Uh...yeah...so, looks like I've become shipping trash for these two too, I guess? #toomanyshipstocount

Out of all of them, Naomi had it the worst.

Yuka arguably had had the worst experience if you take note of what Kizami did to her and how scared and freaked out she'd been because of Morishige taking pictures of corpses and all, but those things hadn't left that big of an emotional impact on her. Naomi, on the other hand, had become a complete emotional wreck after what had happened with Seiko- what she had done to Seiko.

Ayumi could see that clearly in the way she was sticking heavily with Satoshi, freaking out if he was out of her sight for even a second. And the blue haired class rep couldn't even blame the poor girl, now that Seiko was gone, he was the only one Naomi felt she really could rely on. Ayumi's heart really ached for her poor, traumatized friend, which was the whole reason she didn't even seem to mind how close she was getting to her crush.

She had to admit, in the beginning she had gotten pissed off real easily whenever she saw the two of them so close together, so much so that she had Yoshiki and sometimes even Satoshi himself worrying and asking her if she really felt okay. Later on, her anger had started to fade the more it happened as she realized just how much Naomi had suffered, and Ayumi knew first hand how that felt. She had been there, after all.

And that's why the former occult-lover felt that she didn't have the right to stay up late at night with all her demons haunting her, like she was doing right now; like she had been doing for the past three months.

She didn't have the right because she didn't lose her best friend by killing her like Naomi had, she hadn't been chased around and nearly murdered by a crazy psychopath who was hell-bent on killing his 'little sister.' Ayumi hadn't been lying in between corpses like Yoshiki had, or fought for her students until her very last breath like Ms. Yui.

In fact, she had had it fairly easy because Yoshiki had been with her the entire time, even if she didn't really like admitting to it. She could always say that he wouldn't have gotten anywhere either and probably would've died early on without her explicit knowledge of the dead and her highly sensitive ability of sensing when spirits were nearby, but then again, she would've probably lost her sanity and succumbed to the darkness right from the start because of said qualities.

Ironically, he had kept her sane by annoying the living hell out of her.

Maybe he had been doing it on purpose, maybe he hadn't; either way, she was grateful for it.

But right now, he wasn't there. Right now, she was all alone in her room without any source of comfort as the darkness of the room worked very hard in driving her insane. The shadows were closing in on her, and in every corner she could see a horribly maimed body staring right back at her with those soulless, pain-filled eyes; judging her for having survived and escaped that horrid school while they had to die in unspeakable and inhumane ways. Judging her for being alive.

Every sound she heard were the sounds of students screaming bloody-murder as they were being murdered by either the spirits, Yoshikazu, or even their closest friends who had either been possessed or sadly had succumbed to the darkening that plagued the school. The rain pattering harshly against her window wasn't just mere water falling out of the sky, no, the tapping was Sachiko dragging her stubbed and bloody nails along the plexiglass, grinning wildly as she set her deranged eyes on Ayumi; telling her to come play with her once again. Telling her to come and see her relative.

Ayumi Shinozaki was being haunted without having any right to.

Still, she couldn't do anything about it. She had absolutely no way to stop it and she felt just terrible for not being able to do anything while all of this had been her fault to begin with! It had been all because of her mistake that three people- three of her friends -had lost their lives in that terrible place. Her fault and hers alone.

"Ayumi~" That genuinely petrifying voice called, sounding just like she remembered; raw, raspy and filled with nothing else but hate. "Come and play with me, Ayumi~"

"NO!" She screeched, throwing the blankets over her head as she fearfully huddled into herself to get away from the voice, away from the memories. "Go away, Sachiko!" Her voice was loud enough to wake the dead, and she flinched, that particular comparison bringing up even more bad memories. Her family wasn't home, leaving her all by herself in the large house and Ayumi just couldn't take it. She couldn't be alone, she needed someone so she would be at least a little on ease. If she was alone then they would haunt her, the spirits would come get her because she was alive and they weren't. Because she hadn't done anything to help them.

Ayumi couldn't take this, she needed comfort. Comfort from the one person that had been with her all the way without ever betraying her no matter what she had said or done.

She needed Yoshiki.

It took all of the terrified girl's strength and willpower to stick her hand out of the makeshift fort she had built with the blankets so she could reach for her phone, quickly snatching it up and bringing it back inside without even a moment of hesitation. The cold on her skin felt like death, the dreadful feeling not settling well with her since she had experienced first-hand how it felt to nearly lose your life on many occasions.

She shivered, deciding to keep her mind focused on the task or she might just lose it; and that'd be like betraying those who had died in that school. She refused to just give up her life and her sanity after fighting so hard to survive, it'd be a disgrace.

Ayumi hastily scrolled through her contacts, feeling as if the spirits were closing in on her and almost certain that if she removed the covers she'd be face to face with the demons haunting her mind and soul. She didn't know if it was because she had been possessed one too many times or if she was just becoming paranoid, but she was scared.

She stopped scrolling somewhere near the end of her contacts list, her shaky finger hovering over a certain someone's name and she hesitated on pressing it or not. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this, she knew for a fact that he needed to manage both school and work so he obviously needed his sleep; she'd only be burdening him if she called him this late at night just because she was a little scared. He had gone through the exact same thing and she didn't see him calling any of them to talk about his problems.

She was just being a coward, she should just put her phone away, lie down, and go back to sleep. She should just drown out all of the unpleasant sounds and memories and pretend that none of this has ever happened, that she simply had a very vivid imagination and that none of this was real. Yeah, that worked, she was just being a little-

Thunder boomed, and Ayumi didn't hesitate for even a second longer as her finger hurriedly pressed his name.

Inwardly, Ayumi was praying that he'd pick up the phone, she just needed to hear his soothing voice, not doubting at all that it would work wonders in calming her down and getting rid of her worries. Still, despite the class representative's shaking form, deep down, she actually hoped that he wouldn't pick up, feeling a bit childish for running to the first person she could think of the moment she got a little scared by some...unpleasant memories.

She couldn't deny it though, she needed comfort. His comfort.

He picked up on the third ring, his groggy and tired voice calling out a lazy 'hello' and Ayumi felt both relieved to hear his voice but terrible for waking him up at this hour.

But there was no going back now, was there?

"K-Kishinuma," she choked out, surprised at the weak sound of her own voice, she hadn't even realized just how afraid she had been, and somehow, that made her feel even more pitiful.

Ayumi was just starting to wonder if it had been a really smart idea to call and allow him to hear just how weak and vulnerable she was at the moment, but then he started talking again and all the worries just washed away the moment she heard all the sleep leave his voice and get replaced by alarm as he picked up on the terrified sound of her voice.

"Shinozaki?! Are you alright?! What's wrong?!"

"Kishinuma..." she breathed again, closing her eyes in contentment and not even having the willpower to hate just how needy she sounded in that single moment.

It was silent on the other end for a few moments and Ayumi guessed that he was listening to the soft rhythm of her breathing to try and figure out if she was hyperventilating or not, something he probably had picked up during their time in the school and she didn't know if she liked it or not. Whatever she thought of it didn't matter right now though, just hearing his voice was enough to calm her and Ayumi didn't know what to think or do because she didn't even feel like this with Satoshi and everything felt just so unfamiliar.

Still, she liked the feeling. It made her feel safe.

"D-did I wake you up? I'm sorry." She spoke, hesitantly removing the safeness of the covers thrown over her as her eyes warily searched the room. Stupid, stupid, stupid, what was she doing?

"...It's okay," he finally replied after a few moments of silence, sounding both content and relieved when he realized that her breathing was completely normal and that he didn't need to rush over there in just his boxers to stop her from hyperventilating or bring her to a hospital. "Shinozaki, what's wrong?"

Right, of course he would want to know the reason, she should've thought this through beforehand.

Stupid.

"I..." she trailed off, eyes searching the dark room once again for a possible excuse, before sighing and giving up when she couldn't find anything. "I couldn't sleep."

The line went silent once again, noticeably longer this time, and Ayumi wondered if he was still there, actually getting scared at the thought of him falling asleep on the phone or hanging up on her and leaving her all by herself together with her fears. She hated it, hated how weak she was being right now.

Fear was a powerful thing, and she didn't like the hold it had on her.

Finally, he spoke again, and Ayumi felt her erratic heartbeat slowing down to a more acceptable pace. "It's over, Shinozaki, everything's fine now. You're okay."

His words were supposed to be comforting, especially when such kind words were coming from Yoshiki Kishinuma of all people, but all it did was make her feel stupid because if he was able to catch on that quickly than she really must've sounded pathetic when calling him. "I know, I'm sorry," she said, and she didn't really know what she was apologizing for. Maybe she was apologizing for troubling him this late at night, or maybe even for the whole charm, she didn't know, and he didn't care.

"Don't," he told her, and she could hear slight shifting as he most likely sat up in bed. "It's normal to be scared, especially after what you've- what all of us have been through. Don't be ashamed." His voice turned pained for a second there and Ayumi just felt even more terrible as she realized how selfish she was being by calling him. All she was doing was bring up bad memories for him, too.

Still, all she could manage was "I-I'm not afraid!" And she felt so stupid.

The bleached blond chuckled at her response, and Ayumi felt her own lips twitching up as her body relaxed at the sound. "Of course you're not, class rep."

"Hey, I'm being serious!"

And just like that, the vengeful spirits of the dead that were haunting her just a second ago disappeared from the corners of her room, the shadows stopped closing in on her and started moving back, the voices stopped their whispering, and Sachiko's nails on the window turned back into the rain pattering softly against the glass.

For the first time in a long while, Ayumi Shinozaki felt safe.