dressedinblack | GH Fic: Bonds Across Dimensions

A Naru short story
Set after his return from Somarium

It was drizzling that late afternoon in London. Something to the feel of a garden hose spraying a greenhouse with just enough of a steady shower that it didn’t flood the pots. Kazuya Shibuya, or rather Oliver Davis as they called him here, was walking through a cemetery with an umbrella shielding his obsidian crown from moisture. His usual black attire was more formal today, a black trench coat over a suit of the same color with gloves. In the distance where he was coming from, a small group of mourners was walking away from a burial. It would seem the young man had left them to reflect on the funeral that had just come to a close. His solemn expression gave the impression at least…

He chose to walk among the graves, rather than take the path. Something inside felt better about leaving the norm. His loose grip on the hook of the umbrella conveyed his lax attitude about the scene he just exited. He didn’t wish to get caught up in the emotional distress. He had grieved the loss long before this day, and the closure he had sought in the time the followed had been found days earlier. He was moving forward in his own way. He didn’t wish to forget his late brother, but he knew nothing would come of clinging to a ghost that had finally passed on himself.

No, right now he was more focused on what was to come next in his life. He had already decided to return to SPR in Tokyo to further study paranormal activity and psychic phenomena in Japan. Mai, Madoka, and Yasuhara were managing things in his absence, and he was more than sure the spiritualists he was so well acquainted with were just waiting for his return to work with him again. Aside from establishing himself on a more residential level in Japan, things seemed as if they were going to go right back the way he had left them. Nothing had changed. Except, he had a feeling that something had in the back of his mind…

Ever since he had woken on that plane on the way back to England, he swore he had experienced the most impossible dream. As he normally did not dream such fantastic things, he had at first tried to dismiss it as what it was, just a dream. However, over the past several days, the young psychic had felt something nagging him about what had happened in the dream. Unfortunately, he had forgotten a great deal of it, but there were moments he felt deja vu or otherwise familiar feelings about things he encountered…

For example, when the plane had landed in England, the pilot’s announcement about reaching to gate had made him pause. In fact, every mention of gates had grabbed his attention. He couldn’t understand why though. Another instance had been in his room back at the parents home. There was a bookshelf of pleasure reading he had enjoyed from time to time. Among the novels and transcripts, the Sherlock Holmes series had stood out to him. He had even felt a sting in his chest of nostalgia. The only way he could think to remedy the ache was to read it, and it had taken him the rest of the day and into the follow to finish the whole thing. Again, he had no idea why it held such importance to him, aside from a character he held respect for. Other instances had also struck him as peculiar, and with so many coincidences, his experience told him there might be something more to them.

He had tried to discuss them with his parents, seeking their perspective. They had seemed intrigued by the situation, but without more to act on, they were at a loss to help. He then sought the advice of one of his teachers, Lin. The sorcerer had felt that if he felt they were connected he should try to recover the dream in his memory. The young man had not cared for the guidance, but he hadn’t dismissed it. After the phenomena had continued to arise in more areas, the researcher finally felt it was time to reflect on his own. He held some kind of answer within him, and only he could find it.

His bluish-gray eyes stared ahead of him in the graveyard. He didn’t feel unnerved by the dead. He had seen and experienced far too much at this point in his life, but something about the graves made him feel as if he were reaching out to something he had lost. Was it the dream? Had he lost someone in that reality that made him feel at a loss? In his research on dreams, it would not surprise him if his mind had taken the recovery of his brother’s body up to a psychology level. However, even as he thought about dreams, he felt the familiar feeling radiate from the topic of dreams. What had happened in this dream to obsess him so?

His pace slowed as he reached a wood on the edge of the property. He stared at the trees of the boundary. There was a senses of curiosity about what lie within. It felt unlike him to be so interested in something as mundane as a small forest. As he finally came to a stop, he realized that it wasn’t a curiosity about the wood that drew him. He was being drawn to something. He could just feel it in his veins. He was compelled to come here.

The sound of rustling faintly came over the steady shower of rain. His eyes scanned the area for the source. If only it weren’t so soft, he might be able to pinpoint the origin. He took a step closer to the trees, hoping to hear the sound more clearly there. Fortunately, it helped, and it seemed the sound was coming closer as well. Something was coming out of the wood. The young man gaped a bit. If a feral creature was coming toward him, what should he do? He wasn’t used to things like this. He swallowed the nervous growing in his throat though. Perhaps whatever had drawn him here was being led to him as well. Nothing to do about something like that…

A moment later a small figure came out from behind a tree into the grassy yard. At first, Kazuya wasn’t certain what it was, but one soft noise called out over the rain made him gasp. It was a kitten’s meow. He stood and watched as the poor creature stumbled on weak limbs toward him, mewing sadly. It was a black kitten, several weeks old. He couldn’t make out the eyes as it was constantly meowing as loud as its little lungs would permit. Was it blinded by the rain perhaps? That would explain the stumbling about. It kept moving forward though as if it were determined to get somewhere. Finally, after watching for sometime, Kazuya walked up to the creature, kneeling before it.

The umbrella’s shield was noticed by the kitten almost instantly, and it stopped crying to look up at what had stopped the rain. Kazuya saw brilliant red eyes look up at him. They stared at one another for a moment. The deja vu was returning to him. What did a wet cat have to do with anything? The kitten started to walk closer to him. He watched it for a bit. Was it cold? Frightened? He had so little experience with animals. He was surprised to even be showing interest in this kitten that stumbled out of the woods. Once it got close enough to paw at his shoe, it mewed up at him at last.

“I take it you don’t normally enjoy walking in the rain,” he said flatly. The kitten meowed in reply. He sighed lightly. What was this thing trying to tell him? As it began crawling up to his ankle, he tilted his head in curiosity. “Do you want me to pick you up? Is that it?” Another meow followed. Reaching a gloved hand down, the kitten tried to climb onto it. Kazuya smiled at the strained effort, but he couldn’t bring himself to insult the kitten’s pride of doing it on his own.

Once it finally was in his palm, Kazuya lifted it closer to him. What happened next was something the prodigy doubted he would ever be able to explain. The kitten’s eyes looked into his own, grabbing his attention. Whether it was a trick of the eye or his own imagination, it felt as if those red eyes were smiling up at him. For all his knowledge, Kazuya would swear the cat was smiling at him. After the initial shock began to fade, the deja vu feeling began to grow stronger, and it was almost as if he could hear a voice calling up as the kitten meowed once more…

Shii-chan...

“I feel as though we’ve met before… but that can’t be right. Still, in my line of work, stranger things have happened than a kitten that seems to be speaking to me. It won’t do to leave you out in the rain to freeze though. I would normally offer a guest tea, but we have milk back at the house if you prefer that.”

Who would say no to tea…?

Suddenly, Kazuya pulled the kitten close. It was faint, but it felt like a memory. A tall man with long, red hair and ears on his head was smiling brightly at him, laughing with gay. The man felt important to him, like Mai, Lin, or any of the associates waiting for him back in Japan. This memory felt warm though. He wanted to hold onto it. The kitten nestled against his chest, purring like a soft motor. It was as if it had trekked all this time just to get to him. Whatever had drawn him to this place, Kazuya felt for the first time that his dream held more meaning than just a dream for the first time.

“Well then,” Kazuya said, standing upright again, “its a bit of a walk to the lot, but being carried should make the trip more pleasant for you…” He paused one last time. A name was coming to him, and he wanted to make sure he had it before he lost it again. “... Cheshire.” The kitten meowed happily before curling in his palm and starting to lick his wet fur. “Yes, Cheshire suits a cat that smiles.” He started back toward the cars, smiling down at the kitten.

“I’ll take care of you.”

08/04/14 Jade_the_inujin

GH Fic: Bonds Across Dimensions - Cheshire