A/N: My goodness you guys, I'm so, so, so sorry about lack of uploads! Life's been hectic, in all honesty, and I've been having a hard time writing! Thank goodness though, I managed another 1,00 words c: Hope you enjoy, and apologies again! I'll get better at uploading I pinkie promise ;)

...little baby, and finally I saw the resemblance between him and Miki. I smile and head towards Shinozaki, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Kishinuma-kun… ", she wailed, tears slowly treading down her face, before she rests her head into my chest. I awkwardly pat her back, blushing furiously, and give a little smile. "Didn't mean to snap like that… I don't even really remember what happened…", I say, pulling her shoulders backwards and lean my head down to better see her. "What happened…?", I ask, and she shakes her head at me. Ryou shuffles and nuzzles his nose into my shoulder. "I… couldn't move… but I was still moving… and I was talking when it wasn't me… ", she sniffles. "I didn't want you to get hurt… but I was… stuck by that thing… ", she finishes, and re-adjusts my jacket around her waist. "No worries, Shinozaki. We're all fine. Now, I have a deal to make with you…" Ayumi nods, wiping her eyes and beaming up at me. "Under no circumstances will any of us separate", I start, but look towards Ryou. "And that includes him as well. We can't just leave him here… he's just an average kid. With information, of course", I crack a smile, and Ryou's cheeks turn red. "That's… what I was planning on doing anyways", Ayumi says, patting him on the head. " I think before we deal with any more things with little Ryou here, we should go and see where Miss Yui is. She started in this space with us, right?", she asks, and he sighs. "No more. How many times I need to tell you?", Ryou says annoyedly. She huffs, and we all head back towards 1-A.

"Where'd all the papers go?", Shinozaki points out as we enter the classroom. "They just vanished. Right after I had left", I claim, setting Ryou down onto the ground. He sighs in disappointment and hops onto the scribble-free desk. "So… we've only got him for information, unless we run into the others and get lucky?", she says, eyeing the board that had once been littered with newspaper clippings, classroom announcements, and exceptional drawings by the students. "I suppose so. There's no way we can run into them, though, like Naho and little man here said", I say, grabbing Ryou and ruffling his hair. "But maybe… maybe she knows how to go from space to space. How else would she know about them?", I continue, and Ayumi's face brightens up. "So, we just have to find her before anything else happens to them, correct?", she says, looking over towards the bottom of the desk. I sigh, mumbling an apology to Suzumoto. "Uh-huh. Unless he know's how…", I chuckle, and Ryou shrinks up a bit and shakes his head. I lean on the desk that he's on and shrug my shoulders. "The spirits… They come out when something they want is near, correct?", I say, looking towards him. He nods. "Sacchan wants victims. We want… ", he says, pointing to his tongue. "And other stuff we lost. Same for Naho." I tap my chin and, after thinking of nothing, sigh exhaustedly. "But, what could you guys wants, besides from body parts, that you can't get as spirits that, quite literally, can do anything?" Ryou shrugs his shoulders, and speaks up. "More of them are happy, that means less spaces! Already you got friends. I think" Ayumi, once idling silently in the corner, practically jumps on top of the kid in happiness. "The bathroom! I knew it! We have to go!", she's saying, smiling cheek to cheek. "Don't… know…!", he replies, and manages to pry her off. I chuckle, and taking both of their hands we head out towards the hallway, ready to do some searching

"Ryou~!", I coo out, a small girl running after me as I slide across the darkened hallways. They were blank as of right now, the only lighting coming from the storm outside. But I could see just fine. As I come to a sudden halt, Toki practically runs into the wall, and would have, if it were possible. She winces, chest moving up and down in short puffs of breath. "I think…" More huffs. "I saw him earlier…? With blondie?" I sigh heavily, sinking down to the ground. "Of course he's with him. I guess, though, that's what Sachi gets for picking such a youngster." After regaining her balance, Tokiko crosses her legs next to me, classic for a second grade, and nods. "But she's gonna be mad." She starts to twiddle with the barrette in her hair, glancing nervously around the hall like she was watching our every move. I rub my chin in though. "Well, maybe if we were to find someone new, she'd be okay with it? I mean, that little girl he saw earlier might be a good fit." I almost instantly see the corners of her lips curl into a smile. "Second building!", and in a whoosh, we were heading towards the next wing of the cursed school.

"Oniichan?", a voice next to my says softly, and the source tugs at my sleeve. With a smile I turn towards my not-so-young younger sibling, Yuka. "They're going to be around here, right? They're okay?" With a quick jerk of the hand I pat her head. "Of course. They'd never let anything happen to… each other." Yuka's small face brightens up in an instant. Around us pass the multiple rooms we've already searched; an abandoned infirmary, dusty classrooms, and a few close calls with some skeletals. As I take a sharp left, sister swinging behind me, we arrive at our destination: a classroom that may or may not be abandoned. On the desk was the same expected scribbles, not changing since our last response, and beneath it a rotten stench, all too familiar. Letting go of my arm, Yuka drifts off deeper into the room, observing the outside through a window only reachable by tip-toes. "Do you think