(Last Time)
Ayumi looks at Hitoshi and Oni sadly. "I think we'd better stick together until we find a way out of here."
"What if there's no way out?" Oni's voice shakes as she hugs her bear.
"Then I will protect you no matter what…" Hitoshi looks at his sister with promise in his eyes.
"Come with me, I'm looking for my friends, and also a way out." Ayumi explained.
"Alright…" Hitoshi says hesitantly and follows Ayumi out of the room with Oni trailing behind.
"All of my friends and my teacher, we all did the charm as well. One of us was moving away and… all I wanted was for us all to be friends forever…"
"I see…" Hitoshi understands.
Oni screams suddenly and grips her head.
"What's wrong!?" Hitoshi exclaims worriedly.
"I d-don't know!" She falls to her knees.
Ayumi runs back, "Oni? Has this ever happened before?!" She looks at Hitoshi with worry.
"No this has never happened before…" His response is hesitant.
Continued...
"It's okay, we'll find a way out of here" Ayumi kneels down next to Oni trying to calm her down.
Hitoshi looks around quickly as the lights start flickering, "The ghost boy?"
Without warning Ayumi picks up Oni, grabs Hitoshi's arm and starts running. She turns a corner and enters one of the ruined class rooms. Ayumi lays Oni down on the floor and sits down herself, Hitoshi slowly following her lead, "Where are we?" He asks nervously. Looking back at him she explained to him that the school they were trapped in was cursed and that the website they found the charm on the website was wrong and that the owner of the site rigged it for her own fun.
"The four kids that went missing, three were dead and now they are here… as ghosts." Ayumi says sadly.
"I thought you said it was just the boy!" Hitoshi shouts in disbelief.
"SHH! That's the only one I've seen so far." She corrects him.
"Now we have to worry about two more?! Great…" He sighs quietly.
"Right now I'm more worried about your sister…" She says as she looks at the little girl, asleep, in her arms.
Hitoshi looks at the white haired girl in the student's arms, "I am as well, but I will protect her from anything even if it kills me…" He replies as calmly as possible.
The high school student looks up at Hitoshi with sudden interest, "Won't your parents be worried?"
"Parents?" He looks at her with wonder.
"Your mom and dad?" She asks.
"Oh… uh… I take care of Oni…" He explains and slowly his gaze moves to the floor.
"Oh, I see then. Sorry." Ayumi looks down at Oni and then sees the bear, she slowly takes it from the girl, "What's this?"
He looks up and recovers his gaze to the bear and Ayumi. "We've had that for a long time, she's had that ever since she was born."
"This is pretty much a part of her then huh?" She asks cautiously, not wanting to cross any lines.
"Yeah… pretty much." He replies right away.
"What happened to its eye?" She notices.
"Something ripped it out and I threatened whatever did it." He says casually, looking at his sister as she starts to wake up, "Oni?"
"Hitoshi? Ayumi? When can we go home?" She says still tired.
"I'm not sure, but it will be soon I promise." He says unsure if it's the truth or not.
Oni nods quietly then looks at Ayumi her eyes and tone darkening for a moment, "Give it back…"
Ayumi flinches and looks at Hitoshi, "I would do what she says," He says with slight humor. Listening to his suggestion she gives it back to the tired little girl. "Thank you." He says quietly.
"Sorry… The boy kept saying the same thing over and over again." Ayumi explained.
"Saying, what?" He asks not understanding.
"'Give it back'." She explains. Hitoshi nods understanding and looks at Oni who's quietly hugging the bear. Hitoshi looks back at Ayumi, "'Give it back'? What did someone take from him?"
"The children that were found bled to death because of…" She starts.
"They want their tongues back…" Hitoshi shuddered at the thought. "Anyway we might as well keep looking for the exit." He stands up and starts walking out the exit. Ayumi stands up as well and holds out her hand to Oni, "Let's go." She tries beckoning the child to stand up but Oni doesn't move from her spot to stand up. Looking for Hitoshi she realized that she must be out in the hallway. She steps out from the classroom, not going to far, and sees him, "Hitoshi! She won't move!" After not getting a response she runs down the hallway and catches the young teen's shoulder. He slowly turns around and looks at her with blank eyes, like he was looking through a blurry window or foggy contacts. Ayumi gets worried, "Hey! Hitoshi, snap out of it!"
"Oni… Where is Oni? I have to… find her…" His voice seems dazed.
"What..? Sh-she's still in the classroom…" She backs up confused and scared.
"Must get to her… protect h-her…"He slowly turns around and walks back towards the classroom. The door opens with a scratch and the girl looks up to her brother, "Are you okay? You look scared…" She speaks sweetly but with an edge.
"'Scared'?" Hitoshi looks at Oni with worry as she slowly stands up holding the bear by the arm. He smirks, "I don't remember being scared," turning away from the girl.
"You were scared that she had died" Oni mutters barely audible.
Turning back to face the 9 year old behind him, "Who died?"
"Oni…" She says, not herself.
"Now I remember…" Hitoshi returns to his normal self.
Ayumi steps back into the classroom, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing at all… not anymore…" He looks at Oni.
"Hitoshi was scared…" She looks at Ayumi her eyes darker than their normal baby blue.
"We better get going… oh yes. I saw one of them…" He turns to Ayumi.
Oni's childish laughter cut off Ayumi before she could even speak, "Aw! Hitoshi's seeing ghosts!"
"Is… Is she okay?" Ayumi steps back from the two siblings.
A smirk grows on Hitoshi's face, "Has Oni finally lost it?"
"Oh trust me this girl's fine…" Oni's voice sounds distorted.
"The ghost boy..?" Hitoshi chuckles.
"Who are you?!" Ayumi asks fear shaking in her voice.
"Hmm? Oh you're back…" He looks at Ayumi only now noticing her. He watches Ayumi walk over to Oni.
"Oni calm down, you've gone crazy…" She holds out her hand.
"Whatever do you mean?" Oni pulls out a pair of rusted scissors. She goes to stab Ayumi but Hitoshi tackles his sister to the floor. The scissors fly from her hand as they fall. Hitoshi looks at Oni, "I know you're in there…"
"Get off me!" She growls as she tries to grab the scissors.
"No," He looks at the girl's hand reach for the knife, "Kill me… go ahead. I will come after you." He notices that she's still holding onto the bear and quickly kicks it out of her hand. Oni gasps in shock and goes still for a few moment. Her eyes brighten, "I should have known… they used the bear to control her…" He says stubbornly.
"B-brother?" she sits up quietly.
He looks at the snowy haired girl on the floor, "Yeah it's me Oni…"
"What should we do with that?" Ayumi speaks up and points at the bear. Hitoshi looks, walks over to where the bear landed and picks it up. He looks over the bear, "It seems like he left it." Hitoshi goes over to his sister.
"What happened?" The girl looks at him as she takes the bear back.
"Something possessed you…" He says as calm as possible, and helps her stand up.
Oni steadies herself, "Where are we?"
"In a classroom right now. I saw one of them… that means the others now know we are here." He looks at Ayumi, she's shaking.
Oni holds her head, "I feel sick…" Slowly Oni and helps Ayumi stand up. "We have to leave now… We have wasted enough time… If they know we are here they might know your friends are here!" He looks at the student he sees a bloody bag in her hand. "What's that?"
"It's uh… One of the children's tongues…" She replies her voice still shaking.
"You have this why!?" He lets go of her hand.
"He… The boy… I think we have to give them their tongues back…"
Hitoshi sets his sister back down, "I'll do it."
"A-are you sure Hitoshi? You could die!"
"I said I would protect Oni even if it means I'll die…"
"You're not going to die!" Oni speaks up.
Hitoshi looks at the small girl and the back to Ayumi, "Take care of her 'till I get back." He takes the bag and then leaves the room. Oni tries following her brother but Ayumi holds her back.
Hitoshi walks through the hallway looking back multiple times. The floorboards creek with every step he takes, weakened with age and decay. He looks out the window occasionally at the endless rain, forever falling from the sky with no sign of stopping, accompanied by random shots of lightening and booming of thunder. He continues down the hallway when it suddenly drops in temperature. He looks around, looking for any sign of the ghost boy.
"Giff it baw…"