Nanashi's story:
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I think it all started on that Saturday. I was just sitting in my office as usual, drawing doodles and procrastinating like I normally do. I was about to turn off my laptop and go jogging, but something piqued my interest. A notification on my deviantart account. I clicked it and... I was positively surprised. Somebody asked for a commission. I smiled lightly, thinking that my goal for going to Japan might really be met by the end of the year. The person, going by the name cronhound, asked me to draw a mascot for his forum. Reu, as that was supposed to be the mascot's name, was supposed to have fox ears, a tail and some other minor details pointing at her personality. I knew just how she would look in my eyes, so I wasted no time and started sketching. After three failed attempts I finally managed to outline the exact design I had in my mind. I decided to give Reu a knife and a blood drip on her face, thinking the person who requested it would like it. I saved the file, stretched my arms and laid back for a bit. Since it was rather late, I decided to go to sleep. Before I managed to close my eyes, though, I got a phone call. It was my girlfriend. She was on a student exchange program at the time. I was tired so I didn't talk much, but I managed to ask her out on a date. 'Next Sunday, huh? Finally some fun.', I thought. Smiling slightly, I slowly dozed off.[/font]
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Dreams in my case are a rather rare occurence, so I was surprised to have one that night. At first it didn't seem too special. I was waiting in front of a fountain in the mall, looking at my watch. After a few seconds, I heard the troubled 'Sorry I'm late!' I'm so familiar with already. I looked up and there she was, wearing a long white dress. But it wasn't my girlfriend. It was Reu. Smiling from ear to ear, she hugged me tightly, whispering 'I love you' in my ear. She proceeded to nip at my earlobe and... I woke up. It was morning already. I was all covered in sweat, so I stood up and decided to take a shower. I yawned loudly and started taking off my clothes. While taking off my sweaty T-shirt, I flicked my ear slighty. It was wet. Surprised that my ear is sweating too, I decided to taste it. That wasn't sweat, though. It was saliva. 'Must have been drooling, too', I thought, laughing.[/font]
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]After the shower I decided to finish the commission. Coloring isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world, but I like it. It lets me focus on various processes going on screen rather than thinking about whatever is worrying me at the time, so it's a nice escape from the earthly worries. I took the time to carefully place colors in proper places as I usually do, layer by layer, until the commission was completely done. I was impressed by my own work to say the least. Before I sent it to the person who requested it, however, I stared at it for a while. Why did she, of all things, appear in my dream the night before? I am fond of all my works, attached to some of them on an emotional level too, but Reu wasn't really anything exceptional. I kept repeating that to myself, but no real explanation came to mind. I decided to send Reu to cronhound, thanking him for the patronage, and went to sleep shortly after.[/font]
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The dream never appeared again. I led a normal college life for the next week with nothing special happening, met with various people, chatted online even, but the Reu chapter seemed to be over for me. Receive a request, fulfill it, forget about it - the usual format seemed to apply in this case as well, except for the unnatural dream, but even that seemed not to matter so I started forgetting about it. What's more, my girlfriend made a new friend, so I was happy for her - given that she was a shy loner for a good while, it was a relief to hear she's getting along with someone. After the classes, when I reached home and booted up my PC I went to the kitchen to eat some dinner. In the fridge I found some fresh meat I didn't recall seeing before. Underneath it was a scrap of paper with two words and a heart scribbled. 'For you', I read loudly. So mom was here after all. I decided to cook the meat as I would any normal steak of that size. Since I didn't know exactly what kind of meat it was, I went with the safe option and cooked it rare. Upon eating it, however, I still couldn't identify the meat. It was delicious, though. 'I have to thank mom the next time she comes by', I thought, finishing the steak.[/font]
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The next day was the day my girlfriend was supposed to come back from the student exchange. I had offered her earlier that I would pick her up, but she said she wasn't sure if it was even needed, so I was patiently waiting for a text from her. In the meanwhile I decided to take care of the chaos going on in my house. Clothes were everywhere, I had forgotten to take out trash and for some reason in the hall and living room there were hair strands to be found on the floor. 'I need to take better care of my hair', I thought, cleaning up this mess. Once my house was all nice and sparkly, I took my wallet and went out to buy some new shampoo. When I was choosing between an all-in-one formula and a separate hair conditioner, I got a text from my girlfriend. 'You don't need to come, the bus driver is kind enough to drop me off at my house. I will see you tomorrow!', I read - or rather, decrypted, since the message was, as usual, emoji-heavy. Once I paid for my shampoo and went out of the shop, I could have sworn I felt a warm breath on my neck. I turned around and, as I expected, nobody was there. Blaming it on the temperature change, I went back home.[/font]
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The next morning I woke up early. I had to prepare for the date. I took a shower, dressed up properly and stylized my hair, made sure none of the hair strands are loose or falling off and then just... waited. After half an hour I departed to the mall to arrive early enough. I sat down on a bench in front of the fountain where we agreed to meet and tried to relax. The time was slowly moving forward and I couldn't help but get reminded of that one particular dream I had... Laughing at my own stupidity, I checked my watch. Five minutes past the designated time. Well, she had a history of arriving fashionably late. I kept on waiting, repeatedly checking my watch. After half an hour, I started getting worried, so I decided to text her. Just when I thought something happened to her, she replied. 'Sorry, I forgot what hour we were supposed to meet up. Can you come over?', I read. Surprised, I stood up and decided to do what she suggested. That's the first time it ever happened, but I didn't blame her - she must have been tired after spending the previous day in a bus.[/font]
[font='Open Sans', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Her house wasn't too far away, so getting there didn't take long. I pressed the doorbell - it didn't work. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. 'She must be in the bathroom', I thought, trying to calm myself down. The door wasn't closed though, so I stepped in and tried calling her name. No answer. When I stepped further in the hall, however, I felt this... smell. Something like a rotting piece of steak out of the fridge. 'She must have forgotten to eat it before departing on the student exchange program', I thought, regaining my composure. But simply turning right to the living room proved how wrong I was. In the very middle of the room, there she lied, in a puddle of her own blood, now partially dried up. There was a big hole in her abdomen, showing parts of muscle missing from the body. Desperate, I collapsed on the floor. The stench and the sight were so gross I tried to hold back the puke... when I heard a giggle behind me. My face in tears, I turned around, just to be embraced by somebody I knew. This person slowly nipped at my ear and proceeded to whisper in my ear with her sweet, soothing voice: 'I love you... that's why you don't need anyone but me.'.[/font]
