[Book #1 - Oceans Arc]

At what point do you call a Dream a Nightmare?

It's not often that anybody would wonder about that, huh?

At what point do you call a Creature a Monster?

There is just one crucial connection between those two questions.

One crucial thing that answers the questions in exactly the same way.

The answer?

A Dream becomes a Nightmare the moment it's unpleasant for the Dreamer.

A Creature becomes a Monster the moment it's presence is unpleasant for those around it.

You can also look at it another way; A Creature becomes a Monster the moment it's become too unpleasant for those around it to remain interested in finding mutual understanding. It's easy to call something a monster, because it means you don't have to try and understand it anymore.

You can just elect to misunderstand it.

Nobody wants to understand a monster, do they?

It's easy to shy away from an ugly truth by calling it a monster.

Just like it's easy to call a Dream a Nightmare when you don't want to face it.

It's based on convenience versus practicality. It's always convenient to disregard something and stop trying to understand it when it's no longer practical. And it's practical to disregard an unpleasantry when it's no longer feasible to deal with.

So when do you stop seeing a person as a human, and start to refer to them as a monster?

Usually, it's when their views and morals are so greatly out of whack with your own that you cease bothering in seeing them at all. A human becomes a monster when you refuse their equal position to yourself.It's unpleasant to be faced with the possibility that your very views and associations might be wrong after all.

So that's when you start associating them as a Monster, because it's easier to misunderstand than to try and understand, after all.

The shrill cry of an alarm clock echoed through the darkness, its metal mallet swinging back and forth between two bells in break-less chorus that to the sleeping, sounded like it could wake the dead.

Katsuragi Amaya groaned as she awoke, her right hand lifting from beneath the covers to paw blindly through the dark towards the source of the shrill cry.

It had just gone 4.30am by the moment the alarm had started ringing, the world still a pitch black around her as Amaya succeeded in closing her hand over the bells of the alarm clock to muffle it's chorus. The rubbing of the mallet beneath the palm of her hand did nothing but elict a yawn from her as she groggily rose from slumber.

Even though it was pitch black, Amaya still ran her gaze across her surroundings in a habitual manner as she turned the clock off, and pawed for the base of her bedside lamp.

As Amaya successfully found the base of the lamp, her nimble fingers slid along the base and flicked the switch, illuminating her surroundings.

She was inside a rather small room, with very little in the way of furnishings or decorations, yet it was evidently her bedroom never the less. Upon a white carpet stood the bed she was still lying in, complete with black covers, a white featureless closet, and a desk situated right next to the bed, which stood her lamp, analogue belled alarm clock and a few study books atop it's white painted surface. The walls of the room were a soft, dusty red, with a white ceiling, and the curtains of the window were a matching black.

Like always, Amaya found herself smiling wryly at the attempt at decorating, though she would never go to change it unless her siblings wanted it.

After all, her siblings had decorated the room for her.

Amaya peeled the covers away from herself, her feet slowly tracing lines through the plush carpet as she stretched. Then, after deciding that she should get started with the day's tasks, Amaya rose to her feet and approached her closet to get changed.

The mirror hanging on the inside of the door revealed Amaya's sleepy reflection to herself, and in the midst of searching for her school uniform, she glanced at her reflection.

A girl of about fourteen years of age looked back at her with amber coloured eyes, her long, dark purple hair hanging in an unkempt plait over her left shoulder. Her hair gave her complexion a rather pale appearance, as did the slight angle of her brows into a small frown. Even while half asleep, Amaya didn't fail to notice the sharp, almost uncomfortable look that her features had.

Forced look, of course. Amaya preferred to look unapproachable rather than a cute school-girl that any jackass could mess with.

Amaya shook her head slightly as she went back to retrieving a clean uniform from her sparse closet, her gaze glimpsing at the broken skin and scratches that ran over her knuckles, and the tiniest hint of bruising up her right arm.

Well, if she did look as unapproachable as she intended, she wouldn't be getting caught up in scuffles all the time, would she?

Amaya sighed as she pulled her baggy white shirt off over her head, her right hand closing around the thick band of cotton, much like a corset sitting in the top drawer of her closet. She sucked in a deep breath as she pulled it over her head and arms until it sat across her chest, covering her breasts down tighter and tighter until she appeared to be mostly flat-chested, a faint hiss escaping her lips at every tug of the strings to tighten the constriction.

She hated her particularly large breasts, and it always hurt when she'd do any form of exercise without her chest-strap on. Forget running with all that weight with just a normal bra, or without - She'd always end up winded, and it didn't help that she never had the money to afford anything better. It hurt at first pulling the chest-strap on, but after she got used to the pressure, she barely noticed it anymore.

Making a quick job of getting dressed in a pair of grey dress pants, a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and a pair of white socks, Amaya then made her way to the bathroom to wash up and brush her hair once she'd scooped up her mp3 player and headphones from the top drawer of her desk. On the way there, she flicked on lights throughout the apartment, illuminating a sparse loungeroom with crème walls, and a white-tiled kitchen with grey flooring. Amaya glanced at the two doors along the right wall of the loungeroom, before she entered the white-tiled bathroom, her fingers automatically reaching for her hairbrush with little thought as she looked at the large mirror that took up the whole wall the basin stood against.

Amaya herself wasn't fond of mirrors, however her siblings were insistent on keeping the annoying features. They seemed to think it made the otherwise empty apartment more filled, more energetic and bright.

Of course Amaya didn't really have any paint to cover up the wall where the mirror would have been, so she just never did anything with it.

Pulling her hair into a high ponytail at the back of her head, Amaya then brushed her thick fringe out and left the hanging forelocks to rest against the front of her shoulders, before she left the bathroom. She lifted her white headphones, and placed them over her ears as she hit Play on her player to resume her music from the night before. The upbeat flow of Shikkoku wo Nuritsubuse sounded from the headphones, and Amaya found herself wearing a small smile before long.

She realised however that she was wasting time, so she made her way towards the kitchen.

Amaya scooped up the greyish purple apron hanging from the side of the fridge to pull it on, her attention immediately going on meal ideas for herself and her siblings.

Her siblings were Reiko and Yuta. Twins, both in fifth grade this year. Yuta was the older sibling of the two, while his sister was younger by three minutes, and had the little-sister mentality that went with it. They'd just had their eleventh birthday just last week. Reiko was always fond of egg and chicken, while Yuta was always happy with anything, just so long as it didn't have any egg in it. Or enough for him to taste more than the rest of the meal. He did however seem to enjoy fish more than anything else, however.

In terms of how picky they were, Amaya had no choice but to say that Reiko was the picky of the two. She'd pick out all of the vegetables and just snack on the meat if she had a choice in the matter.

Amaya sighed as she gazed in the sparse fridge, realising that she needed to do some shopping on the way back from school. Providing that things went well and she didn't have something urgeant come up instead.

Was there ever a day where everything went as planned, she wondered?

Amaya decided on a simple bento for the twins that didn't require very much cooking, save for the normal stuff that didn't require her to handle the process too much, like rice. Cooking wasn't her strong suit, after all. What she did know how to cook to an acceptable level was bento for her siblings, and breakfast preparations. What she did know outside of that field, her best friend actually taught her. And not in the whole fun kind of spending time together kind of teaching, but more like 'You're going to kill yourself if I leave you to figure it out on your own' kind of teaching.

Amaya wasn't at all the girly kind of girl, and her best friend had a ball of a time mocking her for it.

In fact, he always laughed whenever he'd look at what meager lunch she'd bring with her to school and tell her that she'd make a terrible wife.

Of course, Amaya was so used to the mockery by now that she didn't bother to punch him for the jabs anymore. In fact, she honestly admitted that she sucked at cooking, which seemed to do her no worse than denying it to begin with.

But Reiko still had an obsession with pouring sugar and popping candy over everything, and Yuta had a tendency of burning anything on the stovetop. Though he was still a million times better than her at anything cooking wise that didn't rely on a heat-source. He was her taste-tester when she was in need for an honest opinion.

So Amaya set to work, preparing sides to go with the main for the bento, amongst other things while she waited for the rice to cook.

She'd wake her siblings up after six, get them organised for school before heading off.

This was the normal morning routeen, after all.

Reiko and Yuta both attended an Elementary school just a couple of blocks away, and they always had a couple of friends come to meet them at the building's foyer to head to school. Amaya however attended Kunugigaoka, and on a good day, she'd be able to get there within about half an hour of travel on the train. On a bad day, it would take her all morning.

She preferred to leave ahead of time, so her siblings and their friends didn't get dragged into any unpleasant confrontations.

Amaya had attended the same elementary school as Reiko and Yuta, along with her best friend. However her siblings were model students, as their teachers would tell Amaya every parent-teacher day, and what was rather hilarious about the whole situation was how their home roomteachers used to be Amayas.

They remembered her very, very well.

What was even more hilarious was how Amaya still got scolded for being such a terrible student with no aspirations or goals, but praised exponentially for being a wonderful guardian with how she'd mentored her siblings.

They were never absent from school, always paid attention in class, and they always got high marks in all their subjects. And if they happened to have forgotten their homework, they were never scolded or punished just because it was such a rare thing. They were also very popular amongst the student body - Yuta was elected as head-boy for their final year in elementary school next year, and Reiko usually ended up being the class representative if Yuta wasn't.

They were everything that Amaya was not when it came to their student life.

A popping sound echoed from the rice-cooker, causing Amaya to turn her gaze towards the machine. She realised she had drifted off into thought, and set about finishing the lunches.

The orange obento was filled with rice, with rolled omlette and paprika chicken as sides, while the green was filled with rice, with salmon and tuna as the sides. Amaya the filled the much smaller, purple obento with rice and a single slice of smoked salmon.

Amaya glanced up at the clock as she sealed and wapped the obento in their assigned cloths, which read 6.19am. She wiped her hands on the hand-towel sitting on the counter quickly as she went to rouse her siblings from bed.

And by rouse from bed, Amaya merely opened both of their respective bedroom doors wide open, and called out 'Yuta! Reiko! Time to get up!'

The responding groans and sighs that escaped the twins caused a wry smile to touch Amaya's face as she wandered back into the kitchen. The children were both slow to rise, so Amaya wasn't bothered by the fact that they hadn't leapt out of bed. They'd emerge sooner or later from just the smell of food.

Or was that just herself? Amaya could smell a lot of things quite strongly, but everyone else seemed to not notice it.

Did she have a strong sense of smell, or something? Right now all she could smell was the mirin and rice in the kitchen, and not much else.

Amaya rolled up some leftover rice quickly as she mentally recounted what she had to do before she left, her sharp gaze tracing the leftover sides as she prepared breakfast. She could hear the rustling of bedding moving as she worked, and after a few seconds she could see movement from the corner of her eye.

Yuta stumbled out of his room, a hand lifted to stifle a yawn as he ambled towards his chair at the table. He and Reiko both had the amber eyes that Amaya had, however their complexions were rather tanned, unlike herself. Yuta's short black hair was sticking up in all directions from his habit of wriggling in his sleep. Reiko also had black hair, however her hair was long, like Amaya's was.

Amaya took in Yuta's condition for a few seconds, before she went back to work, lowering her headphones so they instead hung around her neck.

'Hi Amay ...' Yuta mumbled out as he climbed into his chair, causing a small smile to touch Amaya's features.

'Mornin' Yuta.' Amaya spoke up as she lifted the plate of onigiri she'd made and wandered over towards the table. 'Sleep well?'

Yuta was silent for a few seconds as he looked up at Amaya sleepily, his gaze moving to her forehead.

'Amay- You're wearing rice again.' Yuta eventually spoke, causing Amaya to blink in surprise. She placed the plate down on the table quickly as her other hand reached towards her forehead, where a grain of rice had managed to stick.

'Ah, thanks.' Amaya spoke up, casting a glance over to the door of Reiko's room as Yuta reached forward to claim one of the onigiri. She coulds ee that the girl was still lying in bed, appearing to have fallen right back to sleep.

No, not appearing.

She had gone straight back to sleep.

Oh the stubborn streak Reiko was developing of late.

'Reiko!' Amaya called, louder than she preferred normally, earning no response from the girl in mention. 'Get your ass out of bed before I bring out the ice!'

No response. Amaya sighed as she watched the girl for a few seconds, before she began to walk over to the girl's room.

Amaya took in the sight of the orange-painted room for a few seconds, decorated with many plush toys in pink and white. She of course noticed that Reiko had the blankets pulled over her head, and seemed to be curled in a small ball.

So Amaya stepped forward to grab ahold of the end of the blankets, and gave one forceful pull.

The white blankets came flying straight off of the bed, earning an indignant squeak from Reiko.

'Amay!' Reiko whined as she looked up at Amaya, who was in the process of folding the blankets up before setting them on the carpeted floor just at the foot of the bed. 'What was that for?!'

'I called you ten minutes ago.' Amaya spoke up in a rather matter-of-fact manner, looking down at the sulking girl who had crossed her arms over her chest. 'Yuta's already eating breakfast - I suggest you join him before he finishes everything.'

'I'm not hungry!' Reiko grumbled, turning her head away from Amaya.

Of course Amaya let out a small sigh.

'That's fine.' She spoke as she began to leave the room, her fingers lifting to press against the light switch as she walked. 'You still have to get ready for school.'

The light in Reiko's room flicked on as she pressed the switch, and Amaya's hands then went to untie the apron she wore.

Amaya guessed that Reiko was still upset that she didn't get chosen for Head-Girl next year, along with Yuta.

After all, she got jealous easily, given that she retained all childish mentalities and habits like a sponge. Yuta just happened to be the level headed and mature of the two. Kinda balanced out, in a weird way.

Amaya glanced up at the clock once again as she discarded the apron back on it's hook, another sigh escaping her as she shoved her obento in her messenger bag after checking that her notebook and pens were inside. It was 6.37am, and Amaya was running late. She thought quickly as she pocketed her purse and her mobile telephone from the counter.

'Right. Yuta?' Amaya spoke up, turning her head towards her brother as she saw him look over at her from his breakfast. 'I gotta go - Can you make sure everything's locked up before you both leave today?'

Yuta nodded his head with the smallest glance up at the clock.

Amaya pulled her fingerless, padded gloves over her hands as she made her way towards the door. She paused just long enough to pull her boots on, and laced them up.

'And don't forget. If anything comes up-'

'Call right away. We know.' Yuta cut in, surprising Amaya by appearing right behind her. He smiled up at her for a second, before he leaned forward to wrap his arms around her middle in a hug. Just like he did every other morning. 'Stay safe, Amay.'

Amaya gave a soft smile as she ruffled the boy's hair with her right hand lightly.

'Alright Kiddo, I gotta go.' Amaya spoke, watching as Yuta released her and stepped back a couple of paces. 'Have fun at school.'

'We will.' Yuta responded, and with that, Amaya left the apartment. She hoisted her messenger bag over her head so that it sat with the strap much like a seatbelt across her chest, and began to head towards the elevator at the end of the corridor.

Amaya entered the elevator, turning her attention to her appearances as the box began to lower towards the ground along it's secured cables. She straightened her uniform, adjusted her gloves before she sharply slapped her face with her palms momentarily, sharpening her gaze as she did so. The Elevator continued to lower from floor 12 down towards the ground floor, pausing momentarily as other apartment-residents boarded on the way down. Everyone that looked at her recoiled visibly from her, pretended that they hadn't even seen her if they hadn't jumped, and Amaya was fine with that.

She instead pulled her headphones back in place over her ears, her hands burying in the pockets of her pants as she just stared off at a random, uninhabited part of the elevator.

She was fine being unpleasant to the outsiders around her.

Everyone else was already unpleasant to her, anyway.

Amaya's thoughts were soon rerouted to the tyrany of class, at Kunugigaoka. She loathed that place with a passion, despite her current standing in classes. She was in Class 2-D, the bottom-rung in grades kind of class in comparison to the others. However that place was thick with condecention, with ill views and demoralisation.

For Amaya, it was no different from right here in the elevator, where people associated another as a monster, scum, dependant on the clause and requirements of that title.

In Kunugigaoka, if you were not a hard worker and achieved good grades, you were scum.

If you're labeled as scum in that place, you're treated far worse.

You were shunned, humiliated publically, and all for the amusement of those around them.

Amaya loathed that place, filled with misunderstanding prejudice, just because it's convenient.

The students are even encouraged to kick dirt into the faces of others and treat them like scum.

She refused to bend to that disgusting system. She would be ashamed of herself if she even considered it.

Instead, she rathered spend her time avoiding classes filled with scorn, instead spending her time doing something constructive, or at the very least, just something outside of that school. She tended to skip classes quite regularly, depending on how much of that ugly place she could stomach that day.

After all, not everybody was suited for academic studies, just like not everybody was suited to be a singer, or a dancer.

Everybody was different.

Everybody had skills and talents that were different to everyone elses.

It was cruel to paint everybody with the same brush.

But unfortunately that's the kind of world she lived in.

The elevator chimed a high-tune as it reached the ground floor, and everybody inside the elevator disembarked faster than it was deemed polite, leaving Amaya to casually stroll out at her own leisure. Her expression had hardened to a disinterested gaze, creating a comfortable space of one meter between herself and the nearest person as she walked.

The skies above were grey with clouds, and the limited light that shone from above illuminated the streets with dull light. Even though it was before 7am, it was already quite busy. Many vehicles drove down the city streets, and people traversed the sidewalk on their way to their depicted destinations.

Amaya herself continued on her way to the train-station, her eyes scanning the crowds around her that veered out of her way.

As if it was an inconvenience for them to brush past her.

'Eeyikes. Now that's a scary look.' Came a familiar voice from right behind Amaya, causing her to slow to a halt as she blinked in surprise.

She didn't fail to pick up on the sarcasm in that tone of voice, and she turned her head to the person who'd snuck up behind her as she pulled her headphones down to hang back around her neck.

He stood half a foot taller than herself despite being her age, his red hair a neat, sharp contrast to his pale complexion. His sharp, pale gold eyes showed a great amount of mischief that she was most familiar with, despite the innocent smile he wore. Dressed in a pair of grey pants, a white button-up shirt, and a black jacket, Amaya found herself looking up at her favorite person that wasn't her brother or sister.

'Yes, but I'm nowhere near as scary as you.' Amaya responded with a grin, turning properly to face the red-head.

His name was Akabane Karma, her best and worst friend in the whole world.

Best because he was the one person that she truly opened up with in this place, and worst because he was always helping her get into more trouble than she could get into all on her own. Which said a lot, considering that she already had a bad enough reputation for skipping classes and getting into fights with others her own size and bigger on a regular basis.

She got that reputation all on her own, however. Karma just didn't help her ongoing reputation by tempting her with mischief.

It'd been this way for as long as they'd known each other on a friendly basis.

Instead of frowning at Amaya's response, Karma actually chuckled.

'I guess that's true.' He said as he approached her, his innocent smile shifting to a mischievous grin as Amaya stood her ground quite comfortably. 'I actually have something I want your help with. Have you got some free time?'

Amaya pretended to think on his question for a few seconds, however she couldn't help but smile.

Why was he even asking? She always said yes, even if she really didn't want to.

'What kind of something?' She asked him, even though she already knew the answer to that.

It was one of his many noteable hobbies, one of which she shared with him, though hers was for a different, more subtle reason.

He wanted to get up to mischief today. Just because he could.

Just like he always could.

'Just some fun to kill time.' Karma answered, burying his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he straightened up. 'You don't look like you want to go sit in a classroom all day.'

'That's true.' Amaya agreed, though she did pretend to think on his words once again. 'But is this the detention kind of kill time? Or possible suspension kind?'

'That depends on mow much we get up to.' Karma remarked.

By the knowing grin he was now casting her, Amaya knew there was no real point in playing ignorance right now.

'Fine, I'm in, damnit.' Amaya gave in, though she did cast him a frown. 'This plan of yours better not get us suspended.'

'Then don't get us caught.' Karma responded easily.

She grumbled complaints, however she honestly didn't care one way or another. She followed the chuckling Karma onwards to the Train Station, exchanging teasing jabs and taunts between one another as those around them veered away.

Amaya honestly enjoyed herself more when she was getting up to mischief with Karma. Even though she sometimes questioned just how far he'd go in fights, and some of his pranks seemed cruel, Amaya at least knew there were good morals inside him.

You just had to search hard for them. But they were there.

And he'd done good for her and her siblings on more than one count, much more than anyone else she knew in this place.

He'd earned her respect more than enough for her to give him the benefit of the doubt.

And he'd never once given her any honest reason to doubt him.

---=[Authors Notes]=---

Aaaaand that's chapter one all up! Let me know what you guys think, and I might have another chapter up soon :)

Translation notes on Japanese words in this Chapter for those unfamiliar with a lot of the words:

Kuro - Translates as the Colour Black, which is written as 黒 in Japanese
Shikkoku wo Nuritsubuse - The title of the Opening Song to the Second Season to Hitsugihime no Chaika (Chaika The Coffin Princess Avenging Battle in English), sung by Nomizu Iori. It's a very good anime, and I highly recommend it if you haven't already seen it.
Obento - A partitioned Lunch Box, usually comprised with rice and various sides such as chicken, vegetables, etc.
Onigiri - A ball of rice often with a small filling in the middle. They are often rolled in a slightly triangular shape, with a small square of Roasted Seaweed Sheet (Referred to as Yakinori) wrapped around the bottom. Considered a staple like sandwiches to western children.