#also Mitsuba dies every time someone looks at him wrong

[elizabethzoopzoop986]

It’s wild how Akane almost died like 3 times and just like hasn’t… like why is that??

Like I’m being genuine … how is he still alive

[elizabeatrice]

Walking Blind + Thoughts on The Little Mermaid Being Episode 12

Let’s Talk About JSHK Anime #2

Warning: Manga spoilers up until Tanabata Arc (basically that + the entirety of season 1 + the skipped arcs)

I’m gonna talk about how the anime keeps proving my predictions wrong with skipped arcs, and later right, with consequences. Due note that this isn’t me hating the anime (because I love it). Just my funny experience attempting to Sherlock my way through the anime, plus my thoughts on The Little Mermaid being the finale.

No deduction works when it comes to predicting this series.

It all started when episode 5, The Confession Tree, came out. I was looking forward to it ‘cause I’m hananene trash af. Legit thought the entire episode was gonna be about Kodama.

But then the episode preview pics came out and I was like, “Sakura wtf are you doing here you don’t show up again until three chapters later?”

My first prediction was ep 5 would be entirely Kodama, and then ep 6 would be Young Exorcist. Seeing that these arcs serve to build up Nene and Kou wanting to know more about Hanako, I thought it’d be nice that we set aside two episodes just for that.

But then Kodama finished somewhere around the fifteenth minute mark, and we started Young Exorcist Part 1. Which was, you know, fine. But then instead of continuing, they jumped right to the end of the arc when Nene met Sakura for the first time, and then kept going to No. 5′s rumor and revealed Tsukasa early. Next episode’s title preview confirmed it, too. Ep 6 was gonna be 4PM Bookstacks.

Okay. I still had hope. Maybe they just rearranged the order.

On the other hand, the lack of ‘Part 1′ in the title was alarming. And it came true. They packed four chapters into one episode. A lot of things got cut. There wasn’t enough room for the op, and they had to run the credits while the episode was still ongoing. Though, tbh, other than Tsuchi’s line about him being able to change the books (with dire consequences), I didn’t have much problem with the cut scenes.

Then this thing showed up.

Before ep 5 I didn’t think we’d get Donuts until around episode 9-ish. But nope the No. 7s would meet each other in ep 7 (lmao see what I did there?). Again, I was fine with it, but I was a bit upset about Young Exorcist.

Someone said it may be moved to the finale, and I didn’t like that idea. Mostly because Yashiro, our main audience POV, isn’t in the arc. And it just sounds weird having a finale without your main audience POV.

They could put her there, sure, but that would mean adjusting Nene and Teru’s every future interaction. Even without shipping goggles or Nene’s romance-colored glasses, do you think Nene would still act the same towards Teru if she saw him hurt Hanako like that? ‘Cause that was brutal. Like she wouldn’t run and protect him like she did when they met Kou.

They put Kou and Teru’s resolution from Young Exorcist into their convo in episode 7. This kinda makes Teru a bit useless, though. I mean, he still doesn’t do much in the manga but the tension between him and Kou was supposed to set up this badass fight. Since it didn’t happen, and Young Exorcist isn’t gonna be the finale either, then he’s pretty much useless.

Anyway, the thing about Teru being onto The Broadcasting Club?

Not from the manga.

I’m not sure if Manga!Teru is really onto them. As far as I remember, it wasn’t hinted anywhere in the manga. Do correct me if I’m wrong. So what was the point of that change?

I didn’t get pissed until halfway through episode 7 and suddenly Mitsuba was there, but no fishes.

“What is he doing here, where’s that puffer fish, where’s his murder? Hello?”

I was very neutral about Mitsuba from the very beginning but when he showed up where The Little Mermaid (and my fish murder!!!) was supposed to be I kinda began to grow undeserved resentment toward him (I’m cool now though!). Totally, totally undeserved, because it wasn’t his character’s fault.

I was happy because Mitsuba stans got to see him animated (he was cute, and his VA was so good). But putting him in episode 7??? I mean they just left Hanako and Nene’s tension unresolved like that. That makes the episode really choppy in my opinion. They could’ve had the coolest final shot of the season of Tsukasa murdering that fish to scare and excite the anime-onlys. They missed that chance.

We got to episode 8. Pretty solid. Still would’ve preferred if its first bits weren’t in Donuts, but solid.

Preview title basically confirmed they’re skipping The Little Mermaid too. That was when I lost hope in Young Exorcist. But I tried to compromise. If they weren’t animating The Little Mermaid, then they have to put Hanako and Nene’s conversation and pinky promise in The Little Mermaid at the end of ep 9.

Episode 9 turned out to be my favorite. It was all thanks to Natsuhiko. He really cheered me up over our loss of two arcs. And my prediction was right for once. Hanako apologized for ruining the donuts. That’s definitely not the point of their tension (Tsu-ka-sa and trust), but it was still nice and I’d take what I could get. The hug. The hug was very nice.

I was mostly content, excited to see my boi Akane the next week. But then I thought, wait, we only have three episodes left. And we’re definitely reaching Hell of Mirrors, ‘cause No. 3′s silhouette is in the OP. Then the horrifying thought hit me.

They were gonna skip Searching.

But! The freaking post-credit showed up followed by this:

“They skipped Searching AND Clock Keeper??? Why on earth would you highlight Akane, with Teru of all people, in the OP then?! Paralleling Mitsuba and Kou no less!”

Due notice, yet again, the lack of ‘Part 1′ in the title preview. Before the episode actually aired, this was my train of thought: “Okay so they skipped The Clock Keeper and Searching, and decided to outdo episode 6 by packing 6 chapters (yeah, I counted “Reach Out Your Hand”) into one episode. Ahahaha ... what?”

Thankfully, they proved me wrong. Kay. Good. Thanks a bunch for fooling me with that title preview.

But then it freaking hit me. You got one episode left. The finale. Sure, Clock Keeper as a finale will be perfect. It’s a good hook for season 2. However. You can’t do Clock Keeper without doing Searching. It’d basically be almost the same as doing Donuts without doing The Little Mermaid. The finale wouldn’t feel resolved this way, because, again, there’s tension between Hanako and Nene (and Kou too) that isn’t resolved yet.

Not that Searching addressed the cause of the tension, but at least it brought the trio back to their status quo (well, with a bit of kounene and hananene development haha). Also, without Searching, it’ll only end like this:

Clock Keeper itself is 5 chapters. They can cut and modify. Sure. But y’all saw ep 6.

So that’s why I was sure we’re definitely not getting No. 1 this season. To me, that leaves three options for the finale.

A. Delivery + Tanabata Arc

Best pick in my opinion

It’s the direct continuation to Hell of Mirrors

The main trio are all there, especially our audience POV

More glimpses of Amane is always a plus point

The ‘getting hit by a bull, waking up in the past, and seeing your boyfriend before he died’ is just so random I think it’d be a pleasant surprise for the anime-onlys

Just wholesome in general, leaves the audience feeling good

The-ma-tic!!! You begin the series with Nene’s wish and end it with Amane’s isn’t that just asdfghjkl wish wish wish, everything’s about wishes in JSHK

B. Young Exorcist

Classic boss battle finale

Just Teru’s badassery *chef’s kiss*

Hanako getting emotional (something we haven’t really seen before)

Getting deeper into Hanako’s motive (episode 8 would’ve been more impactful had we had Young Exorcist before it, what with his view of disappearing/exorcism for ghosts being salvation)

Kou’s character development

^ counter argument: he already got the character development he went through in Young Exorcist in episode 6 and 7, plus, he and Teru already resolved their disagreements - though, not as impactful as in the manga

Also wholesome, HanaKou is great I love their friendship so much *sobs*

C. The Little Mermaid

@emee-ems​ pointed out here: “it started with the mermaid so they’ll end it with the mermaid” and I agree

Yashiro being persuaded to leave Hanako, while their friendship was what began the whole series? That’s some good conflict right there

Seeing Hanako worried about Yashiro leaving him? Good shit

Also wholesome (extra shipping content never hurts, either)

Hanako willingly opening up to Yashiro for the first time!!! That’s a big milestone for them

Yashiro accepting that he’s just not ready instead of not trusting her like she’d thought is *chef’s kiss*

That pinky promise! Starting the series making a bond due to unfortunate circumstances and ending the series making/staying loyal to a bond out of choice??? Good shit

Aaaaannnnddddd the verdict was:

Mmmmmkay.

I did previously think we’re gonna end the season with The Little Mermaid. But here’s the thing. It only works if everything is in chronological order.

Why? Because the tension that led to this arc in the first place is resolved already in episode 9.

The whole point of TLM is that conversation at the end, really, where:

Hanako apologizes for ruining the donuts (he already did in episode 9)

Hanako thanks Yashiro for telling him that she liked him

Hanako admits that he had a little brother and that he killed him (Tsukasa already confirmed both of this for Nene, both in episode 7 and episode 9)

So having Hanako repeating all this seems kinda redundant. Nene already knows. Sure, it’ll be nice to hear it from him directly ... but it’s too late now, isn’t it? It’s been four episodes. She’s met Tsukasa three times now. However, point number 2 is still available.

Furthermore, since Hanako already apologized in episode 9, I’m not sure if the fishes can use what happened in episode 7 to persuade Nene to leave him. I mean, she forgave him already. Tension resolved. They hugged and all. And it’s been so long since then.

Animating the fish murder scene is also kinda useless. It was supposed to give the audience a glimpse of how dangerous Tsukasa is. But we already know that. We saw him rip someone’s heart out and force-feed it to someone else.

The first half of The Little Mermaid Part 1 and The Broadcasting Club at the end of Part 2 are already animated in episode 7. That leaves them even more room for extra scenes. I hope they take good advantage of that.

Basically, they have to make a lot of adjustments and I’m curious to see what they’re gonna do.

I am happy that we’re gonna see The Little Mermaid. The way Hanako wipes Nene’s face with his sleeve, and then cradles her head? I need it, they make my heart melt. Can’t wait.

[currentlyreadingmanga]

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Chapter 20: Mitsuba (Part 3)

Previously: the feels came and hit me like a train. Mitsuba’s story was heartbreaking and I wanted nothing more than give him all the nice things he deserves and never got to experience ;; We also had another chapter of Kou being a Very Good Boy ™ and their friendship made me smile so much…...well, until he arrived…...and that happened…….and the angst also hit me like a train. Oh yeah, we also had some great exposition regarding plot-related stuff which made me ask a lot of question (but that’s not new with me lol). Hanako is coming to the scene right now and I’m :)) scared :))))

Now onto the next chapter!

Guess who’s really late again??? I really have no excuse other than me having a really bad attention span (also A3! has taken over my life pls send help)

Anyway!

Oh wow, this cover page has A Lot to disect.. The main thing my eyes were drawn to is Hanako’s expression and the fact that he’s holding the bloodied knife. He looks shocked and sad, and he’s gonna go face his brother (that he killed) and I’m terrified ahhhhh Another thing! The ropes that are tying them together: now, from what I see, the ropes are tying all of them up except for Kou; like, the main connection I always associate with Yashiro and Hanako is their bond, but then the connection between Hanako and Mitsuba is that they’re both dead. It looks like all the ropes are interconnected though and I...I don’t like the implications that my brain is coming up with right now………...Yashiro baby please be safe, okay? Like, it could also mean that Mitsuba is gonna form some sort of bond with Hanako, but let’s be real, what would bring the biggest amount of angst? Exactly. From what I’ve seen so far, the covers have elements that are relevant to the plot and I feel like there’s a lot of things here that could be concerning :))))

Ahhhh okay let’s keep going

So we’re back with Not-Hanako and Kou after Sakura changed Mitsuba’s rumor and turned him into THAT. And you guys remember how I mentioned that it unsettles me when Hanako smiles creepily and his eyes turn dark? Well

I’m incredibly unsettled right now.

Okay so Mitsuba’s wish was too vague for Not-Hanako to turn him into something more than a “half-done supernatural”. He didn’t know what he wanted to do but he knew that he wanted people to remember him. But thanks to Kou, now he knows his actual wish: friends. Mitsuba just wants to stay with his friends and oh, can you hear that???? that’s the sound of my heart breaking (again).

Kou is understadably pissed but Not-Hanako is ignoring him, and he mentions that the more people Mitsuba gets to remember him, the longer he will be able to stay there. And yeah, it checks out with what we know about supernaturals since Tsuchigomori mentioned that it’s easier for him since he can spread his own rumors.

Oh………...oh no………...Mitsuba baby no pls  (;;⚆_⚆)

Yeah, this ties to what he said before about “if that’s enought to break the world then it’s better off broken”. It seems like he just wants everyone to let go of their morals and see where that lead them. Also “the price of this wish is your mind”, does he mean like, his conciousness? his ability to discern right from wrong? Because if he can strip him from that with just his touch (and the rumors) then that’s horrible. Well, I guess that’s what happened with Yako and the Mokke, right? They started killing/stealing/kidnapping people after their rumors changed. 

(ﾟдﾟ；)  Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) OMFG THAT’S TERRIFYING MAKE IT STOP

oh no, oh no, he’s grabbing Kou and it seems like he’s choking him oh no Mitsuba baby please, I know you’re still there, come on, the power of friendship ™ can bring you back pls

Aw, Kou, sweetie, you weren’t wrong. You gave Mitsuba a good memory and the friend he had always wanted, it’s not your fault that this little shit fucked everything up.

Ahhhhh Hanako is finally here! Oh geez, he cut Mitsuba clean in half ;; But like, he should be fine, right? He also stabbed Yako and she was okay. So Mitsuba should return to his previous form…….right? Please? (;;⚆.⚆)

I really need Not-Hanako to stop being cute, I’m trying to be mad and he unsettles me

!!!!! We finally have a name!!!! I can’t stop calling him Not-Hanako, bless

Awww baby, Hanako is shaking so much :cccc This looks like it’s so hard for him, oh dear

“Back when you killed me” ………………………...ok so that makes it sound like he pushed Hanako to do it, at least in some way………….those wounds and bruises and…..rope marks…….little Amane had when he was alive really aren’t looking good under this lense, I don’t li k e t h i s 

(ﾟдﾟ；) (ﾟдﾟ；) (ﾟдﾟ；) fucking hell, that’s just. yikes. Like, Amane seemed like such a sweet kid, you really have to wonder what was it that made him finally snap, especially in such a way

It really looks like he’s just teasing him even though Amane clearly finds the whole event (and even his brother’s mere presence) traumatizing. It’s weird, Tsukasa seems like he’s doing all this on purpose but he also doesn’t realize that it doesn’t make his brother happy. It has the complete opposite effect, in fact. Even the way he’s standing on his tiptoes, it can just be a cute habit but it also makes him tower slightly over Amane.

Sigh okay, he’s gone, thank you. But!!! Kou is calling out to Mitsuba!! Is he okay??

…………………….oh no. His face says it all, he can’t, he wants to but he can’t

(TдT)(TдT)(TдT) this is so fucking sad. This poor child just wanted a happy (after)life with his friends and he tried, he tried so hard, but every time his chances was snuffed out.

“...we have have no future”

Hmmm…...the way that he’s wording this and what he said during the young exorcist arc gives me the idea that he actually doesn’t like being a supernatural, he thinks there’s really no point to existing after death since he doesn’t grow old nor he can pursue his old dreams. But he HAS to do it; he hates it, but he has a mission so that he can repent for his sins, and his sense of obligation is strong enough that he pleaded for his “life” to Teru, knowing that, in his own eyes, he shouldn’t be here in the first place, And he really did thought that Kou could help Mitsuba in a kinder way so that the ghost would be able to pass on happy but it backfired spectacularly. Living on after you die seems like a truly heart-rending existence.

And there’s only the camera left behind…...No, this-this is fine, I’m fine, this is……. (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Oh dear, and now Kou is blaming himself for not being stronger, strong like his brother, strong enough to save Mitsuba. I should have seen it coming, considering we know very well how Kou views his brother as a kind of ideal and, in turn, views himself as not good enough, but it still hurts. And I know it’s because he’s grieving, but he really shouldn’t do this to himself right now.

“I’m pretty sure destruction is the only salvation for the dead.” At first I thought this was a contradiction to what he had said before (about himself) but it really isn’t. He thinks it’s best when the dead are able to disappear from this world, but he doesn’t want salvation for himself, he wants an opportunity to atone. And I wonder if because of that, he sees himself as someone who’s past salvation.

I’m glad that Kou immediately cuts him off and says that’s ridiculous. Because even if Kou is saying it for Mitsuba, I’m pretty sure Hanako also needed to hear that.

Also, it looks like this is the beginning of a very strong grudge against Tsukasa on Kou’s part and I get it but also I’m :))) scared :)))

I mean, I think he’s got a point there. Yeah, the world has rules that the average people can’t change but he has a power not many others (?) have, so him being able to change things in regards to supernaturals doesn’t seem out of the question.

AHHHHHHHHHHH HE FOUND HIS PICTURE

(ಥ﹏ಥ) (ಥ﹏ಥ) (ಥ﹏ಥ)   take a shot every time I wanted to cry during this chapter

Oh!!! we’re at sea with the mermaid and her people! Mr pufferfish died but the other fish survived so he reported back to her.

Oh. So she really did have good intentions by trying to kidnap Yashiro. Not the best method, but her heart was in the right place. BUT ALSO!!! I’m now even more worried about my girl :)))))))) please don’t let anything happen to her ;;

PFFFFFFFFFFFFT why is this me with A3! omfg Yashiro sweetie we could totally bond over mobile games 

Yashiro was summoned by an upperclassman?? Who-oh, wait

Of course, of-fucking-course, hi Natsuhiko, please don’t endanger my daughter, she’s done nothing wrong. 

And that was the end of the chapter. It felt shorter than usual but also incredibly long because it was emotionally taxing ;; that was such a rollercoaster, oh dear

Ohhhhh there’s extras this time around!!

Awwwwwww the ten-times game panels are so precious ;u; especially the parallel between Kou-Teru and Kou-Hanako. The character sheets with the little bits of info are pretty cute as well!

Judging by the preview of the next volume, it seems like Yashiro is gonna have a tea party with the chaotic trio (Sakura doesn’t seem chaotic so far but the other two do so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  sorry not sorry). If they hurt my child istg….

Awwwwwwwwww the middle school entrance pictures are so cute! (Amane’s and Tsukasa’s not so much in context but…...yeah)

[alexiethymia]

skies in her eyes

{okikagu drabble series, chronological with the canon timeline, more of a character fic on okita, kagura is mostly just mentioned, also on ao3}

He used to love the season of fall. But now there’s a girl that reminds him of spring.

Sogo’s favorite season was fall. When his sister asked, he’d tell her it was because he loved how the temperature was perfect for sleeping. But really it was because the gingko reminded him of her hair, and the falling maple reminded him of her eyes, the leaves dancing in a red storm before they made their way down to him. It was because fall paved the way for winter, and winter was the perfect season to share spicy senbei. Winter was when everyone - his aneue, Kondo-san, and yes even that Hijbaka shared one small kotatsu to keep warm because they were too dirt-poor to afford more than one. But that kotastu was home for him.

But then kamisama really had a sick sense of irony didn’t he?

Because Mitsuba died in the fall, the person he loved most in the season he loved most because it was the most like her. Kamisama made sure he could never forget (not that he ever would).

Now there’s no one to share spicy senbei with, and they can never return to that small kotatsu. It’s winter and Sogo feels like he’ll never be warm again.

‘Oi, Sogo.’

‘Hm?’

‘You’ve got a cherry blossom petal on your hair. C’mon, I’ll pick it out.’

Hijikata was about to pick off the stray petal, when the younger boy sidestepped him, with a deadpan look. ‘I’d rather you didn’t Hijikata-san. Why’re you pretending like you’re some Ikemen from a shoujo manga? Hijikata-san, could you not come near me? We don’t know if mayonnaise sickness is contagious.’

‘You brat…’

‘Maa, maa, Toshi,’ placated Kondo, ever the peacemaker between them.

Hijikata would normally say more, you know the usual, ‘commit seppuku right now!’ but he was still feeling pleasantly buzzed. Not that he’d admit it to those Yorozuya freaks, but he actually had fun. ‘Don’t worry, Kondo-san. I won’t fall down to the level of some brat who was playing around with another brat just a while ago,’ he snickered, then noticed Sogo who was looking at the petal he’d just plucked from his hair. He was looking at it intensely, face visibly annoyed. That in itself was surprising for Hijikata who knew him since childhood and still couldn’t tell what was behind that poker face half the time.

‘That brat…’ For his part Sogo didn’t even notice Hijikata poking fun at him. All he knew was he felt annoyance bloom. ‘I won’t lose to her next time.’ He let the petal fall from his hand to the dirt, and then continued walking.

The two adults let him walk ahead.

‘You know Kondo-san?’

‘What is it Toshi?’

‘I haven’t seen him that annoyed in quite a while since…’

‘Ah.’ Kondo put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. The weight was heavy for him, so it must be even moreso for Toshi, and especially for Sogo. ‘But, I know what you mean.’

Lagging behind, they remembered a bit, but Hijikata, perhaps in an effort to shake himself of ghosts, went on, ‘But that girl really was something. Going toe to toe with our Sogo.’

‘Our?’

‘Geh.’ Hijikata could only splutter in embarrassment. Kondo poked fun at him, ‘C’mon that guy isn’t here and yet you’re still competitive. Maybe Sogo gets it from you pahahaha.’

‘Don’t you start Kondo-san!’ Hijikata tried to jostle the still-laughing gorilla on his shoulder.

Wiping off a tear, Kondo continued on, ‘Sogo’s always been the best at everything he does. Everything came easy to him. But along with that enormous talent came the enormous burden of being alone.’ Hijikata could only remain silent at that. ‘Who knows? Maybe a little healthy competition will be good for him.’

‘Maybe you’re right Kondo-san.’

Kondo-san, as it turns out was wrong, though of course they didn’t know it yet. Depending on what perspective you looked at it from, maybe it was a good thing for Sogo, but from the perspective of the rest of Kabuki-cho, or perhaps the people who had to deal with property damage every day, it was definitely not a good thing at all.

'There are things that must be protected even if you get dirty.’

It’s not like he forgot, but maybe he’d spent too long in the dirt that he couldn’t see things as clearly anymore.

‘Hey, thanks.’ Thanks for what exactly? For knocking out the Rokkaku girl, for looking for him, for reminding, for staying, for being an annoying pain in the ass that he got pissed off just by looking at her, so much so that he was itching for a sword. No way was he dying indebted to that brat.

Maybe it was fine that he’s been stuck in the dirt all this time. From dirt, new things grow. Didn’t someone tell him that, once upon a time?

Even if it wasn’t actually dirt he was stuck in, but a room full of vomit. He was so going to kill that china girl later, but first he was going to damn well protect the both of them first.

He hasn’t felt this angry in quite a while. It’s different from his usual killing intent. He can honestly say that this is the first time that he’s furious at China. Not that she’ll ever know, not that he’ll ever let it show.

But for an instant he saw a ghost in her bed, superimposed on her figure, and he will one day strangle her with his bare hands for putting the people she loves through a facsimile of what he went through.

Because he already lived through it, he can see through her in an instant. China is pale, but it’s her usual color, all lily-white skin. It’s fine. It’s ok. She’s still full of vitality. Red blood still runs through her veins, inside where it belongs, to make her flush cherry blossom pink. Not like how Aneue was at the end, bleach white like the branches left behind once all the leaves had fallen.

Part of him wants to shake her silly, be the straight man this time, break their routine, but another part of him painfully understands, that feeling of being left behind. It’s disgusting. Well if he’s going to listen to that rational part of him anyway, might as well have as much fun as possible.

He carries a rose that reminds him of cherry blossoms, places it next to her, and smiles a smile that would make Shinigami-sama himself proud.

Why is it always her?

He was shriveled, wilted, pieces of him falling that he kept looking down to see if he dropped something. Kondo-san was nowhere, neither was Hijikata-san, and of course Aneue would never be. It was bigger now, but did he have to leave behind this kotatsu too?

But then she poked and she prodded. She pushed like the boar that she was.

‘We will never forget.’ (How could she have known that it was his greatest fear to forget and be forgotten?)

‘So just go do your job already.’ He can feel her palm through the back of his jacket. It feels warm.

Maybe she has too much life in her too-small body that it just leaks it out of her. She’s just like the sun she hates – abrasive, overpowering, it’ll just shine on you, get in your eyes when all you want to do is take a nap. See, this is why he has an eye mask.

All he remembers is that he was a corpse walking, but suddenly now, with her beside him; he suddenly feels energetic enough to want to make corpses of everyone else here instead.

It’s raining water instead of cherry blossoms this time around, but she’s still looking down at him, that part hasn’t changed. The water pours down from above and around, but rather than cleansing them, it’s just making them dirtier. It’s dreary weather, grey and murky, but all he sees is a cheeky grin and clear blue skies.

Something blood-red is blooming from behind his chest. It’s pounding like it wants to claw its way out. It makes itself known through a feral snarl, lips pulled back in a wild grin, a perfect copy of the one on hers.

He’s not leaving anything behind. They’re not leaving anything behind. It’s just that those guys from Yoruzuya will keep the kotatsu warm for when they finally come back.

‘The next time we meet…’

We’ll be strong enough that we won’t have to leave anything behind ever again.

‘Okita-taichouuu, are we done yet?’

‘Stop whining Yamazaki. If you don’t have anything better to do with that useless hole, I can plug it with something sharp so you won’t ever have to use it again.’

“Kyaaa. Sorry Okita-taichou. Please don’t plug my hole!’ Yamazaki crossed his arms in front of him as if it could actually shield him if the captain did decide to make good on his threat.

It’s been a month or so now and being a ronin once again was tough. Okita-taichou was right. He didn’t have the right to whine, even if this was already the 6000th practice swing, not when the chief, the vice-chief, and the captain were working thrice as hard.

After the hellish training was done he could only hope he could make use of his arms again. Ah, what he wouldn’t give for a piece of anpan about now.

‘You alright there Yamazaki?’

‘Fuku-chou!’

‘Stop calling me that. Technically, I’m no longer your fuku-chou anymore.’

‘Former fuku-chou then.’

‘Whatever.’ Said former fuku-chou sat next to him and continued to puff at his abstinence stick. ‘That Sogo though…I didn’t know he could work this hard.’ While everyone else was finally taking their break, their young captain still continued to do practice swings, and would probably continue to do so until Kondo-san would make him stop, before he got sick from practicing in the rain.

‘For some reason, Okita-taichou suddenly gets a lot more motivated when it starts raining. Do you know the reason former fuku-chou?’

‘Well, beats me,’ Hijikata says with a wry smile, ‘All I know is that someone once told me that a lot of rain’s good for plants because it helps them grow.’

At Yamazaki’s blank look, Hijikata just chuckled.

Sogo felt restless, he almost always did nowadays, being on the run from a country full of people wanting to kill you tended to do that to people, he’s heard. But it’s not that.

It doesn’t matter whether the weather’s bad or good. He can’t remember the last time he’s taken a nap. Just like now. The weather perfect, the sky is clear, no cloud’s in sight. Clear blue skies. Spring skies. Unfortunately it just makes him want to train harder because it feels like she’s still looking down on him even now.

‘Hm. Maybe I should just poke both her eyes out with my sword. That would solve the problem.’ He lifts it up and makes poking motions up at the sky.

‘Here’s someone casually making morbid statements over here,’ Hijikata shudders, ‘You’re really gonna be mistaken as a tsujiri one of these days.’

‘How rude, Hijikata-san,’ Sogo smirks, still holding his sword aloft, ‘Please don’t forget. I’m a policeman.’

From his viewpoint lying down, he sees an upside-down Kondo coming up at Hijikata-san’s other side.

‘Did you make a promise to meet again Sogo? Tie each other’s hair around your pinky like what I’ve heard they do in Yoshiwara. Ahh, I wish I could have done that with my beloved Otae-san.’

For a moment, Sogo thinks he sees a red strand of hair on his pinky, before it disappears. ‘We don’t need something as fragile as that Kondo-san. The only red thread I need is the blood I draw from her throat the next time we meet.’

‘And he’s back to saying casually disturbing things again.’ Kondo-san’s white in the face, and Hijikata-san’s shaking his head at him as if he’s hopeless.

Sogo narrows his eyes at him. ‘Die already Hijikata-san. You’re disturbing my nap.’

True to his word Sogo falls asleep in moments. They notice he hasn’t drawn his eyemask to cover his eyes like usually does. They smile at each other, and leave it at that, wondering what twisted little sadists dream about. Maybe whips and chains, they wonder, and then blanch.

Unexpectedly it’s a lot more innocent than that. Sogo dreams about clear blue skies and falling pink blossoms dancing in the wind. He dreams of a mat big enough and a kotatsu big enough to fit them all, whether it’s for a flower viewing party or sharing nabe. Amongst them all, he can’t be sure but he thinks he sees his oneechan. She’s next to Hijibaka, but maybe he can let it slide just this once, since he still has a China brat to beat with the toy mallet in his hand, and from the cheeky grin she has, it looks like she has the same idea.

'How about you aneue? What’s your favorite?’

‘Hm, me, So-chan? Well, I like it when the flowers start to blossom and things start to grow again. You see, oneechan really loves spring!’

[iamapoopmuffin]

Victims With Numbers

Fandom: Nanbaka/Corpse Party (crossover) Genre: Horror Characters: Hajime Sugoroku, Samon Gokuu, Kiji Mitsuba, Kenshirou Yozakura, Jyugo, Uno, Nico, Rock, Tsukumo, Liang, Upa, Qi, Honey, Trois, Musashi, Sachiko Shinozaki, Ryou Yoshizawa, Yuki Kanno, Tokiko Tsuji, some OCs to take the role of Kizami later on instead of actual Kizami Includes major character death. Chapter 1 of ?

In which, following an evening telling ghost stories to their fellow inmates, the inmates and guards find themselves in one surreal nightmare, with no certainty that they’ll get out of this alive.

Also available on Blogspot

"Have you ever heard the story of Heavenly Host Elementary School? They say a lot of awful things happened there. Loads of crimes and sudden deaths. See, it was believed by some that this school was haunted, and all the assaults, break-ins, suicides and the rest were caused by the angry ghosts that were still at the school, and as more and more happened there, the haunting got worse.

They say it all started with this one event, back in the 50's, where a member of staff lost her footing at a flight of stairs and died. On the same day, her daughter mysteriously went missing, and nobody knew what happened. Legend says that the teacher was looking for her missing daughter, and attacking the children at the school because they were her daughter's age and if she couldn't have her own child back, then she would try to fill the void with replacements. None of the replacements were her own daughter, though, so none of them were good enough. After the last killing, where the Principal's own son murdered four children in the basement of the school, the heartbroken principal threw himself from the school's roof, unable to cope with what his precious school had become, and what his precious son had done. The school was closed, and torn down, but they say that plot of land is still haunted by that teacher, and by all those who died within its walls."

The inmates were sat in a circle in Building 13's game room, the lights off around them. The only light came from a torch held in Tsukumo's hand, gracefully lent to him by one of the guards for this exact purpose. The others watched him as he told his story, and from what he could see in the darkness, they didn't look too impressed. It was daytime, but not a lot of light was coming through the windows, because of a storm, for which he was mildly grateful.

"That's awful." Uno said quietly, thinking about the death in Tsukumo's story.

"Yeah, and not at all scary, for a ghost story." Honey agreed, though his 'awful' was more Tsukumo's story telling skills than the contents themselves.

"Now, now, it wasn't that bad." Trois said, reaching for the torch. "It could have done with more details, though. I know a few good gore stories that are really scary."

"I thought that one was scary enough." Uno again, still in a quiet voice. Trois ignored him, commencing his own tale of woe and misery.

"Once, in a quiet, sleepy village just south of-"

He was cut off by the lights turning on, the sudden brightness burning everyone's eyes. "Story time's over," Hajime told them sternly. "Back to your cells." Of course, this led to the standard complaints that rose from the idiots every time they were told playtime was over. They really were just a bunch of bratty kids at the best of times, and he really didn't enjoy trying to silence their complaints peacefully. Of course, if he lashed out or made threats, then he'd have to deal with the resulting headaches that were Kiji, Samon and Kenshirou, which he was never really in the mood for either. Most of the brats were pleading for 'just one more story' or 'just another hour' (aside from the two crybabies who were actually scared of the ghost stories), but there was no way they were getting granted that. Did they even realise how little time there was until dinner, and then lock-up? Probably not.

By the time they'd finally shut up, with only minimal threatening this time, and were heading over to their supervisors, Hajime could feel one hell of a stomach ache coming on. At least they were agreeing to head back to their cells now, he thought as he turned to lead them to the door...

Just in time to see it slam shut. Which was unusual.

"What the hell?" Snapped the monkey, first to go examine the door and try to get it open. It wouldn't budge. Hajime shoved him aside roughly and tried himself, again to no avail. Weird.

"Perhaps there's a lockdown procedure active." Kiji mused from behind them. "But if it were a drill or practice, or a test of the doors, we'd be aware of that, or at the very least, the building supervisor would be."

"No drills, practices or tests are scheduled for today." Hajime muttered.

"And no siren is going off either. It doesn't seem to be a genuine emergency lockdown."

"What's wrong?" Asked Jyugo from behind in a bored tone. "You locked us in? How did you even manage that?"

"I didn't-" The supervisor was cut off when the whole room started to shake. An earthquake?

"Everyone get to cover!" Kiji called out, immediately moving to guide his inmates somewhere safe, the other guards doing the same. Pretty soon, they were huddled down next to or under the furniture around the room, away from the windows, which began to crack. The lights flickered and went out as one of them fell, shattering just inches from the feet of one of Building 5's residents. The rocking seemed to carry on for an age, and in the sudden darkness, the walls around them seemed to warp unstably, until it finally came to a stop and everyone felt like they could breathe again.

"Everyone stay where you are." Commanded a voice as someone moved to stand. Kenshirou. "Be careful, there's broken glass on the floor." The next thing he said was directed into his radio. "Security and Surveillance, do we have any information on that quake? Any damage to the prison? Is anyone injured?" No response. "Is anyone reading this transmission? We cannot get the door to Building 13's game room open, is it possible something was damaged in a mini-quake or pre-tremor?" Nothing. Maybe a little static.

And then, Kenshirou felt like he was falling, like the ground beneath him had just...disappeared. Looking down, he saw nothing but darkness, and the screams from around him told him the others were falling as well.

~*~*~*~

Honey groaned as he came to. He had no idea how long he'd been out for, but it must have been a while. He felt groggy and sore, and his mouth was dry, with that nasty cottony feel he would always get after he'd passed out from drinking too much. Plus, last he remembered, he was in that stupid game room listening to those stupid ghost stories. That room had a carpet. He was lying on something hard, and dusty, and that smelled old and musty and uncleaned. Gross. With a shiver running down his spine, he opened his eyes and pushed himself upright. The movement sent pain shooting through his left ankle, and he grimaced before trying to get a good look at his surroundings.

The room was dark, the lights off, or broken. He could see desks and chairs around him, and the floor looked like hardwood. The walls looked wooden as well. It didn't look like healthy wood, either. He reached for the nearest desk and pulled himself up, thankful it was sturdy enough to support his weight. Now stood, he could see the two doors on either end of the room, the cabinets, the chalk board and smaller notice board, and across the opposite wall to the doors, the windows. It was still dark and still raining outside. It was clearly an education room, like the one in Building 3, but ugly and uncared for. If such a place was within Nanba Prison, it couldn't have been used in years, and couldn't possibly have been in the lovely Building 3. Besides, the chairs looked like they were designed for little kids!

Honey used the desks for support as he hobbled over to the windows. His ankle really hurt. It must have been sprained, or worse, from the fall. That was right, he had fallen! Was this place underground in Building 13? It didn't seem like it would fit there at all...and when he finally got to the window, all he saw beyond the building was rain and...was that a forest? There wasn't a forest around the prison, it was on an island. Sure, there were some trees on the island, but certainly not this many. It was the thickest forest he had ever seen, and it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. It was like he wasn't even in prison any more.

Perhaps he wasn't. Perhaps the earthquake had caused so much damage he'd been evacuated while unconscious. But why would they be evacuated to a run down old schoolhouse? That didn't make sense. So where the hell was he? He turned, reaching for the row of desks closest to his injured leg to help him get to the door, and as he made his way across the room, he saw something on the floor beyond the desks. Something big, in a heap by the teacher's podium. It looked like a man. In fact, it looked like-

"Trois!" It was Trois. He was sure of it, though he couldn't see his face. He was unconscious, sprawled unattractively across the grimy, dusty floor. Honey pulled himself up onto the desk, deciding to climb over to reach his cellmate. He halted when the ground beneath him gave an unholy creak. Figuring it wouldn't support his weight long enough for him to climb over, he backed off and instead tried to hurry to the door at the back of the classroom. Trois was at the front, so all he had to do was loop around the hall to the front. Pushing the desks was probably out when he couldn't properly put weight on his foot. As it was, he didn't enjoy having to lean so heavily on the wall to get around once there were no more desks to hang onto.

The hallway itself was in just as much disrepair as the classroom. Parts of the floor had fallen out, and it smelled disgusting. There clearly hadn't been a janitor working here in years. A particularly rancid smell was emanating from a bucket against the opposite wall. It reminded him vaguely of a stairwell near a parking lot in the town where he grew up. Drunks and homeless people would normally piss in the stairwell and it always reeked. At least the lights here seemed to work a bit better. They were dim, but on. Still, the place wasn't much to look at, and all the flyers along the wall were torn and grubby. Everything here was either damaged or coated in filth, it seemed.

When he got to Trois (taking a little bit longer than he would have liked), he carefully got down on his knees beside him and tapped his shoulders. He didn't shake him, just in case the fall had badly injured him, because there was no way he was supporting him or helping him with an injury, which was undoubtedly what Trois would try and guilt him into doing if his actions made any injuries worse. "Trois! Trois, wake up! Can you hear me?"

"Hnn...Honey, please, not so loud..." Good. He was alive, at least. Forgoing his previous gentleness for at least a moment, Honey pulled his cellmate upright.

"Get up. Something's happened, I have no idea where we are."

Trois spared him a look before pausing to take in his surroundings. He quickly arrived at a conclusion. "This doesn't look like it's any part of Nanba Prison." He mused, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. Honey coughed as some of the dust was brushed his way and glared at Trois as he walked to the nearest window and tried to open it. "Hmm. Doesn't budge. Perhaps it's not designed to open, but there has to be at least one working window in the building, as per building code. We need to figure out where we are before anything else. See if we can find a map as well, clues to the exact area around us and see if we can make any contact with anyone outside. It's clear we're not at Nanba any more, which raises the question of how we got here." He walked back and examined the chalk board. It had something written in the top right corner, 'day duty' and a name, but that was it. The notice board had a single yellowed flyer on it. "It's written in kanji." Trois stated, glancing to Honey, who was still sat on the floor. "I can't understand all of it, my understanding of the letters isn't perfect, and I think I'm misreading this bit here."

"Which bit?" Asked Honey, pulling himself to his feet with the aid of a chair.

"This bit." He repeated, jabbing his finger at the flyer's title. "I'm reading it as 'Heavenly Host Elementary School Newsletter to Faculty and Students', but that's the name of the school from Tsukumo's ghost story. He specifically said that school was torn down, if it even existed in the first place."

Honey read over the newsletter himself. "No, you're right, it says Heavenly Host. It's dated back to the 80's though, so it's pretty old." His eyes trailed down the rest of the newsletter. "It's a warning about kidnappings and staying safe. Just, 'due to recent kidnappings, caution is advised. Each victim was taken suddenly and without warning'. You think this is a set up for some kind of joke?"

"Quite a dramatic one if so. I think we ought to head for the exit, but I wouldn't recommend braving the forest quite yet."

"At least not until that storm dies down a little." Honey agreed. Trois nodded, and the two began to set out, only for another earthquake to send Honey stumbling to the ground. It was, thankfully, quite short, but he couldn't help letting a moan of pain escape him. His ankle was in pretty bad shape, by the looks of things.

"Are you okay?" He looked up and saw his cellmate offering him a hand. He took it but needed a bit more support to get up.

"Ankle's sprained." He admitted grudgingly.

"Well then, put your arm around my shoulders. I'll support you. It'll be easier and faster than leaving you here as a dead weight."

Honey gave a hum of agreement, for once not in the mood to argue, and the two set off out of the classroom.

[currentlyreadingmanga]

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Chapter 18: Mitsuba (Part 1)

Previously: we wrapped up the little mermaid arc. Hanako and Yashiro’s relationship continues to evolve while they figure out where they stand and how they want to move forward. In relation to that, Hanako confirmed that the person he killed was his younger twin brother and he promised to tell Yashiro the whole story in the future. We also met what I assume will be our complete group of antagonists (at least for the time being): Natsuhiko, Sakura and Hanako’s brother. Their dynamic so far seems to be (surprisingly) quite playful and lively, but also Hanako’s brother murdered the puffer fish with such glee that I just  (;;⚆_⚆)

Now onto the next chapter!

Welp, I didn’t intend to take another long break but life happened and I have the attention span of a goldfish. As a way to also make myself stick to a schedule, I’m gonna try my best to do these recaps as regularly as possible. We’ll see how that goes.

This time we open with Kou and his friends talking about a rumor that says that the entrance to the middle school is haunted. I’m guessing this means that this arc will be a little more Kou-centric? Especially since he and Hanako were the ones in the cover of this new volume. I wonder if he’s gonna do his own thing with Hanako and/or Yashiro chiming in like in The Young Exorcist Arc, because that would be cool.

Okay, so apparently the ghost grabs you when you’re changing your shoes. And judging by the ominous “Hey” speech bubble, I’m guessing this rumor is true just like the others, then (not like I was expecting anything else, but still) Also Kou’s friends are very cute, they look like they deserve hair ruffles.

(ﾟдﾟ；) Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) JFC that’s much more terrifying that I thought it would be. Also!!! does that head angle give anyone else crooked man vibes? no? because it’s giving me some horrible flashbacks to that game.

The chapter cover page here is that image (from ch 16) that has our three babies looking ready to tell some ghost stories. I wonder if it’s something that this site did or if the volume itself repeats this page. Nevertheless, I still love this page, they look very very cute.

The title this time is “Mitsuba”, which sounds like a name and I’m only saying that because I think I might have heard of another character with that name. Then again, my japanese is very limited, so I could be completely wrong. If it IS a name, I’m guessing it’s gonna be our crooked man’s over there since most chapters so far were named after the different supernaturals. 

Moving on, Kou shows the ghost that he decided to mess with the wrong guy by promptly throwing them against the shoe lockers. RIP ghost (again).

Oh! Kou says that the ghost is wearing a school uniform, so he was possibly a student here. Interesting! Now, we don’t know when this boy died, but this means that Hanako isn’t the only ghost that has an attachment to this school. The question then would be why this boy is here specifically and not somewhere else.

OH!!!!!! There he is!! He’s the pink-haired boy, right?? Okay, so, it’s been a while, but I mentioned that I had seen two spoilers when my instagram feed decided to betray me. One was Hanako’s brother and the other was this boy here! I saw him two times in two pieces of fanart with Kou. I didn’t know he would appear so soon! Ohhhhhh that’s exciting! I’m guessing he must be important in some way, right? He looks really cute! and now I feel bad about the crooked man comment (even though his neck really looked kinda funky in that one panel). Are they gonna become friends?? Is Kou gonna expand his friend list to two (2) ghost friends?.......oh, god, I hope Teru doesn’t object to this one too. Well, no, I don’t think he would; he wants to exorcise Hanako because he considers him a danger to the school (and I’m not saying that Hanako doesn’t have the power to hurt others but like…….his brother really seems like the bigger threat right now ngl……...Although, do they even know about him? Because we know that Kou’s grandmother (?) was the one to seal Hanako away and his family knows that he killed “someone”, but do they know about his twin?)

Hey, there’s my other two children! So they are gonna be involved in this arc as well, cool.

OMFG KOU! Sweetie, no! Like, I get it, he’s a ghost that tried to grab you and he could have hurt someone but he looks so helpless, like a scared puppy! I get tying him up but was the duct tape on the face really necessary? I mean, no one else besides the other supernaturals and Yashiro and Teru would have heard him, right? I can’t even be mad at him tho, look at how excited he is about catching a ghost  ಥ‿ಥ    

Anyway, it seems like he went to Hanako to check how he could deal with the ghost. And awwww!! It’s because he doesn’t want to exorcise him, either! He’s really committed to this new path, huh? Good on you, Kou, I’m so proud. 

Hanako gives the boy a long silent look and tells Kou that since the ghost is there probably because of some unfinished business, that means he should help him solve whatever they are. I mean, if countless movies have taught me anything, it is that this plan should probably work.

Omfg Kou just keeps yanking this little ghost boy around. Please be careful with the ghost child. Yashiro shows her concern over the idea (understandable, Kou can be overly enthusiastic and we don’t know anything about this new boy). Hanako says it’ll be fine and he also confirms that the boy is not really dangerous now (the “now” is kinda concerning, though (⚆.⚆) …..but then again, since I saw him and Kou in fanarts, I’m guessing things will turn out okay), and that if things take a turn for the worse, it’s just more work for him because he’s the mediator. Hmmm, that’s quite a solemn look on his face. I think he mentioned this when we met the mokke as Yousei-san, but he wants to avoid killing/getting rid off apparitions whenever possible, right? That’s why having Yashiro as his assistant works in his favour. So that means that he probably doesn’t want to have to “deal” with this ghost, but since that’s the nature of his role, he has no other choice if push comes to shove.

(ALSO, this is a side note but it just hit me: since Hanako doesn’t seem to know this ghost, that means that he’s new? or maybe that he recently acquired the ability to manifest? could it be because of the rumors? like, he was just doing his own thing and suddenly the rumors forced him to haunt the entrance?)

Anyway, we cut back to Kou and ghost boy.

Omfg this poor child. Kou, please untie him before he starts crying.

……………………………...oh my god. I- well, I expected many things but this was not one of them. Like, he has every right to be angry but wow this child has a mouth on him. But also it could be because of the way it’s translated but it’s very funny to me that his insults range from “i hope you drop dead” to “dummy head” pffft.

I-..... He’s really nothing like I expected omg what. Sweetie, breath, trust me when I say Kou would be one of the last people to even think about doing something like that.

OMFG I JUST SCROLLED

Pffffffffft why is that so funny?? I can’t be the only one that  read that in the spongebob narrator voice.

But yeah, it looks like he got it all out of his system. Now Kou is trying to maintain his “cool guy facade” so that ghost boy will respect him (I think it’s gonna take more than that to achieve it, but we’ll see). He also tells him that he comes from a family of exorcists but that backfires spectacularly because the boy basically calls him an otaku. RIP Kou, he really can’t catch a break pffft

Ghost boy keeps being sassy and that makes Kou threaten him with his staff. Good thing he doesn’t know that it’s sealed and that it doesn’t really work.

Hey! His name really is Mitsuma (thank god, I can finally stop calling him ghost boy). He really isn’t the cooperative type, huh? Also what’s that bottom left face omfg Please just let Kou know, he just wants to help.

Like, I know they’re brothers but wow Kou looks so much like Teru right here, scary face and all. But yeah, anyway. A picture? Like, he lost a picture that he treasured? Or maybe he wants to take one? Or he wanted to take a picture with someone else?

Ohhhh, okay. So he was part of the photography club and there was a picture he wanted to take before he died. Or so he thinks. So like, do you lose part of your memories when you die? If so, could it be because of the passage of time or as defense mechanism of some sort? If his camera is still at the club, then that probably means that he was a student here not too long ago.

We cut to Kou helping Mitsuba take some pictures (and being attacked by birds in the process), And from the looks of it, it’s all on purpose and Mitsuba is having way too much fun with the power he has lol Kou, in turn, keeps zapping him with his staff when Mitsuba gets too cocky. Boy, these two already have quite the dynamic, I can’t even imagine how chaotic they’re gonna get in the future.

Kou then points out that Mitsuba has taken pictures of scenery and animals but none of people. Mitsuba admits that pictures of people are better if you want to win awards but then cuts himself off. Hmmm. Does he like to take pictures of nature better because of his artistic style or could there be a deeper meaning behind it? 

Here’s your reminder that I really really love Kou  ಥ‿ಥ He’s such a good boy I just  ಥ‿ಥ  ಥ‿ಥ 

“I’ll pass” PFFFFFFFFFFT these two give me whiplash, I swear. Mitsuba is freaking brutal (and I’m kinda living for it ngl).

Hey, one of Kou’s friends, Yokoo, is back! 

Oh????? Did Mitsuba went to the school recently? Were they in the same year??? Kou didn’t look like he recognized him, so maybe he was in a different class?

Ah, they actually were in the same class during their first year. Is Kou in his last year of middle school? So….they were in the same class two years ago? 

Oh no. Mitsuba died sometime last winter in an accident. It looks like he has a big scar on the back of his neck; if that’s how he died, it seems like it was quite painful. This poor child ;; Yokoo mentions that they weren’t really that close to him (and that’s very clear considering Kou’s reaction). I wonder why Mitsuba didn’t say anything. But then again, Kou didn’t really give him any signals to work with, I guess he just decided to keep quiet.

Oh! It looks like Kou is remembering something now that he’s been reminded. 

oh my god…...look at them…….babies ;;; they look so young ;;;;;; what happen??? why did they stop talking?? just because they were in different classes?

Oh, that’s…….that’s heartbreaking. To desperately reach out, again and again, and to come out empty handed every time. And I feel like it’s such a common fear too, the possibility of being forgotten by everyone you care about. That would be such a hit to your own self-worth. Oh, sweetheart….This poor baby needs so many hugs.

[iamapoopmuffin]

Victims With Numbers

Fandom: Nanbaka/Corpse Party (crossover) Genre: Horror Characters: Hajime Sugoroku, Samon Gokuu, Kiji Mitsuba, Kenshirou Yozakura, Jyugo, Uno, Nico, Rock, Tsukumo, Liang, Upa, Qi, Honey, Trois, Musashi, Sachiko Shinozaki, Ryou Yoshizawa, Yuki Kanno, Tokiko Tsuji, Yoshikazu Yanagihori, Yoshie Shinozaki, Takamine Yanagihori, some OCs to take the role of Kizami later on instead of actual Kizami Includes major character death.

Chapter 7 of ?

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"You're not bothered by the ghost? Or, you know, surprised we could see it?"

"I'm more surprised you could see it. I've kind of always been able to see ghosts."

Rock was walking through the dilapidated halls with Liang hot on his heels. Back in the classroom they'd woken up in, they'd been met with the spirit of a teenage boy who had explained to the two of them where they were. Supposedly, the ghosts of some murdered children had been angered with them, most likely because of Tsukumo's ghost story, and had dragged them into an inescapable murder school where there were different dimensions. According to the ghost, these overlapping dimensions made the appearance of the school slightly different between each one, and meant that you could be in the same place at the same time as someone, but you could not see that person. Rock and Liang were told they were lucky to have been trapped in the same dimension, but the spirit claimed he was certain none of their friends were there with them. The spirit had also warned them that if they died, they would feel the pain of death for all eternity, but he'd at least been nice enough to wish them luck. Liang had seemed transfixed on what the ghost had said, listening to every word, taking in the valuable information.

Rock was more concerned with the other ghosts. The ones Liang couldn't see. Because they were everywhere. Mostly teenagers, but some adults and younger children mixed in. Lots of people milling through the halls that Liang paid no heed to, and who paid no heed to the two of them in return. They were mostly just wandering around, clearly injured and with no set destination, wallowing in their suffering.

Rock had decided not to tell Liang about the abundance of ghosts around them for now. He didn't think it would go down well.

"So it's something you're used to?"

"I guess so. In a way." He flinched away from a passing ghost whose eye was hanging out of her socket and almost bumped into his friend.

"Are you okay?" Liang asked, placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

He received a look for that, but no more prodding for the time being.

The two of them didn't really have a plan. They'd started to wander around, perhaps hoping the ghost would be wrong and they'd be able to escape or find someone else, but they hadn't yet discussed any kind of game plan. There wasn't much to report in the halls, either. Liang could see clearer as his vision wasn't blocked by the multitude of ghosts, but what he saw gave him few clues. There were dead bodies, notes scrawled frantically by the dying, messages to friends, about injuries or hunger or thirst, messages of fear and misery, and someone had even scratched 'kill me' into the floor. They passed an empty, rusting bucket near one of the classrooms. There was no way beyond this point in the hall as the floor had fallen out. Another reminder of the dangers they were about to face.

He heaved a sigh and cast a look around. There had to be a clue of some kind around here somewhere. There weren't any signs of life, and any sounds seemed to be coming from the rainstorm outside. The nearest door, to a room marked '1-A', hadn't opened when they'd tried it. It had seemed to be locked.

"It looks like we have to go back." He admitted.

"Back where?" Asked Rock. "There's not really anywhere we can go."

"There has to be somewhere we haven't been, somewhere we can still get to."

"There's holes and ghosts everywhere, man. We might be trapped..."

Liang frowned. "There's ghosts everywhere?"

Rock seemed to freeze up, then he crossed his arms and sighed. "This place is super haunted."

"Huh." He looked around again, as if suddenly he'd be able to see all the ghosts. "I mean, I definitely get a really bad feeling from this place. Like a dark energy. It's really bad." That was, of course, not even considering the corpses. "We're definitely in great danger the longer we're here."

Before either of them could say another word, the building began to shake around them. Another earthquake? Still standing at the lip of the hole, Liang felt his heel go over the edge as he struggled to keep his balance. If he didn't manage to stay standing, he was at a very real risk of falling to his death. The intensity of the earthquake was like nothing he'd ever experienced. It seemed far stronger than the one that had launched them into this nightmare, and honestly, he wasn't confident he could keep his balance until it ended. It didn't seem safe to step away from the hole either. He'd definitely fall if he tried.

Rock had had the intelligence to flatten himself against the wall when the shaking had started. He'd been right by the wall anyway, so using it for support made sense. He seemed to notice Liang's predicament, and tried to reach out a hand to pull him to safety, only to overbalance and end up flat on his face. Helpful. Liang stumbled in his attempt to keep his own balance, and gasped as one of his feet met with no resistance and he slipped down into the hole.

As he tipped back, there was an uncomfortable wrench as his other foot tried, unsuccessfully, to stay up on the ground. He grabbed as he fell, hand closing around the jagged remains of the floor he'd fallen from. The splintered wood bit into his hand and tore through a few layers of skin, and his grip was not very strong. It wouldn't last unless he could get a better grip. He glanced down and saw only darkness. For a moment, he felt sick, and shut his eyes. His grip was failing, he had to try and get his other hand up...

He let go. His fingers scraped off the ledge and he could feel himself falling again.

And a hand was holding his. Rock. Rock had crawled over and grabbed him at the last moment. He was lying flat against the floor to make sure he didn't fall as well. He held strong while they waited out the end of the quake, and once the shaking was over, Liang found it easier than he'd expected to pull himself back to safe ground. While he took a moment to examine the damage to his hand (which wasn't too bad, but it was pretty scraped up - he just had to hope he didn't get any of his cuts infected), a click sounded from somewhere behind Rock, who turned his head to see what it could have been.

"What the...?"

Liang looked up, following his gaze. The hallway had changed. The location of the holes, the bodies that were present, the notes here and there. It was like the same place, but undeniably different. The door to the nearby classroom had opened slightly while neither of them were looking.

"The overlapping dimensions look slightly different to each other." Liang muttered, "That was what that ghost had said, wasn't it?"

"Yeah..."

"So is this...another dimension?"

"If it's different to the other one..."

"Someone else might be here!"

Rock nodded and got to his feet, helping Liang up as well. "We just need to look, right? If more of us get together, we can get out of here!"

"The ghost said it was impossible to escape, but with not just us, but the guards as well..."

"We'll get out of here! All of us! The ghost made it sound like we'd never see anyone again, like we'd be trapped in our dimension forever."

"But we can move between the dimensions. Or rather, we can be moved between them. So if he got that wrong, maybe there is a way out after all."

They went quiet for a moment after that. Just letting the positivity settle in during an otherwise dark moment. Rock glanced down to Liang's injured hand.

"You okay? You could have gotten really hurt back then."

"I'm fine. A scrape and a splinter at worst." On that note, he probably should try to remove the splinters. "What about you? You fell pretty hard."

"I've fallen harder, I'm good." They both found themselves slowly looking away from one another, and toward the open door. "You think we should go in?"

"You think it might be a trap?"

Rock shrugged and reached out to open the door. "If it's a trap, we can deal with it, right?"

"Right."

The classroom was pretty much like the rest of the school. Broken and full of death. Liang looked at the notices on the notice board while Rock tried in vain to open a window. The notices were similar to ones seen in other classrooms, mostly just warnings about staying safe and the usual sort of faculty to student notices one might expect in a school. School trips, special services following unfortunate events, a notice about a planned upgrade to the second wing...

There was a second wing?

They would have to keep an eye out for that. He looked over to Rock in time to see him try and grab a chair from the floor. He wasn't sure what he planned to do with it, but assumed either the American had seen something out of reach, or he was planning to throw it at the window. Whatever he was planning, he couldn't manage it. The chair wouldn't budge an inch, no matter how much strength Rock put into his attempts to move it. Liang moved further into the room, but kept closer to the wall still. The chalkboard was marred with deep scratches, and he found himself running his fingers across them, curious as to what weapon had made them. There was a crude drawing on the board as well, of four figures surrounding a fifth. The fifth chalk figure had red on it, where something the other four held touched him. Liang brushed his fingers across this as well, and found the red was definitely not chalk. It appeared to be dried blood, as if the fifth figure were being stabbed. A strange decoration, but he wouldn't say out of place. He looked then to the teacher's desk, and picked up a piece of paper resting on it. It looked to have been torn from a notebook or workbook. The pages were lined as a writing guide. Upon it was a hastily scrawled note, clearly from someone they knew.

"Rock! Nico was here!"

"What?" He came over and pulled the note so he could read it too.

"The handwriting's familiar too."

"So you know who he was with? Other than the guard?"

"If they found the guard again...it's Upa's handwriting, I've seen it before." They placed the note back where they'd found it. "If they're waiting here again, they must be in a different dimension. They might still be out looking, though."

"We're not going to wait here, are we?" Rock asked, looking toward a body in the centre of the room.

"No, but it's something to remember. People we knew were here, and they plan to come back to this room. Maybe we should leave something to show we were here too. We should keep checking back here too, just in case."

Rock nodded, still looking at the body, or at a point just above it.

"You okay?" Liang asked him, tapping at his shoulder. He jolted slightly in response, but nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll write a note as well, to let them know we were here. I can use the scraps from the notice board. You go see if there's anywhere we can go."

Liang gave a slow nod, and hesitantly left, leaving Rock alone with the ghost of the weeping girl, crouched just by her own body.