Satoshi was devastated by the news of Naomi. Together in the auditorium really would be the last time he ever saw her, and that was hard to accept. Yoshiki tried to spare most of the worst details but that made room for his own horrible ideas. Too many feelings had hit at once and they ended up in the library much longer than they should have.
Upon leaving, their confusion grew. "Everything's different." Said Satoshi.
Everything was different, Yoshiki had seen the first change, how everything shifted around giving the school a whole new layout. But it had changed again and this time it was a whole new eyesore. There were desks in halls and walls on floors, ceilings split in half in impossible ways, the weirdest part was a window rooted into the floor. Yoshiki and Satoshi looked down into it, it was pitch black.
"What happened?" Satoshi asked.
Yoshiki answered as well as he could. "It was different earlier, thing's had shifted in a way. Shinozaki said it had something do with the closed spaces breaking down. But it wasn't this bad."
Satoshi's head went around curiously like a dog sniffing the air. "Do you...feel that?"
Yoshiki went still. "No what is it? You feel an earthquake coming or something?"
Satoshi didn't answer. The sound of cracking wood spread through the hall and they turned their eyes to the floor. It was breaking. "Move." Satoshi said urgently. They both started to make their way forward but no where was safe. Everywhere they stepped the floor was collapsing, one plank at a time until it hit all at once. They were forced to run, avoiding floor that broke or simply disappeared in front of them. It was coming apart from behind them too. Keeping them on the move.
The wreckage was catching up. Each step they took was followed by shattering floor until it was practically happening under their feet. And Yoshiki felt himself fall. Satoshi skidded to a halt, and lucky for him where he was standing was secure, like he had reached the end of the line. "Yoshiki!" He yelled and looked down at where the floor should have been. Yoshiki was holding on to the edge, a black void of nothingness surrounded him. A bottomless pit for all they knew. Satoshi grabbed for him and together he managed to pull himself back up.
"Shit that was close." Said Yoshiki, who was out of breath.
Satoshi was also panting. "I know. What's happening? The school... It's like falling apart!"
Yoshiki stared seriously at the now non existent floorboards. "Yeah and we have to make sure we're not here when the whole thing comes down."
They stood up. "You're right. Let's go." Said Satoshi.
"My student ID you still have it right?" Yoshiki asked as they paced forward.
Satoshi for assurance quickly checked checked his pockets. "Yeah don't worry. Sorry I forgot to give it to you earlier."
"It's fine just glad you have it otherwise I would have been stuck in this place."
"I wouldn't have left without you anyway Yoshiki."
Yoshiki stayed silent for a good couple of seconds. "Thanks." He said still looking ahead.
"So you really think this place is breaking down?" Satoshi asked.
"Yeah, Sachiko's clearly gone batshit, this place isn't going to last much longer. We need to find Yuka, meet up with the others and get out of here now."
"I know. Where do we start then?" He was asking himself as much as Yoshiki.
"Okay we could-Stop!"
Satoshi stopped and stared with confused eyes at Yoshiki. "Huh? We should what?"
Yoshiki had turned the corner first, his pupils were wide. Satoshi was scared to lay eyes on whatever he was seeing. Yoshiki jerked his head forward and Satoshi fell in place beside him. His heart jumped and then turned cold. "What" Is all he could say.
There was ghosts. The red ones that were shaped like little flames. Hard to believe they were once people. Over a dozen of them hovered in front of them practically blocking off a whole chunk of the school. The boys had already established that they could not go back the way they came.
Yoshiki let his eyes go cold, so that if these ghosts were a threat they wouldn't mistake him for being afraid of them. He stared them down, although they had no eyes to look into.
Satoshi wasn't focusing on Yoshiki's stare down. His own approaches usually involved polite, reasonable discussions and only altercations if necessary. He hoped it wouldn't be necessary. He had to remind himself that these were the souls of human beings, most likely children and not just little flames that he was supposed to be afraid of.
"You think they'll let us pass?" Yoshiki whispered to Satoshi.
Satoshi stood firm. "I hope so. Let's find out." And he took a few steps forward, testing his limits. Seeing if they would step aside.
And then one of the flames...one of the children spoke. "You don't deserve to leave." There were whispers, as if the others were nodding in collective agreement.
"Why not?" Satoshi asked precariously.
"Why should you? We couldn't." It was the voice of a broken and angry soul. "It still hurts. You know that don't you? It never stops and it hurts forever and it will never stop." There was groans from all around.
"We might be able to help." Said Satoshi. "The school it's breaking down. You see that don't you? Sachiko's losing control. After she's appeased it could be over, the school might disappear for all we know. And your souls will be set free with it." Obviously Satoshi didn't know this for sure but It wasn't a complete lie, it could be possible.
The ghosts were not convinced. All of them started to say thing's at once. Different voices echoed around Satoshi's head, the voices of angry boys and girls, angry at him for not being like them. "He's lying." One shouted and many agreed. "He doesn't know what it's like." Another chimed in. "Why should he get to live?" And more of "It hurts." And different variations of the phrase. Finally some just started to chant "Die!" And the word grew louder as more voices joined in. Satoshi nervously looked back at Yoshiki and the moment they made eye contact the flames made their move.
Yoshiki looked back, there was no point going that way. "Go through them!" He yelled. "Just run through!" And they were off. And the flames were ready.
Mitsuki didn't scream. Maybe she meant to but it wasn't there. Three things were different when she left the bathroom. (1) Kishinuma and Shimada were gone. (2) The school had shifted again, it was a mess now, there was a desk stuck halfway through a wall, more chunks of floor were missing, the walls somehow seemed...misplaced. It was all wrong. (3) Kizami. He was here now and he looked pissed, Mitsuki tried not to look at his hand. Kizami was her classmate, she was concerned, but weary too.
When Ayumi came out of the bathroom she screamed. And there in Kizami's hollow eyes was a glint of enjoyment. So Mitsuki furrowed her brown and took a step back. She wanted to trust her classmate- her supposed friend so much, especially since she had believed everyone but Shimada from her class to be dead. But she knew better, something wasn't right. It all started with the look in his eyes and then the smile on his face.
"Yamamoto." He said almost excitedly. "It's so good to see you're okay!" Mitsuki did her best to keep her eyes hard and unrelenting. Kizami just smiled.
Ayumi with a dry throat finally found her words. "You-... He was there when Nakashima died, he... he stopped her from getting away." Mitsuki's heart jolted inside of her and it only added to the uneasiness. Was it possible he did something to Shinohara too? Even if not, he wasn't the Kizami she knew, he couldn't be. She had never seen him look so manic before.
"What happened to you Kizami? You don't looks so good." Said Mitsuki.
Kizami's grin grew. "Funny cause I feel fantastic."
They were in danger Ayumi knew that, she hoped that Mitsuki did too. "What do you want?" She said, a catch in her voice that couldn't be missed.
He was about to say something when both girls caught eye of Sachiko. Watching them. Not amused in the slightest. Kizami turned to her and back to the girls, he continued to smile. And when he took a step closer they knew they had to get away.
Seiko was standing in front of the mirror. She couldn't open the door, she was stuck here. And another thing; her reflection was reversed. It had taken her a moment to fully realise. She had stood there in front of it and thought: 'something's not right' and then it hit. It was reversed. Why? Where was she?
Hell?
"Dammit!" She screamed and threw her hand at the mirror. It shattered and blood poured from a new cut in her hand. The room shook. 'Not another earthquake' She thought, there had been enough.
But apparently there hadn't been. Because the room shook more and Seiko watched as each other mirror shattered by themselves. She screamed and simultaneously a crack appeared in the wall, a huge one going right up to the ceiling, like a tear in the room. She ran back to the stall she was in. 'Take me back' She whispered desperately. She would have started to shout as the shaking became more violent if her throat didn't suddenly feel so tight, like she was choking. She couldn't breathe but there was nothing around her neck. The pressure was becoming unbearable, she stood up, her eyes streaming tears and bloodshot. She stumbled into the door unable to balance with the intensity of the vibrations. And she pushed on it, hard until it gave way and once again spat her out onto the bathroom floor. Seiko greedily breathed in the air and put her hands to her throat to make sure nothing was wrapped around it.
The shaking came to a halt but she wasn't sure anything had changed. The massive tear from the wall to the ceiling was still there. She stood and made it to the door. It opened. But nothing was here and everything was different, a mess really. She noticed a desk stuck half way through a wall. She was starting to convince herself that she had entered a teleporting bathroom stall, and now she was afraid it had taken her to somewhere all alone. All alone forever.
"Keep going!" Satoshi yelled, even though he couldn't pinpoint where abouts Yoshiki was in all this mess.
The flames burned him as he passed, they didn't have hands to drag him down but the damage they could do to his skin made them worthy obstacles.
Yoshiki was being crowded by them. And what they were doing to him hurt. This was their way of vengeance, taking their anger out on those who didn't know true suffering. Well they were about to. Yoshiki swung his arms to get through and sometimes it would work, the flames would momentarily dissipate, but one after another they would reappear behind him, much angrier.
He was about to be swallowed by them when he tripped and realised he had made it through. But they were swarming him again and he had to get up fast. Satoshi was there, bruised and burnt he helped his friend to his feet and they ran faster than any flame could. But it wasn't over. They were coming.
Mitsuki was on her back trying to make sense of everything, she couldn't breath. Kizami had used his freak hand to launch her. Her back had scraped across the floor, ripping her clothes and pulling her skirt all the way up. God it hurt.
Ayumi, although terrified bravely went for Kizami, pounding her fists into his back to distract him from Mitsuki, who right now with the wind knocked out of her was easy prey.
Sachiko wanted in on the action now. She wanted to get her hands dirty. She had seen it all, this school was her home and these monsters who were supposed to be here for her enjoyment were messing it all up with their appeasements and such. Her anger was making her messy, she had lost control of the schools form, it was breaking away from her. Trying to become its own entity. She wasn't worried about an uprising from any of the lost souls though, they were scared of her and only angry at the living, they might end up being useful. Meanwhile her own anger was still boiling inside her, feelings she thought weren't possible for a dead broken girl like herself.
Who should she keep for herself? How about the girl stupid enough to anger her in the first place. Sachiko felt a connection to her, a connection that ran through her veins. Why not her then? She had made Yoshikazu do almost all of her bidding this time around, he had been very busy and it would remain that way but she should at least have some fun herself.
Kizami with the new hand Sachiko gave him could have ended Ayumi in a second, and he was about to when she told him to stop. "Mine." She said simply and Kizami had learned not to refute when it came to Sachiko.
He released Ayumi and watched her fall back. There was a feeling in his back, his pain resistance had went right up since Sachiko had her way with him but his body was still human once. So he felt it when the disheveled Mitsuki speared him from behind with the nearest weapon she could find - an old thin plank of wood -.
Sachiko didn't react much. "No point." She said blankly. "I've made him stronger."
"Run!" Mitsuki screamed and both of them went. It wasn't just here, the whole school was disarranged and ultimately more dangerous, with sharp planks and bits of metal stuck to and sticking out of everywhere. Cabinets that belonged in classrooms blocked the hallways and made their escape ultimately more difficult.
Then there was a gap. An uncrossable gap in the floor. "We can go back." Said Ayumi.
"No we can't."Mitsuki protested. "They'll be right there we have to jump!"
It took Ayumi a second. She looked at the space in the floor. With a running start yes they could jump but if she missed it was into the black void in between. And Ayumi had never been that athletic. "Jump?!" She echoed back. "No I can't!"
"We have to! I'm not going back." And Mitsuki got into position for her running start. She was right, Kizami and Sachiko were coming. Ayumi leaned over and almost puked but held it back. Not now. She lined with Mitsuki and got ready. More terrified than she had ever been, the shaking had to stop or she would simply not be able to move never mind run and jump. Then it would surely all be over. She focused on her fear of the two monsters approaching her and put it above the fear of falling to her death.
"Now." Mitsuki shouted and they were off. Neither could see it but Kizami was ecstatic at what he was witnessing.
Both of them made it. Ayumi crawled on her stomach and Mitsuki landed on her knees an inch away from the edge. "No." Ayumi wailed when she looked up. The monster with the hammer was back. Always there, always ready to ruin everything. But in all the times he had interfered he had never once succeeded. And Ayumi hoped it would stay that way.
He didn't lift his hammer and swing. This time he swung it down low, keeping the head an inch away from the ground. It went straight for Mitsuki and slammed into her body pushing her back. She fell off the edge and down into the hole. Not gone yet though. She held onto the hammer tight and Ayumi watched horrified as she was left dangling in the air with her fingers gripped to the weapon. If Yoshikazu let the hammer go now she would go down with it, but then he would have no weapon, so he didn't. Instead he swung the hammer around trying to get her to loosen her grip. She didn't, she climbed up and Yoshikazu was forced to pull his hammer back where she could drop safely to the ground. Mitsuki didn't hesitate, she ran and Ayumi followed.
Yoshiki and Satoshi were separated again. Lost in a sea of flames. They couldn't run forever.
Satoshi fought his way through and wasn't about to stop, but he was getting tired. All of a sudden his energy was gone, just like that. He kept going. His legs were cold and now for some reasons they were numb. Must be the nerves. He fell down and realised he couldn't move. There was a strange sensation running down his spine. Blood poured from his mouth and then everything stopped. His body went still.
For a moment Ayumi and Mitsuki thought they had got away. Both were sorely mistaken. Sachiko was in control of this school, to think a space in the floor could stop her was absurd. She brought Kizami with her and knowing Sachiko reserved Ayumi for herself he left her and instead grabbed Mitsuki, by the hair, he dragged her over and held her down. Before he started on her he wanted her to know what he had done to their fellow classmates. He needed to see the look in her eyes.
Mitsuki shouted at Ayumi to keep going and so she did. She was too terrified and in her own opinion too weak to do anything to help anyway. Sachiko followed close behind. She was only able to maim three people so far with her own hands, and today was meant to be a proper culling, what a disaster, how disappointing. Oh well she'd make it all up by making this one - and hopefully a few more afterwards - slow, painful and memorable.
Sachiko stopped and frowned. Where did she go? She was embarrassed to admit that she may have lost track during her thinking. "I know where you are!" She shouted hoping it would reach Ayumi. It was a lie but it wouldn't be for long.
Yoshiki screamed when he saw Satoshi. He had made his through the crowd of flames and found him lying there still. A large chunk of metal, something that looked like a table leg was sticking out off his back. There wasn't much blood. His heart had stopped before his body had time to pump out any more. Yoshiki roared in anger. Those bastards! Murderers! He felt no sympathy for them, what they'd been through didn't excuse their actions now. His anger was burning. This place, this school was taking everything from him. Not everything, not Shinozaki. Yoshiki was going to find her now. He wanted to cover Satoshi, or even put him into a less morbid position but had nothing to use and no time to spare. "I'll come back." He said, shook his head and went off before the flames caught up with him again.
The anger and sadness at once was making it hard to focus but he knew he couldn't get clumsy now. Shinozaki wasn't the only one he had to find. Yuka as well, he would protect her with his life if he had to, for Satoshi. And Shinohara, he owed it to her. They were his priorities and it hurt his heart to realise that they were all that was left.
He had to find them. All of them.
Ayumi had accidentally circled back in her attempt at escape. Mitsuki was bleeding badly but still alive. Kizami was shouting at her, trying to get a reaction out of her. But she held her tongue, wouldn't scream and wouldn't beg. Wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
Ayumi watched in shock, neither Mitsuki or Kizami saw her standing there. Until she screamed. More of a yelp. Sachiko had caught up and pushed Ayumi from behind to the ground. Mitsuki turned her head away as if she had seen enough and Kizami came up to Sachiko, done with Mitsuki he left her to bleed. He had a bloody knife in his hand.
Sachiko motioned for Kizami to give it to her. Ayumi sat there paralyzed, gripped by only fear.
"Stop!" Their heads turned. Seiko had arrived.
"No" Kizami said almost rudely which caused Sachiko to give a quick snort of laughter.
All was silent and then there was the sound of heels hitting off wood as Seiko fearlessly walked over to them. Sachiko was almost eager to see what she would do. Outnumbered and out-powered what was her game plan here.
Seiko didn't have one. But she didn't ever want to have to watch from the side lines again. With a moment to decide what to do Seiko slapped Sachiko. And she was almost sure in doing so she had signed her own death sentence, but was she ever meant to make it out alive anyway? She didn't think so. "For Naomi and all the other people you took from me."
Sachiko rubbed her face. Death in her eyes. Yoshiki showed up next from behind her and she barely looked. "The more the merrier." She muttered. Sachiko ignored Seiko, brought the knife up and threw it towards Ayumi. But Yoshiki was there, he half pushed, half blocked. Sachiko didn't flinch afterwards, she was straight back to business. She decided to have a little fun, instead of going for Yoshiki she would test him, see how long he would bother to protect her.
Seiko tried to help but Kizami stopped her. He slapped her hard and even though it was with his normal hand still left a small gash. She kept trying to go through him, again and again and again. Unrelenting. Kizami was both amused by and annoyed by her persistence. For now he would humour her. Though he grew bored and so did Sachiko.
Sachiko made a much bigger go at Ayumi but Yoshiki wouldn't let her and in the end she gave up and took the easier target. She stuck the knife in his gut and twisted it. Ayumi screamed and Sachiko thought that maybe this was better. This was the one who stuck a knife in her face after all. And that's when it hit Sachiko. Her hand burned. This was the same knife. She let it go in a panic letting Yoshiki fall back beside Ayumi whose mouth was open in a now silent scream. She inadvertently ripped the knife out of him when she pulled back and it fell to the floor.
Sachiko looked at her hand. It had a small mark left by the knife. It must have belonged to someone who was indeed aware of spirits and their weaknesses. It was some sort of blessed knife and if Sachiko wasn't as strong as she was it might have burned her whole hand off. In her bloodlust she had failed to notice its aura.
The knife sat on the ground and Sachiko merely stared at it. Then it was gone, snatched by Seiko who had despite all odds made her way past Kizami. She swung it at Sachiko's face desperately but she jumped back and it went by harmlessly. Seiko didn't bother trying again, she swung round on her heels and thrusted it forwards at the oncoming Kizami, and she hit him, right in the neck.
Kizami was confused, caught off guard but also confused at the sight of blood. Sachiko told him he couldn't get hurt, not really. He had been struck in the back earlier and it had barely injured him, but this was different, he was bleeding and it wouldn't stop. He looked at Sachiko who didn't look angry or sad or amused, her expression was almost clueless. "Idiot." She said. "You do have weak spots you know." But Kizami didn't know, she hadn't mentioned this before and now he was worried. Sachiko walked up and put her tiny hand on his neck. "Huh, looks bad." She sounded careless. "If you don't die I'll fix you but you'll have to give me a minute." She turned back to the three Kisaragi students, but they were gone.
Sachiko tutted. "It's okay. I'll catch up again." Her eyes caught sight of the corpse of a girl with a bruised up face, her eyes were wide and pointed straight at her. But no that wasn't a corpse, not yet. She could hear Kizami gurgling behind her but ignored him and went up to Mitsuki. She would be dead soon no denying that but Sachiko was angry and wanted to take credit for a kill. The bruise on her face was so ripe, like a giant target. Sachiko lifted her foot and with almighty strength squashed her face into the ground. Only a few more to go.
