I wrote this story in Japanese, and it was translated into English with the help of AI.
“U-uwahhhhhhhhhh—!”
I woke up to the sound of my own scream. I was yelling out loud, right there in my bed.
Looking around, I realized I was in my own room, in my own house. Nothing was out of place. Everything looked exactly the same—
except for the brand-new smartphone I had just bought yesterday, sitting on my desk.
“This is… my room. Yeah, just like always. I woke up this morning, and went downstairs for breakfast… right?”
Sunlight was filtering in through the curtains. It was a clear day. Yeah—sunny, for sure.
I heard someone coming up the stairs. The footsteps reached the top, moved a few steps forward, and then stopped right in front of my door.
Knock, knock.
“Taichi, I’m coming in.”
It was my mom’s voice.Today was Sunday, so naturally, there was no school. But something felt off.
Without waiting for my response, Mom opened the door slightly and peeked in. Seeing me, she opened the door fully and looked relieved.
“Oh, you were just sleeping? I was surprised because I heard a scream.”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry. I think I had a bad dream…”
“If you’re awake, I’ll prepare breakfast. It’ll be ready soon, so come downstairs.”
“Got it.”
Mom closed the door and left. I heard her footsteps descending the stairs.
“A dream—right! It was all just a dream. There’s no way I destroyed the world—burned everything to ashes.”
Yes, I had felt intense headaches and visual distortions, and then, from a place far from where I was, everything started burning. It was being destroyed. It wasn’t my intention, but I knew then that everything on Earth disappeared because of me.
It’s a strange story. Normally, if you have uncontrollable power, it would start from around you, right?
“Well, whatever—it was all just a bad dream.”
I muttered to myself and got out of bed. I headed downstairs. Momoka was supposed to be staying over at a friend’s place since yesterday.
I opened the dining room door and entered. My breakfast was already prepared at my seat. Today, there was toast, bacon and eggs, salad, and corn soup.
I glanced at the dining room clock.
“It’s not even 9 yet. That was around 9:30, I think.”
I felt a bit scared. I thought the same thing might happen again. What if this was actually the dream? I was sure I had fallen into a hole. Then, I had a dream, and when I woke up, I was deep in that hole, unable to get out?
“What’s wrong? You’re looking unusually serious.”
Mom said as she handed me a cup of coffee.
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
I started eating breakfast. There were two slices of toast—one with honey and the other cinnamon. I began with the cinnamon toast.
The ticking of the clock’s second hand sounded unusually clear. The TV was on, and Mom was watching it. Still, it felt like I could only hear the clock’s ticking.
“Are you okay? You’re drenched in sweat.”
“Huh? Ah…”
I realized I was sweating profusely. But the time had already passed 9:30. I had only eaten one slice of cinnamon toast and hadn’t touched the rest.
“Are you feeling unwell? Maybe you caught your father’s cold?”
Dad had been running a high fever since yesterday evening and was resting. I heard that Mom would be taking him to the hospital later today.
“N-no, I’m fine.”
Despite appearances, I care about my family. I’ve never bullied my much younger sister. On the contrary, I often played with her. I haven’t done anything to worry my parents. Sure, I might have said something unpleasant to someone annoying, and that led to them being ostracized, but I wasn’t the one leading it. I was just the trigger.
“Weren’t you planning to hang out with your friends today? Are you okay?”
Actually, since Dad had a cold, Mom suggested yesterday that I might have caught it too and should consider not going out. But I didn’t want to lose my freedom over something like that, so I insisted I was fine. So, it’s not an ideal situation.
“I’m fine. I think it’s just because of the bad dream I had earlier.”
“Is that so?”
Mom looked worried. Though, right now, she’s probably more concerned about me going out than my health.
“Yeah. It was such a bad dream that I screamed. But I only remember the unpleasant feeling; I forgot the content.”
“Hmm.”
I started eating the rest of my breakfast. By the time I finished, Mom placed a fruit yogurt dessert in front of me.
“Since you have an appetite, you must be okay.”
Mom said and resumed watching TV.
I felt a bit relieved and ate all the yogurt before leaving the dining room. Normally, I would go straight back to my room to get ready to go out, but today, I peeked into Grandma’s room on the first floor. She immediately noticed me.
“Oh, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, I was just wondering if your back was okay.”
“That’s unusual. But today, I’m feeling better and can stay up.”
Grandma, who had been lying down more often lately, was sitting and looking at something.
“Come in. Let’s talk for a bit.”
“Ah, sorry. I have plans with my friends.”
“I see. Then, it can’t be helped.”
Her words made my chest ache a little. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me, but for some reason, today it did.
I went upstairs and reached for my room’s doorknob. But instead of entering, I went to my parents’ room.
I opened the door and peeked in. I saw Dad sleeping in bed. Mom had been sleeping in the downstairs Japanese-style room since last night, probably to avoid catching his cold. Dad seemed to be sleeping soundly and didn’t notice me.
Seeing Dad, I felt a bit relieved. I quietly closed the door and returned to my room.
“It really was just a bad dream.”
I muttered, but for some reason, I couldn’t feel completely at ease. Still, I had plans with my friends, so I got ready and left.
It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the station. Since it rained yesterday and I took the bus home, my bike was still at the station. So, I had to walk.
Familiar scenery. Familiar places. But in that bad dream, all of this was different.
“Damn it! Why did I have such a dream? It makes no sense.”
The moment I said that, everything in front of me changed. Yes, it transformed into the exact scene from my dream—the neighborhood around my house.
“What!?”
I looked around. There were no buildings as far as the eye could see.
“No way! Come on, give me a break.”
Suddenly, everything changed again. I was back in my neighborhood.
“W-what’s going on? Is this a daydream or something?”
Yes, the dream’s influence must be strong, and my mind is altering what I see.
I took a deep breath and started walking again. With each step, I was consciously aware of moving forward. And when I took the twentieth step, everything changed once more.
I was sweating on my back. I had no idea what to do.
“Hehehe, perhaps this would be considered ‘interesting’ in your language.”
A voice came from behind, sending a chill down my spine. Unlike the voice I heard directly in my head before, this was a clear, physical voice. It was unusually high-pitched, but somehow, I knew it was a man’s voice, not a woman’s.
The owner of the voice had been a bit away from me, but he was approaching. Yet, there were no footsteps. Still, I could tell he was getting closer.
From around the height of my head, I saw a large horn on my right side. I shifted my gaze to the right. The horn seemed to grow from the forehead, and I saw a face covered in long hair. The hair was a pale blue, very beautiful, but for some reason, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
To be continued.
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