Chapter Text
“Yuga!! Time to get up, you’re going to be late for school!!”
He opened his eyes slowly, not bothering to get out of bed. This was a dream he’d had many times before. Since before he even became…
Wait…
If this is a dream, why is the clock working right..? My hands are normal too, just… smaller, like they would’ve been back when…
Otes got up. Or, well,
Yuga
got up, to be more accurate.
Otes hated calling himself that. He didn’t deserve that name anymore.
Poking his head out the door, he took a moment to get used to… how
real
this all felt. It… had to be a dream, right?
Yu-
Otes
hadn’t been inside this house in years.
Yeah, just a dream…
“I’m not… feeling very well today!!” He yelled from his room. This dream never went very well if he ended up going to school. Even in his mind, they’ll never forgive him for what he did.
“Not feeling very well?” He heard his mother pause for a moment, perhaps thinking over his excuse. “Well… alright. I’ll call and tell them you won’t be there.”
He sat back down. It would have been odd that his mother bought that excuse so easily, but… this is a dream. It needs to be a dream.
Most of Otes’ memories involving school were of how dreadfully boring it was, or of being with them. He wasn’t quite sure whether it would be very in-character to miss on such a pathetic excuse, but… as this was a dream, it’s not like it mattered.
The door creaked open.
“Yuga, are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“No- no, it’s fine, mom, I’m just… tired, today… and…”
“Just… tired? I thought you said you were really excited to go to school today.. did you and your friends cancel your plans or…?”
Plans..? What plans? Not that it matters, since this is a dream. It is a dream. Nothing more. Wake up, Otes… you can’t-
“Yuga? You know if something’s wrong you can tell me, right?”
“Yeah, I know, mom… I’m just not feeling great today… I can… talk to Luke and the others after school, if it gets better…”
He didn’t know why he was putting up this act. Playing along would just make the dream last longer, wouldn’t it..?
His mother sighed, “alright. But… if you need anything, just know I’m here for you.”
“Yeah…”
As his mother left the room, he looked around one more time. What to do until he woke up..? He hadn’t had a dream like this before… nothing so realistic.
Otes got up and went over to where a lime green drone was sitting on his desk.
“Dohl. Dohl, get up.”
Kaizo’s screen lit up, and he began hovering a bit above the table, around eye level.
“Wow Yuga, it is late. You didn’t forget about me, did you~?! Or are we just not going to school today? That’s not cool, Yuga!! How am I supposed to see Romin-“
“Quiet down, Kaizo.”
So Dohl isn’t really here either… odd, my dreams are never this accurate…
Kaizo’s screen displayed an annoyed face, “Rude. What’s up with you today? You’re acting weird.”
Otes glared at him.
If you say another word about my behavior I’m turning you into Dohl in this dream too.
Kaizo seemed to get the idea, not about Dohl, but about the silent threat of being modified again.
-
As the day passed, Otes… realized something. He still didn’t want to believe it, but… the realistic passage of time, no visible inconsistencies with how he remembered things…
This… wasn’t a dream, was it? He’d time traveled, again… but… back as himself. Or, well, as Yuga. Same thing.
“Kaizo. When does Goha 7 Elementary let out?”
“3:30? Why do you need confirmation on that-?”
Otes looked at the time. 3:10. If he remembered correctly, it was a ten minute walk to the road lab. They would surely look for him there..
This… if it is real, they don’t know what I did. And if they do, surely I’ll wake up then… so… what’s the harm in going..?
This was going to be… a truly intriguing experience.