To FirstWinterLight: Thanks for your compliment. If you haven't read The Tenth Shadow yet, then you should. It's a really good story.

"… Okay, this is way too cold…" Kuro opens his eyes to see that he's standing in a forest of sort. "… Where the hell am I?" He remembered that he was with Yui, Sayaka, Taguchi and Morishige before… "Right… the blood…"

After he got hit by Yoshizaku, combining with the constant falls from before, something in him must have busted. Though, it might not be very serious since he could still move. Although… he might not be okay after that punch.

"But still, I can't die. Not yet…" He says to himself. He's pulled into Heavenly Host, and he's sure as hell… Nirvana in this case…that he's not going to stay down that easily… even if he's too coward to be so brave.

Standing up, he looks around, to see nothing very… out of ordinary, comparing to how extraordinary the forest already is. He scratches his head while thinking out loud: "Where is the school? Seriously, I couldn't be out that long to be dragged into…"

A sicken stabbing sound suddenly can be heard directly behind him. Stop doing what he's doing, he lowers his hands down and slowly reaches his right hand to his trousers' pocket, only to find that he literally has no accessories in him. Not even his phone or watch is in his possession. Quickly jumping forward, he crosses his arms in a defense stance before him before turning back…

Only for nausea to raise in his stomach, as he witnesses a not very pretty scene. A naked girl is nailed on a wooden stand which is used for execution, and her body is being stabbed through from below by a wooden pike. Then, the body burns up, as the ghosts of some people appeared. Their appearances remind him of the farmer outfits, however, they look like they're from an older era. They then shout at the girl with hateful tones.

"…The Queen's death…" Kuro understands. "A memory… the last memory… or is it really?" Testing his theory, he pats on one of the accusing people's shoulder…

Surprisingly, his hand feels the cold shoulder, as the person turns back, and Kuro could see the empty eyes. "Quid vis?" The person asks him.

"… Didn't expect you to be able to interact with, but okay." Kuro says, then backslaps the person in the face with his right hand.

Immediately, more ghosts appear and start shouting at both him and the girl. Kuro covers his left ear in annoyance. "Jeez, you guys are annoying." Then, some guards, for some reasons, also appear with spears and swords appear. "…Uhm, Queen? This is NOT how memories work." He says out loud, HOPING the Queen could understand.

Then, one swings a sword at him, and he dodges to the right, then jabs the person in the chin. "… Ouch." He says simply as he feels the pain in his hand, since he's not the best at muscle strength. Though, the good news is that the guard is gone instantly. "…So I have to beat them up? Okay… what's the point here?"

Two try to spear him, so he jumps forward then spins once so his body would stay in the middle of the attack. He then grabs both the handles and pushes them back to the guards so the other heads might be able to hurt them. And thankfully it does the work.

The rest, all with swords, run forward at once and slam their swords down at his head. "Oi vai lua!" Kuro curses before rolling out of the attacks, as the shouts around him get louder. "Shut up, you all! You f***ers seriously killed a girl simply because she's someone better than you?" Kuro shouts back to the angry mobs before dodging again. "And you called yourself superior? No, you are no better than even the lowest beasts!"

The echoes of the shout get even louder, to the point that he couldn't even be able to hear the throbbing pain in his head. He's now all focusing on fighting the guards, which could be an instant death for him.

After a few minutes of trying to disarm the guards, Kuro gets tired and his movements slow down. One small moment earns him a fatal blow, as one of the guards manages to stab him on the shoulder. Screaming in pain and feeling adrenaline rushing more in his vein, Kuro throws a direct punch to the guard's face, causing him to vanish with the sword, but the damage is still there. "Sh!t. I'm not that Covenant Knight, I can't tank these attacks!" He grunts, as his vision suddenly blurs. "Not now!"

Then, one stabs him to the other shoulder from behind, causing him to flinch forward in pain. Two more stab him right through his thighs, immobilizing him in place. This time he doesn't scream, but he hisses in frustration as adrenaline slowly depletes. The other guards disappear, leaving one with the last sword to walk to his right. From the shadow that the fire gives out, Kuro sees the guard raising his sword up while saying something, probably accusing him for 'fighting the force' or something. He sighs, and says to himself: "Well, at least I put up a fight…" He closes his eyes, waiting for the cold steel to go down his neck…

…

Kuro re-opens his eyes, to see himself in the same forest, the same spot he has arrived… and the wounds have disappeared. "… A dream? No, it's too real to be one." He stands up again and tries to see if he has anything on him… to find none, again. "Great. Another fight with no weapons? If this is one kind of torture, then they're doing a good work."

It doesn't come, though. Instead, something stabs him through the heart from behind, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise. Blood starts raising and spilling out of his mouth. Slowly, his head turns back to see the Queen holding a burnt wood piece, that's stabbing his heart. Feeling the unconsciousness starting to get to him, he gives the girl a last smile before saying: "Nice… to see you…"

...

Time has repeated itself.

"…Should I just lay down like this?" Kuro says. "Sounds like a good strategy to not getting backstabbed, unless she could phase through the ground."

Then, multiple Queens appear and start grunting. He makes a poker face when he sees them closing in. "…Okay, this is getting ridiculous now." He stands up. "Right, let's see if I could find the real Queen."

He then spins to see if one of them has a different thing. He then notices the burning one having no shadow, while the others have. "… The most dangerous place is the safest. Really?"

Upon seeing that he has spotted the right one, the others disappear, leaving the burning one back. The fire on her then disappears as well, leaving the girl standing idly before him. "…" She says something in Latin, but Kuro doesn't understand it.

But, that doesn't mean he needs to. He kneels down so the girl's eyes could meet his. "Since you can understand me, I think… I know they killed you, I know they feared you, and you have every right to give them a payback. However, killing me does nothing to sate your vengeance. And killing people would make you turn into those mean people. You don't want that, do you?"

"…" The girl says nothing for the matter.

"If you could be given a second chance to prove yourself, what would you do? Would you try to talk with them, or you would just kill them in cold-blood? The choice is yours. But, be careful of what you're planning."

"…"

"Well then…" Thinking that she might take the second one since he does nothing to 'appease' her, Kuro stands up and spreads his arms open, waiting for the bad outcome…

And he's right, as a trunk of wood flies up and pierces through his heart, grounding him. Letting out a laugh filled with blood, Kuro whines: "Haha… It's going to take longer than I thought…"

…

"…It's getting bored…" After another death… he stopped counting after the twentieth one, he's starting to lose his patience. "Are you done yet, Queen? I have many people to save here." He lays on the ground while putting his hands on the stomach, making himself comfortable.

"…" The Queen, this time with no plans, sits next to him. She leans towards his face and sees him directly in the eyes.

"…What?" Kuro asks back.

"…Why?" This time, the Queen asks him in English.

"Why what?" Kuro narrows his right eye.

"Why… don't you… submit…"

"Submit to what?"

"…Deaths…"

"Hey, I told you during the time you killed me, right? I need to save the guys and girls in Heavenly Host. I'm the only one with knowledge on how to save them."

"…Some… killed… others…"

"Hey, darkness. Not saying that it's evil by itself, but human tenses to compare them with each other, and because of that, they always fall to it. Though… only one is in my list of 'not saving' thus far."

"…You?"

"Well…maybe one day, but not now for sure." He shrugs.

To his surprise, the Queen moves her head closer to him, then places herself so that both foreheads touch each other. "Sorry…"

"Hey, there's no need to, since you haven't killed me… for real, yet."

"…Noticed?"

"Wounds automatically healed. Even ghosts don't have that. The attacks would just phase through them."

"…Right…" The Queen then stands up and uses her power to move a large pile of pointy wood pikes over his body.

"*Sigh* Seriously?"

"…Wake…"

"…F**k me."

This time, he feels warm. Warmer than when he was in that forest, to be fair.

Kuro opens his eyes to see a wooden ceiling. 'Gio moi quay lai duoc ha?' He thinks to himself, before he sits up and notices his collar being a little too dried. He uses his hands to grab it, and sees dried blood. 'Right…' He the turns to his left, to see Yui sleeping on the other bed, her arm poorly bandaged. '…Where could they find a roll of bandages to use?' Kuro questions in his mind.

He then slides off the bed, his feet touching the cold floor. Shivering, he starts reaching for his shoes and wears them immediately. Thankfully, the feelings of the watch on his left wrist and the phone in his trousers' left pocket are there. The bad news is that the scissors are not in the other pocket.

'… Chac ho bo ra roi.' Not thinking it as the immediately danger, Kuro shrugs and starts walking out of the curtain… to see nobody is around. '… No kidding?' He then sees a scribbling on the table, and he reaches it and reads it in his mind:

'Yuki told us that the Infirmary is safe, so we decided to leave you here for now and tried to find our other classmates. Please take care of each other.

Shinozaki Ayumi.'

'… Well, at least we're safe… for now.' Not wanting to wake up the teacher yet, Kuro quietly checks the cupboard in here. 'Wow, all sorts of medicines. Then again, this is an Infirmary. Let's see… You better have Clorpheniramin, or I'm not going to be okay here…'

The sound of opening door startles Kuro, as he turns to it to see… a frightened girl with a familiar pair of scissors in her right hand. "…Why?"

…

After the confrontation

Kuro looks at Tohko, who's now sleeping on the bed that Kuro has laid on from before. He then looks down at the blood-stained bandage covering his stabbed wound on his right hand. Thankfully there are still enough left to cover the wound, otherwise…

Carefully patting the girl's head with his fine hand, Kuro then pulls out his phone and checks the battery. '… Fifty percent. This is not good…'

Somehow, his fight with her caused so little noise that didn't even wake up Yui. Or she's too tired like him. Soon, he yawns. 'Another sleep would be better than none. Those 'deaths' don't count.'

Pulling down one of the cleaner curtains, gently and soundlessly, Kuro lays it on a wide area. He then lays on it and closes his eyes…

… "*CRACK*!"

'…'

…

"Do you think he's in this side?" Emi asks her friend. She's still having Kuro's coat over her.

"I hope so." Mitsuki replies. "Kuro said that he needs to save everyone, and since we're okay with each other… he might have moved…"

A large chunk of ceiling suddenly falls right before them, causing them to stumble back and fall on their butts in surprise. Dust kicks up, and they cover their mouths with their hands.

The shake stops, and the girls stand up and slowly walk towards the scene… and they see Kuro laying on the debris with a neutral face, the curtain protecting his back a little bit. Emi immediately exclaims: "Kuro! You are alright! What h…"

Kuro raises his finger up, stopping her from speaking further. Mitsuki also plans to ask, but he raises another finger. They stand there and wait… and see Kuro taking a deep breath… and he shouts angrily: "CAN YOU LET ME SLEEP FOR A GOOD FIVE MINUTES FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE?"

He then whines as he sits up, and now the girls notice the bandaged right hand. Emi asks worryingly: "…Kuro? What happened?"

"…" He then points to the stairs. "Let's go up and head to the Infirmary. I don't want to talk more for now."

Half an hour later…

"Yuuya Kizami?" Mitsuki whispers in shock. "It can't be… how?"

"I… I don't know…" Tohko hiccups. "But… he pushed Tomohiro down the stairs after he kicked Ryosuke's body down before…"

"I saw it with her…" Emi grimaces. "I didn't know what happened… but maybe it's because of this place causing him to do so, because Mitsuki almost tried to run away from us before…"

"I… also tried to kill him…" Tohko cries as she turns to Kuro, who's sitting on a chair and sleeping on it. "He… nearly lost his hand…"

"Tohko, look at me." She turns to Emi. "He didn't blame you, not at all. He understood why you did so, but he told us to tell you to be more careful. If he's like Kizami, then you would be killed."

"I…" She nods sadly. "I understand… please tell him that I'm sorry."

"I will." Emi smiles up, thankful that another one of her friends is saved.

Then, another earthquake occurs, waking Kuro up as he immediately rushes to the girls and pulls Emi and Tohko back away from the hole on the floor of the Infirmary since Mitsuki is far enough from it.

That also wakes up Yui this time, as she opens her eyes to see the shaking ceiling. She immediately sits up and turns right to not see Kuro in the bed, but when she turns left, she sees him with some other girls from an another school, hugging themselves to low down their scare. She immediately rushes to Kuro and asks him: "Kuro, what's going on here? And…" She notices the hole on the floor suddenly starting to fix itself up. "What was that hole?"

Kuro twitches his left eye in annoyance. "Don't ask."

The hole's then fixed up in front of their eyes, just in time for the earthquake to stop. Once it's over, Kuro stands up and takes a deep breath. He then asks Yui: "What happened when I was out?"

As the girl trio is asking each other's safety, Yui answers: "We immediately brought you back here. You were coughing blood during the time, and the girls moved so we could place you on the bed. After that, they treated the wound on my arm, and wiped out the blood on you as best as they could."

Kuro nods. "Thanks. Guess I own you one."

Yui shakes her head. "We still own you for saving our lives. Our help didn't hold many values to that." She then turns to the others. "Mind introducing them to me?"

Kuro shrugs. "It's best to ask them yourself. Speaking in your native language is better, right?"

…

After the introduction, Kuro asks Emi to give him the coat back, which she immediately complies. He then pulls out the paper in his inner coat's pocket and gives it to Yui: "Can you translate this to me?"

The teacher nods and receives the piece and reads the only word on it: "Seiko… wait! Could it be?"

"Could be what?" Kuro asks curiously.

"Seiko dropped this earlier! How did you get it back?"

"… Really? Well… I got it after managing to survive against Sachiko." Kuro confesses.

"Sachiko? As in the spell?" Emi asks in surprise. "You fought the girl?"

"Well, I fought the zombie guy to be fair. I managed to talk her down for a moment. Don't know how long it could work, though." He then turns back to Yui. "Nevertheless, give it back to Seiko immediately. This is the only ticket to get out of here."

"What about you?" Yui asks back.

"I have confidence that my friends could keep up and survive. They're much stronger than I am." Kuro answers, the lie slowly becoming the truth that no one won't deny the impossibility.

"Miss Yui! Kuro! Are you okay?" Ayumi bursts into the room, followed quickly by the girls. "Oh thank god you…" She's grateful when she sees both of them are fine, a little curious that there are three more girls with them… and horrified when she sees Kuro's bandaged hand. "What happened to your hand, Kuro?"

Kuro notices her gaze towards his hand, so he brings up. "Oh, this? Stupid ceiling dropping wood from above. Not too serious, mind you."

Though, Naomi notices one girl flinches, but she doesn't know why. She then asks Yui: "Where are they from?"

Yui answers: "Ah, they're from Byakudan Senior High School." She then says: "How about you girls introduce yourself…"

"Where is the rest of the guys?" Kuro crosses his arms and asks Ayumi, a little displeased that not one of them is with the girls.

"They recently tried to find the parts the ghosts are finding. They just found something on the floor and…"

Someone suddenly calls Mayu, so she turns back to see… "Satoshi! You're here?"

"Mayu! Thank god that you are safe!" Everyone immediately turns to the exit to see a happy Satoshi, as he found out another classmate of his. He then notices everyone else… and his face shows his fear when he sees Seiko and Naomi. "H…How did you…"

"Huh? What's wrong, Mochida? Is something on our faces?" Seiko asks in confusion, as she turns to Naomi to see the same on her friend's face. "Nothing is…"

"Ayumi." The girl turns to Kuro. "Ask him… if he saw Naomi and Seiko hanging next to each other in the lavatory."

She looks horrified. "What? They are…" She then realizes: "Could it be illusion?"

"Obviously." Kuro nods.

Ayumi nods and turns back to the scared Satoshi and asks the same question. Satoshi stands there and nods, and starts backing away. Ayumi then tells him to calm down, as she slowly explains the situation.

Upon hearing it, Satoshi takes a moment to digest it… and then sighs in relief. "Thank god…" He walks into the Infirmary then notices Mitsuki. "Hey, wasn't you just running from us earlier?"

"Huh?" She's confused. "I didn't meet you at all. Where did you…"

"Illusion." Kuro says, and Yui translates it. "Right now we can't really be sure if saving everyone is possible…"

Ayumi says: "Don't say it like that! You told me…"

Kuro holds his hand up and stops her. "I'm not finished. Do you remember Mayu's case?" Everyone from Kisaragi nods. "The 'Mayu' Naomi and Seiko saw is the one we couldn't save anymore. But we managed to avert it by saving…" He points to the current Mayu. "Her. So 'everyone' here I include the 'deaths'. Hope you could understand."

Everyone slowly nods. Mitsuki then asks: "So the 'me' Satoshi saw before…" Kuro shakes his head in respond.

"Wait, I just remembered." Naomi speaks up. "When Seiko was doing her 'work' in the lavatory, I heard Yuka's voice…"

"Then why didn't I… illusion?" Satoshi theorizes.

"Satoshi, you come with me." Kuro walks towards the exit and pulls the student to him. "We need to find your sister soon."

"Wait, wait! Let me…" He couldn't protest further.

… "So I guess we're staying!" Seiko says, before groping Naomi again. "More time to spend with my Naomi!"

"Get off Seiko!" Naomi this time protests more, causing the others to start laughing again…

Except Tohko. Mayu notices it, as she asks politely: "Miss, what's wrong?"

"It's… the wound on Kuro's hand…" That causes everyone to turn to her. "It was me… who caused it…"

"… Wait, what?" The girls from Kisaragi ask back, not in anger but confusion. Naomi continues: "Kuro said that it's the ceiling…"

"I was in panic…" Tohko explains. "I couldn't trust anyone. And in that moment… I tried to kill him, and he used his hand to block it…" She raises her right hand so everyone could see the bloodstain on it. "But… he didn't show any angers or so… I don't know what he's thinking…"

"He must know that you're in bad conditions." Yui assures her. "He has been patient all the times, and he knows about this school better than us. Even when he's a little angry or so, he doesn't throw his frustration at us… By the way, Seiko, I think it's yours." Yui then gives the paper to the girl.

Seiko exclaims in surprise: "This is the charm I'm looking for! How did you find it?"

Yui: "I guess it was when he told you to run. He said that he managed to get it from Sachiko herself."

"…Do you all find it strange?" Ayumi suddenly asks out of nowhere, causing everyone to focus at her. "He seems to know way too well about this school. Normally there would be some mistakes here and there, but he could pinpoint everything with perfect accuracy. And I have to mind you all, he is NOT Japanese, and there is NO articles about Heavenly Host written in English."

"Maybe… could it be one of his friends?" Mayu speaks her thinking. "One of them must have learnt English and known about this incident…"

"Remember what happened after we saved you, Mayu? He said that he forgot something, and immediately he was on guard. The moment we walked out, the zombie teacher appeared. There was no sound from outside that time. Coincidence? I think not."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Naomi… he might…"

"Stop, Ayumi." Yui stops the girl.

"You can't see it, Yui-sensei? He's planning something…"

"Darkness." Yui simply says, causing her to close her mouth. "Have you calmed yet?" Earning a nod, she explains: "Kuro told me earlier about darkness. It could corrupt your mind without you noticing. Tohko attacking Kuro earlier is one of the results. It might affect you even more."

"…" Ayumi starts taking deep breathes to try to clear her mind.

"I think you should take a rest now." Mayu then pushes Naomi and Ayumi towards the bed. "You too, Naomi. You have been affected by this school the most in our group."

"…I guess you're right." The former agrees.

"…I will try…" The latter replies uncertainly.