Stepping Into the Unknown

 Minoru leaped up from his bed in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, he tried to calm himself down as his hands tightly gripped the pastel orange blanket that was draped over him.

“It was just a dream…” Minoru repeated to himself as he took deep breaths to steady himself.

“What did you dream about?” Saki asked from beside his bed. Minoru let out a yelp as he jumped backward and fell off the bed with a loud thud. He let out a pained groan as he lay sprawled out on the carpeted floor. The white-haired girl stared down at him concerningly as she sat on his bed.

“Are you alright?” She leaned forward. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“T-that’s because I have!” Minoru shouted as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

“A ghost? Where?!” Saki darted her head around the room like a meerkat before Minoru shot a finger directly at her.

“You! You’re the ghost!” He declared, causing Saki to careen back in surprise. She pointed her own finger at herself, confused by the accusation.

“Me? I’m the ghost?”

“What else would you be?!” Minoru inquired with a panting breath. Saki lifted her hand and began tapping her chin, contemplating the question.

“I’m clearly still dreaming,” the young boy slapped both his hands upon his face. “That’s it. None of this is real. She’s not real.”

The curious girl shot her head at him out of disbelief. “What do you mean I’m not real?!” She hopped down from the bed and scooted toward Minoru until she was just inches away. “You’re saying that the girl before you isn’t real?!”

Minoru couldn’t respond as he stared at Saki’s pouting face. He could almost feel her breathing as she glared intensely into his eyes. It felt too real to be a dream and even if it was one, Minoru couldn’t explain why he was still sleeping and fully conscious of everything going on around him. It didn’t make any sense.

“But…” The young boy tried to find a logical explanation, “You died.”

“Died?!” Saki seemed offended by the comment. She shot her arm out abruptly and grasped Minoru’s wrist before placing his hand on the left side of her chest.

“Can you feel my heartbeat?” Saki asked as she kept Minoru’s hand firmly against her body. “Now you tell me: am I alive or dead?”

The flustered boy couldn’t believe what was happening as he took in the soft sensation. Without a doubt, he could feel Saki’s heart beating smoothly beneath his hand. The warmth of both her clothes and her hand on his wrist was also apparent.

“You’re… you’re alive,” Minoru whispered.

“That’s right! I’m alive—”

Before Saki could finish her sentence, Minoru wrapped his arms around her and pulled Saki into a tight embrace.

“It’s really you, Saki. You’re alive…” Tears began to roll out of his closed eyes.

“M-Minoru,” his friend stammered, “It hurts. You’re hugging me too tightly.”

Almost immediately, Minoru released his grip on her and leaned back.

“I-I’m sorry! It’s just been so long…” He apologized as he used his sleeve to wipe his face. Saki let out a gentle smile and reached her hand out, brushing away a single tear.

“I guess I can’t blame you. I have been away for a very long time.” She paused and held out her hands in front of her, counting each month on her fingers. “Six, seven, eight… How long?”

Minoru let out a laugh between his crying and smiled brightly. “Saki is still an airhead after all.”

“I’m not an airhead, you stupid baboon,” Saki glowered as she lowered her hands. She glanced away to the side in annoyance. “Perhaps I should just go back by myself instead.”

“No! Don’t go, please!” Minoru grasped her hands with his. “I’m sorry I called you an airhead.”

Saki let out a cheeky grin as she pulled free from his grasp and slapped his hand. “Minoru is still the same old Minoru.”

The cheery girl stood up with Minoru’s gaze following her as she walked to the other side of the room toward a blank wall. Giving her friend an amusing glance, she then faced the drywall and walked through it. A blue outline followed her figure as she disappeared into the white wall.

“Saki?!” Minoru stood up quickly, startled by what he just saw. Slowly, the curious boy strolled over to the exact same location where Saki had been standing.

Reaching his arm out, he touched the base of the wall, expecting something similar to happen to him. Instead, his hand tangibly hit the surface. Confused, Minoru placed both his hands against the wall and tried pushing against it hoping to fall through. No result.

As he took a step back and stared at the drywall pondering the thought, Saki’s head popped back out from within.

“Aren’t you coming?” She asked, causing Minoru to stumble back and fall to the ground once again.

“How are you doing that?!” He questioned, clearly fazed by seeing a head attached to his wall.

“Oh, that’s right!” Saki stepped forward out from the wall. She extended her arm out, offering her hand to Minoru who stared at her with confusion.

“Do you want to come with me?” Saki asked with a warm smile.

“Where are we going?”

“My new home,” she said as if it was a fact Minoru should have been aware of.

Minoru remained in place, clearly lost from everything that had happened tonight already. None of this made any sense: being able to go through walls, the girl he thought was dead, fully alive in front of him, and now going to her new home?

However, Minoru’s mind discarded all the unexplainable things that had occurred due to one dominant thought: he didn’t want to lose Saki ever again. Seeing her go once was painful enough. If Minoru didn’t want that to happen again, he would take action this time.

With his mind made up, the young boy stood up and accepted Saki’s hand with a beaming smile. Wherever she would go, he would go.

“I want to come with you,” he declared in a confident voice. Saki gave a nod before tugging Minoru forward toward her abruptly.

“Hold on tight,” she whispered into his ear right before the two of them fell back into the wall.

✤✻✽✻✽✻✤

The next few seconds in Minoru’s life were a blur. He saw thousands of bright stars streaking past him at high speeds with primary colors swirling around him as if they were paint spilled in the air. His limbs felt light as a feather but also just as dense as rock simultaneously and in his mind, Minoru felt a strange sensation as if his head was purely empty. It wasn’t soon before the colors faded and the stars disappeared, leaving the dizzy boy in nothing but darkness.

“Minoru? Minoru?” Saki’s voice called out to him. Hesitantly, Minoru’s eyes blinked open to see Saki kneeling next to him with a concerned stare.

Slowly, as his senses returned to him, Minoru could feel a rough feeling upon his entire backside. Once he was aware of gravity again, he finally realized he was laying on a dirt ground.

Saki helped Minoru up to his feet, still struggling to regain his balance temporarily before he could stand by himself. As he finally did, the young boy lifted his head and glanced around him. His eyes widened upon the wondrous sight.

Above them, hundreds of colorful paper lanterns floated in the night blue sky, each glowing with a lit yellow candle within. Lines of string hung between wooden poles, reaching high up with yellow and white lights dotting the line as if they were fireflies. Wooden Torii gates painted in red could be seen lined up against each other almost as if representing a wall before several warm-color buildings. The very dirt path they were on squiggled through the villages, forming winding staircases through the seemingly non-euclidian homes that reached up towards the heavens.

Several townsfolks wandered around the area, many dressed in patterned yukatas but there were also those dressed in casual shorts and T-shirts. Market stalls were scattered around the dirt path with vendors selling an assortment of food and toys for all ages to enjoy.

As Minoru took all of this in, he felt a sweet ball being shoved in his mouth. Snapping out of his daze, he realized that Saki had received a wooden container with pink mochi from a young tan-skinned child who gave them a wide grin. Saki had stuffed one of the soft spheres into Minoru’s mouth much to both her and the child’s amusement.

“Welcome to the World of Spirits, Minoru.” Saki gave him an alluring smile.