AN: So, I watched Tortured Souls the other day and it left me really restless, and I decided to write a story. I know it's not supposed to have a happy ending but once the idea popped into my head it wouldn't leave so here it is - I didn't want to just leave it lying around on my computer. I meant to upload the whole thing in one go once it was finished but it's taking too long so here's the first chapter - enjoy!
Oh, also, spoilers if you haven't watched Tortured Souls yet and T for occasional language and (potential) gore... though if you're here reading this you know what a story about Corpse Party entails!
Disclaimer: I don't own Corpse Party, and frankly I don't think I'd want responsibility for it anyway!

One

Yoshiki was awoken by a low rumbling in his ears, a dull throbbing along the right side of his head and a sharper, more persistent pain in his stomach. Opening his eyes he lay for a long moment, peering blearily at the dark floor below him that stank of mould and age. Tremors sent dust rising into the air, and as he watched a small crack began winding its way across the wooden floor. Bewildered, mind blurry, he pushed himself up onto his knees and surveyed his surroundings, which most definitely belonged to Heavenly Host Elementary. Its decrepit state was instantly recognisable; the cracked and stained walls; the dirty windows and doors barely hanging on their hinges; the dark floor filled with so many holes and stained with such copious amounts of blood.

As he looked this way and that, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach, Yoshiki was confused. He could have sworn he had-

Oh.

The pain had suddenly intensified and he had finally turned his eyes onto himself. The mangled remains of his stomach were startlingly illuminated by the soft blue aura his body seemed to be emitting and he couldn't help but stare. Blood and viscera glinted mutely under the dull light, completely coating his stomach. There was a hole in his shirt and blazer, and the flesh beneath. His entire torso and the right side of his face felt warm and sticky in a horribly unpleasant way. Fighting a rising nausea Yoshiki stared on with a morbid, twisted intrigue. A moment later, however, he turned to the more pressing matter of his head, which he could have sworn had been caved in. He vaguely remembered a horrific pressure and a slight crackle of pain through the back of his head, but now it felt fine. Gingerly he lifted his hands to his skull, probing gently, timidly. Everything seemed to be intact, oddly. There was no hammer-sized hole in his face, in fact it was wholly attached and in its proper place. The only damage was his right eye, and the area around it.

Upon finding his head and face very whole save the eye he wondered if it was, perhaps, because he would have been dead either way without that final blow. Satisfied that his head was still intact Yoshiki clambered to his feet, wincing as ice-cold pain sliced along his belly. Glancing down he found his torn intestines all but hanging from the gaping wound and glittering wetly in the dull light of his blue aura. At least that meant he was a benevolent ghost, right? Because he was definitely a ghost, no doubt about that. Pressing a hand, with a grimace of disgust, to his stomach in an attempt to keep his ghostly insides inside Yoshiki stared down the corridor he recalled Shinozaki and Yuka stood before. Assuming they had run down it to escape death he stared through the gloom, praying they had got away safely. While he had little doubt that Yuka had met a similar fate to himself he still hoped to everything, be it holy and not, that the others had got away safely. A faint tremor made him stumble and he felt something soft flatten under his foot with a soft squish. He froze, somehow knowing what he would find when he looked and completely terrified to. But he still did.

It was him. The mangled remains of his body lay just behind him, all but hidden in the oppressive gloom. With an embarrassingly high-pitched noise that vaguely resembled a 'hiii' kind of sound he staggered away, barely registering the pain that shot through his belly as he did. He couldn't look away. The familiar blonde hair and floor all around it were stained red, dotted with various glimpses of greyish-pink visible here and there. Vaguely, remotely, Yoshiki was again intensely glad that his ghostly form's head was perfectly intact – he didn't fancy wandering around with his intestines and his brain trying to flee through the gaping holes in his body. Fighting a rising nausea he felt his stomach convulse and doubled over with a short cry of pain. God it hurt.

Turning resolutely away he started walking, or limping because every step was another stab of agony through his stomach, and he would have gone faster – much, much faster – if he were in any way capable. He couldn't face looking any longer and he was overcome with the urge to get away, as if to deny it had ever happened. The pain in his belly made that impossible, however. He had never really appreciated the fact that those who died in Heavenly Host had to suffer forever more, but now that he had joined their ranks it was becoming startlingly clear. Every so often the ground would shake and he would stagger, glancing about fretfully as he pondered the rattles' source – were the spaces collapsing again?

"Onii-chan!" The plaintive wail bounced down the corridor and Yoshiki immediately recognised the voice, wondering if he was not the only one of their group to awaken as a ghost. "Onii-chan!" He followed the cries to the walkway that connected the two buildings and upon trying to open the doors found them stiff and unwilling to open. He persevered and eventually got one open enough to squeeze through, trying to ignore the pain the exertion sent rattling through him.

"Yuka?" His voice was a little hoarse from pain as he recognised the small figure, knelt at the centre of the walkway. She span around at his voice and for a moment they both cringed back, Yuka from his open stomach and Yoshiki from her empty, bloody eye socket. He wondered if it hurt.

Who was he kidding? It definitely did.

"K-Kishinuma?" Yuka hiccupped, wiping her eye with the back of a hand. "But you..."

"I know - so did you." Yoshiki said it gently as he gestured to her bloody smock and face. "Are you… alright?" It was a stupid question, he knew, but she had been crying so he had to ask. He limped a little closer.

"Mm." she sniffed and gave a small nod, wiping her eye again as a few more errant tears slid free. "Just cold… and… Onii-chan…"

"No sign of Satoshi, then?" She shook her head, rising to meet him and wincing a little as she did. "That's a good thing, right?" Hobbling towards him with a nod she smoothed her smock gently, a small smile lighting up her young face.

"I'm glad you're here though..." She said haltingly. "It would be scary on my own." Yoshiki managed a smile, deciding not to mention that they were dead and therefore could no longer be harmed. But then again, he realised, she did had a point - even as a ghost the school was pretty scary and company certainly wouldn't go unappreciated. So long as it wasn't someone like those three brats or the guy who had killed Yuka or Yo-

Halting his train of thought as a thrill of terror swept through him Yoshiki tried to push the memory away as his stomach ached painfully and a strange sensation ran again through the base of his skull. Tightening his grip on his errant insides he forcefully turned his thoughts to their situation. So they were still stuck in this place? With a grimace he wondered if he was just imagining that the place looked even worse for wear than it had before he'd died. Somehow it seemed even more hopeless now, as if something important had vanished.

A sudden flicker of white light distracted Yoshiki from his brooding and he was turning just as Yuka gave a yelp. Whether it was happy, scared or simply shocked he couldn't tell.

"Onii-chan?!" Yoshiki gave a start, snapping his head in the direction Yuka had started frantically hobbling. Sure enough, from within the swirling white light a familiar silhouette had appeared, staggering for a moment and then righting themselves. Yuka collided with him with enough force to elicit a soft 'oof' before she was hugging him.

Satoshi stared with watery eyes for a moment before smiling, waving the stumps of his arms pathetically for a moment before gently resting them on his sister's shoulders. They appeared to have been shorn off at the elbows by some unknown force. The pair's faint blue auras brightened, wavered and vanished, and Yoshiki suddenly noticed that his had vanished too.

"Yuka..." He murmured, lifting his eyes from Yuka's head to meet Yoshiki's horrified ones. Even Satoshi was dead? Then what had… what had happened to Nakashima? And what had happened to… to Shinozaki? He barely dared to think about it, but then again he knew Satoshi and therefore he knew that the brunette would never have died without making sure that at least one of his friends could live on in his place. With a long sigh Yoshiki swallowed, let go of his horror, and shot his friend a wry smile.

"You too, huh?" Eyeing Satoshi's mutilated arms he raised his eyebrows. "What the hell happened?" There was something infinitely sad in the other's eyes as he shrugged gently, patting Yuka's head with a stump as she moved to cling to his side. As she did Yoshiki noticed the blood on his shirt and wondered if it was his or… someone else's. He didn't know which would be worse.

"We appeased Sachiko." Satoshi said, glancing about nervously as the ground shook once more. "And when we did this whole place started collapsing – for good this time, I think. We had to use our pieces of the charm to get back but… Naomi lost hers so I lied and said I had Yuka's." he paused to glance at his sister. "But I didn't and… there was this white light and then this pain in my arms and then, well, here I was again."

"The things we do…" Yoshiki said with another pained smile, shaking his head. This time Satoshi joined in before suddenly becoming serious and looking him dead in the eye.

"Yoshiki, Shinozaki's safe - she got back home." He said and Yoshiki's legs went weak as he resisted the urge to sob with relief. Taking a few deep breaths he closed his eyes for a long moment.

"And Nakashima?" He asked once he had recovered, both because he was worried himself and because of Satoshi's expression, which seemed almost too sad for her to be alive.

"Safe." He said with a slight nod, something like shame flashing into his eyes. "I can't believe the last thing I did was trick her." He said it in a quiet monotone, obviously to himself, but Yoshiki caught it and couldn't help but ponded the contrast - his last words to the girl he liked had been a confession of sorts, while Satoshi's had been to trick her.

"Onii-chan..." Yuka was staring up at her brother, face a picture of worry and concern. Managing, with an obvious effort, to smile at her Satoshi heaved a sigh and looked about him at their steadily crumbling surroundings.

"So this is the end, huh?" He said, directing his eyes back onto Yoshiki, who shrugged a shoulder.

"End of the line." He agreed, and strangely it didn't bother him. Maybe because now he knew at least Shinozaki was safe he didn't mind the thought of having died for her and Yuka. But while he felt oddly content he saw Satoshi's expression, a moment later opening his mouth to try and comfort his friend. A sudden, familiar sensation fell over him and Yuki Kanno of the three murdered children appeared before them. They all jumped, and Yuka shrank back a little more into her brother's side.

"You are... Yuki, right?" Satoshi recovered first, and Yoshiki noted the disapproving look she was giving the brunette.

"I told you what would happen if you used a different piece of someone else's charm - why did you still do it?" She asked with an obvious scold in her voice. Yoshiki couldn't help a slight grin at the sheepish expression Satoshi adopted on response.

"I had to save Naomi." He said by way of explanation and Yuki sighed.

"You're all the same." She said, glancing at Yoshiki as she did. "Giving up everything for your friends and loved ones."

"Why are you here?" Yoshiki didn't feel like being told off for dying - he hadn't really intended to when he had followed Shinozaki back, after all - and instead asked the ghost a question. His unintentionally brusque tone elicited a sharp frown from Satoshi and he shot the young ghost an apologetic look.

"I wanted to tell you that this place is collapsing. I thought I should warn you that your existences are going to be gone soon. If your spirits could be put to rest you could probably escape but..." She trailed off, an apology in her young eyes.

"Well I guess that's that then." Yoshiki said, glancing at Satoshi and Yuka. "It's too bad, though. Ending our days in this place." Looking about with distaste Yoshiki stumbled as the ground shook again, more violently this time. He saw Yuka and Satoshi press a little closer together, trying to stabilise one another.

"It's trying to stabilise itself." Yuki said, casting her eyes about fretfully. "But now that Sachiko's gone it can't. The collapse has been slowed but… it won't be long. You should find your other friends and say your goodbyes." And then she was gone, in that abrupt, unsettling manner, leaving the three behind to their crumbling world.

"Wait, other friends?" Satoshi and Yoshiki exchanged bewildered looks, their eyes widening as they realised. "So everyone else became ghosts too?" Yoshiki guessed, finding the idea oddly unpleasant. He could handle himself becoming a ghost, but the others? Satoshi and Yuka were bad enough, and as much as it pained him Yoshiki shuddered to think of how Suzumoto would appear.

"I guess." Satoshi's voice broke into Yoshiki's gruesome imaginings. "But if they did we should go and find them. I would hate to think that someone's ended up alone."

"Mm." Yoshiki nodded, not missing the panic that had appeared on Yuka's blood-stained face. "You alright, Yuka?" With a little squeak of surprise she instantly schooled her expression into an innocent smile under his and Satoshi's gazes.

"Mm-hm." She nodded once for emphasis, but Yoshiki wasn't convinced. Something had frightened her, but he had no idea what. She didn't seem to want to talk about it, though, so he let it go. As they contemplated which building to head into first Yoshiki limped over to join the siblings, and they finally decided to explore the main building, mainly because Satoshi seemed adamant to find Shinohara and tell her that Naomi was safe. Yoshiki kept quiet about his fears of meeting Suzumoto, noticing as he did that Yuka seemed particularly reluctant to head in as well. It made sense - after all it was where that bastard had tortured and killed her, not to mention Yoshikazu roamed its halls. Yoshiki shuddered, suddenly realising he had another reason to be afraid of the building before him. The strange sensation ran through his skull again and he lifted a hand to it, making sure everything was still intact. It was, but honestly he was half-expecting it to cave in at any moment. He really didn't want to go through that again.

Not particularly inclined to let Satoshi down he limped along beside his friend without protest, resolutely ignoring the fear that had set his hands shaking. He clamped them down tighter on his intestines and walked on, with a flash of envy noticing as he did that Satoshi had little difficulty walking at all, though he did wince occasionally.

"You alright Satoshi?" He asked after catching another wince and the brunette turned to him in surprise.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Sachiko managed to get me, is all." Peering at the blood on his friend's stomach Yoshiki shrugged good-naturedly.

"Meh, I've seen worse." Satoshi raised his eyebrows slightly in agreement, eyes flickering to Yoshiki's hands for a brief moment. Shifting them uncomfortably Yoshiki decided he really didn't like people looking at the gaping hole in his stomach. It felt oddly intrusive, and he wondered if his friends felt the same about their wounds. Even if they did he had no intentions of staring for too long because it was depressing and not a little sickening to see them in such a state.

Yoshiki was unsure of how long they had been trawling the school's main building when they finally had to call for a break. None of them wanted to, especially as the tremors shaking the floors and walls had been steadily growing in frequency and strength, but it was quickly becoming more and more necessary. Yoshiki all but collapsed against the nearest wall, sliding into a sitting position with a soft curse. Who knew getting disembowelled would be so painful?

"How're you guys holding up?" he asked into the quiet as Satoshi leaned on the wall opposite and Yuka all but fell to the ground in a similar motion to Yoshiki.

"Better than you two." Satoshi said, concern all over his face. "Are you alright?" he went down on one knee beside Yuka, letting her lean against his shoulder as he wrapped a shortened arm around her. She gave a weak nod and an 'mm' but both boys knew she was lying. She was probably having the worst time – having been stabbed in the leg and chest and lost an eye. Yoshiki admired her tenacity.

"Fuck." Yoshiki sighed, grimacing when he realised he'd sworn in front of Yuka. Satoshi's glare made him wince. "This was never s'posed to happen." He had seriously never meant to die in Heavenly Host; though he supposed he had had a slight inkling it would happen when had followed Shinozaki back. While he didn't necessarily regret it, at least not much, he still wished he hadn't. That, he guessed, was to be expected. None of this was supposed to have happened but here they were, trapped in some hell-dimension that was about to fall apart and erase their existences forever. Wherever Shinozaki was, he hoped she was alright. Maybe not psychologically, but at the very least safe back home.

"Yoshiki?" Satoshi's voice once again snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?" He looked up, finding his two companions back on their feet.

"Are you alright to carry on?" Satoshi asked, moving to stand in front of him. Nodding Yoshiki made to stand up, only to fall back immediately as agony shot through his abdomen. He swore again, more loudly this time, but this time Satoshi didn't silently scold him, instead moving forward with obvious concern.

"Just – just a sec." he managed, trying to catch his breath. "You know what, you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"No." The vehemence in Satoshi's voice startled him. "I'm not leaving anyone behind ever again. Even if it kills me."

"You're already dead." Yoshiki pointed out, eyebrows raised at his friend. Satoshi shot him an irritated look before, in a well-practised and almost instinctive gesture offered an arm that was supposed to have a hand attached to it to help him up. Something like shock flitted across his face as he took note of his shortened reach before he simply moved closer to make up for it. Yoshiki stretched out a hand and then hesitated, knowing it would cause his friend pain to take the offered aid. His arms were, to be frank, a bloody mess, the stumps still raw and glistening wetly in the flickering of the failing lights.

"Yoshiki?" Satoshi caught his hesitation and asked after it. Unsure of what to say Yoshiki had opened his mouth to try and explain, or maybe make an excuse, when Yuka moved to stand beside her brother and also offered her hands.

"Let's go, Kishinuma." She said with a sweet little smile, and Yoshiki gave in.

"Sorry." He murmured, taking the offered hands and stump. All three grimaced, wincing in pain, before Yoshiki was back on his feet, hurriedly collecting the intestines that had slipped free and forcing them back into their rightful place with a firm hand. Satoshi, meanwhile, was shaking his arm painfully as Yuka caught her breath, her eye glimmering faintly with a slight dampness. Yoshiki opened his mouth to apologise again but he was cut off before he could start by a faint voice. All three ghosts looked round instinctively, searching for its source.

"I'll go check it out." Yoshiki said after a long moment of silence. "Stay here."

"You can't go on your own…!" Satoshi protested, earning himself a wry smile.

"It's not like I'm gonna die." Yoshiki said, waving away his friend's concern. "Look after Yuka, catch your breath." And then he was limping away, not waiting for any protest. He half-expected them to follow after him but when he glanced back he saw Yuka back on the floor, Satoshi's stunted arms around her. Smiling slightly Yoshiki faced forward, moving on with no little trepidation.

"Naomi? Naomi?!" the voice came again, and with a jolt Yoshiki realised he almost definitely recognised it. He had never actually known what happened to Shinohara, he had kind of assumed she was still with Nakashima. However upon hearing that only Nakashima and Shinozaki had got home safely he had realised the quirky girl's fate. So many of them had lost their lives at the hands of the school and all its ghosts.

"Shi-Shinohara?" he called into the quiet darkness, sudden realising he was all alone in a gloomy, decrepit corridor. Swallowing he crept on, knowing he no longer had a reason to be scared but unable to shake it off. It had become inherent. A sudden, violent tremor shook the floor beneath him, sending him stumbling against a wall and clinging with a free hand as it went on, longer and stronger than any before it. They would really have to hurry if they wanted to find everyone. Above the rumbling he distinctly heard a crash and a small shriek and, regaining his balance, headed in its direction.

Turning a corner he found the corridor beyond almost completely caved in, dark holes littering the floor as cracks spread across the stained walls. In the centre of the hallway, on some of the few remaining floorboards, sat Shinohara. Her hands were over her ears, her knees a little red where she had apparently fallen. Yoshiki found that strange – could ghosts even get hurt? They had all seemed pretty substantial but he had always thought they were impervious to damage, capable only of dealing it out where they saw fit – everywhere, generally.

"Shinohara?" He said her name, a little quieter this time as the shaking finally slowed. At his voice her head snapped up, eyes wide and fearful. Upon recognising him they widened a little more, obviously taking in his bloody face, before she had shot to her feet. They studied each other for a long moment, squinting through the gloom, and Yoshiki noted the slight blue of her face, the bloodshot eyes. He wondered what had happened.

"Ki-Kishinuma?!" Her face suddenly lit up and in a swift, impulsive motion she flung herself at him. Staggering back a step under her weight Yoshiki gasped in pain, tightening his grip on his stomach.

"Oh!" Shinohara made a small noise of surprise, stepping back quickly. "I'm sorry I was just so happy to see someone else – are you hurt?"

"A little." Yoshiki's tone was unintentionally dry as her eyes roamed over him. His face obviously hadn't fazed her much – making him once again glad he hadn't come back as a ghost with it caved in – only making her pale a little but when she saw his hands and stomach, bloody as they were, she blanched.

"What happened?" she gasped, bending a little to look more closely, the gloom obviously obscuring the sight. Wincing slightly Yoshiki shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she had even processed their dead state.

"Uh, scissors are dangerous?" he offered as she glanced up at him for an explanation, removing a hand to show the extent of the damage while keeping the other firmly upon his uncooperative organs. For a long moment she stood still, face steadily growing greener, before she backed away quickly. With eyes wide with horror she stared at him and he watched the realisation slowly creep into them.

"Wh… what?" she managed, sounding horribly faint. "What happened?"

"Yoshikazu." He said, seeing her confusion a moment later and wondering how much she knew, if anything at all. "Big guy, has a hammer? He's pretty strong, as it turns out." He paused. "I was trying to buy Shinozaki some time to get Yuka away and then…" he trailed off, feeling there was no need to explain further and neglecting to mention the part where he had had a hammer through his face. Shinohara's expression was a little painful to look at.

"The Class Pres? And Mochida's sister?" she repeated eventually, brow furrowing. "Where are they now? Have you – have you seen Naomi?"

"Yeah. Nakashima and Shinozaki got out. They're safe, and back home."

"Naomi's… safe?" Shinohara whispered, her eyes brightening with sudden tears. "I remember I was with her – she was crying and I was telling her I loved her and that there were – were no hard feelings and then… But she's safe, right? She's really safe?" Her wide eyes demanded an answer that Yoshiki was all too happy to give.

"Yeah, that's what Satoshi said." He said and was startled when Shinohara suddenly slithered to the floor, burying her head in her hands as she began to sob helplessly.

"I'm so glad…!" Came the muffled wail. "I'm so, so glad!" For a moment Yoshiki hovered awkwardly before he knelt carefully beside her, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"Don't… don't cry, Shinohara." He said haltingly, wondering what to do.

"But I'm so glad!" Shinohara choked, lifting her face to look at him. As she did he noticed the thick purplish-black line running around her throat and frowned.

"What happened to you?" he asked and Shinohara hiccupped, sniffing softly as she tried to get herself under control. Blinking a few times she lifted a hand to the mark, touching it lightly with bloodied fingertips.

"Hm? Oh – I…" she hesitated, worrying her bottom lip for a moment. "I-"

"Yoshiki?" A voice interrupted her and Yoshiki glanced up. It was Satoshi's voice, and he wondered how long he had taken finding Shinohara.

"Satoshi! We're here!" He called, and something about his words startled Shinohara from the last of her sniffles.

"Mochida?" she looked to Yoshiki for an answer. "Then is he-"

"Here you are." Satoshi again cut her off, appearing round the corner closely followed by Yuka, who was clinging to his shirt. Shinohara gave a shocked little gasp at the macabre sight the two siblings made.

"Shinohara?" Satoshi didn't sound particularly surprised – perhaps he too had recognised her voice. "Are you alright?"

"Mochida…!" Shinohara rose to her feet and Yoshiki followed suit, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth as he moved too quickly. "Are you…" she glanced between the three. "Are you all dead?"

"Yeah." Yoshiki said after a moment, "Shinozaki and Nakashima are the only ones who got out alive."

"What?" Shinohara turned to him, her horror written all over her face. "Everyone is…? Miss Yui? And Suzumoto and Morishige?"

"Yeah." Yoshiki nodded, seeing the sadness in her expression and wishing he hadn't been the one to put it there.

"We're trying to find them all," Satoshi cut in, stepping a little closer. "This school is going to collapse and vanish so we wanted to find everyone and make sure they weren't alone." There was a long pause and then Shinohara swallowed with a wince, straightened her back and brushed away the tears clinging to her long eyelashes resolutely. Something about her became set with determination before all of a sudden she gave them the widest, brightest smile.

"Alright. Let's go find our friends."

Well, that was the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed! It shouldn't take too long for the rest - it's only going to be three or four chapters long. Please leave a review/etc. 'cause it's really appreciated! Thanks for reading :)