Brightest of Shadows Chapter 8: The Truth
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*Cough* Uhm... Hiya... :D... *BANG* I'M SORRY! I had some stuff to do people to see!... And I sorta forgot I write fics for a few months... So yeah. o. o This story will once again be regularly updated. Sorry about such a long long wait! On with the chapter!
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"So... I'm guessing you like sushi?" Ayumi giggled as she watched in fascination as Sachiko ate. It had started off quite well, with Sachiko patiently using her chopsticks to secure the sushi on the plate. However the moment that the food touched Sachiko's lips the chopsticks were all but forgotten, the young girl instead opting to employ her hands for such a task.
"What makes you say that?" Sachiko asked after swallowing a particularly large piece of sushi nearly whole, before glancing around at the other patrons of the hospital café; taking the extra time to glare at those who were staring at her for eating in such an odd fashion.
"Well I suppose it's normal considering your situation. Just don't overdo it!" Ayumi laughed, before taking a small sip of her soda while checking her phone to find 3 unread texts and nearly 5 missed calls from Yoshiki ranging from the time they entered heavenly host until up until a few minutes ago; a text to update on Yami's status, and that he was already eating well minutes after the two girls left.
Ayumi could not help but to let out another chuckle upon seeing her phone screen. Every single text she received over the last few days were from Yoshiki all making sure that she okay. It was strange really, to have the most uncaring person in her high school texting her multiple times on the topic of her safety, yet her crush had barely said two words to her.
It was then she realized someone else that made her tilt her head in slight shame. She had never responded to any of the messages in front of her. She had never responded to any of the messages that Yoshiki had ever sent her since they met now that she thought deeper into the subject.
"Kishinuma-kun huh... You two got something going on?" Ayumi heard from over her shoulder, only to find that Sachiko had snuck up behind her to read the texts from over her shoulder. Ayumi was quick to shoo Sachiko back to her side if the table, the younger of the two giggling as she repositioned herself once more. "I'd be surprised if you didn't really, he treats you like a girlfriend."
"He does not!" Ayumi responded with a giggle of her own, although now that Sachiko had mentioned it, Yoshiki had become extremely protective since the Heavenly Host incident, as it was now known, and was almost always by her side if he could help it. "Kishinuma-kun is just a friend!"
"Oh? So you didn't know he likes you?" Sachiko asked, confused as to why Ayumi was suddenly acting the way she was, although she could not help but to notice Ayumi's eyes widen considerably when she spoke.
"Are... Are you serio-... Never mind, I'm sure you're just mistaken." Ayumi laughed off Sachiko's comment with a dismissing wave of her hand before taking a long gaze out of the window, giving her a few precious moments to think to herself. It had been an entire week since the incident at Heavenly Host, yet Ayumi still had quite a bit of trouble coming to terms with the events that took place there.
Sure, no one had died, Ayumi was eternally thankful for that, yet the young woman couldn't shake the strange feeling that if Yami hadn't been there, things could have turned out much worse for many of them. It was almost as if, contrary to his name, Yami was the only ray of light in the darkness of that school. Perhaps that was why he was able to break through to Sachiko.
"So... When will Yami be able to leave that hospital bed?" Sachiko asked after finally ceasing her relentless onslaught against the plate of sushi that had all but vanished against Sachiko's unceasing attack. She looked rather worried, although Ayumi hadn't noticed since her vision was still resolutely out the window, watching as two young adults, obviously a couple, smiled and laughed happily as they walked away from the hospital, a small baby in the girls arms.
Eventually Ayumi realized she'd have to provide Sachiko with an answer. Unfortunately she had also failed to judge how Sachiko would react to a bitterly honest statement.
"I'm not sure... His father did do a number on him, we're lucky that he didn't end up-..." A sudden slam on the table in front of her brought Ayumi's attention back to Sachiko, who's long black hair had fallen in front of her eyes, the shadows obscuring her eyes from all those around her. "Sachiko-chan?... What's wrong?..."
"Please... Just don't talk about what could've happened... It didn't so I don't want to hear about it..." Sachiko's voice lowered to little more than a stained whisper. Another thing that Ayumi quickly noticed was the sound "He's alive... I saved him... I hope I saved him..."
Ayumi was stunned at first, but was able to quickly compose herself, giving off the illusion that she hadn't even missed a figurative step. "You did... I know you must be worried about what happened and you have every right to be, but Yami-san is safe. Besides, you could've done something to-..."
"It's not about what I Could have done... You have no idea how painful, and how cold and lonely, is to die by strangulation... You literally feel yourself drifting away from your body, unable to do anything, not even scream for help..." As Sachiko spoke Ayumi had noticed that the young girls hand was slowly inching towards her own hand resting on the table like a snake stalking it's prey. "Here.. I'll show you..."
Suddenly, without giving Ayumi even a minuet hint of warning to her upcoming actions, Sachiko's hand shot towards Ayumi's own hand, grasping it in what appeared to be an iron grip that she could do nothing to escape from.
At first Ayumi was surprised, and was considering pulling her hand back and running, but soon found that her body seemed to be considerably weaker than it was only moments before, leaving her to merely stare at Sachiko with terror in her eyes, although her vision was quickly fading into little more than a dank black haze.
"Don't be scared... You won't actually get hurt..." Ayumi heard Sachiko's voice whisper through the dank haze. "I just want to show you something that I think is important for you to know... Because... I need to tell someone the truth... I need to tell someone what really happened..."
Ayumi could not even mutter a weakened cry of panic before her vision was completely taken over by the darkness and her head impacted with the table; her conscious sucked into Sachiko...
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It was cold, there was no denying that. The moment that the chill hit Ayumi's body, she immediately wrapped her arms around her chest, attempting to save the little warmth that still lay in her body. It was soon drawn out however, seemingly ripped out of her by some form of malevolent force.
Wasting no time on laying on the cold floor any longer, Ayumi pulled herself off of the wooden floor, only for her breath to hitch in the back of her throat upon witnessing the scene in front of her.
There stood a horrified Sachiko, looking very much alive, with a tan-yellow dress that matched her shoes; which were absent in her current form, Ayumi noted. Towering above her was a heavy set man in a coat and funny looking glasses with a stern, nearly emotionless expression on his face.
Suddenly, Ayumi was seemingly pulled towards Sachiko by some unseen force, a sharp pain coursing through her that forced her vision to dissipate. When it returned Ayumi realized that she was gazing through the eyes of Sachiko. She was about to witness whatever horrific event that made Sachiko the way she was first hand.
"Mommy?..." The young girl's voice was little more than a faint whisper, her eyes locked on the disfigured form of a woman, whose next was twisted in an unnatural angle at the bottom of the staircase.
"Oh hello... Sachiko..." The principle uttered, gazing at the child with apprehension in his eyes. A lost look, almost as if something in him was at the breaking point, ready to snap like a board under pressure at a moments notice. It was then his gaze hardened once more. "You saw, didn't you?..."
It took only a moment longer for Sachiko to break into a sprint, running down the stairs as fast as her 7 year old legs could possibly carry her away from the horrifying scene she had just witnessed. The principle was almost immediately on her tail, only mere feet behind her throughout their entire chase.
All through the empty halls she ran, glancing into classrooms every so often in search of a teacher who she could run to, anyone who could protect her from the man attempting to grab her, the man who she had just witnessed kill her mother.
But no one was there.
Eventually she began to lose her pursuer, and upon noticing that she was out of her gaze, made a quick turn and ran into the school bathroom, hiding in one of the many stalls which lined the bathroom wall, hoping up onto the toilet so that her feet weren't visible to anyone looking at the stall from a straight angle.
Moments later, the sound of the principles shoes on the hard wooden floor came into ear-shot, slowly drawing ever closer until the noise ceased just in front of the stall in which Sachiko was doing her best to stay hidden.
"C'mere!" It wasn't enough. The principle ripped open the bathroom stall door with such force that it snapped the modest metal lock keeping it in place like a twig, revealing the terrified girl whom he had been chasing. With a scream that nearly burst the principles ear drums, the young girl leapt from the toilet seat in a panic, only to be grabbed by the scruff of her neck.
In moments she found herself hanging by her neck by way of her murderous principles hands above the broken corpse of her recently deceased mother, the life being strangled out of her slowly as tears fell from her fear struck eyes. She wanted to scream out, to cry for someone, for anyone to rescue her.
But instead, all she felt was pain as her world darkened around her, her last breath forced out of her by the man who's cold, unfeeling eyes would haunt her forever in the afterlife, the spark of her insanity.
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The first sensation Ayumi felt as she awoke was the dull throbbing of a headache. A headache most likely developed from her head slamming onto the table when Sachiko had... What had Sachiko done exactly?
Lifting her head from the hard plastic table, Ayumi slowly let her eyes readjust to the soft light of the hospital cafe. All seemed relatively normal. The remaining food was still resting on the table, the drinks her and Sachiko had carefully selected were still half full on the table, and the clock showed that not even ten full minutes had truly passed since she had checked the clock last, which was when Sachiko had still been eating.
Upon turning her gaze to the young girl in question however, Ayumi's breath hitched in her throat. Sachiko was still in front of her, but something seemed ominous about her at first. Her hair had fallen in front of her eyes completely covering her face like a shroud and her shoulders were shaking violently, almost as if she were giggling.
"Sachiko-chan?... Are you... Are you alright?..." Ayumi asked, a chill running down her spine. However it soon became clear that upon closer inspection, Ayumi noticed that the sounds coming from the young girl was not laughter at all.
It was then that Sachiko raised her head to look at Ayumi, and it was then that Ayumi saw the true situation; Sachiko's face was covered in tears, and she was biting her lip in an attempt to hold back a sob, although a few small ones had slipped past her defenses easily.
"M-.. Mommy trusted him!... And he killed her!..." Sachiko cried out, causing a few onlookers to turn to them for a moment, before returning to whtever they were doing before largely uninterested in whatever the girl was speaking of, although a few gazes lingered a moment longer, their eyes filled with sympathy.
"Why though?... Do you know why he... Did what he did?..." Ayumi asked, the caution clear in her tone of voice. Sachiko couldn't blame her for such trepidation around her, especially after all they had been through. However this was where she could begin to make things right. To trust in others.
"I'm not sure... But after he killed me be buried me in the basement of the school and called the authorities... He told them that my mother had fallen down the stairs, and that I had run off into the town upon seeing my mothers body..." Sachiko confessed, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes with the small napkin provided with her meal as she spoke. "Eventually though... I had enough..."
A sudden chill ran down Ayumi's spine once Sachiko whispered those words, as if she had infused her very breath with ill intentions. Unable to come up with the words for a proper response, Ayumi merely waited for Sachiko to continue.
"I haunted him... Whispering in his ear, and slowly drove him mad, until one day he ran down to the basement, dug me up, and cut out my tongue... I had to go through so much to get it back!" Sachiko growled, her teeth visibly clenched, her eyes threatening to overflow with tears once again. "I was alone for so long because of him! He robbed me of my life... Of everyone that has ever cared about me!..."
"That's not true... I care... We care..." Both Sachiko and Ayumi jumped at the new voice which entered the conversation, to find Yami perched in a wheelchair being pushed around by Yoshiki, both with deep frowns on their faces.
"How-... How much of that did you hear Yami?..." Sachiko asked, afraid that she had accidentally yelled out her plight to the entire cafeteria, which was not only a risk in others finding out about her past, but also that she had embarrassed both her and Ayumi.
"We... We heard enough of it..." Yoshiki muttered, slowly pushing Yami over to the table, leaving the boy to the mercy of Sachiko's hugs before glancing uneasily to the empty space next to Ayumi. Thankfully the girl in question noticed, and gently pat the space with her palm, signaling to Yoshiki the go-ahead to sit next to her, an opportunity he did not waste. "Well I do happen to have some relatively good news. Yami-kun has been officially discharged, and we can take him home tonight. Unfortunately the Mochidas are already home, so I'll have to take him with me for tonight."
"Alright... Will you be able to get home with both of them?" Ayumi asked as Sachiko pulled Yami's chair over to the window, both of them pointing out things that interested them.
"I should be fine... Thanks Shinozaki..." Yoshiki muttered, before he felt a small hand on his shoulder. Looking to the source he found Ayumi, smiling softly. A smile that so far he had only seen directed at Satoshi. "W-... What's wrong?"
"You can call me Ayumi if you want you know. You'll need to now actually, now that we have another Shinozaki in the group..." Ayumi giggled once more before she got to her feet, gave Sachiko a pat on the shoulder, grabbed her stuff, and began to walk away from the table. "Goodnight guys! I'll talk to you all later."
With that, Yoshiki and the two children made their way back to his apartment, Sachiko hand in hand as they went, the rhythmic rumbling of Yami's wheelchair perfectly complimenting the orange sunset in the distance, almost as if the heavens themselves were watching over this new family, guiding them into the future.
Once they arrived at the apartment, Yoshiki quickly made up a futon for himself, and made the bed for Yami and Sachiko, although it was big enough for all three of them with room to spare, he still wanted to be at least a little separate from Sachiko. He would call it both a sense of decency along with a survival instinct, a least for the time being. He knew he would have to make a permanent bed for Sachiko eventually, but at the moment he was just too tired to care.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, with Sachiko glad to finally experience sleep after so long, clinging to a snoring Yami like a life-line as she slept. Yoshiki was in bed soon after, a small smile on his face.
He finally had a chance to be happy, to have a family of his own...
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Just incase anyone wants to know, I'm using a combo of both game and anime canon. Just sorta stacking the events so that I can use them at some point during the story. So anyway... Until next time (which is soon!) my minions!