Brightest of Shadows Chapter 1: Yami and the paper doll

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Hey everybody! So... I started really getting into Corpse Party over the last few weeks and I just couldn't help myself from writing a story! I always notice how lonely Sachiko seems and I thought I would put a stop to that! On with the story!
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There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while walls come tumbling down
When they do I'll be right behind you
So glad we've almost made it
So sad we had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule... The world...

(Everybody Wants To Rule The World Cover by Lorde)

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"Yami!" A deep voice resonated into the dark living room, soon followed by the horrific sound of shattering glass that tore through the dense silence that had manifested throughout the house. "Yami-kun, where are you?! Get out-... Get out here and take it like a man!..."

The source of the voice soon appeared in the darkened living room, carrying a limp body on their shoulder. It was a large, extremely overweight man with dark brown hair and brown eyes, carrying a limp woman over his shoulder, while in his other hand rested a broken saki bottle. He was loudly laughing in a manic fashion while his eyes shifted around, searching the dimly lit room for any traces of his target; of his young son.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are my son... I just want to play..." He chuckled, swinging the broken saki bottleneck around menacingly, almost as if silently promising his son the wait that awaited him should he decide to reveal himself while his father was in such a belligerent state.

Unfortunately Yami would never have time to even attempt reason with the drunken man, for mere moments after the last statement, the man came upon a closet door, and with a sick smile, the man ripped open the door, revealing a young boy that appeared as if he hadn't even reached his 9th birthday, with dark brown eyes and hair of the same shade that was both spiky yet possessed a bit of length to it. It didn't take a genius to tell that the boy was petrified.

"There you are Yami-kun... Your mother and I have been searching absolutely everywhere for you..." The man chuckled, brandishing his bottle in a threatening manner, each and every moment drawing closer and closer to the boy ready to seal his doom in blood.

Yami held his hands up in front of his face in a pathetic attempt to defend himself while his father's form eclipsed the moonlight streaming from outside through the window. "No... Please daddy... No... No!... NOOO!"

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The horrible recollection of the pain that his father inflicted on him was the first sensation that 7 year old Yami Tsukino felt surging through his body, startling the young boy awake. It only took a few moments of deep breathing and head shaking for Yami to regain his boundaries, although once his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the old looking classroom he found himself in, the last thing he wanted to do was take a look around.

The entire classroom looked as if it had gone through a bombing raid, an earthquake, and a great white shark feeding frenzy all in one day.

The day had started out innocently enough for Yami and his parents, it had been his last day of school as a year 1 elementary school student, and he had been looking forward to spending his summer vacation with his loving mother and father; that is until that night, when Yami's father reached for the saki. Yami's father had always possessed quite a harsh drinking problem, but tonight was different, that night he had ingested so much of the drink that instead of becoming the tipsy but still quite lovable man that Yami had grown accustomed to he had become angry and extremely violent. He had beaten his son and wife without even a hint of remorse.

As soon as his father had lost interest and wandered off, Yami, not wanting to take any chances with further beatings, stole his mothers cell phone off of the kitchen table and made a break for it; running as fast as his little legs could possibly carry him away from the hell that he had come to know as his home.

It was after a good half hour of running that he found himself standing in front of Kisaragi Academy, the local high school that Yami would always find himself in whenever he was bored; after all, who better to hang out with than high-schoolers that couldn't resist the face of an innocent 8 year old boy. Unfortunately, a heart wrenching feeling in his chest told Yami that his days of innocence were passed, and would never be coming back.

Still determined to find help for not only himself, but his mother who was most likely receiving more beatings, Yami ran into the school, urgently scanning each and every classroom for any signs of someone who could help him. Eventually he stumbled upon a few students along with their teacher inside of a classroom, all of them holding onto a suspicious paper doll that they ripped apart into different pieces. Once that happened all hell swallowed them, and Yami into its depths, knocking him out, bringing him here.

With a small sob, Yami buried his face in his hands, letting the tears slip between the cracks in his fingers, completely unaware of where he was or of the horrible danger that he was in...

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Saying that Sachiko Shinozaki was bored was honestly quite the understatement today. It wasn't like she was ever busy per-say, but there was usually more to do than what was available today. Ryou and Yuki had decided to ignore her for the day, Tokiko wasn't ever exactly in any sort of condition to speak to anyone, and Yoshikazu was a blockhead, and even if he wasn't Sachiko wasn't going to be speaking to the son of her killer any time soon.

It was this that caused her to wander around the halls of Heavenly Host, and so far she had only found a few people to scare. The first two were high school girls, both with chocolate brown hair and yellow and blue school uniforms; although she wasn't able to take in any more of their features before they saw her and decided to run for it, screaming as they went.

Still reveling in her previous scare, Sachiko hummed a random song that she had learned from a previous 'visitor's' phone as she wandered into a classroom, never even noticing the boy that sat in the corner until a small sob alerted her to his presence. Her face twisted into a kind hearted smile as she silently hid her scissors behind her back before asking. "Um hi? Who are you?"

Yami gasped and let his vision shot up towards the source of the voice, and felt his heart stop in both apprehension and curiosity as he gazed upon the young girl that stood in front of him with a smile on her face. She was obviously a resident of the school, as her tattered red dress and extremely pale skin decreed, although even this was not about to stop him from receiving help from someone; from anyone.

"Please?... Can you help me miss?..." Yami asked, completely unaware of the instrument of death being concealed behind the back of his soon to be murderer. "Please I just need someone to help me... It's really important..."

Hearing this, Sachiko giggled softly for nothing more than effect before scanning the boy up and down with her eyes. He looked decent enough for a 7 year old boy, with a few stands of his shaggy dark brown hair falling in front of his eyes; which were shining with tears. Sachiko sighed sadly as she thought about the joy of brutally murdering this child. She honestly didn't want to murder this boy, as he seemed nice, much different from all of the others who had ever visited this cursed ground, but if she didn't kill him, then her mother would be disappointed in her, wouldn't she? Then again, this was probably the first time she'd spoken to a living being in years.

"...What's wrong? What could possibly be more important than what you're doing right here, right now?" She asked after a few tense moments of silence, deciding to entertain the nagging feeling in her soul for a few moments before she continued on her mission to please her mother. What Yami said next though, caught even Sachiko Shinozaki off guard.

"My mother is hurt... If I don't get help, then she might go to heaven before she's supposed to!... Is there anything you can do?..." Yami asked, standing up so that he and Sachiko were at eye level with each other. Hearing this, Sachiko could no longer keep her grip upon the scissors that had previously rested in her hand, which were now impacting the floor with a soft clang.

"...Your mother?... Are you even aware of where you are right now?!" Sachiko growled, attempting to bury her sudden surge of sympathetic emotion behind a wall of fabricated anger. This boy was nothing like her! He could just be lying about his mother to get out of the situation he was in. Well if he thought he would pull one over on her then he had another thing coming; or so she thought.

"I don't care where I am, I just want someone to help my mom!..." Yami begged, once again catching the young ghost girl off guard, causing all of her faked anger to melt away as if a flamethrower had been pointed in the direction of a block of ice. "Please?... I'll do anything..."

"Anything huh?..." Sachiko muttered, letting her mind swim in thought. It would be nice to spend some time with someone that she wasn't chasing with the intent to kill, and the boy was nice. Her mother wouldn't mind if she just played with the boy for a bit first right? "Okay... I know how to help your mother... But only on one condition... I want you to hang out with me for a few hours, your mother will be all better when we're done."

"Absolutely!..." Yami cried out in joy, before sticking his hand out to Sachiko in a friendly fashion. "I'm Yami Tsukino! Nice to meet you miss?..."

Sachiko smiled softly, letting the last shreds of her humanity shine through as she gently shook Yami's hand. She was going to hate to have to murder him later. "Sachiko Shinozaki... Nice to meet you, too Yami..."

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So yeah... Before I address anything else I should mention that I put a little bit more humanity into Sachiko because let's face it, she's kind of a nutbar in the game and anime so yeah... Until next time my minions!