Alright, so here's the deal. I haven't uploaded anything to in a long time, mainly because the last time I did I was 14, terrible at writing and tried to tackle a very popular fandom. Needless to say, the amount of backlash I got was enough for me to be like "Yeah, no, that's not happening again".
However...I decided to try again. I'm a bit older now and I think I can handle it. I figure there's not a lot of stories for this particular series, so I'd like to contribute.
Keep in mind I don't have a beta at this point, so whatever errors there are, I apologise. I'm not sure how often I'm going to update this, but for the moment, I'm quite happy to keep going with it. I have a basic idea in my mind for where I want it to go, so there's that I guess.
None the less, I'll let you get on with the story.
I really don't think I need to do a disclaimer, do I? It should be quite clear I don't in fact own Corpse Party, because in the circumstances that I did, I would currently be working on a sequel where this was happening.
Bodies. So many bodies.
Lined up along a dirty, ruined hallway.
Ayumi counted herself lucky that there was no gaps in the floorboards like there usually was, because she was far to preoccupied, unable to look away at the masses of remains.
Bleach white skeletons made way for decaying bodies. She'd seen them all before; remembered them in excruciating detail. The name tags, the messages written in blood, etched onto floorboard, carefully scribed painstakingly with frostbitten fingers. Ayumi could remember them all by name, if she tried. She was sure she could.
Every fleck of blood. Every scent. Look of terror or hopelessness that was still etched onto whichever body still had skin.
Eventually they made way, piling upwards. The staircase to the third floor.
On a throne made of carcasses and sided by a large, softly grunting man. Black hair. Red dress, and darkened grey skin.
Despite her size, stature and the obvious fact she was a child, there was an undeniable air of power.
She owned this place. This child...this was her dominion.
"Sa...chi...ko..." The words were hardly heard underneath the fitful buzzing of dozens of flies. Landing on Ayumi's face, getting tangled in her pigtails. They seemed to swarm around her eyes and mouth, but she couldn't move to brush them away. Blinking, breathing, everything was out of her control. Crawling everywhere, multiplying. It made her feel so sick, and yet all she could do was stand there and stay still. She had no control.
But this was Heavenly Host. Ayumi never had any control here.
A giggle, and a harsh grin from underneath a veil of shiny black hair. The buzzing continued, getting louder and louder, the disgusting flying insects now thick in the air like mist.
There was a childish giggle, and legs kicked up from underneath the blood red dress.
"A-yu-mi~..."
The breath that Ayumi pulled in forced her to shoot upwards from her spot at the desk, the back of her head colliding painfully with-
"O-ow! Fuck, Shinozaki, that hurt!"
Still reeling, the dark-haired girl could only turn and stare at the blonde haired boy, hands covering his face as he continued to swear.
The classroom...she was at school. Light pooled over her from the window, warming her shoulders and face. Nothing was ruined or dirty. Just simple, economical desks and chairs.
"Kishinuma..." her voice came out soft and airy, still feeling far too witless at this point. Ayumi watched her friend fidget around, entranced as his white-blonde hair glowed brightly in the sunlight.
She couldn't pull her eyes away. Not until another colour caught her eye.
Crimson. Dripping down from between his fingers.
"Kishinuma! You're bleeding!" Ayumi jumped up immediately after that, shoving her chair back and her desk forward and she almost jumped over to her friend.
'I must have broken his nose...damnit!'
"We have to get you to the infirmary..." Kishinuma looked up at her with a defiant look (I don't need to go), which she countered with a much harsher one (Oh yes you do!).
Blood started to drip onto the floor, landing beside her shoe with a small pit pat. A hand dove into her pocket, and she yanked out the handkerchief she always kept there. She was somewhat forceful when pulling the blonde's hands away, but was contrastingly gentle when pressing the folded up cloth to his nose. He attempted to tilt his head back, but Ayumi stopped him.
"No, that'll only make the blood go down your throat. Keep your head down, I've got you."
Kishinuma grumbled something, but feeling the warm grasp of Shinozaki's hand wrapped around his wrist, he remained silent. He allowed himself to be guided by Ayumi, until he was pushed lightly through a door and into the startling white room which he knew to be the infirmary.
It was hard to hear was Ayumi was saying while his head was pounding so much, but by the seems of it the nurse was out, so she was left to fix him up.
Another handful of tissues was slipped under his hands, while the handkerchief was eased out.
Kishinuma wanted to apologise – he'd dirtied it after all, even if she was the one that did it in the first place. But Ayumi didn't seem bothered – in a trance, she moved towards the sink in the corner and carefully wringing it out. She watched the swirling red go down the drain, mind going blank at the sight.
"Ayumi?" Kishinuma's voice sounded muffled against the soft tissues – he repeated her name again, pulling the now soaked wads away. Coming back to her senses, Ayumi turned around, giving the cloth one last rinse out before laying it on the edge of the sink.
"Sorry, here, I'll get you more tissues..."
Another handful of tissues was handed over – Ayumi tried her best not to dwell on the fact that Kishinuma's finger tips brushed against her, a generous amount of blood coating them.
She flinched at the contact – it was the blood, not Kishinuma.
The fact she told herself that made her lip quirk oddly. Why did she need to tell herself that?
Regardless, even if the boy noticed her slight jerking away from him (which he did), there was no comment made on it. He just watched her with careful eyes, following her slight form as she moved around the office, gathering and filling up a small plastic tub with water, and grabbing some towels from a cupboard.
The sound of a chair being dragged against the ground was similar enough to a shriek that it made the both of them jump. Ayumi, coughing to disguise the pathetic whimper she'd given, lifted the chair up properly.
Silence. Utter, blank silence. Even if the world was moving outside of this room, inside, it wasn't.
"Here...let me have a look." Ayumi brushed back some of Yoshiki's hair, so she was able to see his face a bit clearer. All the moving and fidgeting had caused blood to be smeared all up his cheeks. She swallowed hard, but progressed onwards. Small, ice-cold fingers lightly inspected Yoshiki's face, making him flush against the contact.
'Shinozaki is so close...' He couldn't help but think. His heart races, and he hoped to god that she couldn't tell. Even as she pressed against the sensitive bridge of his nose, he couldn't say anything.
With a guilty look in her eyes, she pulled away. There was a slight smile - "It's not broken, I'm pretty sure. I just bumped it really hard."
So her diagnosis was a good one. Kishinuma was pleased, but still watched her with a sly smile. Her own faltered, eyes becoming downcast.
"I'm...really sorry about this." She added. Ayumi knew she shouldn't have fallen asleep. But she just wanted ten minutes – class had been dismissed early, so she figured she could get away with that.
Yoshiki pulled the tissues away once more, giving a small, experimental sniff.
Careful eyes watched him, before giving a slight nod. "I think it's stopped bleeding for now."
"S-Shinozaki..." Yoshiki was taken back as he watched Ayumi wet a towel and wring it out, then move in quite close to his face.
"Sorry if this is uncomfortable for you..." She apologised. It surprised both of them how humble she was, but none the less. "I just...I was going to clean you up a bit. I suppose you don't want to be going to lunch with all this blood on your face, right?"
"A-ah. Yes, I suppose so..." He agreed, though hesitant. A slight pink flush was building on his cheeks. He'd blame it on the blood nose, probably.
Time went by slowly as Ayumi carefully wiped at Kishinuma's face. Why was she doing this for him? Surely, standing in front of the sink and mirror he'd be able to do it himself.
'I...still feel like I owe him...' was the sad thought.
It was true. It'd been almost two weeks since they'd come back from...that place. Satoshi, Naomi, Yuka, Kishinuma and herself. Her first though was that it was a dream – she'd fallen and hit her head whilst cleaning up after the Cultural Festival.
But no. No it definitely wasn't a dream. Her cuts and scrapes could have been explained by the tripping and falling, but not those belonging to everyone else.
That, and there was the undeniable fact that half of them were gone. Ms Yui...Morishige...Mayu...Seiko...
Nobody said anything as they sat on the classroom floor. Too tired, too ashamed at the overwhelming happiness they felt, the relief...they'd made it home. They were alive.
Ayumi couldn't even managed an argument when she arrived home.
It had seemed that any time they'd spent in that place meant nothing here. It was like they'd never been gone.
Her parents asked her where she'd been. If she knew what time it was.
It was 8pm. She was well aware. All she could manage was a small mumble about cleaning up after the cultural festival and how she was sorry. Ayumi – usually so eager to not do wrong, made no excuse. Her parents noticed, and somehow, didn't quite have the heart to punish her in that instance.
It wasn't until she was up the stairs and face to face with her beloved sister Hinoe that she broke down into tears.
Since then, Ayumi had been...existing. Much to her own surprise, it had barely bothered her that Satoshi - her beloved Mochida – had begun dating Naomi.
Naomi had apologised to her – they'd been love rivals, of course, but Ayumi wasn't going to hold it against her.
Despite what had happened, Naomi decided that life wasn't something to be taken for granted. So she'd gathered the courage and asked Satoshi out. The poor boy had been clueless about her affections all this time, but had accepted none the less. They'd been dating all this time, barely apart in fact.
Ayumi was bothered – but only slightly. To her, it was just another thing stacked up against her.
Maybe it was because her sense of priorities had matured. Her health was declining, her grades were slipping...somehow, having two of her good friends find happiness in each other wasn't something she felt like condemning or arguing.
She would have liked if they didn't decide to go on their own after that. It really only left Kishinuma and herself. Really, she could have just stopped talking to him – let the distance between the two of them grow enough where she'd slowly forget him and everything else that occurred. But that didn't happen.
Somehow, the two of them always seemed to find each other. Ayumi found herself growing anxious at almost anything now, and when that happened – the moment her heart started beating faster and faster, and when her breath caught in her throat, the only concern on her mind was finding him.
Find Yoshiki Kishinuma. He will keep you safe. You need him.
Moments after those thoughts would hit her, her legs would move, spiriting her away to the blonde haired delinquent that had protected her.
And he had. He'd been there the whole time, making sure she was safe. He never abandoned her. Time and time again, he'd saved her. Could she say the same for Satoshi? No. Not really.
It was only so long after that until finding Kishinuma became easier and easier, because he never stayed that far away from her.
Now, the two of them were almost inseparable.
"Shinozaki?"
A gentle hand grasped her wrist as steely blue eyes stared at her.
She responded with a small 'hm?', which made the blonde boy before her sigh.
"You spaced out, Shinozaki. I think my face is clean now."
His voice was teasing, but she could quiet easily see he was relieved.
"Oh...Sorry..."
Her voice was still small and soft. He never let go of her wrist, instead held onto it with a firm but gentle hand.
"Shinozaki...Ayumi." Yoshiki eyes were filled with worry as he said her name. "What's wrong?"
The laugh she let out in response was surprisingly bitter – it make Kishinuma wince. Ayumi shook her head, then gently pulled her wrist free from his grasp.
"It's nothing." She said, shaking her head. "I'm just...tired, you know? Mid-terms are coming up, and it's been hard getting enough sleep while I've got so much study to do."
Saying that she hadn't been getting enough sleep was stating the obvious, and that was hardly the worst of it.
Ayumi Shinozaki was always a small girl – but how much smaller she looked now compared to before the incident nearly broke Kishinuma's heart.
There was a clear attempt to disguise the black bags that linger underneath her eyes with make-up, and while it may have worked on anyone else, Yoshiki saw right through it. He'd spent long hours thinking about and admiring those eyes – so keen and clear. It'd be an insult if he didn't see it right away.
Not only that, but he'd heard the girls in the hallways. Being the Class Representative, everyone knew Shinozaki, whether they hated, loved or simply tolerated her.
He'd barely been paying attention when he'd passed them, but after hearing Shinozaki's name, getting a drink at the water fountain beside the girls was the most important task he had to do all day.
"Look how thin Shinozaki is now! I'm so jealous, I wonder what she's been doing?" One of them sighed, looking over at the squat girl with dark pigtails unpacking her bag in front of a locker. "It must be a diet, I wonder if I can get her to spill-"
Kishinuma didn't hear much else after that, because he'd been too busy examining Ayumi himself.
They were right, of course. The poor girl looked sick and tiny. Now he had the chance to get a good look at her, it was even more true.
She looked so weak and worn that he was sure Satoshi's sister Yuka could best her in a fight.
Not enough food, not enough sleep. Ayumi Shinozaki was wasting away in front of him, and that was only on the surface.
Kishinuma had thought that once they'd returned and he's gotten her out safe that everything would be ok.
But was it really?
The beaten, hopeless look in her eyes said otherwise.
"Shino-"
"Oh my god is that the time?!"
That exclamation was probably the most normal thing he'd seen her do for weeks.
"Yeah, school's over now..." He stated quite calmly. Ayumi jumped up, and despite how much she tried to combat it, the swaying was obvious. Yoshiki stretched out a hand, prepared to reach for her if she fell, but somehow Ayumi managed to shake it off.
"But I just...I closed my eyes for a moment before going to lunch...Did I sleep for that long? Oh god, the classes I've missed out on, why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Her voice was worn, though still managed to be accusing. Kishinuma shrugged, looking away from her.
"Y-you...you looked like you could use the sleep, Shinozaki. I went look for you at the start of lunch when you didn't show up outside your locker." his eyes met hers again, and the look he was giving her was...pitiful.
"I knew you had a free period after lunch, then PE after that. You didn't miss out much, and that classroom was free for the rest of the day anyway."
Ayumi was going to snap at him, defend herself somehow but... she couldn't bring herself to. She just gave the blonde boy a curious look.
"You...you know my class schedule that well?"
It was hardly an accusing question. Just plain curiosity. Kishinuma wished he hadn't said that.
"Ah..." he shifted under her gaze. She looked so innocent, asking him that. "You talk about your classes a lot. I guess it kind of sunk in over time."
'It's a coincidence that I only know your classes and never bothered to learn Satoshi's though...'
Blinking a few times, her mouth opened with a silent 'oh'. She nodded slightly, but there was a creeping blush making it's way up her neck.
Kishinuma cared about her enough to do that? Brow furrowing, she stopped.
What did he do exactly? Ayumi supposed it wasn't really about what he did, but just...the fact that he noticed. She sighed, giving the boy a long, half lidded gaze.
"You're a silly boy, Yoshiki Kishinuma." Ayumi stated airily, before taking away the abandoned plastic tub and towels.
"E-eh?" Kishinuma was taken back. He let out a laugh, however, and smirked at Ayumi's turned back.
"Not as silly as you, Ayumi..."
She didn't hear him though – he was glad about that.
After she'd finished cleaning up, Ayumi moved over to the door and stood there, waiting for Kishinuma expectantly.
"C'mon, I'll walk home with you." She offered, holding the door open so he could walk out of it.
"It's the least I can do after nearly breaking your nose..."
Yoshiki nodded – he couldn't come up with a single reason why he should fight it, so he decided not to. The two of them walked out of the infirmary, then school, side by side.
A/N: Well, there it is. I'll see about getting another chapter uploaded soon. I'm not sure about how lengthy it'll end up being though. That tends to be an issue with me, actually. Nevermind, I suppose. Hope you have a good day, and I'll see you later.
