Shinozaki tossed and turned violently in her sleep. Her nightmare taking a hold of her subconscious subduing her senses in the hellish realm her mind had created. The events unfolding in her mind, playing on the back of her eyelids was unholy.
She had been running for what felt like forever. She had lost sight of Kishinuma a long time ago and had been frantically running through the blood soaked halls of Heavenly Host. Her heart pounding and her blood pumping. Streams of tears flowing out of her eyes which made it hard to see at times as it clouded her vision. Bodies littered the corridors, the sight of them was sickening but them smell was worse. Her nose burned from the smell of rancid flesh and rotting hair. Flies buzzing around aimless, maggots scattered across the floor. Shinozaki told herself to keep going. She had to keep going. Just as she was about to run up the next flight of stairs, the girl stopped dead in her tracks. A spurt of blood spilled out of her nose and she desperately tried to wipe it way with her sleeve, covering the thin, pale yellow material with blood. An all too familiar child's laugh filled her ears; the sound was low and in the distance but it was getting closer. Her head began to ache with pain, it quickly becoming unbearable. Her hands desperately clawed at her skull, as her legs gave way and she fell to her knees. It felt like it was being torn in two with a blunt object from the inside out, merciless and painfully. The laughing became erratic as it got closer until a pair of tiny, rotting grey feet came into view. Shinozaki pleaded to be left alone. The child showed no sympathy, she grabbed Shinozaki's raven-coloured hair and yanked it harshly, exposing the teens face. Sachiko smiled sweetly as she brought her signature blood-soaked scissors to her face. Shinozaki helplessly screamed and cried, unable to move. With a psychopathic grin, Sachiko rammed the scissors into her left eye. Shinozaki let out the most blood-curdling scream that she could muster. She fell, her back to the floor screaming and writhing in pain. She felt her body become pinned against the cold wooden floor as small sharp fingernails dug into her neck, whish slowly turned into choking. Her lungs felt tight, her breath becoming weak and wheezy. She felt her consciousness slipping away from her, the only thing her mind could only think was 'I'm going to die.' And as she slowly faded to black, her final sight was three mournful child apparitions.
She shot up in her bed, moving her hand to her throat. She was gasping and spluttering for air. The familiar darkness of her bedroom reminded her that it was just another nightmare and she broke down into tears. She needed to talk to somebody. Anybody.
She took a deep breath and reached her shaky hand into the darkness to grab her mobile phone from off her bedside table. The familiar sleek rectangle fit into her hand and she pressed the on button. The sudden bright light was an offence to her eyes that were still adjusted to the darkness, after a few seconds still glaring at the phone screen she checked the time, 3:29AM. She sighed and unlocked her phone, her thumb scrolling through her apps until she reached contacts. She lazily scrolled through them. Nobody was sparking any interest. It was all family members and a few people from school. She knew it would make sense to talk to someone going through the same thing, but she couldn't bring herself to. She still liked Satoshi and didn't want to scare him off, and she couldn't deal with Naomi's overbearing kindness towards the whole situation.
"Kishinuma…?" she wondered aloud. No harm in trying. She fired him a quick text.
"Hey, are you awake?" SENT 03:42am.
"I am now." RECEIVED 03:43am.
"I'm sorry!" SENT 03:45am.
"It's okay. What's up?" RECEIVED 03:46am.
Shinozaki contemplated bringing up she had a nightmare. She knew they were all having them and felt guilty pouring her feelings out to him at this time in the morning. It was unfair and she knew that. She squeaked from shock as her phone started ringing rather loudly and pressed answer quickly to silence it, hoping she hadn't woke her parents or sister.
"Hello? Hello, Shinozaki?" his muted voice called out through the phone brought her out of her daze as she brought it to her ear.
"Yeah it's me. Can we talk?" she answered in a hushed voice, hoping no one was listening.
She could hear rustling at the other end of the phone. "Sure we can talk. What's up?"
She gulped, reluctant to ask. "Not now. I mean- can I meet you?"
Kishinuma stunned agreed. "Yeah. Yeah of course we can. Is everything alright?" she smiled a little, happy he was worried about her.
"Thanks. I'm really sorry to be calling so early in the morning." She said rather sheepishly.
Kishinuma answered a little too eagerly. "Don't worry about it; you can call me whenever you want." He panicked at coming on a little too strong but Shinozaki didn't seem to mind.
"Where should I meet you?" Kishinuma thought about for a moment. Nothing would be open this early.
"You could come over to my place?" he blushed at the idea of his crush in his apartment and she blushed at the forward invite.
"Yeah sounds good." She said, trying not to think much of it.
"Okay, I'll see you in a bit." She whispered goodbye and hung up.
The thick silence of her house was suffocating. She threw the covers of her bed back and went over to the closet and grabbed a hoodie from the rack. She lazily put her arms through the sleeves and slipped on her slippers. She quietly crept to the front door of her house, carefully placing her hand on the doorknob and twisted it gently until she heard the familiar click. Doing one last check behind that no one was awake she stepped out into the cold morning and closed the door behind her.
It took just under twenty minutes but she had made it. She was stood, in her sleepwear at Kishinuma's front door. Now was not the time to be embarrassed she thought as she confidently knocked on the front door. Kishinuma fumbled his way to the door and opened it, making a loud creak as it did so. His blonde head peaked out from around the doorway as he tried to stifle a laugh. All of Shinozaki's confidence dissolved into a scarlet blush.
She huffed. "If all you're going to do is make fun of me, forget it!" she turned to storm off but Kishinuma flung the door open completely, grabbing her wrist and pulling her inside. Letting it close itself with the same creak and soft click.
"Sorry, sorry, I'll stop" he pleaded. "It's just not every day you see the Prez in her pyjamas."
She looked down at herself. He had a point, and she couldn't be wearing less embarrassing pyjamas. They were baby pink with kittens on them and matching fluffy pink bunny slippers with floppy ears.
Kishinuma smiled. She looked too damn adorable. He caught himself staring and coughed. "Do you want a cup of tea?"
She smiled weakly. "Yes please." Kishinuma pointed her to the sofa and told her to make herself comfortable.
The blue haired girl sat down and looked around; it was a stereotypical boys apartment she was in. no extra furnishings or decorations, everything had function and purpose. The apartment was small but not too bad since she knew Kishinuma was living on his own means. There was a small hallway which led to a kitchen, bathroom and small bedroom. The biggest room in the apartment was the living room and all it had was a slightly shabby couch, modestly sized TV and an all-purpose coffee table.
Kishinuma had walked back in, his arm extending a cup of tea to her. "Thanks" she murmured taking the cup from him
"So, what's on your mind?" he asked after being sat down.
"Well…" Ayumi began to wonder if it was worth telling him. She didn't want him to think she was stupid. She was exaggerating things in her head until Kishinuma spoke.
"It's okay, you can tell me. Remember I went through what you went through." Tears began welling in her eyes. Even now he was putting her feelings before his own and it broke her heart. Shinozaki broke down into tears.
Kishinuma was taken aback at her response. He thought he was being comforting but she had turned into a blubbering mess "Hey Ayumi, don't cry…" he spoke softly, extending his arm out and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay" he lulled in her ear. "Everything's going to be okay." He whispered hugging her tightly. The small girl wrapped her arms around him and balled his shirt in her fists as she nuzzled into his chest, wailing and sobbing.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Shinozaki cried. She truly was sorry for everything. The ritual, her friends deaths, how Kishinuma risked his life for hers on several occasions and she hadn't even so much as thanked him. She felt horrible.
They stayed in each-others embrace for what felt like hours. Kishinuma's shirt was soaked with her tears, but he didn't mind.
Shinozaki had regained composure a little and pulled away from their embrace.
She sniffed. "Sorry, Kishinuma I got tears all over you." Wiping her eyes with her pyjama sleeve.
"No, don't worry about it." He muttered. He didn't like seeing her upset, but he was happy she was able to cry on him.
Her already pink face screwed up again as new tears replaced the old ones. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry… Yoshiki I'm so sorry…" she uttered in between sobs.
His face flushed as he realised she had called him by his first name. He quickly shook his head trying to rid the thought. First he had to comfort her; he could indulge in the idea later.
"What are you sorry for idiot?" he chuckled. "Are you okay?" he asked, a little more seriously pulling her back into a hug.
Shinozaki blushed. "YOU IDIOT! Of course I'm not okay!" She said pushing herself away from Kishinumas embrace. "I was crying my eyes out a second ago. Gosh you really are hopeless." She finished wiping away the last of tears.
"I was just asking…" he said defensively. "What are you crying about? It's almost 5am and you haven't spoken to me."
A pang of guilt took over her. He was right. She selfishly came over in the middle of night just to pour her feelings out onto his shirt. She took a deep breath and began to explain herself and why she picked up the phone.
"Wow" the blonde whistled through his teeth. "That's a lot to take in" she tugged at the hem of her pyjama top. Shinozaki felt awkward after explaining her vivid dream and Kishinuma seemed indifferent towards the whole thing.
"Well, that's what happened okay?" Her voice squeaked with discomfort. She braced herself thinking he would start laughing or making fun of her.
After a few moments of silence Shinozaki spat. "What!"
The blonde jumped at her sudden outburst. "Well, what?"
She glared at him though her swollen and puffy eyes. "You just aren't going to say anything?"
He awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "What should I say? We all get those kinds of nightmares… its… normal?"
She knew it. Of course he wouldn't be much help. The person in question was Kishinuma, what did she expect.
"When someone pours out their feelings, the correct response is to show even an ounce of sympathy." Kishinuma ran his fingers through his messy blonde hair, angrily sucking on his teeth.
"Are you serious Shinozaki? I let you come over here at four in the morning and let you cry on me for over an hour and you don't think that's sympathetic?" I did it again she thought. She lashed out someone trying to help her because she didn't want to face reality. "I care about you so much it hurts! I want to take these feelings of pain away from you, but you won't let me!" they both blushed, allowing a comforting silence to befall the apartment.
He glanced back at her, looking at her hallow and sunken eyes. "You have dark circles."
She glared him. "You think I don't know that! Seriously, don't tell a girl she looks bad. You really are hopeless…" Kishinuma heaved as he got up from the couch and disappeared out of the room.
He returned with a worn baby blue blanket and small white pillow. He dropped them on the couch next to her. "I think you should sleep"hhhhhhhheowqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeJJJJJJJJHUIIRE
All Shinozaki could do was look dumbfounded. "Are you serious?" he folded his arms, still staring at her. "Are you crazy? If I go back to sleep, I will only end up dreaming of even more horrible things!" she exclaimed.
He sighed "Well I just think you should, you look tired and staying wide awake thinking about it isn't doing you any good." Kishinuma whispered calmly as she didn't need any discouragement from him.
She scowled, had he not listened to her? Don't comment on a girl's appearance. Her face softened, her eyes glassed over with fear. "I know… but I don't want to go back." She said, just barely audible.
Kishinuma smirked. "Okay then, I'll help you sleep." Shinozaki's face reddened at the suggestive remark.