Takeshi woke up gasping.
His room was dark.
His body was shaking.
And he had dirt on his hands.
Real dirt.
Not dust. Not some weird dream feeling.
Actual dirt. Like he'd crawled through the ground.
He sat up. Looked at his palm.
Something was written there. Faint, fading fast.
> "You're marked now."
His heart was racing.
---
School the next day felt off.
People were loud.
The halls were packed.
But Takeshi felt distant. Like the world was a step too far away.
Even the usual voices didn't reach him.
Kenta joked. Yui waved. Teachers called his name.
He smiled. Nodded. Pretended.
But inside, he was thinking one thing:
That wasn't a dream.
---
Lunchtime. Rooftop. Quiet.
He sat alone, eating bread and milk from the vending machine.
The breeze felt nice. Normal.
Then someone else opened the door.
Yui.
She stepped onto the roof, hands in her pockets, her skirt blowing slightly in the wind.
"I knew you'd be hiding up here."
He blinked. "Hiding?"
"You get this weird look when you're lying," she said, sitting down beside him.
He stayed quiet. She looked at him.
"You okay?"
He hesitated. "Yeah. Just bad dreams."
Yui leaned back. "You always have that tired face lately… like you're living two lives."
His breath caught.
That was too close.
---
He didn't reply.
Instead, he looked up at the sky.
Clouds floated by, soft and slow. But the light felt strange today. Almost… fake.
Yui nudged him. "Don't get too weird on me, dream boy."
He smiled a little. "Sorry."
She stood up. "Come to karaoke next time."
"Maybe."
"Don't 'maybe' me again."
She turned, then paused.
"…I had a weird dream too last night."
His eyes snapped up. "What?"
But she was already walking away.
---
That night, Takeshi didn't even bother to pretend.
He sat on his bed, staring at the wall clock.
9:02 PM.
The ringing came again.
This time, it wasn't gentle.
It buzzed straight into his skull, sharp like a wire snapping.
He doubled over.
His mark—now glowing like fire—burned against his skin.
The room tilted.
The shadows moved.
Then came the voice.
> "Welcome back, Walker."
And the world flipped.
---
He was standing in a forest.
But the trees were black.
The sky was pale gold.
And the air… didn't feel like air. It felt like memory.
He looked down.
His school uniform was gone.
Now he wore dark clothes. Boots. A glove over his marked hand.
And the mark?
It wasn't behind his ear anymore.
It was glowing on his chest—bright and pulsing.
Then he heard a laugh.
Soft. Feminine. Beautiful.
From the trees, a girl walked out.
Silver hair. Sharp eyes. A coat too big for her frame.
And something in her hand—a blade made of glass.
"You're finally here," she said.
Takeshi stepped back. "Who… are you?"
She smirked.
> "Your guide. Or maybe your curse. Depends how long you last."
The trees groaned around them.
The dream world had begun.
---
End of Chapter Two.