"This is!?" Naomi's eyes widened, "A charm for saving all those listed in the previous page…"
Ayumi's wandering eyes met Naomi's in a flash, "A way to save them?"
Naomi didn't respond, but continued reading, "First I will get out of the way that this method is something that requires incredible willpower, and a desire to save those people even beyond your own desire to live…" Naomi stopped reading at that point. Staring into the book, much like one stares into the ceiling, not really paying attention to what's in front of her eyes, but gazing as if into a dark tunnel. It's almost like it wants us to go back through that Hell..would I be willing to go back there, to Heavenly Host, to save everyone? To save Seiko…? The thoughts continued drifting through her head.
"Naomi!" A sudden voice broke her out of her thoughts. In the direction the voice came from was a boy with short brown hair, running towards the two.
Naomi immediately shut the book, stuffing it in her bag. "Satoshi!" She called back, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"What are you doing with Shinozaki-san?" He questioned once he had made it beside the two girls.
"We were just reading a textbook for class." Ayumi lied and then waved to Naomi. 'Good luck', she mouthed before quickly departing.
What is Ayumi up to? Naomi stared back with confusion.
Satoshi kept his mouth shut as if trying to hold back a secret, and Naomi could only stand there in awkward silence. Then, when Ayumi was finally out of view, "Do you remember?" Satoshi questioned under his breath.
Naomi was further thrown off, to the point where she almost tripped in place from the shock of being asked something so obvious, "Of course I can't forget that, " she shot back with a bit of a glare. "We already went over this when we escaped. remember?" Why would you remind me of that day? When I went home and everyone acted like our friends were never there, like Seiko was just a figment of my imagination? My best friend, nothing more than a delusion. How could I ever forget that, Satoshi!? Naomi wanted to scream all of this at the boy, but couldn't find it in her to do anything more than give him a stern glare.
Satoshi didn't even seem to react to the glare. His face turned very serious. "Not that, something else that happened to us," he replied, "when we got to spend time with everyone again, " finishing barely above a whisper, his hands gripped a nearby table.
Naomi felt like a mouse that had been hiding from a ferocious cat, then finally emerged from her hovel, only to find a huge block of delicious cheese. "You remember too!?" She nearly yelled, suddenly taking grip of his shoulders.
He put his finger over her lips to silence her, "Ssh! It's a library, remember?" Then removed his finger and her arms from his shoulder. "For some reason, Yoshiki can't remember. But yes, I remember that twisted 'party', and also that girl's sadness," Satoshi finished with a sigh.
Naomi's face was red from her outburst earlier. "A-Are you talking about Sachiko?" She returned with a curious gaze. Why would he focus so much on her? I know she was a little different than usual during that crazy party, but she still is the one who's killed so many and the reason Seiko's….No, that was my own fault. I screwed everything up all because I was being so selfish!
Satoshi interrupted her self-loathing, "She doesn't want this, Naomi." He hung his head and balled his fists, tears threatening to fall, "She's just a poor girl who lost herself, that wants to be freed from her sins."
A girl who lost herself...freed from her sins... Naomi fell into a bit of a trance as she repeated these statements over in her head, feeling much like how she felt when the darkening had taken over her before. Huh? But we're not in that school, so why does it seem like I can see that same strange au-
"Naomi?" Satoshi brought her back to reality by waving a hand in front of her face, "You okay?"
It's gone. That was really strange. Probably just my imagination overreacting. With that Naomi nodded, "I was just thinking about...her."
"You two were really close, weren't you?" Satoshi said with a warm smile
That's what always drew me to Satoshi. He would always be looking out for others. "She was my closest friend," Naomi responded with a nod.
"Poor girl probably wanted more," came another voice. This one belonging to a familiar blond pseudo delinquent. Another of Naomi's circle of friends known as 'Kishinuma Yoshiki'.
"What do you mean?" Naomi questioned. Though she knew the answer herself. It's pretty hard to deny, when Seiko requested so strongly for a kiss back when they had almost found their way out of that hellish place. That kiss was something that Naomi could never forget. It was made even worse when she recalled the time she had spent with her shorter best friend during that deranged birthday party. She had also gotten some time with Satoshi, but, likely because she knew he was still alive, it just wasn't as memorable.
"I'll just plead the fifth on that one," Yoshiki answered with his hands casually behind his head. He nudged Satoshi. "Any luck with you know what?" He whispered into his best friend's ear.
Naomi took this as a chance to slip away, not having heard a thing of what was said. I have a lot to think about, do I really want to go through something that might be worse than our time in Heavenly Host? Could I-
*Clang*
But her thoughts were interrupted suddenly by the loud sound of something hitting a locker behind her. Naomi stopped, the hairs on the back of her head rising, Has Sachiko somehow invaded the living world!? Is that why I almost felt like the Darkening had taken over me before? But how could that even be-
"Naomi I love you please go out with me!" The voice of a familiar boy saying everything in one breath interrupted her train of thought.
First Naomi felt a bout of relief that her speculations had been completely wrong, but then she was frozen in her tracks, having realized what just occurred. A fierce blush forming on her face, she immediately turned to face the owner of the voice, "Satoshi!?"
END CHAPTER
Ha...man. I looked back at my first chapter and was ashamed of it. That's why I ended up redoing it. As a result, a few things might be different.
Seems we've been left at a rather intense cliffhanger. Naomi has just been confessed to by the boy she loves. What will she do, I wonder? And just what is the supposed method that the book is saying will save everyone? Is there really a way to bring back the dead? And was Naomi really being possessed by the Darkening even outside the confines of Heavenly Host!? Just who will Ayumi end up with? Will her newfound sexuality bring her to someone new? Or will she end up with Yoshiki even so? To those three questions, even I am not sure of the answer to. The other questions I quite know the solution to though. Ayumi is a bit of an anomaly to me for now. Sorry for the short chapter, but I just had to end it like so. Till next time!