Corpse Party

Memory Loss and Blood Spill

Chapter 12 – When a flame Dies

After a five full minutes of complete and shocked minutes Morishige finally broke down. He collapsed onto his knees and let his tears flow, caused by the thought of him just having lost the most precious friend he had ever had in the matter of seconds. He screamed loudly and began pulling ferociously at his hair, ripping out several locks here and there.

I looked at him in terror and grabbed his wrists to try to stop him, but barely had I touched him before something completely unexpected happened. A swish, a loud slap, and a blinding flash of light ran through my mind at the same time, and before I knew it I was sprawled on the floor, putting my hand on my burning hot cheek as I stared up at Morishige with a look of confusion and slight fear.

"DON`T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" Morishige yelled loudly in frustration, his hands shaking from anger and despair.

He slapped me. He had actually slapped me. The cool and collected Morishige I knew from school would never tend to such violent tendencies. He had never erupted in such hopeless anger and confusion before, and it all culminated, resulting in him tending to violence.

I lied there and supported my weight with my arms as I slowly got up and sat down on my legs, looking up at him with the hint of anger hidden behind my confusion.

"W-What the hell was that for!?" I yelled loudly.

He didn´t seem to notice my yelling though, as he didn´t respond and just returned to ripping his hair out, screaming and staring up at the grotesque image that not long ago had been Mayu Suzumoto.

I looked at him with disgust as he wrapped himself up in his own arms, rocking back and forth as he cried. It had seemed that the thought of losing Mayu and the grotesque and violant act she had been exposed to had stripped Morishige of any humanity, let alone sanity. He began murmuring to himself, helplessly rocking back and forth as he kept mumbling the same thing over and over again.

"God no… Not Mayu… No…"

As I realized he was murmuring Mayu´s name I went to gain a bit of sympathy for the poor guy. If I didn´t know better I would think he had been in love with her when she was still alive.

"Sakutaro… You can´t stay like that forever" I said with a saddened expression.

Morishige turned his head towards me slowly and I widened my eyes a bit when I saw the almost psychopathic grin he had plastered over his face, totally hiding the normally cool and collected expression he usually had. His glasses flared up a bit as an enormous thunderclap roared outside one of the window´s and he began giggling loudly.

"hihi Why the hell not?" He said as he continued to giggle.

"Don´t you want to escape this place like everyone else?" I asked softly, trying not to piss him off even more.

"No… Not anymore… Everything is pointless" he mumbled as he stared down at the screen of his phone "Mayu´s gone…"

"And if you don´t do something, you´ll be gone soon as well" I said as I looked at him.

"Yes… That honestly sound great" He said with an aggressive hiss "Any world without Mayu isn´t a world I want to live in"

"How can you say that?!" I asked him desperately "How about your friends? The people that love you!?"

"I don´t give a shit about them, or you!" He yelled at me "Don´t you get it!? Mayu was my only reason to live! She was my flame of life! And now that she has died, I might just die as well!"

I looked at him, petrified from shock. He really felt such strong feelings towards Mayu? I knew he took a particular liking to her, but I didn´t know she meant that much to me.

"Just forget me Yosuhei…" He mumbled, looking at me with a sad expression "I have lost the will to live without Mayu…."

And with this he woppled onto his feet uncertainly, sobbing uncontrollably as he looked around the room. His gaze was oddly fixed onto one of the window´s of the hallway, and I widened my eyes and gasped a bit as I realized what was about to happen. He smiled over at me sadly and sighed.

"Please, help the others escape… They deserve that much" he mumbled softly.

"Sakutaro don ´t!" I yelled as I reached out my arm towards him.

But it was too late. He had already sprinted across the hall, past me, and had jumped headfirst through a window. I looked upon him in horror as everything seemed to slow down, and as he fell I felt my body react instinctively, sprinting towards Sakutaro as my body followed it´s own impulses.

But when I finally reached the windowsill after what felt like eternity, Sakutaro had been lost out of my reach a long time ago. A well known crunch and a thud, I cringed and closed my eyes out of fear. I sobbed softly as I didn´t dare open my eyes, and witness whatever horrific sight I would find when I would look outside that damned window.

I was shaking violently all over, my hands especially. It felt like a polar wind had just washed over my body. I was so cold. Cold, afraid, and alone once again. That seemed to happen all of the time in this damn place, like if destiny told that I was fated to be alone and afraid in this school. Like if an upper power willed for me to be alone, terrified, and endangered in this place.

I finally dared to open my eyes and the sight before me only made me all the more anxious, afraid, and angry at the world.

At the ground below me, Morishige lied. His body was twitching and turning in a last helpless and desperate attempt to stay alive. His neck and one of his legs was twisted unnaturally, showing how he had been falling headfirst. Dark red blood was oozing out from his head and mouth, slowly suffocating him in his own blood.

I could do nothing but stare down at him in fear as he took his final breath. Slowly he stopped gasping for air, and the convulsions in his body slowly became weaker. I couldn´t hold back my tears anymore as he stopped moving, any sign of life escaping his body.

I was alone again. In the matter of minutes I had lost two of the most precious people to me, some of the people that had helped me adapt to my amnesia, and help me get used to the new life I had just gotten. Morishige was some of the people that had taken me in with open arms, and now they were gone. They´re gone.

I began crying loudly as I slided down the wall of the window, breaking down in tears. I felt so hopeless. My best friends were dying left and right, and I had failed to stop it. I was a failure. A failure. I had failed to protect and help my friends. They were dead. And it was all because of me.

"Why… Why does this have to happen to us!?" I yelled in desperation as I punched a wall. "Why… couldn´t it be me?"

I sobbed violently and kept wiping my tears but they just kept coming and coming.

"I don't have a family…" I mumbled as I cried "I don´t have anyone like that… So why does everyone else have to die? They have families that love them, and treasure them… WHY THEM!?"

I curled up into a fetal position and cried. I cried for such a long time. I was so devastated over losing two of my friends, that I didn´t even notice how much time had passed. I didn´t know if it only was five minutes or several hours or days even. All I know is I cried. I cried for longer than I had ever cried before. My two friends flame had died. And mine were beginning to flicker from despair as well. I was giving up.

I was still sitting by that same window and crying when I heard footsteps approaching. One set of soft footsteps, and another one click clacking like if the person were wearing high heels.

I looked up from my fetal position and began fearing it was the large man with the hammer from earlier, but then realized those footsteps would be much heavier if it was. Rather than fear, I was now hit with a wave of curiosity, and I kept looking into the darkness where from I heard these footsteps.

The first thing I saw coming out from the darkness was a long slender ankle, softly stepping onto the ground. Then the rest of the person came into view. It was Ayumi! And close behind her was Ms. Yui!

I widened my eyes and stared at the two people that had just stepped out of the illuminating darkness behind them. I could barely believe that I had gained company once more. I stared at Ayumi and Ms. Yui like if I wanted to make sure they were actually there, and not my imagination playing tricks on me. But my eyesight didn´t trick me. It really was them, in flesh and bones.

"Y-Yosuhei!" Ayumi squealed and sprinted over to me, kneeling down by my side "Oh my god what happened!? Why are you sitting in the middle of the hallway!?"

"A-Ayumi…" I mumbled softly, still not able to believe this was really happening "I-Is it really you?"

"Of course it´s me dummy!" She yelled as she looked me over "has anything happened? What´s going on?"

I then realized that not far from here, Mayu was still splattered all over that wall. And then my mind drifted to Morishige, who was still lying outside the nearby window. Should I tell them that two of our friends, and two of Ms. Yui´s students were dead? They would both be devastated, and I wasn´t sure which would be more.

Mayu was one of Ayumi´s best friends. They loved hanging out together, they almost spend every free moment in school to talk about Mayu´s drama club or Ayumi´s horror obsession. But on the other hand, Ms. Yui was so dedicated to take good care of her students, and make sure that they would get a bright future.

But the other side of the coin was just as helpless to figure out. If I didn't tell them that Morishige and Mayu had been killed, they would hold it against me later if they found out. It would be irresponsible of me if I didn't tell them. They would feel betrayed, left out. So to sum it up there are only negative effects from this tough choice.

I sighed a bit and smiled at Ayumi softly as she looked at me with a worried expression.

"I-I´m fine Ayumi…" I mumbled softly "Thanks…"

She nodded a bit and sighed.

"Good.. I don´t want anything to happen to my friends.." She said with a soft smile.
That one stung a little. I had to tell them. I just had to…

"A-Ayumi… There´s something I need to tell you.." I mumbled as I looked up at her with a sad expression.

"What is it Yosuhei?" she asked as we both stood up.

"W-Well…" I mumbled as I looked downwards in sadness. "M-Mayu… And Morishige is… Is…"

"What? What is it?" She asked, getting a bit nervous "Wait… Don´t tell me they´re… That they´re…"

I sighed and nodded as she finally figured out what I was trying to say.

"W-Where are they Yosuhei?" Ms. Yui asked as she looked at me..

I sobbed violently and pointed in the direction of the remains of Mayu, and at the broken window not too far from here. Ms. Yui went towards Mayu and Ayumi towards the window, and not too much time had passed since I heard a shocked gasp from the end of the hall, and a small shriek and gagging noises from Ayumi. They both soon returned to my sides, unable to speak from shock, and maybe even depression.

"H-How did they die Yosuhei?" Ayumi asked through a veil of tears "Was it a quick death?"

I sobbed violently and widened my eyes as I recalled everything that had happened to my friends.

"Mayu´s was quick and almost painless" I mumbled sadly " She was thrown at the wall with inhuman speed by those bastard spirits…Morishige became so depressed from her death, that he committed suicide, and suffocated in his own body fluids"

"That´s so horrible…" Ms. Yui mumbled after gasping.

Ayumi began breathing heavily and was on the brim to enter a hyperventilation. This place was beginning to get to her that´s for sure.

"It´s all my fault…."I mumbled, tearing up a bit again "I-I-I couldn´t do anything… I failed to protect them"

I could now see that both Ayumi and Ms. Yui looked at me in shock. They were both tearing up, and getting emotional. Ms. Yui tried to conceal her sadness as she cleared her throat.

"N-No Yosuhei…" She said, trying not to cry as she looked at me "T-This isn´t your fault…"

"How isn´t it my fault!?" I yelled as I teared up "I was with them! And I didn´t do anything about their deaths!"

"But… But…" Ayumi stammered not able to come up with an excuse.

"See? It´s all my fault" I mumbled softly.

"Yosuhei, me and Ayumi has both seen what those spirits can do on the way here" Ms. Yui suddenly barged in "They are not anything anyone could have prepared for, or faught."

"But I just stood there!" I screamed in her face "I just stood there and let Mayu and Morishige get killed! I could have helped somehow!"

"No Yosuhei! Trust me!" She yelled back as she shook my shoulders to wake me up "You couldn´t have done anything, even if you had tried!"

"T-That doesn´t mean I had to just stand there like a coward!" I yelled in desperation.

There it was. All cards were on the table now. I hated myself for my cowardice. I thought I was and fully believed I was a coward. I hated myself and my guts since I hadn´t stepped in to help Mayu, or at least tried to prevent Morishige from jumping. Everything was said now, nothing more had to be said. So I grew silent. And the others did as well, unable to come up with a defence against me and my words.

"I´m so sorry guys…" I cried into my hands "It´s all my fault… My fault"

Ayumi and Ms. Yui both sat down beside me, patting my back and comforting the best they could. I cried for a bit more before calming down just a bit, looking at my two new companions.

"sorry. I souldn´t be wasting our time like this when there´s still people to save"

"It´s ok Yosuhei." Ayumi mumbled as she patted my head sympathetically "everyone needs to cry sometimes"

I nodded softly and sighed a bit.

"Let´s just get out of here!" I mumbled as I stared at the window behind me "I can´t stand to stay in this place more than I have to"

"Yeah good Idea." Ms. Yui mumbled as she dried her last tears over the loss of her students "We also still have to find Kishinuma!"

"Huh? You mean Yoshiki?" I looked at them surprised.

"Yeah." Ayumi mumbled with a soft sniffle "He was with us in the beginning but ran off to find Naomi, who we had heard screaming earlier.

I widened my eyes as I heard Naomi´s name.
"Naomi… She was with Seiko... When I last saw them" I mumbled fearfully to myself, the other two looking at me weirdly.

"Huh? You say something?"

If Naomi had screamed then… That must have meant that she and Seiko were in danger. That would also explain the extremely weird and intense feeling I got earlier of something being incredibly wrong. My most precious person in the world was in danger!

I immediately forgot anything else, everything about Yoshiki, everything about Mayu and Morishige. My mind automatically locked itself onto one particular goal, and that goal alone. Finding Seiko, and getting her out of harms way.

Without thinking about it and without hesitation I stood up and headed down the hallway as fast as my shaky legs could carry me. Behind me I could hear how Ms. Yui and Ayumi called out my name, and how their eager footsteps desperately tried to keep up. But quite frankly I didn´t give a damn about those two right now. My mind was only set on one person, which was Seiko.

I breathed heavily as I began getting despeate. I knew I was getting close. So close in fact I could already smell the perfume she used to wear, and hear the softness of her voice when she spoke to me. I imagined how she would be sitting in some hallway somewhere, balling her eyes out because she was alone and afraid. And in the middle of the darkness her shining white knight would come to save her.

"If anything happens to her…" I mumbled as I rounded corner after corner, not even minding where I went "I might as well be dead!"

I growled a bit of determination as I rounded yet another corner and stared into the illuminating darkness ahead as I ran. That's right. No more running away. This time I would stand my ground and protect the one thing that was the most precious to me in the whole world. Even if it might backfire, even if it might hurt or even kill me, I wasn´t going to let Seiko get hurt because of my cowardice.

Too many had already suffered because I was too afraid to help. This time would be different. I was no longer going to back down, and I would fight till the end. Cause in the end…

She might be the only person that mean more to me than my own life does.

A/N

Hey guys! Hope you liked the latest chapter to Corpse Party – Memory Loss and Blood Spill

First of all a huge shoutout to CorpsePartyLover 3850 for his massive support on both my SAO and CP story. You´re the best dude!

And second of all, hope you guys liked my chapter. Your support helps me a lot.

Other then that I don´t have much to say, so please keep on reading dear readers!

Oh god I sounded like Kibiki sensei for a while there XD

See you next week! Arigato!