Dreaming in Digital

I went to school with Shortbread. We had a class together, and our teacher was Manello. We sat in the second row and had a Christmas tree with us. Halfway into his class, we got thirsty so we went to the bathroom together, but before we left, I heard the professor say the water isn't safe to drink. It wasn't a school washroom, and ended up to be his or his grandma's house washroom. We turned on the shower, which was not in a tub but sprayed on the bathroom floor itself. The water was clear except for some tints of orange or yellow, so we decided not to drink and went back to class. When class ended, Shortbread left early to catch the bus, I wanted to go to an after school club.

I went to a room as large as the gym. There was a man in there who was showing off his ability to summon and control fire, like what Kyo Kusanagi and K' can do in The King of Fighters. I tried to summon fire, to see if I was lucky enough to be born with it, but I wasn't. The man in the room was showing his skills of summoning and he gathered a small crowd. For one, he asked everyone to step back a significant amount for safety, but as soon as he turned his back, three or so people ran back closer to him. My sister was one of them. When they were asked to stay back a second time, I held onto her so she wouldn't run into get grilled. When it was over, I gathered my bag to leave, but this girl started talking to me. I told her I had to catch the school bus home and she looked and treated me like I was a jerk. I ran to the back of the building looking for the yellow buses, but they weren't there. Being away from my high school for so long, I've forgotten they canceled the bus services. I kept walking and found one school bus and hopped on it. I asked where are the others, and a girl told me there weren't any except the transit bus. This bus was with students ready to go to a sports tournament. I rode with them until I recognized the main streets and asked the bus driver to drop me off here. She did, and I was left by myself with my terrible sense of direction. I chose a direction and walked.

As I walked through a bazaar/market-like place, I decided I was in the part of town labelled Little India. The street vendors sold food as they cooked them, and I saw a pancake-like thing I wanted to try, but I kept going to find the bus. The buildings were skyscraper-high, though it was cloudy so the sun couldn't reflect off them. They were old buildings. I noticed a cute stranger behind me. He was young and brooding with short, brown hair and beautiful eyes and nose. He looked a lot like the new Dante in the new DmC (Devil May Cry 5) game trailer. He was stalking me as I turned corners and when I started to run, he did as well. I turned to him and jumbled my words as I tried asking for the time (hoping direct acknowledgement of his existence would stop him) but he acted like he didn't hear a thing. He grabbed my arms and pushed me to the ground, while he laid his full weight on top of me. I heard another man's yell and he looked up distracted. I took this time to kick him off and make a break for it as the source of the yell tackled him to the ground. I ran as I heard the new guy yell my two-syllable name (my real name has three), as if he didn't want me to go. I ignored him and ran in fear.

Back in the main vibe of the city, I tried the opposite direction, though it looked a lot like Waterloo. When I reached a major intersection, I heard that voice again. He yelled for me to wait, but I didn't know him. Regardless, my instinct told me there was danger. The sky was dimming as I ran through one end of a bar and out the backdoor. I ran into a small variety store, where I stood in one of the bathroom stalls and locked the door. There was a girl in the washroom, cleaning it. She had orange, shoulder-length hair and she was absorbed in her own world to know I ran in. I heard footsteps followed by my name. The door opened and the girl was startled to see the man; he pushed her aside. He called my name, waiting if I'd respond and deciding whether I was in here. I looked at my black sneakers, thinking whether I should step on the seat and hide my feet, but then I noticed the stall door didn't lock properly. I reached for it, trying silently to hold the door to keep it from swinging out while I tried to fit the bolt into the hole. The room was silent as I struggled with this detail, only to find he pulled the door wide open and grabbed me from the stall. He was bigger than he looked from afar. Not as much scrawny, but athletic, though he was still a smaller build than the Dante-look-alike. He was a light-haired man and his hair was longer and layered, much like Yosuke Hanamura's from the Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4 game. Still gripping me tightly, he turned me around. I was sure he was going to rape me. I didn't understand why something like this would happen.