Work Text:
“What… is this?”
Hajime felt like he was watching a movie, a giant, vivid 3D movie. The experience was made more surreal as he touched a giant wall of glass in front of him, while on the other side of the wall, two objects—one was a person—caught his eyes; one was a pink-and-white-colored rabbit that stood on two feet with the horizontal line of its body as a contrast for the two different colors. It looked so much like a stuffed toy. If not for the distinctive shape of its ears though, Hajime would not have recognized it as a rabbit. Probably because it wore a baby diaper. Hajime idly wondered why a rabbit would need to use that or why it was there in the first place; the other one was a girl with a short pink hair. She wore a hoodied dark-green jacket with a pink, cat-shaped backpack hanging on her back. As if she could feel someone watching, she turned around slowly. When Hajime got a glimpse of the girl’s face, he felt an irresistible urge to reach out to her.
Only to be barred by the glass wall.
All of a sudden, a giant block fell from the sky, which caused a tremor on the surface he was standing on. Hajime looked up in confusion as another block fell over, then another, and another, and another. They fell like hailstorm, but each with different shape and color that reminded Hajime of blocks from the Tetris game instead of small ice pebbles. Also this time, they’re deadlier.
He suddenly realized that there was still one other person on the other side of the wall. Well, technically there’s the rabbit too, but he’s not sure if that counts.
He started pounding the glass with his fist, but it was sturdier than it looks.
“Run!!” he shouted with all his might. He doesn’t know if the girl could hear him or not, but she started running towards him as the blocks continued to fall all over the place. Hajime knew the girl was trying her hardest but it wasn’t enough; the blocks were falling faster and covering more grounds every second. Soon, there was no space left but a single long corridor made of those falling blocks, and the rabbit was somewhere beneath them.
The girl was still running for her life, passing through the long corridor as the path behind her were closed by more falling blocks. She was panting, and so was Hajime because panic had flooded his mind, tightening his chest. He frantically punched and kicked the glass wall, hoping to break it. Yet he couldn’t even make a single scratch on it. He looked around for a tool to help him, but he found nothing as he stared at the endless white below.
At last there was only a single space left, barely enough for the girl to stand in. Time came to a crawl as the last piece of block was about to drop, signaling the end of this madness, and the girl’s life. Hajime’s face contorted into anger, confusion, and panic mixed together. On the contrary, the girl expression was calm, serene, and peaceful; there’s no hint of fear nor sadness, or anything of the like written there. To others it may look like she was devoid of any emotions, but Hajime knew that that’s just the way she is, and he knew how much, beneath that well worn mask, her nervousness is consuming her.
He knew? But how? Just who is this girl exactly?
His thought was short lived, as a final block came falling down above girl in front of him. At that moment, a name came to his mind—a familiar one—so he shouted from the top of his lungs,
“Chiaki!”
......
Hajime opened his eyes. It all ended. Everything around him was no longer the same; no more giant glass wall, only a paved stone walkway and a unique looking statue of mythical animals with several chairs surrounding it; no more giant blocks falling from the heaven, only blue sky obstructed by the leaves of a big tree giving everyone under it some decent shade; no more plain infinite white under him, only well cut grass that feel so cozy to lie on; no more weird looking stuffed rabbit that could talk, even now Hajime was still unsure what that thing actually is.
And yet when everything had became so normal, Hajime prayed with all his heart that one thing would not change. That it would still be there. That SHE would still be there.
And his prayer was answered, as he saw a familiar figure lie right beside him.
She was the true embodiment of angelic. Her skin was pale, framed by that pink hair which curled at the end. Her hands were small compared to his, and the difference could be seen clearer when their hands were holding each other and their fingers intertwined. Her head was resting on a pink, cat shaped backpack, and her expression is one that reminds Hajime of a sleeping child. If not for the rise and fall of her chest which indicated that she’s breathing, he would have been sure that she was dead, a dreadful thought he would rather not think about.
He noticed the hairclip that’s sitting firmly on the right side of her bangs, a miniature of a spaceship from the game that she loved so passionately. The same game which they had played more times than Hajime could ever remember, to strengthen their bond.
That’s why, although it was pretty out of the blue when she asked him to go to the Jabberwock Park to hang out, because usually she would just take him on a gaming marathon to spend their time together as simple as she is, Hajime still accepted the invitation, even with a confused smile. It’s not that he hated the idea of hanging out together with Chiaki. No, every second he could spend with her was a blessing. It’s just that it was very unlike her to take the initiative, and he was quite staggered.
But it also came as a surprise to him about how much fun it could be to have this… date. Or nap-date, as Chiaki called it. And right now, Hajime was reluctant in having this moment to be over soon, so he let her rest longer, while his mind wandered and he recalled his last dream.
As much as he wanted to let go of the thought, he couldn’t help but kept coming back to that odd dream. He had this strong sense of de ja vu, like how everything that happened back there have happened somewhere before, and he couldn't stop this fear that kept growing and gnawing in the back of his mind.
He was about to break, his mind was starting to get cloudy. At that moment, he felt a warm and gentle sensation on his palm as Chiaki's fingers moved slightly. He felt her hand, he felt her fingers. He felt her, and he knew that she was real. And just like that, all of his worries, confusion and anxieties were washed away like shadow banished by the light. She was his tether, his calm and serenity, and basically everything to him at this point.
Slowly, her eyelids moved upwards, showing a beautiful pair of color as pink as her hair. They were lazy, and sleepy, but there was light in them.
And there was hope.
“Good morning, Hajime.” She whispered in a sleepy voice.
“Hahaha.” Hajime giggled lightly. It’s long past morning actually but, whatever...
“Good morning, Chiaki.”