/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I was running. I couldn't remember when I started and I knew that if I stopped, for even a second, I'd die. I could already hear otherworldly sounds from behind me, sick crunches and cracks, and a strange, unceasing beep that echoed between my ears and bounced around in in my brain until it was the only thing that I could focus on. I was sprinting past patient beds and strange contraptions that I didn't recognize. Needles littered the floor, and I could hear burning somewhere. I leaped over a bed that tried to swallow me up like some sort of bed youkai, then tripped on landing, though I managed to turn my momentum into a roll and hop straight back up, continuing as if nothing had happened. I could hear strange whispers in my ears, disjointed murmurs of words that I couldn't understand fully, but could catch flashes of. "Hourai Elixir." Said one. "Divine luck." Was another.
The world was bathed in an otherworldly red light. I could see through open doorways into other rooms, where there was nothing but the suggestion of beings, shadowy monsters who crawled toward the door as I ran past. I could see the glow of moonlight past them, but it was dim and weak. I couldn't think, and I couldn't stop. All I could do was run, because the only thing that awaited me if I got caught was the sight of another set of needles and the delicate incision of a scalpel across my skin. I could feel my heart pounding and I put everything I could into my legs, desperate not to go back. The longer I ran, the more I felt like I'd been here before. The more certain I knew that you never turned around in the clinic. You never saw what was chasing you. Doing so would unravel your mind faster than you could scream. I could feel something now. Some sort of connection being forged in my brain. Some niggling feeling of doubt. Something wasn't right.
I saw a door coming up in the side of the corridor. It wasn't any different to the others, but for some reason, it called to me. I felt like I needed to go through that door, or my life would be over in a flash. Gasping in exertion now, I hurled myself forward at the door, grasping the handle and throwing it open. I staggered through and slammed it shut behind me. Suddenly, all was silent. I couldn't hear the sounds of whatever had been chasing me anymore. All I could hear was my own pounding heart.
Something - Something important, was wrong. I couldn't think straight. Where was I? All I could see was darkness. Where had I been? I felt like I'd been somewhere else. How did I get here? I couldn't remember anything before I'd been running for my life.
Then, I heard a scrape in the darkness. My head shot up, and I heard a low laugh. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't see anything. I risked a step forward, then realised that I suddenly couldn't find the door I'd entered from. I could hear noises. Footsteps, but when I turned toward their source, there was nothing there. I tried to calm my heart, closing my eyes and raising my head to the sky.
I felt hands on my face. I froze. I felt breath against my neck. I risked looking down. Yamame Kurodani was in front of me, and she had her teeth to my neck. She was about to bite me.
But, she'd tried to bite me many times, hadn't she? It didn't do anything. My skin couldn't be broken by her teeth. I relaxed, hoping she could help me. Then, I gasped in pain. I could feel it. Her teeth had passed through the skin. She was biting me. I was getting weaker, and my life would soon be over. I knew it. It would end, and I would die, never to be found again. Like - Like...
Wait. There it was again. That feeling. Even with the weakness spreading through my body, I could feel it again. I was on the verge of a breakthrough. How was she biting me? She couldn't do it. She couldn't break my skin. She...Skin...
It was like a strike of lightning through my brain. The peach. My skin was too tough for her teeth to penetrate. This fact had saved my life. If she was biting me now, it meant one of two things. One, the peach had worn off, which I didn't think was possible, or...
I was dreaming.