Yumeji Fujiwara/Manga Plot

The "Chaser" and the Nightmare girl
In August, Yumeji kept having dreams of being chased by cats but the latest one had more than he bargained for and they caught him. Luckily for him, a rooster crowed and the cats went away but not before telling him that soon their boss is going to come.

Yumeji then wakes up falling out of his bed and getting up, he changed his clothes. When he came down to the cafe section of the house, after greeting Isana's dad, he sees Isana talking to Saki and asked if the latter came for business which she did.

At a table, he uses his "dream vision" and sees Saki's dream aura. He then excuses himself to the bathroom and once there he checked himself and sees it is black, a sign he will have another nightmare.

As he returns to the cafe, he overhears that Isana plans to ask him to pick up a book for her commenting that he has free time. He interjects he has plans to marathon a show but then Isana reminds him that she caught him eating snacks and he relents.

On his way, as he passes by a bend in the road, he sees feathers fall which is then accompanied by a noise. Suddenly a girl falls out of a tree and onto him. While on him, she yells at the crows. Yumeji tells her to get off of him. Not knowing what is going on, he tells her not to yell at her "friends" (the crows) but she interjects that they are not her friends and that she doesn't need any. Yumeji just scratched his head and the girl ran off once she noticed her hat was gone to look for it.

At the shopping street, after buying the book Isana wanted, he spies a hat moving on the ground. On closer inspection, he picks up the hat and sees that a cat was underneath it. He wonders if he saw it before and remembers that he kept seeing cats in his dreams. He suddenly finds himself at the cityscape he had been dreaming about.

With the hat, in-hand, he was questioning the cats, he was confused since he was just awake a second ago. From behind him, someone explains it is "deja vu", that he was on the edge of a dream. The person welcomes him or rather thanks Yumeji for bringing him into existence and introduces himself as "Chaser" John Doe and tells Yumeji that he had been called to their world just as they have been called to his world. John explains to Yumeji that they need his body to move in the real world and not to worry because they are going to put him to sleep.

Yumeji runs away until he eventually hid in a building. He tried to gather his thoughts on the events that lead him to this. Then the manike-neko reveals itself as a cat minion and attacks him. John then burst through the wall telling him to give up, Yumeji internally apologizes to Isana and wonders if he is going to break a promise again.

Suddenly the girl he met earlier stands between him and John now wearing the hat he found and she states to John that she finally found him. Yumeji watches as they banter. Yumeji grabs her arm to get her attention but in doing so, something "clicked" between them. She tells him to let go but he was worried that she will face that "monster", referring to John. He then sees that her ears are pointy as the girl states that she and John are both monsters called Nightmares.

Yumeji listens as they continue to talk and learns that the girl is named Merry Nightmare. He then watches as both of them fight each other. As he does so, he recalls the feeling earlier but then notices some cats are preparing to assist John and he interrupts them. The bazooka misfires, hitting a sign above John which distracted him long enough for the girl to break his mask.

Yumeji asked the girl if she won which she affirms, telling John to bring her back to the Dream World. Yumeji watches as John, his cats, and the world disappears leaving him and the girl behind.

Yumeji finds himself back in reality and wonders if everything happened was just a daydream. Then suddenly the girl he met earlier comes up to him, demanding that he bring back that guy (referring to John), confirming that it actually happened. The girl then begins to cry worrying Yumeji.

Later at a park, Yumeji listens to Merry's explanation of Dream Demons and how they can take humans as vessels. He also listens to her story of her search for a way to return to the Dream World. He was then "volunteered" by Merry to try and summon John. Yumeji states that he was confused with everything which caused Merry to cry lamenting her situation.

After crying some more, Merry decides to leave and keep searching but Yumeji was worried for her. Just as they were about to go their separate ways, Yumeji noticed that Merry fainted and decided to bring her to the house.

When he brought Merry home, he gave the excuse to Isana and her dad that he owed Merry for saving his life, with a bit of change of details. He tells them that she saved him from a truck when he wasn't paying attention which Isana berates him for. Isana suggests that the should bring her to a hospital but Yumeji tried to refute.

Isana's dad then intervenes and allows Merry to rest in Isana's room stating that Yumeji has a reason for it. Yumeji and Isana then brought Merry to the room as the latter's dad begins to ramble on of his past.

Yumeji stood outside of Isana's room as Isana changes Merry into her own pajamas. Yumeji explains to Isana that Merry seems to be in search of something and until she does that she can't return home. Isana asked if he had already decided to be that girl's strength which he apologetically affirms. Isana then states that whenever he decides on something that he would always keep his promise to the end, and that is what she thinks is special of him. He again apologizes for his selfishness and she tells him that she doesn't mind.

Yumeji then goes to his room and types down what he learned on the computer. He mulls over that the dreams we see as we sleep are actually a parallel universe and the inhabitants want to capture vessels to come over to our world and wonders why. He notes that the comings and goings seem to be mutual and wonders if dreams are just a form of sightseeing or something. He then thinks of the one who chases the Dream Demons, the girl named Nightmare who lost her memories.

Wanting to clear his head he decides to take a bath. When he enters the bathroom he sees that Isana and Merry were already in the middle of washing. He stumbles his words before stating that they seemed to be getting along. Isana then beats him up.

Later at the dining room, Yumeji is face down in a pool of dark liquid as Isana berates him for walking in on her in the bath again while bringing dinner to the table. Yumeji apologizes, stating that his head was swollen but Isana's dad interjects by asking if that was the only thing that was swollen which Isana then yells at him. Yumeji then hears Isana mention to Merry that dinner is curry which re-energized him. Isana asked if he reflected on his actions which he affirms.

When Merry was cautious of the meal, Yumeji and Isana's dad try to reassure her that it is good and nutritious. When Merry took a spoonful she comically breath out on Yumeji that it was too spicy. Isana then berates both the guys as she gives Merry something to drink. Yumeji then takes a serving but ends up in the orz position in pain. Yumeji then overhears Isana's dad mention to Merry that eating together as a family makes food taste better which she agrees that it is the first time she had a meal this good.

Later after dinner, Yumeji meets Merry on the 2nd-floor veranda. Merry asked what he wants and he just tells her that he is just a guy who can't turn his back on a girl. She asks him to clarify and he tells her what he discussed with Isana when they put her in Isana's room.

After listening to him, Merry tells him that it was only something that he decided and that she doesn't need the pity of someone who has no hopes or dreams. Yumeji tells her that it was not the case and explains to her something from his past when he couldn't keep an important promise that he made. When Merry inquired about it, he tells her that the person, the promise, and everything essential about it is something that he can't remember and only a sense of loss and regret remain. He tells her that it is not pity that he feels but a sense that she and himself are the same. Merry tells him that he is just confusing which he responds that it makes them even then.

Isana then finds them and asked if they want donuts. Yumeji then teases her that she'll get fat which she retorts that one or two would be fine and that she need more than a sorry from him. Yumeji replies that him peeping is a complement for her beauty. He then overhears Merry expressing praise over her first donut which he guesses that statement was true.

Yumeji listens as Isana tells Merry that her dad said it was ok for her to stay and that she can give her answer tomorrow. Before the two girls left to sleep, Yumeji offers to see what dreams they will get and used his "dream vision". He sees nothing on Merry but from the color off of Isana he guesses that it will be about sweet stuff. Isana muses that it would be good before saying good-night.

Later as he laid in bed, Yumeji mulls over how all he knows that Merry saved him and it should be his turn to return the favor. He doesn't know how things will turn out but he wants to help her.