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Calling all the Trauma

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We took a break in the infirmary.

Seiko was still uneasy about generally everything. Mayu even more so. She was eyeing the walls like they'd fall on her at any moment. Haru was the only normal one (which I think didn't make her so in this situation) and was swinging her arm at her side as she inspected a nearby cabinet. Of course, I was the only one keeping my head and trying to get information from the crooked neck nurse.

"Your daughter," I was asking, "Is she still around?"

Shinozaki Yoshie smiled at me in one those motherly ways. I think she was trying her hardest not to grimace. I myself was trying hard not to. The twisted neck looked painful. Other than that, she was dressed professionally, like she had been enjoying a normal day at work before she died.

"Saa-chan doesn't come out often." She explained softly, "She's still a little girl. After she woke up, she's been scared of the others."

I figured 'others' were the three children she murdered. Seiko was pale, "B-But if the spirits are appeased, why is the school still here?"

"So many spirits were killed." Yoshie looked down sorrowfully, "Their vengeance is so great it is enough to sustain this schools form. Unless they are all appeased, I'm afraid we are all trapped here."

"Th-there has to be hundreds…" Mayu murmured fretfully, "No, thousands…!"

"We're doomed!" Seiko moaned, dropping her head into her hands. There was a tense silence, one where each of us were unsure of what to do. Even Haru was staring at the floor, as if disappointed she'd gotten her hopes up.

I frowned. That wouldn't do.

"That's easy!"

They all jumped at my shout. Yoshie gave me a perplexed look, "How so?"

"We'll gather everyone." I started enthusiastically, "Tell them all to suck it up and find a way out! Be free! It's better than living in eternal torment! Why not give freedom a chance?"

They stared at me. My face heated up and I wondered if I overdid it. Haru then hugged me and said, "It's the stupidest plan you've come up with, but at least it's a plan."

"It's crazy!" Seiko stood from one of the beds, waving her hands around, "You'll get yourself killed!"

"But it's a start!" I protested. "I mean, I could always run down the hallway screaming."

"I, uh, don't think that'll work." Mayu walked over, wringing her hands nervously. I don't think she liked the infirmary. Then again, neither did Seiko.

Yoshie startled us all by abruptly standing up from her desk. She was frowning thoughtfully, "The intercom."

I blinked before breaking out into a grin, "That's brilliant!"

She gave a weak smile, "You'll be able to say what you need to. It's in the principal's office."

"This is crazy…" Seiko swayed and for a moment I thought I was going to have to deal with an unconscious ghost. Mayu came to the rescue and held her steady. "This…this can't possibly work!"

"Have some faith." Haru said. She strode up to the door and sent me an expectant look, "If you don't want to come with Onee-chan, then just stay here with Yoshi-chan."

I almost melted at the naming of an old Nintendo character. Haru could be so adorable. Apparently Yoshie did too because she giggled and said, "My, you're the cutest. You have a great friend with you, Okura-san."

I flushed at the formality, "Ah, well, twig here is a genius. Hands down."

Haru grinned, practically skipping out of the room. I saw Mayu and Seiko share an uncertain look and offered a reassuring smile, "If you don't want to come, you can stay here where it's safe."

"I won't mind." Yoshie added pleasantly.

"N-No." Mayu stepped forward quickly, "Let's go to the office."

"But…" Seiko bit her lip, giving the infirmary a once over. I think she deemed proving a point below survival because she nodded and joined Mayu, "Fine. Let's just be careful."

I bowed to Yoshie, "Thank you for your time, Yoshie!"

She smiled, "It's no problem. Here, take this. It's a map of the school before all this happened. Hopefully it will help."

We grouped up back in the hall and spread out the tiny brochure before the four of us. Haru immediately started pointing to familiar areas.

"Haru arrived in this classroom." She was saying, "Then went to the cafeteria which is up these stairs. There's a lot of shoes there. It was creepy. But then there's this whole second wing of the school. That's where the director's office is."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Hey, wait, isn't the bathrooms in the opposite direction? How'd we end up down the other end of the hallway?"

Haru answered immediately, "The earthquakes can change your location."

Seiko sounded like she just choked on the air, "Are you saying that even if we do get to this second wing, an earthquake can send us right back to the girl's bathroom?"

"Basically."

"U-Um…" Mayu pointed towards a stairway, "We should start there. It'll lead us right next to the exit."

"But, Mayu…" Seiko gave her friend a concerned stare, "The stairway is back the way we came…"

Mayu hesitated before steeling herself, "W-We should at least try to get out of here."

"That's the spirit!" I cheered, happy they were finally coming around. "You can close your eyes and I'll hold your hand if you'd like."

She smiled gratefully and took my hand. Seiko came up on her other side and took her other hand. The friends shared a look. I couldn't really read it, but I think they both understood something. Haru tugged my sleeve forward, "C'mon, this way. Haru knows the way."

I held the map up, checking it every once in a while. When we neared the corner, I made sure to steer Mayu away from her…well, herself. Seiko endured it bravely, giving her momentarily blind friend comforting pats. Thanks to Haru's high speed dragging, we got out of the hallway quickly.

"Thanks." Mayu breathed, wiping her eyes.

Seiko grinned foxily, "Nah, it's alright. But Kaoru nearly lost her arm."

Haru glared, hiding her stump as best she could, "Haru thinks Seiko is a twat."

"Then Seiko thinks Haru is a brat."

"Why you-!"

"You okay?" I asked Mayu, ignoring the argument behind me. The ghostly girl nodded.

"Thank you."

"It's no prob-"

"Haru will take Onee-chan away from crazy lady!" Haru cried, grabbing my sleeve and proceeding to haul me up the pitch black stairway. But I had ghosts as companions and they lit up the area nicely. Despite Haru practically carrying me the whole way up, Mayu and Seiko only had to walk to keep up with us.

Haru glowered at the Cheshire cat smile on Seiko's face, "Ne, Haru-chan, can I call you twig too?"

"No!" She gasped, "That's Onee-chan's special name! Don't steal it!"

Mayu laughed, "Now, now…no fighting…"

I studied the map. The hallway in front of us was unlit and I could faintly make out a marker sign, but it was nearly shredded to pieces. Like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it or something.

"Well," I folded the map with a clap, bringing attention back to the matter at hand, "It should be right around the corner!"

There wasn't much enthusiasm, other than Mayu freaking out at a spider. We all stared blankly at her when it happened. I figured she just didn't like bugs. Seiko teased her about it as we turned down a hallway that had these big brown doors at the end. Haru hopped happily.

"There it is! Haru knows. Haru d-"

She paused and frowned. I quirked an eyebrow, "What'd you do?"

"Nothing." She muttered sulkily. "Haru just being stupid."

Well that was strange, but I decided to let it go. "Have either of you been here?"

Mayu and Seiko shook their heads. I hummed as we approached the doors. For a moment I thought they were fake, until Haru threw them open with a loud clang. A blast of fresh air hit us and I breathed it in with an excited grin. It seemed the outside gave the other three a blast of enthusiasm because suddenly Seiko and Haru were racing each other across the platform.

"Keep up, shrimp!"

"Haru is not seafood!"

"Ha! You can't outrun a girl in track!"

"Shut up, twat!"

"Brat!"

"They seem to be getting along." I said to Mayu conversationally. She smiled, staring wistfully out at the forest.

"If only…" I heard her murmur.

"You know," I started, pulling her attention from the gloomy trees, "I'd rather a mystic portal send me home then having to find it in a dark and scary forest."

Mayu blinked before looking at the forest with something akin to terror, "You don't think it goes on forever…?"

"Probably." I shrugged before nodding sagely. "I know all the clichés. Going into the mysterious haunted woods that looks like a way out is just asking for trouble. Besides, I promised I'd bring all of you back to life. It'd suck real badly if I went back on that now."

"You're serious." She gave me a confused glance, her lips pursed, "Why? Why not just save yourself and not go through the trouble of resurrecting us?"

I blinked before saying, "Well, why not?"

She didn't know how to respond, but she didn't get a choice. The moment she opened her mouth, she tripped, a short cry escaping her before she tumbled to the ground. I scrambled to help her, grimacing as I realized she tripped on a corpse.

"Wh-wha…" She sat up, eyes widening at the disfigured body and wailing, "Oh god!"

"It's alright!" I eased, dragging her as best as I could away from the body. I froze and a shiver went up my spine as I noticed another not far away hanging over the railing, its mouth opened in a silent scream. Swallowing down the bile, I helped Mayu to her feet, looking ahead for Haru and Seiko.

Haru was jumping over the fence.

"H-Hey!" Seiko cried, reaching for the girl but Haru was quick. The ghost girl skirted around a few more corpses before disappearing into the woods. I felt my stomach drop before hurrying a quivering Mayu along the platform. Seiko was staring uncomprehendingly where Haru disappeared, mouth agape, "She just…left…"

"Twig won't abandon us." I huffed, helping Mayu up to the doors of the second wing. "You think you can watch Mayu till I get back?"

Seiko jolted, "Wha-wait, till you get back? What do you mean by that!?"

I smiled, throwing a leg over the fence. Seiko practically pounced on me, latching to my arm, "Don't you do that! Get back over here! You're not going after her!"

"She'll get lost." I thought that over and added, "Maybe. But it's better to be safe than sorry."

"You'll die." Seiko trembled, backing away from me like I was a bomb. She had tears in her eyes, "You'll die…"

I offered a mischievous grin, "Nah, it takes a lot more than some creepy fog and blood to scare this girl away. I'll be back before you know it!"

"Please…" We turned to Mayu, who was leaning weakly against the door. She was giving me a terrified look, "Please come back…"

I winked, "Like I'd really leave you two alone for too long. I'll be back with twig in a moment. Play rock-paper-scissors till I get back or something."

"You're weird!" I heard Seiko shriek as I ran towards the forest, "And suicidal! You better be alive when you come back or I'll hit you!"

"Noted!" I called back, jumping over some bushes into the dense thicket. I coughed, frowning at the purple mist. It resembled that freaky miasma my science teacher demonstrated with one time. It was toxic, which was probably a problem right now.

"Twig!" I trotted around, digging my heel into the ground so I wouldn't lose track of where I'd been, "Twig! What are you doing out here? You'll get lost! Twig!"

"Onee-chan should shut up or the spirits will get angry."

I brightened, turning around to see my ghostly companion hovering by a nearby tree. I frowned, though, noticing the vacant look in her eye and the way she glanced behind the tree solemnly. I wheezed, the air getting thinner as I took a step closer, "What's up? Are you alright? You ran off all the sudden…"

"…Haru is dead." She said monotonously, "Haru is dead."

I swallowed and joined her beside the tree. I followed her gaze and had to do a double take as I saw…well, I saw her.

"…Oh." I bowed my head, "I see…"

Her body was propped against the tree. There were marks in the ground nearby, indicating a struggle. The bloodstains suggested she'd dragged herself here. Her bloody stump looked worse on this end. It was blackened and oozing more than just blood now. It seemed the miasma affected her more in death. Her skin was sunken in and her mouth was dripping blood. I closed my eyes, drawing a shaking breath before kneeling.

"What are you doing?" The ghost asked behind me.

"Giving the most awesome person ever a prayer." I said back, clasping my hands. There was a prominent silence before I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder. It was shaking.

"Haru hates Onee-chan!" She sobbed, "Onee-chan gives Haru too much hope!"

I grinned, turning and returning the hug whole heartedly, "That's alright! If none of this works out and it ends in a complete disaster, which it won't, I give you permission to haunt me!"

"What?" She sniffed.

"I don't know." I mused. "Maybe dangle bacon in front of my face or poke me in the side. I'm really ticklish."

I probably shouldn't have said that because the next thing I knew I was on the ground twitching. Haru was giving me a blank stare, "Onee-chan is so weird."

"But you love me." I coughed.

She pursed her lips, "We should go back. Onee-chan is getting sick and fresh air will make you better."

"Okay, okay…" I stood, stretching and walking with her back towards the school. We both glanced back at the body. Haru was frowning sorrowfully. I nudged her playfully.

"How big should their apology cake be?" I asked.

"Three tiers."

I whistled. "Damn, twig, might as well just order a wedding cake."

She snickered as we came out of the woods. I exhaled, glad the muggy fogginess was out of my mouth and I could breathe easier, "Ah, that's much better. Smelled like piss in there."

I blinked, scowling as I realized that the smell was actually me. Haru outright laughed, finding my antics amusing, "Haru thinks Onee-chan is dumb, but in a good way."

I'll take that as a compliment. I ruffled her hair with a grin, "Alright, let's get back to the others. I wonder who won their game…"

Fun Fact: Seiko is lesbian.