****** 
The Yume. 

It was a complex madougu, requiring great mental capacity from its possessor. Raiha had dabbled with it a few times, but had never included it into his repertoire. A madougu requiring the unconsciousness of its master and its target wasn’t particularly useful in a combat situation. The Yume had been developed for espionage rather than for battles. 

The Yume allowed its master access to manipulate the dreams of another. Not only would it allow Raiha control over the events of someone’s dream, but it would also trigger lucidity in its victim. The victim would be dreaming… and know he was dreaming. So often, dreamers ended up doing silly, illogical things because their conscious mind was too far supressed by their subconscious mind to know better. But when a dreamer was dreaming-and knew he was dreaming-that’s where the fun began. They stayed closer to their true characters. After all, of what use are masks in the dream-world? Dream-people did not exist. Dream-people did not need to be impressed, or cajoled, or flattered. Only the dreamer mattered in the dream-world. 

And Raiha was counting on that to get to know Fuuko better. 

* * * 

A giant golden dragon reared onto its hind legs, clapping its wings together and breathing fire. Fuuko hid behind a low, crumbling wall as the flames soared past her, searing her face with their heat. 

It’s going to eat me, she thought silently to herself, wide-eyed, crouched in hiding. Her Fuujin was wrapped protectively around her arm, and she tried to think of a battle plan against it. 

“He’s not going to go away,” remarked a calm voice, and Fuuko was amazed to find a man dressed as a ninja, sitting comfortably next to her. 

He wasn’t here a few moments ago… where did he come from? she puzzled to herself. Something didn’t seem quite right… a dragon? A medieval European castle? A ninja? This didn’t make sense… this didn’t make sense… this didn’t make sense… 

“This is a dream,” she informed the ninja bluntly as it occurred to her. 

“I believe so,” he replied, glancing around. “It’s a silly dream, too.” 

“Silly?” retorted Fuuko, her eyebrow twitching. “I’m about to get fried by a dragon! Show some consideration!" 

He laughed. “Since when do people really die in dreams?” he asked calmly. “Dreams don’t affect your real body… your body is in a different plane right now. But your mind is here. You can control where your mind is, if you try hard… you can control this situation, even.” 

More flames came hurtling past. Fuuko ducked instinctively, but Raiha calmly held his hand in their path. He held it out for Fuuko’s inspection. What should have been a mere charred stump was a perfectly sound hand. “It’s not for real,” he repeated, “Unless you let it be. What you think happens turns into reality, because this is all in your mind.” 

Fuuko frowned in determination. “I’m not going to waste my dream hiding behind a wall,” she informed him. “It’s being so obnoxious, I’m going to kill it. Are you going to come along and help, or are you just going to sit here and watch?” 

He bowed politely. “I’m sure that you’re more than capable of slaying it yourself… but I can’t leave you to do this work by yourself. Of course I’ll help.” 

“Good,” said Fuuko, nodding vigorously. “Can you use your sword any?” 

“I believe I can. A bit,” he replied, with a smile twinkling in his eyes. 

“All right.” Fuuko outlined her battle plan, and he nodded, listening intently. 

* * * 

Fuuko sprinted ahead towards the dragon. She watched it closely as it charged up its fire once more. Inhale… inhale… inhale… as it released its fiery breath, she used her Fuujin to create a giant mass of wind which lifted her safely into the air. With unerring accuracy, she threw several of her needles into its eyes, and the dragon howled in pain. It lashed out blindly with its tail… its tail… she had forgotten its tail. 

Its tail would hurt. 

Her friend had told her not to think of getting hurt, and she wouldn’t-but she couldn’t help but cringe as she expected the blow. 

It never came. 

He had been about to lunge in to attack its soft underside, but had instead raced over and severed its tail. It fell harmlessly to one side as Fuuko landed with a hard bump, her concentration broken. He then easily cut off its head, and the dragon rolled over onto one side, vanquished. 

He was breathing a little heavily as he made his way towards her. 

“I told you not to think about that,” he said, gently chiding her as he took his seat at her side. 

“Arigatou,” panted Fuuko, still upset from the near-accident. “I know he can’t hurt me… but I couldn’t control my thoughts when he tried…” She leaned up against him, and he held her for a few moments, patting her hair and gently rubbing her shoulders. 

“It’s okay, Fuuko-san,” he reassured her. “It’s over now.” 

She pulled away somewhat and looked up at him. “How do you know my name?” 

He laughed. “I’m part of your mind, too… just like the dragon was. My name is Raiha… I suppose you made me up. Am I the ninja of your dreams?” He grinned at her. 

Fuuko made a face. “I don’t want a ninja,” she said, frowning. She thought about the years she had spent trying to defeat Recca, and the disappointment she had felt when he had submitted to Yanagi without a fight. 

“Then I can be your prince,” he suggested. “The prince who slayed the dragon for his lovely Hime.” 

Fuuko grinned. “All right, then,” she agreed. “You may be my prince. What’s your name again?” 

“Raiha,” he answered. 

“Raiha… what a nice name,” remarked Fuuko, yawning. She stretched her arms and looked at her new friend with a some surprise in her eyes. “Funny… I’m tired even in my dream.” 

“It takes a lot of energy to think,” he replied calmly. “Come over here and curl up… I just want to sit and talk with you for a little. It wouldn’t do for a Hime to be so mysterious towards her own Prince, ne? This is a castle… let’s go look for the courtyard. There’s probably a garden and a fountain and all sorts of things in there.” 

Fuuko took his hand as they walked through the castle. She chattered happily about herself, reminiscing about past occasions and confiding about her future aspirations. 

“Sometimes, I get tired of being the strong one all the time,” she confided to him. “It’s nice having someone to rely on.” 

“Meaning?” he prompted. 

She waved her hand airily. “The others… Recca. Yanagi. Domon. Mi-chan, even. Yanagi gets to be the Hime, so she gets to always rely on others if she’s in danger. But she gets to be relied upon for things like healing. So she gets the best of both worlds. Domon’s got strength, but he doesn’t have the intellect to maximize it. I try and back him up whenever I can. If I got into real trouble, he’d rush in and try to help me-but if it was just a minor thing, he’d expect me to handle it myself. He’d be disappointed in me if I couldn’t. Recca’s pretty hotheaded, and he can get himself into situations and expect the rest of us to help carry him through if he’s in over his head.” She frowned. “I take that back… Recca’s able to take care of himself. But if I was in danger, he wouldn’t hurry off to save me as fast as he would for Yanagi. Because I’m not a damsel in distress… I’m just Fuuko in a pinch. But I can save myself as easily as he could save me, so why should he hurry?” She shrugged her shoulders. “Mi-chan is so cold, too. I understand why, of course-but still. I’m not really a woman to him, either. He just respects me for my fighting. So again, if I got into trouble, he wouldn’t rush off to help me any faster than Recca would. ‘Cause I’m not exactly a very girlish girl,” she confided. 

Raiha patted her shoulder. “You don’t need to be weak to be a girlish girl,” he said. “It’s not what you wear, or how you act, or how you look that makes you feminine… it’s who you are deep down inside. You try and be strong for yourself. You succeed very well already. If you had better training, you could increase your power incredibly. But strengths and weaknesses don’t make one masculine or feminine… it’s the person behind the strengths and the weaknesses that matters.” He looked at her encouragingly. “You try and be strong for your friends because they expect it. You try and be strong for yourself because you dislike weakness. But despite those masks you wear in front of your friends… you’re a very vulnerable person inside. And you know what? I like the Fuuko I see here, right now. You’re not pretending to be anything besides who you are… you’re good at being honest with yourself, although you might not always be honest with your friends.” 

She gave him a long, steady look. “You think so?” she asked. 

Raiha spread his hands and gestured towards her. “This is your dream,” he replied. “What I’m saying is merely what you think, deep down inside. Perhaps you don’t know the words… perhaps you won’t admit it to yourself… but you know what I say is true, ne?” He smiled. ::She knows I’m right…:: 

Fuuko nodded. She glanced up at him, almost shyly. “Usually, my dreams are so weird, they’re not worth remembering. But this one… it makes sense. I like it. You’re a good sounding-board. It’s so easy to talk to you… I really hope I remember this when I wake up in the morning.” 

Raiha smiled gently at her. “You will,” he said. “Perhaps you’ll be able to manipulate me into one of your dreams in the future, ne?” 

Fuuko looked wistful. “I hope so,” she admitted. “I don’t usually get lucidity at all… it’s only triggered by nightmares. Perhaps that’s why it kicked in today… because I was afraid of the dragon.” 

“Maybe so,” said Raiha. “I---“ 

But Fuuko had suddenly vanished. 

* * * 

Fuuko sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing hard. The alarm clock on her dresser was ringing loudly, and she swatted it with an annoyed hand. It had been such a pleasant dream! Why couldn’t she have finished it? She thought about trying to go back to sleep to get back to it, but dismissed the idea as useless. That rarely worked. 

Besides, it was time for school. Silently cursing to herself, she staggered into her closet to get her uniform. 

* * * 

Raiha yawned and stretched. He had a horrible crick in his neck. That’s what I get for falling asleep sitting up, he thought with a wry smile as he massaged the tension away. His candle had extinguished itself long ago. Early-morning sunlight was streaming in through his windows. 

He removed the Yume from around his neck and placed it in a pocket. He would return it to the madougu room before breakfast. Fuuko seemed to be quite an interesting person… he made up his mind to give her another visit in the future. He’d give her a little time to herself… but he would visit again.