The Dream Shifter

Chapter 20

Momoko looked around again touching the flowers that were surrounding her trying to check to see if it was real. The flowers swayed and were soft to her touch. When the wind blew through they all bent over and back. "Hmm? Oh yeah…I thought it was a lot worse. What's with all of these flowers?"

"Oh?!" Ayumi said jumping up in surprise as though she had just remembered something that she forgot to get. "Just someone's imagination going crazy." She waved her hands around trying to deny what she was seeing and forcibly whacked Yuki in the head during her excitement. Yuki's eyes grew big for a moment and then glazed over as the field of grass evaporated into the brick, cement and wood of their house. The armor on Yuki and the sword faded away returning them all to their living room with their house completely unaffected. "Oh my! Yuki! Are you alright?"

"Yuki?" Momoko said joining Ayumi to lean over him and lift him back up.

When Yuki finally returned back to the realm of the living he pulled himself up from the couch in the living room to the sound of his sister laughing with someone else. The someone else happened to be Ayumi who rushed over to his side looking apologetic. He rubbed his head trying to figure out what had happened and why his house was back to normal. "I'm sorry, Yuki!"

"Huh? What's going on? Why am I on the couch and why is our house-"

Ayumi immediately jumped on to the couched shaking Yuki a little and interrupting him sharply as she pulled up his hands apologizing further. "I'm sorry, Yuki! I got a little excited. Hope you aren't hurt."

"Huh? I'm confused. What happened?" Yuki continued scratch his head until he suddenly felt a bump and a dull pain when he touched it. "Hey, you hit me!" The moment that it happened came back to him as though attached to the pain. He jumped up grabbing her by the upper arms annoyed.

"I'm so sorry!" Ayumi said starting to cry holding her hands up against her chest while Yuki frightened her. "I'm so sorry, Yuki!"

Suddenly from behind Ayumi a long wooden stick grew over her and whacked Yuki in the head making him drop her to hold his head. "Hey! Yuki stop scaring our guest!"

"Guest?! What? But she…" Momoko slapped Yuki again with the stick before he relented and sat back down on the couch tending to his new bumps that accompanied his old one. Ayumi rushed back over to the opposite side of the table in the living room sitting back down next to Momoko. Once he was satisfied with his new injures he met the two of them with his eyes wanting answers now. "So what have you been doing, sis?"

"I've been getting to know your friend here. She tells me that she transferred into your school today and is living up the block in the old Kitayama house. We've just been talking about this and that." The two smiled between each other as though they had become the best of friends in the short amount of time that he had been unconscious. "I decided to let her stay for dinner. She just moved in so I figured that she probably didn't have much at home."

"Wha-wha-what?!"

"What are you getting all worked up about?" Momoko stood up walking out of the room into the kitchen where she had restarted their dinner. It had been burned from the disruption that happened earlier.

Ayumi turned around on the couch not wanting to impose herself on her hosts. "You sure there's nothing I can help you?"

"You're our guest. I can't make our guest work. I wouldn't be a very good hostess would I?"

"What about work?" Yuki said narrowly changing the subject and hoping to get his sister out of the house. He had fortunately not seen Ken and Jun yet, but he was afraid of when they would show up to cause him more troubles.

Momoko turned her head not leaving the oven to shout back to Yuki. "I called them and told them that I would be running a little late due to a family emergency. It's so heartwarming to know that you worry about me and our finances."

"I didn't say that!" Yuki crossed his armed already getting tired from dealing with his sister. Only his family knew all of the buttons to push on him to get into a sour mood so easily. "So what's really going on?" he said quietly to Ayumi across the table as he leaned in.

Ayumi kept her innocent features, but deepened her voice a little returning part of her back to her other self. "Wrapping up loose ends."

He looked around the house trying to figure out what she meant by those words. The entire house was normal from what he could see. There was not a single sign that there had even been a fight here let alone that their house had been filled with blood and destroyed. He did not understand how she could rebuild their house so effortlessly. "Where's the body and blood?"

"I'm hiding them in my field while slowly cleaning it up. When I leave the work will be done and they won't even know the difference. It might even be cleaner than before."

Yuki was amazed at what Ayumi was able to do. She had such control over her powers and could do so many things with them. All he had been able to do was make things that killed. He turned his head away from Ayumi feeling the heavy weight of the images from what happened coming back to him. However, the pain of sorrow did not last long when he felt a real heavy weight on his leg. Yuki looked down to see Ken grinning up at him. Ken quickly jumped off of him and landed in the other couch next to Ayumi who leapt back in surprise. "Ken! You're scaring her…" Yuki paused as he was speaking realizing how he was so easily drawn into Ayumi's façade like everyone else.

"Hey, Yuki is she your girlfriend?" he said leaning in staring at Ayumi intently. His head tilted around as he watched her as though he was trying to find something on her.

Yuki had been reaching for Ken, but nearly collapsed to the coffee table when he spoke. It was the most random and yet piercing question that made Yuki hesitate. "No! She's just a friend from school. Now leave her alone." He managed to recover himself and pulled Ken back dropping him into the chair adjacent to them. Yuki fought with Ken when he suddenly felt yet another weight on his free arm. "Jun…" he said looking back at his little brother mutely holding on to him.

Ayumi had pulled herself back together after Ken's intrusion and caught her eye on Jun. "Who's this? Your other brother?" She stood up walking over to Yuki staring down at Jun with the softest kindest eyes one could find.

Yuki felt Jun tightening his hold on his arm while he looked back at Ayumi. Jun looked like he wanted to say something, but his mouth remained closed. Yuki looked down at him and then up at Ayumi. "He said 'Hello'. He's a little quiet. This is my youngest brother, Jun."

"Oh Jun! He's so cute!"

Ken coughed roughly from his chair watching them. "A little quiet? Try he's never spoken in four years and the only one that seems to know what he says is Yuki for some strange reason."

Ayumi pulled back her hand that she was trying to give to Jun as a sign of safety. She turned sharply to Ken not certain what he had meant what he said. "Four years? What happened then?" However, when she asked all three of them fell silent becoming a little darker in the face as those something had grabbed all of the light out of them.

"Dinner's…ready…" Momoko said as she walked in immediately feeling the heavy mood that was hanging in the air. She did not know what had happened, but the look that was on Yuki's face matching Jun and Ken gave a pretty clear idea. A subject that they tried to avoid had been brought up. "Ayumi! Can you help me?"

"Huh?" Ayumi said snapped out of the awkward trance that she was left in by being surrounding by the sudden bout of depression. She could tell that she had quickly killed the atmosphere. "But…" Her eyes flipped over their faces reading the sadness that was building up inside them. She had to do something, but she did not know what. Ayumi leaned in for Yuki, but Momoko stepped in.

"Come on. I need your assistance." She dragged Ayumi out of the living room into the kitchen handing her several plates. "Glasses are in that cupboard after you set the plates out." Momoko went back to the stove turning off the fire and gathering up the food to take to the table. Ayumi set out the plates, but as she was pulling down the glasses she looked over at Momoko pausing with her hand in the cupboard. It did not take much for Momoko to know what was going on in her mind. "I take it you asked about our parents or something related."

"Huh? No, I just asked about what happened four years ago."

"Yeah…four years ago our father died and a year ago our mother." Ayumi's hand shook knocking over the glass in the cupboard. She pulled back retreating her hands close up to her chest with countless thoughts running through her freezing her body.