I'm So Sorry
With a swing of the door open and a haphazard toss of her satchel to the top of her dresser, Naomi flung herself on her soft pink bouncy bed, chocolate brown eyes gazing up the creamy brown ceiling. She gave out a sigh as she allowed herself to be enveloped by her surroundings. The slightly dimmed lighting in her room that gave a small flicker every now and then; the swirly patterns that the ceiling had been adorned with; the stain that would be forever there in her room…
Naomi gave a reminiscent smile as she gazed at it.
If she recalled it correctly, it was her dad who indirectly made the stain. It was her fifth birthday, and Naomi being the mischievous little child she was, she had roughly shaken up a can of soda that was given by her mother. With her father being thirsty for a drink, she had given it to him before scurrying away to the corner where her study desk was, waiting for the verdict.
The coke had not only splashed at the very top of her ceiling, but all over her father as well. Naomi remembered the 'punishment' she got after that; a tickle fest from her father that was still drenched in sugary carbonated water.
Nakashima let out another sigh, closing her eyes.
The door clicked open again before another figure walked in, shutting the door before giving a quick 'kitty' smile to Naomi. As she sets down her own school bag neatly at the side of Naomi's drawers, Seiko spun on her heel before she squished her own cheeks, almost bouncing with excitement.
"Hwahhh~! Is this really what Heaven smells like?" the sixteen year old girl squealed as she gave a dramatic sniff of the air. "No matter where I go in this wonderful house of yours, everything smells like you!" the amber eyed girl continued to whiff the air quickly, taking in the scent of her best friend very deeply.
Naomi rolled her eyes before she sat up at the edge of her bed.
"You always say that whenever you pounce on me in school and squeal out after you harassed me enough." The tomboy joked as swung her legs back and forward.
"But Na-o-mi~!" Seiko enunciated every syllable with a playful tone. "You smell wonderful!"
"And you sound like a pervert. But wait, you are, aren't you?"
"Hwah!? Naomi, that's mean of you!"
"Mhmm." Naomi brushed the statement off with a stretch as she opted to lie back down on her bed again.
"Wuu…" Seiko gave a childish pout in an attempt to make her best friend apologise.
It's only after a moment that Seiko realised Naomi's eyes are shut and that she obviously doesn't want to say anything of forgiveness. With a sparkle in her mocha orbs, Seiko gingerly tiptoed to Naomi's side before she let in a silent but dramatic inhale of air and pounced on Nakashima's chest.
"Uwaaah! Seiko!"
"Ahaha! I have marked my place on this holy ground you call 'home' and infiltrated your walls! This conquest has been marked a rousing success, ufufu! The flag has been planted on this land between Naomi and Seiko!" she yelled out cheerfully, completely squashing Naomi.
After a couple of moments attempting to push the girl off of her, she swiftly sat up so that another event like that doesn't happen again, rubbing her now sore stomach. Naomi shot a glare at Seiko that doesn't last very long with her best friend's grinning face.
'Of course,' the tomboy thought as she returned a warm smile. 'No one can ever seem to get mad at Seiko with her bubbly attitude.'
"This is going to be a long evening full of fun, isn't it?" she mumbled quietly, smile still on her lips. "But…" Naomi's face contorted in confusion as she looked up at Seiko. "What's the whole flag thing about? Is it something to do with your 'conquering' of my house?"
Seiko just gave a mischievous grin before she waggled her eyebrows.
"I think you know exactly what the means, my dear Naomi! Kukuku~!"
Having been so excited for their very first slumber party together, as soon as the bell that signaled the end of the day rang, they had shot out of the room at lightning speed before they raced to the stores to stock up on all the goodies and soft drinks they could get. With their bags full of snacks and drinks and the excitement filling up in them for their first sleepover, they were definitely bound to have plenty of fun.
Before Naomi could open her mouth to question her statement, Seiko sprung up with her hand raised.
"Ah, I forgot! Naomi, would you mind if I made a call back home? Yuu, Aya and Kei know exactly where I am, but I think it would be good to reassure them since I didn't get to drop by." Seiko asked, her curls bouncing beneath her ears as she tilted her head.
"Sure, no problem! Do you want to use the landline to call them?"
"Nah, it's okay! My cellphone would do just the trick, heheh!" she assured her classmate before she pulled out her green cellphone with the little bear keychain that dangled from it. "I just need to phone up Yuu and make sure he's fine. He'll be pretty down in the dumps if I didn't call in the very least." Seiko added, with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"Go ahead! I'll just take a quick trip to the bathroom and we'll be back to have some more fun, okay?" Nakashima said as she opened the door to let Seiko out first.
"Okie dokes!" she grinned before she exited into the hallway.
As she trailed behind and made a few steps to the bathroom door, she gave a small glance behind her, to see Seiko look back at her; cellphone in one hand as the other formed the peace sign that matched with the huge beam on her face. Returning the gesture of a smile, she turned the knob and entered the bathroom.
Even with the fact that Seiko was going to be there in her room when she got out, it made Naomi very thrilled at that very thought. After all, Seiko was her best friend!
'Oh, just think of all the things that we could talk about!' Naomi thought with a small giggle as she washed her hands at the sink. 'Where would we even start? What stories should we tell each other about?!'
Finishing off with drying her hands on the nearby towel rack, she skipped off into her room with high spirits. As her feet thumped on the wooden floor of her house, she could hear Seiko's voice getting closer and closer before she stopped in front of her bedroom door.
"Mhmm~! Right! So, dad's going to be late tomorrow because of work, right? As soon as the Kisaragi Fest is done and our goodbyes are said, I'll head back as soon as possible, okay?" Seiko's voice rang out, her tone filling up with one of a motherly voice.
Naomi slowly opened the door, as to not disturb Seiko from her conversation with her younger brother.
Seiko had her back to Naomi as she paced around, talking to Yuu on the phone.
"And as soon as I get back, we'll plan out Dad's special surprise together, okay? Mhmm! Yep, yep!" she giggled as one of her fingers twirled the curls under her ears. "Give all of onee-chan's love to everyone too, alright? And tuck yourself good tonight so that none of you catch a cold! Mhmm… love you, Yuu. Take care." Seiko said in a quiet yet happy tone, before ending the call with a beep.
Naomi allowed a faint smile to creep on her lips as she walked to Seiko, who turned around to Naomi with a big grin.
"Heheh, that was sweet of you. Are they holding up good?" she asked; an act of politeness.
"Mhmm! They sure are! And now, there's nothing for Mama Seiko to worry about! I have all the time in the world to spend with you today, Naomi!" she chirped, hands moving to her hips with a proud stance.
"Well, you definitely look like you're ready to have fun." Naomi raised her eyebrows in amusement, a smirk coating her lips.
"And so do you." Seiko mirrored with a waggle of her eyebrows.
In a moment, they giggled at their silliness before engaging in a conversation on a topic about boys. And as usual, the topic eventually went to a boy in school that Naomi had a crush on, Satoshi. It wasn't long after that Seiko got a pillow to her face for having mimicked kissing noises that had something to do with Mochida and Nakashima.
Yes, the two girls, Naomi and Seiko, were inseparable best friends; going through both the thick and thin together. And if they ever did fight, it was only because Naomi was unable to stop the tantrum she had, and was extremely guilty as soon as she got in control. Nevertheless, Shinohara always gave a warm smile before she accepted her apology; no matter how big or small the impact was.
But it was because of that, did Naomi lose her best friend for good.
~x-x-x- I'm So Sorry –x-x-x~
"Nngh… huh?"
Naomi gingerly sat up from sprawled position on the floor. Blinking her eyes to clear away the blurriness in her surroundings, a seed of fear and shock was beginning to bloom inside of her as she realised that this wasn't her classroom.
For starters, the floor she laid on was rotting away, broken holes on every inch of the floor, some big enough to fall to your death or small enough to trap your foot in and possibly fracture your bones if you weren't careful. The darkness was overwhelming in the room, devoid of any light source, and what with the outside of the school window's being pitch black with the rain thundering down to flashes of lightning and the sound of rumbles from the sky. The desks and chairs were scattered around the entire room, and even despite not having cleaned up after the Kisaragi festival, surely they didn't mess up the room that much, right?
Nakashima got up from the ground, shifting her force on her right foot which immediately made a pain sear from her ankle. With a grunt, she barely stabilised herself on a nearby desk that she had latched on so quickly. Sitting at the edge of the desk, she brought her right foot to examine her ankle.
With her knowledge of nursing and injuries only being so vast, she prodded at the swell on her ankle, flinching slightly at the prickles of dull pain. Bringing it back to the ground bit by bit, she tested her foot on the ground, applying only slight force until she was sure that she could manage the pain if she started walking.
"Must be a sprain…" she muttered before beginning to walk to the front of the room. "But where the hell is this place? It's so dark that I can barely make out what's in front of me." She muttered with a worried tone, before limping forward.
Almost as if the place she was in recognised her request, the lights flickered on, showering the room with a bright white light and blinding Naomi's eyes for a little bit.
Blinking the blue spots in her vision away, her face was etched into an anxious frown.
"What's going on here…?" she questioned quietly, venturing towards the front once again.
She was soon blocked by holes and chairs that were somehow stuck to the floor boards. But even if it wasn't stuck, she couldn't climb over them; it would only make her leg injury even worse. Peering to the front, she saw a familiar figure lying on the floor.
Her chocolate eyes widened in shock.
"..! Seiko! Hey, Seiko, Seiko!" she yelled, a desperate feeling growing inside her.
With the lack of response and no stirring to consciousness, Naomi began to panic, searching for a way to get to her best friend. Seeing a sliding door to what looked like the way to the hallway, she dashed to the entrance and slammed it open before she rushed towards the other door of the classroom; sprained ankle or not.
And with a crack and a slip, down Naomi came on the hard wooden boards, bracing herself with her hands just in time to avoid a terrible bruise to her face.
"Ghk… I think it's best not to strain my ankle… it's already in a bad condition." She muttered before she hoisted herself up with a wince and limped quickly along to the room.
With an unceremonious throw of her body through the classroom's door, Naomi rushed as hastily as she could with her sprained ankle to Seiko, still lying next to the teacher's podium. Kneeling next to her with a thump on the floor, she began to shake her, being slightly rough as she did so in desperation.
"Seiko! Please wake up! Sei-"
Brown orbs latched upon the slow rising of her friend's chest in a rhythmic pattern. Naomi lets out a sigh of relief, assuring herself that Seiko was indeed breathing. With her heart beat going back to its norm pace, she continued to try and wake her up.
"Seiko, come on! Please wake up!"
With a flicker of her eyes, Shinohara slowly drew her eyelids open, blinking once before getting up and staring at Naomi. She gave a small yawn before she moved to rub her eyes, giving a little shake of her head to fully wake herself up.
"Naomi? What's up? You look worried." She frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion and guilt that she might have did something wrong.
"Damn right I was worried! I thought you were dead!" Naomi half yelled and half sighed of relief; hugging Shinohara tightly.
"..? Naomi…" Seiko gingerly wrapped her arms around her best friend's body for a firm squeeze before letting go, taking in her surroundings as she stood up. "Where are we?"
"I don't know either, Seiko… I'd like some answers too." Nakashima knitted her eyebrows with a muddled expression plastered upon her face.
With that, it started their 'adventure' of this foreign place. In an innate way of getting out of the room, Seiko immediately headed for the windows and pulled at them. The only thing she got out of them were creaking noises, and even with Naomi's help, it wouldn't budge one bit.
'This place is creeping me out… it's as if the windows are ornaments on the walls; just there to look pretty and give us false hope of getting out.' Naomi thought; the flower of dread blooming inside her bit by bit. 'And we can't even see what the hell is outside of this school! What the hell is going on here?!'
And it didn't get any better.
Seiko had gone up to a piece of paper stuck on the wall and slowly consumed the contents word for word. And with each letter she took in, her face got paler and paler until her hands started trembling with fear.
With an uncertainty in her voice, Naomi asked what it said on the notice.
A nervous gulp.
"I-It… said… 'H-Heavenly Host Elementary – A N-Notice to All Faculty and Students'…" Shinohara stuttered out, body beginning to shake in terror from it as well.
It wasn't long after that confirmation that Seiko broke down in a fit of terror, backing away from the print-out on the wall and panicked about what the heck was happening.
After calming her best friend down, they stood there in silence; both of them quaking hard from the fear with their hands grasped tightly together. Deep inside, Naomi wasn't able to form any coherent thoughts, what with the situation they were in and the notice that proved that this was Heavenly Host Elementary. Eventually, Naomi, who couldn't take the pounding silence anymore, spoke up. She gave Seiko a determined smile, telling her that there would definitely be a way out of here; a way to find their friends. And the only way they could do that, Naomi said, was to keep their spirits soaring high.
That definitely perked Seiko back up to her bubbly form again, her signature kitty grin on her porcelain face once again.
But deep down inside, Naomi wasn't saying this to spark the fire to the hope that might lead them out. No, no. Frankly speaking, all she had just said was all crazy talk to her. But Nakashima knew that if she had let the silence linger for any longer, she would have gone mad. So, pulling on her tomboy mask on her face, she gave a smile of encouragement and comfort before she spouted out words that she probably wouldn't be able to keep to.
And even with all the words drenched positivity flowing through them, the earthquake that happened just before they fully stepped out of the room definitely made a dent into their confidence.
With their exploration around the school and acquiring certain keys along the way, they met with a sight that dampened their assurance of an exit out here even more.
In the darkness of the classroom they were in, 2-A, if they had recalled correctly; a bleached skeleton that donned a ragged school uniform was sprawled across the wooden floor boards in the corner of the classroom. Splatters of dark crusty blood were in a close radius of the corpse, and gave off a pungent smell despite how far they were from the body.
Terrified, Naomi bravely decided to take a closer look to ensure that the corpse was really made of human bones, not props. Walking closer to it, the stench got stronger and was repulsive to the point that Nakashima wanted to throw up. With a stumble backwards, she declared with a burning terror in her stomach that it was an actual person.
A flicker of blue light appeared a second later, forming right next to the skeleton. It wasn't too long that they were explained fully that this school worked on different dimensions and 'closed' spaces. And with that topic, the spirit said that there was no possible way to meet up with their friends. The lamenting spirit did not notice the dying of the spark of hope in their eyes as he mentioned that it would be best to live their days out in this hell.
A click resounded in the room as the door slid open to the other side of the hallway.
Everything happened so fast after that. They ran out of the room from that ghost girl in red, feet pounding on the floor boards as they got out of the classroom. Naomi led Seiko all the way, even while limping, her confidence slowly dwindling as their eyes met with other corpses and the horrible reassurance that should they die here, they would feel the pain of the death forever. Naomi was even beginning to lose it as she yelled at Seiko for getting them trapped in one of the rooms after a persuasion of 'the booty'.
For a second, the tomboy thought she was going to starve to death in that very room and never seeing the light of day or her mother ever again.
It was lucky for them that the door swung open and they got out as quickly as they could. Naomi, despite having lectured her classmate as they continued on their accursed journey, had a weight of guilt in her heart now, and it wasn't doing any good to heighten her spirits. Seiko's enthusiasm, however, was building up, and Naomi was starting to hate it with every single step of the way.
Not even wanting to remember the grotesque 'meaty' splatter of a corpse upon a wall, Naomi recalled a fleeting moment where Seiko wanted her 'ass cream' to 'butter up her pooper', as Seiko bluntly told her. She remembered that it was there that she heard Satoshi's little sister's voice whimpering for help.
As soon as Shinohara got out and was told of the situation, they rushed through the place, determined to find the little girl.
Without another sign or call of Yuka's voice, they stopped at the infirmary for a little rest. Seiko had been willing enough to make a splint for Naomi's still swollen ankle, the girl being very grateful for that. The happiness and liveliness started to return as they laid upon the infirmary beds for a kip, making almost as if that they were back at Kisaragi.
That was when the younger Mochida's voice rang out in a cry for help.
Shinohara had immediately sprung up and went to the door. Nakashima, who had wanted to tag along, was tsked by Seiko in a motherly fashion and told to kept 'dat ass parked on dat bed' before promising that she would be back soon enough.
That was when Naomi finally snapped after what unfolded in the infirmary.
The voice of middle aged woman filled the infirmary followed by the creepy laughter of children. Naomi, feeling already uneased by the atmosphere, made a dash for the door, only to find it wrapped with lattices of black hair and it was then that the panic began to set in. Almost instantly, a dark mist formed behind her, emanating the most demented of sounds, ghostly hands raised in a definite attempt to strangle the life out of her.
Somehow, she didn't know how, but she managed to get out.
After she vomited the contents of her lunch out of her stomach, Naomi heard the sounds of pattering footsteps coming back. The figure came around the corner, just in time to see Naomi spewing out even more bile.
Things started to get out of hand. From assurances from Seiko to the fact that she wasn't able to find Yuka infuriated Naomi and caused a fury in her mind. Her best friend left her alone while she nearly got maimed by a spirit, how the hell is that fine?! And what the hell was with her optimism; no normal person would ever act like that!
Insult after insult came pouring out of her mouth, Nakashima being painfully aware of it all but being unable to stop a wild tantrum. Seiko took each brunt of the words; each of them cracked her heart bit by bit until it came to the topic of family.
It was the final straw for Seiko when Naomi said that she was being a burden to her family with her being stuck in a stupid situation like this and suggested, with a mind that had already given up, about splitting up.
"Who…" Seiko started, eyes beginning to spark in anger.
She turned to Naomi with a face contorted with rage.
"Who the hell says those kind of things in a situation like this?!" Seiko yelled, clenching her fists as the tears began to fall from her face.
The thought of apology instantly came to Naomi's mind as she tried to open her mouth to utter it out.
"Do you think you're the only one who's dying to get out?! I want to get back to home where my family is waiting! Everybody; my dad, Aya, Kei, Yuu; I don't want them to be worrying about me while I'm trying to fight for my own life in this place!" her voice cracked, the feeling of sorrow beginning to work its way through her voice.
'No, no… I have to apologize… I have to!' Naomi's mind screamed, but yet no words came out from her lips.
"But most of all…" Seiko hiccupped, tears overflowing from her cheeks. "I don't want you, of all the people in the world, to speak to me with that kind of attitude."
Naomi's mouth opened to immediately spout out the words, 'I'm so sorry', but nothing came out. Only short noises and silence was it.
Eventually, they did split up; Seiko made the decision with a forced smile on her face and tears glistening on her cheeks.
She walked the other way.
Almost as soon as she got out of sight, Naomi had fell on her knees and broken down into sobs, pounding on the wooden floorboard with her fists.
It was her fault for not even being able to say the three words, 'I'm so sorry.'
It was her fault for chasing Seiko away and making her break down.
And now, she was left all alone, from her stupid decision.
And it was all her fault.
~x-x-x- I'm So Sorry -x-x-x~
The thunder rumbled outside of the household of the Nakashima's, black rainclouds huddling together, blocking out the sky that was a dull grey. The tree swayed harshly to the gust of wind that whistled as it whisked by the leaves of the foliage.
If you look inside very carefully through the darkness from the window pane outside, you could see a figure of a woman on the phone, eyes brimming with tears.
"Yes… that's right." Natsumi muttered, giving a glance up to a bedroom door upstairs. "She hasn't even taken a step outside her bedroom today too. And she… she keeps talking about that friend of hers!" the thirty-eight year old mother's voice quivered with hurt and frustration. "I keep telling her, every time, that whoever she's talking about doesn't exist but…" Natsumi's voice cracked. "She just gives me mortifying stare! Never in my life have I've seen her look at me like that! Not once!" she sobbed, tears dripping from her cheeks. "Please… she was always such an optimistic girl…"
"Okaa-san!"
"Tell me… please, just tell me what happened to my happy daughter of mine! Tell me what happened to her!" she wept, sniffing and taking sharp gasps as she tried to form coherent words.
"Please, stay calm, Ms. Nakashima." A deep voice on the other end of the phone rang out, with a solemn tone. "This situation is to be taken care of utmost precision and care. Please do remember, that even with how you are holding up right now, your daughter is facing possibly worse matters than you." The therapist advised, enunciating each word clearly and slowly in an attempt to calm the woman down.
"Do not think of her as a lost cause or there would be a possibility of her shutting herself in and never getting the full and necessary help she needs. As a doctor, I will give the best and assist you throughout the whole process, rest assured." He continued; a hint of determination found in his firm tone. "And together, we will help you bring back your happy little girl once again."
Natsumi nodded to herself, as if she were speaking to the therapist face to face.
"Yes… yes, you're right…" she sniffed, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I feel better listening to your advice… so thank you." She took a deep breath to soothe her trembling body before exhaling. "I think… I'll check on her right now."
"Alright. But be warned. As I said before, do not think of her as a lost cause, so it is best for you to not say anything that could upset her." The doctor forewarned the mother, having experienced situations like this countless of times.
"A-Alright." She let loose a small stutter before putting the phone back to the receiver stiffly.
Each thump on the wooden staircase resonated in the quiet and darkened household. Natsumi's footsteps were slightly sluggish, before they halted in front of her daughter's bedroom quietly.
The sign that hung on her little girl's door was crooked; a picture depicting a happy dog with its tongue sticking out did nothing to alleviate her spirits at all. Extending her hand with a sigh and prayer for the best, she knocked on the door.
"Naomi?" she asked firmly, her shakiness of her tone still evident in her voice.
Silence was the answer back. In any normal situation as before, she would have believed her daughter was asleep. This wasn't the case now, however.
"N-Naomi? Have you gone to bed yet? It's getting pretty late…" Natsumi spoke with a more steady voice, believing in her heart that yes, my daughter would eventually come around, and everything will be fine. "It's your mom, okay? I'll be coming in, if that's okay with you…" she added carefully after a moment of no response.
The thirty-eight year old woman placed her hand gingerly on the door knob before twisting it, letting the door click and swing open softly. As the door swung open smoothly, Natsumi let out a small gasp as her eyes locked on her daughter, still clad in her yellow pajamas and still standing in the corner of the room.
Naomi did nothing in response, only staring straight at the wall, ignoring her mother's presence.
With an inhale of air, Natsumi ventured forward ever so slowly, as to not agitate her precious girl.
"Naomi? I really can't believe that you've been standing there for a whole day, you know?" she gave out a forced laugh before tilting her head, trying her best to keep up with the happy charade. "You must be tired for standing for the whole day. Why not take a rest on the bed to soothe your legs a bit?" she gestured to the bed despite knowing that Naomi wasn't looking at her.
No answer.
"You know… your mother had a really great find today during shopping!" she gulped a little bit before continuing. "I was going to return home with the groceries, when I stumbled upon an adorable little kitten in the pet store. And… you've been begging me for a kitten for quite some time, right?" she quizzed, the feeling of despair almost fading as the one-sided conversation went on. "It was a little Fold with such beautiful auburn fur. It kept staring at me too… I couldn't even pry myself away from such a cute sight!" Natsumi giggled, the stiffness going away briefly.
"I'd really love to introduce the two of you together. Why not we skip school tomorrow and see the kitten? Your teacher allowed you to take a break off of school, so why not we take a little 'Girl's Day Out' and shop, hmm?"
Natsumi almost expected at least for Naomi to turn around, with maybe a slight spark of liveliness in her eyes. Instead, the stillness continued on in a foreboding manner, and Naomi continued to disregard any topic of the conversation.
It was starting to break the mother's heart to see all this.
"Hey… Naomi. You seem to stand there every day… so could you tell your mother why you're doing that?" she said sweetly, inching forward with dampening spirits. "Is there… someone with you, Naomi?" she hesitated on adding that when no reply came.
"Seiko." The daughter of Nakashima muttered monotonously, for the first time throughout the entire conversation that Naomi had finally said something.
Natsumi flinched at her answer before deciding that it was time to take it very, very cautiously on her reply.
"Naomi… listen to your mother very closely, o-okay? And please understand that your mother doesn't want to make you angry…" she started, palms getting sweaty from her decision. "I want to know a little bit more about your friend, okay? Just a little chat about her."
Without even waiting for an answer, she started taking steps forward, gazing at her daughter for any sudden movements.
"Seiko… this girl from your class… how long has she been there with you?" she questioned, her legs beginning to tremble from the tension.
"Always." Was the dull reply back; Naomi not bothering to turn around and face her mother completely.
"And could you tell me… what class it was?" Natsumi continued, swallowing.
"2-9."
"Oh… is that right?" she forced out a small chuckle. "I've always heard such good comments out of your homeroom. Everyone there gets along so well with each other, right?" she said before frowning on the topic she was supposed to breach now. "But the thing is…" she looked up to see any kind of verdict from Naomi.
Natsumi swore that her daughter stiffened up a bit, but she was otherwise still and unresponsive.
"But… no one from your class has heard of-"
"Get out." Naomi cut off, a tinge of anger heard in her voice.
"…!" Natsumi clasped her hands to her mouth, knowing that she went over the boundary and provoked her daughter.
"You don't believe a fucking word I'm saying, so why the hell are you still here in my room?! Get the hell out now!" Naomi spun around with flames of fury dancing in her eyes, pushing her mother harshly to the floor.
"Aaargh!" Natsumi yelled out, before landing to the hard cold wooden floor.
"Why the hell did you even come up here?! You don't even believe me, so stop pretending already! You don't care about me one bit!" Her daughter screamed; pounding her fists upon the wall and stomping her foot hard on the ground. "You think I'm fucking crazy, don't you?!"
The banging continued with an even harder effort, shaking the paintings and a pin board that were hung on the wall. This was soon followed up by Naomi's wails as the tears began trickling down her face; fists getting redder from all the impact she made on the wall.
Getting up quickly from the floor, the thirty-eight year old mother tried to restrain her daughter, her heart shattering to pieces from this mess that has went on for months.
"Naomi, please stop!" Natsumi's voice cracked while she attempted to prevent her from injuring herself. "You're going to hurt yourself!"
But Naomi only jerked out of her grasps and wrung her hands, gripping the sides of her head hard as she screamed in agony.
"Naomi, listen to me! There's no person in your class that I know called 'Seiko'! You have to stop your tantrum! Please!" she pleaded, her own tears starting to overflow.
"I'm perfectly sane! It's everyone who's gone fucking crazy!" she yelled back, her hands returning to hammering on the wall.
"Naomi, please!" Natsumi raised her sobbing voice throughout the pounding. "You need to calm down-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" she screeched through the midst of the tears, halting her actions to release her rage upon her mother. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY! ALL OF YOU CAN JUST BURN IN HELL, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT SEIKO'S REAL!"
And with another tormented scream that echoed in her entire bedroom, she flung her things sitting on her study desk in a rage.
"N… Naomi!" her mother cried out; her heart hurting from all the insults that Naomi was flinging at her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH! The sixteen year old howled out before slamming her fist on the window, causing it to make a crack as a small fissure on the glass pane.
"Naomi, please, I beg of you, calm down!" she hiccupped through the words she said quickly, pulling out the medicine that she kept in her pocket for situations like this. "Please!"
With a grab, Natsumi pulled Naomi in her arms forcefully, trying to get a pill in her mouth.
"NO! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME!" she screamed repetitively, trying to fight with her mother with punches and scratches.
"It's medicine, Naomi! It'll help you relax, so please!" she spat out with a blow she got on her right leg from a kick.
"NO! NOOO!" she yelled out, her endeavours of getting away stronger than before.
"Naomi! Take the medicine, please!" Natsumi's voice went to as loud as Naomi's, accidentally pushing against the desk and making something clatter to the floor.
Through the entire scuffle between mother and daughter, Naomi's cellphone slowly flickered on with a picture depicting a figure with a blackened out face giving a peace sign. If anyone else were to look at it, they would be confused to who that person is.
But to Naomi, it was perfectly clear who it was.
"WHY WON'T ANYONE BELIEVE ME?! WHY?!"
… It was Seiko.
After the fight they had in that accursed place and they had parted ways, Naomi came across Seiko who was slowly dying from the noose around her neck. And even with her help to save her, it was too late.
She died before Naomi could use a footstool and save her.
Nakashima had immediately mourned her death, screaming on why the hell she killed herself when she promised they would get out hand in hand, together. The blame eventually went to her, because, after all, it was her fault for making Seiko break down to the point that she had committed suicide from the terrors of this place.
It was only an hour and ten minutes later, that Naomi really was to be blamed for all of this.
She had stumbled across a TV set that had a video tape playing. Curious and stopping her tracks for a moment of finding the others, she watched the video. And throughout the whole thing, she found out who the murderer was. She found out who was the one the dragged her to the girl's lavatories, tied the noose around her, and kicked the bucket that Seiko was standing on to seal her fate.
… It was none other than Naomi herself.
Naomi recalled yelling herself hoarse, the Darkening seeping into her in every entry it could go in. She recalled giving up on life and accepting her fate as the punishment for her crime.
She recalled being sent countless of text messages from her deceased friend, all with the same title, 'No Hard Feelings'.
With the much needed encouragement from Seiko, she eventually found her way to the others and they got out in the nick of time before the last bell finally tolled and trapped them in the school forever. As they went over the fence and into the rainy weather, a bright light enveloped Naomi and the others before she found herself losing consciousness.
When she finally woke up, she was absolutely euphoric that they got out. They were alive and that was the end of ever seeing that hell again. Cheers rang out in the room that slowly became silence when they realised; their friends were never coming back.
Those who died there… they were never to see the light of day or Heaven, for the matter of fact.
Seiko was never going to be with her ever again.
And so when Naomi got back home and locked herself in her room before her mother could say anything to her, she flipped out her phone and looked at the picture that she took of Seiko.
And her heart dropped like a stone to the bottom of her stomach.
Her face was blackened out; unable to see the signature kitty smile she always gave.
Naomi began tearing up as she bit her lips, before flinging her phone on the desk in a rage.
Because that photo would always be a painful reminder of how that she herself, killed her own best friend.
Because it would always remind her of how she would never see or even hear Seiko's voice all over again.
And it was all her fault for not controlling her emotions.
And just as her watery vision began to fade as her mother force fed her the pills that were given by the psychiatrist, she mumbled out three words before she fell into the darkness.
'I'm so sorry.'