Author's note: I'm not even really sure what this is. I wrote it like a year ago, the first few chapters that is ... Let me know if I should continue it.

...

White clouds and a blue sky.

Where am I?

Does it matter?

Why am I here?

Why do you care?

Didn't… I?

You did.

So is this?

Heaven?

Probably not.

No such place exists after all.

Heaven, that is.

Sitting up, I felt a cool breeze on my back. The feeling of sweat suddenly being cooled sent a shiver down my spine. I must have been laying down for a while if I had been able to sweat that much.

A rooftop?

The flat surface, the railing, the AC hum in the background… The fact that I can see the sky from here… Yep, looks like a rooftop to me.

How in the hell did I get up here?

Why does it matter? Just get the fuck outta here, this is giving me the creeps.

Standing up, I'm immediately met with a tense tightening sensation in my back. I guess that's what you get when you sleep on a cement surface… even if you didn't purposely choose to sleep on one.

Now, where's the exit?

Over there, the thing that looks like a small building with a door on it.

Heading over there, I place my hand on the doorknob and with a twist and pull the door opens.

Huh, that was easy… A Part of me imagined that the door wouldn't open and I'd be locked up here.

That would be too cliche.

…

"Heeeeeyyy!"

On my way to school, I see an annoying girl running towards me from a distance, waving her arms in the air like she's totally oblivious to the things around her. Luckily enough for me though, there seemed to be no people around.

That girl greeted me the same way yesterday now that I think about it. Oh, that girl is my childhood friend Sayori of course.

She's that type of friend that, If I met her yesterday, I'd probably find her annoying and never talk to her. But since we were more or less the exact same as children, our friendship was able to blossom and somehow stay unwilted to this day.

Soon enough the flighty girl finally catches up, as she doubles over to catch her breath.

"Good… morning," She was able to spew between gasps.

"Put your hands behind your head, it helps air go through your lungs easier," I offer some useless information that I have on me for some reason.

She straightens up, crossing her hands behind her head and starts breathing.

"Slept in again?" I ask.

A simple nod in reply.

"Geez, Sayori what am I going to do with you?"

She let out a couple of chuckles. Looks like she managed to catch most of her breath. After that, things got quiet and we walked next to each other for a few minutes.

"Say… Riku…"

"What's up?" I question.

"Is it just me or… is there like… no one around right now."

She spoke the words that I had been thinking all morning. Of course, as someone who usually walked behind large groups of people, this morning there was a distinct… lack of people to walk behind.

"Yeah, to be honest, this morning I almost felt my clock was wrong and I had slept in or something. But here you are around the same time so I guess we're fine," Sayori had really helped put my worries at rest.

"Hmmm… Is it a holiday or something today?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, not that I know of… And I didn't get any calls this morning saying that school was canceled either."

"That's so weird!" Sayori sounded frustrated, but there was almost a fakeness in her voice as if she could really care less why there's no one around. And honestly, as long as I'm not late for school, I don't care either. In fact, if we get to school and it turns out that it's canceled for some reason I'm going to be ecstatic

...

I'm in a school. Though, it's pretty different from what my school looks like. Here they have sliding doors and all the room's desks are pretty much laid out the same way. A huge contrast compared to my school where teachers basically took pride in finding new unique ways to set up desks.

The school's layout it also pretty bland too. Long corridors, lame stair sets. Nothing too pretty or unique about this place.

Well, it IS school. It can only get so interesting.

That's not completely true, my school was always really nice to look at, at the very least.

You're delusional.

The one thing that's really odd about this place though is the lack of people. I checked the clocks and it is in school hours at least, my school hours. Not only that though, I think I found the teachers lounge earlier and I didn't see one person.

Maybe it's the weekend?

Wouldn't there be some kind of sports thing or something going on? I mean, very rarely was my school completely empty.

This isn't your school though.

… Yeah, I guess that's true.

Not only that though, there's no one outside. At the top floor, I could see houses and buildings off in the distance. I didn't see one person, one car, bike, bus, nothing. Hell, I didn't even see any birds flying around.

Aw man, my head's starting to hurt.

As I brought my hand up to my forehead I stop shortly before it makes contact.

A crimson flower.

An out of body experience.

Those are the things I remember.

Is this the afterlife after all?

There's no such thing right?

Can you be so sure?

Just what in the hell is going on?

As I walked down the corridor, I made sure to check every single room. If I ran into someone I could question them about what was happening. Maybe they'd even call the police and they could help me out.

Personally, I don't care what they do. I just want to find someone else and fast.

What's wrong… You're afraid?

Afraid of what?

Don't play dumb… of being alone.

What if… this really is the afterlife.

The Afterlife… doesn't exist.

If it did… and this was it… could you imagine how lonely it'd be..? Just you… in this whole world… by yourself.

A cinderblock.

In my stomach.

I think I'm going to puke.

I need to either find a person or a bathroom fast.

With that thought in mind. I switched my room search into hyperdrive, as swung open doors one after another, not even bothering to close the door before moving onto the next one.

C'mon, c'mon.

I chanted in my head as I searched each room.

It's no good. This… must be hell… This is your hell…

No no no no no, there's no such thing as hell!

That's what you get for-

"SHUT UP!"

I yelled as I swung a classroom door open at full strength.

…

Sayori and I finally made it to school. It was really strange but there was absolutely no one waiting in front of the entrance. Usually, students would stand around and talk for a bit before heading into class but… no one is here.

"Sayori… what day is it?" Did we really both accidentally get up on a weekend or something? Or maybe it was a holiday we both forgot about… but what are the chances of that?

"Lemme check," she said as she flipped her phone open. "Hmm," She hummed as she looked. "Nope, school should be open today."

"Was today a skip day or something?" I pondered.

Sayori shook her head. "I have no idea, I don't really keep in touch with those sorts of things."

"Me neither."

"Well, we're here so we might as well go to school," Sayori said, leading the way into the front entrance.

"Fair enough," I said following her, still very uneasy about the situation.

As we entered the front entrance I noticed a familiar face leaning against the lockers. "Natsuki?" I called out.

"Huh?" Her face turned towards us, what first was a look of horror quickly turned into a face of joy and then to a face of indifference, all in the course of about 2 seconds. "O-oh, it's you two, w-what's up? "

"I was actually going to ask you. Where is everyone?" I asked.

Natsuki's face started to go pale slightly. "I- I don't know," she looked down at her shoes. "I got here fifteen or so minutes ago… I didn't see anyone."

"Not even any teachers?" Sayori asked.

Natsuki shook her head, still looking down at her shoes.

"That's so weird," honestly, I was at a loss for words.

"I did hear someone else though," Natsuki said in a whisper so hushed I could barely hear it.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who was it?"

"I didn't see them… I just heard them running frantically through the corridors… slamming each classroom door they came across."

An honest to god shiver ran up my spine. Not necessarily because of what she said, but because of how she said it. I could tell the memory terrified her.

"That sounds kinda creepy," kinda was an understatement, Sayori. "But if there's someone else here shouldn't we go find them?"

"No!" Natsuki almost shrieked. "Let's just all… go home."

"If you wanted to go home, why didn't you go yourself before we got here instead of waiting around?" I asked.

I felt Sayori elbow me in the side. Ouch, what was that for? I glared at her noticing she was looking straight at Natsuki still.

"I…" She remained looking at her feet, her toes moved around as she kicked the ground, her hands behind her back.

Oh, I see.

She was scared to walk home by herself.

"Gotcha, sorry," I apologized to Natsuki. "How about Sayori stays with you and I go look for a teacher?"

"Good idea, Riku!" Sayori exclaimed.

"That's what they pay me for," I said as I walked past the two of them.

"Riku," Natsuki stopped me. "Be careful."

"Sure."

…

A girl?

Pfft, you scared her shitless!

In the classroom sitting by the window is a beautiful girl with long purple hair. She wore a uniform so… this is a private school?

Really, that's what you're worried about?

Her eyes were opened wide as she stared me down, back against the window.

"A- A foreigner?" Though she looked terrified she spoke in a hushed tone.

That's when I noticed it.

Blood? Why?

Maybe it's that time of the month hehe.

No, don't be stupid.

The desk next to her was painted in blood. And on the floor was an object that made my blood run cold.

We're both just as equally terrified of each other now.

"W-What… were you doing with that knife?"