The Dream Shifter

Chapter 211

Chiharu considered leaving their words as they were, but once she heard Yumi falling back into the same pit she had to act. "There's no point in dwelling on the past. What's happened is done." Some reluctance still filled her body, yet she still looked back. She finally noticed that Yumi still bowed in apology to her. The sight flustered her a little and she threw her head back away. "Stand up. I've no interest in your apologies. Save them for someone that cares."

The harsh words washed over Yumi. She complied with Chiharu's requests to straighten up. "…I guess…you're right…" A little shake started to develop in Yumi's arms.

A hand pressed against Chiharu's forehead. She sighed bothered by forcing a deep retreat. 'One moment she's in charge and keeping the blockhead in line and the next she's flustered and timid. I don't get her…' The actions from Yumi confused her. It made her have some very, very small, amount of regret in snapping at her. "Well those two should be catching up soon. Just rest and wait for them." Chiharu walked off before disappearing into the air.

Long after Chiharu disappeared, Yumi reached out for her in futility. She dropped her hand in confusion with a tilt of her head. "Chiharu?" After a few moments alone, the solitude got to her. Even if she only had to wait for Fumiko to return, it felt lonely. She also knew that she had to find Chiharu before they continued.

She closed her eyes trying to concentrate. Her powers seemed connect to Yori, so she did not know if she could do the same for someone else. However, she knew she had to try. 'Something was bothering her. Maybe it was because of me…leaving…' Yumi did not know what she was doing with her abilities. She focused on Chiharu trying to remove Yori from her mind. 'I need to find her…please work…'

Delaying in silence, her power seemed to refuse her. It acted stubbornly towards her, locked on something else. She fought with it in a tug-of-war to compete for control. Yumi squinted her eyes looking around the field, in the hopes that it would fuel her powers. It all ended in vain. She dropped down folding her legs, but remained on her feet with her arms slung over her knees. "Does it not work this way? What good is having it if I can't use it when I need to?" Yumi drew her finger through the grass. She had not quite given up, but did not push herself. She felt aimless. "I must have…she's angry with me… I need to…"

Yumi rocked on the balls of her feet. She did not know how to find Chiharu. She vanished on her. It gave her no direction to even begin a search. "She disappeared…should I just start walking?" Her head tilted up at the rolling plains. "It's night too…I'll get lost…I don't want to cause more trouble for everyone." She thought about what she did to everyone. "I made them come after me. Even now, I'm making them chase me down..."

A sigh escaped her lips. "…came for me…" Yumi scanned around the horizon in the slight hope of seeing anything that might have been Chiharu. She found nothing, as expected. "Chiharu's out there…she came for me…" Strength returned to her legs and pushed her up. She wobbled a little in standing, but her body straightened out. "…she came for me…I can't…" Yumi began walking in the current direction she faced. "I'll do the same! I can't turn away!" Her voice turned to certainty in her steps. She kept walking not pay attention to her surroundings. The path she walked was straight.

It was a tree.

Yumi tilted her head in confusion again. "A tree?" None of what she did made much sense to her, but it felt correct. Chiharu was in front of her. "I'm not wrong am I?" She shook her head, preferring not to believe the doubt. Resorting to the only thing possible, Yumi searched the area around the tree thoroughly.

After an exhaustive, but obviously very short search, she plopped herself down against the trunk. Nothing found. Yumi felt certain that Chiharu was around, but none of it made any sense. Even finding nothing, her certainty did not waver a moment. Her own doubt could not shake it. "Chiharu's here? Somewhere I can't see?" She ran her hand over the bark of the tree searching aimlessly. Any further clues seemed unlikely. No recourse remained. "I'm sorry, Chiharu. I know that you told me I shouldn't, but I felt it's important. You did come to help me. And thank you…"

Silence came as she expected. She hoped wherever she hid that her words would reach her. Yumi did not know what else to say, but felt that she should not stop. "I know we don't know each other very well. We are all here through connections to Yuki. So I guess it's expected that it would be difficult for all of us to get along easily. But I hope that we can. To Yuki, we're all important friends…even though he may have only met some of us recently. It's just how he is…"

"That's so stupid and cliché. It's sickening," comment Chiharu. Her voice started from the very air with no body, but at the end, she appeared resting against the tree in the shadow of the moonlight.

Yumi jerked away from Chiharu's sudden appearance. She did not know immediately what to say, but Chiharu acted as if nothing changed. The scene made Yumi feel like she needed to reciprocate. "But there's nothing wrong with being like that. People are normally more distant and difficult to approach."

"That's because that's reality. Someone like him belongs in his stupid manga he cares about more than his life."

Yumi leaned back into her spot against the tree. She felt relaxed. "Who's to say that has to be reality though?"

"A couple of words isn't going to change things. People aren't so easy to turn like in stories. Reality's different. A good speech doesn't change things."

"It doesn't have to be a speech. Just the words that you're wanting to hear."

"Isn't that just being selfish then? Waiting someone else to tell you, when you can't validate yourself."

"Maybe so, but it's not wrong to be a little selfish, right?"

"Is that a question or a statement to satisfy yourself?"

Yumi stretched her arms trying to deflect some of the attention away from her heart. She turned her eyes up to the moon briefly. "Maybe it is…"

"Bothersome," sighed Chiharu.

A touch of melancholy coursed through Yumi's veins. Past memories fluttered up inside her. She blinked her eyes to wipe it away. Her head tilted over to Chiharu. "You act tough, but you do worry about us. Thank you, Chiharu."

Chiharu choked out a stifled puff of air in partial startled surprise. She turned her head away from Yumi not wanting to directly see her face at the moment. "…so boring…"

Yumi smiled seeing that she had caught Chiharu a little. "If we're so boring, why do you still follow us? You could leave."

"This is training," snapped Chiharu. She turned back around to face Yumi in a confrontation. "These new powers I have need a place to hone them. There's people here use to using their powers to fight. So I'm just taking advantage of the opportunity."

"Sounds like a conditioned response. It's just an excuse that satisfies yourself, right?"

Caught between words, Chiharu narrowed her features prepared to bare her fangs. She did not expect for the weak wishy-washy girl to counter through her. She did not like the cornered feeling. "What about you? This isn't a place for you. Why is it so important that you follow that weakling?"

"You're right, this isn't a place I should be. But I'll follow him regardless."

"Why? Why go so far?"

Yumi pressed her hands against her heart. The memories she tried to push away returned stronger than before. She could not avoid retreading the past. "Because he's important to me…because back then…"It was a time of cherry blossoms carried on the great sea of the winds of spring. A time for new beginnings, where the life of the past was left behind to greet the welcoming future. The bright moments that looked forward to where chains of pain shattered to dust. Earnest hope stretched out with a warm hand to pull up those troubled. An inviting opportunity presented with no façade.

'Aren't we being a little overly optimistic in the naïve deluded way that adults think of children? Aren't you just painting with unrealistic cliché metaphors and symbolism?' questioned Chiharu. She found the whole need for such an introduction to a flashback entirely overused.

'While overused, you can't deny a classic,' commented Yuki. He nodded in agreement with no one else. 'There's a reason it's a classic, it's never out of style. Why do you think so much fiction places the High School setting on such an important narrative pedestal?'

'So this narration's your fault? That explains a lot. What, get upset that you're being ignored as the main character and it's only the second arc of the story?'

'You're being awfully talkative for someone that pretends that they're a misanthrope character.'

'Careful, big words will hurt your brain and shift the reader demographic.'

'After all of your philosophical talk last chapter can you really be complaining about such things?'

'It's your fault.'

'Well we are preparing for a flashback. Oh is that your problem?'

'You're oddly observant today. I'd rather not have to suffer through another tedious flashback.'

'The crux of the situation now! Don't worry this won't take long!'

'That was said last time and it ran for a chapter and a half. I don't trust you.'

Yuki shrugged his shoulder at Chiharu. He pointed his finger over at her. 'Not a lot I can do about that. It's already begun anyway. Once a flashback has been summoned, it can't be denied! It's the rules!' Yuki faded away from the void leaving Chiharu behind. She sat with her arms crossed and not content with the situation.

Anyway, the flashback continued back on course without further interruptions. While potentially painted with overly bright and hopeful colors, it was accurate that the setting was a high school. The need for a flowery entrance was no doubt due in fact to Yumi's memories took her back to the entrance ceremony, barely a few months ago. A normal spring day for anyone, that was not Yumi. In fact, the rest of the student body had already begun to split up to start for their class. It was only a half day, so spirits were high to still have free time soon.

Yumi, on the other hand, was nervous and uneasy with the new school. While always known as a shy individual and difficult to want to change anything uncomfortable, none of that was the reason for her nervousness. Her last year of middle school was no doubt the best time for her, even though it might have been difficult to actually tell to the outside observer. The reason was because the source of her stress had left. While there lingered some memories and self-imposed pressures, she felt more comfortable. She had her best friends and the shadow disappeared from her path. Her school finally had felt welcoming to her and not oppressively judgmental.

Conclusions from her feelings would obviously make the assumption that she felt uncomfortable because of a new environment that she did not know. The unfamiliar, in truth, did provide her with some amount of unease, but that was only a small piece of the larger puzzle. The real source was the same as it always had been for Yumi. It remained unchanged and likely very obvious to anyone that knew her.

She entered the school of Yori, her older brother. Just like in middle school, everywhere he left a trail of amazement and pride. He was popular with most of the girls in the school, though they placed him on such a pedestal that few actually dared to approach him. He improved the school as part of the student council and all of the teachers looked at him as the model student. He had the grades, looks and rumored athletic prowess, though Yumi knew it was one of the few real failing points of her brother. His name meant something to everyone and her first mistake that she deeply regretted was acknowledging that he was her brother.

Thanks to the still clinging together Yori fan club at her previous school, Yumi remained aware of all of the accomplishments of her brother in high school. She had partially wanted to ask to attend a different school, but with their family situation, she felt it was too selfish. In his first year, he already rose to the position of President, rather unheard of for a first year. Those graduating members of his fan club that entered the high school with him made sure everyone knew about him. His popularity grew fast and his face and name easily became the most recognizable in the school. Even those not attending the school knew of him.