Yume to Akumu: Dreams and Nightmares

“Woah.”

You must be wondering why I said that. I am now standing in front of YuAku High which will be my school from now on. I am Renai Katsuno, incoming first year and soon-to-be dream catcher.

There are so many people here – some talking and high fiving each other, others skateboarding around the campus and some students walking with their… pet thingy? What was that? I tried taking a closer look at it and… it talks! I wonder if I’ll get one like that someday… I resumed walking towards the notice board to know my class when suddenly, I bumped someone’s shoulder.

“Sorry!” I tried to apologize but the person just stood there and looked at me so in response, I also looked at him.

He was half an-inch taller than me. His hair was like the night sky, deep blue and it clearly matches his emerald green eyes. He was also wearing black long-sleeves and a white shirt under. His striking blue plaid shorts that went about his knees were partnered with a pair of black combat boots that went just above the ankle. Unlike me and the total opposite of me, I am just a plain redhead with pale grey eyes, wearing a black coat over my white and black cropped tank top and a black leather skirt with chains over my red plaid frilly skirt. Yes, frilly, even though I don’t like it that much… The longer we looked at each other, the more I was aware that I was rude to him. I apologized to him again as I walked away and headed to the notice board. Again, there are so many people here that I can’t see the class list anymore. I know what you’re thinking, I’m not that small.

“Excuse me. Excuse me, coming through.” I said as I pushed my way into the crowd and now I’m in front of the board. Lucky me! ~

Hmm, let me see… Katsuno, Katsuno… there it is! Katsuno Renai is under… Pleiades Class. Nice, they have stars and constellations as their class names. Now, I just have to find Pleiades class. I, again, pushed through the amazingly huge crowd and successfully got out of it. Seriously, there are so many people here. How many times have I said that? And I almost stepped on one of the pet thingy, good thing it made a sound before I almost squished it with my foot.

“Oh, pardon me…” I again apologized but got a snob look from it and its owner in reply.
I was now walking in the halls of YuAku and I noticed two girls fighting, but it seems that they’re friends. Oh, before I forget, YuAku stands for Yume to Akumu which means Dreams and Nightmares.

“We almost got late because of you!” the short Blondie with a green beret on her head said.
“No, it wasn’t. It was because you didn’t wake up on time.” The tall girl with her black hair tied in a side ponytail passively replied.
“Well, you didn’t wake me up, Kimi.”
“Then, it’s not my problem and my fault. I’m not always there to wake you up, Vianne.”

As I gazed upon the two of them, they almost looked like a Japanese and English doll together, except for their clothes. The short Blondie with the Green Beret wore a black shirt with a smiley on it except, one side of the sleeve is an off-shoulder long sleeve. To match those, she wore olive green shorts with grey leggings that reach until her knees and a pair of sneakers. The other girl, the black-haired one, was wearing a long white trench coat that went pass along her simple black dress with some frills on the hem and some grey boots, to top it all off.

I continued to walk along the corridors and not let them notice that I was glancing at them. There were also students walking on the same path as I am so, I’m guessing they’re also first years. Finding it hard to look for Pleiades Class, I continued to look for some signs at the top of each room. Not knowing that I was a truly clumsy person and about to collide with someone, my head unknowingly bumped into someone’s back. Ouch… my nose hurts… I looked up and saw a guy’s hair which was the same shade of ashen brown. I quickly apologized and tried to walk briskly so as not to get into any unnecessary fights. How many times have I been apologizing today?

Speaking of today, I just met someone like Ren. Who’s Ren? Well, Ren is my childhood best friend. She also has the same deep blue hair, except a little bit longer and emerald eyes like the guy from before. Even though she’s a girl, she hates wearing dresses and always wears clothes like a boy would. Well, I don’t see any harm in wearing boy’s clothes… We were always together, even in school and at home, but that would only happen if she didn’t move. When we were about eight years old, she moved to Sweden, I think… and mom said she’s coming back here, TODAY. Come to think of it, we haven’t contacted each other since she left for Sweden… I AM SUCH A BAD FRIEND, I just realized. What would I say to her now? Oh, this is a problem… Well, I guess I should save that for later and just focus on finding Pleiades Class.

After a few minutes, I abruptly stopped and forgot my goal of finding Pleiades Class because of that reminiscing about Ren. Oh, what do I have to do with my clumsy self? Wait, don’t answer that. There was actually a room beside me and had a lot of people inside so I looked up and hoping to find Pleiades. And guess what… I’m standing in front of Pleiades Class! Yay! ~ I finally made it!

Before I went in, I peeked inside the room. It was like the classrooms in universities that the desks are lined up and looked like gigantic stairs. There are so many people that I don’t know. I looked around. There are some girls chatting and giggling, some students playing their yoyo and clackers, and students with different attires and color of hair just like that deep blue hair – wait what?! He’s here! The one I bumped a while ago! We’re classmates! And he’s sitting there at the top… all alone. I guess he doesn’t have any friends here too, might as well talk to him.

“Hey.” I started and got his attention.
“Oh, hey.”
“Um, sorry for bumping you a while ago…” Jeez, why do I always keep saying sorry?
“Nah, it’s fine. I’m alright, Renai.”
“Oh, okay,” I replied and after several minutes, I found a topic for our conversation, “so do you know anyone here?”
“Well, my sister also studies here and she’s a third year,” he paused and then continued, “at first, I thought I won’t find anyone I know here but I found one a while ago.” Oh, good for him. He found someone he knows in this big school. Oh, wait. Did he say ‘sister’? He also has an older sister, like Ren does. Hmm, I wonder why he just sat here and gaze off into space instead of talking to his friend?
“Oh, who’s - ?”
“Okay! Class is about to start! Get to your seats, everyone.”

Yes, I was interrupted. He stood down there at the middle by the teacher’s desk, looking like a teenager, probably an 18 or 19 year old. He didn’t look like a teacher at all. He was wearing somewhat like a middle school student’s uniform which is all black yet its sleeves are long and wide and his top buttons are left opened revealing his white shirt inside. No way, he’s our teacher. The minute he walked into the room, almost all the girls squealed and whispered to each other, except for me and some students. Well, I have to admit it. He’s a BIT too cute-slash-handsome for a teacher. He just stood there and kept looking on his folder. Suddenly, he raised his head and his focus was directed towards the whole class.

“So I guess these are all the students in my class?” he stopped and began to write something on the board, “Tsukiyo Maru is the name and from now on, I’ll be your teacher-in-charge for the rest of the school year.”
Oh, Tsukiyo Maru… He truly lives up to his name. Like the moonlit night, his hair was a shiny shade of silver-grey, tied up in a loose ponytail that hanged around his shoulders. It’s the first time I’ve seen a real person with white-slash-grey hair… well, I’ve seen them in shoujo mangas so that’s why. The class grew silent until it became awkward. To ease the awkwardness, Mr. Maru finally spoke up.
“Ahem… Well then, we’ll have the introductions first. Would the first person here on my right please start?” he gestured and faced the student.

So the introductions went on and on and on… and on… I wasn’t really paying attention to the students so… I’m sorry Mr. Maru. Well, I wasn’t really listening but something caught my attention. The short Blondie and the tall girl were also in my class. They also seemed to be friends with Mr. Maru…

“And next – “Mr. Maru said but as he saw the tall girl and the short Blondie were next he just immediately directed his gaze towards the next set of students.
“Hey! Tsuki, you! Why did you skip us?!” the short Blondie was furious. Yet the tall girl stayed passive with a blank face…
Mr. Maru turned to face them and he looked somewhat… tired or bored?
“I already know both of you, so why bother?”
“Uh, hello? It’s not only for your sake that we have to introduce ourselves. We do introductions so we could get to know each other, don’t you know that? And you’re a teacher.” Only the short Blondie was talking to him and the tall girl still remained silent. Now, Mr. Maru looked annoyed.
“Okay, just get on with it and introduce yourselves.” He said while making a ‘shoo-shoo’ sign with his hand. It’s like when you’re shooing away flies that pests you.
“Alright!” the short Blondie went first and was very optimistic about it, “I’m Giovanne Gutenberg but I prefer if you called me Vianne. And if this guy, Tsuki, come to bother you and it makes you annoyed, just call me and I’ll kick his butt!”
Oh, so her name was Vianne. By the way, Vianne is pronounced as Vi-a-ni. I think she comes from a foreign country, judging by her looks, she came from… Germany? Oh well…
“What do you mean by that? And that’s Mr. Tsuki for you since I’m your teacher after all…”
“What? You’re just 4 years older than us! So I’ll call you whatever I want to.” She said with extreme confidence. Oh, so I’m right! He’s just 18 years old… and he’s a teacher? He must be some kind of genius…

The tall girl with black hair remained sitting until Vianne reminded her that it was now her turn. The tall girl strangely and slowly got up from her seat and remained silent for about a minute before she talked.
“Hello… My name is Kimiyo Itou. It’s nice to meet you all,” she said with her blank face and with a matching bow, “how are you, Tsuki? … It’s been a long time.”

Vianne, Kimiyo and Mr. Maru are close friends, aren’t they? Unexpectedly, Mr. Maru’s face seemed to soften at Kimiyo’s statement. Hmm, something’s going on here… I wonder what it is…

So the introductions continued after Mr. Maru responded to Kimiyo’s question with an ‘I’m fine’ and matching gentle smile… aww, that’s so sweet… wait, what am I thinking? Okay, I better stop myself from doing that again. Again, I wasn’t listening to the introductions… I am such a bad person… or maybe just distracted? Speaking of which, I just remembered that this person beside me who is the deep blue-haired guy called me ‘Renai’ even though I haven’t introduced myself yet… How did he know? Should I ask? Maybe, I’ll wait till later… That is one mysterious guy.

I waited until it was my turn and fortunately, it was me after a student.

“Renai Katsuno.” I said plainly as I stood up and then sat down. Plain. Yup, that’s me.
Then, it was his turn. I wonder what his name is… I haven’t asked him yet… He just stood up and told his name like I did, plainly.
“Len… Wilhelmson.” Oh. My. Nightmare.
“What?!” I said a little too loud that everyone might have heard me. He is… a Wilhelmson.
“Is there a problem, Ms. Katsuno?” Mr. Maru asked.
“Umm, no. It’s nothing, Mr. Maru.” I replied sheepishly.
Mr. Maru just ignored it and went to continue the introductions. But I… wasn’t listening to it TOTALLY AT ALL, now. If he’s a Wilhelmson, then maybe…
“You’re Len Wilhelmson, right?” I eagerly asked in a whispering tone. I wanted to make sure even if he said it a while ago.
“Yup, that’s me!” he said with an enthusiastic smile. Yes!
“So you know Ren? Ren Wilhelmson?” I forgot to mention. My childhood friend’s last name is Wilhelmson.
He paused and his enthusiastic smile faded but he chuckled in replace of it, “… you’re really dumb, aren’t you?”
What the! Doesn’t he know that’s rude?!
“Don’t call me dumb!”
“Then, what? Moron?”
“I am not a moron!”

After that, he stopped and seemed to be thinking of something. It was about a minute until he finally moved and started to shove his right sleeve up to his arms. What I saw was… Unbelievable. It was the bracelet I gave to Ren when we were little. It was a bracelet made out of chains and to it was a letter ‘R’ clipped to it. I made one for myself too; it was also clipped with a letter ‘R’ since my name starts with a letter ‘R’. Well, I would’ve worn it if it didn’t get lost… Yes, I know what you’re thinking… I am a BAD friend.

“Y-you’re Ren?” This couldn’t be.
“Nope. I’m not Ren at all.” Please insert sarcastic-ness here.
“But I thought Ren was a girl?” Yup, I was a 100% sure that she or he was a girl.
“You just assumed it.”
“T-then, what about the first meeting? Ren was wearing a dress!” and a frilly one at that.
“My older sister forced me into it.” Well, I can remember what she or HE looked like back then and I have to tell you… he’s right about that. When we first met, she, rather he, was wearing a cute frilly dress and from the looks of his frown, he didn’t like it.
“Then, why didn’t you talk to me back at the notice boards?”
“I was waiting for you to start and then, I had a feeling you have forgotten about me.” He’s a little true about that…
“No. It’s not really – I just thought Ren was a girl… all this time.”
“Well, he isn’t.” My head hurts. It might be from the shock and too much information that I can’t pick up very well. My whole life has been a lie. Yes, of course. I’m exaggerating.
After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, I tried to absorb what just happened a while ago… it was VERY much life-changing. I can’t believe that Ren is a girl. Do not believe. Believe.
“So you’re Len, not Ren and not a … girl…?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?”
“A lot.”

Oh, and what I said before about what to say if I meet Ren, I think I just solved it not too long ago.

------------------- *** -------------------

The class ended still with introductions. Well, it actually ended just a few minutes ago since we are part of the last ones who’s going to introduce themselves. I was still like a frozen icicle. It took me a lot of energy and mental preparation to absorb it all. I can’t believe Ren… is Len. Ah, I have to stop thinking about it. Okay…… well, that wasn’t so hard. Now, I just feel that… he’s staring at me. This is awkward.

“You just arrived here, right?” I asked turning around to face him. Yup, he was staring at me.
“Huh?” he replied looking a little confused.
“From Sweden.”
“Oh, yeah. How did you know?” he said with his ‘I-got-caught’ face.
“My mom told me before I went to school.”
“Oh, I thought you were stalking me,” he said with a sly face, “too bad, you weren’t.” What the!? What happened to Ren?! Oh, wait. I forgot. He was Len, not Ren.
“Why would I even stalk – “
“Hey! You’re the one who bumped into me a while ago!” a cheery voice behind us said.

Len looked up while I turned my direction to the person speaking behind us. As I faced them, I was… dumbfounded? There were two of them, and exactly alike. Are they twins? I can’t even distinguish who said that from the two of them. They have the same ashen brown hair and face yet they were different from each other. The one on my left has deep blue eyes while the one on my right had amber orbs. I was attempting to stare at them to see their whole figure but, I finally decided not to proceed with it. My focus was interrupted when the one on my right slightly gave a light blow on the head to the one who has deep blue eyes.

“That was me, idiot! Stop confusing her.” He said with a cheery voice but no one can compare to the deep blue eyes’ cheerfulness.
“Umm…” I said, letting them know my presence. Hello… I’m still here, you know…
“Hey! What was that for?” the one with the deep blue eyes complained. For some time, they continued to argue with each other, but only the brother-to-brother kind of type, nothing serious or personal. Well, I think they forgot about us…
“Ahem,” the one beside me, Len, decided to finally butt in, “if I may ask, who are you?”
The two stopped fighting and both of them looked at us. We were waiting what would happen after and unconsciously, we just sat still while they are staring at us. Awkward… Suddenly, the one with amber orbs regained his composure and began to introduce himself.
“Oh, sorry,” he bowed and then raised his head up again, “By the way, I’m Pollux, and this is my twin brother – “
“Castor’s the name! Nice to meet cha’!” he said as his face went towards near my face. You are too close, you know… Oh, so the amber-eyed is Pollux while the one with deep blue orbs is Castor.
“Just in case, you haven’t heard from the introductions…” Pollux continued. Oh, so he noticed.
“Ah, sorry about that, we were talking about… something.” I apologized avoiding the ‘topic’.
“Yeah, we noticed – the shock from your voice, the whispering and all…” Castor enlisted all the things we did back at the introductions. Oh, so you saw. So do they know what we’re talking about?
“Oh, by the way, I’m Renai – “
“Yup, we know. You’re Renai Katsuno,” Castor interrupted and then faced Len, “and you are Len Wilhelmson.” Nice, a student paying attention to his classmates and teacher. He must be a goody-honour student.
“Woah,” Pollux exclaimed as shock was imprinted on his face, “for the FIRST time, you listened to the teacher and our classmates!” Never mind what I said before. Yes, he knows. Pollux knows sarcastic-ness. I wanted to laugh but I thought that maybe it wasn’t a good idea. Anyways… nice one, Pollux! ~
“Oh, shut up.”

------------------- *** -------------------

Well, here I am again. Currently, I’m inside my room inside the second floor of our house. I am in my casual clothes and right now, I’m lying on my bed reminiscing about what happened today at school.

The day ended with more introductions since we have different teacher for some subjects. I met our teacher-in-charge which is Mr. Tsukiyo Maru, and our combat or dream catcher training teacher, Mr. Peace. Our combat training teacher was surprisingly a little bit hot-tempered and he scares the nightmares out of me. I don’t blame him for being scary but don’t you think it’s ironic to have a name such as ‘peace’ if you teach martial arts or something of that sort? Oh well, me and my crazy mind strikes again. I was also a little surprised about his looks because in the look of his name, I thought he would be someone calm and easy-going or some meditation person but when he walked into the room, his ashen brown hair was in a sort of a mess and makes it look spiky. He was a tall built man and had dark skin, maybe because of the sun outside when he’s training… He was just wearing some plain jogging pants and a white sleeveless shirt. So there I present Mr. Peace, our combat training teacher.

I also made three friends at school. Well, basically, if we were to count out Len since he WAS Ren, then that makes it two. The two people who I befriended at school were Castor and Pollux. They are also brothers and twins. I don’t know their last name since they say they don’t have one. I totally respect that since there are different kinds of people in this world. Wait… connection? Oh well, me and my crazy mind… again…

Castor is the one with deep blue eyes and the trickster among them. He seems to be cheerful a lot of times and more cheerful then his brother. He was wearing a yellow sleeveless turtleneck shirt with black stripes on the side and at the bottom, he was wearing black combat shorts with some sneakers. He’s totally on the sporty side.

The one with the amber orbs is Pollux. He is also a trickster like Castor but he has some gentlemanly manners, if you know what I mean. He seems to be the responsible one among them and older… I think. I’ll just ask him tomorrow. Like Castor, he’s also wearing black combat shorts and sneakers but for the top, he wore a grey shirt with our school’s crest which is a crescent moon at the middle of a white cloud and underneath that is an orange and white striped long sleeve. They were really nice and fun to hang out with.

Mr. Maru also said that tomorrow we’ll be learning the basics about dreams and nightmares, and we’ll get to experience dream weaving. Now, I’m getting excited! Hmm, I wonder what will happen tomorrow…

Today has been a very tiring day. But fun.