Hey everyone. I've been reading the stories posted here for a while and felt like I should contribute a one-shot if nothing else. Leave a review if you'd like, I'm always open to criticism. The story takes place as Ayumi is possessed and Yoshiki endeavours to bring her back. I ship these two so much. -Zach

Ayumi felt incredibly dazed. It was if as she was just waking up, but had no recollection of sleeping in the first place. What was most unnerving though was that she could feel herself moving; her legs were ascending a stair case slowly and clumsily yet she had no control of them. All of her senses eventually came to, the sight of the dark school, the stench of the blood soaked hallways, the sounds of rain outside and the creak of the rotted floorboards on the staircase. Worst of all however, she could hear herself babbling and snickering against her will.

"This is great!" spoke one of the three ghosts possessing Ayumi.

"I know right!" agreed another

"Finally, we have a body, I don't even feel any pain now" exclaimed the final.

"Did you see that blonde idiot's face? He could hardly tell when we started possessing this one, oh that look of utter confusion as we left him in the dust hahaha"

The ghosts continued to laugh aloud in Ayumi's voice as they opened the door to a small library-like room.

Ayumi wanted to scream for help, yet had no control over herself any more, she was a prisoner in her own body, being able to sense and feel everything normally yet having no input into her actions . It was as if she were watching a PoV video yet also felt, smelt and heard what was happening perfectly. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as she was left only to her thoughts, fears and contemplations, wishing this were a nightmare and that she was back home, or at least not alone. Wish these thoughts running through her mind, Ayumi was incredibly frightened, as the extremely uncomfortable sensation of being controlled, paired with an overwhelming sense of helplessness continued and showed no sign of relenting.

For a brief moment, Ayumi regained partial control of herself as these feeling of sadness and desperation reached breaking point.

"Somebody... help me... please" she begged to the emptiness of the room she was in, barely audible, nobody could possible hear her as a pair of tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, once again, her control faded away to the sound of another ghastly cackle.

Yoshiki had given chase after she had suddenly ran away from him when he asked if she was ok, however he lost her at a crossroads in the dark halls, hoping she went the same way he decided to. He'd caught her babbling about nonsense at one point but decided to drop the subject when she seemed to have no memory of doing so. He finally knew something was off when he saw her standing against the wall with a maniacal grin on her face. The fear of now being alone in such a place was bad, petrifying even, but not knowing if Ayumi was ok, that was so much worse for him. He had to find her. He told himself he would protect her no matter what. He'd never forgive himself if she wound up like the many corpses that align the floor like morbid decorations. The thought of never seeing her again only made him run faster. Whilst searching for Ayumi he stumbled across Mayu and explained the situation as they discussed their experiences in the school since they'd gotten there.

"So you haven't seen Morishige yet? I imagine that's your top priority" Asked Yoshiki, knowing that the pair would surely be searching frantically for each other in this situation. Those two are as close as brother and sister.

"n-no.. not yet, but I'm sure I'll find him eventually, I hope he's ok..." Replied Mayu, clearly worrried.

"I'm sure he is, Morishige's a rational person above all else, he'd probably see a ghost and say "you remind me of a Shakespearean soliloquy" or something like that" reassured Yoshiki.

The two shared a hopeful and nostalgic laugh before setting off to jointly search for Ayumi and the others. Shortly after, they discovered a girl who turned out to be Nana Ogasawara ,another student trapped in the hellish school, bound tightly by gauze. The pair were able to rescue Nana despite the room being positioned to make doing so become a trap. Luckily, Mayu was able to calm down the frantic Nana who had been understandably shaken from her ordeal; captured, alone and tied up in the darkness for God knows how long. Now with 3 members in their small party, they were sure they could find Ayumi and all their friends now.

Ayumi remained in her trapped state, merely a forced and powerless witness to whatever the ghosts felt like doing while controlling her possessed body. It felt like days since this horrible hostage situation started, being with only her thoughts all this time was beginning to make her slightly delirious. She'd spend what felt like hours reminiscing all about her school life and friends back home at Kisaragi, when in reality this time passed by in minutes. Ayumi remained strong and determined through it all, convinced that she could get through this, holding on to any shred of hope that somebody might find her and free her from this cage. Exhaustion set in eventually after what felt like forever, it was a strange feeling, this wasn't physical exhaustion but mental. It was as if she could feel her mind deteriorating and slipping away despite her efforts to prevent it from doing so.

Another ghastly giggle was forced through her lips as she held a book to her face, this one was loud however.

Suddenly, a much louder crash, something had been smashed open and nearby.

"Shinozakiiii!"Yelled Yoshiki, like a soldier charging into combat. The second he heard a noise behind the door he used all his might to batter it down. Desperate to find her.

Ki-Kishinuma! Screamed Ayumi inwardly, he had come for her, he hadn't given up or presumed her dead like she had spent hours contemplating.

Needless to say, the ghosts could feel Ayumi's mind spring back to life at this sudden arrival. Yoshiki, now cautiously followed by Mayu and Nana, stood before Ayumi and the ghosts controlling her body.

"Get away! She's ours now!" Demanded the ghosts, they had spoken in their own three voices as well as Ayumi's this time, producing a combined threat that could easily send shivers down anyone's spine and send them running into the distance. But not Yoshiki, there was a determined glint in his eyes and they knew it.

"Get out of her!" Demanded Yoshiki equally as threatening, "She's not some toy you can just play with, you sick bastards, she's a person with her own mind and will god dammit!"

Demands were clearly not going to work on the bleached boy, so next they tried bribery and persuasion in the hopes he'd betray her for his own gain.

"Let us have her... and we'll help you escape this place, ok? We save you, and call it even." This wasn't even considered a question in the eyes of the ghosts, they had seen many other people trapped in the school that would have gladly accepted this offer, and assumed Yoshiki and the girls behind him would do so.

"Tch, like I'd ever just abandon her like that. I told myself I'd get her out of this hell and I meant it. Now get thefuck out of her!" Again demanded Yoshiki, frustration clearly showing in his shaking voice. His words struck anxiety in the ghosts, and indescribable happiness in Ayumi who had been hearing the entire exchange.

"Kishinuma... you're really something when the chips are down, aren't you" She thought to herself, smiling broadly; so glad that he was trying to save her from this cage she'd been stuck in for what felt like days. The shred of hope seemed to be growing and she quickly tried to grasp it in hopes of escaping this torment.

But the ghosts had one last resort, they'd never risk damaging Ayumi's body, but neither would Yoshiki, and they knew it.

"Fine, you leave us no choice" Spoke the combined four voices ominously.

In the next instant, the ghost had Ayumi throw the book in her hands incredibly powerfully at the other three occupants in the room, barely missing Nana's head as Mayu pulled her out of the way, making an audible crunch as it crashed against the weak wall, creating a small hole.

Yoshiki instinctively turned his head to make sure everyone was alright, and when he went to turn back he was faced with a fiendishly grinning Ayumi, a sight he'd hoped to not see again.

It took all of his strength simply to block the barbaric punches being thrown menacingly as his face and torso, thankfully Ayumi was shorter than him which made the whole ordeal slightly easier.

The real danger began however as Ayumi lunged at him and bit at his neck, relishing in the blood that was drawn as teeth crunched down hard on soft and weak skin.

Yoshiki dared not throw a punch at Ayumi, and so was forced to try pry her off of him. Her grip was strong though, and momentum was not on his side as all her weight was added to his.

Seeing this, Mayu and Nana made a mad dash to give him some assistance.

Ayumi was inconsolable in her mind. She was watching herself trying to kill her would-be rescuer, and friend, it was beyond hard to watch, let alone feel, hear the desperate grunts and breaths, taste the crimson blood. She tried as hard as possible to frantically fight every minute action her body was making, but to no avail. She was putting Yoshiki through hell but could do nothing to stop it. Her earlier feeling of helplessness increased ten fold as now it wasn't only her life in the balance.

Yoshiki used all his strength to turn his body, Ayumi still madly clinging onto him, to face the approaching girls and motion for them to stop and leave it to him. An idea had struck him.

He brought his hands to his sides, then wrapped his attacker in a tight hug as hard as he could. Beginning to whisper in her ear.

"Ayumi.. please... come back to me." He implored

"I..need you, this isn't you. I'd ...I'd rather die than fight you, that's why..that's why you have to fight it, you just have to" He continued, nearly reduced to tears as he made what might be his last request to the girl he loved.

Ayumi felt the hug from inside her consciousness. It was warm, so very warm. She had felt so cold this entire time but now it was as if she was enveloped in this positive glow, like basking in the sunlight on a cold day. Then came his words, they lit a fire in her heart that incited her to fight back one more time. To put all that she was into this one last effort of escape.

Something in his arms stirred, it was audibly groaning as if just being woken up from a comfortable sleep.

"Ayumi, is it you? Please say it is.. I... I don't know if I can take much more of this" Inqiured Yoshiki

"Kishinuma...kun? Is that really you? Am I really me again?" Replied Ayumi drowsily

Yoshiki couldn't speak, he just nuzzled his face into Ayumi's neck in a tight embrace, over joyed that she was back and they were together again.

"So warm..." She whispered

"Thank you, so much" She spoke between ragged breathes, the shear happiness of being free after what felt like days was absolutely overwhelming as tears welled up in her eyes, pressing her face into Yoshiki's chest, crying her heart out, seeking comfort and safety in his embrace.

"It's ok, you're ok now" He assured, placing his chin on her head.

"It was horrible, I'm so sorry about what happened, I swear I had no control" Admitted Ayumi, petrified that he'd resent or blame her for his minor neck injury.

"That's fine, I'm just glad I finally know you're ok, I was so worried"

Ayumi looked up into his face, smiling happily. The two stared into each other eyes, still clutching each other desperately as if the second they let go they'd risk being ripped apart from each other again.

Perhaps he was seeing things, but Yoshiki could swear that Ayumi's face was getting closer.

"Ahem" coughed Mayu and Nana, interrupting the potential moment.

Realising their position, Ayumi and Yoshiki hurriedly, yet somewhat reluctantly, parted from their embrace.

Now that the great ordeal was over, the four decided they needed to rest. All four were exhausted, but none so more than Ayumi who felt as if she'd been awake for days on end whilst trapped. As they all slumped against a hallway wall ,Yoshiki on the farthest left, followed by Ayumi at his side then Mayu and lastly Nana, who had both opted to give the pair a little space after their recent trial. Yoshiki had worried himself to the point exhaustion during the recent events and was slightly taken aback as he felt sleep instantly trying to force itself on him as he sat. This however, was not before a certain class representative had slumped her head onto his shoulder, giving one more "thank you" before slipping off into a much needed sleep.

"Any time, Shinozaki. I'll always protect you" whispered back Yoshiki, who felt her form shivering slightly and so sneaked an arm around her shoulders to draw her closer. And at this position, he quickly and happily allowed sleep to take over his senses as he held the girl he loved.

Le Fin :)