I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of attention the first chapter got.
Thank you all for leaving those lovely reviews, here's the next chapter!
P.S. Updates may take a lot of time because of the amount of time I've been putting in my other story. Apologies.
Ayumi didn't get much sleep that night. Besides the nightmare she had earlier, she had tons more regarding the melting in various places she was familiar with. School, home, and most prominent of all; Heavenly Host. She thought escaping the nightmare would end the horror, but with that last macabre scene she witnessed she opted to stay awake than to keep having these horrible nightmares for the rest of the night.
It didn't take long for a small, pale glow to appear above the sill of her window. She wondered if her deep contemplation over the continuous nightmares regarding the melting of places she were familiar with cut time in many halves. Dismissing further thoughts, the navy haired teen noticed the sun rising; it was dawn. Letting out an angry groan, Ayumi groggily got out of bed and decided to get ready for school. As class representative of classroom 2-9, she had to have perfect attendance; being tardy or absent would be her own fault. No excuses would be tolerable.
After donning her school uniform, she was off like a rocket. Beforehand, she checked the time and noticed she waited too long to get up. Only skipping breakfast would she make it to school on time. If she were a second late, she might make contact with Yoshiki again, nonetheless her old group of friends; which dwindled to Satoshi Mochida and Naomi Nakashima.
Ayumi bolted through her house until she was out the door. At that point, she began running her way to school, simultaneously scanning her vicinity for any upcoming pedestrians and cars. She didn't want a repeat of what transpired yesterday, even if someone saved her life.
Hyperventilating, the petite teen ceased running and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Using deep inhales and exhales, she finally managed to catch it. Casting her eyes above, she noticed she was right in front of her school; Kisaragi Academy. She briskly took out her phone, checking the time to see if she made it without being tardy.
A sigh of relief was released from her mouth. "I'm right on time."
Ayumi strolled right in the building and made her way to classroom 2-9, quite nonchalantly. Yoshiki was late most of the time, so she was certain she wouldn't run into him. She didn't know about Satoshi and Naomi, but she was positive she could just ignore them for the time being. It's not like they wouldn't come right up to her, right?
"Hey, Shinozaki!"
Like a performer with stage fright, Ayumi froze on the spot. She recognized that voice anywhere; the voice she adored to hear no matter what the topic. The one person who could ever make her flush red practically in seconds and cause her heart to flutter repeatedly and quickly. Reluctantly, she turned around, her blue orbs gazing at none other than Satoshi Mochida.
"M-Mochida," she began, stammering. "What is it?"
"Just wanted to know how you were," Satoshi replied. "So how are you?"
Ayumi felt the blood rush to her cheeks, causing her to avert her blue orbs nervously. "I.. I'm fine, thank you for asking.."
"Anyway, I also wanted to know if Yoshiki was alright," the chestnut haired teen added on. "He's been avoiding me lately, but he's always around you, right?"
The petite girl rose a brow at the sound of this. "Wha.. What? I-I don't even talk to him anymore, how am I supposed to know?"
Ayumi hoped Satoshi didn't think anything special was going on between her and the blonde delinquent, it might ruin her chances of her ever confessing her love to him or ever getting with him, and that was one thing she could never forgive herself for.
"Is that so?" he asked, sighing in disappointment shortly afterwards. "That's too bad, I'm starting to get really worried for him considering.. you know.."
The navy haired teen didn't have to think twice. The macabre horror they witnessed in the haunted elementary school scarred them permanently. It was as if the horrible memory was tattooed into their brains; leaving a dreadful, frightening reminder. The remembrance she received from the admirable teen caused her stomach to contort uncomfortably.
"Y-yeah, I know," she responded with a shiver, holding her being tightly in attempt to comfort herself.
Satoshi averted his light brown colored orbs dejectedly "Sorry for bothering you, Shinozaki, I'm just worried about Yoshiki, that's all. I'll be leaving you be now.."
Ayumi ceased holding her being suddenly and shook her head, frightened at the thought of him departing from her. "No, no, it's completely fine! If you want, I.. I could try asking Kishinuma if he's doing alright.."
Albeit reluctant, the navy haired teen managed to appear wanting to go through with the decision. Blissfully unaware of the loathing Ayumi had for Yoshiki, a smile stretched across Satoshi's face. He gazed upon the girl expectantly as she feigned her desire of going through with her suggestion.
"Would you really?" he asked, still sounding expectant.
"Y-yeah! If I bump into him.. I won't forget to ask him, you can count on me, Mochida," she replied, replacing her hesitance with confidence for her long occurring crush.
"Thank you, Shinozaki!" he said gratefully. "He doesn't seem to like being around me for some reason.. but I'm sure he'll let you approach him. Make sure to text me his answer, he might start avoiding you too if he found out you're conversing with me."
"How I wish," the petite teen added in her thoughts.
"Anyway, I've got to be somewhere right now, I'll see you later!" The chestnut haired teen waved and departed in the other direction, away towards his class; classroom 2-9.
Ayumi figured it might've been something personal or school-wise, but it might be best if she didn't pry. Besides, with the terms she was on with Satoshi made her incredibly happy. All she had to do now is ask Yoshiki how he was and this entire thing will blow over.
"Besides.. he's just a delinquent, there's not much to him but to rebel and break rules. And after all.. Mochida looks so happy."
The bell rang, snapping Ayumi out of her thoughts. At once, she took out her phone and checked the time, realizing she was late once again. Oddly enough, it didn't bother her, not one bit. She'd be late for class for a good reason; the conversation she just had with Satoshi, that was valid enough, right?
"I guess," she began with a smile, a light blush on her cheeks. "I wasn't on time after all." And with that, she sauntered towards classroom 2-9.
The bell rang, signifying the end of class and excusing everyone to go home. Everyone in the classroom packed up their belongings and left one by one. It wasn't long until there was just two people left alone in the room.
Yoshiki was finishing off some schoolwork while he was still being productive, adding on to that, he had a shift to go to shortly after. This inconvenience had given Ayumi ample time to approach him and inquire about his current sentiments.
"Kishinuma?" she asked aloud in a sing-song voice, approaching the delinquent from behind. He didn't seem to notice her, seeing as he was incredibly absorbed into his work, concentrating intensely on one thing and the other. "Kishinuma!"
The blonde haired teen flinched and whipped his head around, astonished to see it was Ayumi calling his name. "Sh- Shinozaki? What are you doing here?"
The petite student narrowed her eyes and glared. "What do you mean by that? We have the same class!"
Yoshiki averted his grey orbs and released a sigh. "Never mind, just tell me what you need."
Ayumi stared at him for a moment, seeing his shocked expression quickly alter to one of dejection. It was puzzling her, also irking her as she didn't know the reason behind it. She was just asking for his attention, not for his dejection.
The navy haired girl crossed her arms over her chest, her glare replacing the stare in her blue orbs. "I just need to know.. how you are."
Yoshiki returned his eyes to her, raising a brow in question. "Pardon?"
Releasing a weary sigh in impatience, Ayumi sat in the desk behind him, staring him down. "It's like I said, I just need to know how you are."
"Why?"
"There doesn't have to be a reason behind everything."
Yoshiki merely gazed at her, taking notice of her blue orbs staring him down intensely. She was actually talking to him; she approached him. It was odd; too weird. Was there a reason behind her action? Or was she genuinely curious about his conduct? He didn't know, but this was an opportunity that he couldn't allow to slide.
"I guess I'm fine," he answered placidly, a small smile forming on his face. "I'm alright."
Ayumi's glare dissipated at the sound of his answer, as well at the smile on his face. He wasn't dejected anymore, but genuinely happy. This puzzled her even further, but at least she got what she needed; an answer.
"Thank you, Kishinuma!" Ayumi abruptly stood up from the desk and bolted to the door, running off into the hallway and towards home, getting out her phone simultaneously to text Satoshi what she just accomplished.
Yoshiki merely stared in the direction in which she left in with confusion, but gazed with a smile as he returned to completing his work.
[ Kishinuma says he's fine, Mochida! ]
The teen slid her phone back into her pocket, awaiting a response as she ran home. As she approached the crosswalk, she was breathing heavily from all the running she had done to get here. It didn't bother her though, because she finished a task that Satoshi wanted her to do, and that was all she needed to feel elated and assured.
Yoshiki, determined to complete his work, finished. He grabbed all of his things and decided to head on home. Ayumi had just left the room, so maybe she was close by. Her demeanor told him she was in a good mood at the current moment. Perhaps he could ask her to accompany him to the Karaoke Bar, or somewhere she would prefer. Anything was fine with him as long as he was with her. The worse thing that could transpire would be if she denied his offer.
"Ah, I've dealt with far worse," he reminded himself casually, picking up what was left of his possessions.
The blonde haired teen exited the classroom and eventually the school building. He knew the route Ayumi took to get home, so maybe it was possible he would bump into her and ask her his desired question. After he planned how the conversation would go in his head, he ceased strolling abruptly. He spotted the navy haired teen with his grey orbs, wondering what her current action was from afar.
Ayumi began walking across the road, her attention drawn towards the other side. It wasn't until her attention was drawn away to her beeping phone, by which she took out immediately to see if Satoshi responded to her. And she was right, he did respond to her.
[ Wow, really? That's fantastic news! Thanks a lot, Shinozaki, you're the best! ]
The petite teen's heart began to melt at the sight of this message. In addition, a light blush formed on her cheeks as she hugged her phone and ceased strolling on the spot, moving all of her focus and attention at the text she received from her long occurring crush. All five of her senses seemed to dull as she was left in solitude in her thoughts, thinking about her one and only.
Yoshiki gazed at her with a puzzled expression on his face. Why was she just standing there in the middle of the road? And why was she hugging her phone like it was her livelihood? He didn't know the answers to these questions, but his attention was driven away abruptly as he heard loud, raucous honking from afar. He squinted his eyes to get a better look of what was approaching. The answer was incredibly obvious as he saw a rather large semi truck speeding across the road, a door on the side flapping open and closed rapidly, indicating that its driver departed to save himself.
"Shinozaki!" the blonde delinquent shouted, waving both of his hands at her. "Get out of the way!"
Ayumi didn't budge. She merely continued to hug her phone, if not, even tighter than before. It was like she an invisible earmuffs that prevented her from hearing anybody. Only immediate action would be sufficient enough to save her, so that's exactly what the blonde teen did.
Yoshiki dropped all of his belongings and raced towards her, wrapping both of his arms around her and practically throwing the both of them out of the way. As they landed roughly on the other side, the delinquent turned around and watched as the semi truck whizzed right past them and crash into a nearby house, causing immense damage and destruction. Suddenly, he felt something shift in his arms, grabbing his attention at once.
"Shinozaki? Shinozaki!" Yoshiki turned Ayumi around to properly see her, seeing that she had a somewhat dazed expression on her face. He shook her some more until she came to, but then she had an angry/puzzled expression.
"Why?" she demanded. "Why?!"
Yoshiki immediately disregarded these questions. "What the hell were you thinking? You could've gotten yourself killed!"
Ayumi appeared to have a puzzled expression, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. "What..? What are you talking about?"
The blonde teen gestured towards the ruined house, by which the semi truck crashed into. The observation of how the house was ravaged was obvious when the semi truck was seen sticking right out of it.
"No.. I-I would have seen that coming," the navy haired teen stammered. "I-I-"
"What happened?" Yoshiki shot out, interrupting her. "You were just standing there without moving a single muscle. It was like you wanted to get hit."
Ayumi shot him an offended look. "Wh-What! No! I-I just didn't see it coming-"
"Then what were you even doing?" he continued.
Before she could answer, a realization came to her. Why was she still there? She should have arrived at her house by now, she didn't need to keep continuing this idle conversation. It didn't matter, it just didn't matter. It shouldn't matter.
"I'm going home," she stated firmly, as she grabbed her things from the ground that had fallen from the tackle.
"Shinozaki, quit dodging my questions," Yoshiki said quite angrily. "Can't you tell that I'm worried about you? You haven't been yourself lately and you've almost died. Twice."
"Why does it matter to you?" she asked in annoyance, beginning to walk away. "I don't need your concern so you can just go home!"
"I can't go home unless I know you're safe and okay, and I'm pretty damn sure you haven't shown me either."
Ayumi ceased in her tracks, balling up small fists in anger. "You don't know anything, so just.. leave me alone.."
"I thought I told you, I'm not leaving until I get a clear answer-"
"Why does it matter to you so much?" she blurted out, her cracking voice showing clear indication of oncoming tears and sorrow. "All I ever wanted was to do is go to school, go home, sleep, and do it all over again in the morning! I don't need anyone to worry about me, especially you!"
Yoshiki merely stood there, shocked at her sudden outburst. He watched as tears began flowing endlessly from her blue orbs. She closed her eyes and wiped all the tears away, and since they didn't seem to cease flowing, her wiping would be incessant. The delinquent took the chance to take off his gakuran and reach for Ayumi, intending to wrap it around in attempt to help her feel better. Ayumi noticed the action and reeled back at once, backing away as soon as she possibly could.
"I told you, I don't need anyone!" she shouted, departing from the area at once.
Yoshiki stood there, pondering about his next decisions. Should he follow her? Would that be sufficient enough? Or should he just leave her for tonight? With that in mind, he donned his garukan and made way towards his belongings at the other side of the road.
Hey guys, I finally updated! Woohoo!
I apologize if this one was quite short, but longer chapters are the vital ones to the story. They include many, many details about what's doing to happen.
Please review and as always, state an issue you have, I'll revise if necessary.