open 💀 first recording | passive dream

[stillarhino]

Sender: Beat
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive Dream Recording
Warnings: Some spoilers for the OG The World Ends With You.

Whenever this time of the year came around, a sense of dread would bubble up deep within him. It would start in his stomach and slowly make its way up to his throat, settling itself there. It was uncomfortable and no matter what he'd do to try to gulp it down, it remained stuck.

This day was no different.

Beat seems to be a few years younger, wearing a slouchy beanie with a skull sewn onto it, his hair pulled back and tucked underneath it. His usual headphones are absent from his head. He’s dressed in a school uniform, but his surroundings do not depict him to be in any such place.

Instead, he wanders Shibuya aimlessly—riding down the streets of Dogenzaka on his skateboard, perusing new albums available in Tower Records, even just hanging out at the convenience store by the Moyai statue. Everywhere but where he was supposed to be.

He reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone, navigating his way to the unread message from someone named “Rhyme”.

Are you coming home soon?

A moment passes before he types up a reply:

ill head home when i feel like it

His message was cold and he knows it deep down. But he sends it anyway, tucking his phone away before he continues loitering about the city.

By nightfall, he finds himself staring up at a modest two-story home, standing just outside its gate. He doesn't know how much time has passed since he's gotten here, but he lets out a sigh, steeling himself for what was to come. The gate’s hinges creak slightly as he pushes it open, a plaque on the gate reading the family name “Bito”.

The lump in his throat still remains.

It isn’t before long that he finds himself standing in front of a Japanese man, dressed in business attire, his tie loose around his neck after a long day at work. To his side sits a rather tall woman with blond hair, an apron draped in front of her dress. He’s filled with dread once again, the pit in his stomach growing larger and deeper as a tightness begins to form in his chest.

Beat reaches out and hands over a card toward them. On it are his grades for the semester. They are well above the passing grade, but nothing spectacular. He knows they’re nothing spectacular. He knows he isn’t anything spectacular. Not in their eyes.

The expression on his face is hard to read as they go over his grades and Beat hasn’t said a single word throughout. His lips remain a straight line and his eyes appear to be downcast. Is it apathy? Is it fear?

He opens his mouth, ready to put himself down, ready to fight them. That’s how it always is after all.

“Good job, son.”

The words catch in his throat before they could leave him. Beat’s eyes widen and his mouth hangs open, staring at them. They look back at him with proud smiles on their faces.

“You did well, Daisukenojo,” said the man.

Beat recoils when he hears the name but doesn’t say anything at first. He continues to stare at them for a moment longer, dumbfounded by the turn of events. “Are you two serious?” he finally asks. His usual manner of speech is missing, but the same inflections and brash tone of his voice remain.

“Of course we’re serious.” This time it’s the woman who speaks, looking back at him incredulously. “You did your best, didn’t you? As long as you do that, we couldn’t be any prouder of you.”

The man stands from his seat and walks to Beat, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s eat out tonight to celebrate, all four of us. How does hot pot sound?”

Beat looks at the man, then the woman. Finally, the surprise on his face disappears and he lets out a laugh. His voice almost cracks when he speaks. “Yeah, hot pot sounds great, dad.”

He hears a quiet ring of a bell nearby. Turning towards the source, he sees a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes smiling at him, a bell pendant hanging from a leather strap around her neck. He smiles back at her, blinking back the tears that begin to pool at the edge of his eyes.

And then he wakes.

Comments

Sender: Mammon

[stupidmammon]

[ He didn't really mean to watch the whole dream or anything. Being nosy like that seemed a little rude after all, but being able to watch others dreams in this world just... was hard to pass up sometimes. Got him wondering though with the way he was acting in the dream, where his parents usually really strict? Or maybe he just had a higher expectation of himself than he let on? Still, he didn't know the kid, it'd be kinda rude to just burst in and be like 'YO KID YOU ALRIGHT???' ]

Ya know, late at night? Thats the best time to eat somethin' real cheap an' salty. Like Instant ramen.

sender: beat

[stillarhino]

[It takes him a little bit to reply, needing to decompress after having a dream like that. He forgets that it happens at first but when he sees the message on the journal, he can't help but curse quietly to himself. After he reads the message, it isn't what he expects.]

u know a good cup of ramen would really hit the spot now

[stupidmammon]

[ What's a better way to spend after a painful dream then to talk about ramen, right?? ]

Right?? Especially if it was like reaaaal spicy. The spicier the better!

sender: link

[skyglider]

[Being able to go into dreams like this is still quite new to Link. It seems so...personal. Invasive. Even moreso when he recognizes Beat -- it takes a few moments, beneath that overlarge skull cap. But he's not quite sure how to stop it, so like other dreams he's been subject to, he follows the line of action to its conclusion.

He may not understand the context --this world he's seeing is much different from Hyrule, after all-- but...he understands that there are strong feelings, here.]

... Beat?

[stillarhino]

[He sees who sends him a message and he throws his head back, groaning even if there is no one else around to hear him. But he takes a breath just before he replies.]

yo link

[His hand hovers over the page after writing that down. There's got to be more right? He has to say more, but right now, he finds himself at a loss for words.]

[skyglider]

[Ah. You know, Link is now realizing that he has absolutely no idea what to say in a moment like this. 'Are you okay?' seems like a bit of a dumb question. Who would be okay after having their private thoughts broadcast to everyone? So it takes him a few minutes to finally reply with:]

Want some company?

Sender: Futaba Sakura

[mwehehe]

[Ah... she feels like she shouldn't have seen this, but she has and it doesn't feel... happy.

But she does know that she can help some, maybe, by taking his mind off of some bittersweet memories(?)— or what a mind may wish could happen.]

Heyyy I'm from around Shibuya! Yongen-jaya, in fact! We have something in common beyond being Japanese, hehehe. o(^▽^)o Big Bang Burger is the fave place to eat among my friends, but I really, REALLY wanna try Imabari Teppan Yakitori Yamadori Shibuya next to the station sometime. Nothing better than some good yakitori!

[stillarhino]

[Though he sees who it is who messages him, he doesn't notice the stark difference the actual message and how she seemed to speak to him when they chased down the senbazaru the month prior.

He can't help but smile though when she mentions that she was at least familiar with Shibuya as well. And bringing up food too? You sure know how to get his attention.]

yo you for real?
me and the rest of the hachiko gang hang around shibuya real often
but i aint never heard of big bang burger or that yakitori place you talking about before

[mwehehe]

[In person is waaaay different than over text for her, but he shouldn't worry, she'll be talking his head off once she's more comfortable with him.]

Yeah!! We all hang around Shibuya a lot when we're not doing other things or hanging at LeBlanc.

Oh man, Big Bang Burger has some really great food. They have four different challenges too, to see if you can eat one of their giant burgers under a time limit too. Wonder if you could do all four? Not in one sitting of course, but y'know.

Sender: Brontë Wyvernwind

[makingmyway]

[ Dorian recognizes the sender's name, having spoken over the journals before. But he hesitates for a moment, not sure if it's really his place to answer. He's not entirely sure what the dream means, other than it feels a rather personal.

After debating with himself for a bit longer, he finally writes. ]

Are you all right?

[stillarhino]

[Beat glances at who the message is from at first. The noise he makes is somewhere between a chuckle and a groan. He barely knows Dorian, much less met him in person, and that's the first thing he sees? Yet again, he's thankful that the journal only dealt with messages.]

could be helluva lot better yo

sender: eustace

[flamekthunder]

[Eustace is keeping an eye out on those who were around him, concerned that his nightmare energy may have affected them. Seeing Beat's dream... At first glance it might seem like a good dream, but he catches the undertones. Knows that this "pleasant" dream is masking a harsher truth.

...]

Have you ever walked dogs before?

[stillarhino]

[It's not the type of response he expects but he doesn't complain. Anything to keep his mind off of it.]

naw aint ever had one before
why u asking?

sender: kinomoto

[keystaff]

Beat? Is everything okay?

[It hadn't seemed like a bad dream. But then. Maybe he is remembering something that had actually happened differently. Or something was about to happen? She knows dreams can be odd like that. Let alone her own where she dreams of things that have yet to occur.]

That's your family? They seem nice.

[stillarhino]

[The more people seem to see it, the more Beat wants to hide himself away from everyone. If only things were that easy.]

...they aint nice
whatever that was it aint them

except for rhyme

sender : mei lee

[itsgunnabe_mei]

[ This is the first time Mei's seen a passive dream, so at first she's extremely confused by what's happening. But by the time she starts to understand, she's seen "too much".

Well. Now what? Does she say... nothing? But that'd be like keeping a secret, and seems unfair to him. On the other hand, what can she say? She can't think of anything that would even be remotely comforting or helpful. She's not even sure she fully understands what she saw. If that was his normal happy family, then why did he seem so... confused by their behavior? Her stomach feels tied up in knots.

Say something. Anything! ]

I didn't know you knew how to skateboard!

[ #nailedit ]

[stillarhino]

[This one actually gets Beat to smile and even laugh a little, if only because he could almost picture the eager interest on Mei's face about the topic.

Of course he would probably be wrong.]

seriously?
coulda sworn I said something about it to ya before

Sender: Susato Mikotoba

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato is up. Of course she's up, the nightmares had seen to that. As she watches the seen unfold, the tightness in her chest is replaced with a familiar feeling of belonging, warm and sweet.

She doesn't know what to say. As elements of the dream process--her first glimpse of modern-day Japan--that tightness in her chest returns, turning into a dull ache as Beat's feelings bleed into her own. A feeling of longing. ]

I'm sorry

[ For what...? ]

Dreams can be too short, can't they?

[stillarhino]

[He doesn't understand why Susato is apologizing either, but he assumes that it's because she had seen the dream. Or that she hadn't meant to.]

kinda wish it was shorter
because that wasnt no dream yo

sender: shirou

[projections]

You alright over there? It sounds like you've been through a lot.

I thought you were wearing some school uniform. It looks a bit different from mine. What grade are you in, Beat?

[stillarhino]

[No, he's not all right. Similarly to Shirou, there are some things Beat wanted to keep close to the chest and this was one of them. He's still angry that such a vulnerable side of him was recorded for anyone to see, feeling like his insecurities much be brought up.

So he chooses not to say anything. Not about his parents and what they said. At least not just yet.]

imma be fine yo

[There's a noticeable pause before he continues.]

just finished high school a coupla months before i wound up here

Sender: Nier

[heseesonlyher]

[Nier generally tries to avoid looking in on other people's dreams. There have been the rare occasions that he either winds up wandering in completely by mistake, though he would guess that's a little bit different. But maybe it's just the familial nature of it all that draws him in. He can't imagine he's seen it from the very start, but it's what he does see that really matters most.

Makes him think of Yonah a bit. Just like everything else, honestly. There's just no separating an old man from his daughter.

He doesn't know Beat well at all to make any deductions about who he might be as a person, but... everyone deserves family and acceptance. And praise. He thinks about what he wants to say carefully before he writes it in.]

I think people would get it if you were missing home.

[And that's presumptuous of him, but you know what, he's already written it and sometimes Nier just doesn't know when to keep his damn mouth shut.]

[stillarhino]

[Beat can't help but groan in frustration after reading Nier's presumption when the message appears in the journal. While he wasn't completely wrong, there was a lot more to the dream that made it feel more like a nightmare to Beat.]

but it aint that old man
i mean yeah i kinda miss home but whatever that was makes me wanna barf

[Because truly, he felt sick to his stomach. And not just because others were able to see it.]

Sender: Trahearne | wanders in here with starbucks

[pactmarshal]

[ This makes for two of those present at the incident who've had dreams broadcasted to the rest of Reverein--four, he knew for certain, whose dreams have been unusually vivid. Trahearne among them.

He unfortunately doesn't know Beat well enough to reach out right away, but knowing he was there makes the guilt of not doing so all the stronger. Maybe they don't have to speak of his dream right away, but he still owes him a catch-up.

The message comes in the afternoon the following day. ]

Hello, Beat.

It upsets me to know that our first meeting was in such a dire situation, and that I could be contacting you under more pleasant circumstances.

But I wanted to check in on you. How has recovery been going? I know you avoided the worst, luckily, but it has been a bumpy road for us all, all the same.

- Trahearne.

Hope you got two

[stillarhino]

[By the time he read Trahearne's message, Beat had since put his dreams and what he felt about it in the back of his mind for the meantime. There was some surprise seeing that the man was checking up on him, but Beat still appreciated the effort. He's right in saying that it had been bumpy, and that was still putting it gently.]

the way we met wasnt nothing we coulda predicked yo
so we cool with that

im doing aight
got some help from ori and gotta talk with ribbons
bout you? you doing aight?

[He almost said more but he might be rubbing salt in the wound so he tries to hold back for now.]