Welcome to Part 8 of Azure Striker Gunvolt: Fleeting Memories! If you missed any of parts 1 through 7, make sure you read those first.
Part 8
“…ei…Rei! Rei, wake up!”
That voice…as Rei began to surface from the pit of jet black darkness he could hear a familiar voice calling his name.
His pajamas were covered in sweat; his skin felt gross and clammy.
He thought he should say something, but his throat was so dry that he could barely speak.
It was definitely Miu’s voice heard in his dream as began to wake – and there she was, standing there with cup of water for him.
As he pressed the cup to his lips, he began to relax as he gulped down the refreshing water.
“…Thanks, Miu.”
“No problem.”
That’s all Rei could muster as Miu went over the nightstand, grabbed Rei’s glasses, and put them on his face.
His vision was so clear now. Miu’s big round eyes were staring completely fixated on Rei’s blue eyes.
That’s when Rei finally was able to feel what was really going on.
This was his reality now; that horrible incident was in the past.
“Good morning, big brother.”
It was a very frank, abrupt, yet bouncy kind of greeting.
“Hey, good mornin’.”
Rei did all he could to return a bright and happy greeting.
With a big cheeky grin and a little giggle, and without saying another word, Miu went off to do her own thing.
The horrible images in his head still lingered a bit, as did the memory of being swallowed into that darkness. It sure didn’t feel like any sort of delusion to him…
Miu being there for him and taking care of him this morning definitely helped calm him down, though.
They were the same old days; the same old “good mornings.”
“Rei, breakfast is ready! Get changed and come eat.”
“OK.”
Rei hopped in the shower, washed away of the nasty sweat from his nightmare experience, and put on fresh clean clothes.
When he headed to the kitchen, two plates were prepared for him and Miu. As always, there were scrambled eggs, bacon, and crunchy toast with butter. That’s what was usually on the daily menu in this house.
“Where are you those guys? Oh yeah…they went overseas”
Before he could finish his thought, Rei remembered that his aunt and uncle left last night. The nightmare was still messing with his head.
“Hehe, you’re quite the scatterbrain this morning, Rei. Hey, didn’t you say we’d go out shopping today?”
“Probably…”
In spite of the fact that it was Rei’s day off, after what Miu did for him this morning, he figured the least he could do was take her out today.
Their aunt’s birthday was coming up soon, and they really wanted to put a lot of heart into their birthday present for her, so they arranged to go and get her something that she would really cherish.
Since both their aunt and uncle were out of the house for a while, it was perfect timing. They would just have to hide the present until the big day.