The Dream Shifter

Chapter 60

"Hey, you're Mizuno's little sister!"

"It's Mizuno's sister."

"What's her name?"

"He must be so embarrassed with having a sister like her."

"Yeah, he's mature, intelligent and good looking."

"She's nothing like him, it's surprising."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with Yumi!" a girl said breaking up the crowd.

Yumi looked up from passing through the halls quietly a little surprised to hear that there was someone that was not talking down to her or making fun of her. She came to a stop seeing that there was a group of students in her way.

"…umm…excuse me…" she said weakly barely able to speak. The commotion that was being created only made her want to leave sooner.

"Who do you think you are?!"

"I should be saying that to you! You think it's fun teasing people?"

"What?!"

"Hey! Why you stopping her?!"

The girl had suddenly realized that Yumi was trying to leave, but a mob of students was preventing her. She came running over to Yumi glaring at the students, who were confused and a little scared by the reaction.

"Come on!"

The girl grabbed her hand pulling Yumi through the student wailing in surprise not wanting to cause trouble for everyone.

Once they had broken through and found a quiet place to rest Yumi collapsed to the ground panting heavily for air. She looked over at the other girl that was trying to recover her breathing as well.

"I'm sorry to cause you trouble."

"Huh? Why you apologizing to me? They should be apologizing to you for harassing you like that!"

"But I don't want to cause any trouble!"

Yumi did not know why the girl was supporting her. She did not even know who the girl was aside from being about her age. It was a foreign notion to her that there was someone that would want to stand up for her. She was so used to being with her brother that she had isolated herself from the rest.

The girl stepped forward holding out a finger over Yumi's lips when she was about to say something more.

"I don't want to hear you blaming yourself! You did nothing wrong. So cheer up! You always look so sad."

"But I-I…"

"No 'buts' alright? I'm Kaede!" Kaede pulled her hand back letting Yumi speak again.

Yumi was left without words to say. She was not used to someone being so open and straight with their words. It felt like she had a harsh tongue, but Yumi could feel that she also seemed to care about her too.

'That was the first time I met Kaede. I soon became friends with her and later Katsumi as well. They helped to fill the void that I felt when my brother was not around. They are both a lot more open about saying what's on their mind then me.'

Yumi pulled her focus back to her work in the store. Her mind had been absent for long enough leaving the books that she was supposed to stock still resting in the box. When she realized how far behind she was on her work she panicked and flailed her arms punishing herself.

The books were eventually finished and she was about to take the box back when she was called forward. It was the woman that was the only other full time worker at the store apart from the family that owned the store. Yumi would see her in almost every day working behind the counter most days.

"Yes, Miss Momoko?"

"Hey, Yumi! Could you take this to the back for me?"

"Sure!" said Yumi as she approached the counter. There was someone else there with his back turned to her handing over a bag to Momoko.

"You can just give it to her, Yuki."

"Alright," Yuki said slowly as he turned to face Yumi coming up to him.

Yumi froze instantly seeing Yuki standing before her. Her words began to stutter and her face turned red almost immediately.

'What's he doing here? Why is…'

There were countless questions that ran through her mind in the moments as she stared unable to say anything. Yuki stepped forward to her holding out the bag for her to take as she stepped back.

"…Yuki…" 

"…Yuki…" Yumi said softly almost in a whisper.

He was staring straight at her holding out the bag that she was being asked to take to the back of the store, but she could not move. Her body remained frozen still with her face getting warmer by the second. 'What do I do? I can't move! He's standing in front of me right now!'

Yuki took a step forward developing a confused look on his face for the odd reaction that was occurring in Yumi. He tried to hold out the bag for her again seeing that it was out of reach for her to take, but even being closer did not make a difference.

"Yumi?"

'What should I do?'

'I want you to stop spending time with Yuki Hayashi, sister.'

'Yori! Yuki!' Yumi's mind suddenly went into a spin hearing the echoing voice of her brother in her mind reminding her of his feelings. It was not an order, but it felt like it to her. She wanted to listen to him, but she did not believe Yuki to be like they said.

'He's here now. I can't avoid him…'

'Yumi, you should stay away from him. He'll get you into trouble too just like he does to that new girl Ayumi.'

Her lips began to quiver as she retreated inward further, no longer recognizing those around her. The words were pounding against her mind raising new conflicts that only further paralyzed her. She could not take all of the voices anymore feeling her heart racing faster.

'No more, please!'

Yuki was starting to become concerned with the way that Yumi acted and stepped closer to her hoping to get her attention. When he saw that she was just stuttering in front of him he reached out his hand grabbing her hand hoping to snap her out.

"Yumi? You alright?"

The confused state that she was in was suddenly shattered the moment she felt a new warmth in her hand. She blinked and looked down to see that Yuki was holding her hand staring at her very closely. Her head burned turning bright red and making her mumble words stuttering even worse than before.

"Yuki! I—"

However, all of the stress on her body was unable to take pressure and she passed out dropping to the floor out of Yuki's hand.

"Yumi!"

The time passed quickly for Yumi unconscious with all of her troubles faded away into the void letting her sleep in peace. When she woke up she found herself in a bed with the covers up to her neck. She looked around cautiously not moving with uncertainty to her new location.

The room had a strange smell to it like there was no life allowed to persist left in a bleached environment that was almost unnatural. On her left sat Yuki quietly waiting unaware of Yumi's eyes.

'Yuki…what's going on? Where am I? A hospital?'

The blood began to rush into her face again making her feel warm once more as she accepted Yuki being near her. It made her twitch and squirm in the bed alerting Yuki to her waking up. He leaned in to the bed checking her face to see if she was awake or still asleep.

"Yumi! You're awake! That's a relief!"

"…Yuki…" she said slowly having her throat choking on her words seeing Yuki so close to her.

Yuki pulled back a little from Yumi having become a little at ease that she was awake now. Though, as he continued to watch her the redness in her face was starting to return making him worry.

"You feeling alright? You look a little red still."

He lifted up his hand placing in on her forehead and checked it against his own trying to see if she was running a fever.

"Hmm…I'm not so good at this, but I guess it's normal?"

'Yuki's…touching me… He's so close…'

Yumi's entire face became red as she lost her voice with her eyes starting to spin and spiral. She fell back into the pillow of the bed unable to take the closeness. Unfortunately, Yuki leaned in panicked when he saw her collapse backwards. She could not hear the words that he was shouting in worry, but he started to run for the door. It was an instant, and she did not know why she did it, her hand reached out to him grabbing his wrist before he was out of the room. Her hand was small compared to Yuki, but it met him halting him.

"Yuki…"

He looked back down at Yumi finding her to be a little more stable than before with the redness disappeared. The look in her eye told him that he should stay.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…I-I'll be fine."

Yumi gave him a weak smile to try to make him feel a little better. He took his seat once more that he had been using while he was waiting.

"What happened?"

There was still a lot that she was not certain about, especially the reason she was in a hospital room.

"Oh! You collapsed at the bookstore. When you didn't wake up we took you to a nearby clinic."

"I passed out…"

She tried to think back to the bookstore, but the events were hazy in her mind. All she could remember was Yuki and everything getting very warm for her.

"Yeah, the doc said something about fainting from stress. He said he couldn't find anything physically wrong with you."

"Oh… I see…"