Naruhito’s Dream And The Mist’s Dream

……

…

—What the hell is this?

It was supposed to begin today.

His long-awaited friend. Together with the small, furry friend who had been abandoned just like him, all alone, his journey of adventure was supposed to begin.

—Tarou!! Tarou?! Where are you?!

Under the elevated tracks by the large river flowing through the city.

The crude cardboard home where his small friend had lived had been smashed to pieces, and the walls were covered in tasteless graffiti.

—Huh? What’s with this brat? A friend of yours, Ak-kun?

A nasty voice came from far above his head, one he could tell was unpleasant just by hearing it.

—Nah, don’t know him. Hey, you, are you an elementary schooler? This is our turf. Did you know that and still come here? Huh?

When he turned around, there were four uniformed boys with dirty brown and blond hair, wearing sneering smiles. They looked about middle school age. All of them had stupid faces, as though they had planned it together.

The brown hair that did not suit him was extremely irritating.

—Where? Where’s Tarou? Tarou was here, right here.

He muttered. He had been here until yesterday. His only friend. His fluffy, warm, soft friend had been here.

—Tarou? Who’s that? Oh, maybe you mean that filthy stray dog that was here?

—Ah, that thing! That was hilarious! It kept yapping and barking while shaking!

—When we kicked it in the stomach, we thought it’d run, but it didn’t, right? It kept yelping, and still tried to bite us.

—Hehehe, stop it, Akkun, you’ll get arrested under the animal protection law.

—Idiot, dogs are legally treated like property. Unless it’s really bad, you won’t get arrested even if you kill one. My dad said so.

Gyahahahaha.

Their grating laughter was noisy.

He clenched his small body and small fists, and asked those guys, who kept laughing, one more time.

—Where is Tarou?

At that question,

the fools’ laughter stopped, and filthy smiles spread broadly across their faces.

The place they pointed to was the other side of the riverbank.

The great river flowing through Hiroshima. The water flowing beneath the elevated tracks.

His eyes opened wide. Every pore in his body opened, and then—

—It was noisy, so we caught it and let it drift down the river. It was hilarious watching it yelp while it floated away and sank.

That day, he wished, for the first time, to truly kill someone.

And that wish reached its destination—

………

……

…

He was my first friend.

My first friend.

Unlike me, he had no fangs or claws. But instead, he was very warm.

Unlike me, he had no fur. Perhaps that was why he often held me and hugged me.

Even when I was hungry, when he hugged me, it strangely did not feel painful anymore.

Whenever I met him, he always gave off a sad scent. It was surely the same scent as mine. That was why being with him felt so comfortable.

He called me with a strange cry.

Tarou, Tarou. I did not know what it meant, but when I answered that cry, he looked very happy, so I was happy too.

He and I were friends.

Even though the worlds we lived in were different, he and I were certainly equal friends.

Let’s go on an adventure together.

One day, he said that. It was the day when he was wrapped in an even deeper scent of sadness.

I did not really understand, but I remember that he looked very happy, so I was happy too.

—Tomorrow, I’ll come here again, so you be here too, Tarou! I’ll bring lots of food and drinks from the facility! We’ll use that as provisions and go on an adventure!

—It’s okay, I know. Those people are doing things they shouldn’t. They’re hiding the money that’s supposed to be used for us, and they’re bullying the girls at the facility. I hate it. I don’t want to be in that place anymore.

His scent of sadness deepened. At times like that, I would lick his nose for him. When I did, he would smile right away.

—You’re kind, Tarou. Then tomorrow, it’s a promise. Let’s meet here again. Then we’ll go somewhere that isn’t here.

—You and me, let’s adventure somewhere that isn’t here! It’ll be okay. If you and I are together, we’re invincible! We won’t lose to anyone!

I barely understood what that meant, but he looked very happy and very excited.

So I was very happy and excited too. I felt that I had surely been born to play with you like this.

Tomorrow.

I know that word. After the bright comes the dark, and then it becomes bright again. That is tomorrow.

After seeing him off, I tried to sleep while it was still bright. I did not want to be sleepy when it became dark and then bright again.

I curled up in my bed, closed my eyes, and then—

—Oh, this place is pretty cool. Akkun, let’s use this place.

—Huh, not bad. Hm? Actually, doesn’t something stink?

Those guys came.

It hurts. Why are you throwing stones?

—Hey! Shitty dog! Hurry up and go somewhere else!

My stomach hurts. Why are you kicking me?

—Is this thing shaking? That’s hilarious!

I was so scared I could not stand it. They were the same kind of living things as him, but completely different from him.

They stank, they were hot, they hurt, and they were scary.

When I barked, they laughed. While laughing, they kicked my stomach. They threw stones and hot, smoky things at me.

It hurts. It is hot.

—This is our place! You’re filthy, so hurry up and go somewhere else! Hey!

It hurt, it was hot, and it was scary.

But I could not. I could not run away.

Because this was mine and his—

This was Tarou and Naruhito’s place. Naruhito would be lonely. If I was not here, Naruhito would be alone.

I hated that. More than the heat, more than the pain, more than the fear, I hated Naruhito being sad.

Awoooooooooooooooooon.

A cry I did not even know echoed from my body. It was surely something from long, long ago, from a past far beyond so many darks and brights.

Something inside me howled.

This is my territory. A place for only Naruhito and me.

Do not casually step into it.

—Ow! This thing bit me?!

—Ahh, that’s enough. It ruined the mood. Let’s kill it.

Yelp?! A voice leaked out. There was a strange taste in my mouth.

I was kicked in the stomach again.

At that moment, I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and lifted lightly.

Just when I thought my body was floating, next it was cold, and the ground vanished from under my feet.

Right after that, it became painful, and I was scared.

—Gyahahaha! It’s totally floating away!!

—Do the dog paddle! Dog paddle!

—Ah, it sank.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Naruhito.

I couldn’t protect our place.

I’m sorry. Tomorrow, after it gets dark and then bright again, you’ll come to that place, won’t you?

If I am not there, you will surely be sad.

More than the pain and the cold, that was what scared me. Naruhito being sad again scared me more.

Ah, but—

I’m sorry. I can’t move anymore. I can’t even bark anymore.

Where is this?

Naruhito, Naruhito, it is so cold and scary. But more than that, I hate it. What I hate most is that I can’t see you anymore.

Naruhito, my friend—

Before my eyes, everything turned pure white.

In that pure white, I found something large moving—

And it found me too—

『How surprising. You have something rare mixed into you, dog beast. Higher than the Heavenly Plain, the dark sky, beyond the glittering stars, outside the twisted laws, something from beyond the sharp angles is mixed in. Is it something like a divided spirit?』

『Ah, a deep grudge. Do you hate them? That resentment is suitable as my vessel.』

『All that was taken from me by that “light,” that hateful woman—yet if I have you, I may avoid perishing yet.』

I and that pure white became one.

Right after that, the pain and the cold disappeared, and then I heard your voice.

“I’ll kill them.”

It was Naruhito’s voice. A very, very sad voice. Ah, as I thought, you came.

I’m sorry I could not wait. I’m sorry I could not keep our promise.

But because I am as I am now, there is something I can do.

“I’ll kill them.”

Yes, that’s fine. Let’s do that.

You have no fangs or claws. So I will become your fangs and claws.

I can no longer go on an adventure with you. But I will help your adventure.

I can no longer have you hug me, but instead, I will use these claws and fangs to catch the prey that makes you suffer.

『Beast, beast who has become one aspect of me, that is wrong. The fangs and claws used by humans have a suitable name.』

The pure white was saying something. How noisy. I’m grateful to you, but I won’t listen to you.

The only one I listen to is Naruhito.

『…This beast has a stronger ego than I expected… Well, fine. There is a name. This whiteness of mine is not “pure white,” but mist, the mist that spreads over high mountains or broad fields.』

『And the fangs and claws used by humans change their names. That suitable name is—』

Hey, you’re noisy. This is the good part. Naruhito, it’s okay. Don’t be scared. I’ll kill everything for you.

【—It is called a “blade,” dog beast.】

Whatever. I don’t really care.

Inside that pure white, that “mist,” I am watching you. I will always, always help your adventure.

So that you no longer need to cry, forever.

Until you obtain what you want, no matter how many times.

………..

……

…

“I’ll… kill… you.”

“Oh my, as expected of my husband. To think even in your sleep, you do not forget the scent of battle. You are worthy of being my mate.”

A gentle voice. The warmth of the hand stroking his hair felt pleasant.

Tooyama Naruhito awoke to that voice and sensation.

He realized that he was lying wrapped in something fluffy.

“Ah, fwah? Whoa, amazing. So fluffy.”

He felt as though he had seen some kind of dream. But like water spilling through the gaps between his fingers, it had already slipped away.

“Kaka, is it not? This is my personal sleeping place, made from fluffy true down, of which only a few grams can be obtained from a down-feather bird. Other than Father and Mother, you are the only one who has entered this place, husband.”

“Huh, is that so? Amazing. The pillow is fluffy, fluffy too………………… Eh?”

A blue eye peered down at him.

It contained the sky and held the sea. No, that was wrong.

It was the highest, deepest dark blue of the sky. It was the clearest clear blue of the sea.

A complex, unearthly blue eye, only one of them, reflected Tooyama.

“What is it? You must be tired. Idling and morning sleep are the accomplishments of dragons. You can sleep another three hours before those people in the city arrive.”

Softly, the woman pulled the blanket over Tooyama and herself, then snuggled closer.

“…………………No way.”

Beside Tooyama, the blonde woman from before—the Gathering Dragon—was sleeping.

It was an absurdly huge bed. Sheets softer to the touch than silk, and a round canopy bed.

And beside him was an unparalleled blonde beauty. Even with one eye crushed, even that wound seemed to become part of her individuality.

The collarbone visible through the gap in the blanket was unmistakably white skin, and the woman was lying beside him naked.

“Mm, noisy. I am sleeping… Mumble, mumble.”

He thought a little.

He thought about various things, and then—

“Wow, warm and fluffy.”

Tooyama abandoned his own intellect, closed his eyes once more, and fell asleep.

This time, he no longer saw nightmares. Instead, it was a good dream.

A dream of sleeping while holding the small, fluffy friend he had parted with in childhood once again.