Author's Note: I've noticed that a few of you are a bit confused as to why I stop it at 1,000 words exactly. This, my friends, it because a) I'm very bad at ending chapters, so this makes it easier, and b) suspense reasons. I can't force it to keep going if someone is in danger, despite if I'd like to. It's a basic guideline to help me continue writing, you know? Anyway, I promise it will be updated frequently, so don't worry about waiting! Feel free to yell at me is it's been 3 days since an update. Anyway, enjoy, and sorry it's not very action packed so far!

Special Thanks to YAY (Guest) and 00Garrett07 for reviewing! I really do appreciate it ^_^


...the shaking in the room had stopped. Shinozaki, however, still remained uncalm and had a rather dark look on her face. "Are you… alright?", I ask as I help her up, letting go of her. "Shishido-sensei…", she says quietly, walking almost robotically towards the door. I take hesitant steps towards her, hearing the familiar ha's once again, and notice the blank stare she's giving to me. "We must go to sensei." I shake my head towards her, stepping to the direct side of Shinozaki, and grab her wrists in my hand, though once I do she scrunches them close together. "She'll be back in only a few minutes, and we're supposed to stay here", I say simply, and she shakes her head and whines as though she's a child. "We have to go!", she says, tears brimming slightly in her eyes. I rub my face off, for quite a bit of tears and spit were covering it. "Understood…", I start, and a smile starts to come towards her face. "She is taking a bit too long… I suppose we can look, but if you start feeling unwell, we're heading back", I finish, and a wide grin appears on her face as she nods and pulls out a pen. "We need… we need to write a note in case she comes here", she says, wiping her eyes with her sleeves (she pulled her arms away). I grab the pen and walk towards the teacher's podium, scribbling on a note quickly.
Shishido-sensei:

We've gone out looking for you. If we missed each other, stay here; we'll be back soon.

Kishinuma & Shinozaki

"All right, it's done." Shinozaki grunts slightly and looks at me disapprovingly. "What?", I ask, and she simply shakes her head. Her facial expression had changed since her insistence. Looking back on it, it was an almost demonic look in her eye, but now, it had formed into an anticipated and kind look. "It's a bit blunt. Sloppily written", she says teasingly, and I roll my eyes, taking steps towards the door with her following. "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have to write a note in the first place." Ayumi simply shrugs, following close behind as I shut the classroom door and head into the hallway.

Outside is no better than where we originally came. The wood was torn at certain areas as though hit with a hammer (I assumed this was an effect of the earthquake), the windows were rusted and tinted so you could only just make out the brewing storm outside, and red streaked were painted across the wall and the floorboards. Letters and paper scraps litter the walls, some basic, school type letters, like "No running in the halls". Others were notes before what I could only assume to be death. Each time Shinozaki would shiver and look away, nodding towards the hallway. I still stopped each time to read the notes, though, despite her nudging. As we finally reached the darkened hallway, we could see it was a staircase, looking even worse then the classroom and hallway. Ayumi, surprisingly, took hold of the hem of my jacket as we both climbed up, our footsteps echoing. It wasn't a very long climb until our pathway was blocked by some odd, gravity defying chairs leaning downwards on the stairs. I climb up until I can reach no further and tug on the leg of the chair, leaving Ayumi with nails ready to be bitten. As much as I pulled, I only found myself exhausted and panting, and no progress was made. I let go of the chair, in which I was tugging on rather hardly this time, and fall backwards, falling completely down the stairs. Ayumi gasps, calling the familiar "Kishinuma-kun!" (Nice, considering we had mostly talked through walking and little noises of surprise) and grabs my arms in an attempt to stop me, only to become a participant in the falling. I wrap my hands around her head as to make sure no harm came to it, and a few seconds later, we were laying on the ground in a rather… embarrassing position. She, being the girl she is, stays for a moment before pushing me off of her and huffing. I stand myself up, blushing and rubbing the back of my head, and point towards the nearby classroom labeled 2-A. "Mrs. Yui is obviously not up there…", I begin, coughing slightly. She nods, her face flustered, and we both walk in awkward silence to the schoolroom.

Opening the door reveals a darkened room, with a cool echo of wind and that odd electronic buzz noise you hear in silence. Ayumi once again perches her fingers onto my jacket, and we both walk cautiously forward. Just as we reach the chalkboard, she shrieks in pure terror. I turn my head, and find myself cursing in surprise. We're both on the ground now, shuffling backwards. Limply in a chair in front of our eyes is the skeletal and rather bloody remains of what seems to be a high school student. Maggots and flies surround it. Shinozaki lets out yet another yell, and once again begins hyperventilating. Idiotically, I say, "Well, maybe it's not real…", and she just looks at me strangely. I, of course, am a bit too scared to come any closer, so I bring myself back onto my feet once again and use her hand to help her up. A trickle of a breeze wishes past our ears, bringing the scent of dead flesh with it. Ayumi begins to dig in her skirt pocket and pulls out one of her usual occult candles, and looks at me expectantly. "I'd assume you have a match?", she says, and I sigh sadly. I used to have a relatively dubious reputation, and though I've cleaned my ways since the "incident", I'm still expected to mess it up again. I dig into my pocket and hand her a match box, and she scowls. On her face though...