Author's Note:

"Normal Dialogue"

Character's Thoughts

This is merely for emphasis

I'm too lazy to write out the Heavenly host incident so I'll just call it "The Incident". I'll probably start to call it the incident in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or Corpse Party.

Enjoy! :D

Chapter 1 – Apartment

"Why?! Why did you make us use that charm?!" Seiko shouted in the black abyss. Her cheeks were stained from tears and a noose was tied around her neck.

"We died! We died because of YOU!" Ms Yui screamed while pointing a shaking finger at Ayumi. Her arm and legs were twisted up in weird angles.

"It's all YOUR fault!" Mayu cried. Her intesines dangling from her torn abdomen.

"NO! NO! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Ayumi whimpered while shaking her head. She pulled her hair. Her head was in so much pain.

They wouldn't stop. They kept on chanting,

"...because of you.."

"...all your fault..."

"...you killed us..."

"No, stop. Please stop" Ayumi begged.

"NOOOOO!" Ayumi woke up in cold sweat. She looked her surroundings. She was in her room. It was just a dream. Just a dream. But her cheeks were wet from crying. She rolled over and laid on her side, still sobbing. She curled into a ball and started whispering to herself, "It's all my fault. I killed them.".

She shook from all her sobbing and cried herself to sleep.

"Beep. Beep. Beep." Ayumi opened her eyes and sluggishly stretched out her arm to switch off her alarm.

She sat up on the edge of her bed and looked around her room. It was a mess. Something that was very much not like her. Dirty clothes were strewn everywhere. There were papers and books on her study table, the floor, her nightstand and even her bed. She shook her head and got up while rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes. Ayumi entered her bathroom and started stripping off her pyjamas. She threw them on her bedroom floor and closed the bathroom door.

Ayumi sighed as she studied herself in the mirror while brushing her teeth. She doesn't only feel terrible, but she looks terrible too. Her eyes were swollen from last night's crying and the bags under them were huge. It has been a month since the incident at Heavenly Host Elementary School and Ayumi has been getting nightmares ever since. She barely got any sleep.

After her morning bath, Ayumi got ready for school. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs. "Toast for breakfast!" Hinoe chirped cheerily at Ayumi.

Ayumi smiled weakly at her and said, "No thanks, I'm not that hungry.". With that, she trudged out the door and made her way to school.

The day went by as usual. The teacher babbled on about their lessons, the students talked amongst themselves and Ayumi stared into space, not really paying attention. During lunch break, she would just sit in the classroom and eat her bento alone. Naomi and Satoshi didn't really spend time with her after "The Incident". They were mostly together so Ayumi would avoid them. With all that has happened, Ayumi kept a distance from them because her crush on Satoshi hasn't disappeared and she really didn't want to see them making kissy faces at each other. Ugh. Occasionally, Yoshiki would join her but that was only when he actually came to school. Which, he had been missing a lot lately. Who could blame him though? This school is a constant reminder of "The Incident". Ayumi sighed as she broke her chopsticks apart. Hmmm... Kishinuma must not be in school today. She shrugged and ate silently.

"Riii...iiing!" The school bell rang, marking the end of the the day. Finally. Ayumi started packing her bag slowly and got up to leave.

"Shinozaki-san, stay back for a moment please." Mr Yamada called. What now? Ayumi walked to the teacher's desk.

After all the students cleared out, Mr Yamada started speaking, "Shinozaki-san, I've noticed that your grades have been slipping lately. Is something the matter?".

Ayumi looked down and started shaking her head in denial.

Mr Yamada raised his eyebrow in suspicion but decided to let it slide. They will only talk when they're ready to. He doesn't want to force his students to talk about their problems.

"Very well. But, if you need to talk to someone, remember that teachers are always here to help."

Ayumi nodded in response and walked out the classroom.

Ayumi looked up at the sky. Today is actually a beautiful day. She closed her eyes and felt a breeze blow against her slightly sweaty skin.

"Catch me if you can! Hehehe."

Ayumi turned to the direction of the voice and saw a couple of children playing tag in the park. She smiled. It has been such a long time since she went to the park. She walked towards a bench in the park, set her bag down on the floor beside her and sat down. Ayumi's mind started to drift towards "The Incident", about how all the deaths was her fault, about how much it sucked that Satoshi ended up with Naomi, about how her grades were terrible and how disappointed her parents must be with her. She was so tired. So tired of everything. Both physically and mentally tired. So tired, that she just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. She closed her eyes to prevent herself from crying in public.

"Yo." A familiar voice interupted her thoughts.

Ayumi turned to the voice to see Yoshiki standing in front of her. He was wearing a maroon hoody and black skinny jeans with his guitar bag slung on one of his shoulders.

"Hey..." She responded in a soft voice.

He placed his guitar beside the bench and sat down beside her. "So, how was school today?".

"If you want to find out, why not actually go to school?"

He chuckled and raised his hands in defence. "Okay, you got me, I actually don't care and I don't want to know hahahah"

She smiled.

That's the smile i know and love.

His face became serious. "What I want to know is, how are you?".

She blushed at the intensity of his eyes. They looked so concerned. "M-me?".

"Yeah, you look like shit."

She punched his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"That's not a nice thing to say to a girl!"

"But it's true!" he shrugged.

She punched his arm again.

"Ow! Okay okay I was joking!"

She pouted and looked away.

So cute hehe... "So, what's up?".

She sighed. "I know I look horrible. Frankly, I feel horrible too."

He frowned in concern. "Why?".

"Why? A lot of things. My results, my crush and all that poop."

Poop? He smirked. So cute.

"Well, I can't do anything about Satoshi..." his heart ached, "but...you wanna hang out at my house?"

"And do what?" She asked, raising her brow.

He shrugged. "Anything you like. Hmmm... let's see... you like studying. So, let's study together!"

"You. Study?" She raised her brow again.

"Don't look at me like that!" I'd study for you...

They walked side by side to his house just enjoying each other's presence.

"Well, home sweet home. Welcome to my humble abode." He said while holding the door open for her.

She smiled at him in thanks and went inside. Hmmm.. It isn't as messy as I thought it would be. It really wasn't that bad. Maybe there were a few pieces of papers for songs here and there. And one or two articles of clothing on the floor. But other than that, nothing. Her room was in a much worse state than his apartment. Definitely. Note to self: Clean your room!

"Make yourself at home. I'm gonna wash up and change into something more comfortable okay?"

She nodded. He went inside his room and closed the door. Ayumi started to look around. His apartment wasn't that big or small. It had 3 main rooms: the living room, a kitchen and his room. Plus 2 toilets. One attached to the kitchen and the other, she guessed judging from the sound of water running, in his room. Once you go into the apartment, you'd be in the living room where there was a couch, a coffee table and a television set with a PS4 attached to it on the floor. Behind the couch, is a dining table with 4 chairs. Beside the dining table was the entrance to the kitchen. His room was on the other side of the living room, opposite the entrance of the apartment. His walls were bare. Other than windows near the tv and in the kitchen, and a clock beside his bedroom door, there wasn't anything else. There were no family photos or things like that. I guess it's understandable. I mean, his parents disowned him, I guess he'd rather not be reminded of them. After looking around, Ayumi sat down on the couch and waited for him. A while later, he came out of his bedroom while drying his wet hair. He wore a plain white crew neck cut shirt with black shorts. Ayumi blushed when she saw him. The white shirt complemented his lean and fit body. Was he always this hot? She shook her head to rid of her thoughts.

"You okay?" He stopped drying his hair and looked at her, worried.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine. Come on, let's start studying."

"Okay."

They both walked over to the dining table and started taking out their books. 15 minutes into the study session, Yoshiki started clicking his pen frantically. Annoyed by the clicking, Ayumi scrunched up her face, "Will you stop that?".

"Sorry, I'm stuck."

"Ouh. Here, let me see if I can help." She offered.

They continued like that for 3 hours. With Yoshiki getting stuck every so often and Ayumi always guiding him.

"Okay that's it. I'm gonna stop." He said, slamming his book into a close.

"Well, that was the longest I've ever studied. Ever. I think I'm good for like, the next 6 months." He chuckled. He turned to her when there was no response.

She was still writing furiously with her tongue stuck out one corner of her mouth. How cute hehe. He grinned. Obviously, she didn't hear what he said. Stealthily, he placed is hands on her writing pad and snatched it from her.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" She screamed while trying to get her writing pad back. But, he was too fast and dodged her attempt. He then raised it over her head, out of her reach while she tried jumping up and down, a futile attempt.

"Give – it – back – to – me." She said in between jumps.

"No. Come oooon, let's rest pleeeeaaaaseeee?"

"Hmph. Fine." She stopped jumping and crossed her arms across her chest. He smirked. She pouted and turned away from him. Ayumi walked towards the couch and sat down.

He grinned. Seriously, how adorable can she get? He placed her writing pad on the table and went to set up the PS4. He passed her a controller and plopped down next to her.

"So... what are we palying?" She acquired.

"Call Of Duty: Black Ops. It's a shooting game. It's really cool and-"

"I know what it is." She interupted and raised her brow as if challenging him.

"Y-you play?"

"Of course I do. And I'm good at it too." She grinned.

How arrogant. Hmph. She can't be that good. "Fine, let's play online then.".

"Fine by me" She shrugged. He got up and got 2 headsets. He passed her a pair.

"Let the games begin." She smirked.

"Shinozaki-san, you're awesome"

"Yeah, and I bet you're pretty too Shinozaki-san."

Compliments about Ayumi just kept on repeating. Yoshiki, who was in the same team, heard every word and was annoyed and frankly, jealous. How dare these geeks even talk to her?! She's way out of their league. Fuckin' losers.

After leading the team into victory again, Ayumi stopped the game. Yoshiki confused, turned to her and looked at her questioningly.

"Are you okay? You seemed really angry just now." She looked at him, worry evident in her eyes.

She's worried about me? He felt a warm fuzzy feeling at the pit of his stomach and the warmth spread throughout his body. He blushed and managed to nod, still gazing into her beautiful blue eyes. They stayed like that for a few seconds and turned away blushing after realising what they were doing.

"L-let's play another game." He got up and walked towards the PS4.

"Y-yeah."

They decided to play a less... Let's just say a game without other players complimenting Ayumi, Super Smash Bros.

"So... What were you upset about earlier?" He asked as he walked back towards the couch.

"Ummm..." She looked away. Not sure if she wanted to talk about it.

"Come on, you'll feel better if you talk about it." He nudged her arm.

She faced him. Her expression turned serious and held a hint of... Guilt? Anguish?

"I-I've been having bad dreams lately. Really bad dreams." She looked up at him.

"A-and, th-they're a-about th-them. I-it's a-all m-my fault." Her voice broke and her eyes started to well up with tears.

"I killed them. I killed them." She broke down and started to cry.

He panicked at the sight of her crying, then got angry.

"No."

"Wh-what?" She looked up, tears still flowing from her eyes.

"No." He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her in the eye.

He raised his voice. "You listen to me and you listen to me well Shinozaki. It is NOT your fault, it never was and it never will be. You didn't know about that fucked up charm. Naho made sure she posted the wrong thing online. Hell, if anything, it was HER fault! Not yours! Do you understand me?!"

She looked down and started crying again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you." He said in a soft voice and pulled her into a hug.

She cried and cried into his chest while he rubbed her back and whispered comforting words to her.

"It's okay. It's gonna be fine. It's alright."

They stayed like that, in embrace for a few minutes, till Ayumi calmed down.

"I-I'm s-sorry. I-I g-got your sh-shirt w-wet." She said in between sniffs while lightly placing her hands on his wet chest.

His skin burned at her touch. He blushed.

"Baka. Don't apologise for something as stupid as that." He said as he held her wrists loosely, rooting them into place. She looked up, shocked by his gesture and locked into his gaze. As if hypnotised, they subconciously inched forward, closer and close-

"Bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz" They both looked away blushing. Ayumi walked towards her vibrating phone.

"Hello? Mmhmm. Okay. Alright. Okay bye."

He looked at her expectantly.

"I have to go home."

He nodded in understanding as she started to pack away her things.

"Thank you Kishinuma-kun. I had fun today." She smiled at him, standing outside his apartment.

"No problem." He grinned as he leaned on the doorway.

"You should just come here and study on days when I don't have work. That way, you can teach me and you can get your grades back up. I mean, obviously you aren't concentrating at home." He smirked.

She smiled at his tease. "Sure. You'll just have to tell me when you're not working."

He was surprised. He honestly didn't expect her to accept his offer. "R-really?"

"Mmhm." She nodded.

"Well, I have to go now. Bye." She waved.

"Bye."

He watched her walk away until she was out of sight. He closed the door.

"YES!" He was overjoyed.

That night, both laid in their own bed and replayed the events of that day. It was the first night Ayumi did not have nightmares and for the first time since "The Incident", Yoshiki wanted to go to school the next day.