Kazuya’s eyes flittered once more, letting him know that the wet dream he had just experienced was at an end…
…or he would have expected that to be the case anyway, until he was awoken to a rather peculiar thing to witness.
To be fair, while the “wet dream” part of the dream sequence WAS over, Kazuya was still in a dream sequence all the same. This was confirmed when Kazuya found himself face to face…with Kazuya.
Wait, is that a typo? You meant Kazuha, right?
Nope.
It was Kazuya Aoi…facing Kazuya Aoi.
“Wh-what the hell?” said Kazuya as he stared wide-eyed at his mirror image, though to elaborate, Kazuya wasn’t looking at an actual mirror, but at a flesh-and-blood individual standing just a few feet in front of him. As to their surroundings, the Kazuyas were in a bright white void, apparently standing on solid ground, even though there was no set horizon to help delineate ground from space. It was as if they were standing on an invisible surface in a pure white void, as if they were in a sort of wormhole or pocket within the greater space-time continuum of existence.
All of this helped Kazuya come to the level-headed conclusion that he was still in a dream state, given that he was facing a perfect living, breathing replica of himself.
And the replica of Kazuya was calmly smiling at him.
“What’s going on?” asked Kazuya. “Where am I?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” asked the replica. “You’re in a dream state, simply transitioning from one dream to another. Though I’d have to say, it’s a shame the last dream had to end so soon. Things were getting nice and steamy.” The tone in the replica’s voice was rather laidback while also straightforward and blunt.
“I guess given what I’m seeing, that makes sense,” replied Kazuya. “And who are you, exactly?”
“Well, given what you’re seeing, I like to think that that’s pretty obvious too, wouldn’t you agree,” the replica answered. “I’m YOU.”
“If you’re me,” countered Kazuya, “then who am I?”
“You’re ALSO you,” said the replica. “To be more precise, I’m a PART of you, meaning a part of your psyche,” said the replica. “While I suppose being called ‘Kazuya’ would be expected, for the sake of this little conversation, you can think of me as your “Id” in order to help compartmentalize us.”
“My what exactly?” asked Kazuya.
“Come on now, Kazuya, we’ve read up a little bit on basic psychology a few years back. Remember Sigmund Freud?”
“Freud, Freud, Freud,” Kazuya muttered as he thought it over. “Y-yeah…German guy, right? Psychoanalysis and all that stuff?”
“Austrian to be more exact,” replied Id. “And yes, you’re basically correct on that.”
“Aren’t his theories on analyzing the human mind rather debatable these days in terms of their efficacy though?”
“That’s one for the professionals and the PhD types to answer among themselves,” replied Id. “For our sake, Kazuya, just think of me as your ‘Id’, and I suppose you yourself are most likely your Superego in this current dream state.”
Hearing this made Kazuya think back to the 3-part paradigm of the human psyche according to Sigmund Freud. The way Freud saw it, the human mind had three basic parts: (1) the Id which encompassed base desires operating on the “pleasure principle,” seeking pleasure and gratification, (2) the Superego which operated on highly moralistic principles such as helping others with altruism at the core, and (3) the Ego which tried to serve as a rational balancing point between both the id and the superego, given that trying to live one’s life ruled entirely by either of the first two was highly impractical and potentially self-destructive.
[*This is a VERY crude breakdown of the whole id/ego/superego paradigm. I’m not a psychologist, psychiatrist, or expert of any kind in the mental health field. This is just an oversimplification of Freud’s concept on human behavior being used in a form of fanfiction, so please feel free to not come down too hard on me for including it in this work.]
“I’m the Superego?” asked Kazuya.
“Right now, in this case, you are,” replied Id. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re still Kazuya Aoi, just as I am also Kazuya Aoi. We’re just different parts of your overall psyche having a little heart-to-heart at the moment.”
“About what?”
Id-Kazuya simply took a deep breath and then proceeded to begin walking towards Superego-Kazuya. Stopping so that there was only a foot or so in terms of distance, Id spoke up once more.
“Kazuya,” said Id.
“Yeah?”
“Try not to take what’s about to happen too hard, okay?”
“What are you talking about?” Kazuya asked, clearly confused as he raised an eyebrow.
WHAM!
As Superego-Kazuya finished his question, Id-Kazuya balled his fist and cocked back his right arm in an instant before clocking Superego square in the jaw. The impact knocked Superego off his feet as he tumbled in a heap as his ears started ringing.
After a few seconds, Superego got up, jaw clenched and his own fist balled up, readying himself for a counterblow.
“What the hell!?” asked Superego. “What was that for?”
“Something that you’ve been in need of as of late,” replied Id-Kazuya rather snarkily. “Given that this is happening inside your - or “our” - mind, it’s not like you’ll actually be feeling real pain once you wake up. Just felt that you were overdue a moment of humbling over fretting over this whole harem situation and being all “woe is me” about it. That’s all.”
“Humbling?” asked Superego. “That’s what you call it? I have half a mind to clock you right now, you know.”
“Funny choice of words given the circumstances,” chuckled Id. “I mean, right now, you basically ARE half of our mind, in a way of looking at things. I guess to look at things another way, you’re essentially that cartoon angel that poofs into existence on one of Kazuya’s shoulders and gives him positive advice, while I’m basically the cartoon devil that pops up on his opposite shoulder whispering the moral opposite advice in turn. We’re basically just having a moment of reconciliation within our conscience over this whole thing, that’s all.”
“Oh jeez,” muttered Superego, “I really am going insane here. I’m actually having a conversation with myself.”
“That could be a valid point, were you conscious and awake in the real world,” replied Id. “Right now, you’re simply having a subconscious back-and-forth struggle within your broader conscience, that’s all.”
“Okay then, so why am I having this dream state conversation with myself then?”
“Simply put, you need to stop being such a goody-goody prude when it comes to those women. I mean, being a gentleman is all well and good, but you need to loosen up and take a little initiative with those lovely ladies. I’m pretty sure that some of them - Satellizer, Rana, and Roxanne come to mind the most - are DEFINITELY into you and just waiting for you to take that final step and give them some good lovin’, get me?”
“I’m not some pig-headed guy who’s looking for a quick ‘roll in the hay’ and nothing else, you know. If I’m going to BE with somebody, I’d want to do it for love, not just passion or to get my rocks off.”
“I’m pretty sure that they’re all aware of that by now,” countered Id. “Don’t you think that maybe - just MAYBE - they’re all GENUINELY into you and WILLING to share? And don’t you think that perhaps they’re anxiously waiting for you to act on your instincts and return their affections?”
“Given that you’re a part of me,” said Superego, “you DO know that we’ve kissed them all, right?”
“Kissing and making out are all well and good, but I’m talking about taking things to the next level,” Id said with a leery grin.
“Sex already? I’ve only been enrolled here for a little over a week, you know. You don’t think that’s rushing things a bit much?”
“Oh come on now,” groaned Id, “By that I mean c-o-m-e, for the record. Don’t want us having to wake up to another wet dream and all, amusing as that would be.”
“Oh shut up,” replied Superego. “Can we talk without inserting innuendo here and there?”
“I am what I am,” grinned Id in response. “Joking aside though, I’m trying to tell you that you REALLY need to stop this whole “woe is me, it’s all my fault, I am to blame” shtick you’re ginning up. It gets old after a while. Time to just ENJOY yourself and what you’ve been given, I say. Like the old saying goes, ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ right?”
“So you’re saying I should feel NO guilt over this whole thing?” countered Superego. “I shouldn’t feel responsible whatsoever for having all of these women paired up with me? Especially those seven who just arrived? I mean, they’re my TEACHERS for cryin’ out loud!”
“Smoking hot ones at that,” grinned Id.
“One of them is my freakin’ SISTER!”
“Whom you’ve had the hots for for a long damn time, even if you don’t want to admit it. I should know, I’m your inner desires after all.”
Superego simply paused in frustration, biting his lower lip in angst as he simply couldn’t bring himself to shout back “that’s not true!” or something along those lines. After all, Kazuya was having a conversation with himself at the moment. Lying to oneself was something that he simply couldn’t bring himself to commit to, no matter how badly he wanted to do so.
“You know it’s wrong…” stated Superego. “What we feel for her is wrong…”
“Says who?” countered Id. “Japan? The United Nations? The world?”
“Society,” stated Superego.
“Do we ANSWER to society?”
“What are you getting at, exactly?”
“Does the lion answer to the gazelle? Does the shark answer to the seal? Does the bird answer to the worm?”
“Again, what are you implying with all of this?” implored Superego.
“Putting things more to the point, do the strong answer to the weak?” said Id bluntly.
“Don’t go thinking that we’re gods or something along those lines,” countered Superego. “We are NOT gods or some higher life form compared to other humans.”
“Aren’t we though?” countered Id. “With a simple Freezing field we can hold a whole platoon or company of ordinary humans in place, against their will. And Pandoras can decimate standard conventional armies. Tanks, helicopters, fighter jets, aircraft carriers, you name it…all of them are minnows before the whales and sharks that are the Pandoras. The way I see it, Chevalier doesn’t really answer to broader society, at least not anymore now. If anything, society largely answers to Chevalier now, or at the very least DEFERS to Chevalier.”
“I don’t care what you say,” replied Superego, “I am NOT some kind of god or deity who looks down upon others, even if I may have an augmented body. I don’t let power to go my head. Even if I’m a Limiter, I’m still a flesh-and-blood human all the same.”
“Always the goody-goody,” grumbled Id. “Look, you are you and I am me and perhaps we’re doomed to an eternal impasse over the topic of our place in the world. Whatever, I’m not going to waste time trying to convert you. But I WILL say this: Stop being concerned about what others think about how you feel for Kazuha. Way I see it, if the world doesn’t approve of it, then screw the world. I’m not after their approval, and I sure as shit neither want or need it. And given that I am a part of you, I like to think that deep down you somewhat agree with me on that opinion, even if you’re too timid to say it outright. And as for the matter of the other Pandoras who’ve joined our growing family, I say stop feeling so burdened and responsible for that matter as well, get it?”
“They’ve almost assuredly been assigned to be MY exclusive partners on the old man’s orders. I seriously doubt they were given the option to say no to it, so how can I NOT feel responsible for their predicament?”
“Given that they ALL have a high opinion of you - well nearly all of them, I’m not sure about that one Pandora whom we never met before now [referring to Su-Na Lee] - I would say not to feel so burdened by having them paired up with you. The way I see it, the more the merrier.” Id finished with a chuckle and a grin.
“There’s liking somebody and then there’s REALLY liking somebody,” countered Superego. “Leaving Kazuha aside, can you say with absolute certainty that the other Pandoras - including Sister Margaret for goodness sake! - can you flat out declare that they’re honestly okay with being partnered up with me?”
“Call it a hunch, but the short answer I’m inclined to give is…yeah. I think at the very least that they’re all interested in you. If they REALLY were so against the idea, don’t you think they would have put their foot down before the old timer?”
“And don’t YOU think that they would have been severely punished or reprimanded if they actually outright refused, assuming they were ORDERED to do so?”
“Maybe I’m just inclined to think that they’re all genuinely interested in you,” shrugged Id. “After all, we’ve come to know them somewhat over the last week or so. And now they’re all your personal instructors…whom you get to spend even MORE time with. Again, I’m not sure about that one Pandora, but she’s certainly easy on the eyes, though that’s pretty much a given with Pandoras in general, am I right?” Id grinned as he wagged his eyebrows.
“Always thinking with your dick,” grumbled Superego.
“More like OUR dick,” countered Id. “I AM a part of you, lest you forget.”
“Look, I get your point,” continued Superego. “I get it. I don’t AGREE with it, but I get it. And as much as I’d enjoy and appreciate for your analysis to be accurate, I’m not going to be able to accept it…not without some perspective anyway.”
“I’m pretty sure I know what you’re getting at,” grinned Id, “given that we’re two parts of the same mind after all.” There was a momentary pause before Id spoke again. “Fine, do what I know you’re going to do, if it helps give you some peace of mind and clean your conscience. But whatever comes of it, just try to relax and let your hair down, at least a LITTLE bit. You’re in a position that most guys would fucking KILL to be in, with a literal PLATOON of women at your beck and call, yearning to get very VERY intimate with you, and sooner than later I might add. So take a break from all the chivalry and unleash the beast from time to time, will you? I’m sure that THEY would certainly appreciate the gesture.”
With that, everything became exceptionally brighter and brighter, with the conversation coming to a close. Kazuya watched as his baser self (Id Kazuya) began to fade before his sight as the brightness of the white void in which he resided became brighter and brighter to the point that it was blinding…
And a moment later, Kazuya Aoi had finally awakened.