Chapter 5: The Arrival

A/N: Yes, the time has come. The four teenagers are now in Heavenly Host again. But, keep this in mind: When I decided to write this, I didn't want to leave them in Heavenly Host. So, I won't. I mean, they're are there and that's that for now. But anyway, the portal that they were pushed into to get there, whatever dimension they are in, the portal will be present somewhere.

Satoshi

Satoshi let out a groan as he woke up. He sat up in complete darkness. He reached for his phone, which was in his pocket. "Hello?" he called out. No answer. Oh, don't tell me we've been seperated! Not like the last time! He turned on the flashlight to his phone, and flashed it around the very dim-lighted classroom he was in. No. To his relief, he wasn't alone. All three of his friends were still with him, just passed out. As Yoshiki was the closest to him, he got up and ran over to him. "Yoshiki!" he called out. "Wake up!" Satoshi watched as Yoshiki sturred and woke up. He sat up and shook his head.

"The hell?" he said. Then he looked at Satoshi. "You're here too?" he asked. "What about Ayumi and-" Satoshi interrupted him. "They are here with us," he promised. "They are just passed out." Yoshiki looked to his left, where Ayumi was laying on her shoulder just a few feet away. Yoshiki moved over to her, and gently rolled her over onto her back. "What are you doing?" Satoshi asked, as he walked over to him. "She could have landed like that," he whispered back to his friend. "Just trying to relieve any stress that was effecting her." Satoshi sort of ignored his comment. "Do you have a thing for her?" he asked. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked, getting up to face him.

"Just face it my friend." he said. "You like her. I know it, you know it." Yoshiki then proceeded to grab him by the collar of his shirt and push him up against a old wooden wall. "Listen to me Mochida," he said angrily. "You have no idea what you're talking about. I don't love her. She's just my friend, and that's that." He finished by throwing him up against the wall. Satoshi readjusted his shirt. "Thank you, I guess." he replied. "Well, don't accuse me of being in love with someone who I'm not in love with." he said. "Please and thank you very much."

"When are the others going to come around?" Satoshi asked. "We need to figure out a way to get out of here." That's when he heard someone cackling. "Oh, you won't be leaving." a female voice said. "Not this time." They both turned to see a little girl in a red dress stepping out of the shadows. "Sachiko." Satoshi said. "Oh, you remember my name. How sweet of you." Yoshiki interrupted his friend. "Alright Sachiko. Cut the shit." he said. "Why are we here?" Sachiko cackled once again. "You're here because I called." Satoshi raised his eyebrow. "You called?" he asked. "Yes." Sachiko replied. That's when they heard their friends coming around. "Oh! I should probably go." she said. "I'll kill you pathetic souls later."

With that, she disappeared. Ayumi was the first to wake up. She didn't speak for at least a few minutes, and Satoshi nor Yoshiki weren't going to speak either. But as they continued to wait for Naomi to wake up, Satoshi decided to speak up. "So, what's wrong with Naomi?" he asked. "Why isn't she waking up?" Satoshi then realized his mistake of sounding too concerned. "What, do you have a thing for her?" Yosh asked, mocking his question. "Shut up, Yosh." he said, through gritted teeth. "I'm not the one around here that likes someone anyway." Yoshiki just stood there for a minute, not saying anything. "I warned you, Mochida-San!" he yelled. "I just told you that I don't like her!"

"Well, I'm glad you don't like her." Ayumi said, out of nowhere. "Wha-" Satoshi asked in surprise. "Are you saying that-" Yoshiki started to ask her a question, but she interrupted him. "Am I saying that I like you?" Ayumi asked him. "Absolutely..." she started to say, as Satoshi stared off into space. Victory! I knew they liked each other, I just knew it! "...not!" Ayumi ended her sentence. "Say what?" Satoshi asked. "You are a good-for-nothing slacker, Yoshiki Kishinuma!" she continued to scream at him. "I could never fall in love with you! It would be disgusting. It would be atrocious, horrifying! I would be a disgrace to my family!"

To his surprise, Yoshiki started to clap. And Ayumi looked surprised as well. "Very good." he said, continuing to clap. "You certainly know how to read me. Bitch." This is where the situation took a sharp turn. "How am I the bitch here?!" she shrieked at him. "Well, how am I a slacker?!" he screamed back. "Oh, well let me think about that," she said. "One, you are always sleeping in class! Two, you never pay attention in class! And three, you are kind of selfish!" Yoshiki looked like he was seething with rage. "Well, where should I start with this?" he asked. "How about the fact that I'm not a slacker!"

"You are such a slacker!" Ayumi hissed at him. "No, I'm not!" he screamed. "Do you know what I go through each and everyday?! I get up, go to school, then about a half hour after school, I go to work for the rest of the day, till about ten thirty at night! Do you know how not funny it is, that I can barely pay to cook for just myself?! I usually just get takeout food. And, I'm always tired in the mornings, from you know, working relentless hours at night!" Ayumi actually looked like she had a curious look on her face. "Why can't you cook for yourself?" she asked. "Because my parents left me on my own because I was a slacker! And look at me now, I have a job! I can actually survive on my own!"

"Ok guys," Satoshi said stepping in. "I think it's time to calm down a little bit." That's when they heard Naomi's voice. "Yeah. You're even starting to give me a headache." Satoshi looked over at his friend, who was just waking up. "Naomi!" he said, walking over to her as she got up. She let out whimper of pain, as she gripped her hand which was caked with semi-dried blood. Satoshi took her hand and looked at it under the light from his phone. "Who cut me?" Naomi asked. This question surprised Satoshi, and it probably surprised the other two as well. "Uh..." Yoshiki said. "You did..." Naomi let out a laugh, with some hints of pain in her voice.

"That's a good one Yosh!" she laughed, as he continued to check her hand. "It's not a joke, Naomi." Ayumi said. "Before we ended up here, you told us that you cut your palm with your dad's pocket knife. To complete a ritual." Naomi looked at them. "I don't remember saying that." Satoshi let go of his hand, concluding the "inspection". "The cut doesn't look that bad. Maybe infected, but not bad. How about we start with what you do remember, huh?" Satoshi said. Naomi looked at her three friends, and nodded. "Yeah, ok." she said. "We'll start with three months ago."

Naomi, three months earlier

Naomi never forgot the atrocious incident at Heavenly Host. She remembered the incident down in the basement of the "school". She remembered going into a dark room, the stench of blood hanging high in the air. Naomi, Satoshi and his sister had found somehow found themselves in a dissection room. A dissection room? In a school basement? Really? Then again, what else is wrong with this school? Naomi dismissed her thoughts. Naomi and her friends look surveyed the filthy room they were in, until they heard footsteps from a ways behind them."Everyone!" Satoshi hissed worriedly. "Hide under the tables, quickly!"

As fast they could, they all got underneath the tables, hopefull hidden from sight. And just in time, too! Naomi took a silent breath of relief as Shougo, the cameraman, ran into the room in a state of panic. Naomi could barely see him as he ran into the cabinet to hide from, well, whatever was behind him. Just then, as if on cue, a man in black, rugged clothes walked in, groaning in pain. Then, the group didn't know who this was. But, in present time, they know that the man is the soul of the principal of Heavenly Host's son. The principal's son had probably worked with his dad at the school, before it's demise.

Naomi remembered this part as if it had happened yesterday. All of a sudden, Seiko's body fell to the floor, scaring the living daylights out of Naomi. Her body was facing her, which disturbed her greatly. As Satoshi attempted to calm her down, Yoshikazu, who they now know to be the principal's dead son, began to do something to Seiko's body, causing blood to drip from her mouth. Eventually, Yoshikazu got distracted and found the cameraman in the cabinet, and proceeded to immediately kill him. After doing so, he returned to Seiko's body and dragged it out of the room. Naomi distinctly remembered going into a fit of rage, and chasing after Yoshikazu, and leaving Satoshi and Yuka behind.

Naomi, to her own dissappointment, lost sight of Yoshikazu, but she continued down the path she had chosen. The path eventually brought her to a dead end room with a T.V. and another video camera attached to it. Naomi decided to use the tape she had on her, and put it into the video camera and watched the footage. The recording began with Shougo hearing a scream coming from the third floor. This is where Naomi would learn the truth behind Seiko's death. Shougo arrived on the third floor, and followed the screams, which brought him to the girl's lavatory. Naomi felt a lump form in her throat, as she watched the video.

Upon entering the girl's lavatory, Shougo found Yoshikazu, Naomi and Seiko. This confused Seiko, but she kept watching. At this time, Naomi didn't know what was going on. But, now she had put two and two together. That night, three months ago, caused Naomi to dread being alone. It created an all new element of fear. And the fear would consume her completely. It turns out that her fear of being alone in this school, in some senses was weaponized. Somehow, the malevolent spirits of the school, probably Yoshikazu or Sachiko, possessed Naomi, sealing Seiko's fate. While under their control, Naomi put the rope around Seiko's neck. While Seiko was yelling and screaming at Naomi, it was futile as she kicked the bucket away, hanging her on the spot.

After leaving the lavatory, she ran into Shougo, who ran off screaming. After watching the horrific ordeal, Naomi fell to her knees, speechless. After a few minutes of crying, Naomi finally pushed herself to stop and get up. She wiped the tears away, and proceeded to leave the room, and head back into the tunnels. After heading back through the tunnels, Naomi eventually found Satoshi and his sister, whom they had also found Ayumi and Yoshiki, just in time to reverse the Sachiko Ever After Charm. Once they reversed the charm, Satoshi asked why she had ran off. Naomi dismissed the question, telling him that they'd talk about it later.

Just then, one of the child spirits appeared and told them that they have to leave immediately as it's their only chance to escape. After saying this, the school began to shake violently, and a red dress takes shape on her. Naomi and the group rushed to the exit, as they heard the bell tolls in the distance. With each toll, the air got thicker. They finally got to the walkway seperating the two buildings, and jumped the fence. After jumping the fence, they were whisked back to their reality. Back at Kisaragi Academy, Naomi and the other four were overjoyed to be back in the classroom. But the sudden realization that some of their friends hadn't made it out, hit them hard. Espicially for Naomi.

Before leaving, Ayumi told them to come to school the next day, and not to stay home. They all agreed, before departing to their homes. The next day was probably the most horrific day of Naomi's. She, along with her other friends were shocked to find that those who died in Heavenly Host have been erased from existence and from everybodies minds, except for theirs. After school that day, she called Satoshi back into the classroom to discuss what happened when she ran off. She told him about the T.V. room, how she had seen herself on the tape hang her own best friend. She told him that as she was crying, the darkening began to feed on her negative emotions, with black shadows forming around her as she gave into the guilt that she felt.

Naomi told him about how she suddenly recieved a text message. Upon checking it, she discovered that it was the text that Seiko was planning on sending her. She still believed that Seiko hated her, but she kept getting the same text over and over, until she realized that it must mean Seiko was forgiving her. This helped her break away from the darkness, and return to the others. Naomi remembered breaking down and asking Satoshi if the Seiko had existed at all.

In comfort, Satoshi told her that she did and she was a close friend of theirs. Naomi remembered the last thing of this day, was that she broke down crying and saying that she missed Seiko. Satoshi then left her saying, "We are you friends, Naomi. And we will always be here to listen and to talk with you." Naomi tried to appreciate the comment as Satoshi left the classroom, but she was overwhelmed with sadness. Naomi sat there for just a few minutes crying, when she started to hear the voices. Everything seemed to halt. She stopped crying, and it was like time itself had stopped. The voices were extremely distorted and she couldn't understand them at all.

She let out a hiss of pain, as the voices in her head started to give her a massive migrain. She held her head in absolute agony, wanting to scream as loud as she could, just to let the pain out. And then everything stopped. It all stopped. The pain stopped. The voices stopped. Everything stopped. Naomi got up, and looked around. Everything was the same, until she heard that one fateful voice. Naomi, the voice said. Naomi Nakashima. Can you hear me? Naomi was speechless. "Seiko?" she asked, out loud. "Is that you?" Yes, the voice said. It's me, Seiko.

Naomi, Present Day

"And that's all you remember?" Satoshi asked, after ten-fifteen minutes of patiently listening to Naomi's story. Naomi looked up at her friend, tears still in her eyes from crying while she told the story. She nodded. "I remember that I'm a cold-blooded murderer." she said, beginning to cry again. She collapsed on the floor, tearing up again. Satoshi sat down across from her. "Naomi," he said, pushing her chin up. "Look at me." Satoshi locked his eyes with Naomi's red eyes. "Listen to me," he said. "We know the truth now. You don't have to be responsible." Naomi made an angry face at him. "You don't get it do you?" she asked, angrily. Satoshi looked at her, sporting a confused look.

"Do you not understand?!" she screamed at him. " We discussed this not too long ago! I killed Seiko! It was me, damn it!" Ayumi stepped in. "Take it easy, Naomi." she said. "Naomi, you didn't mean it," Satoshi said. "You didn't kill Seiko. Sachiko hijacked your body to do the job. She killed Seiko. No one else, not you. Just her." Naomi looked up at him, and finally sighed, nodding. "Ok, you're right." she said. "You said something about talking about this not to long ago." Ayumi said. "Whoever was in your head might have put a gap in your memory." Naomi was confused. "Like amnesia?" Satoshi nodded. "I guess." he said. "Naomi, how long do you think it's been since we escaped the first time?"

"The first time?" Yoshiki said. "What makes you think we'll make it out this time?!" Ayumi looked at him. "Don't say that idiot. Go on, Naomi." she said. "Oh, I don't know." Naomi sighed. "Five or ten...?" Satoshi looked at her. "Five or ten what?" Naomi looked at him. "Five or ten days?" she asked. "Oh boy," Satoshi said, worriedly. "We are in trouble." Ayumi looked at Naomi. "There must be a gap in your memory." Naomi looked at them. "Why?" she asked.

"Naomi," Satoshi said. "Seiko's been dead for three months now." Naomi looked at him. "What?" she asked. Satoshi looked at her, and for some reason, he got freaked out. "Damn it!" he shouted, kicking an old wooden wall. "Ok then..." Yoshiki said. He walked back over to Naomi. "Why can't you remember?!" he yelled at her. Naomi just kept her cool, she was done crying for now. "You're not yelling at my best friend," a slightly distorted voice said. "Are you?" Naomi slowly looked over in the direction of the voice. What she saw shocked her to the bone. Levitating near the shadows, as clear as daylight, was Seiko's spirit.

A/N: Ok, for this author's note, I'm going to go over every topic I want to go over in order. First thing's first. According to the Corpse Party Wiki, Yoshiki does have a crush on Ayumi. However, in this story, I decided to make him deny any romantic feelings for her. Second thing. Does Satoshi have a thing for Naomi? Not that I know of, although I believe that many girls have crushes on him, including Naomi and I think Ayumi as well. Third thing. Does Ayumi really feel that way, regarding Yoshiki? Yes and no. Yes, because he kind of is a slacker. No, because she's stressed out about being back in Heavenly Host, if that makes sense. Fourth thing. I have no idea if Yoshiki works late at night, or if he has money problems. I just worked this into the situation so that Ayumi would feel sympathy for him. Fifth thing. Yes, um Naomi does have a gap in her memory when whoever was speaking to her was in her mind (not revealing that yet) he/she left behind a huge gap in her memory. Sixth thing. If you don't recognize the flashback, I sourced the story from the Corpse Party Wiki and from the page on Naomi's history. Everything up to the voices part is true. I think that's about it. I kind of like doing these, going over topics thing. Although as you can see, they take up a lot of space. So, if you want me to explain stuff like this, I will do it. So, until next time!