The Dreams

Chapter Fifty Two

Her days here seemed more like a dream than any of her dreams had been in past months. Now when she slept she did so without any dreams that she could recall in the morning. Whether that meant she did not dream at all or she merely had ordinary dreams that faded quickly once her eyes were open she could not say. Either way, it was much more like the way she remembered sleeping to be before she started remembered the life she had she had lived before.

Waking reality did not feel real to her anymore. She slept, woke up, and only knew she was awake because she felt herself remembering what happened later. It did not seem like she was living her life these days. It was too insane to be real.

Even after sleeping all night she felt like she had not processed everything that had happened the day before. Many of the pieces to the puzzle were now connected, but seeing the pieces connect still did not provide her with the full picture, which only served to frustrate her more. She only had enough knowledge to tease and tempt her and the rest of it was still kept hidden away from her. Today was a new day though and she at least hoped that she stood a chance of being able to learn enough to make sense of it all.

To start out she did have a mission. She had information that needed to be shared with Souma. He still did not know why they were being treated so badly the day before and now she knew what had happened to attract King Yama's wrath. If she knew more she might stand a better chance of putting a good spin on it for the sake of making Souma not get as upset about it. Considering how unsure she was about Inari's intentions, she had to imagine that Souma would be at least as hesitant to accept his good will as her.

After the memories he had shared with her the day before, she felt pretty sure that he would not be feeling charitable toward Inari or his servants. She did not blame him, but she had Mori who so far seemed to be a genuinely good person, and as the only Tenko she actually knew, she felt as though she know had to think that they were not all bad.

She tried her best to quiet her mind as she got ready for the day. The amenities she had received in previous days had not been provided today. She was not given food or water. She was not sure that this was an intentional oversight, but she understood that it might very well be. It had not been this bad yesterday, but as the day progressed her situation seemed to have gotten worse and worse. Now that Inari was present and involved in the trial it seemed that she had been lost in the shuffle. If the king did not want anything to do with her then she would not be receiving anything from his servants and at the same time Inari might not realize she was being abandoned in such a way and did not offer assistance of his own.

She did not like that she was so helpless. She was not some sort of spoiled princess that could not take care of herself, yet, at the same time, she did not know how to get the things she needed in this place. In this place, she was completely dependent on the service of others. That knowledge left her a bit unsettled.

Since she had not been bothered over the course of the night she thought that she must be under the protection of Inari and his servants. She wondered if she would be safe going out of the room. The thought of being caught alone by Takeshi again gave her knots in her stomach. she knew she could not stay in this room forever, though. In a place like this, with everything that had happened to her and all the things she needed to process cabin fever seemed to set in after just an hour or two. She was the worst possible company for herself right now. She thought about things that would only end up making her more afraid to go out and get away from herself for a little while.

She put herself together as best as she could with the items available to her and then she stepped out into the hall. She did not know what she had expected to see. Armed guards posted at the door would have been over the top even in her overactive imagination, but she had expected to see some sort of sign that she was being watched over.