I Fell In Love With A Girl Who Died Before I Was Even Born

At least, I closed my eyes and let Hotaru think that I'd passed out, but I kept my eyes half open and ears alert.

And after a few moments, I decided that I didn't want Hotaru to carry me anywhere after all.

Yuki floated silently behind the two of us. I winked at her, and she nodded silently.

Straight away, Yuki began to spin and swirl around the petite shinobi.

She threw her hands up, screaming, as a flurry of snow and ice-cold wind swirled around her.

I squirmed out of her arms, hit the ground, and rolled out of the way.

"Yeah! Way to go, Yuki!" I yelled.

Hotaru covered her eyes as Yuki kept up the cold wind.

"What's going on?" she shrieked.

The wind lashed my face like it was angry with me too. It wasn't just snow. It was winter, alive and furious, wrapped in a girl I want to kiss.

I stood up, weary with the dart's poison running through my veins.

"Give up, Hotaru," I yelled over Yuki's wind.

She grit her teeth, but then I saw her wrap her arms around herself, shivering.

"Fine! I give up!" she screamed.

Yuki stopped with the wind, but when the dust settled, Hotaru was gone.

I looked around, wondering where the hell she could've gone so quickly. Then, I saw where I was, though I had no idea how I'd gotten there.

Hotaru must've carried me further than I thought.

Because when the dust settled, I found Yuki and I standing in front of the tunnel near Crescent Moon Academy.

"Good," I said, ignoring the way my head swam. "It's about time."

But Yuki didn't answer. She was staring at the tunnel.

And something inside it… was staring back.

Pale, silvery moonlight filtered its way though grey clouds, just enough to let me see the tunnel's mouth ahead of us.

And something was there.

We could see the yellow eyeshine cutting through the night's darkness.

Whatever it was headed towards the two of us. I could see it shuffling back and forth.

"Who goes there?" whispered a voice from the mouth of the tunnel.

I fumbled getting my burner phone out of my pocket, but as soon as I grabbed it, my hand burned, and I dropped it to the ground.

"Damn it," I muttered. "Please tell me that's not melted. I just got that the other day to replace the other one that was melted when I got here."

I heard whatever the thing was at the mouth of the tunnel laugh. A low and grim sound.

"Let's just keep things nice and dark for now," it said. "After all, isn't this more like what you were expecting?"

What?

"I actually have no idea what I was expecting," I said.

Whatever it was, nodded as if agreeing. It looked like a vaguely human figure but wrapped in shadows. Black on black, with two yellow, glowing eyes.

"You want in the tunnel or not?" it asked.

Turns out that I did.

"Answer three questions," it said. "A classic, right?"

Yuki floated by my side.

"Ryu," she said. "Whatever this is, I don't like it."

Somehow, I could see the thing shrug.

"Whatever, Goldilocks. You ready or not?"

I hesitated. That kind of phrasing was too casual and practiced. Like someone playing a role they'd rehearsed a thousand times.

I took a breath and shook my head agreeing to the trial.

"Sure. Let's see what you've got," I said, unsure of what choice I had.

The shadows themselves grinned, and I felt my spine shiver in response.

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"Good! Let's start with something easy. Oh, I've got a good one. Trust me, you're going to love it. You ready?"

I snorted.

"Let's get on with this."

"Fine. Here it is: what's your name?"

My mouth dropped open.

"Oh, come on. Andrew or Ryu. Pick one."

I saw the shadows in front of me cross their arms.

"Take your time, buddy. You'll figure it out. In the meantime, you want to try for number two?"

I felt a cold chill by my side as Yuki placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Ryu," she said. "Why do you have so much trouble figuring out what your name is?"

The shadows chuckled.

"Good question, Yuki. But I was going to ask him something different. Here it is. What's your goal? Huh? As in, what in the hell are you doing, anyway?"

I shook my head, trying to figure out what this damn thing was getting at.

"What do you mean?" I snarled, angry.

It just shook its head.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. What do I mean? Ha. Funny. Why're you looking for the tunnel anyway? The Nightlands? You jealous of Shion, or are you looking for a body for Yuki? Then what? You going to marry Yuki and keep her in the dark the rest of her life? What about Shion? What about West Virginia and your mom?"

I took a step back.

"So, you got an answer or what? Do you know, kid, what the hell you're doing?"

I felt myself shaking.

Beside me, Yuki was blubbering.

"Ryu! What's going on? What does West Virginia have to do with anything?"

But the shadow was relentless.

"One more question. Just one. You answer it, and you're good as gold. You ready? I bet you know what it is, don't you?"

I gasped out loud. Somehow, I knew exactly what the question was.

"No," I said.

A smirk widened.

"Too bad, cause this one's a zinger. How. Do. You. Like. Your. Yokai. Girls?"

And just like that, the shadows fell away, revealing a head of playful, smiling kitsune.

I felt my eyes grow wide as I recognized the familiar shape of a Japanese girl with fiery red hair.

"Well?" Lana asked. "We're waiting."

I took a step backwards and stumbled and fell right onto my ass.

Which just made her laugh harder.

"Oh, Andy, man," she said, holding out her hand to help me up.

I sighed, silently cursed, and took it.

As soon as I was on my feet, she pulled me into a hug.

"It's good to see you again! Did you miss me?" she asked.

What the absolute hell?

"Yeah," I said, stepping back from the hug. "Like when you get over a bad cold, and then suddenly get a sore throat out of nowhere."

She laughed again.

"Hey, sorry about the whole three questions thing, but let's be honest. You totally expected something like that at the mouth of the tunnel, right?"

Yeah. I couldn't say I didn't.

Then, she looked at me with eyes full of genuine sympathy.

"I'm so sorry, Andy, but I've got one more question for you, but, after I ask it, it'll tie everything together. You get what I'm saying, dude. It's, like, the rug, question."

I sighed.

"Fine, whatever it is, go ahead and just ask. How bad can it be?"

Her eyes sparkled like a sunrise behind stained glass.

"Oh… you naughty American boy, you sure do like to poke the bear don't you? Or, fox, I should say. Maybe that's why I keep you around. You're so damn… amusing. Anyway, here's your question: how's your ass feel?"

My mouth dropped open because I couldn't believe what she just asked. Like, what the hell, Lana?

But then I actually thought about what she was asking, and I realized the horrible truth of her words.

I'd just fallen backwards on my ass. It should hurt like hell, but it didn't.

Like, it didn't hurt at all.

And my eyes met hers, and suddenly I realized where Hotaru had gone.

I realized why Yuki had suddenly grown quiet, and why my ass felt like a million dollars.

"Oh goddamn it!" I cursed out loud. "I'm still asleep!"

She winked at me.

"Bingo. Give the kid a cigar."

I closed my eyes.

Any second now, I'd wake up, Hotaru dragging me, maybe I'd be drooling a little. Or back in mine and Yuki's room, sprawled out with a warm can of Question Mark Cola tucked against my chest. Something normal. Something real.

But nothing happened.

I opened one eye.

Lana was still there, still glowing like stained glass on fire, and still very much not helping.

She tilted her head and grinned.

"Awww. Poor baby. Did you think realizing you were dreaming meant you got to wake up?"

She took a step closer, shadows acting like a gothic cape.

"Just because it's a dream doesn't mean it's your dream. That's such a human thing to assume, isn't it?"

My heart dropped. I looked around. The shadows were gone. The tunnel was gone. Even Yuki was nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

Lana shrugged, spinning a shimmering coin between her fingers that looked suspiciously like the moon.

"She's with you. Or in you. Or watching. Maybe all three. You should really pay more attention to the rules of the dreamlands, Andy."

I looked around.

We were still in the woods that surrounded Crescent Moon Academy, but I could tell that this place was artificial. It reminded me of being inside a prop house at an amusement park. It's meant to look real, but you know, without needing to be told, that it's not.

"Don't call me Andy," I said. "I'm not Andy."

She flipped the coin/moon.

"Then stop dreaming like him."

We both watched the coin spin in the air, like it was in slow motion.

"Call it," she said suddenly. "Heads or fox-tails… Ryu."

I didn't have to think about it.

"Heads," I said.

She snatched it out of the air, peeked at it, then looked at me and grinned.

"You're getting good. Two out of three?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"What the point to all of this?"

And she had the nerve to look at me like I'd betrayed her.

"Andy, er, sorry, Ryu," she sighed. "It's going to take me a minute to get used to calling you that now. But we're doing what we always do. We're just playing together!"

I gestured around to the fake forest.

"Is that what this is? Props for our play?"

She tilted her head.

"Propst? Ha! No, that's way too meta even for me. Terrible. Look, you're in the Nightlands, okay? For real. Well… As real as anything in the Nightlands can be."

Then she grinned at me.

"You're welcome by the way, asshole."

I opened and closed my mouth once or twice before anything came out.

"Welcome for what?" I asked.

She gestured around.

"You wanted to come to the Nightlands! I brought you to the Nightlands! Here you are… you dummy."

She playfully shoved me.

Then, I felt a cool draft by my side, and instantly, I felt better.

I looked over, and Yuki was beside me.

"Hey, honey," I said as soon as I saw her.

She grinned.

"I'm dream Yuki, Ryu," she said.

She put her hand around mine, and I felt her fingers are real as anything else I'd ever felt.

"So I hope this is okay," she said, giving my hand a squeeze.

I turned towards Lana.

"Should I think you for this too?"

She shrugged.

"Wouldn't hurt."

I heard Yuki sigh.

"Gracious, even if I am a dream, I still want to be with you."

I felt her squeeze my hand again, and I returned it.

"I don't care where you are or where you're going. I want to be with you everywhere," she said.

Then she giggled.

"Well, that's awesome with me," I said. "I could use company that doesn't try to pull the narrative rug from under my feet every five minutes."

Lana just scoffed and crossed her arms.

"That sounds perfectly groovy, Ryu," Yuki said.