Corpse Party 1. Chapter 1: Yami and the Paper Doll

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 1: Yami and the paper doll**_

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**Hey everybody! So... I started really getting into Corpse Party over the last few weeks and I just couldn't help myself from writing a story! I always notice how lonely Sachiko seems and I thought I would put a stop to that! On with the story!**  
><em><strong>.<strong>_

_**There's a room where the light won't find you**_  
><em><strong>Holding hands while walls come tumbling down<strong>_  
><em><strong>When they do I'll be right behind you<strong>_  
><em><strong>So glad we've almost made it<strong>_  
><em><strong>So sad we had to fade it<strong>_  
><em><strong>Everybody wants to rule... The world...<strong>_

_(Everybody Wants To Rule The World Cover by Lorde)_

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"Yami!" A deep voice resonated into the dark living room, soon followed by the horrific sound of shattering glass that tore through the dense silence that had manifested throughout the house. "Yami-kun, where are you?! Get out-... Get out here and take it like a man!..."

The source of the voice soon appeared in the darkened living room, carrying a limp body on their shoulder. It was a large, extremely overweight man with dark brown hair and brown eyes, carrying a limp woman over his shoulder, while in his other hand rested a broken saki bottle. He was loudly laughing in a manic fashion while his eyes shifted around, searching the dimly lit room for any traces of his target; of his young son.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are my son... I just want to play..." He chuckled, swinging the broken saki bottleneck around menacingly, almost as if silently promising his son the wait that awaited him should he decide to reveal himself while his father was in such a belligerent state.

Unfortunately Yami would never have time to even attempt reason with the drunken man, for mere moments after the last statement, the man came upon a closet door, and with a sick smile, the man ripped open the door, revealing a young boy that appeared as if he hadn't even reached his 9th birthday, with dark brown eyes and hair of the same shade that was both spiky yet possessed a bit of length to it. It didn't take a genius to tell that the boy was petrified.

"There you are Yami-kun... Your mother and I have been searching absolutely everywhere for you..." The man chuckled, brandishing his bottle in a threatening manner, each and every moment drawing closer and closer to the boy ready to seal his doom in blood.

Yami held his hands up in front of his face in a pathetic attempt to defend himself while his father's form eclipsed the moonlight streaming from outside through the window. "No... Please daddy... No... No!... NOOO!"

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The horrible recollection of the pain that his father inflicted on him was the first sensation that 7 year old Yami Tsukino felt surging through his body, startling the young boy awake. It only took a few moments of deep breathing and head shaking for Yami to regain his boundaries, although once his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the old looking classroom he found himself in, the last thing he wanted to do was take a look around.

The entire classroom looked as if it had gone through a bombing raid, an earthquake, and a great white shark feeding frenzy all in one day.

The day had started out innocently enough for Yami and his parents, it had been his last day of school as a year 1 elementary school student, and he had been looking forward to spending his summer vacation with his loving mother and father; that is until that night, when Yami's father reached for the saki. Yami's father had always possessed quite a harsh drinking problem, but tonight was different, that night he had ingested so much of the drink that instead of becoming the tipsy but still quite lovable man that Yami had grown accustomed to he had become angry and extremely violent. He had beaten his son and wife without even a hint of remorse.

As soon as his father had lost interest and wandered off, Yami, not wanting to take any chances with further beatings, stole his mothers cell phone off of the kitchen table and made a break for it; running as fast as his little legs could possibly carry him away from the hell that he had come to know as his home.

It was after a good half hour of running that he found himself standing in front of Kisaragi Academy, the local high school that Yami would always find himself in whenever he was bored; after all, who better to hang out with than high-schoolers that couldn't resist the face of an innocent 8 year old boy. Unfortunately, a heart wrenching feeling in his chest told Yami that his days of innocence were passed, and would never be coming back.

Still determined to find help for not only himself, but his mother who was most likely receiving more beatings, Yami ran into the school, urgently scanning each and every classroom for any signs of someone who could help him. Eventually he stumbled upon a few students along with their teacher inside of a classroom, all of them holding onto a suspicious paper doll that they ripped apart into different pieces. Once that happened all hell swallowed them, and Yami into its depths, knocking him out, bringing him here.

With a small sob, Yami buried his face in his hands, letting the tears slip between the cracks in his fingers, completely unaware of where he was or of the horrible danger that he was in...

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Saying that Sachiko Shinozaki was bored was honestly quite the understatement today. It wasn't like she was ever busy per-say, but there was usually more to do than what was available today. Ryou and Yuki had decided to ignore her for the day, Tokiko wasn't ever exactly in any sort of condition to speak to anyone, and Yoshikazu was a blockhead, and even if he wasn't Sachiko wasn't going to be speaking to the son of her killer any time soon.

It was this that caused her to wander around the halls of Heavenly Host, and so far she had only found a few people to scare. The first two were high school girls, both with chocolate brown hair and yellow and blue school uniforms; although she wasn't able to take in any more of their features before they saw her and decided to run for it, screaming as they went.

Still reveling in her previous scare, Sachiko hummed a random song that she had learned from a previous 'visitor's' phone as she wandered into a classroom, never even noticing the boy that sat in the corner until a small sob alerted her to his presence. Her face twisted into a kind hearted smile as she silently hid her scissors behind her back before asking. "Um hi? Who are you?"

Yami gasped and let his vision shot up towards the source of the voice, and felt his heart stop in both apprehension and curiosity as he gazed upon the young girl that stood in front of him with a smile on her face. She was obviously a resident of the school, as her tattered red dress and extremely pale skin decreed, although even this was not about to stop him from receiving help from someone; from anyone.

"Please?... Can you help me miss?..." Yami asked, completely unaware of the instrument of death being concealed behind the back of his soon to be murderer. "Please I just need someone to help me... It's really important..."

Hearing this, Sachiko giggled softly for nothing more than effect before scanning the boy up and down with her eyes. He looked decent enough for a 7 year old boy, with a few stands of his shaggy dark brown hair falling in front of his eyes; which were shining with tears. Sachiko sighed sadly as she thought about the joy of brutally murdering this child. She honestly didn't want to murder this boy, as he seemed nice, much different from all of the others who had ever visited this cursed ground, but if she didn't kill him, then her mother would be disappointed in her, wouldn't she? Then again, this was probably the first time she'd spoken to a living being in years.

"...What's wrong? What could possibly be more important than what you're doing right here, right now?" She asked after a few tense moments of silence, deciding to entertain the nagging feeling in her soul for a few moments before she continued on her mission to please her mother. What Yami said next though, caught even Sachiko Shinozaki off guard.

"My mother is hurt... If I don't get help, then she might go to heaven before she's supposed to!... Is there anything you can do?..." Yami asked, standing up so that he and Sachiko were at eye level with each other. Hearing this, Sachiko could no longer keep her grip upon the scissors that had previously rested in her hand, which were now impacting the floor with a soft clang.

"...Your mother?... Are you even aware of where you are right now?!" Sachiko growled, attempting to bury her sudden surge of sympathetic emotion behind a wall of fabricated anger. This boy was nothing like her! He could just be lying about his mother to get out of the situation he was in. Well if he thought he would pull one over on her then he had another thing coming; or so she thought.

"I don't care where I am, I just want someone to help my mom!..." Yami begged, once again catching the young ghost girl off guard, causing all of her faked anger to melt away as if a flamethrower had been pointed in the direction of a block of ice. "Please?... I'll do anything..."

"Anything huh?..." Sachiko muttered, letting her mind swim in thought. It would be nice to spend some time with someone that she wasn't chasing with the intent to kill, and the boy was nice. Her mother wouldn't mind if she just played with the boy for a bit first right? "Okay... I know how to help your mother... But only on one condition... I want you to hang out with me for a few hours, your mother will be all better when we're done."

"Absolutely!..." Yami cried out in joy, before sticking his hand out to Sachiko in a friendly fashion. "I'm Yami Tsukino! Nice to meet you miss?..."

Sachiko smiled softly, letting the last shreds of her humanity shine through as she gently shook Yami's hand. She was going to hate to have to murder him later. "Sachiko Shinozaki... Nice to meet you, too Yami..."

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**So yeah... Before I address anything else I should mention that I put a little bit more humanity into Sachiko because let's face it, she's kind of a nutbar in the game and anime so yeah... Until next time my minions!**


	2. Chapter 2: Naomi

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 2: Naomi**_

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_**Hey everyone! Um, so I got really involved with wrighting this chapter today so I got it up pretty fast. Don't expect every chapter to be up so quickly though sorry to say. Anyways, on with the chapter!**_

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"So Sachiko-san you're a ghost huh?" Yami asked, trying to strike up a conversation between he and Sachiko as both children strolled down the halls of heavenly host, past innumerable amounts of corpses and dying wishes scratched onto papers. It was all rather frightening at first for Yami, but for some reason he couldn't quite explain, with Sachiko walking alongside of him, he felt the fear wafting away into the cool musky air of the haunted school, never to see the light of day again.

"What was your first clue? My glowing pale skin, or my torn to hell dress?" Sachiko asked with a slight amount of hubris, although even she was not sure why her question came out in such a way; she had even surprised herself enough that she felt compelled to change gears and switch to a different subject as fast as she could. "Do you like the school? Mother and I do our best to-... Don't stand there."

Quickly registering what his new companion had said, Yami glanced down at his feet to find that he was standing in front of a large hole in the floor that appeared as if it went down forever, with no conceivable end in sight. Stopping as fast as his feet would allow, Yami fell back onto his behind with a small grunt while Sachiko rolled her eyes.

"Um... Sachiko-san?" Yami asked nervously as he peered down into the abyss once again; shivering in fear when he saw what he suspected to be a chunk of human flesh attached to a sharper section of the floor. Turning to Sachiko, who had also stopped walking in order to hear Yami out, the young boy continued in his questioning streak. "Can you fly? Like above this hole?"

"Of course I can, why?" Sachiko scoffed, crossing her arms in a show of distain, although in reality she wasn't annoyed with Yami at all; a first in over twenty years for any living soul, that much was for sure.

"Would you mind flying me over this hole please?" The young boy asked with a genuine smile on his face, while Sachiko stared blankly at him, her eyes boring into his soul. This boy was different, that much was for sure, but Sachiko wasn't about to sit around and ponder as to why. Instead she merely shrugged and nodded her head in affirmation before floating into the air, much to Yami's amazement. "Wow! That's so cool Sachiko-san, I can't believe how amazing you are!"

"...Arigatō..." Sachiko muttered simply, before floating behind Yami and sliding both of her hands under his arms. Without giving the boy much of a warning other than a small click of her tongue, Sachiko began to slowly raise Yami off of the ground, listening silently as he giggled in delight as she began to float across the large pit that separated the two different sections of hallway.

Sachiko couldn't help but to glance between Yami and the large chasm below her. It would be so easy, so easy to just release her grip on the boy and watch him fall into the darkness, where not even the other spirits would ever find his body. It would be another child for her mother to play with for all eternity. It would just be so easy to snuff out the little ember of life in Yami, to just let him fall; to just let him die.

But she didn't.

Instead she completed the flight over to the other end of the hall silently, letting Yami down on a stable and safe section of floorboard before landing next to him, accidentally letting a small sigh of confusion escape her ethereal lips. Her mind was absolutely racing with a myriad of thoughts that had not been present in her mind for years now. But that was not her primary concern; right now her primary concern was Yami and spending a few hours with him so that she could get her fix of humanity before she slaughtered him for her mother. That is if she could bring herself to do it.

Why was it even an issue for her? She had killed so many at this point, without even a hint of remorse or hesitation, letting her stabbing arm strike her victims true without giving them an inch of mercy or hope. It wasn't that she wanted to sap them of all hope before she ended their life exactly, it was more of a circumstance that if they possessed hope that they would live through her attack, then there would be a chance that they would not accept her mother's love for them, and that was a chance that Sachiko was not about to take.

She couldn't take it anymore, she had to get such thoughts from her mind. Deciding that it was useless to worry about such things until it was time to concern herself with them, Sachiko turned to Yami and braced herself, spitting out the first question that happened to fly out of her mouth. "So... Yami-san. What exactly happened to your mother?"

"She..." Yami trailed off as his eyes became downcast, something that did not pass Sachiko's peripheral vision, although she decided to ignore the change in Yami's demeanor as he continued his explanation. "My father was drinking saki and instead of becoming funny he became mean... He hit my mom and I until she couldn't stand up anymore... I hid and he carried her in to where I was hiding and hit me more... I ran away when he got bored, and ended up at my town's local high school for the big kids... I'm not sure how I ended up here though..."

"Your father deserves to _die_..." Sachiko whispered, bearing her teeth and clenching her fists as she imagined what sort of terror that her friend could possibly have gone through because of one man and a bottle of saki. Sachiko laughed darkly as she thought of this; she, the very being of terror and fear in Heavenly Host Elementary, was angered that someone was forced to live through something that most likely caused them terror. How ironic.

"It's not all bad though..." Yami pointed out as he shrugged dismissively, although the smile on his face which had previously vanished had now returned, giving off a sort of subconscious glow that very nearly mesmerized Sachiko. She wasn't about to let her emotions get the better of her though.

"Why not?" The ghost girl asked with a little more venom than she had originally intended, which resulted in her coughing softly in an attempt to change her tone to one that was more of a comforting one, rather than the dark malicious one she had grown accustomed to using. "What on earth about such a situation is good? As far as you know your mother could be dead, and your father could be the murderer! Doesn't that bother you?..."

"Well yes... But-... But at least I made a new friend. That's always a good thing!" Yami informed Sachiko, causing her to stop and tilt her head sideways slightly in curiosity in a silent attempt to have Yami inform her of who exactly he was talking about, but in the end she realized that she would need to speak up in order to learn who exactly had earned the title of friend in the boy's eyes.

"Who?" She asked, while simultaneously pointing at a nearby staircase, signaling that they needed to travel up them, a signal which Yami took, although His first concern was to answer Sachiko's question.

"_You_ Sachiko-san!" He said with an expression on his face that reminded Sachiko of herself whenever she received a special gift from her mother. No! He wasn't like her, she had to stop comparing herself to the boy next to her. If she didn't stop, she was relatively sure that she would be cutting this little play-date and Yami's life short before she had planned.

Suddenly, before Sachiko could even think to reply to Yami's completely unnecessary statement, a blood curling scream was heard from the classroom adjacent to both of the young children, and no more than a few seconds after that, a high school aged girl with short brown hair in a yellow and blue school uniform ran out of the classroom as fast as she could, followed closely by a tall and broad man that appeared as if he were no more than a walking shell.

"Hey! Blockhead, stop running! You're going to break the floor!" Sachiko ordered, prompting the massive zombie like man to freeze in his tracks, just as he caught up to the girl, lifting her off of the ground by her collar, so that she could do no more than struggle fruitlessly, swinging her arms and legs around like a crazy person.

While Sachiko didn't appear as if she was fazed in the slightest by the sudden appearance of the young woman, Yami's reaction was on another plane entirely. He knew this girl, and he knew her very well; this was the girl who had first invited him to hand out with she and the other high school students when Yami first started his little adventures into town. "Naomi-senpai?! What are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be at home?"

"Yami-san?! I could say the same for you! How on earth did you end up in this hell?!" Naomi cried, before finally noticing Sachiko standing next to Yami with a sick smile on her face. Building up air in her lungs, Naomi gave one last meaningless punch to the strange man, before shifting her gaze back to the two children watching her and bellowing out a warning to Yami. "Yami-san! _Get away from her; that thing is a ghost, she'll hurt you, just like one tried to hurt me earlier!"_

"Hurt me? What do you mean?" Yami asked in confusion, his head tilting slightly as he glanced over at Sachiko, who was currently glaring daggers at Naomi. "Sachiko-san? What's Naomi-senpai talking about?"

"The only person around here who's going to be hurt is you..." Sachiko uttered darkly, before producing a long pair of scissors in her hand, letting her grip tighten around it with such force that the metal was beginning to visibly give way to her ethereal granted strength. "As long as Yami is with me, then nothing is going to hurt him... I can't say the same for you though..."

"**Fuck you**! Let Yami-san go and tell me where Seiko is, and where Satoshi is, and where everyone is!" Naomi hissed in reply, seemingly unfazed by Sachiko's threat, although in truth she was absolutely terrified, but she just had to put on a brave face, if only for Yami's sake.

"Insulting me? Are you sure you should be doing that given the... Situation you're in?" Sachiko taunted, while running her scissors along Naomi's covered stomach with agonizing slowness, letting the tip of the cutting tool catch on several of the school uniforms threads.

"Wait, Sachiko-san, don't hurt her! She didn't do anything wrong..." Yami begged, stepping in between Sachiko and what would have been her latest victim, causing the young ghost girl's eyes to widen in considerable surprise, although she regained her composure rather quickly, only to catch a glimpse of Yami staring at her, his hands curled into a ball in front of his chest. "Can't you just let her live?..."

"..._Fine_..." Sachiko finally grumbled after a few seconds of silence, before she turned to face the zombie like man holding Naomi. Why was she listening to this boy? This was becoming a major issue for sure, and her mother would be less than thrilled to know that not only one, but now 2 potential new eternal friends were being held away because Sachiko had decided to spend time with one of them. Well she had a way to fix that, and it involved this Seiko girl; whoever she was. "But I'm not letting her off so easily, wait here, Blockhead and I are going to go and find this Seiko girl and... Reunite them..."

"But-..."

"_Wait here_..." Sachiko ordered once more, before silently ordering the man she referred to as 'Blockhead' out of the room, following closely behind. However before she left she couldn't help but to turn her head to give Yami a small, but genuine smile; small as it may have been, before following the man and Naomi down the hall, leaving Yami alone with nothing more than his thoughts...

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**So I hope you all enjoyed that little chapter, and I hope you enjoy all the future chapters to come! Until next time my minions!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Real Me

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 3: The Real Me  
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**Hey everybody! So I got a pm from someone asking when all of these events are taking place and I just want to clarify that while it is currently following the canon of the first game it will eventually branch off into its own canon. Hope this clears up any confusion, so without further ado, onto the chapter!**

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It was only a few minutes before Sachiko returned to the classroom where she had left Yami, and she had received an interesting surprise when she did finally enter the room, after silently standing outside of the door for at least a good 5 minutes with her thoughts.

In the time that she had been gone, which was 20 minutes at the most, even if the time that she was gone was extended in the slightest by her standing outside of the door, Yami had somehow not only found himself a piece of chalk, but was now slowly and methodically drawing an extremely detailed picture of none other than he and Sachiko flying over a large fissure in the ground. Obviously just a reference to the gap in the floorboards from earlier, but that did little to quell the surprise that shot through the young ghost girl.

"Um... That's-... That's actually very good..." Sachiko muttered without even realizing it, alerting Yami to the presence of his new friend behind him, prompting him to turn around with a huge smile on his face, which had been dusted white from the left over chalk.

"You like it Sachiko-chan? I made it just for you!" Yami explained with a sort of innocent pride in his voice that Sachiko hadn't heard for years; the pride of a child trying to impress a crush or a new friend. Unfortunately, before Sachiko was able to think of a suitable response to her new friend's question, he decided to throw another one at her, one that caught her completely off guard; something that was becoming quite commonplace around him. "Hey... Sachiko-san? Why did you make all of those people ghosts? Did they do something bad?..."

"H-... How do you know about that?!" Sachiko shrieked, her eyes flaring up in a purple tint as she moved on the defensive, while her powers slammed all of the doors in the room shut, at first frightening the boy standing at the chalkboard, although his demeanor quickly shifted back to one of calm happiness.

"I told him..." A voice from the other side of the room uttered, shifting Sachiko's attention to the southern wall, where a ghost girl with a missing eye stood, nervously clutching her hands in front of her flat chest, all while Sachiko sent a glare her way that would have killed her, had she not already been dead. "Hello Sachiko-san... Miss me?"

"Yuki-san! Why the hell would you tell him that?!" Sachiko screeched, teleporting over to Yuki, trying to get in her face in an effort to have Yuki call herself a liar.

"I figured he should know... After all, you_ are _the reason we're all here in the first place..." Yuki explained, completely unfazed by Sachiko's threatening approach; after all Yuki was already dead, how much more could Sachiko possibly do to cause her any forms of pain, especially considering that Yuki was no longer afraid.

"And that doesn't mean that I'm allowed to do what I want?! I don't recall my mother giving you power over my actions! Now let me spend time with my new friend!..." Sachiko's rant stopped nearly as fast as it had started when she realized what she had said, to which she could only supplement her mistake with, "Oops..."

"Friend? I thought you said you never wanted to have any friends who are still alive?" Yuki hissed, letting spiritual fire erupt in her remaining eye while she moved even closer to Sachiko, making the ghost girl back away from another spirit for the very first time. "Why don't you just kill him Sachiko-san... Like you killed all of us like the monster you are..."

"Um... I'm still here you know!..." Yami chimed in nervously, clanking up almost immediately afterwards when not only one but two glares were sent his way by both Sachiko and Yuki, although Yami's gaze was inadvertently drawn to Sachiko in particular, and that was when he noticed it; the deep sadness, regret, and even loneliness resting in her eyes like a virus.

"No..." Sachiko muttered, turning back to Yuki as she clenched her fists in a way that told Yuki that if she continued her current path, she would get nowhere in damaging Sachiko's emotions. "I'm not going to hurt him, and that's final!"

"Fine... If you won't kill him then I'll send him back to his world so that you can't talk to him! You don't deserve friends!" Yuki shrieked, visually preparing to lunge at Yami, only to be blocked by Sachiko, who was now radiating with a mysterious dark power that enveloped her body like a shroud of malevolence.

"You so much as touch a hair on his head and I'll cut your tongue out all over again you-..." Sachiko froze when she finally put the pieces together. Yuki hadn't been able to speak since Sachiko had killed her; how on earth did was she speaking now? Sachiko knew the answer to this question, although she sorely wished she hadn't; Yuki's tongue was back in her mouth, appearing as if it had never been removed from her mouth by Sachiko scissors in the first place. "Wait just a minute! How did you get your tongue back?!"

"A nice girl that shares your last name, along with her friend, returned it to me... But that still doesn't excuse what you've done; and I'm not going to let you do it to anybody else!..." Yuki said before walking over to Yami and placing a solitary ethereal hand on his shoulder, causing him to shiver slightly at the lack of warmth coming from Yuki's hand. "Go on Sachiko-san, tell Yami-san why you kill so many innocents... Does he know why, or who, you do it for?"

"I-... I just need to make her happy! No one else ever gave a damn about me! I'm not going to let her down!..." Sachiko finally admitted as the power she had been calling on dissipated, while small tears slowly began to form in her eyes, the first tears that she had experienced in so many years. Sachiko hated the feeling, tears were for weak little girls, not powerful spirits such as herself. Why did she have to be a little girl as well?

"You let her down a long time ago Sachiko-san..." Yuki muttered quietly, watching with a sad frown on her face as Sachiko silently mumbled to herself, wandering around the room, before glancing back over towards Yami and Yuki just in time for Yuki to say, "You're nothing but a monster..."

Yami couldn't even believe his eyes as he observed Sachiko, his first friend in this strange school, mentally breaking down directly in front of him. He wanted to do something, anything, to help Sachiko in her time of need. He wanted to run over and just hug her and tell her that everything was okay, but something prevented him from moving a muscle. Whether it was Yuki's power or his own nerves he would never know however.

Meanwhile Sachiko, who had retreated to the door, stumbled as she used her powers to release the spell on the door that trapped the three occupants before she finally gave up on holding back the tears that had been threatening to spill over, sobbing loudly as she felt the salty liquid drip down her cheeks. Before either Yami or Yuki could say anything to console Sachiko, she was already gone, rushing down the hallway at incredible speed, not even bothering to close the rickety door behind her, leaving Yami and Yuki back in the classroom.

"Wait! Sachiko-chan, come back!..." Yami cried as he found the strength to break out of the hold that had previously overcome him, before running full tilt over to the doorway that lead out into the hall, unfortunately by the time that he arrived Sachiko had vanished completely, along with any signs that she had ever been there in the first place. Growling harshly in what was most likely the first time in his life, Yami whipped his vision in the direction of Yuki, who was staring fixedly at the chalk picture of Yami and Sachiko. "That was just plain mean... If she says she won't hurt me then I trust her, and I understand you must be angry for what happened to you, but what if Sachiko-chan is actually a nice person under the anger that she has to keep up because people like you always insult her!"

"I know what I said was mean, but someone had to tell her that what she was doing was wrong, and this is the first time I've been able to speak in so long!" Yuki stated, more out of spite than anything else, but she still couldn't risk anyone else falling into the hands of Sachiko.

"I still think you could have told her in a nicer way... She doesn't seem like she's all that evil..." Yami mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest, before walking out of the classroom and out into the hall with the intent to find Sachiko, where-ever she had run off to.

"She is; she will wait until your guard is down... And she'll brutally murder you..." Yuki said, not moving any father than the doorframe, fearing that Sachiko could possibly be waiting in the shadows.

However, Yami was unfazed by Yuki's warning. "Then I'll take my chances... She's my friend, and I won't let my friend be sad..."

"I wish you luck then Yami-san... God knows you'll need it around Sachiko-san, you poor innocent minded child..." Yuki whispered as she observed Yami walking off into the halls in search of Sachiko...

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Yami was sure he had been walking for hours on end by the time he finally found himself back at the classroom he had left in search of Sachiko. Throughout his entire trek he had passed corpse upon corpse that were both old and new. Eventually he found himself at the school infirmary, and consequently, Sachiko, who was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, not facing Yami.

"...Hey... Sachiko-chan?..." He tried nervously, cautiously drawing over to the ghost girl with a little more apprehension than he would have desired, but who could blame him after Yuki's grim warning to him, especially considering he was only a boy up against a ghost; friend or not.

"What are you doing here?... Didn't you hear what Yuki-san said?..." Sachiko responded without even bothering to turn around to acknowledge Yami. "I'm just a murderous monster..."

"I don't think you are..." Yami mumbled under his breath, although despite this, Sachiko was still able to hear Yami's statement.

"You don't?..." Sachiko responded meekly, finally turning to Yami for the first time since he had first entered the infirmary; and it was then that Yami saw that Sachiko's face was stained with tears. "Why wouldn't you Yami-chan?... I'm the cause of all of these peoples suffering..."

"Isn't there some way you could reverse it?... Any way at all?..." Yami finally asked, before sitting down on the school infirmary bed next to Sachiko, and surprisingly instead of moving away Yami noticed that Sachiko had in fact shuffled closer to him to the point that their shoulders were touching ever so slightly, although Yami registered this as no more than Sachiko accidentally moving towards him while she was thinking.

"Well yes it would be pretty simple to do but-..." Sachiko trailed off as new tears formed in her eyes, supplementing the already miserable looking girl even further. It was then that Yami noticed it; Sachiko's eyes. They were no longer filled with hatred, cynicism, or even the slightest hint of malicious intent; rather they seemed like they had been injected with the first dose of life they had experienced in a very long time.

"But what?..." Yami asked after a few awkward moments when he realized he had been staring into Sachiko's eyes for quite some time.

"My mother... If I don't keep bringing her new people to play with then she might lose herself and... And I just can't disappoint my mom!..." Sachiko wailed, never even registering that Yami had been staring into her eyes for the last few seconds, since by the time that she glanced over at him once again his eyes had already reverted to their previous position, staring at the wall beside them.

"That's the thing about mothers though Sachiko-chan..." Yami mused, smiling softly as he and Sachiko finally looked each other in the eye for the first time since Yami had entered the room. All the while, tears were beginning to well up in Sachiko's eyes once again. "No matter what you do, you can never disappoint them... I bet your mother would be proud of you whether or not you bring her new people to play with... She loves you no matter what..."

Sachiko could only fling her arms around Yami's neck and cry loudly into his chest, letting her true emotions take over... Just this once...

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**So I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry, the story will include some actual romance in it soon enough, but for now I must continue to write! Until next time my minions!**


	4. Chapter 4: You've Changed Me

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 4: You've Changed Me

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**Well I guess I had better actually Update this story every once in a while! Once again I should tell you all that I made Sachiko just a little more sympathetic than usual because, again, she needs crazy pills in the anime and games. On with the chapter!**

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"Are you _sure _you want to do this Yami-chan?... This is the last opportunity you'll have to back out of this, because once we find my mother, neither of us can escape... I haven't seen her in so long for that exact reason... Again, are you sure about all of this?..." Sachiko warned Yami with an air of apprehension in her voice as the two walked down the hall and up a large flight of stairs hand in hand.

"Yes, I want to meet your mother; it'll be nice to meet the woman who raised you." Yami did his very best to encourage Sachiko with no more than words, although in reality his focus was not on the conversation at all. Rather it was focused on his hand, which was intertwined with Sachiko's in such a way that if her friend's skin was just as pale as hers then Yami most likely wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between the two hands.

"...Yeah..." Muttered Sachiko as a small but solemn smile as she silently remembered the cornucopia of fond memories that rested within her subconscious, only to be thrust back down again, quickly replaced by the horrific memories of both her mothers and even her own death.

"Hey Sachiko-chan?... Can I ask you a question?" Yami inquired, snapping Sachiko out of her self induced trance in a matter of moments, giving her just enough time to listen to and absorb Yami's initial question.

"Yeah, go ahead, you're probably going to ask anyway even I tell you no so..." Sachiko mumbled sarcastically, however Yami would have been a fool to miss the ever so slight laugh that passed through his ethereal friend's lips, however it was not the same sort of laugh that he had heard when Sachiko and he had first met. No, instead of the insane laughter that had flown out of her mouth previously, her laughter was now genuine, and sounded sweet, almost blissful even.

"Good point." Yami responded with a laugh of his own in return, before his features fell into a state of despair, which prompted Sachiko to glance over and tilt her head sideways in confusion. "Sachiko-chan... How did you die exactly?... I know that ghosts don't usually become-... Well ghosts, if they die naturally so... I mean did you die _naturally_ or..."

Yami trailed off when he noticed that his friend's pace had slowed down by quite a considerable level, along with her mouth which had previously been tilted into a small yet natural smile, now had fallen to a depression emitting frown that caused "It-... It's kind of hard to talk about Yami-chan..."

"I'm sorry I didn't realize-..." Yami began, however he was soon cut off by Sachiko who, to the surprise of Yami, closed the distanced between them even more to the point that Sachiko's torn up red dress frequently caught on the string on Yami's hoodie, a distance that Yami had never experienced with anyone besides his parents before; although being 8 years of age didn't exactly help matters of life experience. Never the less it was still a strange feeling, however it was not unpleasant, but Yami let it slide for the time being.

"No, it's okay..." Sachiko whispered before she guided Yami over to the wall and directed him to sit down, planting herself next to him shortly afterward before she began to explain the tale of her demise to her new friend. "I used to be a student here at Heavenly Host, and my mother was the schools nurse... All of the kids loved her and would sometimes even fake being sick to say hello to her."

"Wow... Your mom sounds like she was popular. Guess you didn't get many sick days off though huh? She probably just saw right through it!..." Yami chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about the interruption... You can continue if you want to Sachiko-chan..."

"Alright... Well on my 7th birthday my mother and I were planning to go out to celebrate with a big dinner... She had given me a special stuffed cat and I had it with me all day in school, but I forgot it in my mom's office near the end of the day because I was in a hurry to get to class; I wasn't worried though, I knew I would be meeting my mom there at the end of the school day anyway so I just let it go until then... But then at the end of the day when I went to go and see my mom so that we could go out and I could get my stuffed kitty back-..."

Sachiko trailed off as tears appeared in her eyes, and Yami not knowing what else to do acted on instinct and pulled Sachiko close to him, letting her head rest on his chest. Only after this action was completed did Yami realize exactly what he had just done, however instead of being pushed away from his friend, he instead felt Sachiko attempting to get comfortable of all things! She gently rubbed the side of her head into his sweatshirt and sighing, before she continued the story.

"When I arrived... I found-... I found my mother lying on the floor with her neck broken and the principle of the school standing over her... He had _murdered_ her and when he saw me he-... He-..." Sachiko said not another word; instead she lifted her long hair away from her next to give Yami a few of the discolored skin that circled her neck in an ominous ring.

"S-... Sachiko-chan I-..." Yami swallowed when he finally realized what Sachiko had omitted from the story. She had been strangled to death in front of her mother's dead body. Letting his instincts take over for what seemed to be the umpteenth time since he had arrived at the haunted school, Yami gently placed a hand on Sachiko's neck and softly rubbed on the scars, while silently letting out a breath when he realized Sachiko was calming down quite a bit thanks to the attention to her neck.

As Yami silently rubbed the scars on Sachiko's neck, he couldn't help but to let his thoughts drift back to the events that brought him to Heavenly Host in the first place. He was still extremely concerned for his mother's wellbeing, worried that in his drunken state that his father would end up killing his mother accidentally. He bite his lip as he tried to focus on the ghost girl in front of him; he couldn't do anything about his mother for the moment, so he would have to settle for comforting Sachiko for now. Not that he minded.

The two stayed like that until Sachiko finally calmed herself once again...

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It was only a few minutes before the two friends were on their way once more, jovially laughing and joking as they traveled down the hall, never even noticing the gruesome scenery around them. Anyone who saw them probably thought that they weren't even there, but were just projections of happiness sent to torture them further; far from the case for the two children. They had even managed to break into the schools kitchen, and after a few little tricks from Sachiko, both were enjoying a small bento box that Sachiko kept floating about a foot in front of them with her powers, giving them full use of motion without encumbering them with the box of food.

"So one other question if you don't mind..." Yami asked after he swallowed a mouthful of rice, while Sachiko smirked, before rolling her eyes playfully.

"What?" She asked, before taking a piece of grilled fish and popping it in her mouth, savoring the taste before she let it slide down her throat. It was the first time she had eaten in years and boy was it a welcome return to say the least!

"Why don't you smell... I don't know... Bad?" Yami asked with the grace of a dead fish, catching Sachiko by surprise to such a degree that she nearly spit the chunk of grilled fish right back out, although she was able to keep it down thanks to the muscles in her throat, which had mysteriously been worked ever since Yami had rubbed her neck.

"_Excuse _me? That's kind of rude Yami-chan!" Sachiko giggled, smacking his shoulder with her elbow playfully while Yami laughed nervously, thinking that he had truly angered Sachiko with his last comment.

"No! No! I just meant its funny because all of the other ghosts and that zombie guy and I-..." Yami was suddenly cut off by Sachiko's laughter, which had grown in volume considerably; it was obvious that Sachiko was having an amazing time. Probably a rarity for her in a hellish place like this; voluntary or not.

"It's okay Yami-chan, I understand your confusion... I may be dead, but that doesn't mean I don't like to be clean. I use the working showers to clean myself off every day." Sachiko explained with a sense of accomplishment in her voice. She secretly took pride in her diligence when it came to her cleanliness, and while it was usually little more than another task to take away from the boring repetitiveness of each and every day, she absolutely loved being complimented in such a cute, yet slightly bizarre way.

"So I guess that means... You're the first ever ghost to care about personal hygiene?" Yami smirked, only to dodge a possessed flying rice ball only a second or two later, sent from Sachiko who had returned to the floating bento box, pouncing on the grilled fish like it was comprised of gold and diamonds.

"Would you rather I smell like a dead rotting rat?" She asked with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, although Yami could have easily missed the underlying joke thanks to the effects of the fish that stuffed Sachiko's mouth to the brim.

"Good point... Sorry about the weird question Sachiko-chan." Yami chuckled, before taking one of the rice balls that still remained in the bento box, popping it in his mouth with an audible sigh of happiness.

"Yeah well you should be!" Sachiko quipped sarcastically before she and Yami burst into laughter, both with their mouths full of food, which caused whatever was in their mouths to end up on the floors of the school with little to no regard from the two children who were happily strolling down the halls.

Suddenly, a scream tore through the previously quiet halls of Heavenly Host Elementary, giving Yami's heart quite a run for its money in surprise. However the scream itself was not what disturbed Yami; rather it was the owner of the voice, and she was crying out as loudly as she could, _**"SEIKO! NOOOOOO!"**_

"Hey do you hear that Sachiko-chan?! That sounded like Naomi-senpai!" Yami yelled, trying to pull Sachiko along, however she would not budge an inch; she knew what they would find, and the last thing she wanted was to put Yami through such a horrible experience. How laughable; she would normally relish more than one person being horrified, but with Yami she just... Couldn't do it.

"No... That couldn't have been her! Come on let's go-..." Sachiko tried, thinking about taking Yami away from the area by force if need be, but just as she was about to summon her powers to do just that Yami said something that caused Sachiko's mind to completely draw a blank.

"Please Sachiko-chan, we need to help them! _Please_! I would never abandon you if I heard you screaming like that, can't we just help her?!" He begged with an increasing air of desperation in his voice. Sachiko hated to hear it; Yami was the one person in this school that she didn't want to suffer, so why on earth was his happiness connected with those students?

Suddenly another scream echoed throughout the hallways, causing Yami to jump in surprise, followed by quickly pulling Sachiko towards the screaming while she glanced around nervously for her minion, whom she had ordered to stay nearby; however he was nowhere to be found probably off playing with whatever bugs he could find. "Come on Sachiko-chan keep running, we have to go help them before something bad happens!"

Eventually Yami and Sachiko, the latter being pulled along by the former, finally arrived at the girl's bathroom on one of the uppermost floors of the school, and before Sachiko could stop Yami from entering the bathroom, he had already rushed forward, and had stopped running almost as suddenly as he had started.

In full view to both Yami and Sachiko was Naomi, crying out desperately as she attempted to hold a body up in the air which was hanging by its neck by way of a rope that was attached to the ceiling. That was not what unsettled Yami however, rather it was the person Naomi was attempting to prop up; her very best friend Seiko Shinohara, and she appeared as if she was on the brink of death.

"Naomi-senpai!... Seiko-senpai?! _No_!" Yami turns to Sachiko, who's eyed widened in surprise when her friend grabbed her by the shoulders and began to gently shake her, not so much as a method of force, but rather an attempt to get her to pay attention to him, ignorant to the fact that she had barely taken her eyes off of him since he found her after the incident with Yuki. "Sachiko-chan, can't you break that rope somehow?! Please, help her!"

"Huh? Yami-san?! Help me! _HELP ME_!" Naomi cried, finally noticing Yami and Sachiko standing there, although she intentionally decided to omit greeting Sachiko in any way; after all she was a ghost, and a gut feeling told her that this particular ghost had something to do with them all being trapped there. That didn't mean she was above getting Yami's help however, no matter how incompetent he would be in the situation at hand.

"I-..." Sachiko stopped and glanced down at the floor as she silently pondered how in the world she could possibly feel such guilt after so long. It stung quite a bit, not because she felt bad about hurting this random girl, rather the source of her guilt was the sorrow filled look that was present on Yami's face. Sachiko glanced between all three of the school's 'guests' as she thought about not only her own death, but even her mother's. Maybe she wouldn't mind if she just saved one more, after all 3 students wasn't a large number, especially considering that Sachiko was actually actively against hurting Yami at this point. "I-... Fine I'll get her down from the stupid rope just-... Stand back..."

Sachiko waited for a few moments for Yami and Naomi to step back before she pulled out a pair of scissors from her dress, taking aim for a moment before she threw her scissors at the rope with razor like precision which sliced through the tough rope like a hot knife through butter, instantly freeing Seiko, saving her from an eternity of pain.

It was only after a few moments of sputtering and coughing that Seiko finally regained her senses, letting her eyes slowly open to come face to face with Naomi, who was letting Seiko use her lap as a pillow. However what happened next surprised everyone except for Sachiko.

Seiko's eyes bulged out of her head when she finally realized who's lap her head was resting on, and shortly afterwards she let out a scream that nearly gave Yami a heart attack; however before she could pull herself to her feet to make her escape, she was suddenly lifted into the air, before she was sent slamming against a wall, giving Sachiko a chance to speak.

"Oh would you please just _shut the fuck up_?!" Sachiko yelled in a horrific voice, which almost instantly ceased Seiko's screaming while Yami and Naomi watched in surprise, the former amazed at the malice and distain that Sachiko's voice alone was showing. "If it's not obvious enough your little friend just saved your life, and you're going to scream when you see her? _Ungrateful bitch_!"

Yami, deciding that he could take a chance at calming Sachiko down, shuffled up behind the ghost girl and put a solitary hand on her red cloth clad shoulder. "But Sachiko-chan, you saved-..."

"Please just be quiet Yami-chan..." Sachiko muttered, cutting off Yami, however she did not flinch away from Yami's touch, in fact it appeared as if she was actually welcoming the feeling of Yami's hand on her shoulder. Her voice had returned to its normal state once again; more likely from Yami's presence than anything else.

It was then that Yami finally realized what exactly Sachiko was doing by lying to Seiko. He suspected that Sachiko most likely didn't desire the credit for saving Seiko, however he was completely unaware of the real reason that Sachiko was putting the credit for saving Seiko on Naomi, and she sincerely hoped he never would find out...

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"So how're you feeling Seiko-senpai?" Yami asked as he wrapped a bandage around Seiko's neck, while Naomi and Sachiko stared at each other with an air of awkwardness that would have been quite entertaining if it hadn't also been so intense at the same time.

"A little better... I think my neck is going to be bruised for a while though..." Seiko muttered sarcastically, trying her best to crack a smile despite the intense pain it caused to move even the slightest muscle.

"_God Seiko_!... I was so worried; _don't you dare ever do that to me ever again_!..." Naomi begged, taking over with Seiko's care, giving Yami the opportunity to wander back over to Sachiko, who smiled widely upon seeing her new playmate return, although the smile quickly dissipated in favor of a concerned frown.

"Yami-chan... Can I ask you something?" She whispered, turning her entire body to face Yami, while also psyching herself up for her confession soon to come, while Yami glanced at her in confusion.

"Of course... What's up Sachiko-chan?" He asked, his ever present innocence shining through once again, causing Sachiko to force herself to not smile; he was making her happier and happier by the second.

"How did you do it?..." She asked, biting down on her lip softly in an attempt to ward off any smile that would even think of having the audacity of creeping onto her face.

Yami however was completely obvious to the subject of Sachiko's question; instead assuming that she was speaking of the incident that had happened only a few minutes prior. "How did I do what? You mean wrap the bandages around Seiko's neck? Well what you do is-..."

"No... How, after 50 years of being nothing more than a monster, did you... _Break through_ to me..." Hearing Sachiko say this, Yami by chance glanced into her eyes, only to find that her eyes, which had previously been no more than a dull and lifeless conduit of sadness for the poor girl were now sparkling majestically with what Yami could only describe as pure living euphoria.

"I don't know how... But I'm glad I could at least..." Yami whispered with a small smile, reaching over to rub Sachiko's neck again. "You didn't deserve _any_ of this you know... I wish there was something I could do to take away your pain..."

Sachiko bit her lip as she felt Yami's hand wrapping around her neck. Her first instinct was to strike out, to stop the sensation on her neck; however she was able to resist it, opting instead to lean into Yami's hand, all while Seiko and Naomi watched in both confusion and fascination."Yami-chan... I've known you for only around a day... But you've already taken away more of my pain than years of hunting in my school... I-... Yami-chan you've changed me... You've _really_ changed me..."

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**Oh by the way! Check out the cover for the story! It was drawn by one of my good friends! Until next time my minions!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Second Chance

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 5: A Second Chance**_

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**Hey everybody! So I really have nothing to say other than enjoy the chapter, so yeah… On with the chapter!**

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"So you can just teleport all of our friends here?! It's just as simple as that?!" Naomi asked in both surprise and excitement, seriously considering jumping up and down thanks to her newly rejuvenated energy; restored thanks to the knowledge that her best friend was alive and well, if only just a little bruised up, not to mention the extra bit of information that she would be able to see Satoshi again very soon.

"Yup... Consider yourselves lucky; you're the first people to have even a glint of a chance of escaping from this school since it's damnation..." Sachiko explained as she stole sparing glances at Yami, who absentmindedly wandered around the room, looking around for a random knick-knack to entertain himself with until Sachiko finished her conversation with Naomi.

"Well we do appreciate your help with our friends Sachiko-san..." Naomi leaned in towards Sachiko before she whispered. "And for making friends with Yami-chan... He doesn't have any friends his age, so it's refreshing to see!..."

"I-... Yeah, no problem..." Sachiko replied in a hushed tone, realizing that for whatever reason Naomi did not desire Yami to hear the topic that was currently at hand, although that reason eluded the Shinozaki girl; at least for the time being.

Seiko meanwhile had been fawning over Sachiko's hair since she had recovered from her near death experience and was assured Sachiko wouldn't flat out murder her for no reason. Once she felt safe, she had pounced on Sachiko like a cat, toting with her hair in all sorts of ways ranging from the normal to the flat out bizarre. It had started out with just running her fingers through it, since she had been amazed at how there were zero knots in the ghost girls hair, but it quickly grew from there, eventually developing in to the situation Sachiko found herself in now. Seiko was rubbing her face on the top of Sachiko's head like a cat, and the latter was absolutely beginning to grow way past uncomfortable with such intimate and frankly insane behavior.

"Naomi-san, Yami-chan..." Sachiko finally whined, pulling Yami's attention away from the blue spirit he had been playing a game of 'look the other way' with and onto her before she continued to speak. "Your friend is... Being really weird... Get her off of my head please..."

"Um Seiko?... I think you're making Sachiko-san kind of uncomfortable... Maybe you should just stick to running your fingers through her hair..." Naomi attempted to reason, but was met however with a waggle of Seiko's index finger, before the brown haired girl pressed her face against the top of Sachiko's head once again.

"Oh no can do Naomi, you must feel her hair! It's like a pillow of fluffy cherub wings!" Seiko squealed, inadvertently into Sachiko's ear, which caused no small amount of displeasure from her, all while Yami watched with a smile on his face.

"Get the hell off of me woman!" Sachiko roared, using her powers to lift Seiko off of her, before she threw her towards Naomi, causing both teenage girls to become entangled in a mess of their own clothes and limbs, leaving them to desperately wriggle around on the floor in an attempt to free themselves.

"So um... Would you mind bringing the others here now Sachiko-chan?" Yami asked after he and Sachiko finished the little laughing session that had been engaged by Naomi and Seiko's awkward position. Upon hearing Yami's request, Sachiko stretched her arms and jumped up off of the desk she had been perched on.

"Alright, just make sure that those two know that the only reason I'm even doing this is because of you Yami-chan..." Sachiko explained, become she noticed that Yami was still sitting on the desk, putting him in the range of her spell. "Um... You're going to need to... Stand back Yami-chan."

"Oh, sorry!" Yami laughed and jumped off of the desk and ran over to a safe distance as he mentally chided himself for accidentally bothering Sachiko, although he wasn't exactly sure why; after all, she was basically always good willed around him for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, while Yami was lamenting to himself Sachiko, the ghost girl had begun transporting in the rest of the Kisarai High School students into the room one by one in a pile of unconscious bodies while Naomi and Seiko watched in a bizarre combination of fascination and disbelief. Whoever this girl was it was now more obvious than ever that it would be best to stay on her good side.

Eventually the last flashes of power faded from the eyes of the two teenage girls, at which point they looked up to find each and every one of their friends there, with Ayumi and Yoshiki on top of the pile, the only conscious ones of the pile.

"Wha?!... Where are we?... Shinozaki?" Yoshiki groaned, holding his forehead as a dull pain rushed through his skull, only to gasp in surprise when he removed his hand to find it covered in a thick red liquid that dripped from his hand in sticky globs. His forehead must have been wounded at one point without him realizing it.

Yoshiki shrugged this off however, knowing that no matter how bad the injury was he wouldn't be able to actually tend to it without proper medical supplies, which this school lacked, even in the barest form. Curious as to why he hadn't yet received an answer from Ayumi, he turned to the pile of his friends find the blue haired girl in question brushing the dust off of her skirt.

"I don't know... Wait..." Ayumi's breath caught in her throat when the glanced up at Yoshiki for the first time. With a shaking hand, Ayumi pointed at Yoshiki with the look of pure horror on her face. "K-... Kishinuma-kun, behi-... BEHIND YOU!"

Quick as his body would allow him, Yoshiki whipped his vision around at a 180 degree angle to come face to face with Sachiko and Yami, both staring at him like he was absolutely insane. After a few moments of silence passed before Yami finally got up and walked over to examine Yoshiki's forehead while Sachiko pouted in despair when she saw what was on Yoshiki's forehead.

"You jerk! What did you do to my raspberry tart stash?!" Sachiko demanded, her eyes watering as she flew over at incredible and ripped off the small tan and red that had stuck to his forehead, which had been the actual source of the red liquid.

"R-... Raspberry tart?... It's not blood?..." Yoshiki was honestly quite surprised, not only at the revelation that he was not injured at all, but that Sachiko Shinozaki, the murderous little ghost of Heavenly Host was a fan and hoarder of raspberry tarts of all things!

"Yeah my treat stash! How'd you find it?!" Sachiko hastily demanded, flying up to Yoshiki's face in order get in his face, resulting in him falling back on his posterior in fear when he realized just how close Sachiko had become; and she was not happy. "I'm waiting for an answer!"

"We... We were just searching around in the nurses office and then suddenly we woke up here... I swear we never even saw your... Raspberry tart stash?..." Yoshiki trailed off when he noticed that Sachiko no longer appeared as if she was angered, her emotions replaced by features of sadness and general sorrow. Yoshiki couldn't help but to feel bad for Sachiko, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He would always get quite sad whenever his sister used to take his desserts as a child.

"Anyways... Sachiko-san, would you be able to actually get us out of the school?" Ayumi asked warily, testing the waters with even attempting to speak to Sachiko; although it was hardly far from logical, as Sachiko had been the source of all of the pain in this school after all.

"Well yes but you'll need to do some stuff in order to do it..." Sachiko, still glaring at Yoshiki, explained before floating slowly back over to Yami who was helping Naomi and Seiko awaken the rest of the group. While each were slowly waking up one by one, it was obvious that they would be physically inoperable for at least a few minutes.

"Like what?" Yami asked, his voice almost immediately causing the smile which had previously been lost to return to Sachiko's face.

"Well first you'll need all of your paper doll scraps, I'm assuming you all have yours except for Seiko-san and Yami-chan?" Sachiko asked, walking over to the group of still groggy individuals of the group to verify that they still possessed their paper scraps before she turned her head to wait for the answers from the others.

Everyone who was able to then began to dig into various pockets, each pulling out a small white scrap of paper that now seemed to glow with an otherworldly power, all except for Seiko and Yami who merely watched the others fumbling for their paper shards like confused chickens; other than Yoshiki of course who fumbled around like a headless one trying to pull himself up from the floor as he simultaneously pulled his piece of paper out.

"Good, as for Seiko-san and Yami-chan. you'll just need to hold onto my shoulders when everyone starts chanting." Sachiko instructed in a monotone, spitting out the instructions as if someone had embedded it into her brain with an axe.

"Starts chanting?! You mean we're going to do the charm that sent us here in the first place?!" Yoshiki yelled in anger, smacking a nearby pot that was resting on a self to the ground, smashing it into a pile of ceramic shards and a small mound of dirt, although it was devoid of a plant, and most likely had been for years now.

"Yes, is that a problem?" Sachiko asked annoyed before she snapped her fingers.

"Of course it is! I don't need to end up in another hell like this o-...". Yoshiki silenced himself when he noticed none other than Yoshikazu standing behind Sachiko, holding a large menacing hammer that was covered in blood. It was then that he realized why Sachiko had snapped her fingers; her minion had been waiting for a long time evidently. "Ahh... When'd he get here?..."

"You won't end up anywhere except for here you frost vanished from... I can promise you that... It will take us back to the real world easily as long as you guys all do this correctly." Sachiko informed the group, while Yoshikazu withdrew back into the shadows once again.

"Whoa whoa whoa, just wait one minute! What do you mean by 'us'?!" Ayumi snapped, before she stepped up to Sachiko in a threatening manner, however Sachiko did not back down, instead she glanced down at her bare feet, biting her lip like a nervous child before she slowly spit out her answer.

"...I want to come..."

This surprised everyone present in the room that could take in and process the information, but no one was more surprised than Yoshiki. "Why?! You could do whatever you want here! What possible reason could you possibly have to return to our world?!"

"I... I just want some friends... I don't want to be left alone again... I haven't actually spoken to my mother in years because I'm scared to speak with her... I kept killing because I thought it would make her speak with me like she used to... But I just-... I just can't do it anymore... I can't kill anymore; it used to make me feel good but... I can't..." Sachiko admitted, grasping onto Yami's hand halfway through her explanation in desperation.

"Why not? What changed? You said your mother hasn't spoken to you in years after all... You said that your mother doesn't even care for you!" Naomi asked with a little more callus in her voice than she had originally planned, but she decided to stay silent afterwards, after all, Sachiko deserved it. Didn't she?

"I know... But I just met someone who does..." Sachiko grabs Yami's hand once again, making sure that everyone in the room could see this display of childlike affection. "The first person to see past the monster I've become... Please, I can only leave with other people, I can't by myself anymore, and no one else will even get near me... If this works I'll be able to live again, I'll have a second chance at life, but only if you give me a chance..."

Ayumi completely stopped in her tracks when she heard those words exit Sachiko's mouth as thoughts began to race through her head at what seemed to be a mile a minute. Her mother and older sister had always informed her that there were two ways to pacify a ghost, but she had only believed there to be one. The first was obviously what they had been doing all along, try to appease them through various means that would sooth their souls such as returning the ghost children's tongues.

However there was another way; give the ghost something to be happy about that engulfed even the sea of sadness and regret. While she had heard stories of ghosts being appeased in such a way from her family, she could never imagine that she would ever see it happening in front of her very eyes. Something wriggled in the back reaches of her mind however; what had given Sachiko such hope?

She got her answer no more than after that when she glanced back at Sachiko and Yami to find them laughing and hugging of all things! It was then she understood; it was Yami, he had broken through to the real Sachiko that had been buried as a result of her becoming a spirit.

"But how do we know that you really have changed? You could just be using us to get to the real world to get more victims for your mother!..." Yoshiki interrupted Ayumi's thoughts with words that probably sounded much harsher than intended, at least if Ayumi could still assume that Yoshiki wasn't about to break down in anger, which was a possibility as well.

Sachiko meanwhile had flown away from Yami and was now slowly floating over towards Ayumi with a frown to end all frowns. "I won't... I swear I won't... Please... I'll do whatever you need to earn your trust..."

"Guys, come on, don't bully her!" Seiko finally called out, leaning against the wall for support as she still hadn't quite recovered fully from her near death incident a few minutes prior. "She said she'll do anything, so why don't we get her some therapy? If we work at it hard enough she can be a normal little girl again..."

"But she's a murderous ghost!"

"Didn't you hear me before?... I'll be resurrected in the real world if I go back with this method and I'll be able to..." Sachiko trailed off mid sentence as she began to think about Yami and being able to spend time with him in a way that didn't involve her hanging his most likely dead mothers fate over his head like a worm on a fishing line. Yet another thing to fill her with guilt.

"Come on guys... We basically have no other way of getting home so we have to take Sachiko with us... Besides... Something tells me that she's telling the truth..." Ayumi explained, pulling her scrap of the doll out of her student I.D once again, letting her eyes drift across the clean white surface of the scrap like a sheet of snow that had taken the form of a leaf.

"How do you know?" Naomi asked, puzzled as to why on earth Ayumi had changed her opinion on the subject so quickly, however she was not about to complain about such a thing, instead opting to go along with it.

"I just do..."

.

"Okay... Everyone ready?" Sachiko asked, surveying all of the people in the room as they carefully held out their paper scraps nervously, letting the ghost girl see them clearly, all while Seiko and Yami grasped on to Sachiko's shoulders lightly, just enough to let Sachiko know they were even making contact with her. Everyone had since woken up and had been informed on the proceedings of the events to come so it was rather easy to set up all things considered.

"We're ready Sachiko-chan..." Yami whispered, gently applying further pressure in his grip on Sachiko's shoulder, giving her the silent signal to continue her instructions in the ritual.

"Then repeat the phrase that got you here in the first place, one for each one of you and an extra one for me." Sachiko instructed, "Ready? Go!"

Each and every person silently repeated the magical phrase that had sent them into heavenly host in the first place, plus one for both Yami and one for Sachiko, and suddenly, before anyone could say anything, a gloriously bright flash of light enveloped everybody's field of vision, blinding them as they teleported away...

.

Ayumi was the first to awaken, and she was both surprised and ecstatic with the results of the ritual that they had just preformed. Not only had the ritual worked, but it had teleported them back into the classroom where they had originally teleported out of, leaving everybody not involved in the incident none the wiser.

As she counted over her friend's, the blue haired girl couldn't help but to smile as she counted, as there was one more person in the group than had originally been teleported to the school; a girl with pale skin, long black hair, and a torn red dress... And she was breathing peacefully as she slept, her tiny form enveloped in none of than Yami's arms... She was alive once more...

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**Hey peoples! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry I didn't exactly have much to say today, but I'm on vacation so I can't be online to long without looking like a shut in so... Yeah... Next one should be up in a few days! Until next time my minions!**


	6. Chapter 6: Fight For Life

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 6: Fight For Life**_

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_**This chapter has been updated to fill in a small plot hole I found. There is no major change to the story, and should be ignored if you are a first time reader.**_

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"Yes! I knew Sachiko-san could do it! We're home, we're home!" Seiko squealed in joy as she ran mindlessly around class 2-9 of Kisaragi Academy like she had just been through hell, which in all fairness, she had basically experienced the closest comparison of hell that anyone could ever imagine beyond hell itself. Turning to Naomi, who was silently hugging Satoshi, Seiko began to grope the hair with her hands and a disturbing smile on her face. "Give me a kiss Naomi-chan!"

"What? AHHH!" Naomi screamed as she was sent to the ground by the overwhelming force of Seiko's hug, causing Satoshi to laugh as he observed his crush and her best friend rolling around on the ground, the former desperately attempting to claw away from the latter's grasp. "Get off of me Seiko! Stranger danger, stranger danger!"

"I... I don't believe it... We're actually home..." Yoshiki sighed happily as he took in the sweet sight of the classroom. Every single day he would always dread showing up in school and being forced to spend a whole day there for 5 days a week. God knows he would never complain about such things ever again after spending time in Heavenly Host.

"So this is what they built on top of Tenjin Academy huh?... Wow... The world has changed a lot since I've last seen it..." Sachiko marveled as she strolled over to the whiteboard, gazing around the modern style classroom all the while. Upon arriving at the whiteboard Sachiko used her powers absentmindedly to pick up a marker, drawing on the whiteboard at the end of the classroom.

"Why; how long has it bee-... Oh my God... Sachiko-san! How are you still using powers?!" Satoshi cried out in surprise when he saw that the markers that normally rested on the bottom of the whiteboard were floating around in the air,

"I am?" Sachiko asked, finally noticing what she had absentmindedly been doing, having grown so used to the benefits of her powers over the years. "Oh, well would you take a look at that... That's a good thing I guess..."

"Yeah, it's useful, but you can't let anyone that isn't present in this room know that you have powers okay?" Satoshi instructed with a hint of nervousness in his voice, a sense of apprehension that no one in their right mind would blame him for. After all, if someone saw Sachiko floating around or possessing markers, then it could turn into a really serious issue.

Surprisingly though, instead of protesting the brown haired young man, or outright ignoring him, Sachiko instead nodded and said, "Yes Satoshi-sensei."

"Alright, well as much as I would absolutely love to stay here and risk getting transported back to that place by your new little friend since she still has her powers, I would much rather head home... Would you like to come along Mayu? Your house is on the way." Morishige asked as he turned his gaze to the girl that was his best friend and secret crush, before holding out his hand with a gentle smile adorning his features.

"Okay! Guys, I'm headed home with Shig-nii, have a good night! Welcome back to the living Sachiko-san!" Mayu happily waved at the newly revived Sachiko before taking Morishige's hand, letting him lead her out of the classroom into the cool, and more importantly peaceful, school hallways and out onto the streets below.

"Okay, goodnight!" Sachiko waved happily, surprising everyone but Yami with her humane behavior. Had merely being brought back to the world of the living honestly changed Sachiko to such a degree with such speed? Seemingly it had.

"Wait... I just had a thought..." Satoshi muttered as his face tinted to a bleached white, thoughts running through his brain at nearly a mile minute as he realized a serious issue that, up until that point, either no one had thought of, or had bothered to bring up to the rest of the group. "We never actually thought about something really important..."

"What? Is everything okay?" Naomi asked with growing concern, her palms becoming sweaty as she approached her, rather obvious, crush. She would never admit it, but whenever Satoshi was scared by something, Naomi had the instant reaction of wanting to protect him, although she knew that if there was a true danger lurking around, the roles would most likely be reversed.

"We never actually thought about where Sachiko-san will be living..." Satoshi muttered into his hands which he had slammed in front of his face, although nearly everyone heard him plain as day, causing a pit to form in both Yami and Sachiko's stomachs.

"Oh damn it... What are we going to do?..." Naomi whispered with worry dripping from her words. Meanwhile everyone in the room began to think frantically on where on earth Sachiko could reside, although strangely enough Yoshiki seemed exceedingly calm, especially considering the situation at hand; something that Satoshi noticed immediately. Satoshi knew his best friend rather well, and he knew that whenever Yoshiki was so calm he had an idea. Before Satoshi could point this out however, Ayumi spoke up.

"Wait!... My family will take her!..." Ayumi blurted out, causing everyone, including Yoshiki to snap their gaze towards her in both surprise and suspicion; not so much because they thought that Ayumi was lying, but rather Ayumi's family lifestyle. If anything the group wanted Sachiko to be exposed to spiritual influences as little as possible if it could be helped.

"A-... Are you sure Ayumi-chan?" Satoshi asked frantically, unsure that Ayumi was even in her right mind. "Is it really a good idea to keep Sachiko around spiritual stuff?... Not to mention won't your parents get mad that you just brought home some random 7 year old girl expecting to be cared for just like that?!"

"You're right..." Ayumi sighed in worry, unconsciously biting at her nail which had been nearly worn down to the root since the night had started. "But I'm pretty sure that no one here can claim that their parents will just freely accept a brand new member of the family; that means they would have a whole new mouth to feed without even a small explanation as to why!"

"Well then what do we do?... We certainly can't put her in a group home, we never found Yui-sensei again after you and Yoshiki-san got seperated from her, and besides even if she were still here, she only had a 1 bedroom apartment... What other options do we even have?" Satoshi asked dejectedly, his shoulders slumping considerably as regret washed over him, his mind ripping him apart for bringing a 7 year old back into the world without even considering her living arrangements.

"...I could take her..." Everyone turned to the sound of the voice to find that it had been Yoshiki speaking for the very first time since they had arrived back in Kisaragi high. "I live alone in an apartment with a spare bedroom, and I have a job; plus I used to help my sister babysit a few years back so I could probably handle taking care of Sachiko-san..."

Satoshi stared at his friend as if he had grown a second head for a few moments before he let out a breath that he wasn't even aware that he had been keeping in. "Okay, but what are we going to do about things like paperwork and stuff? As far as parents are concerned we have a problem... Could anyone's mother vouch for-..."

"My mother!" Yami cried out as he jumped up to his feet and dashed towards the door without even giving the slightest warning before he was already running. "I forgot! My mother is in danger, she needs help! Dad was hitting her and she wasn't moving! I need to help her!"

Without uttering a word, Sachiko was immediately in pursuit of her friend, pushing anyone who stood in her way to the ground with her power, which resulted in Naomi and Seiko both falling to the ground, the latter squealing in happiness when she landed on the former's chest.

"Shit... Come on guys we have to follow them!" Satoshi yelled, receiving a nod of understanding from the rest of the group before they followed Naomi to Yami's house, since she and Seiko were the only ones who knew where it was located.

Naomi just prayed that they would be able to stop Yami before he attempted to face his father...

.

Sachiko had honestly forgotten just how hard running for an extended period of time was. Sure, she could probably just take to the skies and fly after Yami, whom she had almost lost sight of once or twice as she chased him through the town that Yami resided in, but it was almost certain that the moment both her feet left the ground one of the many passersby would witness the event and chase after her, and possibly even Yami.

After what seemed like hours of running, Sachiko noticed Yami making a sharp right at the street ahead, and when Sachiko took the same turn, she nearly dropped to the ground in fear at what she saw; the same fear that she had ruled the halls of Heavenly Host with for decades.

Instead of yet another street, which was what Sachiko had been expecting, was a small ornate house. That was not what had caused Sachiko's fear however; that honor rested on the two individuals outside of the house. A man stood there, angrily shaking a small boy, holding him up by his neck, and by the looks of things, also choking the life out of the boy. It was Yami in the man's grasp.

"How's it feel you damn parasite?... You fucking ruined my life when you were born... I should have killed you so long ago... Does it feel good to have the life seeping out of you?" The man, presumably Yami's father, asked in a mocking voice, tightening and loosening his grip at a rapid rate in order to force all the air out of Yami's lungs all that much quicker. "Your mother never answered me... Maybe you will, hmm?"

"S... Sa..." Was the only answer that drifted from between Yami's lips, his eyes beginning to roll into the back of his head.

"What was that my boy?... Are you begging? Come on! Beg!" Yami's father cackled maniacally, shaking Yami around in the air like a rag doll, although for a reason that he couldn't quite figure out, the gaze of his son fought to focus on an area over his shoulder.

"Sa... Sachiko... H... Help... Me..." Yami whispered, before fully losing consciousness, letting the dark veil of serenity take him into its grasp, putting him into a sleep where he would hopefully feel no pain.

"Sachiko? Who the fuck is Sachiko?" Yami's father asked his unconscious son, swinging him back and forth unceremoniously in hopes of receiving an answer, an answer which he eventually got, although not quite in the way he was expecting to receive it.

"...Me..."

"Huh-... _**AAAUUGHHH**_!" Before Yami's father could turn around, a sudden unbearable pain shot through his side as he felt a foreign object being thrust into his flesh at such speed that it caused him to drop his unconscious son into the dirt as he moved his hands to the wound that had been inflicted to his side, only to have the object get ripped out when he attempted to move.

"You deserve to _DIE_!" At this, the object was thrust into Yami's father once again, this time at the backside of his knee, instantly causing him to fall to the ground with a haunting wail of agony. Even the influence of alcohol was not enough to repress the pain that was taking over his senses, soon to be replaced by a sense of numbness that stopped his body cold. "Never touch Yami... _NEVER_!"

The only thing that Yami's father could hear anymore was the continuous thunk, thunk, thunk of whatever his assailant was attacking him with as it made contact with his body. He could only beg more mercy one last time before his mind slipped into unconsciousness as well.

"_STOP_!" A sudden cry from another voice suddenly halted Sachiko as she was about to bring the sharp stone that she wielded down onto Yami's father's head in order to finish him off. When she turned around, she was surprised to find the rest of the group, minus Mayu and Morishige of course, running towards them, with Satoshi in the lead. Once said brown haired boy saw that Sachiko was looking at him he continued to speak. "Don't do this! Killing him isn't the answer!"

"Why _not_?!" Sachiko growled, wiping the blood that had splashed onto her hands on Yami's father's shirt. "He hurt Yami... He deserves to burn in hell! Give me one reason I shouldn't tear his goddamn throat out!"

As if to further prove her point, Sachiko thrust the stone into the man's chest one last time, causing his breathing to become even weaker than it had already become.

"Because... That is Yami-kun's father... Come on... Just spare him... I know that Yami-kun would want you to..." Satoshi reasoned. After a while, Sachiko finally glanced down at the heavily breathing man, before vaporizing the rock in her hand with her powers.

"_Fine_... But only because Yami would want him to live..." Sachiko explained as she walked over and sat next to Yami's unconscious form, before pulling his head onto her lap, letting him use her as a pillow until Yoshiki came up and picked Yami up in his arms.

"Come on... We'll take him to the hospital..." Yoshiki instructed before turning to the rest of the group. "Alright... Ayumi-chan and Seiko-chan, you girls come with me... Satoshi-chan and Naomi-chan, can you two look for Yami-kun's mother and bring her to the hospital as well?"

Everyone in the group agreed with their particular roles, prompting Yoshiki to nod and, with a flick of his head, directed Sachiko, Ayumi, and Seiko to the hospital, where someone would be able to help Yami.

"Don't worry Yami..." Sachiko whispered as they all ran towards the town hospital. "I'll always protect you..."


	7. Chapter 7: Regrets

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 7: Regrets

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**Hey! So if you're wondering where I've been, my computer broke, so I'm sort of just publishing new chapters whenever I can find a computer my friend will let me use! So without further ado, on with the new chapter!**

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At first what Yami heard and felt was almost ethereal. It felt as if his body was floating around the vacuum of space, complete with even the stars floating around him. Surprisingly, even to Yami, what he felt was pure unadulterated bliss, completely ignorant of the physical trauma being inflicted on his body. It was quickly followed by a searing pain shooting throughout his entire body a few moments later however.

When he attempted to scream, Yami was terrified upon hearing his voice, or the lack there of; it was no more than a struggled whisper. Again and again, the young boy tried to project his voice past his lips, but this only served to further tire him. Eventually Yami could resist no more, instead opting to cry silently as he travelled throughout the void with seemingly no hope of getting out.

"This is my fault..." Yami's eyes shot open when he heard none other than Sachiko's voice drifting throughout the ethereal realm, which brought no small amount of relief to the boy. "If I had just run quicker, or even just flown... I don't know I just... I would've been able to reach him in time..."

"Sachiko-san, you did what you could for him... Don't worry alright? He's going to live through this; the doctor said so more than once..." It was Yoshiki's voice that pierced through the void of darkness this time. It sounded much more calm than Yoshiki usually sounded, which was surprising in of itself; but it was equally surprising that the two were having a civil conversation, since everyone had been wary of Sachiko when they had left Heavenly Host. Unfortunately the fear was not without warrant, as much as Yami wished it wasnt the case.

"It makes me wonder... How many others felt this way in my school before I-... I-... _Oh God_; what've I done... I'm a monst-..." Sachiko's voice was suddenly cut off by Yoshiki's, even though the latter's voice was considerably more on the lower end.

"You're_ not_ a monster Sachiko-san... Whatever you've done before meeting us is meaningless to us. You saved us, and thats what counts now..." Yoshiki's voice drifted through. "I can guess by the fact that you were able to do what you did to Yami-san's father that you've probably done some pretty fucked up things, but we don't need, or want, to know about it... You're a different person now..."

"I've done so much... Yami-chan's father was the only one who even remotely deserved it as far as I know... I didn't exactly get to know anyone in Heavenly Host before I ended them..." Sachiko admitted, or at least that's what Yami could guess she was doing. It certainly didn't sound like bragging in any way. "How can I _possibly_ be a changed person when I can do something like that to Yami-chan's father?..."

The statement however also gave Yami pause for thought. His father? What did his father do? He searched through his mind as much as he could, yet there seemed to be some sort of mental barrier blocking his way. Instead all he could see was a smiling woman with black hair tied up in a bun. He had never seen this woman before in his life, yet somehow he was still able to picture her clearly.

"Listen... It's been a_ week_, and he's alive... You didn't kill him, alright?" Yoshiki's voiced seemed comforting, despite the morbid message they were hiding. "And besides, he won't be able to do anything else to Yami-san for a long time; even if he wanted to... He won't get feeling back in his limbs for months after what you've done to him, and by that time his mother will have pressed charges... You're lucky the doctors bought our story about the wild dog... In a way your brutality probably convinced them it _was_ a wild animal..."

"What if Yami-chan hates me for what I've done though?..." Sachiko's worried voice drifted through the void of wherever Yami was floating around in. As much as he tried, he was not able to answer Sachiko however. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't mad, that she did what she thought was right; whatever it actually was. Thankfully Yoshiki did it for him.

"Yami-san adores you... I only saw you two interacting for a few minutes in your school and our high school, but I could tell that he knows something about you that we don't, other than the killings of course, and even so he still really likes you. That has to count for something, right?" Yoshiki was absolutely right; Yuki had informed him of the supposed monster hiding in the guise of a little girl, but even so Yami still wanted to give Sachiko a second chance. After all, if he didn't, then who would? Not that he minded helping her in the slightest.

After a few moments, Yoshiki began to speak again in a rather calm and cautious manner, obviously trying to carefully ease into the question. "So Sachiko-san... I have a proposition for you... You remember how I said I will be able to take care of you?"

This piqued Sachiko's interest almost immediately. When she had originally heard Yoshiki mention the idea, she had just assumed that he was doing no more than forcing a positive facade out of his mouth in order to impress the other Shinozaki that he so obviously adored, although the other Shinozaki seemed completely oblivious to it. "Yes? Why do you bring it up?"

"I've made all the arrangements needed for you to pop up into the world again... Yui-sensei called in a favor from one of her old school peers and got you registered into the international database; so you _basically exist_ again." Yoshiki's voice explained, the voice calm and collected. "I only have two conditions to all of this..."

"Ok... What are they?" Sachiko's voice dominated the space for only a few moments before Yoshiki's voice was apparent once more.

"The first condition is that you attend school, preferably the one Yami-san attends... Is that okay?" A short bout of silence followed by the positivity in Yoshiki's voice led Yami to the conclusion that Sachiko had accepted. "The second is that you attend therapy... I know you may not like the idea, but after all that you've done, we need to make sure that you won't end up doing it again..."

"Fine... I guess I can't complain... I accept..." Sachiko muttered.

"Good... And don't worry, Ayumi-chan told me that she'll go with you, so you won't need to speak to any strangers alone..." Yoshiki's voice called out, which brought a large sense of relief to Yami.

It was then that he heard Sachiko's voice once again.

"Hey... _Hey! Yoshiki-san, what's this mean_?!" Sachiko called out in Yami's head assumed to the young man that she had addressed in the statement. "Look, all the little lines are rising and falling really fast now... What's going on?!"

"It's his heart rate monitor! He's waking up! I have to go and get a doctor quick!" Yami heard, before his vision began to fade once more, although this time, instead of the eternal blackness that crossed his vision before was a small bright light. Without even giving it a second thought, Yami headed for the bright light, his vision eventually overtaken by it.

However, as he slowly regained consciousness a soft female voice, barely audible even in the silence that dominated, broke through his thoughts. "Sachi is my pride and joy... She'd do anything for me-... And you... Take care of her... Love-... With all-... Heart-..."

He could hear no more, as the light enveloped him completely...

.

The light of the room was blinding to Yami at first. When he had opened his eyes originally had was forced to clamp his eyes shut once again, since the light felt as if it were burning out his corneas.

"Yami-chan?..." A small voice, Sachiko's, echoed throughout the room, forcing Yami to at the very least open his ears to hear what his friend had to say although opted to keep his eyes peacefully shut for now. He wanted to know what Sachiko was saying. "Are you awake?... Yoshiki-san said that you were waking up... He went to go and get a doctor..."

When Yami heard the word doctor come out of Sachiko's mouth, he nearly got up right then and there, but was able to restrain himself by the skin of his teeth, if only to hear Sachiko's voice; although he had no idea why he wanted to hear it. It would be exactly the same even if he were awake and speaking to her. Perhaps it was the concern in her words? No one besides his mother evercspoke to Yami in such a way, and this was coming from someone his age.

"You're asleep right?..." Sachiko paused for a good few seconds before she began to speak again, her voice much quieter than it usually was. "...I haven't ever really told anyone this, and I doubt you can even hear me; but I-... I know that your friends, and maybe even you will never believe me... But I _regret_ what I've done you know... In Heaveny Host I mean..."

Staying still was becoming increasingly difficult for Yami with each word that slipped out of Sachiko's mouth. He wanted to jump and tell her that he wasn't mad at her, that he couldn't be mad at her, but something in his head, some desire to hear everything, was keeping him rooted in place; forcing himself to listen to Sachiko confessing to no less than regret for murder.

"When I was killing them I... I don't know, I guess I just felt like I was giving someone else my pain, even if it was just for a little while... But the pain always came back eventually; sometimes even worse than ever before..." As Sachiko spoke, her hands eventually found their way over to one of Yami's, holding onto his limp digits like a lifeline. "When I started killing at first, I was just doing it to please my mother but... Eventually... It just became fun... Fun to live without the pain of my murder hanging over my head like an axe... I never wanted to kill for its own sake believe it or not, but it gave me something besides that _principle_ to think about..."

As Sachiko continued to speak, Yami began to wonder exactly what Sachiko had gone through in order to become the way she had. However before Yami could delve further into his contemplation he was forced to refocus on paying attention to Sachiko, as her voice began to quaver with sadness. She had begun to cry in the time that Yami had been lost in his thoughts.

"That principle... He murdered my mother in front of me by pushing her down a flight of stairs and then he strangled me... I _hated_ him for what he did so much, I even twisted his son's mind but-... I really didn't want to, I just wanted someone to _understand _me... Even if it was my killer's son..." Yami then realized it, why Sachiko had such a large red mark around her neck; it was the aftermath of the murderer's attack. A few moments later, Sachiko began to speak once again.

"I wasn't happy with it though, I just couldn't speak _honestly_ to him... I'm even afraid to tell you these things, at least without crying like a _fool_... You're the _only_ person I could ever tell... I... I don't want to lose anyone else... I don't want to lose _you_..." The grip on Yami's hand increased drastically as Sachiko stood on her feet and began to beg in a way Yami never thought he would hear; with fear in her words. "I'm sorry... Yami-chan... I'm so sorry I hurt everyone... Please wake up... _I'm so sorry for what I've done_!..."

Suddenly, Sachiko froze and glanced down at her and Yami's hands. A small but desperate smile crawled across her face when she realized what she was feeling. As she slowly pressed on Yami's hand, she nearly began to laugh in relief as she felt Yami's hand squeeze her pale hands back.

Without an ounce of hesitation in her mind, Sachiko immediately pounced on Yami's bed, rubbing the top of her head against his cheek like an affectionate cat, all while Yami laughed softly, wincing slightly at the pain radiating throughout his lungs from lack of serious use for however long he was out for.

As his lungs continually adjusted to the increased air intake, Yami finally began to consider just how long that he had been out, and with a serious amount of effort, Yami was finally able to lift his head up to address his friend. "S-... Sachiko-chan?... How long has it been?... How long have I been asleep?..."

"Around a _week_ my boy!" A loud voice called out, forcing Yami to look towards the source of the disturbance. What came into his vision was a rather elderly looking man, presumably the doctor, standing in the doorway, surrounded on either side by Ayumi and Yoshiki, while Seiko trailed slightly behind, obviously distracted out of her wits for whatever reason.

"A week?... What happened to me?..." Yami was able to just barely struggle out his question before he was forced to relieve the muscles in his neck, as they burned with an overwhelming pain due to the lack of use over the last 7 days.

"_Careful my boy_!" The doctor chastised Yami as he ran over to adjust the boys pillows, shooing Sachiko off of the bed, much to her displeasure. Once Sachiko was off of Yami and once again sitting in her chair next to Yami's bed, the doctor began to speak again. "You only just woke up, and your neck was rather badly injured when you were brought in. In fact, you were _strangled _by your father."

"_Hey_! Don't lay it on him so _suddenly_!" Ayumi spoke up, walking up to grasp one of Yami's hands in a comforting gesture; he missed Sachiko's glare of jealously however, as her attention was completely focused on the doctor. "He almost lost both of his parents in one _night_! Couldn't you be a little more subtle with your approach at the very least?..."

"Oh! My apologies! Sometimes I tend to let things just slip right out of my mouth... Ah, I must learn to filter such things!" The doctor confessed, before shuffling over to one of the closets, pulling out a small bottle of painkillers. Shuffling back over to the bed, the doctor pulled a pill out of the bottle, split it in half, and handed the smaller half to Yami. "Take this; it'll help with the pain for now. You'll be discharged before dinner, so you'll be able to go back with your friends; okay?"

"What about my mother?..." Yami asked, before taking the pill without complaints.

"She-... Your mother is quite badly injured... She'll be with us for a few days, possibly weeks, unfortunately... Your friends the Mochida's have already said that they will take care of you for the next few weeks." The doctor explained slowly, being sure to let Yami absorb the information at his leisure, and strangely enough Yami didn't seem all that bothered by the concept.

"I understand... You're talking about Satoshi-senpai and Yuka-san right?" Yami asked, more to confirm that the Mochida family that the doctor spoke of was one and the same that his two friends belonged to.

"Correct. Along with their parents of course!" The doctor explained while he began to scribble down information on a discharge sheet. "I must say my boy, you have some rather generous friends! They didn't even think twice about it before they accepted the responsibility of taking care of you for the next few weeks, a trait that is becoming as rare as Atlantis sadly..."

"Well anyway... Hey Sachiko-chan, how about we go down to the café and get us all some dinner?" Ayumi suggested with a smile while she clasped her hands together in such a way that she appeared to be as social as she possibly could to the other Shinozaki.

"Okay!... Wait..." Sachiko's smile disappeared as she hesitated, before turning to Yami with concern inlayed in her eyes. "Are you going to be okay?..."

"I'll be fine. Yoshiki-senpai, Seiko-senpai, and the doctor are all here... Go get dinner... You must really want a real meal after so long..." Yami chuckled, with only Sachiko and the Kisaragi High Students were able to pick up on, leaving the doctor none the wiser; not that the elderly gentleman was paying much attention at all anyway, his eyes focused on the form in front of him.

"Alright. We'll be back soon, we'll bring you all something!" Ayumi declared before ushering Sachiko out of the room towards the café...


	8. Chapter 8: The Truth

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 8: The Truth

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***Cough* Uhm... Hiya... :D... *BANG* I'M SORRY! I had some stuff to do people to see!... And I sorta forgot I write fics for a few months... So yeah. o. o This story will once again be regularly updated. Sorry about such a long long wait! On with the chapter!**

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"So... I'm guessing you like sushi?" Ayumi giggled as she watched in fascination as Sachiko ate. It had started off quite well, with Sachiko patiently using her chopsticks to secure the sushi on the plate. However the moment that the food touched Sachiko's lips the chopsticks were all but forgotten, the young girl instead opting to employ her hands for such a task.

"What makes you say that?" Sachiko asked after swallowing a particularly large piece of sushi nearly whole, before glancing around at the other patrons of the hospital café; taking the extra time to glare at those who were staring at her for eating in such an odd fashion.

"Well I suppose it's normal considering your situation. Just don't overdo it!" Ayumi laughed, before taking a small sip of her soda while checking her phone to find 3 unread texts and nearly 5 missed calls from Yoshiki ranging from the time they entered heavenly host until up until a few minutes ago; a text to update on Yami's status, and that he was already eating well minutes after the two girls left.

Ayumi could not help but to let out another chuckle upon seeing her phone screen. Every single text she received over the last few days were from Yoshiki all making sure that she okay. It was strange really, to have the most uncaring person in her high school texting her multiple times on the topic of her safety, yet her crush had barely said two words to her.

It was then she realized someone else that made her tilt her head in slight shame. She had never responded to any of the messages in front of her. She had never responded to any of the messages that Yoshiki had ever sent her since they met now that she thought deeper into the subject.

"Kishinuma-kun huh... You two got something going on?" Ayumi heard from over her shoulder, only to find that Sachiko had snuck up behind her to read the texts from over her shoulder. Ayumi was quick to shoo Sachiko back to her side if the table, the younger of the two giggling as she repositioned herself once more. "I'd be surprised if you didn't really, he treats you like a girlfriend."

"He does _not_!" Ayumi responded with a giggle of her own, although now that Sachiko had mentioned it, Yoshiki had become extremely protective since the Heavenly Host incident, as it was now known, and was almost always by her side if he could help it. "Kishinuma-kun is just a friend!"

"Oh? So you _didn't_ know he likes you?" Sachiko asked, confused as to why Ayumi was suddenly acting the way she was, although she could not help but to notice Ayumi's eyes widen considerably when she spoke.

"Are... Are you serio-... Never mind, I'm sure you're just mistaken." Ayumi laughed off Sachiko's comment with a dismissing wave of her hand before taking a long gaze out of the window, giving her a few precious moments to think to herself. It had been an entire week since the incident at Heavenly Host, yet Ayumi still had quite a bit of trouble coming to terms with the events that took place there.

Sure, no one had died, Ayumi was eternally thankful for that, yet the young woman couldn't shake the strange feeling that if Yami hadn't been there, things could have turned out much worse for many of them. It was almost as if, contrary to his name, Yami was the only ray of light in the darkness of that school. Perhaps that was why he was able to break through to Sachiko.

"So... When will Yami be able to leave that hospital bed?" Sachiko asked after finally ceasing her relentless onslaught against the plate of sushi that had all but vanished against Sachiko's unceasing attack. She looked rather worried, although Ayumi hadn't noticed since her vision was still resolutely out the window, watching as two young adults, obviously a couple, smiled and laughed happily as they walked away from the hospital, a small baby in the girls arms.

Eventually Ayumi realized she'd have to provide Sachiko with an answer. Unfortunately she had also failed to judge how Sachiko would react to a bitterly honest statement.

"I'm not sure... His father did do a number on him, we're lucky that he didn't end up-..." A sudden slam on the table in front of her brought Ayumi's attention back to Sachiko, who's long black hair had fallen in front of her eyes, the shadows obscuring her eyes from all those around her. "Sachiko-chan?... What's wrong?..."

"Please... Just don't talk about what could've happened... It didn't so I don't want to hear about it..." Sachiko's voice lowered to little more than a stained whisper. Another thing that Ayumi quickly noticed was the sound "He's alive... I saved him... I _hope_ I saved him..."

Ayumi was stunned at first, but was able to quickly compose herself, giving off the illusion that she hadn't even missed a figurative step. "You did... I know you must be worried about what happened and you have every right to be, but Yami-san is safe. Besides, you could've done something to-..."

"It's not about what I _Could_ have done... You have no idea how painful, and how cold and lonely, is to die by strangulation... You literally feel yourself drifting away from your body, unable to do anything, not even scream for _help_..." As Sachiko spoke Ayumi had noticed that the young girls hand was slowly inching towards her own hand resting on the table like a snake stalking it's prey. "Here.. I'll show you..."

Suddenly, without giving Ayumi even a minuet hint of warning to her upcoming actions, Sachiko's hand shot towards Ayumi's own hand, grasping it in what appeared to be an iron grip that she could do nothing to escape from.

At first Ayumi was surprised, and was considering pulling her hand back and running, but soon found that her body seemed to be considerably weaker than it was only moments before, leaving her to merely stare at Sachiko with terror in her eyes, although her vision was quickly fading into little more than a dank black haze.

"Don't be scared... You won't actually get hurt..." Ayumi heard Sachiko's voice whisper through the dank haze. "I just want to show you something that I think is important for you to know... Because... I need to tell someone the truth... I need to tell someone what really happened..."

Ayumi could not even mutter a weakened cry of panic before her vision was completely taken over by the darkness and her head impacted with the table; her conscious sucked into Sachiko...

.

It was cold, there was no denying that. The moment that the chill hit Ayumi's body, she immediately wrapped her arms around her chest, attempting to save the little warmth that still lay in her body. It was soon drawn out however, seemingly ripped out of her by some form of malevolent force.

Wasting no time on laying on the cold floor any longer, Ayumi pulled herself off of the wooden floor, only for her breath to hitch in the back of her throat upon witnessing the scene in front of her.

There stood a horrified Sachiko, looking very much alive, with a tan-yellow dress that matched her shoes; which were absent in her current form, Ayumi noted. Towering above her was a heavy set man in a coat and funny looking glasses with a stern, nearly emotionless expression on his face.

Suddenly, Ayumi was seemingly pulled towards Sachiko by some unseen force, a sharp pain coursing through her that forced her vision to dissipate. When it returned Ayumi realized that she was gazing through the eyes of Sachiko. She was about to witness whatever horrific event that made Sachiko the way she was first hand.

"Mommy?..." The young girl's voice was little more than a faint whisper, her eyes locked on the disfigured form of a woman, whose next was twisted in an unnatural angle at the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh hello... Sachiko..." The principle uttered, gazing at the child with apprehension in his eyes. A lost look, almost as if something in him was at the breaking point, ready to snap like a board under pressure at a moments notice. It was then his gaze hardened once more. "You saw, didn't you?..."

It took only a moment longer for Sachiko to break into a sprint, running down the stairs as fast as her 7 year old legs could possibly carry her away from the horrifying scene she had just witnessed. The principle was almost immediately on her tail, only mere feet behind her throughout their entire chase.

All through the empty halls she ran, glancing into classrooms every so often in search of a teacher who she could run to, anyone who could protect her from the man attempting to grab her, the man who she had just witnessed kill her mother.

But no one was there.

Eventually she began to lose her pursuer, and upon noticing that she was out of her gaze, made a quick turn and ran into the school bathroom, hiding in one of the many stalls which lined the bathroom wall, hoping up onto the toilet so that her feet weren't visible to anyone looking at the stall from a straight angle.

Moments later, the sound of the principles shoes on the hard wooden floor came into ear-shot, slowly drawing ever closer until the noise ceased just in front of the stall in which Sachiko was doing her best to stay hidden.

"_C'mere_!" It wasn't enough. The principle ripped open the bathroom stall door with such force that it snapped the modest metal lock keeping it in place like a twig, revealing the terrified girl whom he had been chasing. With a scream that nearly burst the principles ear drums, the young girl leapt from the toilet seat in a panic, only to be grabbed by the scruff of her neck.

In moments she found herself hanging by her neck by way of her murderous principles hands above the broken corpse of her recently deceased mother, the life being strangled out of her slowly as tears fell from her fear struck eyes. She wanted to scream out, to cry for someone, for anyone to rescue her.

But instead, all she felt was pain as her world darkened around her, her last breath forced out of her by the man who's cold, unfeeling eyes would haunt her forever in the afterlife, the spark of her insanity.

.

The first sensation Ayumi felt as she awoke was the dull throbbing of a headache. A headache most likely developed from her head slamming onto the table when Sachiko had... What had Sachiko done exactly?

Lifting her head from the hard plastic table, Ayumi slowly let her eyes readjust to the soft light of the hospital cafe. All seemed relatively normal. The remaining food was still resting on the table, the drinks her and Sachiko had carefully selected were still half full on the table, and the clock showed that not even ten full minutes had truly passed since she had checked the clock last, which was when Sachiko had still been eating.

Upon turning her gaze to the young girl in question however, Ayumi's breath hitched in her throat. Sachiko was still in front of her, but something seemed ominous about her at first. Her hair had fallen in front of her eyes completely covering her face like a shroud and her shoulders were shaking violently, almost as if she were giggling.

"Sachiko-chan?... Are you... Are you alright?..." Ayumi asked, a chill running down her spine. However it soon became clear that upon closer inspection, Ayumi noticed that the sounds coming from the young girl was not laughter at all.

It was then that Sachiko raised her head to look at Ayumi, and it was then that Ayumi saw the true situation; Sachiko's face was covered in tears, and she was biting her lip in an attempt to hold back a sob, although a few small ones had slipped past her defenses easily.

"M-.. Mommy trusted him!... And _he killed her_!..." Sachiko cried out, causing a few onlookers to turn to them for a moment, before returning to whtever they were doing before largely uninterested in whatever the girl was speaking of, although a few gazes lingered a moment longer, their eyes filled with sympathy.

"Why though?... Do you know why he... Did what he did?..." Ayumi asked, the caution clear in her tone of voice. Sachiko couldn't blame her for such trepidation around her, especially after all they had been through. However this was where she could begin to make things right. To trust in others.

"I'm not sure... But after he killed me be buried me in the basement of the school and called the authorities... He told them that my mother had fallen down the stairs, and that I had run off into the town upon seeing my mothers body..." Sachiko confessed, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes with the small napkin provided with her meal as she spoke. "Eventually though... I had enough..."

A sudden chill ran down Ayumi's spine once Sachiko whispered those words, as if she had infused her very breath with ill intentions. Unable to come up with the words for a proper response, Ayumi merely waited for Sachiko to continue.

"I haunted him... Whispering in his ear, and slowly drove him mad, until one day he ran down to the basement, dug me up, and cut out my tongue... I had to go through so much to get it back!" Sachiko growled, her teeth visibly clenched, her eyes threatening to overflow with tears once again. "I was alone for so long because of him! He robbed me of my life... Of everyone that has ever cared about me!..."

"That's not true... I care..._ We_ care..." Both Sachiko and Ayumi jumped at the new voice which entered the conversation, to find Yami perched in a wheelchair being pushed around by Yoshiki, both with deep frowns on their faces.

"How-... How much of that did you hear Yami?..." Sachiko asked, afraid that she had accidentally yelled out her plight to the entire cafeteria, which was not only a risk in others finding out about her past, but also that she had embarrassed both her and Ayumi.

"We... We heard enough of it..." Yoshiki muttered, slowly pushing Yami over to the table, leaving the boy to the mercy of Sachiko's hugs before glancing uneasily to the empty space next to Ayumi. Thankfully the girl in question noticed, and gently pat the space with her palm, signaling to Yoshiki the go-ahead to sit next to her, an opportunity he did not waste. "Well I do happen to have some relatively good news. Yami-kun has been officially discharged, and we can take him home tonight. Unfortunately the Mochidas are already home, so I'll have to take him with me for tonight."

"Alright... Will you be able to get home with both of them?" Ayumi asked as Sachiko pulled Yami's chair over to the window, both of them pointing out things that interested them.

"I should be fine... Thanks Shinozaki..." Yoshiki muttered, before he felt a small hand on his shoulder. Looking to the source he found Ayumi, smiling softly. A smile that so far he had only seen directed at Satoshi. "W-... What's wrong?"

"You can call me Ayumi if you want you know. You'll _need_ to now actually, now that we have another Shinozaki in the group..." Ayumi giggled once more before she got to her feet, gave Sachiko a pat on the shoulder, grabbed her stuff, and began to walk away from the table. "Goodnight guys! I'll talk to you all later."

With that, Yoshiki and the two children made their way back to his apartment, Sachiko hand in hand as they went, the rhythmic rumbling of Yami's wheelchair perfectly complimenting the orange sunset in the distance, almost as if the heavens themselves were watching over this new family, guiding them into the future.

Once they arrived at the apartment, Yoshiki quickly made up a futon for himself, and made the bed for Yami and Sachiko, although it was big enough for all three of them with room to spare, he still wanted to be at least a little separate from Sachiko. He would call it both a sense of decency along with a survival instinct, a least for the time being. He knew he would have to make a permanent bed for Sachiko eventually, but at the moment he was just too tired to care.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, with Sachiko glad to finally experience sleep after so long, clinging to a snoring Yami like a life-line as she slept. Yoshiki was in bed soon after, a small smile on his face.

He finally had a chance to be happy, to have a family of his own...

.

**Just incase anyone wants to know, I'm using a combo of both game and anime canon. Just sorta stacking the events so that I can use them at some point during the story. So anyway... Until next time (which is soon!) my minions!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Rescue

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 9: The Rescue**_

.

**Yo peoples. So I think it's time that Yoshiki and Ayumi got a little bit of attention in their ship. Their relationship will obviously develop into romance long before Sachiko and Yami's, but you will see them fall in love with each other while we focus on Yoshiki and Ayumi. That may change at any time but for now that is the plan, and don't worry, they absolutely will be getting together! :3 Without further ado, onto the chapter!**

**.**

It was nearly 3 in the morning when the soft knock came on Yoshiki's apartment door. Thankfully Yoshiki could not find solace in his dreams thanks to the time that they had spent wandering in the cursed halls of Heavenly Host Elementary, and therefore was wide awake in his living room, staring blankly at the tv which was playing some random movie that Yoshiki hadn't truly even been paying attention to.

When the knock first came, Yoshiki had nearly buried himself in his couch from the surprise, instead opting for a loud curse along with throwing his tv remote across the room like a baseball, causing it to embed itself in between a few branches in one of his plants. Believing that whatever was on the other side of the door was something that may have possibly been some form of monster that had followed Sachiko from Heavenly Host, Yoshiki crept over to his kitchen, and retrieved a large chefs knife from a set resting in a wooden block on the counter.

Slowly Yoshiki shuffled over to the door, gripping the knife in his hand so hard that his knuckles had turned white. With a small pause for breath, Yoshiki slowly turned the doorknob, before throwing the door open and raising his blade into the air ready to face whatever threat lay at the other side of the door.

Unfortunately for Yoshiki's ego, the only thing that stood on the other side of the door made his heart skip a beat. It was a tired looking Ayumi, haphazardly dressed in her weekend clothes, with tears running down her cheeks, and her eyes wide, although Yoshiki suspected that the last point was more from him charging out of his apartment with a knife than any prior incident.

"K-... Kishinuma-kun?..." Ayumi asked, slightly confused as to why her friend appeared as if he were ready to do battle with a thug. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh.. Oh!" Yoshiki could almost literally feel his stomach ball up as he hid the knife behind his back and put on his best nonchalant smile while rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. His demeanor quickly changed once he was able to recover, his facial features shifting to that of concern. "It's almost 3 in the morning Shinozaki-chan... What on earth are you doing here?"

"I told you to call me Ayumi." The young woman muttered as she began to shiver, though Yoshiki was unsure as to why. It wasn't cold outside, even for the middle of the night, which made her shivering all the more unsettling to Yoshiki. Eventually after a few moments of silence, Ayumi spoke once more. "Can I come in?..."

"Yeah, sure, come on in-..." Yoshiki was suddenly cut off when he felt the kitchen knife he had been holding being wrenched out of his grip with the force of a wild animal. Spinning around on his heel, both Yoshiki and Ayumi found Sachiko, standing in the middle of the room with the knife in her hand, and her mouth tilted into an unamused frown. "Uh.. Sachiko-chan?... Everything okay?..."

"Do you know what time it is Kishinuma-kun? _Don't wake Yami up_..." With those words Sachiko calmly strolled over to the kitchen and gently slid the knife back in it's proper holster as she hummed before turning around to find both Yoshiki and Ayumi standing with their eyes wide, and mouths agape. "Oh... Hey Ayumi-chan. Why're you here?"

"Oh don't worry about that Sachiko-chan, you should go and keep Yami-kun company. He might be wondering where you are." To Ayumi's credit, she had recovered quickly to supply Sachiko, though she laughed nervously all the while while Sachiko tilted her head in confusion, before the young girl shrugged her shoulders in resignation.

"Suit yourself... Good night." Sachiko muttered simply, shuffling over to the bedroom door, only glancing back once more before she disappeared into the inky blackness of the shadows and the bedroom door was slammed shut, ironically making more noise than Yoshiki ever had. Although neither noticed a few thin strands of black hair slither it's way out of the bottom of the door along with the pupil scanning them from space between the bottom of the door and the floor.

"She's still really unsettling sometimes..." Yoshiki mumbled before turning to Ayumi, who had shuffled into the apartment closing the door behind her. Gently, he lay his hands on her shoulders as he spoke. "But never mind that right now. What're you doing here Ayumi-chan? Your mother would have a stroke if she found out you left the house in the middle of the night without telling her!"

"I know... I... I needed to talk to you when I knew we would be alone..." Ayumi finally managed to stutter out after multiple attempts, her shoulders visibly shaking once again. "It's kind of important, can we find a place to sit?"

This was a much different Ayumi than Yoshiki was used to seeing. Usually the moment he saw the class rep she would immediately begin to ride him for arriving late, without his homework, or even about the previous day if he had skipped that particular day.

This Ayumi however was a completely different person. She seem vulnerable and unsure of herself. Some would even see her and describe weakness.

With a nod, Yoshiki gestured towards the couch, sitting down a moment after Ayumi had, before turning his body slightly so he was nearly completely facing her. She noticed the concerned look on his face, which perfectly mirrored his next statement. "Did I do something wrong? If I did I'm sorry, I-..."

"No. It's nothing like that..." Ayumi began to fidget with a random charm bracelet slung around her wrist as she bit her lip in either apprehension or flat out fear. "I've just... It's the first night I've really been alone with just my thoughts since we were trapped in... You know... And I just couldn't shut my eyes... I keep thinking about how _close_ we all came to death..."

"Oh yeah... Honestly I'm not too sure that any of us will ever truly come to terms with what we saw in there... Even Yami-kun..." Yoshiki never even noticed his voice draw down into no more than a soft whisper. "He's a really great kid, but he went through a place that rivals _hell_ for no reason of his own... We all did... I think we'll all probably have to deal with what we saw in there for the rest of our lives..."

"Kishinuma-kun... Can I ask you something?..." Upon receiving a nod in affirmation from Yoshiki, Ayumi continued her voice becoming more unstable with each word that she spoke. "Why were you so... Why did you put yourself in harms way so many times in that school just to protect _me_? We were barely even friends before that place and _now_-..."

Suddenly, as if on cue, both Yoshiki and Ayumi jumped upon hearing a knock on the door once again, with apprehension slowly building inside of them, although the growing nervousness shared between the two was more the mutual fear that Sachiko would hear and get annoyed at the sound of another ruckus.

As quietly as he could without tiptoeing, Yoshiki strolled over to the door and calmly opened it halfway, before the door was suddenly pushed open with such force that it nearly threw Yoshiki to the ground.

"Ooh, are we interrupting something _juicy_ Kishinuma-kun?" Yoshiki knew that voice all too well. Glancing up he found none other than Seiko Shinohara grinning slyly at him, with Satoshi and Naomi in tow, both looking much more exhausted than their comrade, although Yoshiki could not help but to notice how close they were to each other, nearly shoulder to shoulder.

"N-... No... You weren't." Yoshiki mumbled, before picking himself up off of the ground with a slight frown, before turning to the others expectantly, hoping to receive some sort of explanation as to why they were turning up to his apartment at such an ungodly hour.

"Hey Yoshiki-san. We were all going to go and feed Monet and we figured we'd stop by... But it looks like you already have company." Satoshi said with a grin, stepping into the apartment and past Seiko, who happily took his place next to Naomi, pulling her in by her arms.

"Uh... Uh.. Yeah." Yoshiki stopped for but a moment before composing himself once again. "Wait... _Monet?!_ Yui-senei's apartment is open?!"

"Yeah. I've been stopping by in to feed Monet every day since... You know..." Satoshi explained, his eyes becoming downcast along with the others as they remembered their missing and most likely fallen teacher.

Everyone fell silent for what seemed like hours until the entire group heard the soft click of a door handle. Turning slowly to the door, unsure of what to expect, everyone except for Yoshiki and Ayumi was surprised to see a curious looking Sachiko walk out of the room.

"Since what, Mochida-kun?" She asked, walking over to him, tilting her head up slightly so that she came into eye contact with him, which inadvertently caused her hair to shift back and expose the red marks on her pale neck.

"Since... Heavenly host... Our teacher came to heavenly host with us... But..." Satoshi trailed off for but a moment before he found the mental fortitude to continue. "We never found her after Kishinuma-kun and Ayumi-chan got separated from her..."

"I don't remember anyone recently that looked like a teacher..." Sachiko pondered as she paced the room, digging through her memory for any teachers to come through Heavenly Host recently, though despite doing all she could to remember, she couldn't figure out who they referred to. "Did she actually _die _or did you just get separated from her?"

Ayumi was the one to answer her this time, although she never even glanced at Sachiko, instead opting to gaze at the floor. "Well Yui-senei was transported into the same room as Kishinuma-kun and I but she went off to find the rest of our group... It's the last time any of us saw her..."

"Well... I could go and get her." Sachiko said with a shrug causing various reactions among the group, all ranging from surprised gasps to a full on squeal of joy from Seiko, who began to do a little dance in the corner.

"Wait! We can rescue her?! _How_?!" Yoshiki asked, his attention fully directed at Sachiko, who shrugged once more.

"You just have to make another paper doll. I'll go back to find her... I just need someone else to take the other half of the doll..." Sachiko explained, glancing around the room expecting to hear a barrage of protests, but surprisingly, she heard none.

"Alright. I'll go with her I guess." Satoshi sighed, before turning to Ayumi and Seiko, the latter of whom was whispering something into the formers ear which made her blush after glancing at Yoshiki. "Shinohara, can you and Ayumi-san go to the 24/7 Konbini* and print out a few dolls?"

"Sure thing boss!" Seiko yelled with a mock salute before dragging a protesting Ayumi out of the door. "Come Ayumi-chan, our quest to rescue Yui-sensei begins!"

Sachiko however seemed troubled, her eyes blanly staring at the ground. She did not want to put her new friends back in danger for someone who may be dead, but she had no other options. Unless. Sachiko silent glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to her before the faintest trace of a sick grin twisted onto her face.

She knew exactly who she could get to volunteer to go to Heavenly Host with her.

.

After a few tense minutes of silence with no real conversation taking place between her, Sachiko, or the boys, Naomi finally spoke up, tearing through the blanket of silence like a knife. "Hey Kishinuma-kun, do you mind if I go and make everyone some coffee? I don't think any of us will be going back to sleep tonight."

"Uh, sure. I don't have a machine or anything, you'll have to use a strainer." Yoshiki explained as he gestured to a small strainer along with a small note on the cupboard above it that read 'coffee' in kanji.

"That's fine, I'll manage. Thanks Kishinuma-kun!" Naomi called, strolling over the kitchen to begin the process of creating the caffeinated drinks.

Silence dominated once again for a few moments until Yoshiki pulled a random question out of thin air. "So I see that Shinohara-chan dragged you and Naomi-chan out of bed... But where's Yuka-chan? She's usually right by your side all the time, and I'm sure she would've heard you get up every night."

"Oh... Yeah... She's been waking up with night terrors, so she and my mother are staying in my parents room while my father stays in her room." Satoshi explained, his concern showing plainly in his face while he began to awkwardly fiddle with his hands, suddenly extremely interested in the floor. "My parents are thinking of getting her some therapy... I hope it will help..."

"That's... Too bad... I think we would all benefit from a visit to a therapist, especially Sachiko-chan. Hopefully someday we'll all be able to forget about that damn place..." Naomi said from the kitchen causing Sachiko to puff her cheeks out in guilt upon the mention of Heavenly Host and the possibly irreparable mental damage it may have done to all of her new friends.

"So... What exactly was Ayumi-chan doing over here at such a weird time anyway? Did we accidentally interrupt something important?" Satoshi asked, attempting to change the subject to anything else, although he had to admit he was rather curious as to why their class rep was at his best friend's apartment at 3 in the morning without a justified reason.

Like a light going off in his head, Yoshiki groaned loudly before turning to the wall, slamming his forehead against it. The group stared blankly at Yoshiki as he banged his head on the wall, causing small cracks to eventually appear in the drywall like it was being hit repeatedly with a brick.

"I can't believe it! I didn't even realize how perfect an opportunity that was!" Yoshiki cried between head slams, small almost unnoticeable tears beginning to appear at the corner of his eyes.

"Aww, poor Yoshiki-kun! If only you had just a little more time!" Sachiko was holding her sides in a giggle fit, nearly falling to the ground in her torrent of laughter, which Satoshi happily joined in, falling onto the couch in a fit of laughter that rivaled even Sachiko's, which was certainly saying something.

"So you guys _'were' _talking about something important huh?" Satoshi somehow gasped out between his bouts of laughter.

"Satoshi! Be nice to Kishinuma-kun!" Naomi laughed as she brought over a few mugs filled with the decaf coffee that she had found in the kitchen, along with a smaller one for Sachiko, who accepted the small mug with a grateful smile.

"_Never_! Come on Yoshiki-san, there's no hiding it! What was it?" Satoshi prodded with a sly grin, almost as if he were conveying a different message entirely. One that didn't so much want to know what exactly was going on, but how far it had gotten before they were interrupted.

Yoshiki however was not ready to relent in his stance quite yet, digging in his metaphorical heels, he crossed his arms over his chest and spoke proudly. "Nothing! None of you have any idea what you're talking ab-..."

Sachiko cut him off happily blurting out, "Ayumi-chan makes Kishinuma-kun horny."

"She _what_?!" Satoshi asked in between guffaws while Naomi covered her mouth in shock, although she was secretly laughing as well. Satoshi was right back on the couch, almost rolling off at one point due to the lack of horizontal space. "Oh God! That's rich! Looks like Sachiko-chan has your number already man!"

"_Sachiko!_..." Yoshiki growled, attempting to lunge for the girl, only to slam forehead-first into another wall when she stepped to the side, seemingly uninterested in Yoshiki's assault.

Sachiko despite appearing calm was completely dumbstruck. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she gazed up at Satoshi. "What? All I said was that-..."

"Don't say it again!" Naomi pleaded, her face now shifted into a flustered smile as she silently pleaded to Sachiko through her gaze to not repeat herself, although Sachiko still couldn't understand where all the fuss was coming from.

"But... But isn't that what people say now when they like each other?" She asked, her head still tiled to one side.

"Where _the hell _did you hear that?!" Yoshiki asked, now calmer than he initially was, although he was still mildly annoyed with the girl. Of course there was the point that no one exactly learned anything new. Both Satoshi and Naomi knew about Yoshiki and his huge amount of affection towards their class rep.

"Some teenagers that came to Tenjin a few days before you guys. A guy told his friend he was 'horny' and she she was as well so they started kissing and hugging until blockhead came and killed them both." Sachiko explained as if the occurrence was a near daily activity.

Suddenly, before anyone could make further comment on what Sachiko had said, Seiko burst through the door once more, still dragging Ayumi by the hand like a human rag doll like before, however they now possessed the small stack of paper that they had been sent out to go and print. Two pure white genderless dolls had already been cut out and were held firmly between Ayumi's thumb and index finger on her free hand.

Sachiko, without missing a beat, silently strolled over to Ayumi, and was handed the dolls by Ayumi, never bothering to thank, or seemingly even acknowledge the older Shinozaki, nor anyone else in the room, before Yoshiki spoke up to address Sachiko with all of his usual grace.

"Hey, what gives? Don't you need someone else to come with you?" He asked, about to stand in her way until he noticed the look on her face, or rather the lack of one. Her long black hair had fallen in front of her face like a shroud, obscuring her face completely from everyone present.

Yoshiki had the good sense to get out of her way almost immediately, instead opting to stand beside Ayumi, who unbeknownst to him, smiled ever so slightly at the sudden lack of distance between them.

"Oh I do... I'm going to go and get my _special volunteer_ now." Sachiko uttered in a voice that none of them truly recognized, but knew in their gut was the voice of evil. Sachiko's mannerisms had almost completely flown out the window, replacing the previous happy little girl with a seemingly emotionless shell which had been inhabited by a sort of negative aura.

What she said just then proved otherwise however. "If Yami wakes up tell him I wanted to go and get some food from the Konbini or something... Tell him I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk... Just don't tell him I went back to find your teacher..."

Yoshiki could only raise his hand halfway up. "But-..."

"_Please_... I-... I don't want him to worry..." Yoshiki only nodded silently before opening the door for Sachiko, standing aside so she could walk by.

Without another word, Sachiko glanced back towards the doorway where Yami lay behind, turning back with her fists clenched. Building up her will, the young girl departed out of the open door, stalking down the hallway like a shadow before disappearing into the darkness of an unlit section, like she had evaporated into it's twisting grasp.

Yoshiki sighed heavily before retrieving the TV remote from the plant that he had thrown it in before switching the TV channel to a cartoon channel. Almost immediately, everyone in the room was paying close attention to the program, completely blocking out the world around them in favor of the random flashy visuals and cheesy jokes occurring on the screen.

Before Heavenly Host most of the group had believed themselves to have outgrown cartoons, minus Seiko of course, but after spending time in such a miserable place, the Kisaragi students found the innocence of cartoons cathartic.

Yoshiki sighed, glancing around at everyone. Somehow most of the group sent to Heavenly Host had made it out alive, and hopefully Sachiko was out saving the final one. They could only hope both of them would return safely...

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Hoshu Tsukino woke up for what seemed like the hundredth that night in agony. Every breath he took almost felt as if it wasn't worth the effort. It was so painful to even be conscious, to the point he welcomed the point in which he would black out from the suffering every night, if the massive amount of drugs that the hospital was pumping into him didn't do the job first.

The nurses had told him that he had been attacked by a wild dog, and that one of the bites had actually punctured one of his lungs, along with leaving him with severed tendons in his leg and a large puncture wound in the side. He certainly felt like he had been ravaged by some sort of wild beast.

But he knew that it was no dog.

Whatever had attacked him knew they were doing so purely to harm him, and had every intention of killing him. Why he was even still alive was a question in of itself, but in the mean time his primary concern was receiving treatment.

"Mister?" A voice startled Hoshu out of his trace. Using almost all of the effort he possessed within his soul and body, he wrenched his eyes open to come face to face with the innocent stare of a little girl with shining purple eyes and long black hair pushed away from her face and behind her ears. "Would you like me to get you a glass of water?"

Upon further inspection, Hoshu realized that this girl appeared to be around his son Yami's age, although unlike Yami this girls clothes appeared as if they had been much better days, with various tears throughout the dress that exposed the lake skin on the girls arms.

"H-..." Hoshu licked his chapped lips before attempting to speak once again. Seeing that the man was having an issue communicating, the girl ran over to the sink and retrieved a glass of water, pouring it down the man's throat carefully. "H-... How did you get... In here?... I thought this floor was only... Accessible by a keycard?..."

"Oh my mommy is a nurse! She's really popular with everyone!" The girl proudly stated, folding her hands in front of her while she balanced on the balls on her noticeably bare feet. Hoshu tacked that up more to the assumption that the child merely disliked wearing shoes all of the time.

"Oh really? What's her name? Maybe I know her." It was the truth, Hoshu had met nearly every single member of the staff on this floor due to his inability to even walk around. The girl was silent for just a moment as she deposited the glass back over near the sink, trading it for a small piece of paper, waving it about like a trophy or a key.

"Yoshie Shinozaki." The girl answered with a cute little giggle before skipping back over to Hoshu, the innocent smile never leaving her face.

"Shinozaki?... No, I don't think I kn-... _**AAAAAUUUGHHH**_!" Hoshu suddenly felt a massive wave of pain run up his arm, and upon turning his gaze down, found that the girl had shoved a large pair of medical scissors into the top of his hand, piercing it all the way through his palm and into the mattress itself, staining the sheets red.

"You weren't supposed to..." The girl growled menacingly before she twisted the scissors while they were still embedded in Hoshu's hand, causing his muscle and bone to rip itself apart with a horrifying sound that sounded like the tearing of cardboard. Or it would rather, had the man's screams not downed the sound out.

Moments later, Hoshu though he heard the door to his room being slammed against, almost as if someone was attempting to force their way in, which meant only one thing. Hoshu felt his heart skip a beat. He was locked in this room, and no one would get in before this girl finished her gruesome plan.

"Now you're going to help me... See this cute little dolly?" The girl held up a small paper doll in her bloodied grip before slipping half of the doll into Hoshu's uninjured hand while keeping the other half in her own hand. "You are going to pull it apart with me, and we are going to go to the only place you _deserve_ to be..."

The banging on the door was quickly growing louder. It sounded as if someone of larger stature was now throwing themselves against the door in an effort to make the door give way. Hoshu made sure to scream just a little louder for a moment before it turned to a haunted wailing.

"I want to play surgeon. But I'll need a pen to write notes..." The girl uttered with almost no emotion in her voice, excluding the immense amount of hatred dripping from each word. "Too bad... _This'll do_..."

The girl was guiding his still skewered hand all along the sheets, almost as if she was attempting to write a message with the scissors while they were still attached to his hand. It was absolutely agonizing. It made the first attack a week ago seem like no more than a playground squabble. This was pure torture in the truest sense of the word.

"You hurt him... You hurt his mother... And now you think yourself _safe_?... You're never safe from me..." Suddenly, the girl ripped the paper doll held in she and Hoshu's hand, causing his vision to blur rapidly, despite his best attempts to remain conscious. Before he lost himself to the darkness however he heard the girl mutter five words that would put the fear of God in his heart once more. His child's name. "This is for my Yami..."

A few moments later, the door suddenly gave way, flying open as a large statutes man holding a handgun ran into the door, and by extension the room, with all his might. He was followed by a pair of nurses, one carrying sedatives, while the other wielded a pair of scissors, ironically enough, unsure of what exactly was attacking the patient stationed in the room.

To their surprise and horror however, the screaming patient was absent. In his place was a mess that the police would later describe as a train wreck in a hospital bed. Horrible enough that the nurse carrying the scissors immediately broke down, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor.

Despite a thorough search of the room by both the hospital staff, and the police a few hours afterwards, there was no sign of a breakout. However in order to cover themselves, the hospital soon informed various news stations that an injured man was wandering the streets, and would require immediate medical attention.

What they left out however was the one piece of evidence left on the bed. The hospital sheets were dyed red with blood, with small chunks flesh in one section of the bed. What disturbed investigators more however was the message haphazardly written in blood across the sheets, just barely legible through a combination of flesh and additional blood. Only three simple words.

_"Off To School!"_

**.**

*** A Konbini is essentially the japanese version of a convience store, which will often sell everything from lunches to clothing items. Many Konbini's also carry printers, hence how Ayumi aquired the doll in the canon, and how they aquired it in BoS.**

**Okay... So I really said everything I need to say at the beginning of the chapter, so I suppose until next time my minions!**


	10. Chapter 10: Pretty

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 10: Pretty

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**Hello. :3 Quick question.. I'm not exactly great with Japanese honorifics, and I heard chan is usually used for girls and kun usually used for guys, while those close to each other don't use any at all. If that's completely wrong and you either want to tell me the proper way, or just want me to stop just tell me through review or a PM. So nothing insane is going to be happening this chapter besides a little bit of relationship development between Yami and Sachiko. You'll also see something happening between Yoshiki and Ayumi, although it may not be amazingly good. ;) All I'll say for now! On with the chapter.**

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"So your parents _still _don't know the truth huh?" Yoshiki asked as he shut the tv off, noticing that the rest of the group had gradually ceased their attentions to the television, with everyone wandering around his apartment doing their own thing.

Naomi and Seiko were off having their own little conversation about what they would be having that night for dinner since Naomi was planning on staying at her house as revenge for Seiko staying at hers the previous week. Ayumi was silently surfing some random websites, including her social medias, although when she noticed that the website that she had found the 'Sachiko-Ever-After charm was still on her favorites list, she quickly deleted it before going back to browsing her twitter timeline.

Even Satoshi and Yoshiki had eventually stopped paying attention to the television and were now softly speaking among themselves. The subject on hand was rather difficult. How exactly the members of their little group would hide the truth to their respective parents.

"Well what _am_ I supposed to tell them?" Satoshi grumbled, cradling his head in his hands, running his fingers through his own hair. "Hey mom and dad, Yuka and I were trapped in a haunted school where we may have been slaughtered in horrible ways! Oh also you know that Sachiko girl we've been hanging out with? She's a _psychopathic killer _that followed us out!"

"Look... _Obviously_ we can't tell anyone about that part, but eventually we're all going to have to explain not only why your sister is having nightmares but where Sachiko-chan even came from in the first place." Yoshiki sighed. If someone had told him two weeks ago that he would visit an ethereal school, and end up taking care of a 7 year old ghost girl with one hell of a mean streak, Yoshiki would've asked what exactly they had smoked that morning. "We need to come up with some sort of story eventually... Someone will ask exactly where she came from sooner or later..."

But here he was, discussing with his best friend on the best course of action to dealing with the events of the last week, and the perceived aftermath of it all.

"We could say that we found her wandering around the streets homeless, but that would spark a massive search for her real parents, and something tells me her real parents wouldn't be able to do much in terms of taking care of her..." Naomi had heard their conversation and shuffled over to the two young men, sitting next to Satoshi. Noticeably close to Satoshi, Yoshiki noted.

"Well for now we should at least introduce her to my sister. She's an even bigger fan of occult stuff that I am." Ayumi said as she pulled out her phone, sending a quick text to her sister informing her that she needed to meet Sachiko, before she placed the phone onto the table softly, making sure to not add any scratches to the wooden finish.

"That's certainly saying something." Yoshiki whistled softly, shaking his head. "So it's settled then. We'll take Sachiko-chan to see Ayumi-chan's sister tomorrow I guess. Hopefully she doesn't have any _paper dolls _sitting around eh Shinozaki?"

Before Ayumi could make a snide comment in response, the entire room began to shake softly without warning, with some of the decorations around Yoshiki's apartment falling off of shelves, with one old box full of random objects nearly beaning Seiko, only for it to miss and hit the table next to her, spilling the boxes contents everywhere.

A moment later, an almost unbearably loud whooshing noise, along with a bright flash of light assaulted the groups eyes and ears, forcing them all to shut their eyes and clamp their hands over their ears. Ayumi even suffered a small nose bleed due to the sudden assault on her senses.

When the group each slowly realized that they could open their eyes once more they were treated with a both relieving, yet distressing sight. There stood a blood covered Sachiko, with her was a badly injured Ms. Yui, who's clothes were also stained in her own blood while she held her arm with the other, which looked as if it was bent entirely in the wrong direction. Both were holding a half of a paper doll charm in their hands.

"Yui-sensei! _What happened_?!" Satoshi said running over to the two who had magically appeared in Yoshiki's living room without even bothering to check how fast he was standing up, causing Naomi, who had been sitting almost directly beside him, to nearly be catapulted off with the young man.

"_Ugh_... A bookcase... A _really heavy _bookcase... A blue flame and I had a conversation, and he became angry and turned red... Then red flame pushed it onto me somehow, and it broke my arm..." Yui explained, the pain clearly evident on her face. With an extraneous amount of effort, Yui finally was able to over to a wall, leaning against it with her good side. "I think a few ribs are probably gone as well..."

"When I found her Blockhead had been feeding her to keep her alive, so you might want to make sure he didn't end up feeding her something that will make everything worse." Sachiko explained, crossing her bloodstained arms over her equally bloodstained torso, the red color fluid mixing in perfectly with her dress. No one in the room dared to ask her where the blood covering her small frame originated from, instead they merely prayed that the source was not their teacher.

"Alright, don't panic Yui-sensei, we'll get you to a hospital!" Satoshi said as he walked over to Yui and helped her get her balance before he realized he had forgotten his shoes on the other side of the room, and handed his teacher off to Ayumi who had a few things to say on the situation as well.

"I'll come with you guys!" Ayumi informed Satoshi and Yui, causing the slightest of frowns to form on Yoshiki's face, although he knew better than to speak up. "I know a quick way to the hospital, plus if my sister is near her phone I can call her and have her drive us there!"

"Got it, can you take Yui-sensei down to the lobby and call your sister? I'll meet you there in a second." Satoshi said, fighting with his shoelaces as he usually would whenever circumstances forced him to put them on quickly.

"Hey... Shinozaki-chan wait a second, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Yoshiki asked before Ayumi was able to fully guide Yui out of the doorway, a strange tightening feeling becoming prominent in his chest.

Ayumi was about to answer until she realized that she and Yoshiki were alone. Glancing around the room at the occupants of Yoshiki's apartment, and in particular at Satoshi, who was now leading Yui out of the doorway, before answering. "Aha! Don't worry about it Kishinuma-kun, it was nothing important. Just a stupid question was all!"

"Oh... Well then you 3 had better get going." Yoshiki said with a little more venom in his words than he had previously intended once he realized what Ayumi was staring at, though he chose not to correct himself. He was through apologizing for that sort of thing to Ayumi, who had always been a little thick in these sorts of situations. Turning back to the kitchen he began walking towards a small cupboard.

Ayumi however had taken notice of Yoshiki's sudden strange behavior for once in her life, as she had been watching for it after what Sachiko had said yesterday, but when she walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder he shrugged it off rather forcefully, never even turning to face Ayumi. "Kishinuma-kun? What's wrong?..."

"Save it, go and help Mochida-kun. I'm _Sure _he needs it." Yoshiki spat, saying Satoshi's name in a mocking sing-song voice, continuing his trip to the kitchen while Naomi and Seiko watched the events unfolding before them, unsure of whether or not to interfere.

"You know what... _Whatever... Bye_." Ayumi hissed out between clenched teeth before stomping out of the apartment in a huff, slamming the door behind her so hard that the small picture frame on the wall that had been lodged loose by Sachiko's entrance fell onto the ground with a loud crash.

Yoshiki growled softly, but it soon turned to a distraught sighing. Originally he was having trouble falling asleep, but at this rate he was pretty sure that 14 hours of sleep would do him well.

"It's insane that Yami-kun hasn't woken up after all of this... I'm pretty sure we've woken half the province at this point..." Yoshiki muttered as he wandered over to the kitchen cupboard and pulled out a fluffy red showering towel before walking back over and plopping it on Sachiko's head "I won't ask why you're covered in blood, but you need to go and wash off."

"What?! No!" Sachiko had not even realized that she had whined until all the occupants of the room had turned to her surprised. She usually had no issues with staying clean. As she had told Yami back in Tenjin, she had always secretly taken pride in how clean she kept herself, despite usually ending up in her current state every few hours. This was a different situation however; someone was telling her to do it. "Why? I don't wanna Kishinuma-kun... I'm not dirty! It's just a few blood stains!"

"A few stains?! Sachiko-chan... You are completely _drenched_ in blood, and I'm pretty confident that it's not _your _blood!" Yoshiki paused as a different thought entered his mind. He knew exactly what would get under the young girls skin, and so he spoke once more attempting a different tactic. "You know if Yami-kun sees you like that he'll be really worried about you..."

Bingo. Sachiko needed no more convincing than that as her eyes shot open almost as wide as they would go. Without taking even a moment to ask Yoshiki which way the bathroom was, Sachiko snatched the towel from Yoshiki's hand and began speeding around the apartment, opening random doors in search of the bathroom.

The moment it was found, Sachiko shot inside, slamming the door behind her with a loud bang. A few moments later the sound of the shower being activated along with the sound of running water hit the ears of the other occupants of the apartment, with one in particular grinning slyly.

"I think '_someone_' has a crush on Yami-kun!" Seiko giggled evilly to the rest of the group, clasping her hands together in a prayer position as she jumped up and down, bouncing around the apartment like a spring while Yoshiki sighed, worried that Seiko would end up jumping out of the window or something.

"_Seiko_! They're both kids, she probably just doesn't want to freak her friend out!" Naomi laughed, crossing her arms over her chest in slight exasperation as she observed her friend jumping around Yoshiki's apartment, inwardly gasping every time Seiko drew near to a breakable object, swinging her arms about as she jumped.

"Sort of like how you don't want to freak Moch-... _MMPPPHH!_" Naomi grabbed Seiko's jaw in midair and pulled her into a headlock, holding it shut with her free hand while the girl in question began to flail about like a fish out of water.

"Huh? What about Satoshi-san?" Yoshiki asked, finally drawn into the conversation at the mention of the name of his best friend, along with Naomi's reaction to what Seiko had said in general.

"Ha! Hahaha! _Nothing_ Yoshiki-kun!" Naomi laughed uncomfortably, giving the entire scene a humorous air around it. Naomi knew that attempting to hide her friends previous statement was pointless, as she was fairly sure Yoshiki already knew about her crush on Satoshi. "Seiko here is still a little dizzy from running is all!"

"_Running_ huh? She hasn't left my apartment in over half an hour..." Yoshiki said, but shrugged off the conversation, recognizing he wasn't going to receive an answer from Naomi without forcing it out of her. He was pretty sure he knew what they had meant anyway.

Not that it was too hard for even a blind man to figure it out anyway.

.

Around half an hour later, the three teenagers heard the soft click of the bathroom door opening. All of them turned towards the source of the noise expecting to see Sachiko still completely covered from head to toe in blood, and refusing to take a shower after all.

There stood Sachiko. However she seemed much different to the group than before. Her skin was still the sickly pale color that it had been before, along with the strangulation scar that lined her neck like an ever present tattoo, and her eyes only hinted as the faintest shade of purple behind the grey tint that had long since taken over. However her eyes were also filled with what could only be described as the spark of life. In fact, her entire face was filled with life, from the sleek shine in her freshly washed hair, down to the subtle smile on her face.

Naomi could not help but to silently stare at Sachiko as she walked by them in the sleepwear that Seiko had lent her from when she had been Sachiko's size. It was almost as if in that shower, the young girl had physically cleansed herself of evil, restoring the once innocent little girl to way she was before.

Sachiko however was thinking something completely different given the situation. She knew exactly how she looked, and she knew it would elicit a reaction from the older members of the group at first. But it was only for tonight. She would be back to her near old self tomorrow, but for tonight she wanted to appear in such a way.

Making her way to the apartment's bedroom, Sachiko gave a little wave of acknowledgment along with a small smile to the teens before disappearing into the room, closing the door behind her.

It was only a few seconds before the three teenagers had all snuck over to the door and were all attempting to peak through the crack in the door that Sachiko had left open to let air circulate for Yami.

Meanwhile inside of the room Sachiko had quietly shuffled over to the bedside that Yami was still fast asleep upon. Taking a chance while simultaneously praying that Yami was asleep, the young girl softly began to crawl up onto the bed and move herself close to Yami. Close enough that she could feel his breath on the exposed scars on her neck.

A moment later, Yami began to shift in the bed, until his eyes slowly opened, revealing to him a smiling Sachiko, who's hair fell in front of half of her face like a shroud, leaving only one shining eye and her smile visible to the boy. "Sachiko?... Boy am I glad to see you... I had a crazy dream that you had gone back to Heavenly Host and that there was an earthquake and... Well you get it."

Sachiko giggled, thankful that while the noises had in fact made their way to Yami, they still failed in disturbing his rest, which Sachiko was extremely thankful for. Yami needed all the rest he could get at the moment. There was something else on Sachiko's mind as well however. "That's... Not the reaction I usually get when someone sees me..."

"Well it should be." Yami muttered before he stopped cold, causing Sachiko to tilt her head slightly on the pillow in curiosity. It was then she realized that Yami had been sniffing her hair that had made it's way near his face, a small smile appearing as he did so. "You smell really nice..."

"R-... Really?..." Sachiko asked, the slightest blush appearing on her checks, although her hair thankfully did quite a good job in hiding it from the boy next to her. This was completely new territory for her. She had never behaved in such a way before. Not to say that it was bad at all. When she was acting it such a way around Yami, she loved it.

As this was all going on, Yoshiki, Naomi, and Seiko still observed the events unfolding the room through the small crack between the door and wall, completely engrossed in what was happening. At first they had been surprised at Sachiko's actions when she had left the shower, but now after hearing Sachiko and Yami talking they all realized exactly why Sachiko was acting the way she was, though they had their suspicions to begin with.

"Isn't it just so cute? Do you think they actually like each other?" Naomi whispered to the others, never taking her gaze off of the scene playing out before her. If only she could find herself in this sort of situation.

"A little, but it might just be one of those 'puppy love' situations." Yoshiki mumbled in reply, ready to turn away until he realized that he was trapped in between Naomi and Seiko like the filling in a sandwich, and that trying to move would only result in the three of them making an unnecessary amount of attention which would no doubt alert Sachiko to their presence.

"Shut up, I'm trying to listen to this! It might get _hot_!" Seiko chastised the two other teenagers before returning to her spot of the door, adopting what could only be considered as a 'spy pose' by the other two Kisaragi students who were rolling their eyes at their perverted companion.

Meanwhile in the room the conversation had taken a different direction, or perhaps had just advanced further down it's predestined destination. Sachiko had shuffled considerably closer to Yami, although the volume of their conversation had not yet lowered, much to the delight of Seiko, and even Naomi to a point.

"Hey can I just ask something?" Sachiko suddenly mumbled out, the blush on her cheeks growing ever darker with each word she spoke. Yami couldn't also help but to notice that Sachiko was also attemopting to hide her face with her hair, however the blush could not be hidden this time. "There's... There's this thing that I overheard back in Heavenly Host and... I just want to know... Do you think I'm- I... Uh..."

Sachiko's voice grew softer as she unconsciously began to lean even closer to Yami to the point that she and Yami would have been hugging had either one bothered to put their arms on the other. Which Yami did.

"Do I think you're what?..." He asked, not entirely sure how to respond to Sachiko in the current situation. But hey, it was going well so far, so why not continue with his current steak right? Right.

"I heard guys always telling their female friends they were pretty when they were in Heavenly Host... So... Um... Do you think I'm _pretty_?..." That essentially froze the entire apartment. Even Seiko, who would normally always know what to say in any given situation was at a loss for words.

"Of course you are..." Yami uttered as he brushed the hair away from Sachiko's face, revealing the sift smile she was giving off to the boy. "I don't know where you got the idea that you weren't but you're wrong... You're-..."

"_KAWAII_!" Seiko could not hold it in any longer. With a leap of excitement, the brunette slammed into the door accidentally with her knee, while her elbows shot out, with one impacting Yoshiki, who accidentally dragged Naomi down with him. It only took a moment for them to end up in a giant pile on the floor.

"SEIKO! Get your hand off of me!" Naomi called from inside of the pile, kicking out her legs in an attempt to drag herself to her feet, but only succeeded in accidentally smashing another one of Yoshiki's vases.

"Sorry Naomi, but the glorious privilege of claiming your body as mine does fall to me this day!" Seiko said from rather far away. Upon realizing the distance between her and Seiko's voice, Naomi glanced over to find Seiko had fallen almost 2 feet away from her. With a growl, the short haired girl looked down to where a pair of hands grabbing her to find that they were not the hands of a female at all, rather, they were male.

"_**KISHINUMA-KUN**_!" Naomi screeched, pilling herself free before giving Yoshiki a loud slap that cracked against his face with a snap, leaving a pulsing red mark in the shape of her hand in its place.

"Ah... Ahh... Sorry! It was an accident!" Yoshiki yelped, throwing his hands desperately into the air to show that he meant no harm to his currently enraged friend. He knew that no matter what he said he would end up with at least one black eye. But at least, he hoped, if he could convince Naomi of the truth he would walk away with his face intact. "I swear, I was just trying to find stable ground!"

It was not enough. With the strength of what felt like ten men, Naomi rugby tackled Yoshiki to the ground and began to use her fists as hammers, slamming her knuckles into Yoshiki's face over and over. While it was not doing any real significant or lasting damage, that did not mean that it did not hurt.

"Well now you know Blondie... Now you know how Mochida-kun feels at least! Now you see why he is so lucky! To have such a conquest all to himself!" Seiko snickered, her cat-like grin appearing upon her face once again as she watched her best friend wail away on a begging Yoshiki as he clung to the bedroom doorway, desperately trying to drag himself away from the wrath of Naomi.

"...Seiko-chan?..." Seiko suddenly heard Sachiko's voice from behind her, and while it certainly didn't sound as cheerful as it had before, Seiko quickly attributed this to the fact that there was a decent amount of people in the immediate vicinity.

"Yes my dearest Sachiko-chan?" Seiko spun around with a chipper tone in her voice and her hands clasped behind her back.

She never even saw the lamp coming.

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**Man Seiko is both fun yet hard to write for. It's really annoying to get her personality down only to switch back to another character. Kind of hard to stay in the groove unless you write all her dialogue at once. . Anyways, I won't take up any more of your time! Until next time my minions!**


	11. Chapter 11: Tragedy

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_! _Pika_chu!" 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.

.

"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!**


	12. Chapter 12: Shangri-La

_**Brightest of Shadows Chapter 12: Shangri-La**_

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**Short chapter. No jokes. Keep an eye-out for one shots! Don't worry this story will still follow it's intended path! Until next time. Make sure you tell your family and friends that you love them.**

**.**

It rained the day of the service.

Not even the sun dared shine upon the world on this day, perfectly reflecting the friends and family gathered for the funeral of Akemi Tsukino. The Kisaragi group especially had made sure to be there, to see Yami through his darkest hour.

None supported him more through the service than the infamous 'girl in red', who refused to leave his side for the entire day, even when Yami broke down in front of his mothers casket, or when he began to shriek in denial as they drove to the cemetery. She was always there to pull him back to his feet, always a shoulder to cry on.

When he broke down on the podium giving his remembrance speech, Sachiko immediately came up and helped him finish it, holding Yami in a hug the entire time. A hug neither wanted to break even as they inched away from the podium, into the arms of Yoshiki and Ayumi, who had become quite a bit closer since the news of Akemi Tsukino's death.

News that Yami's father was missing had spread as well. It was a mixture of both happiness for his disappearance, and fear that he may return for everyone involved. However Yami felt nothing but despair. He had now lost both parents in one fell swoop.

The Kisaragi students along with their families slowly dealt with the situation in their own ways as well. The Mochida family was quick to offer condolences before retreating to the back, minus Satoshi, who stood by his friends to support Yami.

Even Seiko ended up crying on more than one occasion during the funeral, a far cry from her usual happy and perverted self. Replaced instead by a somber individual who, despite her best efforts, could do little in terms of keeping a smile on her face.

Somehow Yoshiki's sister even showed up to the funeral. While surprised at her presence at first, Yoshiki in the end accepted her presence, unable to summon the energy needed to question his little sister. Instead, he stayed with Ayumi and the two children, like a father watching over his family.

Of course Morishige and Mayu showed up as well, noticeably arm in arm with each other, along with Ms Yui, who had just been discharged from the hospital the previous day who claimed that she would still have showed up if her arm had been chopped off.

As the group of mourners finally lowered the casket into the grave dirt slowly began to fill into the hole thanks to a few volunteers. As Yami continued to watch his mothers casket disappear, tears once again flowed freely.

Until he felt her take his hand in her own.

Her voice raised above the funeral, silencing even the loudest of mourners as her words transformed themselves from a faint whisper to a song that failed to cease until Akemi Tsukino's grave had been completely filled in.

She sung for his mother, she sung for her own mother, and she sung for him.

_**It was a long journey, wasn't it? **_  
><em><strong>Until that moment when we met<strong>_  
><em><strong>Like fragmented molecular symbols, if you're not with me, then…<strong>_

_**I'd rather throw my defiled self into the rotting ark**_  
><em><strong>and drown in a beautiful lie...<strong>_

_**I want to see you, but I can't; where are you?**_  
><em><strong>I still don't understand the truth, nor do I want to ask about it<strong>_  
><em><strong>The requiem of the birds that can't fly<strong>_  
><em><strong>echoes again in the heart of Shangri-La<strong>_

_**The water dripping from the insomniac crescent moon can't go back...**_

_**During that season, I could laugh about how pretty things are pretty**_  
><em><strong>I looked at it like it's fake.<strong>_

_**Don't disappear, don't forget, the mirage is flickering**_  
><em><strong>I want to cry, but I can't, so I call out your name…<strong>_  
><em><strong>But if my wish and warmth will melt away in the wind<strong>_  
><em><strong>Then I'll at least send my love and song to you now...<strong>_

_**I want to see you, I want to see you, in a dream is fine**_  
><em><strong>Hug me and whisper to me, ah, with that voice of yours<strong>_  
><em><strong>I'll overcome the misery of the birds that can't fly<strong>_  
><em><strong>and take off for the skies of Shangri-La...<strong>_

_**Even if its outline is far away, look, I'm by your side!**_  
><em><strong>I love you, ah, so much in afterlife that it moves me to tears…<strong>_  
><em><strong>Yes, I am who I am because I was able to meet you on that day!<strong>_  
><em><strong>So may my feelings reach you...<strong>_

As he and Sachiko were embraced by Yoshiki and Ayumi, Yami could have sworn that, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his mother standing next to a kind looking young woman. The same woman from his dream.

As the four walked away, Yami turned to give one last small smile to wear he thought he had seen the two figures, before turning back to the others, walking away with them. But not before one final thing had to be said. "Goodbye mommy. Goodbye Sachiko's mom... We love you..."


	13. Chapter 13: Winner!

Brightest of Shadows Chapter 13: Winner!

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**Hello there my minions! So real quick before this gets started; this story will now continue with Sachiko and Yami in their teenage years, but don't worry, I'll be making several oneshots of the two growing up, including but not limited to a dance at the original Kisaragi gangs senior year, Yoshiki and Ayumi's wedding, and Satoshi and Naomi's wedding! Just keep an eye out for those soon! Without further ado onto the chapter! Oh and PS, pay close attention to the gym teacher. Notice anything familiar? ;)**

.

_**-Years Later, Kisaragi Acadamy-**_

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In the soft summer air, the school building of Kisaragi stood proudly, like the shining becon of education that it is. With it's pristine halls and beautiful exterior, the school was always the envy of the other schools in the area.

Even it's students appeared to be the model of perfection, the epitome of dignaty and respect that others schools could only dream of. Regularly seen volunteering or otherwise working hard to make there community a better place for everyone. They were truly the living example of what to strive for as a student.

_"MISS SHINOZAKI! GET BACK HERE!"_

Or at least most of them.

With little more than that shout as a warning, the peace that normally permeated the halls of Kisaragi High was suddenly shattered as the front door suddenly burst open and a teenage girl wearing almost all black and red, with long dark hair that fell to her waist, tore into the halls, followed closely by a man with light brown hair and a small amount of stubble on his chin with what appeared to be a newly formed black eye. Though she was quickly losing him.

"C'mon Tsubota-sensei! I expected a better chase than this from you!" The girl laughed, as she effortlessly vaulted over the back of a student who had been on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor, only for that same boy to be shoved out of the way a moment later by the pursuing teacher, causing the boy to land face first into the soapy water.

"Shinozaki, if you don't stop this_ instant_ I'll-..." That was all the teacher could say before the girl took a sharp right and dove into a classroom, slamming the door behind her with all her might.

The loud smashing sound against the door told her all that she needed to know.

"Ha! _Suck it_!" She yelled at the door, pumping her arms up in a mock victory salute, only to freeze like a deer in headlights when she heard the sound of an awkward cough behind her.

Whipping around like a bolt of lightning, the girl smiled nervously as she came face to face with none other than a class full of students, along with the school's principle, Yui Shishido. "Hello Sachiko, getting ourselves into trouble rather early today aren't we?"

After spending a few years as both an assistant and a teacher, Yui Shishido had finally climbed the ladder to principle of the school, although despite that, she insisted that she continue to teach classes and have a homeroom. She knew it would be extra work, but she would be damned if she had worked so hard as a teacher to just become one of the faceless administration to the students. She was a teacher at heart, and so a teacher she would continue to be.

"Trouble? What, me? No! Nev-..." Sachiko trailed off into an awkward laugh as she heard the pained groans of the teacher attempting to stand up on the other side of the door. "Uh... Heh heh... I can explain."

"Oh no need. I'll be seeing you after classes today either way. I have some news for you and it seems that someone else will be wanting a chat with you anyway." Principle Yui laughed, before pointing to an open closet. "I'll tell him you climbed out the window."

"Thanks Yui-sensei! You're a life saver!" Sachiko laughed before running over to the closet, stepping inside before closing the double doors of the closet with a soft 'click' remaining motionless as the teacher came charging into the classroom, now recovered from his impact with the door, in search of her.

It took all of Sachiko's willpower to keep herself from bursting out into laughter as she watched the teachers face fall as Principle Yui explained how his escapee had run right past her before she could stop her and had climbed out of the window to the school track field below.

The disgruntled teacher was running out of the room in a storm of stomping feet and loud curses a moment later.

A snap of Principle Yui's fingers singled to Sachiko that the coast was clear at which point the teenager in question stepped out of the closet and calmly grabbed a desk, before listening to the principle as she picked up her book. "By the way Shinozaki, what exactly have you done to Mister Tsubota? That was quite the black eye he had."

"Oh well..." Sachiko laughed nervously for a moment as she shrugged. "I guess you could say that my aim with a baseball is a little_ Too_ good."

It took nearly 5 minutes for Principle Yui to silence the sudden roars of laughter throughout the classroom.

.

A few hours later, Sachiko found herself in Principle Yui's official office, sitting directly across from the very teacher she had been running from earlier that day. The gym teacher, in all his rude, loud, and smelly glory. His swollen black eye still bore the fruits of Sachiko's incident earlier.

"You're a real problem child you know that? A _delinquent_." He seethed as he paced on the other side of the room, his hands in his pockets. "You're just like your cousin-in-law. He was always a pain as well."

"Aw! Good to know I'm continuing family tradition!"

"Don't be _smart_ Shinozaki! I have no patience for directionless misbehaving students like you!" The gym teacher screamed as he slammed both his fasts down onto Principle Yui's desk all while the woman in question silently typed away on her laptop, not even flinching upon the fists impact. "I wonder what your parents must think of you? No wonder they dropped you off at your cousins house!"

Sachiko said nothing, merely keeping her arms crossed around her midriff as she watched the gym teachers mouth wag up and down as he yelled, silently wondering how eager he would be to yell without a tongue. Or a jaw.

"You, Miss Shinozaki, are extremely rude to the teachers you should respect, you are foulmouthed to an almost-..." The gym teacher trailed off upon hearing a soft sound coming from Sachiko and upon glancing up noticed that Sachiko had not only stopped listening to what he was saying, but had begun to yawn! "_MISS SHINOZAKI_!"

Sachiko immediately jumped back into an aware state as the gym teachers voice reached her ears, causing her to clamp her hands over her ears. "_Alright, alright_, I'm listening Blockhead!"

The gym teacher clenched his teeth and fists as he let out an audible growl. Instead of countering with an insult or argument of his own, he decided to continue with his previous vein of conversation.

"You even refuse to wear our school uniform! You wear this ridiculous goth style like a second skin, and there isn't a minute of the day that you aren't wearing that goddamn _choker_!" The gym teacher had to pause in order to take a breath as he jabbed a finger at the black choker around Sachiko's neck before he continued at full gusto once again. "And to top it off, for some reason our principle refuses to take action against you!"

"Mister Tsubota, I believe there's another matter we have to bring up to miss Shinozaki." Principle Yui said, silencing the gym teacher for a few moments before he found his voice.

"Yes... As much as I would love to continue the almost endless list of behavioral problems you possess..." The gym teacher said glaring at Principle Yui before turning back to Sachiko with a sigh. "That's not the only reason we've called you in today..."

"You remember the contest the school had a few weeks ago?" Principle Yui's voice seemed to cut through the tension in the room like a warm knife through butter, while the smile on her face brushed away any that remained.

"The one with the winner and three friends being awarded a trip to Hawaii right?" Sachiko asked, finally pulling herself into a proper sitting position now that she was not being endlessly yelled at by the gym teacher.

"Yes well..._ Somehow_..." The gym teacher paused once more, as if hesitant to let the next few words in his sentence pass through his lips. "Your name was drawn. Congratulations."

"What? _How_? I never even entered the contest." Sachiko asked as she shrugged, keeping as stoic as ever on the outside, while in her mind she couldn't seem to silence the myriad of thoughts assaulting her. She won something she never even entered? How was that possible?

"You never had to." Principle Yui interrupted pointing to a small sign-up sheet on the inside of her door. A myriad of names were listed on the paper in a random order. "Students are entered into the contest by a combination of good grades and the recommendation of other students."

This made Sachiko pause for a moment as a look of guilt crossed her face for but a second. Yami had done all of her homework for her whenever she was too tired or too stubborn to do it herself. That was what most likely shot her grades up enough to win a contest. If she got to go why should he not? Of course she would have to convince Yui to allow a male student to accompany her, a rule that mat not be as easy to bend as others in the past.

"Sachiko? Are you alright?" Principle Yui asked as she raised an eyebrow in curiosity, though it did not possess the same cold lack of empathy that the gym teacher wielded in his eyes.

"Huh? Yeah, sorry I-..." Sachiko paused for a moment, glancing down at the floor, knowing that what she was about to ask was extremely risky. She knew it was now or never however. "About the friends I'm allowed to take... Do they have to be all girls or can I bring a male friend?"

"Let me guess; Yami?" Yui with a smile, before chewing on her pen in mild thought, though her attention was still focused on Sachiko.

"Yeah." Sachiko her own soft smile gracing her lips as her gaze softened ever so slightly for a moment before the gym teachers voice caused her calmer self to vanish in nearlyan instant.

"Wait, Yami? As in Tsukino Yami? What on earth would you want to bring one of our Academy's best with you for?" The gym teacher asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You aren't planning to corrupt him into acting like you I hope!"

"Well Tsubota-sensei, if you would stop fawning over your prized 'star students' for 5 minutes, you'd see that me and him are best friends." Sachiko hissed, visibly clenching her teeth in anger, making absolutely sure that the gym teacher saw her fang-like canines.

"Why you little-..." The gym teacher's assumed threat was almost immediately cut off by Principle Yui upon realizing that this conversation would not be headed anywhere productive in it's current state.

"That's enough, both of you." Principle Yui chastised both teacher and student before turning her full attention to Sachiko. "Why don't you go and find the friends you plan on asking and bring them back here? We'll get everything sorted out from there!"

"So I can ask him?!" Sachiko's face broke into a bright smile as she jumped up, to which only Principle Yui could smile and nod, prompting Sachiko to cheer and rush out of the room, leaving a smiling Yui and confused Tsubota in her wake.

-Entrance to Kisaragi Academy-

"Hey guys, did you hear about what just happened!?" A blonde boy with glasses adorned his face ran up to two other boys his age who were leaning on the main door of the school, watching the various clusters of students preparing to head home or to some extracurricular activity.

"What? What is it Sataso?" Another student with puffy brown hair that didn't quite fit the rest of his sharp featured face all that well, asked as he pulled himself into a full standing position.

"They say Shinozaki Sachiko won that trip to Hawaii!" Sataso replied, visably shaking from excitement due to the news. "And one of the students overheard her talking to Principle Yui! They say she is going to be inviting a guy to come with her and her friends!"

"No way seriously?!" The brown haired boy cried as his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, appearing as if he was now extremely interested in the conversation taking place. After all, news like this did not come around every day. "Who do you think she's going to invite?"

"Psh, me obviously." The third boy, another high school student with medium length reddish hair and tan skin remarked, spitting onto the dry pavement below. "What girl in this school isn't after me, Yori? Especially for an entire _week_ in a place like_ Hawaii_."

"Good point Yutaka. Will you say yes?" Yori asked, the disappointment evident in his voice as he seemed to come to grips with the thought that even if Sachiko ended up asking him, Yukata would most likely demand to take his place as one of the guests for the trip.

"A week alone with _Shinozaki_? She is paler than most girls I usually get with, but she has a_ hell_ of a body, so yeah I'll go. I doubt we'll leave the hotel room that much though." Yutaka sneered as he watched Sachiko, who appeared to be searching for something or someone, from a distance, all while Yori silently seethed behind him at the thought of the two together.

"Are you sure? Shinozaki has never dated anyone that I know of or even shown interest in people. Plus she doesn't seem too eager to ask you." Sataso said looking at Sachiko who was holding a piece of paper looking around before she finally seemed to take notice that they were watching her, calmly strolling over to them with an expectant look in her eyes.

"What was that you were saying Sataso? Just stand back. Watch and learn." Yutaka chided as he dismissively waved his hand in his friends directions, signaling for them to create at least a few feet of space between them and whatever was about to happen.

"Hey Yutaka, can I ask you something?" Sachiko asked, her eyes still drifting around the school lot, though Yutaka assumed this was merely her making sure that no one would come and find her asking him to join her on the trip, and cause her embarrassment.

"Ask away dear Shinozaki. After all we're dear friends aren't we?" Yutaka said as he casually strolled over and threw his arm over Sachiko's shoulders almost as if he owned her. It took quite a bit of resolve to not send him to the ground with a knee to the groin.

"Uh... Okay." Sachiko shrugged off Yutaka's arm, while simultaneously resting the urge to spin around and deliver a right hook to the jaw. "Anyway, have you seen Yami around anywhere? I need to talk to him about something really important."

"_Huh?!"_ Yutaka cried as Sataso and Yori went wide eyed behind him. "_Yami?!"_

"You know, Tsukino Yami? An few inches taller than me, brown hair, brown eyes. Remember? He's in our class." Sachiko's voice was that of a patient teacher or parent attempting to teach a child how to tie his shoes. Yutaka quickly realized she was just being sarcastic at his expense.

"I know who you meant. He's with the rest of his nerd squad over there in the corner." Yutaka jabbed his finger in the direction another group of 3 students all happily talking with each other, and seemingly getting quite involved with the conversation. Suddenly Yutaka's irritating voice flowed through the air like a wasp once again. "But don't worry about him! Isn't there something you forgot to ask me Shinozaki?"

"Uh. No. Don't think so." Sachiko said, attempting to act clearly annoyed, though it seemed Yutaka was far from receiving the message, until she turned around and gave him a hard, almost lifeless stare that caused both Yori and Sataso to step back, giving a test glance behind them to confirm that they had an escape route from that terrifying glare.

"Really? Nothing involving Hawaii?" A desperate smirk crawled onto Yutaka's face as his confidence that Sachiko was truly after him dropped like a rock.

"Oh the trip?" Sachiko said as she shrugged with the best innocent smile she could muster, attempting to feign surprise at his comment. Her eyes still held malicious intent however. "I already know who I'm going to ask to come along."

"_What?!"_ All three guys yelled at once, recoiling in the sheer shock and surprise.

"Why do you think I need to talk to Yami so badly? I'm asking him to come." Sachiko clarified as her tone took on that of a sarcastic mother once again, before she began to walk away towards Yami and his friends.

"Oh. Well, okay. Have a good day then." Yutaka muttered as he watched her walk away, though he secretly was paying much more attention to her behind than her back.

"Yeah you too, see ya." Sachiko spat, her sarcastic tone unwavering. She sped up in her walking pace after a few moments. She did not need to be in his presence any further, and she wanted to get away as soon as possible.

After Sachiko got out of earshot, Yutaka finally snapped, whipping around to face his two friends before going off. "I don't get it! I'm rich, good looking, smart, and the most popular guy in school! What on earth does that Tsukino chump have that I don't have?!"

"Uh... Shinozaki's attention?" Yori quipped.

_"SHADDUP!"_

_._

"-and now they haunt the place in those robots every single night, and you have to survive each night." A boy with glasses and blue tinted hair explained, pushing his glasses back up his face.

After a few moments of silence another boy, much shorter than the first with the same shade of blue hair finally spoke up in a nasally voice. "You forgot the part where killer is revealed to be-..."

The second boy was interrupted by the sound of a twig snapping behind them. Tey both knew what was about to happen next, as it had so many times before, which resulted in many ruined lunches and homework assignments lost to the mud.

Their friend was quite good friends with a certain, always popular, rebellious girl. That girl was sneaking up on him at that very moment!

The two turned to their third friend, a boy with light brown hair that covered his head like a mop who was silently reading a more gusto than either boy they they possessed, both of them yelled out to alert their friend of the coming danger. "YAMI! Behind you!"

Yami, who had barely even been paying attention to his book was quick to react, jumping out of the way as a form narrowly missed tackling him, instead stopping just short of slamming into one of the two boys.

"Hey guys." Sachiko sighed as she backed up a few paces.

"H-... Hey there Shinozaki. Uh. I mean..." The first boy faltered for a moment as he tried to conjure the words to speak in such a way as to paint him to be cool and collected. Eventually though he just spit out the first thing that came to mind. "What're you doing here? You usually only try to scare Yami during lunch."

"I need to talk to Yami, you guys should go and do your homework or something." Sachiko paused and silently groaned for a moment upon realizing that the two had seemingly stopped all motor function. "Now!"

"I uh-... _Yeah!_ Yeah, we'll go." The second boy sputtered before pushing along the first boy, not wanting to anger Sachiko. Once again the second boy spoke up. "Man, I can't believe those two are friends... I really wish someone like Shinozaki would notice me someday.

"Ha! Get real. They would notice me first for sure!" The first boy laughed as he sniffles and pushed up his glasses yet again, before they disappeared into the crowd of departing students, laughing as they went.

Back at Yami and Sachiko's conversation, Yami had finally packed his book back into his schoolbag and finally turned to address the rather happy looking Sachiko.

"Hey Sachhan, what're you doing here? Aren't you usually eager to go home?" He asked, a smile appearing on his face upon noticing the shine in Sachiko's eyes.

"Oh I am, but guess what?" Sachiko asked as she huffed out her chest in pride.

Yami tilted his head in curiosity, a habit that he had never quite grown out of from his childhood years, though he was sure that the constant compliments about how cute it was from his Aunt Seiko did little to deter him from the habit.

Sachiko held up the piece of paper she had been holding, displaying a picture of a beautiful hotel in a tropical paradise. "We're going on a vacation!"

.

**And so begins the second part of Brightest of Shadows! May your days be filled with happiness, joy, and pizza! Until next time my minions!**


End file.
