[Trigger warning: Depression and Suicidal.]
That night, Mei had the strangest dream.
Instead of looking through her own eyes, she could only observe what her body was doing from a bird's-eye view.
In that dream, Raiden Mei was attending class like usual, except Haru wasn't there. Her seat wasn't even close to the window either; it was somewhere near the center, a few rows away from the front.
Everything seemed fine at first glance. She was conversing with her friends while eating lunch with them. If it had stayed like that, she would've called it a bittersweet dream.
Unfortunately, things went south very quickly, triggered entirely by a notification alert on her phone.
Mei always kept herself updated on her dad's company through a news subscription service, which informed her of everything from the latest corporate shifts to major developments she might have missed.
Except this time, it brought devastating news.
Just as she had experienced in reality, it was the exact same false report claiming her father had embezzled company funds before going on the run. This caused the dream version of her to be ostracized on the spot.
Because Haru wasn't there to intervene, she had even tried calling out to a friend by name, only for the other girl to turn away in silence, remaining completely unresponsive.
In the end, the teacher coldly told her to take her seat, and the lesson resumed as normal. That is if one completely ignored the girl slowly sinking into the bottomless abyss of despair.
Where a sweet dream should have been — a living nightmare had taken its place, and she was forced to watch it all play out from the sidelines like a helpless bystander.
She couldn't say a word to comfort herself; she wasn't even allowed to. With each passing day, the dream version of her steadily lost her usual optimistic air.
She even stopped cooking her own homemade meals entirely.
Every time she returned home from school, she headed straight to her room and cried herself to sleep, as if it were the only thing keeping her from a complete mental breakdown.
It hammered home a terrifying reality: if Haru hadn't been there for her in the waking world, she might have actually lived through that nightmare.
And yet, the horror didn't stop there.
It was obvious the dream version of her was deteriorating both physically and mentally, despite the best efforts of her father's distant relatives to help her. If her father could see her now, he likely wouldn't even recognize his own daughter in the broken girl she had become.
It was heart-wrenching to watch someone who looked just like her shatter so completely in the blink of an eye.
Mei wanted to look away, or force herself to wake up from the agonizing vision, but to no avail.
Then, the day finally arrived when the dream version of her could no longer endure the weight of being a hollow husk.
Mei immediately sensed something was wrong when her body slowly trudged up the stairs, climbing step by step until she reached the rooftop.
Her dread materialized when the dream version of her mechanically approached the metal railing, her eyes stripped of any semblance of light. Mei tried desperately to reach out and stop her, knowing full well it was all a dream, but her hands simply passed right through the phantom body like a ghost.
Then, her physical counterpart slowly swung her legs over the railing, standing silently at the dizzying edge. All it would take was a single step, just one, to end it all.
Strangely enough, perhaps because her focus was entirely locked onto herself, Mei noticed a faint flicker of purplish electric current crackling around her body. The dream version of her looked completely resigned to her fate, remaining entirely oblivious to the strange anomaly.
Or so she thought. Suddenly, the dream version of her turned her head and locked eyes directly with Mei, the corners of her lips curling into a knowing, twisted smirk. Before Mei could even scream, the very thing she feared most happened right before her eyes.
Her body took that final step.
With nothing beneath her feet save empty air, Mei watched in absolute, paralyzed horror as gravity yanked her body forward into the freefall.
...
"No!"
Mei bolted upright, gasping for breath as she snapped into a sitting position on her bed. Her face was pale, slick with cold sweat, as if she had just witnessed something unforgettably tragic.
She frantically scanned her surroundings like a paranoid fugitive, making sure no one had sneaked into her room. Then, she snatched her phone from beside her pillow and dialed the only number she knew wouldn't reject her call at this ungodly hour.
It took a few rings before a groggy, hoarse voice answered on the other end.
"...Ello?"
"I'm so sorry for calling you this early, Haru-san. I... I just had a terrible nightmare."
She felt a brief pang of embarrassment for waking him up, yet simply hearing his voice immediately began to soothe the frantic fluttering in her chest.
"A nightmare, huh? I see. Hmm... Well, you see, everyone would eventually experience at least one nightmare sooner or later. Though even then. each people person vary. Such as some couldn't tolerate a stress-inducing nightmare, but at the same time, completely okay with the dream of death. It's kind of like alcohol. you know? Some folks can easily down a couple of bottles, while the unlucky few are completely wasted after a single sip. What I'm trying to say is... yawn... you really don't need to apologize for waking me up."
Once again, his unconditional kindness filled her with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. He didn't sound annoyed in the slightest; in fact, he went out of his way to comfort her before she even fully explained what was wrong.
"In the nightmare... I was ostracized again. But this time, you weren't there. I was completely alone. I wasn't even in control of my own dream, so I could only watch helplessly as I fell deeper into depression, and eventually..."
She didn't finish the sentence. She couldn't. Just recalling the memory made her chest ache as though someone had carved a hole straight through it. But knowing Haru, he could read between the lines. His response proved her right instantly.
"...I see. It must have been rough. Like I said before, didn't I? I'm your friend, so it's only natural that I care and worry about you."
For some inexplicable reason, her heart skipped a beat at those words. Mei immediately tried to brush it off as leftover nerves from the nightmare, some bizarre side effect of the terror she'd just experienced. She couldn't afford to mistake his genuine kindness for something more selfish. If she started reading too deeply into things, she might end up pushing him away entirely.
"Besides, even if you called while I was in the middle of a life-or-death battle in the restroom, I wouldn't hesitate to prioritize your call over the civil war happening inside my digestive system."
"...Pfft. You're ridiculous. How can you say something so gross while talking to a girl? Maybe I should start calling you 'Brute Haru-kun'."