Shio and Satou were asleep but Shio was moving in her sleep a bit. The little girl then opened her eyes and saw that everything around her was black and red.
"Where am I?" Shio asked
She started to walk around and it seemed endless and she was starting to get scared. So she started to call out for Satou.
"Satou-chan! Satou-chan!" Shio shouted
But no matter how many times she called to her she wouldn't appear.
"Why? Why won't she come? She said she would protect me? Was that all a lie?" Shio asked
There was then a bright light and the young girl decided to follow it. It eventually led her to an apartment room that was similar to the one she and Satou share.
What is this place?" Shio said
She then saw a young girl with pink hair with an older woman with purple hair.
"Who are they?" Shio asked
She tried to ask them if they knew where she was but it was like they didn't hear her. She tried to touch them but she went right through them. .
"What's going on?" Shio asked
The purple head then started to speak to the little girl with pink hair.
"This where you'll be living from now on, Satou" The woman said.
That caught Shio's attention. She looked at the pink haired girl.
"Satou? She called her Satou? Is that really Satou-chan?" Shio asked
Shio continued to look at the young girl. After examining her closely she could tell that she was actually Satou.
"She really is Satou-chan" Shio said
Shio was then wondering why her Satou looked the same age as her.
"Could this be when Satou-chan was a little girl?" Shio asked
Shio then figured out something else.
"I must be seeing her memories" Shio said
She then saw Satou sitting in the room and then heard her aunt come home with another guy. She watched as they both entered the room and closed it. She then saw a scene where her aunt talking to her niece.
"Are you okay?" Satou asked
"It's fine. This just how I show my love" Auntie said
The last part confused Shio. She was aware of domestic abuse because she witnessed a lot of it around her family when she lived with them before her mother abandoned her.
Shio then heard the words that Satou's aunt told Satou. She couldn't believe the words that the older woman was telling her niece.
"That's not what love is" Shio said
She then saw Satou as a middle school student.
"What is love? I want to experience love. I want to get rid of this emptiness that I feel. I want to fill up the giant hole in my heart" Satou said
Shio was shocked to see that Satou offered her body to other boys to know what love is. She even offered her body to some girls. Even after all that she still didn't feel anything. Her aunt even showed her some love. She even saw her aunt sexual abuse her beloved Satou. She then saw that Satou was posing as a model for a boyfriend, who was an artist.
"I still don't feel anything. Could it be that I can't feel love at all?" Satou asked
"Satou-chan" Shio said
Shio then finally realized that she was crying. She couldn't believe that her Satou went through something like this. Satou has been through a lot more suffering than she has. She witnessed that a lot of guys were saying "I love you" to her and she saw that Satou was slowly breaking down.
"Satou-chan, I had no idea that you went through so much" Shio said
Shio then saw the scene where the two of them met. She remembered meeting her but she saw herself pass out. She then watched what happened after she passed out. She witnessed that she was taken to the apartment of the boy she was currently staying with. She saw that the boy was looked angry because of her arrival.
"It's your fault that Satou had a hopeful look in her eyes. She looks the prettiest when she's an empty shell" The boy said
Shio then saw that the boy was about to kill her but she saw that Satou came and managed to kill the boy before he could even get his hands on her.
"I won't let anyone hurt you. I don't know what it is about you but for some reason I feel love when I'm with you. I need you with me to feel love. I'll protect you from anything" Satou said
"Satou-chan" Shio said
Shio then witnessed some of the horrible things that Satou has done.
She then heard Satou's voice.
"I must keep the crimes that I did a secret from Shio or else she'll hate me. She'll leave me alone. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to be alone again. I've been alone my whole life and I don't want to be lonely anymore" Satou said
Shio couldn't believe that words that Satou was saying.
"Is this Satou-chan's heart? Could these be her true feelings?" Shio asked
"If Shio hates me and leaves me then I have no reason to live. My life is meaningless without Shio and feeling love" Satou said
Shio couldn't take it anymore and tried to reach out towards Shio.
"Satou-chan! Satou-chan!" Shio said
Everything then went black and when she opened her eyes again she saw that she was in the bedroom that she shared with Satou. She looked over and saw that Satou was still asleep. The young girl was eventually calmed down.
"Whew, it was just dream" Shio said
Shio then decided to try to do some housework before Satou woke up. She tried to do housework but she was too distracted by the dream that she had. She had a feeling that it wasn't just a dream. It felt like she was inside of Satou's heart and saw her memories. She really wanted to talk to Satou about it. Luckily Satou didn't have school today but she was afraid that she wouldn't open up to her about her past and her crimes.
"Shio-chan?" Satou asked
Shio looked over and saw that Satou was standing there.
"Good morning, Satou-chan" Shio said
Satou smiled back at her.
"Good morning, Shio-chan" Satou said
Shio didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Her best friend was acting like her normal self.
Throughout the day Satou noticed that Shio seemed to be spacing out a lot. She was starting to think that there was something on her mind.
"Shio-chan?" Satou asked
Shio snapped out of it and looked at Satou.
"Y-yes?" Shio asked
Shio's stutter didn't go by unnoticed by Satou.
"What's wrong?" Satou asked
"Nothing!" Shio said
Satou noticed that Shio answered that a little too quickly.
"You can tell me if something is bothering you" Satou said
Shio wasn't sure if she should tell her or not about her dream. Maybe if she told her then Satou would finally come clean about everything.
"I had a strange dream about you" Shio said
Satou looked at her with sparkly eyes. She was very happy to hear that her beloved Shio dreamed about her.
"Really? What was so strange about it?" Satou said
Shio then started to explain everything that went on in her dream. When the young girl was done she saw that her best friend was pale and was sweating. Her breathing was irregular and was crying. There were tears in her eyes and she had a look of panic in her eyes. She even let out a scream. Shio finally realized that her friend was having a panic attack.
"Satou-chan! Satou-chan!" Shio said
Satou was curled up into a fetal position and tried to calm down but she couldn't. She didn't believe that it was just a dream that Shio had. She believes that Shio saw her memories and saw what she was really like and how she really felt. The one thing she didn't want Shio to find out about her is how terrible of a person she is.
Shio was starting to panic because Satou was responding to her voice at all.
"Satou-chan! Satou-chan!" Shio said
Satou seemed to hear her voice and looked at her. Shio saw that Satou looked like a scared child. She went towards her slowly and gently placed her hand on her head.
"There, there Satou-chan. Satou-chan is a good girl" Shio said
"Shio-chan?" Satou asked
"Please tell me what that dream meant" Shio said
Satou looked at Shio and saw that she really wanted to know everything.
"I-I can't" Satou said
"Why?" Shio asked
"Because of I tell you, you'll hate me. You'll leave me here and I'll be all alone. I don't have a reason to live if you aren't with me, Shio-chan" Satou said
Shio was shocked to see that these were her really feelings. These were the same feelings that she heard about in her dream. She could tell that it wasn't a lie.
"Please, Satou-chan, I promise I won't hate you or leave you" Shio said
Y-you promise?" Satou asked
"I pinky promise" Shio said
To prove it she held up her pink finger. She pinky swore that she wouldn't leave her all alone.
Seeing Shio promise that she wouldn't leave her all alone, she proceeded to explain all the crimes that she had committed. She even started to tear up and cry while confessing. She was so afraid of Shio hating her.
"Forgive me, Shio-chan" Satou said
Shio then hugged her friend and told her that everything would be okay and that she forgave her.