Soooo, first thing is an apology. I've just started school again, so I haven't been on long enough to do any serious writing. Or, actually, any writing. So I apologize for that. Second thing is here's the new chapter! I hope y'all are excited! There will still be flashbacks, but I'm moving onto the high school years.

DISCLAIMER: I may not own Corpse Party, but I sure as hell own my PIKACHU JACKET!

Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see...

~ Seventh Grade. Earlier in the year... ~

"Seiko!"

The curly haired girl looked up from her phone, catching the slightly annoyed gaze of her best friend. Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course." Seiko said. It wasn't entirely a lie. Her focus may not of been exactly on her at the moment, but she caught the gist of what she was talking about.

"Tell me what I just said." Naomi said, crossing her arms.

Seiko put her phone down on the table in front of her and cleared her throat. She clasped her hands together and looked dreamily up at the ceiling, doing a near perfect impersonation of Naomi. "Oh, Seiko! Asato-kun is soooooo dreamy! His smile is perfect, his hair is perfect, he is perfect!"

Naomi flushed red, reaching across the table and shoving Seiko's shoulder playfully, giggling. "I don't sound like that and that's not what I said!"

"It might as well have been!" Seiko said, grinning devilishly. "You haven't shut up about him since the first week of school!"

"I haven't been talking about him that long..." Naomi said, looking down.

"I do recall a certain someone saying they'd never fall in love." Seiko said. She arched an eyebrow and Naomi covered her face.

"It's not love, Seiko." she said through her hands. "I just like him is all."

"Trust me, babe." Seiko said. "I know love when I see it."

"Have you ever been in love?" Naomi asked quietly.

Taken back by the question, Seiko's mouth fell open but nothing came out. It clamped shut again and she looked foam down, her cheeks coloring a light crimson. Naomi parted her fingers and gazed and Seiko before putting her hands down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay." Seiko said. "Um, it was a long time ago. Not necessarily important."

"Oh, come on!" Naomi said. "Now you've made me curious! Tell me!"

"Nah, it's not a big deal."

"My best friend being in love is a big deal."

Seiko smiled, though it seemed a little forced. "I'll tell you one day. Right now, I'm curious to know if you'll be getting in bed with Asato any time soon."

"Seiko!"

~ Tenth Grade. Present Day... ~

Naomi lazily turned over and slammed her hand down on her alarm clock. She groaned quietly, rubbing her eyes and trying to get them to open. Sunlight was streaming in through her curtains and she turned away from them.

"It's too early..." she muttered to her pillow.

Her phone chimed and she rolled her eyes, sitting up. She leaned over the side of her bed, sifting through the small pile of clothes until she located her phone. She glared at the screen, angry at whoever dared to text her at such a time. Not to her surprise, it was Seiko. Her anger melted away slowly and she opened the text.

Out of bed, babe! Did you forget we had school? I'll be there in ten minutes. If you're not up, I'm dragging you out of bed!

Naomi chuckled to herself and put her phone down. She knew Seiko wasn't kidding, but she couldn't bring herself to get out of her bed. Thus, she laid back down. She'd let Seiko do the work.

Right on time, ten minutes later, Seiko walked in with her hands on her hips. "Naomi, did you not get my text?"

Naomi had her eyes closed again, but she wasn't asleep. She nodded. "I got it."

A smile played on Seiko's lips. "So you want to be dragged out of bed by me?"

"If you're offering." Naomi said, followed by a shrug.

Seiko shook her head and made her way to Naomi's bedside. She uncovered her friend's feet and began tickling them. Naomi giggled, trying to shove Seiko off of her. Seiko laughed moved her hands up to Naomi's sides, throwing Naomi into a frenzy.

"S-Seiko! S-s-stop!" she cried between laughs.

"Only if you promise to get up!" Seiko said.

"F-fine!" Naomi said in defeat.

Seiko took her hands back and Naomi grabbed her pillow, hitting her with it.

"Baka." she murmured.

"Only for you." Seiko teased.

Naomi sat up and got off of her bed, going over to her dresser to pick an outfit. She moved her shirts from left to right. Seiko appeared at her side, peeking into the drawer.

"Whatcha looking for?" she asked.

"My gym clothes." Naomi said. "You can go wait downstairs, I'll be down soon."

"Don't keep me waiting!" Seiko said, waving on her way out.

Naomi laughed to herself and gathered her uniforms and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Seiko waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs for Naomi to emerge, scrolling through her Facebook timeline.

"Oh, hello, Seiko." Naomi's mother said, coming out of the kitchen. "Here to get Naomi?"

Seiko looked up from her phone and smiled. "Good morning, Mrs. Nakashima. Yeah, I came to wake Naomi up. Hope you don't mind, I used the key under the mat to get in."

"Not at all." Mrs. Nakashima said. "I'm glad she's grateful for a friend like you. I doubt a lot of people would go through so much trouble to make sure their friend made it to school on time."

"It's all in good fun." Seiko said.

"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you're hungry. Have a great day at school." Mrs. Nakashima left the room.

A few minutes later Naomi was at the top of the stairs, her backpack slung over one shoulder. Seiko looked up and her jaw dropped. Sure, she'd seen Naomi in her uniform plenty of times. But the way she looked in the light coming from the window never ceased to amaze her, and it always pained her. Naomi grinned back and made her way down the stairs. "All set." she said. She opened her door, calling over her shoulder, "Bye, mom!"

"Bye, sweetie!" Her mother called back.

Seiko, regaining her false smile, followed Naomi out the door.

Yay, finished! Hope you liked it! I'm honestly going to try harder to get my chapters up more quickly, but I can't make promises. Don't foforget about me, though!

Thanks for reading!