Author's Note: We've got a new tadpole! There's going to be a couple of more soon. Tonight's exciting for me too. It's the season premiere of American Horror Story: Double Feature! (Yay!) This should give me more fuel for this season. Yes, I used American Horror Stories to help me write too. Anyway, Rocchi also comes back in the season too. Already, I want to write next week's halo. I thought that if I finished this halo early today that I would get started on it. But, I got finished on time. Anyway, enjoy this week's halo.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide and mental illness

Halo Three: Chie:

Osaka, Japan.

She keeps her eyes low as she walked through the crowd of people. That chalky taste was coming back in her throat. She tried to swallow it down. She didn't even want to look around at the crowd she was in the middle of. So much tried to drown her. The low buzz of their thoughts made her ears burn. She recoiled as she forced herself to walk. It felt like walking to an execution.

Here it came again.

A grow of schoolchildren walked by her. Their giddiness of going back to school filled her like pouring water. Her right index finger twitched. Her lips curved into a little smile. But then, the teacher walked by. The stress. The frustration of her boyfriend not watching to commit. The desire to scream. The chalky taste increased. She winced as she held her throat.

That teacher wouldn't be alone in that tide wave. A dissolved salaryman walked by her. The fear of what to do after being fired started to choke her. Three soapland girls, a mom with two screaming, bratty kids, a bartender coming home from the morning, four Ganguro girls, a drunk middle-aged Bōsōzoku, and many more passed by her. More and more started to build inside of her. She grabbed her head, forcing down the urge to scream. The chalky taste made her want to vomit.

"Go away. Go away. Go away," she pleaded to herself. An elderly couple walked by her. The happiness and worry felt like it was too much. She prayed that pressure would go away.

Why can't it stop?

The tipping point was when a woman in her fifties dressed like a washed-up party girl walked by her. She sank down to her sank knees, gasping.

"Go away! Leave me alone! Why do you keep torturing me like this?!" she screamed. She could feel the eyes on her. Oh no. It happened again, didn't it? She started shaking her head. The overflowing pressure made it a struggle to get up. Her legs felt like jelly as she ran away.

"Are you okay, miss?" an old man asked. His voice was too far away for her mind to comprehend.

When she made it back to her apartment, the pressure started to melt away. She sank down to her knees with tears in her eyes. This was a bad idea. Why did she think that a simple trip to the store is okay for a change? Her stupid therapist didn't understand the scope of her curse. It wasn't a curse, she said. It was all in her head.

"Liar," she whispered to herself. Tears hit the tatami mats.

Suddenly, she froze with a chill racing down her spine.

Shingen parked the van outside the apartment. Shinra looked out the window.

"This the place?" he asked.

"Yes," Saori said. She and Naomi felt the shiver running down their spines. They sipped on their water as hard as they could when it hit.

"You know what to do, right?" Shingen asked as he looked at them through the rear window.

"Yes," Naomi said. "Just stay here. You don't want to scare off."

"Right," Shingen muttered. The women looked at each other.

"You ready to do this?" Saori whispered.

"Yes," Naomi said. They took one more drink before they leaped out of the van.

"Good luck," Shinra whispered from the window. Naomi flashed the V-sign behind her as she and Saori walked up to the apartment building.

Saitama.

Rocchi was just coming home from the night shift at his garage job. He just wanted to get home and go to bed. Not much going on for this Monday morning. His classes didn't begin until next week. Rocchi shook his head.

Too much for his brain. He needed sleep.

The playboy slowed to a stop when he noticed a group crowded around a hotel. A silent ambulance and two cop cars were parked off to the side. EMTs took away a covered body. Curious, Rocchi climbed off his bike and walked across the street.

"Excuse me," he said. A woman turned her head. She had to be about in her thirties old. Rocchi pointed towards the building.

"What happened there?" he asked.

"They're taking away a body," the woman said. "Suicide, apparently."

"Oh…" Rocchi said in a low voice. Part of him wanted to turn around and get on his bike.

"Do they know who it is?" he asked. The woman shrugged and shook her head. The body was loaded into the back of the ambulance before it pulled away. The cops tried to shoo the crowd away.

"Come on. Get going!" one of them yelled. "Show's over! Nothing to see here! Move it along!" The crowd slowly walked away. Rocchi turned and climbed on his bike.

That should be the end of it, right?

Osaka, Japan.

Naomi stopped in her tracks.

"Wait," she said, putting up her hand. Saori turned her head.

"What?" she asked.

"Maybe we shouldn't barge in on her like this," Naomi said. "We should try and talk to her first."

"Are you suggesting…?" Saori asked. The other woman nodded once.

"Do you think it will work?" she asked. Naomi shrugged.

"We're going to have to try," she said. "It couldn't hurt, right?" Saori shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said. Both women stood and closed their eyes.

Sakamoto-san, can you hear us? We just want to talk to you. Please say something.

She froze in her living room.

"Hello?" she asked.

Can you hear us? Try to talk with your mind.

"With my mind?" she asked.

Yes.

She closed her eyes. Like this?

Yes.

Who are you?

We're here to help you.

She gave off a dry laugh. Help me? No one can help me. Even my therapist is no use to me. She just says it's the anxiety. She snorted. Ha. She wishes it was anxiety.

Let us try. We're in the same boat as you.

She froze. What do you mean?

We were in Chou Mori too.

Her heart leaped in her throat. Chou Mori. She didn't want to hear those words ever again. She broke down trembling.

Can we come in?

She dropped her hand to her side. Alright. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She froze.

"It's okay," a woman's voice said. "It's just us." She stood, waiting. Her heart pounded against her chest.

"Coming," she said in a shaky voice. She walked over to the front door. She looked out the peephole. Two women stood outside. She froze with a confused look on her face. Her hand reached forward and opened the door. Saori and Naomi stood outside.

"I… I can't feel you!" she said. The other women looked confused.

"Are you Sakamoto Chie?" Naomi asked. The woman in the apartment nodded. A strange sense of déjà vu came over her.

"Do you remember us?" Saori asked. Chie slowly pointed at the women one at a time.

"Naomi, Saori," she said to each one.

"You do remember," Naomi said, clapping her hands together.

"May we come in?" Saori asked.

"Sure, sure!" Chie said, quickly nodding. She moved aside to let the other tadpoles in.

The ladies all sat at the kitchen table. They all had their drinks by their sides. No one spoke at first. Saori and Naomi got a better look at the newer tadpole. The bags under her eyes told them she had seen better days. Her grey eyes looked so dull and worn out. She had her long brown hair up in a ponytail. Chie tugged at her left sleeve.

"So what can you do?" Naomi asked. The third tadpole looked down at her hands.

"I feel people's emotions around me," she said in a small voice. Chie started trembling.

"I hate it," she whimpered. "I can't control it. They all just flow through me. It's worse when there are more people around. I can't go out in public anymore. I have my groceries delivered to me because of it. I have therapy sessions with my therapist over video chats. I tried to leave my apartment today, but it was too much." Chie grabbed the sides of her head.

"I can't take this anymore! I'm about to do something crazy, I swear!" she wailed. Two hands seized her wrists. Chie looked up. Saori and Naomi had calm smiles on their faces.

"How about now?" Naomi asked. The third woman shook her head.

"Nothing," she said. "I… I can't feel anything!" She blinked for a moment.

"How is this even possible?" Chie asked.

"We don't exactly know that yet," Naomi said. "But here is what I can do." She slid off the light purple glove on her right hand and touched her glass. The glass suddenly turned into plastic. Naomi gagged at the taste in her throat as her nose started to bleed. She sat back, panting. Saori rubbed her back.

"Are you okay?" she whispered. Naomi nodded as she took another drink of her cold tea. Chie's jaw dropped.

"How did you do that?" she asked. Naomi picked up a napkin and wiped her nose.

"I can't fully explain my powers no more than you can," she said. "I can't really use it too much or else I will get dizzy and light-headed." The tadpole finished off her tea.

"I have much better control of it now, though," she said.

"And what can you do?" Chie asked Saori.

"Me? Do you have any possession from anyone close to you?" the other tadpole asked.

"What for?" Chie asked with a strange look on her face.

"I need something to hold onto for this to work," Saori said.

"Alright," the other tadpole said. She got up and walked out of the kitchen. Chie came back with a necktie.

"Will this work?" she asked.

'Thank you," Saori said. She took the brown and red tie in her hands and closed her eyes. A sharp chill shot through her body. Saori opened her eyes and gasped.

"This owner is at his computer in his office, working!" she said aloud. Chie slowly covered her mouth. She held up her right hand. A bright pink cell phone floated towards her hand. Chie ignored the taste in her throat as she dialed up a number.

"Hello? Katsuki-kun? Where are you right now?" she asked. Her jaw dropped when she heard the answer. She quickly shook her head.

"Oh! No reason, goodbye!" Chie said. She quickly hung up. She turned to see Saori smiling as she took a sip of her tea.

"Well?" she asked. The other tadpole struggled to speak.

"He was at his computer like you said," she said. Saori set down her glass.

"I'm just a human tracking device," she said. "I just track down their locations when I touch a personal belonging of theirs." Chie nodded. Another question crossed her mind.

"What happens next?" she asked. Naomi took her by the hands.

"Come with us," she said. "There are other tadpoles like us." Chie had a stunned look on her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Please, let us help you," Saori said. The third tadpole started at her with big eyes.

Saitama

It didn't take like for the story to come together. The victim's picture hit the internet before the official news could have the full story together. Rocchi saw the picture and the color drained from his face.

"That's my boy, Eito," he said. Non turned her head.

"Are you serious?" she asked. Rocchi showed his main girlfriend his phone. Non looked just as shocked as he was.

"We just saw him yesterday," she said.

"I know," he said. Both stared at the man's picture in disbelief.

Sasaki Eito, age 24. On the surface, everything was fine. The rest of the Toramaru didn't suspect that anything was wrong. Eito had a mostly good summer. Sure, he was having relationship problems, but he and his girl was working through things. Right?

Well…

The call came in around eight in the morning. When the police collected his body, they found a note in Eito's back pocket.

"I am taking my life to make up for the one that I took. Please forgive me," it read. This had the police intrigued. And that was just the opening line. The cops read this five-page long note. By the time they got to the end, they rushed to the deceased young man's apartment across town.

By morning, more of the story came to light. Non stared at her phone, trembling.

"What is it?" Rocchi asked.

"It's Narumi," she said in a trembling voice. "She's dead. He killed her!"

"What are you talking about?" her boyfriend asked. She showed him her phone. A woman about twenty-one was on Non's screen.

"Is that…?" he asked.

"Yes!" Non wailed. Her eyes welled with tears.

"She was one of my best friends!" Non said. Rocchi pulled her into his arms. He looked at her phone screen again. Narumi's picture was next to Eito's. The gang leader scanned the article. None of this made any sense. They seemed so happy together. Sure, they had some problems as of late. But they were working it out. The light was at the end of the tunnel.

Right?

Or maybe there's something else at play? For now, Non and Rocchi tried to think of something that would justify this disturbing story of murder-suicide in the making.

Osaka.

Shinra leaned back in the passenger seat. He was about to go to sleep when something caught his attention. The doctor quickly sat up.

"What is it?" Shingen asked.

"Did you see that?" his son asked.

"See what?" the other doctor asked. Shinra pointed out the window.

"That little boy," he said. His father narrowed his eyes behind his mask.

"What little boy?" he asked.

"You don't see that little boy across the street in the white shirt and pants?" the doctor asked.

"No," Shingen said, shaking his head. "What are you talking about? Is this some sort of a game you're trying to play?" His son frowned.

"So you don't see him?" he asked.

"No," his father said. Shinra frowned and looked out the windshield. That little boy he saw earlier was gone. A wave of unease filled his soul.

"Hey!" a woman yelled. Shinra and Shingen looked up to see Naomi, Saori, and Chie walking towards the van. The older doctor perked up.

"You did it," he said.

"Uh-huh," Naomi said. Chie stood between the two tadpole women. Shingen turned to face her.

"Nice to meet you, Sakamoto-san," he said.

"Hi…" she mumbled. His excited emotions hit her like a brick. Chie took a step back.

"Don't mind her," Saori said. "It's her power."

"Oh…" he said. Naomi looked beside her.

"Oh, these are Kishitani Shingen-sensei and his son, Shinra," she said. "They are the ones helping us."

"Hi…" the new tadpole mumbled as her eyes shifted away from the men in the van.

"Nice to meet you," Shinra said with a wave. A curious look came over Chie's face when she saw Shinra.

"Strange…" she said.

"Huh?" Naomi asked. Chie pointed at Shinra.

"I can't feel anything from him," she said.

"What do you mean?" Saori asked. Shinra froze. Chie shook her head.

"I… I don't really know," she said. "I just can't feel anything from him." The younger doctor hesitated.

"Right!" Shingen cut in. "We have to get back to Ikebukuro before the sun sets. Who knows what the others have been up to."

"Yeah!" his son was quick to say. "We have to get going right now!"

"Can we get iced coffee along the way?" Naomi asked.

"Sure, just get in," Shingen said. The women all climbed into the van and the researcher pulled away. Shinra took one more look at that spot where he saw that pale little boy in white in the rearview mirror. He had a suspicion of what just happened. And it wasn't good.

Yuuko sat on the roof of the hotel, on the same spot where Eito jumped off. She couldn't help but smile to herself. She was only getting started. Yuuko pulled out her phone and typed up a text.

"Thirty points!" her message read. Yuuko smiled as she hit send. What was going to happen next?