Chapter 15: Collecting the Ritual Items: Part I

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Corpse Party

A/N: If you couldn't infer from the chapter title, this chapter and the one after it will focus on the four characters searching in the past for the items needed to resurrect Seiko. Yes, this chapter is being split into two parts. This chapter will most likely be the same length as the last two. As always, I do implore you to tell me if you like longer or shorter chapters. In a previous review for this story, I was asked to share my secret that helps me write this story. Well, I never did do that, so I guess I'll share. I don't have a secret. And yes, I suppose that may be a typical answer, but it's true. I don't have a secret. The only explanation is that, I just try to write a good story and sometimes it works out and sometimes in doesn't. And I guess you could say this story worked out. I mean, you've stuck around this long haven't you? So, with that being said, I hope you do enjoy this chapter! Anyways, let's get into it! Also, I suppose that Yoshiki is my favorite character to write about, in case anyone had the question of why is it always him I write about? Well, I feel like I relate to him the most. I could explain this, but I'm just going to let you get into the chapter.

Yoshiki

Heavenly Host Elementary School

Several Months Earlier...

This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. We were supposed to be in out, grabbing each and everyone's items. We weren't supposed to be seperated. But this thing has been a mess from the start. I should never have trusted you, Naho. Never. Yoshiki let out a sigh. I have been fed up with being alone in this place. I just want to see my dearest Shinozaki. Why couldn't have we been stuck together? Why do I even try? It's not like we'll ever be together. All these feeble attempts to get her to notice that I care are worthless. They will never amount to anything. Sachiko was right. He was walking through the halls of Heavenly Host, trying to find any leads towards Shinohara's ID Card. He was lucky. The giant man with the hammer hadn't showed himself since his last visit. Ayumi had everything planned out. They would resurrect Shinohara today. Not tomorrow. Not a week from now. Not a month from now. Not even a year from now. It had to be today. They would be here as long as it took. That's why everyone had brought their own bags of food and drink rations. They all had brought along their heart monitor watches, that were in sync with one another. If someone got hurt, everyone else would know, from the watch's connection with all the others. One of the bars on the screen would flash, indicating that one of their friends had come under attack or had passed out.

Yoshiki kept walking, not sure how in the hell he'd be able to find Shinohara's ID Card. He might as well have been looking for a needle in a haystack. "How am I supposed to find Shinohara's ID Card?" he asked out loud. He had no humanly idea how he was going to find it, and at the moment he envied Naomi. "Nakashima has it easy." he said. "All she has to do is find the rope and even better for her, she knows exactly where it is!" Why do you trust Naho? Is it because you believe she will help you? She will not help you! In the end, it will be nothing but a backstab and you know it! Why do you try to put off the inevitable? You will die here. Even if you do revive your friend, you will have no chance of escape! You will all die here. There is no saving yourselves. It will all end just like it ended the last time... "What are you talking about?" Yoshiki shouted. "You are making no sense!" Oh, come on! I'm making no sense? What about you? You are making no sense. You are still completely unaware of what has happened around you. Don't you understand? Don't you remember what happened the last time? I mean, you've been here at least a hundred times now! "What do you mean?" Yoshiki asked. "Are you trying to tell me that are lives are an infinite cycle? That it keeps resetting when we reach the 'end' of all this?"

An infinite cycle? A time loop? Hmm. Yes, that would make sense. But no. If it were a time loop, you and your precious Shinozaki would never have started dating. This is something else entirely. "Oh, so what are you? A fortune teller? Can you tell my future?" ... There was silence from Sachiko's side of the conversation. "If you can tell the future, than how do I die?" he asked. I shouldn't have asked that... Sachiko didn't asnwer for a few seconds and Yoshiki would have spoken again, but she finally answered. You won't die. You'll simply just fade in and out of existence, time and time again. Just like the last time. "Stop. I need to focus." Yoshiki said in a calm tone. Ok, if you insist. I'll be quiet now. Yoshiki let out another sigh as he continued walking. And then, he saw it. He saw it. "No way! I found it!" Yoshiki said, running over to the small object that had been gleaming in the poorly lit hallway. He was right. He picked up the card, to see that it was indeed Shinohara's ID Card. "I might want to hang on to this. Might be important." he said as he just stared at it, noticing that something was wrong. Here picture, it was splattered over with blood. And the name, which normally would say "Seiko Shinohara", it was cut off by the blood spatter. Instead it said, "-ko Shinohara". He still knew it was her ID though, there was no mistaking it. Yes, yes! You found it! Now, before you can bring it back, the ID Card must be purified. Yoshiki heard Naho's voice ring in his ears. "Ok. But how do I purify it?" he asked. You must take it to the container of Holy Water, within the Religion Classroom.

"This place has a Religion Classroom?" Yoshiki asked. Yes, it does. "How come I've never seen it?" he asked. Sachiko has tried many times to keep it under wraps. It's very hard to find, if you don't know where to look. Lucky for you, I know where it is. You must find the hallway on the second floor that has the two lion statues. I'll guide you. "Lion statues? This sounds like something right out of a fairy tale." Yoshiki muttered. He followed Naho's instructions on how to get to this hallway on the second floor and eventually found the two lion statues. "Wow. I guess you were speaking the truth." he said. Who said I was not? Now, inside the mouth of one of the lions, you will find a button. Find it and press it. Yoshiki was skeptical, but he did as he was told. He opened the mouth of the lion on the left, but found no button of any kind. Try the other one. He did as he told, and opened the mouth of the other lion statue, finding a button in place of it's tongue. Press the button, now! He did as he was told, and hit the button, which started something. The wall in front of him started to move, until it split in two, revealing a whole other classroom. He hesitated before walking in and finding it was pitch black. He was about to turn on the flashlight on his phone, but before he could, the lights of torches mounted to the walls of the classroom came on by themselves. His mind was screaming at him to get out of there, but he didn't run. He was tired of running. All he wanted to do was get this over with, so he could get back home and work on winning Ayumi's heart.

He walked over to the center of the room, seeing the container of Holy Water. He slowly and cautiously walked over to the container and didn't waste his time. He pulled the ID Card from his pocket and dipped it in the Holy Water container. He let out a sigh. "I hope this works." he said, as he pulled the Card out of the water, a few seconds later. Today, luck was on his side. The blood spatter was completely gone. On the picture and obscurring her name? Gone. All of it. He let out a sigh of relief, as he allowed himself to grin. Then, he started to see the blacks, grays, and whites of the time travel "portal".

Heavenly Host Elementary School

Present Day...

He came out of the haze, to find himself in the Reference Room, but without his friends. "Where's everyone else?" he asked. "They haven't collected their items yet. You are the first to have collected your Ritual Item. Congragulations." Naho said. "Um, thanks?" he said. "Place your item on one of the corners of the table." she instructed. He did as he was told and placed Shinohara's ID Card on the corner next to her left foot. He heard sort a chime when he put on the table and then he heard Sachiko's voice. I must not allow you to succeed! I will go through any means to stop you! He then heard a thunderclap and turned around to see clouds of black starting to appear. "Oh, come on!" he said in an angry tone. The black clouds eventually exploded outward, with the Hammer Man standing in their place. The Hammer Man slammed his hammer into the floor and started sprinting towards Yoshiki. Yoshiki ran in circles around the table, which he was luckly he could. The Hammer Man seemed to stupid to even think about climbing over the table. "What do I do?" Yoshiki screamed, as he ran. "Reach in your pocket!" Naho shouted back. "What?" Yoshiki asked in confusion. "Just do it!" she shouted back. He did as he was told and felt around in his pocket, and felt something. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was a vial of holy water. "What am I supposed to do with this?!" Yoshiki asked in anger and confusion. "Throw it at him!" Naho said, as if she were talking to a three year old.

So, he threw it. He threw the vial of holy water at the Hammer Man and he just stopped. The Hammer Man's glowing red, demonic eyes glazed over in black. The Hammer Man fell over backwards and exploded into clouds of blood. "It's Sachiko." Naho said. "She will try to prevent us from completing our mission by any means necessary." Yoshiki just stood there, waiting for his new instructions. "You need to get back. And catch up with your friends." Naho said. "I'm sending you back now." Yoshiki had no time to respond, as he saw the blacks, grays and whites appear, before everything went black.

...

Heavenly Host Elementary School

Several Months Earlier...

He found himself back in the halls of Heavenly Host. And unfortunately, he retched, bent over and threw up all over the floor. "Why does time travel make me throw up?" he asked himself. He kept walking through the halls of the school, until he found the unlocked Infirmary. Just maybe my friends are there! No such luck. As soon as he walked in, he found no signs of life. I hope everyone is ok... He thought to himself, as he took off his backpack and sat down inside the Infirmary. He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes to try to rest for a minute. He was interrupted after a few seconds, when he felt and heard his watch going crazy. He opened his eyes and looked at his watch, to see that Ayumi's bar was flashing. This meant that Ayumi had either passed out or was under attack. Yoshiki was up on his feet in a matter of seconds, and after just a few more seconds, he started to hear Ayumi's screams and cries of dispair. He ran out of the room and called out for her. "Shinozaki! Where are you?!" he shouted down the hall. He didn't get a response, so he walked down the hall even further. "Shinozaki! Where are you?!" he shouted even louder. He then heard the sound of someone running, which sounded like it was coming from in front of him. He tried to peer through the darkness, but it was just to dark for him. He couldn't see anything. He finally saw someone in the darkness a few seconds later. He saw Ayumi run out of the darkness and straight into him, crushing him in a bear hug.

He was about to ask what happened, when he heard that Ayumi was crying. No, it was more like sobbing. And she was doing it loudly. "Um, Shinozaki? You want to tell me what happened?" he asked. She just kept sobbing into his shirt and it felt like she was hugging him even tighter. "Shinozaki? I feel sorry for you. But if you don't tell me what happened, I cannot help you." he said. Ayumi said nothing, she just kept sobbing. He sighed and did his best to walk back to the Infirmary, with her pretty much crushing him. His the front of his shirt was extremely wet from her crying into it, but he didn't really mind. He didn't really know what to say to her, as he never had to comfort a girl before. "Um, there, there. You're ok now." he said. It seemed to reassure Ayumi, because her sobs grew quieter. Either that, or she was running out of energy to cry so loudly. He finally made with her back to the Infirmary and they were now standing in the middle of the room, Ayumi still clinging to him. "Shinozaki," he said, in a very gentle tone. "what happened to you? Why are you crying?" She finally pulled away from him and started to wipe the tears off her face. "Shinozaki?" he asked, in a gentle tone. She went to sit down on one of the cots in the corner of the room, trying to get her breathing back under control. He went to sit beside her, waiting for her to speak. And she finally did. "I was in here by myself. I'm assuming that Naomi and Satoshi are either seperated or together, I don't care. All I know, is that I almost lost my life." she said.

"It's ok." he said. "Just tell me what happened. Take as much time as you need. Just try to tell me." Ayumi sat there, sniffling every now and then. She was very quiet now. She didn't sound she wanted to speak, but eventually she did. "I was looking for Shinohara's Sachiko Paper Doll Scrap. I was having trouble looking for it, as it's just a piece of paper. I didn't know where to look. I just decided to search all the classrooms I could get into. And when I was going from one classroom to another, I was attacked by some sort of spirit. It tried to kill me several times and I just kept running from it. I thought I was going to die." she said. "I had no hope, until I heard your voice. I ran for your voice a-and-" She started wailing and began to sob again, and it didn't surprise Yoshiki that she hugged him and started crying into his shirt again. Yoshiki stood up and wasn't really sure what to do, so he just stood up and hugged her back, doing his absolute best to comfort her. "It's ok. You are perfectly safe now." he whispered. He was tempted to kiss her on the forehead, but he got the feeling that it wouldn't be appropriate. He wasn't sure what else to do, so he just kept hugging her. And then something weird happened. Ayumi had stopped crying and her breathing had slowed down and was more relaxed. Yoshiki could also feel her heartbeat had slowed down and was beating at a steady rate. "Are you ok now?" he asked. He didn't get an answer from her. "Shinozaki?" he asked. He still didn't get an answer.

That's when he listened more closely, to find that her breathing was even more slowed and relaxed than he had thought. Did she really fall asleep? He checked to make sure. Yep, she was asleep alright. He could barely see that her eyes were closed and that she wasn't really moving at all. He loosened his grip on her just a little bit. I need her to wake up. She doesn't have time to be sleeping. Well, she did just spend a lot of time running. Oh well. "Shinozaki." he whispered. "You need to wake up." He didn't get a response, and he felt her face dig deeper into his shirt, as if she were trying to get comfortable. He sighed. I can't do it. She looks so cute while she sleeps. I can't bring myself to wake her. Besides, I'm kind of tired myself. He was about to do something quite risky. He slowly moved closer to the cot and sat down on it. Ayumi let out a grunt, but didn't wake up. He felt her grab his shirt, as if she were grabbing a pillow. He slowly maneuvered himself to laying down on the cot and he felt Ayumi moving around in his arms, probably trying to get more comfortable. "It's ok, Shinozaki. You can sleep. You probably need it." he said, as he rubbed her back. She let out a bit of a mix of a groan and a relaxed sigh, and Yoshiki could have sworn he saw her smile. She needed this. She had a lot of stress on her at the moment. He let out a quiet yawn and noticed that he was tired as well. I couldn't fall asleep! Shinozaki isn't exactly keen of me hugging her, let alone touching her... But, she's been hugging me a lot lately. Could she be returning my feelings to a certain extent? Shinozaki will never let me hear the end of this if I fall asleep. And if Satoshi and Nakashima walked in? Forget about it. He let out another yawn, as he closed his eyes, losing his battle with his drowsiness.

Naomi

Heavenly Host Elementary School

Several Months Earlier...

"I wonder where Kishinuma and Shinozaki are at with their progressing?" Naomi asked out loud. "Oh, I'm sure they have made progress." Satoshi said, as he walked beside Naomi. "I can't wait to have Seiko back by my side. All day, every day." she said, giggling a little bit. "Whenever you're ready to go into the lavatory and get the Rope, we'll go." Satoshi said, hinting that they had arrived. "No. I have to retrieve the Rope. You heard Naho. It has to be me. Not you, not Shinozaki, but me!" I said. She walked into the lavatory and found the exact stall where Seiko had been hung. But it shocked her, when she saw the noose was not hanging from the ceiling, but it was lying on the ground. She picked it up without hesitation. This Rope. This Rope, is the exact one you used to kill your friend. Are you proud of what you have done? "I didn't kill Seiko. It was you, Sachiko. And you know it. You possessed me. It may have been my body that was used, but it was you who killed her." Naomi said. There was silence and Sachiko said nothing else. "What future will be revealed when we resurrect you, Seiko?" Naomi asked out loud, even though she knew well that Seiko's spirit couldn't answer. She walked out of the lavatory, and was about to speak to Satoshi, when she started to see the blacks, grays and whites of the time travel "portal".

Heavenly Host Elementary School

Present Day...

Naomi found herself and Satoshi standing alone with Naho in the Reference Room. She could see that Seiko's ID Card was already on the table with her body. "Your friend Kishinuma has already collected his item." Naho said, as if she had read her thoughts. "Place the Rope to the left of your friend's head. Do it!" Naho said, in a impatient tone. Naomi ran over to the left of the table next to Seiko's head and placed the rope down on the table. A chime could be heard as Sachiko's voice echoed in her head. I will not allow you to succeed in handing over the power! I must intervene! They heard a thunder clap and following that, the Hammer Man spawned in, beginning to chase after the two. "Reach in your pocket, Nakashima!" Naho shouted over the noise of the chase. "Why?!" Naomi asked, in a weirded out tone. "Just do it! You have to trust me!" Naomi reached into her pocket and brought what looked a vial of holy water. "Now throw it!" Naho said in an angry tone. She did as she told and threw it at the Hammer Man. The vial impacted the giant in the face and exploded all over his face. He stopped. He just stopped. His glowing red eyes were glazed over in black and he fell over backwards, and upon impact with the floor, exploded into a cloud of blood. "Why did he appear?" Satoshi asked. "Sachiko will try to thwart every attempt we make to resurrect your friend. You must not allow her to succeed." Naho said. "Well, now that you have delivered your Ritual Item, it is time for you to return to the past and reunite with your friends!" And just like that, they began to see the blacks, grays and whites again. But as they were sent back, one question rang in Naomi's head. What did Sachiko mean by "I must not allow you to handing over the power"? Is Naho lying to us?

A/N: Well, I do hate to end it here, but the next chapter will focus on collecting the final two items. As always, I hope you did enjoy this chapter! I know I have been updating a lot this week and this may be the last chapter for a while, as I need to turn to my other stories. Please do not forget to follow and or favorite this story, as it can help you in not missing any new chapters! And please do hit me with a review, I'd really like to hear your input! I'm going to go though, so anyways, have a good day and bye!