Chapter 2: Nightmares

Tenshi woke with a jump. He was breathing heavily and his side was hurting again. He looked around to find himself in his classroom, not in the alley-way. What was going on? He noticed a lack of other students and looked at the clock, it was lunch time. He heard the door open and in walked Ms. Yashimaku holding some papers. She saw him and smiled. "Finally awake are we Mr. Haroshami?" He panicked, had he fallen asleep during class? "You've been asleep since the start of lunch. Suzomoto tried to wake you but you were out cold! Have you been sleeping badly?" Tenshi realised that he had actually neglected to sleep the past few days. He was scared of the nightmares that he kept having about the school. He groaned as he realised he had just had another. "Sorry, I've just not been able to sleep lately." It must have been Kizami that was in his nightmares this time around, judging by "Blue Eyes". He felt his stomach and was relieved to find no wounds what so ever. "You look sick Tenshi. Are you all right?" asked the teacher with a hint of worry in her voice. She didn't like to see any of her students feel unwell, but she had never seen somebody look so under the weather. "Maybe you should go home?" Tenshi wanted to argue but he had to admit he was still a bit shaken from his nightmare. It felt way too real. "Thank you Ms. Yashimaku," he got up and packed his things. He said goodbye to his teacher and left the room. As he walked down the corridors his side became more and more painful. He felt terrible; it was like something was eating away at him. "Hey Tenshi!" He heard his name being called out. He turned to see Maki walking up to him. She seemed happy. It really must have been a dream. "You alright Haroshami? You look dreadful! No offence!" She said as she realised her mistake. "Yeah I just feel sick Hakiru, Ms. Yashimaku sent me home," he said with a smile. The girl crossed her arms across her body, she looked worried. "Well hopefully you get better soon, I don't think Suzomoto and I can survive with Makuro for more than an hour!" She laughed at her joke. Tenshi nodded. He realised that Suzomoto was probably going to be lonely without him for the rest of the day. "Thanks Hakiru, look after Suzomoto for me," he said as he left the school.

As lunch ended Mayu began to worry. Tenshi wouldn't wake up and now he was gone from the classroom. She was nervous around the others without him so she didn't know what to do. "Hey Suzomoto!" She was greeted by the other girl as she sat down in her group. "Hey Hakiru, where's Tenshi?" Maturo laughed when she asked the question. "Probably trying to find his parents," They ignored the thug and his comment. Maki beamed at her. "He was feeling really sick Suzomoto, his eyes looked really dark and tired." Mayu pouted at her answer, she wanted him to get better soon because she liked the boy. Not in a love sort of way, but he had kept her safe so he deserved some respect. "He asked me to take care of you, so you can hang around with me and my friends today!" Mayu smiled at the girl, she seemed friendly enough.

That evening Tenshi was feeling a bit better so he decided to get some air. As he walked the pain in his side became less intense and eventually died down. He was looking down at the ground when he bumped into somebody. He wasn't expecting it, so he fell to the ground along with the other person. "Hey buddy watch were you're going!" said the person, who was a boy around his age judging by the voice. It sounded familiar. "Yeah sorry," he got up and dusted himself down. He looked at the boy and recognised him. "We really should stop bumping into each other like this Yoshiki," he said with a smirk.

Kishinuma got up and looked at the boy. "That was such a terrible joke Haroshami," he said with a sigh. He remembered how, when they were younger, his friend always made awful puns to try and cheer him up. He smiled at the sight of his tall friend, he was glad he had made it out of Heavenly Host alright. "Mayu has been telling us all about you," he said to Tenshi. Mayu was talking about him when they last met. "We had to force her to talk about something else!" Tenshi laughed at the fact that Suzomoto talked about him. "Well you know more about me than she does Yoshiki, or have you forgotten all about me?" Kishinuma shook his head. How could he forget, his blood brother scar was a constant reminder. "Hey you wanna come with me to a café to get something to eat?" He wanted to catch up with his old friend after years of being apart.

Tenshi was really expecting the offer, but he saw no reason to turn it down. "Yeah of course Yosh-man!" He really needed to resurrect their friendship that had been so strong years before. As they walked they talked about old times. They got to "Myamoto Munchies", the local café, and entered. They sat together at a table and ordered something to eat. As they waited, Tenshi looked at his friend. "How you holding up? After…. You know," he said. Yoshiki looked up at his question. "I still miss our friends, so does everyone else. Nakashima took it the worst though." Tenshi was curious about how this girl was taking it badly. "She lost her best friend in there; she's been depressed ever since. The school caused her to lose control of her body and she hanged her. Worst thing is nobody remembers any of them." Tenshi winced at the story. He could understand that you would be distraught but he had lost everybody. He had held in his sadness until Kiki had died by Morishiges' actions. He wanted to mention this to his blood brother but decided against it. "So how is Mayu coping without Morishige?" He paused at Kishinumas' question; he and the Mochida boy were the only people to witness the death of Mayus' love. "Fine," he said bluntly. He didn't need to say much about it and he didn't really want to. There was a question that he wanted to ask now. "Yosh, why did you never visit me?"

Kishinuma froze at the question. He was dreading the time when he was eventually asked by Haroshami. He couldn't change the subject with him because he knew Tenshi was persistent. "My parents didn't allow me," he lied. "Bullshit, when have you ever obeyed your parents? From my memory they were too god-damn lazy to give two shits about what you did!" Tenshi looked angry at his answer. "You want to know why? Because they kicked me out! I was more concerned about myself than I was about you!" he was beginning to grow angry as well. "But I could have helped you out. You knew rightly that I would have supported you. Fucking hell Yosh, you could have lived at the orphanage!" Tenshi was clearly upset that he hadn't come to him for support. "What did you think I would do? We're blood brothers. You are the closest thing I have to a family. You meant the world to me!" Kishinuma thought about what he was saying. "You really mean that?" He had always known that Tenshi looked out for others, but he never considered that he thought of him that highly. "Yes, I would never have cast you out of my life man," Kishinuma smiled. It seemed that Tenshi was the same boy he was those many years ago. "Thanks man, I'm sorry," Tenshi smirked. "Don't worry about it, just don't do it again!"

A few hours had passed and they were forced to leave as the café was closing for the night. As they walked through the darkening streets they could feel rain falling. "Shit, I'm going to be soaked by the time I get to the orphanage!" Tenshi sighed, he would have to use the orphanage washing machine, a contraption he never understood. "Sure why don't you stay over at my apartment? It isn't too far from here," suggested Yoshiki. Tenshi nodded as they ran to Kishinumas' apartment. When they got in, the sandy haired boy set up the couch so Tenshi could sleep on it. "Just put your clothes in the dryer," called Yoshiki, "Just take a pair of tracksuit bottoms or something." Tenshi went into the bedroom and quickly picked a pair of trousers that he could sleep in. He had to unzip the tracksuit bottoms at the side as they were too tight against his legs. He went to the bathroom to change. As he took off his clothes his side began to hurt again. "Might as well see what has been bothering me," he said to himself. He turned to the mirror over the sink and took off his blue t-shirt. What he saw made him freeze. A small, dark stain was on his right side. It looked as if he had got an infection that was untreated. He stared at the mark for a while until a knock on the door caused him to break out of his trance. "You okay in there?" Tenshi quickly covered up his infection by putting on the blue t-shirt again. It was dry enough to wear so he decided just to sleep in it. "Yeah of course," he said as he walked out of the bathroom and threw his wet clothes into the dryer. "You want anything to drink?" Tenshi shook his head. "Nah man I'll just get to sleep. Thanks for letting me stay here by the way!" Yoshiki turned around as he went into his bedroom. "No problem, good night Haroshami." He turned off the lights and closed his door. Tenshi turned over to be more comfortable. Soon he fell asleep. But it wasn't a pleasant one…

Tenshi opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar place. It was the school he had lost Kiki in. "Why the fuck am I here?" Just then, he heard a door slam shut. The next thing he knew, he was in a bathroom. There were five toilet cubicles in front of him. However, one was different. He could hear choking coming from it. He looked down to see a pair of shoes in front of the cubicle. He slowly approached it. His breathing was heavy. He could feel chills down his spine as he neared the toilet block. He slowly opened the cubicle and saw a girl hanging from a rope. "Nao-Naom-" she seemed to be trying to say something. Why was he here? He panicked the girl was going to die if he didn't hurry. He tried to untighten the rope but it just seemed to constrict more every time he attempted it. He had an idea. He bent down underneath the girl, being careful not to look up as he didn't want to seem like a pervert. He then raised himself up with the girl on his shoulders. This would give her time to breath. He reached up and, with some difficulty, undid the noose around her neck. He sighed with relief as he lowered himself with the girl still on his shoulders. He looked at the girl and realised that she was in Kisaragi uniform. "Nakashima took it the worst though. She lost her best friend in there; she's been depressed ever since. The school caused her to lose control of her body and she hanged her." He recalled Yoshikis' words. How did this happen? Surely this girl should be dead. Suddenly he passed out.

He woke with a jump. He was back in the apartment. It was just another nightmare. They were becoming much more vivid. He could feel things in the dreams. He could feel pain. What time was it? He got up and checked a clock. 06:35. He had another hour to get back to the orphanage and get ready. He collected his clothes from the dryer and changed back into them. He left a note thanking Yoshiki for his kindness and left the apartment. Half an hour later he was ready for school. As he walked to Nakashima Academy he noticed a Kisaragi student walking to school. He recognised her as the Shinozaki girl that Yoshiki had kept safe. He walked over to her quickly. "Ms. Shinozaki! What a lovely surprise!" he called out causing her to turn around. She smiled slightly when she saw who was calling her. "Oh hello. You're Kishinumas' friend aren't you?" She recognised the ocean blue eyes and the brown bed-head hair. "That's right, I told you that we should meet in better circumstances than the school," he smiled at her. He could see why Yosh liked her, she was quite cute. "Yeah well, I wish I didn't bring anybody to that school. We lost three of our friends there." She looked sad. "So you know about all that supernatural stuff?" He wanted to tell her about his dream as she might be able to explain it. "Say is it possible for somebody to contact the dead or something?" Ayumi was taken aback by the question. Why was he so interested in it? "I guess so, if they knew what they were doing. Why do you ask?" She was curious about his question. Maybe he had lost someone dear to him and he wanted them back. Maybe his parents. "I had a dream about the school last night. There was this girl who was hanging from a rope. I think it was Nakashimas' best friend." He realised that he hadn't explained how he knew about her. "Yoshiki told me about how she died." Shinozakis' face screwed up in thought. "What happened in the dream exactly?" Tenshi sighed. He didn't really want to retell the dream but he guessed it may help explain what it was all about. "Well I kinda saved her. I thought I was back in that hell-hole, so I thought it was real." Ayumi suddenly had a thought. "Next time you have a nightmare like that, text or ring me about it. I have a theory but I might need some more proof." She took out her phone and showed it to him. He copied down the number and smiled. "Thanks for telling me Haroshami, you've been very helpful," and with that she hurried to school.

"So what are you saying Shinozaki?" asked Kishinuma. She had called Satoshi, Naomi and himself to meet in their classroom during lunch. She had started to talk about a way to talk to their friends. "Kishinuma, please listen. This morning I met your friend, Haroshami on my way to school. He told me about a nightmare he had had last night." She turned to Naomi. "Seiko was there Nakashima!" Naomis' attention immediately picked up at the mention of her best friend. "What?" Ayumi smiled at her sudden interest. "He said he saved Shinohara from hanging, I don't know how but he seemed like he was being honest." She took a breath before she continued. "So I was thinking, maybe we could use him to contact our friends from heavenly host. If I can find a spell that allows him to, maybe he can bring them back!" Naomi smiled for the first time in a while. "That sounds amazing Class-rep!" Seeing her smile made Satoshi smile. "If Naomi's okay with it then I am!" That made Ayumi was quite obvious that he loved Naomi, but she couldn't help but feel anger at his love. "How about you Kishinuma?" Yoshiki frowned. He didn't like the idea of Tenshi being put through Heavenly Host again, but he had to admit, the possibility of having his friends back was too tempting. He just nodded in agreement. "Then it is settled! We'll try to meet up on the Saturday then. I'll tell Suzomoto and Haroshami to come."

The days came and went until at last it was Saturday. Tenshi waited outside Mayus' house. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He had just gottne a cryptic message from Shinozaki that read, "Come to my house on Saturday. Bring Mayu with you," She gave her address in the text so he knew where he was going. He looked up to see the small girl walk out of her house. She wore a pink t-shirt and a blue skirt. She had her two pearls in her hair as she always did. She smiled when she saw the tall boy. She hugged him when she reached him. He blushed slightly, he and her were becoming quite close recently. As they walked to Shinozakis' house they were silent. Only one of them knew what was going to happen today. The other wasn't going to enjoy it.

"So you want me to talk to this Shinohara girl?" asked Tenshi with a sigh. He wasn't very comfortable in this room. The candles were bad enough but the pentagram in the middle of the room just topped off the creepiness factor tenfold. He was rather reluctant to have another nightmare but he would just be letting everybody there. "Okay so just relax Haroshami, I'm going to perform a "spell" if you want to call it that." He tried to relax but he felt nervous. He looked at Mayu. "Thank you for doing this Tenshi," she said. He smiled at her and she smiled back. As Shinozaki performed the spell he began to feel drowsy. Soon he fell asleep and returned to the school.

"Hello?" He could feel somebody nudging him in the ribs. He sat up with a groan. His head was pounding and he felt sick. The school seemed much more real than it had the last time. He looked at the girl. "You're Shinohara correct?" The girl looked surprised at his knowledge of her name. "Yes, how did you know?" She had rope marks on her neck; she must have been hanging for a long time. "I'm not really here, I don't think so anyways. Your friends have sent me to talk to you. I'm like your spiritual telephone in some ways." The girl perked up at his statement. "You mean Naomi still thinks of me?" Tenshi nodded, that was all he could do. He got up slowly and helped her to her feet. "Can we leave this place please? I don't want to stay in here for long," said the girl nervously. He could understand why. She had died in here and it probably brought back bad memories. As he walked out, she followed. "Oooh my knight in shining armour is too kind!" she teased. He looked at her; he could see that this girl used to be a bit of a prankster in her life. She was harmless but she may become a pain if he was in a bad mood. "Yeah well we aren't out of the castle yet Shinohara." He stopped. Had he actually said that? He started to walk again. The creaky floorboards squeaked every time he stepped on one. He heard a voice in his head. "Okay, Haroshami. I have found a way for you to get Shinohara back to the real world, but it may take a few visits to Heavenly Host," he recognised it as Shinozakis' voice. "You need to find her Sachiko scrap first of all, then you need to send her out the way we escaped Heavenly Host. If all goes well, we can do it for the others." Tenshi sighed at the thought of revisiting this place more than once. "Okay Shinohara, apparently there is a way out for you." He turned to the girl who was staring at him with content. "Yes Mr. Knight?" He chuckled at his new nickname. "We have to find your paper scrap first, and then we can leave." The girl grinned. "Then I can finally see Naomi again! Yay!" He couldn't resist smiling at her eagerness. But he began to feel himself slipping away from the school. Time seemed to freeze as he passed out again.

He woke from the visit to Heavenly Host surrounded by the others. "Well?" asked Naomi nervously. "She's okay. She kept asking about Nakashima." Naomi smiled again. She was glad that there was a chance that she could have Seiko back. A few hours past with the group drinking pop and eating snacks while they watched a movie. It was a basic horror movie, the only genre Shinozaki seemed to own. However, the group had to disband and they went their separate ways. Satoshi took Naomi home, while Yoshiki stayed to help Shinozaki clean up. Tenshi decided he would walk Mayu home. "It's really brave what you're doing for us Tenshi." Tenshi looked down at the girl as they walked. "I really admire your courage. You hardly know any of us apart from Kishinuma but you still do this!" He blushed at her compliments. When they got to her house they stopped. Mayu looked into his eyes. She grabbed his shoulders and made him lean down. He wasn't sure what was going on but he realised when he felt her lips against his. He felt her arms wrap around his neck. He wasn't sure how to approach this as he had never really kissed before. He put his hands on her waist as they kissed. When she broke away he was blushing even more. She giggled as she walked into her house leaving him speechless. As he walked away, he came to the sudden realisation that he had just kissed a girl. When he got to the orphanage he went to the shower. He needed to wash after his visit. After he was happy that he was clean he looked in the mirror. He noticed that something had changed about his "infection". It seemed to have grown…

Sorry for the wait, but I was busy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It sort of explains the title of the fan-fic. Leave a review on what you thought, as it helps me improve. Thank you for your continued support and I'll hopefully see you in Chapter 3!

-AlternativeWriter90