1 - Another Nightmare

In an eastern mansion within the Northern Quadrant Seige Capital, a 14 year old boy named Shirou can be seen cooking up breakfast. He has hair that seems to shift between red and reddish-orange depending on the lighting. His amber eyes can be seen in a state of extreme focus, as he cooks food for himself and his little sister, Miyu, before she goes to school.

Once he completes his culinary exercise, he analyzes his work, which appears to be something that may be seen in a show about a cooking school that serves food so well that the characters start to lose articles of clothing, with critique you may only find from a certain narcissistic British chef. It is here where dark lines can be found under his eyes due to a lack of sleep. The amount of willpower it must take for someone to craft such a cuisine must be extraordinary. After around a minute of making sure the food is up to his standards, he had a satisfied look on his face as he looked out of the kitchen to call Miyu.

"Miyu! The food is ready!"

"Coming!"

Light but hurried footsteps can be heard as a 9 year old girl appeared and sat at the dining table. Miyu had eyes of the same shade as Shirou's, and black hair tyed into low pigtails. She was currently wearing a school uniform, unlike Shirou, who was wearing a simple white and blue long-sleeved shirt(which he wears strangely often). As she sat at the table, she looked at him strangely, as she had just noticed the bags under his eyes.

"…Big bro, did you stay up all night?"

"…Who knows?"

Shirou's face scrunched up into an awkward smile.

Miyu stared at him blankly, before coming to an epiphany.

"Oh, looks like my big bro is in his rebellious phase," she stated in an even tone, "I mean, staying up all night and skipping school is what those deli… delinq… those guys who ride motorcycles do right?"

Shirou stared in bewilderment and betrayal, before explaining to her, "I am not in my rebellious phase, and their called delinquents. Don't you remember what I told you last night?"

Miyu scrunched up her face as if trying to scrounge up something from the depths of her brain, before her eyes widened, "Oh right, you got infected. So that means you're going to be an awakened now right?"

Miyu's face turned into a wide smile, as she thought about how cool her brother would be as an awakened.

Shirou started to sweat a little, "Yup definitely, it's not like I may or may not die or something…" Shirou thought about his words for a second before confirming that he constructed a pretty good lie.

Meanwhile, Miyu completely ignored her older brother's crude lie, and proceeded to guess what type of aspect he may have, "Hmm, you have red hair, so maybe fire powers… but that's too simple, and since he's the protagonist, it's got to be something cool and overpowered…"

As per usual, Shirou was absolutely baffled as to what his sister was talking about, and as anyone on a search for knowledge(and justice) would do, he asked her, "What do you mean I'm the protaganist? Also, I highly doubt people get aspects just because of their hair color."

Miyu looked at him as if he was simply a naive child, "Big bro, you should watch TV more," she stood up from her chair as she seemed to have finished her meal, despite all of the dialogue between the two siblings.

"See you later big bro!" Miyu stated as she picked up her school bag and exited the building, before shouting from outside, "Don't drive a motorcycle without a license."

Shirou chuckled at his sister's antics, before suddenly adopting a serious look. When the Nightmare Spell infects someone, they are in fact given the chance to become awakened—people who survived their First Nightmare and can travel between the Waking World(Earth) and the Dream Realm—but that is only if they actually survive their First Nightmare and their first journey into the dream realm.

Unfortunately for Shirou, even if he does survive his First Nightmare, he would only have a little more than a month before the Winter Solstice, in which all dreamers—people who have only passed their First Nightmare—will be called to the Dream Realm.

Shirou shook his head as he proceeded to finish his food. Once he did, he stood up and got ready to go to the police station.

————————————————————

When Shirou arrived at the police station, he started to feel slightly detached from the world, signaling that his First Nightmare is about to begin.

As he walked into the police station, he went up to the desk, "Hello, I believe that I am infected by the Nightmare Spell," he stated with a polite smile.

The officer on the other hand, was pale, and most definitely not smiling. He pulled out his walkie talkie and said, "Code Black! I repeat, Code Black!" he stood up before turning to Shirou, "Shit… alright kid, do you got any type of ID on you?"

Shirou gave the officer his ID before being led to a room where he is strapped onto a table. The reason for this is that if Shirou were to die in his First Nightmare, a Nightmare Creature would take his place. The restraints probably wouldn't be able to hold a nightmare creature though…

As the officer explained what will happen within the Nightmare, Shirou slowly started to zone out as sleep was catching up to him. His last thought before he passed out was-

Well, on the bright side, this is a pretty good chance to be a Hero of Justice…

And so began the strangest First Nightmare that Shirou had ever heard of…