The Dream Shifter

Chapter 214

Chiharu could not take anymore. The voice of that girl in her head acted like it knew everywhere. It acted like it knew her. She knew nothing about her. None of them knew anything about her. They were all strangers to her. They acted like friends, but they would just as easily abandon her after it was all over. She only had herself. Chiharu shouted back at the girl in her mind, 'It is impossible! Because if he really did lose his parents then he would never be able to smile again, even faking it!'

An image of blood covered everything.  'It would not be real! You can't fake a smile or happiness!' Two lifeless bodies soaked in blood laid in a room. 'You can't act careless and still pretend to be a child anymore! When you lose your parents that's it!' A child too young to understand what happened stood in the doorway. 'There's nothing left! You have to grow up!' A firm strong hand handed down a sheathed blade to the child. 'You have to do everything yourself! If it was true he would never be able to be happy!' Two gravestones rested in silence with the child before them.

Everything faded to black.

Chiharu was alone. The void in her mind finally became empty again. She could not even muster a thought. Her body stopped shaken, but it ran so still that it turned cold. She lost all of her energy.

In the length of silence, Yumi felt a little confused and apprehensive. She wanted to say something more, but felt that she might have over stepped. The usual pace of their back and forth stopped so suddenly. Yumi thought she might have hit a nerve on Chiharu, even though she acted so strong. She felt that she should wait for Chiharu. However, each second dragged on. "Chiharu?" The lack of a response or even an annoyed twitch concerned her. It made Yumi reach out for Chiharu, but stopped suddenly.

Chiharu gripped onto Yumi's hand tightly awaking from her thoughts. She looked over to Yumi. The even controlled pace of her body restored confidence to Chiharu. "What are you doing?"

Some hesitation built up in Yumi at the awkward situation. It frightened her a little how Chiharu so quickly returned to the living. "Umm…you weren't saying anything. So I was just checking on you."

"I see."

"Can you let go of my arm," Yumi quickly commented between Chiharu's words.

Chiharu complied with her request in unbroken motion. "I'm fine. I was just considering what you said."

"Oh, but you were so quick to response before. So I thought I might have said something wrong."

A slight twitch broke through Chiharu's mask. "Nothing of the sort. However, back to the subject of the weakling. If you're correct in all that you said. What's your theory for why he acts stupid considering a tragic past?"

"Huh?" Yumi tilted her head a little at Chiharu. It surprised her that she came back to the topic after refusing to so stubbornly to accept it. She figured that Chiharu would have dropped it after the break.

Crossing her arms, Chiharu pressed her back into the tree. "I mean, if you think about it objectively, the loss of someone's parents is significant. It is enough to change someone. With something so important taken away, I find it difficult to believe he could actually be happy or even pretend to be carefree. You're forced to grow up quickly and stand on your own. You wouldn't have the time to act like that."

Chiharu continued to surprise Yumi. The response that Chiharu gave her was probably one of the longest periods of speech that she had seen. It confused her a little, expecting a short answer. Her answer made her question a little of what she said, sensing something else behind it. However, she did not want to hesitate in delivering a response. Chiharu was being serious and Yumi felt she should reply in kind. "You're probably right about that." Yumi leaned against the tree returning to their starting positions. "I can't imagine what I would feel like if I lost my mother. I might never be the same again. But I think he's able to smile and act silly because of his friends. He had those that supported him. If he ever fell down I'm sure Saki would be there to pick him back up. Seiji would probably punch him until he came back around."

'Friends supported him?' Chiharu considered her words in silence. She did not feel satisfied with the answer. It still did not make any sense to her. They had the same situation, but different outcomes. She narrowed her eyes and turned a little away. "That sounds sickeningly cliché."

Yumi noticed their friends in the distance, barely lit by the moon. She stood up dusting herself off. The time apart from them felt as if it left her drained, but also glad. She was able to talk with Chiharu. Yumi ran out a few steps waving over to them to get their attention. Afterward, she turned back around smiling at Chiharu. "I know it does. And it might not be the right answer, but that's how I feel. I'm sure if something like that happened to me. Where I was in so much despair and sadness with no way out. He would be there giving me a hand to hold, because that's who he is. He would do that for anyone." She turned back around to watch Fumiko and Seiji running closer to them.

Chiharu doubted her words, regardless of how sincere she spoke them. "Anyone? You can't save everyone…"

"True, but he'll try to anyway." She tilted her head over her shoulders looking back at Chiharu. "Even you. Because we're friends."

A long night had already passed, but plenty more of the time underneath the moon still remained. The four teenagers regrouped after the long run. Yumi apologized profusely to Fumiko and Seiji for her actions. Fumiko quickly accepted and dismissed Yumi's need to apologize for the incident. Seiji gave in after Fumiko glared at him to stop scaring Yumi. While he did not seem be upset with her, a remaining sense of something bothering him lingered.

Yumi was simply glad to have everyone back and nothing bad happened because of her inability to control her powers. All of them continued their march to where the Atlanteans held Yori. None of them felt in the mood to rest further. Their breaks before were necessitated by Yumi. 'I've been slowing everyone down…' Her conversation with Chiharu distracted her from the core problem. It still gnawed at her like a bug bite on the back her of neck, invisible and difficult to reach. It was always unsatisfied and festered.

A few minutes after their walk began, Fumiko, who had held back a little, noted the position of Chiharu in their group. 'She's closer…' She looked over at Seiji to her right judging them. 'She's still the same distance from him, but something's different…' The distance Chiharu had always remained the same distance from everyone. Fumiko only had seen her get closer with Saki, even though it looked like she had mixed feelings. She felt a little change in the way Chiharu acted. 'I wonder what happened between them… I'm happy to see her acting a little more comfortable with someone, but she's still too distant…' The thoughts running through her mind made her curious.

She did not immediately realize it, but her feet began to outpace Seiji. When she came close to Chiharu, it left her in an awkward position. While she wondered in curiosity, she did not plan for the next step. She felt nosy, but did not actually want to show it. The personality of Chiharu, she knew would react poorly to unwanted approaches. Even on the ship, Fumiko tried to improve their relationship, but she only got brushed away. 'I thought at first, being the youngest in the group made her feel out of place, but that's not the case with her.' Fumiko combed her finger through her waist length hair considering her next action.

Unfortunately, Chiharu's awareness was very high. She immediately noticed the difference in location of Fumiko. While she did not make a change in her body, she did speak to Fumiko behind her. "Is there something you want?"

"Ah?" Fumiko jumped back a little, startled by Chiharu. She did not try to be sneaky, but she did not think that she had made any sounds. '…scary girl…' However, her yelp drew the attention of the others. They looked at her confused and concerned that something happened. She flailed her arms flustered by her failure. "Everything's fine!" Another moment of uncertainty passed before they gave in to her and returned to normal. Her failure made Fumiko sigh.

Not content with the outcome, Chiharu tilted her head a little back at Fumiko. "You didn't answer the question."

"…well…" The feeling of being put on the spot and the sideways partial glare ruined any chance that Fumiko had to form a sentence. She regretted approaching with no plan in mind. She wanted to tied up her curiosity and stuff it down a pipe to disappear forever. "…it's nothing," she managed before stepping away.

Unknown to Fumiko, a reason drove Chiharu's position in the group. After all of the debating that the two had in private, some things only became more muddled for her. She still had questions. The love-struck girl bothered her. Chiharu did not feel satisfied with the outcome, especially with the unnecessary talk of friendship. 'I don't need that weakling's help… He'll just get in the way…' She quickened her step to come beside Yumi.

Yumi had become more familiar with the presence of Chiharu after their talk. It made her more aware of her approach, that it did not surprise her to see her out of the corner of her eye. "Hi, Chiharu! Is something wrong? You normally keep to the back."

Chiharu restrained a verbal tick from escaping her lips. It left her a little unnerved that someone so inexperienced and fragile noticed her with no reaction. Chiharu worked for tireless years to refine such awareness. The girl was granted it with the slightest amount of effort. '…damn powers from that weakling…' Yet another thing that she hated.

However, her presence did demand a response. Chiharu wanted her questions answered. She wanted to see the picture clearly. Her eyes slid over towards Yumi, while keeping her body forward. "There's something that you never answered." Chiharu acted as though she needed to keep looking natural and uninterrupted, like their topic was secret.

The strange response from Chiharu introduced her own curiosity for Yumi. She tilted her head over to her, but kept walking forward. "Oh? What is it?"

"You never answered my question. Why are you doing all of this?"

"Huh?" Yumi turned her eyes away in thought back on everything that they talked about. "I'm pretty sure I already told you."

"I'm not talking about that," she rebutted, though still remaining painfully vague.

Handed the abstract answer, Yumi felt like they were having two different conversations. It felt like Chiharu spoke with someone that knew exactly what she said. Yumi felt distant and divided from it. "That?"

"Yes."

"What's that?"

A sigh charged out of Chiharu's lips. She managed to keep her features under control, but directed her piercing gaze further into Yumi. "Are you really this dumb and you just act intelligent?"

"Yup, I'm stupid!" grinned Yumi. She leaned over at Chiharu with an expression that would have done Yuki proud. "It's all just an act. My brother's the smart one."

Chiharu tried to ignore the proximity and attitude, while forced to look at her so close. "Are you trying to mock me now?"

Yumi pulled back away, looking a little pleased with herself. "Just softening the mood a little."

"I think the weakling's starting to influence you."

"You think so?" she asked, already starting to blush.

"I wasn't giving you a compliment."

"It's fine!" After Yumi settled out from her excitement, she leaned back in at Chiharu. "By the way, you keep calling Yuki, weakling. Why don't you call him by his name?"

Turned away quickly, Chiharu made the best of the closeness. "I don't bother with those that are weak," she stated in a grave tone.