Chapter 11:

You ... can see it? (Summer Special Double Chapter release 11-12)

Meisekimu (明晰夢)


~Chapter 11~

There are not many things in life that Naito was scared of or creeped out from. He despised people who were a threat to others or the environment, but never felt any kind of fear towards them. What he was seeing in front of his eyes though, wasn’t something that he has been used to. Nightmares are something that gets forgotten in time - that’s how the human brain works, in order to maintain sanity. A nightmare can linger around our thoughts for some hours or even days, but they fade away in time, because the memory of them isn’t as vivid as when you wake up.

But what if you keep seeing your nightmare even after you wake up? What if it follows you around like an incurable disease?

Naito was frozen in the threshold of his house door. He was sure he was awake, and he remembered everything that happened during the day. As a motion of habit, he did all the reality checks that came to mind. His fingers were there, the time on the clock on the wall was correct, same with his phone’s. Everything seemed completely normal, except from the shadow following Airi as she was walking away.

He was trying his best to maintain his calm. He took some deep breaths and weighed the situation. Based on what Airi told him some minutes ago, she could see the shadow too. As far as she knew, the shadow would just follow her around when it knew where she was going. But what if the shadow is waiting for something? What if it’s actually dangerous?

He stepped outside the door, ready to go after her.

Wait. That can’t be a good idea.

He took his phone out of his pocket and found her contact. He was about to press the button to call her. 

No. Also a bad idea.

He started typing.

To: Airi

18:04 I hope you noticed it.

SEND

Beep-Beep.

From: Airi

18:04 Me: I hope you noticed it.

18:05 Airi: Yes, don’t worry. Good thing you didn’t call.

.

.

.

18:09 Airi: Wait a moment. You mean you saw it?

.

.

18:11 Me: Uhm..Yes.

18:12 Airi: Ok, that’s disturbing. 

How can you see something my brain has created?

It makes no sense.

18:12 Me: What makes sense at this point?

We have to double-check this.

I will look it up.

18:12 Airi: I will do the same.

Be careful and let me know if you see it around you. 

That would be the worst case scenario.

18:12 Me: Gotcha.

This is indeed disturbing. How is it possible that I can see something that exists in her head? What if others can see it too? If not, why am I the only one who can see it?

The first thing he did after he left his phone on the table, was to turn on his laptop and start searching about the materialization of dreams. For more than 2 hours, the only thing he could find was fantasy books and comics, artworks and scams. He believed Airi when he told him that it’s very difficult to find anything trustworthy on the internet about the subject. He tried thinking it over from a completely different point of view. The psychiatric one.

When you cannot find something that suits your case 100%, then find the closest possible case to yours. Based on the data you get from a similar situation, apply the info on your own case. Let’s suppose that this creature is something our mind made up. Let’s say it’s an illusion.

After checking the last updates on the matter, he found a few study cases based on theoretical assumptions about illusions, most of which were connected to schizophrenia.
“An illusion is the misperception of a stimulus that is present in the external environment. An example is when an elderly demented individual interprets a chair in a poorly lit room as a person. A hallucination is a stimulus that is perceived, when in reality none is present.”

Reading a bit further into the study, he found a reference to another publication on something more related to what he was looking for.

“Hypnagogic hallucinations are imagined sensations that seem very real. They occur as a person is falling asleep, and are also referred to as sleep hallucinations.

The term hypnopompic describes the period and phenomena that occur when a person wakes up. Hypnagogic defines the period when a person falls asleep. Although many healthy individuals can experience hypnopompic hallucinations, it is proven that this is also a symptom of narcolepsy.”

“The most common hypnagogic hallucinations are visual. They may include images of people, animals, or moving objects. Images can be quite complex and detailed, and may not make any sense. Sleepwalking, nightmares, sleep paralysis, and similar experiences are known as parasomnia.”

He was lost in his thoughts for quite some time, when his eyes started feeling very tired. The time was already 23.00. He had the morning shift again, so he had to be at the manga-cafe at 08.00, so he decided to go to bed. He got a shower and tried to empty his mind, but that proved to be more difficult than expected. He set his alarm at 07.00, so that he could have enough time to write in his dream journal when he wakes up.

He was planning on finding out on his own, what was going on with this shadow-thing.

Before falling asleep, he tried to bring Kyuu-chan to his mind as clearly as he could. When he was doing that, his brain would keep the thought vivid, transfer it to his subconscious and bring it to his dream.

He was sitting on a rock next to a pond, surrounded by blue and purple bonsai, that reached 10 meters in height. Kyuu-chan was floating next to his shoulder like a bubble. There were cherries hanging from the bonsai trees, looking red and juicy. He was feeling completely relaxed, as if he were in a Zen mode. It was weird for him to just think of what he wanted to say to Kyuu-chan, so he was speaking aloud instead of just thinking of his words.

“Hey, Kyuu-chan.. As always, thank you for your presence. I want you to help me figure something out. What kind of existence are you? Can you.. accompany me anywhere other than here? Where do you go when I’m not in this world?”

He couldn’t actually hear the black sphere talk to him, but he was feeling what it was trying to say. Kyuu-chan was a creation of his own subconscious, and it was 100% controllable by him. But it had gained its own intellect, which was collateral with his own, since it was an offspring of his mind, and thus his judgement - like a segment of his consciousness. Talking with Kyuu-chan was a type of meditation for Naito. What was actually happening was a discussion with himself. The great difference though, was that when he was sleeping, his brain had no limits, and brought thoughts from all his memories: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

This way he could retrieve and use information he had forgotten, and hadn’t used for a long time. The discussion felt like it lasted many hours, but when he opened his eyes, it was only 03.00.

He grabbed his smartphone, clicked on the chat with Airi and sent her a message.

To:Airi

03.01 Me: I think I got this.

He went back to sleep, but without dreams this time. He needed to rest before telling her what he had found out.