As soon as the sensation of waking settled over Shintaro's mind, he shot up into a sitting position with a gasp - only to slam his forehead harshly into a solid figure ("ShintarOW!"). The thing he'd collided with let out a sharp grunt, and suddenly the bed rocked sideways with the force of something swinging back. Shintaro leaned back onto his elbows, closing his eyes against the throbbing that was making his way up his skull. 

He was awake, the dream was gone. Cami wasn't suffering anymore, he was at peace. The dream hadn't been real, Cami would never say anything like that to Shintaro. He was awake. He wasn't dreaming anymore. He was in the top bunk of the bed, awake in the room he and Falte had been assigned to.

At the thought of Falte, Shintaro opened his eyes to peer at whatever he'd hit his forehead against, suspecting that it had been Falte. His suspicions were confirmed true when he spotted Falte's silhouette standing on the ladder of his bed, only the upper half of his body visible, hunching forward with his hand on his face. 

"OW," he complained huffily after another few moments of silence. Shintaro saw him lift his head away from his hand and glower at Shintaro through the darkness of the room. 

"Sorry," Shintaro said lowly, leaning sideways onto one arm to rub his forehead with his right hand. "Maybe if you weren't there, that wouldn't have happened." 

"Well, sorry," Falte said, rocking back slightly and causing the bed to swing slightly. "I was trying to wake you up." He lifted his hand and gingerly touched the spot right above his left eyebrow, and Shintaro could just make out his frown. 

Shintaro dropped his hand away from his head, turning slightly to stare at Falte. "Why were you trying to wake me up?" he asked cautiously, but he figured that he already knew the answer. 

"You were tossing and turning like crazy," Falte answered, slight concern piecing its way into his voice. "You were mumbling something, too; so I guessed that you were having a nightmare. This bed rocks a lot, so it was hard to sleep with you moving around like that." 

"Sorry," Shintaro muttered shortly, straightening his arm and laying back against the mattress. He took a long breath and blew it out as a sigh, turning his eyes to the dimly lit ceiling. Of course he'd been tossing in his sleep. Of course Falte had been awake to notice that he'd been having a nightmare. Of course he'd had to have that nightmare. 

Falte was quiet for a moments, until eventually he spoke up again. "Are you alright?" he asked concernedly. 

Shintaro turned his head to look up at Falte, appreciative that Falte was worried for him - but he mostly wanted to have his thoughts to himself right now. Falte would probably make him talk about whatever was bothering him, and Shintaro wasn't a fan of doing that. He wanted to go back to sleep without any nightmares, or just simply lie awake alone. 

"I'm fine," he answered without emotion, throwing the words out quickly so he wouldn't have to speak any more. He was afraid if he used his voice too much, it would tremble from the memory of the terrible nightmare. 

He saw Falte's eyebrows furrow together; then Falte suddenly leaned away from the bed as far as he could, peering down at Shintaro with narrowed eyes. 

"What are you doing?" Shintaro exclaimed curiously, Falte's squinted expression making his brother's wild eyes disappear momentarily from his thoughts. 

"I can't see your face when you're that close," Falte said huffily. "So I can't tell if you're making your lying face or not. But I still can't see you, so are you making the lying face?" 

"I have a lying face?" Shintaro asked instead of answering as Falte pulled himself forward again so he wouldn't fall backward. 

"Yeah, kind of," Falte answered with a shrug, lifting one hand to touch his forehead again. "Do you have bricks in your head, or something? That really hurt." He rubbed his eyebrow with a frown. 

Shintaro rolled his eyes. "Go back to bed, Falte." He turned his eyes back to the ceiling, hoping that Falte would take the hint that he wanted the conversation to be over. 

Falte stood in silence on the ladder for a few moments, then eventually started climbing down the steps carefully so he wouldn't hurt his sore back. When the bed shook, indicating that he'd crawled back into his bed, Shintaro turned to face the ceiling again. 

Cami's terrified, angry face was stuck in his mind, his words echoing in this thoughts. The memory of his hands around Shintaro's throat lingered there, causing a tight, constricting feeling. His screams of loathing replayed in Shintaro's head, reminding him of his failure. 

It wasn't real. 

~

Not even three hours later, Shintaro was sitting on the couch downstairs, feeling a bit more refreshed after showering. He hadn't fallen back asleep, and his internal clock had counted down the hours before sunrise. He'd decided to give up on trying to sleep, and hoping that a shower would refresh him at least a little bit, had taken a quick, quiet shower. After he'd done that, he'd gone downstairs and sat down on the couch by himself. 

He'd wanted to have a while to himself the few minutes after the nightmare; but now that he had gotten that time alone, he wanted to talk to somebody about anything to get his mind off of the condescending words of his younger brother. 

Shintaro had failed, and now lots of innocent people were going to pay for something he'd failed to take care of. It was his fault that hundreds, possibly thousands of people were going to die. There was no one else to blame in the matter, and now he was responsible for his actions. He had to take back his home, his realm, and world. He would not let it fall to his father. If he had to defeat Brethren by himself, he would do just that. 

Brethren was his responsibility, and Shintaro had failed to be responsible. 

He wouldn't fail again.  

Shintaro nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to Ozai's bedroom (the house's guest room, the one to the right of the guest bathroom, which was to the right of the couch) door opened. Ozai walked out, and Shintaro couldn't help but notice that he looked very slightly miffed. Shintaro wasn't sure what he was annoyed at, but he guessed it probably had something to do with the dark circles under Ozai's eyes. Shintaro was faintly aware that those had been there before, but they were darker now. 

Ozai tipped at his head the sight of Shintaro sitting forlornly on the couch, without any of his friends accompanying him. "I'm sorry," he said in the chilling accent of Shintaro's father (Shintaro had yet to figure out why Ozai had the same accent.). "I would have started breakfast earlier if I had known you would be up this early." 

Shintaro shrugged carelessly. "It's fine." He didn't feel entirely comfortable holding a normal conversation with Ozai, but something in him was telling him that it was fine. That Ozai was trustworthy. That Shintaro's suspicions were for nothing. 

He would not listen to that. 

He had to be cautious until Ozai proved that he was not the man Shintaro thought he was. 

"If you'd like, I can get started on that now," Ozai suggested, gesturing to the kitchen with a polite smile. "Is there anything specific you want to eat?" 

"No," Shintaro said with another shrug. His mind was trying to tell him that Ozai's hospitality was proof enough that this man was a good Dark; but Shintaro forced that back. He wanted to trust this man. There was something about Ozai that reminded him of someone, but he didn't know who. 

"Alright then," Ozai said with another polite smile, one that sent chills down Shintaro's back. 

As Ozai walked toward the kitchen and pulled his hair into a ponytail, Shintaro realized why he felt so strange around Ozai. 

Ozai's smile, his attitude, his selflessness...

It reminded Shintaro of Cami.

~

ANADA CHAPTA! 

I don't know why I always say that after the chapter. I mean, it's obviously another chapter. 

XD 

YOU GUYS ARE SO AMAZING FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR (putting up with my lazy butt). 

THANK YOU.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

THANK YOU FOR READING.

P3ac3!!~~~