Chapter Text
Chapter 1- Dreaming
*static* *static*
Bright golden eyes awaken in a small, soft bed. Messy long black hair tied in a low pony tail, its owner sat up staring at the room he was in. It was a small, clean and despite not having any windows, the room is surprisingly bright. He got up and looked around- there wasn’t much inside but the bed. The wall on the bed’s left side (if you’re standing right in front of it) is a rather messy crayon drawing of a Cherry Blossom garden with a little smudge in the middle as if someone tried cleaning it. At the end of the room a few meters from the right side of the bed is a small red door. The boy walked over to it and tried opening it to no avail- it was locked.
He checked himself if he had the key. He was wearing a short sleeved white t-shirt and blue cargo pants that reaches below the knees. The pants were the only ones with pockets but checking them proved to be futile as they were empty. He scanned the room and there was nothing else around. He sighed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he heard something. Listening carefully, he could hear faint static-like noise from somewhere in the room. With the bed the only thing around, he checked underneath and found a small brown radio emitting static. He turned the small knob at the bottom until he heard a woman’s voice:
“… and that’s all for today’s program, thank you to all who listened. For those late listeners, I’ll recap today’s program for you! Welcome to the dream! The Dreamworld is a fun and wonderful place provided you don’t wander too far. There are three doors in the hallway inhabited by friendly but bored creatures that would surely love your company! Oh, the occupant in the second room is a bit eccentric and might tell you strange things but please don’t listen to him (he might tell you of a non-existent fourth door for example). The Grand Hall is at the very end of the hallway- everyone there is busy so please avoid disturbing them.”
“Oh and a reminder to everyone not to go anywhere else that wasn’t in the main hallway as we can’t take liability if you *static**static*. That is all; I hope you enjoy your stay!”
Serene music started playing. The boy waited a while but no one spoke anymore and turning the knob anywhere else only result to static so he left it where the music is and dropped it on the bed. He searched underneath the bed once again and only found a small cherry blossom branch which still has four flowers in it. He examined it and placed on the bed right next to the radio. He sat on the bed thinking of what he should be doing now when he left something underneath the blanket. It was a delicious-looking meatbun. Hungry, he ate it until he felt something in his mouth. When he took it out, it was a key.
It’s bright gold in color and has the symbol of the sun on one end. He tried it on the door and when he heard a click, he turned the knob and stepped outside. Before going further, he took out the Golden Sun Key from the lock and placed it in his pocket. Somehow, he felt more comfortable holding on to the key.
The hallway was large- it was bright white walls and huge red pillars all around with the floors all tiled. After walking for a bit, he stumbled upon the three large doors he heard about earlier- the first one on the left was bright purple, the one in the middle was bright green and the one at the end was bright red. The the very end of the hallway are the double doors to the Grand Hall.
Standing in front of the 1st one, the young boy placed an ear on the door’s surface and listened. He could hear a voice complaining in an annoyed yet exasperated tone. He opened the door and behind it was a small but spacious office. There was a large brown desk at the other side of the room with a chair behind it. Looking around, the whole room was a big mess- there were papers everywhere and some are folded into paper planes and others were just crumpled, crayons, books and toys scattered, and a bottle of ink spilled on the desk. In the middle of it all, a man in bight white robes was trying to clean it. He was tall with long beautiful golden hair tied into a ponytail and an annoyed expression. It would’ve been normal until he noticed the man also has raccoon ears and tail.
When he walked closer to examine him, the man noticed and spoke “There you are you chibi monkey! Look at the mess you made… I don’t even know how to clean this up!”
Startled by the man’s sudden scolding, it took him a while to realize that the man knew him and was saying this mess was his. He doesn’t remember the man although he felt that he was familiar. He stared at his face and noticed he also had bright purple eyes.
“What are you staring there for, idiot?” noticing his confusion, the man rubbed his forehead and asked “Wait, don’t tell me… do you still know who I am?”
The boy shook his head and the man sighed “Well, it has been quite a long time since we last saw each other. I’m Konta- I used to be your guardian back then. I was also the one who gave you your name, Goku.”
The golden-eyed chid smiled- Goku… he remembers now. His name is Goku. The man smiled back at him and said “Well, I better clean up after your “little” mess so why don’t you go bother the others? I’m sure they’d want to see you again after a very long time. Knowing them, they probably missed you.”
The boy nodded and ran off. Goku now stood in front of the next room- the one with the bright green door. Listening intently, he could hear someone reading on the other side. He opened the door and was surprised- just like the 1st room, this too is a messy room except instead of papers, books and scrolls are stacked, toppled and scattered everywhere. The shelves supposed to be holding them were mostly empty and held only a few books. Sitting on the desk at the other side of the room is a man in glasses with long black hair that reached above his shoulders and was wearing a white labcoat. Like the inhabitant of the purple door room, this one also had animal ears and tail- a pig’s to be exact.
“Oh, Goku! You’re here. It’s been a very long time hasn’t it? Were you at Konta’s earlier?” the man asked and Goku nodded. “Hmm… you seem quite confused. I take it you don’t remember me?”
Goku looked away and nodded. It seems those living here knew him and he felt bad that he doesn’t even remember them although they feel very familiar. “Well,” the man spoke “I’m Tenbu but you used to call me Ten-chan. It’s nice to see you again!”
Goku smiled and nodded and the man smiled back “How ‘bout we play a game later? You should go visit Kenppa in the 3rd room. He misses you very much you know.” Goku nodded and ran off.
The 3rd room is a bright red door and behind it, he could hear humming. Opening it, he was greeted to a beautiful garden of Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom. Leaning on one of the trees is a man in a black military uniform. He had black hair and some strange mark on his forehead. He was holding a bottle which Goku assumed to be alcohol. Upon seeing him, the man’s face brightened and calls out to him.
“Hey chibi! Long time no see.” the man ruffled his hair and smiled “How are ‘ya?"
He doesn’t remember this one either but like the other two, he seemed familiar. “Hey, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me you forgot about me already? Well, I’m Kenppa but you used to call me Ken-nii-chan. You might not remember but we used to play together back then.” Kenppa or Ken-nii-chan as he used to call him patted him on his head and said in a sad voice like he’s trying to remember something “Heck, we get into a lot of trouble together…”
Goku could only smile at him. He doesn’t remember anything for some reason even if he desperately wanted to. Kenppa spoke again “Well, have you been to the other two?” Goku nodded his head “How about him?”
The child stared at him is confusion… him? There’s someone else in this place? “I meant the kid in the Grand Hall. If you ask any of us, we’d rather you didn’t go there but still, you two are friends. You should go see him but avoid anyone else. Go…”
Goku followed and went out of the room. He was going to the last door on the end of the hall when he heard a strange sound. He looked around but couldn’t see any source for it. After a while, he decided to just go to the last door.
Opening it, he was greeted to a large elegant room. There were many people inside but their faces were a blur and he could hear chatting and whispering in the crowd but he couldn’t make out any of the words. Looking around, he noticed a boy his age wearing white robes. He had blonde hair tied in a bun and like the others, he had animal ears and tail, which he thinks are those of a fox. The boy was standing to the side next to a large ornate door. He could see the boy’s face clearly and his expression is that of someone who’s either sad or annoyed… and probably bored.
He ran up to the other boy. The blonde child noticed him and smiled “You’re here! Man, this place was getting kinda boring. I’m glad you showed up.” As usual, Goku felt the same thing he felt upon meeting the other three- nostalgic but confused. The other boy stopped smiling for a while and eyed him curiously.
“What’s wrong?” the boy asked Goku but after getting no reply, realization dawned on him “You… don’t remember me, do you?” Goku nodded at the other child sadly “It’s fine, I understand. In a way, I guess it might have been better that way.”
Goku was surprised at what he’d heard the other kid say. He certainly didn’t think forgetting anything was a good thing. The other boy’s expression returned to cheerfulness as he introduced himself “Well, I’m Nataki! We’re friends and we played before. We’re kind of like the only two kids around here so, yeah.”
Nataki extended his hand and Goku took it and they shook hands. Afterwards, the other boy looked around and suddenly paled. He looked worried for a moment before speaking again “Uh, I wanna play with you again but my father’s calling me. I gotta go and it’s gonna take a while but we’ll play later, I promise! Why don’t you go and play with the others?”
Upon hearing those words, images flashed before Goku’s mind: he was hiding behind a statue in a dark room with the other boy, then a bedroom wherein an injured Nataki stayed and then—
Before the last image could be registered in his mind, the other boy had already said goodbye and he was left alone. Not having anything else to do, he walked out and went to Konta’s place. As he passed by the hallway in-between the areas of the Grand Hall’s door and the 3rd door, he heard something weird again. Looking around, he still couldn’t find the source of the sound so he just left and continued on his way to Konta’s.
The tanuki-man is still cleaning the messy office and had told him they couldn’t play yet. He had heard the man say that he was the one who messed up the place and with that in mind, he couldn’t complain. He felt bad that Konta is having trouble so, to apologize and maybe help hurry things up, Goku decided to help clean up the mess.
“Oh, you wanted to help? Well, alright. Why don’t you start by picking up all the papers and stacking them on the desk?”
Goku started picking up the scattered papers on the floor and piled them up on the desk. Konta watched and sighed- the stack of paper was gonna fall sooner or later. He walked over to the boy and pointed at the stack “Stack them neatly. They’ll fall if you just put them on top of each other like this.” Goku understood and started stacking the papers properly. While picking the papers up, he noticed that the back of some of the documents have crayon drawings on them. He found drawings of all his friends individually and some together.
“You drew those you know.” Konta said as he continued sweeping. Goku looked at the ones around him and felt at the back of his mind that he remembers drawing these… and getting in trouble for doing so. Looking around, he saw paper airplanes and other origami made out of the same documents that was probably also his doing.
The young boy finished stacking the papers just as Konta was finished cleaning up the other messes. Konta sat down on the chair and said “I’m tired. We could play later so why don’t you go and play with the others? I’m just going to rest.”
Goku nodded and left. He didn’t feel as tired as the man did but he wanted to give the other a chance to relax so he went straight to Tenbu’s. When he got there, the Pig-man was still reading one of his books and the place was still a mess.
“Oh, hello Goku! Back already? Well, I’d invite you for some tea but…” Ten-chan looked around “I’m afraid I don’t know where anything is. I’m sure Kenppa would be upset. He just helped me clean up a few days ago and it’s like this again.”
Goku couldn’t help but giggle. They were kind of alike in a way- they make messes and someone’s there to clean up after them. Then he thought, since he’d help Konta clean his office, he’d help Ten-chan out, too! Plus, it’ll help Kenppa in a way as well. “You wanna help me put the books back? Well, if you want to then, alright.”
Goku placed the books around him on the shelf properly (as to not have to do it again like with the papers) but didn’t know what to do with the huge pile of books. He was afraid they might fall and he wasn’t tall enough to reach the very top of the piles. Ten-chan walked up to him and said “I’ll handle these, Goku. We wouldn’t want them to fall on you, now would we? I’ll just pass a few to you so would you mind putting them back on the shelves, then?”
Goku stepped back and watched as Ten-chan took a few books from the top carefully. He was afraid they might fall but they didn’t and Ten-chan just hand him the books he took out and he places them on the shelves. When they have finally finished, only a few more things were on the ground but Ten-chan told him he can leave those alone. Looking round, Goku spotted something interesting on the desk.
As he looked at the books on the table, Ten-chan spoke “You used to read those a lot back then. You could borrow them if you like.” Goku smiled and held the book close. He could remember Ten-chan teaching him how to read until he could do it by himself. He read the books as he and the pig-man drank some tea.
He said goodbye to Ten-chan as he went and visited Kenppa. When he got there, the man had been sitting peacefully on one of the tree branches. He ran over to the tree and Ken-nii-chan jumped down to greet him “Yo! Back already? Alright…” Ken-nii-chan looked around and said “Why don’t we play a game?”
The child nodded happily and the other man smiled, too “Okay, then… how about baseball?”
Ken-nii-chan threw the ball towards him as he readies himself to swing the bat. He watched as the ball went his way but when he finally swung… he missed. That goes for of the first three tries and Ken-nii-chan couldn’t help but snicker. “I’ll try to go easier on you this time.”
Goku pouted at his words. He doesn’t need pity! He knew he could hit the ball if he tried so at the fourth throw, he swung the bat and hit and the ball just went past Ken-nii-chan. “Nice one!” and then the older male ran over to the ball and picked it up. The boy still felt bad cause he knew the only reason he hit the ball was because Ken-nii-chan went easy on him. When the other called out and told him he’d be throwing again, the golden-eyed boy made up his mind- he’ll swing and hit… hard.
When Ken-nii-chan threw the ball, Goku swung the bat as hard as he could and hit the ball… which hit directly at the window to Konta’s office and therefore breaking it. “Crap!” was the only thing Kenppa could say after that. The sound got the attention of the other two inhabitants as Tenbu poked his head out the window of his office and saw the situation “My, my… you broke another one! I could imagine he’d be angry right now.” He said with a smile on his face.
“Oh shut it!” Kenppa said and then he turned to face Goku “It’s okay, don’t worry. Hey, why don’t you run along, I’ll handle this.” And with that, Goku walked to the door just as Konta opened his window to scold Kenppa. As he heard the two talk, he had felt a nostalgic feeling as if the same thing had happened before.
He thought of checking on Nataki so he went to the direction of the Grand Hall but on his way, he heard chirping sounds again. This time, he knew it wasn’t just his imagination. He listened carefully and searched for the source and surprisingly, it was behind the wall. He checked the wall and saw a small crack. He put his hand in it and pulled. A small opening appeared- just enough for someone his size. He went inside and was greeted by a bright white room. The whole place was so white that he almost couldn’t tell where the walls are. Inside the room was a small table and on top of it was a little cage and peering inside, he could see a small white dragon.
“the angel…”
He suddenly remembered something strange someone told him but couldn’t remember what it was or who said it but he could remember hearing the words “angel”. He was thinking twice on whether he’d release the dragon or not. The little dragon ‘kyuu’-ed as if asking him to open the cage. Looking into it’s eyes, it gave the feeling that it would be better to let the little dragon go and so, he opened the cage. The dragon stretched it’s wings out, flew, and out the door it went. Goku followed the dragon out to the hallway and ran after it. When he got inside the room he was when he first woke up, it was gone but something strange was happening:
The cherry blossom garden drawing on the wall glowed…
Goku went up to it and examined it and then when he touched it, a bright light enveloped the room. He covered his eyes because it was too bright. When he looked around again, everything changed.