Brightest of Shadows Chapter 11: Tragedy
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Wow that was a writers block and a half. . Anyways, hi! This'll be a shorter than usual chapter followed by another short chapter in a few days. After that I'll be jumping ahead by a few years, but don't worry if you wanted to see Sachiko and Yami grow up together! I'll be making little, or long, one-shots from time to time about their lives growing up, so check my profile if you get a feeling one is up. So without further ado, on with the chapter!
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"She's actually really good at it, it's almost uncanny." Yoshiki laughed as he leaned back on the bus seat a small smirk gracing his lips which was offset by his black eye, provided to him by Naomi during their little spy mission. "She kept doing it to make Yami-kun laugh after you all left last ni-... Well I guess this morning."
"Yeah, Yami-chan called it a Pokémon!" Sachiko added with a toothy grin, revealing her pointed teeth to the teens. Yoshiki made a small mental note to take her to a dentist at some point to get them checked out.
"Really? Let's hear it Sachiko-chan." Satoshi, who was plunging on the seat just in front of Yoshiki and Sachiko, turned to the adolescent Shinozaki girl with his own amused grin, while she cleared her throat quietly before speaking.
"Pika-Pi! Pikachu!" Sachiko chirped, her face never losing it's humored smile as she let out the strange cry, causing a few heads in the bus to turn in her direction only to turn back to their papers and phones upon realizing it was merely a little girl impersonating some sort of character.
"Wow... She really is good at that..." Naomi commented, aware of its origins thanks not only to her mild interest in the show as a child, but also to Seiko, or more accurately, Seiko commenting on just how much her siblings loved the show, and how they would regularly rave about it over the dinner table.
After the chaotic maelstrom that ensued thanks to Seiko's little attempt to spy, Naomi quickly vacated the residence, dragging an unconscious Seiko along, with a nervous yet good natured farewell to Sachiko as the young girl methodically picked up the broken shards of lamp left on the floor.
Yoshiki woke up the next morning to find that he had somehow been relocated to the couch, and upon rising, noticed that more than one decoration was mysteriously missing from his apartment, and that Sachiko and Yami were happily watching TV as they ate whatever they could find in Yoshiki's fridge minus whatever smelled like it had passed it's due date months ago.
Which resulted in a breakfast of pop tarts and sugary cereal.
"Speaking of last night, did Shinohara-chan ever wake up this morning?" Yoshiki asked, bringing himself back into the conversation at hand, eliciting a shrug from Satoshi, at which point both he and Yoshiki turned to Naomi.
"Yeah, but it took quite a large handful of candy to keep her little brother from telling their father about how I was literally dragging Seiko home at 5 in the morning!" Naomi giggled, her hand going over her mouth for just a moment before refining to her lap. "I'm sure the little rascal is demanding more from Seiko as well."
"I'm sure he is, at least if he's anything like Seiko-chan he is at any rate." Satoshi commented, running the back of his head with a laugh when Naomi sent a small humored glare his way.
Yoshiki could only roll his eyes at the antics of his friends, even in a place as public as a bus.
"Oh and... Sorry about all the stuff we ended up breaking Kishinuma-kun... I can pay you back in a few weeks, I just need to wait for my allowance to build up en-..." Naomi was interrupted by Yoshiki shaking his head from side to his as he held up his hand in a dismissive manner.
"Eh, don't even worry about it, I was planning on getting rid of most of that stuff anyway, it was sort of crowding the apartment." He explained, giving a small shrug as if to emphasize his point further, all while Naomi hung her head slightly, embarrassed that she and Seiko were the main source of the damage.
"A-Are you sure? It seems like we broke quite a few things..." She mumbled silently going over the list of shattered ornaments in Yoshiki's home in her mind before he began to list them out loud.
"2 vases, a plate, 4 mugs, and a tray to be exact." Yoshiki laughed for but a moment and looked at Sachiko who was snickering as she made a swinging motion with her arms. "Oh yeah, and one lamp."
"Hey by the way dude, did you get a text from Mayu-chan when you woke up this morning by chance?..." Satoshi said, the features on his face suddenly becoming overcast with what appeared to be a mixture of stress and sadness.
"You mean about the pictures?..." Yoshiki asked, his face adopting the same downtrodden appearance. "Yeah. Yeah I got it."
"Pictures? What pictures?" Sachiko asked, blissfully unaware of the situation at hand, although the Kisaragi students present were rather confident that even if Sachiko knew of their friend and his predicament that she would be less than impressed. Which is why Satoshi eventually gathered the courage to speak up.
"Well... Our friend Morishige... Mayu-chan was over his house and she just happened to pick her her phone instead of his and when she looked at the screen she saw he had taken some pictures while at Heavenly Host..." Satoshi explained, his courage diminishing with every word that passed from his lips. Nervously he began to play with his hands, refusing to look Sachiko in the eye, as were the other teenagers.
"Um?..." Sachiko not quite sure what to make of the situation. Satoshi was still being rather vague, despite the reasoning session he had had with himself in his mind just a few moments before.
"Of the dead corpses in the school... We aren't sure why, but he had been photographing every body he came across..." Yoshiki clarified after realizing that Satoshi had lost his nerve and would be saying no more on the subject. "Apparently he only has around half a dozen, but still... I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. He's always been sort of strange but I never thought he would do something like that in a million years..."
"Well either way, it happened, and now Mayu-chan can't decide whether or not she wants to tell anybody. Either way though, we're going to have to get him some sort of help somehow.." Naomi explained, causing the others to give her a solemn nod in understanding, all except Sachiko who really could not see the problem with the situation at hand.
"Hey, while we're on the subject of recent trauma inflicted by that place, has anyone heard anything on the condition of Yami-kun's mother, or Yui-sensei for that matter?" Yoshiki asked, idly unwrapping a piece of chewing gum, before popping it in his mouth.
"I tried checking up on Mrs. Tsukino when Ayumi-chan and I were at the hospital but... They wouldn't even give me a general idea of how she was doing." Satoshi shrugged before turning his gaze to the floor of the bus. "I'm worried that there's something big that they aren't telling us..."
The other friends muttered in agreement, growing mostly silent for the rest of the ride to the household of Ayumi and her family.
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"You brought her?!" Ayumi asked in a harsh whisper as she jabbed her finger into Yoshiki's chest hard enough to leave a bruise while the bleach blonde rolled his eyes in exasperation at the behavior of his friend.
"What was I supposed to do? She and Yami-kun would have destroyed my apartment." Yoshiki reasoned, pointing to Sachiko with a sigh all while the said girl laughed, clinging to Satoshi for support in her cackle fit. Satoshi and Naomi were far from silent with laughter as well. Their friends were arguing like an old married couple once again.
"If they're both so destructive then why did you bring Sachiko-chan and yet have the lack of sense to Yami-kun in your apartment with no issue?" Ayumi crossed her arms as she retaliated, refusing to give Yoshiki even an inch of ground in this particular matter.
"Yeah well, Yami-kun was asleep, and besides, even if he wasn't I trust him enough to not singlehandedly destroy my home if I leave him alone for an hour, unlike Someone." Yoshiki shot a glare towards the young laughing girl, to which she responded with even more lively guffaws from her as she clenched her midriff.
"Well anyway, you might as well come in, my sister is just in the kitchen making some tea for us all, so she'll be out in just a few minutes." Ayumi explained as she moved aside, granting access to her guests, though a silently glare at Yoshiki's back did not go unnoticed by the others.
A few moments after the group of friends settled down in the Shinozaki's living room, the tension that had previously been in the air dissolved rather quickly as the conversation quickly turned to the subject of upcoming school events that they would all be able to attend, along with a brief suggestion from Naomi that the entire group should go shopping with Sachiko for her new wardrobe. Needless to say the boy shot it down rather quickly, with Yoshiki even mentioning how he would rather spend a week in Heavenly Host than to go shopping.
"You know that can be arranged." Sachiko murmured with an unamused glare on her face as she flicked her wrist to reveal another paper doll that the young girl had been hiding the entire time, causing Yoshiki to sink into the couch he was resting on like a frightened child.
"No no, that's okay! I was just joking!" Yoshiki laughed, his arms going up in the same sign of peace he had attempted to use on Naomi the previous night, although this time it produced a much more desired effect.
"Fine, scaredycat... But the invitation is open to anyone who wants to keep Blockhead company!" Sachiko giggled as she waved the paper doll around like a flag until it was suddenly snatched out of her grip by a pair of slender fingers, causing her to cry out in surprise. "Hey! Who-..."
"Let's not have any incidents inside of the house if you don't mind miss Sachiko." A voice from behind the girl came, causing Sachiko to turn to face a beautiful young woman with long hair and a gentle smile that caught even Sachiko off guard. "Besides, we wouldn't want Kishinuma-kun to leave us before some things have been said."
Ayumi, who was sharing the couch with Naomi, could only blush at her sisters blunt comment, settling for a glare at her updaters back before sighing softly and turning to Sachiko. "Sachiko-chan, this is my sister Shinozaki Hinoe."
"You have an older sister?" Sachiko asked before her mouth twisted into an evil grin. "Well she does look like you... She isn't as thick headed as you right?"
"Hey! I'm not thick headed!" Ayumi cried crossing her a mrs protectively around her, as a blush formed on her face. "I just-..."
Sachiko was quick to interrupt. "Never notice what's going on around you until it's far too late."
Ayumi's red face was signal enough for Hinoe to intervene. Putting on the calmest face she could without appearing too excited, she began to speak.
"Normally it would take quite a bit of work to speak with someone like yourself Sachiko-chan, so I must say it's quite the special occasion to be able to talk face to face." Hinoe's voice was filled with admiration directed at the child in front of her. Wasting almost no time, the elder of the Shinozaki sisters took a seat on the couch across from the girl in the red dress.
"Yeah well..." A small but genuine smile appeared on Sachiko's lips for but a moment. "I wouldn't have come at all if it wasn't for my friend."
"Well they sound w-..." Hinoe was suddenly interrupted by Satoshi's phone suddenly going off. Upon reaching for his phone and checking the name on the caller ID Satoshi gasped before looking up at his group of friends.
"It's the hospital!" Satoshi explained with a joyous smile before answering due to his friends motioning him to answer. "Hello? Yes, this is Mochida Satoshi."
It was silent for a solid three minutes in the living room as everyone slowly watched Satoshi's face from one of joy and happiness to one of shock, horror, and lastly, sadness. Deep sadness.
Eventually Satoshi finally spoke into his phone, failing to form his words the first few attempts.
"Are-... Doctor are you serious?..." Satoshi felt tears stinging his eyes as he clenched his fist so tightly that he was pretty sure he would be breaking skin in a moment. However he did not care. "No! Isn't there anything you can do?!"
"Satoshi?... What's going on?!" Sachiko asked Satoshi before walking over and grabbing his knees tightly, the fear apparent in her eyes. "Tell me what's going on! Now! What's happening Satoshi?!"
"Yeah, what's going on man?..." Yoshiki added, unsure of what else to say.
"I... I understand. Thank you doctor..." Satoshi said, completely ignoring everybody around him. With a disheartened sigh, he continued. "My family can make all of the preparations... Hmm? Yes I'll be sure to break it as softly to him as I can... Thank you again..."
Satoshi snapped his phone shut without another word.
"Satoshi-kun?... What's going on?..." Naomi asked, though more out of necessity than out of any real curiosity. Something told her that ignorance was bliss in this case, but it would just have to be a truth they would need to bear.
"Y-... Yami's mother... She's..." Everyone immediately knew what Satoshi was about to say without another word needing to be spoken, with most taking on a downfallen appearance aside from Satoshi who clenched his teeth in an effort from keeping tears from falling. "She passed away in her sleep last night... The nurses found her dead this morning... They couldn't do anything..."
Naomi and Ayumi both gasped loudly while Hinoe silently lowered her head in respect, saying nothing. Yoshiki meanwhile, was much more vocal with his emotions. With a loud crack, his hand impacted with the living room drywall, putting a hole into it as if it was paper. "Goddamnit!... We should've run faster! We could have gotten her to the hospital faster!"
"You and I both know that wouldn't have helped... She didn't die on the operating table, she died in her sleep... Not to mention it's been a week since she arrived... She would have ended up dying either way..." The quivering in Satoshi's voice became more apparent with each and every passing word.
"No! You're just joking! She's woken up and she's leaving the hospital now! Right?!" Sachiko was unused to dealing with the grief that comes with death, even her own or her mothers, since she had died moments later, which resulted in the panicked state she was now in. "Tell me she's alive!"
"I'm sorry Sachiko..." Satoshi could not stop a single tear from rolling down his cheek. "Yami's mother is gone..."
That one word echoed in Sachiko's mind as she stood there motionless. The woman who had brought Yami to this world was gone. Killed, just as Sachiko's own mother had been. She was gone.
Gone.
Gone.
Gone...
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Nothing else really to say, so until next time my minions!