Yuki was having trouble sleeping. She was fine with blood up to a point, but once it crossed a certain threshold, she was really hemophobic. But that wasn't the problem. She had gotten over that an hour after she had left Aiko's office. Something just felt off to her. And the worst part? She couldn't tell what.
She got out of bed and walked to the training ground to let off some steam. Then exhaustion finally took hold of her.
Yuki found herself in that hall that had scarred her so much. There was only the tiniest bit of light that seemed to come from everywhere. It was just enough for her to make out her surroundings.
She called for her fire, but there was no answer. Her heart started racing, and her chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself. And then blood started seeping through the cracks of the doors. Slowly flooding the hall with blood.
She fell to her knees, hyperventilating, trying to breathe. But it felt like no matter how much air she breathed in, it didn't do anything. Her fear was suffocating her. She closed her eyes for what felt like the last time.
There was a blast of fire so strong it looked like the sun, and at the core was Yuki. The dirt around her was black when she finally gained consciousness. She saw where she was and willed the giant fire to die down, but kept a tiny bit in her hand to comfort her. She ran back to her home and buried herself in blankets on her bed.
As soon as she was fully covered, she fell back asleep. This time there was a simple and good dream. She was having lunch with Shu back when they were kids. But she couldn't help but notice that the shadows were a little too accented.
Yuki let out a big, long yawn, but quickly froze. She saw a shadow move that shouldn't have.
"It's just your imagination," Yuki told herself. "It's not real. You're just shaken from the nightmare last night."
She threw on her clothes and headed to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She jumped when she saw someone was there.
"Hello, Yuki," A man with black hair and dark bags under his eyes sat at the table.
"Hi, dad," Yuki walked up to him and gave him a hug. "How have you and mom been doing?"
"I'm a bit tired, but otherwise fine. I'm worried about your mom though. She thinks that just because she was one of the top 10 rankers she has to flood her life with important missions. She's been overworking herself lately. You know how she is about these things."
"Oh… So she's not home…?"
No… She stayed in the west. She told me to come here and check on you. Have you been okay?"
Yes. I have. Thank you. I've ranked up to C now. And with the way things are going, I might get to B soon."
"Really? That's great to hear. I'll make sure to tell your mom. Also, have you been receiving the money we've been sending home?"
Yes. I really appreciate it. I've just been using it on food and the bills. Since I've joined the Quest Corps, I get paid too, so I've been using my pay for personal things."
"Don't feel like you have to use your money. You can save it if you want."
"I know, but it feels good to buy books and stuff with my own money. I feel bad using your and mom's money for that type of thing."
"Okay, but as I said. Don't feel like you have to use your own money."
"Okay. Oh, shoot. I'm sorry, but I should get going. We have another mission today, and we're meeting soon. Bye dad. I'll see you later. Maybe a month or two."
"Bye Yuki. I love you."
"I love you too dad," Yuki gave him a tired smile and headed toward the northern gate where her team was going to meet.
Shu wasn't there. Yuki wondered what could be wrong. Did he sleep in again like he did on graduation day? Or did something bad happen?
"Sorry I'm late! I was helping my little sister do something and lost track of time."
There he was.
Kiyoshi looked at him. "Don't worry. You're only a minute late. It's only us three today. This mission is an escort mission. We'll be taking someone from a village not too far north of here, all the way to the village of ice."