#also please Liang you were already trapped

[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 8 of ?

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

Well, okay, they weren't really alone if Rock was honest. There were other ghosts in the room, but none of them were as expressive. None of them paid anyone or anything else any mind. The weeping girl, however, caught his eye for some reason. Most likely because she wasn't wandering aimlessly with a dull look in her eyes. He couldn't actually see her face from here, as she was curled over, face buried against her legs as she sobbed and mourned her own passing.

Before anything else, Rock decided to be true to his word, and write a message. He tore a small piece from one of the class notices and picked up a pen that someone had left on the teacher's desk - some cutesy purple thing with a bear head on the end and pink hearts all over it, he didn't know how long it had been there, but after a test scribble or two, it wrote with no difficulty - and simply wrote 'We'll spread the word if we see anyone. See you here later. Rock and Liang.' That was good enough. It was enough to just say 'someone else is here, someone else has seen this'. He wouldn't be sure if the others knew about the whole closed spaces and different dimensions thing. He didn't think he could explain it himself anyway, so he turned away from the desk, and from the notes, and found himself approaching the ghost girl.

As if she could sense his approach, the girl tensed, then looked up, seemingly frightened of the man approaching her. Rock carefully walked around the body on the floor, and crouched down beside the ghost.

"Hey..." He didn't ask if she was okay. It was clear she'd been stabbed to death, and it was very clear that she wasn't ever going to be okay again. The girl stared at him for a long time, and then said

"You can see me."

"I can see all the ghosts here." He answered honestly.

"They stole my pen."

Huh? "Who did?"

"Those two boys from before. They took my favourite pen. It was a gift, and they took it!"

"The...the purple one with the bear on it?"

The girl gave a slight nod.

"Well, it's still on the desk, they just wanted to borrow it to-"

"They didn't borrow it, they didn't give it back! They didn't think they had to, because I'm not alive like they are. Living people can be so selfish..."

"Everyone here is scared. Sometimes, we don't think about people who are dead when we might die too." He got up and fetched the pen, bringing it back to the girl. "I'm sorry they didn't bring it back to you. Here you go."

The ghost stared at him, and he frowned before pressing the pen into the corpse's hand, careful not to touch the body with his own skin. The ghost now stared at the pen, and Rock began to think he should just leave, and then the girl said, in a quiet voice "Thank you."

"Don't worry." He stood up and raised a hand to wave goodbye.

"You're nice."

"...Yeah. Sorry."

The girl watched him, and then said "I don't want anyone else to see me like this."

He looked down at the body. He wouldn't want to be seen like that either. "Can I...do anything?"

"...Hide my body..."

Okay, no. Not if it involved moving the body. No way. "I...I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you. I know it's not a nice thing to ask, but you're the only one who can hear me, and you're nice..."

"...It's okay, I...I understand." And if he thought about it, he guessed he did understand. The body wasn't pleasant to look at, and he wouldn't want random people staring at his body if he were to die...

Bad thought. Rock should not think about the possibility of his own death. "I'll see what I can do." He promised again, looking around as if something he could cover the body with would just suddenly appear.

"Are you lost?" It was the sound of Liang's voice, somewhat muffled through the door, asking that question that pulled Rock's attention away from the ghost. He slowly walked over and opened the door.

"Liang?"

Liang barely spared him a glance. "Wait! Um...young lady?"

Young lady? Rock moved to stand beside him, trying to see who he was talking to. Again, ghosts milling around the room blocked his view. Despite this, he did see one of the especially young figures in the distance, not milling around aimlessly like the others. A little girl in a tattered red dress. Standing there, looking around with her back to them, like she wasn't sure where she was.

"Why don't you just go up to her?" Rock asked.

"I don't want to scare her. We're strangers to her, and much bigger than she is. She turned away from me when I called out to her. I think she's wary of me."

The girl glanced back. Her dark hair covered her face, but Liang could see one eye peeking through the greasy curtain. She looked him straight in the eye, then turned and ran down the corridor. Not as if she were scared of them, but more like..."She wants us to follow her." Liang took off after the girl before Rock could say or do anything. With a sigh, he followed.

The little girl didn't once look back to check they were following, or respond to them calling out to her. Rock assumed she was a normal little girl, trapped here just as the two of them were. She was probably leading them to someone who was hurt or stuck, hoping they'd help her. Why she wouldn't talk to them, though, was another point entirely. Rock supposed it was because she was shy or afraid. She looked no older than eight or nine, if he had to guess, so he could understand her being terrified. The little girl led them around a few corners, and with one more turn, the girl disappeared from sight.

Instead of the girl, they found themselves in a thin, foul smelling corridor. Of course, the whole place smelled foul, but something about this place smelled of fresh death, a smell Liang could, unfortunately, distinguish. At the end of the corridor, at another turn, someone was crouched, peeking around the corner.

"Tsukumo!" Rock called out, running to the other inmate, who jolted to attention before turning and placing a finger over his mouth, a universal signal for 'shut the hell up'. Frowning, Rock crouched next to him. "What's up?"

Tsukumo wasn't quite sure how to respond. He was naturally very tense, and after a moment he turned back to the corner, to whatever he was looking at before. "They're...playing with it." He managed to choke out.

"Playing with what?" He moved forward just enough to see around the corner, and saw what Tsukumo was staring at. Three children, stood by a red splat on the wall. Two of them were playing a game of tug of war with some kind of rope, while the third was dipping her hands in the red and then smearing them on the one clean patch of wall. Finger painting.

"What's that they're pulling on?" Rock asked, still not entirely sure what he was looking at.

"Intestines." Liang replied softly from somewhere over his shoulder. And as soon as he said it, Rock began to make sense of the scene. The red was blood, the unidentifiable lumps were bones and organs, and indeed the thing the children were tugging between them was the intestine of whoever that person used to be. For a brief moment, among the milling ghosts, he thought he saw someone he knew, but before he could be sure, he had turned away from the scene to vomit over the opposite wall. Of course, he'd seen the other dead bodies there, and they'd been horrific - he'd felt quite ill earlier as well - but there was something about this one, it being so much fresher, and so unrecognisable as a person, that really made reality crash down on him. They were in a place where people had died, where people were dying. It wasn't just haunted with old spirits who had died long ago, people were dying here and now, as they spoke. They were in a situation where they themselves could die at any moment, and finally accepting that as the truth was a cold and maddening thing.

Behind him, he heard Tsukumo and Liang talking. They kept their voices low.

"I...I don't want to see it, but I can't look away."

"It might be for the best to keep the spirits in view. Did they do that?"

"I don't know. It wasn't there before, and then it was...I didn't see it happen, but..."

"...Have you seen anyone else from Nanba?"

"Other than you two?" He heard a shuffle as Tsukumo moved away from the corner of death. "I haven't seen anyone. No-one alive, anyway...and no-one from Nanba."

"I see. Same with us. Well, we've seen a note from Upa." He heard more movement, and then there was a hand on his back, and another brushing his hair away from his face. Liang's next words were spoken from right by his ear. "He said we should meet him in the classroom...um...which one was it? 2-A?"

"1-A." Rock corrected. Then frowned. "I think. Did we go up or down after there?"

"No, no, I think you're right. It was on the first floor. Are you okay?"

Rock took a deep breath through his mouth, made sure he wasn't going to vomit again, and nodded.

On their way back to 1-A, they discovered that Tsukumo hadn't really learned much about where they were. He couldn't find a way out, or any windows that opened. Liang did his best to explain the multiple dimensions thing in a way Tsukumo would understand, and stated that it was a good sign they'd found each other, considering they'd been told they were in a different dimension to anyone they knew to begin with. As long as they stuck together and kept moving, kept looking, they'd figure it out. He was still trying to be optimistic, at least for the others. Rock had to try the same.

No-one new had been in 1-A, and nothing else was added to the messages. They collectively considered waiting there for a moment, but decided against it. They needed more information about this place. They didn't feel comfortable waiting around. They needed to be sure no-one was in any danger.

Also, Liang needed to use the bathroom.

After a little bit of pretty aimless wandering, the three of them found themselves on the top floor, stood outside the bathrooms. The door on the right was boarded up and sported an 'out of order' sign. The door on the left opened with no resistance, and Liang didn't bat an eye as he stepped inside.

"Uh...Liang?"

He looked back over his shoulder. Neither Rock nor Tsukumo seemed willing to enter the room.

"What?"

"...That's the girl's bathroom."

"It's also the only bathroom. It doesn't matter anyway - this place is abandoned, aside from the people who trapped us here and their victims. People might be hiding in here. We might find someone we know. Especially those two perverts from Building 3."

The others seemed to agree, but still didn't follow him in, and he shut the door behind him before walking to the stalls.

There were five cubicles. Three were smashed in, and under the rubble of the second, he could see an arm. The remaining two, the doors had been torn off, and over the toilets lay piles of bodies. Teenage girls, mostly, in varying stages of decay, flies and maggots crawling across their flesh and buzzing in the air nearby. A quick look over confirmed that it was very unlikely that anyone Liang knew was among the deceased here, and he decided to walk out again, not wanting to spend more time than he had to in the presence of all that death.

"That was quick." Rock commented when his friend came back into view.

"Is there something wrong?" Tsukumo asked, taking in the expression on Liang's face.

"...No. It's fine. These ones are out of order as well, though." He doubted those two would react well to 'there were hundreds of corpses in there and I'm pretty sure the one with no face was a kindergartener'.

"So where do we go now?" Asked Rock

That was a good question. With the exception of the hallway with the splattered body, and things otherwise inaccessible without going through there, they'd explored just about every part of that school they could get to, or at least Rock and Liang had. It seemed their only real options were to wait at the classroom for someone else to turn up or walk down that path, provided the ghost children were gone. Wandering aimlessly wouldn't be much help any more. Perhaps it was time to come up with a plan. "Back to the classroom. We'll try and figure out a proper action plan from there, think properly about our options and priorities."

"What are our options?" Tsukumo asked as the three hesitantly walked to the stairs.

"...Not great. Our options are not great."

As they reached the top of the stairs, another earthquake shook them. Liang, already taking a step down, overbalanced and barely avoided tumbling headlong down. Behind him, Rock and Tsukumo also had trouble keeping their balance, and the former found himself falling against the latter hard. They landed in a tangled heap on the floor and stayed there until the shaking stopped.

"Damn earthquakes..." Liang muttered as he got to his feet. The last time there had been one like that, they'd been shunted into a different dimension.

Wait.

"It's over..." Rock sat up.

"Rock, does anything look different up there to you?"

He cast a look around. "There's a flyer on the wall now...

"We've jumped dimensions again. We may need to check around old places again."

Rock groaned. "So where are we going now?"

"We should stick to the plan of going back to 1-A."

Tsukumo tapped Rock on the shoulder. "You can get off me any time."

When the group made their way back to classroom 1-A, they found the biggest difference between this dimension and the previous one. Where there had previously been a solid wall was now a hallway ending in a door. "That wasn't there before, was it?"

It was a moment before Liang responded. "That first ghost said there was a second wing."

"You think that's the second wing?" Rock asked, walking toward the door.

"It must be. Question is, why is it only visible now?"

Rock pushed the door open with a shrug. "You think it might be a trap?"

"I think here, everything could be a trap."

As the door opened, the sound of the rain became all that clearer. Beyond the door was a walkway leading to another building. The second wing. The walkway had high rails either side, presumably to keep the children from straying into the forest. The rails came up to Liang's chest, and were connected to a canopy or roofing above them, keeping the rain mostly off the walkway, but for a leak or two.

"We're outside..." Tsukumo muttered, sounding surprised and relieved. "There's a way out of here."

"The ghost we spoke to said there was no escape. He also knew about the second walkway though..."

"Guess he wasn't right about everything, then."

Rock slid open the door to the second wing and let Tsukumo enter before him before glancing back and realising Liang had stopped about halfway across the walkway. "Uh, Liang? You coming?"

"I'll join you in a moment." He was stood at the rail, looking out at the forest.

"Why? You see something?"

"Nothing useful." He shifted his weight, looking uncomfortable. "I still have to go, is all."

"There's...there's probably a bathroom in the second wing."

"...I...can't hold it. I'll go out here and join you in a moment."

Rock looked out at the forest, and ghosts of people who had died out there glared back at him. "Don't go into the forest."

"Hmm? Why not?"

"I just...I think it would be bad."

"What can you see?"

"...More ghosts. They look really angry."

Liang nodded. "I'll stay close to the building." He would rather have been able to find somewhere a bit more secluded than by the school walls, considering he would have to remove almost his entire jumpsuit, but it honestly didn't matter that much. Plus he hadn't really wanted to go into the forest to begin with. He could see some of the corpses on the edge, and certainly didn't trust it. "You two see if you can find anything. I'll join you in a moment."

"Okay. Yell if you run into any murderers. Or ghosts. Or murder ghosts."

"I will."

With that, despite not feeling okay with it, Rock went inside and the door shut behind him. Liang took another look at the railing. A more normal person, a person who hadn't undergone such intense physical training, would have had a lot of difficulty climbing over it, but for him it was an easy vault. He landed without difficulty on the grass on the other side, then something caught his eye. Movement. When he looked, he saw a figure at the edge of the forest. A little girl with her hair in pigtails. She had a sort of blue light around her, and it didn't take a genius to realise what that was. She sported some brutal-looking injuries, most notably the complete absence of her right eye, and was almost certainly not actually alive. She had been one of the children playing tug of war with someone's entrails before.

He hesitated. Took his eyes off the girl for a second, and suddenly, they were nose to nose. She'd covered all that distance in the blink of an eye, her small hands reaching for his shoulders as she screamed something at him. A question he couldn't work out.

She didn't have a tongue, he noted as he saw her mouth open. He stepped back, thinking the best thing to do would be to get back inside, and his foot slipped against the wet mud. He fell back, hitting his head hard against the railing. He reached up blindly, grabbing part of the rail and using it to haul himself up as the ghost watched him and reached for him again. He was pretty sure he'd let out an involuntary yell when he'd fallen, and wondered if that had alerted Rock and Tsukumo or not. The girl repeated her mournful question as he pulled himself back over the railing. It was garbled, presumably because of her missing tongue, but the more she repeated it, the more he could understand.

'Where is my eye? Give me back my eye'

She was reaching for his eye. That was what she wanted. He observed her for a moment as she stood just beyond the rail. And then she stepped forward, and stepped through the rail as if it wasn't there.

Of course. She was a ghost, after all.

Liang walked calmly to the second wing, shutting the door behind him. The entryway of the building was empty. "Rock? Tsukumo?" He walked to the middle of the room, trying to figure out where they might have gone. There were two doors leading out, one to the left, one to the right. "Guys?" They had to be in earshot. Rock had said to call out if he needed help, so he needed to be able to hear. Unless he was too stupid to think about that. Sighing, he decided he would just have to go looking for them. He went to the right, and heard the front door open and shut behind him. Logically, that was most likely the ghost girl giving chase. He picked up the pace a little. He couldn't exactly drop-kick the ghost kid in the face if she presented a real threat to him or anyone else.

The second wing was three storeys high. The bottom floor held nothing special. Shoe cubbies, a girls' toilet (unusable, of course), a few cabinets, and some dead bodies. The second had some classrooms and the boys' toilet, though that was also blocked up, this time with protective charms. The other doors, he opened long enough to see if the others were in there, then moved on. The third floor was nothing but a locked door that claimed to be the principal's office. No sign of the others. They can't have gone back to the main building, though. They would have had to have passed him to do that. He found that walking through the second floor allowed him to loop around to the left door from the entryway. He'd not seen the ghost girl, but he was sure he'd heard footsteps behind him the whole time. Feeling nervous, he walked to the door again, startling when a cabinet fell behind him. Shaking away the nerves, he tugged at the door, and it didn't budge. Frowning, he pulled again. Nothing.

Unusual. That door opened without any issue before. With a sigh, he took a step back, aimed a kick at the door, and cursed when all that achieved was a sore foot. 

It looked like he was trapped.

[seventhstrife]

SubScorp Week 2021 Day 4: Lust 2/3

I literally don’t even want to talk about this, I’m still so mad it got so long LOL

Read it on AO3

Part 1

Raiden's hand glowed a cool, piercing blue as he passed his palm over the length of Kuai Liang's body in a slow, pensive motion. His eyes were narrowed in concentration and Hanzo, pacing just far enough away so that he would not disturb them, did not like the frown that was slowly growing on Raiden's face.

Kuai Liang was stretched across a small bed, one of many that lined this room in Raiden's temple. It was one used for the sick, and the lingering scent of medicine made Hanzo's skin crawl—though he made himself stay. Clean as it was, he could not help associating the scent with death, for often people found their end not on the battlefield, but later, quieter and painfully and without dignity, trapped in their own bodies as it failed them.

He wanted Kuai Liang gone from this place as soon as possible.

His fears that a simple healing would not be enough were confirmed when Raiden finally retracted his head and gave a small shake of his head.

"I have never seen magic like this," Raiden began. He met Kuai Liang's narrowed, glassy eyes squarely. "Skarlet indeed has crafted something that is as unique as it is deplorable."

"You can not help him?" Hanzo all but demanded, scowling. Once more, the thunder god's machinations cared not for the casualties left in their wake.

Raiden looked over at him, expression grim and apologetic.

"I can not. This magic was created to serve a specific purpose and tampering with it in any way may only increase its adverse effects." Raiden dropped his gaze back to Kuai Liang. "I am well aware of the practices of your clan, but there is no other solution. You must allow this to run its course."

Kuai Liang stiffened, face pinched tight with distaste—though Hanzo alone could also detect the faintest flash of...fear...in his eyes.

"You can not mean—"

"Without a partner, the poison will not abate. And should you ignore it for much longer, the heat will boil your blood until it bursts—a very slow, very painful death, Sub-Zero."

The harsh grinding of Kuai Liang's teeth was audible. "There must be another—"

"There is not," Raiden cut in, as brutally blunt as Hanzo could remember. But he was not unkind, and understanding could also be seen in his expression. "There are many here who would gladly assist one of Earthrealm's defenders."

Hanzo...did not want to hear this, he realized. Raiden was offering to find Kuai Liang a partner, a partner who would aid him while he suffered the effects of an aphrodisiac—the implications of that could not be mistaken, and he was no fool. And while it would have been uncomfortable to hear any ally experiencing such a thing, with Kuai Liang, it burned worse. His mind shied away from even the thought of Kuai Liang with another in that way. He hated it.

Kuai Liang bore an expression that plainly said that he felt the same. He raised himself up so that he sat on the edge of the cot, every visible inch of skin flushed, arms trembling ever-so-slightly—not with fatigue, but pain. Even now, a kaleidoscope of red bloomed just beneath his skin, as if the burning roil of his blood would burst at any moment.

"I will not," Kuai Liang grit out. Even with his voice slightly shaken from smothered pain, his tone brooked no argument.

Raiden's frown deepened.

"This is your life, Sub-Zero. And in service of that life, a compromise must be made."

Kuai Liang winced as if Raiden's words were barbed.

"Bedding a stranger, using them in such a way—it is disgusting," and despite himself, a note of pleading bled into Kuai Liang's voice.

It made Hanzo wince in turn, heart going out to his friend who had not asked for this, who he knew would ultimately endure such a coupling but hate every moment of it.

Hanzo dug his fingers into his upper arms, hard, where they were crossed. He stared at the marble stone beneath his feet, to better master the urge to speak. He had no say in what Kuai Liang chose to do.

Raiden made some noise of understanding and from the corner of his eye, Hanzo saw how he gently clasped Kuai Liang's shoulder, voice pitched low in understanding.

"It must be done," Raiden told him. "But they will be discreet, you have my word."

And Hanzo thought he could do this, could keep his mouth shut and quietly support his friend, even if that meant waiting at Raiden's temple as he bedded another, but he proved to be his own undoing when he saw the look on Kuai Liang's face, pained all this time, yet only now suffering, only now, did the poison truly seem to take hold.

Quiet despair and resignation dimmed his eyes and slumped his shoulders with defeat—a look he'd never seen Kuai Liang wear before and would give much to erase.

Kuai Liang opened his mouth. "...Very w—"

"What if it was someone you knew?"

The words felt as if they were coming from another person, and Hanzo was half-tempted to look behind himself when Raiden and Kuai Liang's heads snapped to him.

The urge to blush was almost as great as the sick fear that seized his heart, but he owed Kuai Liang at least this much, at least an offer. Anything that would wipe that look from his face.

Hanzo uncrossed his arms, straightened from the wall he'd rested against when Raiden's conversation had begun in earnest. He looked at Kuai Liang and Kuai Liang only.

"If you trusted this person," Hanzo continued, barely able to hear his own voice over the riotous clamor of his heartbeats, "Would it be easier?"

"I..." For the first time in memory, Kuai Liang seemed genuinely lost for words. He stared at Hanzo as if he'd never seen him before, brow furrowed, body still wracked with jerks and shivers as the poison progressed. Kuai Liang licked dry lips. "Are you...You would...?"

Hanzo bowed his head, grateful he would not have to offer himself so plainly. "I would."

Kuai Liang blinked, shook his head and turned his head away with a deep frown. "I could not ask that of you—"

"And you are not," Hanzo said firmly, drawing Kuai Liang's gaze back. "I am offering."

Kuai Liang appeared so conflicted and his hand tightened into a fist over the fabric of his pants. Indecision warred plainly on his face, and Hanzo suspected it was not on his own behalf.

Quiet and calmly, Hanzo said, "I will take no offense either way," he assured.

He knew, from time and observation, that Kuai Liang, much like himself, was a deeply private person. While others would suffer no qualms having pleasing, ultimately meaningless sex with another, for Kuai Liang it would be a form of torture. Vulnerability, of any sort, was anathema to his very being, and Hanzo knew how much it would hurt him, to have to compromise his self-control in this way.

And if there was anyone else, Hanzo would have retrieved them and brought them to Raiden's temple already—but there was no one else. Hanzo was Kuai Liang's closest and, truly, only confidante.

But the bonds of friendship did not necessarily mean Kuai Liang would be willing. With his offer, Hanzo hoped to at least soothe—if not all, then some of Kuai Liang's worries. It was his hope that the trust they had forged in their friendship would help ease Kuai Liang's guilty conscience for having to expose himself to another.

Kuai Liang was silent for a long moment as the red marks across his arms and face shifted and writhed like living things. He stared at Hanzo, panting, but his expression was difficult to decipher. He was clearly unhappy, but Hanzo had no idea of what his true thoughts were, whether he was dissatisfied with Hanzo's offer, whether he found the idea distasteful or not, or if he was still wrestling with the concept of having to lay with anyone, period.

"Then..." Kuai Liang bowed, as best he could from a sitting position and wracked with pain, "I accept."

It was difficult not to flinch—but Hanzo did his best to school any shock from his expression. The offer was freely made, and meant, but it was more than a little surprising that Kuai Liang had...accepted.

Raiden, whose face had displayed clear surprise at Hanzo's offer before he'd quickly assumed an expression that was carefully blank, stood.

"Then it is decided," he said, tone firm and business-like. His eyes held a spark of curiosity as he looked at Hanzo, but he did not speak of it. He placed a hand on Kuai Liang's shoulder and held out his other to Hanzo in a beckoning motion. "We are running short on time. I will take you to a place you will be undisturbed."

There was a flash of light and a cacophonous clap of thunder, and Hanzo found himself in a clearing, the trees a pale birch where they skirted the boundaries of a small building, a single-story made of white stone and topped with vibrant red clay tiles that sloped into elegant, pointed tips. It bore a sharp resemblance to Raiden's temple, though on a much smaller, humbler scale.

"This once belonged to an old friend who tended the gardens of my temple," Raiden said. He dropped his hold from their shoulders, eyes going distant as they traced the clearing and whatever phantom memories he saw with his ancient eyes. "But it is within the bounds of my influence and thus, under my protection. You will be safe and undisturbed here."

Raiden appeared to visibly pull himself back from his thoughts. He looked between Kuai Liang and Hanzo and whatever he saw on their faces made him incline his head decisively.

"I will ensure my people are aware that this area is off-limits for the time being." He bowed one final time. "I shall leave you. May the Elder Gods protect you, and should the poison worsen, do not hesitate to call on me."

Raiden raised his fist and in a blinding crash of lightning that nearly deafened them, he was gone.

In the ringing silence he left behind, Hanzo stared at the scorched earth as a slow, creeping anxiety grew, just waiting to swallow him whole as he realized exactly what would happen next—what he had volunteered himself for.

And Hanzo was not a religious man. Not since his clan had been brutally murdered, their cries to the gods answered not by those above, but by cold, merciless blades.

But he found himself calling on them now.

Kuai Liang met his eyes once he forced himself to look away from the place Raiden had vanished from, and though pain tightened Kuai Liang's features and furrowed his brow, flushed his skin with a thin sheen of sweat, Hanzo could feel his heart skip a beat, felt an answering clench in the pit of his stomach that betrayed his true feelings in a way that shamed him.

And the way Kuai Liang looked at him—he was close to this man, had fought countless times at his side, knew him better than perhaps anyone else, but that dark look in his eyes, unreadable but watching in a way Hanzo had never seen before—he was not unmoved by that, either.

...Elder Gods. Have mercy on me.

[saixpuppy]

Ashiya Douman voiced lines* + translations in order of the video, ripped straight from the wiki. (Therefore translation credit goes to Reddit user ComunCoutinho, and everyone on the wiki who arranged them originally!) *I’ve skipped battle lines for the time being.

These are simply arranged in order of the video for ease of reading, for a friend’s convenience. Below the cut for length. 

Summoned

This is the first time we see each other! I'm a bonze and onmyouji whose True Name is Ashiya Dōman――― My class is! Alter Ego! Well? Alter Ego. Not Caster? …Now that was a bizarre thing to happen. In any case. Hereafter, I shall be in your care. Master.

Dialogue 1

Now then, shall we depart? I shall be watching over you.

Dialogue 2

For me to offer court service even as a shadow. Fufufufu, there is a limit to irony.

Dialogue 3

For the sake of Human Order, you may use me, Dōman, until I am crushed. Do not hold back, Master.

Dialogue 4 (Tamamo no Mae) [Caster or Lancer]

Tamamo no Mae. In the past, present, and future. She continues existing beautifully by ignoring people's actions. She is always beautiful, to the point that it's repulsive.

Dialogue 5 (Minamoto no Raikou) [Berserker or Lancer]

Minamoto no Raikō. Your karma won't fade even if you become a shadow…

Dialogue 6 (Watanabe no Tsuna)/(Sakata Kintoki) [Berserker or Rider]

Oh, Raikō's Four Heavenly Kings. Did you know, it seems that warriors have ceased existing in the present. Mmmm, what a shame.

Dialogue 7 (Sima Yi (Reines))/(Zhuge Liang (Lord El-Melloi II))/(Chen Gong)

The wise men of the continent. Surely they make use of divination and Taoist arts? Interesting. Along these lines, actually I also… Mmm, ehem. No, maybe some other time.

Dialogue 8 (Kato Danzo)

Katō Danzō-dono? Do you require something from me? If you scowl at me in such a manner, I won't be able to move my body. Fufufu.

Dialogue 9 (Fuuma Kotarou)

Fūma Kotarō-dono. The head of the Fūma clan. I see, that person. Does he have any problem with me? …Surveillance? Oh? Why must he do that? I don't recall having met him before, but I'll let him do as he pleases.

Dialogue 11 (Murasaki Shikibu) [Caster or Rider]

Well well, Fujiwara no Kaoruko-dono. Is it fine to call you Murasaki Shikibu-dono? By the way Kaoruko-dono, did Seimei tell you anythi-… No? …Nothing? Mmm… Is that so… Is that so?

Dialogue 12 (Sei Shonagon)

[N/A, no translation yet. Sorry!]

Dialogue 13 (Nursery Rhyme)&(Jeanne d'Arc (Alter) (Santa Lily))/(Jack the Ripper)/(Paul Bunyan)

Hm, what? You want to play with me? So be it! Firstly I shall manufacture a shikigami identical to a human being. You may dissect it to your heart's content. …Mmm! Why are you pulling my hair, Caster Nursery Rhyme? …Dangerous playing at Chaldea is wrong? …Now it's time to play house? There is no other choice. In that case, I expect to play the role of father-in-law.

Dialogue 14

This appearance is familiar after all. What, when I did this and that at the Kyōto of Heian, I had this appearance of a sangha. I was one to protect people, and also one to harm people. Now, what will it be of me this time?

Something you like

Things I like, …Let's leave it without being said. I'm sure it's still too soon to tell you.

Something you hate

Things I hate. There is nothing I hate, but… Seimei. Abe no Seimei. That man alone is a different matter! Mmmmmm!

About the Holy Grail

The Holy Grail, the Holy Grail, huh. Fufuh, fufufufufu… No no, I said nothing. Fufufufufufufu…

Bond Lv1

Now then, Master. Let us depart together to retrieve Human order, the world, Panhuman History. Fufufufufufufu…

BondLv2

Master, you'd do well not to persevere too much. There is no replacement for you. That's the reason why… I understand such spirit so well that it hurts, but even so. Eei… Leave the office work to me. Since I got close to the imperial court, I learned this and that by seeing the supermen of desk work. Now now, leave it to me, leave it to me.

Bond lv3

Master, you are… Mmmmm… Mm, I tried correcting myself but, fufufufu! I just forgot what I was trying to say all of a sudden. Mmmmm! What is it? Sometimes things just slip out of your mind… you say? Huh, so it happens to you as well. Fufufufu, I'm a silhouette of Human Order, with the body of a Heroic Spirit, but I may not be so different from people.

Bond lv4

Master, my lord. Mm, mmmm… I'm supposed to fully understand it, but how should I convey this throbbing in my chest? Master, every time I see your eyes… or your profile, I, I'm trapped by unbearable thoughts. If I don't calm down, if I don't calm down… No, please forget it. I'm losing my mind.

Bond lv5

My lord, give me your commands. If it's for your sake, I shan't hesitate to do any action. Not even slaughter, nor trampling. I shall not doubt to do everything that makes you hesitate. By doing every evil, I shall open a path for you to advance.

[Skipping attack lines for sanity and length. I’d be happy to do these in a *separate post.*]  [Picks up at 13:13.]

Level Up 1

You'd do well not to touch me too much.

Level Up 2

Mmmm! That makes me aroused…

Level Up 3

Godsend! Godsend!

1st Ascension

My Spirit Origin has changed. Chaldea's summoning ritual… Mmmm! What an interesting thing!

2nd Ascension

My Spirit Origin has cha-… -nged not. However, it seems to be certain that my Spirit Origin has ascended…

[From this point onward are lines requiring the player to have cleared chapter 5.5 Heian-Kyo.]

Dialogue 10 (Miyamoto Musashi) [Saber or Berserker]

I see. So that woman has achieved her long-cherished desire.

Something you Like

Things I like. If I must choose, right, the dignity of others, and their faith, stomping on such things is so nice… Really nice. It tastes like honeydew. What about you?

Bond lv5

Mmfufufu, fufufufu! Enough with the lies… is what you said? Fufufufufu… Mmmmm! Indeed, it is nonsense. I have all my memories as myself, Alter Ego, Ashiya Dōman, or Alter Ego Limbo. In that regard, for playing along throughout my little game, I truly, truly… Yes? …Ah, no no, there is no way! This Spirit Origin has reeled in its ties, and now that I have become your Servant summoned by Chaldea's summoning ritual, my ties to the Alien God have already been severed. If you don't trust me, I don't mind cutting this head of mine at any time. Fufufufufu… Yet if possible, since I was called I would like to accompany you to the bottom of Hell… My lord.

3rd Ascension

Oh, oooh! This is the first time I see this appearance. If I had to name it, right, Skull Eboshi - Ashiya Dōman. It's as if the three spirits that were introduced in my body for some reason melted together and became familiar. Should I call myself the one to go beyond humans, beasts, and gods, Rakshasa King - Skull Eboshi - Ashiya Dōman, so to speak? I just jest, Master. 

4th Ascension

Over here, I'm over here, Master. It appears I got slightly aroused. What says you? Would you like to accompany… Yes? Yes, yes. This is, well, a skull but… Don't shiver like that. Of course, of course, it's a falsehood of the simulator, something similar to a dream.

[Again, skipping battle lines.]

[Thanks y’all.]

[pinktatertots99]

kiss with a fist

summary: hiding marks are hard. people finding out about them is horrible. but the worst thing ever is making up excuses for those scars, because no what the excuse is, you'll always look like an idiot.

rated T for swearing and...implied sexual themes

here take this *throws this at your face and leaves.*

so...it's been a while since I wrote something. but, I thought, it's valentines day may as well do something. also, I need more of this ship on here. I'm really proud of this. please like or reblog. also I'd like to know what I can do better so please give me any advise or criticism you have.(be a bit gentle though, I'm a softy),

lazy title is lazy. I don't even know WHY I chose that name for this fanfic. probably because the name reminds me of this ship. (get it, because the characters are both fighters...and in a relationship...*cricket noises*...whatever I'm keeping it)

It was an average day at nanba prison, as average as this prison can get that is. As we look in to our main cast that reside in building 13 cell 13; with uno looking at the newest issue of the women's magazine, nico playing a new level on his gaming device kazari gave him, and jyugo who was bored out of his mind and looked just about ready to leave the cell, that is until the fourth member of their group, rock, came back into the shared cell.

"Huh, look who's back." Jyugo murmured, not really caring.

"ROCK'S BACK! YAY!" Nico exclaimed, dropping his game and running over to the bulked inmate and hugged him, causing the other to grunt in surprise.

"Nico, don't hug him. he's sweaty and gross." Jyugo said, causing uno to snicker, nico to let go of the proclaimed sweaty and gross inmate, and rock giving jyugo an angry look.

"So~, how was the workout at building 5?" Uno asked, still slightly preoccupied with his magazine.

"It was-" Rock started.

"Were there any female guards there?" Uno interrupted. 'of course that's what he would ask' everyone thought. "No. there are no female guards there" rock sighed in annoyance towards his friend's stupid question, his back towards everyone, as he took off his tank top.

"That's not whAT THE SCRATCH MARKS ON YOUR SHOULDER BLADES SAY!" Uno shouted, pointing at rock's shoulder blades, giving it jyugo and nico's attention. Sure enough, there were large scratch marks that covered rock's shouler blades.

"Huh?" Rock asked, a bit of surprise in his tone. "Uh...those...aren't what you think they are."

"ooooh REALLY?!" Uno exclaimed, "Then WHAT exactly are they?"

It took a couple of seconds for rock to reply. "They're...uh..." rock hesitated "I..got in a bit of trouble with kuu." He murmured.

"Kuu?" Jyugo asked, surprised but critical. Kuu was a pretty chill cat who was fine with rock's over affectionate attitude towards the miniature furry guard, and rock has been an animal lover for most of his life, so he had enough experience knowing when an animal has lost it's patience. So hearing that kuu scratched rock for either no reason or because rock's affection got a bit out of control was really confusing for jyugo to wrap his head around. But before anyone could press for more questions, rock had closed the door to their shared bathroom.

"Hey," Nico started. "Since kuu's a guard and scratched rock, does that mean he'll be suspended?"

"He's a cat nico." Jyugo stated.

"But he is a guard." Uno commented. "I even heard he's on a higher rank than seitarro." He snickered, amused by this fact. "Actually, now that I think about it, I know that guard dogs that attack people for no reason are ordered to be euthanized-"

"THEY'RE GONNA PUT KUU DOWN?!" Nico squealed, ghilbi sized tears welling up in his eyes.

"THEY BETTER FUCKING NOT!" Jyugo screamed, the look of murder in his eyes.

'Oh boy' Uno thought, looks like he was gonna have to do something before the two went on a self proclaimed rescue mission.

As he finally tied up his long raven hair in a tight braid, building 5 cell 8's inmate 02, liang, still had his mind racing as he was going over the checklist in his brain. The bars were always open so no one would notice any...unusual smells, he put his training clothes in the dirty clothes basket and there would be no reason for his cell mates to look through it, he showered, and brought his clothes with him before going in and...oh wait, where was his shirt? Liang smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, he only brought his boxers and pants with him. He was in such a hurry that he forgot his shirt. Liang sighed, putting on his boxers and pants and opening the door hoping that his cell mates weren't back-

"yo, did you save enough warm water for later?" Qi inquired.

Damn it. They were back already.

Instinctively, once liang heard the lazy bum's voice he put his left hand over the left side of his neck and he scanned the room. Qi was on his bed looking at some random magazine, and upa was currently levitating with his legs crossed, putting his cactus down. They weren't looking at him. Perfect. He could use this to his advantage to get his shirt and go unnoticed. As he walked across the room he was stopped half way by upa, who had floated in front of him, blocking his path.

"What's wrong with your neck?" he asked, in his monotone voice. Despite sounding uninterested, if the qigong prodigy asked you if you were okay, then he was very interested.

"It's nothing." liang answered quickly. He was so close getting to his shirt. He hoped that his reply would be enough.

Upa just looked at him with critical eyes, he didn't believe him, figures. He was also not moving out of liang's way. The urge to go around upa was an option that was weighing in liang's mind. But he wouldn't do that, it was rude.

Before he could react, liang's hand was forcefully pulled away from his neck. "what the-" he started looking at his hand. There was an aqua-ish blue aura. He looked back at the smaller inmate in front of him. The jiang-shi's usual neutral face was replaced with dilated pupils and his mouth slightly agape. He saw it. dang it.

 All this commotion caused qi to get up and go over to the pair. "Oi, upa," he called out sternly. "Your not supposed to use your powers on people, remember?" He was right. Upa was under a strict rule to not use his powers on others unless it was ABSOLUTELY needed. As qi walked over to the two of them, he took a glance at liang's neck, did a double take, looked back and stared, his eyes went wide in shock. "Woah." he uttered.

On the left side of liang's neck was a large purple bruise that spread from his collarbone to side of his neck.

Upa had let go of liang's hand and moved to his left. Once his hand was free, liang instantly put it back on the spot but it was too late, they already saw it. He could feel his cellmates gazes burning on him though.

"What happened?" qi asked."What did you do?" upa questioned. They both spoke at the same time. Liang avoided looking at them as he approached his shirt and picked it up.

"...I got in a training incident." he suddenly spoke, still not looking at them. Both qi and upa gave him questioning looks.

"With what? A bear trap?" qi questioned half jokingly.

"Of course not." liang stated, putting his arms through the sleeves and looking over at the scientist. "The staff got rid of those weeks ago and I don't even have access to them."

"I was joking." qi sighed. one of liang's many amazing characteristics is that jokes went over his head a bit too easily. Qi looked over at upa, who was standing next to him. the tall man leaned down to the smaller one's level.

"You think he's telling the truth?" he whispered.

The small jiang-shi turned around and replied. "I'm not sure." he stated. "Liang's mostly careful with training, but he can also go overboared and become reckless so it's a possibility."

'No matter how quietly you two whisper I can STILL hear you.' liang thought to himself, getting irritated. He'd tell them that but he decided not to, because if he did the then it would've opened up the possibility that they might start asking questions. Later in the day qi gave liang an ointment he made to heel the bruise.

A week later, rock had come back to building 5 to train. Everyone was in their places, inori was lounging on the bench reading a questionable magazine, qi had claimed to be 'sick' and was also lazing on a bench, upa was already running on the practice field, and yamato and tsukumo, who had come with rock earlier, have disappeared(but it was obvious they just went somewhere else on the field to train). The able-bodied inmate looked around until he saw the athletic-enthusiast liang, leaning on one of the building's pole's. Rock smiled.

" 'EY, LIANG!" rock called out. walking over to him. Liang looked over and was also starting to walk over to him, arms crossed. They walked toward each other. Rock stopped halfway but liang was still walking. It looked like he was about to pass rock when he stopped at rock's side for a second.

"Follow me." he ordered quietly, walking away from the muscular inmate. It took a good five seconds for rock to process what happened, but then he looked back and started following him. They both rounded a corner of the building. Oddly enough there were no guards or inmates around.

Before rock could ask what liang wanted, liang turned around to him with an irritated expression.

"Next time you need to bite something, I advise you to bite anything other then my neck." he asserted. It took a bit for rock to figure out what he was saying. Then it finally hit him. He looked back at liang with a similar annoyed expression.

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "Well next time how about you don't scratch my back so hard. When the guys saw them, I had to blame kuu on it."

"And?"

"And he didn't deserve that because he's AN INNOCENT SHEDDING BALL OF HAPPINESS WHO WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!"

Liang huffed. "Well at least YOUR story is believable, mine was so obscure that my cellmates BARELY believe it."

"Well it couldn't have been THAT unbelievable."

Liang pulled down the turtleneck of his training shirt, exposing the still healing bruise; it was smaller than before but still visible "I told them I got this from a training incident."

Golden eyes widened as rock looked at the large mark on the other male's neck.

"Wha~ I did that?" he asked. Liang just stared at him, the answer was obvious.

Rock tore his gaze away, blushing and smiling a bit. It kinda looked good on the other and it felt nice knowing that was HIS bite mark on his...boyfriend.

Yeah, they were in a relationship. Although neither of them could remember EXACTLY how it happened. They were originally trying to build a friendship between each other. Sharing lunch with each other, going out exercising together and doing things that they had in common with each other, and it was going great, but then the secret hand holding, kissing, and the more...intimate stuff started happening. Neither of them knew how this happened, but it did, and they were perfectly fine with this. The only problem was they had to keep this a secret. Not because of fear of being rejected, their cellmates wouldn't care that much about who they dated. They had to keep this a secret due to a certain rivalry between a monkey and a gorilla. 

Rock looked back at liang with an apologetic look.

"Heh, yeah, sorry about that." he apologized. Liang nodded, his way of forgiving this lovable idiot. They both stood there in awkward silence for a bit.

"So...is their anything else you don't like?" Rock inquired, breaking the silence. liang looked puzzled for a second, processing the question. Once he understood he put a finger on his chin, thinking.

"I'd also like for you not to pull on my braid when we're doing..." he paused, a light magenta colored blush dusting his cheeks, "...that." he finished.

Rock grinned, "got it."

Liang looked up. "is there anything you don't want me to do?" he inquired. Rock started thinking for a bit, longer than when liang was asked the same question. he finally answered.

Rock chuckled. "Uh. well I guess I'd like for you not to scratch me so much."

Liang nodded. "Understood."

Liang was about ready to leave when rock reached out and gripped his wrist, not too hard but firm enough for the other to not leave.

"Hold on a second."

"What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked with a mischievous grin. Liang cocked his head in confusion, he didn't think he was forgetting anything. His confusion was answered when the burly male put his own finger on his lips. Liang's cheeks turned a dark shade of magenta, almost red.

"W-what?" he stuttered. Rock's grin just grew wider. they both knew what he wanted.

"No. Absolutely not."

"aaww. why noooot?" he complained.

"We're in public."

"But no ones around to see." He was right there were still no guards or prisoners around this side of the building. Liang huffed, he wasn't budging.

"At least a peck." he begged. "Please. just one. pleeeaaasse." Liang groaned in defeat.

 "...Fine." he said through gritted teeth.

He walked closer to the other and had to step on his toes to reach. Rock closed his eyes awaiting the kiss when he felt a sudden stinging feeling on his neck. He yelped, eyes wide open and smacked his hand over the spot that hurt. He looked at liang who had stood back and was...grinning?!

Rock removed his hand, revealing a small bite mark the size of a mosquito bite on his neck. He looked back at liang. He was wearing a toothy grin now.

"Wha-? Did you?" he stumbled. Liang giggled softly. "revenge." he whispered haughtily and he started walked away. Rock gawked at the other before growling. "Oh. I am SO kicking your ass later." he threatened. Liang stopped by the corner and looked at him, smirking.

"Hm...I'd like to see you try." he instigated. and rounded the corner. Rock followed him short after, he was DEFINIETLY going to get him for this. either he defeats him in a fight or...some other form of punishment.

[seventhstrife]

SubScorp Week 2021 Day 4: Lust 1/3

I AM SO MAD ABOUT THIS PROMPT!!! IT GOT RIDICULOUSLY LONG!!! LIKE, AN UNREASONABLE LENGTH OF FIC WAS ACHIEVED THROUGH THIS PROMPT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE EASIEST ONE!!! WHY IS MY BRAIN LIKE THIS!!!

Special shoutout to all of the wonderful, lovely, ridiculously patient people on discord who weathered me complaining about my stupid hellbrain lolol

Only part 1 tonight since I literally spent all day writing nearly 10k words, and there’s no way I can edit it and also sleep before my shift LOL

Read it on AO3.

Part 2

It would have been kinder, perhaps, to simply announce his arrival, but Hanzo had grown so fond of being amused in recent years and he could not resist the urge to indulge.

Gathering a handful of small stones, Hanzo climbed the nearest building and darted across the sun-baked clay of the rooftops, careful to remain unseen as he trailed his target.

A smile curled his lips beneath his mask. He waited until he was sure he was completely concealed, then let loose one of the pebbles in his grasp—a direct hit to the back of Kuai Liang's head.

The sight of Kuai Liang's flinch, as well as the sharp snap of attention and his dark expression of annoyance and suspicion through the crowded, dusty streets of the road, stretched Hanzo's smile into a grin. He bled into the shadows, knowing he would have to be swift if he wanted to stay ahead of Kuai Liang's attention.

He only managed one more stone's throw before Kuai Liang wisened up and scaled the nearest building. He was no fool, and tracing the stone's trajectory was a simple thing. Hanzo was forced to duck behind any cover he could find to avoid the Lin Kuei Grandmaster's thorough, careful scrutiny of his surroundings.

His next throw would be his last, he knew. He would have to make it count if he did not wish to be caught.

Hanzo crouched low and waited for his moment. The instant Kuai Liang turned, still scanning his surroundings for any movement, he sent his last stone flying.

He saw the beginning motion of Kuai Liang's whip-fast reaction, hand darting up in a flash to catch the stone, but Hanzo was already gone, swallowed in hellfire, and before Kuai Liang's fist fully closed around the rock, Hanzo appeared directly behind him.

Hanzo didn't hesitate. He tackled Kuai Liang to the roof, perched atop his chest before he could react.

Blinking in the harsh sunlight, Kuai Liang's scowl of deadly promise melted away into shock.

"Hanzo?"

Hanzo smirked. "Is this the standard of Lin Kuei assassins?" Hanzo shook his head. "Perhaps I should reconsider allying myself with a clan that is so soft."

Kuai Liang's eyes narrowed in a glare, but it was lessened by the reluctant smile that tugged on his lips, as if against his better judgment.

"I think I am the one who should be reconsidering my allies, if they are so eager to attack me on the streets," Kuai Liang pointed out, and Hanzo chuckled, finally stood and offered his arm.

Kuai Liang took the offered hand and absently brushed himself as he stood. His dark eyes, pleased and curious in equal measure, peered at Hanzo with confusion.

"What brings you to Outworld, Hanzo? And to me, specifically?"

Hanzo crossed his arms, gazing across the sand-dusted streets and modest abodes of the city, half of it hollowed out from the bright red clay of a mountain.

"I had received word that you accepted a mission from the Thunder God." Hanzo's face darkened with a grimace. "I would be neglecting the conditions of our alliance if I did not aide you."

"My mission is one of reconnaissance, Hanzo," Kuai Liang said, brow furrowed. "My life is hardly in danger."

"No mission from Raiden is as simple as he makes it seem," Hanzo said darkly. The loss of his clan—again—still burned. "If my presence is an insult, I beg your forgiveness," Hanzo continued, and he bowed. When he rose, he met Kuai Liang's eyes dead-on, determined and stubborn. "Allow me to accompany you, if only to set my mind at ease."

Kuai Liang had appeared taken aback at first, but understanding quickly bled onto his expression, and no little guilt. His own memories of the Kamidogu, and the manipulation he'd suffered, did not appear to have been forgotten either.

"...I accept your offer, Hanzo. Thank you." Kuai Liang said, and he returned the bow. "Shall we?"

The Thunder God's power had sent Kuai Liang to an Outworld city, but Kuai Liang's true destination laid deeper in the forest. An ancient temple, Kuai Liang informed him, long abandoned, had been rumored to have worshippers once more. Raiden merely wanted confirmation of such a thing, to decide his next move. The worship once practiced there had been forbidden, one steeped in ritual sacrifice and practices so brutal and cruel that even Outlanders shunned it, and if some sort of revival was in the making, Raiden suspected it would only be a matter of time before the cult spilled into Earthrealm and claimed the inhabitants there for their depraved rituals.

A simple mission, but one that did nothing to abate the uneasy feeling that had overcome Hanzo from the moment he'd learned of Kuai Liang's undertaking. He had not lied to Kuai Liang for his reasons for being here, but he had neglected the full truth: that, more than anything, he worried for his friend and what might happen to him when caught up in another machination of a God.

Once Kuai Liang had debriefed him, they fell into silence, traveling the forest with their ears peeled for the slightest sound that stuck out: voices, a footstep, anything that would confirm Raiden's suspicions. But caution and vigilance would only help them so much if Raiden had sent them into some sort of trap.

Hanzo pushed the worry from his mind. Nothing will happen to him. I will ensure it, he vowed.

The temple emerged from the trees when they were nearly on top of it. If it had been recently re-occupied, it did not show on the outside. The forest had been allowed to encroach upon it, nearly to the doors, and lichen and vines covered the side of the crumbling stone building as nature reclaimed it.

Hanzo and Kuai Liang knelt side by side as they observed the building, but it truly seemed abandoned.

"Shall we take a closer look?" Kuai Liang asked once it was plain they were quite alone outside.

Hanzo repressed a grimace; telling Kuai Liang he had a 'bad feeling' was out of the question, unless he wanted to make Kuai Liang think he indulged silly superstition and thus, lose his respect forever.

Hanzo nodded. They took a closer look.

Their steps were slow and cautious as they climbed the sun-bleached steps. Cracks and fissures stretched across nearly every surface, and while the stains were very faint, Hanzo still recognized the dried blood dotted across the stone.

It only took a few minutes to carefully sweep the temple for signs of life, and they met in the dusty temple's center once they were done.

"It appears abandoned," Kuai Liang observed, dark eyes lingering in a dark corner for one last check before he finally looked at Hanzo.

"I agree," Hanzo said, crossing his arms. "I hope the Thunder God has promised you something worthwhile for this waste of time."

A small smile tugged on Kuai Liang's lips; Hanzo pretended he did not find the sight incredibly gratifying.

"The terms of a contract are confidential, Hanzo."

"So, nothing," Hanzo surmised with a nod. "Unsurprising."

Kuai Liang's smile grew, amused. "Your time was wasted as well," he pointed out. "Will you demand compensation from Raiden?"

"Do not tempt me," Hanzo warned. He could do so without shame or remorse. After what the Thunder God had put them both through, it was the least he deserved.

Kuai Liang opened his mouth, eyes dancing with mirth—

But then his eyes shifted, just slightly, and he tensed, all over.

Hanzo barely had time to react before Kuai Liang was shoving him with a rough shout of, "Get down!"

His balance was upset but Hanzo recovered, quickly rolled to his feet in a crouch, one arm braced on the floor, the other already unsheathing his dagger.

"Jussst asss my hunger growsss, what ssshould I find but fresssh blood in the unlikeliessst of placesss?"

Skarlet ascended the last steps of the temple, an expression of satisfaction and interest on her features. She held a single hand aloft where an orb of thick, viscous blood twirled idly.

She came to a stop some distance away and widened her stance. Her fingers curled into claws and she stretched the blood like a scarf between her palms. Her eyes flashed between the two of them.

"My lucky day," she rasped slowly.

Hanzo frowned heavily, though it was almost a relief to finally face the inevitable complication he had been expecting this entire time. He darted a quick glance at Kuai Liang.

Kuai Liang was much in the same position and appeared unscathed as he leveled Skarlet with a heavy frown. A smear of blood shards streaked across the space they once stood.

"What are you doing here, Skarlet?" Pure, icy contempt dripped from his tone.

"I am the one who ssshould be asssking the questions, Sub-Zero." Skarlet arched a single thin eyebrow. "Asss the Outworlder, I am not the one who doesss not belong here..."

Hanzo rose and Skarlet's gaze cut to him, wary and deadly. He unsheathed his second dagger and gave them a spin.

"You are outmatched, Skarlet." He pointed at her with a blade. "You would be wise to leave."

Her mouth was hidden behind a crimson mask, but her smile was only too obvious in her tone.

"I am trembling with fear," Skarlet said mockingly, and barely before she'd finished drawing breath, she moved her hands in a quick sweeping motion that sent a wide arch of blood, suddenly crystallized, straight for them.

Kuai Liang had his ice to defend himself with, so Hanzo did not waste a moment summoning a ring of fire, nose wrinkling as the blood met his flames and burst on impact. A power based on draining the life from another—it was barbaric.

Hanzo's words had not been an idle boast—together, he and Kuai Liang were formidable, and years of fighting at one another's side had only fostered a deadly alliance, one of devastating power and precise, efficient strategy.

Barely minutes into the fight, Skarlet was showing signs of unease. She was smart to keep her back to a wall at all times, to better prevent them from flanking her, but the ceaseless assault of ice and fire was clearly wearing on her.

When Kuai Liang froze her leg, just long enough so that she caught a fireball to the chest, she staggered, fell to one knee as her harsh breaths echoed through the ancient temple.

Tales of her cunning and deadliness had not escaped them, however, and neither man allowed their guard down, approaching slowly, fists raised.

"Thisss," Skarlet panted, glaring at the two of them, "Isss hardly fair, isss it?"

"You chose this fight, Skarlet," Kuai Liang said pitilessly.

The way her eyes narrowed at Kuai Liang—that earlier feeling of unease rose within Hanzo once more.

"I did," she agreed. "And it isss time I evened the oddsss..."

Skarlet thrust the hand—that before had been clutching her side—at Kuai Liang, and a small disk of blood, no doubt razor-sharp, shot towards him at an incredible speed.

Too fast to deflect it properly, Kuai Liang raised his arm, and Hanzo only caught a glimpse of how it burst moments before impact, hovered in the air in dozens of pinpricks of needle-thin blades, before crashing again. As Kuai Liang dropped to a knee and ducked, shielding his face from the worst of it, Hanzo was already backing away as Skarlet flew at him in a sudden burst of deadly fury.

"I can already tassste your blood," Skarlet said with relish. The blade of her blood dagger locked with Hanzo's and their faces hovered close. Her eyes shined with wicked triumph. "I will enjoy gorging myssself in the daysss to come."

Hanzo only glared back, disgusted. Between them, a sudden light grew and Skarlet glanced down with wide eyes to see her dagger glowing-white hot to match where it met Hanzo's as his arms caught fire.

An instant later, the blade, warped, shifted, and burst. Skarlet cried out, backing away as the blood singed her and the hands she shook out were bright red from the blistering heat.

"You will only taste defeat," Hanzo swore, summoning his kunai.

The low thump of a body hitting the ground drew his attention away, however, and it was with dread that Hanzo clapped eyes on Kuai Liang—teeth gritted in a grimace of pain, hands clawed against the stone as if he might crumble the stone at their feet.

He raised glassy, straining eyes to meet his.

"H-Hanzo," Kuai Liang managed, and then he shuddered, hunched over, and a low grunt of pain escaped him.

The sight and sound of him chilled Hanzo to his very core. Kuai Liang had been trained, practically since infancy, to withstand incredible amounts of pain. Anything that made him cry out like that—

Hanzo looked to Skarlet and he had no problem recognizing the sheer relish and satisfaction of her expression.

The hellfire, always kept carefully maintained, overflowed into instant, black fury.

Faster than she could ever predict, Hanzo flew across the room, seized Skarlet by her neck and did not stop until he slammed her against the opposite wall. Her strangled choke—brutally cut off by his hands, pressing deep—only incensed him further because this one cry of pain was not enough.

"What have you done to him?"

Skarlet strained against his grip, but she could not touch him, not when he burned so hot. She quickly realized she could not escape, but she only laughed, a reedy, raspy thing that made Hanzo see red.

"It—It isss a new concoction," she hissed, throat working harshly beneath his fingers. He barely loosened his grip so that she could speak, despising every moment he was not killing her. "One I-I have been..." She swallowed. Her heels scraped against the stone wall for purchase. "Very eager to try out."

Hanzo tightened his grip once more and Skarlet's eyes grew larger, panicked and desperate.

"WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE."

With each word, flames licked Hanzo's tongue, eager to escape. The temptation to release the flames on Skarlet's wretched head, to burn away her smirk until only bone remained, was nearly overwhelming.

But Kuai Liang's life hung in the balance. He could not give in to anger.

He allowed Skarlet breath, and she finally spoke, "That blood wasss poisoned," Skarlet hissed and Hanzo tensed.

"Where is the antidote," he demanded, and Skarlet laughed again.

"It isss not that sort of poissson," she said. "Thisss one was made for...ssspecial occasssionsss..."

Hanzo narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"

Skarlet looked into his eyes and victory shined in her dark, mad eyes.

"It isss a powerful aphrodisssiac," she purred, and Hanzo tensed. "If he is not sssatiated, his blood will boil."

Alarmed, Hanzo glanced at Kaui Liang. It looked as if he was already feeling the effects, if the way he clutched his abdomen meant anything. He ground his forehead against the filthy stone floor and even a short distance away, Hanzo could see the red welts rising from his skin, as if he were burning from the inside out.

"It would be bessst," Skarlet continued, able to speak more in Hanzo's moment of distraction, "If you left usss here." Her eyes darkened with desire and twisted eagerness. "I am more than up to the tasssk of helping him, and I am sssure he will find me very sssastisfying."

Kuai Liang would rather die, Hanzo knew.

Slowly, every line of his body a taut line of repressed violence, Hanzo allowed Skarlet to slide back down the wall so that her feet touched the floor.

Her eyes brightened with victory—and then Hanzo yanked her close, so that they instead widened with surprise and a quick flash of fear—for he had not released her yet.

"No," he simply said, and then he shoved Skarlet back.

Her skull cracked against the stone and she went limp.

Hanzo let her drop carelessly, turned his back on her, and quickly made his way to Kuai Liang's side. She would not die, he was sure of it, and though he dearly wanted to make her pay for poisoning Kuai Liang, there was still a chance she would be needed in the future, should her words prove false and some sort of antidote could only be procured through her repulsive blood magic.

Hanzo fell to his knees at Kuai Liang's head, hands hovering or unsure.

"Kuai Liang..."

Shakily, Kuai Liang raised his head. Hanzo didn't hesitate to clasp his hand when it was raised and his eyes widened to feel the heat of him, hot enough to rival his own skin.

"Hanzo..." Through his fierce grimace, Hanzo saw the flicker of uncertainty, the worry and anxiety brought on by this sudden vulnerability.

"I have you," Hanzo assured him and he squeezed his hand tightly. "We will fix this, I promise you."

Kuai Liang stared into his eyes for a moment, panting, face beginning to bead with sweat.

He sagged with a nod, weary and pained.

Hanzo swallowed them both in hellfire, and only the scorched stone and Skarlet's crumpled form marked their ever being in Outworld.

[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 9 of ?

Also available on Blogspot

After discovering he couldn't just leave the building, Liang decided to try exploring again. It was far smaller and easier to navigate than the main building, so it wouldn't take long, and he hadn't really taken a proper look into any of the rooms he'd passed. There would be some trace of Rock and Tsukumo somewhere if he just looked. The only problem was that the ghost girl was trapped in here with him, so he couldn't be careless. If she was still following him, she would be getting to the bottom of the stairs on the left side now, so he went back to the right side.

Ah. There she was, descending the stairs at the end of the hall. Evidently, she'd decided to loop back around in order to cut him off. She hadn't seen him yet, though, so he could loop back around himself, or duck into the nearest room to hide. If she truly lost him, if he hid successfully, she may well leave the building in search of either him or a new victim. Or just keep wandering around this one until she killed him, but what was life without taking a risk here or there?

He opened and shut the door as quietly as he could, and leaned against it, taking in the room he'd entered. It was the downstairs bathroom. The cubicles stood, but between them and him was a large hole in the floor. The distance was one he thought he could cross, but there wasn't enough floor next to the cubicles for him to land on, so even if he made it, he wouldn't be able to stay there or get back. That crossed them off as hiding places. The only other things in the room were the sinks and mirrors, which weren't much help. Slowly and quietly, he walked across the room, crouching by the hole and trying to gauge how far down it went. In the darkness, he couldn't see the bottom. There wasn't really anything he could drop down there to try and figure it out either, unless he wanted to use his shoe. Or an earring. That wouldn't make a big enough sound, though. As he stood again, he heard the door open and close behind him. Already figuring the girl had followed him in, Liang turned to face her.

As before, the ghost girl advanced slowly, hands outstretched, repeating the same question and the same demand. Her movements were like those of a monster movie zombie, a mindless lurch that could be skirted around with relative ease, though of course it would have been better were the space not so small nor full of holes. Being a child, she would not be able to keep up with Liang even at a fast paced walk, so he was quite calm as he walked by her, keeping to the walls and walking straight to the exit. Perhaps he could find a way to block her in somewhere, find a way to trap a door closed. She seemed to need to open the doors to pass through them, after all, even though she had walked through the railing without difficulty. He reached out to open the door, and frowned when it didn't open.

On closer inspection, the door was locked. That wasn't good. Glancing over his shoulder, Liang noted that the little girl was drawing nearer faster than he would have liked. It looked like his only way out would be down the hole, but he had no idea if he would survive the fall or not. The only thing he could throw down to check that he could be sure to hear would be...one of the dead bodies in the room. He couldn't stay pressed against the door.

It occurred to him, as he looped back around the girl, that he wouldn't have been in this predicament if he had listened to Rock and not separated from the others. He wouldn't have encountered the ghost girl outside, and he would still be in the company of living people, however he was still quite sure they were there somewhere. They wouldn't have just disappeared from the entire building, after all.

He passed the hole again, and pushed a nearby body down with his foot. It seemed like a cold and callous thing to do, but once he realised how deep the hole really was, he knew using his shoe or earring to gauge the depth would indeed have been useless. He'd done three more circuits of the room to evade the ghost's grabbing hands and tried to open the door at least five more times before he heard a very distant 'splash' signifying the end of the body's fall. He definitely did not fancy his chances of survival if he jumped down there. Jumping across to conceal himself in the cubicles was not an option either. Even if it was possible to land safely, the girl would know exactly where he was. The door wouldn't open. There wasn't any way out and away from the child. Against his better judgement, he tried one last thing. "Rock! You said yell if there's a ghost! I'm yelling!"

Of course, he received no response for that. The ghost came within reach, and he could see the blood stains across her form, trailing from the wounds on her face, down across her tattered clothes. He shifted his weight, changing his stance, ready to fight if he needed to. Would trying to kick a ghost in the face work at all? Only one way to find out. He swung his leg out defensively

and his attack never connected. Against his back, the door opened with force, and he felt something pull hard at the back of his jumpsuit, hard enough to yank the cloth tight against his throat. For the third or fourth time today, he was falling onto his backside gracelessly, coughing as the pressure waned. The ghost girl made some strange, mournful noise as she tried to cross the threshold, only for the door to slam itself shut in her face. It jolted a few times as she tried to open it, but whatever force had just saved him seemed to be holding it closed. Then he heard the voice, presumably the voice of his saviour. It seemed to echo from an uncertain position, and he found himself looking for its source.

"I'll hold Yuki here. I can keep her distracted."

The voice sounded so...familiar. Almost exactly like "Qi?"

It didn't respond for a moment, and then "Go to the art room upstairs. Someone will come for you. A friend. Trust me."

He got to his feet, frowning. "Who are you? Why are you helping?"

The spirit hesitated. "I died here. I saw you...Please..."

Liang found himself reluctant to move. That voice was so familiar, but couldn't be Qi. Liang had no evidence to suggest Qi had lost his life during this time, and he wasn't sure Qi would talk like that anyway. That meant this had to be a mystery spirit who had randomly decided to help, and who refused to identify itself. He had questions, and misgivings, and a very bad feeling he couldn't quite place.

"Don't be reckless." The voice warned, apparently realising he wasn't about to move. "You can't fight the ghosts here. They're powerful, and untouchable. They can hurt you, but you can't hurt them. I need you to think before you act."

Deciding not to point out that he was thinking his actions through this time, and not just looking for a fight against a dead child because it was there, Liang nodded.

"Okay. Thank you for your help." He left the ghost girl to the mysterious spirit

Liang waited obediently, perched on the edge of a desk and wondering what the spirit had meant when he'd said a friend would be arriving. He'd thought to give them a time limit, a time before he got up and explored again. He could not wait forever, after all. Long before he reached that limit, however, the door to the art room opened. He saw a flash of purple and brown as someone ran in and hid behind an easel. It wasn't a very good hiding place.

The person was a child, he could tell that much. A purple-haired girl in her early teens, in a brown school uniform. Liang walked round to get a better look at her, and she spotted him and dropped into a crouch with a squeal of fear. He stopped, holding up his hands to show he meant no harm. "It's okay. I'm a friend."

She hesitated, looked up at him with tearful eyes. "Help me..."

"It's okay. You're not alone." She was small for her age, he would say. Smaller than the ghost girl from before. "How did you get here?"

"I..." The girl shrugged, reaching up to wring her ponytail with her hands. "I was with my big brother and our friends...and then there was an earthquake...and now we're here...except it's just me!" She began to sob, and Liang came forward, crouching before her and placing a hand on her head.

"The others will be here somewhere. You just have to find them. I'll help, if you want."

She blinked, looking up at him hopefully. "You...you'll help me find big brother?"

"I will. We can keep an eye out for our friends, too. How does that sound?"

The girl nodded. "Yes. Okay."

"What's your name?"

"Keiko."

"Keiko. My name is Liang."

"It's nice to meet you, Mister."

He helped her up with a nod and she dusted herself off before wiping her eyes on her sleeves and forcing a determined expression on her face.

"We'll find them, right Mister?"

"Right." He nodded. "What does your brother look like? What's his name?"

"Motomu. He's really tall, and popular with the girls!"

He nodded, though that didn't help. "Where did you last see him?"

"In the classroom."

"...Which classroom?"

"Oh...the one at his school, not this one..."

"Have you been stuck in this building the whole time? Or have you been to the main building too?"

"There's another building?" Keiko seemed shocked by this, which answered his question. "The door by the shoe lockers has been locked the whole time! It...it's so scary here..." She raised a hand to her face as she began to cry again.

"Your brother might be there then." He mused, not sure how to calm her down. "If the front door is locked, there might be a key somewhere." He went to the nearest cabinet and looked through the glass, trying to see if there was anything of use. Sculpting tools stained in red.

"Is that blood?" Keiko asked from beside him.

"No, I think it's paint." He lied before taking her hand. "Let's go."

Whimpering, she clung to his hand and let him lead her away.

As he walked with Keiko, he tried to get more out of her about what her brother looked like. She didn't seem to speak much, and kept her face hidden against him. She was, understandably, terrified while trapped in this place. She didn't want to see any more dead bodies, and so kept close to this kind stranger. All he managed to get out of her was that Motomu had darker hair than her, and was wearing a different coloured uniform. She didn't specify what colour. Liang just asked her if their uniform was the same, and she shook her head no. That was how most of their conversation was going as they walked into the music room.

"Rock? Tsukumo? Mutomu?" Liang called as he opened the door. The last time he'd looked in there, it had been silent and empty. When they approached the door this time, they could hear the piano playing, but as he stepped in, he couldn't see anyone at the keys.

"Motomu." Keiko corrected softly behind him. "He doesn't play. Do your friends play?"

"I...don't know. I've never asked." He answered honestly. Perhaps if he saw them again, he would ask. Once the danger was over.

Keiko pulled away from him to look at the room, and found her eyes drawn to a particular body - a young teen girl in a similar uniform. She walked toward it, and crouched by it, while Liang walked closer to the piano. As he drew close, all the keys played at once, as if someone had slammed their hands down, and then the lid closed itself. He found himself staring at the piano for a moment longer, as if he would be able to see the player if he looked hard enough, and he only looked away when he felt Keiko tug at his sleeve.

"I...I want to go now."

"Okay. Just a little longer." He took her hand again and gave it a squeeze, hoping he was being comforting. He wasn't good with kids. Sure, this girl was probably in her early teens, but she was much more badly affected by all of this. She wasn't desensitised like Liang was. She was still a minor, while he was an adult, and the only other kids he had really dealt with since his own childhood were Upa and the two from Building 13. The kids who happened to be interned in the same prison as him. Pulling her along with him, he tried to open the lid to the piano, and found, like many other things that had shut behind him, it would not open. He tried the desks next. Those that opened had nothing of use in them. The first had a pair of shoes that undoubtedly belonged to an elementary school girl, and the second one's interior was covered in bloody hand prints, again belonging to children. A few empty desks or desks filled with rubbish later, and Liang opened one to discover someone had tried to cram a human head into one of them. It was thoroughly decayed, and must have been there a long time. Space not taken up by the crushed in remains held bugs. Maggots and blowflies crawling and flying every which way as their nest and feeding frenzy was disturbed. No sign of any key, or clue. Keiko was shivering beside him, staring into the desk, so he shut it and led her out. As they left, he found his eyes drawn to the portraits above the chalk board. He didn't recognise any of the people, but he assumed they were composers or something like that. Something seemed off about the pictures, and when he tore his eyes away, one of them fell to the floor. He didn't look back.

A few steps away from the music room, Keiko began crying again, gripping her skirt instead of him.

"Are you okay, Keiko?" Liang asked after a moment, not sure how to comfort her. She shook her head.

"That...the girl in there...she's from my school..."

Ah. The body she was looking at. "...Your friend?"

She nodded.

"Ah...I'm sorry..."

Keiko merely whimpered in response. Liang took her arm and led her along, and she kept her eyes on the floor until they passed the door with the charms on it.

"Mister Liang...I need to go toilet."

He looked at the taped up door and frowned. "The one downstairs is out of order. This one might be usable if we just-" He reached out to peel one of the paper charms away from the door.

A moment and one cry of pain later, and he was cradling his now burnt hand to his chest. It looked like removing the charms wasn't all that simple. A glance to his thumb and forefinger told him it wasn't a mild burn either - at the very least it would certainly blister.

"It didn't come off..." Keiko mumbled, staring at the door.

It may not have, but some of Liang’s skin certainly did. He cast a quick look around, looking for something he could use to peel or scratch away the paper charms without burning himself again. Nothing really jumped out at him, so he supposed it would have to be another thing to search for.

[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 4 of ?

Also available on Blogspot

Kiji Mitsuba found his gaze pulling upward when he heard the scream, towards the source. Someone upstairs. He took a step towards the door, but didn't leave. A scream like that, when the inmates were scattered all over the place and his own two were god only knew where, was something that definitely needed to be investigated. Well, a scream like that was something that needed to be investigated anyway, someone could be in big trouble, but he couldn't help but think that the voice seemed familiar. If his radio was working, he could at least contact one of the other guards, but every time he had tried to use the damn thing, he'd been met with static and strange, garbled transmissions from unfamiliar sources. Something must have been messing with the signal. He wondered if he would get a better signal from another area. He glanced back over to the two inmates now under his care. They'd woken up in this room together, and he remembered ushering the two minors into a hiding place together during the earthquake before, so he had been with them when they'd fallen. Numbers 25 and 58, if he recalled correctly, were both inmates with significant medical concerns. Their supervisors had to bring the two teenagers to the infirmary on a regular basis and they were both on medication. Kiji didn't know if either of them had any of their needed medicine on them or not, but if not, it would be a big problem.

Number 25 was sat against the teacher's podium, knees drawn to his chest and hands over his ears. He hadn't reacted well to the fall, waking up in a strange place, the screaming or the dead body in the room with them. Number 58 didn't seem as bothered, and was crouched beside him, making sure he was okay. Kiji could already tell getting them to come with him to investigate might be difficult.

"Number 25, are you okay to stand?"

The inmates both looked up at him. "I...think so." The older of the two answered. "I'm not hurt."

"That's good. We need to go check out that scream, make sure whoever it came from is okay."

"No!"

Well, that response wasn't too surprising. "Number 25, we can't stay here. We need to work out where we are, how we got here and how we are going to get out of here. We also need to find everyone else."

"No, we can't go out there!" Kiji looked over at the body in the room, then back to the inmate. It was no wonder he was freaked out. This scene was unnerving to the guard as well. The body in the corner was a teenager themselves, in a school uniform. Obviously murdered. Another thing on his list of tasks would be to alert the proper authorities and ensure a thorough investigation was implemented.

"You don't have to be afraid. I will be with you, and as a Nanba prison guard I'm sure I can face whatever dangers are lurking out there."

58 spoke up, supporting the guard's words. "He's right, Nico. It will be better for us to get moving and get to know our surroundings. We can check the area for any traps or clues as we go, and sticking together is safer than splitting up."

25 shook his head adamantly. He seemed pretty set with the idea that he wouldn't be going.

"Well, I can't leave the two of you here." Kiji told him. "I have a duty towards the two of you, but I also have a duty towards the inmate we heard scream."

58 stood up. "I can go investigate the scream while you stay here with Nico."

"Absolutely not!" Sighing, he just about managed to resist the urge to rub the bridge of his nose in frustration - rubbing off his make-up wouldn't help - and tried to think. The scream had come from just upstairs. If he just took a quick look outside this classroom, he could see if there were stairs leading up nearby. If there was a quick path to the source of the scream, and he could pinpoint it fast enough, he wouldn't leave the inmates alone for that long at all. It would also give him some information about what he was about to face and possibly reassure 25 that they would be fine. "I'll take a look outside." He told the inmates. "I won't go far, and I'll be back in just a few minutes, okay? Stay right here. Do not leave this room unless it's a matter of life or death. Do you understand?"

"We understand, sir." 58 answered obediently. Kiji walked to the door and heard 25 yelling for him to stop as he went. He ignored it and stepped out.

What a gloomy, unattractive place, he thought as he walked through the halls, for now ignoring more dead bodies, all of young people, and walking toward the door at the end of the hall. It was covered in talismans and charms, and wouldn't open when Kiji pulled it. Also at the end of the hall, though, was a corner turn into another hallway. At the end of this one, he could see a staircase leading upwards. Exactly what he needed. There was a large hole in the floor between him and the staircase, but it looked like he could get around it by just entering through the back door of a nearby classroom and exiting out the front. So in the classroom he went, walking a little faster, conscious of how much time this might take and how long those inmates would be left alone in classroom 1-A. As he crossed through the classroom, which was just as unpleasant as 1-A - desks and chairs knocked askew, dust, bugs and dead bodies littering the place - something flared up in the middle of the room. It looked like a floating flame, like demon's fire from ghost legends.

"What on earth...?"

"Earth..." A voice from the flame echoed. "I think this place is far removed from earth. More like hell. A place where we are doomed to suffer until death, and even then..." It, or he, took a shaky breath before continuing in a spiteful tone of voice. "Finally decided to stop shivering with the other two back there, did you? Typical of a grown-up, to go forth on your own and leave the kids behind."

"I will have you know that I left that room to investigate a scream from someone I have a duty of care towards!" Kiji scolded the spirit, frankly offended by what it was implying. "I intend to return to those children as soon as I'm sure he's okay."

"Of course you do." Sneered the spirit. "People like you are so high and mighty, acting like they know what's best and are absolute angels. Well, newsflash, you're not shit! You're just like every other piece of filth who's spent too many years living in our shitty, worthless society! You only look out for number one."

"Get out of my way."

"Why should I? You won't find the man who screamed anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

The spirit gave a gleeful chuckle. "You don't know how this place works yet, do you? You may all be in the same building, you may all be in the same room, but this hell is separated into different dimensions layered over each other. My friends and I...we could leave notes for each other, but we could never see each other again...and time is warped here. That scream you heard could have happened just now, or it could have happened hours, days or even weeks ago. Or it might not have even happened yet!"

Kiji disliked this spirit. He was getting frustrated, and more time was passing since he had heard that scream. He tried to step around the spirit, but it moved to block his way again. "Move it! I don't care what you say, I have to help my kids!"

"Your 'kids'? Please, your screaming prison inmates are hardly kids. You work at a juvenile detention centre?" It seemed the spirit was only fully aware of the two in classroom 1-A with him. "You're not dressed very appropriately for a prison guard, you know."

"Commenting on my appearance? How petty. My flawless appearance couldn't possibly have a negative impact on my work, however you right now are obstructing a prison officer from performing his duties."

"So arrest me, officer!" The spirit laughed, clearly messing with him. "But okay, I give, I give. I'm being just plain nasty right now, aren't I? I'm sorry. Post-traumatic bitchiness. Here, you know what? Before I died, my friends and I managed to work out some vital information about this place and a possible escape route. I could share that with you."

"You could?" Kiji asked, interested. That would certainly be helpful.

"Sure. Just take a seat and I'll explain everything."

"Why didn't you and your friends use this information to escape?"

"We'd already been here too long. We were starved almost to death, and badly injured. We were too weak to use this information to our best advantage, but you are strong and healthy still."

"Okay. I'll gather the other three here."

"The other three?"

"The two kids in the classroom and the one upstairs."

"No! This is a one time offer!" The spirit insisted. "I don't know how long I can stay manifested for. So make your choice, Mister Guard. Listen now and save yourself, or go on a fruitless search for a man who won't even be there. We all know what would be better for you."

"Are you seriously suggesting I abandon these people?"

"Don't play dumb, Mister Guard. We all know you'd rather survive this ordeal than protect them."

Kiji had had enough. He walked through the spirit, since it wouldn't move aside to let him pass. He hurried to the front door, no longer bothering to keep from looking worried. It had been too long since he heard that scream, so running was completely appropriate at this stage. It very well could have been an emergency, and in an emergency no pace was too fast. Besides, it wasn't like he would slip or stumble. Kiji was an expert at running in stiletto heels without even the slightest wobble, no matter how uneven the ground.

Just as he reached the door, a force hit him straight in the centre of the chest and he was thrown back. He hit the ground hard and rolled gracelessly, landing sprawled out on his front with his head towards the door, one arm trapped under his torso. He gasped for breath, and felt a stabbing pain through his chest. His ribs were shattered from the impact, he was sure of it, and he was sure it wasn't the only fracture that he had sustained. How hard was he just hit? He coughed, and tasted blood. And then the spirit appeared before him again. It was red in colour now. It was forming into something other than fire. A body. A teenage boy.

"You damn corporeals piss me off. Get out of your way? Who the hell do you think you are, you selfish son of a bitch?" Kiji heard an ominous creak, and looked over just in time to see a large cabinet fall on him. He cried out in pain. The cabinet itself was heavy, much heavier than it looked. The weight on his body...he actually doubted Hajime would be able to lift this thing by himself, and people often said he was the strongest guard. Additional to that, it felt like a lot of sharp objects had been on those shelves, and they were now embedded in his back. He could feel himself bleeding badly. "You're a liar." The spirit continued. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. None of you do, and you know what? I'm glad I never got to your age." He saw the spirit move and sit on the cabinet, and felt the pressure increase. He was coughing again, and this time the blood he brought up made it past his lips. God, it hurt so much...he couldn't move, couldn't even struggle against it. "Well, how about this? Each and every one of the inmates you pretend to care so much for, each and every one of your 'kids' is going to die here. They're going to die a painful, horrible death, just like me and all my friends, and they're going to feel the pain of that death for the rest of eternity. They will panic, they will struggle, and they will all die meaningless deaths that no-one, especially not you, could ever do anything about." The spirit was rocking back and forth, shifting his weight on the cabinet as he spoke, and each shift worsened the pain and the damage. "And they won't give you a thought as they die. And that's that." He was kicking one leg cheerfully, happy to see the guard suffer. Kiji gave one last groan as his vision began to grow dark and he felt his consciousness fading. He just hoped the inmates would be okay.

Time passed, and back in classroom 1-A, things had been quiet for a little too long. Nico decided it was time to fill that silence. "That big bird guard's been gone a really long time. I'm getting worried. Should we go looking for him?"

Upa had been meditating by this point, but opened an eye to acknowledge the older boy's words. "He told us to wait here."

"But he's been gone for ages!" There was a loud thump somewhere in the distance, and the unease on Nico's face increased. "What if he's in trouble?"

"Then it's more dangerous out there than he thought. He might be held up because whoever we heard scream has been badly injured, or trapped, and it's taking longer than he expected to help him."

"Then...he'll be right upstairs, right? We can go find him!"

Upa stood with a sigh. "The biggest problem with going to look for him is that he might come back here while we're gone. If he finds we left against his specific instructions, we'll be in big trouble, and if he goes to look for us again, we'll keep missing each other."

"But-"

"We can leave him a message explaining." Upa continued before Nico could argue. "It might not stop him from looking for us himself, but it can signal to others that we've been here. If we find people, we can designate this a meeting room. Others might wait for us or the supervisor here if we leave a message." As he said this, he walked to the chalkboard, looking for something to write with. Preferably chalk, but there wasn't any by the board. The supervisor may have had a pen on him, but obviously that wasn't much use to them now. The body on the other side of the room had a knife sticking out of her ribs, and as a last resort he supposed he could take the knife and carve a message into the teacher's podium. Then again, it was a school girl in a school uniform. There was a bag near the body, presumably her school bag, so there was probably a pen case in there. He opened the bag and started to rifle through the belongings within. Typical school supplies, he supposed. He didn't notice Nico opening the door behind him and step out. He picked out a pen, tore a page from a work book and scrawled a message.

Kiji

Nico was worried about you, so we've gone to find you. If we miss each other on the way back, and if any others from Nanba find this note, we should make this classroom our designated meeting point.

That seemed good enough, and he was pretty sure he got the supervisor's name right. Satisfied, he placed it on the podium and turned to look for Nico. That was when he'd noticed he'd wandered off. "Nico?" He called, stepping into the hall.

"Hey, Master! Come look at this!"

"Don't wander off! We have no idea what we'll be facing here!" Upa followed the voice and found Nico standing at the edge of a large hole in the floor. Down below, he could see the first floor. An entrance hall, with more dead bodies. To the left of the hall was a line of windows, suggesting a room on that side, but the nearest door was clearly not one that led to that room. It was on the same wall, but further behind them and covered in strange charms. It didn’t look like there was any way into the side room at all.

"Wow...that's a long way down."

"The supervisor probably went to find another way around the hole."

"Where do you think we are?"

"I don't know. We'll need to figure that out." Upa went to turn away, deciding to head to the other end of the corridor when a scream pulled his attention back to the staircase on the other side of the hole. He looked over just in time to see a girl run down the stairs. She caught sight of Upa and Nico.

"Help me!" She screamed. "Please, help me!"

Nico stepped toward the hole, but Upa put a hand out to stop him.

"Master?"

There wasn't anything they could do to help from all the way over there. Plus, they didn't know for sure they could trust this girl. Upa didn't want to voice that thought though. She, for all appearances, was a scared teenage girl, about the same age as them, and she was wearing the same uniform as the dead girl back in classroom 1-A. That girl had been murdered, so the murderer was probably after that girl as well, by the looks of things. If, by some nasty twist, it turned out the girls had tried to kill each other, which at this stage he doubted, they could defend themselves from some dishevelled civilian. He pointed down the corridor and called across to the girl.

"We can't help you from here. If someone's chasing you, find somewhere to hide or try and get downstairs, we'll find a way over to you."

"Yeah, don't worry, girl! Injustice will meet my boot!"

The girl gave Nico a weird look, and hesitated for a moment, possibly because she'd noticed how the two boys were dressed. Finally, she nodded and turned to run, but someone else was standing behind her now.

He'd not noticed the little ghost girl appearing, but he assumed that had been what the teenager had been running from. The ghost girl had her hair in pigtails, and a pair of scissors in her hand, and only one eye. The other was just a bloodied socket. Before any of them could react, the ghost had plunged her scissors into the girl's own eye. The resulting scream was horrendously loud, a thing of pure agony as the spirit tried to dig the girl's eye out of its socket. Upa heard Nico gasp, and part of him expected him to run off again, but he didn't. Both of them stayed and helplessly watched the spirit pull the girl's eye out and try and place it in her own empty socket. After deciding the replacement wouldn't fit, it dropped the eye down and left the girl to bleed out.

"That was awful..." Nico breathed.

"The ghost knows where we are." He took Nico's hand and led him away. "Unless you happen to know some very good first aid, there's nothing we can do to help her."

"Could your old man friend help?"

"Qi? He specialises in medicines, not open wounds, but he does have some medical knowledge. He might be able to prolong her life. But he isn't here right now, and I doubt he could keep her alive and safe until we could find her a more qualified doctor."

"If he’s not here, where is he? He was with us back in the game room, with everyone else...where do you think everyone else is?" He didn't respond. He didn't know, after all. He didn't even know where they were. "We'll find them, right, Master?"

"...Right." It was probably wrong to say that, but Upa didn't doubt his words. They would at least find someone, whether they were alive or not. After all, they at least knew Kiji was in the building with them.