Ayumi's POV
I was about to turn around, heart pounding out of my chest. I took a deep breath. Something or someone was behind me. Once I had turned around "AGH!" I had screamed as I ran away from a blood covered child with a psychopathic look plastered on her face carrying blood-soaked scissors. Aimlessly I was trying to get away running through the corpse filled halls. I had ran so quickly I couldn't stop myself from hitting a wall… but something was different, it was almost padded…and squishy… I had looked more closely at the blood and remaining organs. It was Mayu; I had held back a scream and just went running around the corner. I then raced into the infirmary were a black mist which strangely resembled a person started to raise a hand toward me and it pressed through my body and I coughed up blood as weak as I felt. I ran for the door. It seemed to be laced with hair, I franticly tried pulling it off, but there was no use. There was no escape I was going to die a pointless and suffering death in this hell-hole like several other innocent people. I had felt so weak but then I couldn't feel the ground below me, I was falling… it had seemed like forever since I started falling but my lungs started getting tight and I couldn't move I was rather confused when I realised… I was drowning I had tried getting out or calling for help, no one came but I was pulled out by cold like hands. Once I was out it turned out to be the ghosts of Seiko, Mayu, Miss Yui and Morishige all repeating the Sachiko ever after charm and adding "We are dead because of Ayumi, we are dead because of Ayumi…" then they began to rip out my hair, tear off the tissue of my flesh and Seiko began to choke me. I strangely didn't even scream I just let them do it… I looked at all my friends' faces, pure hatred and anger in their expressions. I began to lose conscious and last thing I saw was the three ghost children laughing mechanically.
"AGH" she woke upwith a start gasping for air, taking in her surroundings. Ayumi was alone in her bedroom and burst into tears, she had felt that she needed a certain presence. It clearly wasn't her sister or parents so Ayumi grabbed my phone. She glanced at the time, 3:29 Ayumi sighed and scrolled through her contacts, then thought 'wouldn't it make sense to talk to the remaining survivors, because no one else would understand.' She had looked at Satoshi's and Naomi's numbers but didn't really feel like talking to them right now, she couldn't talk to Yuka because she was still young, and she also didn't want her to re-live all of that. Ayumi stopped at Kishinuma's number, maybe she could talk to him. After all he was there with her for the whole experience; she quickly pressed the call button. No one picked up the phone. But Ayumi wasn't going to give up that easy and pressed call again, after about a minute he picked up and said "hello, Shinozaki?" in a sleepy but concerned tone. She bit her lip and answered in a hushed voice "Yeah it's me, can we talk?" Yoshiki was shocked she wanted to talk to him, and at half three in the morning. But of course he would be there for her if she needed it. "Sure we can talk, what's up?" he asked clearly worried as he could hear her worried breathing "could I come to your place to talk?" Ayumi's asked, rather sheepishly. She could tell she was blushing; it was an awkward situation… "Okay I will meet you outside Kisaragi and we can walk from there" he answered and hung up. Ayumi got up put a hoodie over her pink pyjamas and grabbed her slippers and sneaked outside of her room across the hallway towards the front door. Carefully placing her hand on the nob she twisted it until it clicked and opened it looking behind her, good nobody's there. She slid out the door and closed it running for Kisaragi academy.
"Ugh, where is she?" Yoshiki asked himself for the fifth time as he was standing outside the gates of Kisaragi academy in shorts and a t-shirt (which he always slept in) it was cold as it was November so it was rather dark.
"KISHINUMA!" called Ayumi who was racing towards the gate; once she had reached him she started sobbing quietly into his shirt
"Hey Ayumi, don't cry, it's okay, everything's going to be okay." He whispered into her ear as he hugged her tightly until she regained composure and stopped crying.
"Sorry, Kishinuma I got tears all over you." She sniffed as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
He at first thought it was a little weird that she just acted like it was normal for her to cry into his shirt, but he didn't mind as it must have comforted her as she looked a little more relaxed.
"No, don't worry about it. Hey let's go to my place so we can talk." He walked in pace with Ayumi until they reached the third floor of an apartment building, where he unlocked the door and allowed Ayumi to pass through to get inside.
"Thanks" she said. She looked around; it was a small apartment but not too bad since he was living on his own. There was a small hallway which led to a kitchen, bathroom and small bedroom. She was led into the biggest room in the apartment which was a living room and Yoshiki had led her to a slightly shabby couch and sat down.
"So, what's on your mind?" he asked after being sat down.
"Well…" Ayumi began to wonder 'is it worth telling him? Will he think it's stupid and it's nothing? She was exaggerating things in her head when Kishinuma spoke.
"It's okay, you can tell me. Remember I went through what you went through." He finished as Shinozaki burst into tears.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry… Yoshiki I'm so sorry…" she began saying in between sobs.
'Wait did she just call me by my first name?' Yoshiki thought.
He blushed for a few seconds and pushed that thought aside so that he could comfort her; he pulled her into a hug and remained there until she started to calm down.
"Are you okay?" he said softly into her ear.
"YOU IDIOT! Of course I'm not okay! "She said pushing herself away from Yoshiki." I was crying my eyes out a second ago. Gosh you really are hopeless." Ayumi finished
"Umm… Well I just was asking, anyway what were you crying about?" Kishinuma said before Ayumi could say anymore insults to him.
Fear flickered across Ayumi's eyes, and he'd noticed. But he didn't want to back down because it was bothering her, and he wanted to help her.
"Okay." She took a deep breath and began to explain all the nightmares she had had and watched in amazement; that Yoshiki had clung onto every word she had said.
"Wow, that's a lot to take in." he said after about an hour of her explaining how she felt and what had happened in her dream.
"Well, that's what happened okay?" Shinozaki said in an uncomforting tone. As she had thought he would start laughing or make fun of her.
"Hey, what's with the tone?" he said a little hurt. "I thought you wanted me to hear it."
"But… I thought…" she spoke aloud quietly as she had expected torment from him. "I thought… you were going to start laughing or make fun of me." She finished
Yoshiki was shocked. Why would he make fun of or laugh at Ayumi, or anything that happened because of Heavenly host. "Why would I do that, we all get nightmares about that hell hole. To be honest I can hardly remember the last time I had a decent night's sleep."
Ayumi felt embarrassed. She looked more closely at Yoshiki's eyes; they had huge dark circles beneath them which looked awful.
A few moments in silence Kishinuma finally said "Umm… it's about 4:30 I think you should go to sleep..."After having watched her practically fall in and out of almost sleeping for the last half hour.
"Are you crazy if I go to sleep, I will only end up dreaming even more horrible things!" she exclaimed.
"Well I just think you should, you look tired and staying wide awake thinking about it isn't doing you any good." Yoshiki whispered calmly as she didn't need any discouragement.
"I know but I don't want to go back." She said just barely audible.
"Okay then, I'll help you sleep." Kishinuma said
