This place doesn't scare me half as much as it should, maybe I want it to so I can say I reacted like any other 'normal' person would react. These corpses there is something mesmerizing about them, but they were people once too, they were warm and had a heart beat and blood flowing through them and a mind of their own just like me! I will allow myself to be fascinated...but not take pleasure in what would have had to occur in order for them to end up like this. Should I be scared? ... She would be scared, I can't let her be alone in a place like this. She's much too pure for a hell like this, but it's OK I'm coming to find you...to save you.
"ᴍᴏʀɪsʜɪɢᴇ, Morishige!" Morishige who had being absentmindedly walking through the halls of the school was brought back to reality at the sound of his name. "Sorry I got a bit lost in thought for a moment."
Morishige had found himself in this place with their very own class T.A. It wasn't what he would consider a bad pairing, after all he supposed she was his favourite teacher...she was the only one who paid any attention to him. Not only that but she seemed to actually appreciate his intelligence whereas others usually mock him for it or accuse him of 'just trying to show off'. Idiots. He could respect her for the genuine concern she was showing for her students right now, he hoped that it was real and that her determination wouldn't dwindle the more time they spent here. It would come to no surprise to him though since he didn't expect much from humans in general, especially not adults. He had ever encountered one who hadn't been quick to show their true colours given the right circumstances.
"Oh that's ok, I just wanted to make sure you were alright." So far Yui had only been able to guarantee the safety of one out of her seven students. She felt horrible not knowing where they were, it was her job to protect them in any sort of crisis, not just her job but her whole purpose. It was personal now too, these were her children, she couldn't let them slip away from her.
She stopped walking as Morishige picked up a note from beside a corpse, she wondered how he could get so close to it and keep a straight face, 'I suppose he's always been that way, everyone deals with things differently after all'. "What is it?"
"It appears to be some sort of last testament, the final words of someone who knew they were going to die..." Morishige's voice didn't change much but his face showed that of remorse.
Yui went over to read the note as well but was having a hard time concentrating on anything but finding her students. 'They'll be ok won't they? They are a strong bunch...let's see...' Yui started to list of each student she assumed to be here too, she thought about them as an individual and how they would manage. 'Ok so Morishige is with me so I know he's ok, Nakashima is an assertive one at heart, she'll surely manage herself; Shinohara's always shown herself to be truly determined there's no way she'll give up so easily; Mochida's the same but I know he scares easily, although his little sister is here too, with that in mind there's no way he would let fear overcome him; Kishinuma will probably mimic Morishige in a sense, I doubt he'll scare too easily, I have faith he'll be able to think practically about this; Suzumoto, I can't even imagine her in a place like this she's the complete opposite of this type of malice, but I've seen her handle herself before...she always pulls herself back up. And Shinozaki, despite her love for horror culture she is truly a soft soul, but she's always surprising me and I'm counting on it that she will again. They'll be alright, so that makes my job bringing them altogether and making sure they get home safely. I can do that'.
" doesn't that look familiar?" Morishige having finished with the note had his attention drawn elsewhere, to a small burning candle that sat at the edge of a wall not too far from where they were standing.
Yui retreated from her thoughts and looked up at the object in question. "...that's...doesn't Shinozaki?" She wasn't able to finish her sentence as she went to inspect the candle.
Fortunately Morishige knew what she was trying to say. "Yes, I believe she carries them around with her often, she was using one tonight when telling us her ghost story." Morishige knew what this meant, that the other's were here, he wished that Mayu had something she could leave behind like this, just so he knew she was alright. "She's probably left this here so if any of us come across it then we know she's here and that she's alright." It was a good idea, he' give her that.
Yui done her best not to tear up at the sight, she was leaving this behind to show she was ok and it meant she had been here before, probably not too long ago. "She's a smart girl." Yui stood up and backed away from the candle, "We should keep going this way, this candle means she's here so we'll be likely to bump into her soon."
"How are you doing with all this Morishige?" Yui asked concerned about what a place like this could do to a person's mental state. No one this young should have to see thing's like this.
"I'm fine given the circumstances." Morishige wasn't too much up for small talk but could understand if it comforted her. He wasn't much considering the fact that she might actually care.
"I know...you're worried about Suzumoto, but she's a smart girl and mature enough to know what to do." Yui noticed Morishige's blank expression as she spoke. At first when she was new to all her student's he had been a hard one to get to know. (It was the same with Kishinuma, they reminded of each other sometimes.) Always so reserved and composed, Mayu was the only one who could break him out of it. But she wanted to know him too, he was always nice to her, and respectful but it had taken a while for him to actually show some trust. For Yui it was worth the wait as he proved to be an interesting soul with beautiful hobbies and aspirations. She has had one on one's with all of these students now, she knew them personally and they shared thing's with her they wouldn't share with other teachers. It was one of the many things about being a teacher that made her feel so accomplished, to gain their trust. She knew she had gained Morishige's trust and usually it showed, but right now he seemed almost as distant as he was when they first met and she wasn't sure she would be able to change that right now. It was this place, she wanted to get him out of it, she wanted nothing more than to get all of them out of it.
"I know I'm sure she will be fine, I would just like to see her for myself." Morishige didn't really want to talk out loud about it, each time he thought about her in this place he could feel himself grow more despaired. He had to find her and even if he couldn't admit it yet, right now it was him who needed her. With every second that went by not knowing if she was alright there was more weight added to his heart, without her it was growing heavier and heavier and it would only get worse the longer they spent apart, he had to find her she couldn't be alone he couldn't be alone whatifsomethingbadhappenstoherwhatwillhedothenwhatifshegetshurtwhatifshedieswhatif-
"Oh look Morishige this door open's we should have a look inside" Yui said slipping the door of a classroom open.
The first thing the both noticed when they entered the room was the stench, it was completely overpowering and caused their stomachs to turn.
They both looked at the decomposing corpse on the other side of the room. It appeared to be the remains of a male highschool student.
"Morishige we should make our search in here a quick one, unless you want to wait outside?" Yui wanted nothing more to leave this room but she also didn't want to miss anything.
Morishige tore his eyes off the body to look at his teacher. "...No that's alright we'll be much faster in clearing this room if it's the two of us."
"Ah I guess you're right, let's get this over with...along as you're alright." She gave him a reassuring look and hurriedly began scoping out the cabinets in the room. She spoke as she searched ignoring the disgusting clumps of long black hair in the first cabinet. "We should work more on getting out on this place, the faster we search the faster we'll find everyone else and be able to find a way out of this place together ΔΩҜĦǤ₣ΔЖβ
Somewhere in the middle of Ms Yui talking Morishige got swept back into his own thoughts and her words started to sound like gibberish before they just sunk away. He didn't mean it and it was actually quite rare for him, he usually listened to what people where saying especially to his teachers and more especially to Ms Yui since she was one he respected and maybe even admired for the most part. But he just couldn't help himself not with the body so close to them with so many visible wounds.
Morishige ended up just nodding and began looking under and on top of the particularly small desks. He looked at the body again noting down in his head the visible injuries. 'There seems to be visible lacerations on the wrists indicating they were probably tied up at some point, there are also cuts on the neck but I don't think they would be deep enough to cause death, no the vertical cuts in the back of the leg's are probably the cause of that. I imagine it would have been extremely painful. I'm guessing they put up a fight considering how roughed up he is.' Morishige continued to analyse the body in his head like he had been doing with every other one he saw since they got here. He wasn't sure why maybe studying the wounds until he came to a probable cause of death was some sort of comfort for him. Possibly because in doing so he could be sure he still had his wits about him, a clear enough head that he could still calmly assess things, and he supposed that meant he still had his 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢.
Yui finished searching around the first part of the room and turned to Morishige who she caught staring at the body. She wasn't stupid she knew this place was getting to him, the need to stare at them wasn't an insane idea to her, everyone copes differently and at seeing something he has never once laid eyes on in his life, especially one with so many unidentifiable looking injuries it wasn't completely surprising he would want to look at them, maybe so his brain could try to process it. She wasn't scared but she was worried. It only made her more determined. "Morishige, you find anything?"
Morishige turned seeing her looking over, he hoped she didn't get the wrong idea. "No I don't think there's anything..." he looked at the body "else in here."
"No I don't think so, let's go." Yui stood for a second waiting for him to come over and leave first just to be safe. That seemed to be the wrong move as the cabinet nearest to the door was suddenly ripped away from the wall and thrown down towards the floor by some invisible force. "Morishige stop!" She grabbed him and pulled him back with strength she didn't know she had. The cabinet landed with a thud and in front of them, the fragile floorboards cracked up and the glass from the front of the cabinet was scattered amongst the floor.
Morishige gave himself a second to recover looking at the large mess in front of them, it would've have surely injured him severely, if not killed him. "How does that even happen...?" he turned around. "Thank you "
"That's ok, are you ok? Come on let's get out of here through the other door hurry." Yui spoke quickly she was now completely on edge. They had to be more careful, if she was only a second too slow...
Morishige turned to look at the body one more time as they left the room 'how unfortunate...what a truly pitiful place this is'.
As if on cue as soon as they left the room..."Do you feel that?" Morishige asked...there was silence until a small vibration could be felt. "It's an earthquake!" Yui said with a gasp. They both grabbed at the wall and prepared for the worst as the ground started to rumble.
Luckily for them it turned out to be a small one It ended only after what felt like a few seconds later, not leaving much impact.
Morishige pushed himself away from the wall and looked around. "Doesn't something feel different?"
"Hmm how so?" Yui was just grateful it was a small one not taking notice to what Morishige was referring to.
"Never mind probably just my imagination" he said pushing up his glasses. He wasn't really sure if he was imagining things or not it was just..the atmosphere, it still stunk of deep dread and there was no doubt about the cruelty this place held...but he could swear it felt...lighter.
"You're worried about everyone?" Morishige asked noticing how tense was, he knew it usually comforted people to talk in distressing situations so he thought he'd give it a go. It was surely what Mayu would do.
Yui had been silent most of the search, the cabinet incident still had her on edge...there was no way that just fell by itself. "Yes I just don't want anyone to get hurt." She realised as she was speaking that she shouldn't share too much, she was supposed to be the level-headed adult and couldn't let her emotions take over. "But everything will be fine I'm sure..."
"Yes, I'm sure it will." Morishige's voice came out rather monotone but part of him was really trying to give comfort. Even if it was only out of custom.
"Morishige, if you're worried too...or scared, you don't have to keep it to yourself, not with me. This place, it's not right, its different and I'll understand anything it's making you feel. I want everyone to be ok...I want you to be ok, not even just physically, I want to know that we'll all be ok even after this. That I'll get you through it. That we'll all get through it together.
Morishige continued to look straight ahead as they walked.
"...I have faith you'll see her again." Maybe she shouldn't be bringing it up but Yui just wanted to do something. He seemed so lost and it was hurting her.
"..." There was a long silence as Morishige thought about everything. Firstly he knew she was trying to help, secondly he wasn't always the most optimistic type but this was Mayu and he wanted to believe that they'd find each other safe and sound more than anything. She was the closest person to him in the world after all and that's not a title one is given easily. He didn't know exactly why, it wasn't really like him at all but... he chose to trust in her words and believe it would be ok. "Thank you."
Yui was surprised not only that he said anything at all, but at what he said. It was hard to read his expression as usual and she couldn't be sure what was going on in his head but she felt better, even if only a little.
They both walked past another body. Morishige kept looking ahead.
*Gasp*
Yui stopped walking and put her arm out to indicate to Morishige should too.
They stared straight ahead of them. It was probably the most shocking thing they had seen in this place and that was saying alot.
There walking aimlessly in the middle of the hallway was a little girl, though not a regular little girl, she was glowing an unsettling and mystifying blue not to mention everything from the jaw up was completely missing. They both knew she was clearly a ghost but it wasn't an easy thing to comprehend.
The girl turned in their direction, she had no eyes but they could still tell she was looking at them, she knew they were there. Without warning the girl started coming towards them and Yui's instincts told her that nothing good would come from letting her get to them.
"Morishige turn back! Run now!" He did as she said and the two started running away from the girl.
Morishige was a little ahead but he was sure he could hear the sound of Yui's heels tapping off the floor as they ran. Eventually he decided to take his chances and stop, he was sure they had to be safe by now and it's not like he was ever much of an athlete so he wasn't sure he could go much further anyway. Turning around he saw that he was no longer being chased, there was no sign of the ghost...there wasn't sight of anyone, Ms Yui wasn't there any more either, he was sure she was there. 'She couldn't have been caught I'm certain I would have heard that.' Now he was conflicted...he should go find her, make sure she's alright, but he still had to look for Mayu she was top priority. 'Maybe I can look for both of them? It's not like I'd have to do any doubling back to find Ms Yui anyway so no harm done.' There was also the chance he'd have to deal with the ghost again if he went back in the same direction he had just came from, but he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. Right now he had people to find.
"Morishige! Morishige where are you?!" Yui's shouts echoed throughout the empty hall's. 'No where is he?! How am I supposed to find everyone and keep them all safe if I can't even keep track of the one I'm with!'
Yui didn't know how it happened but they had got separated, she didn't care about bumping into the ghost right now, she had to find him. Frantically running from hall to hall, retracing her steps, calling his name. It was proving to be a fruitless effort as five minutes passed and there was still no sign of him. For a second she just stood in place panting wondering what she could possibly do next.
"Excuse me Miss do you need help?"
Yui gasped and turned to face the quiet voice, there was a little girl with long black hair and unsettlingly pale skin, she wore an unusual tore up red dress. Yui thought she looked dead and considered that might be a possibility, but her eyes held so much innocence that she felt compelled to trust her. "Y-yes I'm looking for my student, we got separated not long ago...are you ok? what's your name?"
The girl seemed to like the question proudly announcing that her name was 'Sachiko', though her expression grew sad almost instantly."I've been separated from people too..." She looked like she was about to cry everything about her apart from her skin made her seem like an ordinary child.
"Don't worry we can look together if you want." Yui said calmly not wanting the girl to get any more upset.
Sachiko made a small hum of approval. "Miss does the person you're looking for have glasses?" she asked in a childlike manner.
"Hmm, yes he does how did you know?"
Sachiko gave a small innocent laugh. "I think I saw him! I know where he is! Come with me I'll show you." She smiled happily and motioned for Yui to follow.
With nothing to lose and no signs that she should feel threatened yet she made the quick decision to follow. She didn't want to be naive but, if it turns out the girl really did know where he was she may be passing up a perfect opportunity to reunite. Yui wasn't willing to risk it. So she followed and she walked alongside the happy little girl with no thoughts of turning back.
