Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dilapidated corridors.

Pint-sized desks and chairs.

Stuffy old classrooms.

Murderous middle-aged adults.

Bloodthirsty souls from beyond the grave.

Rotted and fresh cadavers scattered around.

Angry notes.

Blade-wielding insane high-schoolers.

Blood in general.

Tallying up all these points, there was no doubt about it.

“Yep. This place is pretty fucked up,” you concluded, examining a bucket which contained some manner of maggot-infested gore, letting off a frankly sickening stench.

For about an hour or so, you’ve been wandering the halls of this supposed-elementary school, examining notes on the faded bulletin boards, reading dying messages from the ones who ended up here before you, and watching a hammer-wielding madman come and chase a random person down a hall every now and then.

Not to mention there was that one ghost boy with blue-tinged blood flowing from his mouth who kept fading in and out of existence near the foot of the stairs, always looking straight ahead but staring at nothing in particular.

In all honesty, you thought the entire situation was just weird.

So, favoring the idea of going back home so you could instead continue watching your anime or whatever the hell you wanted to do at your own house rather than further indulge in whatever this was, you ended up casually searching for clues on how to leave the building.

Progress wasn’t great however since all of the ghosts who would bother to talk to you said that there wasn’t any way out at all.

That was just their personal opinion though. Just because they hadn’t gotten out themselves didn’t mean that there wasn’t a way—it just meant that they bit the dust before they could figure it out.

Perhaps you could end up figuring it out before you kicked the bucket too?

That’d be nice.

You walked around the classroom a bit more. The news on the derelict board didn’t have any new info, basically just saying the same thing as the rest about how there was a mass homicide at this school, among other things and how they were planning to close it down due to the controversy. That didn’t really explain why it was still standing though, but from what you could gather from the spirits, it didn’t seem like this was the real Heavenly Host, but a replica, since the old one was torn down with another school built in its place.

Taking in all the facts, this must have been some alternate dimension, but how did it work? What were the conditions to be able to arrive here, and what were they to leave?

You were obviously missing some pieces to the puzzle here, but with enough information gathering, you were sure to get to the bottom of it sometime, so you wouldn’t give up for now. Leaning down, you gathered another student ID nametag from a somewhat fresh corpse dangling over a desk while muttering a small apology. You thought the least you could do was return the IDs to their parents who were no doubt wondering where they were.

After that, you walk back out of the classroom and look down both ways of the hallway. Everything was silent, so you could think once more. You needed another lead. There were those ghosts that you talked to before, but some of them didn’t seem too interested in keeping up the conversation other than to tell you that you were practically wasting your time and that you should give up. You didn’t need that negativity in your life, plus it was getting tiring being told the same thing over and over.

If the ghosts wouldn’t offer anything new, who else? Suddenly, you get an idea. That Naho lady you talked to near the beginning of awakening here… She was pretty knowledgeable about this place, or acted like it at least. Maybe she had some idea of what you could do next—?

So lost in thought, you hadn’t even noticed the sound of someone creeping up behind you until you heard a familiar garbled shriek. You slowly began to turn your head, but before you could, a hand shot out and grabbed a hold of your wrist, tugging you and immediately pulling you out of the way as a hefty bang resounded in the ancient building.

Still looking back, you caught sight of Yoshikazu wailing his unsettling cries as he realized he missed his target, and he struggled to pull his hammer out from the hole in the floorboards he created.

This gave you and whoever was pulling you enough time to lose the big man in the maze of different passageways.

After another moment, the person pulled you into a nearby classroom and briskly closed the door, which squeaked from its hinges as it slammed.

“What were you…thinking…?” A deep voice asked with noticeable annoyance, the low baritone sounding attractive even to your ears.

You looked up at the person in question, and found that they had an equally attractive face to match—olive skin and unkempt black, almost blue hair, defined muscles peaking out of the top of a slightly unbuttoned shirt, not to mention those deep dark grey eyes…

Ignoring his question, you said, “Huh, I never thought I’d run into someone this handsome in here. You’re certainly something, but I’m sure you get people saying that to you all the time, Hiroi-Munaita-san.”

To say that the man was confused was an understatement. It was hard to describe the exact change of his face in those few seconds, a weird mix between befuddlement and a grimace, however after that immediately his deep frown came back, his eyes narrowing in what could have been disapproval.

“You were almost killed a moment ago. If I hadn’t been nearby to step in, that monster would no doubt have smashed your head in and dragged you off.” Ignoring the fact that you gave him a rather apt nickname He said this as if he were explaining to a child why it was bad to steal candy from a store, and you couldn’t help but find it almost humorous that he was scolding you even though you didn’t know each other.

Why was he even concerned in the first place?

“While I’m not sure why you’re so concerned for a complete stranger, first of all, thanks for saving me I guess. It probably wouldn’t have been all that pleasant if I were to have the feeling of getting my skull bashed just staying with me forever. Second of all, I don’t think we’ve been acquainted, so do you mind telling me your name so I can call you something other than ‘Hiroi-Munaita-san’? Unless you like that nickname, then by all means. Anyways, for starters I’m (Y/N) (L/N), and I got trapped in this school after I tried out this thing I found on the internet,” you responded, holding your hand out for him to shake.

Hiroi-Munaita-san gives you an almost incredulous expression for a moment before his face gradually turns blank and he slowly takes your hand. You both shake, and the man replies quietly, “Kizami Yuuya… I’m an eleventh grader from Byakudan Highschool. I got trapped in here with some friends after performing and most likely failing that accursed ‘Sachiko Ever After’ charm, which is what I assume happened to you as well, based on your description of the events. But I guess from the way you phrased it, you’re the only one who came here? I don’t believe you’re supposed to perform the charm with only one-person present; it’s a friendship ritual after all.”

“Yeah, but I figured I’d try it anyway. It sounded kinda fun.”

Then you really thought about it for a moment. “Ah, so you think screwing up the charm caused the problem? Now that you mention it, I just had a thought: do you think the reason I ended up here in the first place…was because I’d already messed it up just doing it by myself?”

 He probably didn’t even know how to respond to that. After a blank-faced moment, he nodded, “…If I were to hazard a guess, I would assume so. I doubt it could have possibly been performed correctly when you’re going against the instructions from the beginning.”

Well, the guy wasn’t wrong.

 He changed topics pretty fast, “But moving on from that, out of curiosity, going by the way you introduced yourself I’m assuming you aren’t from Japan. Are you perhaps a foreigner?”

‘Well, I’m glad we know each other’s names now; our relationship just bumped to the next level’, you thought to yourself, fixating on his name. In the end, getting closer to a stud like this didn’t sound like a bad idea. Not that you ever thought he’d actually wanna do anything with you, but the idea was nice enough.

You noticed him staring at you strangely, and you realized you’d just been standing there caught up in your musings probably for at least half a minute. Getting back into focus, you nodded.

“Right. Anyway, great, now that we know each other’s names, we’re bumped up from ‘strangers’ to ‘acquaintances’.” You flashed him a lazy smile, “It’s good to meet you, Kizami, or Yuuya, whatever you prefer. The Sachiko Ever After charm, right? That was the name of it, so thanks for reminding me; weird to think that was the source of all our problems, huh?” You questioned, but continued shortly after when you remembered there was more to the conversation.

 “Oh yeah, and you’re right on the mark. I was able to come and study in Japan because of the foreign exchange program. I’m actually on my final year of high school, so this was my last chance to come to Japan on a school-funded trip. Been a fan of Japanese culture ever since I first read about it, so I wanted a chance to study it more, thus my coming here,” you said.

‘Kizami’ or, ‘Yuuya’ as you knew him now, looked as though he were lost in thought the entire time you spoke, but as soon as you stopped, he hummed, as if to say he understood all of what you’d just babbled.

“I see. As for my name, you can call me any of the two, I don’t care for formalities. About the charm… There’s hardly a doubt in my mind for it to be the underlying cause to all this; my suspicions being almost completely confirmed now that I know you’ve preformed it as well. It’s clear that we’ve entered some sort of spiritual ground, but for what purpose, we can’t be sure. All I know is that we must be cautious, as danger seems to lurk around every corner in this dastardly place,” He finished grimly.

‘He couldn’t have made that sound any more ominous’, you thought vaguely.

He switched back to the previous topic in the next breath, as if to not let the conversation drop on a sour note; “At any rate, we don’t receive many exchange students at my school from my knowledge, so this is a pleasant surprise, being able to meet one now. I must say though, for a foreigner, your Japanese pronunciation is quite good, I didn’t notice the accent until you told me you weren’t from here,” he observed with a slight smile, and you took it as a sign of praise!

Either that or it was his way of trying to hit on you, but probably not.

“Thanks, I actually studied the language quite a while before coming here, so it’s good to know that I’m doing alright so far.”

The smile faded when the man suddenly frowned again, and his face turned serious as he looked straight into your eyes. "(Y/N)-san, please listen. This may sound a little abrupt, but I urge you to hear me out.” He searched your face for answers, as if you would give him any indication of any objections, but there were none.

Without prompting, you said, “Nah, go ahead. I’m all ears.”

He nodded and visibly relaxed for a moment, before his features hardened again from whatever he was about to say next. “I hope you don’t take my words the wrong way, but… I’m a very observant person. I have no problem analysing the situation around me, regardless of circumstance.”

He paused, probably checking to see if you were still following, or to prepare himself, you weren’t sure which: “…And from the way you conducted yourself back in that hallway, I’d already deduced that you aren’t a very careful person, while adding on with your exchange toward me just now, it’s clear that it isn’t just caution you lack, but you seem to almost be entirely reckless in your actions as well. I don’t mean to cause you alarm, but if you continue on with that behaviour, it’s clear to me that something bad will happen to you. We’ve both bared witness to the cruelties of this place, and something tells me that the beings present here are beyond mercy.”

A light frown marred his face, his brows furrowed, “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, much less an innocent girl.”

Yuuyas’ hand lands on your shoulder where he gives it a gentle squeeze. “The best-case scenario is for me to accompany you, to make sure that you don’t do anything foolish or act too recklessly. Not to mention, with two minds working together, that should make it that much easier to find a way out of here. Two heads are certainly better than one.”

That was unexpected. Aside from the fact that he basically thought you were a toddler, you didn’t see anything particularly wrong with it. Surely many people wouldn’t say no to an offer like this anyway, since having a hot guy along to help you in your quest was more than welcome, but at the same time you couldn’t help but wonder why he wanted to accompany you. Sure, he’d put it all eloquently enough, making him give off real gentlemanly vibes, but it couldn’t have just been because he was concerned. Somehow, it felt like there was an underlying reason why he wanted to tag along.

Eh, on second thought, what did it matter?

“I certainly don’t mind you coming along Yuuya. I wouldn’t be surprised if trying to keep me out of danger wasn’t your only motive though. You seem like a pretty mysterious guy, so you probably got all sorts of complicated reasons for doing things,” you commented, clearly saying your thoughts aloud.

Kizami seemed almost surprised by this before he chuckled and shook his head. “You must be exaggerating. I’m not very complex, I assure you. I just feel like I should be around to protect you, that’s all.”

You shrugged, “That’s just the first impression I got. But if you say you’re a simple guy, then I guess I’ll probably see it more if we get to know each other better. You’re pretty nice for wanting to protect a near-stranger too.”

Kizami made an amused face while chuckling again, though this time there almost seemed to be something foreboding about it. It probably wasn’t that big of a deal though.

You were looking forward to gradually getting to know the guy.

Unbeknownst to you, your sentiment was returned.

Because Kizami was intent on getting to know you very well.

With that, you began discussing a plan of action.

 ....

..........

How strange.

He’d been watching you for quite a while, at first just seeing you as a new victim that he was eager to hear the delightful pleading voice of; to drag his blade agonizingly slow across your skin until it gently kissed your throat, where he would no doubt see true horror planted on your face. Begging for mercy, while coated in a brilliant shade of vermillion…

Just imagining it caused his breathing to grow slightly ragged.

However, after stalking behind you for a while, instead of going in for an easy kill, he couldn’t help but hesitate. There was something odd about you, and he wasn’t sure what it was. It may have been the way you reacted when examining the environment around you, or the expression you maintained throughout your venture.

Or maybe it was that way you always seemed to carry yourself, practically far-removed from any of the events happening in this place.

He wasn’t sure of the exact reason. All he knew was that he was curious, and that curiosity eventually led him to wanting to interact with you. Perhaps if he tried to engage you directly, he could satiate the niggling feeling in his gut, that nagging in the back of his mind. Yes…he couldn’t put his finger on it, but you were already far more interesting than his other victims. He needed to find out more.

 Unfortunately, by the time he’d decided on this, he almost missed his chance. That brute Yoshikazu had been hot on your heels, getting ready to strike. When he saw him stalking after your unknowing form, something inside him almost shifted. He instinctively reached out to you and pulled you out of harms way, something that occurred to him for the first time in his life.

Naturally going out of his way to protect someone… It was a foreign sequence of events.

While it was happening, there were justifications rattling off in his brain. ‘You can’t die yet’, his mind reasoned, ‘You’re not allowed to go until I’ve learned what I want to know about you.’

Thankfully he reached you in time, but it was definitely a close-call. When he got you to a safe location he couldn’t stop himself from scolding you. He hadn’t seen someone so oblivious to danger in his life, and he couldn’t help but find himself getting irritated.

However, your responses almost made him more dumbfounded than he’d ever been about anything. Why were you like this? You went out of your way to address him as ‘Mr. Broad-Chest’ upon seeing him for the first time! Kizami was genuinely at a lost for words and had stood there dumbly for a few moments.

He acted on a hunch, keeping you alive purely based on his curiosity alone, and that decision had led to one of the most bizarre chance meetings that could have ever happened. Eventually, deciding he needed to interact with you longer (he was having more trouble figuring you out than he’d thought) he convinced you to team up with him, something which you had no trouble to agreeing, once again, much to the surprise of Kizami. Not that he’d let you know that.

 Those events were the prelude to what was happening now, as he walked by your side while you tried to find a way to escape the haunted school house.

And even now, when he’s had more than a few conversations with you, which was more than enough to be satisfied with most people, try as he might, Kizami felt as though he still couldn’t quite figure you out. You were just so different from any other person he’d ever met, he was frankly at a lost as to how to proceed.

For example, the way you spoke with him. Every time the boy tried to detect a hint of ingenuity in your tone, or your body language, or if he tried to gauge whether or not you knew more than you let on, or anything else, he couldn’t find a single thing out of place. It just didn’t seem real. It wasn’t possible that someone could really be this honest about everything, was it?

“You know, if you think it’s that hot in here, I wouldn’t mind if you unbuttoned your shirt a little more, or all the way even. It’s not like I’m one to judge. I’m sure it’d also provide me with a nice view every now and then too, so that’s a plus. Then again, that’s probably just my personal wish-to-see-more-skin talking.”

No, maybe you really were just that truthful. It made sense, you never held any indication that you were ever lying, unlike everyone else he’d ever met. So, this was what being ‘honest to a fault’ entailed? He really never thought he’d see the day.

It was odd to think that there had been someone like you out there in the world all along, but he’d only been made aware of it after coming to this accursed school. It was refreshing in a way he couldn’t describe, being able to converse with someone who never saw it fit to hide away their true feelings. Still, the more he thought about it, with honesty like this, you were bound to have enemies.

Yuuya’s eyes followed your form as you walked ahead of him a little while you both traversed the narrow, dark halls of what was once known as Heavenly Host. You were as relaxed and casual as one could be in their stride; it was almost like you had entirely forgotten the dangerous location you were currently in, as if the murderous spirits and rampaging madman and other horrors didn’t exist at all.

The dark-haired mans’ lips turned into a frown the more he watched. That was another problem.

You were careless. Thoughtless.

It seemed like no matter what the situation was, you could easily move past it with a simple lop-sided smile and a shrug. After a while of observing you, it was clear that you weren’t plagued by terror from being in a horrifying situation like this, you weren’t paranoid to trust or put faith in strangers, you weren’t fazed by the copious amount of blood and gore littering the halls and classrooms, or the fresh and old corpses— in fact, you almost had no reaction at all to anything, besides uttering a small “well damn, that must’ve hurt”, or “that smells pretty nasty” comment here and there.

It was as if you simply weren’t bothered by the concept of your mortality; the fact that you could easily die at any moment did nothing to you, and for some reason, the thought that you were so wholly unconcerned annoyed Kizami. You most definitely weren’t capable of looking after yourself, that much was obvious to him.

The real proof of your recklessness was made quite apparent when you were almost beaten by that hulking beast, Yoshikazu.

If he hadn’t stepped in…

Really, it was a wonder how you survived this long on your own. You were akin to a little kid, constantly trying to run across the street without looking both ways, even when your parents would warn you against doing so time and time again. Not to mention your open nature was bound to get you taken advantage of someday, if that day hadn’t already arrived.

The more he thought about it, the more it baffled him. How could anyone really be this irresponsible? Someone needed to keep a tight leash on you, lest you were guaranteed to get hurt or worse. Seriously, you’d be better off locked up somewhere no one could touch you; you had a rare and strange sort of innocence, and it’d be better if there was nothing around that could tarnish it, even he could acknowledge that!

After all: Someone like you, who was thoughtless, overly honest, unhealthily relaxed, too reliant was—

 a  l  l    t  o  o    p  e  r  f  e  c  t     f  o  r    h  i  m .

His footsteps came to a halt.

…

“…Heh…”

Ha…haha…

 Ah…of course. How did it not occur to him sooner?

Images flashed through his head.

 Shimada, Ohkawa, Urabe, Yamamoto…

Writhing bodies. Wheezing and choked breaths. The vivid color of crimson that flowed in beautiful rivulets from the shallow cuts across skin, even long after having been deceased.

Though some of his classmates had simply fell to the school itself, there was a good number that he himself had the honor of finishing off. The only ones he hadn’t… Well, it was simply a matter of not being able to locate them, as they were likely somewhere he couldn’t get to. Otherwise, they no doubt would’ve met the same fate.

But he remembered his victims well, their pained faces—the horror and accusing eyes they laid on him when they realized he was lusting for their deaths. All but one had performed very admirably; shrieking their lungs out and lashing, clawing, grasping at anything and everything around them, desperate for something to save them.

And then, without warning, another memory entered his head. This time, it was an occurrence from years past. As a little boy, he stood on the dirt while looking at his tiny hands, caked with blood. He registered the annoying pleads of his older brother, and the unbearable nagging of his older sister. They both used different tactics, but in the end, it was all the same. They didn’t understand him at all.

In those moments, he recalled how, at the time, all he could think about was how badly he wanted a little sister. Someone who would acknowledge him, who would attempt to comprehend him. A tiny human being that he could protect, that he would want to protect. A little girl who would look up to him in all things, while calling him in a soft voice ‘big brother’.

A tiny person capable of bringing him out of the darkness, one that could redeem even someone like him, who had already crossed the forbidden threshold, far down the path of no return.

But, the world was never kind. It was a cruel, harsh place, and the wishes of many forever went unheeded. He was forced to grow up in near isolation, regarded as strange, ill-tempered, and it was only near the beginning of middle school did he resign himself to change his attitude and instead watch the people around him; he pretended to be the quiet type, aloof enough so that not many would approach him and so he could safely gauge the intentions of others from afar. He wanted to learn what drove them. Why they did the things they did.

At some point in time, he’d thought that perhaps if he just observed them, he could come closer to understanding how humans usually were, and maybe through that effort, they would come to recognize him a little as well. That maybe he would be a step closer to figuring out why he was so different.

Unfortunately, his study not only yielded little results, it also led him to the conclusion that all people were filthy liars, just like his elder siblings. Simply put: they wore masks to fool those around them—to manipulate as they saw fit. He grew to hate it. A strong loathing welled up inside him for the fake smiles, the excuses, feigned concern and hastily spun tales. It annoyed him enough to see people do it to each other, how they built friendships and relationships and maintained them with fabrications and trickery, but it was enraging that people had the audacity to try their methods on him as well, as though he were some fool. It was truly disgusting how they thought they could pretend without consequence, and soon his insights slowly activated a breeding resentment in him.

In time, he began to wonder what it would feel like to kill them all. Of course, he’d never acted on this curiosity. He knew well enough that it wouldn’t be worth the effort he’d have to go through to destroy the evidence afterwards in order to get away with it.

Still, the thought lingered.

Which is why, when being transported to this school, this particular turn of events was a blessing as well as a curse. A golden opportunity. In here, a place with no hope of escape, no conceivable way out, a place where everyone was essentially trapped like rats…

He would be able to run an accurate experiment. A test.

Kizami wanted to see if the deaths of people he’d come to know would affect him in any way. If killing these people with his owns hands brought him any amount of guilt. And looking back on his first kill, with the rest that came after...

He honestly hadn’t really felt anything at all when he killed them. Or at least, not the emotions he was expected to feel.

There was no remorse. Nor was there pity. He didn’t become sensitive to the sight of the bleeding flesh of the students who knew him for years, as he dragged the blade across their throats even when they looked upon him with terrified eyes. If he had to say anything about his experiences, the only way to describe it was that he received that familiar high he usually got whenever he butchered those woodland creatures, except it was far more intense.

Perhaps it was testament to the fact that it felt more personal this way? They had been the people who considered themselves his ‘friends’ after all.

Laughable really. They hadn’t even realized that their so called ‘friend’ had been itching to slaughter them for almost the entire time he’d known them.

…Though he laughed about it, it rung somewhat hollow. In truth, he couldn’t feel very content with this; even if their deaths had been satisfying, even if he felt nothing but contempt for those people—for all people, there was a part of him that felt some sort of remorse.

Not towards them, but himself. It was a form of self-pity.

The reality of the matter was, he hadn’t… A part of him hadn’t wanted to end up like this. There was a reason he tried so hard in the beginning to observe other people, to understand them.

When he didn’t find the answer he was looking for in them, he became even more cold and distant, his purpose shifting from self-discovery to blood-seeking, and the results escalated to where he was now.

But while not too long ago he may have been on the path to oblivion, he realized once again that, maybe there was a form of salvation available to him.

He never got a little sister.

His classmates never understood him.

But right here and now, beside him, stood the possible key to Kizami finding his humanity.

It was strange at first to consider something like this, but it couldn’t be denied any longer.

You were the only chance he had left, his last resort. You were the only person he ever discovered that he did not despise, and he needed to secure you before it was too late.

Oh, how the tables had turned. Even he could find humor in the irony. Not too long ago he’d wanted to destroy you, and yet here he was now, wanting you to save him!

But he couldn’t bring himself to care, not when he realized that something he’d always truly wanted was practically at his fingertips.

The thought of finally finding a method of redemption sent pleasant shivers down his spine and he chuckled, hand brushing through his hair with a wide grin, “Heh…Heheh…hahaha…”

It really must have been fate to come across someone like you in his darkest period!

“Yuuya, while I’d love to just stand here and look at you holding your head and looking all hot and bothered while laughing to yourself, I feel like I should ask; is there something wrong? Cause if there is, I don’t mind hearing it, just so you know.”

His attention was brought back to you, and he found his grin stretching even bigger, his pupils dilating. That’s right… You may not be the little sister he’s always wanted, but that was alright. In fact, this was even better!

He wanted someone he could keep close to him, something that would bring out his caring and protective side, that would be heavily dependent on him, and you were the perfect solution. He needed you, and he was intent on having you no matter what.

His face morphed back to normal slightly, “Ah, you’re worried about me…? There’s no need for that, I’m perfectly fine…Heh, in fact, I’m even better than that! So, don’t be concerned, alright? Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“…Oh yeah? And what’s that?” You scratched your cheek, slight confusion in your furrowed brow.

The look in Kizami’s eyes was probably hard to decipher by the way they glazed over, but they were intensely trained on you, making sure you stayed exactly where you were. His lips curled into a dark smirk as he finally spoke, “Ne, (Y/N)-chan, what do you say about us living together from now on?”

There was a moment of silence. Normally, this would probably be the part where the other party would begin running away in terror about now, or fearfully inching backward, or even displaying nervous habits while questioning what he was talking about.

Instead of any of that, you merely stood there, deadpan, before you proceeded to trump his expectations of you yet again by eventually responding, “I say: sounds pretty good to me.”

Well. In a bizarre turn of events, this situation has led to the beginning of what looked to be a lovely, symbiotic relationship.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take much. Just a short sentence and suddenly, the gears were turning on overdrive in his mind. After making such an arrangement, there was no way he was going to let himself embrace death quite yet.

 
His whole thought-process began to change. It was no longer about finding and hunting down whoever was unfortunate enough to cross paths with him, stalling what would have been the inevitable. Now it was time to think about survival.

 
And the steps needed for that goal. There was a sort of unofficial pact between you, a mutually beneficial partnership. From now on, for the rest of your lives, you two would be ‘working together’ in a manner of speaking. It was best to get used to it from the get-go, and the perfect opportunity for that was brainstorming about the current situation.

 
 Kizami also decided it was best to limit the amount of potential new victims, since time was of the essence.

 
If anyone got in his way though, he wouldn’t hesitate to bury his knife deep into their eye socket.

 
 But for now, the truth was that other people besides you were irrelevant. To protect you, and for the future plan to be realized, it was time to solve the puzzle of this dastardly place once and for all.

 
Speaking of, it was a good thing that you both were on the same page now—with the two of you sharing ideas freely, it was bound to make the task infinitely easier. Contrary to your personality and word choice, you certainly weren’t lacking in the critical thinking category.

 
Regardless of how absented-minded you were about everything else.

 
“The instructions for the charm online were to say the chant for how many people were present, right? I only said it once because I was the only one there; did someone flub it up on your end you think?”

 
Kizami pursed his lips, “…Out of curiosity, I watched everyone’s faces as they were performing it to see if any of them made a mistake, and as far as I could tell everyone said it the correct amount of times. Which makes this whole situation rather peculiar.”

 
“Hm,” you said aloud, “maybe the instructions online had a typo, or a missing step? If we all did it the right way, then the charm is supposed to work and nothing like this should have happened, so that means that either we messed it up ourselves, or our information was flawed somehow.”

 
He nodded, “In which case, you mentioned you ran into the person who wrote that blog here? It may be best if we sought her out for more information.”

 
“Way ahead of ya gorgeous.” Without trying, his face made easy to tell that he still wasn’t used to what seemed like direct flirting.

 
He was more than aware that there were multiple girls in his high school that were sporting a ‘crush’ on him, but for someone to be so obvious about their opinion of him was still a jarring experience.

 
He couldn’t say it was a bad feeling though.

 
On your side, well: honesty was the best policy and all. Plus, what reason was there to beat around the bush about anything? It was much easier to just say whatever came to mind, so people could understand straight away what you meant.

 
You were actually surprised no one had bothered to hit on him openly before you, which you proceeded to inform him about, “I take it no one’s ever directly said things like that to your face before, huh?”

 
He shook his head and turned to you with a blank face; “People try to be subtle when they approach me, as with everyone else. Whatever their intention, it’s always meant to be concealed, but it’s never hard to see through their pathetic, poorly constructed guises.”

 
Then a smirk forms on his face, “Very unlike you, the only person I’ve ever met who would readily launch her true opinions out into the open without fear. You really are quite special.” His eyes turned almost hungry when inspecting you.

 
He couldn’t help but be attracted to your honesty. The truth was, your entire being was comprised of every quality he wanted in someone.

 
It made him want to do  m a n y  things to you.

 
“Oh, so I got your interest cause of that then?” You quipped with a smile.

 
“…You could say that. Though, there are more than one reason for my interest in you,” he grinned, and his hand reached out and rubbed your hair, almost like one would to a child. He couldn’t resist, the instinct to touch coddle you was becoming almost overwhelming.

 
“I don’t mind explaining them all to you, but that will have to wait until we get out of here,” he concluded.

 
“Aw, alright. I guess I’ll wait if I have to~” You pouted jokingly.

 
Your lips protruding out made a brief thought pass through his mind about stealing a kiss from you to experiment, but he fought down the urge.

 
Not yet. It was much better to wait, otherwise his little test may get carried away. Even if it was very tempting.

 
Really, perhaps it was because the deal between you two was made, but he constantly had a hard time holding himself back. He didn’t want to hold back at all, so he decided he would only restrain his more twisted and curious desires, since those would jeopardize your current goal.

 
He just needed to wait until you were both out of this little predicament is all.

 
“Lookin’ forward to it then. Also gonna be sweet seeing that nice face of yours every day from now on.”

 
“A sentiment I share, I’ll admit.” Kizami shot back evenly. Oh, more than sweet, it was going to be so much fun having someone like you all to himself.
 

You winked lazily at him.

 
He was about to keep moving when he remembered something he needed to do.

 
“…Oh, I just remember something important.” Kizami said.

 
“Muh? What’s that?”

 
“Do you have any paper?” He asked without answering your question.

 
He watched you as you dug into your pocket and dumped out a random crumpled sheet of paper. It was pointless to ask why you had an entire sheet of it, he just tore it in half and pulled out a pen, quickly scribbling something down on the paper before handing the paper and pen to you.

 
“Here. Write down your number on it.”

 
“Wow, we’re moving pretty fast, nice,” You said with a pleased tone, and he couldn’t help but crack a smug smile.

 
“It should be obvious, but we’re going to need to be able to contact each other after we get out of here, otherwise we’ll never be able to fulfill our agreement, and I’m sure we both don’t want that,” he practically purred.

 
“True,” you admitted while you wrote down your own number.

 
You handed the paper to him, so you both had each other’s numbers.

 
“I feel like this is leading to us eloping as soon as we get out of here—”

 
You were abruptly cut off as the door right beside you opened, and a few people poured out in a bit of a hurry.

 
“W-Whoa!” A light brown-haired guy almost collides with you, but at the very last moment you’re jerked to the side by Kizami. The guy falls past you but manages to catch his footing, two girls, a teen and what looks like a little girl are standing to side in surprise.

 
“A-Are you two survivors like us?” The teen girl hesitantly asked.

 
Instantly, you nodded; “Yep. Me and this lovely guy met up hours ago and have been trying to unravel the mystery to getting out of here. I can guess you’re probably doing the same right?”

 
The guy was looking at you both now, having recovered from his near-fall, and he responded in a sincere and grave voice, “Yeah… We’re doing the same. In fact, we recently just made a lot of headway into that. If you want, you can travel with us and we can explain the details to you on the way. There’s safety in numbers. And we…know what we have to do to leave.”

 
“I’m not adverse to the idea, as long as no one minds us coming along,” Kizami replied, his signature ‘non-sociopathic’ gentle smile forming at the sight of the small girl who had inched closer to the brown-haired boy during the exchange.

 
She was noticeably young, innocent, and delicate…

 
Perhaps she would have been a good little sister if he hadn’t chanced upon (Y/N). Or at the very least, her screams would probably sound lovely.

 
Fortunately, though, what he currently had was far better.

 
His eyes stole another glance at your casual stance.

 
 Better for multiple reasons.

 
“No, we wouldn’t mind at all! I agree, I think we’re much stronger with more people,” the teenage girl said with a small smile. She looked a bit relieved, probably from seeing fresh faces that weren’t from corpses.

 
“You don’t have any problem with this, right Yuka?” The boy turned around and gently asked the petite girl.

 
She hid a bit more behind the boy, shook her head and uttered a quiet, shy-sounding “No”.

 
Suddenly, the task ahead seemed much less difficult with people who seemingly knew what they were doing.

 
Everyone began moving, and everyone briefly introduced themselves. The boys’ name was Mochida Satoshi, the little girl named Yuka was apparently his sister, and the teen girl was Satoshi’s classmate, named Nakashima Naomi.

 
Kizami couldn’t have really cared less about their names, but he was good at playing along and pretending he was at least remotely interested; he was intent on using these people for all they were worth. They had the information you and he needed, so at the very least, he had to stick with them until they told him everything they knew about how to get out of here.

 
And they did tell, in one exceptionally long, drawn-out explanation about how the building they were in now was a fabricated version of the real Heavenly Host, brought into existence by the will of the spirit Sachiko who ruled over this dimension, or ‘enclosed space’. Sachiko was a little girl who had died on the original elementary school grounds, being killed by a teacher after that same teacher killed her mother, and her rage and loathing turned her into a powerful spirit and granted her the power to exact revenge on those who wronged her. However, after doing so, she didn’t stop there—she created this space for her and her mother and would give her mother children that she spirited away so she wouldn’t be lonely.

 
Somewhere along the way though, the children that Sachiko brought to the school became prey for her to hunt; she began to take satisfaction from the act of killing, and no longer brought children to Heavenly Host for her mother’s benefit, but her own. It was after this that the charm, whether it existed prior to her change or not, grew in recognition. The owner of that famous online blog was a big reason for the charm’s grown popularity as well.

 
The best part of it all? The fact that that blogger Saenoki, to fulfill her own motives, purposely wrote down the wrong instructions for everyone online to see, so that everyone who attempted the charm would fail and would be spirited away to this hellish place.

 
Kizami wanted to laugh. If he had her in front of him right now, he would probably thank her for the opportunity she’d inadvertently granted him— and would then proceed to wring her neck with a joyous smile, taking great pleasure in her pitiful choked gasps.

 
It was just a shame she was already dead.

 
“So, in order for us to open the way out, we need to appease Sachiko’s spirit?” Kizami asked, a light frown on his face. No doubt, this was going to be a pain in the ass.

 
“Yeah. We just need to give her some of the items she lost, like her plush cat and…her tongue,” Satoshi replied, looking a bit pale at the mention of the organ.

 
“Interesting. Speaking of that, I wonder what it’s like being without a tongue. How would you eat anything? I mean, obviously the ones without them here are ghosts so they don’t eat but imagine living without your tongue. I can’t see it being easy to swallow without it. You’d probably have to learn sign language because you wouldn’t be able to talk properly too. What do you think, Yuuya?” His lips twitched into a small smile at your blunt curiosity. He would’ve loved to join in on any banter with you, but he (of all people) needed to keep up appearances.

 
“I think discussions like that are best left for when we’re not in a dangerous situation,” he sighed, hiding a smirk at the flabbergasted looks on the strangers’ faces from your topic of choice.

 
It was even more fascinating being in company with someone so unabashed than he’d previously thought.

 
You never held anything back, and it appears you weren’t particularly bothered by anything that happened to you. It made him wonder, not for the first time, how much he’d be able to push his luck…

 
His tongue ran over his lips.

 
A tempting creature indeed.

 

 



You ended up running into even more people after a while, one named Shinozaki Ayumi and the other Kishinuma Yoshiki, who apparently knew the guys you were currently traveling with.
 
Wasn’t that convenient?

 
“Oi, Satoshi, who’re those two?”

 
“Eh?” The brunette started, but then remembered you were here, “Ah, this is (L/N)-san and Kizami-san. We met them not long ago; they’re also trying to survive, like us.”

 
He looked at you both while scratching his neck, “(L/N)-chan, eh? ‘Nice to meet you’ isn’t really accurate in these circumstances, but it’s nice to see new faces.”

 
You gave a thumbs-up. “Same here, delinquent-kun.”

 
“Wh-Wha—!?”

 
After that little introduction, it wasn’t long before they started talking about what happened to each other, but you weren’t really all that interested, so your mind turned to something else.

 
Namely, your handsome partner.

 
 Truthfully, you predicted a long time ago that Yuuya was a twisted guy, and you had a feeling he knew you knew it too, so when everyone was discussing what they had found out, you casually pulled him to the side and said, “Alright, just outta curiosity: I know you’re clearly trying to act as inconspicuous as possible around these people, and I just wanna know if you expect me to play along or something. Cause I mean, whatever you gotta do, I’m game. I don’t mind covering for you.”

 
Kizami looked at you with what seemed like surprise. He must not have expected to hear that from you. But honestly, you offered because that was how you really felt; you wouldn’t mind helping him. In fact, you kind of wanted to help him.

 
You were sorta gonna be partners after all. And partners did crap like this for each other.

 
His lips formed into a devilishly attractive smirk.

 
“Heh… I was wondering when you would mention that.” He leered at you, and despite his dangerous aura, he ruffled your hair in an almost affectionate manner; “…Even if you know, I don’t want you to cover for me. If you said anything suspicious about me, I know I could recover on my own. Don’t bother holding back on my account… I much prefer you to act as your truest self.”

 
You laughed a bit, “Alright, suit yourself. But just so you know, I already know I’m definitely gonna need to pull shit outta my ass for you when we’re back in the real world, because we can’t afford for you to be caught doing illegal stuff out there, and I got this feeling that you have a hard time trying to contain yourself.”

 
Kizami smiled darkly, “Duly noted.”

 
You began traveling again, this time you were headed to Sachiko herself.

 
In order to reach her, she had to be located first, and she would be in some not-explored area of the building, which meant the basement level.

 
This really was set up to be like some horror flick, or video game; spooky shit always tended to happen with basements.

 
Basements and attics were always the worst, you recalled.

 
The basement here looked more like a maze than anything.

 
And it was certainly as, if not more dangerous than all the other areas so far, not that that was surprising.

 
Your group was only traversing the tunnels for a few minutes before this guy in a beanie came around the corner and crashed into Naomi and Satoshi. He fell over, stunned.

 
“Ah! A-Are you alright?” Satoshi exclaimed.

 
Naomi noticed the man dropped his camera from the collision, and bent down to pick it up and hand it to him, “Um, you dropped this…”

 
He took it and was about to say something…

 
But upon looking at her, the guy’s face immediately changed, and he sprung to his feet.

“AAAAAUUUUGHHH!” He screamed and sprinted back the way he came from. His shrieks could still be heard in the distance for a few seconds.

 
For a moment, everyone was silent.

 
“Huh… That was fuckin’ weird. Did you do something to him by any chance?” You spoke up looking at Naomi, but she refused vehemently.

 
“N-No, that was the first time I’ve seen him!”

 
“…At any rate, it’s probably best we move along as fast as we can. We don’t know what else could be waiting for us down here,” Satoshi said.

 
Then everyone began moving again, basically ignoring everything that just happened.

 
Things went smooth for a while afterwards, other than having to stop occasionally to do these strange puzzles with these pulley systems to open paths—

 
“Alright but for real, who designed this shit? Did all the ghosts one day just think to themselves “Huh, it’s actually kind of impossible to get around in this place sometimes, how about we help out the humans for once?” and then made this stuff just to help us cross the gaps?” You asked after using the third pulley system you came across.

 
“I’m not sure—these things were upstairs as well. Maybe they were put in place by Sachiko, in an effort to toy with us even more,” The brunette replied quietly, likely getting a bit used to your personality by now.

 
“This whole thing still seems a little too convoluted, but alright,” you shrugged.

 
  And then, lo and behold, something else happened.

 
Yoshikazu, the big hulking man that almost killed you before, came around the corner, and saw your group. He let out an unholy wail and began charging in your direction, making everyone let out noises of panic.

 
“Guys! Split up, we’ll lose him if we go separately!” Satoshi shouted over everyone.

 
Kizami had already grabbed your arm and was hauling you in another direction. “Let’s go!”

 
“Yeah yeah, right behind ya,” you replied as you were half-dragged away.

 
“Satoshi! Come on Yuka, this way!”

 
“B-Big brother wait…!”

 
The others went off in the opposite direction.

 
After a few turned corners, Yoshikazu’s moans didn’t follow you, so it was safe to assume that he’d went after the others.

 
Going down one more hallway, Yuuya stopped, his hand gripping yours firmly. His eyes scanned the vicinity, seeing no signs of danger, before he dropped his tense stance a little.

 
Once again, it seems it was just you and him.

 
Needless to say, you didn’t have any problem with that.

 
“Should’ve expected him to show up again sooner or later honestly,” you pointed out. Threats that haven’t been around for a while were always bound to show up again at some point, most likely sooner than you would think.

 
“Maybe. But he went after those other three, that’s what’s important here. If it came down to it I would have no trouble fighting him, but his state of being makes it seem like he has the advantage. If there was ever a way to fight a ghost without holy water or talismans, I won’t complain about being the first to learn what it is.”

 
“Yeah man, plus fighting a ghost would be pretty badass anyways,” you said with enthusiasm. If he fought off a spirit, he could be an exorcist—and not like one of those boring priests, but the cool ones in anime.

 
“You’d have a front row seat to witness it,” He let out little hum of amusement. He then became serious again in a matter of seconds. “That aside, we should find our way back to those other three. Loathe as I am to have to rely on them, it’s true our chances of survival increase if we’re together.”

 
“Fine by me.”

 
Then the search began for your missing comrades. Fortunately, you eventually met up with them again, though Naomi wasn’t present.

 
“What happened to your girlfriend?” You asked Satoshi, who looked at you wild eyed.

 
“Sh-She’s not my… We’re just classmates, that’s all…!”

 
You cast him a straight-faced look. “Really? Cause to me it looked like you two had a thing for each other. But if you don’t wanna talk about it, I’m not gonna force you.”

 
He was about to reply, probably another denial, but footsteps cut him off. He turned ahead, and his face lit up in an instant.

 
“Yoshiki! Shinozaki!” His voice rose in excitement. Two people ran toward us, and it turned out to be the two we met up with earlier across the gap before going into the basement.

 
Funny how there hadn’t been a pulley system to close that gap.

 
You guessed that would have been too convenient.

 
“Mochida-kun!” The Shinozaki girl said excitedly.

 
“And Yuka too! Good to see you guys.” Yoshiki added, a smile growing on his face.

 
“Are you guys okay? You look a bit pale,” Shinozaki asked with a concerned tone.

 
The question made the tension in Satoshi return. He frowned, and then recounted the events prior from when you got separated from them.

 
 Apparently, what happened was after you split up, Satoshi, Naomi and Yuka ended up in a room with a bunch of buckets and a table with straps and were forced to hide under the table while Yoshikazu searched for them for a bit.

 
The camera guy you had an encounter with was coincidentally hiding in the cabinet in same room though, so because the beast found him instead, the other three were forgotten about. All would have been well if it had not been for one instance—the guy just so happened to be lugging around Naomi’s best friend, Seiko.
 

Probably her one goddamn weakness.

 
So of course, because Seiko turns out to be super precious to Naomi, she ran after the giant man as he dragged her away without even thinking about it. Satoshi and his sister had followed the trail of blood from Seiko, but because it abruptly stopped, they have no idea where Naomi might have gone to follow him.

 
 The whole situation seemed a little dumb and contrived if anyone were to ask you.

 
Satoshi looked off to the side, his face conflicted. “We need to keep moving. If we chase after her when we don’t even know where she went, we’ll be wasting precious time that we don’t know when we’ll run out of. She’ll catch up, I know she will. I believe in her.”

 
It seemed like an answer someone gave when they were scared and didn’t know what else to do, but it didn’t really matter to you that much.

 
You pressed on without her.

 
On the way, Yoshiki explained that they ran across their teacher on the way, and that she died trying to protect them.

 
“Ms. Yui…” Shinozaki began sobbing as she was reminded of the event.

 
“Come on Shinozaki, she told us to be strong, remember? We need to be strong for her,” Yoshiki said to her firmly, patting her shoulder.

 
Wow, it was obvious before, but Sachiko was really messed up.

 
It was clear everyone had gone through a lot of traumatic shit while being in this school. They were probably gonna need a lot of counselling after this.

 
The dingy yellow corridors you passed through all looked the same, all having random cracks littered throughout the walls, the wood splintering and caked in layers of dust and cobwebs, but somehow it still felt like you were making progress.

 
Another passageway crossed.

 
Soon, it felt as though your time here would end.

 
You turned to Kizami, who was silently treading behind the group beside you. Feeling someone’s eyes, his gaze flickered over and landed on you, an unreadable look on his face. With your sight connected, you grinned lightly and attached your hand to his, giving it a little squeeze.

 
For some reason it just felt right to do that.

 
For a few seconds, his face still portrayed no emotion, and you briefly wondered if he was feeling awkward. But then, he shook his head lightly, a lop-sided smile falling on his lips.

 
“We got this far. We’re gonna make it out of this, alright? We already made that deal, so it’d be a waste not to stick with it, don’t you think?” You said quietly, oddly serious for once.

 
He tilted his head in your direction, the corners of his mouth curving a bit more, “Oh, yes, we’ll make it out of here alright, of that I have no doubt. The only thing that I would ever be concerned about is you, trying to slip out of our little agreement. You may be brave now, but I wonder how long it’ll last before you realize what’s in store, and try to escape… In which case, I’d be forced to enact certain measures that you may not enjoy…” His smile turned warped.

 
You quirked a brow, “Oh? And what sort of measures would those be? I’m not the type to try and get out of an arrangement, but you’re making it hard not to wonder.”

 
He gave a low chuckle at your answer. “Hahaha… A life with someone like you is certain to be quite fulfilling, (Y/N)-chan.”

 
He didn’t elaborate any further, which lead you to believe that maybe he wanted to do some kinky shit to you after all.

 
Score?
  

Chapter Text

You managed to reach a room that was different from the rest of the catacombs; it was much larger in size, but empty, as if there was supposed to be something big stored in here, but it was removed.

Suddenly, a blue light appeared in front of the group, and shifted into the form of a little girl. One that was awfully familiar.

“Oh hey, I recognize you… I’d forgotten about you and the other one until now. I’ve seen you around the halls twice before I think. You and those other two sure have a penchant for murdering people.” You said while pointing at her.

She looked at you with a melancholic expression. “The influence of the school took over our senses… We couldn’t control ourselves, we only regained our senses when we were appeased. And unfortunately, we won’t be free for much longer.”

You gave a low whistle, “Shit, that sucks. Sorry.”

She didn’t say anything as she turned and directed a serious gaze at Shinozaki. “Ayumi-chan… Don’t give in. The darkening has started to creep in. Its effects are beginning to take hold of you. There’s still time to stop it…but you must hurry.”

Shinozaki looked terrified.

“The darkening… Is that the influence of the school itself?” Kizami asked quietly, but the ghost must have heard him because she nodded in his direction.

“Yes. It is the menacing air within this space that drives people to madness. If you are overcome by the darkening, you lose all sense of self. Any rational thought or humanity is cut off by the darkness invading your mind, and you almost certainly will not recover once it takes over.”

As soon as she finishes, the pig-tailed ghost turned to the rest of us.

“She’s here, just beyond the next room. Whether or not you’ll be able to return to your own world…depends entirely on her.”

She nods gravely. “Go. Quickly.”

Immediately, Satoshi calls out, “Wait… What about Naomi? We can’t leave without her…”

The ghost frowned sadly. “She’s…fighting her own demons right now. If she can overcome them… If she’s able to resist her own darkening…she’ll be along.”

“So we’re just not gonna do anything about her then? Alright.” You spoke, and Satoshi’s face looked pained at your words. Maybe not doing anything to help his girlfriend was crushing him with guilt.

Yuki, once again, ignored this, and her expression turned solemn once more. “It should be possible to appease even Sachiko. All of you, make certain you’re ready… Ready to fight.”

“You mean we have to literally fight her or are you talking about a mental battle or something—” Kizami clamped a hand over your mouth, shaking his head lightly. You guessed he was done with your shenanigans.

“Well I didn’t come this far just to quit now. I’m in this until the bitter end,” Yoshiki declared.

Satoshi nodded, his brown hair shifting a bit with the motion. “Yeah…me too. We have to get out of here, no matter what.”

“Remember, the way out lies with Sachiko. You must find a way to get through to her. Touch her heart…” Her words faded as her ethereal body disappeared.

Looks like this really was the end.

“Everyone ready?” Satoshi turned to us, a firm expression on his face. He was trying as hard as he could to swallow his fear, you had to give him props.

There were various sounds of commitment.

Thankfully, Kizami removed his hand from your mouth. Another few seconds and you would have started licking and sucking on it, though something told you he wouldn’t have been repulsed like most people.

“Yep, as ready as I’ll ever be. How about you Yuuya? Gonna be able to keep it together over there?” You nudged him.

Yuuya eyed you in amusement, most likely from you recovering so quickly; “Heh… You don’t have to worry about me. It’s my job to worry about you; your safety is my priority now, or have you forgotten our promise?”

You linked your arm with his, “Aw, that’s sweet. Does that mean we get to seal the deal with some romantic shit after we’re done here?”

Either out of genuine desire or just to humor you, his fingers entwined with yours once more. “Once we meet in the outside world… All sorts of possibilities will be at our disposal. Since I’ll be in a good mood when we’re out, I’ll let you pick the first thing we do together.”

You smiled easily, “Awesome. Let’s get this done then.”

The others in the group kinda gave you weird looks for a moment, before you all went forward together into the next room.

The thought of seeing Sachiko was immediately dashed when you were instead greeted by the wonderful sight of… Yoshikazu’s corpse.

Very lovely.

And by that, you meant it was nasty as hell, but that was pretty much always a given with cadavers.

Anyway, moving onto the next room, this one was definitely the real room that Sachiko was in.

How did you know that?

Because your brain instantly felt like it was going to burst all over the walls as soon as you step inside.

Powers like that were always associated with poltergeists and such; you remembered tons of horror movies in that moment. Well, poltergeists and certain super villains from superhero movies, but that was besides the point.

Yuuya gripped your hand tighter, and you could make out his face having an unreadable expression. You couldn’t tell whether or not his head was also being affected, because either way he was probably determined not to show it, like a tough guy.

“Be on your guard,” he murmured to you.

The lights were dim, you could barely make anything out inside the room. This problem was suddenly alleviated when a loud bang resounded in the room, and a grave made itself known in the back of the room.

Sachiko’s grave.

“Back away…! Don’t look at me!” She said in a strong voice, one the very opposite of her age.

Satoshi stepped forward, “Sachiko? Sachiko, please, listen! We—”

Another bang echoed in the room.

“Leave!”

“Please, believe me, we mean you no harm!” Satoshi’s voice trembled slightly.

Another bang.

“Leave now, or I’ll kill you!” Her tone had an almost desperate edge to it, as if she truly felt threatened by you just being near her body. You could almost feel bad for her.

Almost.

It may have been easier to feel bad for her if she hadn’t basically murdered a bunch of kids and was the main reason (besides Naho) that you winded up in this death school to begin with.

Satoshi clenched his fist. “Dammit… We’re not getting through to her!”

An apparition appeared in front of the grave, and when it did, your body became completely stiff. You were immobilized and were suddenly struggling not to associate your current position with a few similar scenes from some hentai.

‘Just switch up the ‘villain’ in this scenario with an average-to-hideous looking guy or a tentacle monster and it’s basically the same—’

“Urgh… My body…!” Satoshi gritted.

Shinozaki strained a breath, “We’ve been paralyzed!”

“I-I can’t move!” Yuka whimpered.

“Ngh… (Y/N)…” Yuuya, despite the paralysis, was gripping you harder than ever before, and even managed to pull you back a bit, away from Sachiko.

His strength was really incredible.

‘Kizami sex appeal increased by 50 points.’

“Is everybody alright!?” Satoshi ground out.

Panicked voices rang through the room.

“B-Big brother help me…!” Yuka’s cries were cut off by Sachiko, who stood in front of her and inflicted a blow to what looked like her neck.

“Yuka!” It was easy to tell that Satoshi was having a hard time remaining calm when he had no idea what was happening to his sister.

“W-What did you do—”

Yuka was struck again, and then again. Her pained cries grew louder.

Okay, now even you could admit this was getting kinda out of hand.

“Sachiko, you bitch! Leave her alone!” Yoshiki snarled.

Clearly these people were all going to get themselves killed, and if you survived without them somehow, you didn’t need blood on your hands from people that you could have helped save.

Realizing no one else was going to, you finally spoke.

“Hey, guys? I think now’s the time to appease her before this gets any worse. Seriously, if you don’t want your sister to die Satoshi, I suggest you do what you came to do. I have plans after this and I’d really rather not cancel them just because you were too slow to act,” You said in a dry voice.

“Yes, Mochida please hurry!” Shinozaki agreed quickly.

“O-Okay!”

Satoshi managed to slightly break out of his paralysis, probably because Sachiko was focused on Yuka, and whipped out the dirty bag from his pocket. “Sachiko! This is yours! It’s a part of your body that was taken from you! Open your eyes! Please!”

That’s when you noticed there were two Sachiko’s now; the one in the blood red dress in front of Yuka, and the one in front of the grave, the one that most likely resembled Sachiko when she was alive.

“Mom… You promised…” She mumbled.

She sounded almost delirious.

“Your mom’s been suffering just as much as you have. The things you’re doing aren’t making her happy at all!”

Satoshi quickly dug into his other pocket and withdrew the stuffed cat plush.

“Who…? Where’s my mommy? …Where am I?” Also, this other Sachiko sounded much more innocent and childlike than the other one.

Most likely she would have been like this if she wasn’t killed and transformed into a murder-demon.

Sachiko’s shrieks then abruptly shook the room. In the wake of this, Naomi dashed into the room and stood with the rest of us, much to Satoshi’s surprise, but immediate relief.

You guessed no one was going to bother questioning where she was until now. Maybe later?

“Come on, everyone! Take out your paper doll scraps!” Satoshi shouted over the horrible wails.

Everyone began doing so with haste.

As you began looking for yours, for a couple tense seconds you couldn’t find it. You began to wonder if you would end up stuck in this place after all, spending the rest of your existence as a spirit stalking other people who got trapped in here and scaring the shit out of them, but then your fingers brushed over the corner of something folded. You pulled it out, and there it was; one half of the paper doll. You turned to Kizami, and he reassured you by holding his up, so you could see.

Everyone formed a sort of triangle as you held out your paper scraps.

“Sachiko! Hear our pleas! We want…to go home! That’s what charms really are… They represent our regards for other people! They’re like microcosms of the soul, right?”

Shinozaki’s eyes were shut tightly. “You and your mom both suffered such horrible fates…but all we want to do is free you from that suffering!”

“Sachiko we beg of you…” Satoshi started.

“Sachiko we beg of you!!” Continued Yuka.

“Sachiko…we beg of you! Yoshiki carried on.

“Sachiko! We beg of you!” Shinozaki picked it up.

“Sachiko, we beg of you!” Now Naomi.

“Sachiko, we beg of you…” Kizami said his piece, then turned to you.

You nodded. One step closer to ending this crap and getting back to the real world.

“Sachiko we beg of you.”

And then, everyone chanted together one last time.

“Sachiko, we beg of you!”

The room turned white, and when it faded back to the original lighting, Sachiko was gone, and the room was relatively normal.

Satoshi began fussing over Yuka instantly, and Shinozaki offered her assistance.

You stroked your chin, “Did we really do it…? I kinda doubt it’s over yet… If it was, I feel like we’d be back home by now.”

“…I agree. We shouldn’t relax just yet. Now might be the real test; escaping,” Kizami said with a wary gaze, his mouth set in a firm line.

Just then, the pig-tailed ghost from earlier faded in.

“Yuki!” Shinozaki exclaimed.

‘Yuki’ looked down at the floor, a troubled look on her face. “Now…is your only chance to escape. The veil between your world and this school is at its thinnest. The gate is open. You need to hurry and get outside this building before it closes. Complete the ritual.”

As soon as she said that, Yuuya’s jaw was set, his eyes narrowed. His hand was circled back around yours in an instant; “We need to leave. Now.” He said this to you firmly, before taking off out of the room, dragging you with him, and you instantly picked up the pace to keep up with him.

You hadn’t even heard the rest of what Yuki had to say, but it hardly mattered now. The exit was open, and it was only going to be open for so long.

It was time to finally get out of this rat trap.

As if the building had sensed you trying to escape its walls ahead of the rest of them, obstacles started appearing in your path every few seconds—crumbling floorboards, collapsing debris, sliding furniture, slamming doors…

It didn’t feel like the place was collapsing. Rather, it seemed like this place was intent on keeping as many people inside no matter what.

But regardless of the school’s efforts, amazingly enough Kizami was dodging every single complication with amazing speed and agility. It was like watching some sort of parkour master.

You had a hard time remembering to watch your own footing as well, his moves were so neat to watch.

In all honesty, his charm might as well have increased tenfold from this. Maybe you should make an official chart for him or something, and each time he did something cool like this his likeability points would go up, and then if he did something you didn’t really like, he would get a point reduction. Then again, it was extremely hard for anyone to do something you disliked, since you were neutral about almost everything if you didn’t love or like something.

“(Y/N)!” Kizami shouted your name just in time, because if you hadn’t been paying attention right at that moment, you would have been hit in the head with a falling support beam.

“Stay focused, or I’ll make sure you regret it later!” He barked.

Oops.

Well all things considered, punishment didn’t really sound bad coming from him.

“Sorry, I forgot what we were doing for a second!” You shouted for him to hear.

“We’ll talk later,” he uttered quietly, just loud enough for you to catch the words.

Maybe you really would regret that. You doubted it, but this guy was still a mystery overall, so perhaps he could come up with something you disliked to punish you with.

Or maybe instead he would throw you to the ground and—

“—Whoa, that was a close one.” You say as you narrowly avoid getting your foot stuck in a hole between the floorboards.

You could feel the grip on your hand tighten. He didn’t look back at you, but you could feel his annoyance.

It was best to keep your attention on the task at hand, otherwise Yuuya might suffer an aneurysm.

Another ten or so seconds ticked by before the end was in sight.

You found the doors to the outside, and with both of your bodies weight against the rickety doors, they swung forward easily. You both fell through the doors and grabbed onto the wooden rails for purchase. You were out. There was only one thing left to do.

Kizami’s eyes flickered to you. “Ready?”

You smiled, placing your other hand atop his. Again, for some reason, it just felt right to do.

“Yeah…”

Annoyance apparently forgotten, his face suddenly held a soft smile as well, though there was something strange about it.

‘Oh, a real smile…?’

“Then, three, two, one…!”

Both of you leapt over the railing.

Everything became white. All color was desaturated from your vision. You couldn’t see your limbs, or Yuuya. It was almost like you were alone. Distantly, you heard voices, and you could only assume they were from Satoshi and the others.

You could feel yourself become lighter, as if you could easily float away. It was a soft, reassuring feeling. However, a gentle pressure on your hand told you, you were still linked to one another for a moment.

“Contact me on the other side.”

 ******

**********

“—omrrow’s new—”

“…We’re looking at sunny skies all day! It’s gonna be the perfect weather to be outside in, and that’s what it looks like it’ll be for…”

Your eyelids felt heavy, and so did your whole body. Even though it seemed like you were just sleeping, you felt exhausted. You wanted to turn over and go to sleep once more, and you almost did, except…

“Oh, wait…” You mumbled, forcing yourself to sit up. It didn’t hit you right away, but as you looked around, seeing the flat-screen TV, cream colored walls, the small table beside you, feeling the plush bed underneath you, realization slowly dawned: you were in the hotel you’d been staying at.

“Well damn… I actually made it back,” you said to yourself. You almost couldn’t believe it. The chances of surviving that death trap seemed slim to none, and yet somehow, you got back in one piece.

You should probably celebrate or something.

You looked at the clock, and it read 12:00 AM. You had been in Heavenly Host for about six hours.

Hopefully everyone else made it out okay.

That train of thought led you to another.

Kizami… He was holding your hand when you were transported back. There was no way he didn’t make it.

And just as you thought it, a buzz sounded from your pocket. In a practiced motion, you grabbed your phone from your pocket and unlocked it in seconds.

1 new message.

You opened it, and when you did, you couldn’t help the goofy grin that took over your face.

‘Hey. It’s Yuuya. I told you I’d contact you as soon as I got out. As soon as you get this, respond so I know you’re safe.’

Your chest tightened, and it felt strangely warm.

“Heh… You certainly couldn’t wait to get ahold of me.”

The response came naturally.

‘Guess I must be more charming than I thought.’

~~~

Chapter Text

“Let’s see… I need this, this, could use some of that, and, oh, I didn’t think they sold those here, sweet.” Your arms were filled to the brim with different types of food. It was too much of a burden to carry it all yourself, so you shoved it all into your cart before heading to the next aisle.

 
“Funny how taxes on stuff here is lower than back home.” Or, home as in your home country. You wouldn’t be living there anymore, so it wasn’t really your home now.

 
“Kizami didn’t really specify too much when I asked, so he’s probably not picky, but I feel like he’s not-so-secretly a big meat lover,” you reason aloud as you grab a package of chicken, beef, pork, as well as some fish. Fish wasn’t exactly meat, but it was close enough in your books. It was an ‘alternative’ to meat. Just like nuts. It turns out it’d been a good idea to study that food-group chart after all.

 
Also, there was usually always some kind of fish in various Japanese dishes, so it was probably a good idea to have some for that reason alone.

 
“Wait a second, I should probably be checking the dates on these…” You almost forgot it was important to make sure you weren’t getting perishable food items that were close to the expiration date. You’ve partaken in expired products before, namely a carton of milk that was three weeks overdue, the result of which made you vomit almost immediately.

 
Never again would you let that happen.

 
While you were making good progress, the longer you were in this store, the more it sunk in that this kind of stuff was a hassle to do by yourself. Before, you would always be home when the groceries would arrive, or you would be doing the shopping with someone else; never completely alone like this. Thankfully, this would be the only time you would have to do this by yourself.

 
After all, from now on, you had a doting, hot, obsessive boyfriend looking after you.
 
 
 

 
When you both got out of Heavenly Host, the two of you texted each other and chatted for a while that night, setting up a time and place to meet on the weekend. You were both attending different schools, but they were in the same city, so it wasn’t too hard to google a map of the whole city to find a place you’d both be able to make it to.

 
When you two met up at a park, he seemed to visibly relax a bit when seeing you.

 
“Heya,” you greeted easily, sitting on the lone bench with him and sliding a bit closer.

 
“Hey,” he responded, eyes staring into yours. “Good to see you’re well.”

 
“Well, hate to break it to ya Yuuya, but I don’t actually almost get killed on a daily basis like you seem to believe.” You grinned.

 
At that, he only looked at you deadpan. “Having known you for a full week, while taking into account all that has happened in that time, it simply isn’t possible to take you seriously when you declare such a statement.”

 
Okay, you suppose he had a fair point considering all that happened in Heavenly Host, but in your defence, you really were being honest when you said that you didn’t regularly face your possible untimely demise. You doubted there would be any reasoning with the guy though.
 

You didn’t care enough to convince him otherwise anyway.

 
“Eh, think what you want I guess. I have a feeling you’ll be over-protective of me either way,” you shrugged.

 
“I’m glad you understand your role at least.”

 
Brushing off that remark, you remembered something you wanted to bring up now that you were face to face; something that you discovered not too long ago, and thought really strange.
 

“Oh hey, so do you remember how I was collecting all the student ID nametags from all the corpses back in HH?”

 
He grunted, “Yes, I remember how you didn’t seem bothered by the dead at all, and that was something that intrigued me. Why do you bring it up now?”
 

“Well…” You loosely folded your arms, “Lemme just say first that I was gonna mention this over the phone, but I forgot.”

 
You ignored the blank stare he shot you as you continued, “I sort of made a promise to myself that I’d try to deliver all of the nametags I found to the parents of these kids, so they at least know what happened to them. But a few days ago, when I looked up a few of the names on the IDs, none of them were showing up. I ended up trying to find all these kids’ information, so I could locate their parents, but there weren’t any results online at all, like these people just don’t exist or something. It was really fucking weird, so I think it might be connected to the curse of the school.”
 

Kizami’s face was still unexpressive as he absorbed the information you were rattling off. When you finished, he was silent for a bit, before muttering, “So that’s it then…”

 
You studied him, “Figure something out?”

 
He looked at you before he gave a brief nod. “You could say that. After attending school the day after we came back, I expected a lot of confusion to occur over all of the missing students in our class. There should be no reason for so many students to miss school at the same time, and I knew people would notice that. But throughout the entire day, no one said anything about our classmates being gone. The same happened the next day as well, with nobody questioning it. It’s been a few days now and still no one has commented on it, and I thought it rather bizarre, but now I have a feeling I know why.”

 
You scratched your cheek, “Do you think Sachiko…?”

 
He exhaled shortly in acknowledgement, “Indeed. I suspect that the curse… Must cause the dead to be forgotten in our world. …No, not just forgotten, but erased. That would explain why none of the names you searched yielded any results. They simply don’t exist in this world anymore, and our own memories of them aren’t affected because we ourselves were inflicted with the curse until we escaped.”

 
His eyes then twinkled in amusement as a small simper played on his lips. “They’ve effectively been wiped out of existence for everyone but those involved. Quite an unfortunate side-effect, wouldn’t you say?”
 

Kizami was clearly getting his kicks out of this. If you weren’t sure about it before, you would’ve been now—this guy was a complete sadist.

 
You were pretty sure about that beforehand, but it was basically set in stone now. You would probably remind him to be subtler in the future; at least when you were in public.

 
It’d be a massive pain if he ended up going to jail because he wasn’t careful enough about his special 'tendencies'. You would need to bail him out, and you didn’t have the money for that.

 
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this and everything, but this also means I’ve wasted a bunch of time collecting these nametags for kids that have basically been winked off the face of the earth,” you pointed out. Putting in effort that amounted to nothing was actually one of the few things that you mildly disliked.

 
He ‘tsked’ at that, “It’s only wasted effort if you make it out to be. I’m sure these nametags could have another use—you would be surprised what objects could be used to improvise with rather than merely disposed of.” His voice went deeper at the end, as if implying something, and you had several ideas of what he could be referring to, all of them morally wrong.

 
You sighed; “I guess you’re right. I won’t throw them away, not yet at least.” Then, absentmindedly you trailed back to the previous topic. “Honestly, to think Sachiko had the gall to go this far though…that ghost really is a complete asshole.”

 
Yuuya’s eyes trailed to the idle trash can, “I can’t disagree with that sentiment; if she had been alive, I would have relished the chance to express exactly how the situation she put us in made me feel, but at the same time… I will concede that she does know how to make things interesting in her little game.”

 
“If this were an anime or video game, the plot would have been pretty interesting,” you agreed. “Oh, and if this was one of those things, I guess that means I’d be a side character. I wouldn’t mind that, since when it comes to the spotlight I could take it or leave it.”

 
Kizami side-eyed you, “…Why do you suppose you would be a supporting character? …. Most would assume their role would fall into the category of ‘protagonist’ if they were in a story of some sort. They would automatically conclude that the plot revolves around them, since in a sense, they are already the ‘hero of their own story’ in reality.”

 
You looked back at him, “I can see where you’re coming from, but let’s face it—the protagonist is usually a driving force, something that helps move the plot forward, along with the antagonist. If you think back, sure, we were moving along with the plot, but we weren’t the ones moving it—the ones who had a goal to strive for, who actually knew what they were doing and knew the solution to ending the madness; they were the real main characters.”

 
Yuuya’s eyes narrowed a tiny bit as he realized what you were getting at. “…So, Mochida and the others would have been the protagonists in your opinion.”

 
You smiled slightly, “Yup. And us two would have been the quirky duo side characters. You probably would have had more screen time than me, and I would interject into conversations every now and then to spice things up. We would’ve met up with them a few times throughout the whole thing, but never staying to actually travel with them.”

 
“You certainly have a clear image of how it would all pan out,” Yuuya observed simply.

 
You let out a small laugh. “Not really. Obviously, this is all just speculation anyway…but… I do think one thing’s for sure.”

 
He looked at you as your voice became somewhat quiet, sensing a change in mood.

 
You stared straight ahead, face suddenly void of emotion as you uttered, “If this was a game, or an anime…”

 

 
“The both of us probably would’ve died in that place.”

 
 

Kizami remained silent when you said that, so you had no idea what he could have been thinking at that moment. Nonetheless, you ended up voicing a random thought that came into your head not too long after and the strange atmosphere was lifted.

 
A while after chatting a bit more, eventually the main purpose of the meeting was brought up. The two of you were supposed to discuss how moving in together was going to work.

 
“I found a good house in another city. Decent size, and it’s out of the way of the crowded areas, so we shouldn’t be bothered too much unless we go out of our way to visit the tourist hotspots.”
 

You leaned on him, “Sounds good to me. Are you sure you’re gonna be able to afford it all yourself though? I thought housing was crazy-expensive.”

 
“I have a decent amount saved up from my work around the house, plus I inherited a lot from my grandparents. Me and my siblings were meant to use our shares solely for our education, but I find this to be a much better use for it.”
 

“Blowing your inheritance for a means of escape? Well, it’s your money, so you should do what you want with it. But how are we going to sustain ourselves? I’m trying really hard, but I just can’t imagine you working a nine-to-five office job.”

 
His arm wove around your torso and your face was turned toward his to see his sly smile.

 
“Oh, but I never said buying the house used up all of the money.”

 
Your faces were mere inches apart, and you could just imagine all the fangirls at his school shrieking in anger at this current position.

 
“Okay then stud, what are you using the rest of it on?”

 
“You don’t need to worry about it for now. I’ll let you know when the time comes.”

 
So, he didn’t want to tell you for whatever reason, even though it felt like he was setting up for a grand reveal for a moment there. Well, you knew he would tell you when he was ready, though you had to wonder why he would bother being secretive about it.

 
“Suit yourself then."

Then you remembered something that would no doubt throw a big wrench in all your plans.

"Uh, Yuuya? I'm not a Japanese citizen, so how am I gonna be able to stay here legally after high schoo--?"

"Don't worry about that either; I already have a plan, all that's left is to wait for the right time to initiate it. It won't be a problem." He answered instantly, so he was probably expecting that question.

He still didn't want to tell you anything for some reason.

 "Okay, as long as you have it figured out. Does your mom and siblings know you plan on moving out?”

 
He scowled at something you couldn’t see. “There is no need to inform them of our departure. In fact, I’d rather they didn’t know. The sooner I manage to cut them out of my life, the better off we’ll be. I don’t need them poking around in my private affairs, and they certainly aren’t worthy of meeting someone like you. Your time would be wasted if used on them; they’re nothing but a nuisance.”

 
“I’m sensing a lot of pent up frustration here,” you said after a moment, “you wanna talk about it? I’m not an expert on family relationships but talking about this stuff is proven to be therapeutic for a lot of people. You strike me as someone who definitely needs a person to lend an ear.”

 
He looked at you closely, his face unreadable, but intense.

 
“…I don’t need therapy.” His low tone was firm, leaving no chance for discussion.

 
Maybe not therapy, but at the very least, he could use someone to talk to. A clearer picture of Kizami was being painted in your head, and you were slowly coming to the conclusion that his family had no doubt played a part in his current mental state.

 
Since you two were gonna be together, you wanted him to achieve the best level of happiness he could get.

 
“I’m not saying I’m trying to take you to therapy either. You don’t need to go to therapy to have someone willing to hear you out, you know. No need to overreact, just wanted to offer in case you wanted to lay out some pent-up frustration. Since we’re gonna be a couple or whatever, I want you to be able to be happy.” You reasoned.

 
A small smile spread across his face, “So you assume that I’m currently unhappy? I can assure you, this is the best I’ve ever felt. It’s a pleasant feeling to have you worry over my well-being, but your concerns are unfounded at best. More importantly…”

 
Kizami’s fingers skidded down your back, as he asked, “What about your parents? I assume they won’t be an obstacle?”

 
“Uh, yeah, no issues on that end,” you say.

 
“Is that so? That is a relief then. We wouldn’t want them getting in the way or causing us any trouble,” His voice was deeper than usual as he said this, grayish eyes intently watching your expression.

 
 “Well, considering they let me come here in the first place…” You trailed off, getting distracted by his hand now creeping up the back of your shirt. His fingers glided lazily back and forth across the plane of skin, leaving a tingling feeling in their wake.

 
 He was kinda bold for doing something like this in public of all places, but you could guess it was because he really wanted you to drop the subject about him. You would have no problem relenting; you could always bring it up again later anyway.

 
“Good, preparations are coming along smoothly on both ends then,” he breathed, the tips of his fingers skirting over the clasp of your bra.

 
“…I have to admit, I didn’t think you would be into voyeurism Yuuya. You seemed more like the type to want to keep their affairs private and personal.” You eventually said.

 
“And what would lead you to believe that I do enjoy such a thing?” He asked, his tone not giving any hint as to what he may be thinking.

 
“Well, if you’re trying to seduce me in a public place, it’s easy to guess that you enjoy the thrill of someone easily being able to watch,” you rationalized.

 
The smile that broke out upon his lips from you saying this could only be described as sinister.

 
“Ah, there it is; that unique naivety that I adore. I feel compelled to clarify something to you, (Y/N). You know… If there was a moment that I felt I truly wanted to have you, then I would take you.”

 
His other hand held the side of your face softly, a complete contrast to his ominous words; “I’m only touching you like this now because I just wanted to feel you.”

 
You didn’t say a word as his lips were lightly brushing against your own, his dark gaze piercing into yours.

 
“Don’t misunderstand; when the time comes, together we’ll experience all kinds of thrills behind closed doors.”

 
This was probably the closest you’ve ever been to kissing someone, and it felt a little strange.

 
He was so awkwardly close that you could see the tiny pores in his skin.

 
Kizami hadn’t made a move yet, and at this point you didn’t know if he planned on closing the gap or if he just wanted to have intimidating prolonged eye-contact.

 
“You gonna kiss me or…? What’re we doing here?” You whispered.

 
“Why do you ask? Do you desire me to touch you further?” His voice was underlined with enjoyment, maybe even narcissism.

 
“I mean, sure, since I said before, in general terms we’re gonna be like, a couple, and I figured that was what you were already going for a second ago, but you were hesitating, so I thought I’d ask just in ca—”

 
Your face was forced to tilt upwards as he engulfed your lips with his own, and you promptly realized that the question he asked was a question that he didn’t really care about hearing the answer to.
 

Well, either that or he was just too eager to wait.

 
 In the first few seconds you didn’t really react, since you had no real idea of how these things were supposed to be carried out (maybe you should’ve read a manual or watched a tutorial before coming here) but you remembered how pretty much everyone in real life and on the internet would say that you should just go with your instinct. And so, you do just that, and slowly push back against his lips, moving them a little experimentally.

 
A deep chuckle came from his throat at your attempts, and he cups the back of your head before letting his tongue slide against your lips teasingly.

 
Oh, you recalled reading a bunch of different fanfiction that implied this was usually a sign that the other person wanted to French-kiss.

 
You were about to open your mouth normally, but Yuuya acted first and tickled your side, causing you to laugh, before he forced his slick muscle in. He must have thought you weren’t going to let him in or you didn’t know what he’d been implying. Admittedly, it was a little hard to keep up with as a beginner.

 
The feeling of someone else’s tongue being in your mouth was very strange, but not exactly unpleasant like you thought it would be. It was just as wet and soft as your own, gliding over the inside of your cheeks and tickling against the flesh-roof. You could tell Yuuya was trying to familiarize himself with the layout with the way it slid over every slippery surface and area it could reach. You tried participating, the tip of your appendage running over the veins and tender flesh on the underside, and his hand moved from the back of your head to running it through your hair, perhaps in a sign of approval.

 
After a few more moments of curling them around each other, he pulled away and you could immediately feel all the excess saliva pooling in your mouth from the exchange, as well as some of it leaving to the outside of your lips in tiny connected strands.

 
Kizami grinned as his tongue darted out once more and licked up the strands in a sweeping movement.

 
“…Tell me (Y/N)-chan, have you ever kissed anyone else?”

 
You run your fingers over your lips absentmindedly, “Nope, no guy’s ever gotten as close to me as you. A few have even went out of their way to avoid me. I’m pretty sure they thought I was weird, like the rest of my class.”

 
That seemed to bring him out of the mood a bit. “So then, you were a friendless girl? Hmph… Your classmates don’t sound very smart; a person like you is a rarity and should be treated as such.”

 
You snorted, “I didn’t say I had no friends, that was just how a lot of people would react to me. The friends I had, we weren’t that close, but I was never actually alone. Coincidentally, all of them are moving to different places after graduation, and we didn’t make plans to keep in touch, so I doubt they’d care too much about where I went.”

 
The barest of frowns graced his face, “If they didn’t appreciate you enough to care for you more deeply than that, then they didn’t deserve you. It isn’t entirely surprising to learn that however. People rarely genuinely care for others—they only pretend they do if it benefits them in some way. Your situation with them, albeit a little irksome, works out in our favor, because those people are now one less thing to worry about.”

 
Kizami wrapped his strong arm around you and pulled you closer, eyes once again searching yours.

 
“Now then; how about we start the evening off like I promised? The place I talked about is close by, we should have no trouble walking.”

 
Oh yeah, you completely forgot about that. You two were supposed to go on an actual date after the plans were laid out. You were finally gonna be able to do real couple stuff with Yuuya after all this time.

 
You were gonna do all the romantic shit.

 
“Damn right, let’s go! Thanks for reminding me,” You said as you stood and pulled him up by the arm that was around you.

 
He let out a low chuckle as you began pulling him along, before directing you on where to go.

 
Yuuya hadn’t really said what the place served, but he said the menu was good, and you had no reason to doubt him on that, since it was clear he had no intention of trying to mess with you.

 
…Okay, he clearly wanted to mess with you somehow, that was the kind of guy he was, but you didn’t think whatever restaurant he chose would play into that.

 
You walked with your arm resting against his, which he held close, his warmth providing slight protection from the fierce breeze.

 
The two of you arrived at the supposed location when Kizami abruptly took the lead by taking your arm and steering you into the direction of a decently sized red building.

 
He pushed the door open for the both of you like a true gentleman, and slipping inside, you could see that the place wasn’t really fancy, or purely Japanese-styled even, but it wasn’t entirely casual either—it seemed to almost strike a balance between the two, as if Yuuya had tried to put in a little bit of effort for your sake, but he didn’t want to overwhelm you at the same time.

 
Maybe you were just reading into it too much though. Kizami was smart, and he certainly knew how to analyze a situation and act accordingly, but whether or not he would go so far as to try to make things suitable for you, you couldn’t say yet.

 
You needed to get to know him a little better first, that was clear.

 
The attendant lady in front smiled politely and did a slight bow, “Good afternoon. Would you like a table for two?”

 
Your boyfriend stepped forward and let his lips quirk up slightly, “Yes, it’s just the two of us.”

 
She nodded, “We have a table near the back beside the window; would this be satisfactory?”

 
“Yeah, that would do just fine. Thank you,” He responded calmly.

 
“Right this way then, if you please,” The lady’s black hair waved back and forth as she led you to the table she specified, and she certainly hadn’t been lying. It was a window-seat, and it was near the back. If this were a school, you’d be feeling like a stereotypical shounen protagonist by now.

 
 …You still kinda did anyway.

 
You slid into the booth on the right side, Kizami settling with the left one. The long-haired attendant smiled once more, her faintly cherry colored lips shaping around pristine white teeth. “One of our waiters will be around shortly. In the meantime, please take your time to decide on your meals.” Her eyes lingered on Yuuya’s face for a few moments before she departed back to the front. If he had noticed that at all, he gave no indication of it.

 
You couldn’t blame her, after all he was some pretty fine eye-candy.

 
But now it was just you and him, being left to your own devices.

 
“Were all the girls tripping over themselves to get your attention in Byakudan?” You asked suddenly.

 
His eyes shifted over to you, his face expressionless. “Are you asking this because of that occurrence a moment ago?”

 
So, he had noticed.

 
“Kinda, but also because I’ve been curious for a while now. I know you mentioned that they weren’t obvious about it—or they tried not to be at least, but did you ever just catch glimpses of them sneaking glances at you from across the room and stuff? Staring at you like you’re a nice plump dorayaki?”

 
The analogy was certainly not lost on him, but he didn’t give any reaction to it besides looking at you blankly.

 
“I’m not sure why the details would concern you. Unless of course, you were feeling some modicum of jealousy,” his lips twitch into a teasing smirk, and you couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

 
“Haha, Jealousy? Nah, no point in being jealous over something like that. Plus, I’m pretty sure the way you look at most people is the same way you’d look at a speck of dust or an insect, so I don’t think you’re gonna suddenly lose interest in me. Though even if you did, I wouldn't mind going back to my solitary life-style either.”

 
“Hmm, that is a fair assessment. I doubt anyone else will come around that I have even an inkling of an interest in compared to the interest I have in you,” He conceded, but there was a strange undertone in his voice at the end, as though he were mulling over something while saying the words.

 
“Something I’m still not sure I really get by the way,” you remind offhandedly.

 
“There’s no fun in explaining it all at once. It’s much better to take the process gradually, so you have more time to comprehend each concept individually,” he replied coolly.

 
“That seems extremely unnecessary, but alright,” you said. No point in trying to take away his fun.

"I will say this however, and this is something I want you to try your best to remember: You won't be going back to your previous life. The moment we made that deal, whatever life you led before immediately came to an end, and a new one began. Rest assured, if you come to forget this fact, I won't hesitate to remind you." His voice was quiet, but matter of fact. Whatever he intended to do should you 'forget', it clearly wasn't a threat just now, but a promise.

You weren't entirely sure how to take that.

"That got foreboding. I may be forgetful sometimes, but I'm not senile, so I don't think I'd forget something like that anyway. But I'll keep it in mind."

That seemed to placate him, "I have faith that you'll do fine. I chose you for more reason than one, after all."

And just like that, the conversation moved on.

 
“So you got any recommendations for first-timers?” You questioned, looking over the countless foods on the leaflet.

 
Yuuya’s eyes pass over you from across the table, “I’ve ordered most of dishes on the menu at least once, and all of them were satisfactory. Pick any on the first page and I can guarantee their quality.”

 
That broad answer prompted another inquiry, “Is there a reason why you never give me specific answers to things I ask?”

 
“All of the questions you’ve asked could be answered in a variety of ways—there has been no need for specifics.” The glint in his gaze while answering made it all too clear he was doing it on purpose.
 

So you decided to call him out.

 
“You’re being vague on purpose.”

 
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” he answered evenly, but you could hear the unspoken challenge in his words.

 
You were sure that if he was talking to anyone else, they wouldn’t be able to see through his tactful lies and talented acting skills, because none would ever get close enough to discover the truth.

 
“Yeah ya do. I’m not sure what you’re trying to accomplish, but you’re definitely dodging my questions and giving noncommittal answers,” you elaborated.

 
“If that’s what you think, perhaps you should focus on asking more questions that can only be answered one way,” he replied quietly, a small trace of amusement audible in his voice.

 
This guy certainly loved his mind games.

 
“Alright fine, I’ll try asking more specific questions next time then. You sure are picky,” you remarked idly.

 
He only smiled a little in response.

 
It wasn’t too long after that that you picked out something on the menu that looked good, with Yuuya deciding on something you couldn’t quite see. Eventually, a waiter arrived and took both your orders.

 
“I’ll have this dish right here,” you pointed to something on the pamphlet, and the waiter nodded almost imperceptibly.

 
“And you, sir?”

 
Kizami directed a level gaze at the man for a moment before responding, “I’ll have the yakitori with two mugicha, since she never ordered a drink for herself.” His eyes landed on you for a brief moment.

 
Whoops. You honestly completely forgot. At least between the two of you, Kizami had a good memory.

 
“Ha, sorry,” you voiced with a smile, and for a split second Yuuya appeared a little exasperated before he was back to being straight faced.

 
Oh well.
 

Surprisingly, the food didn’t take long to arrive at all, and the two of you dug in earnestly, talking casually between mouthfuls. You weren’t entirely sure what dating in real life was supposed to entail, but if it involved pleasant and peaceful conversation with the addition of joking banter interspersed at random moments, then you supposed you really were experiencing some semblance of romance first-hand.

 
And that thought was a pleasant one.

 
“(Y/N), the yakitori is quite good. Do you want to try it?” He suddenly asked as you were digging into your own food.

 
“Sure, it looks really good. Wonder what they put on it…” You trailed off as a chunk of meat on a fork was hovering over your lips.

 
“Here. Tell me how it tastes.” The teasing expression on his face was as clear as day to you, and it made you want to chortle. Was he attempting a romantic situation, or was it really just to clown around?

 
Probably the latter honestly.

 
Humoring him, you leaned forward and brought the piece, fork and all, into your mouth, and maneuvered it off, leaned back, and then began chewing on the offering.

 
“Hm, this is pretty dope,” you commented, and then winked at him, “Thanks Yuu.”

 
You weren’t sure what reaction he’d been expecting, but whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him enough. “I’m just glad you enjoyed it.” His eyes showed he was pleased.

 
Maybe this was his way of grooming you.

 
Kizami Yuuya wasn’t the most ideal partner by the average person’s view by any means. He was overtly calm and collected, didn’t have too many reactions unless it involved something that truly fascinated him, and there was a clear sadistic undertone in a lot of the things he did. However, he was interesting, he doted on you and clearly wanted to protect you, and those rare times when he would smile a genuine smile, or look truly happy, always managed to give you nice feelings.

 
He may have had a personality disorder, but he was more than capable of being a decent human being. He just needed someone who could be patient and was able to tolerate him.

 
You just finished your meal, Kizami on his last skewer when the waiter from before showed up again and graciously asked if either of you needed anything else.

 
You decided to be the one to answer, and as you were looking and talking to the man, you noticed in the corner of your eye that Yuuya had leaned over, and swiftly poured a container of something into your mostly-untouched drink.

 
The staff member left shortly after you confirmed everything was great.

 
You turned back in your seat. The waiter hadn’t noticed, being fully focused on you, but you were certain of what just transpired.

 
And Kizami knew you knew it as well, if the way he was now intently staring at you was any indication.

 
Looking down at the table, you realized that you should’ve expected something like this coming from him, honestly.

 
You shrugged.

 
Well…

 
You signed up for this yourself, already having an inkling of what you might be in for.

 
So...this was your life now.

 
You grabbed the cold substance-laced mugicha and gulped it down, staring your boyfriend dead in the eye while his lips curled into a twisted smirk.

 
The last thing you saw was Kizami finishing the remnants of his meal with his gaze trained on you, before your vision hazed over.

~~~~