Disclaimer: I don't own Nightmare Inspector or any characters therein; I also don't own the song used.
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On The Shore
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All of your silence
Rings like a storm of bells
It's been too long
;
The boy called Chitose opens his eyes.
A serene pink-orange sky stares back at him.
The earthquake must have ended, he figures, sitting up slowly. He looks around and freezes, confused. He rubs his eyes. His surroundings remain the same.
This isn't… He can't even finish the thought, because this place looks like nowhere he's ever been. And it certainly doesn't look like the scene of a nightmarish natural disaster. There are no crumbled wrecks of buildings, no bodies strewn about, no clouds of dust scraping at his throat.
Instead he is looking at a quiet beach, one that stretches on for as far as he can see. His hands are clenching fistfuls of soft sand; the setting sun sends ribbons of light to dapple across the glittering ocean, which is pushing small waves almost lazily onto the shore.
Twisting to look behind himself, the boy sees nothing but a continual expanse of sand and water. To his left is an ongoing desert scattered with seashells; to his right a seemingly endless blue sea that runs right into the horizon.
Where am I? he wonders, feeling slightly dazed. Almost without realizing it, he moves to stand. It's a strange thing to do-he can't remember the last time he stood up on his own-but in a bizarre twist of fate, it works. He finds himself standing upright with no weakness or pain, and looks down at his legs in awe.
Looking up once more, he considers the possibility that this might be a dream. But he's been creating his own dreams ever since being damned to existence with that-that family-and this one doesn't seem like anything he's previously imagined.
Chitose blinks. Squints hard, then blinks again.
Another mystery: there's somebody else here.
Deciding there is obviously nothing to lose, he walks forward calmly to meet the stranger. As he nears the spot where she is sitting, he notices something that makes him stop dead in his tracks. The older girl is very, very familiar.
"O-Onee-san?" he blurts, perplexed.
Sachi Kurosu looks his way with a warm smile. "Hello, little brother. I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon." There's a trace of sadness in her voice. "Although, considering the way things were…maybe this is for the best."
It takes a long time for her words to compute in his confused and tired brain. "I don't understand," he finally manages.
She smiles again and touches the spot next to her. He sits down absentmindedly.
"You're not among the living anymore," she says without preamble.
The news doesn't shake him as much as he feels it should; in fact, it's positively easy to accept. "That explains a lot. After all, I knew you were.." He swallows. "Dead."
Sachi nods. "Yes. One of the girls who lived in that house killed me when I came looking for you. After she put me through precisely what you had been going through." She bites her lip. "I had no idea. I'd imagined all sorts of things when you disappeared, but I could never have thought…"
He puts a hand on her shoulder. Neither of them say anything for a while.
"So this is the afterlife?" he questions, breaking the silence.
"Yes-for you," she replies. "And for me. I've been waiting for you to join me here."
He hesitates before bringing up his next query. "This-this emptiness, is it..normal?"
She frowns, forehead creasing delicately. "What do you mean?"
"It's like…" He struggles to explain. "It feels like a part of me is missing. Like-" But he breaks off and suddenly leans forward, gasping for breath, gripping handfuls of sand as if trying to squeeze the life out of them.
The pain ends quickly, and he turns, panting, to his sister.
"It looks like your body is still being used for something," she murmurs. "And that 'something' requires using a piece of your soul as well. The pain you felt was the splitting of your soul."
"But why?" he asks. "Why would anyone want that broken shell? Even if it wasn't destroyed before, it would be after the earthquake."
"True," she agrees. "Someone must be desperate."
The words are enigmatic, but his request for clarification dies as she leans over and gives him a hug.
"Don't worry," she whispers. "You'll get it back. I promise."
He wants to know how she knows; he wants to know more. But Sachi rests her head on his shoulder and an unusually energetic wave stretches forward to break over their feet. The sun warms his skin and the sky seems to be smiling.
And Chitose decides that his curiosity can wait.
;
Did you get to face the crowd?
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End
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