Brightest of Shadows Chapter 4: You've Changed Me
.
Well I guess I had better actually Update this story every once in a while! Once again I should tell you all that I made Sachiko just a little more sympathetic than usual because, again, she needs crazy pills in the anime and games. On with the chapter!
.
"Are you sure you want to do this Yami-chan?... This is the last opportunity you'll have to back out of this, because once we find my mother, neither of us can escape... I haven't seen her in so long for that exact reason... Again, are you sure about all of this?..." Sachiko warned Yami with an air of apprehension in her voice as the two walked down the hall and up a large flight of stairs hand in hand.
"Yes, I want to meet your mother; it'll be nice to meet the woman who raised you." Yami did his very best to encourage Sachiko with no more than words, although in reality his focus was not on the conversation at all. Rather it was focused on his hand, which was intertwined with Sachiko's in such a way that if her friend's skin was just as pale as hers then Yami most likely wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between the two hands.
"...Yeah..." Muttered Sachiko as a small but solemn smile as she silently remembered the cornucopia of fond memories that rested within her subconscious, only to be thrust back down again, quickly replaced by the horrific memories of both her mothers and even her own death.
"Hey Sachiko-chan?... Can I ask you a question?" Yami inquired, snapping Sachiko out of her self induced trance in a matter of moments, giving her just enough time to listen to and absorb Yami's initial question.
"Yeah, go ahead, you're probably going to ask anyway even I tell you no so..." Sachiko mumbled sarcastically, however Yami would have been a fool to miss the ever so slight laugh that passed through his ethereal friend's lips, however it was not the same sort of laugh that he had heard when Sachiko and he had first met. No, instead of the insane laughter that had flown out of her mouth previously, her laughter was now genuine, and sounded sweet, almost blissful even.
"Good point." Yami responded with a laugh of his own in return, before his features fell into a state of despair, which prompted Sachiko to glance over and tilt her head sideways in confusion. "Sachiko-chan... How did you die exactly?... I know that ghosts don't usually become-... Well ghosts, if they die naturally so... I mean did you die naturally or..."
Yami trailed off when he noticed that his friend's pace had slowed down by quite a considerable level, along with her mouth which had previously been tilted into a small yet natural smile, now had fallen to a depression emitting frown that caused "It-... It's kind of hard to talk about Yami-chan..."
"I'm sorry I didn't realize-..." Yami began, however he was soon cut off by Sachiko who, to the surprise of Yami, closed the distanced between them even more to the point that Sachiko's torn up red dress frequently caught on the string on Yami's hoodie, a distance that Yami had never experienced with anyone besides his parents before; although being 8 years of age didn't exactly help matters of life experience. Never the less it was still a strange feeling, however it was not unpleasant, but Yami let it slide for the time being.
"No, it's okay..." Sachiko whispered before she guided Yami over to the wall and directed him to sit down, planting herself next to him shortly afterward before she began to explain the tale of her demise to her new friend. "I used to be a student here at Heavenly Host, and my mother was the schools nurse... All of the kids loved her and would sometimes even fake being sick to say hello to her."
"Wow... Your mom sounds like she was popular. Guess you didn't get many sick days off though huh? She probably just saw right through it!..." Yami chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about the interruption... You can continue if you want to Sachiko-chan..."
"Alright... Well on my 7th birthday my mother and I were planning to go out to celebrate with a big dinner... She had given me a special stuffed cat and I had it with me all day in school, but I forgot it in my mom's office near the end of the day because I was in a hurry to get to class; I wasn't worried though, I knew I would be meeting my mom there at the end of the school day anyway so I just let it go until then... But then at the end of the day when I went to go and see my mom so that we could go out and I could get my stuffed kitty back-..."
Sachiko trailed off as tears appeared in her eyes, and Yami not knowing what else to do acted on instinct and pulled Sachiko close to him, letting her head rest on his chest. Only after this action was completed did Yami realize exactly what he had just done, however instead of being pushed away from his friend, he instead felt Sachiko attempting to get comfortable of all things! She gently rubbed the side of her head into his sweatshirt and sighing, before she continued the story.
"When I arrived... I found-... I found my mother lying on the floor with her neck broken and the principle of the school standing over her... He had murdered her and when he saw me he-... He-..." Sachiko said not another word; instead she lifted her long hair away from her next to give Yami a few of the discolored skin that circled her neck in an ominous ring.
"S-... Sachiko-chan I-..." Yami swallowed when he finally realized what Sachiko had omitted from the story. She had been strangled to death in front of her mother's dead body. Letting his instincts take over for what seemed to be the umpteenth time since he had arrived at the haunted school, Yami gently placed a hand on Sachiko's neck and softly rubbed on the scars, while silently letting out a breath when he realized Sachiko was calming down quite a bit thanks to the attention to her neck.
As Yami silently rubbed the scars on Sachiko's neck, he couldn't help but to let his thoughts drift back to the events that brought him to Heavenly Host in the first place. He was still extremely concerned for his mother's wellbeing, worried that in his drunken state that his father would end up killing his mother accidentally. He bite his lip as he tried to focus on the ghost girl in front of him; he couldn't do anything about his mother for the moment, so he would have to settle for comforting Sachiko for now. Not that he minded.
The two stayed like that until Sachiko finally calmed herself once again...
.
It was only a few minutes before the two friends were on their way once more, jovially laughing and joking as they traveled down the hall, never even noticing the gruesome scenery around them. Anyone who saw them probably thought that they weren't even there, but were just projections of happiness sent to torture them further; far from the case for the two children. They had even managed to break into the schools kitchen, and after a few little tricks from Sachiko, both were enjoying a small bento box that Sachiko kept floating about a foot in front of them with her powers, giving them full use of motion without encumbering them with the box of food.
"So one other question if you don't mind..." Yami asked after he swallowed a mouthful of rice, while Sachiko smirked, before rolling her eyes playfully.
"What?" She asked, before taking a piece of grilled fish and popping it in her mouth, savoring the taste before she let it slide down her throat. It was the first time she had eaten in years and boy was it a welcome return to say the least!
"Why don't you smell... I don't know... Bad?" Yami asked with the grace of a dead fish, catching Sachiko by surprise to such a degree that she nearly spit the chunk of grilled fish right back out, although she was able to keep it down thanks to the muscles in her throat, which had mysteriously been worked ever since Yami had rubbed her neck.
"Excuse me? That's kind of rude Yami-chan!" Sachiko giggled, smacking his shoulder with her elbow playfully while Yami laughed nervously, thinking that he had truly angered Sachiko with his last comment.
"No! No! I just meant its funny because all of the other ghosts and that zombie guy and I-..." Yami was suddenly cut off by Sachiko's laughter, which had grown in volume considerably; it was obvious that Sachiko was having an amazing time. Probably a rarity for her in a hellish place like this; voluntary or not.
"It's okay Yami-chan, I understand your confusion... I may be dead, but that doesn't mean I don't like to be clean. I use the working showers to clean myself off every day." Sachiko explained with a sense of accomplishment in her voice. She secretly took pride in her diligence when it came to her cleanliness, and while it was usually little more than another task to take away from the boring repetitiveness of each and every day, she absolutely loved being complimented in such a cute, yet slightly bizarre way.
"So I guess that means... You're the first ever ghost to care about personal hygiene?" Yami smirked, only to dodge a possessed flying rice ball only a second or two later, sent from Sachiko who had returned to the floating bento box, pouncing on the grilled fish like it was comprised of gold and diamonds.
"Would you rather I smell like a dead rotting rat?" She asked with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, although Yami could have easily missed the underlying joke thanks to the effects of the fish that stuffed Sachiko's mouth to the brim.
"Good point... Sorry about the weird question Sachiko-chan." Yami chuckled, before taking one of the rice balls that still remained in the bento box, popping it in his mouth with an audible sigh of happiness.
"Yeah well you should be!" Sachiko quipped sarcastically before she and Yami burst into laughter, both with their mouths full of food, which caused whatever was in their mouths to end up on the floors of the school with little to no regard from the two children who were happily strolling down the halls.
Suddenly, a scream tore through the previously quiet halls of Heavenly Host Elementary, giving Yami's heart quite a run for its money in surprise. However the scream itself was not what disturbed Yami; rather it was the owner of the voice, and she was crying out as loudly as she could, "SEIKO! NOOOOOO!"
"Hey do you hear that Sachiko-chan?! That sounded like Naomi-senpai!" Yami yelled, trying to pull Sachiko along, however she would not budge an inch; she knew what they would find, and the last thing she wanted was to put Yami through such a horrible experience. How laughable; she would normally relish more than one person being horrified, but with Yami she just... Couldn't do it.
"No... That couldn't have been her! Come on let's go-..." Sachiko tried, thinking about taking Yami away from the area by force if need be, but just as she was about to summon her powers to do just that Yami said something that caused Sachiko's mind to completely draw a blank.
"Please Sachiko-chan, we need to help them! Please! I would never abandon you if I heard you screaming like that, can't we just help her?!" He begged with an increasing air of desperation in his voice. Sachiko hated to hear it; Yami was the one person in this school that she didn't want to suffer, so why on earth was his happiness connected with those students?
Suddenly another scream echoed throughout the hallways, causing Yami to jump in surprise, followed by quickly pulling Sachiko towards the screaming while she glanced around nervously for her minion, whom she had ordered to stay nearby; however he was nowhere to be found probably off playing with whatever bugs he could find. "Come on Sachiko-chan keep running, we have to go help them before something bad happens!"
Eventually Yami and Sachiko, the latter being pulled along by the former, finally arrived at the girl's bathroom on one of the uppermost floors of the school, and before Sachiko could stop Yami from entering the bathroom, he had already rushed forward, and had stopped running almost as suddenly as he had started.
In full view to both Yami and Sachiko was Naomi, crying out desperately as she attempted to hold a body up in the air which was hanging by its neck by way of a rope that was attached to the ceiling. That was not what unsettled Yami however, rather it was the person Naomi was attempting to prop up; her very best friend Seiko Shinohara, and she appeared as if she was on the brink of death.
"Naomi-senpai!... Seiko-senpai?! No!" Yami turns to Sachiko, who's eyed widened in surprise when her friend grabbed her by the shoulders and began to gently shake her, not so much as a method of force, but rather an attempt to get her to pay attention to him, ignorant to the fact that she had barely taken her eyes off of him since he found her after the incident with Yuki. "Sachiko-chan, can't you break that rope somehow?! Please, help her!"
"Huh? Yami-san?! Help me! HELP ME!" Naomi cried, finally noticing Yami and Sachiko standing there, although she intentionally decided to omit greeting Sachiko in any way; after all she was a ghost, and a gut feeling told her that this particular ghost had something to do with them all being trapped there. That didn't mean she was above getting Yami's help however, no matter how incompetent he would be in the situation at hand.
"I-..." Sachiko stopped and glanced down at the floor as she silently pondered how in the world she could possibly feel such guilt after so long. It stung quite a bit, not because she felt bad about hurting this random girl, rather the source of her guilt was the sorrow filled look that was present on Yami's face. Sachiko glanced between all three of the school's 'guests' as she thought about not only her own death, but even her mother's. Maybe she wouldn't mind if she just saved one more, after all 3 students wasn't a large number, especially considering that Sachiko was actually actively against hurting Yami at this point. "I-... Fine I'll get her down from the stupid rope just-... Stand back..."
Sachiko waited for a few moments for Yami and Naomi to step back before she pulled out a pair of scissors from her dress, taking aim for a moment before she threw her scissors at the rope with razor like precision which sliced through the tough rope like a hot knife through butter, instantly freeing Seiko, saving her from an eternity of pain.
It was only after a few moments of sputtering and coughing that Seiko finally regained her senses, letting her eyes slowly open to come face to face with Naomi, who was letting Seiko use her lap as a pillow. However what happened next surprised everyone except for Sachiko.
Seiko's eyes bulged out of her head when she finally realized who's lap her head was resting on, and shortly afterwards she let out a scream that nearly gave Yami a heart attack; however before she could pull herself to her feet to make her escape, she was suddenly lifted into the air, before she was sent slamming against a wall, giving Sachiko a chance to speak.
"Oh would you please just shut the fuck up?!" Sachiko yelled in a horrific voice, which almost instantly ceased Seiko's screaming while Yami and Naomi watched in surprise, the former amazed at the malice and distain that Sachiko's voice alone was showing. "If it's not obvious enough your little friend just saved your life, and you're going to scream when you see her? Ungrateful bitch!"
Yami, deciding that he could take a chance at calming Sachiko down, shuffled up behind the ghost girl and put a solitary hand on her red cloth clad shoulder. "But Sachiko-chan, you saved-..."
"Please just be quiet Yami-chan..." Sachiko muttered, cutting off Yami, however she did not flinch away from Yami's touch, in fact it appeared as if she was actually welcoming the feeling of Yami's hand on her shoulder. Her voice had returned to its normal state once again; more likely from Yami's presence than anything else.
It was then that Yami finally realized what exactly Sachiko was doing by lying to Seiko. He suspected that Sachiko most likely didn't desire the credit for saving Seiko, however he was completely unaware of the real reason that Sachiko was putting the credit for saving Seiko on Naomi, and she sincerely hoped he never would find out...
.
"So how're you feeling Seiko-senpai?" Yami asked as he wrapped a bandage around Seiko's neck, while Naomi and Sachiko stared at each other with an air of awkwardness that would have been quite entertaining if it hadn't also been so intense at the same time.
"A little better... I think my neck is going to be bruised for a while though..." Seiko muttered sarcastically, trying her best to crack a smile despite the intense pain it caused to move even the slightest muscle.
"God Seiko!... I was so worried; don't you dare ever do that to me ever again!..." Naomi begged, taking over with Seiko's care, giving Yami the opportunity to wander back over to Sachiko, who smiled widely upon seeing her new playmate return, although the smile quickly dissipated in favor of a concerned frown.
"Yami-chan... Can I ask you something?" She whispered, turning her entire body to face Yami, while also psyching herself up for her confession soon to come, while Yami glanced at her in confusion.
"Of course... What's up Sachiko-chan?" He asked, his ever present innocence shining through once again, causing Sachiko to force herself to not smile; he was making her happier and happier by the second.
"How did you do it?..." She asked, biting down on her lip softly in an attempt to ward off any smile that would even think of having the audacity of creeping onto her face.
Yami however was completely obvious to the subject of Sachiko's question; instead assuming that she was speaking of the incident that had happened only a few minutes prior. "How did I do what? You mean wrap the bandages around Seiko's neck? Well what you do is-..."
"No... How, after 50 years of being nothing more than a monster, did you... Break through to me..." Hearing Sachiko say this, Yami by chance glanced into her eyes, only to find that her eyes, which had previously been no more than a dull and lifeless conduit of sadness for the poor girl were now sparkling majestically with what Yami could only describe as pure living euphoria.
"I don't know how... But I'm glad I could at least..." Yami whispered with a small smile, reaching over to rub Sachiko's neck again. "You didn't deserve any of this you know... I wish there was something I could do to take away your pain..."
Sachiko bit her lip as she felt Yami's hand wrapping around her neck. Her first instinct was to strike out, to stop the sensation on her neck; however she was able to resist it, opting instead to lean into Yami's hand, all while Seiko and Naomi watched in both confusion and fascination."Yami-chan... I've known you for only around a day... But you've already taken away more of my pain than years of hunting in my school... I-... Yami-chan you've changed me... You've really changed me..."
.
Oh by the way! Check out the cover for the story! It was drawn by one of my good friends! Until next time my minions!