《Dream's Key》 Book 1: Chapter 0 - "Prologue" Prologue In one of the many possible futures of our world, a tragedy takes place. It starts with a simple action that lead to many reactions, beginning a catastrophic event that devastated the lives of many. A war raked the lands, fueling rage and resentment in all the countries. The death toll raised by the thousands and the end seemed nowhere in sight. But wherever there is chaos, there will always be a little corner of reason. Of order buried deep within a cesspool of fighting. And that is exactly where our story takes place. Ten years before the war ever occurred, a group of rich and powerful individuals came together and created an island free from any political worries. It was self-sustaining, and completely isolated from the rest of the world. Only the most wealthy and established were given access to the island. Their families allowed to live alongside them in the coming days of peace. For this island was built exactly for that, peace. A modern Shangri-la, so to speak. Heaven on earth. An actual working and functioning Utopia. The one piece of land that God seems to not have forsaken. This didn¡¯t mean their citizens were entirely ignorant of the horrendous actions being made by their fellow men. In fact most of them knew about what was going on. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.Protected by their blanket of peace though, they felt as if the war had nothing to do with them. Kiyoshi is safe, so they were safe. The war could never reach them in their island in the sea. And so it is here that two sisters find themselves completely culture shocked in such a peaceful environment. They came from the lands of war only to get thrown into a world seemingly cut off from the conflict. Only moving into such a place due to their father¡¯s remarriage. With two new siblings to their family, they struggle to get used to their new environment, household, and school life. Throw in supernatural beings that fall out of the sky and their lives have just been thrust further into chaos. Book 1: Chapter 1 - "The Bread Run Part 1" Author''s Note: Okay, SO, this is SNAFU here. Me and FUBAR realized that we made chapter 1 wayyyy too long, so we decided in the light novel fashion that we are writing this, that we''d split it up in parts. And also in light novel fashion, iconic scenes or well just about any scene we damn well feel needs a drawing of, our series will come with pictures. This chapter will have one, just not right now. It will either get uploaded by tonight or tomorrow morning so look forward to it! Also we''re aiming 3-4 updates a week of roughly this length. And now onto the story, comment what you think of it if you like/dislike it. All opinions are welcome. Bye.
Chapter 1 - ¡°The Bread Run Part 1¡± Light cascaded through the hallway illuminating three youths. The one closest to the door, a boy wearing a slightly wrinkled sweater over a once deep blue hoodie that¡¯s been worn down to a shade that resembled more robin egg than ocean, grumbled slightly in annoyance. Mainly something to do with how early in the morning it was and how he wished it was still spring break. As he reached down to grab his shoes, he felt a mild bonk on his head. He glanced at the girl who had smacked him, sending an annoyed glare up at her. The two had the same black hair and tanned skin tone, but different shades of brown eyes. His mop of hair was unruly, where her¡¯s was short with her bangs clipped out of her face. The girl, his twin sister, was a few centimeters taller than him and had toned muscle underneath her uniform; the opposite of her limp noodle sibling. Contrasting his long turquoise pants, she wore a shorts version of their uniform and an open collared button down shirt. ¡°Oh come on Jai, you¡¯re not going to wait for any of us? It¡¯s the first day of a new school year as well as the first day for Tomo and Mana to go to our school. Don¡¯t you want to be a good little brother and show your two, new, older sisters around before school starts?¡± ¡°Not really, Kumari. And plus, Mana isn¡¯t even ready yet.¡± With that he finished tying up his shoes and reached over to the backpack that he laid down next to him to put it back on. Or at least, he would have if his thoughts hadn¡¯t been interrupted by a loud scream that came from farther down the hallway. ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Guys which food should I bring with me? Peanut butter jelly popcorn or bacon flavored cotton candy? Takoyaki or Taco flavored lollipops? Ramune or Oolong tea? Too many choices! Guys?¡± The last remaining figure standing in the hallway, a petite girl with a face framed by dark curls, twisted her face with contemplation as she replied, ¡°Well honestly, I think the peanut butter jelly flavored popcorn will taste better, so I vote for that one. And whichever lollipop you go with will taste disgusting, which means you should bring both. Plus you¡¯ll drink both the ramune and the oolong tea before lunch has even started so what¡¯s the point of even trying to decide which one Mana?¡± More crashing is then heard from deeper in the house, most likely from the kitchen, as a tall, busty girl stumbles her way into the hallway to join the rest of her family. A bag was flung upon her shoulder bulging from the seams with snacks and nothing else, as there was nothing given to them yet for school. She and Tomomi looked nothing alike, the only exception being the almond shaped eyes that they inherited from their father. Otherwise not even their pallor was similar; Mana was pale with chestnut hair cropped above her shoulders, while Tomo had a smattering of freckles on her brown, round cheeks. Jai couldn¡¯t help but shake his head back and forth at the sight of her school bag. ¡°You know you¡¯re going to get fat if you keep eating so much.¡± Kumari sniggered quietly beside him. Mana¡¯s face pulled into a sneer as she spewed, ¡°Well look who¡¯s talking Mr.Walking Adipose. My body processes food faster than your mass of lard.¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t mean that.¡± Tomo chimed in after seeing the shocked look upon Jai¡¯s face. She gave an apologetic smile and patted her sister¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Mana. Tell him you didn¡¯t mean that. You¡¯re his big sister now, so you need start acting like one.¡± Shrugging her shoulders , ¡°Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I didn¡¯t mean it yada yada. I¡¯m sorry. There?¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯ll do for now.¡± With that the group made their way through the door, Jai immediately put his headphones over his ears and plugged into his phone. He ignored his sister¡¯s question about why he wasn¡¯t taking his bike and walked forward at a brisk pace. Instead tuning in on a slightly disturbing news report involving some weird creature with wings falling out of the sky. When he never answered, they decided to walk their bikes alongside him. ¡°Well that¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°What¡¯s weird? Looking at porn as you¡¯re walking to school? Gross.¡± ¡°Mana!¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°What? Tomo, come on the kid¡¯s like 12-¡± Kumari interjects, ¡°13.¡± ¡°Okay 13 or so, they have to know what porn is by now right? I mean, I knew what porn was by the time I was 12-¡± ¡°13¡± ¡°Right, well, I knew what it was by that time.¡± ¡°Ugh. I wasn¡¯t watching porn. No, I was just looking at the news channel dedicated to covering the island. You know, like a normal person might? Why the hell would I be watching porn anyways? On the way to school? Seriously? So back on topic, apparently some weird alien like thing with wings was spotted falling from the sky earlier this morning.¡± Tomo¡¯s face scrunches up in confusion which slowly shifts into fear. ¡°Huh, that is weird. Wait, did you just say alien? Do you think it actually was an alien? Oh god. Please don¡¯t let it be an alien. I really hope it wasn¡¯t an alien. Let it be a unicorn with wings. Yeah, that¡¯d be better. A unicorn with wings.¡± ¡°You mean an alicorn?¡± ¡°A what now to a who now?¡± ¡°An alicorn? You know a unicorn with wings? A pegasus with a horn? A magical flying horse with a pointy thing on its head? I swear you watched MLP.¡± ¡°Ummmmmmm. I did but¡­ apparently not as much as you Mana.¡± ¡°Well maybe you should try harder next time. And Jai, I know it¡¯s nice walking with you and all that but, I kinda want to get to school before all the people arrive, so that I can get to my classroom early. So, ja ne!¡± ¡°Ahhhhhhhhh! Mana! Wait up! I still haven¡¯t seen the campus yet either!¡± ¡°Race yah! Last one there buys the other ice cream!¡± ¡°Hrmmmm. Fine but I get to choose which flavor! You always choose the weird kinds.¡± The two elder sisters hopped on their bikes and sped away, leaving only the twins behind. Coming up next to Jai, Kumari asks, ¡°So do you want to head back to the house and grab your bike or do you plan on walking today?¡± ¡°Hahhh. Yeah. I feel like walking today.¡± Kumari¡¯s expression soured, ¡°You realize Mana probably didn¡¯t actually mean what she said about you being fat right? When are you going to let that go?¡± ¡°Never! Okay? I¡¯ll probably never let it go, okay? Now can you leave me alone? You probably don¡¯t want to keep walking your bike anyway.¡± Instead of being angry, Kumari just seemed a bit sad as she climbed on her bike and muttered, ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to let go one day,¡± before pedaling away. ¡°Hmph, what does she know anyway? Just because she was born a few minutes earlier than me doesn¡¯t mean she¡¯s gonna be right all the time. I mean, she might be the more popular, book smart, and athletic of the two of us, but that doesn¡¯t mean she¡¯s the most right.¡± ¡°Agh! Fine I¡¯m just gonna run it off. Burn off the fat. Agghhhhhhhh!¡± A final grunting push and Jai took off in a dash through a large glass tunnel. The early morning light filtered into a show of rainbows splattering across his face and the cobblestone ground. Corners flashed by as his muscles started to burn and sweat poured down his brow. The length of his run from one end to the other felt much longer than it was, since he didn¡¯t do much besides flick his fingers on a keyboard and stare at a screen most days¡­¡­¡­¡­...and nights. Another corner came up and he angled himself to go around, only to slam head on into something solid that sent him backwards to the ground. His hands seared with fresh cuts from where he tried to catch himself. A gasp caused him to look up at who he had run into, but he paused, too shocked by her vibrant hair color to move. Her face was stuffed ungraciously full of bread, several slices it seemed. Her school uniform was completely different, the plaid on her skirt and tie reminding him of the nearby public school¡¯s dress code. Her left hand shot up to take the slices of bread out of her mouth, each one slathered with something different. Butter, nutella, peanut butter. The girl also had a smear of red jam at the corner of her mouth. Jai wondered briefly if those were a good combo, but immediately decided the butter must have ruined whatever potential it had. ¡°Oh my god. I¡¯m so sorry. Are you okay? Do you need a towel or anything?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Ummm? I mean I accidently just spilt at least half of my water bottle onto you. Are you okay? You seem a little out of it. Should I call someone for help?¡± She switched the bread slices to her other hand and grabbed her phone out of her pocket giving a little cry when she saw the time. ¡°Crap! I¡¯m so gonna be late.¡± She rummaged through her pocket yet again and dexterously pulled out a handkerchief with her two remaining empty fingers and perfectly tossed it onto his lap. ¡°Here, use this! Have a nice day! Sorry about the whole making you sopping wet thing. Bye!¡± She ran off leaving the young boy dazed and confused, the scent of lavender and earth drifting off the handkerchief. Book 1: Chapter 2 - "The Bread Run Part 2" Authors Note: So I completely forgot to add an author''s note this time, whatever, here is the one and only SNAFU. FUBAR has been putting off finishing the art -glares at the turtle- so instead I decided to screw waiting for the art and just upload chapter 2. This time I''ll be doing the art for the chapter so that might take a little. I kinda haven''t even started it for this chapter. Anyway enjoy the chapter and crazy antics of our characters.
Chapter 2 - ¡°The Bread Run Part 2¡± The scenery of the island flashed by as Mana and Tomo battled for a lead on their bicycles. Mana glanced at her opponent, smirking when she saw that her sister¡¯s hair was whipping around like spazztic tentacles. Annoyed, Tomo let go of her handlebars and wiggled a strawberry patterned scrunchie off her wrist to tie her mass of curls out of her face. Mana used this chance to put some more effort into pedaling and pull ahead. ¡°Ahahahahahahaha! I¡¯m winning! I¡¯m totally winning!¡± She laughed into the wind. ¡°Not if I can help it! The last time you won in a race you held it over my head for weeks, years even.¡± Her sister¡¯s voice was small but angry. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you didn¡¯t tie your shoes correctly that day. It was an accident waiting to happen Tomo.¡± ¡°-Is what you say but you tripped me Mana. You tripped me!¡± ¡°You¡¯re seriously holding a grudge from when we were 8?¡± ¡°No! I¡¯m holding a grudge from when you were 8 and I was 7! Completely different! And I¡¯m going redeem my 7 year old self by winning this race, right here and now.¡± A cool smile flashes on the pale girl¡¯s face as she grunts in affirmation to pushing her pedaling one step faster. Signaling to her sister that the race had only just begun and she had no plans on losing this duel. Though the two had only been reunited a few months, they got along startlingly well. After their parents divorced, they had spent 9 long years apart as Mana left Japan to travel the world in a jeep and a portable tiny house with their mother, while Tomo stayed with their father. Thanks to technology and creative thinking, they were able to stay in contact. Mana¡¯s prefered communication being a falcon she picked up along the way, but the girls had not seen each other in person in all those years Thankfully, when at campsites, Mana and her mother had Wifi. Photos were exchanged, skype calls were made and Mana sent different packages from all their travels. The two learned to accept the distance, still talking about their favorite shows of the season and playing computer games with one another. Over the few months of their reunion, the two had constantly been picking fights over the tiniest of things. Playful sibling rivalry taken to a whole new level due to their distance apart. The race to school just one more score to be settled against their childhood duels to the bitter and blood wiping end. Both were exhausted by the point of their arrival just past the school gates as Mana wooted in triumph at beating her sister by a meter. They each had zoomed past the gilded and highly decorated metal gates. They were large enough that only the most eccentric kind of person would even think about finding a way to climb it. The walls it merged into no less as scary, a good 3 meters of brick reinforced with the latest technology. It was a fool¡¯s dream to even sneak into the place much less harm a hair on any of the bluebloods enrolled in the massive escalator school. Most of the richer and more privileged students having known no different school from elementary school to college. ¡°Hah! I won! I won! In your face Tomo! Now you have to buy me ice cream~¡± ¡°Oh come on! You only won because of the hill at the end. You¡¯re riding a mountain bike, so of course you¡¯re gonna beat my mommy bike! I demand a rerace with more equal standings.¡± ¡°Hmph. Fine, but you¡¯re still gonna have to buy me ice cream. And it¡¯ll be a race home, that way you can¡¯t complain about the uphill battle.¡± Tomo could only shake her head in silent disbelief at Mana¡¯s childish behavior. From the way she was acting, it would be hard for people to realize that she was the older of the two. In fact it was probably hard for people to realize that she was almost an adult. At her soon to be 17 years of age, marriage wasn¡¯t even too far of a possibility. As they were wheeling their bicycles to the nearby rack, Mana said, ¡°Hey, you know what? How about while I try and find out what classes we¡¯re in, you go and scope out a nice place for us to eat lunch later on today?¡± With a humph Tomo replied, ¡°Food is all that¡¯s on your mind huh.¡± ¡°Hrm. While I won¡¯t deny that it is the vast majority of what¡¯s on my mind, food isn¡¯t all that graces this lovely muscle that I call a brain.¡± Tomo just gives Mana a stare that seems to tell her exactly what she thought of her ¡®lump of meat for a brain¡¯. Which Mana doubly gives back in response only with a hint of some other emotion lacing the mixture of defiance into something more love filled than angry. ¡°Come on Tomo, go look around the school. Explore its corners and halls while there''s no one there to bar your way. I¡¯ll do the dangerous stuff and scope out our classrooms and competition.¡± A flick of her hair after finishing all she had to say and she left her sister behind at the bike racks. A final call from the entrance to the nearest building of the high school section, ¡°Oh and meet me up on the roof of this building at 9:20! Then we can tell each other about what we found before we have to officially join our newest version of hell. High School with only rich pricks as our classmates!¡± Tomo couldn¡¯t help but giggle in appreciation of her older sister. Taking her twisted form of sarcasm coated affection and awkward protection. With a bounce in their steps, each sister separated from each other in distance but not of heart.
It didn¡¯t take Mana long at all to a large bulletin board posted right at the entrance to the main building of the high school section. She couldn¡¯t help but think of it as luck as the building she chose out of comfort of less walking being the one she needed to go into. For a good ten minutes she scanned the entire list upon the wall, trying to find even a hint of her and her sisters names. Words were starting to blur together and she could swear that the letters were looking back at her and mocking her painful plight. No matter where she looked their names were nowhere to be found and a headache was coming. The only other way she could think of to figure out their classroom assignments was to go the teacher¡¯s office. Which presented a problem in an of itself. One being she had no clue where it was and two being that she¡¯d rather not have to talk to a teacher. Something about them, teachers, had always irked her the wrong way. Maybe it just had something to do with the fact that in her experience with them they always ignored how the other students treated the kids who ¡®didn¡¯t fit in¡¯. Like it was their fault they were of mixed blood. Also when she started to live with her mother, she dropped out of the public system. Instead opting to be taught by her mother and only going into town to take tests of the national level to prove that her mother wasn¡¯t just screwing around with her education. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. At what could only be the most opportune moment, a figure walked through the front door. The noise having been what woke Mana from her inner monologue. Standing just over a half a head taller than her, a man, just barely not a boy, wore the categoristic turquoise pants of the school. A green tie contrasting his white button down shirt and tan blazer. The man¡¯s hair, a shockingly deep sea blue, draped over his shoulder in a braid longer than even Tomo¡¯s mass of curls. ¡°Hey! You fella over there with the Elsa-like hair! I need your help!¡± No hesitation came from Mana as she roped the fellow student into helping her find out her classroom assignments. The youths expression full of confusion as Mana grabbed his arm and dragged him forward to the name board. Completely ignoring his protests and refusing to even let him stop to change into his indoor shoes. ¡°Can you please explain to me what you need my help for?¡± A sneer fell upon her face as if he was an idiot for not being able to figure out such a thing. ¡°Seriously? Obviously I need your help to find me and my sister¡¯s name on this godforsaken list. How the hell are you even supposed to find anything on this list?¡± ¡°Really? But it¡¯s organized by grade level, and then you just need to find your name. It¡¯s in alphabetical order.¡± ¡°Exactly! Completely insane in organization! They should have further broken it down into- Wait. Why are you looking at me so weirdly? Do I have something on my face? I knew I shouldn¡¯t have eaten the sunflower butter & banana toast. That stuff gets everywhere and stays there.¡± His face further contorted into exasperation at the crazy antics of the girl in front of him. In order to stop her from sharing anymore unnecessary information, the man spoke up,¡± You do realize you haven¡¯t even told me you and your sister¡¯s names right?¡± He looked down at the blue tie mostly hidden by the light jacket she was wearing. ¡°Or whether or not your sister is a first year or a third year.¡± A confused look appeared on her face. ¡°First or third year? But my sister¡¯s a second year.¡± ¡°Huh? Are you twins?¡± Back and forth an exchange of confused looks appear as they both make noises as if to punctuate their confusion in what the other has said. ¡°Okay. Okay. I think there''s been some misunderstanding. Me and my sister are in the same grade even though we¡¯re almost a year apart. I was born towards the beginning of the cutoff while my sister was born more toward the end. In fact I¡¯ll be turning 17 in a few days, that¡¯s how close I was to being a third year student.¡± ¡°Huh, so you¡¯re saying you were almost in my grade?¡± ¡°Wait. You¡¯re a third year student?¡± He pulls his tie closer to her face. ¡°I mean yeah, that¡¯s what the green stands for. If you¡¯ve been in this school you should know that by now.¡± ¡°I just transfered so of course I don¡¯t know that.¡± She put a hand to her face and sighed as if the act of transferring to this school broke her heart and soul at the thought. As though no food in the world could cure the illness striking her soul. Lights go off in his head. ¡°Well now that makes sense as to why you can¡¯t find your names on this list then. Transfer students are on a separate list. Here let me show you.¡± With that and a slight pointing in the right direction, Mana walked beside him as he brought her to the end of the list. Pausing only for a moment as he muttered under his breath looking for his name as well. Quickly finding it as almost every year it was generally in the same place. ¡°Oshiro. Oshiro. Oshiro. Ah! Yuuichi Oshiro. I¡¯m in class 3-A. Takahashi-sensei is always a pain.¡± ¡°Aye. I get it. You¡¯re not going to have a fun time this year. Whatever. Now help me find my name on this so called ¡®transfer student list¡¯!¡± Yuuichi quickly decides that angering the younger girl was a bad idea and then brings her further down the wall. They stop only after they reach the end of the third year¡¯s list and find a completely separate board labeled in large obviously bold print letters ¡°TRANSFER STUDENTS.¡± ¡°And there you have it. What did you say you and your sister¡¯s names were?¡± ¡°I never did.¡± Mana stopped speaking as she looked on the list herself trying to find her name. Which wasn¡¯t so hard considering there weren¡¯t even 10 names on the list. ¡°Wow. There really aren¡¯t a lot of people who transfer in, are there?¡± ¡°Well, with the vast majority of the students who go here being rich, most transfer students come here at the elementary stage. Not a lot transfer in at the high school stage, it¡¯s even a little weird for the middle school to get transfer students. And wow, 8 transfers, that¡¯s got to be the highest amount since the early days of this school when everyone was a transfer.¡± ¡°Aha! Found it! So, I¡¯m in 2-A and Tomo is in 2-4. Huh so I guess Tomo and me are in different classes. Nothing too unexpected.¡± ¡°Wait? 2-A? So you¡¯re Solok Manami? The new advanced class student? Didn¡¯t you get the highest math score for the second year admission test?¡± Mana¡¯s eyebrows pinched together as she stared at him while backing away slowly. ¡°Why do you know so much about me? And it isn¡¯t Solok Manami, it¡¯s Manami Solok. I take after my european mother.¡± ¡°Well the scores for the advanced classes are basically public knowledge. And as an advanced class member myself, I make it a point to know potential competition. Even those in the lower grades.¡± Even with such an explanation, Mana continues staring daggers at the potential stalker material before her. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not a yandere stalker to-be restraining order candidate?¡± ¡°Ahhhhhhhhh. Ummmmmmm. Yes?¡± When she continues staring, Yuuichi once again more firmly says while shaking his head like a bobblehead, ¡°Yes. Most definitely not a stalker.¡± A smile blossoms on her face as though the sun just peaked over the horizon illuminating a field of lollipop flowers. ¡°Perfect! Have a nice day then Yuu-senpai!¡± She skipped on down the hall with a little bounce to her steps while she tried to locate the classrooms that she¡¯d be spending the next year in. Leaving behind a stunned Yuuichi, completely flabbergasted at the redheaded girl. ¡°What was she even doing here at 8:30? School doesn¡¯t start for another hour.¡±