DREAM: RESTLESS NIGHTS

CHAPTER 11-SLEEP

"I-I-It was a m-mirror, me and Y-Yukio got p-pushed into it..." As Haruto was looking at the man, he realized how much blood he had on him. The first thing he thought, was Taiyo and Mamoru.

"Is that all?" The man questioned, with slight confusion in his deep voice. Haruto nodded, desperately wanting to get out of his current situation. The ice on Yukio's legs dissolved to nothing, and the man sat up, letting go of Haruto and putting his gun away. Haruto let out a sigh of relief, sitting up.

"Uhm.. mister?" Yukio wobbled.

"What?"

"Do you by any chance know two people named Mamoru and Taiyo?" Yukio nervously said. To his surprise, the man nodded, hinting at the two to follow him.

"Bushida, looks like you were right to open the door, this guy knows where they are!" Yukio whisper-yelled.

"Hopefully." Haruto looked down, he felt like something was off. A man who threatened to kill him wants his trust? Haruto quickly snatched the bloody pistol that was found in the snow when Mamoru went missing. He hid it in his jacket, being careful as to not trigger the gun.

"Are you coming?" Yukio peaked around the corner, checking on Haruto.

"Y-yeah. Be there in a moment." Haruto jumped a little, being spooked by Yukio's sudden words. Before leaving the house, Haruto searched around for items he could use to defend himself. After finding two more pocket knives, Haruto stepped outside, avoiding the dead body near the house. Yukio stood there, looking at the body with a scared look as his head turned to the man they were following.

"He was possessed, I didn't have a choice." The figure didn't look back, continuing to walk past the unfortunate man. As the three were walking towards the exit, Haruto couldn't help but notice that there were no soldiers standing guard.

"Isn't this city especially supposed to be heavily guarded?" Haruto said, looking around.

"Even soldiers have to take breaks, besides, this city has a powerful barrier." The man stepped out of the force field, with Yukio and Haruto following directly behind him. Yukio shivered in fear when he caught sight of the mask the man was wearing, it gave off an eerie vibe.

"Is there anything we could call you..? It doesn't feel right to just call you 'the man' or 'person'. Because you are helping us out a LOT by doing this." Haruto suggested.

"Hm. Just call me Yukihiro" As the three got further away from the force field, it became windier and darker. Even though it was the morning and the sun was up, the dark, thick clouds blocked the light from reaching the surface for the most part. Yukihiro reached into his pocket, Haruto noticed and gripped the pistol he had in his jacket.

"Here, flashlights for all of us." He grabbed three flashlights, distributing them to Yukio and Haruto. Haruto let go of the gun to grab the flashlight, he was no longer on guard.

"Thanks." Yukio said.

"Sorry, but how much longer will it be until we arrive?" Haruto impatiently asked.

"We're almost there, see the trail?" Yukihiro pointed his flashlight towards the blood trail that just got thicker. Haruto grew anxious as the trail got thicker, until they found Taiyo. Yukio looked away, but Yukihiro blocked him from turning his head.

"There's an otherworldly entity here, not a phantom. But he's much more dangerous, this realm is the only place he could hunt freely." Yukihiro explained.

"I'm sorry, but are we just going to ignore this?! What did you do to him..?" Haruto snapped, pointing his flashlight towards the lifeless body. Taiyo's eyes were dark and cold, not even his soul remained in the body, well, including the head that was no longer attached to the body. Blood dripped down Yukihiro's neck, coming from his face.

"Take the mask off." Haruto demanded as soon as he caught sight of the blood.

"I'm not obligated to do as you command." Yukihiro became annoyed. "Besides, it would be best if you didn't see my face."

Before Yukio could say anything about the matter, Haruto quickly took the pistol out, getting into a defensive position, pointing the gun point towards Yukihiro with his finger on the trigger.

"TAKE THE MASK OFF OR I'LL SHOOT! The cloak too." Haruto shouted. Yukihiro let out a sigh, but he didn't seem to be fearful, not one bit.

"I was planning to do this later, but I guess you'll have to return to the Mirror Realm earlier." As Yukihiro said that, he disappeared into the darkness, but it only got colder. Haruto realized what was happening as a loud sound was heard as it only got louder.

"YUKIO! MOVE!" Haruto tackled Yukio, getting out of the way of the controlled, dark ice that stabbed the tree, it was larger than Taiyo.

"The beasts need to eat a good meal, it's been far too long." Yukihiro's voice seemed to come from above, the two teens realized he was coming from above as the ice broke. It was obvious that Yukihiro was never a human from the beginning, but he didn't even look like a demon or a phantom as he slashed the air. His face was hard to see, but he was clearly bleeding that whole time.

"He missed..?"

"No. I in fact did not." The slash created a portal that Yukihiro entered through.

"WHERE'D HE GO?!" Yukio and Haruto began looking around, panicking.

"Did he give up?" Yukio faced Haruto.

"Probably... why are you looking at me like that?" Haruto became puzzled, but the reason was clear within a matter of seconds.

"WATCH OUT!" Yukio tried to push Haruto out the way, but he was too late. Haruto began coughing and choking as Yukihiro held him up by his neck. Yukihiro pulled Haruto into the portal his arm came out of. Within seconds, Haruto was fully encased in the portal, but Yukio couldn't help but jump in after him. To his surprise, he walked right into a trap as Yukihiro hit a pressure point on the back of his neck.

Haruto had already passed out, asleep on the ground, and now Yukio had joined him. Yukihiro, Haruto, and Yukio were in the cave where the 'mirror portal' is, the dead body, now identified as Tohito Abiko still laid there, peacefully.

"Hopefully he doesn't kill these two.." Yukihiro said quietly. There was only one beast he was trying to starve, the one beast who had an endless hunger. "I know you two need food, I'd take these kids over to you guys, but I won't enter the Mirror Realm again. Sorry, hope you get it, A%&#**-" Yukihiro's voice glitched right before a large eye opened on the broken mirror, looking directly into his eyes.

"You–" Before Yukihiro finished his sentence, chains on his neck became visible, pulling him into the mirror, but Yukihiro stopped himself with the dark ice he created quickly.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Yukihiro struggled.

"Join us."

As he struggled, a sharp pain on his back came out of nowhere so it seemed. Yukihiro shouted out in pain before breaking the chains. He fell back, shuffling away from the mirror.

"Y-you're not going to reactivate the mirror beast seal. I b-broke it, and it's not going to keep me in that hellhole any longer." Yukihiro let out a sigh upon seeing the eye close and disappear. He quickly got up, stumbling before he grabbed Haruto and threw him through the mirror, just as expected, he teleported back into the Mirror Realm. Yukihiro did the same thing with Yukio.

Before leaving the cave, Yukihiro noticed a small pocket book on the ground.

"Must've fallen out of that kid's pocket." He picked it up, immediately noticing the name of the author.

"You're always so desperate to make up for your mistakes.. pathetic." Yukihiro threw the book at the mirror, it surprisingly went through.

"I guess it's time to seal this exit off." Yukihiro cautiously approached the mirror, taking the sword out of the mirror, before slashing the already broken mirror. It was cut in half, no longer usable, no longer a danger.

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–CHAPTER 11 END–