors, signaling the start of the afternoon sessions. Together with Aoki, I left the library to attend what awaited us next.

And to my surprise…

【1:17PM】

“Starting today, I'll be the new science teacher, my name is Kuromiya Shinya, Nice to meet you”

Seriously…?