Azumanga Daioh 1. Where Is Everybody?

Chapter 1: Where Is Everybody?

Authors note: This series takes place 6 months into the series. I'm writing this for practice so feedback is appreciated. Nothing is more demoralising for a writer than silence. A pre-reader would be appreciated.

That's all you'll hear from me, enjoy the show.

* * *

Tomo came to a halt in the middle of a deserted intersection.

The sun was out, but it gave no warmth. Tomo shivered slightly in the chill as she looked up and down four of the busiest roads in Tokyo, completely empty at half past nine on a Thursday morning. The air around her was completely still, with not even the wind to keep her company.

She'd brushed off the first two empty streets and the inexplicable cold, but this was alien. There was no one around, for blocks on end in four directions. The world around her felt completely still, the wind abandoning the familiar twists and turns of Tokyo and departing for parts unknown.. The birds that normally filled the air with their song had fallen silent. The feeling of solitude was getting so intense that Tomo was tempted to cry out into the city, hoping that someone, _anyone,_ would answer.

She was fifteen minutes' walk away from school and late even by her standards. Despite this, she didn't feel in a hurry as she urgently tried to think of some kind of answer to why the city would be silent at a time when rush hour was barely winding down. At the same time, Tomo was trying very hard not to panic.

It wasn't just the silence. The very quality of the light felt different. The sunlight had taken on a dour, cheerless quality despite the blue skies above. The streets and walls of the city were lit in a drab, greyish tone, as if the colour had been physically washed from the world. Even the blue of the sky seemed subdued. As Tomo looked around, she began to wonder if some horrible cataclysm had passed in the middle of the night and left only her alive.

Yet there was no sign of any damage, let alone the by-products of some city-ending event. Nor any sign that anything was wrong. The street lights were switched off as they naturally would be at this time in the morning. Even the traffic lights were still functioning, signalling to no one in particular that it was safe or unsafe to continue. The city remained set up ready for its inhabitants to continue their daily grind.

Yet there were no inhabitants.

In the end, Tomo decided against crying out. Something about her surroundings made her feel it was a bad idea. Eventually, she managed to unroot herself from the spot and continued walking, at a faster pace than before. The school session would be well underway. If there was some kind of ongoing reason for people to get off the streets quickly, then the school seemed like a logical place to take refuge.

It only took Tomo five more minutes of walking to confirm what she'd both dreaded and already known. The centre of Tokyo, one of the busiest cities in the world, was deserted. In a near panic, Tomo had chapped on one of the store windows. No one answered.

In that moment, Tomo considered going home, or at least getting out of the town centre. In fact she was just about to turn around when she heard what the most welcome sound in the world. She heard someone else's voice.

* * *

Chiyo wandered through the centre of town, loudly calling out into the empty city as she resisted the urge to start running through the streets.

"Hello?" She called out over and over. "Can anyone hear me?"

Silence. Where was everyone? Chiyo had been on the verge of panic for ten minutes, and the fear was only building. Sweat broke out across her brow as her childish imagination joined forces with her powerful intelligence to churn out a thousand explanations, each more terrifying than the last, jumping from monsters to tsunamis to rampaging serial killers. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest as she broke into a run, with no thought other than to get out of these foreboding surroundings and find someone else before some imaginary threat found her.

"IS ANYONE THERE?!"

Chiyo hadn't finished screaming two seconds before she ran into a hand. Jumping back violently, she overbalanced and promptly bounced off onto her backside, screaming the whole way down. After cowering on the ground for a few seconds, she looked up to see a hand extend out to help her up.

She sat there in shock for a moment, in the middle of what should have been a busy pavement as the last person she would have wanted to meet in an emergency stared down at her. In what might be attributed to the gravity of the situation, Tomo of all people seemed to be making an effort not to laugh.

Despite her classmate's noble efforts, it was too much. Chiyo got back on her feet in the most dignified manner possible under the circumstances, advanced two paces, and gave Tomo the least deserved kick to the shins she'd had in her life.

* * *

As Chiyo's foot connected with a resounding thump Tomo winced and wondered at karma's tardy and unpredictable methods of debt repayment. Not that the result was entirely one-sided as her diminutive assailant hopped back clutching a bruised toe and then promptly toppled over again. As Chiyo got back on her feet for the second time, Tomo had time enough for pain and shock to translate into anger.

"Hey what the hell was that f-"

Tomo was cut short when she noticed her classmate was actually in tears. There were moments where everyone forgot Chiyo was only a child, but there was no mistaking the fear in her eyes. Tomo felt a pang of guilt as she saw that her classmate was actually trembling with fear.

Tomo was even less prepared for the two pairs of arms that wrapped around her before she even had time to respond.

For a few seconds they stood there as Tomo tried to simultaneously comfort Chiyo and at the same time assuage the growing feeling of dread that was growing in her stomach. She was relieved to find another human being in the middle of a ghost town, especially one she knew, but that was quickly ebbing away as it became clear Chiyo was in the exact same position she was. Furthermore Chiyo was just a child, however capable she was mentally. Tomo's fear only grew as she realized that she was the one who needed to keep them both safe. As Chiyo finally broke away from her, she tried to consider her options, for the first time trying to make the clumsy transition from teenager to adult.

"Have you seen anyone?" she asked. Chiyo shook her head and confirmed what Tomo already knew.

"Not since I left the house…" Chiyo said quietly.

That brought another question to mind, one Tomo eagerly used to break the ice. "Why are you late for school?"

Tomo was surprised to see Chiyo go bright red. A clumsily muttered excuse about forgetting something didn't cut it.

"Ha! Saintly Chiyo trying to cut class? Really?"

"I wasn't trying to cut class!" Chiyo insisted, becoming increasingly flustered. "I forgot to pick something up for school!"

"You've still forgotten it by the looks of things." Tomo observed. Chiyo wasn't wearing her schoolbag, and promptly broke into a panic when she realised it. It began to occur to Tomo that she hadn't caught her classmate at her best. Still, an embarrassed Chiyo was better than a Chiyo who was scared out of her wits from wandering an empty city for who knew how long. Tomo decided to refrain from threatening to tell Yukari however. Embarrassment was one thing, the possibility of being killed to maintain silence quite another.

"So why were you trying to miss school?"

"I wasn't trying to miss school! I'm just running late, I swear I was just going!"

"Because you forgot our homework for first period?"

Tomo took a moment to take in Chiyo's expression, who now appeared to think of her older classmate as some kind of psychic. Tomo decided to keep her detective skills under her hat for now, but she happened to know Chiyo was absolutely terrified of the teacher they had for first period that day, and that he just so happened to be collecting in an assignment.

Tomo certainly wasn't about to mention that she had also forgotten that assignment, though she had genuinely slept in. Mainly because she'd been too lazy to set the alarm; Yomi had been staying over and Tomo had counted on her more diligent friend to do that for her. So when Yomi slept right through her alarm under a bad case of the flu Tomo had woken up to find it was already 9AM and she should have been out the door 40 minutes ago.

Even with the gloomy atmosphere momentarily lifted, things weren't going to stay that way for very long. Tomo decided to make a decision before Chiyo lost her nerve again.

"Alright look. I don't know what's going on, but we should probably go home. I'll take you to my place."

"But the school's closer! Shouldn't we go there?" Chiyo glanced around at her surroundings nervously, as if something might pop out and devour them both there and then. Tomo thought about it.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I've knocked on one of the shops around here and there was no one there. It's as if the city centre is completely deserted. My parents left the house before I woke up this morning…" Tomo paused momentarily as the implications of that filled her head with worry. "…but I know Yomi's at home there recovering from flu. We should…"

As Tomo began her new sentence, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Something that had flitted back into an alleyway the moment Tomo looked closer. It was hard to tell as whoever it was had been enveloped by shadows, but Tomo could have sworn she'd seen the glint of something metallic.

She also thought she'd seen something very wrong with the humanoid shape that had shuffled off into the darkness, but Tomo sincerely hoped she was wrong about that.

Worse, the alley lay back the way she'd come. Tomo suddenly decided that anywhere familiar was better than staying outside any longer. Chiyo was startled as Tomo got down on one knee and put both hands on her shoulders. When she spoke, it was another unfamiliar experience as the normally boisterous Tomo actually tried to stay quiet, both to reassure Chiyo and control her own growing fear. Chiyo, for her part, didn't know what was more unsettling; the fact that Tomo wasn't being very convincing on the last part or the fact that she was trying to act like an adult.

"Chiyo, listen to me. I need you to get up onto my shoulders, ok?"

"What?" Chiyo asked, confused and becoming visibly more scared by the minute. "Why-"

"Now."

Tomo's voice had carried such sternness with it that even she was surprised. She was even more surprised when Chiyo not only clammed up but obeyed without question. No sooner had Tomo allowed her to clamber up onto her shoulders than she had taken off at a run towards her high school.


	2. School Run

School Run

Tomo was at least thankful for the fact that Chiyo wasn't heavy as she carried her through the deserted, eerily pristine streets. Tokyo was a very clean city, but that didn't stop delinquents from dropping litter, especially on the way to school. To see the streets still spotless at quarter to ten on a school day just added to the surreal, eerie atmosphere that emanated from all corners of the empty town.

Despite this she was tiring rapidly. Tomo was actually one of the fastest runners in her class, but those bursts of speed could only carry her around seventy or eighty yards. Carrying Chiyo the remaining kilometre to school was taking its toll on her quickly even at a jog.

Chiyo's incessant requests for information were as understandable as they were unhelpful. Why are we running? What did you see? Are we being chased? These were the questions she was asking Tomo, all the while twisting around anxiously to look around at her surroundings in a manner that just increased the burden she was providing.

Tomo still didn't know quite how to answer those questions. "Something horrible was probably lurking in the alleyway back there so shut up" wasn't constructive and for once she was trying very hard not to act on impulse and tell Chiyo just that. She'd figured that since Chiyo was smart enough to understand subjects university students had problems with she was smart enough to understand they were in trouble. It wouldn't help either of them for Tomo to voice that even if she'd had the breath to spare. She was having enough difficulty keeping herself calm.

Tomo had her own unspoken questions and while the most pressing one was "how much longer can I keep this up?" there were questions Tomo feared the answer to far more.

Was Yomi safe at home? Where were her parents? Were Osaka and Sakaki and her other classmates ok? Tomo desperately hoped that those answers would be answered when she got to school, but the oppressive empty space was draining the confidence from her as she passed through lifeless street after lonely junction. The world around her was completely devoid of colour and cheer.

The environment was getting to Chiyo. As Tomo ran, she'd steadily stopped asking questions and simply settled miserably on her shoulders. At first Tomo felt it was a welcome respite from the constant noise and strain. The silence quickly grew oppressive however as she began to worry about what was going through the head of the youth she was carrying.

By the time the school finally came into sight Tomo's lungs were at the point of bursting. Only the fact that she was running towards a known destination had kept her going, the familiar terrain and landmarks rooting for her even in their dull state as they gave her motivation to run on. Tomo gave an inward scream of relief and delight at the sight of the school gates… only to have that relief washed away five seconds later when she realized the gates were closed.

Bewildered, demoralized and on the point of falling over from exhaustion, Tomo dejectedly let Chiyo dismount as she sat down on the ground to catch her breath, not even bothering to try to find something more comfortable to sit on.

"…is the school not open?" Chiyo asked. It wasn't really a question, and Tomo didn't bother wasting what little remaining breath she had answering. Instead she just sat there recovering for a few seconds. Neither of them asked or answered the obvious question regarding Tomo's spontaneous kilometre dash through the centre of town.

After what must have been a full thirty seconds of nothing but puffing and panting, Tomo silently got to her feet and started walking towards the gate, grabbing Chiyo's hand wordlessly and almost dragging her into a brisk pace behind. Tired of being dragged along, Chiyo's growing demand for answers finally overcame her fear and confusion.

"Where are we going?" she asked, exasperation filling her voice as she looked blankly at the insurmountable wall of metal in front of her. Tomo answered without even looking down.

"Where does it look like?" Tomo answered, not even looking down as the metal barricade that stood between herself and her goal rose above both girls imposingly.

"But the school is closed!" Chiyo protested, starting to drag slightly as her confusion and reluctance started a one-sided tug of war with Tomo's singleminded focus on her target. Tomo didn't even slow down as Chiyo was almost forced to run. The gates drew closer.

"We need to get off the streets." Tomo said. The flat, matter of fact tone she had spoken with earlier hadn't gone away and it also hadn't stopped being creepily unlike her. If Tomo was worried about Chiyo's state of mind then the feeling was mutual. Chiyo finally asked the obvious.

"Why?"

Tomo stopped to consider that for a moment, then kept walking, dragging Chiyo along like a piece of meat behind her and tightening her grip to prevent any escape. "Once we get inside we'll talk about it. Maybe we'll find people inside the school."

"And if we don't?" Chiyo couldn't help but ask, even if she knew it wasn't helpful. She was scared and she didn't have any control over the situation Tomo was dragging her into beyond her ability to voice objections.

Her objections didn't do much as Tomo kept walking. That at least was like Tomo; once she got something into her head there was no stopping her from carrying it out, however stupid or illogical it seemed.

The issue here was that Tomo's pig-headedness might actually get them both killed. But just as Chiyo was about to try something more drastic, Tomo finally answered, and her answer came with such frankness that Chiyo clammed up again.

"I don't know. There might not be anyone in the school. Do you have any better ideas?"

They approached the gates and Tomo finally let go of Chiyo's hand. "Are you any good at climbing?" she asked. Chiyo quietly admitted she wasn't, causing Tomo to grimace. "Me neither." Tomo acknowledged, staring from the gate to the fence and back to the gate again.

Ieysu High was surrounded by a twenty-three foot high fence around its perimeter, buttressed around the car park by a low stone wall with the fence rising out of it where it ended. Getting into the school without using the main entrance or the vehicle gates near the back meant scaling one of them or the fence. For two children, neither of them physically fit and one of them not even a teenager, it seemed as if they might as well have been asked to scale the Great Wall of China.

That didn't stop Tomo from trying. Grabbing hold of the bars of the gate, Tomo tried first of all to haul herself up by her arms. When that inevitably failed, she tried wedging her feet into the fence so as to climb there. To Chiyo's astonishment this got her a few feet higher, but she still ended up sliding down and almost twisting her ankle.

Another person, even a determined one, might have given up and tried something else. Tomo, however had bull-headedness on her side if nothing else. She simply tried again, this time getting almost to where she was before she slipped, fell back and barely managed to roll over to land on her side instead of taking a blow to her back that could have left her paralyzed.

It was only when Tomo got up to try again, determined to kill herself apparently, that Chiyo pointed out her main problem.

"I really think you need some kind of grip!"

Tomo took a moment to consider that, glancing at her glistening palms. Chiyo was right; there was no way she was getting over that fence after running a kilometre; not because she was tired, but because her palms were now covered in a layer of sweat which got worse with each exertion. Every time she tried to climb it got harder until eventually she just slid off.

The solution hit her, and like everything she did Tomo did it without thinking. Chiyo looked on in astonishment as Tomo physically ripped the ends of the sleeves off her uniform, scandalised at the vandalism as Tomo wrapped the strips of cloth around her hands and set off to try again.

This time, Tomo kept climbing. Several times she slid back down a few inches, and Chiyo winced each time, certain that she was going to fall five, then ten, then fifteen and twenty feet towards the ground. Yet somehow, she managed to reach the top after a climb that felt like forever and managed to hang there, suspended twenty three feet above the ground by her hands and the force of friction upon her feet. Chiyo could barely believe what she was seeing as Tomo clung to the top of the fence, considering her options.

Of course, that still left one of them on the ground. Chiyo was suddenly overcome by doubt. What if Tomo simply left her there on the hostile side of the fence? Chiyo knew Tomo was afraid of something. Surely her friend wouldn't just abandon her to an unknown fate?

Those doubts only became more urgent as she heard a bone-chilling growl coming from behind her.

Chiyo slowly turned around on the spot to face the source of the terrifying sound and what she saw made her throat tighten so much she lost a breath.

A pair of dogs, both the same size she was, were bearing down on her, their ears pinned back, snarling viciously. Even in her petrified state, Chiyo had just enough presence of mind to identify them as Shikokus, a breed named after the southern-most island of Japan… and one also known as the Japanese Wolfdog.

The dogs were advancing towards her with their teeth bared. Chiyo stood stock still, instinctively remembering what she'd learned regarding dangerous dogs. She tried to back away, but was simply met by the fence. The Shikoku's simply advanced.

That was when the scenario flitted through her mind. Tomo was going to jump the fence, if she hadn't already done so. There was no way she'd be able to follow. The way these dogs were behaving, they were probably going to rip her apart. Disregarding an important rule regarding dog handling, Chiyo couldn't help but look the left one in the eye.

This one was the largest, and it was advancing towards her confidently now. Chiyo stood transfixed, wanting to close her eyes but too afraid to even blink. Then it lunged…

Chiyo fell back against the fence, expecting teeth to rip into her flesh as she closed her eyes at last, pure terror coursing through her as her body shot her full of adrenaline. But instead of feeling the agony of having her arm ripped away from her, Chiyo heard a yelp and something larger than both her and her assailant hitting the ground with a thud. She somehow found the courage to open her eyes.

Tomo had tackled the wolfdog and was now wrestling with it on the ground. To Chiyo's amazement she physically wrenched the beast off of the ground and drop kicked it in a manner that would have made Chiyo feel reviled had the dog not been trying to kill her ten seconds previously. The entire engagement had lasted seconds.

Tomo had left herself open however in the time it took her to get rid of her first assailant, and Chiyo screamed as the second Shikoku locked its jaws around her guardian's leg. Tomo tried to shake it off, but cried out in pain as the movement simply caused the teeth to sink deeper into her flesh. The first dog was already back on its feet, limping and dazed from the force of Tomo's kick but still clearly dangerous and growling in a terrifying manner.

Tomo was becoming more and more likely to overbalance, and the fierce expression on her face that had awed Chiyo had instead become one of pain and terror. She was losing control. If it carried on much longer, Chiyo knew the dogs would bring her down, and then they'd both be eviscerated.

It was then that Chiyo did the bravest thing she'd ever done in her life. She ran forward and bit the Shikoku in the back of the neck. One terrifying yelp of pain and surprise later and the dog had released Tomo from its grip.

Chiyo barely understood what happened to her over the next three seconds. All she registered was being thrown violently to the ground with a paw pinning her to the ground by her chest. Instinctively she reached up and found herself holding open what seemed like an impossibly large pair of jaws that were trying to close around her throat with unbelievable strength, drool dripping slowly onto her uniform and flesh.

In that moment, with hot, disgusting breath enveloping her and soaked in juices, Chiyo realized that she was going to die. She barely registered the tremendous yelp and enraged yell that came from her left. The next five seconds felt like an eternity as she fought to delay her final moments for as long as she possibly could.

Just as her strength gave out Chiyo felt the terrible weapon she was holding back ripped from her grasp as the weight was lifted from her. Then she felt herself swept up into Tomo's arms as Tomo swung her up onto her back again with what seemed like impossible urgency before grabbing the fence. They both started to rise...

Chiyo didn't know how Tomo managed to complete that terrible climb. Unlike her previous one, Tomo took it at a sprint, climbing up in great bursts rather than the cautious steps she'd used before. Yet it was clearly taking up all her adrenaline-born strength. Her skin had taken on an unsettling red as her blood pumped every last bit of remaining oxygen out towards her limbs, temporarily starving her brain and even vital organs of precious life as everything she had was thrown into saving their lives. Her face was a map of fear-driven madness. Chiyo could still hear growls sound out below, the dogs waiting for them both if they fell.

For a second, Tomo stopped just below the top of the fence. In that moment, Chiyo thought she was going to fall and that would be it. Yet somehow, Tomo managed to swing herself over the top of the fence… and into air.

The last thing Tomo registered was the sensation of dropping feet first off the top of a twenty three foot high fence as her grip seemingly gave out. The only thing she managed to think of during the fall was Minamo's P.E lesson on how to land from high places.

"_Land with both feet and roll."_

Chiyo momentarily saw stars as Tomo hit the ground and rolled at such a tremendous velocity that her passenger hit her head on the circle round. Groggily, Chiyo managed to disentangle herself from her saviour and crawl away to turn and look anxiously back.

For a second, Tomo didn't move. For a horrible moment, all the lessons and implications Chiyo had been taught about unconsciousness and its causes flitted through her head. Then she heard the groan.

Tomo had somehow managed to execute a perfect landing. She was curled up in a loose ball on her side, lying quite still. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps that smacked far too much of hyperventilation. Her eyes were wide to the point of looking like they were going to pop out her skull. She looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

Chiyo managed to pull herself together enough to examine them both for injuries. Testing her range of motions she at least didn't seem to be hurt, though her head was throbbing like she'd never experienced before and she could feel blood on her chest where the dog's claw had torn through her uniform and drawn blood as it pinned her to the ground. A brief inspection of her hands revealed the blood she'd known was there; nasty looking but superficial cuts from holding open the animal's jaws. The perpetrators were still out there, glaring at her.

Chiyo then moved on to the person she was much more worried about. At first Chiyo feared that Tomo must have been paralyzed, based on the way she was lying in the dirt immobile and unresponsive. Then it occurred to her that Tomo was simply too tired to stand up. She got down on her knees and began to treat for shock, removing her outer cardigan and placing it over the patient for warmth while she undid the patient's top button, easing respiration. She softly put her hands on one of Tomo's shoulders as well as the side of her head.

"It's alright Tomo. You did it. We got away. You did it."

Chiyo kept repeating those sentiments, reinforcing the sense of safety while at the same time steadily adjusting Tomo and moving her into the proper recovery position. Tomo wasn't unconscious, but that wouldn't do her any good if she was too weak to prevent herself from choking on her own vomit. Time eventually allowed Tomo's ragged gasps to calm down enough for cardiac arrest to not pose such an immediate danger.

Eventually, Tomo recovered enough to at least try to pull herself upright, instead winding up on her back. A pathetically weak yelp of pain later and her left arm had shot over to comfort her right shoulder.

The shoulder itself looked normal, but Chiyo suspected that was the side Tomo had landed on when she rolled. A nasty bruise lay under there at best. Chiyo prayed there was no more permanent damage present.

"_Airway… Breathing… Circulation!"_ Chiyo's eyes immediately moved to the wound on Tomo's right leg and gasped as she saw what her friend had been climbing on.

The leg was a mess of blood. It was clotting, but dark red fluid was still leaving it in small amounts. Chiyo began to hear short, sputtering sobs that turned into longer, choking ones as Tomo recovered enough to cry from the pain. Any pride had been forgotten in the aftermath of almost being torn apart.

Chiyo offered up thanks that the monster's fangs hadn't torn open a major vein or artery, or else Tomo would have bled out in seconds. As it was, she desperately needed to stem the bleeding.

Chiyo at first went to her clothes, following Tomo's example. But her dust-covered, blood-spattered and drooled-on garments weren't even close to being clean enough. Chiyo needed something that had been protected from the fight.

It was then that she remembered a handkerchief she kept in her inside pocket. Chiyo hadn't used it and was relieved to find it was still pristine when she retrieved it. With no alcohol to ensure sterilisation it was going to have to do.

"Tomo?" she said, looking her friend in the eye and speaking with as much confidence as she could possibly muster. "I need to staunch the bleeding. I'm afraid this is going to hurt."

After giving that a second to sink in Chiyo pressed the cloth down against the wound. Sure enough Tomo jerked under the pain, crying out a little. She bore it bravely enough however as Chiyo steadily brought the bleeding under control, removing that last remaining threat to Tomo's life entirely.

That left bandages. But Chiyo had no clean cloth left for bandages. It looked like their first destination would be the first aid cabinet, and Chiyo silently swore that she would carry a first aid kit on her at all times from now on.

Tomo had apparently recovered enough to talk. "Has the bleeding stopped yet?"

"I think the worst of its over." Chiyo replied, removing the handkerchief. The worst of the bleeding was over, but it still left an angry-looking wound. Chiyo had some doubts about Tomo being able to move on that leg at any speed.

Tomo sat up and brought a hand up to her head groggily. The combination of her exertions and the loss of blood left her with a bizarre red and pale complexion. Tomo didn't look well, but it seemed she was going to live.

That brought up the less immediate practicalities. Chiyo voiced the most pressing one.

"Do you think you can walk?"

"Yeah."

That would do for now. Chiyo took a hold of Tomo's uninjured arm and helped her back into a crouching position. Tomo steadily pulled herself back onto her feet, swaying slightly. Even if her leg could physically support it, she wouldn't be running anywhere soon.

"Thanks." Tomo managed. There was a long silence as both girls looked at one another, neither sure of what to say about what just happened. Outside the dogs were continuing their chorus, and now seemed to be stalking around, looking for a way in.

"We should probably get inside." Tomo said finally, a sentence which Chiyo immediately translated to "we should definitely get away from _those_ as fast as possible. The dogs were looking at them with an almost demonic hatred, as if their very existence was suddenly a sin against nature. No animal behaved like that naturally, and it was becoming more and more disturbing with every passing minute that passed.

Despite all this, Chiyo managed to grin slightly, leaving Tomo momentarily perplexed as she held out her hand.

"I think you'd better take my hand. It can be dangerous out here."

The irony of that statement and its accompanying gesture finally hit Tomo as she began to giggle uncontrollably. Chiyo began to giggle as well, and it wasn't long before both of them were buckling over with laughter in what had to be the least humourous set of circumstances imaginable. Great gouts of hysterical laughter overcame both girls as they vented the terror of the past hour out in one great, glorious outburst that lasted for a whole minute.

Once they finally recovered, they still had to face what to do next. Both looked up towards the foreboding, seemingly deserted building that now loomed up in front of them.

"Should we leave?" Chiyo asked, quietly.

"Do you want to go back out there?" Tomo countered. The answer to that was an obvious no, and Tomo and Chiyo soon set out hand in hand towards the familiar structure as an ominous chorus of growls followed after them.


	3. First Aid

First Aid

Chiyo winced as Tomo kicked the front door hard enough to make it shudder violently. She then immediately regretted it as she drew away a stubbed toe to add to her growing list of injuries.

It was locked. Of course it was locked. How could it not be? No school in the world would leave its doors open overnight, unless it was in an area where crime was truly absent. After taking the pause to put her cardigan back on as a second layer against the cold, Chiyo was about to suggest they try for home after all when Tomo knelt down to take something out of the bottom of her school bag. Chiyo didn't know whether to be reassured or scared by the confident, mischievous grin that had suddenly appeared on her face.

Eventually, after some searching, Tomo withdrew two long strips of metal, one shaped like a letter L. Chiyo lacked the specialist knowledge to say what they were or what they were called exactly, but their essential nature quickly became obvious as Tomo knelt down and inserted them into the lock before starting to pick it.

"T-that's really bad! You could go to jail for a year just for having those things!"

Tomo just kept on picking away as she decided not to listen and wondered at Chyo's priorities. The occasional click heralded the fall of each pin as Tomo steadily wiggled the straight pick around as she held the L-shaped one in place. Occasionally, she'd adjust the latter slightly, usually as a click happened. Chiyo simply looked on aghast. Was her friend a burglar?

She had plenty of time to dwell on that as the process took some time. Tomo obviously knew what she was doing, but several curses were uttered as the lock redid itself repeatedly. However, eventually Chiyo heard one final decisive click as the door unlocked to a triumphant yell. Tomo opened the door and turned around, grinning like an idiot.

"If I'm gonna join Interpol it helps to know the tricks of the other team's trade." she explained. Chiyo decided it wasn't a good time to explain that as an organisation dedicated to the monitoring of international crimes that seldom handled arrests itself, Tomo was very unlikely to be called upon to solve a burglary in Interpol.

The knowledge that Tomo wasn't a criminal however did reassure her (aside from the illegal ownership of lockpicks, but Chiyo couldn't help but find that interesting rather than reprehensible). Without another word, Chiyo joined Tomo in entering the building.

Dark and cold. That was the best way to describe what met them. There were no windows in the entrance corridor, meaning the only source of weak sunlight was the front door.

Walking forward meant walking into gloom. Tomo looked around for a few moments afraid. It was eerie enough being in an empty school, let alone one that was completely dark. In the twisting corridors and dark rooms ahead, Tomo felt like she was walking into the set of a horror movie.

But it had to be done. Bracing herself, she stepped boldly forward, prepared to explore the school in darkness.

"We'd better find a source of light soon. I don't suppose you brought a tor-"

Tomo's words and foosteps were cut off by the hallway bursting into light. She jumped slightly before looked over to her left to find Chiyo standing next to a lightswitch, looking slightly smug.

This time it was Chiyo who was trying not to laugh, and Tomo was the one weighing up whether or not her companion was too young for a boot to the knees. In the end, Tomo decided against it.

"…come on then." she said bemusedly, starting off down the hall.

The source of light only made the atmosphere slightly less creepy. A big billboard stood at the end of the hall. Chiyo took a good look at it, hoping there might be some note or instruction that would indicate another person had taken refuge here. But the billboard was exactly as she'd left it when she'd left school yesterday, simply listing the latest achievements of its pupils and announcements on various upcoming events.

There was one item that grabbed Chiyo's attention however. There was an announcement of a school play that was apparently taking place two weeks from now. That wasn't that unusual in itself. It was the type of play, and specifically the name, that caused Chiyo to stop in her tracks and pull Tomo around to point to it.

"Kanadehon Chūshingura?" Tomo asked. "Oh wow. I wonder how they managed to get this past the principal?"

Chiyo thought that was a very good question, even if the enthusiasm in Tomo's voice was a bit alarming. Kanadehon Chūshingura was a very famous Kabuki play about a band of forty seven ronin who swore revenge after their master was forced to commit Seppuku. The play contained two ritualised on-stage suicides, a massive battle and at the end, it was implied almost to the point of stating that all forty six remaining ronin committed Seppuku themselves. It was not the sort of play to be performed by highschoolers.

"Have you heard anything about this?" Chiyo asked. The play would have also been the talk of the school under normal circumstances, but with two weeks apparently left to its production, Chiyo couldn't recall having ever heard of it. This didn't seem to bother Tomo though as she looked positively thrilled at the promise of the gory spectacle.

"No, but who cares? This is gonna be awesome!"

"Don't you think it's a little rough for a high school production?" Chiyo tried to point out as much as ask. The subtlety was wasted on Tomo however.

"I wonder if they're still doing auditions. Aww, but all the cool characters are boys. Hey I wonder if I can play a samurai anyway-"

"Tomo!" Chiyo shouted, breaking Tomo out of her reverie but making slightly too much noise in the process. Both of them looked around nervously. The corridors were as quiet as ever.

Once they were done jumping at their own shadows, Tomo was left looking slightly sheepish.

"Right… I suppose this isn't the time." she said. Chiyo simply nodded and suggested they move on.

Just as they were about to turn and move towards the first aid station, Tomo stopped, looking back the way they'd came.

"Hang on." Tomo headed back towards the entrance. Closing the door, she went over to a nearby bench and started dragging it along the ground, wincing slightly at the extra strain on her injured leg. She did the same with another bench, stacking it on top of the first. Then she added a table.

Chiyo watched in bewilderment as Tomo continued this with a few more items of heavy furniture. Before long the door was thoroughly barricaded. Nothing was getting in without either their permission or explosives.

"I don't want to lock it again in case we need to leave in a hurry." she explained, though Chiyo didn't see how blocking the door with several items of furniture was going to help there. "It'll take forever to pick that lock again. Anyway, I want to get off this leg."

Chiyo wasn't quite sure why Tomo was worried about escaping _from_ the building in a hurry, but she could understand the last point. Tomo's lower leg still looked like a swollen hunk of meat. It wasn't torn open and the damage was mostly superficial, but the area was large. The dog had left deep gashes and there would be scars there when it healed. Chiyo shivered as she realised that was what her neck could easily have looked like now.

It was then that she remembered that Tomo owed her an explanation about what had made her so determined to get to school in the first place.

"Tomo what did you see back there? Why did we have to get off the streets?"

Tomo gave Chiyo an irritated glare. "Do we have to talk about that right now?" she asked, her tone harsher than she'd intended. Chiyo noticed how tired and pale she looked, but the mystery was eating into her and she felt she deserved an answer now. Tomo's tone hadn't helped. Whatever had sent her jogging through the streets was still bothering her and Chiyo needed to know what it was.

"I want to know." was all she said, but there was an edge to her tone.

Tomo groaned, rolled her eyes and allowed herself to slump down against a wall, exhaustion still evident from her features. Chiyo made a note not to allow her to fall asleep before they got that leg bandaged. Tomo sat there for a few seconds, thinking carefully about what to say next.

"I saw… someone. In the alley back the way we came. I think they were armed with something."

"That's it?" Chiyo asked, exasperated.

Tomo saw her friend's dissatisfaction. She thought about saying more, but what was she supposed to say? She saw a monster?

After seeing those dogs Tomo was starting to believe in monsters. But she didn't want Chiyo to know that.

So she lied. Or maybe told the truth.

"That's all I saw."

"But that could have been help!" Chiyo protested. There was some anger in her voice now. "We could have found another-"

"Did you want to stay and find out?" Tomo asked sharply. She didn't understand. What did Chiyo not get? Whoever was in that alleyway, Tomo was sure they were dangerous.

"Yes!" Chiyo whined. "He could have told us where to go! We could have gone-"

Tomo lost her temper.

"Fine!" Tomo snarled. "Next time we see a strange man in an alleyway I'll send you to ask him first. You can have a tea party with his axe murderer friend! Just remember to get in the van if he offers you sweets!"

Tomo regretted that almost immediately when she saw Chiyo recoil with a pitiful look of shock and guilt on her face. While the true nastiness of that barb flew over Chiyo's young head it had still been a horrible thing to say. Chiyo's face contorted from the effort to hold back tears. Tomo sighed and stood up, using a nearby wall to stabilise herself slightly.

"Look, Chiyo…" she started

The tears came.

"…I didn't mean that!" she finished. "Look, you're right, maybe I should have…"

"I'm sorry." Chiyo interrupted quietly, her voice breaking with tears. "I'm just… I'm just…"

Chiyo stared at the floor, tears coursing down her cheeks. She fought to keep her voice steady but every word betrayed her fear and emotion.

"I don't know where anyone is. I don't know where my parents are or if they're safe or if something horrible has happened. I thought… maybe it might be someone coming to rescue us and now you're telling… now you're saying they're dangerous as well. Those dogs tried to kill us and I…. I'm…

Tomo looked on speechless. Chiyo had slumped against the wall, studying the floor to hide her face. "I'm _scared." _she admitted, sinking down to sit on the floor with head against her knees. She was trembling.

Tomo stood there dumbly, her mind going a mile a minute. Comforting people wasn't something she was good at. Awkwardly, she moved over to sit beside Chiyo, clumsily putting an arm around her.

"I want to go home…" Chiyo sobbed. Tomo took a full five seconds before she said anything back, moments she spent staring at the opposite wall. Wondering if anything she said could make the horrible situation ok.

"I know. I'm scared too. Listen, Chiyo…"

Tomo moved round to look Chiyo in the eyes, kneeling on the floor in front of her.

"…I know you want to go home. But it might not be the best thing we can do. Do you know where your parents are?"

Chiyo shook her head. "They left for work before me this morning." Tomo bit her lip, thinking. It was a while before she spoke again.

"Alright look. We probably shouldn't move from here just yet. My leg still hurts and those dogs might still be out there. With any luck someone friendly will find us."

"And if they don't?" Chiyo asked.

"If they don't we'll head for my place. I _know_ Yomi is there because she was sick with the flu today. We'll head there, pick her up and then…" Tomo paused to consider what she was saying before she continued. "…Chiyo I think we need to try to get out of the city."

Conflict joined fear on Chiyo's face. "But what about the others? What about my parents?"

"We don't know where to start searching for the others. It's possible they've escaped already with the rest of the city. In any case there's no use sitting around waiting for a rescue." Especially if one might not be coming, but Tomo filtered that bit out. "If everyone left there has to be a reason and I don't want to be here to find out. Let's get my leg bandaged up, try to find something to eat and drink and search for other people. After that I think we should go somewhere else."

As Chiyo nodded Tomo gave her the most encouraging grin she could manage, but it came across as more of a forced smile. She got up to leave.

"Thank you…"

Tomo turned around again to see Chiyo looking up at her. She looked back dumbly.

"Thank you for coming back for me. If you hadn't… if you hadn't beaten those dogs off I'd be dead."

The certainty with which Chiyo said that sent a shiver down Tomo's spine. It wasn't something she wanted to dwell on.

"Don't mention it." she replied abruptly. "Thanks for patching me up."

There wasn't really much to add to that. Tomo started walking down the corridor, and Chiyo followed after, two pairs of footsteps echoing along the corridor.

The First Aid post was on the first floor, but it was also on the other side of the school, far enough away to give them plenty of time to soak in the gloomy atmosphere. It was just like outside, a world shorn of colour and warmth, yet the claustrophobic, dark corridors added to the dismal atmosphere even as the girls lit them up. Tomo was starting to understand exactly _why_ she didn't like school. Walking the empty hallways felt more like exploring a prison. She began to wonder what it would be like being locked up half your life.

Chiyo was subdued and stayed uncomfortably quiet the entire journey. Tomo tried occasionally to make small talk, but there wasn't much to say. Talking about how things were normally simply reinforced for both of them how abnormal the situation had become.

On the way there, they passed the school security office. Teachers retrieved their keys from here and it was where the school's sole security guard was stationed.

Ieysu High was unusual in even having a security guard. Most Japanese schools didn't bother; like Britain its citizens didn't have the right to bear arms. Knife rampages had happened in the past but the political will hadn't swung round towards making guards mandatory at the turn of the millennium. Even so it was little more than a precaution and the guard, a large and imposing man who scared some of the students slightly, seldom left his office. Even then, it was usually just to yell at some miscreant caught dropping litter on CCTV or to help break up a fight. Tomo suspected his bark was worse than his bite.

At any rate Tomo was enterprising enough to recognise the value of gaining access here… and as bad as the situation was there was a certain excitement about being able to gain access anywhere. The picks came out again and she began her work. It wasn't long until the door swung open… not that it was a very imposing door. It was flimsy and Tomo suspected that a good kick or shoulder barge would probably have brought it down. Still, once everything returned to normal Tomo would have to explain what had happened here and she didn't want to cause any damage that couldn't be put right again.

The office was small and cramped. Tomo had some trouble believing that anyone could spend a full day in here. A third of the space was taken up by monitors that kept various parts of the school under supervision at all times. Most of them guarded the stairs, but a few were positioned in the hallways. Tomo gulped slightly when she realised that one of the cameras was aimed right outside her classroom door. Maybe she should stop making a reputation for herself.

The rest of the space was occupied by a large swivel chair, some magazines (a few of a nature which Tomo thought best to hide from Chiyo) and a large metal cabinet. Tomo guessed that the keys to the various classrooms were in there.

She also saw something that creeped her out. Sitting on one of the consoles was a folder. When Tomo opened it up, she was aghast to find photos of all the school's students there alongside their names.

"That creepy-"

"It's to recognise students in an emergency."

Tomo spun round to see Chiyo holding another large file, this one full of protocols. "Security officials are advised to be able to recognise as many individuals as possible in the event of an emergency. In this state of emergency security officials will be better able to recognize and attract the attention of individual students so as to better impose order on a potentially chaotic situation." Chiyo finished reading and closed the book.

Tomo felt slightly guilty at her previous outburst as she put the book down. It still creeped her out though. Tomo came in and out of her homeroom every morning and left there at the end of the day. She often talked to her friends outside in the corridors and on the way to class on the stairs. How much did the man who spent his days in here know about her? The cameras didn't have sound, but Tomo's actions tended to speak louder than her words anyway.

Tomo went for the cabinet and was relieved to find it was open. Quickly searching through the keys she took the key to the first aid room and its various cabinets, the key to the garage, the key to the locker rooms and the pool area beyond, the key to the assembly hall, the keys to a few of the larger classrooms including her own home room, the back door and roof keys and… the keys to the staff room and principals office. Well who wouldn't be curious?

Tomo also noticed something else on the ground. It was a torch and a few extra batteries. Tomo picked everything up to put in her bag. Hopefully it wouldn't be necessary.

Then Tomo saw something else that momentarily fixated her attention.

A stun gun was located in the far corner of the locker room. It occurred to Tomo that this would be the last place an intruder would search. She quickly bagged that too. Tomo _really_ hoped these wouldn't be needed as she tried to hide the weapon from Chiyo, who was looking on with curiosity.

Eventually Tomo finished looting the cabinet and refastened her bag, beckoning Chiyo to leave. She was about to examine a few drawers in the security desk when she noticed one of the screens.

It had gone to static. Tomo noted that that screen monitored a hallway close to the security office itself. The feeling of foreboding only got worse when the screen flickered on a few seconds later as if nothing had happened. It was only static, but something bothered her about those few seconds of lost footage. She ensured they left the room quickly, in the opposite direction.

Tomo tried to make towards the first aid bay at as fast a rate as possible without arousing Chiyo's suspicions. She tried to tell herself she was overreacting. All she had seen so far was a shadowy figure, some angry dogs and some static. Yet still she checked every corner, and was mindful of the stun gun she'd ensured was at the top of her pack, within easy reach. She wouldn't be running on her leg for very long. It was starting to hurt more, and tiring too. Tomo still needed a full rest from her previous exertions, and Chiyo was a concern too. She probably couldn't walk forever.

She thought ahead. If this went on longer than a day then they would need more than just breaks to rest. At some point they were going to have to sleep. Tomo hoped they'd be able to do that once they were out of the city, but Tokyo was a big place and they were almost at its heart. It could take them a day to get all the way to the edge of town. Even travelling north to south the Tokyo area stretched a colossal 25 kilometres. Travelling east to west you would have to walk 90 kilometres from one end to the other to reach the other side. Twelve kilometres wasn't an insurmountable distance, but it would take several hours of walking. A bike on the other hand…

Camping inside the city didn't pose a problem on the surface of things. But Tomo's paranoia was growing with every second. The capital city of one of the most densely populated nations on Earth didn't just empty itself overnight.

Chiyo seemed to pick up on Tomo's tension as she was once again looking around at their surroundings frantically, as if the walls and corridors would tell them what was going on. Tomo had taken her hand again, though a shoulder ride was out of the question for the time being.

Tomo almost gave a gasp of relief when they finally got to the first aid station. She tried to open the door as quietly as she could.

She also turned a couple of lights on in the nearby corridors they hadn't been to yet, though she left a nearby stairwell to the second floor unlit. That was a bit harder to explain to Chiyo but Tomo wrote it off by saying they might as well light up as much as possible around them. Given that Tomo couldn't even rationalise to herself the idea that someone was following them she managed to make a fairly convincing case, but Chiyo's eyes were still flitting up and down the corridors when they finally opened the aid room door.

The first aid centre was fairly substantial, which was just as well because it doubled as lost and found. Aside from the medical cabinet, bed and desk, there were numerous lockers used to store all kinds of lost treasures since the start of term. A nurse was usually on duty, a fairly gruff old lady who Chiyo had had to go see on several occasions. Occasionally those cases were Tomo-related, in which case she'd usually turn up with an ice pack strapped to her head and a headache. Neither of them decided to dig up that piece of history however. Tomo went straight for the first aid pack on the wall.

Bandages! And not just bandages. Medical alcohol, torques, plasters and even material for binding up a broken or sprained limb were in here, alongside a warm blanket and… a shot of epinephrine?

"It's for allergic reactions." Chiyo explained. Tomo suddenly felt very stupid. If someone was in the middle of a heart attack there were far better options for treatment than sticking a needle of adrenaline in them.

Tomo sat down and started to unravel a few bandages, cutting through them with a pair of nearby scissors which she placed inside the first aid pack. After that it was up to Chiyo to carefuly clean the area around the wound with the alcohol before binding it up with bandages. Tomo tried very hard not to scream during the application. Once Chiyo was finally done the area felt funny, but at least the risk of infection was now much lower. Tomo also insisted on plastering up the claw marks on Chiyo's sternum, which were surprisingly deep and ugly for the size of the animal that had caused them. Tomo felt a pang of anxiety when she realized how much more severe Chiyo's injuries could have been.

That didn't leave Tomo a whole lot better off. The swelling had gone down steadily but she still didn't trust herself on that leg. On the other hand, she didn't particularly want to stay here either. Chiyo was getting settled and Tomo didn't want this rest to last very long. She couldn't say _why_, but she wanted to leave here as soon as possible.

Chiyo watched Tomo get up to leave. While she looked stronger she was still dangerously pale, and there was a haunted expression in her eyes that Chiyo didn't like. Aside from that Tomo still looked dead on her feet, but Chiyo had already figured there was something else going on, something which could drive Tomo into another collapse. Next time, she might not get up. She voiced the obvious.

"Are we leaving already?"

"Yup. Got to keep moving." Tomo asked, walking for the door. Chiyo grabbed her arm.

"Why?" She asked, looking Tomo directly in the eyes. Tomo sighed and pulled her arm away, but Chiyo noticed that she also moved her eyes away before she spoke.

"We'd be better off exploring the school as fast as possible. If there is anyone here with us I want to find them and if not we need to move on." Tomo had hesitated slightly before talking about finding other people, and Chiyo noticed. Tomo's priority seemed to be the opposite of what she was saying.

"On that leg of yours?" Chiyo asked, a slightly accusatory tone slipping in.

"I'm fine." Tomo said firmly, but she couldn't hide the weary edge to her tone and Chiyo wasn't buying it.

"No you're not!" Chiyo almost shouted it. "No you're not! You must have lost half a pint of blood back there and your leg still isn't healed!" Tomo grimaced as Chiyo finished her tirade, looking at the door nervously. Chiyo was starting to worry about her state of mind.

"Look, we'll search the first floor. Then we'll-"

Both of them froze. There were footsteps in the corridor, and they were coming closer.

Chiyo wanted to go out and take a look, but Tomo got her way first. Grabbing Chiyo by the mouth and chest, she quietly opened a nearby locker and pushed Chiyo into it before entering herself. She swung the door closed and, in a moment of clear thinking, adjusted the lock from inside so it couldn't be opened.

Tomo had to fight to keep Chiyo quiet, but she quickly fell silent anyway as the door flew open. Both of them stood rooted to the floor in terror as they realised that whoever was in the room with them was in a bad mood.

Whoever or whatever was on the other side of the metal door, it had come here deliberately. Tomo heard the sound of the door to the medical cupboard being flung open with some force, causing her to flinch. Below, Chiyo was already trembling.

The figure drew closer. Tomo crouched down as best she could without displacing Chiyo noisily. She prayed it wouldn't see them through the cracks…

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_

It was knocking at the doors of the lockers.

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_

No, it was throwing them open. Tomo heard a few items falling out of lockers. The banging grew closer. It reached their locker…

_BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!_ The figure hammered on the door repeatedly, great big horrifying clangs which made the door sound like it was being beaten in. Fortunately Tomo and Chiyo both went silent with fear rather than screaming as they heard a growl from outside that sounded anything but human. The banging went on for a full thirty seconds until finally the… _whatever it was,_ went away, slamming the remaining lockers before it finally reached the end and exited the room.

Tomo and Chiyo both lay there for a full thirty seconds, neither of them saying a word. Even Tomo was trembling uncontrollably now as thoughts of meeting… _that_ out in the corridors filled her thoughts with waking nightmares. Below Chiyo had actually gone still, too stunned with shock to even shake anymore and muttering what sounded like a prayer for preservation.

When Tomo finally recovered enough to move her body voluntarily, she quietly undid the lock, got out of the locker and physically lifted the petrified child behind her out. She placed her hands on Chiyo's shoulders again and looked her dead in the eyes as she issued a series of very fast instructions.

"Upstairs, with me. Quietly. Now."

If Chiyo had been even the slightest bit calmer she might have pointed out that that going up was not a good recipe for escaping a building, but as she was Tomo could have told her to sprint down the corridor with her screaming like the first victim in a horror movie and she'd have obeyed in an instant. As it was she simply took Tomo's hand as Tomo opened the door quietly, looked both ways and headed straight for the stairs.

She got about halfway up them when the lights went out.


	4. Class

Class

Tomo's mind blanked out with fear as she stood in the middle of absolute darkness, not even the next stair up visible.

She fumbled for her bag, her arms shaking. Her hands were trembling so badly she could barely find the clasp.

It was already open. She reached inside for the torch.

She couldn't find it! Had it fallen out? Tomo scrabbled around on the stairs, not minding her injured leg as she desperately tried to grasp the precious light source. But she couldn't find it.

That was it. _That was it._ Without light they were finished. Tomo stared hopelessly into the darkness, expecting footsteps to sound any moment. She felt something grasp her shoulder and struck out, rolling sideways against the stairs. Gradually, she processed Chiyo's simultaneous cry of pain.

The stairwell burst into light as the torch came on.

For a few seconds Tomo and Chiyo faced one another wide eyed, Tomo splayed out across the stairs as Chiyo held the stairwell for support with one hand and cradled her stomach with the other. Tomo had winded her with an elbow beneath the ribs. Chiyo was holding the torch.

Tomo recovered first. She got to her feet and stalked towards Chiyo. Chiyo didn't think she'd ever seen Tomo truly angry before that moment. She shrunk back against the wall.

"I took the torch out when the light went off!" she defended weakly. Tomo kept coming. "I couldn't find the-"

Tomo snatched the torch from her hand, and for a second she thought she was going to be hit. For three full seconds, Tomo just stood over her with a dark expression that Chiyo had never seen before and never wanted to see again. In that moment spent with the older girl, in the dark and with only a torch to light her features, Chiyo would almost have taken the monster.

Finally Tomo relented.

"Next time we're in the dark _say_ something!" she hissed. Chiyo just nodded wordlessly. Tomo shone the light upstairs, checking for danger. Then she took Chiyo's hand firmly and set off without another word about the incident.

More dark corridors. Tomo took them quickly, occasionally turning off the torch as they approached turns and keeping the torchlight below any windows. Once or twice she got both Chiyo and herself down on their knees in areas with large classrooms, just in case something was lurking inside and looked out the windows. Both of them kept their ears peeled in terrible anticipation of the sound of running footsteps.

It took her a while in the darkness but Chiyo noticed that Tomo was leading them in the rough direction of her homeroom… which wasn't anywhere near any available exits. After a while she also started muttering under her breath. Chiyo wanted to say something but she was scared to make any noise and with Tomo's current demeanour and events on the stairs she was almost as scared of her as she was of anything lurking in the shadows. Tomo's grip around her wrist had steadily tightened. Now it was so fierce it hurt.

Steadily, Chiyo began to make out what Tomo was saying under her breath.

"It's us. It's not everyone else. It's us. Need to get to class. Need to get to class. Need to get to class. It's us. Need to get to class…"

Tomo went on like that for the entire journey. Chiyo's desire to say something started to become a desperate desire get away from the crazy teenager beside her, but Tomo's grip was too strong. There was no way she could overcome it.

That didn't stop her from trying. After a while Chiyo started to pull and twist in an effort to get away or at least get some control of the situation. Tomo didn't even break stride, she kept walking onwards, dragging Chiyo if necessary. As they got closer, Tomo's mutterings got worse. She wasn't even looking around her now!

Tomo obviously thought that getting to class would end the mystery; that their being late for school had somehow set off the entire catastrophe. Even in the torchlight Chiyo could see the manic focus in her eyes. The paleness was still there and in the pale light Chiyo could see that her leg wound had started bleeding again slightly.

Finally, after minutes of being dragged across to the other side of a darkened school by a woman of questionable sanity, Chiyo found herself outside her homeroom.

Tomo took out the classroom key and fumbled for the lock. She dropped it on the ground, cursing as she crouched to pick it up as if it was the key to her very life. Finally, she found the lock, twisted it, and threw the door open.

Nothing. It was brighter here, the windows letting the sun through slightly even through the shutters. But the classroom was empty.

No children sat at the desks. There was no familiar Yukari to tell them off for being later than she was. The desks themselves lay bare and the room was as pale and lifeless as the rest of the world. No Sakaki, Kaorin or Osaka stood ready to welcome them.

Still Tomo walked forward, standing in front of the classroom expectantly.

"Tomo there's nothing here." Chiyo finally spoke.

"Come on…" Tomo muttered. "…come on." She moved towards the back of the class. "Come _on."_ She said with an edge in her voice, leaning on a table. "Take us back. You've had your fun, now let us _go!_**"**

As she growled the last part she thumped the desk with her hand so loudly that Chiyo jumped. She was studying the surface, her face hidden behind her sideburns. Nothing happened.

"Let us _OUT_ of here!" Tomo shook the desk, her voice rising.

"Tomo there's nothing here!" Chiyo repeated, yelling this time. Tomo looked over.

"Sit over there." she commanded, pointing to Chiyo's desk. Chiyo looked at her in fear and confusion. "_Sit!"_

Chiyo complied hastily even as her despairing eyes looked on . Tomo sat down at her own desk and waited with a lost look of desperation. Chiyo felt tears come to her eyes as she watched Tomo's focussed rage dissipate and her face slowly contort with fear and hopelessness.

"Come on…" she said, her voice breaking up.

Nothing.

"Come on... please…"

Tears had begun to stream down Tomo's face as she began to break down. When ten more seconds of helpless waiting had passed Tomo stood up from her desk and began kicking it again and again, not caring about her injured leg as she started yeling, "Let us go. Let _them_ go. GIVE THEM _BACK!"_

Chiyo heard a horrible crack as Tomo broke her desk clean in two. Yet Tomo didn't stop kicking.

"Stop it!" Chiyo cried. "Tomo stop!"

Even as she tried to pull Tomo away Tomo kept kicking, repeatedly, until she'd separated the desk's surface from the rest of it. She stumbled away from it, panting heavily and leaning on a nearby desk… looking at it.

Chiyo realized with a pang of emotion that it was Yomi's desk. As Tomo recognised what she was leaning against, droplets started to splash onto the table.

"Why is this happening to us? What did I…?"

Chiyo could only give her the best hug she had in her. Tomo just stood there numbly, staring at all the familiar places and her own shattered desk on the ground.

"Was it something I did?" Tomo asked no one in particular. Chiyo didn't say anything. As her friend and only source of safety pulled herself away to walk back and slump against the blackboard like a ragdoll, she mentally prepared herself to die there. Tomo had curled herself up against the wall and there was a darkness in her eyes that no simple hug was going to bring her out of.

So Chiyo tried something else.

"Neneneneneh!"

Tomo's despair gave way to bewilderment. Bewilderment gave way to irritation when Chiyo started throwing her hair around, messing it up. She kept doing that until Tomo swatted her away.

"Quit it!"

Chiyo kept trying. This time she grabbed at Tomo's shoes, trying to snatch them. Tomo flicked and grabbed and pushed away, growing more annoyed by the second until finally getting up, an outraged expression on her face.

"What the heck are you doing?" she asked angrily. Chiyo just smiled as strange smile.

"I got you up didn't I?"

Tomo stared back dumbly.

"I think we need to get out of here." Chiyo continued. Tomo's face was one of tired awe and astonishment. Chiyo moved towards the door.

"Where are we going to go?"

The simple question stopped Chiyo for a second. But she had an answer to it.

"We were going to go see Yomi, weren't we?"

Tomo's face hardened, but her voice still sounded pathetically weak when she responded "yeah." Somehow, Tomo found the strength from that to move her legs forward again, her fragile mind managing to coordinate the scrambled data that was moving through her head enough to force her to move on. It was Chiyo who took her hand once more as she led them forward.

It was just before they left the room that Tomo noticed the lightswitch. She turned it on.

No effect. Tomo was just about to shrug and turn to leave when she saw something that nearly made her run shrieking down the corridors instead.

There was blood coming from the lightswitch.


	5. Aspect

Aspect

"Chiyo?" Tomo gasped. Her voice was tight with shock and fear. "Chiyo, I think I'm hallucinating. Can you see-"

"You're not. I see it." Chiyo replied, tightening her grip unconsciously around Tomo's hand.

The blood kept pouring out. As it began to run down the walls, dark red lines staining the plaster, Tomo involuntarily took a step back… and heard a splashing sound. She looked down.

On the ground, a bloody footprint lay where she'd been standing. Tomo and Chiyo both gaped in horror as they realised the same dark blood was beginning to pool around the bottom of Tomo's shoes.

More blood was coming out of the socket, and by this time a large section of wall had been stained red with gore. It stunk, a metallic stench that made Chiyo dry heave and Tomo cover her mouth and nostrils. Tomo watched with horror and backed away several paces as the blood began to spread out in a pool on the floor.

The pool touched the first footprint which turned bright red. A red line began to trace itself along the floor towards where Tomo's other foot had been standing a few seconds ago.

As it connected, the footprint also turned bright red. Tomo instinctively backed up a few paces but the speed with which the prints changed colour was accelerating, the line shooting from print to bloody print. She turned to run.

"Take your shoes off!" Chiyo yelled. Tomo almost fell over in her haste to carry out that instruction, stumbling against the wall and kicking her shoes off so hard that one of them hit the wall, leaving a bloody footprint there. The line followed and the colour change continued.

Tomo and Chiyo both watched fixated as the colour caught up with the footprints. Chiyo leapt back with a start as the pool of gore that was forming at the base of the lightswitch touched one of her feet. As the print on the wall lit up, Tomo suddenly grabbed her wrist and began running, pulling Chiyo out of her bloodied shoe as she did so.

They had barely gotten five yards before the world behind them burst into blood red flames. They fell down to the ground in shock as a dark inferno danced its deadly dance behind them, the heat almost burning them even from a distance. They sat there, petrified and entranced. Tomo watched in disbelieving terror at the column of fire that had risen out of her shoes, hot enough to have burnt her to a cinder in moments. Behind lay a lake of burning blood and trails of fire that followed a line through the now blazing footprints. The entire corridor had been engulfed and Chiyo could see fire rising out of her lost shoe as if she'd stepped in a pool of oil.

The fire didn't spread, but neither did it go out or even diminish in intensity. It just blazed there, releasing unbearable amounts of heat and blocking the way back through the corridor. Chiyo just sat there in shock until Tomo finally stumbled back to her feet and physically picked her up by her shoulders. They stood there, in terrified awe of the fiery spectacle.

"You just saved my life." Tomo finally said, shaking.

"We're even then." Chiyo replied.

It still took them a few moments to turn away from the flames. Tomo took a few stiff steps before finally breaking out into a brisk walk that Chiyo could barely keep pace with. Neither of them could stop looking back until they were out of sight and sound of the inferno.

The cold, desolate atmosphere was only exacerbated as they walked barefoot on the cold floor. After nearly sliding and falling Tomo had them abandon their socks to prevent them slipping on the smooth surface if they had to run away quickly. She also had them keep to the centre of the passageway to try to avoid stepping on any stones or worse, pins that had been dragged inside the school and swept off to the side of the passageways. Still, walking became painful as several times Tomo or Chiyo stepped on some tiny piece of debris. Neither of them talked about the horror that they'd just seen.

Chiyo noticed that Tomo had started to limp. She asked if there was somewhere they could stop.

"Not until we're well away from here." was all Tomo said to that, though she was starting to look groggy and confused as well as tired. The bloody patch on her bandages had become larger and she'd gone pale again. But there wasn't anything Chiyo could say to object. Staying in the school while something was running around inside it was suicidal.

They turned the last corner before the stairwell down. Tomo was heading for the pool area, which was closest to their homeroom. There was a small gate in the fence through which you could get back out into the playground area. From there it was a short walk to the back gate.

As Tomo and Chiyo approached the stairs from the opposite direction to which they led however, Chiyo heard footsteps coming from round the approaching corner.

She tugged on Tomo's sleeve. "Tomo, _something's coming_" she whispered.

Tomo switched off the torch, making Chiyo jump as they were plunged into darkness. She looked back. There was no way they'd be able to run back before whatever was out there turned the corner. Even if it couldn't see in the dark it would probably hear them. The same problem applied for going down the stairs; they would surely be heard. If the monster heard them Tomo very much doubted she could escape it on her leg. Chiyo would have no chance.

That left one option. Placing a finger over Chiyo's lips, she quietly pulled her over to behind the stairwell. The knelt down behind it, hoping whatever was coming went down the stairs.

So that was where they hid, huddled together behind the stairs, waiting helplessly for whatever was out there to approach.

The footsteps came round the corner and began to walk towards them. Tomo reached inside her bag for the stun gun as Chiyo just tried to be as small and quiet as possible.

The footsteps approached the stairs. Tomo closed her eyes in fear as she heard them pass the way down. As the footsteps approached their position Chiyo began to tremble.

It was then that a terrible thought occurred to Chiyo.

What if it could _smell_ them?

Both of them held still, petrified, as the dreadful sound came level with them. It stopped… and they both prepared to die.

Then it kept moving. Both girls stayed absolutely silent. It had to be less than half a metre away still. Steadily it moved off towards the other end of the corridor.

For a moment Chiyo made to leave, but was instantly stopped as Tomo grabbed her wrist. Not yet.

It was as the figure approached the end of the corridor that they saw the flickering light.

It was red. Red like the fires of before. The girls heard an inhuman cry as the footsteps stopped. Was it fear they heard in that voice?

The flickering light came closer, and Tomo gasped loudly as she believed she'd set the school on fire. Then she went silent with dread as the monster's features began to come into focus in the light.

It was skinless. Wiry extensions that looked disturbingly like brain extruded from its bare skull. Below, thin ashen muscle and sinew that looked like it had been burnt alongside a bare spine constituted a neck. Through the thin, sickeningly pale skin on its torso Tomo could see its heart beating away blood through red arteries and up through blue veins. Countless blood vessels covered it, and its limbs were swollen with large, skinless muscles that looked like they could bend a car in half.

Chiyo must have seen it too because she gasped loudly.

The monster's head shot round at the noise. Inside the sockets of its bare skull beady little eyes stared triumphantly at Chiyo, causing the younger girl to cover her mouth, eyes dilated with shock. Its open mouth revealed three sets of teeth and its hands were three fingers with terrifying claws instead of nails. What little colour was in Tomo's face soon drained out of her.

Chiyo was too scared to move but Tomo stood up and marched forward a few paces. As the creature twisted its body round to move towards them she pulled out the stun gun and took aim. She fired, and managed to put the metallic probe right in the creature's neck.

It jerked back violently as the current ran through it and took a swipe at the electrical cable connecting the probe. Tomo quickly sent another shock. This one seemed to have less effect however as the creature moved towards them…

…Only to be grabbed. Tomo and Chiyo cried out in fear and surprise as a fiery limb shot out and grabbed the creature by the skull. The monster screamed as it was hauled away, the stun gun's probe wrenched violently out of its flesh. As it was pulled round the corner, Tomo saw its flesh steadily peel off and the skull go black from the heat. The stench of burning emanated up the corridor as nauseating chewing sounds sounded out alongside horrible screams that all too soon fell silent. The chewing didn't cease.

Tomo didn't waste any time in pushing Chiyo out and around the stairwell as she recalled the stun gun's probe. They got downstairs as soon as they could and didn't stop running until they were several corridors away from the terrible creature that now dwelt on the first floor.

As they walked through the remaining corridors Tomo's pace started to falter. When Chiyo tried to talk to her Tomo's speech seemed to slur slightly. Chiyo began to panic as she imagined Tomo fainting in the middle of the corridor, unable to move or be moved and easy prey for whatever came along. Chiyo wondered if she could drag Tomo the rest of the way. It didn't seem likely.

Finally the locker room came into sight. Tomo by this time was disoriented and could barely even fumble for the keys in her bag, so Chiyo was the one who unlocked the door itself. Finally they made it into the relative safety of the girl's locker room.

The moment they were inside Chiyo locked the door. She turned around to see Tomo stumbling towards the other side of the locker room.

"Must get somewhere else…" she muttered. "…gotta leave here…" She lay down on a nearby bench even as she said that. Chiyo ran to her, anxious. She put a hand to her forehead and withdrew it in shock. It was dangerously cold. Tomo shivered.

"We gotta save Yomi. Just resting for a second."

Tomo's voice was weak and her speech slurred. She was fading out. Chiyo shook her shoulders. "Come on Tomo. You can't go to sleep yet!"

Tomo's eyes glazed over as her eyelids closed almost to the point of shutting. "Chiyo, can you save Yomi? I-I don't think I can go..." she trailed off.

"Tomo wake up!"

Tomo didn't respond. She'd drifted into unconsciousness.

"Please?"

Chiyo looked around her darkened surroundings fearfully. The only light in the room with her was the torch. Tomo's breaths were shallow. She gave no response to Chiyo's shaking of her shoulders.

Chiyo realised she was on her own with only the sleeping Tomo to keep her company. There was nothing she could do. The tally of abuses Tomo had racked up on her body finally demanded compensation. She would have to sleep it off. Miserably, Chiyo retreated to a nearby wall. She started a lonely watch as she watched the door she'd entered fearfully, all the while terrified that something was going to start banging on it at any second.


	6. Doubt

Doubt

Chiyo sat alone in the dark as unknown minutes went by. She shivered on the cold floor, the chill and the frigid wall to her back slowly draining the warmth from her body.

Outside the school dwelt who knew what, but she knew what dwelt _inside._ Chiyo desperately wanted to leave, but she couldn't. Not without abandoning Tomo. She sat on the ground in her soiled, fetid garments, trying not to let the darkness frighten her so much. Yet the longer she sat there the more threatening the shadows seemed to become.

Like most children Chiyo didn't like the dark. She wasn't mortally afraid of it like some children her age were, but she still didn't like it. She liked it even less when she knew something was out there in it, even if it was in another part of the building. Academically Chiyo knew that she was wasting batteries, yet nothing in the world at that moment could have made her turn that torch off.

Like a child whose terror of the dark has reached its climax she desperately wanted to run and turn on the light switch, but she restrained herself. She remembered the horror of the first floor all too clearly, the way the creature's skull had burnt as it was wrenched around the corridor and out of sight. Those sounds…

In the light of the torch Chiyo could see Tomo's chest rising and falling on the bench in front of her. Chiyo watched those precious breaths like a hawk, terrified that any moment now they would cease. The bandage was now half-saturated in gore, and Chiyo prayed that any fresh bleeding had ceased.

Focussing on Tomo's condition at least allowed Chiyo to distract herself from the dark and cold. Even in her scared and half frozen state she comprehended that Tomo's blood-soaked bandages were doing her no good. They needed changing. Chiyo got up.

Tomo's bag was still lying there at her side. Chiyo opened it.

Tomo's equipment was surprisingly well organised under the circumstances and given the organiser. At the top lay the stun gun, readily accessible in an emergency. Chiyo winced as she remembered the way those metal cylinders at the end had stuck in the monster's flesh and how little effect it had had. The lockpicks were visible from a pocket inside, kept separate and secure while still being easy to access. Various keys had been stuffed down the side of Tomo's textbooks, but they were all on the same side of the bag, even if they weren't organised in any particular order. The weight of the books at least kept them in place. Spare batteries for the torch lay next to the stun gun, ready to be grabbed in case of sudden failure.

The most important item at the moment however was the first aid kit. There was still a full roll of bandages in there, alongside scissors and all the various other pieces of equipment. Chiyo took what she needed and carefully placed the medical kit back in its original place. She still remembered Tomo's panic on the stairs as she scrambled to find the torch.

Slowly she began to undo Tomo's bandages. She winced at the stench that was coming from the wound but it was just the metallic scent of blood, not the reek of infected, gangrenous flesh Chiyo feared. Steadily she unwound the last of the bandage.

It was hard not to be sick as Chiyo saw the horrible effects of Tomo's exertions. The wounds had come open again, a mess of blood and loosened clots. Though they were thankfully starting to close again quickly the gashes had become larger, torn during their frantic dash down the corridors. Chiyo realised that if Tomo had tried to go any further she would almost certainly have bled out in some dark corner of the city. As it was her condition was surely critical.

Slowly, Chiyo applied another dose of alcohol to the area to keep it disinfected. Once she was done she carefully wound another wrap of bandages around the damaged area, watching with dismay as they began to turn red as well. It was only a few specks, but Chiyo didn't know how much more blood Tomo could possibly afford to lose. She'd already lost consciousness and Chiyo knew that ten per cent was all the body needed to lose to send the body into permanent shutdown.

Though she was done with the treatment Chiyo couldn't tear herself away from the patient. She looked at Tomo's pale features and fought to hold back the tears. Chiyo had a complicated and often adversarial relationship with the older girl, but Tomo had now saved her life three times; once with the dogs, once in the locker room and one final time when she stunned that monster with her shot from the stun gun. She'd carried Chiyo on her back out of potentially mortal danger, hauled her over a fence she shouldn't have been able to climb and ran a further two hundred yards on a barely functioning leg to keep her safe from phenomena beyond either of their understandings. She'd even kept Chiyo quiet when her fear and desperation would have gotten them both killed. Even her mistake with the light switch had wound up saving their lives where Chiyo's inability to keep quiet had almost sealed their fates.

All Chiyo had repaid her with was first aid to dress the injuries she wouldn't have had if Chiyo wasn't with her, advice that had nearly gotten them killed on several occasions and a horrible fright in the dark when she was already near the end of her rope.

Chiyo _had_ saved Tomo from the light switch, but even then she wondered if she would have done exactly the same thing, panicked in exactly the same way and been incinerated had she been on her own. Maybe that was just another bullet Tomo had taken for her. Even there Tomo had still had the wit to pull them out the way of the inferno where she'd just stood there like an idiot. Chiyo tried to think of it as them both needing each other, but she seemed to need Tomo a lot more than Tomo needed her. Maybe… maybe Tomo would be better off without her. Chiyo looked towards the outside door.

Yomi was out there. She could be facing all sorts of monstrosities and dangers, alone and unwarned. Tomo, meanwhile was relatively secure inside the locker room.

Maybe she _should_ leave. Take the key, leave Tomo here with the lock picks and brave the city alone. There was nothing she could do to protect Tomo anyway. If something turned up they were both finished. Chiyo opened the bag again. She reached towards the key.

"_Thinking of leaving were we?"_ A voice rang out from the darkness.

Chiyo gasped and pressed herself against the wall, key in hand. "Who said that?" she said, breathless with fear. The voice cackled, a horrible, feminine cackle that actually sounded human, even if its source was clearly anything but. The voice didn't seem to ring out from any particular source so much as it enveloped the space around Chiyo, surrounding her with the noise.

"Oh, just your conscience. You've probably heard of it, even if you don't seem to use it that often."

Chiyo's expression became one of doubt and confusion. The voice continued.

"Very interesting, the key in your hand. You wouldn't happen to be going somewhere would you?"

Some outrage entered Chiyo's trembling voice. "I can't do anything to protect her."

"Really? Well, I suppose not. You are, after all, just an incredibly selfish, _stupid_ little girl."

The sheer nastiness of the voice's tone cut into Chiyo, but not nearly as much as the words did.

"I'm not-"

"Stupid?" the voice predicted. "So you are selfish then. I'm so glad we agree. Let's test that shall we? We'll start by discussing how your parents _hate_ you-"

"My parents do not hate me!" Chiyo yelled. "How-"

"Really now? You truly believe that. Well, let's look at the evidence. You are an only child, are you not?"

Chiyo could only nod dumbly.

"Yes, as I thought." continued the voice, condescension ever dripping from every word. "Well, as I knew of course. After all, I know everything about you… you and I are the same..."

The voice paused to let that sink in, watching from the darkness as Chiyo violently shuddered in disgust. It waited for a few moments before continuing its drawl.

"…well of course you would be alone." Chiyo noticed that wasn't the same as being an only child, yet there was something in the word choice that hit home. "After all, who would want a spoiled little brat like you ever again?"

"I'm not!" Chiyo defended. "I help my parents! I do the chores! I make my own lunches for school. I even make them breakfast and supper sometimes!"

"But you eat alone, don't you?" the voice enquired. Chiyo couldn't find a reply for a few moments.

"I… I choose to…"

"You _choose_ to? What kind of daughter _chooses_ not to eat with her parents?"

Chiyo bit her lip. She didn't answer. The voice cackled slightly at the look of utter confusion and self-doubt that had appeared on Chiyo's face, a laugh of triumph at visibly undermining her foundations. It moved in for the kill.

"When was the last time your parents _asked_ you to eat with them?"

Chiyo had no response.

"When was the last time they woke you up to do something?"

Again there was no response. Chiyo normally woke her parents up in the morning.

"When, in fact, was the last time your parents ever willingly had anything to do with you?"

At a better time, Chiyo might have stretched to something; a walk in the park or dinner with relatives. Now she just stayed silent.

"When was the last time you even spoke to your parents? Except for matters of routine of course."

That, for some reason hurt the most as Chiyo left the room in silence again. She began to cry.

"Your parents want _nothing to do with you._ They don't even want to _talk_ to you. What could be the reason for that, Chiyo?"

"M-my parents are very bus-"

"Too busy even for their daughter. Unless they don't care about their daughter very much of course. Which they don't. Because they hate you."

"My parents don't hate me…" Chiyo said, echoing the start of the conversation. But her conviction was weaker this time.

"They enjoy their work more than they enjoy spending time with you. It's very revealing what people choose to do with their time Chiyo. Your parents love their jobs more than they could ever love you. Not that they would ever say it of course. After all they're good people. Unlike you." It spat.

The voice took a pause to chuckle before continuing its assault, revelling in the mental torture it was inflicting upon the helpless eleven year old in front of it.

"No doubt they flatter you. 'You're very independent' they'll say, 'you deserve a space of your own to work. Here's a bigger room. Here's a science set to occupy you. Here's a cookery book to get some use out of you. Here's a ticket to the horticultural exhibit so we don't have to spend any time with you.' Sounding familiar, little Chiyo?"

"Don't call me that…" Chiyo protested softly.

"Oh, but it's very appropriate. After all you're always letting people down in sports. And when there are dangerous animals on the loose." It added nastily. Chiyo's eyes drifted towards Tomo. She couldn't look at the leg…

"I suppose you want to think she's your biggest pal now, don't you? She's not. She's looking after you because she's a good person too. Because she feels _obligated_ to trail a helpless, annoying little girl who would be dead otherwise around with her. Slowing her down. Making her hurt. Frightening her with little tricks with the torch-"

"That was an accident!" Chiyo protested.

"An accident perhaps. Or an act of cowardice. You were so scared of the dark that you stole that torch you saw Tomo take before she even had a chance to lay hands on it. You couldn't even keep calm for the five seconds it would have taken her to get it working. You really are _pathetic_, you know that?"

Chiyo couldn't look any more. She curled up in a ball against the wall and tried to look at her knees instead, tears flowing freely now.

"_Look at her._ You can't even _look_ at the person who saved your miserable hide, _can you?"_ The voice tutted.

"All that effort in school. All that 'intelligence' we know you're so proud of. I suppose you must think your classmates love you for it. Well they _don't."_

Another moment of poisonous silence.

"The truth is… well this sounds awful to say, but they're _jealous_ of you Chiyo. Jealous of your intelligence. Jealous of your wealth. Jealous about how you get everything handed to you on a plate while they have to actually _work_ for what they get. Do you know how it feels getting that rubbed in your face by an eleven year old? Tomo does."

"I work hard…" Chiyo said quietly, as much to herself as to the voice. "I have a job… I earn a living…"

"Yes, you have a job. Would you like to know why you have that job, little Chiyo?"

Chiyo just remained silent, any power or motivation to hit back stolen away from her.

"It's because of pity, really. But not pity for your wretched existence as it should have been. No, your boss thinks you, of all people, come from a poor family."

"H-how can they?"

"Oh put it together already." the voice said as it turned Chiyo's intelligence against her. "You regularly mess up the burgers. You need assistance to use the deep fat fryer because you'll burn yourself if others don't help you. Have you ever noticed the unfairness of how you still rack up bonuses and extras on your paycheck? How your boss always gets it to you early?"

Chiyo put her head against her knees in miserable recognition.

"And while you're working away, bringing home yet _more_ _riches_ that you get to keep all to yourself, what about the people who are actually poor, Chiyo? What about the person who really needed that job?"

Silence.

"I wonder if they're homeless…"

"Shut up!" Chiyo yelled. "Shut up, I'm not listening anymore-"

"Oh, but I'm afraid I've only just begun. You see despite your selfishness I can't help but notice that you have a certain… well I can only call it affection for this girl on the bench in front of us. After all, you could hardly _love_ another human being. Love and friendship are for people who don't have everything served up in front of them is it not?"

"That's… monstrous." Chiyo responded.

"But sadly accurate in your case. Now, I wonder what you think I have in mind… for you both?"

The voice let the last part lie.

"Please don't hurt her." Chiyo pleaded, her voice almost a whisper. The voice cackled.

"I can do whatever I please. But there is one thing that might make me… reconsider hurting your dear companion here."

"Name it." Chiyo said. "Name it and I'll do it! I'll do anything-"

"Anything?" the voice said, going higher in mock surprise. "I hardly want much from you little Chiyo. You have so little you can give me and what you have in your hand is stolen. No, what I want is quite simple. You see that locker over there?"

There were many lockers and Chiyo had no idea which one the voice was talking about, but she gave a short shriek as she heard the one to her right slam violently.

"Inside that locker is a baseball bat. I would like you to get it out. For me."

Shaking, Chiyo went over to the locker and opened it slowly. Sure enough, a metallic bat was inside. She took it out, examining it.

"That's all?"

"I'm afraid not. There's one more _tiny_ little thing that I need you to do."

"What?" Chiyo asked, her voice hardening.

The voice laughed, a horrible, triumphant giggle. "Why it's not hard to do my dear Chiyo! All I want you to do is take that bat and _bash your brains out_ with it!"

Chiyo's confusion turned to raw dread as she looked at what was to be the end of her life. She shook her head slowly. "Please…"

"What is it little Chiyo? I thought you were willing to give me anything? Surely a few little whacks won't hurt too much?" the voice drank in the way Chiyo was looking at the bat, wide-eyed. "Well, I suppose it will, but how much more has Tomo given for you? She was willing to give her life, after all. I think it's only fair that you do the same for her."

Chiyo trembled as she swung the bat away from her. She pulled it towards her but could only rest her head against it.

"I knew you couldn't do it. Would have been far too _noble_ of you. Well, let's see what I make of your poor Tomo here-"

"NO!" Chiyo cried. She readied the bat. The voice cackled.

"Now now, little Chiyo, wouldn't want you to leave us too quickly now would we. Don't you want to hear what I have in mind?"

Chiyo listened, wondering if perhaps some respite was going to come after all.

"Well I could just kill her, but you seem set against that somehow. So I'll give you a deal. I'll give you time to think about it. Specifically, I'll give you Tomo's time."

"What?" Chiyo cried.

"It's quite simple. Take a good look at your friend over there."

Chiyo watched, transfixed. Then she gasped.

Tomo had started to grow a few inches. Her hair suddenly retreated, trading its long length for a shorter, cropped style. Her proportions changed slightly and her face matured. Chiyo realized that Tomo was becoming an adult, ageing two years in a moment.

Chiyo realized what was going to happen next.

"You've worked it out have you? Yes. I am going to age Tomo, slowly, in front of you, taxing your… how shall I say it… lack of commitment with her life. As you can see, she's already lost her childhood. Next I'll take away her youth. Unless of course you'd like to use the bat?"

Chiyo shivered but she still couldn't unlock her arms. The voice tutted.

Slowly, Tomo's features started to change. Her hair began to grow again, but this time it was neater, the long, flowing hair carefully arranged. Her lips seemed to become fuller until Chiyo realized she was wearing a sensible, professional-looking choice of lipstick. She looked like she was about to go for an interview.

Then Tomo began to change again. The lipstick disappeared but the hair stayed the same, if a bit slicker. She seemed stronger and more physically fit than before. Was this what she would look like at Interpol? Her college years had vanished entirely!

Then Chiyo saw the first crease. Tomo was reaching her thirties. The process was going to continue until Tomo's life flew by before her eyes. She readied the bat with conviction this time. It was as Tomo began to gain the fuller wrinkles that came with early middle age that a tremendous crack rang out across the locker room.

Chiyo was clutching her temple where she'd struck herself with the bat. It hadn't been a full force swing but she was starting to overcome her body's basic instinct not to hurt herself. She readied the bat again. _Crack._

Chiyo fell back dazed, barely aware for a moment of her surroundings. Her vision swam and her head felt like it had been split open like an egg. Yet she readied the bat one more time, trying to block out the horrifying laughter.

_Crack!_

This time Chiyo blanked out for a second, barely regaining her balance as she stumbled backwards across the floor at a crouch. As she staggered to her feet she had the vague sensation of something trickling down her face. The bat faltered as she fell to her knees, bruising them.

"Aww come on, you're almost done. One more, for me. We're having so much fun."

Chiyo staggered to her feet, barely conscious. She looked over at Tomo and shrieked.

Tomo was old. Her hair was grey. The wrinkles and creases had become deep furrows. She had shrunk down so many inches that she was smaller than she'd been before the ageing process had begun. The once vibrant black hair had gone crystal white. Chiyo burst into sobs.

"Please… you said…"

"One more Chiyo. She hasn't got much time now.

"What's the _point?_ You've already taken her life-"

"I will restore whatever has been done. If of course there's anything left to restore. If you'll just finish up now with the bat."

Chiyo took a long, haunted look at the bat. She pushed herself back off the wall she was leaning on. As blood mingled with the tears on her cheeks she prepared herself for one last terrible blow. She swung…

The bat dropped to the floor, smeared with blood. Chiyo collapsed to the floor, unconscious before she hit the ground with a sickening thud. Her glazed eyes were still wide open. A slow trickle of black gunk began to separate itself from her, flowing over towards a corner of the room. It began to take form.

On the bench, sixteen year old Tomo woke up.


	7. Mirror

Mirror

Tomo dreamt dreams of blood.

She dreamt of being chased down narrow corridors. She dreamt of things clawing at her legs, grabbing at her with a burning grasp. She dreamt of falling forever. In all of her dreaming it was dark. She fumbled her way through dark tunnels. Hid in holes. Saw her classmates immersed upside down in a pool of boiling blood, their faces expressionless…

Then the nightmare changed. Tomo saw Chiyo, half submerged in black fluid, clawing for the surface and crying out for help.

"Where are you Tomo? Why didn't you save me? Tomo! Tomo!" Chiyo shrieked as clawed hands wrenched her underneath the surface as a voice laughed in the darkness. The laughter seemed closer, more immediate…

Tomo's vision took a moment to swing into focus.

The last thing she remembered clearly was stumbling into the locker room. Everything after that was a haze. She remembered a feeling of nausea and tiredness, Chiyo's hands desperately shaking her, pleading with her to stay awake… then darkness.

Tomo was still in darkness. For a moment, she began to panic as she thought she had gone blind. A quick examination of her hands cleared that up, but there was no light to be found. The torch… she had to find the torch… Chiyo!

Groggily, Tomo tried to swing herself upright, only to find that she couldn't. She fell back down onto her back again, almost blacking out as she did so. Her weak blood pressure couldn't sustain the fight against gravity.

Five seconds. Then she tried again. The world spun wildly and Tomo felt like she was going to throw up, but this time she stayed upright. She looked around.

Ahead of her lay the locker door. Tomo's eyes were so unfocussed she could barely see the handle. She looked around slowly, taking in her surroundings.

Tomo saw torchlight. In the glow she could see the open locker, and then the bloodied bat. Beyond, lying quite still on the ground was Chiyo. In the dim torchlight Tomo could see the sickly trail of blood trickling out from her head.

Tomo almost fell off the bench as she crawled over towards Chiyo, her legs not able to support her. Terror and despair filled her as she saw the massive great gash that had been bludgeoned open on her forehead.

"Chiyo? Chiyo, wake up!"

Tomo had none of Chiyo's medical training or knowledge. Carelessly she shook Chiyo's shoulders, trying to get a response. Chiyo just lay there, unresponsive. She was breathing, but the breaths were shallow and ragged, her respiration irregular and shutting down.

"Who did this to you? Chiyo?" Tomo's voice began to break. "Come on, don't leave me here!"

Chiyo was unresponsive. Tears began to fall down Tomo's cheeks.

"Don't die on me. Don't leave me alone! I can't do this-"

Footsteps. Tomo's sat paralyzed for a moment in fear. She tried to think of somewhere to run.

What was the point? Chiyo was lying there helpless and she could hardly stand, let alone run. Tomo's fear and despair turned to rage as she prepared to make a final stand against whatever final horror was approaching them. She staggered to her feet, using the wall to support her. If she was going to die she was going to die like she imagined a real cop would, defending the young child beside her. She tried to move towards the bag that contained the stun gun before an arm swept it away and a blow to her stomach sent her staggering back.

Tomo did her best just to remain standing as she tried to straighten up. Another blow, this one catching her round the cheek. She fell over again.

Standing over her, silent and menacing was… her. Tomo Takino, minus the leg wound, stared down at her in the darkness, an emotionless, pitiless expression on her face. The doppleganger attempted to stomp down on her leg, Tomo barely managing to roll out the way in time.

It advanced forward. Tomo tried to crawl away. She tried to find a wall she could stand herself up on, eyes wide in fear and pain, but the doppleganger inevitably caught up to her, not even breaking into a run to do so, as if it was taking its time, enjoying itself. It picked her up and slammed her hard against the locker room floor.

Then, as she lay there, the doppleganger stood on her back. It pressed down slowly…

Tomo screamed. Just as she thought her spine was going to give out the doppleganger lifted its foot, about to step down and finish her. Barely conscious, she rolled out the way, bumping into its other leg as the foot missed her by an inch. Instead, the doppleganger just slammed its other foot into her shoulder instead, a full force blow.

Tomo screamed in pain as she felt the blow jar her shoulder, pain shooting out of it. It pressed its foot into her for a second, and Tomo firmly believed in that moment that had it had any voice, her copy would have been laughing at her.

She couldn't die like this, not even able to defend herself. She had to fight back somehow!

The foot rose again. Tomo rolled onto her back. The foot came down towards her chest to crush her sternum. She shielded herself with her hands, barely absorbing the impact as pain shot through her chest area. Tomo felt deep pain shooting through her torso, a horrible, nauseating agony that extended from her right hand shoulder to her stomach and through to her back, the deep bruising spreading everywhere. Another blow like that to her general torso area and something would break or rupture.

With what little strength she had, Tomo directed the foot away from its owner, forcing it to straddle her. Curling up into a ball, she used one leg to kick the doppleganger's unoccupied leg away, and with her other leg she kicked up as hard as she possibly could…

She heard a nauseating crunch as her foot connected with the doppleganger's groin. The doppleganger made no noise but it definitely had an effect. As it stumbled back soundlessly and doubled over with its mouth gaping open in pain Tomo managed to crawl away, hauling herself to her feet on a nearby locker.

It came at her again. Tomo tried to kick at it, but it just backed up out the way and charged. She threw a fist clumsily out at it. It missed and the next blow hit her square in the forehead, causing her head to hit the wall behind, a blow from both sides. Her vision swam. Another fist came. Barely conscious she blocked it reflexively, taking a blow to her left hand hard enough to send a jolt of pain shooting up the limb, only for a second blow to strike her squarely under the ribs. Tomo blacked out for a second as the world swam and faded in and out of vision.

As Tomo lay against the wall, blood bleeding from her lips, bruises and injuries covering her head to toe, she knew she was finished. As whatever had taken her form moved in, she thought of Chiyo on the ground, defenceless. This thing would only have to stoop down and snap her neck, or finish off what she believed it had started with the bat. Tomo prepared one final, desperate gambit.

So far the thing had countered all her attacks or neutralised them. So Tomo did something it couldn't respond to or ignore. She let it strike her one more time in the face… and at the same time lunged forward with all her weight.

The blow hit her so hard in the jaw that for a moment Tomo thought she'd been knocked back and down. She then realised that she'd actually knocked her opponent to the ground with her in a heap with her arms round its waist, knocking its head against the ground and stunning it in the process.

Any other time Tomo might have hesitated. But she was in no condition to show mercy and Chiyo was bleeding out on the floor next to her. She fastened her hands around her doppleganger's throat, pinning it down and preventing any attempts to get free by kneeling on its arms. She started to squeeze…

At first it was a tremendous struggle. Tomo barely had the strength to keep the windpipe closed, and her mirror image lashed around desperately below her. Tomo choked her own image to death in the darkened room, all remorse swept away in a tide of rage and desperation. The doppleganger stopped struggling. Tomo watched her own face turn blue as she stopped moving. Her own pulse stopped…

For ten full seconds after Tomo maintained the pressure, until she was sure the thing that had taken her form was completely dead. She stared at her own corpse for a few seconds, looking into its wide, swollen eyes. Examining the horrifying expression on her own dead face, the fear and panic as real as her own emotions were.

Wordlessly, in shock from the violent assault and from what she'd just done, Tomo curled up into a ball beside the body. Her entire torso and face felt like they were on fire, her jaw swelling up where she'd fallen straight into that final punch.

Slowly, painfully, Tomo uncurled herself. It was then that she saw the black trail that connected her double to Chiyo.

She watched in fear and disbelief as black gunk began to seep out of the corpse. It trailed across the hall. She wanted to stop it, but she couldn't even move. The gunk kept coming, pulling itself over to Chiyo.

Tomo felt waves of grief and disbelief as she saw Chiyo wasn't breathing. The black substance seeped into her and from Tomo's perspective it seemed like it was going to take possession of an already empty husk. Her friend was dead, and that the thing she thought she had killed was going to use what remained to kill her too. The worst part was Tomo didn't even care about that any more. She just hoped it would be quick.

She saw the breath. A mixture of hope and dread came back into Tomo. All the evidence of her eyes pointed to it being the monster coming back but she clung to the hope that Chiyo had somehow been spontaneously revived. She began to crawl forwards on her hands and knees, too weak to even stand. She didn't care if she died now, if she was crawling back towards her murderer. All she wanted was to see Chiyo alive.

Tomo leaned against the wall and pulled Chiyo onto her lap, supporting her head. She waited in dread and resignation for whatever was inside to wake up and undoubtedly take its revenge while she was too weak to do anything.

The eyes slowly opened… and what was unmistakeably Chiyo looked up at her.

"Tomo?" Chiyo asked, her voice weak.

Tomo looked down in astonishment. As relief warmed her, she began to cry, silent tears that transitioned into open weeping as she released the pain and terror of the past minutes. She swept Chiyo up into her arms, holding her in a silent embrace, tears falling freely down her swollen cheeks.

"I thought you were dead." was all Tomo could choke out.

Chiyo didn't say anything and they were both too weak to stand. They sat there in the dark, not saying a word as they waited for some kind of strength to return to them.

It was Chiyo who finally spoke. "T-Tomo you're covered in bruises!"

Tomo only then realised what a mess she must've looked. She could feel her jaw swelling up and her lips bleeding. Her torso still ached all over and there were shooting pains all down her arms. Her left hand felt weak and numb. She looked like she had just been in a fight to the death.

"Something hit you over the head with a bat. I…"

Tomo's mind shot back to those final moments as she watched herself spasm and choke to death. For a few seconds that was all she could focus on. That horrible expression on her doppleganger's face as the last life had been choked out of it.

Then she heard the sob.

"That was me."

For a moment, Tomo didn't understand what Chiyo was saying. "What? What was-"

"It was me. I hit myself with the bat."

Tomo sat in stunned silence, unable to even form the words as she grasped for the explanation. Finally she managed to stutter the disbelieving words. "Why? Why would you do such a-"

"I heard a voice in the dark. It said it was going to kill you if I didn't use the bat. I was just slowing you down, so I took the bat and I-"

"You aren't slowing me down." Tomo said, quietly and with certainty as if Chiyo had said the most nonsensical thing in the world. Chiyo just shook her head.

"Yes I am. If I hadn't been here, you wouldn't have been-"

"If you hadn't been here I would have been dead." Tomo completed.

For a few seconds Chiyo just looked up. "But the light switch-"

"It's got nothing to do with the light switch!" Tomo said, anger seeping in. Then her voice softened, and the fear came back. "Chiyo, I'm _terrified_. If you weren't with me I wouldn't be able to think. I've been thinking harder than I've ever thought in my life because I had to keep us both safe. I couldn't have done that if it was just me."

"What do you-"

"You've given me something I need to do. A reason I need to keep going even though everything around me is falling apart. If you hadn't shown up I wouldn't have made the decisions that have kept us alive."

Tomo paused to think.

"I can't do this alone Chiyo. The only reason I can think straight is because I've got you with me. If it was just me here, alone and scared, then I'd have done something stupid like I did with the light switch and got myself killed. I probably wouldn't have even made it to school."

Chiyo just stayed silent, tears running down her cheeks. They both stayed silent for a while.

"Chiyo I'm not going to leave you. So don't leave me, ok?"

Chiyo just nodded dumbly.

"It said it was going to kill you." Chiyo whispered. "It made you age in front of me. Was that just an illusion?"

"It tried to kill me anyway." Tomo said numbly. "It almost succeeded too. It took my form and did its best to kill the original copy."

"How did you-"

"Killed it first." Tomo said, an unreal, wooden tone to her voice as if she couldn't quite believe what she was saying. "Whatever it was, it needed something from you because something went inside you straight after it died and woke you up. I think it needed you to hurt yourself badly to take form." Tomo looked at the bloodied bat on the ground. She looked back to the confused and conflicted expression on Chiyo's face and saw more than just fear of the dark and pain from her injury there.

"Chiyo, you said there was a voice."

"Yes…" Chiyo whispered.

"Did the voice say anything else? Anything that might be bothering you?"

Chiyo remained silent for a long while after Tomo asked that. For a moment Tomo thought she was going to get a simple "No". Then Chiyo began to speak.

"It told me my parents hated me. That they worked all day because they didn't want to spend any time with me. It said that I'm an only child because my parents hated having me around."

"And you believed that?" Tomo asked. There wasn't any judgement in her tone.

"I didn't want to. But it just kept saying those horrible things and I couldn't say anything back. It kept saying how everyone hated me, how that was my fault."

"Chiyo _no one_ hates you."

"Don't they?" Chiyo asked, her voice hardening. "It said everyone was jealous, that they hated how I got good grades. How I get everything served up on a-"

"Well of course we're jealous." Tomo said, her bluntness stunning Chiyo. "I'm jealous of your grades all the time. Same reason I'm jealous of Sakaki's talent at sports, why I'm always trying to beat her in something when I don't stand a chance. Do you think that means I don't like Sakaki?"

Some of Chiyo's confusion and self-doubt lifted. "No…" she said hesitantly.

"Well, do you think it means I don't like you? That the others don't like you? That we don't see you're a nice person, that we don't see all the good things you do and all the hard work you put in?"

"No." Chiyo said, her voice hardening.

"Chiyo, your friends love you. Your parents love you. Your teachers love you. You're a good person and everyone around you sees that. If we get jealous it's just because maybe we want to be a bit more like you sometimes. Are you going to let some stupid voice in the dark take that away from you?"

"No." The certainty in Chiyo's voice was unmistakeable this time.

"Listen to me. We're going to get through this. We'll find the others. And when we do, the first thing you're going to do is go to your parents and spend one whole day doing something you all want to do." She pushed Chiyo's head up to face hers. "Understood?"

For the first time since the whole mess began, Chiyo gave a genuine smile. "Understood Tomo."

It took a while, but eventually both Tomo and Chiyo had rested enough to recover some ability to move. As she got up, she examined Chiyo's head wound, free of panic this time.

"We need to get this sorted." Tomo said. Any of her usual cock-sureness was gone, worn away by worry. Chiyo's skull didn't seem to be cracked but there was a horrible, swollen bump and the blood had still barely clotted. She reached into her bag for the first aid kit.

It was then that she noticed the missing key.

"Chiyo where's the key to the outside?"

Silence. She looked around to see Chiyo staring at the floor, shame-faced. Then she saw the glint of the key as it lay on the ground still. Tomo put two and two together.

"You were going to go on alone." she said. Chiyo just nodded, miserable. Tomo put a hand on her shoulder, getting back down on one knee once more.

"Chiyo, I don't know how things are going to go from here. But we do it together, ok?"

"Ok."

"I need you to promise not to go off on your own. Please. It might be hard sometimes, but unless something happens to me, _please_ stay by my side. Promise?"

Chiyo took a moment to think about it. Finally, she lifted her head, a determined look on her face. "Promise!" Tomo gave her a hug.

With that final note of discord settled Tomo set about treating Chiyo's injuries and her own, with occasional instruction from Chiyo. Chiyo's self-inflicted head injury was the worst, requiring a large amount of bandaging and some treatment with the alcohol. Even with that applied it would need steady watching like the injury on Tomo's leg that had finally reknit itself more solidly. The burst lip simply required a plaster. Tomo's hand was still stiff, but there was little that could be done for that and even if there was Tomo needed both hands free.

The rest was just deep bruising; Tomo simply had to accept that moving around was going to hurt for a while. She was getting alarmingly used to that.

Finally, Tomo and Chiyo were ready to set off. Tomo reached for the keyhole….

…and was thrown onto her back as the key went skittering across the corner. Chiyo stared, her newfound hope and morale fading away as a new lock appeared on the door as the other opened with a click.

This was no ordinary lock. It looked like a human heart, the metal keyhole ringed by flesh and purple veins. When she looked over at the key she was shocked to see it had been half melted away.

"We can't leave?" Chiyo asked, new fear coming into her voice. Tomo groaned as she got back to her feet with fresh bruising. Then they both went quiet with shock.

There, on the wall, above the door, blood red letters began to form on the wall.

"All school leavers please report to the assembly hall for their complementary showing of Kanadehon Chūshingura. Children welcome."

For a moment, Tomo considered murdering them both in an act of mercy as they both wondered what fresh hell the ghosts that had been unleashed upon the school had in store for them. The message was an obvious trap, and they had no other way of progressing other than to follow its instructions. What hope lay for them now?


	8. Cracks

Cracks

Tomo and Chiyo just stared at the writing on the wall.

"What are we going to do?" Chiyo asked, her quiet voice quavering slightly.

"Find another way out." Tomo said abruptly. "I hate assembly even when it isn't haunted."

Chiyo took a moment to try to figure out how Tomo could possibly be joking at that moment, even if it was just gallows humour. "But surely whatever's doing this will have thought-"

"Thought of it? Sure. I'm not gonna just give up and do what they tell me to." Tomo replied, stubbornness in her voice. "There's a fire exit nearby on the first floor. If we check there-"

"First floor?" Chiyo asked fearfully. Tomo realised what she was saying as her mind flashed back to the horror they'd met there.

"…so nevermind. We'll try one of the second floor exits first. If we can't get out of the building from there..."

Chiyo waited expectantly as Tomo supported her chin with her hand, trying to think of what to do if the other exits were blocked.

"…if we can't exit by the doors we'll have to get creative. There are windows all over the building. We can always break or open one of those."

"Uh, Tomo? We're already on the ground floor." Chiyo pointed out. Tomo just looked at her blankly.

"Well yeah. What difference does that make? We'll go up the stairs, check there first, then come back down and try the-"

Tomo stopped as she listened to what she was saying. She would have slapped her hand to her face if she hadn't been afraid of hurting her bruised jaw even more than her fight had already done for her. It had been so obvious.

"We'll try the windows first." she said flatly, nursing her pride a bit. Chiyo just looked up with confusion, wondering innocently if she'd said something wrong.

Tomo grabbed her torch and bag and headed back towards the other side of the locker room. As she walked she tried not to look at the bloodstain on the floor or the place where she'd strangled her double. She was just about to reach the door when she stopped and looked back at the bat that lay on the metal floor.

Tomo still felt slightly sick as she looked at the blood that stained the metal, but the bat itself seemed normal. She picked it up.

"You're taking that thing with you?" Chiyo said, disbelieving.

Tomo saw how scared Chiyo was of the bat and how much it hurt her to take it with them but she didn't put it down. "We're not in a position to turn down any favours." she replied, cleaning the blood off against her skirt and placing the bat in her bag. She tried to ignore the miserable look on Chiyo's face as she walked back over towards the inside door. A weapon was a weapon and Tomo wasn't about to turn down anything which might save their lives at some point. She remembered how ineffective the taser had been.

However, another reason Tomo took the bat was the cowardly voice in her head that reminded her of her fight with the doppleganger. How it had felt to choke another human to death, even if the body was just a shell. Tomo didn't want to do anything like that with her hands again. Using a weapon kept the horrible nature of killing away at a longer, slightly less personal distance.

Both of them put their ears to the door and listened very carefully for any sounds that might be coming from outside the locker room.

Tomo couldn't hear anything but she still waited for Chiyo to give the all clear. Chiyo had been the first one to hear the footsteps on the first floor and Tomo hadn't forgotten that she'd probably have walked into sight of the thing if she hadn't been forewarned. Once they'd done all they could to confirm that there was nothing in the passageway beyond, Tomo slid the key into the lock and slowly turned it.

She did her best to be quiet, but the lock still opened with a click that would surely reverberate through the dark hallways. She decided to wait a few more moments, half out of caution in case something came wandering down the hallways to investigate and half out of a strong desire to stay within the limited safety of the locker room. Finally she turned the handle and opened the door.

Tomo swung the beam around in the dark, checking for danger as she used her free hand to hold Chiyo's. Holding hands had become an unspoken rule in the darkness, a source of comfort and a means of ensuring that they wouldn't get separated by some bad turn or if they had to run from something. Finally, they ventured into the corridor. Tomo considered the locker room door and finally decided to lock it again. If there was one thing worse than getting chased down corridors and coming to a locked door it was entering a supposedly safe door and finding something horrible on the other side of it. Unknown dangers were far worse than known terrors.

Thankfully their first walk would be a short one. Tomo had the keys to a classroom on the first floor not far from their position, a large classroom that faced the south side of the building, facing the tarmac path that led back towards the garage and from there the back gate. Ieysu High was unusual in that it was an east rather than south-facing building, meaning that students got blinded as they came into school in the morning and blinded again as they left at sunset. Whoever had made that particular blunder in planning had probably not received a pay rise. At any rate, exiting from the south meant leaving the building relatively near an exit to the school grounds without having to make a long walk over the playground, where anything could see them for miles around.

Tomo grimaced as she realised the classroom was in a dangerous part of the building however. The classroom was located near a corner of the building and its door was served by only a single passageway. If anything came that way they'd be trapped, their only recourse to hide or fight back somehow. They would have to make their escape attempt quickly.

As usual Tomo set a break-neck speed along the corridors, trying to make progress quickly so as to minimise their chances of meeting anything in them. Occasionally they'd duck under windows or stop to listen for what might dwell behind corners, but Tomo kept them moving. Occasionally, she'd turn and swing the torch behind them, looking backwards. Both of them kept their eyes open for the tale-tale flicker of blood red flames. There was no guarantee that the horror that had been born on the first floor would stay there.

At one point they walked past a classroom that had had one of its windows shattered. It wasn't the dangers of broken glass that made Tomo avoid trying to escape through that one. She turned off the torch and they crawled past the classroom in darkness.

Tomo gasped loudly with pain about halfway to their goal as she stepped on a stone on the floor. The shout rang out along the corridors. For a few terrifying seconds Tomo and Chiyo waited there, certain that any second now some new terror would come running down the corridors to finish them. Nothing came, but Tomo still swept the stone to one side in case they happened upon it again.

Finally they reached the classroom. Tomo still kept very quiet and had them crawl along the base, out of sight of the windows. There was no guarantee that the classroom itself was unoccupied or free of traps. She had them scout out the corridor ahead of the classroom, making absolutely certain that nothing was coming down at that immediate moment of time.

It was only once she was sure the corridors to her front and back were clear of anything dangerous that Tomo ventured down the single corridor that led to the door of the classroom itself.

The classroom glass was opaque. It was impossible to see anything distinct through them, but still Tomo shined a torch in there, though not before she'd checked that the classroom door was still truly locked. She swept it around, looking for any dark shapes or unfamiliar objects that might be monsters or some other means of causing them harm. All the while Chiyo kept a watch to her back, praying that the corridors they'd left behind remained empty.

Finally, uncertainly, Tomo decided the coast was clear. She went for her keys.

It was as Tomo unlocked the door that Chiyo heard the footsteps. Two sets of footsteps, coming from opposite directions down the hall.

Frantically she pulled on Tomo's arm. Tomo wasn't responding! She was about to say something when Tomo very quietly opened the door and lightly pushed her inside. Ducking down, Tomo locked the door as quietly as she could, before pushing Chiyo towards the other end of the classroom.

A teacher's desk lay there. Tomo quickly directed Chiyo under there and together they huddled, neither of them making a sound. For a while nothing happened.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Tomo closed her eyes in dread and pulled Chiyo close to her as the nearest window to their position was repeatedly hammered with the same terrible blows that had left dents in the locker they'd hidden in in the first aid station. Both of them flinched as the glass shattered. They heard something clamber into the room with them, and a terrifying moan ring out.

Slowly, the thing began to wander around the room. Neither of them dared peek out to see what it was doing. The monster paced up and down, occasionally stopping. It was with dread that Chiyo realised it must have been checking under each of the desks. Opposite her Tomo was already holding both her stun gun and the bat. The torch had been extinguished long ago, only the faint light from the outside windows providing visibility.

Occasionally it would throw a drawer open with a sudden bang. As it wandered down the last isle towards the girls' hiding place there was a colossal racket as the creature tried to open a locked cupboard and found it couldn't, instead pulling it over. Tomo expected it to move on only to be rooted to the floor by the sound of breaking wood as the creature smashed the cabinet into splinters instead. Paper flew everywhere and there was the smell of sawdust as it pulverised the flimsy wooden construction, beating it into the dust.

After it was done, the creature gave a frustrated yell and threw what little remained of the construction across the classroom. Tomo could barely hold back a frustrated growl as it failed to break an outside window. Then she felt the blood run out from her features as it began to move towards the teacher's desk…

Something else stepped into the classroom. Both girls heard the footsteps stop.

Then they heard a terrible roar as the two monsters charged one another.

There was the sound of tearing flesh, an impact and an alien cry of what could only be pain. Tomo crawled out from under the desk and peeked from around it to see what was going on. Chiyo pulled at Tomo to stop but Tomo pulled away. She had to know what was going on; it could be their only chance of getting out of this alive.

What she saw made her go wide eyed with astonishment as much as fear. A clawed, bare-skulled monster like the one from the first floor was standing there with its claws stuck in the belly of what had to be the largest humanoid Tomo had ever seen. Slowly, it was drawing them across, disembowelling its foe.

The eight foot giant that was in the middle of being gutted hadn't even flinched. Unlike its assailant this monster's entire body was skinned, a pale, sickly tone that exposed all its veins, enormous muscled arms clutched around its enemy's throat. Vertical oval eyes focussed entirely on the face of the much smaller monster in front of it. It ignored the massive gash that was being steadily opened up in the skin of its belly, instead putting all its strength into crushing the skinless and exposed neck of its foe, growling hideously the entire time.

The clawed monster hauled its claws out of its opponent's belly and tried futilely to hack at its arms, desperately trying to regain some supply of precious oxygen. Tomo winced as it inflicted a few bleeding cuts as it tore at the eight foot tall giant with blows that would have cut a human arm into bloody slices, but the giant didn't even flinch, let alone seem disabled in some way. Instead it simply lifted the clawed monster up and threw it bodily across the classroom and into a desk, reducing it to powder under the impact. It stalked forward, and Tomo began to think that the conflict was horribly one-sided.

Tomo was astonished to see the dazed monster get back to its feet again and charge forward. It narrowly avoided a fist that the giant lunged out with and tore at its chest, only for its claws to hit the sternum, leaving a superficial cut at best as the giant simply looked down at where it had been cut. The giant gave a horrible, guttural growl as the clawed monster seemed to freeze. Was it afraid?

The giant grasped the monster's claw above where it had embedded itself in the giant's chest. The giant pulled the monster forward, up close. It grabbed hold of the monster's bare skull and shoulder and started to pull.

A terrible shriek filled the classroom that reminded Tomo all too much of the incident on the first floor.

Tomo almost threw up as she heard a horrible popping sound. The giant was ripping its head off! The monster hacked and hacked frantically at the giant's sides, desperately moaning with what could only be mortal agony and leaving brutal looking yet superficial wounds. The giant groaned but kept going, and the swings were getting weaker and beginning to wind down. Beside Tomo Chiyo had gone pale, a petrified look in her eyes. Just as Tomo was sure she was going to hear a neck snap, she heard a disgusting squelch instead.

The giant staggered backwards. One of the claws had found its neck. A nearby desk was splattered with bright red blood as the giant tried to steady itself to no avail. It toppled backwards onto the floor and didn't get up.

A few seconds later and Tomo saw its chest stop rising and falling.

The clawed monster had hardly fared better. It seemed to sway where it was, rigid for a moment. Then it toppled backward and hit the ground with thud.

For a moment, Tomo considered grabbing Chiyo and running for the door. Yet something stopped her. Instead she stood up and began to walk towards where the monster fell, tightening her grip on the bat in her hand. Chiyo just looked on in terror and astonishment.

"What are you _doing?"_ she hissed. Tomo just kept walking, a focussed look on her face. Chiyo got out of her hiding place and covered a gasp with her hands. What little colour was left in her face trickled away as she saw the aftermath of what Tomo had watched from behind the desk.

The room was covered in sawdust from the two shattered pieces of furniture. The giant's corpse lay in the centre of the room, staring up at the sky, its face unnaturally still as the pallor of death took over. A pool of blood was building around it, and Chiyo nearly fainted at the sight of the gigantic gash that had been torn open in its throat, its gullet clearly visible. Blood had stained the surrounding area including the bottom of its face red.

Tomo avoided the puddle of gore and tried to block out the sound of Chiyo throwing up behind the desk as she moved towards the fallen monster. It was lying still on the ground, and for a second Tomo thought it was dead. She flinched slightly as she saw it breathe, and involuntarily took a step back when its tiny eyes locked on to hers and a faint growl sounded out. It didn't move.

Tomo realised that the monster was paralysed. Somehow it was still alive, but it would never move again.

If the other monsters found it, they would probably finish it off. In the meantime, it would lie there in agony with a broken neck.

Tomo stared at the bare skull of the monster. She felt numb as she tried to figure out what to do.

She could beat its skull in with the bat. It wouldn't be quick but it would spare the monster a horrible wait for something to find it. Tomo didn't know if that even mattered or whether she was just going crazy. She began to raise the bat, only for the monster's eyes to shoot towards the weapon. There was a definite note of distress in its cry now. For a few moments Tomo just stood there, looking down at the thing with her arms half raised for the killing blow.

"You don't want to die." Tomo said softly. Slowly, she lowered the bat, the energy somehow draining from her as she did so.

Wordlessly Tomo undid her bag. Reaching in, she picked out one of her largest textbooks and the medical kit. She slid the book underneath the monster's head, supporting it. Then she opened the first aid box.

Chiyo just leaned against the nearby desk, watching stupefied as Tomo knelt down and put the blanket over the creature, giving it something to keep it warm as it lay on the floor. She put the bat and kit away and stood up, still looking down.

"I can't do anything more than that. We've got to leave here." Chiyo realised that Tomo was talking to herself as much as to the monster. Tomo finally managed to turn away, looking at the window. There was a strange, conflicted expression on her face.

Chiyo finally managed to find the gumption to move towards her, though she still kept well clear of the dead giant. Tomo was busy examining the window. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, and she suddenly seemed tired, distracted. Chiyo approached, Tomo not noticing her until she was almost right beside the older girl.

"It's locked. We're going to have to break the windows." Tomo said. None of her usual personality was in that voice; it sounded strange, wooden. She was about to ready the bat when Chiyo spoke.

"Why did you do that?" she asked. Tomo froze, unable to answer for a while.

"I don't know." Tomo finally said. "Look, get out of the way because this is probably going to be dangerous."

Tomo pulled back for a swing as Chiyo backed off. Just as Tomo was about to hit the window however the same bloody letters that had appeared above the door of the locker room appeared in front of them.

"The One That Shatters Me Shatters The Other."

Tomo stared. "What does that mean?"

Wordlessly, Chiyo picked up a pencil from the table and chucked it at the window. Tomo put a hand to her face as she felt something bounce off of it.

"This glass is somehow linked to us. If one of us breaks it the other person dies."

Tomo let go of the bat as if she'd been given an electric shock. She stared at the glass in dumb recognition of what would have happened had she swung the bat at the window.

For a good long while Tomo just stared at the window sill. She looked like she wanted to smash it instead. The sun was shining through the shutters, a glimpse of another world that the girls simply couldn't get to. But the expression on Tomo's face was somehow managed to be even more demoralising for Chiyo.

"Tomo I think we need to get going. I don't think we can get out this way." Chiyo said. Tomo just gazed out the window. Freedom was so close… she kicked the base of the wall.

"Damn it." was all she said.

There was a strange look in Tomo's face; one that looked disturbingly like the one Tomo had been wearing when she'd slumped against the wall in their homeroom. Chiyo decided they had to get out of the room as fast as possible. The occasional moan from the broken monster behind didn't help matters.

Quietly, Chiyo retrieved the bat from the floor. She placed it back in Tomo's bag. As much as she hated the weapon she still remembered the panic Tomo had had earlier. She didn't want to do anything that would make her feel even less secure. Firmly, she took Tomo's hand, and began to lead her back around the classroom towards the door. Tomo stared at the monster for a moment, but Chiyo eventually managed to coax her towards the door. Seemingly on autopilot Tomo took out her keys and unlocked the door.

Their next destination was the second floor. There was the front entrance, but the idea of noisily moving the blockading furniture out of the way was one neither of them found appealing. Going up there meant exploring more dark corridors and possibly finding the flaming terror.

As they walked through the darkness, Chiyo's thoughts turned continuously to Tomo's deteriorating state of mind. Something about that fight in the classroom and her interaction with the monster had affected the older girl profoundly and negatively. As they navigated the initial corridors, Chiyo found she was taking the lead more and more as Tomo just allowed herself to follow.

That wasn't Tomo, and it wasn't good. Tomo wasn't quiet and she wouldn't be led. A cloud hung over Chiyo as she took the lead for the first time in navigating the dark corridors, ears open for the ever-present threat of footsteps.

After all, the one thing they had established beyond doubt was that there was more than one monster in the building.


	9. Devoured

Devoured

The journey to the second floor would be a long one. It would have been quicker had they gone back to use the stairwell they'd come down to escape the first floor but Chiyo didn't want to go anywhere near there for obvious reasons and Tomo quickly picked up on the sentiment. They would have to use the stairwell on the north-western side of the building instead. That meant trekking across almost the entirety of the building.

After a while Tomo began to take the lead again in directing them safely through the corridors, but the determined spark seemed to have gone out. Her pace was slower and she seemed less focussed than before. She no longer really seemed to believe that they would get out of the building this way.

Chiyo realised that the way Tomo was leading them would probably lead them past the front door. Maybe Tomo intended to try to move the blockade after all? It could hardly go worse than their other attempts to get out of the building.

Travelling the halls hadn't become any less dangerous. They were walking past more smashed windows now as the monsters searched the classrooms. Chiyo didn't know if they were specifically searching for them or just one another.

It wasn't long before Tomo stopped in her tracks. There, lying against the walls was one of the monsters. She only started breathing again when she saw it had had its throat torn out… then she saw the rest of it.

It was half eaten, the flesh of its torso torn away with vital fluids flowing out onto the ground. A massive void was visible where its stomach should have been, a hole leading up to where the heart had no doubt been before whatever had slaughtered the monster ripped it out. Tomo and Chiyo would have both thrown up if they hadn't been too terrified to move.

At least with the monsters tearing each other apart they stood a better chance of getting to where they needed to go. Chiyo's mind was still on Tomo's actions back in the classroom. There was no doubt it had been a noble act and Chiyo would never have dared approach the fallen creature, let alone walk up to it as fearlessly as Tomo had. Yet the whole episode had clearly affected Tomo and Chiyo couldn't help but be depressed by it as well. Even the things that chased them were suffering.

Tomo eventually managed to move again, taking them in a different direction. She was definitely heading towards the front door now. When Chiyo asked her about it, her only response was "Might as well try."

That worried Chiyo. As scared as she was she still had the presence of mind to understand they were in a survival situation. Tomo seemed to be so hell-bent on getting out of the building without going to the assembly hall that Chiyo was beginning to believe that she would jump off the top of the four-storey school if it got her out of it one second earlier.

On the other hand the fire escape ran the obvious risk of setting off the fire alarm. With power to the school dead it shouldn't be possible, but there was always the possibility of the alarm being connected to some auxiliary power source. On the other hand the monsters probably didn't understand the concept of a fire exit. They wouldn't know to check the doors in the event of a fire alarm.

They were coming down towards the bulletin board where they had started their ill-fated exploration of the school when Chiyo heard a rustling sound ahead. They both froze. It sounded almost like running water, but there was a hard note amongst the sound that ruled out fluids.

Tomo stood there for a while, not making any sound and simply listening. The noise didn't seem to be getting any closer. To Chiyo's alarm she started to walk forward.

"Tomo come on, let's go another way." Chiyo insisted, trying to pull her back. Tomo shook her head and simply dragged Chiyo along with her.

"This might be our only way out." Tomo said, breaking from the original plan without even consulting Chiyo. She did turn off the torch though.

The noise grew louder, and Chiyo began to distinguish the sounds. It was like hundreds of individual taps and clicks and shuffles, as if the entire area ahead of them was moving.

It was only as the noise began to become deafening that Chiyo dug her heels in and forced Tomo to stop. Tomo tried to move forward but Chiyo physically threw herself to the ground, forcing Tomo to stop.

"What are you doing?" Tomo hissed.

"Turn on the torch." Chiyo said.

"What? Are you-" Tomo began

"Turn on the torch! Now!" Chiyo interrupted. The urgency in her voice was so pronounced that Tomo obeyed in an instant. The beam snapped on… and what it revealed wasn't so much a corridor as a massive, scuttling wall of flesh.

Thousands of centipedes smothered the floors, ceilings and walls of the building. Tomo stepped back wide eyed as Chiyo crawled backwards, struck dumb with horror and disgust at the sea of insects. They had literally been one step away from walking into the swarm.

The insects didn't seem to react. They scuttled around on the floor, blocking the way to the entrance. For a few seconds Tomo didn't move. Then she started forward again, only to be locked in place by Chiyo's arms around her leg.

"Come on! They're only insects!" Tomo growled, trying to pull her leg free.

"Tomo there's thousands of the things!" Chiyo yelled.

"Are centipedes even dangerous?" Tomo asked, a definite note of irritation in her voice now as the scepticism rang loud and clear. Despite this she momentarily stopped her struggles. If Chiyo had something to say about anything academic you could bet it was worth listening to.

"If they're what I think they are then yes, especially in bare feet! And even if they weren't, they don't swarm around in thousands and _they definitely don't guard doorways!_"

The centipede Chiyo was thinking of was the mukade. On the surface mukades looked like perfectly normal centipedes. However, Chiyo knew they were extremely aggressive and had a bite that could swell up a hand. A thousand of them could easily overwhelm two people, especially barefoot. If they walked into that mass they were dead for sure.

Tomo hesitated. In the torchlight Chiyo could see the gears in her head working, her desperation to leave the school fighting with her common sense not to walk into a swarm of large insects. It was insane to try to call the bluff of a building that had so far threatened them with monsters, possessions and dangerous traps but still Tomo made up her mind to risk it, and Chiyo saw the potentially fatal decision evident on her face. She grabbed hold of Tomo's leg, determined not to let her do something so stupid and suicidal.

Then they heard the running footsteps behind them. Tomo struggles to move intensified as she tried to get them away from whatever was approaching.

"What are you doing? That thing's going to kill us! Chiyo-"

Chiyo just clung on. Moving forward would lead them straight into the centipedes and Chiyo was sure they'd swarm if they were disturbed. Back would lead them straight into a monster. A desperate plan formed in Chiyo's head as she held Tomo immobile, fighting the older and far stronger girl for control of the situation. The footsteps drew near and a terrifying growl sounded out.

"Chiyo! Let go! We have to move!"

Still Chiyo held on, even as Tomo now tried to disentangle her with her own hands, shaking her leg in a way that threatened to overbalance both of them and send them toppling into the mess of writhing centipedes on the ground. The footsteps closed in and Tomo gave a shriek as she shielded herself with her arms…

…only for Chiyo to let go suddenly and shove her as hard as she possibly could to the ground as she threw herself back against the nearby wall. The torch clattered to the ground, going out, and something hurtled by them in the dark, something sharp missing Tomo by barely a centimetre. Chiyo stuck out her leg and felt something connect with it to go tumbling onwards… straight into the bugs.

Tomo picked up the torch quickly from the ground. She shone it down the corridor as she backed up, expecting to see whatever it was that had attacked pick itself up and throw itself at them, certain to kill them easily.

Instead what she saw was somehow even worse.

A bizarre humanoid with four massive arms and tusks coming out of its skeletal jaws writhed on the floor as the centipedes swarmed over it, parts of the floor becoming clear as they rapidly covered it completely. Horrible howls of pain came from the monster as the centipedes bore down on it. Tomo saw the horrible razor sharp bones that jutted out of each of its four translucent arms, slicing at the writhing mass of insects and trying to clear them off. Its jelly-like, see-through flesh that didn't even hide its internal organs was rapidly ripped open as the beetles began their feast. Beside her Chiyo just stood there transfixed, unable to move or look away.

Tomo didn't let her watch any longer. She grabbed her arm and wrenched her away from the scene as they ran as far as they possibly could away from that horrifying swarm at the front of the school.

It wasn't until they were several corridors away that Tomo let them stop running. They stood there panting in the hall.

"What the heck was that?" Tomo asked breathlessly, only to hear Chiyo's angry voice sound out in the darkness.

"That's a good question!" Chiyo hissed. "What did you think you were doing back there?" She looked up, watching as a defensive expression came onto Tomo's face.

"I was trying to get us out of the building." Tomo muttered weakly.

"Through a sea of dangerous insects in our bare feet? Shall we just walk up to one of the things in the corridors next time and ask it to throw it out a window?" Chiyo asked.

Tomo just stared. Anger was something she'd never expected to hear from Chiyo. Yet part of her realised she'd earned it. She looked along the corridor as she leant against the wall, avoiding Chiyo's gaze. Guilt battled with an urge to defend her actions.

It had been stupid. She'd been so desperate for an escape route that she'd almost led them straight into obvious doom. Colour came into her cheeks as she blushed. Chiyo just stood there, her arms crossed, the anger still there. It was her who spoke next.

"Tomo I don't think we should go to the second floor. I don't think we can get out any of the normal ways."

"What do you suggest we do instead then?" Tomo said, her voice dangerously quiet. Chiyo's temper wasn't helped by the sulky, condescending tone that had come into Tomo's voice as she continued. "Shall we just line up in assembly like good little girls and wait for the building to get tired of playing and finish us off?"

"Do we have any choice?" Chiyo said resignedly.

"Yes! We can do anything but walk straight into a death trap!"

"Like you almost did!"

"I was trying-"

Tomo stopped. For a moment the two girls stared at each other, neither shifting. It was a ridiculous scene, they were arguing with one another in a dark corridor in the middle of a monster-infested building. Tomo sighed.

"Look, two wrongs don't make a right here. We might as well try everything else before-"

"Tomo we're not going to get out of here by trying more doors." Tomo was astounded by the tired certainty in Chiyo's voice. "We're wasting time and we might as well get this over with. We can't be trapped in this building when night falls."

"But-"

"Do you want to help Yomi?" Chiyo charged.

Outrage flooded into Tomo as she heard Chiyo say that. "How can you even ask me that?" she said, barely holding back the anger. Chiyo just looked her right in the eyes.

"If you want to help Yomi then we need to get out of here as fast as we can. Checking the exits isn't getting us anywhere. Even the windows were trapped! Do you really think whatever is doing this won't have trapped the fire escapes?"

Tomo was silent. She just looked down, anger in conflict with newfound respect. Yet there was reluctance and fear still evident in her face.

"We've tried everything we can Tomo." Chiyo said. "I think we'd better go to assembly."

Tomo stood there for a few moments, digesting that. Then an idea came to her head.

"There's one thing we haven't tried." she said.

"What?" Chiyo asked. Something about the way Tomo had said that worried her.

"We haven't tried climbing down from the roof."

Chiyo just stared at her, and wondered if Tomo had finally completely lost her mind.


	10. Pandemonium

Pandemonium

Chiyo stared up at the perilously sincere look on Tomo's face. For a few moments she waited, as if somehow the joke might become clear and Tomo's face might break into a grin.

She started to panic as Tomo's face remained horribly serious. Chiyo had to say something to stop Tomo from forcing her into putting this insanity into action. "Tomo, _no."_ she said, firmly.

"It's the one place that might not be trapped." Tomo said, insistently.

"It's a deathrap all by itself!" Chiyo hissed. If they hadn't been in such mortal danger she would have screamed it. "How are we going to get down the side of the school?"

"We'll use the drainpipes." Tomo said, as if that was a simple and obvious solution.

"They'll never support our weight!" Chiyo said. The sheer stupidity of Tomo's suggestion was leaving her dazed.

"Chiyo, there's no other way out of here." The cold certainty with which Tomo said that scared Chiyo more than anything else did. "I'm not going into that assembly hall. I'm not even going _near_ it. The exits are trapped, as are the windows and the roof is the only thing that might not be guarded. At least it's outside!"

Chiyo thought for a second as she tried to get inside the head of her apparently suicidal classmate. There had to be a better way of doing this!

Then the idea came to her.

"Fine…" she said, even if everything was absolutely not fine about the plan Tomo had come up with. "But we can't just clamber down the side of the building. We need a rope."

Chiyo half expected an objection of some kind, but Tomo just nodded. "Good idea. There's a sports supply closet near Nyamo's office. We might be able to find some there." There was some strain in Tomo's voice when she mentioned their P.E teacher, but despite it the determined look had come back onto her face. Whatever Chiyo's reservations Tomo obviously thought it was a good idea.

Chiyo had just one more objection.

"Tomo, what if the roof access is trapped?"

Tomo's eyes shifted at that, some of the newfound confidence draining out of her. It was a while before she addressed that possibility.

"If we can't get out to the roof we'll go straight to the assembly hall." Tomo said finally, as if making a deal with someone other than Chiyo. There was a troubled expression on her face as she squatted down for a moment to look Chiyo in the eyes. "Look, Chiyo, I don't think any of our options are going to shift the odds to our side. The only thing I know for sure is we're not going to get anywhere by listening to the thing writing bloody messages on the walls. We have to try this."

Chiyo seemed to absorb that for a second, but she eventually nodded. It almost hurt her head that Tomo's insane suggestion was actually the best chance they might actually have at that point. There was one final point she had to raise however. "Tomo, Nyamo's office is on the first floor." she said fearfully.

What little confidence was still on Tomo's face seemed to drain away at that, but she still gave Chiyo a brave smile as she said "Well, we're just going to have to be careful then, aren't we? Come on."

Tomo took Chiyo's hand without another word. As they departed Chiyo at least drew strength that some of the spirit Tomo had shown before that first monster in the aid room had found them seemed to have returned.

Tomo didn't know how they survived that awful walk. Due to their desperate retreat away from the mukadas Tomo was forced to take them on a circuitous route, leading them back the way they'd came before they could begin to move towards the north-western stairwell.

On their way they discovered that the ground floor was becoming a battleground. Several corpses littered the ground on the way, some slashed open by blades, others pulverised or choked, some headless or limbless. All were mutilated to the point where it was difficult to make out what features they might have had during life. The stench of death was present to some degree in every corridor.

At one point both of them crouched down in the darkness as they witnessed one of the horned horrors go up against a new denizen; a six-legged pink thing with huge mandibles and a stinging tail. It wasn't until the beetle-like creature had carried away its still-slashing prey in its jaws, crushing it slowly and stabbing it over and over with its tail that Tomo dared let them move again.

They were about a third of the way to their destination when a new terror confronted them. They were forced dangerously close to the assembly hall as Tomo was forced to change direction by a set of enormous bloody footprints whose owner must have been almost as large as the corridor. The fact that the horrors were only getting larger just reinforced Tomo's increasingly entrenched belief that they were going to have to get out of the building. She was beginning to believe that they had minutes rather than hours. She began to hurry…

Beside her Chiyo was becoming more and more tense. Somehow she'd managed to hold it together through the terrible things she'd seen but the violence she'd seen in the corridors was beginning to affect her badly. Tomo's sixteen year old mind at least had some context for what they were going through. For Chiyo's eleven year old brain this was a never ending nightmare. She'd gone utterly silent and Tomo had begun to pull her rather than lead her through the corridors, holding her in her grasp rather than guiding her by the hand.

Ahead of them lay a massive pool of blood. Just as Tomo thought she'd acclimatised to the nauseating horror created by mutilated bodies she vomited at the overpowering stench of steadily decomposing blood and almost screamed at the sight of the detached ribcage and spine, a large and detached set of bones which had once belonged to something's limbs and a discarded, fractured skull with one eye still in it. The skull itself had been crushed open; there was no brain inside. Insects had already been attracted to the pool, steadily gorging themselves on the feast provided. There was no way of telling what the bones had once been.

Tomo managed to drag herself upright again and stared numbly at the carnage, almost at the point of passing out. She'd dropped Chiyo's hand and had almost done the same with the torch. Whatever had done this had been large, and Tomo felt tempted to curl up in a ball on the floor in terror as she remembered the enormous footprints and put two and two together. She looked over to her side to recover Chiyo only to stare in dumb realisation that the younger girl had actually passed out this time from shock, her face pale on the ground. The sheer terror of her surroundings had finally been too much.

It was up to a petrified, numb and barely conscious Tomo to carry her through the bloody mess over her shoulders to the other side, feet splashing noisily in the still warm gore as she did so. There was no avoiding it; even the walls were splattered, and Tomo's desire to get away from the insane labyrinth that had overtaken her once familiar school had overcome any fear or disgust she'd had for blood. She was moving automatically now, her brain just trying to block out the death and pain that surrounded her. Even the first floor and its occupant were starting to seem attractive compared to the hell that had become the ground floor. Tomo couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at how the bones had been picked clean by whatever had perpetrated the horrible act.

Once Tomo was well away from the massacre and had stopped leaving a fetid trail of gore in her wake she lay Chiyo down on the ground. Tomo hoped she'd wake up soon.

They were near a junction, which at least gave them an escape route. Tomo drew the bat in preparation for the most terrifying watch imagineable while Chiyo recovered. She was just about to look around the corner when one of the clawed creatures came right around it first. Tomo found herself staring straight into its beady eyes, brain protrusions almost touching her.

For a moment, both human and monster just stared at one another. Then the monster stumbled back howling as Tomo hit it with the bat upon its skull. The creature tried to regain its balance only for Tomo to smack it again in the exact same place with a far more substantial blow before kicking it with all her strength in the chest. There was no way she could possibly have caused it serious damage, but she managed to knock it down before grabbing Chiyo and fleeing down the corridor, not even minding her destination as she bolted round the corridor and down several other hallways to lose it in the darkness.

It was the third time that day that Tomo had had to use violence to save their lives. She could scarcely believe that it had actually worked. At least the smaller monsters seemed to have some kind of vulnerability.

The constant struggle was starting to change Tomo's attitudes. Despite shock and exhaustion she was beginning to understand violence. It might not have helped her against a skilled opponent but against something like the monsters of the corridor the one who struck first with enough force got to live. She was beginning to understand the same principle the monsters worked on; raw aggression was what allowed you to survive.

After what seemed like an eternity of dodging corpses and hiding in the shadows Tomo made it to the stairwell, barely in a better state than when she'd ran through the city at the start of the entire nightmare. She ran up the stairs, desperate to escape the chaos below, _finally_ taking a moment to catch her breath when she made it there. At the very least Tomo was grateful for the fact that her leg seemed to be keeping up with the punishment. She still had Chiyo lying limp over her shoulders.

Tomo took a moment to think as she looked out into the darkness, though she took the time to get behind the stairwell. This part of the first floor was less familiar to Tomo; she had few reasons to come here as most of her classes were elsewhere in the building. She knew the broad direction however and anywhere was better than near where the flaming terror had left them.

There were three passageways. In the end Tomo picked the south one. It was the fastest route to familiar territory but it also meant moving through the dark. With Chiyo over one shoulder and the torch in her other hand Tomo had no chance of repeating the miracle on the ground floor. Waving a big light around in the pitch black was hardly ideal, but at least the darkness and keen hearing would give Tomo a chance of hiding from anything that approached. Tomo was suddenly glad she was barefoot; she realised that if they'd been clopping around in their shoes something would probably have heard and come after them by now. The other two passageways would lead them past the windows and as much as Tomo's tired eyes begged for light that wasn't torchlight there would be no chance of avoiding a monster in those long corridors.

Tomo was about to plunge miserably into the darkness when Chiyo finally came to again on her shoulders. She felt her shift on her shoulders, unaware of what was going on. Tomo quickly put her down and let her sit against the stairwell.

Tomo decided not to relate the horrors of the ground floor. She simply settled for explaining to her that she'd fainted and telling her where she was.

That didn't stop the memories from coming back to Chiyo. Tomo quickly got out of the way as she suddenly stood up and emptied her stomach in a corner. For a moment she just stood there, bent over, her mind trying to process what she'd seen. The puddle of blood, the body parts, and the footprints all came flooding back, along with the corpses on the ground and the things in the corridors.

It was only after she started trembling that Tomo put a hand on her shoulder, pulled her round firmly and got down on one knee to look into her eyes. One look in Chiyo's face told Tomo that the younger girl had been pushed a step too far. No emotional talk was going to pull her out of what was haunting her after that horrifying journey through the corridors. The expression on her face was one of pure, paralysing fear alongside crippling despair; she looked like she'd been in a warzone and for all intents and purposes she had been. If something came round the corner Tomo doubted Chiyo could even run.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Tomo asked, trying to keep her own fear and growing sense of being alone out of her voice. Chiyo just nodded, utterly miserable.

They got some respite as Tomo avoided meeting anything in the dark on the way to the supply closet. Still a tense period followed as Tomo had to use her lockpicks in the dark; she had no key for this room and it was probably on Minamo. Chiyo just waited at her side, stunned stupid with horror. Tomo couldn't help but dwell on Chiyo's degrading state of mind. They would have to take a moment to rest and allow her to calm down; if she could be calmed down. It was with growing fear that Tomo realised that Chiyo was going to suffer permanent mental damage or even a full mental breakdown if she didn't get out of the building soon; if that damage hadn't already happened after that mess in the corridor. Tomo was one bad shock away from curling up into a catatonic ball herself.

Tomo nearly had that shock as the lock reset not once but three times before she finally got it open. Her hands were trembling by the time she finally heard that glorious, life-preserving click. She swore that if she ever got through this she was going to spend a full weekend practicing locking and unlocking different kinds of locks.

It was just as she opened the door that Tomo saw the red, flickering light come round a corner in the distance. Holding a hand over Chiyo's mouth Tomo opened the door as quietly as she could and slid them inside, barely daring to click the mechanism closed. She didn't dare lock it while that thing was still out there. That would have created a noise level above silence. The lack of response from Chiyo was almost as frightening as the younger girl didn't even make a movement of her own volition. She just allowed Tomo to pull her around like a ragdoll.

It occurred to Tomo as the door closed that she had effectively trapped them in here. Chiyo had pressed herself against the wall, sliding down it to cover her hands with her knees. It was a full minute of excruciating waiting before they ascertained that that horrible thing at least hadn't come their way. If they'd been caught in here it would have been over.

Tomo took a moment to consider what they were going to do. One look at Chiyo told her that she wasn't going to be of much help for now. It was beyond an eleven year old's ability to cope. Tomo ultimately decided that she could at least try to get Chiyo to focus on a task.

"Chiyo, listen to me." She got down on the ground. "I need you to watch the door for me. I'm going to have a look around. If anything happens, throw this ball at my back." She placed a nearby tennis ball in Chiyo's hand.

Chiyo just nodded fearfully, holding the ball with both hands as if it contained the key to her life… which in the event of some beast approaching it might very well do in her dependent state. Tomo put a hand on her shoulder and gave her the best smile she could manage before turning to the closet.

As dangerous as leaving Chiyo near the unlocked door was Tomo still hadn't ensured the closet itself was safe. It had been locked but that hadn't stopped the horror that they'd encountered in the locker room from nearly killing them. Tomo was proceeding on the assumption that there were no safe havens anywhere as long as they remained within the grounds of Ieysu High. It just made her even more determined to escape.

The store room itself was fairly substantial. Lines of sports balls of various shapes and sizes were stored in boxes on the shelves; spare bases and nets for bat sports littered the isles. Still it was relatively organised.

Tomo however was looking for rope. Slowly she began to look through the boxes, talking as she did so to try to give Chiyo something to focus on other than the unremitting horror. She found a few promising items.

"Sailing… no, too short. Hillwalking… huh… well that's useful but still not ideal, we'd need to tie them together… aha!"

Tomo had hit a goldmine. Sitting there against the wall was a box labelled "Abseiling Supplies".

As Tomo picked the precious coils of rope out of the box for the first time she genuinely began to think they might get out of the school after all. It was just as she was starting to really feel she'd had a stroke of good luck when a slight problem struck her.

Well actually it wasn't a slight problem. It wasn't even a small problem.

"_How the hell are we going to carry enough rope to abseil down the school around with us?"_


	11. Faith

Faith

"_I didn't dodge monsters, strangle myself and nearly get devoured by bugs to get defeated by physics!"_

The problem Tomo was facing _was_ a question of physics however. From the roof to the playground the school stood at approximately eighty feet of smooth concrete and polished glass. Tomo barely made five feet, or one hundred and fifty four centimetres. Even if Chiyo was in a state to help, she was only a further four foot five inches, or a hundred and thirty three centimetres. To carry the coiled up rope Tomo was either going to have to coil it around them both in loose coils that stretched almost to their feet more than ten times. They would practically be smothered in the rope. The _alternative_ was carrying the enormous box of rope sans safety equipment with them through the corridors, their hands fully occupied and the torch unusable.

Either way spelt almost certain death. In the dark Tomo stood a fairly good chance of missing a turn in the corridors, while coiling the rope around them both was probably going to lead to them being tripped up and would be constantly dropping off their shoulders onto the ground, slowing them down and alerting anything that dwelt in the corridors to their presence.

Tomo put her hands to her head as she mentally crossed off both options as suicide.

For a moment, she despaired. What hope was there? She looked over at Chiyo. She was huddled in the corner, looking up at Tomo and clearly depending on her to be their salvation here. The longer Tomo hesitated the more Chiyo's fear grew. If she weakened now what little sanity Chiyo was still hanging onto would probably go entirely.

It was up to her. _It was all up to her._ Tomo's face hardened in determination as she thought hard about the problem that was in front of her. For five tense seconds she drew a blank, doubt growing with every moment, but finally, finally, her head hit upon the answer.

Coiling the rope vertically around them was simply not going to work. However, coiling the rope horizontally in a tight loop around them, leaving space at the arms and avoiding the legs might just work, especially if the rope could be tied tight. Tomo grimaced as she realised they were going to have to wear the rope.

That still left putting her theory into practice. Tomo steadily began to uncoil the longest rope she saw, one that was probably meant for scaling enormous rock walls or mountain sides. After flooding the ground with what had to be a sea of rope, she tied the end of the rope around her waist. She tried to ignore the doubtful expression on Chiyo's face as she tied a knot in the rope, holding it in place around her.

That still left a lot of rope. Steadily Tomo began to coil the rope around her, continuing to wrap it around in tight rows until she'd mummified herself in it.

There was still a mass of rope on the floor, but Tomo had anticipated that. She led the rope back down and found the other end, filtering it through the bottom coil from beneath to minimise any space wastage. Tomo then began to coil the rope around the coils already present, repeating the process until she was double wrapped.

She knew how absurd she must have looked, almost wrapped up in rope. She didn't care. The incredulous expression on Chiyo's face was better than the cold despair Tomo had seen earlier out in the corridor. Tomo just wrapped the rope around her again until she was twice her normal size and there was barely any rope at all left on the ground. Then all she did was tie the rope off up at the top of the coil, securing it there and ensuring the whole thing didn't just collapse in a heap to the ground. She took a moment to test the mechanism, stretching, pacing and generally ensuring that it was wound tight and wouldn't simply shuck itself off as a result of some dramatic movement.

It was heavy and extremely uncomfortable to move around in, but it kept her legs and arms free. Tomo finally managed to sling her bag around her neck for safe keeping, careful to ensure the pressure fell upon the back of her neck rather than her windpipe. Finally, feeling rather like the inside of a donut, she crouched down awkwardly and picked up the bat and torch, unable to bend her torso. She stood there, taking a moment to take in the triumph of being able to carry eighty foot of rope around with her and still be able to move around.

That still left Chiyo, who at least seemed to have recovered sufficiently to look at her agape. Tomo decided to go with humour.

"I'm a bit tied up at the moment, so I'm afraid you'll have to walk."

For a while Chiyo just stared. Then the terrified expression on her face began to change, the fear never leaving it but a smile curling up all the same. Finally Tomo heard a snort of laughter escape.

"Tomo that was _awful_." Chiyo chided, absurdity finally breaking through the fear. Somehow Tomo's antics had managed to cheer her up in the middle of an apparent apocalypse. Tomo decided to take it as a good sign. She smiled and crouched down, almost overbalancing.

"Yeah it was." she admitted, allowing the moment of humour as long as she could. Then she let her voice go deadly serious. "Chiyo this is _it._ Once we leave here we absolutely must not stop until we're outside of the school. There's going to be another fence to climb and a long drop on the other side unless we're careful. Are you ready to do this?"

Chiyo looked uncertainly into Tomo's eyes as she hesitated. Finally, she gave a small nod.

"Ok." Tomo acknowledged quietly. A stony expression came onto her face as she paused for a moment before beginning to speak again, her voice so grave that it no longer sounded even remotely like the girl Chiyo had gone to school with.

"Chiyo… there's the possibility that something might happen to me. If that happens, I want you to make for the ground floor as fast as you possibly can and smash one of the classroom windows. I'll…" Tomo hesitated as she looked at the horrified look on Chiyo's face and recognised the magnitude of what she was saying.

"I'll already be dead, so you won't have anything to lose by breaking them. I… I can't ask you to go after Yomi so…"

Another pause. When Tomo finally spoke, the voice of the teenager was gone. Tomo spoke with the voice and authority of a woman who was prepared to sacrifice her life for another person.

"…I want you to find a bicycle and make for the edge of the city. Get out of here as fast as you can and go live your life. Find something else."

"But-"

"No buts! Chiyo, if I'm going to die here I need to know that it meant something. I need to know I at least saved one person's life here." Tomo's voice was breaking as tears appeared in her eyes and her voice dropped to a whisper. "You might be the last person I have _left._ The only reason I have to still be here in the middle of all of this. _Please _just promise me you'll get out through the window if something happens to me. Promise me you'll get out _safe_ and you won't come searching after me!

Tears were falling freely down Chiyo's face as she stared dumbly at the sincerity on Tomo's face, the older girl roped up like a mummy and ready to embark on a mission that was almost certain to get both of them killed. She realised that Tomo had to know how slim their odds were, yet she was still willing to try even at that dark and seemingly hopeless hour. The fear and exhaustion were still unmistakeable in the her friend's face but in that moment, Chiyo firmly believed that Tomo could have gone face to face with every horror the school could throw at them and still come out on top. She gave a slow nod, humbled and awestruck by the force of an individual she realised she'd never truly had the measure of.

Tomo closed her eyes and pressed them shut hard for a few moments as she the full immensity of the task ahead and the trust Chiyo had placed in her both truly sunk in. Opening her eyes again, she let Chiyo curl a hand around her left arm and with the bat still clutched firmly in her right hand, she slowly pressed open the door. A moment later she pulled it open and for what she hoped would be the final time, plunged into the darkness.


	12. Escape!

Escape!

The journey back to the stairs was quiet, almost eerily so. Tomo couldn't help but notice how little was on this floor now. Given the state of the ground floor she doubted the battle hadn't spread up here yet. No, the monsters had to be avoiding something here. Tomo prayed that it was simply because the creatures could sense the fiery presence that had taken over this part of the building and not because some even worse horror had made its home here.

Despite this the journey wasn't entirely without danger. Tomo and Chiyo both spent a tense minute waiting at a junction in the corridors as something large trailed past in the darkness, holding their breath and praying that it didn't turn down their way. Thankfully whatever it was passed in the darkness.

As they walked Tomo's mind dwelt upon the task that was ahead of her. The swelling of her jaw had gone down slowly but she was still covered in bruises and the rope she'd coiled around herself was pressing down uncomfortably upon her battered torso.

It was going to be an awful climb. Tomo wasn't afraid of heights, but she shuddered at the idea of climbing down four storey building with nothing to hold onto but a rope. And she'd be carrying Chiyo…

Was this the right thing to do? Tomo was beginning to have her doubts when she realised she was approaching the stairwell.

It was too late for second thoughts, unless they wanted to go down to assembly. Tomo determinedly grasped the stairwell and was about to follow the stairs up when Chiyo pulled on her arm.

"Tomo, footsteps!" she whispered fearfully.

Tomo realised that they were coming up the stairs. She quietly had them move up the stairwell and turned off the torch. As she reached a turn in the staircase however Tomo stopped and had Chiyo crouch with her behind the solid guard rails, hidden from the lobby.

"What are we doing?" Chiyo hissed. Tomo just waited. She'd heard three sets of footsteps, walking together. None of the monsters walked in pairs. That meant that whatever was on the stairs was different.

As she heard the footsteps reach the first floor, Tomo nervously looked around the corner and back down the stairs. If there were somehow other survivors in the building then their chances of survival went up tremendously.

Tomo didn't dare use the flashlight, but hope came to her as she heard voices, whispers in the darkness but voices nonetheless. Chiyo heard them too but she didn't make a move. She'd learned from her experience in the first aid room. Both girls assumed that whatever was coming up was hostile; they dared not hope for a rescue now. Despite that, a flicker of hope began to creep into both girls. Maybe they weren't utterly alone.

That hope began to fade away as they realised that they couldn't understand what the voices were saying. In the dark Tomo couldn't make out their features but she could see three figures standing in the darkness.

Then Tomo's hope vanished and her memories flew back to the armed thing she'd seen in the alleyway.

The figures that were standing there at the entrance to the first floor were all holding long pole-like objects that ended in points. Neither Tomo nor Chiyo had to be geniuses to work out that the figures were holding spears. Furthermore, there was something horribly wrong about their proportions. The three figures were hunched over clutching their spears for support, as if they were almost too weak to stand on their own. They seemed impossibly thin, yet their chests were level with their stomachs, ruling out three starving individuals. Their arms and neck seemed far too long and thin to belong to a human.

Tomo and Chiyo both shivered in dread as they realised that they were now facing intelligent hunters. Tomo didn't know if they were aliens or something worse, but she didn't want to meet them. Both girls stayed silent as the one that was clearly in charge pointed to the three corridors and the things began to search the first floor.

This was different to the monsters and far more dangerous. Whatever the new threat was it was organised and intelligent, capable of searching a building in a systematic manner. Both Tomo and Chiyo realised that continuing to wander the building undetected was no longer an option. As they left for the fourth floor Tomo gripped the bat though. Intelligent as they were the new creatures didn't seem very strong. Tomo doubted they'd stand up to being hit by a piece of metal and after seeing what the monsters typically used as their weapons she found simple spears to be considerably less frightening. She also found anything that was capable of holding a conversation less alien than the monstrous things that they'd been chased by in the lower corridors. It didn't make them any less dangerous but it lowered the sense of being prey in the middle of a building full of predators.

The things had also split up in the middle of a monster-infested building like the first wave of victims in a horror movie. Chiyo began to suspect that they weren't all that bright.

Tomo and Chiyo were able to miss out the second and third floors altogether, but the stairwell they'd taken only took them as far as the fourth floor. The roof access itself was accessed by a central staircase that took them out into the centre of the rooftop. That meant a long walk straight into the centre of the fourth floor.

The exit to that floor was just coming into view when Tomo stood in something so sticky it nearly sent her flying onto her face as her legs were pulled out from under her.

As she grabbed at the side for balance with her hands still full she barely caught the railing. She hauled herself upright, only to have to pull hard to get the arms she'd used to steady herself free again. She'd let go of Chiyo, who'd grabbed at the rope surrounding Tomo to stop her from toppling over. Gradually, Tomo rebalanced and managed to shine the torch on her surroundings.

What the light revealed was a living nightmare.

Webs. A labyrinth of endless webs that covered every part of every surface, that glistened sickeningly in every corner. The entire fourth floor seemed to be smothered in them. A huge white mess smothered the ground, large cobwebs had been spun on the ceiling.

Tomo and Chiyo had both gone pale.

"Chiyo, are you afraid of spiders?" Tomo said, gaping.

"Spiders didn't make this." Chiyo replied, but her voice still rose dangerously high.

"Then what did?" Tomo asked nervously.

"I don't know, but it wasn't spiders." Chiyo insisted. "Spiders can't grow above a certain size without dying from lack of oxygen. You don't get giant spiders."

Tomo wasn't comforted, nor was she entirely convinced. Bound up like a ball of yarn, the last thing she needed was a mess of cobwebs that threatened to trap her if she fell over. If it wasn't a spider then it was something else and Tomo doubted it would be slowed down the way they would be. It was a long way to the exit and if they met anything in the corridors it would mean certain death.

"We could set it on fire." Tomo suggested desperately.

"Do you want to burn the entire building down with us inside?" Chiyo replied. Tomo quickly shelved the idea.

"Then we don't have any choice." Tomo said decisively. Slowly, she began to pick her way forward, followed by a very reluctant Chiyo.

It was impossible to hold hands like that, with both of them using their arms to balance. Tomo and Chiyo both picked their way slowly through the mess and kept as close to one another as possible, trying to make as little noise as possible as they repeatedly entangled and disentangled themselves from the mess of cobwebs. Still they left loud ripping sounds in their wake as soon their feet were caked in a disgusting mess of cobwebs that made the going even harder. Tomo in particular was having trouble balancing. In addition the adhesive became stuck to their feet, making each successive step harder and harder to disentangle themselves from. It was slow and tiring work, and before long Chiyo was panting heavily.

Still they made their way through the darkness. Several times Tomo nearly overbalanced, saved each time either by her own quick actions or by Chiyo grabbing her and helping her steady herself. They were about a quarter of the way to their destination when they saw something that filled them with dread.

They'd almost walked straight into a massive cobweb that occupied the entire hallway. Tomo and Chiyo just looked at it dumbstruck, wondering what kind of creature could live in such a massive barrier. They clumsily turned around and stumbled away as fast as they could manage.

Steadily they made progress through the webbing, but as they came closer to the roof the webbing on the ground seemed to get thicker. Soon they were pulling their way through thick webbing that came up to their ankles. They also had to double back more often as cobwebs blocked their paths, and as they got closer Tomo was beginning to wonder if there was a clear way to their destination at all.

It was also exhausting them. Several times Tomo had to hurry Chiyo on as the younger girl began to run out of strength, unable to haul herself out of the cobwebs any longer. Tomo wondered how on earth whatever had made its lair here hadn't come across them yet. For Chiyo that was an even better question. Memories of how spiders could detect vibrations on their web caused by prey had come back to her long ago, yet they were too far in for there to be any value of voicing that to Tomo. Miserably she stayed silent to avoid a panic, but the fear also kept her moving.

It was as they came into the final corridor that the true horror of the fourth floor revealed itself.

It was the cocoons that sent warning sirens ringing through their heads. Massive pupae hung above them, slime dripping onto their heads, soaking their hair. There were other things too; caught monsters bundled up in silk. It was just as they reached the blessed stairwell itself that they saw the massive shape rising and falling just behind it.

Their faces contorted in horror and revulsion as they realised Chiyo had been right about the web not belonging to a spider.

A gigantic worm, fat and bloated, was sleeping in the centre of a junction. There were things in the webbing around it; the bones and skulls and rotting pieces of gristle discarded from the various monsters the thing had caught and consumed in its net. Somehow Tomo and Chiyo had made it to the very centre of its lair without disturbing it.

Slowly, quietly, Tomo and Chiyo moved towards the exit.

Forty yards. The beast didn't stir. Thirty yards. Tomo thought she saw it shift slightly. Yet it remained as it was. Twenty yards. They were getting closer.

Ten… five… two… and then they were at the stairs. At the top was the blessed door. Tomo and Chiyo began to climb it, determination overriding the fear on their faces as they saw victory lying right in front of them.

It was when they reached the fourth step that they heard something shift behind them, and begin to slide, a nauseating, terrifying shuffling sound that was unmistakeably angling itself towards them.

They began to move as fast as they could up the stairs. Then they nearly fell over as a horrible screech sounded out. Tomo made the mistake of looking back and this time she couldn't hold back the horror that she saw in front of her. She shrieked as loudly as her lungs could manage, a short sharp yell of pure terror that she was soon joined in by Chiyo.

A massive set of round jaws that led into a seemingly endless gullet were forcing their way up the stairs, progress slowed through not quite being able to fit properly. Tomo just managed to recover enough to turn and run, hauling the paralysed Chiyo up the stairs by the hand. She dropped the baseball bat in the process.

Slowly, agonizingly, they forced their way towards the door as the thing cried out behind them, the sides of the stairwell buckling as they gave way to allow its enormous muscular bulk to pull itself up towards the roof. Tomo reached the stairs ahead of it… only to discover it was locked. There was no time to use the lockpicks.

It was just as Tomo was about to throw herself back down the stairs into the thing's waiting jaws that she remembered she had the key. Slowly, fumbling, she reached inside and undid the clasp, having to let go of Chiyo's hand to do so. The thing got closer.

She searched through the keys. Finally she found the roof access. She began to undo the lock. Still the thing came closer, its cries now deafening.

She heard the click… and also the thing's hot breath against her back.

Finally, Tomo broke through the door with Chiyo right behind her, before turning to slam the door shut and lock the door behind her.

Slams and cries echoed from the other side of the door as the creature attempted vainly to get through the door. Tomo went to run towards the fence that surrounded the rooftops only to nearly go falling flat onto her face. Her feet were still covered in the webbing.

Chiyo helped her stagger to her feet as they moved away from the stairwell. They both realised that the doro wasn't going to hold out forever. Hands trembling, Tomo began to undo the rope. The feeling of it tumbling to the ground around her as she undid it was the most glorious feeling she thought she'd ever experienced. Finally she was free of that encumbering mess!

Tomo went to tie the knot but was promptly pushed aside by Chiyo, who went to work instead. "I've done this before" was all she said.

Tomo hoped she meant rock climbing and not some other knot-using sport, though anyway a simple knot was not what one normally relied upon to clamber down an enormous distance. Despite this the knot Chiyo finished looked professionally done, even though Tomo couldn't quite believe it was going to have to support their weight.

Without any means of extending the rope they were going to have to hang on the hard way. Tomo knew that Chiyo would never have the arm strength for that. It was going to have to be her. Wordlessly she took the rope and chucked it over the fence that prevented students from plummeting to their doom… and then they both looked out over the city.

It had once been such a busy view. Now there was nothing. Tomo was relieved to see that the streets at least were not a mess of monsters and giant beasts running around killing one another, but it was still a bleak and heart-breaking sight.

They didn't have time to dwell on it. The door was surely going to break under the pressure soon. Tomo allowed Chiyo to clamber up onto her shoulders, neither of them saying anything in case one of them lost their nerve and to not waste Tomo's remaining precious stamina. It was a full five seconds before Tomo began to clamber over the last thing that separated them from an eighty foot fall.

What followed was the scariest moment in either of their lives, nightmares from before not excluded as Tomo swung them out into thin air with nothing between them and a long fall down but Tomo's grip on the slender rope.

Tomo however did have one massive advantage as she began to slowly and perilously clamber down the sheer sides of the building. Her feet were still sticky from the walk through the webbing, a filthy mess of silk covering them. It was disgusting but it allowed her to grip the sides of the building, keeping her from being supported entirely from her arms. Slowly they began to descend.

The ground beneath them was dizzying. Yet there was no wind. Tomo's arms began to ache but still she clung on, slowly lowering them down. Chiyo just clung to her and tried desperately to remain still. If she fell now she might bring Tomo with her.

They were going to make it! Steadily the ground began to come into focus, the huge, dizzying distance to the ground less terrifying.

Tomo could now see the ground clearly. Then her hands were violently ripped away from the rope and something hauled her screaming into the sky, grabbing as Chiyo was lifted away from her.

Tomo screamed as she was swung around wildly only to have the breath knocked out of her as she was swung against the building. She began to slide back up it. Desperately she tried to cling on, yet as she was pulled up her hands were simply hauled off as she was pulled up by her bruised shoulder towards the top of the roof again. She looked up…

…and saw the worm standing over them, two great strands of silk dangling out of its mouth.

Slowly, surely, Tomo was pulled up the wall and back onto the rooftop. She watched, helplessly as the same happened to Chiyo. As she was pulled onto the roof once more, the thing turned to her first.

Chiyo watched as Tomo was physically lifted into the air. More strings shot out of the things mouth as she watched, petrified as her friend was wrapped up completely until not even her head remained visible. Tomo didn't even struggle, too terrified to move as the thing enveloped her and left her lying on the ground, immobile.

Then it turned to Chiyo, who just let herself go limp as the thing picked her up by her legs and began to wrap her up in the silk. Before long she too was smothered in silk, her eyes forced shut for safety by the white sticky mess that clung to every part of her. As she was dropped to the ground she waited there, in petrified anticipation of what was going to happen next.

Chiyo screamed as a long, thin object pierced her leg.

Yet she didn't scream for long. Soon, darkness enveloped her as the anaesthetic in the beast's venom took its icy hold. Chiyo drifted into darkness.

It wasn't long till Tomo too felt the sharp sting and the drift into oblivion. Once its prey was unconscious and unable fight back, the worm began to drag them down the stairs slowly, to finish them off in its lair.

Yet as it reached the bottom stair it hesitated. Some unknown command told it to stay its jaws. Instead, it just returned to its slumber, leaving the two unconscious girls lying inside the cocoon.

Thirty minutes later and clawed hands hauled them off in different directions, separated and being dragged off to some unknown fate in the dark corners of the school. Both were now at the mercy of whatever the masters of those hideous limbs had for them.


	13. Chained

This chapter made me very uncomfortable.

The next couple of odd-numbered chapters contain material that some may consider violent and cruel. They are right, but if you're reading a story where a young girl beats herself unconscious with a bat and continue to read after I'm guessing you know that already. Still, you may want to stick to the even numbered chapters for now. You won't lose your understanding of the story if you do. I've deliberately been vague to avoid spoilers, but if anyone wants a more direct content warning PM me with your concerns and I'll tell you what you can expect.

* * *

Chained

The first thing Chiyo felt was the cold sensation around her ankles.

She was cold. As she gradually awoke, the sensation of her arms hanging below her told her she was hanging upside down. The cold sensation around her ankles was becoming one of pain as she realised she was being held by metal rings, rings that were steadily cutting their way into her skin.

Steadily her senses began to return as the poison wore off. Chiyo felt a dry, encrusted substance on her forehead and realized as pain went shooting through her forehead that her bandages had been crudely torn off, causing her head wound to bleed again. The freezing cold air that enveloped her told her she was naked. Her hair was hanging loose where her hairbands had been pulled off, still matted from the substance that had been dropped on it in the web, a putrid, nauseating stench wafting up from it that brought bile to the top of her throat.

Chiyo shivered as she realised that her clothing had been systematically removed right down to the bandages and hairbands as she'd slept.

The air around her wasn't just freezing cold. It was moist. A dank, wet film clung to her like cold sweat. Chiyo slowly opened her eyes and found that the world around her was pitch black. The creeping sensation of fear that was steadily building in her only began to build faster.

She went to move her hand, but decided against it as she heard voices in the dark. They were the same voices she'd overheard with Tomo on the stairwell. Chiyo tried her best not to break into a panic as she realised they were standing less than ten feet away from her. She decided the best course of action was to pretend to still be asleep. She closed her eyes again, hanging as still as she could. She waited there, listening to the voices and praying she wouldn't attract their attention.

She couldn't stay like that forever. The blood had already run to her head, making her feel dazed and light-headed. Her eyes might have been closed but she couldn't stop herself from trembling in the cold as it bit into her. Chiyo couldn't remember ever being this cold in her life and the urge to move and create some kind of warmth was almost unbearable. The knowledge of what was standing so close by just made it harder to resist the temptation to open her eyes, even if she knew she couldn't see anything with them. But worst was the lack of movement.

The chains around her ankles had bitten into her skin, pain radiating up her leg and out to the tips of her feet like head from a fire. Her limbs were stiff and ached from being hung upside down for a prolonged period of time. Worse, the lack of movement meant she was soon itching unbearably. Chiyo felt a desperate need to move, to shift somehow to relieve the irritation, yet she couldn't for fear of alerting the monsters that were standing just a short distance away. Miserable, cold and in pain, she remained silent out of terror of what they might do to her if they found out she'd woken up. Maybe they would go away…

Where was Tomo? Chiyo remembered in horror how the worm had picked her up and spun her up in the silk. It remembered how it had dropped her limply on the ground before turning to her. As Chiyo remembered those final terrifying moments she didn't know how she could still be alive. There was a good chance Tomo was already dead, but Chiyo wasn't ready to allow herself to believe that. She was still alive. That meant Tomo might still be alive too. That gave her some reason to hope.

Yet she also realised that even if Tomo was still alive, she had almost certainly been taken somewhere too. For all Chiyo knew Tomo might be hanging unconscious in a different part of the room, invisible in the darkness.

The idea that Tomo might be somewhere in the room with her, that she might not be alone, compelled Chiyo to open her eyes and take a slow look around her. That was a terrible mistake as her weight shifted slightly, the chains above her rattling.

The voices stopped. Footsteps moved towards Chiyo as her fear and discomfort was replaced by cold terror. Desperately she tried to haul herself up to the chains above, trying to get her feet free of them, ignoring the way they cut into her ankles further as she struggled. Then she yelled in pain as she was grabbed by her hair by a bony hand and wrenched upside down again… and when she saw what was illuminated in the light of a lit torch she just kept screaming.

The face that confronted her in the glimmering firelight was more bug-like than human. Thin bones stretched out across its face, eyes too large for its face gazing back eagerly into hers. It had no nose. The creature was wearing what barely passed for a terrifying grin as its lipless mouth curled upwards. As Chiyo trembled helplessly in front of it with her mouth agape in shock she felt the heat of the torch, her eyes going wide as the creature raised it up towards her. The heat got hotter and fiercer until her eyes were watering. Slowly it was starting to burn her face and shoulders.

Then Chiyo felt the heat jump forward as a horrible, acrylic smell began to waft upwards. They'd set her hair on fire! Chiyo swung around desperately from her chains, trying to beat the fire out yet only succeeding in burning her hands. She started to scream as the flames started to scorch her scalp, her skin burning in the heat. Around her she could hear the horrible rasping sound of what could only be laughter.

It was only as Chiyo thought she was going to be burnt to death that she felt her head shoved under water as it was slammed hard against the bottom of a bucket. With no time to hold her breath she had barely any air in her lungs. The thing held her under by her chin, pushing the bucket painfully against her head as she desperately tried to break the surface, swinging and bending and exhausting herself in her attempt to try to break free. It was only as she thought her lungs were going to explode that the things finally let go of her.

Chiyo gasped and sputtered as she tried to reinflate her lungs. She was still in the middle of the second gasp for air when her head was forced under again to a chorus of hideous laughter. Again her head was held under against all her struggles, which grew weaker as her body began to starve of oxygen. When they finally withdrew her head from the bucket again her gasps for air were weaker this time, and she struggled less as her body could no longer sustain the effort. They were exhausting her.

As they forced her head under a third time Chiyo had no strength left to resist. The water around her head was red from the now open wound that was bleeding freely again, yet Chiyo didn't feel the pain as her senses began to dull once more. As the lack of oxygen finally reached her brain Chiyo's vision went black. She lapsed into unconsciousness, the hideous laughter of her tormentors ringing in her ears as she drifted off.

As Chiyo's head was wrenched from the bucket, her torturers tossing it to one side, she hung there, unresponsive. Her torturers growled in frustration and shoved her away, cutting her cheek slightly as she swayed there, blood running down from her ankles where the metal had finally broken the skin.

Elsewhere, Tomo woke up.


	14. Ronin

Ronin

Tomo woke up on a hard wooden floor.

It was dark. It was always dark. Tomo was beginning to _hate_ that darkness.

She'd been lying there for some time. Her back ached from the long period of immobility, but her leg felt better, as if it had had some time to heal, and the pain in her torso felt less immediate. Slowly, her other senses began to come back.

She was clothed, but Tomo shivered as she realised these weren't _her_ clothes. Her school shirt and blouse had been replaced by a long-sleeved coat bound by a large ribbon in the centre and her skirt now apparently reached her ankles. She was no longer barefoot, her feet covered by a pair of wooden sandals and her hair bound up in a slipknot ponytail by cord. In the darkness her garments appeared to be completely white. It finally occurred to her that she was dressed in a traditional kimono.

More ominously her bag and all its precious equipment was gone, replaced instead by a belt and two large, thin objects that hung at her side. Tomo realised that she wasn't just dressed up in traditional dress. The things at her side were the traditional katana and wakizashi of the samurai, and as she reached out to her side she could feel some kind of pole beside her that she guessed was some kind of spear. As reassuring as suddenly being heavily armed was Tomo didn't know how to use any of the weapons and the questions in her mind were obvious.

How was she alive? She remembered the sharp pain of a needle piercing her side, then blacking out. She had been certain as she'd fallen asleep that that would be the end. Yet here she was, awake.

How had she got there and, Tomo thought with a shiver, _what had brought her here?_ Who had dragged her to some unknown corner of the school, stolen her gear, stripped her naked and then taken the time to play the creepiest dress up game imaginable with her in the darkness?

The more Tomo thought about that the more afraid she became. She doubted very much the swords and garb were meant for her benefit. It was time to move. She had to get out of here as fast as she could, before whatever had brought her here came back.

She had to find Chiyo. Tomo would have called out into the darkness but being wrapped up by a giant worm and dragged off as food had decreased rather than increased her proclivity towards making large amounts of noise in dark places. Steadily, afraid, Tomo crawled to her feet. It was as she got to her feet that the torches came on and the room she was in was illuminated in the firelight.

Tomo froze in terror, not out of fear from the sudden spectacle but as she realised where she was and who was with her. She was standing in the middle of the assembly hall, but it was not the assembly hall she remembered. The chairs and stage were gone, replaced by rows of pillows ahead of her. Kneeling on each one was a man dressed just as she was.

Each had a weapon laid at their side. For most it was the naginata, the short-handled, long bladed polearm traditionally used to defend the household, but there were yaris, bows, gigantic two handed No-dachi swords and even one arquebus, a weapon that hadn't been in fashion since Japan's warlord era. The men were simply kneeling there, immobile, apparently waiting for someone.

As Tomo saw the empty pillow, she realised they were waiting for _her_.

Then Tomo saw the severed head. It was stuck on a post in front of the men, freshly cut, blood flowing down the wood. Tomo's face contorted with horror as she stared into the empty, glazed eyes, her own eyes drawn constantly towards the extruding, dead tongue that hung from its mouth. She finally realised what was going on.

This was the final scene of Kanedehon Chushingura, the one that wasn't supposed to be played out on stage. These weren't samurai. They were ronin who had cut the head off their hated enemy, avenging their master's death and their own dishonour. Now they were going to commit Seppuku. They were going to draw the wakizashi, stab themselves below the ribs and draw the blade sideways until they'd disembowelled themselves or bled out. It was a hideous and needlessly agonising way to die and Tomo could barely contain her horror as she realised she was expected to partake in it.

Not a chance. Tomo practically sprinted for the doors to the assembly hall. She wasn't going anywhere near that pillow!

It was only as she reached towards the door that she heard the blades unsheathe. She shut her eyes for a second, trying to block out the fear.

She looked back. The ronin had got to their feet. They were looking at her accusingly, blades in their hands. Tomo trembled. She had no doubt that they would kill her if she tried to leave the room.

She looked at the door. It was undoubtedly locked, and without her lockpicks she had no chance of getting the door open. The doors of the assembly hall were thick and formidable. She could maybe hack her way through them with time, but there was no way she'd manage to get through before those men ran over and killed her. There were over forty of them and they were almost certainly better swordsmen than Tomo was.

Fighting wasn't an option, running wasn't an option and surrender meant dying in agony. There was nothing she could do.

Tomo just looked at the door, incapable of movement when blood appeared at her feet. She stepped back, just barely suppressing a yell of surprise.

"_Hello Tomo. We're going to act out a little scene. If you try to leave the samurai will kill you. It will be slow. They will draw it out. Is that what you want? It will be fun to watch."_

Tomo just stared petrified at the ground. The blood reformed itself.

"_I'll take that as a no." _Tomo got the disturbing feeling whatever was behind the blood was disappointed. _"I do have a question though. Do you want to live?"_

Tomo nodded dumbly.

"_Do you want Chiyo to live?"_

Again, Tomo nodded, managing a small, pleading "yes" as a small amount of hope came back to her. The blood took a while to move again before it shifted into another question.

"_Do you want to save Yomi?"_

"Yes." Tomo said, her voice quavering but strengthened by a note of anger. How dare it ask her that?

The blood took a long pause before it finally reformed itself, this time spreading out across the floor so far Tomo had to step back a bit to avoid standing in the blood itself.

"_Their lives are locked in precarious balance. You have the weight in your hands. Saving one means imperilling the other. You have the slimmest chance of saving both, but whoever you choose to save last will suffer for it. Should you make the wrong choice, one will be condemned to certain doom."_

Tomo slowly read the words on the ground, her terror growing as she read each one and understood what the words meant. The blood reformed again.

"_Choose. Will you save the child, or preserve the life of your best friend?"_

Tomo just stared desolately at the ground as tears began to trickle down her face.

How? How was she supposed to make a choice like this? Tomo's memories swam.

Yomi had been her best friend since her earliest days of school. They'd grown up together. If one or the other was down, the other would cheer them up. If one of them had problems with a classmate the other would stand up for them. They made each other laugh, shared each other's victories and defeats. Yomi practically lived at Tomo's house during the summer; they'd spent months of the best years of their lives together. There was no doubt the girls had their differences; Yomi often found Tomo loud-mouthed, obnoxious and occasionally downright unpleasant, while Tomo often saw Yomi as a boring stick-in-the-mud who had too much time for school and seriousness. Yet it was the kind of bickering that hid a much more private friendship. To an outsider it was a mystery how either girl could stand the other, yet when it came to matters of any gravity Tomo and Yomi trusted one another almost implicitly. They benefitted from the sort of friendship that couldn't be damaged by simple barbs and verbal sparring. The only person Tomo was closer to than Yomi was her own parents. The idea of abandoning her was more than Tomo could bear.

Yet Chiyo was still out there in the dark somewhere. She'd already shown so much courage and was the reason Tomo was still standing at that very moment. Furthermore, Chiyo was just a child. Somewhere, in some corner of the building she would be hiding, scared… or worse, caught by something. Tomo had seen the terrified look on her face, watched her faint as they encountered that terrible pool. If Tomo abandoned her Chiyo would never be able to cope.

That left the other part of the message. The pool of blood had stated that Tomo could save them both. Yet it had also said that she only had the slimmest of chances. Furthermore, if Tomo picked the wrong choice, she would condemn the other to death.

Slowly, Tomo managed to rationalise the question. It didn't have to be a case of choosing the one who had to die. She was choosing the one that had the best chance of survival until she finally got to them. Thinking about it like that made the terrible answer slightly easier for Tomo to contemplate. She wasn't sacrificing one of her friends for the other.

Yet the other would still suffer. Tomo felt dread surge through her chest as she thought about what kind of price the one she left to last might pay. Who, then, was the one with the better chance of survival? On one hand Chiyo was the child. She was the one who seemed the least capable, the most likely to just give up out of fear and lack of rest; the one who would be killed easily, unable to fight back in the darkness. Yet it was Yomi who was unwarned, the one who was sick, lying in bed with the flu while the monsters closed in on her. Who was she going to choose?

Tomo made a decision even as her heart broke.

"I'm going to save Chiyo first."

For a horrible five seconds, the blood simply lay there. Then it reformed once more, to ask its last, simple question.

"_Is this your final decision?"_

Tomo couldn't get her mouth to work. Yet she nodded through the tears that now stained her face. The blood changed quickly this time.

"_Very well. Now, we were going to play a game. You say you want to live. Is this still true?"_

"Yes." Tomo said quietly. She wasn't even sure if her heart was in that statement anymore.

"_Well that's a shame. I was hoping I wouldn't have to let you go." _Tomo tried not to let those words get to her but she still shuddered with disgust. "_The play must be completed first. It would be such a shame if it was left unfinished. We rehearsed so hard. But first dear Tomo, a few instructions to demonstrate my sincerity…"_

Tomo watched, trying to beat back the feelings of despair as the writing shifted.

"_On the Third Floor lies the Principals Office. Inside lies your bag, your things, a few other items and a key that will let you leave the building. You may leave, but there will also be further instructions. If you ever want to see either of your friends again I suggest you listen to them. The office lies in the south-western side of the school. Be warned that a terrible danger dwells there now. Meeting it will mean certain death for you and those you love. Avoid the edges and stick to the central corridors lest you meet a horrific end. Above all, do not approach windows with light._"

Tomo just waited in terrible anticipation, committing the instructions to memory as the blood shifted once more.

"_Now for our game. I've been looking forward to this for so long. Why would you run from me after I spent so much time crafting this beautiful story for you?"_

Tomo stayed silent, doing her best to maintain a stony expression. The writing's apparent attachment to her hadn't become any less creepy.

"_Well I suppose this is not so fun for you. Nevermind, you're here now. That's all that matters. No doubt you have worked out what the blades are for now. Yet this does not need to end in your demise. I only need you to trust me."_

"_Now go and sit on the pillow."_

Tomo took a while to respond to that request. She didn't trust the thing behind the writing one bit but she didn't have a choice. She began to move towards the pillows. As she did so the ronin put away their blades, patiently waiting for Tomo to rejoin them in their final moments. Their faces were stony, expressionless. There was no judgement written on their faces, they simply knelt down and faced the wall, their hands on their sword hilts. The coward was coming back; honour had been restored.

Tomo walked through the kneeling ronin tensely. The closer she got towards the pillow, the more terrifying it became for her. Finally she stared down at it.

She knew what she was going to be asked to do, but that didn't get it to make any more sense. How could she possibly live through this?

Yet the writing had asked her to trust it. Tomo didn't trust it, but there seemed to be no other choice. Her mind drifted back to Chiyo pleading with her to go to the assembly hall. Maybe if she'd just listened…

No. That wasn't the way to think. Tomo couldn't allow herself to become fatalistic or self-blaming. They were in a horrible situation and she needed to be strong and get them out of it. Going for the doors meant death and there was no other way out. She had to hope that for once she'd found something in the building that she could actually make a deal with.

Nervously, she got down onto the pillow, kneeling there in dread of what was to come. She tensed up miserably as the bloody writing appeared on the ground once more.

"_I'm so glad you've decided to play. Now listen to me closely. You are going to stab yourself alongside all these brave, strong men who have done their duty to their lord. It will be the final glorious sacrifice and you will get to have a small part of it. Aren't you happy? I seem to remember it was you who said you wanted to be a samurai?"_

Tomo just waited miserably. She was starting to tremble. Where was the way out of this? Was it futile to even hope anymore? The writing reformed.

"_I suppose the fun must be wearing off now that you see what is truly involved. I always found it amusing how many people dream of living in another era when they see how hideous and cruel the past is. Truly, to live now is to bask in civilization. Still, you're no doubt wondering what the deal is here. How this helps you survive."_

Tomo managed to nod.

"_Well, this is at the end of the day just a play. Do you know that they used to use criminals in Ancient Greece in order to have real deaths occur on stage? Anyway, once your wound has become severe enough to ensure death will come, the play will be complete. The door will unlock. All you have to do is stagger back out of it into the corridors and your body will be restored. But I do warn you of this, dear Tomo. If you pass out before you get to the doors, I will not be able to save you. You will die, and all hope for your companion will fade."_

"_Are you ready to begin? I am waiting in anticipation for an end to this delightful show."_

Tomo tried to bring her fear back under a level below panic as she tried to build herself up to what was being asked of her. Almost paralysed with terror, she managed to nod her head once, slowly.

As one, the ronin slid their wakizashi's free from their sheathes. Tomo nearly cut herself early as her trembling arms did the same. The samurai stoically brought the blades over to their left hand sides.

It occurred to Tomo that this wasn't the correct way to do Seppuku. There was normally a headman to chop off the victim's head once they were done with the agonising first stroke. Yet there seemed to be none here. These warriors were about to die in undignified agony.

"_At least I won't have my head chopped off."_ Tomo thought miserably.

She heard the first cut… and the blood-curdling scream that came with it. Tomo nearly jumped up as she saw the soldier beside her slowly disembowelling himself, blood pouring out of his stomach. She thought she was going to be sick, yet somehow after her experiences in the passageways she could stand up to the overpowering stench of gore. She just froze up instead and tried to control the fear.

Tomo desperately tried to quiet her panicking mind as she heard the other ronin do the same. It didn't have to be a cut like that she told herself. She just had to give herself a bad enough cut to be fatal eventually. It didn't have to actually kill her! The man beside her toppled sideways, his cries becoming garbled and weak as his life slid away from him.

She tightened her grip around the sword. The metal gleamed menacingly, the blade terrifyingly sharp as she pointed it towards her flesh. Tomo closed her eyes… and pushed.

She screamed as she felt the steel slide easily through her flesh, then her eyes went wide with shock as she felt the sword cleave into her stomach. This time she did throw up, barely remaining conscious as pain worse than anything she'd ever experienced shot through her body. She heard a loud click and realised she'd made the fatal cut.

Beneath her, a tide of blood coupled with bloody vomit stained the ground beneath her. Her clothes were stained head to toe in gore. Tomo realised she was going to pass out if she didn't move, though the thought was restricted to the tiny portion of Tomo's conscious mind that had not simply blanked out with pain. Her vision was enclosed around the sides by darkness.

Tomo began to get up, the sword still in her, holding in some of the bleeding. She got on to one foot, and the weapon shifted, cutting her further. Two feet; she was crouching. She straightened up… and began to stagger towards the door.

Every footstep was agony and every inch forward brought the risk of collapse. It wasn't far to the assembly door, yet Tomo thought she would never reach it. She staggered forward, her vision creating doubles that made it difficult to get her bearings.

She made ten steps like that. Then twenty. Tomo saw the door approaching. She reached for the handle…

It was so heavy. She pushed it down slowly. As she pulled it open her legs gave out.

Tomo crawled forward on her knees, pulling the sword out of her. She was losing consciousness.

This was what it felt like to die.

Her arms gave out as she was halfway out the door. With the last of her strength, Tomo rolled…

…and slid out the door.

Darkness… then Tomo woke up.

The pain in her side was gone. She was lying on top of something damp and organic in the middle of the ground floor corridor. The blood on her clothes was gone.

She couldn't see what was going on, what it was. Numbly, still in shock from the pain, she got up… and then the lights from the assembly hall went out, leaving her in total darkness.

Tomo realised that the horror of the assembly hall was gone now. Despite that she doubted what had made the terrifying trap was gone. She was about to leave when she remembered the wakizashi.

It was lying there on the ground, just visible inside the doorway. The blade Tomo had used to cut her own stomach open.

For a moment Tomo hesitated. She finally understood how Chiyo had felt when Tomo had insisted on picking up the bat, the shock and pain from that horrid weapon still fresh in her memory. Yet despite that it was a tool and Tomo wasn't about to leave it in the darkness when she didn't even have a torch anymore. She picked it up; it would be a lot handier than the katana in the dark, enclosed corridors.

At any rate she'd had one good stroke of fortune. Two swords were better than a bat. She was about to set off into the darkness when she realised something was wrong.

The walls weren't just dark stone any more. There was something on them. Tomo brushed a hand against them… and then jumped back in disgust.

There were _veins_ there now, blue blood pulsing through the thick, fleshy tubes. The wall was beginning to feel soft, almost flesh-like. Tomo felt the soft ground beneath her feet and came away with her hands glistening with blood. The corridors were filled with some kind of bloody moss!

Tomo tried her best to control the urge to run down the corridors in a panic as the world around her became one giant, breathing organism. But this was terrifying. Far too quickly and still partially lost to the memory of nearly dying she began to make her way down the corridors.

It was dark. It was also impossible to remain silent. Every step squelched as she stood in the mess on the floor. The bodies weren't gone and several times Tomo flinched as she kicked some disembodied bone or nearly fell over some kind of organ. She trailed through blood and gore towards the staircase near to the locker room and as she did so she tried to cling on to some kind of sanity.

As she walked down the corridors she saw one of the eight foot horrors feasting on some unlucky creature in the corridors. For a moment Tomo's mind was consumed by rage. She wanted to charge, to kill it, to purify her school of the horrors. To avenge herself upon the things that had taken Chiyo from her. Yet somehow she steadied the homicidal rage.

Somehow, Tomo's barely stable mind managed to comprehend that these things were just monsters, mindless animals. As hideous as they were they were blameless. Tomo in the end decided to quietly withdraw and leave the thing to its disgusting feast. She swore however that if she ever saw one of those spear wielding freaks in the corridors she would be the last thing they ever saw.

Tomo quickly reneged on that when she saw an entire patrol of the things go past. There were four of them, all with long spears. Tomo wondered if they were hunting the monsters down, if the things had just been tools. If all that pain and suffering had been unleashed just to hunt down two trapped girls in a building.

Her thoughts filled with vengeance, but she controlled herself. The things might already have one girl. They weren't going to get the other. Chiyo was depending on her and if she failed then her friend would die too. Tomo slid past in the darkness.

She reached the stairs and began to climb. As Tomo clambered up the stairs the mess withdrew and the ground returned to normal. Whatever had taken over the school hadn't spread itself fully up to the higher floors yet. It seemed to be spreading up the way rather than down, though that didn't explain the _thing_ on the top floor. Tomo didn't dare stay on the stairwell. She knew there were patrols up here that would be unavoidable on the steps.

Tomo climbed her way up the first and second floor steps. It was as she was about to come round the stairwell to the third floor that she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

There was no place to hide. But Tomo wasn't an unarmed schoolgirl anymore. She hid in the darkness, waiting for whatever it was to round the corner.

This time, she was going to fight. Tomo gripped her blade in tense anticipation.

The owner of the footsteps rounded the corner and for the first time Tomo saw the horrid, bug-like features; the bones that overlay its stretched, overly thin skin. Yet it was the creature that shrieked in terror and then fell to the floor choking on its own blood as Tomo stood up and placed her blade in its neck in a cold, smouldering rage. It lay there on the ground, grasping its throat desperately and pressing itself back against the wall. Tomo watched as its life ebbed away.

For a moment, Tomo just stood there. Even in the crazed state she was in she was perfectly aware of the line she had just crossed. Even in the shadows Tomo could see the blood trickling from the creature's severed throat. It stared up at her, accusingly.

Tomo didn't think of cutting down any more monsters down as she moved on. She just felt sick.

Tomo had reached the third floor. Even better, she was already close by the principal's office. She was about to move forward when she remembered what the writing had told her about this floor.

"_Stay away from the glass and whatever you do, don't shine a light on any windows."_ she mentally recited.

Slowly, she moved into the dark.

Tomo had never had the pleasure of being in the principal's office. Or more pointedly, she'd never caused quite enough mayhem to be sent there for punishment. Tomo forgot homework and caused a lot of incidental mayhem, but she wasn't actually that disruptive as a student, tending to only start up when something else had already ignited her mischievous streak and the teacher's lesson was already thrown off kilter. If anything her biggest crime was regularly falling asleep in class. She had something of a running rivalry going on with Osaka in that regard.

Osaka… were any of the other girls ok? Was anyone else still alive in this empty city? Even her parents?

Tomo's drifting memories left her with an empty feeling of loneliness as she wandered the corridors. She desperately missed the sound of Chiyo's voice even if she was glad Chiyo hadn't been there to watch her murder that passing creature. Murder… was that the right word?

It had been self-defence. That was what she told herself. If that thing had seen her first, all it would have had to do was put a spear in her throat and that would have been it. They were the invaders, yet Tomo still felt uneasy as she remembered how her victim had spent its last moments writhing on the floor in agony. Whatever way you cut it, she had initiated that attack.

Tomo was suddenly glad she didn't have a torch to forget to turn off as she passed a classroom full of windows. She very determinedly didn't look at them, getting down on her knees and crawling. Again she desperately missed Chiyo as she remembered getting them both down on their knees to do this. Even those dark memories filled with fear and pain were better than this lonely wandering of the school.

Tomo was just about past the corridors when she heard a monstrous cry behind her. She bolted onto her feet and twisted around.

One of the bug-like creatures was charging down the corridor, torch in hand. It had levelled its spear. Tomo swung her sword down, ready to receive its charge…

…only to step back horrified as a black hand shot out of the glass, grabbing the torch-hand of the monster and hauling it through the glass into the classroom, the glass rippling as it was passed through. Tomo heard ripping sounds… and then saw what looked disturbingly like bones being shoved out through the glass into the corridor again. She ran as fast as she could through the corridors, what little self-control she'd had left gone.

That was it. _That_ was the horror that the writing had warned her about. Tomo didn't stop until she was finally outside the principal's office… and then stopped.

She gaped dumbly as she realised what was wrong. She didn't have the key. She didn't have the key to the stupid door!

The key was in her pack on the other side of the principal's office. So were her lockpicks. Anything that could possibly help her get inside the room was on the other side of the damn door! Tomo was about to scream in frustration.

Then she remembered she was essentially carrying a large, heavy piece of sharp metal around with her. Two, in fact.

There was no time to figure out a smarter solution. Tomo took the brute force approach. It definitely was not what the blades were for, but Tomo set to work hacking away at the wood desperately. The noise rang through the corridors but Tomo didn't care. What she needed to save her friends was on the other side of that door and she had to get to it. When she'd covered the thick wooden door in gashes Tomo stopped using the sword and instead started kicking, long, powerful strokes from her good leg that beat the damaged wood in. She covered her leg in splinters in the process but didn't stop until she had cleared a sizeable hole through the wood, one large enough to crawl through.

Tomo didn't hesitate. She forced her way through the gap, ignoring the bits of wood that cut into her sides, leaving cuts and tears in her clothes as she pulled her way through. Finally, she made it into the room. She lay there for a while, recovering.

The Principal's Office was large. It had a south-facing window that Tomo made a note mentally to steer well clear of. A still-beautiful carpet was barely visible in the gloom. The gloom…

It was nearly sunset! The day was almost over and they hadn't even left the school yet! Weak red light was all that came through the window and Tomo dreaded the idea of escaping the school in darkness.

She had to keep moving. Trying to ignore the complaints from her lungs and the burning sensation in her chest Tomo picked out what splinters she could and walked into the room, still staying well clear of the window.

Lying there on the couch was her bag. Tomo seized it, pulling it open and checking what was inside.

Her keys were there, alongside the torch, the batteries and the precious first aid kid. Tomo could almost have leapt for joy as for the second time that day she felt faint hope trickle down into her. She nearly flicked the torch on… and then remembered the ominous warning about using light on this floor and what had happened to the thing that had disregarded it. Instead she just put the torch away in the satchel again.

Tomo examined the rest of the floor. She saw her clothes… Tomo still felt her skin crawl at the fact that they'd been removed in the first place… and then she saw something that filled her with rage and despair at the same time.

Chiyo's clothes. The drool-spattered, blood soaked outfit, right down to the hairbands.

Tomo could barely control her anger and sorrow as she sheathed her sword and gathered up the ruined articles gently. She put them into her bag like they were fragile religious relics. Suddenly she didn't feel bad about slaughtering the thing on the stairs. For a long while she just stood there, looking at the clothes, a dark expression on her face.

"I'm going to get you back." she swore quietly. "Even if it costs me my life, I'm going to get you back."

Tomo tried to think of what to do. She considered changing, getting out of the clothes that she'd been dressed in against her will. Yet she instead put the familiar garments back in the bag as well. This was no time to be thinking about such things.

Tomo was just about to leave, struggling to beat back her growing feelings of isolation, anger and panic, when the blood red writing appeared once again on the wall.

"_You're keeping them? I'm so happy you like my gift."_

Tomo didn't even flinch this time. "You're disgusting." she replied, bluntly, too worn down to give a more emotional reply.

"_Really now, there's no reason for that. Though I must say I'm disappointed."_

"I think I'm going to throw up." Tomo snarled.

"_I suppose you're angry about your friend's clothes." _the writing began. Tomo could have sworn that had it had a voice it would have sounded bored, as if talking to a very stupid person. She waited for it to go on, barely restraining her urge to attack the wall where the writing was. _"Well let me put it this way. If I hadn't taken them something else would have, and I'm sure you're intelligent enough to realise that it would have taken considerably less care of them. Filthy as they are. You know you really should find some better clothes for her. She's a good kid, she deserves better."_

Tomo just stared in bleak, despairing comprehension as she realised what the words were saying.

"_Ah yes, you're putting it together now finally aren't you. Yes, something has her. I assure you, wherever she is now she isn't having nearly as much fun as we're having. You realise, then, the full gravity of the situation?"_

"Where is she?" Tomo asked, her voice breaking. Her mental defences were finally beginning to break down.

"_Wouldn't you like to know…"_ the writing taunted.

"Tell me!" Tomo pleaded. The writing remained as it was for a few seconds as Tomo began to sob, unable to keep a brave face on in front of the thing that was holding her friend to ransom. She was sure that behind the writing it was laughing at her.

"_I'll tell you if you can find me. Come to the staff room on the second floor. Be very careful, I hear there's something on fire down there."_

Tomo realised what that meant, but she wasn't even able to be scared any more. Feelings of despair and hopeless rage threatened to overpower her as she slowly turned away, numbly obeying her commands. As she unlocked the shattered door to the office however more bloody writing appeared.

"_Aren't we forgetting something? Look on the desk._

Tomo looked over to the headmaster's desk, her face covered in tears. On it was the key she had come here to collect.

"_It would be a shame for you to leave here without a way out of the building now, wouldn't it?"_

Numbly, Tomo approached. She was just about to pick it up when she saw the rope it was attached to. It was taut.

Tomo followed it. She stopped, confused, as she saw that all it connected to was a little model guillotine. Hardly dangerous, but Tomo stopped and took a moment to consider it. The key's weight was holding the guillotine blade high, the blade attached by a string. If she removed it now the blade would fall.

It was then that Tomo realised that the room seemed very large.

Specifically it seemed tall. Impossibly tall, as if it had no…

Tomo looked up.

There was no ceiling. Instead, high up in the blackness, a gigantic blade was hanging high above her head. Tomo immediately understood that it was somehow tied to the guillotine. If she let go of the key now it would come crashing down and smash the entire room. Any other time she would have been scared speechless, but Tomo barely acknowledged the death trap she'd almost walked into.

Still, she needed that key. Very carefully, Tomo took hold of the string with her left hand and with her right, she unwound the key from it.

She felt an enormous shudder as the blade above shifted slightly. Tomo very carefully bagged the key and transferred the string to her now free hand. With her left hand, she picked up the model guillotine itself.

Tomo considered that there might have been something more to the trap, but she no longer really cared. She was finding it hard to care about anything at that moment. Slowly, she made towards the door.

It was only once Tomo cleared the room that she let the blade fall very, very gently until she heard it settle on the ground with an enormous thud.

As she stood there in the hall, a small part of Tomo's mind told her she could take the key and run with it.

Never had she felt so alone. Somewhere, in the darkness her friend was being tormented. Out there, in the city, Yomi was in terrible danger and Tomo herself was walking into a situation that would probably lead to her betrayal and hideous demise. Her face was covered in bruises, her clothes in blood and her legs were covered in barely healed bite marks and splinters. She'd never felt so tired in her life and her mind was on the point of breaking. Thirst and hunger competed for attention as her stomach rumbled and her throat felt like it was twice its normal size.

For the second time that day Tomo just wanted to curl up in a corner and give up. Let whatever was out there come and finish her off. As she stood there, she heard Chiyo's voice echo through her head.

"_I got you up, didn't I?"_

Tomo held that strange, happy smile that had come onto Chiyo's face as she said that in her head as she set off back towards the stairs. As she did so, she wondered if she was ever going to see that smile again.


	15. Monster

Monster

Chiyo was spinning.

Something was wrapping her up, tighter and tighter. A burning pain seared her leg and she could feel blood running down her face. She was in a cage. Outside, things were laughing at her and poking at her with sharp things, things which broke the skin, which hurt her. In the middle of them always, no matter what way she span she saw Tomo staring at her. Her features slowly burning away as red fires consumed her…

She woke up.

Her head was splitting, yet at the same time it felt raw where the fire had burnt her scalp. She could feel the damage the fire had caused to her hair. The pain in her ankles was almost unbearable as the chains dug deep into her skin, yet any attempt to move just worsened the pain. She could feel something staining her legs and cheek. It was dried blood.

She wanted to throw up. She tried to repress it, knowing it wasn't a good idea. But it was too much. Her head was spinning from being upside down for so long and from the loss of blood. Bile and acid forced its way out of her mouth, choking as her empty stomach forced its contents out of her and onto the floor. The acid dribbled down her face as the smell burnt her nostrils, some of it even ending up in her nose. It was repulsive and degrading, the stench alone a form of torture. Chiyo dry heaved, bending upwards in agony as her spasming, empty stomach contracted for all it was worth.

When her stomach finally calmed down Chiyo just hung there, stained with her own blood and vomit. She didn't even have the strength to cry. She felt pathetic.

She was scared. She wanted someone to find her, to let her down. She just wanted the pain to stop...

For an unknown length of time Chiyo just hung there, too exhausted to lift her arms, pain shooting through her body, making it impossible to rest.

Her head was filled with the memory of drowning. The feeling of panic, then helplessness as her strength gave out. The way she'd slipped into darkness.

She didn't want to die. Chiyo started to sob. She was too weak to do anything else.

She heard footsteps and saw the glimmer of torches. Her crying stopped out of fear, her eyes scrunching up as she began to tremble uncontrollably, waiting for the inevitable. Why couldn't they just leave her alone?

Maybe they were going to take her somewhere else. Chiyo had pictures of herself being butchered on the floor with spears in her mind. Yet she would have been thankful for almost anything at that point if she was just let down from the agonising chains that held her ankles. She waited for them to grab her hair again, unable to do anything but hang there like a child's plaything.

Instead she cried out, her eyes shooting open as something narrow, heavy and metallic pierced her shoulder. She saw one of the creatures lining up in the dark for a second throw, a sadistic smile on its face as it enjoyed its turn in the sick new game.

Chiyo began to swing from side to side in a blind panic as the creatures began to throw darts at her. For them it was the height of entertainment as they watched her bend and weave to avoid the potentially fatal missiles that all too often barely missed her head and throat.

Inevitably some found their mark. One buried itself in her chest while another two struck her near the shoulders, the pain radiating out through her arms and torso. By the time they had finished their first twisted round Chiyo was whimpering in pain from the four objects that were stuck in her.

The creatures began to advance, chuckling and taunting her as they did so. Chiyo just hung there helpless as she braced whatever plans they had for her next. Yet they wandered past her. Chiyo heard them stoop to pick up the darts that had missed her, trying to bring the pain under control. At least it was a reprieve.

Then one stopped in front of her.

Chiyo tried to be strong but she still screamed in agony as the darts were ripped from her flesh. The creature did it carelessly, tearing her skin as it recovered its toys from her with all the care someone might give to an old dartboard they were going to throw out anyway. By the time it finally finished she was bleeding from four new wounds, weak moans of pain echoing through the room. As the monsters returned to their positions one of them slapped her across the back of her head and sent her swinging by her injured ankles again.

She looked up and watched in despair as the creatures began to line up, ready for the next session. She began to swing again, desperate not to be hit. The next round might kill her. The monsters just laughed, holding still and letting her tire herself out. Still she kept struggling. The longer she kept moving the longer it would be before they could hit her with the darts again.

She knew how ridiculous she must have looked, swinging around in the air like that. There was more than just pain as she felt humiliation and shame brand her cheeks as well. The laughter bore its way into her skull, ripping her out of any remaining quiet places she might have been able to retreat to inside her mind. She wanted to beg them to stop, to leave her alone. Maybe if she just stopped resisting they'd get bored with her…

Chiyo couldn't keep it up forever. She was about to let herself go still and let her torturers do whatever they wanted with her when an alien voice cried out in the dark.

The creatures looked around sharply and dropped the darts as if they'd been stung. Chiyo waited anxiously. She'd given up hope of any rescue but at least she wasn't target practice any more.

Footsteps rang out in the darkness, loud, heavy and reverberating footsteps that echoed ominously throughout the room. Chiyo heard the clink of metal as the monsters scrambled to draw up in a rough line, standing straight up and clearly having to make an effort to do so. Alien as the features were and dark as it was Chiyo knew they were afraid. Another yell came out of the darkness, a strange, high-pitch yet insistent cry. It sounded like an order. Immediately the creatures began to move away. Chiyo heard them skitter away from her in the darkness. She heard them climb some steps and then heard the sound of a heavy metal door open, screeching as if it hadn't been oiled in some time. In the glint of the torches they were carrying Chiyo could have sworn she'd seen pipes.

She was left alone in the darkness. For a moment, she felt relief as her tormentors left the room. Then that relief gave way to fresh dread as the newcomer began to approach.

The approach was agonisingly slow. Each footstep fell slowly and covered a minimal amount of distance, drawing out the wait. Slowly, Chiyo became able to make out a figure. There was no exaggeration in its movement, just cold, minimalistic footstep after footstep. With each one Chiyo's fear and pain grew. As its features began to emerge she was already trembling violently with panic.

It was armoured. Chiyo could see that much. A great Japanese helm covered its face, a visor covering its features. It was fully armoured from its great chest of plate to its steel leggings to the enormous, steel boots that Chiyo couldn't see but knew were there.

In that moment Chiyo gave up hope of any rescue. She just prayed Tomo stayed away from whatever this steel titan was. Its limbs seemed impossibly thick and it was tall, taller than the things that had been tormenting her earlier. Chiyo had looked the twisted bug-men in the face as she'd hung there. She could only see this thing's chest as it came to a stop in front of her, taking three steps to come to a halt, its legs parallel to one another on the ground.

Chiyo just trembled as she waited for the giant in front of her to do something.

"_So…"_

Chiyo gave a start as she heard it speak. She was still trembling uncontrollably.

"You're one of the beasts that have been scuttling around this garbage heap."

There was no degradation in the voice of the armoured giant as it said that. The voice was cold and matter-of-fact, as if making a clinical judgement on a specimen's biology. It seemed to literally be addressing her as an animal.

After all she'd been through, Chiyo was starting to feel like an animal; a naked, chained beast, covered in its own gore and vomit and waiting for the hunters to come home. She didn't feel like a human individual anymore.

The armoured figure continued, a slow, studious voice, every word ringing with purpose. Chiyo shivered as she realised she was being examined, the armoured figure pacing around her. She was beginning to believe this thing was a commander of some sort.

"The younger one by the looks of things. You've led us on quite the chase I must admit."

"Or maybe you're just incompetent." Chiyo bit back, bitterness in her voice.

It had been spontaneous. She'd been desperate to hit back with something, anything to regain some kind of power in the situation. Chiyo immediately regretted it, closing her eyes and waiting for the retribution to come. To her relief and surprise the voice just grunted, almost as if it was acknowledging a point.

"We all thought we'd catch you two the moment the power went off. I have to admit, your friend surprised me. We expected one of the monsters to quickly find and overpower you both."

Chiyo felt a small degree of pride at that. As bad as things were she'd led the horrors on a merry chase.

"Still, none of that changes where you are."

Chiyo felt a shiver go down her spine as she felt a long, clawlike appendage scrape down the side of her torso. Despite her best efforts she shook uncontrollably. The figure began pacing again, though she'd heard a snort of contempt as she momentarily lost control.

She was filled with contempt too, alongside a new emotion; anger. What kind of pathetic creature takes pride in scaring an eleven year old dangling upside down by her ankles?

That cockiness was torn away as the creature grabbed one of her wrists. Painfully, it pulled it to the side with such force that it almost dislocated Chiyo's bleeding shoulder in the process. Chiyo felt the figure's hot breath as it leaned in close… and she felt something clamp onto her ring fingernail.

The thing opened its visor… and Chiyo saw a hideous red face with massive, grotesque tusks erupting from its cheekbones. It was _grinning,_ and yet there was a hideous rage there as well.

"Your friend _murdered_ one of my soldiers." It hissed, horrible, stinking breath and spittle coating Chiyo's face. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you for that?"

Before Chiyo had any time to answer she felt her fingernail ripped out from its socket. She screamed hysterically as the worst pain she'd ever suffered in her life rocketed up her arm. It was worse than being set on fire.

As she convulsed uncontrollably, the blood pouring out of her ruined finger, her torturer stalked off into the darkness. It grabbed something and began to drag it over. The device was rattling like it was some kind of metallic tray. Chiyo nearly lost consciousness as she felt a torch come on, but mercilessly she didn't black out as she saw what was lying on the metal bench in front of her.

Tools. Crude tools, yet ones that were spectacularly well designed for their purpose. Again, like the lockpicks, Chiyo couldn't say exactly what they were, but this time she didn't need a demonstration to understand what they were for. She stared transfixed with cold fear at the implements of torture that littered the table.

Chiyo couldn't even shriek as her hair was grabbed and her head twisted sideways, the beast's grip impossibly strong as it twisted her neck so hard she thought it would snap. She was staring into its eyes… and withered visibly under its glare as the beast said the cruellest thing it could possibly say.

"Your friend died trying to find you. She's got six pikes sticking out of her now. We've got her hanging from the hallway. Would you like to see her?"

Chiyo gave a gasp of pure grief as she began to break down.

"No…" she whimpered. "…you're lying. It's not-"

"It's true. You have no idea how _good_ it felt when her lifeless corpse was dragged before my feet. And would you like to know something else for free?"

The monster let Chiyo go for a moment, allowing her to break down into gouts of tears and racking cries of sorrow as she swung free, any resistance or spirit that had been left in her gone. Then it hauled her round once more and this time, it held up the bloodied fingernail to Chiyo's eyes, a manic grin on its face as it watched her go pale at the sight. It pressed itself up so close that their noses were touching.

"I am going to _break _you. And then, once I've done that, I'm going to take you home to all my friends, and we'll _REALLY_ start to have some fun!"

It stared into her, lapping up the uncontrollable terror that coated Chiyo's face. Her contorted lips, her wide eyes, the way her entire body was trembling uncontrollably. Then it let her go as it stalked towards the torture set...


	16. Confrontation

Hello. This chapter isn't as bad as the horrors this story has been trawling through so far but… this is basically a trigger warning. Again, PM me about specifics.

Confrontation

Tomo had reached the second floor.

There'd been no opposition on her way back. The bug-men had evidently either been cleared or withdrawn from the third floor. She still hadn't walked back past the area where that monstrosity from the windows had emerged, yet somehow Tomo doubted anywhere had been safe. If she'd had a light source on her at the time it would have been her hauled off through that window.

As Tomo began to walk up the corridors she wondered with dread what would be waiting for her in the staff room. She walked quickly. Her eyes were still peeled for dangers and she particularly dreaded the sight of that red glow but her emphasis was on time now, not safety. She knew where the staff room was and she headed straight for it.

Some of the cold despair was still hanging over her but it had been joined by grief and outrage that drove her on. She would have charged an army at that moment if it meant coming closer to Chiyo. There was a black fury smouldering underneath, a building fatalism that left Tomo looking with anticipation towards a fight rather than fear. Whatever got in her way next would pay for it.

Tomo made fast progress, reckless progress. She passed long corridors and empty classrooms, jumped a monstrous corpse and made far too much noise in doing so. The death and danger around her had ceased to penetrate; she was saturated in it.

It was as she passed an intersection in the hall that she almost ran into the charging pikes.

Somehow Tomo managed to close in between the two monsters she was being attacked by, dodging in-between the ends of the pikes in the darkness. Chaos erupted as she collided with their wielders in a panic, knocking them all down in a heap to the ground.

Tomo heard footsteps behind her as she recovered first. As a monster tried to grab her on her way up she kneed it as hard as she could in the chin and then stomped on its sternum, eliciting a cry of agony as it cracked. The other staggered to its feet but was quickly pinned to the wall as Tomo shoved it there and stuck her blade in its shoulder, forcing it to drop its weapon before she shoved it towards its own comrades, nearly pushing it onto a spear point. It staggered in agony as the closest of three more monsters grabbed it and dropped it to the ground to stop it blundering wildly through their ranks.

By the time it straightened up again their quarry was sprinting through the corridors away from them.

Tomo ran. But as she ran her old nemesis came back to haunt her as she tired rapidly. She soon had to slow down, barely able to keep up a jog as her lungs emptied. She turned off and put away her torch to try to hide her position and free her hands.

Then she saw the torch.

A single monster held the hallway against her. As Tomo charged towards it determined to clear a path she saw there was a difference between this one and the ones she'd left behind.

This one was clothed. Or rather, it was armoured in what seemed to be some sort of hide. It held a sword rather than a simple spear and it didn't hesitate in the slightest as she screamed at it. Instead it simply received her charge, parrying her sword out the way.

Tomo came streaming past and felt an extended ankle trip her to the floor. She rolled over and barely managed to block a stabbing cut towards her pelvis. She rolled backwards onto her feet and barely managed to get her guard up as she was stabbed at again.

The blows were closing in. Again and again her opponent stabbed towards her and each time Tomo barely managed to knock the blade aside, already shaken from the sudden battle in the corridors. The monster's thrusts were disciplined and firm. Tomo was unable to turn and run. She was unable to find an opening as her tiny parries barely shifted the blade away from her, the monster simply shifting its arms in a manner she'd never been trained in to reposition itself for another attack. Tomo's panic grew as she heard footsteps coming down the corridor ahead of her as she backed up desperately. The attack pattern was more like fencing than long sword fighting but it was still brutally effective and worse, Tomo didn't have the range on her wakizashi to match the katana she was facing.

Suddenly the style changed as the monster stepped close to her. Tomo barely parried a brutal diagonal cut that a western swordswoman would have recognised as the classical European opening cross cut.

She soon found out why it was a classic. Rather than simply pulling away as the metal clashed the monster leaned into the blow, forcing Tomo's blade back into her shoulder. Then it pushed back, over-balancing her and at the same time, it brought the blade round for a second brutal cut from the opposite direction to complete the attack formation.

The first thing a sword user learns is how to execute that attack and how to parry it. Tomo wasn't a swordswoman and didn't know the script. The only thing that saved her from being sliced in two was the fact that she fell down backwards before the blade could hit her. It still cut her deeply across the jaw as it swept downwards and sideways.

The monster stood over her victoriously. It had its sword levelled at her throat. Tomo just looked up, defiant. She wasn't going to give it the satisfaction of seeing her scared.

Then her mouth opened with shock.

"The game's up, human. You'll be coming with us now."

Tomo just stared blankly as she comprehended that the growling, guttural and alien voice had just spoken to her in plain Japanese.

"We know you're no idiot. Get up."

Tomo heard the footsteps coming. She had one final gambit up her sleeve. Slowly, she got to her feet, dropping the sword as she did so. She did her best to look defeated.

But her hand went to her satchel.

She threw herself backwards and at the same time drew the stun gun. The creature advanced but it was too late as Tomo placed the probe directly in its knee.

She almost ended up dying anyway as the creature lunged at her wildly, its leg jerking out from under it. The sword went clattering to the floor as Tomo leapt up and retrieved her own weapon. She turned to run.

Then she stopped, rooted to the floor with horror.

Coming down from the distant end of the corridor and closing rapidly was the owner of the red glow. For the first time Tomo saw its flaming, charcoal skin and looked into the fires in its eyes. It was a living being of fire and ash, twice Tomo's height and stooping to avoid the top of the corridor. Two massive great clawed arms stretched down from its shoulders and a huge great maw with fire burning inside was visible upon its terrible, noseless head.

Tomo's cold resolve turned to water. She understood that she would never outrun this thing. She glanced down at the creature on the floor and saw its twisted, equally hopeless expression. It understood too.

They were both going to die a horrible, agonising death in the corridors.

Tomo just stood there staring as the gigantic wall of death that rampaged towards her. She didn't understand what she was doing as she withdrew the stun gun's probe and helped the creature up off the floor. Behind it its allies, or perhaps subordinates, had stopped in their tracks. They too were waiting for death.

Tomo made her fateful decision as she stood there amongst her enemies. She made one final request.

"Please, just let her go." she said quietly. Her voice was quiet, half choked with fear.

Then she shoved the monster down the corridor before it could respond. "Go!" She yelled. She started off down the corridor.

Tomo didn't understand what she was doing as she marched towards the monster. She heard some chatter behind her alongside the barking of orders but the creatures began to withdraw. She was on her own as she walked towards the fires.

She had one desperate, foolish plan. One she knew was based entirely on her understanding of an object in the building. A very modern object the things behind her probably weren't familiar with. Tomo still didn't understand why she was doing or why she wasn't running as she smashed open the glass to a fire extinguisher and hauled it out, sheathing her sword before she did so. She heard a gigantic roar come down the corridor as she began to feel heat emanating from the creature. It was closing in.

Somehow, Tomo managed to hold firm as the gigantic creature began to tower over her. It wasn't two times the size of her but three times, its massive bulk barely contained by the corridor. She hadn't noticed the footsteps stop behind her as the thing slowed down and started to stalk towards her. Tomo gave thanks that it still behaved like an animal, sizing its prey up. It was clearly confused; she wasn't acting like prey. Nothing stood in its way; it had no predators and its only fear was other monsters like itself. This thing was a mouse before it, yet it was standing there, immobile.

It came to a stop. As it gave a tremendous, blasting roar that burnt Tomo's skin with raw heat, trying to get the desired reaction, Tomo sprang her trap. The fire extinguisher came open… and she sprayed the giant directly in its hideous face.

Tomo was astonished by the roar of pure agony that she elicited from the monster. It covered its face with its arm and stumbled away, trying to get away fom the extinguishing force. Tomo was emboldened and moved forward, this time spraying at its torso.

Tomo could never kill it with that force. She could only ever extinguish one small part of the monster at a time. Yet the monster reacted to it as if the extinguisher was melting its skin. It backed off, whimpering at the touch of the simple appliance. Not for one moment did Tomo stop moving forward even as her legs turned to jelly and her face was burnt in the terrible heat. She advanced with the discipline of a professional soldier.

Still she kept advancing, getting closer. It was becoming hard to hold the extinguisher as it began to heat up. Still she advanced, not daring to give her opponent a second to breathe. This was how humans managed to win against much larger predators. The monster simply didn't understand what she was doing, how it was possible for her to be there attacking it. It didn't understand how something so small could be hurting it.

It was just as Tomo was about to drop the fire extinguisher out of agony and exhaustion from the heat that the monster backed away, fear in its burning eyes. Howling with pain it turned tail and bolted down the corridors, trying to get as far away from the bizarre, inexplicable source of the most agonizing moment of its life; away from the thing that squirted burning water.

Tomo's watched, unbelieving, as the monster left. She stared numbly after it as she comprehended slowly that she'd actually survived. The creature had singed her face to the point where the whole area stung maddeningly and her eyes wouldn't stop watering.

She tried to comprehend what had caused her to commit to that insanity in the first place as she stood there shell-shocked in the corridor, the fire extinguisher dropping to the ground with a clang. She'd charged that flaming beast in the corridors to do… what? Had she done it to save her own life?

Yet she'd pushed that thing away and told it to run. She hadn't advanced towards that flaming monster hoping to win. She'd advanced towards it hoping to hold it off.

Tomo remembered the request she'd made to the monster before she'd run. Maybe, just maybe it would help Chiyo?

Tomo walked off the corridors in a daze. A psychologist might have been able to diagnose her with a form of Stockholm Syndrome. Despite everything they'd done to her, the dangers she'd been put through, Tomo was starting to identify with the invaders out of sheer solitude and desperation.

It wasn't a long walk to the staff room now, yet for Tomo it felt like forever. Her exertions were catching up to her again. There wasn't a part of her body now that wasn't sore. Her arms and head were burnt, her legs covered in wounds and her torso in bruises. The heat had just exasperated how badly she needed a drink.

But worse was the black void that seemed to draw every piece of spirit and life out of her. She didn't feel like Tomo anymore. Still, she drew herself tiredly outside the door, her legs like lead weights.

Tomo wished she was going to find Chiyo behind this door, but she knew she wasn't here for that. She was here to find out where she was. Somehow she still had to conduct a rescue mission after that. A rescue mission… Tomo was even starting to think like a soldier.

She reached into her bag for the key to the staff room and also drew her sword. The katana this time, the wakizashi's length had nearly got her killed. Tomo still didn't have much faith in the stun gun's stopping power.

She turned the knob and opened the door into darkness. Tomo flicked the torch on and took in the full horror of the voice's hiding place.

The floor was covered in some kind of strange flesh. Red veins pumped their way out into the hall. The wooden staffroom walls were stained red with what looked horribly like gore. The flesh on the wall crept up towards the centre of the room. Almost too scared to look, Tomo let the flashlight creep up towards the nexus…

There was something there. It resembled a massive, fat worm, three times the girth of Tomo. It was squatting there, seemingly attached physically to the flesh and veins, an impossible amount of blood pouring out of it. Six bladed appendages stuck out of it, each one large enough to decapitate a horse. At its base were thousands of tiny, caterpillar-like legs. Its body was wet with slime, its skin a horrid greenish-grey colour. And the veins, it was covered in blue veins that were swollen with returning blood. Yet there was no blood returning from the flesh on the ground…

Yet it was the face that nearly made Tomo's mind shatter into pieces.

It was hideously swollen and twisted, seemingly three times its normal size. Yet not only was it human, it was dreadfully familiar. Tomo instantly recognised that long nose, the mad eyes and the horrible, creepy hanging mouth.

"Hello Tomo." Kimura greeted. Yet the voice was nothing like the person Tomo had once been taught by. The high, nasal voice was gone, replaced by a cold, sadistic voice that was chilling just to listen to.

Tomo just stood there in stunned silence as her mind tried to reach for any other explanation, anything that would be less horrifying. She covered her mouth as an audible, nauseated gasp came out. She started to back towards the door, only to have it shut behind her with a bang and lock. She pressed herself against it, too shocked and disgusted to throw up.

A hideous smile came on to Kimura's face as he began to chuckle. "Now really, don't you know its ill-mannered to react like that? I know I'm not that pretty but show some control young lady."

"What-"

"What happened to me? Yes, I suppose that's a good question. I'll tell you what happened to me, dear Tomo. The best thing in my _life_ happened to me. I've become powerful. Powerful enough to take whatever I want. And I don't even have to restrain myself anymore."

Tomo just shivered against the wall in fear and disgust, a hideous expression of terror twisting her face. This wasn't Kimura. Or worse, this _was_ Kimura. A completely insane Kimura with what little inhibitions he'd had removed. Any other monster and Tomo might have fought back, found some courage from somewhere to speak out. Yet the familiarity was what gave it all the horror.

It was what she or her friends might have nightmares about after a particularly disturbing lesson. The creep had become a predator and she was in the room with him. He wasn't just a creepy old man, he was an actual monster. Tomo could almost feel those terrible sharp blades tearing through her flesh. She began to hyperventilate.

"Tomo, what's the matter? I'm just taking what is mine. What I've always wanted. I mean really, is there nothing_ you_ want? Nothing you desperately want the power to take?"

There was something, but Tomo wouldn't have made a deal with that horror even for Chiyo. There was no spirit of camaraderie that could have made her talk in that moment. She remained silent, staring bug-eyed at the abomination in front of her. Yet something must have given her thoughts away.

"Oh don't be so noble. I know you want _that_. Heaven knows why, she's got in your way so much. She's the reason you've come wandering right into my trap, why you're burnt and covered in splinters when you could have been half a town away in the evening sun. It really is a terrible thing the human conscience. You have no idea how good it feels to be _rid_ of it."

Tomo wanted to throw up, but her lungs simply wouldn't make the motion. She slid down the wall, unable to take her eyes off the thing that had been her teacher. She tried to make some kind of rebuttal, take back some kind of power. But her body had frozen up. There was nothing her conscious mind had the power to do.

She could understand the monsters, as they were just animals. She could identify with the bug-men of the corridors that seemed to have some semblance of humanity despite their alien appearances.

_This_ was different.

Tomo was in the same room as something that had no conscience. There was no pity behind those gaping eyes, only the cold, cruel look of a predator. Yet there was intelligence there. Hunger.

"What's wrong Tomo? I thought you came here to talk to me?" Kimura said, its voice dripping with insincerity and condescension. Tomo watched petrified as it hauled itself out of its nest with a hideous squelching sound and began to advance on her, carried forwards by its spindly legs. The bulk shifted as it moved, nauseating just to look at. It advanced closer and closer across the room.

It was only when it was halfway over that Tomo got back to her feet and drew her sword, still pressed against the wall as she kept the weapon at full reach away from her, too terrified to bend her arms and hold it properly.

"_Don't come any closer!"_ she gasped, her features still contorted with raw terror.

Kimura laughed, but he stopped, the flesh that surrounded him shuddering. "So you do have a voice after all. I'm so glad of that. I thought I'd scared the mouse away. Tell me then Tomo, why did you come here?"

"To save Chiyo from a hideous monster like you!" Tomo screamed, finally managing an outburst as her terror crescendoed.

There was a stony silence.

"Really now, you're unkind." Kimura said. There was an intimidating note of displeasure in his voice now. "Really I don't have her though. I'm not really interested in her to be honest. The little ones are rather _boring._"

Then Kimura started to smile, a terrifying, predatory smile.

"No, Tomo, I'm not interested in Chiyo. Ever since this started, the thing I've been pursuing is _you._"

Tomo nearly dropped her sword as she stared at the thing that was eyeing her up, feelings of terror and nausea swirling through her mind.

"Of course I realise that my new body is a little bit… beyond its ability to sustain the usual appetites. And to be perfectly honest I'd much prefer one of your prettier classmates. I mean, you're nice enough, in a pointy sort of way. But Sakaki… or cute little Kaorin. Now that would be-"

"Shut the hell up!" Tomo yelled. "Say one more word about them and I swear…" She raised her sword, rage starting to filter through the terror and revulsion.

Kimura's expression fell. There was a very dark expression there as the reality of Tomo's threat filtered down. He hadn't wanted her to fight back.

"I see you're a bit of a kill-joy still. To be honest I always found you a bit boring too. Too loud. I'd have to gag you to get you to shut up. Still, I've come to realise something Tomo. You see, I'm honestly not interested in that anymore. I just want the joy of hunting you down, watching you scream. It never occurred to me before, but why _bother_ with all the nauseating bits? Why should I actually _touch_ you?"

Kimura's voice dropped to a whisper as his voice filled with menace.

"_Why not just skip straight to the best bit where I strip everything you have away from you?"_

Tomo felt her courage fade away as Kimura lifted one of the enormous blades. The meaning was very clear. Kimura had moved straight past being a sexual predator. The thing in front of her was now a full-blown serial killer and she was the target age group.

"But I did make a deal with you. So here's the deal. I am going to carve you up, Tomo Takino. I am going to turn you into a thousand tiny little square pieces. Then I'm going to eat the pieces and as I do I'm going to dream of every stupid, annoying and simpering thing that's ever come out of your filthy mouth. I'm going to remember how you've always seen me, how they've all always seen me. That pathetic, creepy adult who you have to spend an hour with each day in school. And I'm going to feel _good_ about it."

Tomo raised her blade into the guard position waveringly. Kimura just laughed.

"Think you can stop me Tomo? Then here's the other part of the deal. If you can stop me with those pathetic toys at your side, I'll give you what _you _want. I'll tell you where the girl you suddenly care so much about is."

Tomo just waited there for the onslaught to come. But Kimura spoke one last time.

"I just want you to tell me one thing, Tomo. Because what really confuses me is why you feel anything for her. You were never that nice to her, were you? I really do find it bizarre that the girl who smashes a ball off an eleven year old's head and the laughs about it afterwards would come through five levels of hell… six if you count the roof, for that same little girl?"

For a long time Tomo stood there, thinking of an answer to that.

"She's my friend." she said simply. There was contempt in Kimura's voice as he answered.

"I always thought you were stupid. Poor Tomo Takino, the thundering blunderbuss of the playground. Do you have any idea how annoying your friends find you? I bet half the time Yomi doesn't want you-"

"I know Yomi and she knows me. You don't know me." Tomo countered. It was the first thing she'd been able to say with conviction since the dialogue had begun. Kimura's face contorted with rage as she broke his attempt to break her down.

"Oh well, I suppose if you're so certain. We're about to see how much your loyalty is really worth, Tomo, when I'm sitting on the ground next to your corpse!"

Kimura began scuttling forwards, the wall of flesh advancing, blades bared as they scraped together, gleaming in the torchlight. The horribly eager look on his face signalled loud and clear that the time for talking was over.

Despite her bravado Tomo wasn't ready for this. She had no answer to those massive blades. As Kimura came forwards she instead darted across the room, trying to keep to the corners and away from the crawling mound. Kimura just followed, laughing.

"Is this really how this is going to go Tomo? You running around the room, playing tag with me until I find you and open you up with my toys?"

Tomo just kept moving, unable to stand and fight. Furiously she thought as she was chased round the room. There had to be some way to disable him! She pulled out the stun gun, having to swap out the torch and leave herself in darkness to do so.

"You're not going to do much with-AH!"

Tomo hit Kimura directly in the face. Yet despite crying out with pain Kimura just came on faster, his features now invisible in the darkness. Tomo backed up… and fell over as one of the blades fell near her. She backed up, but soon found out she was against the wall.

As Kimura loomed over her she desperately lunged. Yet the blades just locked shut, creating an impenetrable wall of armour. Then they came out again. Tomo tried again and then rolled, only to have a blade come down and land right beside her, leaving her on her side with the mountain of bulbous flesh standing over her.

"You're really no fun Tomo. I expected more of a fight than that. I have to say the electricity was exciting, but as I feared you're nothing really. You're all mouth. I thought when I saw you strangle yourself on the floor that there might just have been a glimmer of hope for you. And I must say, your little act of vengeance on the stairs _excited_ me. But that was all ruined when I saw you save those disgusting creatures from the fire monster. They tortured your friend Tomo, and you saved them. They're torturing her now. Would you like to listen to the damage you've caused?"

Kimura didn't wait. Tomo could hear screams. Chiyo's screams. They were coming from all around, howls of agony. She was sobbing, pleading for them to stop. Tomo heard her name shrieked out. She didn't know if it was real or some cruel trick but she couldn't shut it out.

She just curled up in a catatonic ball as it echoed through her mind. She could hear the laughter of the torturer.

Kimura sounded bored as he allowed the laughter to stop. Tomo had her hands over her ears. Her weapons had been dropped to the ground. "It seems we're going to be moving on to the main course. I had hoped that it would take more than a little girl's screams to break you, but I suppose this was one-sided from the start."

The wall of flesh crawled over, and Tomo squirmed as it settled on top of her legs, the weight crushing her already damaged limbs. Kimura raised a blade.

Tomo sent a last desperate pulse through the stun gun as the blade fell. Kimura screamed and the blade stalled as he seemed to lose control over it briefly. Kimura raised the blade again. He went to strike... and through her terror and hopelessness Tomo saw her chance.

She shocked him again. This time the blade fell, but it fell wide. There was a wall in the lump of flesh.

It was a difficult angle as she was pinned to the ground but Tomo thrust her blade up towards the exposed area. It only nicked him, but Kimura screamed and backpedalled as Tomo caught layers of disgusting, lumpy flab with her sword, tearing open the flesh. Blood began to pour out of the area as she felt her legs come free.

Tomo didn't hesitate. She pounced up and shocked him again, this time stabbing into the mound of flesh as it stood paralysed by the electricity. The fear was melting away, being replaced by hot rage. Kimura's blades came shuddering down but they were slow and Tomo dodged out the way before slashing again vertically, barely missing Kimura's hideous face as he sputtered backwards with gore splashing out of him.

In less than five seconds Tomo had completely reversed the fight. There was vengeance glinting in her eyes now as she translated terror into rage. Kimura was the one terrified, the one being hunted as he scuttled backwards. Tomo didn't even hesitate as she shocked him once more, paralysing him. Kimura finally tore the cable off the probe with a swing of his blades, but in that time Tomo lunged…

…and put the katana directly through Kimura's swollen face.

Kimura sputtered, falling back, as Tomo drew the blade out and then released it from her hands as it fell to the fleshy ground below, spraying herself head to toe in gore as she did so. In the dark, Kimura's misshapen form toppled over onto its side, the wall of flesh squirting and squelching as the blood ran free, covering the mound.

Tomo looked blankly on as it occurred to her that she'd just slain the one person who could tell her where Chiyo was. But just as her legs were about to give out in panic and despair, Kimura began to diminish.

The mound shrank down. It changed shape. Limbs began to grow, yet there were only two of them. The changing shape was far too small to be Kimura.

It was too small to be all of him at any rate. Tomo looked on as Kimura's broken torso appeared on the ground, his lower body completely gone. There was a terrible groan.

He was alive. It was grotesque, but the terrible truth was it was mild compared to what Tomo had found in the darkness. She got down on her knees next to him, shaking with panic as she feared he might slide away before she got the precious information. She shook him.

"Tell me where she is."

"You… freed me."

Kimura's old voice was back. Tomo just stared. Comprehension set in as she realised the psychopath was gone. Her teacher looked up at her.

He was in a lot of pain. Yet he spoke.

"Please… listen to me. I know I don't have the right."

"Please just tell me where she is." Tomo pleaded. Kimura struggled for a second, coughing. He wasn't going to live much longer.

"She's in the boiler room…" he coughed. "…the things took her there. The commander is there… don't go near him. He's a psychopath… just like I was… ugh…."

Tomo got up to leave immediately, Chiyo's screams still reverberating in her mind. She had no time for the dying man on the floor, but she found herself pulled back as Kimura grabbed her arm. Tomo had a dark look on her face as she turned back.

"I don't have time to nurse you to sleep. I have to save-"

"My daughter."

Any thoughts Tomo had had of tearing away faded as she heard the earnestness of that call. She just waited, unable to move away, as Kimura made his final request.

"She's only nine. She's at the mall. I know she's still there because I heard… heard the monsters… talking about it. She looks just like Sakaki… I know I don't have the right to ask but _please…_"

Tomo just stared, wondering what to do as Kimura broke down into sobs.

"…they took everything away from me. They tortured me, left me alive like this, torturing me. By the time they'd finished, I couldn't even remember my wife's face."

Kimura had to take a long break to find the strength for what he had to say next.

"They threatened my wife. Forced me to padlock the door. Told me to capture you both… whatever way I could. Gave me the tools to lock or trap all the exits. I knew the school and they used that. They twisted me… filled my mind with my darkest thoughts, stripped away everything I was… until only the worst parts of me remained."

Tomo still had trouble forgiving the man who had tormented her in the dark. Yet there was one question she had.

"Did you hurt Chiyo?" she asked. Her hand was on the blade she'd dropped on the floor. But Kimura shook his head.

"No… I would never… I tried. I tried to deliver you both to the assembly hall. You… you were my real target. I would never… to do something like that to a child… yet what I did to you... what I put you through... I'm sorry. They warped my mind, took away every feeling of compassion and empathy. I hated _everything._ The monsters wanted me to hand you both over to the commander. I don't know if it was some… small shred of humanity or just… just my sick desire but I… I managed to control one of the monsters. I manipulated it into dropping you off at the assembly hall. But I couldn't… I couldn't do the same with the one that took Chiyo. If they'd found out my wife would have been…"

Tomo just stood down bleakly as the horrid story came out. She'd been robbed of any anger. These were just the words of a dying man who had already been broken.

"Listen, I promise I'll save your daughter-"

"You promise?" Kimura's voice was pleading, desperate. Tomo managed to nod.

"After I get Chiyo and Yomi. But I promise, I'll try to save her." Tomo couldn't believe she was committing to it, but she couldn't abandon a nine year old to the monsters."

"Thank you…" Even in the dark, Tomo could see how much that meant to him. Slowly, Kimura raised his arm, trying to point to something.

"in my coat pocket… are a pair of car keys. It's a silver… Toyota. A Corolla. You should be able to… break the gates with it. Aim for the centre…"

He was fading away. There was nothing more Tomo could do. Slowly, she took the keys, trying to ignore the fact that her hand was smothered in blood.

As she removed the keys, Kimura slid into unconsciousness.

For a moment, Tomo just stood there, looking down at the mess on the floor that had once been her teacher.

Then she ran for the door. There was no time left as she bolted down the corridors.

It was endgame.


	17. Promise

Promise

Chiyo was covered head to toe in her own blood.

Clumps of hair lay on the ground where it had been torn out by the roots. Her scalp was burnt and bleeding; she was almost bald. She convulsed as another cut was made in her flesh, this one torn in a zigzag along her stomach, blood trickling out to join the dozens of other rivulets and tributaries in a river of blood that was flowing down to her head and her shoulders and dropping into the ground. Blood was stinging her eyes and nose.

The cuts were all over her tenderised, battered skin. There were cuts on her face, on her torso, her limbs… an agonising one on her right foot. Chiyo had ceased to feel each individual cut, the pain just washing over her in a cavalcade of agony that was just not quite enough to knock her unconscious. She'd been beaten black and blue and a multitude of smaller cuts were interspersed amongst the deeper knife-wounds, the injuries just exacerbating the pain from each individual cut. Yet worst was the burning sensation on her chest.

The word "Alone" had been cauterised into her flesh.

As her torturer finished cutting through her skin yet again, it let out an impatient sigh. Despite Chiyo's screams and pleadings throughout the agonising proceedings the torture apparently wasn't going well. It had returned each bloody tool to its respective place on the metal bench before now, a bench that was now caked in Chiyo's blood. Now it just allowed the tool to fall to the ground with a frustrated clatter.

Chiyo had gone quiet, but it wasn't for the reason it had wanted. It wanted to break her, to shatter her mind. Crack her mental defences and then fill her conscious with agony. But Chiyo looked like she was going to lose consciousness before her resistance broke. A child was making a mockery of its torture techniques.

Chiyo realised it wasn't getting what it wanted as it simply stood over her for a good half-minute, thinking.

"Let's take another break, shall we?" it said.

This was how it had allowed Chiyo to remain conscious for so long when her body was covered in wounds. Every so often it took a break, instead concentrating on the mental battle.

At first it had taunted her about Tomo's death. Hoping it could weaken her resistance with a tidal wave of fresh grief. Chiyo's reaction after the first torture session however had been one of defiant rage. She hadn't broken into hysterics as it had expected. It had then beaten her black and blue, striking Chiyo every time she screamed an insult, then beating her long after she'd fallen silent till she was on the point of being bludgeoned unconscious.

Yet all that had borne was stony silence. Chiyo might have been beaten into submission but the anger was still there, smouldering.

Then it had moved on. If Tomo's loss wasn't enough, it would have to find fresh material. Slowly the beast began to remind her about her parents. How the monsters had tortured them, how they were slowly being driven mad, tormented till they couldn't even remember the face of their own daughter.

Yet that had been a terrible mistake. Instead of giving into hopelessness Chiyo's anger had ignited. It had taken a lot of sessions to get the little girl to stop screaming at it. Removing a second fingernail had done the job.

The monster's mistake had been to tell Chiyo her parents were alive at all. Where there was life there was hope. Despite everything Chiyo still had some mental bedrock that kept her hope alive for some kind of miracle or rescue. If Chiyo had thought her parents were dead she would have shattered completely. She'd understood for a long time that her parents were possibly in terrible danger. _Knowing_ they were alive actually raised her morale.

She may have clammed up again, but she wasn't broken and the monster knew it. The anger was still there; it was Chiyo's keen intelligence that was keeping her silent, not despair. She was saving her energy.

After that the monster had resorted to simply causing as much pain as was physically possible over the maximum sustained period of time. The denailers had come out again. Chiyo had erupted into screams and then finally went silent as it had systematically ripped them out of her fingers, giving her just enough time to recover and stop convulsing with agony to pull out another one. It knew what it was doing and it never allowed Chiyo to lose consciousness. By the time it had finished Chiyo was a bleeding, shuddering mess, eighteen new wounds leaking out onto the floor as it mutilated her toes as well.

That had broken her physical resistance. Chiyo didn't say a word after that and it was freely able to bombard her with taunts. Steadily, it had put her mind itself under siege. But if Chiyo had a fortress it was her mind.

Slowly it had tried to dehumanise her. Again and again it reinforced the idea that she was alone, that she was just an animal, that there was no one who cared about her anymore and that she was going to be stuck here forever. Each new torture session added a new branded letter, steadily reinforcing the sense of isolation and permanent loss as her skin was scarred. It tried negative reinforcement, getting her to remember happy times in her life and then opening her up with one of the knives, associating those pleasant times with extreme pain.

Yet it had already shot its worst arrows. Agonising as the knives were they were nothing compared to having every last finger and toenail wrenched out of her flesh. Even the brand hadn't been that bad.

If the creature had a few days it could possibly have broken Chiyo down into a state of madness. Possibly. But Chiyo wasn't going to be able to sustain much more of this today. Already she was becoming less responsive. Chiyo knew the monster didn't want her dead. As terrified as she was that she might end up that way anyway that fact limited how much it could do. She still wanted to live and these superficial and peripheral injuries weren't posing a mortal threat unless she died by infection or bloodloss… though the latter was becoming increasingly possible.

It couldn't kill her. It couldn't break her with pain and grief alone, not in the allotted time and Chiyo saw desperation in the monster's eyes. For some reason it wanted her to break quickly.

So it decided to find the middle ground. Chiyo felt her head grasped and hauled up to the creature's level, its grip hard enough to make her feel like her skull was going to crack.

"You know, you really do have pretty eyes. I wonder if you'd mind if I… borrowed them?"

Chiyo felt fresh horror shoot through her even in her battered and dazed state. It must have shown on her face as the thing chuckled, a grin breaking out on its red face.

Chiyo watched as it let her go and moved towards the torture cart. It searched for a while, looking for the perfect instrument.

It found it. Chiyo's already uncontrollable shaking intensified as it brought up a terrible metal fork, the two prongs just wide enough for both to fit in her eyes. It had found the threat it needed; it doubted Chiyo's battered defences would survive the loss of her sight.

"You'll kill me." she choked out. "I won't survive that."

The monster just smiled a terrible smile. "That's a chance I'm willing to take." it snarled.

It was just as it levelled the prongs towards Chiyo's eyes that the door burst in.

Chiyo couldn't see the shape of her saviour in the dark but it didn't look like Tomo. It was one of the bug-men. Despite this the creature walked taller than the things she'd seen in the corridors. It was moving more efficiently, walking upright like a human or the armoured brute in front of her. Chiyo could hear rasping breaths in the darkness however as the thing seemed to be in a hurry.

The brute snorted and dropped the tong away from Chiyo's face as it turned to speak to the newcomer. It was close enough for Chiyo to make out some of the individual sounds… though she didn't listen too closely. She was just glad to have her eyes a few seconds longer.

"Wlug? En em gli neppri ah gli legour!" the armoured figure barked. It sounded annoyed.

"Udarateix qannumpil dog glex ex oltimg! Gli lonim, zli izqudip!" came the incomprehensible reply. Despite the bizarre language there was an urgency in the voice and Chiyo realised its owner was scared of something.

"Wlug?" Chiyo could hear anger. "Law pep zao numuti glug? Yao iop zes nim!"

"Wi imtotip eg gannumpil dog o heli ozdig… eg eggeqip oz orr!" There was a note of pure fear in the arrival's voice. Chiyo realised that it was recanting something disturbing.

"Law ol yao ziger orevi?" The monster, increasingly Chiyo was thinking "the commander", had a note of suspicion in its voice as if it didn't believe what it was hearing.

gli lonim… eg lirp eg uh!" The arrival's voice was quiet. It sounded like it didn't quite believe what it was saying. There was a moment of silence between the two figures.

"glim eg ez piop… gli nezziun ez uvil." there was a resigned, yet relieved note in the commanders voice.

"Ma, gannumpil…" Chiyo heard real disbelief and shaking in the messenger's voice now. "…eg wam! Eg plavi ozdig ah! Gli lonim… eg wam!"

Dead silence.

"Kimura?" the commander said, quietly. Whatever had come to pass had been a stunning revelation to the creature. Chiyo's eyes widened at the mention of her teacher's name.

"Eg woz navemt gawolpz eg. Kimura ez em pomti-"

Suddenly both of them doubled over, covering their ears as if they could hear something horrifying. In the gloom Chiyo could see the messenger crouching down in the dark. The commander simply stooped slightly, but it was shaking as it straightened up. Chiyo just looked on in bewilderment and fear. Had some fresh hell entered the building?

"Kimura ez piop…" the messenger said. It looked like it couldn't quite believe it. "Gannumpil… wlug oli wi taemt ga pa?"

"Glog lonim…"

There was another long pause. When the commander spoke again, its voice was full of smouldering rage… yet there was fear there. Something had scared this iron giant. Above all else Chiyo didn't want to be left in the room with it now.

"E wer lompri glez nyzirh… ligolm ga yaol omeg. Toulp gli isegz!"

It was an order. Yet the messenger hesitated.

"Ta, ta!" the commander cried. The messenger finally broke into a run, sprinting for the door.

Chiyo was left inside with the angry monster as it shut. It slowly turned around to face her.

As it approached, a terrible, grim expression visible through the open visor, Chiyo wondered if she was about to be put out of her misery. She tried to control the shaking as the armoured giant loomed over her.

Yet instead it just went past her. Chiyo heard it stalk over towards the opposite wall.

Despite the pain of moving Chiyo tried to twist round. She quickly abandoned that as the chains clanked together. But she could still listen.

She heard the commander sit down heavily on something. It suddenly seemed tired.

There was the rustling of paper… a book?

Scratching sounds told Chiyo It was making a record of something. Whatever it had written it was hastily done and all too soon the book shut closed again. The creature got up… and began to move towards her again.

This time, it didn't grab her. It lent down… and looked her straight in the eye. The sadistic smile was false this time. Behind the intimidation technique was real anger and fear. Chiyo felt more afraid of that expression than she had been facing the sadism of earlier.

"I'm going to sort a few things out." It brought up the fork. "Don't go anywhere." It grinned nastily, a glint in its eye.

As it stalked off into the distance, chucking the fork to one side, Chiyo heard it slide something heavy off a table in the darkness. From what little Chiyo could make out it looked like a massive, heavy club.

The door slammed shut… and Chiyo was left in the dark with only a torch to light her immediate surroundings.

For the first time in an agonizing half hour she was allowed to be alone with her thoughts.

It wasn't fear she felt as she hung there. Chiyo felt the despair of being utterly on her own. Tomo was dead. Her parents were being horribly tortured somewhere like she was. Her classmates and her friends from her own school were probably just as badly off. For Chiyo it seemed like everything she'd ever held dear had been torn from her heart. The pain from her injuries felt dull compared to the mental anguish that filled her head.

Chiyo had been able to keep it together in front of her tormentor while her sanity depended on it but with the immediate threat away she finally broke. Hysterical tears began to fall down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably in the darkness, closing her eyes and wishing the pain and the feelings of loneliness and grief would just go away.

Chiyo couldn't think of anything except the pain. She tried to block it out but as she came back from the brink her senses began to recover. The tears began to come as much from pain as from grief.

What was the point in fighting back? Why was she still holding on? Was she holding out for a miracle?

Chiyo tried to think of one good thing, one reason to keep living. But there was none. Everyone she cared about was dead. The city she'd grown up in was a tortured, haunted graveyard full of terrifying monsters and sadistic alien creatures. Even if she got out of her chains she'd never be able to hobble out of the city.

Chiyo was just about to give up and just hang there waiting for something to come back and finish the job the commander had started when a memory finally came.

It was the promise she'd made to Tomo. Back in the closet, before they'd made their unsuccessful attempt to leave the building. She remembered the way Tomo had held her shoulders when she was too scared to think and whispered those brave words.

"_I'll already be dead, so you won't have anything to lose… get out of here as fast as you can and go live your life. Find something else."_

Chiyo just hung there still, tears starting to wash away the blood that smeared her face as she remembered her forgotten promise.

Then other memories began to come back to her, happier ones from happier times. Her first day at school came back. She remembered the astonished look on her teacher's face as she spoke perfect English to the class when most of her classmates were just starting to learn a few words. Then she remembered the walk home with her parents after as she regaled them with the stories of that first magical day.

Chiyo felt her heart tearing apart as she remembered all the faces from her elementary school. The friends and the teachers and how supportive they'd all been of her.

She remembered the important events of her life. Birthdays, holidays. Her first chemistry set she'd received when she was eight. The pride in her parent's eyes as they'd entrusted it to her. Mr Tadakichi… Chiyo thought her heart was going to burst as she remembered the tiny pup.

The mixed emotions of being allowed to move up a year, and then another year until the years ran out. That fateful day where she'd had to leave elementary school, the kind faces there unable to teach her any more, when she left the school gates and the wonderful world behind them forever. The promise her friends had made and kept to keep visiting her…

Middle school. Chiyo's first experience of being surrounded by giants had been there. She remembered how she'd wandered the halls late on her first day and how a student had taken her by the hand and led her to her class when he'd found her crying in the hall. She'd been nine at the time…

The shadow the voice had left in the locker room lifted, the last ghosts chased away as Chiyo remembered the pride and faith her parents had placed in their only daughter as they'd given her more and more responsibilities and freedoms and she'd accepted and cherished every one. How they'd given her a sense of independence and freedom. Pride in herself. How much effort they'd made to provision her for the trips and expeditions she'd made around the various aquariums and zoos of Tokyo when she'd developed an interest in animals.

The gates of middle school closed. Ieysu High beckoned, towering over her.

Chiyo remembered that awkward first moment in class as Yukari called her a brat in front of her new classmates. She actually chuckled a bit and smiled through the pain as she remembered Tomo's absurd and one-sided sprint against Sakaki, going as far as to penalise her opponent for her larger chest size. She remembered the way Kaorin had been so tense and yet Yomi so bored as she calmly predicted the inevitable outcome.

Chiyo remembered Osaka wandering into class with that vacant and sleepy expression on her face. She remembered the infamous nickname that had stuck forever and the way that everyone had just accepted it.

More details of that first day came back. The terrifying look on Sakaki's face had almost put her off the gigantic teenager, yet Chiyo remembered the adoration Sakaki had had for animals. It had immediately endeared her to the older girl.

There were less fun moments as well. Forgetting the very first assignment she was supposed to hand in; Chiyo still feared that teacher. She remembered getting brained on the head by Tomo's "unique" volleyball skills; a later memory. Afterwards she had played that ridiculous game of volleyball with Osaka. Neither of them had hit the ball once but they'd had a ten for ten record for hitting each other in the face and running after the ball by the time they were finished.

The long walks home after school and getting ready for work after. Their first swimming lesson at high school… the memories just kept flowing back into Chiyo, reviving her and driving the pain and despair away into the deepest, darkest regions of her unconscious mind as the world seemed to come into light again. Slowly Chiyo came back out of the black depths of her despair.

She could escape. No, she _had_ to escape. Tomo had given everything to try to give her a chance at that. Even in failure and death she'd given Chiyo a reason to live on, an obligation to try and rebuild the shattered pieces of her life.

Chiyo remembered the other thing Tomo had said.

"_I can't ask you to go after Yomi…"_

Yomi…

There was one person left in Chiyo's life who might still be there. Tomo's best friend was out there still and Chiyo owed it to Tomo to try and save her.

Yomi was her friend too and she was depending on her.

She wasn't about to give up. Slowly, Chiyo began to shift around in the air.

At first she couldn't even bend up to touch the bars. Chiyo was reasonably flexible but she was also exhausted and bleeding, with every movement exacerbating her injuries. Touching your toes upside down is not the easiest of tasks even when you aren't wounded. Her ankles in particular were hell. Chiyo only took a moment to rest and then tried again.

For a moment she hung there halfway up, about to give up again. The chains were just out of her reach…

Chiyo kept trying. If Tomo of all people could climb a twenty three foot high fence on a torn leg then she could touch her toes upside down! Desperation gave her strength and Chiyo soon had her hands locked around the bars, every muscle in her body complaining at the contortion act.

Chiyo realised why the chains had been hurting her so much; they were poorly made and fitted her badly. That also meant there was a tiny bit of room.

Chiyo began to pull her right foot out of the ankle. She was just about to give up before she tore her foot off instead when the limb came free with a sickening pop!

Chiyo nearly ended up hanging upside down on one leg as she barely grasped the other chain. Steadily, she began to twist the other one free.

This was tougher. The clasp was tighter. Chiyo desperately worked the foot around, trying to get it free. There was a furious look of concentration on her face as she managed to squeeze it into the gap. Finally, she gave one last furious effort, nearly crying out in pain as she inflamed every wound on her body in an attempt to find freedom.

She found it… and Chiyo fell.

She landed in a heap on her back, wincing as the pain shot through her bruised torso. The wind had been knocked out of her.

For a while she just lay there, recovering her strength. When the pain had gone down to a bearable level, or at least bearable in comparison to being physically tortured, she got up slowly.

She immediately regretted the weight on her ankles as she staggered, the injured joints barely able to carry her and no more. Chiyo regained her balance and slowly brought the pain under control. Having gained freedom she wasn't about to lie down on the floor and wait for something to come chain her up there again. Above her there was a slick of blood on the chains. Hanging there had been torture for her and Chiyo resolved to die fighting before she wound up back up there again.

She looked around. There was a torch lying on the metal table nearby. Chiyo shivered as she looked at all the torture equipment… but she also saw something far more useful.

There was a sack to carry things in. It had a simple string tie and wasn't much, but Chiyo picked it up alongside the torch anyway.

She had a sack and a wooden torch for equipment. She had no clothes. She was covered from head to toe in wounds, dizzy from blood loss and barely able to stand. But she was free. It was a wonderful feeling.

Chiyo was about to make for the door when she remembered the desk behind her.

Maybe there would be some answer to what was going on there. Chiyo knew that she should be heading straight for the exit but her chances were slim enough anyway. She limped over to take a look.

It was one of the classroom desks. The monsters had obviously taken it from one of the rooms. Chiyo could see a pile of papers of an unknown utility scattered over the edges of the table. In the centre of the desk was what looked very much like a journal.

Chiyo didn't know what she was expecting as she opened the book up. Yet to her astonishment she found she could understand the writing.

"_October 28__th__."_

"_This is the report of Captain Takamikagutsuchinoo Izanama on our mission to capture two human females who avoided the imprisonment ritual. I don't know why we need to send a full platoon and personally I feel that this is a wasted use of a red oni. I could be down there celebrating instead of scrabbling after ? in the darkness." _

One of the words wasn't translated, and the text corresponded to no symbol or alphabet that Chiyo knew of.

"_I'm aware High Command wanted them brought back alive. What Command wants and what it will get are two different things however. I'm going to hang back and cut off the strange light source that seems to come on at a flick of a switch while the animals get to work. With any luck they'll dismember the luckless beasts and we can all go home."_

"_We've made our base of operations on the ground floor. Command reports that the humans are still alive and detectable in the building, though we haven't been able to confirm this through scouting reports. Hang it, we'll stay here and wait. Something will catch them and at any rate Command tells me they've taken precautions to ensure the exits are sealed off or guarded. I personally hope they try the roof. We managed to bring a few of the giant cave worms with us and one's up there now guarding the top floor. I've issued strict orders not to venture anywhere near there."_

"_The older one is more dangerous than she appears. Apparently High Command didn't have much faith in us as they sent a ? to trap the locker room. It subdued the youth, or more accurately she subdued herself, but the older one apparently choked it to death while half dead from blood loss. Meanwhile reports from preliminary scouting suggest that something large is lurking above us on the first floor. Command had better not have any more surprises for us."_

"_Damn our commanders! One of our men barely made it back to us with reports that the building is full of dangerous animals! Worse, there's a fire aspect running around on the first floor! We were told there were only going to be a few animals! They're starting to fight one another!"_

"_The increased danger has forced us to hole ourselves up in the boiler room. Even if I wanted to we can't get out to start searching for the humans. I've heard reports from the ? that the older one now carries some kind of shocking device alongside a metal bludgeon. This thing is starting to annoy me."_

"_It's pandemonium out there as the animals just keep spawning in! We had to barricade the door as one of the ? tried to break it down. The men's morale is falling and they're starting to question my courage. I need to end this quickly. On the plus side Kimura has sealed the building down tight, though I bet he's forgotten the roof. Why we've uplifted the human I've no idea but apparently he knows both the building and our quarry. He's done a better job than us so far at any rate; without him this would have been a street chase." _

Chiyo felt feelings of hurt and betrayal washed over her as she read those poisonous words. Her own teacher had betrayed them.

"_We finally made contact with Kimura as I led an armed party to cut a way through the remaining animals. It's a complete waste to throw them away like this. Is there something special about these humans? Kimura creeps me out. He insists that he's here because his wife is held hostage, but he seems to have some kind of bizarre fixation on the older female. He's apparently set some kind of bizarre trap for her in the assembly hall. I reminded him that we were chasing two individuals through this death trap but he barely seemed to hear me. The way he talked about the older one… I pray this human is put down after the mission. There's darkness inside him that the pain ritual alone can't explain. He's based himself in a room on the second floor; he says he has an affection for it. Anything he has an affection for, I'm staying well away from. He's welcome to his little nest."_

Chiyo couldn't help dwelling on what had happened to Kimura to turn him into something even the monsters were afraid of.

"_The scouts found something curious. One of the monsters was found paralyzed in a room on the ground floor. One of the humans had draped a blanket over it. Despite what I understand to be several near misses (they must have been the ones to trigger the fire aspect) they don't seem to be treating the monsters as enemies. If they are they are being remarkably magnanimous about it. That doesn't make me any less eager to get my hands on them though. They're still savage animals."_

"_The older one is dangerous. One of the monsters was found dead with a dent in its skull. The blow did little damage and something else killed it but she seems to know her way around that weapon of hers. I'm not sure if she's with the younger one anymore. We found bloody footprints in the hall where the ? had finished a meal (why is one of them here?) but they were a single pair. I find it hard enough to believe that they made it this far. Approach with caution; I'm starting to think that one of them is some kind of warrior or is at least aspiring to be one."_

Chiyo tried to get her head round the fact that the monsters they'd been running and hiding from had actually seen Tomo as a threat to them. Then she remembered that Tomo had choked her double to death and apparently killed one of the creatures in the hallways. The relentless, almost insane way she'd marched down the corridors wasn't far from Chiyo's mind. They had _reason_ to be afraid of her.

That gave Chiyo some small degree of courage back. If a large contingent of monsters was scared of one rampaging teenager then they weren't invincible.

"_We've lost our first man. He was ambushed by a thing in the corridors. I've started to send out patrols in threes but disquiet is spreading. I believe the humans have attempted to escape via the roof as there is no sign of them on the first or ground floors. They're fools if they think they can get past the worm."_

"_They almost escaped! One of our men spotted them clambering down the side of the building only to get caught by the worm! I've dispatched a patrol up there to infiltrate the nest and secure them before they get devoured… if they haven't already been devoured. Maybe we'll be able to get out of here with only one casualty."_

"_Are my men idiots? You only brought me one! And It's the wrong one! We've captured the young one but the older human has been taken elsewhere and the man who was left in charge has no recollection of what happened. At least we've got one of our targets safely chained up ready to be harvested."_

Harvested. That was one way to describe an unknown period of brutal torture. Chiyo shivered. Worse, the creatures seemed to be gaining something from it if the next paragraph was anything to go by.

"_I've left the men to have some fun with her and gain some strength while I discipline the moron. The youth's pain will make them stronger, though she will need to be properly broken if we are to get any real sustenance. I'm going to enjoy that immensely; don't ever say this position doesn't have perks. This stay on the surface is beginning to wear us down; we've long overrun our time parameters. As long as that human is running around the hallways we're in danger. At least Kimura was able to sedate the worm, otherwise this mission would have been a complete catastrophe. Not that I'd mind a catastrophe if it got me out of this blasted madhouse."_

"_The human has murdered one of my soldiers…"_

Chiyo felt a shiver as she read the emotion that sentence had been written with. Tomo hadn't had a choice. Had she?

"_She now apparently carries a blade around with her. There was no way that wound was caused by a bat. Where the hell does she keep sprouting weapons from? Is she a walking armoury?"_

"_Worse, the slice was professional. That means three things; she's had some kind of training, she's a natural killer or she's got an obscene amount of luck. Kimura tells me he's luring her into another trap but I no longer have faith in that stopping her. She walked straight out of the assembly hall (and I have to wonder how she got there in the first place after determinedly avoiding it for so long) and she seems to be utterly implacable."_

"_I've activated the trap on the ground floor; it will soon be extremely dangerous for her down there. Of course it will also be dangerous for our own men but we know what to look for; she doesn't. I've also dispatched a squad of six led by Corporal Boniface to the second floor to guard Kimura. Bastard's from the other side of the world but they stuck him with us anyway. Despite being a stuck-up twit he's apparently a good swordsman and should make short work of the human if the other half-trained bozos screw things up badly. Despite this the man is soft. I hope he knows he's dealing with a professional killer. Worse, she seems to be going after Kimura. With all the changes he's made to the school and the amount of energy he's been entrusted with I don't want to think about what will happen if she somehow gets to him. Boniface had better do his job."_

Chiyo wanted to stop reading. This would be the part where Tomo died. Yet she couldn't stop herself. She shivered as she read about her own planned torture.

"_I'm going to start breaking the younger one now. Some of our men can barely stand from being on the surface for so long and with that rampaging maniac on the loose and a fire aspect roaming the halls we need the strength from the pain ritual. One of our men has completely disappeared; that human probably got him. He was paired up with the man who got stabbed; the idiots must have separated out. The orders going out; NO splitting up under any circumstances. The humans can work it out, why can't we?"_

Chiyo realised she wasn't going to find a record of Tomo's death. The oni hadn't had time to record the event yet. But she saw there was only one part remaining.

It was the most recent one, the one the oni had written before leaving for some kind of battle.

What she read was almost impossible to comprehend. It brought a cavalcade of emotions into Chiyo's already churning system but the predominant one was _hope._

"_Kimura is dead."_

"_That human… she's a monster. Either that or some kind of sword saint from the legends of old. She fought off the entire squad and then single-handedly engaged the fire aspect. She apparently saved Boniface's hide while she did it, alongside his entire squad. Boniface wrote her off as dead… it's my understanding that she gave herself up as a distraction. I don't know why she'd risk her life for one of us after committing cold-blooded murder minutes earlier but she apparently won the battle. She defeated a fire aspect in single combat! I don't know how she could be alive as that thing is immune to any steel, but I know where she went next as we felt her slay Kimura."_

"_I think I understand now. Her objective is the youth. I'm guessing Kimura will have betrayed us as the ritual reverses itself and his mind returns. ? help us, she's coming here next."_

"_I have to go and fight this monster. I don't trust anyone else to do it. Despite this I'm pulling everyone back and we'll be ready for her here in the corridors."_

"_Most pathetically of all I can't break the younger one. Is she some kind of perfect superhuman? She lacks the strength of her older counterpart but none of the courage and determination."_

"_They're only humans… I'll defeat her. We'll win this. I don't think I'll make any boasts about this mission when I come back though."_

Chiyo closed the book with shaking hands.

Tomo was alive! She had killed… whatever Kimura had become. She'd dodged traps, fought six soldiers in the darkness on her own including some kind of sword master, _won_ and then gone on to defeat that horror in the corridor they'd been running from since that unholy episode with the light switch.

After all that, she was coming _here, _coming to save _her._

But they were waiting for her and there was some kind of terrible trap on the ground floor. Tomo would be walking into a fortress. Chiyo didn't know what kind of superhuman change had come over her classmate but she doubted it could stand up to a full platoon of soldiers. She had to reach Tomo first!

Chiyo searched one last place before she turned to leave. Inside the desk was a blade; not one of the cruel knives of the torture set, a heavy knife that was large enough to serve as a sword for Chiyo. Chiyo threw the journal and the other reports into the bag and hung it around her neck for safe-keeping. Then she drew the blade.

It was wickedly sharp. Chiyo didn't have the first clue how to use it properly but she decided that she was going to hack her way through to Tomo if she had to.

"You're this afraid of one human huh? Well let's see how you manage two." she whispered.

It still took Chiyo a long time just to cross the room, and she barely had the strength to open the heavy iron door.

What she saw in the torchlight nearly made her jump back in again.

The floors had turned to flesh. Horrible moving holes, no, _mouths_ had grown in the walls. There were sharp points sticking out of the floors; sharp enough to put your foot through. Wiry appendages danced out of the walls; Chiyo immediately resolved not to go near any of them.

Chiyo staggered out of the doorway and began to very slowly make her way through what might as well have been the centre of hell…

…and ran straight into a group of four bug-men in the corridors.

Chiyo didn't have a hope of running. Fighting wasn't much of an option either, but she levelled the blade.

The monsters levelled theirs and began to advance, only for one of them to call out. They halted. Another order.

They raised their weapons into the standing position as Chiyo looked on in utter confusion.

The creature that had called out very slowly approached Chiyo, its hands out. It hadn't drawn its weapon. Chiyo kept hers raised, backing away slightly.

"Your friend is coming to rescue you." It said.

Chiyo just stood there, not understanding what was going on. She knew that but why didn't the monster attack?

The monster was wearing a suit of leather armour. Chiyo recognised it as some kind of officer. It finally clicked who she was talking to as Boniface addressed her, lazily pointing down the corridor behind it.

"The last thing your friend said before she threw herself at certain death for us was to let you go." The monster moved over to the side of the fetid corridor. "I'm deciding to honour that. Get out of here while you still can."

With some hesitation the others followed Boniface's example, moving to the side. Chiyo just stared as they formed an arch of honour for her to pass under.

For some time Chiyo understandably hesitated. Then she very slowly began to stagger past the rows of waiting soldiers, their features indecipherable as she hobbled on.

After a long time she went her way and they went theirs, not another word spoken.

As Chiyo walked down the corridor she began to hear noises, the drawing of blades and aggressive cries ringing out. Elsewhere she heard footsteps coming down the other hallways at a run.

A very long way away there was a human scream and a monstrous cry of surprise and pain. It was corridors away but everyone heard it and knew what it presaged.

Tomo Takino had arrived.


	18. Reunion

You can stop skipping chapters now.

Reunion

Tomo ran towards the northern stairwell, sword out as she ran and torch extinguished.

Stealth had fallen by the wayside before; now it had been abandoned. Chiyo's screams for mercy echoed through her mind as she thundered towards the stairs, ignoring her quickening breaths and the pain in her limbs. There was no time left.

On the way a patrol crossed her path. She leapt over the spears in the darkness and took off before the enemy could respond. Tomo was a noisy shadow, a set of running footsteps in the dark that could be heard for corridors around but never seen. Behind her monsters chased but could never catch their running quarry.

Tomo reached the stairs and caught another trio off-guard. Before they had time to take aim she bypassed their spears and tackled one down the stairwell, seizing its spear as it crashed to the ground with her on top of it. It curled onto its side as Tomo took off down the stairwell, shoving a monster to the side as she passed it in the dark with such force that it tumbled down and barely caught the guard rail.

Tomo reached the ground floor and immediately heard her wooden sandal crack as she stepped on a spine that had now apparently erupted from the fleshy ground. She abandoned the footwear, running recklessly on barefoot through an invisible minefield. She saw a patrol advancing in spear wall towards her in the dark with a torch in hand as the true horror of the corridor slowly revealed itself around her. Despite the sight of the terrifying mouths and deadly spines that now littered the ground she didn't even slow down as she chucked the spear at the middle one, the shaft flying out of the darkness and impaling it in the gut as it toppled over screaming, its undisciplined compatriots flattening themselves against the wall as Tomo seized the torch and ran on, leaving them in the darkness as she used it to light her way through the danger.

She couldn't keep this up forever and with that scream everyone would know she was coming. Already her lungs were struggling with the effort. But it wasn't far to the boiler room now.

Suddenly Tomo collided with a monster that had been running towards the corridor at the same time as her. They both barrelled to the floor, Tomo with a cry of anger and the creature with a terrified yell that quickly turned to pain as Tomo instinctively twisted its arm with a crack.

It hadn't been alone. Attackers were all around and Tomo found herself embroiled in a full-scale battle. The wildcat was amongst the pigeons however as she threw her spear under-arm at the first attacker in front of her, catching it in the leg as it clumsily stumbled forward. Tomo dodged past the spear and caught her attacker as it fell, shoving it violently into its comrade beside it. The second monster was knocked into the wall… and a tentacle extruding from the walls grabbed and throttled it in the darkness.

Another could be heard creeping up behind her as two more advanced through the darkness. Tomo looked around and leapt back from the spear that came at her; there was no way she could have stopped the heavy wooden shaft with a parry. Hastily she threw the torch. It fell short but burnt the creature's foot, sending it hobbling back as she turned towards her new attackers.

Tomo didn't change the tactics that had been working for her so far. She charged, merging into the darkness and then re-emerged into her attacker's torchlight in a different part of the hall, avoiding their levelled spear points. A third was standing behind the line with a sword ready to cut Tomo down if she broke the line.

Tomo grappled her first opponent by the arm and jammed it into one of the mouths, the creature screaming as it began to chew it off. An arm struck her in the darkness, dazing her as she fell back in the dark. She could hear more footsteps coming up the hall. Tomo instinctively grabbed the spear of the monster for balance as she was spun round. It was the comrade of the monster she'd just mutilated, the one that had struck her. It had resorted to its fists as its spear was now useless but it made the mistake of not releasing it. Tomo pulled on it hard, nearly overbalancing herself as she toppled the monster over onto the dangerous ground. She just barely twisted around and got her blade up in front of her when a sword blow hit the steel so hard she was nearly toppled over.

Tomo had two monsters coming up behind her fast. Instead of trying to engage in a sword fight she just pushed forward, taking a brutal cut to her left arm as she grabbed the monster by its sword arm and pulled it around before throwing it towards her new attackers. The monster crashed to the ground in front of its allies, who had to lift their spears just to avoid impaling it.

Tomo was gone down the corridor before any of them could respond. Yet none of them tried to pursue the thing that had torn through them like a thunderstorm. Instead they turned to trying to recover the myriad casualties and single corpse that Tomo had left in her wake.

With that victory Tomo had broken through. She ran through the corridors, her only enemy being her rapidly depleting lungs as the effort to keep going became almost unbearable.

She could see torchlight in the distance. Tomo raised her sword to attack…

…and then stumbled to a halt as Chiyo wandered out in front of her, a cry of emotion and shock sounding out through the corridors as Chiyo saw a dead woman.

For a few seconds the two girls just stared at one another as Tomo's sword arm fell like a rock. They looked into the other's eyes for the first time since that nightmare on the roof, and stared aghast at how much damage had been done to both of them.

Tomo barely held back a horrified scream, a look of stunned horror on her face as her mind absorbed the hideous wounds and mutilations that covered Chiyo from head to toe. It was impossible to pinpoint each individual one; she was covered in gore, the blood hiding some of the wounds but not well enough for all of them to be invisible. Her features were almost unrecognisable through the bloody streaks on her face and a balding bloody scalp had replaced the brown, childish pig-tails of before. There was a truly haunted look on her face that was visible through the shock and relief of reunion. As she looked at the pitiful expression Tomo wondered if she was ever going to see Chiyo smile again. Before today she'd always been smiling…

She was clutching what looked like a butcher's cleaver in her damaged hands, the mere effort required to keep holding the blade almost too much for her.

Chiyo stared at the traumatized, shell-shocked adult that that had taken over the carefree teenager she'd once known. Through Tomo's mortified and expression she could see a poisonous mixture of fear, grief and guilt. There was a bloody blade at her side and she was covered almost head to toe in gore from her battle in the staff room. She looked like she'd fought through hell before carrying part of it out with her.

Both of them were barely recognisable to one another and both had clearly undergone such frightening changes in the darkness that they were barely the same people they had been that morning.

Yet underneath the horrible injuries and the warped expressions lay a friendship that had only been cemented by the terrifying experience. Slowly, numbly, Tomo began to walk forward, wrapping her arms around Chiyo.

Chiyo just allowed herself to be held as Tomo removed the knife from her trembling hands. She was too overcome with emotion to even respond. She rested her head against Tomo's shoulder.

"They told me you were dead…" she said quietly. Tomo just listened as she cradled Chiyo in her arms, not even noticing the bloody stains that were appearing on her kimono.

Despite the terrible danger they were in it was a long time before either of them could move.

"Come on, we need to go." Tomo's whispering voice was trembling as she let go of Chiyo.

Slowly, Tomo sheathed her sword and placed Chiyo's dreadful weapon in her satchel before lifting her friend gently off her wounded legs. Tomo carried her over her shoulders off down the corridors as they set off towards their final goal, broken and battered but alive and together again once more.

The journey back through the corridors was slow and frightening as they were back to playing the horrible game of hide and seek they'd been forced into when they entered the school. Tomo had to hold a torch in her hand and she was both exhausted from her charge and burdened by Chiyo who simply couldn't support herself any longer. Several times they were almost caught in the corridors and at that moment in time a single monster could have slaughtered them both. Yet somehow they made it through the nest of monsters and devouring mouths and traps and found the exit to that dark world.

The locker room door was standing in front of them.

Slowly, Tomo slid Chiyo off her back, allowing her to lean against the wall for support. She fumbled in her bag for the key…

Tomo opened the lock and once again they entered the familiar safety of the girl's locker room.

But it wasn't empty. There was something else there.

Standing in front of them and blocking the way out was the last thing on Earth that Chiyo had wanted to see again.

"I told you not to go anywhere, didn't I?"

Tomo just watched in despair and horror as a massive wall of metal began to advance on her, a massive club the size of her present in its hand. Illuminated in the darkness was the horrible red face of Chiyo's torturer and the thing responsible for everything that they'd suffered through so far.

Tomo had met the one thing Kimura had told her to avoid. She had met the commander and now she was about to be killed by it.


	19. Oni

Oni

Tomo didn't even notice Chiyo slide something out of her bag silently for a second time, barely aware of her slipping out to the side and into the shadows. The monster Chiyo knew as captain Izanama swung the gigantic club in a whirling motion over his head before bringing it crashing down in a diagonal cutting motion. Tomo dived and barely avoided a blow that would have shattered every bone in her body and left her pinned like a ragdoll to the floor had it connected. As it was it simply shattered the tiles on the floor into a thousand tiny pieces, dust and shrapnel flying everywhere.

Tomo was sorely mistaken when she expected Izanama to be slow. The club caught her with a horizontal swing in the side of her back as she stumbled back to her feet, still fumbling for her swords when she was knocked forward and down. Her head barely missed the side of the bench on the way as pain erupted through her torso.

There hadn't been much force behind the blow and it had been a quick rotation to regain momentum and throw her off balance at the same time but Tomo still felt like she had been hit by a truck as she dazedly rolled over onto her back… and then felt the world rumble around her as a massive foot came down where she'd been seconds earlier. Before she could even react she felt herself being wrenched off the floor by a gigantic metal fist that had curled itself around her throat and most of her jaw. She moaned with pain and fear. Then she choked as it began to constrict around her already bruised face and neck…

Tomo looked into the monstrous eyes of Inazama as she felt him begin to crush her throat. She fumbled for the katana, slowly managing to slip it out and trying not to drop it as she ran out of oxygen. It was just as she got her weapon out and was about to slit it through her murderer's visor that she was thrown bodily across the room.

She landed hard on the ground on the opposite side of the room, nearly cutting herself wide open as she landed with the katana in her hand. She sputtered for breath through her damaged windpipe and tried and failed to stagger to her feet, instead winding up upon her knees and hands as Inazama advanced again.

Tomo was unable to offer any resistance this time as she was hoisted up again. She expected to be crushed instantly but Inazama simply brought her up towards his face, dropping his club and tearing the sword from her hand as he did so.

"I'm disappointed. You've made quite the name for yourself. I expected a show."

Tomo expected to see merciless cruelty but she was taken aback by the _hatred_ that burned in the oni's eyes. As sadistic as the monster was there was something personal there as well. She remembered the soldier she'd murdered in the stairwell.

"Please don't punish her for what I did." Tomo pleaded.

Inazama just laughed.

"Really? You think this is what this is about? I'd have tortured her even if you hadn't touched my men."

"Why?" Tomo spat, her face twisting with anger. The oni just grinned a sadistic grin.

"I don't really need a reason. There's little enough entertainment around this place. Still, haven't you worked it out yet? I have to say, it was fun watching her reaction when I told her we had her parents. I really enjoyed describing the way we-"

Tomo drew the wakizashi with a furious yell, only to have her wrist grabbed and twisted until she dropped it out of agony.

"You're a-"

"Monster? Yes that does seem to be what you call us. You look much the same to us. Wild animals that run around the halls, acting on instinct. You'd give a blanket to a dying animal one minute and put a blade through a man's throat the next. You're dangerous, unpredictable."

"If we're just animals then why are you doing this to us?" Tomo asked quietly. Inazama grinned for a second. Then his face fell as his voice filled with contempt and hatred.

"Why not? You're so weak and fragile that something else would come along and conquer you eventually even if we weren't here to do it for them. Any species as divided and pathetic as yours deserves to be exterminated. We're doing you a fa-"

Inazama was interrupted by a snorting sound. He growled as he realised Tomo was actually laughing.

"That's the mystery then? You're just a bunch of fasci-"

Tomo was promptly choked off as Izanama tightened his grip slightly, cutting off her windpipe mid-laugh. Tomo had almost lost consciousness by the time he loosened up again.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." he snarled. "Now, I suppose you're wondering what I'm going to do with you."

Tomo spasmed with pain as Izanama's hand began to constrict slowly, crushing her jaw and closing her windpipe.

"Normally I'd just string you up by your dainty little ankles and torture you until you can't remember your own name. But you're dangerous. I'm not going to let you live and kill again. Still, you can give me one last thing I need when I break your tiny little neck."

As he began to exert pressure that threatened to do just that, he pulled her close to him, letting Tomo smell his rancid breath as he watched the life begin to drain from her face.

Chiyo watched from the shadows as Tomo steadily choked in the arms of the monster that had tortured her. Yet Inazama was distracted. She began to move forward, the darkness covering her enraged features like a shroud. Inazama was too busy enjoying himself to notice.

"When you're just a corpse on the ground, I'm going to drag your little friend out from whatever shadows she might be hiding in. I'm going to make her watch as my men dismember your corpse. And _then,_ I'm going to make her _ eat iaGH!_"

Chiyo shoved the knife silently through a weak point of Izanama's armour into the oni's knee, twisting the knife and covering her hands with warm blood as she did so. Tomo was released and allowed to land on the floor with a thud as Izanama collapsed onto one knee, screaming in pain as Chiyo moved mercilessly onto the other. She sunk the knife in again, withdrawing the blade and getting out the way as Izanama toppled sideways onto his enormous back, hamstrung.

Then she went to town.

Chiyo wasn't just quick. She was angry, angrier than she had ever been in her life and she worked with an intelligence that was just as demonic as the creature she had felled. Before Izanama could respond the knife had struck again, this time wounding him under the armpit. She didn't stop twisting until she had paralysed the shoulder muscles. Warm pools of blood were starting to form at Izanama's knees.

She dodged a grab from the other arm in the darkness and mercilessly knelt down on top of Izanama's armour to stab his last remaining arm in the same place. Chiyo was using the one advantage she had to systematically disable her gigantic opponent. The knife went in, twisting and turning until Izanama was lying howling on the floor, four hideous wounds filling up his armour and bleeding onto the floor as Chiyo lifted his visor for the final stroke.

Yet she didn't strike. Chiyo just sat there, threatening Izanama with his own knife.

Tomo watched from the shadows, leaning against a wall for support as she tried to regain enough strength to stand. She couldn't see the twisted expression on Chiyo's face but her voice was chilling, cold, clinical and utterly unlike Chiyo.

"Hello Izanama. I was wondering if you could tell me what it's like, waiting for the next knife to stab you in the darkness?"

Izanama's eyes widened as he heard his name spoken, but he looked back defiantly. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of watching him beg.

"Get it over with." he spat, wincing with pain as four mortal wounds gushed out onto the floor. Only his alien physiology was keeping him alive by this point; any human would have slid into unconsciousness as the blood was pumped free of them via four corners.

Chiyo didn't raise the knife. Instead, she began to lower it towards Izanama's face.

"You were going to take my eyes, weren't you?"

For the first time there was real fear on Izanama's face as he looked up at the cold expression. There was no pity in Chiyo's eyes as she began to move the knife back and forth, singing quietly to herself.

"Eenie meenie miney mo, catch the tigger by the toe, if he squeals, let him go…"

Inazama just watched the knife swing back and forth, hypnotised by fear as he experienced torture for the first time himself.

"eenie, meenie, miney… mo…"

Chiyo raised the knife… only to have her arm caught by Tomo.

"Chiyo, that's enough." Tomo said. Her voice was still weak but Chiyo could hear the fear there.

"He deserves this." Chiyo whispered, a note of hysteria in the whisper. She was starting to tremble. "He doesn't deserve to just die. I want him to-"

"He knows, Chiyo. He knows what it's like now-"

"No he doesn't!" Chiyo nearly screamed, tears beginning to fall. "He doesn't-"

"He'll never walk again. He'll never move again. He's as good as dead already." Tomo said.

Chiyo's resolve began to waver. "But-"

"Chiyo don't let him steal any more from you than he already has done." Tomo pleaded.

As Chiyo teetered on the brink Tomo saw the indecision and decided to act. She reached towards the wakizashi and picked it up off the floor. Chiyo watched as Tomo let go of her hand in a gesture of trust and stood up, the sword pointed towards Izanama's face.

Tomo wasn't going to allow Chiyo to commit a crime that would leave her damaged for the rest of her life. She was going to kill Izanama herself.

Izanama just looked up at them both with dread, his bravado draining away as he realised he wasn't about to be saved. Tomo was going to take the mental bullet.

"What are you-" Chiyo began.

"I'm going to kill him now."

"Why-"

"So you don't have to." Tomo's voice quavered as it rose, the force hurting her bruised throat.

The twisted expression began to come back to Chiyo's face. "It was me he-"

"Chiyo, you don't want to do this." Tomo cried, her voice grave and certain. "You don't want to start murdering things in the dark."

Chiyo heard the personal experience in Tomo's voice. Slowly, she began to lower the knife away to the side. Trembling, she got up as Tomo stood over Izanama, her sword pointed straight down towards his face.

"You wanted her to get it over." Tomo said. She let the point hang for a few moments.

Just before she dropped it down for the killer blow, Chiyo spoke up.

"Stop!" she cried.

Tomo's blade hung there inches from Izanama's face, the oni staring at it petrified. Tomo just looked down, pensively.

Then she slowly pulled the sword back up and sheathed it. She was silent for a long time.

"Ok." she said quietly. There was no relief there, just uncertain acceptance.

Slowly, she reached into her pack. She took out the first aid kit. Izanama looked up with astonishment.

"You're healing me?" he gasped.

"You're going to bleed out if we don't treat these injuries. If I'm not going to kill you then the alternative is this or leaving you to die. I certainly don't mind doing the latter but I don't think it will be good for Chiyo if we start leaving people to bleed out in the darkness."

As Tomo spoke with the cold judgement of an adult who has taken responsibility for a child's welfare she began to wrap the bandages around Izanama's injuries, removing the pieces of armour as she did so. It wasn't much but Tomo was gambling on one of the oni's soldiers finding him before the inevitable happened.

Once he was found it wasn't really her problem anymore. Perhaps even thinking that would have mortified Tomo once but after a day in the school she could only bring herself to worry about two things; Chiyo's state of mind and the waste of bandages. She didn't waste any of the precious alcohol.

Slowly, Tomo and Chiyo began to leave, Tomo recovering her katana as she went. As she clicked open the final, unnatural lock that held them imprisoned, it fell off, the flesh sizzling and withering away into a dried lump on the floor, unpleasant but harmless. As they turned the handle towards freedom together, Izanama said one last thing.

"Why did you stop her?"

Tomo and Chiyo looked at one another for a few moments. Chiyo was silently asking her the same thing.

Tomo turned the knob and opened it, a burst of glorious cold air hitting the girls for the first time since they'd first stepped into the nightmare. She looked back one more time to address the question.

"I thought it would be best if Chiyo didn't have to murder someone in cold blood."

Tomo left with Chiyo in tow, not another word said. Izanama was left alone in the darkness, allowed to dwell on his failure and try to understand the two girls who had defeated him completely and utterly.

And then left him alive to savour it.


	20. Free

Free

Tomo and Chiyo stood outside the school together in the cool night air.

It had been morning when they entered that nightmarish world. The world outside was still dark, but it was lighter here than it had been in the winding corridors of Ieysu High. It was colder too, but at that moment neither of them cared about the cold. They could see the night sky.

Tomo let Chiyo climb up onto her shoulders. She began to carry her wounded classmate towards the gate, almost too tired to manage it. Her voice was still painful to use.

Despite her exhaustion Tomo couldn't relax. There was somewhere else they needed to be. Yomi was waiting for them to come and save her. Slowly, tiredly, she fumbled once more for the lockpicks.

It was even harder in the dark and in her exhausted state. Her arms felt like lead weights as she was forced to keep them up the whole time, pressing herself against the wire gate for support. The lock was a simple padlock but it still took Tomo numerous attempts to get it to come open. A few times she had to let her arms fall to her side again, resting.

Finally it clicked. Tomo pushed the gate open and they were out of the pool area.

Tomo knew Chiyo would need first aid soon but she didn't dare stay in the shadow of the school to do it. A stressed voice in her head was also screaming out that they didn't have time yet Tomo pushed it out. Chiyo's injuries couldn't be ignored. Tomo remembered how she herself had passed out in the locker room.

Chiyo herself just waited silently. In the pale moonlight a conflicted expression was visible on her face. There was exhaustion there, but also relief and… anger.

Tomo couldn't help but be disturbed by the anger on Chiyo's face. The dark expression she'd been wearing as she threatened to tear out the commander's eyes hadn't entirely faded away.

Finally, as they entered the car park, Tomo let Chiyo down next to the wall. Chiyo winced as the torch came on, illuminating her in the darkness.

"What are you doing?" she asked, colour coming to her cheeks as she was examined in the torchlight.

"I need to treat your-"

Tomo stopped as she put a hand to her mouth with her eyes transfixed on Chiyo's torso. She'd seen the word "Alone" that had been branded across her sternum, the horrid letters still bright red, weeping slightly in the torchlight.

Chiyo looked away and folded her arms self-consciously, an expression of hurt and discomfort on her face as she tried to block out the building feelings of humiliation and degradation. As Tomo recovered and let her hand fall again she went straight for the first aid pack, her pale face betraying her shock through an expression she'd kept determinedly neutral.

"We're treating that first." she said. Tomo was trying very hard to keep the disgust and horror from her voice but Chiyo could still hear it. Tears began to form in Chiyo's eyes as humiliation began to burn her cheeks. She tried not to cry out with pain as Tomo applied alcohol to the seared area before beginning to gently wrap the bandages round her torso.

Tomo had to repeat the procedure for every one of Chiyo's injuries, each one a silent testament to what had happened in the boiler room, every one of them ugly and disfiguring. The alcohol came out again and again to sterilise but also to burn and Tomo applied so many bandages that Chiyo felt like she was being mummified.

Tomo worked silently, trying to get the degrading examination over with as fast as possible. She knew what this was like for Chiyo. At the same time she tried to keep her expression level even as she had to close her eyes from shock and nausea when she saw the hideous wounds around Chiyo's ankles. Chiyo couldn't hold back the pain as Tomo applied the alcohol there. Her whole body was stinging and she moaned with pain the whole way through as Tomo was forced to repeat the agonizing procedure on both ankles.

Finally Tomo finished. She left Chiyo half-mummified and shivering in the cold, turning off the torch as fast as she could without making Chiyo feel even more degraded than she already did. But at least the horrid injuries were covered now.

Tomo knelt there for a while with her head down, trying to think of something to say or do that would make Chiyo feel a little better. Then she remembered.

Chiyo watched as Tomo put the medical pack away and withdrew something else. She gasped in surprise as Tomo withdrew the articles of clothing she thought she'd never see again.

"You saved these?" Chiyo said in wonder as Tomo placed the clothing in her arms. Tomo shook her head.

"Not exactly. I sort of picked them up from the person who did." Tomo explained.

"What do you mean?" Chiyo asked, confused. Tomo just shook her head again, a troubled look in her eyes.

"Believe me, you don't want to know." she said, the memory fresh in her head.

Chiyo watched the worrying expression on Tomo's face with concern. She accepted her point silently and went to put her clothes back on when she saw the problem.

"I can't wear these." she said, miserably.

"Huh? Why not?" Tomo asked.

"They're filthy." Chiyo pointed out. Tomo looked on in confusion and then her face fell as she saw the problem. Even if they were now covered Chiyo had dozens of open wounds and the entire point of applying the alcohol had been to disinfect them. If she wore the soiled and blood-encrusted garments she ran a serious chance of infection. Tomo stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to do.

"Is there anything there you can wear?" Tomo finally asked, determined to find something. Eventually Chiyo nodded.

Tomo turned around to give Chiyo some privacy as she got changed into her underwear. At least it was something to cover herself with.

Tomo busied herself with packing everything away in her bag again. She couldn't help but worry that they were wasting time. While they were mucking around with clothes and bandages Yomi was in terrible danger. But Tomo was also worried about Chiyo's mental health. The sooner she got Chiyo back into some kind of civilised state the better.

Slowly, Tomo was trying to reverse the damage that the monsters had inflicted. She was beginning to build Chiyo up again.

Eventually they were ready to move on. Tomo let Chiyo climb up onto her again, the weight not getting any easier to carry. Chiyo settled onto her back. She was still quiet as Tomo began to walk on but some of the darkness had lifted. Chiyo was starting to feel like a human being again, rather than the tormented and forgotten ghost that had hung from the chains in the boiler room.

She started to feel human enough to release some of the emotional impact of the ordeal. Chiyo began to sob. Then she began to cry as the full hopelessness of her situation hit her.

Her parents were being tortured somewhere, maybe even dead. She herself had been tortured in the dark for the best part of an hour and she knew whatever her parents were facing would be much worse. Her friends were missing and probably dead or tortured too and the two friends she had left were in terrible danger. Chiyo still felt desperately alone; she missed everyone with a desperate, longing sadness. Tomo was doing her best but…

The truth was that Chiyo was scared for Tomo as well. Tomo just kept walking even as Chiyo stained her back with tears. She didn't even seem aware of the blood that covered her from head to toe. The mischievous teenager was seemingly dead, replaced by a stone-faced woman who had seemingly taken the world on her shoulders.

Chiyo was worried about the effect that responsibility was having on Tomo. Between Chiyo herself and Yomi the burden was swallowing everything Tomo was up. It was sucking the essential joy and energy from her that had seemed limitless just hours before.

Tomo wasn't ignoring Chiyo's cries. She just couldn't do anything about them. There was nothing she could say and even if there was she could hardly put Chiyo down to calm her. Yomi needed them now. There wasn't time for a cry in the car park.

She saw Kimura's Corolla. She began to walk towards it. Chiyo just sobbed into her shoulder blades. She only responded when Tomo put her down next to the passenger side and began to walk round to the other.

"We're driving?" Chiyo asked, surprise coming through her broken voice.

"Kimura gave me the keys to his car." Tomo explained, unlocking the door to the Corolla. It occurred to her that she hadn't told Chiyo any of what she'd discovered in the staff room.

She wasn't sure it was a good idea either. She got in and switched on the ignition, rolling down the windows.

"Come on, get in." Tomo requested gently.

Chiyo hesitated a moment, then opened the door and got in, wiping her eyes as she did so.

It was only as she strapped on her seatbelt that she realised she was being driven by a miniature Yukari Tanizaki. The most dangerous driver in the universe.

"Uh, Tomo?" Chiyo asked, the fear coming back into her voice again.

"What?" Tomo asked as she put the car into gear.

"This isn't going to be like, going to be, going to be like-"

Tomo grabbed Chiyo's shoulder. There was a mischievous smile back on her face that somehow made Chiyo want to run back inside the school.

"Not today, Chiyo." Tomo said it gently, but the smile was a lot less reassuring than the words it went with. She lifted the clutch and put her foot on the accelerator…

…and promptly caused the car to shoot back and bump into the wall as she panicked and forgot where the brake was. Chiyo shrieked as the car bounced forward, Tomo just jerking back with a surprised expression on her face.

"Ok, not a good start. Off we go for real this time." Tomo tried to ignore the look of mortal terror that was now on Chiyo's face.

Very carefully Tomo put the car into first gear and drove off, nearly stalling it as she did so.

She began to pick up speed. The gates came into view. It was at this point that Tomo considered that she hadn't told Chiyo another crucial part of the plan.

"Chiyo?" she started nervously as she ramped up the gear into second and then third as the car picked up speed. "I was just wondering if you've guessed how we're leaving. Your seatbelt _is_ on, right?"

Chiyo just pressed herself back against the seat and prayed for a merciful end as Tomo smashed through the back gate at forty miles per hour. There was the sound of breaking steel and crumpling metal. Chiyo screaming wildly…

…and then they were free, the car shooting out through the gates and out to freedom as Tomo gave a triumphant yell.

"We did it! Next stop, my house!" she cried, then promptly slammed on the break and slowed down to a sensible speed as she saw Chiyo staring bug eyed into space.

"Grandpa… I don't want to die grandpa I don't want to die grandpa…"

It wasn't exactly reassuring to hear Chiyo muttering that again and again as they drove off towards Yomi's house, but hey, at least Tomo had taken her mind off of past events even if it was with mortal terror.

Tomo's driving was mostly sane after that, even if she flagrantly disobeyed lane rules and traffic signals. It wasn't as if there was anything to crash into and they were in a hurry. Chiyo's terror began to subside down again to a bearable level, even if her heart was still going a hundred beats per minute. All in all she supposed it probably wasn't so bad considering that Tomo had probably never operated a car before in her life. Chiyo considered that Tomo's parents were probably very wise for ensuring that.

Despite the dangerous driving Chiyo was heartened to see at least part of the old Tomo back. Somehow the terrifying exit had lifted part of the shadow from Chiyo as well, if only because it had been driven off by terror. Some of the childhood was restored to Tomo's face. She wasn't back to her old self (and for that Chiyo was at least slightly glad) but the stone face was gone. She was wearing the same anxious expression she'd been wearing back when she'd found Chiyo in the streets; worried and preoccupied but no longer dead inside.

Yet there was still darkness there. Chiyo saw the fear. She decided to say something.

"Tomo, are you ok?" she asked. Tomo was silent for some time before answering that.

"I'm alright. I'll feel a lot better once we get to Yomi."

There was something in the way Tomo said that that Chiyo didn't like. There was desperation there, too much dependence. Chiyo reluctantly decided to voice what neither of them wanted to discuss.

"Tomo… what if Yomi isn't there?"

Tomo's face hardened in a way that worried Chiyo even more. "She'll be there." she said.

This is what Chiyo had been afraid of. Tomo had committed herself mentally to the idea of finding Yomi waiting for her at home. It was what had kept her going through the darkness when there had been nothing left to hope for. Chiyo knew she'd been a part of that too but Yomi was Tomo's childhood friend. She didn't know how Tomo would react if she didn't find her at the house… if she was forced to believe she might be lost forever.

"Tomo… she might not be."

Chiyo had said it as softly as she could.

"She'll _be there._" Tomo repeated. She was clutching the steering wheel, the dark expression coming back.

"Tomo-"

"What?" Tomo yelled, bringing the car to a halt so sharply Chiyo was thrown forward slightly. She leaned over towards Chiyo, a furious look on her face. "Yomi might not be there, congratulations genius! Is there anything else obvious you'd like to point out?"

Chiyo's first instinct was to recoil from the enraged expression. If it had still been morning she would have clammed up. But Chiyo didn't shift back apologetically like she had when Tomo had yelled at her before at the school entrance. She needed Tomo to admit that and she'd succeeded. Chiyo stood her ground and formulated a response as she prepared to engage in a battle for Tomo's soul.

"I'm worried about you." she admitted finally.

Chiyo's voice was soft and close to breaking, yet painfully sincere. Tomo's anger began to fade as self-doubt began to creep over her. She leaned back… and then began to crack as the protective blanket she'd wrapped herself in mentally began to unravel.

"Chiyo… I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do..."

Chiyo watched as Tomo put her head against the steering column, a pang of emotion going through her as the older girl suddenly began to break down.

"I don't know what I'm going to do…" Tomo repeated, her voice weak through the tears. "I guess…"

Tomo faded out, shaking as she let her emotions run free for the first time since she'd woken up on that terrible wooden floor. It was a while before she spoke again.

"I guess I'll take you to the edge of town and drop you off there." she said, whispering as if she was admitting a terrible secret. "And then you'll be free to go."

Chiyo was about to accept that when she recognised what Tomo had actually said.

"Tomo… what do you mean 'drop me off'? What about you?"

"I'm going to go back into town and search for her." Tomo replied. There was certainty there, but also a dangerous note of resignation as she stared blankly at the dashboard. Chiyo didn't see any real hope there, just the last remnants of a crumbling façade.

Chiyo understood what Tomo really meant. Tomo was going to drop her off at the edge of town. She was going to then go back into town and then she was going to wander until something found her and killed her.

She didn't really expect to find Yomi. She was preparing herself to die. The dark, lonely journey through the corridors _had_ broken her spirit. She'd just been masking the damage for Chiyo's sake.

Chiyo's mind had survived because Tomo had fought to protect it. But there had been no one to protect Tomo's mind from the horrors she'd experienced in the corridors. The blood-spattered kimono spoke volumes about what she'd met there.

"Is there anything else? Can we go now?" Tomo asked. She'd tried to make it sound sullen, but Chiyo just heard a plea for help, a request for a lifeline. Tomo was still shaking.

Chiyo took hold of one of Tomo's hands. Slowly, she unhooked it from the steering wheel and lifted it down into her own hands. Tomo didn't fight it.

"You don't have to die." Chiyo said firmly, squeezing Tomo's hand as she did so. Tomo looked down, the conviction of that statement mixing in with cold despair. It was what she needed to hear; a way out. She needed to be reminded that someone else would leave the city with her; that she wouldn't be utterly alone. Doubt began to form on her face, the conviction of death beginning to shift. She looked away out the window.

"There's another survivor." Tomo finally said.

Chiyo released Tomo's hand gently. There was a grim expression on her face as she considered the revelation.

"Who?"

"Kimura's daughter is at the mall. She's only nine for pities sake…"

There was real distress in Tomo's voice as she said that last sentence.

"Chiyo, what am I going to do?" she asked, her resolve melting away as Tomo's right hand moved trembling up towards her face. Fear and confusion were written all over her as she looked to Chiyo for some kind of guidance, some path forward. Tomo was grappling with responsibilities that she couldn't handle alone. She needed someone else to help make the difficult decisions with her.

For a long time Chiyo just sat there, thinking about it. When she spoke again, she looked Tomo in the eyes, mustering as much certainty and firmness as she could into both her voice and her expression.

"We'll go to your house. If we don't find Yomi there we'll go to the mall. And once we've found Kimura's daughter, we'll _all_ leave together. Ok?"

For a long time Tomo just looked back into Chiyo's hardened expression. Chiyo could see the emotional exhaustion there, the fear and uncertainty and the loneliness that threatened to break Tomo's mind in two. Slowly, Tomo turned back to the steering wheel.

"Ok…" she promised. It had been quiet, but some of the confusion that hung over her lifted.

Chiyo still made a note to keep a close eye on Tomo's state of mind as they drove off. If nothing else, the conversation had proven once and for all that she couldn't take Tomo's mental strength for granted anymore. She remembered how Tomo had curled up in the classroom.

It was a long time before either of them spoke. Then Tomo said something that made Chiyo's head snap round as if she'd been slapped.

"Chiyo your parents might be ok." she'd said, not sure if she was saying the right thing or not.

"What? But the monster-"

"Was torturing you."

Tomo said it. He said the word that neither of them had dared to use. She almost spat it. "He was torturing you and trying to break you down. He probably didn't even know who you were. He doesn't know your parents."

Chiyo looked at the floor of the car uncertainly as Tomo said that. She didn't know if Tomo's words reassured her or not. On the one hand it made sense; the oni couldn't have known who her parents were. Yet that meant she knew nothing about her parents' whereabouts at all. Unless…

Chiyo decided it was time to relate what she'd read in the logbook to Tomo.

"Tomo while I was escaping I found something." she started. "Do you have that bag I was carrying?"

"It's in my schoolbag." Tomo said. Chiyo pulled it out, fishing for the reports there. It was time to do some reading… and maybe start to understand what they were really fighting against.


	21. Reading

Reading

Chiyo removed the journal she'd found in the boiler room once more. She felt slightly dizzy from the blood loss as she realised it had been stained red in places where her ruined fingertips had touched the material. At least some of the pain was beginning to die down now.

There were several other documents there but Chiyo decided to concentrate on the journal first. It would be better to bring Tomo up to speed with what she knew than to plunge into new material. Chiyo opened the book slowly and was about to begin to read when Tomo spoke.

"Wait, you can read that? Shouldn't it be in their language?"

Chiyo shook her head. "I don't know why, but it seems to have been written in Japanese. There are some strange symbols I don't understand but other than that it's written in plain Kanji and Hiragana."

Chiyo was about to start when she realised what she was about to read out.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Chiyo knew what was in the logbook. At the time it had given her hope of rescue, but she remembered enough about what it talked about to know that it wouldn't offer Tomo any hope.

Tomo didn't have to know about the imprisonment ritual or how the whole town seemed to have been captured by the monsters. She didn't have to know about how the monsters grew stronger through torture or how they got the most strength from breaking their victim's minds. Reading this material out would only damage Tomo, not strengthen her. There wasn't anything they could do about what was in here.

Chiyo closed the book even as part of her mind wondered if there would ever be a good time to open it again.

"Aren't you going to read it?" Tomo asked apprehensively. Chiyo shook her head as she moved onto another file.

"There's nothing here that will help Yomi and besides I… Tomo, I don't want to read this again."

It was true, Chiyo didn't want to read it again. But the comment had been for Tomo's benefit.

Tomo had a worried expression on her face that clearly stemmed from Chiyo. Yet her expression also softened in acceptance.

"Well is there anything else there?" Tomo asked curiously. Chiyo looked at the various files she'd stolen.

There was one here; a booklet titled "Bestiary". It had to be better than the journal at least, plus maybe it would inform them about some of the creatures they had encountered. Chiyo flipped it open. She began to read.

_A Brief Report on Demons._

"Demons…" Tomo repeated disbelievingly. She wasn't the superstitious type and of all the possible answers to the mystery the last thing she'd expected was an answer as frank as demonic invaders. Creatures from her country's folklore were literally crawling out of dark corners and onto the streets of her home town. Chiyo was staring at the page as if the answer might change somehow. Their world had become a waking nightmare. Chiyo read on, the scientific part of her mind fascinated even as other parts of her brain began screaming.

"_It may seem unnecessary to give to you this report about the common characteristics of the demonic species under your command given that you are no doubt familiar with most of them. However, in the event of conflict or unexpected challenges you may wish to re-acquaint yourself with the physical characteristics of the individuals made available to you. In addition some of the animals assigned are extremely dangerous. The purpose of this report is to provide reference material that can inform the operation's commander about the capabilities and dangers of the resources he has been provided with. Please refer to this guide if you are unfamiliar with the behaviour or qualities of any of the creatures below._

_?_

_The least developed form of demon, these creatures are characterised by their disturbing lack of skin and their malformed skull which extrudes brain material. Like the ? they wield formidable claws, but these claws are equipped on the hands rather than the arms, and they only possess two such arms unlike the ?. Standing about as tall as a ? or human but much stronger, they can nonetheless tear either of them to shreds in a second. Despite this their exposed wind pipe and fragile neck make them easy for a skilled or powerful demon to dispatch, and armed ? can easily take one down if they are organised correctly. They will also react to pain with fear, unlike the ? and some are even known to show affection if raised in close proximity with an intelligent demon. They are potentially tameable, but the process is so dangerous that only the bravest of demons would attempt such a process._

This was the first monster they'd seen. Tomo remembered how the monster had sunk its claws into its opponent. She also remembered the scared look in its eye as she put a blanket over it. It had been such a senseless waste.

Chiyo just remembered the horrifying screams as the fire aspect had dragged it round the corner to feast on it.

_?_

_These stand as tall as an oni and have gigantic, muscled arms that allow them to break down anything that isn't reinforced. They have a diminished pain reception and are incapable of showing fear, instead rushing blindly at their prey no matter how well armed or prepared it is for the ?'s coming. They have steel-like skin on their torso and their gigantic arms allow them to throttle almost anything to death, however their necks are still extremely exposed and if this area is struck they can be killed quite quickly. Despite this it is best to stay well away from them and they are generally deployed only when the target needs to be destroyed rather than captured._

The thing that hammered on the lockers; the very first monster they'd met. If it hadn't been for Tomo's quick thinking both of them would be dead. Chiyo shivered as she remembered the smashed cabinet and the blood that had come out of the throat of one of these giants as it lay dying on the ground. Chiyo had always been the most afraid of these monsters, the loud bangings and the blind aggression terrifying for the young girl. As for Tomo, she'd seen what they were capable of withstanding up close.

_?_

_These horned terrors are much like the ? in structure, but instead have a fully enclosed skull and four bladed arms instead of the clawed, two armed structure of the ?. The flesh of their chest is gelatinous and is something of a weak point but it also makes it difficult for an arrow or shot to cause any lasting damage as most shots pass through cleanly rather than embedding in the ?. Blindly aggressive they are best avoided by ? and even an oni should take care around them. It is best to deal with them from a distance if necessary; ensure the weapon has enough stopping power and then aim for the head or vital organs._

Tomo shivered as she remembered how close she'd come to being devoured by insects on the ground floor. If Chiyo hadn't shoved her out the way it would have been her flesh being torn open by those insects.

"Thanks for saving my life Chiyo." Tomo said. Chiyo managed a weak smile as she started to read again.

_?_

_Large six-legged beasts with massive pincers, these animals are capable of crushing a ? to death. While their body is vulnerable the massive armoured pincers seldom allow anything to threaten them from the front. If encountered one should try to get round the side. They are particularly dangerous in enclosed spaces._

At least they hadn't gone toe to toe with one of those. Still, they'd seen one carrying its still-thrashing prey off down the corridors to an unknown but almost certainly gruesome end.

_Fire Aspect_

_These monstrous creatures are capable of destroying entire armies if allowed to rampage through them. Immune to any steel they are only vulnerable to enchanted weapons or to the extinguishing of their flames. In addition to this they can run faster than any ? or oni and may even challenge higher demons. Despite this they do not face natural predation and if challenged the surprise and pain may be enough to see them off. If one is encountered a last resort may be to throw buckets of cold water onto it._

"Tomo how did you fight this thing?" Chiyo gasped.

"With a fire extinguisher and the acceptance that I was already dead. I think I was beyond caring by that point. Luckily it turns out they're cowards."

Chiyo just stared dumbstruck for a few seconds and then turned numbly back to reading.

_?_

_These terrible armoured behemoths stand as wide as an oni but are much taller and have huge tusks that stand in the place of arms. They are mindlessly aggressive and fear nothing, hunting down and tearing apart smaller animals. If one is met seek intervention from HQ or flee; they are not killable by any means available to your operation. Thankfully if placed in an area with other animals the ? usually leaves clear signs of its presence as it gorges itself. Should you come across evidence of a kill the best approach is to move in the opposite direction._

Both Tomo and Chiyo were very glad they hadn't run into the thing that had left the massive pool of blood in the school corridors.

_Cave Worm_

_What more can be said about these gigantic earth crawlers that break into our cities to devour the unwary at night? Every demon knows about the cave worm, even though the cave worm is not truly a demon itself. A menace in our homeworld cave worms are now a valuable if dangerous asset for us to deploy in our fight to take back what was taken from us. The webs they naturally spin for their prey provide a natural yet almost impassable obstacle and the worm itself can capture its prey with string before paralysing it and devouring it with its mighty jaws. Despite this they are sleepy creatures and a particularly foolhardy demon may try to slip past them as they sleep. Needless to say this is not recommended outside times of extreme duress._

"We should have been dead there." Tomo admitted. "If It hadn't been for Kimura…"

"If it hadn't been for Kimura we wouldn't have had to go to the roof in the first place." Chiyo pointed out.

"It wasn't his fault Chiyo." Tomo started, a warning tone creeping into her voice. Chiyo didn't understand why Tomo was defending the man who betrayed them, but she decided to stay quiet. She didn't know what had transpired between Tomo and Kimura during that dark battle in the staff room but the sombre tone in Tomo's expression spoke volumes. Chiyo would have to find out about what had really happened there another time.

_This concludes the unintelligent animals that may be encountered on your mission. For the sake of completion I have also included a report on the three kinds of intelligent demon that may assist you in your endeavours._

_?_

_The ? are the weakest and least intelligent of the intelligent demons. Standing at the very bottom of the climb towards elevation through the demon ranks, they range widely in strength and intelligence from barely being able to stand up without support to being about as physically strong as an average human, and from being barely able to speak coherently to being capable of complex problem solving and rationalisation. The most diverse of demonkind, they also form the bulk of our forces. They are not to be depended upon in the very worst of circumstances but they can be expected to carry out reasonable expectations if led competently. They wither rapidly if exposed to the surface for too long and must take shelter from direct sunlight._

"I think they were falling apart towards the end." Tomo said, reflecting on her final battle in the corridors. "I don't think I'd have made it through the ground floor if they'd been at full strength."

"A group of them let me go." Chiyo said. "They said you asked them to let me go before you fought the fire aspect."

"They actually let you go?" Tomo said, astonishment in her voice.

"They also threw darts at me as I hung in the air." Chiyo said darkly. "I don't think they were doing it out of kindness. Their commander felt he owed you something."

"Maybe some of them can be bargained with?" Tomo asked.

"I wouldn't rely on it." Chiyo muttered. "Besides, there was something odd about that demon. I don't think the others will be as reasonable."

With that Chiyo went back to reading as Tomo was left to reflect on the lucky break.

_?_

_These weak spirits have degraded to the point where they have lost all physical form. Kept alive by sheer willpower, they are desperate for a new body and will take whatever can be claimed, even an animal. Parasites, they require a victim to give up some small part of themselves to form. They then take on a form they know, slowly sucking the life out of their victim until they are dead. While incapable of true energy manipulation, they are capable of creating horrifying illusions and frequently use these to great effect when stalking their prey. While their actual intelligence varies these ghosts often possess a cunning that only desperation gives. Not to be trusted even by other demons but useful as a psychological weapon._

Chiyo shivered as she read about the creature that had persuaded her to beat herself over the head with a bat until she was unconscious and bleeding on the ground. She looked at Tomo with concern; it had been the older girl's first kill and the empty expression in her eyes told Chiyo it was still the worst. She moved on quickly.

_Red Oni_

Chiyo's voice shook slightly as she read the name of the creature that had tortured her in the dark. Tomo went to take the book away but Chiyo insisted on reading on, shaking her head. She wasn't going to let herself become afraid of a name. Anyway, Izanama had paid for it.

_I hardly need to tell you about yourself. The Red Onis are the warrior cast of onis and are typically either deployed as heavy support for or as officers of the ?. Their main assets are their gigantic strength, but they are also more intelligent than the ? on average and they are culturally interested in battle tactics and lower level warfare. However, they also have a reputation for being thin-skinned, becoming enraged over perceived slights in a manner that often leads to needless bloodshed. When enraged their tactical finesse tends to dissipate as the oni becomes too focussed on revenge to think clearly about the issues at hand. Despite their natural cruelty onis become surprisingly attached to (or even possessive of) their subordinates and it is generally considered wise to rotate onis lest they become unable to let go of a particular individual. In addition onis are known to be notoriously arrogant. It can be difficult to explain to an oni the gravity of a situation until that situation has become unquestionably disastrous or on the brink of becoming so. They are known to ignore weaker but still dangerous enemies in favour of pursuing vendettas against worthier opponents… a surprisingly human weakness. Red onis tend to be kept away from ritual victims unless they are to be advanced; they are generally too emotionally attached to be good at torture._

Both of them remembered him. The chilling red warrior in full plate who had tortured Chiyo and nearly throttled Tomo to death one handed. Neither of them had any doubt that the oni could have killed both of them effortlessly had it not been dark in the locker room. As it was they were just lucky Izanama had taken the time to taunt Tomo instead of throttling her instantly before turning to Chiyo.

But Tomo had focussed on something else. Something so horrible she was reluctant to speak about it. Her eyes went wide with horror as she began to speak slowly.

"Chiyo… it mentions ritual victims. Victims that are tortured. Why… how does that advance them?"

Chiyo knew. She'd read the passage. Demons got stronger by torturing others. Possibly even by killing some. She'd read about an imprisonment ritual in the journal. She quickly decided Tomo didn't need to know any more.

"I think we'd better get to Yomi." was all she said. Tomo drove them towards her home, wondering all the while if it was still her home anymore.

On the way she dwelt on one thing. She dwelt on her family and what might be happening to them.


	22. Homecoming

Homecoming

As Tomo drove on the dark urban sprawl of inner Tokyo began to give way to the pleasant houses that characterised suburbia. The atmosphere would have seemed peaceful normally, the empty streets no longer sinister in the darkness and the environment pleasantly green and open when compared to the oppressive high rises of the inner city.

Yet Tomo and Chiyo were too full of dread to even talk to one another as they began to close in on Tomo's house. For them the empty streets were just another reminder of how dead their home town had become. Not a car was sighted on the way back, not a single person coming home from a late night in town. Even out here the emptiness of the world was unmistakeable, the colourless, cheerless half-light of the day giving way to a cold, oppressive gloom. Neither of them had failed to notice that the street lights hadn't come on.

It was worse for Tomo as they drove through those empty streets. This was her neighbourhood and they were driving towards her home. The associations with safety and family were twisted into feelings of pain and loss by the desolate atmosphere of the world around, any reassurance or warmth to be gained from the familiar surroundings washed away in eerie silence. It might have had all the trappings of home but the area was as dead and desolate as the rest of the city.

It was getting to Tomo. Chiyo could see it. It emanated from the tense way she grasped the wheel, the empty look in her worried eyes, the way she sat like a hideous, blood-stained doll completely still in her seat. Chiyo wanted to say something. But what was there to say?

Both of them knew that Yomi's chances were slim. It had been more than twelve hours since they had first entered the school. They'd encountered their first monster in the morning. The demons had had the entire day to find Yomi.

Yet Chiyo didn't dare suggest any of this to Tomo. In fact she tried to insulate it from herself. If Yomi wasn't there Chiyo didn't know how to cope with it herself, let alone how Tomo would manage to survive the loss. The idea of Yomi being dragged off somewhere tore at Chiyo every passing moment and she knew it was slowly destroying Tomo's mind.

As Tomo pulled onto her street Chiyo began to hear her muttering under her breath as she had when the power had been cut. Chiyo wanted to say something that might calm Tomo but there was nothing to say. The odds were so badly against them that there was nothing Chiyo could think of that might put a brave face on the situation.

Chiyo knew that despite her efforts Tomo hadn't prepared herself for losing Yomi. The desperate hope was still burning strong in Tomo's eyes. She was still making Yomi her foundation when the truth was her childhood friend might already be dead.

Chiyo wondered miserably what was happening to her own friends.

Suddenly Tomo drew up in front of a house that was unfamiliar to Chiyo. Yet the way Tomo looked at it told Chiyo everything she needed to know.

They were here. This was Tomo's house.

A terrible feeling of foreboding came upon Chiyo as she realised the moment of truth had arrived.

Chiyo got out of the car and stood up shakily on her wounded ankles. It hurt, but she was too worried about Yomi to care. She began to follow Tomo as fast as she could manage as Tomo nearly ran for the front door.

Tomo didn't even hear Chiyo get out of the car as she struggled against the urge to throw herself into the familiar building. She stared up at the familiar doorway, trembling as she touched her front door, feeling the familiar grain of the wood, every part of its surface familiar.

It was her home. It was the ultimate symbol of safety, the sacred place where she laid her head to rest at night. Her home was supposed to be a fortress from the madness of the rest of the world; a sanctuary that kept all troubles outside at bay even if it was just for a few hours. For a child like Tomo who had never experienced life outside the home it was sacred space.

She could almost hear the laughter of her parents as they relaxed together at the dinner table, settling down to an evening meal before relaxing to watch a film together, all problems forgotten for just one precious moment. She felt the familiar texture of her front door, a portal into a wonderful world of safety and wonder.

Yet Tomo didn't expect to find her parents behind that door, just cold and empty darkness little better than the freezing, still air that surrounded her now. Nor did she hope to find any safety. Some small part of her was in denial about the probable fate of her parents but the rest of her had come to understand the truth. The chances of her parents being free and safe at home were almost non-existent. Tomo had abandoned all hope of finding her mother and father here. Her only hope lay in the distant possibility of escaping the city and finding someone who could help them.

Tomo didn't really believe that anyone could help her parents anymore. She realised with a pang that she had already begun to mourn them. Yet there was one person here that she still thought she might find. That she desperately hoped she would find.

Yomi. Her best friend of eleven years might still be lying behind this door. She was the closest thing Tomo had to a sister, someone else besides her parents that Tomo felt unconditional love and loyalty towards. Tomo couldn't bear to lose her too…

Tomo couldn't see any lights on inside the house. For a terrible moment she considered just turning away and driving into the night. She began to sob. It seemed so hopeless.

Yet Tomo felt some hope come back into her as she realised it was the dead of night. It was possible that Yomi had simply gone to sleep.

Tomo blocked out the part of her mind that was practically screaming that Yomi would surely have noticed the absence of not just Tomo but her entire family by now. She chose not to acknowledge that Yomi would never have simply gone to bed under those circumstances. Her mind was already blocking out a dozen warning signs amongst them the fact that the door should be locked anyway and that the hall light should have been left on anyway, Yomi was familiar with the tactic used to deter burglars, a rule of the Takino household.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Tomo turned the knob, the movement releasing a wave of anxiety that nearly paralysed her. The nightmarish red writing swam into focus in her head once more.

"_whoever you choose to save last will suffer for it."_

Tomo struggled with her fading hopes, the tears coming freely now. Yomi wasn't going to be here. Tomo had made a choice between Chiyo and Yomi and she wasn't just going to walk in and find her best friend still lying there waiting for her. It was just as Tomo was about to release the handle in despair that she felt Chiyo grab her free hand and squeeze it.

Chiyo didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Her silent presence by Tomo's side gave the older girl enough courage to press open the door and step inside. Tomo braced for the dark rooms, mentally prepared herself for the horrible traps and the deadly creatures that might be lurking inside her only sanctuary.

Yet that wasn't what she found.

Instead, Tomo felt a wave of hope break over her as she saw emergency candles glowing in the darkness. Was someone actually home?

The hall was lit. It was dark, but she could see light in the living room. Tomo crept trembling towards the living room, not daring to hope…

…and saw the two people she had given up on ever seeing again sitting there on the couch next to one another.

Somehow, Tomo's parents were sitting right before her eyes. As they turned to look at her Tomo stood overwhelmed in the middle of the doorway as a cavalcade of complex and rich emotions flooded every corner of her disbelieving mind.


	23. Hope

Hope

"Tomo?"

Tomo's parents stood up with a start as their daughter stood rooted to the floor staring at them with her arms hanging limply at her side, stunned stupid with her mouth hanging open in shock. Tomo's mind was torn between dizzying waves of relief and longing and what little resistance her caution and awareness could still muster. It couldn't be true.

That familiar face couldn't be her mother, no matter how much it resembled Tomo herself. No matter that the figure was wearing her mother's favourite white blouse with the pink flowers that she'd had since Tomo was twelve. The blouse Tomo herself had bought for her for her mother's birthday that year. The familiar black, flowing hair so similar to her daughter's couldn't actually belong to Tomo's mother.

That was what Tomo was trying to tell herself, trying to prevent her hopes from rising as she heard the soft and tender voice she never thought she'd hear again. Tomo looked to her father and mother, expecting some sign that they weren't real, some tick that would give away their disguise and reveal the hideous monsters underneath.

Yet there were none visible as her mother covered her mouth to muffle a gasp at the sight of her daughter's bloodied and strange clothes, staring at the red streak that covered the whole of Tomo's torso.

Tomo felt herself begin to tremble as her father began to extend a familiar hairy hand towards her, unable to believe that the hand was actually his. She felt him touch the darkened fabric before recoiling in shock as his hand came away, stained red. The familiar balding head stared at Tomo, looking between her and his hand and back to her again.

A completely normal human reaction for a man whose daughter had come in the door at 10PM from school in the middle of a black out, wearing bloody and strange clothes and with two blades strapped to her side instead of her school satchel.

"Tomo, what… what happened to you-"

Takero Takino was cut off as Tomo flung her arms around him, tears falling as she hugged him as hard as her remaining strength allowed.

It was him, it had to be him. Tomo sobbed like a little girl into her father's chest as she released wave after wave of repressed grief that had been building in her like a tidal wave held back behind a dam that had only that moment been allowed to pass through the massive floodgates. Tomo felt her mother's hand touch her shoulder as her entire body convulsed uncontrollably, her emotions completely out of her control.

She still had parents. There was still hope, some small chance of happiness in the middle of the pitiless world she had been thrown into on an ordinary walk to school.

"Tomo… Tomo what happened? Where have you been?" her mother asked, her voice stern even as it was broken slightly by fear.

"Why are you covered in blood?" her father asked her. His normally jovial voice was deadly serious and quiet with shock. Tomo was vaguely aware through her sobbing that she was covering his front with gore. Numbly she pulled away, her arms still clutching his shirt as she trembled.

"I thought you were dead…" Tomo whispered.

For a long time Tomo felt her father's eyes staring into her, his hard expression studying the fear and distress there. She could feel her mother's anxious gaze, see her worried face out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, Tomo felt herself being guided towards the sofa, barely hearing her father telling her sternly to sit down as she collapsed onto the leather, hysterical relief and exhaustion washing over her as her father began to move towards the kitchen to get something to calm her down. It was the same familiar routine he had used to calm her down on the dozens of occasions that Tomo had come running home from school or some other event agitated about some perceived or real disaster. For the first time that day Tomo felt the burden of responsibility slide away from her shoulders as she felt more competent and trustworthy hand begin to take control again.

Tomo sat there silently with her arms flat at her sides as she felt her mother sit down beside her.

"Tomo what happened? Who attacked you?" her mother asked, her voice shaken. Her father called through from the kitchen.

"I don't think you'll get much out of her Kaede. Not until she's had a chance to calm down at any rate. Let her sit down and process it for a while."

"You guys don't know about what's going on in town?" Tomo asked, more than just surprise in her voice as she wondered how her parents hadn't seen any sign of the pandemonium that had struck the town centre.

Especially seeing as they should have been right in the middle of it. Tomo's father was a cop and her main role model for wanting to join Interpol. Her mother's job was less glamourous; she was a salarywoman for a major telecoms company. Both of them had left for work before Tomo and both of them should have been at ground zero when whatever had ensnared the city had hit.

"When we got to work we found our respective workplaces were closed and the town centre deserted. We decided to return here… oh Tomo, we've been so worried about you."

So worried they hadn't come searching for her after twelve hours of absence. Yet Tomo recognised that there wasn't much her parents could have done. They couldn't have searched an entire city.

Still, the small part of Tomo's brain that was still sceptical whispered to her that her parents could have at least taken the car down to the school and searched for her there. Yet Tomo silenced the doubt, too tired and emotionally drained to take it to heart. She just studied the sofa as she waited for the father she thought she'd lost to come back.

"Here you go Tomo."

Tomo saw her father bringing a cup of water over to her. She took it graciously, nearly dropping it as her shaking hands immediately brought it up to her throat, pouring the liquid down as she realised she hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day. By the time she removed the glass from her mouth it was empty. For a few seconds she just sat there, shaking and letting the water slide down her gullet. She suddenly felt thirstier than she'd ever felt in her life.

"Are you ready to tell us what happened?"

Tomo considered her father's words. She still didn't know how he could possibly not know what had happened.

"Has something happened at the school?" her mother asked.

"If by something you mean the school's been overrun by monsters and we barely got out alive then yes." Tomo said, her voice almost hysterical as she brought the dreaded subject out.

A few moments later and Tomo felt the dreadful sensation of not being believed as her parents looked at her incredulously.

"Tomo are… are you sure you're well?" her mother asked, putting a hand on her shoulder in a manner that felt both patronising and horribly, horribly wrong. Tomo shrugged it off and stood up.

"I'm not crazy." She said, anger in her voice as she glared at her father. "We barely got out alive. We need to get out of here now."

"Tomo, are you-"

"I'm _not crazy!"_ Tomo yelled, pushing him away and pointing out the window as she looked at him like he had gone completely mad. "Haven't you been paying any attention? There are monsters running around _all_ over town! Me and Chiyo saw them! The city is completely deserted; everyone's been taken somewhere and I don't know where but it can't be good and _we need to get out of here NOW!"_

"Tomo, Yomi is-" Tomo's father was cut off mid-sentence as Tomo began to rant.

"Sick? I know! I know she's sick; I've been fighting all day just to get back to her! She's just going to have to-"

"No, I mean she's ill, Tomo. Really really sick." Takero said. His voice was grave and it spoke with such conviction that Tomo fell silent as her expression changed from one of anger to one of pure fear.

"What?" Tomo asked.

"She's been slipping out of consciousness all day." Kaede said quietly. "We've been doing our best here but with the lines dead and the hospitals empty for all we know we've been unable to do anything but wait. It's some kind of fever."

Tomo's face contorted in grief and horror as she looked at the grave expressions on her parent's faces, panic rising.

"Where is she?" Tomo whispered.

"She's still in your room. Tomo don't go-"

Tomo was out into the corridor and running up the stairs to her room before her father could even move. She threw open the door… and saw Yomi lying on the bed.

She was obviously not well. Tomo felt her chest fill with renewed fear as she saw the perspiration on her friend's forehead and the damp cloth on her head. Yomi was shivering with a violence that surpassed any ordinary flu.

Tomo ran over to her, heedless of the danger as she knelt down and shook Yomi's shoulders as she examined the delirious expression on Yomi's face. Her eyes were half closed and unfocussed and her drenched face was contorted with exhaustion and discomfort from a fever that was scorching hot to the touch. She needed help.

Tomo began to panic. She didn't know what to do. As rare as it was she knew flu could be fatal if it struck an already weakened person. What if the monsters had done something to strengthen it?

There was only one person she knew of who might know what to do about a situation like this. Tomo sprang up and ran to find Chiyo, desperation written large upon her face as she practically jumped down the stairs and ran for the door.

Tomo pulled the handle and wrenched on it… only to nearly sprain her wrists as the door remained closed.

Someone had locked it while she'd been upstairs… and Tomo's sense of safety began to melt away as she realised she was trapped in the building.

She looked to her right and saw her father standing at the living room door, a grave expression on his face.

He was holding the key.


	24. Exorcism

Exorcism

Tomo stared at the grim expression on her father's face.

It was like looking at another man. All warmth and cheer was gone, replaced by cold judgement that made Tomo feel like she was physically shrinking. Did her own father think she was a maniac?

They didn't have time for this. Yomi was dying upstairs and Chiyo was apparently still stuck outside despite promising to come in with her. Tomo needed to get out of the house now.

"Dad? Give me the key." Tomo demanded.

"No." Takero said quietly.

"Yomi's sick." Tomo said, exasperation creeping into her voice. "I've got a friend from school outside who can help her. If you just-"

"No one is coming in from outside Tomo."

Tomo stared at him, bewildered. Her assumption at first was that her father had locked the door to prevent his apparently insane daughter from leaving the house. Now she began to suspect that something else was going on.

"Dad, why would you not want someone coming in from outside?"

Her father remained silent. Tomo noticed that for the first time he broke eye contact with her.

"What are you afraid of dad?" Tomo asked, the accusation clear in her tone.

Takero didn't respond. Just as she was about to start moving towards him to take the key from his hand by force if necessary she saw his hand rise. A signal…

Tomo tried to whirl around but was clubbed in the head by something metallic and heavy. She crumpled to the floor, lying immobile on the ground. She was unconscious before she hit the floor.

When Tomo opened her eyes again, the first thing that hit her was a tremendous pain in the back of her head that radiated out throughout her skull. She couldn't see anything. When she tried to lift her hand to test her vision she found it was pinned.

As her senses returned Tomo realised she could feel cold metal shackles around all four of her limbs. She was lying spread-eagled on the dining room table, her kimono parted to expose her torso.

Had her parents chained her down to prevent her from escaping? Then why had they unwrapped her clothes?

Tomo felt a pang of sorrow and anger ripple through her from the fact that her parents had betrayed her in the first place. There was only one other person her dad could have been signalling to. Her mother had knocked her own daughter out with a blow to the head. She could have been killed.

Tomo couldn't help but notice that she resembled a sacrificial victim. She started to panic. Whatever the reason had been for chaining her here it couldn't be good. She tried to slip her arms out of the chains.

It didn't work. She was trapped there. Tomo was about to try a more drastic attempt when she heard the door to the kitchen open behind her.

Tomo craned her neck to try to see what was going on. She couldn't move her head enough to see the figure at first, yet she was vaguely aware of the room getting lighter as candle after candle was lit. Tomo noticed that six of the candles were positioned ominously right next to her on the table.

The figure behind her kept lighting candles. Tomo managed to stretch her neck enough to see its figure.

He or she, whichever it was, was wearing a white robe. It looked vaguely like a Christian priest's garb with a hood added. Tomo had no idea why a Christian priest would be in her house; her family was Shinto like most of Japan. Still the various branches of Christianity were generally not in the practice of human sacrifice. Tomo wasn't quite able to cross the possibility of being sliced open as an offering off the long list of ways she was expecting to die but it seemed a little less likely now.

That still didn't explain her predicament. Tomo needed to get out of here. Words hadn't helped before and they probably weren't going to help now. She began to recklessly pull on her chains, trying to get one of them to come loose.

She had a new plan. Rather than get her feet out of the chains Tomo was just going to rip them away from the table. The table wasn't particularly weak but it probably couldn't stand up to someone battering away at it forever. Tomo began to jerk her right arm, trying to damage the wood.

She wasn't making much progress however and the priest didn't stop lighting candles. The room began to become uncomfortably warm. The candles were being lit on the floor, the surfaces… it seemed like every corner and side of the room was littered with hundreds of them.

Tomo felt a hint of unease come over her again. Lack of sacrifice or not this was creepy. Aside from anything else Tomo knew that her parents didn't keep this many candles in the house and she doubted her parents had popped out to the shops in the middle of a demonic apocalypse to buy more.

Despite her increasing panic about losing control of the situation Tomo's underlying morale was still high. Chiyo was presumably outside; she'd probably come looking for her soon. Whatever madness had possessed her parents they were still alive and they still knew who she was. That was more than Tomo had dared hope for. She just had to find a way to get them out alive. And Tomo knew Yomi was alive, even if she was desperately sick.

The three pillars of her life she'd thought lost forever were still alive. Everything else was fixable. They were all in a bad position but after the school it would take more than being chained up on a table by some crazy priest to break her spirit. Tomo felt some of her old energy and spirit return to her as she began to wrestle more furiously with the chains. She felt the wood begin to strain.

The room was beginning to fill with light at the corners as the priest reached the third corner. Tomo kept struggling. The table had to give soon!

It was as the last of the candles were lit in the outer perimeter of the room that Tomo had her first breakthrough. A table leg collapsed and Tomo nearly screamed as the table top crashed to the ground, pain shooting through her back as it landed hard on the floor and the shock transferred to her.

Tomo groaned as she realised she was now lying flat on the ground strapped to a lump of wood… and just as incapable of movement as she'd been when she started. Not a lot of help.

Tomo felt her confidence begin to melt away as the priest approached the table.

It faded even more when she saw the knife… and then all self-assurance slid from her as she saw the face that had been hiding under the robe.

It was Tomo's mother.

Tomo's heart broke as she realised her parents didn't think she was insane. _They_ were insane. Her parents had completely lost their minds and now they were going to murder their own daughter.

Tomo kept struggling but it was futile. It was much harder to bend the solid piece of wood she was lying on and she was out of time. Soon her mother was standing over her, the knife gleaming in her hand. Tomo stopped struggling as she stared at it wide-eyed.

She heard the door open from the living room. Tomo both hoped and feared it was Chiyo or Yomi coming to rescue her. Her spirits sank however as she saw her father come into the room dressed in the same bizarre robes. The grave expression hadn't left his face.

"Mum, it's me! It's your daughter! Don't do this!" Tomo pleaded.

"Did you bring the book?" Kaede asked, her voice grave as she completely ignored her daughter as she lay there panicking at her feet.

Tomo wondered what monstrous creature that book belonged to and how it had enchanted her parents into believing they had to follow its instructions. Her hopes began to fade as her father didn't even seem to notice she was in the room. Was she even human to them anymore?

"Of course." Takero confirmed. He glanced down briefly; the only acknowledgement he gave Tomo that he knew she was there.

"She's awake." Kaede observed, as if commenting on the weather. "Will this be a problem?"

"The ritual specifies that she be awake. If she was still unconscious we would have to wait."

Ritual? What ritual? Tomo closed her eyes for a second as fear began to overwhelm her. She wanted to shout out but she was afraid it might just reinforce whatever insanity was going through her parents' head. Or maybe she was just afraid of being ignored by her own family. Either way Tomo fell silent.

Slowly, her mother repositioned the candles around Tomo. Tomo wasn't about to let that happen without a fight; anything which disturbed this ritual was for the best. At the very least she could force them to knock her out again. Tomo began to shake wildly, making it impossible for the candles to stay upright. She heard a crack in the wood!

Tomo's bid for freedom was cut off in the most terrifying manner possible as the knife was embedded in the wood with a slam. She shrieked, looking up at her mother fearfully as the knife was removed with a tug from the wood. Kaede kneeled down slowly, a horrible smile on her face as she began to croon.

"I'm sorry Tomo." she heard her mother say softly, as if trying to comfort a baby. "I know it's not your fault but have to understand that you're dangerous. If you were to get loose you might kill us all. You might kill your friend. We have to complete this ritual to cleanse you of the creature you've brought in with you."

Tomo just stared in despair at the crazy woman that had replaced her mother.

Her parents thought she was possessed. Tomo finally realised what was going on.

This wasn't a sacrifice. It was an exorcism.

But Tomo's parents didn't believe in demonic possessions. They weren't superstitious. Tomo didn't believe for one second that she was possessed. She didn't have any gaps in her memory or any occasion where she wasn't in control. Even if she had been possessed her parents wouldn't have had any reason to believe it had happened.

Tomo began to weep as the realisation that something _had_ got to her parents sunk in. They might recognise her but she remembered the horror in the staff room. Something had played around with her parents' heads and turned them into mindless pawns; shallow parodies of their former selves.

Tomo summoned whatever little courage she had left and tried to beat back the feeling of losing her parents for a second time. She couldn't just give up. Her best friend was still upstairs dying and Chiyo was stuck outside the house and possibly in mortal danger. Tomo didn't know how long she'd been unconscious. She had to find a way to escape… yet one look in her mother's eye told Tomo that the threat had been genuine. She would get exactly one chance to break free and then the knife would fall. She needed time!

Tomo shivered as she heard her father begin to chant in latin, reading from the book with a detached focus as if he was reading out the newspaper. She could smell burning frankincense as her mother began to swing a lit thurible around the room, filling it with acrid smoke. Tomo could see the knife still gleaming in her hand. There was still no opportunity to escape.

Tomo quickly regretted not taking what little time she'd been offered as her mother put the censer down and picked up a red pen. Kaede walked over towards her, knife in one hand and pen in the other as Takero continued to chant madly. Tomo felt the cold tip of the pen run down her from the start of her throat all the way down her torso. Her mother then drew another line running across her rib cage. Tomo recognised it as the sign of the holy cross. What was going to happen now?

Tomo soon found out. Her mother picked up the knife. Tomo began to tremble violently as she saw the cruel blade float over towards the top of the line. She knew what was going to happen next as her mind flew back to the terrible wounds she'd found on Chiyo.

It was a shallow cut but Tomo still screamed in agony as she was cut open from top to bottom. She tried to keep herself still to prevent the movement from exacerbating the wound but she could still feel blood beginning to cover her torso as the slice ended. Tomo closed her eyes and tried to block out the pain but soon opened them again in terror as she saw the knife go over towards her side.

Tomo just shut her eyes and braced as the knife cut into her again. She groaned in pain as the knife sliced from one side of her to the other. Neither cut was deep enough to be fatal but it was agonizingly painful and Tomo began to hyperventilate, her body hovering on the critical threshold required to send her into a dangerous state of shock.

Barely able to focus Tomo tried to resort to words again.

"Mum, please… stop! You're killing me!" she cried.

"Hush now Tomo. It'll all be over soon." Her mother crooned. Tomo's face contorted in fear and disbelief as she watched her mother begin to sing a children's lullaby, singing madly into the darkness as she joined the chanting coming from her father. The knife was now slick with her daughter's blood yet she hardly seemed to notice as she stood up and began to move round towards Tomo's back.

"Now we've just got one more tiny operation to do pet." Kaede whispered as she crouched down over Tomo's head. Tomo just looked up at her, terrified, barely registering that her mother never called her pet. She'd already been cut open twice.

"What's going to happen now?" Tomo managed to croak out in between gasps of pain and her tears. She was greeted by the most terrifying smile she'd ever seen as her mother gazed down at her seriously injured daughter like she was a mewling baby.

"Well, we've made the preparations to draw the demon out of you." Kaede whispered gently. She was still talking to Tomo in the patronising tone an adult might use to speak to a small child, something Tomo had hated even when she _was_ a small child. Any annoyance Tomo might have felt was blocked out by pain and fear yet it still sapped subtly away at her spirit; it was belittling and just made the experience worse. The worst part was that her mother had never spoken like that even when Tomo was little. Tomo shook her head slowly from side to side as she gave her mother a pleading look, a request for mercy painted across her petrified face.

"Mum I've not got a demon inside me. Please just let me and Yomi go. I can come back. I can bring help!"

Kaede just placed a finger over her daughter's lips as if she was quieting a raucous child.

"It's not necessary Tomo. We're almost done. We just need to do the final step…"

Tomo stared transfixed as her mother brought the knife down towards her forehead. She began to tug violently on the wood, no longer afraid of being stabbed. There was no time left for a distraction; she wasn't going to wait for her head to be cut open.

"The demon is inside your mind. We just need to make… a little cut."

Tomo cried in pain and kept struggling as she felt the knife penetrate the skin of her forehead. Nausea swelled inside her as she felt it touch her skull. She felt the wood splinter. If she didn't escape within the next few seconds her mother would cut open her scalp and she'd be dead. Blood began to trickle out of the wound and into her eyes, stinging them.

The knife had just begun to cut upwards when Tomo gave the table one last mighty haul. The wood shattered as her arm finally came loose. Free!

Or one arm free, but it was enough for Tomo to slap the knife out of her mother's hands. Tomo was momentarily overwhelmed with pain as she clutched her hand to the bloody wound where the knife had slashed across her forehead and narrowly missed her left eye. Yet she still had the wit to grab the knife as she recklessly tugged on her left arm, desperate to get it free too. The wood began to crack.

Tomo heard the chanting stop and something heavy being picked up from the floor by her father. Tomo heard the wood crack and sat up just in time to avoid having her skull broken by a tyre iron.

The shackles still held her feet but they weren't directly attached to the table. Instead they had a chain on them and that allowed Tomo to spring to her feet even if her ability to move was still extremely impaired. Tomo seized her father's arm and bit into it as hard as she could, forcing him to release the tyre iron in order to bat her away.

He did so with a punch to the forehead that would have sent Tomo tumbling to the floor had her experiences not hardened her against making herself an easy target. As it was Tomo barely managed to remain on her feet as she stumbled backwards.

Tomo didn't have to look to know her father was advancing on her for another blow. Tomo felt the knife in her hand. She knew that her father was much stronger than her and probably capable of beating her to death with his own bare hands. Tomo heard her mother hysterically crying in the corner, already giving her up for dead.

Tomo had no time to think. She swung the knife wildly at the violent madman who was otherwise likely to murder her.

Tomo had subconsciously aimed for her father's shoulder, trying to disable him as Chiyo had disabled Izanama with the knife. Yet in her dazed and panicking state she felt the knife slice through her father's throat instead. Her face was splattered in his lifeblood as it cut a bloody hole through his windpipe.

Tomo watched in horror as Takero stumbled back, blood flowing from the open wound in his neck. He stared at her in shock and disbelief before crumpling onto his back, blood pouring out of his head. Her mother ran screaming over to him, picking up his head and cradling it in her arms.

"No… no… Tomo… Tomo what have you done?" Kaede's shrieks were filled with hysteria and despair as her accusation rang through the stunned ears of her daughter.

Tomo watched in disbelief as her father bled out on the floor from the wound she'd given him. She'd murdered the one person she'd wanted to save more than any other.

She'd just been trying to escape… to help the others.

"Murderer! I hate you! You should never have been born!"

Tomo's face contorted as she heard her mother disowning her. She broke down into hysterical sobs and dropped the knife as she saw her mother advancing upon her, covered in the blood of both her husband and Tomo herself.

Tomo just let the blows come. She crumpled to the ground and curled up into a ball as her mother began kicking at her, then stomping on her side. She felt a boot kick her over onto her back and then her mother straddling her as she began to hit her over and over again in the face.

Tomo began to lose consciousness as she felt her nose break under the impact of yet another punch. She was going to die.

It wasn't fair. She hadn't done anything wrong! She was defending herself!

Tomo's trembling hands grabbed her mother's throat. Crying hysterically alongside her mother's enraged screams she began to apply pressure to cut the horrid sound off, her sanity sliding away as she began to crush her mother's windpipe. Tomo no longer had enough awareness to moderate her attack. The animal part of her brain took over as she began to strangle her mother to death in the same way she'd strangled herself, the punches weakening and then stopping altogether as Kaede instead tried futilely to wrestle her hands away from her neck. It was so much easier this time.

Tomo almost managed to avoid killing her. Just as she realised she was no longer being beaten she heard the fatal neck snap. She let go, convulsing with tears and pain as her mother's lifeless body flopped on top of her.

She lay there gazing up at the ceiling from under her mother's corpse. She was losing blood and barely conscious from being beaten black and blue, covered in her own and her family's blood. She could barely see out of one eye that was now swelling up dangerously. Her chest heaved from hyperventilation and she was shocked stupid by her ordeal.

As Tomo's terror climaxed she shoved her mother off her with a scream. She covered her face with her eyes as she lay on the dining room carpet, sobbing uncontrollably as she curled up onto her side, overwhelmed with pain and guilt and the feeling of being utterly alone.

Tomo lay there for a long time as she tried to build up the strength to move. She wrenched herself free of the table, her legs still shackled as the chains came loose in a shower of splinters. Tomo clawed her way to her feet using a nearby wall, still sobbing uncontrollably. She twisted around to face the wall… and saw her handiwork.

The table was smashed to pieces and smothered in blood, both hers and her father's. Her mother and father were lying on their backs, eyes wide and staring up at her. Tomo felt time slow to a crawl as she stood looking into those accusing eyes, those eyes that asked her _why? Why did you murder me?_

It had been an accident. They had been trying to kill her! That was what Tomo told herself but it did nothing to placate the guilt that was burning a hole in her mind, blocking even the pain out as it prevented Tomo from doing anything but stare numbly into her victims' eyes.

She still managed to find the wherewithal to stagger across the room, eyes still stinging from the blood and the smoke from the incense. Tomo knew that she still had two more people depending on her. It was only that which prevented her from picking up the knife and ending the ordeal. Instead she fell to her hands and knees and crawled towards her father.

She searched his pockets, sobbing as she realised she was looting her own dead parent. She found the key… the tiny metal object that had allowed the entire mess to happen.

She was going to carry Yomi out of here herself. There was nothing for her here now, not anymore. Tomo staggered to her feet and up the stairs, some tiny bit of strength returning as the effects of the beating began to recede slightly. The pain came back and for a moment all Tomo could manage was to clutch the stairwell walls for support as she doubled over from the pain in her slashed chest.

Tomo eventually completed that monstrous climb. She opened the door, expecting to find Yomi still lying there delirious.

She saw Yomi for a second… and then the candles went out.

When they came on again Tomo was standing in a different place. The door was made of rusted iron. The walls and bed were stone, the wardrobes and shelves made of carved stone with hideous engravings of men and women being hideously tortured. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and dust covered everything.

Lying on that stone bed, visible under the now putrid and mouldy covers was the rotting, hairless corpse of Koyomi Mizuhara.

The corpse was bald. The skin had rotted away leaving brown flesh that barely covered the skeleton. Sprouting from her hands were long, curled fingernails that had gone brown. The stench of death was overpowering and Tomo retreated into a corner of the room, her eyes wide and her face covered with her hand as she curled up into a catatonic ball in the corner, rocking on the floor as she averted her eyes from the horrifying remnant that lay on the bed. Sanity left Tomo in that moment as her home transformed into a tomb. Her family's tomb.

_Her tomb._

Tomo heard the sound. It was the hideous sound of dead flesh unsticking itself from a surface as its owner lifted itself off the bed. Yomi's body was getting up one last time as it stared into Tomo's paralyzed form with murderous intent.

Tomo ran. All self-control and thought left her as she sprinted for the door, shoving the corpse away as it slashed at her with its long nails. She heard shuffling coming from the living room where her parents were supposed to be lying, their final rest already disturbed.

She slammed the key into the lock and turned. The door opened… into darkness.

Something moaned behind her… and Tomo fell through the door and into the black as her mind shut down out of pure terror.

* * *

Outside Chiyo was still desperately trying to get into the house. The door had slammed shut behind Tomo leaving her stuck on the outside. She hammered again on the door, trying to get a response.

Chiyo stepped away in shock as her fist came away bloody. She looked at the door… and then up at the rest of the house…

…and despaired.

Blood was flowing from the windows. It was leaking from the roof. The entire building began to extrude blood, the metal rusting in an instant and the paint peeling off to reveal soggy, rotten planks underneath. The garden around Chiyo transformed into an overgrown, thorn-ridden thicket in moments.

Chiyo stared at the hideous trap she'd let the one person she'd still had to look after her blunder into unawares.


	25. Alone

Alone

Tomo was dead.

Chiyo collapsed to her hands and knees in front of the ruined structure, not caring about the bruising inflicted as she folded into a ball on her side and sobbed uncontrollably onto the cold stone ground.

She was alone. Chiyo's world seemed to recede to just the few feet that surrounded her as cold grief racked every muscle in her body. For one full minute Chiyo just lay there crying into the stone. Her sobs were carried out into the cold darkness that surrounded her.

The world was as uncaring as ever. There was no rainstorm to mark her champion's passing, no darkened sky to pay tribute to the brave girl who had given everything in her attempt to see the people she cared about safe and sound. Just darkness and an open and indifferent sky that couldn't care less about the tragedy that was unfolding below. Tomo Takino had died a hero and all she had as a memorial to her service was a hideous grave and the tears of a broken little girl.

Yet in that final sacrifice Tomo had left behind one final shard of her shattered and erased life behind. She'd left behind the little girl herself.

Though her body was battered Chiyo's heart was still beating, even if it struggled with the lack of blood in her body. Though her hopes and dreams lay in ashes around her alongside everyone she'd ever known and cared about her mind still functioned. Slowly, Chiyo's survival instincts kicked in as the freezing cold bit into her enough to force her to roll onto her back, to at least move slightly to stave off hypothermia.

For a long time Chiyo just lay there as blood flowed down from the porch and pooled around her head, parting around it as it reached her shoulders. Chiyo didn't respond as she looked blankly up at the sky, searching for answers in the heavens.

"Why?"

For a long time that was all she asked. Silence filled her pause for answers.

"Why are you letting this happen to us?"

Again she received no response as the blood pooled around her arms and torso. Chiyo began to tremble with bitter anger as she slowly sat up and curled her knees up around her body, not caring that her entire back was now smothered in blood. She opened her mouth and screamed.

"_WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED US?!"_

Chiyo's rage rang through the sky and dissipated, useless and unanswered in the darkness. She remained a forgotten shadow bound to the cold earth, condemned to wander it alone. Chiyo didn't care about anything anymore. Everything she'd ever treasured, ever placed value in was gone. Even the spirits she barely believed in had ignored her final plea for salvation from her lonely and tormented existence.

In that moment Chiyo would have welcomed being chained up in Izanama's torture room. She would have welcomed being tortured until her mind broke, until she was tossed away to die in some meaningless and lonely corner, forgotten forever. Everyone Chiyo had mattered to was dead and without them she was nothing.

She was free to do whatever she wanted because there was no one who cared what she did. So because nothing mattered she sat there shivering on the ground in a pool of blood, not caring as the bandages Tomo had painstakingly sterilised and wrapped around her were left drenched and ruined by the gore.

Chiyo instead imagined infection. She imagined her wounds becoming festered, covering up with gangrene. She imagined herself going into shock, falling from the world as her mind shut down for the last time. It would be a mercy.

Numbly, Chiyo looked at the last remaining thing Tomo had left to give her.

The Corolla was there. It was a way out, an escape, and a second chance at a shattered life.

Slowly, Chiyo got to her feet. She began to stumble towards the vehicle, not caring about the pebbles and rocks that bruised her feet as she blundered over them. She reached the side of the vehicle and swung open the doors.

The fury she'd felt as she'd stood over Izanama was beginning to come back. There was no one to calm her down this time, no one to rescue her mind from the dark tunnels it was plunging into. They would pay, each and every one of them would pay. It didn't matter who they were anymore; every last monster would pay.

Chiyo would return one day to hunt them down. She would teach them what it felt like to be hunted, what it was like to be chased down, to be trapped and tortured, to have everyone you cared about ripped away, every dream shattered before you at your feet. Chiyo adjusted the seat and turned on the ignition, her hatred already burning away. Slowly, she drove off.

As Chiyo drove her mind slowly filled with thoughts of violence and rage. In her mind's eye she saw demons begging her for mercy. She heard their screams as she tore their eyes out with her bare hands, cut out their tongues. She would mutilate their bodies, force them to eat one another's corpses. Every torment Chiyo's eleven year old mind was capable of conjuring came to mind as Izanama's lessons in violence were cemented and the restraint Tomo had fought to instill in her faded away. Chiyo's mind became saturated in blood as the corpses piled…

…Chiyo slammed on the brakes and came to a stop as she lay her head against the steering wheel.

This wasn't what Tomo had wanted. She was turning into Izanama. Chiyo grabbed her head, shaking as she tried to purify herself of the horrific images her mind had conjured up, the dreams of revenge that threatened to warp her very soul into something hideous. Chiyo sobbed as she imagined her parents seeing this, hearing about their once noble daughter's hideous delusions. She fought an internal battle to shut the box of nightmare's she'd so foolishly opened.

Humanity slowly returned to Chiyo as she collapsed against the steering column, paralyzed by the emotional black hole that was left from her struggle with her own growing monster. Yet despite everything she had been through it was a victory she had narrowly won. The dark process that had begun to transform the sweet little girl into a psychopath had been stopped by her own tattered innocence.

Ahead of her was the lane that would take her up onto the motorway and north out of town. Chiyo summoned the strength to pick herself up and look at the gateway to freedom. Her path to a new life that Tomo had sacrificed herself to make possible. All she had to do was put the car into gear one last time and drive to freedom.

Yet there was something that stopped her from leaving at the last moment.

It was Tomo's school satchel, the last remaining sign besides Chiyo herself that her friend had ever existed.

There was another survivor. Tomo had committed herself to saving four people, not two, not three, _four._ Tomo herself, Chiyo, Yomi Mizuhara and a nine year old girl who might still be alive and hiding terrified beyond all capacity in some dark corner of a shopping mall or street. Chiyo knew there was someone even smaller and more helpless than herself out there and she was driving a vehicle given to her by the girl's father. A gift given to Tomo in exchange for her word to try to save his daughter.

But Chiyo didn't even know which mall to search. She was barely alive herself, exhausted from steady blood loss, lack of sleep and a prolonged period without food or water. She didn't have the strength to search every shopping centre in Tokyo or even an entire city if Kimura's daughter had wandered or fled from it.

Chiyo was just about to decisively kick the car into motion when she remembered what she'd picked up in the torture room.

The files that Chiyo hadn't finished reading.

Chiyo took a moment to rest her head in her hands, as if the motion might somehow make the impossible and likely suicidal mission any easier to contemplate. Then, showing courage beyond any possible measure, she picked up the files and began to search for a way to save the last known survivor of Tokyo city.

The little girl who had just wanted to spend a day at the mall with her mother had not been abandoned yet.


	26. Revelations

Revelations

Chiyo flipped open one of the files. Judging from the dark brown envelope it was wrapped in that had a texture that felt nothing like normal paper this one hadn't even been read. Printed on it was text.

_For the eyes of Captain Izanama only._

_General Raijin finds your lack of progress extremely disconcerting. You were given the simple task of hunting down two adolescents and bringing them to him. It is our understanding that so far not only have you failed but you have suffered casualties trying._

_Furthermore you do not seem to have tried very hard. The ? tell us that you failed to secure the ground floor, forcing HQ to attempt to do it with more animals instead. They did their best but with the animals fighting one another the humans clearly managed to slip through. It is my understanding that even with them physically incapacitated by a cave worm your soldiers only managed to secure the younger one._

_The older one is now rampaging through the school. She is learning how to cope with your patrols and if she is allowed freedom of movement she will threaten your entire operation. _

_You were told not to underestimate the humans. Mobilise the ? and bring her to heel before the situation gets any worse._

_I'm warning you Izanama. If you fail us General Raijin will have something highly unpleasant waiting for you when you return. If the Red Clan cannot even bring us two little girls then a change of leadership may be in order._

Chiyo felt cold dread run through her as she realised Izanama was probably paying for his failure right now. He might have deserved it after what he'd done but enough civilisation had returned to her to find torturing a paraplegic disturbing. Maybe Tomo _should_ have finished him off with the sword.

Tomo…

_Get your act together Izanama. You do not want to come back to the general empty-handed._

A hint of unease drifted over her as she considered how human the demons sounded. As militaristic and brutal as their culture was they organised themselves like humans. They behaved and reacted like humans; even feared like humans. The idea that Chiyo could have any similarity to the things that had tortured her and murdered her classmate after brutalising them both in a fourteen hour ordeal shook her.

Regardless of any similarities between humans and demons Chiyo still had a mission to complete and the file hadn't helped her. Yet she had one last report left to read. Chiyo put the envelope to one side and picked up the paper, her last chance of making some difference to the dark world that surrounded her.

As she read the title she immediately realised that she'd hit the intelligence jackpot.

_A Summary of Surface Operations_

Chiyo's hand shook in dreadful anticipation as she read that title. It was both everything she'd dreamed of and everything she'd feared in one package. This was information she could use, to help Kimura's daughter and against the demons. Tentatively she flipped the title page over.

_High Command has decided that it is beneficial for all commanders to be kept up to date on how the various operations are proceeding on the surface. Personally I think it is foolish as it means a single intelligence breach could allow the humans to unify, but then my colleagues don't seem to share my caution regarding the enemy's capabilities and they seem to believe that an attack upon us is impossible._

Chiyo noted darkly that she wouldn't be the demons' enemy if it wasn't for the fact that they'd invaded her home town and murdered or dragged away everyone in it. Why were they doing this?

And what did they have to fear from her? Chiyo had every intention of making a nuisance of herself but what could she possibly do to seriously hinder them? Their victory seemed complete yet four human survivors, none of them adult and two of them not even teenagers, apparently intimidated them. How could the demons view herself and Tomo as being so dangerous?

_However HQ has been cautious enough to not put all our eggs in one basket. As such the information in this report is only to share details of operations that may interfere or interact with your own. As such this report details four known evaders of the imprisonment ritual._

"Jackpot." Chiyo whispered.

_The first two are considered the most dangerous, mainly because they are together but also because they have proven to be exceptionally tenacious in evading you so far. One of them is already a demon-killer and has shown a remarkable amount of wit and determination in evading the various traps that have been set for her. She appears to learn incredibly quickly under pressure and is being assisted by her younger companion. I'm beginning to believe from your reports that she's some kind of guardian. Approach with caution._

_The third one is already in captivity. She was almost incapacitated with some kind of infection and was unable to resist as we moved in on her location. She was apprehended easily and has been taken into the vast underground temple we discovered after our initial excacations._

Chiyo read the first line of that paragraph again and again. In captivity. In captivity. _In captivity._

Yomi was still alive. Chiyo read on with her heart in her mouth.

_They're holding her in that bizarre underground temple we struck during our final excavations. This place is bizarre; it's large enough to muster an army in and overwhelming enough to serve as a place of worship, yet there is no sign of any religious significance in the place. The humans seem to have built a vast, empty temple underground for the hell of it. There's no record of any deity that would be worshipped in such a structure. It seems illogical even by human standards but I can't quite get the feeling out of my head that there is some kind of hidden purpose to it. I hope they pull back to the cavern layer soon; suffice to say we are stationing no armies in the place. What I don't understand is why they linger at all._

Chiyo had to struggle not to roll her eyes all the way through that passage. The vast structure they were discussing was, of course, Tokyo's famous flood drainage system, nicknamed the "Underground Temple" by tourists. It was over six kilometres long with the capacity to pump hundreds of tonnes of water out into the river system in the event of a major flood. The structure represented a pinnacle of Japanese engineering prowess and it was no wonder the demons couldn't divine its purpose with their medieval technology.

Still the article gave her hope. Yomi was alive and being held prisoner underground. Chiyo knew there were several entrances to the Underground Temple littered around Tokyo. Getting in would not be an issue with the city empty. The trick would be remaining undetected once she got underground.

That didn't mean it was going to be easy. Chiyo didn't for one second underestimate how suicidal it was going to be to break Yomi free from an unlit sewer system that was crawling with demons. Chiyo wouldn't have had the courage to even attempt it normally.

Yet she owed Tomo the debt. Tomo had literally fought through hell to free her and she'd wound up paying for it with her life. Chiyo couldn't just give up on Yomi now that she knew where her classmate was.

Anyway, Yomi was Chiyo's friend too. Chiyo didn't believe for a second that Yomi would have left Chiyo to be tormented by monsters.

The question only became more urgent as Chiyo read on.

_They're probably taking the time to have their fun with her. All new captives are supposed to be taken underground yet trying to get a group of starving ? and greedy oni to refrain from conducting their own crude ritual is almost impossible. You at least have the excuse of being above ground Izanama; these demons are just doing this for their own gain. They'll be disciplined and moved on in due time but I doubt our new captive will survive that long._

Chiyo looked at the vehicle's clock which now read 11PM. Yomi had been in captivity for at least three hours since this note had been reading. Chiyo had nearly lost her mind after an hour of torture. What condition was Yomi going to be in after three hours spent in the hands of these monsters? If she was even alive anymore?

Chiyo shook with anger and revulsion as she remembered each individual knife wound. She imagined Yomi screaming in the dark, then growing quiet, begging silently for a reprieve that didn't come, that would never come until she was completely mindless. Yomi was in terrible danger and she was almost certainly in a bad way already.

That sealed it. Whatever condition Kimura's daughter was in it was an unknown factor. Chiyo would save Yomi first.

Yet as she considered that an even worse fact came up. Chiyo remembered Tomo's defense of Kimura.

"_It wasn't his fault Chiyo."_

Kimura had just been one of millions of Tokyo citizens, her friends and family included, who would have been taken by the demons. They'd all been down there for fourteen hours now. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, _everyone_ could be being tortured to the point of madness down there. Chiyo for a moment simply put her head in her hands as she tried to block out the enormity of the suffering that was going on under her feet. Grief flooded her but also doubt.

Was she doing the right thing? She could be the last human in Tokyo who still had the capacity to escape the city and warn the rest of the world about what was going on. Who had evidence to prove it to the doubtful. And once the world found out what was going on…

Chiyo knew what would happen. There would be a worldwide call to arms. Every military from Asia to the Americas to Africa and Europe would put down their petty squabbles to join in the fight against the demons. It would a holy war and against it the demons could only offer spears, swords and deadly magic.

The school had demonstrated how terrifying the demons could be but it also demonstrated how vulnerable they were. If two school girls could completely destroy one of their operations then Chiyo wondered what a company of SEALs or Japanese SFGs could do. Even a unit of SWAT officers could probably cause serious damage.

Of course Chiyo doubted that the enemies she'd encountered were representative of the whole demon army. Something had allowed them to spirit away an entire town. Chiyo knew she was facing far graver threats than an army of club-wielding armoured brutes and their spear-toting lackeys. Chiyo's mind only had to emblazon Tomo's horrifying demise across her unwilling consciousness to remind her just how dangerous the demons were. Yet against the entire world?

Yet there was one small hole in Chiyo's grandiose plan.

There were probably better minds than hers working on a similar one.

Tokyo City was the heart of Japan and was connected to commercial and political organisations around the world. Its presence couldn't have been missed for one minute, let alone one day. At the very least Chiyo should have seen advance parties of scouts or high-flying planes investigating the situation. A full column of tanks and armoured cavalry backed with infantry and artillery support would have been more appropriate and expected. Chiyo didn't know the extent of the imprisonment ritual but whatever it had done Chiyo doubted it had gone unnoticed. The lack of response would have come from a lack of capability rather than a lack of intelligence.

Chiyo realised despondently that she was almost certainly alone. Even if she did escape there was a good chance she would never be able to re-enter Tokyo. Assuming the rest of Japan wasn't as dead as the capital… Chiyo shuddered as she imagined her entire nation reduced to a haunted, monster-ridden wasteland in a matter of hours.

It was down to her. Chiyo pushed the possibility of reinforcements, the possibility of someone else helping out of her head as she focussed on the last paragraph.

_We've also established that this human was close to both of the humans that have been troubling you. Should they somehow escape they will likely make for her last known location first. There is a very nasty trap waiting for the older one when she arrives. All she has to do is go through the door and she's as good as dead._

Chiyo read the words again in case she'd missed something.

Then the crushing guilt came flooding through her as what little faith she'd had in herself crashed through the floor out of her.

Tomo's death was her fault.

She'd been holding the files. The words were _right there._ They were written in black and white in front of her.

All she'd had to do was read them. Yet she'd been too concerned with her own fear to do that. Instead she'd sat there in the car, letting Tomo drive ignorantly towards a trap.

Chiyo almost slammed her head against the wheel in self-loathing. Of _course_ it had been a trap! How could it not be! What else could have happened? It had been such an obvious place for them to go. Chiyo had had the answer right in front of her and she hadn't read the files because she was too afraid of… what?

Knowing the truth? Acknowledging what was happening in the city? Chiyo had been so terrified of confronting the reality of what had happened to everyone she cared about that she'd abandoned the one thing she could have done to warn the one person she had left.

Chiyo realised what she'd surrendered. She'd let Tomo take control because she'd been unable to cope. She'd put all her trust in her teenage classmate who was barely in control herself.

In doing that she had stopped thinking. She'd disarmed the one weapon she'd had and instead had blindly followed Tomo into the mental trap she'd dug for herself without lifting a finger in protest. Her weakness had killed her friend.

Chiyo was out of tears to shed. She just lay back despondently against the chair. Chiyo knew she'd let Tomo down when Tomo had needed her the most. Tomo's death had seemed like an unavoidable tragedy, a cruel twist of fate. Yet now Chiyo was met with the soul-crushing realisation that it had been one hundred per cent avoidable and Chiyo had had the means of preventing it in her hands the entire time.

Instead Tomo was dead, and Chiyo was alone.

Chiyo saw something inside the bag that she recognised instantly. She drew it out.

It was the knife.

For a long period of time Chiyo looked at that knife, wondering how quickly she could kill herself with it.

Did it really matter? Didn't she deserve to suffer for what she'd allowed to happen?

Chiyo pointed the knife at her throat in dark experimentation… and then threw the knife away as if it had been dangerously hot.

She _owed_ Tomo better than this. She was sitting in the car considering killing herself after all Tomo had done to try to get her out of the horrible situation alive. She'd made one mistake, one fatal error.

Yomi didn't have to die because of that error. Chiyo's expression hardened again as she set her hand to the wheel.

She was about to drive off again when she realised she hadn't finished the document.

_The fourth human appears to be a child even younger than the one that accompanies your primary target. She's apparently wandering around in a large, sheltered commercial district that is near your current location. Despite this she's proving surprisingly hard to find in the massive area. However, she is low priority and we have yet to even begin to hunt her yet. We'll send someone to pick her up once the others are secured._

Chiyo breathed her first real sigh of relief. They weren't looking for Kimura's daughter. She had time to focus on Yomi.

Yet Chiyo felt that confidence slip away as she read the last three paragraphs.

_However rumour has it that General Raijin is planning to set up his surface headquarters in the mall itself. I've no idea why he's chosen to base himself there where he will be forced to rotate soldiers but he may have decided to take a personal role in searching for the humans. In that case I pity the poor creature in the shopping mall._

_If there's one thing Raijin hates more than anything its humans. It's like some kind of sickness for him. We all know the stories but those events happened millennia ago._

_To most of us the humans are just animals. Prey to be hunted. But for Raijin it's something more. The pain ritual is too fast in his eyes; he will draw try to draw it out, make it last weeks or even months. We've all heard the stories. I know it sounds weak but if you capture the humans please keep them away from that monster. That little girl will be tortured to death and she won't even know the reason it's happening to her. That's the best part for him. The look of confusion in their eyes as he tears their souls apart._

Chiyo felt a chill go through her. These were creatures who literally lived off the pain and suffering of others. Yet even they thought this demon was a monster.

Her heart broke as she imagined that nine year old girl being chased down by the cruel commander of the surface expedition. What kind of horror was she facing?

Chiyo had enough trouble getting Izanama's hideous grin out of her head. As she drove off she prayed that she wouldn't have to see his superior. She prayed that the road she was driving down led away from the tyrant that was described in that awful pamphlet.

She also dwelt on exactly what had happened to make this Raijin despise humans so much that he would take that hatred out on a small child.


	27. Friend or Foe?

Friend or Foe?

Chiyo drove through the deserted streets of Tokyo once more. However this time rather than driving away from the city Chiyo was driving back into it and back into danger.

The atmosphere hadn't improved. The roar of the car's engine sounded watered down and faint, as if muffled by some invisible force. The leather interior of the car seemed dull and pale in colour and the fabric was cold to the touch even after Chiyo had been sitting in it for some time. The heaters seemed to give no heat as if all the energy was being directed elsewhere, sucked away from the car the moment it left the engine. Outside the world was as dreary as ever, only now it was pitch black as well. The sun had set a long time ago.

Chiyo was dimly aware that this was the last thing the people who cared about her would have wanted. What she was doing seemed suicidal. An eleven year old girl, barely able to walk and almost too short to drive the vehicle was supposed to sneak into a demon infested sewer system and rescue a much older girl who might not even be able to walk properly by the time she was reached. It was the definition of madness. Her parents would never have allowed her to do this. Tomo would have pulled her out of the city by the hand, or carried Chiyo over her shoulders if necessary.

But Chiyo had neither her parents nor Tomo to look after her anymore. She was on her own and this was the decision she had made. Her course was set.

However that didn't change the fact that Chiyo was nearly at the point of passing out before she even got to the sewers. She still wasn't properly dressed and the car seemed to be doing little to shield her from the biting temperatures. She hadn't eaten or drank anything since she left her house that fateful morning. Chiyo knew academically what the signs of hypothermia were, but that didn't make it any easier for her increasingly delirious brain to process the symptoms of increasing confusion and tiredness. The city itself was threatening to do what the monsters had failed to accomplish.

Chiyo needed food. She needed warm clothes. She _desperately_ needed water. Steadily her determination to find and save Yomi became a desperate search for a source of the above. She was coming close to collapsing at the wheel and she knew that if she lost consciousness now she would never wake up, unless it was inside a cell.

After everything she'd been through it would be a funny way to die, drifting off to sleep peacefully in the car, her life slipping away unmolested by any malevolent forces. The city itself would nurse her into her final sleep…

Chiyo tried to bat away the morbid thoughts that had plagued her imagination ever since her escape. Yet somehow everything seemed to come back to death. Her death, her family's death, Tomo's death. Yomi's probable death if she failed. Chiyo had already seen so much death today and the very air around her seemed thick with it as she drove on through the deserted city.

She was on the brink of passing out when she saw something that could save her life.

It was a clothing store. Chiyo drew to a halt outside it and hungrily gazed at the rows of warm, lifesaving garments that lay across the isles. There would be clothes her size there. Long-sleeved winter shirts and thick woolly jumpers; warm socks and comfortable shoes to shield her battered and bleeding feet. Chiyo might even find some food and water in there if the store sold such things to passing traffic.

Chiyo ignored the danger as she left the safety of the car with the torch in hand. She didn't even bother to turn off the ignition as she stumbled bleary eyed towards the shop window. The cold air wrapped around her once more, bone-deep cold cutting into her as she confronted the glass barrier.

If Chiyo had been more than semi-conscious she might have tried to learn how to use the lockpicks. She might have even considered the irony that Tomo had known something that she hadn't. But she was in desperate straits and there was no time for a more subtle solution. Chiyo used all her remaining strength to pick up a loosened concrete block from the side of the pavement and throw it through the glass with a resounding crash.

Chiyo stumbled backwards and fell over into a sitting position in a daze as glass flew everywhere. She'd at least had the wherewithal to stand well back, but she'd still been lucky not to get hit by the deadly shrapnel. As it was Chiyo was left to pick her way through a maze of glass shards, her bare feet vulnerable to being sliced to pieces by the tiny fragments.

It occurred to Chiyo as she stepped through the minefield that she was now effectively a looter, searching her way through a darkened store in the dead of night with a torch. It didn't bother her as much as she'd expected it to. When your life depended on what was on the other side of that glass society's niceties vanished. Chiyo thought no noble thoughts about repaying the shop keeper later; she was too busy trying to block out the instinct to just curl up into a ball and go to sleep on the shop floor the moment she got inside.

In the cold and dead world Chiyo now inhabited morality was now measured by whether or not that brutal murder you committed the other day was done in self-defence or not. The world had been divided between murderers and those who were worse than the murderers. Theft no longer registered.

Chiyo somehow cleared the field of glass unscathed and stumbled into the store. She headed straight towards the kids isle, picking her way through the clothing rails.

Clean clothes. Chiyo blankly realised she hadn't even considered that putting on her school uniform wouldn't have made a difference given that she was now caked in fresh blood from head to toe again anyway.

It didn't matter; these clothes were better. Chiyo pulled a thick, long-sleeved woollen top off the isle and pulled the pink object over her shoulders. This was quickly followed by a warm green jumper that was slightly too big for her and a pair of brown jeans that were technically for boys. Chiyo noticed none of these details as she frantically pulled the garments on. They were followed by a thick black ski jacket that would normally have made her unbearably warm but was now just barely enough to begin to stem the deadly cold that pervaded the shop.

Chiyo wasn't done. Moving over to the socks isle she seized the thickest pair of ski socks she could find, a blue pair that were the woolliest socks Chiyo had ever seen. She shoved them on. She moved on to shoes, eschewing the light trainers for the sturdiest pair of hiking boots she could find. They would be difficult to run in but with Chiyo's ankles in their current state she wasn't going to be doing much of that anyway. She didn't even consider blisters an injury anymore.

She was almost finished. In fact, Chiyo had spent a few seconds stumbling around to shake off the cold when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that made her stand still in shock.

She was completely bald. Half her face was covered in bandages and plasters from Tomo's attempts to patch her up. Chiyo knew that a hideous wound lay under each of them, wounds that would probably scar. But worst was the blood…

Chiyo's face was covered in her own dried blood. The little girl was gone, replaced by a blood-stained dwarven ghoul that stared back soullessly from the glass. She looked like what she'd imagined a demon looking like before she saw one for real; a red imp-like creature that was vaguely humanoid but barely resembled an actual human being.

She stared at that awful visage for a few seconds and then pulled herself away. She needed one more item. It was a practical way of keeping the cold out but Chiyo needed it more for her mental health than for warmth.

A simple black beanie completed Chiyo's outfit as she pulled it over her head. It couldn't cover the blood on her face but it at least hid the lack of hair.

For the first time in hours Chiyo actually looked like a human being and not like one of the demons. Some clarity slowly began to come back to her as some of the biting cold wore off.

She realised that she'd created enough noise to attract every monster in the vicinity. Chiyo knew that Tomo had seen a demon in the alleyways. The city wasn't free of them. There would be patrols. She felt dread fill her chest as she started towards the exit… and then stopped.

Chiyo realised that she was only thinking of herself. There was another that would definitely need warm clothing.

Chiyo grabbed a large plastic bag from behind the counter and quickly started to pick out clothes that were roughly Yomi's size. She had no idea what Yomi's measurements were but that didn't matter; this wasn't a day for comfort shopping. Chiyo picked out a yellow long-sleeved top similar to the one she was wearing, a thick and grey woollen hoodie and a black bomber jacket from the women's wear section alongside a sensible pair of blue jeans and some underwear. She also quickly grabbed a pair of trainers; wishful thinking perhaps but maybe Yomi would be better able to run. A brown winter hat with ear warmers completed the ensemble.

Finally Chiyo grabbed half a dozen bottles of water and downed one of them like it was the last drop of water on Earth. She shoved the rest in a bag and was just about to head for the door when she saw the demon advancing towards her through the shattered window.

It was one of the bug-men Chiyo had spent so much time evading in the school. It had its spear levelled, a triumphant grin on its face.

And Chiyo had left the dagger in the car.

Chiyo raised her hands in surrender. There was nowhere to go. Maybe if she got lucky she might manage to escape.

Even as she thought that she knew her chances of escaping from the clutches of the demons a second time were next to nil. She'd be closely guarded this time. Chiyo cursed herself for not escaping the city while she'd had the chance.

What had she achieved? She'd thrown away the one chance she'd been given and now everything Tomo had fought for was draining away in front of her. Chiyo felt tears rising as the monster raised its spear and reached towards her…

...Only to stumble backwards stunned as a tile from the ceiling dropped down on its head. Chiyo was still standing stupid in shock when another monster dropped down in front of her.

This one was different. It was clothed in grey, a black cloth tied around its face. Whatever it was it was clearly set on not being discovered.

Chiyo expected it to turn around and grab her, obviously in some kind of competition with the other monster. She ended up screaming as the newcomer instead stabbed its own kind in the neck with a wakizashi. Chiyo's attacker bled out in seconds, its blood pooling on the ground and staining the carpet of the shop a dark red in the torchlight.

Chiyo tried to move away silently only for the monster to turn around casually. It obviously knew full well she couldn't escape. Chiyo froze and closed her eyes, uttering a final prayer as the monster approached.

She expected to be grabbed and hauled off to some unknown fate. Instead, she instinctively flinched as a bony hand rested on her shoulder.

Chiyo looked up into the eyes of the monster. She couldn't believe it. Was it actually going to help her?

Then the monster raised its blade… and Chiyo knew she was going to die.

She looked up into the monster, resigned to her fate. She wasn't going to give it the satisfaction of watching her turn away.

A tremendous bang sounded out and the sword fell harmlessly to the floor as the monster's neck exploded. Chiyo fell back as she heard something embed itself in the far-off wall of the shop. She vaguely processed that what she'd heard was the loudest gunshot Chiyo imagined possible.

She lay there, staring transfixed at the two corpses in front of her. She looked down to avert her eyes as she heard the shooter's footsteps advance towards the carnage. A harsh and angry alien voice sounded out.

"Let's put a stop to that shall we?" it cried.

Chiyo just shuddered on the floor as the monster swaggered into view, taking all the time in the world. It was another one of the bugmen, but instead of the usual spear it was carrying an enormous arquebus Chiyo was surprised it had the strength to fire. Chiyo's eyes hadn't learned to distinguish their expressions yet but she noticed that this monster was enormous for its size. Most of the bugmen were smaller than Tomo; this one could have looked Sakaki in the eye.

There was no point in moving. It had used her language; it knew she was there and it didn't mind her knowing.

Chiyo had no idea why they were shooting each other and she didn't particularly care at that moment as she watched the demon get down on one knee to examine the body of the first assailant. When it spoke its growling voice was surprisingly grave and soft. Chiyo watched with mixed emotions as it said a few words in its own strange language and closed the eyes of its fallen comrade. It took a moment to kneel there in silence before getting slowly to its feet.

It didn't treat the monster it had shot dead with such respect. The demon gave the second corpse a ferocious kick to the sides. It spat on the dead creature's face.

"That's what you get if you murder one of our soldiers."

For a long time the monster just stood there, looking down at its kill with its gun leant lazily against its shoulder. After five seconds Chiyo finally summoned up the courage to speak.

"Where are you going to take me?" she asked, fear breaking her quiet voice. She didn't get a response for some time.

"Go on, get out of here." the monster replied.

Chiyo stared, waiting for the monster to deliver the sick punchline. Five seconds passed and it didn't come.

It took a full fifteen seconds of waiting before Chiyo got to her feet and slowly walked towards the door. The demon didn't move, continuing to stare at the corpse on the ground. Chiyo was careful to pick up the bag as silently as she could.

It was only when Chiyo reached the window that she summoned the courage to call back.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked, wonder and confusion in her voice.

The demon took a few seconds to consider that. Even when it spoke it didn't move.

"You're not worthy of knowing that yet. Once you save your friend you might get some answers. If you save her."

Chiyo watched as the demon turned towards her. When it spoke again she could hear anger and resentment beyond anything she could possibly have been responsible for in its voice.

"Otherwise you'd better pray we don't meet again human. Now get out of here."

Chiyo didn't need to be told twice. As she turned to leave however she heard something metal clatter to the ground around her feet, followed by a smaller wooden object. She looked down.

It was an unloaded revolver and a box of six bullets. Chiyo picked them up and looked at the demon in astonishment.

"You're giving me-"

"Six bullets." the demon interrupted. "Six shots, six of my people dead. If you need to kill more of us than that then you can consider this little truce we've got going over."

Chiyo stared at the gun for a moment before nodding stupidly and turning to leave, putting both it and the ammo inside the plastic bag. It was only as she reached for the car door that the demon spoke one last time.

"By the way you'd better hurry. Your friend doesn't have a lot of time left."

Chiyo felt dread course through her at those words. She hung her head in acknowledgement before pulling the car door open.

She fastened her seatbelt and placed the bag in the backseat of the car. As she drove off her head began to buzz from the implications of what had just occurred.

Some of the demons saw her as their ally. They were willing to kill their own kind to ensure she achieved her goal.

To what possible end could they be working towards?

Chiyo had plenty of time to ponder that alongside the parting words from the demon as she made towards the sewer entrance as fast as possible.


	28. The Plunge

The Plunge

Chiyo was almost outside of Tokyo by the time she stopped driving.

In fact she _was_ outside of Tokyo. Chiyo stood on the borderlands of Saitama Prefecture, the area to the north of Tokyo itself. The fact that she had left the boundaries of Tokyo and had still found no signs of human civilisation was not lost on her.

How much further did this dull and dreary land run? Was the whole of Japan enveloped by this? Was there a single person besides herself who was still free?

Chiyo could hear the sound of running water as she turned off the ignition. She was parked at the side of a road that ran past the Edogawa river. To her east the water itself was hidden from view behind a bank, but the dip down towards the river itself could be seen even in the darkness.

To her west lay the entrance to the Underground Temple itself. In 2000 the G-Cans project, a massive flood diversion system designed to keep the capital safe from Japan's extreme weather, was not yet completed. Construction had started in 1992, with the structure slated for completion in 2009. Plans were for it to be made into a tourist attraction as one of the most magnificent underground structures in the world, a pinnacle in Japanese and indeed global engineering.

Right now it was simply a massive hole in the ground.

Chiyo didn't dare drive any closer. She knew there were demons in the area; in fact she was counting on it desperately. If there weren't then that meant that they had moved back underground and taken Yomi with them.

In the school Chiyo had simply tried to survive. She'd been driven alongside Tomo from place to place, fleeing the monsters, reacting.

This time she was the hunter, pursuing her dangerous quarry as it skulked in the darkness. They had taken something precious from her and she had to get it back. Slowly, she loaded the bullets into the revolver, at the same time wondering what the hell she was doing.

She wasn't a soldier. She wasn't even an adult. The noise the revolver made would surely bring down everything in the complex down upon her head if she had to use it. The idea of an injured child storming a building full of monsters with a noisy gun with only six bullets and a large knife was insane. Chiyo only had to look out at the forbidding dark landscape to want to drive on out of Saitama and towards whatever freedom there might still be in the world. She desperately wanted an adult, someone who could just tell her what to do…

She knew that no one would blame her. She'd shown a level of courage beyond almost anyone just coming here. To dare to try and penetrate the dark world below the city, even if it was only the human made part of that city, in pursuit of the demons that had chased her for so long before while seriously injured… no more could possibly have been asked of Chiyo.

But she was the only one there. There was no one else. For all Chiyo knew she could be the last free human being in Japan, maybe even on Earth. Even if she wasn't there wasn't time to find someone else. She was needed now.

It was the same thought process that had led Tomo into oblivion but there was no denying it all the same. Miserably Chiyo got out of the vehicle.

The cold hit her instantly, far colder than any September night had any right to be in that part of the world. Chiyo was protected by her thick layers but her face and hands were instantly stung by the cold and she cursed herself for not picking out a pair of gloves. Chiyo's original plan had been to get Yomi out of the tunnels before she thought about clothes but with the temperature as low as it was the cold might finish off what the demons had undoubtedly started.

She couldn't believe it could be so cold without a breeze blowing. The air was still, the grass on either side of the road not moving. It was like the world had frozen up around her, a sensation that never stopped being creepy no matter how many times Chiyo experienced it.

Chiyo opened the backseat doors, leaning in to try to shield her face from the bitter cold.

The first thing she grabbed was the torch. It was lying loose on the back seat from where she'd chucked it after escaping from the clothing store. The torch meant light. Light meant life. It was the single most precious thing she had in her possession, the thing that allowed her to see what was hiding in the darkness.

Next came the knife. It was a back-up to the revolver and it might be her only option in the dark given the noise the other weapon was sure to make.

Chiyo hated the ugly thing. It was cruel, the inside of the blade covered in jagged metal spines that obviously had a dark purpose beyond warfare. The blade was sharp and Chiyo was scared just handling the thing. She had no skill with it and it was as dangerous to her as it was to any of the demons. Miserably she tucked it into Tomo's satchel.

That left the satchel itself. Chiyo felt a pang of emotion as she touched the personal item. She felt guilty and undeserving as she slung it over her shoulders. It wasn't hers to take, but the person it belonged to was never coming back to reclaim it. Not now.

Finally there was the spare bag of clothes. Chiyo's first plan had been to leave these in the car. The extra weight would burden her and there was no shoulder strap on the plastic bag. Tomo's satchel didn't have any room left in it and it would have to be carried on the wrist. The heavy clothing would be extremely cumbersome to carry in the dark.

Yet it was freezing cold. Yomi might be very weak by the time Chiyo found her; the cold could be enough to finish her off. If Chiyo didn't take the clothing with her the consequences could be disastrous.

Chiyo realised that she couldn't take the clothing with her. The bag rustled every time she moved it and silence was the only weapon she really had. Using the revolver was suicide and so was fumbling for the knife in the dark with a noisy plastic sheet over her wrist.

Had the gun been a joke? Chiyo couldn't think of a single circumstance where such a weapon could be useful. Setting off a series of loud bangs seemed like the perfect way to seal her own fate. Yet the demon had seemed deadly serious when it had handed her the weapon. Chiyo considered leaving it behind in the car.

Yet in the end she very carefully slid it into a side compartment of the satchel. It was the only relatively safe place to put it; storing it anywhere on her was suicide. Chiyo decided to draw the knife and use it as her primary weapon instead. As much as she hated the thing at least it didn't make any noise… though its victim might. Chiyo shuddered as she imagined screams ringing down the hall, bringing monsters running down to find her standing over a corpse in the darkness. What dark and terrible thoughts was she thinking?

Chiyo was out of time for deliberations. She reluctantly closed the car door and turned to face the outside world.

It was a short journey to the tunnel entrance. Chiyo took it as quickly as possible, unable to maintain Tomo's brisk pace but no longer hobbling quite so badly as she clambered over the roadside fence and began to cross the grass towards the foreboding brick building that loomed up over her in the distance.

This was to be the eventual entrance to the plant for the public. The Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Tunnel, as it was properly known as, was to consist of 6.4 kilometres of drainage tunnel connected to five large cisterns that all drained away into a much larger central chamber. From there the water could be drained away into the river by a further tunnel. However that part of the excavation wasn't even built yet; the building was the only access route into the central chamber itself.

Chiyo suspected that the central chamber was where Yomi was likely being kept. With any luck all she'd have to do is descend one flight of stairs and she'd find Yomi.

Along with whatever was guarding her.

Chiyo tried to quickly cross the large field that separated her from the lonely building. She was uncomfortably aware that eyes might be watching her even now, waiting to apprehend her the moment she entered the building. She couldn't see any guards.

She soon came to a halt as she saw through the darkness that all of the glass doors had been smashed.

It was both a hopeful sign and an ominous one. Before now there had been the possibility that the demons had taken Yomi into the structure by another entrance; that they were inside another part of the structure. Now Chiyo knew that they had come this way.

Of course, they could have been far away down the tunnels in the hours spent wandering the school and then driving through the city. She might already be too late. But the fact remained that Yomi's captors had come here.

Chiyo looked at the weapon in her right hand. She wondered how she ever thought she would be able to use this thing against the monsters that had chased her through the hallways. Tomo at least had been taller and stronger and she'd had a proper sword. If Chiyo had to fight something in the open she was dead for sure.

For a long time Chiyo looked into the impenetrable gloom, wondering if she was just throwing her life away. How could she possibly overcome the creatures that might lurk within?

The answer was because she had to. Slowly, with fear dragging on every foostep, Chiyo crossed the threshold and plunged into the darkness once more.

The only difference was that this time she had sought it out.


	29. Breakout

Breakout

Underground, deep beneath the complex Chiyo was infiltrating, Kagura shivered.

She didn't know how long she'd been down there, chained to the wall in those tunnels. All she knew was that she was cold and frightened. Her right foot was shackled to a dark granite wall. A flimsy wooden pen formed the cage she was trapped in. The chain was so taut that she couldn't sit down; she'd been forced to stand for hours. Her legs were agony…

At least she wasn't alone. There were two other people there with her. To her immediate left was the gigantic Kenshin, a giant and morbidly obese truck driver from Kobe City. He'd been travelling into Tokyo on business when he'd suddenly found himself somewhere else. He'd found himself standing in the same dark pit everyone else had been in.

Kagura remembered every detail of that pit. It had been vast, and every inch of it had been smothered in a morass of men, women and children, all huddled together in fear and distress in complete darkness. Everyone had kept very still. They didn't know what was going to happen next.

Then the things had swooped down in the darkness.

They'd started grabbing people, hauling them screaming up into the air and up into the dark. The crowd had started to panic. Kagura remembered being pushed around in the panicking mob, barely remaining upright. She remembered the cries of fear and pain as people were pushed over onto the ground as the things continued to sweep down, the sounds of people being trampled and crushed. She'd heard people screaming for their parents, for their children, for the friends they'd been with at school or work just minutes earlier as one by one they were picked up and spirited away. Kagura had been one of the many to simply go quiet, trying to remain calm in the chaotic situation.

Then she'd felt the talons clamp over her flesh. She'd screamed and struggled to break free, then gone deathly still as she was pulled up hundreds of feet above the stony ground, the sound of black wings flapping all around her. For a full two minutes she'd simply been dragged up and up, the screams and moans of others filling the air around her as the dark shape above her pulled her into the seemingly endless darkness.

Suddenly she'd dropped, hitting the ground with a thud before she had the chance to scream. Bony hands had grabbed her and torn her clothes and items away from her before dragging her off at spearpoint into the darkness. Kagura remembered the hideous faces, the lipless mouths and the slimy pale skin stretched unnaturally thin over bony exoskeletons. She remembered falling on the hard ground and being driven up again with blows, the creatures laughing as she was forced to walk miles upward through the tunnels, all sense of direction lost as she passed through dozens of tunnels and turns. Her feet were bleeding by the time she was flung roughly into a cell with the others and chained to the wall, cut open by the rough ground. That was where she'd been left for who knew how long.

Chained to the opposite wall to her was Hideki. A full six years older than Kagura he was a member of Japan's special forces, the JSGp (quite simply, the Japanese Special Forces Group). Kagura could hear his voice but she couldn't see him in the pitch darkness. He was an elite soldier and if there was anyone who could get them out of the terrible situation it was him. But one of them would have to get out of the chains first…

There had been five of them in that cage before. Now there were only three. Kagura didn't know where the others had been taken and she desperately didn't want to join them. At the same time she wanted to know what had happened, what their fates had been and if there was anything that could be done to save them. Yet at that moment in time she couldn't even save herself.

She was growing weak. None of them had been given any food or water for the entirety of their stay in the subterranean dungeon. None of them had been allowed to sit down and rest their increasingly weary legs. Kenshin was having the worst of it, his enormous bulk wearing him down as he groaned occasionally under the pressure of his own weight, bracing against the wall. Could you die from standing up too long?

Kagura jumped as Hideki spoke softly in the darkness. None of them had said much since Hinako had been taken some time ago, the university student who had been dragged screaming from the cell as she was pulled away into the darkness and off to an unknown fate.

"If we don't get out of here soon we're going to be too weak to do anything. If one of those monsters comes for us we have to fight back."

"How are we going to do that?" Kagura asked, exasperation and fear mixing with exhaustion in her voice. "Did you not see the spears? They'll kill us if we do anything!"

"We can't just sit here and die!" Kenshin said, his gruff and deep voice breathless from exertion. "I don't want to be dragged off as food for those things!"

Hideki continued the sentiment grimly. "They've taken the others. And there were hundreds of people in that pit; maybe even thousands. Someone needs to help them and this far underground I doubt anyone knows where we are. No one is going to rescue us from here and if we just allow ourselves to be dragged off into the darkness one by one our position is only going to get worse."

Hideki fell silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter and slower.

"Next time one of them unchains us, that person _has_ to try to escape. They've got those long awkward spears; if you can avoid the points you can maybe knock one of the guards out and turn it on the others. Kagura, you said you swam, right?"

Kagura nodded. Then she remembered that Hideki couldn't see her head in the dark.

"Yes. Why, what difference does that make?"

"You've probably got a decent amount of upper body strength. If you can get their weapons away from them do you think you could lever these chains loose?"

Kagura doubted it. "I can try." was all she said. She didn't sound very confident as she said it. Kenshin shook his head.

"Try isn't the word right now. If they pick you you have to get those chains off of us or we're both dead."

"Kenshin you're probably the strongest person here. Do you think you could do it?" Hideki suggested. Kagura looked up hopefully.

"I'm more worried about the spear than these chains. The metal's bolted into the wall; I don't know if it's possible to just rip it out of the stone."

The group fell silent again for some time. Eventually Kenshin spoke.

"Kagura, tell me about your family." he requested. His voice shook slightly in the darkness; he was scared. He didn't want to be left in silence in the dark. None of them did.

"My mum's an elementary school teacher. She works at a school in Minato." Kagura answered, her voice subdued. "Dad's a chef at a restaurant."

Kagura paused for a while as emotional memories began to come back.

"They used to take me down to the beach when I was little. Dad would always sit on a pier and fish while I played in the water. That's where I learned how to swim…"

Kagura's voice began to break. "I hope they're ok…"

The others sat quietly, not knowing what to say. Kagura was suddenly glad it was dark and that they couldn't see the tear that had escaped from her eyes.

Kagura tried to put on a tough act. Yet in the dark, chained to the wall with things crawling around outside it was difficult to maintain any hope at all. Kagura couldn't keep the images of her parents out of her head. The idea of them being chained up like she was or worse, dragged off to some horrible end was more than she could bear.

"I was with my unit based in Chiba barracks." Hideki started quietly. "I don't know where everyone else has gone. They must have deliberately separated us all."

"Were your parents in town?" Kagura asked before she could stop herself.

"No. They live in Nagoya. They're a long way away from Tokyo." There was relief in Hideki's voice that Kagura envied.

"I've got a wife and kids back in Kobe." Kenshin began softly. "I was going to teach my little girl how to swim when I got home. My wife's expecting and I don't know if I'll ever-" Kenshin broke into a fit of coughing. "-If I'll ever get home to see her again."

"Kenshin you'll see your little girl again." Kagura started, her voice hardening. "We're not going to die here."

"So we fight next time they come for us?" Hideki asked hopefully.

Reluctantly, Kagura agreed. "Ok." she said, trying to sound as confident as she could.

There was a long silence after that as they waited in dread for something to come. Kagura was just about to say something when they all tensed up in anticipation and fear as footsteps began to echo down the corridor.

"Try to grab a spear each. Whoever gets released, help them." Hideki instructed.

Kagura tried to bear those instructions in mind as she tensed up, ready to fight. She felt her face illuminated in torchlight as a group of three monsters wrenched open the cell door. To the back was a fourth one, wielding a sword. It looked like it was in charge.

What little hope Kagura had begun to drain away at that. There hadn't been any officer last time.

"Glug ami." the monster at the back instructed. Kagura closed her eyes for a second out of fear as it gestured towards her. From the other side of the room she could see Hideki and Kenshin looking at her with grave expressions. They were counting on her.

Kagura couldn't help but wonder if she'd been selected because she was the smallest and least likely to cause trouble. Although she'd been training to be an athlete most of her life she was still only sixteen and only marginally taller than Tomo. She'd had a passion for sports all her life and was physically strong for her age but Kenshin was much stronger. Hideki, of course, was Special Forces and in the prime of his life.

Their arms were free but they were chained to the wall. Kagura's best chance was to try to do something as they unchained her. One of them would have to approach…

Kagura had hoped it would be one of the three spear wielders. The close proximity would negate the danger the spear points posed, a key part of Hideki's strategy. Yet to her dismay it was the sword-wielding officer who approached, his blade in one hand and the key in another.

Kagura winced as she felt the blade pressed against her throat. The monster glared into her eyes, daring her to do something as the others closed in.

Yet they still left enough room to move. The officer dropped to fiddle with the lock… and Kagura swept down.

The first thing she did was grab its sword arm in an arm lock and twist round. The monster cried out angrily and tried to fight back but Kagura forced it to release the weapon. She picked up the sword and levelled it at the officer's throat, picking it up and grabbing it around the throat with her right arm. She interposed it between herself and the remaining monsters, which stopped in their tracks. She couldn't believe they'd been that stupid.

"Drop it!" Kagura demanded.

The monsters didn't respond. Kagura began to panic as she saw them look uncertainly at one another. She couldn't communicate with them!

Kenshin took over. "Drop it." he repeated, pointing towards the ground at his feet. Slowly, the monsters began to drop their weapons, releasing their spears as they comprehended what was going on.

"Key!" Hideki demanded, pointing towards the silver object that had dropped on the floor. Kagura swept it over towards him with her foot, careful not to move the blade away from her enemy's foot.

Hideki wasted no time at all in unlocking himself and then Kenshin. The two men picked up the spears, levelling them at the monsters who put their hands up in fear. The tables had been turned.

Slowly, with the tension thick enough to cut with a blade, the two humans advanced. They forced their captors to back out of the cell while Kagura held the blade resolutely to their leader's throat. If they tried to escape it was clear what was going to happen.

Kagura watched tensely as Hideki pointed back inside the cell. He was going to lock them up inside. Guards were going to swap places with prisoners.

Suddenly the officer cried out. Before Kagura could react she was elbowed roughly in the ribs. The monsters took their chance as she was knocked to the floor by a blow to the chin from the same elbow as the officer broke free and grabbed her left arm, wrestling with her for the sword.

Kagura heard a melee break out as she struggled with the officer, its weight weighing down upon her, eyes wide and desperate as it tried to seize the steel back. She clung on but it had the advantage of standing up while she was awkwardly hauled around on the ground. She vaguely processed Hideki throttling one of the monsters with the shaft of his spear as Kenshin released his spear to seize one of the monsters off of his back, tossing it overarm into the monster that had stolen his weapon away from him.

Kagura waited a moment then pulled her trap. She let go of the sword suddenly and at the same time kicked up as hard as she could. The blow connected with the monster's groin. Kagura was relieved to find that its monstrous physiology was at least similar enough to humans in that regard as it staggered back, crying in pain. She leapt to her feet.

A desperate melee then ensued as Kagura heard a neck snap behind her. She tried to put the monster in a headlock as it doubled over, dropping its sword on the ground. She felt herself thrown roughly to the floor and then the monster was standing over her. It had seized up its sword again. It stretched back to deliver the killing blow. Kagura watched the blade transfixed, her eyes wide. She went to roll…

Then the metal shaft of Hideki's spear exploded through its back, showering Kagura with blood as it collapsed in a heap on top of her. Kagura gasped in shock as she pushed the dying officer away, narrowly avoiding the sword which it still had in its hand. She saw Kenshin throttling a monster to death, his face turning a dangerous shade of red as he crushed its neck in with his arm. Hideki meanwhile turned and threw his spear down the corridor. Kagura soon heard why as she heard a horrible scream sound out from out of sight as his spear found its target. No help would be coming for the monsters now.

Kagura lay on the ground in shock as she stared at the carnage around her. There were three corpses lying on the ground, two with broken necks and the other spasming from bloodloss on the ground. She felt Hideki's bloodied arm grab her and haul her to her feet.

"You alright?"

Hideki was looking her in the eyes, his own brown eyes hard as he studied the terrified expression on her face. She was breathing heavily from fright as much as from the exertion of the fight. Slowly, she nodded.

Behind them however another crisis was unfolding. Kenshin was wheezing heavily and clutching his chest. The strain and lack of water had pushed him a step too far. He was well into middle age and Kagura had already suspected he had heart problems.

"Kenshin?" Kagura's voice rose as she saw Kenshin stagger backwards towards the wall, settling down into a sitting position. She began to move towards him.

"My… chest… it feels like it's going to explode!" he gasped.

"He's having a heart attack." Hideki said, kneeling down and trying to support Kenshin's enormous frame with his shoulders. Kagura tried to do the same and together they tried to lift him.

It was no use and at any rate Kenshin was in the middle of a cardiac arrest. They had no choice but to allow him to settle down.

"I… ah… I knew it…"

"Come on Kenshin, stay with us." Hideki said. Even the commando couldn't keep his voice steady as they watched his face begin to pale.

"Doctors said… if I didn't lose the weight… this would happen. Might as well be now… augh…"

Kagura could see the pain on his face. "We have to do something!"

"There's nothing we can do." Hideki said, resignation trickling into his voice. "We don't have anything to kick start the heart with."

Kagura had been around enough sports events and training programs to know basic first aid. She knew that if Kenshin lost consciousness they had almost no chance of restarting his heart. A common fallacy regarding CPR was that it was supposed to revive the patient. It wasn't. CPR was there to keep you alive until electroshock treatment could be administered to the heart. On its own it stood only a 2% chance of actually getting the heart going on its own again.

"We need to get help." Kagura said, her voice shaking with panic.

"Where?" Hideki asked, exasperation breaking through the studied calmness. "We're in the middle of an underground maze, middle of nowhere. There's not going to be some handy crash cart hidden around a corner somewhere. He'll have to ride it out."

"Ride out a heart attack?" Kagura asked.

"There's a small chance his heart will start back up on its own." Hideki explained.

"You're really reassuring me here." Kenshin sputtered.

For a while they simply sat there as Kenshin's chest heaved, his lungs desperately trying to oxygenate his body. But the blood that carried that oxygen wasn't flowing correctly. Kenshin was beginning to lose focus.

"Come on, stay with us!" Hideki demanded, his eyes widening as he saw him begin to slip away. Kagura just remained silent, trying to be as comforting as possible in what was probably Kenshin's final moments awake. He began to speak.

"My… my…" Kenshin could barely speak the words. "My… daughter… in Kobe. Please… If you… if you get out…"

Kenshin looked to Kagura. "You said… you're good at… you're good at swimming." Kagura nodded as he continued. "If… when you get… get out of here alive… do me a favour… teach her how to swim? She… she loves… she loves the water. But… but my wife… she's afraid…"

Kagura was fighting to hold back the tears. Hideki had his face to the ground, hiding his own emotions. Kagura tried to keep her wavering voice steady as she asked the crucial question.

"What's her name? Where does she-"

"Kin… Kin Tanaka… she lives… Nishiokamoto. In Kobe. The street…"

Kenshin slowly shook his head, barely conscious.

"There's no paper… you'd… you'd never remember it. Nishiokamoto. Kobe. Kin… Tanaka. Can you… can you…"

"I'll remember." Kagura promised.

Kenshin gave her a smile. Then he closed his eyes.

Both Kagura and Hideki shook his shoulders, trying to get him to wake up. Instead they were forced to stop as his chest ceased to rise and fall.

Kagura wasn't going to give up and neither was Hideki. They pulled him onto his back as best they could and checked for a heartbeat. When neither of them could detect it they began CPR.

This was before the days of only delivering the chest compressions. It fell to Kagura to administer the compressions while Hideki delivered the breaths. Four times Kagura compressed the chest and four times Hideki breathed into Kenshin, trying to deliver some small measure of precious oxygen into his blood stream, keep his system working just a little longer. Each time they stopped to check for any signs of breathing.

Yet it was no use. Kagura and Hideki were left standing over the lifeless body of Kenshin.

"He's gone…" Hideki said, half whispering as he stared down. Kagura just covered her face with her hand as she sobbed.

Kenshin had come into town to make an ordinary delivery. Now he'd never see his children again.

"Kagura… can you remember... can you remember where his family lives?"

"Kin Tanaka… Nishio… Nishio…"

Kagura's tears intensified as she realised she could only remember half the neighbourhood.

"Kobe…" she finished pathetically, her hand falling to her side as her shoulders slumped. Her head fell.

Neither of them moved for some time. Eventually Hideki got to his feet.

"We'd better get going."

Kagura studied the ground for a few seconds more before getting to her feet. She looked around at the carnage that surrounded her as Hideki retrieved two of the spears. Numbly she was aware of the fact that she was covered in blood, the thick liquid cloying and cooling on her. There was something disturbingly human about the monster she'd seen writing on the ground in its death throes.

"Here." Hideki handed one of the weapons to Kagura. "Don't fight unless it's necessary. If an alternative presents itself run. But don't split up unless we have to."

Kagura nodded and took the spear awkwardly. She didn't know the first thing about using a spear. It was just as Hideki was going to turn to leave that she remembered something.

"Hang on."

Kagura walked over and swapped her spear for the sword she'd nearly been killed with as Hideki looked on anxiously. "I did some Kendo as a child. It's not much but it might help."

"You're already a step up on me then." Hideki acknowledged. Kagura didn't mention that she didn't have the first idea about how to actually use a sword in combat, let alone against a spear. At any rate the tone in his voice had been sceptical.

They set off down the corridors, stolen torches in hand. The temperature in the tunnels was tolerable but there was still a chill in the air as they wandered onwards. Kagura found herself holding her torch as close to herself as possible in a bid to stay warm without actually burning herself.

Now that she was side by side with Hideki more details came to light. He was a lot taller than her, stronger too with the build of a soldier. His black hair was cut to military regulation.

Yet he was also young. The strain was showing on his face as much as it was showing on Kagura's and despite his age and training he remained as quiet as Kagura was. What had come to pass back at the cells had clearly affected him just as badly.

After some time they came to a crossroads of sorts. Kagura had begun to notice that the tunnels were very straight, as if they had been hand-made. Had the monsters created this labyrinth?

One path led up. Kagura hoped it was to freedom and not to some dead end. She didn't have the energy for a long search for the exit. Yet Hideki was looking on into the distance, through the opposite tunnel.

Neither of them considered the one leading down into the depths of the labyrinth.

"I wonder if there's a cell like the one we just escaped at the end of this corridor." Hideki wondered.

Kagura swallowed. "And if we meet something coming the other way?"

"We'll just have to fight them." Hideki admitted.

That wasn't very encouraging. Still, Kagura was prepared to follow him into the darkness when they saw torchlight in the distance.

"Quick, hide!" Hideki hissed.

They retreated into the corridor leading upwards, Kagura turning round to look for anything that was coming down the way. Her attention was soon distracted however as Hideki pulled her round.

As they crouched out of sight a group of three of the bug-men carried out a young boy. He couldn't have been older than six years of age. A massive armoured figure brought up the rear, a huge crossbow in its hand.

Both Kagura and Hideki were filled with rage.

"Those monsters…" Hideki started

"We have to do something!" Kagura whispered. Hideki nodded as they began to walk down into the depths.

"At the count of three… one… two…"

At the count of three both Kagura and Hideki charged towards the depths. Before the monsters could even turn around they were upon them.

The armoured giant was bowled over onto its side as it fell on top of one of its compatriots. Kagura caught the other one by surprise, cutting it down before it had time to react with a nauseating cut to the shoulders. Her eyes went wide as she heard it shriek, a horrible dying yell as it toppled backwards, blood trickling out of it onto her hands and spraying out to coat everything around from her torso to her arms to the ground and walls around. She stood stock still as she comprehended what she'd just done.

The other one had dropped the boy as it turned to face them but it was too late. Hideki showed absolutely no mercy and cut it down with a stab to its chest. No quarter was given.

For a split second there was a chance at introducing some kind of civilisation into the conflict as Kagura picked up the crossbow and pointed it towards the armoured giant as it lay on the floor. She knew enough about crossbows to know that the bolt would rip straight through the armour at this range. For a second she hesitated and there was some possibility that a prisoner might have been taken rather than being butchered on the floor.

That hope passed as the monster roared and charged towards her, forcing Kagura to fall back in a panic as she discharged the crossbow into its helm. Its head shot backwards as the bolt flew straight through, hitting the wall with a thud as the ground behind it was sprayed with gore. It toppled over with a thud.

Kagura lay there for a few seconds, her back bruised from the impact of falling to the ground without using her hands to take the blow. At least she hadn't landed badly; it could have been a paralysing blow. Slowly, shaking, she got up, staring at her handiwork.

Behind her Hideki examined the boy.

He was unconscious. There was a tell-tale trickle of blood where he had apparently been knocked out by something heavy. Whatever the monsters had been planning to do to him they hadn't wanted him awake. Hideki had a dark look on his face. He picked the boy up.

"I think he's going to be ok." Hideki whispered.

"Thank heavens…" Kagura muttered.

For a while both of them stood there, both shell-shocked by the battle. They looked down the hallway the monsters had come down.

The walk down the second corridor was tense. Both Kagura and Hidaki expected something monstrous to round the corner at them at any moment, both of them ready for a fight. It turned out to be a wasted trip; the cell was empty. Kagura prayed it had been empty before and no luckless soul had been dragged out kicking and screaming. They made their way back outside, not wasting any time in the dead end.

Luckily, they found themselves standing outside in the corridors again. They turned to face one another, Hideki holding the boy over his shoulders so as to be able to carry a torch. He had a grim expression on his face and he struggled to maintain eye contact as he searched for the difficult words.

"Listen, Kagura…" he began. "…I need you to go up the slope there. Take the kid and make your way back to the surface. Without me."

"Without you?" Kagura asked. "Why?"

"Think about it!" Hideki said, exasperated. "For all we know we could be the only free humans in these caves at the moment. There are maybe thousands of individuals trapped here and if anyone has escaped they're in terrible danger. We need help but…"

Hideki thought for a second.

"I'm the only soldier I know of in these caves. As a member of the JSDF it's my duty to try to get these people out of here."

"You can't do this by yourself!" Kagura said. Hideki shook his head.

"I know that. But I can at least disrupt whatever it is they're planning. Find others, try to get them out as well. Build some kind of resistance."

"But why should I-"

"Because we need to get help!" Hideki almost shouted it. "Somewhere on the surface there'll be other humans who haven't been taken by the monsters. Somewhere. These things weren't well armed. I don't know if they've got some kind of magic or stolen technology but most of them are armed with stuff that was old during the Sengoku Jidai. You get one unit of soldiers down here and they'll cause havoc. But the rest of the world _needs_ to know we're down here first!"

Hideki almost threw the child onto Kagura's shoulders, forcing her to take the weight. "I'm not dismissing your offer of help. I'm _asking_ you to help. And the best thing you can do right now is to get back up to the surface and find someone who can help us. And get this kid out of danger in the process!"

For a long time they just stared at one another at an impasse, Kagura's face conflicted as she questioned what was being asked of her. Leaving Hideki to go on alone was insane.

"Hideki… you're just one person." Kagura started, her voice strained. "These caves are filled with monsters and those flying things and who knows what else? How are you going to-"

"I'm counting on not being alone for long. Either I'll find help or reinforcements will turn up. If they don't…"

Both of them studied the walls for a second. Neither of them could meet the other's eyes.

"You've got your job and I've got mine. If you can't get back to the surface and warn people about what is going on down here then we're probably all going to die. I'm counting on you. But that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon everyone down here in the meantime."

There was a dreadful air of finality as the conversation finished. Slowly, they managed to look at one another again.

"Be careful." Kagura whispered.

"I will." Hideki replied. He'd made himself sound as confident as possible but his face was grim. There was no way he was truly expecting to come back from this. "You too. Don't let me down!"

Slowly, Hideki turned away, clearly shaken. Kagura watched him leave, stalking off down the corridors with a torch in his hand like he was walking to his grave.

It was still completely insane. She was probably letting him go to his death. Was she just supposed to accept that after what she'd seen in the tunnel with Kenshin?

Kagura remembered the life slide out of his eyes. She looked around numbly at the scene of destruction around her. She was just supposed to let someone else wander off towards more of this?

Yet there would be more children like the one she had draped over her shoulders in the corridors below. If Hideki could manage to reach even one of them in time it would make some kind of difference to the human misery that had been allowed to exist in these corridors.

A final request came to mind.

"Hideki!" she called out. The soldier turned to face her.

"My surname's Mori. My parents might be down there somewhere. If you find them…"

Hideki nodded gravely.

"I'll do my best."

He turned away. Kagura watched him wander off into the distance.

Miserably she turned to leave. She set off up the corridors, a terrible weight set upon her shoulders. As she left she couldn't help but feel she was abandoning him.

Yet the truth was that it had to be done. As Hideki had said, he had his job and she had hers.


	30. Choice

Choice

Chiyo walked slowly through the darkened room, trying to find the staircase that would lead her deep into the earth.

She'd instinctively made for the largest structure visible, assuming it would be the way in. However, the structure she'd wandered into was empty. It was half-finished; only the bare supports were visible in the torch light and the room seemed to stretch on forever. It looked like only the exterior had been completed.

That wasn't to say it was completely empty. There was a stairwell to her left leading up to what Chiyo assumed was the control room for the tunnel. But Chiyo wasn't looking to go _up_.

Her fear and confusion grew as she searched for a door, any door. Yet there was no visible sign of a stairwell; no sign that she could actually get underground through here!

Yomi was running out of time. Chiyo didn't have time to scrabble around in the darkness looking for the entrance. When the torchlight yielded no doors she stood stock still for a while, evaluating her options while trying to block out her fear of the darkness that surrounded her… and her fear of what might be dwelling within that darkness.

Eventually she headed for the stairwell. Maybe upstairs she'd find a map or something that could help her find an exit.

The darkness only grew more oppressive as Chiyo moved away from the windows. She kept the knife ready in her hand even if she very much doubted that it would be of any use if she seriously had to use it. As she advanced towards the stairs the parts of her mind that weren't occupied by urgency or telling her to run were whispering into her ear that this was a bad idea.

The glass had been shattered; seemingly to permit easy access, but there seemed to be no use for the structure. Chiyo had intelligence stating that the monsters had taken her friend underground. Unless they'd for some reason moved above ground, which the note had categorically stated would make them weaker, there was no reason for them to be in this structure.

The facts kept adding up as Chiyo moved towards the stairs. If it was just for access then why shatter all of the glass? Why not just make one easily concealed entry? Maybe it was just overenthusiasm but Chiyo remembered the dangerous process of picking her way through the broken glass of the store. Broken glass wasn't something you wanted to create more of. The demons weren't idiots; they seemed to be capable of the same deductive reasoning as human beings. There was no reason to create such a large and obvious entrance, especially if you didn't want others to follow…

…assuming you didn't want others to follow.

Chiyo came to a halt at the foot of the stairs. She examined them very carefully. Something definitely wasn't right.

On the surface the stairs looked like perfectly normal stone steps. But there was something very unusual about them.

For starters they were oddly placed. Rather than being placed against one of the walls as would be expected the stairwell jutted out. Chiyo could have passed behind the concrete at the back and kept wandering through the room if she'd wanted to. From an engineering standpoint that wasn't efficient design; any structures would have to be built around the stairwell. That gave less flexibility to the builders regarding room construction.

The stairs were also very wide and very large. It looked more like the way up from a subway than the stairwell to a control room in a municipal building. The G-Cans project was slated to be a tourist attraction as well as a water control facility but it was first and foremost a functional building. The stairs shouldn't be this wide…

Chiyo examined the stairs more closely. At first they seemed to simply be stone steps. But the third one up was different.

Only the front of the step was the same grey colour as the rest. The rest of it was a slightly different shade and there was a crack between the two shades as if the two pieces of stone had been slotted together somehow. If Chiyo hadn't been paying attention she would never have noticed it. As it was, it was unusual enough for Chiyo to break away the stone and examine the structure more closely.

It came away easily; the grey stone was obviously just a façade. What Chiyo found was a metal plate connected to two springs. The springs were connected to a blade that ran the length of the staircase. Below that blade were two ropes that ran out through the sides of the stairwell and into the stairwell walls.

Chiyo stared at how close she'd come to walking straight into a trap. She had no idea how the demons had created such an elaborate deception but it didn't bode well for her expedition into the G-Cans. She backed off and examined the walls.

She couldn't see the ropes; they were obviously hidden inside the wall. As Chiyo shone the torch upwards however it soon became clear what they were securing.

The top of the stairwell had no ceiling. Instead, high above Chiyo, a massive grate lined with spikes pointing down stood above her, ready to fall and crush not only the stairs but the entire room. It was obviously of unnatural origin; the metal was rusted through and it looked like it had been there for years, yet it was also impossibly high up, higher than the building itself from the outside.

It should have been blindingly obvious, yet the one place you never look is up. Even the most experienced and wary infiltrator would have blundered straight into it and might not even have realised the sky was falling on them until it was too late to react.

As it was an eleven year old had outfoxed it through her superior knowledge of building design.

Chiyo shivered and reminded herself to look up more often. Surely the demons wouldn't rely on the same trick twice? It was a good trick. Shaken, she began to retreat towards the doors… only to hear something click and a rope slide across the floor.

Chiyo dived as the rope that would have tightened around her ankle swung into the air. She heard something fly across the room and impact the stairs. She shone the torch.

A metal dart, probably poisoned with something, had struck the stairwell. She'd almost blundered into a second trap even as she successfully identified the first one.

Chiyo didn't know how many more traps the building held and she wasn't going to stick around to find out. As she picked her way back through the glass and out into the open air again she realised she wasn't any further forward than when she'd gotten out of the car. Was there even a way into the tunnels from here? Had the entrance been built yet? How else could construction happen?

The entrance had to be somewhere in the vicinity. Chiyo looked around and saw there were a few structures left to examine. The one that caught her eye was a long way away; a large subway-like structure with a metal door that looked like it was for work access. Chiyo began to walk towards it, hope and dread rising together as she realised it was a far more likely candidate.

It was a long way to the structure. Chiyo's journey took her across a large field. It was very exposed and she looked around her nervously as she walked slowly through the short grass. At least she'd have time to react to any danger.

Then her leg was grabbed.

Chiyo was taken completely by surprise. She'd been looking across the distance far away from her. As a result she hadn't been looking at the ground and had stumbled right into something. She looked down.

It was one of the giants from the school, all too visible in the starlight. Chiyo barely had time to process the hideous expression of triumph on its face, a wound visible in its chest as it began to squeeze her leg. Chiyo screamed and tried to break free as she tried to stab at it, but it was monstrously strong and the knife deflected off, Chiyo's pathetic arm strength and poor aim doing nothing to harm the reinforced flesh of the creature. Chiyo's shriek of fear turned to screams of agony as the hand began to crush her leg.

Desperately trying to block out the fear and pain Chiyo dropped the knife. She fumbled for the satchel even as her hands shook with adrenaline. She felt the revolver.

Chiyo nearly overbalanced as she felt a second hand wrap round her leg again, this time lower down. She took aim…

Her arms juddered from the shock of the recoil as the revolver flew from her hand and struck her in the face, knocking her down to the ground as the hands fell away from her. She felt fluid strike her jacket on the way down. She hit her head on the ground hard for the second time that day, seeing floating lights for a few seconds as she processed what had just happened.

She bolted upright, expecting the hands to return. Then she saw her handiwork.

The creature was lying prone. The handgun had shattered its skull even though she'd tried to hit the chest, the powerful round cutting straight through. Nausea and unpleasant memories of the hallways returned as she saw the blood and brain matter that stained the ground and the rest of the creature's body. It was as if the creature's head had exploded. Chiyo unconsciously touched the stain on her jacket and then withdrew revulsed as she felt the blood there.

For some time she just sat there supported by one arm, stunned into unresponsiveness by what had just happened. Slowly, she got to her feet, standing shakily upon them as she recovered the handgun. The metal was warm.

Her arms still hurt from the force of the discharge, particularly her hands that had taken the full force of the recoil. This handgun had not been made for an eleven year old's hands.

She stared down at the monster. The demons had clearly left it for dead; either that or as a further trap for her. The spearwound reached right through to the other side of it; whatever had struck such a blow against the heavily armoured creature must have been monstrously strong. It had been paralysed or otherwise too weak to move. Chiyo was reminded of the blanket Tomo had placed over the clawed thing in the school.

Chiyo wondered how long it had been left out here, staring up at the sky and steadily growing weaker. It was as if everything the demons touched turned to suffering and death. But then that was how the demons worked. Everything about them, from their society to their basic physiology revolved around the infliction of pain upon others.

Why did she feel any reluctance? Why _should_ she feel any guilt at all about killing these things? The demons had taken everything from Chiyo. In the past fourteen hours they'd taken her family, her friends and her home away. They'd _murdered_ Tomo simply for having the audacity to try to save her best friend from them before she left the city never to bother them again. Finally, they'd tortured Chiyo herself. Chiyo would forever live with the mental and physical scars of what had happened in the boiler room.

The demons were walking, shambling abominations of nature. They lived off of _torture and death._ They showed no regard whatsoever for the lives of the people whose lives they had shattered in a day. They didn't deserve the mercy Tomo had shown them. That she'd shown them. Tomo had been wrong; they all deserved to die.

Except Chiyo couldn't escape from the fact that one of them had saved her life. She also couldn't ignore everything she'd learned about the demons before that painted a more complicated picture than a society of identical psychopaths. Chiyo despised the demons but she couldn't disconnect them completely from her conscience. She couldn't dehumanise them.

She'd reached the door with dark and conflicting thoughts. As she reached for the handle and turned, she kept the revolver ready in anticipation. She wouldn't be caught off guard again.

The door swung open and the torch blinked on… and Chiyo stared into a pair of huge yellow eyes and pale skin as she came face to face with one of the demons.

Yet Chiyo found their positions reversed. She was out of reach of the demon's spear. Chiyo had the gun trained on its chest, her finger on the trigger. She was ready and it was not; she had all the power in the situation.

All she had to do was squeeze and she would put a bullet through its sternum. It was at her mercy and its life was entirely in her hands. The enormous decision of life or death fell to her.

The demon recognised what was happening and what the gun was. It had been leaning against a wall, off-guard and unready for Chiyo's sudden appearance. As it froze, staring at her in dreadful anticipation of the blast that was to come, the terror plain even on its alien features, Chiyo had to make a choice.


	31. Standoff

Standoff

Chiyo struggled to keep her grip steady as she looked from the monster to the spear and then back to the monster again. She didn't let the gun fall for a second as her face contorted with tension that left her teeth clenched together and bared. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she was pulled between human restraint and instinctual self-preservation.

The monster stared unblinking at the open barrel. It expected the fatal explosion that would carry it into the next world. Chiyo began to squeeze the trigger and the monster closed its eyes.

Yet the gunshot never came.

Chiyo couldn't take the shot. Despite everything she'd been through she couldn't actually murder the helpless demon. Instead she simply kept the gun trained on it, praying it didn't start something. The monster slowly opened its eyes, its expression shifting from one of mortal terror to confusion.

In any case she had a problem. Chiyo was as scared of the handgun as she was of the monsters. The blast would echo down the stairs for corridors on end, cutting through the darkness and bringing everything that was down there running towards her. Chiyo was amazed her initial gunshot hadn't brought this monster running out to find her.

Yet Chiyo realised that the noise could be made to work to her advantage. If the demons were brought to the surface they would likely fan out into the field in search of the shooter. She could then slip down into the central chamber and find Yomi.

That did leave the demons between her and her escape route. Chiyo knew there were probably other ways out of the drainage channel but they would bring her out far away from the Corolla and anyway she didn't trust her chances in the tunnels. She knew there was an open path to the underground caverns the demons had based themselves in there.

Even with that problem the distraction was probably her best option. Chiyo remembered the rage Izanama had flown into after one of his men had been killed by Tomo. If she could ignite similar anger in whoever was leading the demons here she might have a chance at sending them on a wild goose chase while she slipped in.

Chiyo's eyes hardened as she prepared to take the shot after all.

She couldn't do it! The monster in front of her might as well have been completely helpless. With the amount of distance between it and herself its spear was useless. Firing a shot in this situation was _murder._

Chiyo knew that had the positions been reversed she would likely have been killed on the spot. That or dragged off to some unspeakable fate. Yet she couldn't return the favour!

That left her with a serious problem as she struggled to figure out what to do with the monster that still posed a serious threat to her life.

"Put the spear down." Chiyo attempted. She tried to sound as intimidating as possible but the words trembled as they came out. The monster didn't respond and Chiyo realised with exasperation that it didn't know her language.

She tried again, matching the words with a gesture to put the weapon down. The monster seemed to recognise the gesture but not fully absorb it. It continued to stare at her wide eyed, registering the gesture and glancing at the spear that was its one chance at freedom. Chiyo's already unbearable levels of strain shot up as she realised it was on the brink of making a mad charge towards her.

"Put the spear down!" Chiyo ordered, her gaze hardening. There was no trembling in her voice this time and even she was surprised by how commanding the order sounded.

It worked. By not showing any weakness Chiyo at least managed to persuade the terrified demon that its best chance of survival lay in not resisting. She could have sworn she saw disbelief on its face as it slowly lowered the weapon down to the ground.

"Hands up." Chiyo said, mentally berating herself as she said it for how stupid the words sounded. It didn't understand her the first time did it? She did her best to gesture upwards with her torch hand, wiggling her fingers as she said "Hand" again and then pointing upwards.

It took a few tries but the monster eventually got the message. Slowly, it raised its bony hands into the air, arms trembling as it did so. Chiyo was surprised by the fact that her fear had subsided a bit. She was in control of the situation and it showed in her more confident stance.

None of the mortal terror had left the monster's eyes however and it still stared at the barrel in front of it. It still fully believed it was going to die.

However if Chiyo lacked the wherewithal to shoot an armed but helpless enemy then she wasn't about to shoot a captive who had surrendered all means of fighting back. The workable if risky plan to draw the enemy out with a gunshot went out the window as Chiyo's mind reached towards other less viable options.

Chiyo's mind toyed with the idea that she could, she _could_ just let it go. Let it run, run anywhere as long as it wasn't back into the tunnels to warn the rest of its kind. It might get help from outside but Chiyo could make it out another way… assuming there was another way that wasn't fiercely guarded. That however would force her to bypass the guards and get to Yomi. It might even force her into a frontal assault. Reinforcement could arrive in the middle of the rescue and put the guards on high alert. If that happened then something was bound to find her and grab her in the dark…

It wasn't quite suicide but it involved enough fighting and enough unpredictable variables to put it more than five bullets on the side of uncomfortable.

That left one other option. She had one of their friends, they had one of hers. An exchange could be bartered.

There were so many problems with that plan that it would be difficult to list them all. But in that moment it seemed like a stroke of genius to Chiyo.

There was no need to fight. No need to engage in bloodshed, to risk her life or the life of Yomi on the way out. Events in the school had proven that the demons at least cared about one another. She had one of them, they had Yomi. A simple trade and she would be on her way.

It wasn't as simple as that of course. She would still have to get down and find someone who could take a message to Yomi's captors. She would still have to ensure that nothing snuck up on her while she searched or while she negotiated with the enemy. But it seemed like her best shot at that moment in time.

Chiyo gestured to the monster to turn around with a twirling motion made with her pinkie. It took numerous tries combined with pointing but eventually she managed to get the monster to turn around. Mustering her courage she got as close as she dared and then pushed it forward, the feel of its cold flesh alien and disturbing. It began to walk down the stairs; Chiyo was very careful to remain a few steps behind before she followed.

The stone steps twisted several times in the darkness. They were dry, but very steep for Chiyo, which forced her to watch her step and her aim at the same time even as she also kept the torchlight steady. Worse, she was marching her hostage towards its friends, as well as into the dangerous unknown. For all Chiyo knew the monster could have been leading her straight into a trap.

Chiyo was also having trouble simply thinking straight. Before she'd been tired simply from her exertions; now she was tired from lack of sleep. The night was progressing and she desperately needed to rest and allow her wounds to heal. The pain still radiated from every wound, forcing her out of any quiet places in her mind. She was so hungry she felt weak.

It became difficult simply to put one step in front of the other as she walked down the steps. Instead Chiyo had to place both feet on each step as she took them, making her progress slow and faltering. It was a long way into the earth and Chiyo dreaded the climb back up.

Thankfully she at least had the presence of mind to keep it in range of her gun as she rounded each corner, the monster having to go round first. Had she ever broken her line of sight it would have been off down the corridors screaming at the top of its lungs to raise the alarm.

Chiyo finally got to the bottom of the steps. She staggered after the monster onto a metal walkway… and gasped, for once not in fear but in awe, as the full size of the G-Cans central chamber came into full view.

It did indeed resemble a gigantic temple. The chamber stretched endlessly out in all directions, the torchlight unable to light up the opposite ends of the chamber as the light diffused and petered out into the darkness. Vast concrete pillars held up a massive ceiling that spread out seemingly forever. As she passed the side of the platform Chiyo couldn't see the bottom of the chamber. It was awe inspiring, a glorious display of Japanese engineering that excited and inspired Chiyo even in her dark present.

It was also strangely beautiful. Chiyo had seen diagrams and read papers on this marvel of human engineering, but she was only now seeing for the first time what a few privileged engineers had seen before her. Every surface was smooth, and there was a certain symmetry to the structure that held a visual appeal.

It was a reminder that whatever was going on below ground there was something the demons couldn't easily take away from the people of Tokyo. The capital of Japan was an astounding feat of engineering, a technological marvel that glorified its occupants and instantly belittled the city's hideous invaders. They had come to destroy. Humans _built._

Chiyo was standing in a drainage plant. And yet at the same time, she stood at the centre of a wonder of the modern world.

She didn't have time to admire the labours of her countryfolk however. Chiyo anxiously shone her torch around the nearby balconies, careful not to leave her hostage in darkness for too long. There didn't seem to be any guards patrolling the walkway; in fact the path in front of her seemed clear. Had they really just posted a single guard at the entrance?

Chiyo forced her prisoner on, wincing as its feet clanged on the metal. The demon made no attempt to escape, apparently putting its life in her hands. Chiyo was grateful that her hostage at least seemed to cooperate. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she had to use the gun now. The sound would echo for miles…

She forced the monster to begin to descend the metal stairwell that led her towards the floor of the structure. As she passed the various walkways that stretched out along the perimeter she was forced to check each one in the darkness. Her checks could never be complete as the torch beam failed to penetrate far enough, but each level seemed to be empty anyway. She kept her ears open for patrolling guards; there were none.

Chiyo began to hope that maybe Yomi wasn't as well guarded as she'd feared. After all why would she be? Yomi was a sick teenager; the risk of capturing the flu was probably a bigger threat to the demons. Any threat she had posed would have faded away with her capture. A pair of guards would have sufficed to keep her locked up. Maybe the rest of the demons had been called away and there was little between her and her friend now.

Even in her worn down state of mind that seemed like hopeless delusion. The fear began to come back as the same dreadful feeling she'd experienced in the building on the surface came back. Everything about the situation was screaming trap at her.

As Chiyo got about halfway down she began to wonder if there were any guards at all. In fact she began to worry that Yomi had been taken underground and she'd simply run into a sentry.

Then she heard the sob… and Chiyo's fear began to turn to anger.

It was Yomi. It had to be Yomi. Chiyo had never heard that cry before and yet the voice was instantly recognisable.

Worse, she wasn't alone. Nor was she being left alone. Chiyo could hear alien voices laughing and a higher pitched one mocking Yomi. She couldn't hear screams or other tell-tale signs of torture. Yet something was going on that was entertaining the demons immensely.

She forced her prisoner down the remaining steps, trying to block out the horrible scene as she continued to check the balconies. Her checks became less thorough however as she began to hurry.

She reached the ground. Chiyo stood at the bottom of the chamber, the pillars looming over her in the darkness like vast towers of obsidian. In the distance torchlight began to become visible in the darkness, a long way away but still visible at the other end of the hall. As she advanced through the gloom the horrifying details began to swim into focus.

Through the darkness Chiyo could see five demons. They were clustered around a large rectangular cage in a semi-circle, the cage made of the same rusted metal as the grate that had appeared above Chiyo. The cage was far taller than it was wide and in addition to the sobs and taunts Chiyo could hear a hideous scraping noise that sounded like metal grating on metal. It was enough to make Chiyo's blood run cold even without the horrors that confronted her ahead.

Most of the demons possessed the similar bug-like features that were so common amongst their kind. The one in the centre however was very different.

Chiyo's mind was involuntarily dragged back to the hideous, grinning face of Izanama as she saw the creature. Like Izanama this demon was massive in height and build, towering over the other demons and dwarfing her. Like the massive Izanama this demon seemed more impassive than the giggling insectoid creatures around it. It was standing there in silence with its arms clearly folded. An air of authority surrounded it even in the darkness.

However it was almost completely naked, the massive metal armour borne by its red kin absent. Its skin was a different hue, difficult to make out in the darkness, and from its otherwise bald head Chiyo could see a short, fat ponytail jutting out. A white loincloth covered its groin; it was the first monster Chiyo had seen wearing clothes that weren't armour. As Chiyo got closer, she could see that the monster was actually slightly smaller than Izanama.

Chiyo couldn't see what was going on inside the cage, yet her ears told her who was inside. In between the sobs, she could hear Yomi pleading for mercy. Yet the demons didn't appear to be doing anything to her. As she approached, the voices became more distinct.

"Please… just let me go…"

Yomi was pleading with the monsters. Her voice sounded dangerously weak, and as Chiyo approached she could also hear coughs. Chiyo doubted that her stay with the demons had made Yomi's battle with the flu any easier. As the monsters met her pleas with laughter, Chiyo heard the high-pitched voice of the oni for the first time.

"We will. All you have to do is press the button. It'll just be one little… cut."

Chiyo didn't understand what the monster was talking about. Whatever was going on however it wasn't good. She forced her captive on faster with a shove.

More details came into view. She could see it now; the monster was blue. She couldn't see Yomi past its giant build but Chiyo gasped as she got a better view of the cage.

Sliding down it, painfully slowly, was a metal grid like the one that had hung from the ceiling in the building. It would take a while, but Chiyo had no doubt that it would crush the person at the bottom. She could see two of the monster actively winching it down. It would be a slow, hideous death delivered mechanically by her captors. Unless she pressed the button, which no doubt came at some horrible price.

Chiyo was out of time. It was time to confront whatever these things were. Chiyo grabbed her hostage by the arm and pulled it to a halt. Mustering every piece of wavering courage she had in her heart she called out into the darkness.

"Stop the winches or your friend gets it!"

Chiyo yelled those words at the top of her voice, yet they still sounded weak and faded away too soon. Even to her they sounded utterly ridiculous. Maybe a hardened criminal could have made those tired and clichéd words sound menacing. Maybe. From Chiyo they just sounded absurd. No one could ever have taken that threat seriously.

The winches stopped. Yet Chiyo felt no relief. Instead, cold horror filled her as one by one the demons turned around. The blue oni was the last to do so, looking over its shoulder casually, as if being bothered at an inconvenient hour, before lazily pulling itself around to face her.

Once more, Chiyo stared into the eyes of an oni as five demons stared into her soul. As she saw it break into a sneer, she began to wonder how she could ever have believed she could do a deal with these creatures.

Yet before anyone could talk, a weak voice rang out into the darkness. It reached out towards _her._ Chiyo's resolve hardened as she heard the disbelieving recognition in Yomi's voice.

"_Chiyo?"_


	32. Negotiations

Negotiations

Yomi's disbelieving words rang out throughout the chamber. For a moment they cut through the tension, piercing the ears of human and monster alike. The plaintive fear and hope fought with one another, instantly recognisable. Everyone recognised the sound of a reunion.

Unfortunately for Chiyo the monsters seemed amused by the revelation rather than intimidated or empathetic. A few hoarse giggles sounded out of the darkness and the oni's smirk began to shift into an intimidating grin. Slowly, it unfolded its arms.

Chiyo watched in bewilderment and growing anger as the monster began to slowly clap. It began to slowly wander towards her casually, its footsteps lazy. She also realised with growing fear that none of the monsters were even the slightest bit afraid of her. Her teeth were gritted together again, sweat breaking out on her brow as every footstep forward increased the pressure she was under.

After six footsteps Chiyo finally reacted.

"Take another footstep forward and the hostage dies!" she cried out.

This time Chiyo managed to make her threat sound a lot more visceral. She managed to keep the fear and urgency out of her voice; what came out instead was a cold statement of fact. Some of the giggling stopped.

The oni slowly came to a halt. But it did so lazily, the monster still far too relaxed for Chiyo's liking. The grin had fallen away, but it was still smiling.

"Nageki, translate for the others." It barked before turning to Chiyo.

"Are you really going to shoot?" it asked. Scepticism dripped from every word, the contempt in its voice clear. The demon to its right hand side immediately began translating the oni's words into its own bizarre language.

"I will if I have to." Chiyo countered coldly.

The translation continued. The giggling had stopped now; to the smaller monsters her threat was at least being taken seriously. They were beginning to realise that Chiyo was prepared to do just about anything after what she'd experienced.

The oni's face became grave. In the darkness, she couldn't tell if the change of expression was sincere or an intimidation technique, but Chiyo wasn't entirely sure it was better than the smirk.

"I see…"

For a long time it remained silent, allowing the tension in the room to build. Chiyo knew it was gauging her, looking for a sign of weakness. She didn't show any.

"And I'm guessing you want your friend back? In exchange for poor Chikixyuuno there?" It asked.

Chiyo was silent for a moment. Despite her best efforts a tiny amount of hope came onto her face. She nodded.

"Yes." she acknowledged, unable to keep her voice steady. Could it really be so simple? Was this insane plan going to work after all? Chiyo waited on tenterhooks for a response, hoping against hope that she would walk away with Yomi behind her.

The oni spoke.

"Very well then, little Chiyo." Chiyo felt some of the assurance slide away from her as she heard the condescension and amusement creep back into the demon's voice. She was even more disquietened by the use of her name. "Just let Chiki go and we'll open the cage for-"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Chiyo asked angrily as she began to turn red. The monster's face fell and the serious look came back, but this time Chiyo didn't doubt that it was a façade.

"Very well. I'll release her first. On your word, of course, that you'll release the hostage. And then we'll just let you leave on your way. Of course."

Chiyo knew fine well that was a lie as she heard the laughter start up again. She began to panic as she realised she didn't have enough bullets left for all of the demons in front of her. Yet she still posed enough of a threat believe that she could threaten her way out of the situation if she needed to. She decided to make a demand of her own.

"That's not good enough." Chiyo began, struggling to keep her voice both cold enough to intimidate and loud enough to be heard. "Here's a new deal. I take Chiki with me back to the surface. You follow me with Yomi. You let her go at a place of my choosing, where I have the advantage, and _then_ I give you your soldier back. How does that sound."

"It sounds ridiculous. What is in it for us?" the oni charged.

Chiyo was taken aback by the question and it showed on her blank face. Did the demon really not understand? Or was it playing with her?

Before she could answer the demon continued, and this time its voice sounded tired, as if it was becoming bored with the situation and was talking to someone who was immensely slow on the uptake.

"So… let me get this straight. Currently… well, I must admit you've caught us at a tiny bit of a disadvantage. Let's examine the situation shall we? You currently have a loaded small arm in your hand. One of your multi-chambered hand cannons if I guess correctly. In addition, you have one of my soldiers taken hostage. A soldier that you have threatened to shoot if I move a muscle. With me so far?"

The demon bent over slightly as it said that, opening its eyes wide and making a stupid expression as if it was talking to a very small child who didn't quite understand basic Japanese yet. Chiyo grimaced and tried not to let the irritation show.

"Yes…" she growled.

"Good." the demon concluded. "Now, let's set up a hypothetical here. Let's suggest the worst case scenario. For me, that is."

The demon paused, waiting for Chiyo's response. After a while she nodded, wondering where this could possibly be going.

"Let me suppose that this cannon is fully loaded. That weapon, a revolver if I am using the correct terminology, is capable of holding six bullets, is it not?" it paused and waited for Chiyo to answer.

"Yes." Chiyo admitted without thinking. She cursed herself unconsciously for giving the detail away, but it wasn't likely to be a secret anyway. The monster bobbed its head for a moment in acknowledgement.

"Very well. Now, as I count there are six of us. That is the very same number as the number of bullets in your gun. So theoretically…"

"…theoretically I can put a bullet through the skull of every single demon here." Chiyo completed. "The only reason I haven't is because for some reason your lives aren't completely worthless to me and I'd rather get out of here without bloodshed. Which is more than you'd have done for me in the same situation!"

Chiyo took a moment to savour the look of surprise on the oni's face and the uncertain looks on the faces of the demons behind it. She was pretty sure the expression was genuine this time.

"Now, give Yomi to me, because I can live with leaving six corpses on the ground if it comes to it!"

That wasn't entirely a bluff. Chiyo had been sensible enough to stand slightly to the side of Chikixyuuko. If she had to she could shoot past it instead and blast the oni before turning on the others. Five bullets and some quick work with the knife later and all six of them would be dead and her path clear.

If she could use the knife and if nothing else came running. It was a tall order but it was an intimidating enough prospect for the demons for Chiyo to let the point lie.

A very dark look came onto the oni's face. At the very least she'd leave five corpses on the ground, but the demon seemed more angered than scared. It broke eye contact for a second as its eyes moved up and to Chiyo's right. Chiyo noted that that was a sign of honesty; she'd read that if someone was lying their eyes would move to her left (or their right) instead. It was a sign of imagination rather than memorisation.

Finally, it spoke.

"Let's suggest, for a moment, that you do, in fact, have all six bullets. And that you are not merely performing a very convincing bluff. Shall we examine that a bit more closely?"

"What's there to examine?" Chiyo spat. She tried to sound as convincing as possible but the statement made her nervous. There were a lot more parameters going on than the gun and the number of demons.

"I'm glad you asked. That revolver will probably make rather a large amount of noise, won't it?"

Chiyo's silence acknowledged the point without her having to say anything. The demon continued.

"We are currently in a massive cavern. There are tunnels in the back. Now, for all you know those tunnels might be entirely empty. But then again they might not. There could be an army waiting in the shadows, just a little while away from us and you wouldn't know it. That shot could bring them all running and I doubt you could evade them in the dark and save your friend. I doubt you could manage either."

"That doesn't do you a lot of good." Chiyo pointed out.

"No, it doesn't." the oni acknowledged. "But… it does make your story about holding your fire in a merciful attempt to spare our wretched and sinful lives just a _little_ dishonest, don't you think?"

The contempt was edging back into the demon's voice, but there was an ugly undertone to it now. Chiyo shifted uncomfortably as she heard hatred creep into the monster's voice. She felt compelled to defend herself.

"I really don't want to kill you."

The flesh above the demon's hairless eyes raised slightly. It was visibly surprised by the sincerity in Chiyo's voice. Chiyo was surprised herself as she blinked uncomfortably, aware of Yomi's presence.

"I find that rather hard to believe, Chiyo." the oni said sceptically. The hatred hadn't gone away, and its face hardened into the darkest expression Chiyo had seen on it yet as it spoke its next piece.

"After all, didn't you want to cut the eyes from someone rather like me just a few hours ago?"

Chiyo's eyes went wide as she heard cries of derision begin to sound out through the room. She felt colour come to her cheeks.

"I didn't…" she began.

"But you wanted to. Why the change of heart? After all…"

Slowly, the oni began to move out of the way of the cage… and allowed Chiyo to see the damage that had been done to Yomi over four hours of torment.

It was hard to make out what had happened to her from the distance but Chiyo could see enough. Yomi was strapped into some kind of machine. Her arms were secured and her head was in some kind of stocks, but unlike a normal stocks only her nose, lips and the tip of her chin were actually exposed through the other side of the wood. Her hand was hovering over some kind of mechanism… and Chiyo realised immediately what that mechanism was.

"…I seem to recall you being in much the same predicament as your friend here."

There was a metal blade secured over the top of the stocks. If it came down, it would shave the front of Yomi's face clean off. It would take her nose, her lips, part of her chin, it might even skin her forehead. The demons had found a way to force her to mutilate her own face without killing her. If she didn't cave the roof of the cage would crush her instead.

Worse, this was clearly the culmination of hours of torment. Yomi's face was covered in blood. She was completely bald. Mercifully Chiyo couldn't see anything but her face but she doubted the rest of Yomi was any better off. Unlike Chiyo Yomi would have had time to lose conscious and be revived, possibly several times. The demons had been able to work on her for a long time.

Yet her expression was pitifully lucid. She was staring at Chiyo with eyes that begged the younger girl both to save her and to leave and save herself. Chiyo could see the pain evident on her face but the dominant expression was fear for her.

This would have been the culmination of hours of torture. They wouldn't have gone for the coup de grace unless Yomi had already been tortured to the brink of losing control already. Chiyo felt her blood begin to boil as her expression contorted with rage.

"What's the matter little Chiyo? Has the mutilator of Izanama gone soft? I seem to recall you having a lot of fun with him, tearing his limbs apart slowly in the darkness. Don't you want to do the same to-"

"No!" Chiyo gasped. She shook her head, painfully aware of the stunned expression on Yomi's face as Chiyo's actions in the school came to light. "I was defending myself! I-"

"Here this, she was defending herself when she threatened to tear out Izanama's eyes-"

"I didn't actually do it!" Chiyo yelled. There were insults in a foreign language coming her way now, angry and threatening cries. She couldn't believe how quickly the news had carried. As the shouts continued to get wilder the oni cried out for silence in its own language.

It turned towards Chiyo, a vengeful look in its eyes.

"So tell me why, Chiyo. Why couldn't you bring yourself to rip out my brother's eyes?"

Chiyo nearly dropped the gun. This time, she was rendered speechless.

"So, you finally realise. You are speaking to Lieutenant Izanama, or more recently, _Captain_ Izanama. I am Takamikagutsuchinoo's sister. Tell me, do you have any idea what I want to do to _you_ right now?"

There was a deadly silence. Slowly, Chiyo recovered.

"I was defending myself." she maintained, her voice weak. "If I hadn't disabled your brother he would have killed…"

Chiyo stopped as she looked at Yomi. She didn't want her friend to hear of Tomo's involvement. Not after what had come to pass. Yet the new Izanama didn't let her away with it.

"He would have killed who, Chiyo? Please tell us. I'm sure your other friend here would love to know who dragged your useless body out of that building with her as you weighed her down every step of the way."

Chiyo remained stubbornly silent as she saw the confusion and fear on Yomi's face. When she spoke, her voice was at a whisper.

"It doesn't matter now. She's dead."

That at least stopped the jeers and mutterings. Some of the monsters stared, not out of guilt but out of disbelief. For others it was relief. Tomo had clearly left quite a reputation behind her. Chiyo noticed one of the demons, the one furthest from her on the left shift uncomfortably however.

She also saw Yomi's face. The expression was heartbreaking to behold but Chiyo realised that Yomi's contorted expression was expressing sympathy for her loss, not the despair of losing Tomo. The terrible secret was safe for the moment. She turned back to the demon.

Captain Izanama's expression was inscrutable. Chiyo would never have been able to discern the oni's gender from her appearance. To all intents and purposes she appeared male. She was of a considerably lighter build but Chiyo suspected that the different oni subgroups had different physical characteristics. It was as easy to ascribe the physical difference to type rather than gender. For a few moments she just stared into Chiyo, examining the fresh grief and anxiety there.

"She's really dead?" she asked. The tone was a neutral query, yet there was a slight tone of disbelief. Chiyo nodded slowly, trying to keep the tears from her eyes while still focussing on the prisoner and the situation.

"Yes." Chiyo said. "She fell right into your trap. I was there. I saw it happen."

There was a very pregnant pause as the demons absorbed this information. Chiyo decided to fill it while she perhaps still had some measure of sympathy.

"We've both had something taken from us today. Please, just… let Yomi go. There's no point in killing anyone else."

Chiyo saw the monsters begin to look at one another uncertainly, not sure of what the best way forward was here. Izanama was quiet for some time, her features impassive.

Eventually, she began to speak.

"You really don't want to kill us?" she asked.

Chiyo took a moment to consider the words… and her actual feelings.

"I wanted to kill Izanama. No, more than that. I wanted him to feel pain. Wanted him to understand what I had gone through. What he forced me to go through. I wanted revenge."

Chiyo took a long pause to consider very carefully what she was going to say next.

"The woman who saved me from the school… she taught me something. She made me realise that revenge doesn't solve anything. It just creates more hatred, more pain for others involved. It a cycle of revenge and twists everyone involved in it into a monster."

Chiyo paused to consider her final words.

"I'm sorry, but your brother was a monster. You're a monster. Not because you're demons, not because of what you look like, but because of what you did to us. What the rest of your kind are doing underneath the ground. What you'd _still _do to us if I gave you the chance."

Chiyo took a moment to let the message sink in. She was discouraged by the impassive expression on Izanama's face. Regardless, she delivered the final part of her speech.

"I spared your brother because I didn't want to become like him. Because I didn't want to become like _you._ And I came here to stop you. Whatever I have to do, I have the right to do it if it forces you to release Yomi."

A pause.

"You're the invaders here. Not us."

A cold silence descended on the room. For the first time a few of the other monsters who had shown no remorse whatsoever began to look slightly uncomfortable as they were given a lesson in morals by an eleven year old human child they'd dismissed as an inferior barbarian, something less than they were.

Izanama silenced a few mutters behind her with a word from her language before turning towards Chiyo again.

The silent expression was still there as she began her reply. It was not what Chiyo wanted or expected.

"Tell me, Chiyo, are you familiar of the concept of MAD?" she asked evenly.

Chiyo felt impatience rise. "What does Mutually Assured Destruction have to do with anything?" she asked angrily.

"To put it simply, your kind carries a doctrine that states that if one side uses what I can only describe as some kind of insane doomsday device on another human nation with that same doomsday device, the other will launch their device and both sides will be annihilated."

"Yes, it was the basis of the Cold War." Chiyo spat. "What does it have to do with here?"

"Well, lets examine the situati-"

"_Enough with the hypotheticals!"_ Chiyo roared, the tensions of the past minutes boiling over. "Let Yomi go and let us out-"

"Will you please listen?" Izanama said. There was a tired tone to her voice but there was also the undertone of something darker. She was winding up to something and Chiyo didn't like it.

She also stepped forward. Chiyo didn't respond with the promised gunshot. She needed more time to build herself back up to the point where she could readily kill the hostage that still remained motionless in front of her but a fight was becoming more and more likely.

"I told you not to take another step forward." Chiyo growled, pushing the emotions out of her face as she hardened her expression again. Yet the demon also kept talking.

"MAD can also be applied to our situation. You see, you have six bullets. Maybe. But I wonder how good a shot you are with that revolver. I hear those things have a tremendous kick to them. I very much doubt that you can shoot all of us before we can close the distance. And even if you can…"

Chiyo gasped as the oni's left arm ignited into red flames. It seemed completely unharmed by the display as it held it up parallel to the ground.

"…I'm afraid you've made a bit of a miscalculation. You see there's a flaw in your underlying premise."

The oni pointed the arm towards the cage where Yomi was imprisoned. Chiyo's eyes widened as she realised this thing was capable of conjuring fireballs.

"You seem to have assumed that I have no means of defending myself, or that I resort to my brother's admittedly meat-headed tactics in battle. You humans always assume that your technology can beat whatever we bring to bear against you. You're very wrong about that."

Chiyo felt the situation beginning to slide away from her. "Lower the arm or I WILL shoot!" she commanded. "I'm counting to five!"

"And at the end of five what will happen?" Izanama yelled. "What will happen when you shoot Chiki and I blast your friend into a thousand crispy pieces? Will that do you any good?"

Izanama twisted round to shout back the way she'd come.

"Do you hear that Yomi? I'm going to burn you to embers in front of your friend here!"

Chiyo could see the alarm in Yomi's face as she stared wide eyed into the fires. Her resolve began to melt away. Slowly, she began to abandon any hope of saving Yomi here. She needed away to withdraw from the situation.

But if she ran now Yomi would probably have her face chopped off. In addition she didn't know if she could even escape now. Chiyo struggled to keep her eyes from blinking as fear began to take over.

"Mutually Assured Destruction." Izanama stated, fire in her voice. "The destruction of both sides. If you shoot I will kill your friend and then my men will probably butcher you in revenge. Even if you were to kill us all the noise you'll create will probably bring help running. I wonder how fast you can make it up those stairs." she asked, a dark smirk coming onto her face.

Chiyo had a counter to that, one final arrow in her quiver.

"If help was within earshot it would have arrived by now. We've created enough noise for them to hear us in Korea."

Chiyo expected that to bring Izanama pause, or at least throw her off her kilter.

Instead, what little confidence Chiyo had remaining vanished as the oni began to laugh, a dark, angry chuckle.

"Oh indeed. But then, I'm afraid there's one little element of all this I've been keeping from you. You see…"

Izanama clicked her fingers.

Chiyo stared wildly around her in terror as three ropes descended to the ground around her and monsters descended from each one. She was surrounded and thrown roughly to the ground as she felt three spear points pressing against her and a foot upon her neck. The revolver was wrenched away from her grasp, nearly discharging in the process.

As Chiyo lay trembling on the ground and tried to block out the despairing screams of Yomi ring out through the hall that begged for her release, she heard the revolver being picked up. A harsh order was issued and Chiyo felt herself wrenched roughly to her feet by her arms.

She was confronted in her terror and despair by Izanama as the oni sauntered over to her position, clutching the revolver in her hand. She held it up for Chiyo to see, a triumphant grin on her face that was hideously akin to her brother's sadistic smile.

"You didn't honestly think I'd feel any sympathy for that animal did you?" she spat. "I'm just sorry I wasn't there to see your reaction. How _stupid_ do you have to be to go home when an army of demons is searching for you?"

Chiyo hung her head in defeated silence. She realised where this was going.

"Please…" she begged. Izanama just laughed as she looked over to Yomi.

"The woman we've been talking about was your friend. She walked straight into our trap trying to rescue you from her home."

Chiyo couldn't look at Yomi's face as she heard her pleadings on Chiyo's behalf fall into horrified silence. She couldn't face that despair, a grief that nothing could ever fill.

Izanama wandered over and forced Chiyo's head up. She forced her to look at Yomi's empty and defeated expression. Her voice was full of false pity.

"Alas… If only someone hadn't slowed her down? If only your friend could have just gone straight home when the invasion started we might not have made it there first. But she couldn't do that could she?"

Izanaama leaned in close, mercifully blocking Chiyo from the blank look Yomi was staring at her with. Chiyo could smell the oni's breath again, her memories flying back to the boiler room.

Her hope died in that moment as Izanama lodged her final barb within her heart.

"_Wonder whose fault that was?"_ she hissed.

Izanama didn't move away. "Come on." She continued. "I want to hear you _say_ it."

Chiyo tried to look away but Izanama forced her to look forward, into her eyes. Her grip on Chiyo's head was so fierce that it hurt. Chiyo held out until it felt like her skull was going to crack.

"It was… it was…" she began.

Izanama continued to stare into her eyes, demanding the right answer.

Chiyo didn't have any strength or spirit left to resist. "I slowed her down." she sobbed.

Izanama straightened up. She stared down at the broken child in front of her, judging her, planning what hideous thing she was going to do next.

"So, you admit it." she said. She let the point hang in the air as Chiyo hung her head, wishing she would just disappear and that she wouldn't have to endure what was going to happen to her next.

Finally, Izanama lent down.

"You honestly thought we could ever see your kind as anything other than the animals that you are. Did you honestly think that I would hold one of your lives in the same weight as my own brother? Your lives are meaningless to us."

Izanama sighed as Chiyo regretted not shooting the monstrous oni as soon as she'd seen her in the dark.

"Well Chiyo, I wish I could say that this was the end of the road for us. But I just want you to know a few things first."

She forced Chiyo's head up to meet her again. There was no grin on her face now as she clutched Chiyo's skull again.

"First of all, do you have any idea what they're going to do to my brother now that he can't walk? Now that he can't fight? Do you have _Any. Idea. At all?"_ she menaced.

Chiyo felt a wave of anxiety crash over her to join the despair and pain that were already present. She hadn't considered what being disabled would be like in demon society.

"He's a red oni. A red oni that can't fight. He's _useless._" she hissed.

She let the point lie before she drove it home.

"Raijin's probably torturing him now. His pain is the only resource he can give us now. I have you to thank for that." She shook Chiyo's head around violently as her prisoner burst into tears. Her act of mercy had wound up condemning Izanama to an even worse fate than anything she'd ever intended.

Chiyo had done something far worse than torturing Izanama or killing him. She'd left him to his own kind.

"And you thought you were showing him _mercy_." Izanama finished. She flung Chiyo's head down sharply, hurting her neck as the oni straightened up. Chiyo's sobs were left to fill the air alongside Yomi's. She admired her handiwork for a few seconds.

"I'm afraid, Chiyo, that your time as a liability and danger to everyone around you isn't over yet." Izanama said softly, in mock sympathy. She squatted down, twisting her head sideways in a mocking gesture as she whispered to Chiyo.

"You see it's one thing to simply force your friend over there to cut off her own face. It's quite another to make _you_ the price for her refusal, isn't it?"

Chiyo's tears choked off as she stared in horrified silence as Izanama chuckled and then signalled for the monsters to begin dragging her towards Yomi's cage. Chiyo heard Izanama begin to walk slowly behind her, the revolver clutched in her hand.

It was over. Chiyo stared at the ground in despair and tried her best not to look at Yomi's face as she was dragged over towards her.

They were both going to be tortured and then they were going to be killed.

And it was entirely her fault. She'd failed. She'd let Tomo down for the last time. For the second time that day Chiyo no longer cared what happened to her. She just allowed herself to be dragged over to that hideous cage, surrounded by monsters that hated and despised her for reasons that were beyond her ability to comprehend.

* * *

However, as Chiyo was dragged over on her knees to where her friend was waiting in her cage, another was watching from the shadows.

Kagura was crouching in the darkness, watching the scene unfold with a dark expression on her face. As Chiyo was roughly deposited in front of the cage, she began to creep forward, invisible in the darkness.

Unlike Chiyo Kagura had killed before. Unlike her she hadn't endured hours of torture and fighting for her life. And unlike Chiyo she wasn't the centre of attention.

Also, unlike Chiyo she had absolutely no qualms about killing every single demon in that circle. Not after what she had just seen.

Chiyo had her own philosophy on revenge. Kagura had arrived well after and her time in the tunnels had caused her to develop a very different opinion on how to treat with demons.

But she wasn't the only thing in the shadows…


	33. Divisions

Divisions

"Please, just let her go…"

Yomi pleaded with her captors as she watched Chiyo get dragged roughly over the ground and chucked into the rusty cage like a hunk of meat. She heard Chiyo hit the floor of the cage hard.

What hurt more than anything else for Yomi was that Chiyo didn't say a word. She didn't even grunt as she hit the floor painfully. Nor did she make any effort to rearrange herself into a more comfortable position, or even just sit up so she could look at her surroundings.

Instead she just lay there, sprawled in a heap. Her spirit seemed broken.

Yomi couldn't see anything to her sides but she'd seen the blood that covered Chiyo's face. She'd heard the tiredness in Chiyo's voice as her loyal friend futilely tried to bargain with the monsters.

Yet Chiyo was nowhere near as badly off as Yomi was herself.

Yomi was struggling simply to remain conscious. The way her arm had been jammed into the stocks meant that she had to fight to keep her right hand in the air and off the button. If she weakened for even a second the blade would fall.

She'd barely been given enough water to keep her alive. If she lost much more blood it wouldn't be her decision anymore.

Not knowing why. That was the worst part of the torture. If Yomi had been able to say or admit to something, if she'd been able to understand what the demons wanted, then it might have given her some form of control over the situation. But in the hours of miserable pain and fear that had passed the demons had not once let slip why they were making her suffer like this. What she could have possibly done to deserve what was happening to her?

Yomi had been dragged out of her friend's house some hours ago. She didn't know how many. They'd kicked in the door and intercepted her on the stairs. Yomi remembered the hideous grin on the face of the blue monster as she'd met with it in the dark.

She remembered being crudely stripped and thrown roughly out into the street. Before she could even react she remembered being grabbed by the hair and pulled away down the road.

That had gone on for hours as the demons made the enormous journey north, taunting her and ignoring her as she pleaded with her hideous captors to let her go, or even tell her what was going on. On the few occasions she had resisted the beatings had quickly silenced any resistance. Yomi had been dragged painfully along the ground in fear and confusion, all the while wondering why no one was coming to see what was happening. Why no one had been around to help her.

When she was dragged underground Yomi began to believe that she'd been dragged into another dimension and taken captive by the hideous occupants. It was only later that she'd learned that her entire city had been taken.

Eventually they'd stopped, though only after most of her hair had been pulled out at the roots, and they'd resorted to dragging her by her arms instead. What had followed had been hours of torture in the bowels of the empty city.

At no time had the demons ever explained to her_ why_ they were doing this. What she or her countryfolk had done to deserve it. They'd simply tormented her endlessly in the darkness, until she lost consciousness or became too weak to safely continue. Then they'd resumed.

Yomi wasn't even sure that it was simple sadism. There was no doubt that Izanama was enjoying herself, and one of bug-like monsters was an utter horror that seemed to relish every second as it did everything in its power to make Yomi's life worse. Yomi had seen it eagerly whispering to Izanama and she suspected that it had been the one that had suggested half of the more inventive measures the demons had taken to maximise the amount of pain she was going through.

That was the demon that was manning the winch to her left now. After a while even Izanama had apparently become annoyed or possibly even disturbed by the demon's enthusiasm. She had sent it away to guard the perimeter for a while, apparently worried that it would kill Yomi prematurely. It had walked backwards away from her as she'd bled on the floor, grinning at her the entire time like a small child that had just received a birthday present.

That monster was in it for the sadistic pleasure. There was no doubt about that. However, for the other demons the dominant emotion if there was any seemed to be a combination of anger and smug superiority. They clearly held their prisoner in complete contempt; she wasn't held as equivalent to them in any way. To them she was just an animal, an animal that had apparently been judged guilty of something truly horrific. Yomi felt like she was being subjected to judge, jury and executioner, all of them pitiless and uncaring for her pleas for innocence.

The hatred was worst in the demon that was standing beside Izanama with a dark look on its face as its superior looked down upon her captives.

Yomi didn't know what had happened to cause such hatred, what her or her kind had done to justify such ire, but it was fiercest on the face of that demon. Yomi noticed that unlike the others that one had had its spear taken away. She suspected that if Izanama hadn't taken that course of action she would be lying dead and discarded in some corner with a spear sticking out of her by now.

Things had only gotten worse when the messenger had arrived. Yomi now knew what that letter must have contained but at the time all Izanama had done was rage hysterically in her own language as her soldiers cringed and backed away. After that she had gone deadly silent and stalked off into the darkness, shoving a subordinate roughly to the side as she did so with such force that it had tumbled to the ground.

When she'd come back, she'd invited the sadistic demon back and together they'd reduced Yomi to the pitiful state she was in now. At that moment, the nature of the torture had changed. If they were simply trying to inflict pain and anguish before, now they were trying to kill her. Slowly.

Soon, she'd begun to feel weaker rather than stronger with time whenever the demons took a break. She was being tortured to death and now, as she hung there in the stocks, she doubted she could even stand without assistance. Her head was cloudy and there was a delay in her ability to understand what was going on around her.

The metal deathtrap that was closing down upon her was merely a final confirmation of what she'd already known. It wouldn't be long now…

Yet in the end it seemed the demons wouldn't even allow her a clean death. Either Chiyo was going to die with her or she would die without a face, left to bleed out mutilated in the dark. Yomi wondered if they'd even be able to identify her.

At least she wouldn't suffer for much longer…

"Wemqulz!" Izanama ordered, as she directed her subordinates to start cranking down the winches. Slowly, the hideous screeching of the metal began again as the ceiling began to fall.

Izanama squatted down in front of her prisoners. She looked Yomi in the eyes, drinking in the fear and pain and the anticipation of the agony of letting the hideous blade that was hovering above her drop.

Yomi had run out of tears to shed hours ago. She was too dehydrated and weak from blood-loss to cry. It was all she could do to keep her right hand hovering above the button that would send the guillotine crashing down. Soon it wouldn't be her choice anymore.

"Time to decide little one." Izanama crooned mockingly. "You can either say goodbye to your face or to your friend. I doubt you'll have either for much longer, so why not take the noble way out?"

Yomi would have been trembling uncontrollably if her body was even capable of that anymore. As Izanama got up again she could hear the metal coming closer and closer to her. It was terrible, not knowing how close it was by sight but hearing it getting nearer and nearer each second. It was so loud that it was hard to judge how much closer it was getting.

She didn't have much time. Yomi prepared her final peace as she prepared to die a mutilated corpse, never to see her family again.

"Chiyo… Chiyo, listen to me."

Chiyo said nothing. She just lay there in the cage, unresponsive.

"Are you still there? I can't see you!" Yomi sputtered out, desperate.

Still Chiyo didn't respond. As Yomi tried to beat back the fear, the feeling of dying alone, she tried to make her final moments count. She didn't know if Chiyo had been knocked out or if she was simply too demoralised and beaten down to respond but Yomi was going to try to say something that would make a difference. It was the only power she had left in the situation.

"Chiyo, listen to me. I am going to die."

As Yomi said that she had a moment to consider the terrible finality of those words.

"I wish I could stay. I wish I could protect you from these… things! But I can't!"

Yomi's voice rose in anguish as she made that final admission. She was beyond helping anyone, and she knew what Chiyo would face after she was gone.

"At some point you need to try to escape-" Yomi tried to drown out the chortles and cries of laughter as she said that. "-and try to make it out of the city. Maybe even out of the country! You need to get help! Don't try to go anywhere else, just get out of-"

Yomi was cut off as Chiyo spoke. What little hope or morale Yomi had left was stripped away as Chiyo mustered up the wherewithal to deliver one final, terrible bombshell of information. Chiyo's voice was filled with despair, her voice so soft and despondent that it was like the whisperings of a ghost, barely distinguishable from the wind yet hideously clear in its meaning.

"Yomi, I don't think we _can_ get out of the city."

Those terrible words fell through Yomi's ears. She didn't want to believe them but there was no denying the certainty in Chiyo's voice. She had to be saying that for a reason. There was more than just despair in that voice; Chiyo spoke with the weight of a rational deduction.

She was so seldom wrong…

Yomi's resolve faltered in that moment, and her hand continued to waver above the button.

What was the point? What the _hell _was the point?

Why bother? Why spare Chiyo the agony of being crushed to death when it would only mean hours of torture and then some other hideous form of demise later?

These things wouldn't even show mercy to children… in that moment Yomi felt more anger than she had ever felt in her life. Who could, what monster could… _what_ could inflict that kind of misery on _Chiyo?_

Chiyo was the most innocent, well-meaning and noble-spirited child imaginable. Kindness, cheer and purity seemed to radiate from her every footstep. Every deed, every word, even every accident and mishap that came from her seemed to brighten up the world around her. Everyone felt better when Chiyo was around them.

Now these monsters were doing their level best to destroy everything that Chiyo was. They were treating that precious little girl like she was something unpleasant upon the soles of their feet, something to be wiped away and discarded as soon as could be managed.

When Yomi spoke again, her voice was focussed on the demons.

"I don't know what horrific crime has been committed upon you in the past. But if you murder this girl, if you murder my friend… if you _blame her for another's mistakes…_ you'll _deserve _whatever happened to you. You'll _all_ deserve it. And more. Whatever else happens to you, no punishment will be great enough to wash away the memory of _what you_ _did to her._"

The hiss in Yomi's voice, the cold fury, contempt and judgement that rang out clear through the air, surprised the demons. The metal seemed to slow its descent. They were looking towards Nageki, wanting a translation. Izanama had a very dark expression on her face as Nageki reluctantly translated.

When it finished, there were some definite looks of uncertainty amongst the alien faces. The fanatic was as eager as ever and Yomi doubted the sadist was the controlling factor in the slowdown in the cage's descent. Amongst the others however differing levels of doubt were beginning to trickle down.

In her despairing anger Yomi had somehow managed what Chiyo's innocent and principled honesty had failed to do.

Somehow, she had made the monsters question their right to their own actions. She'd managed to make demons feel guilt.

Izanama glared at Nageki as she squatted down again.

"You don't have to translate this next part." she said. The darkness in her voice told Yomi that was an order.

Then Izanama turned to Yomi. The simpering tone came back into her voice.

"You think this is pain, hmm?" She crooned. "You believe that the suffering that girl has gone through today even registers to us? That this is true suffering?"

Yomi could barely speak through her weakness and the constraints of her own anger.

"Your friends certainly seem to think so." she hissed.

"They are weaklings. Craven infants who haven't lived long enough or experienced enough to realise that this is how the world works. For us and soon, for you. When you get to my age, you understand that the ones who die are the fortunate ones." Izanama paused, letting her message sink in. Her recipient didn't break eye contact. "I'm not breaking your friend. Not really. I'm just… toughening her up."

As Izanama continued, her voice began to rise.

"When you've experienced a few decades, or centuries, or _millennia_ of needing pain and _suffering_ to survive, when you've experienced the same suffering at the hands of _others just like you, just to keep them alive,_ maybe _you'll _understand that your friend got off _lightly._"

Yomi was left in shock as the oni stared at her, a cold look on her face that had replaced the anger and contempt. Had she really lived for thousands of years?

Suffered through that time?

"We are not your people." Yomi snarled.

"But you will suffer all the same."

Izanama said that as if it was an inevitability, a law of nature, as she turned and walked away.

Then she stopped as she heard something change.

The winches had stopped turning.

* * *

Chiyo couldn't believe her ears.

The one on the right had stopped winching. That was the demon that had looked most uncomfortable during her speech. It had forced its partner to come to a halt and now everyone in the room bar the immobilised Yomi was staring at it.

Izanama turned around. Chiyo saw with her own eyes as the oni at first ordered firmly, then began to yell for the demon to start winching again.

It refused. It shook its head, unwilling to carry out the rest of the procedure. It was pointing at her and shaking its head, repeating the same words.. Izanama was roaring at it in her own language.

"Wlug uli yao paemt? Zgulg wemqemt maw!" Izanama ordered

"Mag gli qlerp!" the demon responded.

That was how it kept responding, those same three bizarre words, shaking its head furiously even as Izanama's temper got worse and worse and it began to shake with fear.

Eventually, Izanama fell silent. She advanced on the trembling creature and for a second, Chiyo thought she was going to blast it apart as her arms became wreathed in fire and her eyes burned.

Instead Izanama simply pushed it out the way of the winch. It pointed to one of the remaining demons. Her voice was colder, yet she seemed to have lost some of her authority.

"Yao. Am gli wemql. Maw!" she demanded.

Slowly, the demons turned to look at one another. Then they looked at the requested demon.

It shook its head.

The feeling wasn't universal. Another pointed angrily towards the cage and then pointed to Izanama, shouting. It was joined by another that launched into a counter-tirade and before long the entire squadron was engaged in bitter recriminations as the bloodthirsty demons argued with the ones whose consciences had belatedly got the better of them.

The angry one, the one that had shown such hatred towards Yomi, began to advance towards the cage, only to be held back. It took a swing at the one restraining it only for the blow to be grabbed and the puncher thrown back.

Izanama belatedly began to call for calm as a full-scale brawl threatened to break out. There were now four demons involved in the fight of the eight present that weren't Izanama.

The others however were even more worrying. They were the cool-headed ones and they were clutching their weapons and looking menacingly at their commander. Izanama met their gazes, uncertainty beginning to come into her eyes.

One of them was Nageki. It spoke, in plain Japanese so as to communicate its thoughts secretly.

"If I recall commander, we were ordered to bring any human survivors underground _unspoilt._ I think it might be a good idea if we obey that order now, or what's left of it."

Izanama grinned, but it was a bitter, angry grin that was weighted with menace. Her voice came out as a hiss.

"Come on Nageki. You telling me you didn't want a bit of vengeance? A little bit of power?"

"We've had that." Nageki observed evenly.

Izanama and Nageki stood at a standoff, rage and hatred weighted against cold rationality. Chiyo didn't hear any warmth or pity in Nageki's voice. Of all the demons it had been the only one to not say a word during the exchange. Of all the monsters Izanama seemed to know Nageki better; they seemed to have a stronger accord going. Chiyo suspected that Nageki was Izanama's second in command.

The fight reached a peak as two of the fighters broke away from one another to join the circle that was gathering round the two remaining combatants. The angry demon had its hands fastened around its opponent's neck.

Before an irrevocable disaster could strike the unit a blinding flash illuminated the surrounding area, blinding Chiyo and nearly burning her with the intense heat. It seemed to fade away upwards.

Then an enormous explosion rocked the cavern.

Chiyo winced as cinders descended from the heavens, some of them penetrating the cage and inflicting burns upon her. Izanama had sent up a gigantic fireball that had exploded in midair. The very earth had seemed to tremble in the aftermath of the explosion.

Everyone, _everyone,_ fell silent and looked at the commander.

Slowly, Izanama stalked back round towards the winch. Chiyo closed her eyes.

That was it then. Izanama would have preferred to have one of her own subordinates commit the act, but she was willing to do it herself. The sadistic demon eagerly retook its place, ready to complete the sacrifice.

Yet Izanama hesitated.

She was examining her soldiers, gauging their reactions. There were still dark looks being aimed both towards her and towards each other. The angry demon and the demon it had nearly killed were glaring at one another. Both of them had recovered their weapons or a weapon. The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife.

Izanama wasn't in a position to continue. If she kept her current course she would have a mutiny on her hands. The unit would tear itself apart.

All because of the careful words of two children and her own disregard for her orders. Chiyo wondered if that kind of indiscipline was a characteristic of onis or just of that family.

Slowly, Izanama released the winch handle and stalked towards the cage. She pulled it open so hard Chiyo was surprised the door didn't break.

She was even more astonished when she was dragged out of the cage by her feet and deposited on the floor outside it. Izanama crouched down.

The oni pressed two gigantic fingers on Chiyo's exposed neck. It was enough to begin to crush her windpipe and Chiyo sputtered for air and tried to pull the arm away as Izanama leant menacingly close.

For a full ten seconds, Izanama did nothing but choke Chiyo as she leant in closer. When they were almost touching nose to nose, when Chiyo was beginning to lose control and she could smell Izanama's breath, Izanama spoke.

Her voice could have frozen a volcano.

"You have had a _very_ lucky escape today, Chiyo."

With that, Izanama released the pressure. She twisted Chiyo's arm and forced her to get to her feet, shoving her crudely towards two waiting demons.

"Gogi lil umgiltlaomp!" it ordered.

Chiyo stared numbly into space as the monsters began to shepherd her away from Yomi and towards an uncertain captivity.

* * *

During this exchange Kagura had frozen up at the edge of the darkness as she'd watched the whole exchange in astonishment.

She'd apparently ran into two of her classmates by sheer coincidence.

One of the girls she knew if only through her fame. Chiyo was known to everyone in the school; no one could have missed the cheerful little kid who had somehow managed to skip five years of school.

The other girl was still unknown to Kagura. From her familiarity with Chiyo Kagura suspected that the two were classmates however. In fact they were probably good friends.

She'd heard a third girl mentioned towards the end of Chiyo's unsuccessful hostage exchange, a woman who apparently struck such terror into the demons that the knowledge she was dead astonished and soothed them.

Yomi knew them well. So did Chiyo. It was probable then that they were connected to her school.

Could it have been Sakaki? Kagura knew of no one else in her school who could possibly have struck terror into a group of demons. Kagura had never met Sakaki but her reputation around the school was impossible to miss, especially to a sports fanatic like Kagura. Kagura had been planning to challenge her to a race. Sakaki was sporty, talented and above all mysterious. No one knew much about her except for the fact that she seemed to excel in absolutely everything without even trying.

Now, she was apparently dead. Or someone was, but there was no one else Kagura could think of that was from her school but Sakaki who could inflict that sort of fear in such a fearsome opponent.

That was especially true regarding Chiyo's group of friends. Kagura didn't know much about them but aside from Sakaki they were generally regarded as a goofy bunch. One of them in particular was apparently a loud-mouthed pain in the neck who wasn't good for anything and who annoyed everyone around her incessantly.

Heaven knew how _she_ was getting on now.

Maybe it was one of her teachers. Kurosawa or, heaven forbid, Tanizaki. If there was a teacher who could strike fear into demons…

Kagura desperately hoped her gym teacher was ok. Maybe there'd been a mistake. But Chiyo had said that she'd seen her friend's death with her own eyes…

Kagura had stopped partially out of fear and hopelessness. There were too many of them to take on. Kagura couldn't fight nine demons, one of them apparently capable of blasting apart a building. She didn't even know how to fight correctly. She might manage to take down one, maybe even the big one. Then she'd be cut to pieces.

She'd got lucky in the corridors and she'd had someone with her who knew what he was doing. He'd been special forces. She was a schoolgirl with a bit of half-remembered kendo under her belt.

However, the demons seemed to be taking a different course of action. Slowly, two of them began to haul Chiyo away towards the darkness.

They were moving towards her position. Kagura began to retreat slowly towards the tunnels, preparing to set an ambush.

She would kill them both in the darkness, rescue Chiyo and then…

…get her as far away from here as she could.

Trying to rescue Yomi would be futile. Even with two of the demons removed it would be a suicide mission. By her own words she was probably too far-gone anyway.

It wasn't coldness on Kagura's part. The decision filled her with guilt and she felt like a coward. She had absolutely no doubt that Miss Kurosawa, or Hideki would have attempted to rescue her.

But there was more riding on her decisions than one person. She still had the boy she'd rescued earlier slung over her back and now she had a traumatised eleven year old to mind too. She began to retreat into the shadows.

It was a good plan. It could have worked. All planning went out the window however as arrows began to pour from the sky into the flame lit circle.

* * *

Chiyo stared in horror as a dozen arrows impacted the ground. More followed as two of the demons went down.

At first she'd felt some faint glimmer of hope as she thought it might be a rescue mission. Then she screamed as an arrow struck the ground right next to her. More clattered off the sides of the cage, barely missing Yomi.

There were too many incoming arrows for it to be accidental. Whoever was attacking them was trying to kill herself and Yomi too.

Izanama shot off a few fireballs in an attempt to counter the withering fire. Chiyo saw several massive explosions go off, wrecking the walkways and sending their assailants flying in different directions, their screams echoing out. Chiyo recognised that those screams were not human.

It wasn't enough however. As more of his soldiers went down their numbers dwindled from nine to five. Soon only the sociopath, the vengeful monster, the demon that had stopped that monster, Nageki, and Izanama herself remained.

They were going to be wiped out. An arrow impacted Izanama in her shoulder. As she cried out in pain she raised her arms into the air.

The ground began to quake… and the arrows ceased to fall.

No, they hadn't ceased to fall. Rather they were being held back by a gigantic shield. Chiyo had to wonder how Izanama had been subordinated to her brother. She seemed so much more powerful, so much scarier. Her sibling was a joke compared to this demon that could manipulate the world around her with ease.

Yet the former Captain Izanama had never lost control of his soldiers. He had seemed respected by his men.

For a moment, it seemed like they would be safe. That the arrows would be kept out and the attackers would be forced to either withdraw or mount a frontal assault.

Then the ground caved in beneath her.

* * *

With a mighty quake and a deafening crash the once solid concrete gave way in one terrifying movement. A few moments were all it took for demons and humans alike to plummet into the earth.

The occupants of the circle were not the only ones to be caught. Kagura tried to flee but she too felt the earth subside beneath her.

All fell into the void.

It wasn't a long fall but Kagura wasn't expecting it. As she landed awkwardly she lost control of her neck. Her head hit the cold earthen floor.

Hard. She didn't even feel the impact. Soon her mind was drifting through the twisting tunnels of her unconscious.

Kagura dreamt she was a sparrow. She was flying free through the sky, carefree, not knowing where she was going. Nothing mattered except that she was free.

Then she was grabbed by the legs. She was dragged down by a monstrous hand. She plummeted for miles underground, watching the sky disappear above her.

She was shoved into a cage. For some time she waited there, frightened and wondering what was going to happen to her. There was another bird there. Kagura vaguely experienced it handing her something important.

Then blood began to drip from the bars of the cage. In the cavern outside Kagura saw a dead eagle lying on the floor, pressed against a wall. Its heart lay on the ground, torn out. The flayed corpses of vultures surrounded it.

The door opened and Kagura flew out in a panic.

She was carrying a pebble round her neck. Kagura knew it was important that she got the pebble to safety; that it was precious, not to her but to someone else. She also held a letter in her claws that carried crucial information. Someone had to know about the vultures underground…

But she was weak, too weak. Her wings gave out and she plummeted towards the ground.

Just before she hit the ground Kagura was caught by the hands again. She felt chains fasten themselves around her ankles…

Do birds have ankles?

Kagura regained consciousness.

She quickly wished she hadn't. Izanama was grinning triumphantly at her just inches away from her face. To her right, she could see Chiyo staring at her despairingly, sitting against the wall with ropes bound around her arms.

At her feet, Yomi was lying unconscious. She was caked from head to toe in her own encrusted blood, fresh blood still leaking out on top of it.

Kagura doubted that Yomi had much more blood left to lose. Her heart was filled with dread and pity for Chiyo as she realised that she couldn't see if Yomi was still breathing or not.

"Time to wake up little girl!" Izanama mocked. Kagura tried to raise her arms instinctively to shield her face, but found them bound behind her back as well. She was helpless.

She began to panic as she looked around for the boy she'd been carrying.

She soon found him. To her side, a pair of scared brown eyes looked up at her imploringly, wide, aware and very much awake.

"_Where are we?"_ he asked, the sound of purest terror in his voice.

That was a very good question. As Kagura looked around, she soon saw that there was something _very_ wrong. This wasn't some mere hole in the ground.

They had fallen into caves. But they were nothing like the caves that Kagura had escaped in. These weren't the caves of the monsters.

Not unless it was standard practice for their corridors to twist and turn wildly ahead, diverging wildly and madly with little regard for direction. Not unless it was normal practice to intersperse a corridor with _skeletons._ _Their own kind's_ _skeletons._

No, the monsters didn't make this labyrinth. And as Izanama got up, Kagura became dreadfully afraid that she was going to find out who, or what, did.

The demons were no longer the greatest danger. Kagura was in the hands of torturing, hate-filled monsters, _and they were not the greatest danger._

Kagura hung her head as she wished that she could go back to sleep.

Maybe she would then wake up from this endless and interminable nightmare.


	34. Recollection

Recollection

Kagura flinched as she felt alien bone brush up against her skin. As she became fully aware of her surroundings again she had to fight the urge to not panic as she realised she was surrounded by skeletons.

As she inevitably turned round to stare back into Izanama's eyes she braced herself for the worst the demon could offer. Yet for once the demons didn't seem interested in their prey. Izanama straightened up again and turned to talk to her companions. Clearly there were more urgent matters at hand.

Kagura had no way of following the conversation but she could tell from the tone that the demons were highly agitated about something. There were five of them left now. Two of the demons were clustered near Izanama herself, whispering fearfully to one another as Izanama listened, her back turned. Several times Kagura saw her hang her head or put her hand to her forehead as if she was grappling with a difficult problem. Whatever was going on it was putting her under strain, yet she was still far calmer than her subordinates, both of whom were talking in agitated whispers. Occasionally Izanama would speak, but it would only be a few words at a time. The one to her left seemed particularly distraught, at one point holding its head in its hands as it gazed skywards and turning away from its commanding officer.

To Kagura's left, guarding the passageway, was another demon. This one seemed calmer than the others like Izanama, but it was still clearly on edge. It had its spear levelled towards the darkness and braced in both hands, its torch on the ground.

Another monster stood to the right, on the other side of where Chiyo was sitting. It was far less calm and Kagura doubted that it should have been given the watch at all. There was no steady professionalism evident in its stance; it was staring out into the darkness, trembling slightly and clutching its torch and spear tightly as if to let go would mean death. It was terribly afraid of something.

All of the demons were afraid. She hid it well, but even Izanama seemed on edge. Kagura wondered if she'd turned her back to try to mask her weakness to the prisoners. If that was the case then it wasn't working. Kagura didn't want to think about what would make these monstrosities afraid.

Kagura also noticed that the demon still hadn't removed the arrow from her shoulder. The wound was nauseating, the shaft clearly penetrating down to the bone. That arm didn't move, and Kagura doubted it could. Either that or Izanama was trying to keep it as still as possible.

One good thing came out of the demons' distraction at least; they weren't focussed on the humans. Kagura turned her head towards the boy she'd carried into this mess.

He was staring at the monsters, a look of pure terror on his face. Despite the fact that he was obviously trying to keep as brave a face as a six year old could in a situation like that Kagura could see the wet marks on his face and the empty look in his eyes. He was petrified.

"Hey" Kagura said, trying to keep her voice as gentle and steady as possible. "Hey," she repeated when the boy didn't react to her.

It was only when she nudged him slightly with her shoulder that he reacted, looking round with a start. Kagura did her best to maintain eye contact and not react visibly to the pitiful expression on his face.

"What's your name?" she asked quietly, trying her best to smile.

For a few seconds the boy just stared at her. Eventually he managed to get his throat working.

"Sam" he managed.

The name surprised Kagura but she managed not to show it as she repeated it back to him, keeping her voice as steady as she could.

"Sam…"

For a while Kagura and Sam simply stared at one another, both of them trying not to look too scared.

Both of them were shivering, not from fear but from the cold. The tunnels were freezing and damp and it was impossible to move to keep warm. As they sat there on the floor the cave seemed to act as one big natural refrigerator, sucking the heat out of them as quickly as their bodies could produce it.

Sam was getting the worst of it, shivering violently. Kagura tried to take his mind off of it.

"Where does Sam come from?" she asked, trying to keep the cold from affecting her tone. Despite this her voice still quavered as she trembled, goosebumps covering her skin.

"It's s-short for Osamu." Sam explained, not even trying to keep his voice steady as he shook with cold. "W-what's y-your name?" he asked.

"Kagura. I-it's Kagura." Kagura answered. She sneezed.

They both fell silent for a while, shivering with the cold. The demonic chatter continued unabated. Kagura turned to Chiyo.

Physically at least Chiyo was slightly more comfortable. Kagura couldn't help but envy the black jacket and heavy layers she had on and was surprised she still had them. The demons seemed reluctant to give their prisoners anything that reminded them of their past civilisation.

Obviously they had bigger concerns than making Chiyo's life more miserable than it was already. Or maybe Yomi's plea really had got through to them. Kagura doubted it.

Maybe they just didn't have anything left to take. Not from within Chiyo anyway. Physically Chiyo seemed stable, the terrifying bloodstains on her face and the eyes that were bloodshot from lack of sleep. What really disturbed Kagura was the utterly dead look in Chiyo's eyes.

Chiyo was staring towards Yomi's unconscious and bleeding form. She wasn't really staring at Yomi though. Instead she just stared vacantly into space, her eyes wide and alert with fear, yet somehow unseeing as they looked numbly down. If she saw anything through those eyes her mind was no longer processing it.

Kagura wondered what hellish things Chiyo had seen to reduce her to such a state.

It had been such a brave thing to do. Chiyo had stood in front of a group of demons and baldly demanded that they hand her classmate over. Kagura knew she couldn't have done anything that brave at her age.

That didn't mean that Kagura condoned it. It had been a stupid thing to do and the outcome was no surprise. After so many hours of wandering and what she'd probably seen Kagura doubted that Chiyo had been able to think straight anymore.

That didn't make her actions any less noble. She deserved better than this, tied up in a cave full of bones as the monsters debated where to drag her next.

As she tried to bring her shivering under control Kagura tried to get Chiyo's attention.

"Chiyo…" she started.

Chiyo didn't respond. Kagura tried again.

"Chiyo-"

"How do you know my name?" Chiyo muttered. She didn't seem particularly focussed on or concerned about the answer.

Kagura paused awkwardly for a moment as she realised that she was a complete stranger. Chiyo didn't know who she was.

"We go to the same school. My name's Kagura. I'm from Miss Kurosawa's class."

Chiyo remained despondent and silent. After five seconds of watching her stare into space, never moving, Kagura started to become truly afraid. This was _eerie._

"You're that girl who got moved up five grades, aren't you? The one-"

"Yes."

Kagura barely saw Chiyo's lips move as she said that. Pain, fear and pity began to well up in her heart. She was about to try to say anything, do anything that might goad a human reaction when Chiyo's expression softened. She looked away up the corridor.

"…doesn't matter now." she whispered. The whisper was filled with grief and sorrow.

Kagura's fear turned to pity. What had this little girl seen?

"What happened Chiyo?"

Kagura's voice was barely audible it was so soft. It was such a painful thing to ask, yet she had to ask it. Chiyo couldn't be allowed to carry that burden herself. The weight of her thoughts was crushing her.

For a long time Chiyo simply stared up the corridors, not moving. Kagura was just about to say something else when she finally responded with the same terrible whisper.

"Doesn't matter now."

The sorrow was clearer this time, the voice stronger. Chiyo had clearly tried to whisper it, yet it came out as more of a sob. Kagura couldn't see, but she knew that tears were running down Chiyo's face.

She'd seen the darkened streaks through the blood where Chiyo had cried before.

Kagura tried to say anything. Anything that might inject a little bit more life into the broken child beside her. Crying was better than stony, dead silence.

"Chiyo, it matters."

Chiyo didn't turn around. Yet her breaths seemed to become more ragged as her mind processed the words she was trying to block out. It hurt too much…

"Please stop…" Chiyo pleaded.

"_Look at me."_

Cagura was surprised by the sincerity in her own voice as she said that through the withering cold.

She finally got a reaction as Chiyo's head shot round, her breaths heavy and her face stained with red tears.

"What do you want from me?" Chiyo asked, her voice choked up with tears. There was anger there, anger that wasn't really directed at Kagura. The stare Chiyo gave Kagura was so fierce and so filled with pain and conflict that Kagura struggled to maintain eye contact.

Yet she didn't look away.

"What happens to you _matters…"_ Kagura began. "Who you are _matters._ Don't give up because things are at their darkest! We're not dead yet-"

"I wish I was dead…"

Kagura's eyes widened with stunned horror as she heard those ice-cold words emanate from the mouth of an eleven year old girl. The sincerity with which Chiyo said that turned Kagura's blood to ice. Kagura felt physically sick as feelings of self-loathing and despair sunk into her mind, carried through the air on those five terrible words. She was rendered dumb.

Behind her even Sam reacted, momentarily snapped out of his shivering as he stared in horror at what Chiyo had just said.

"I _wish I was dead."_ Chiyo repeated. There was bitterness there this time and she looked away, staring down and away, hiding her face.

She said it louder this time. Even Izanama looked round briefly. As he turned slowly back to the conversation he was having Kagura did her best not to look up too sharply or obviously. She didn't want to attract the demon's attention.

Not now, with Chiyo's mind in such a delicate state.

"Chiyo." Kagura whispered, her voice now laden with fear as well as shock. "You can't-"

"It's _my fault._" Chiyo muttered. "It's _all my fault_."

She was shaking her head, as if that might stop the tears. As if she could just shake off the weight of the horrors that she'd seen.

Kagura's voice was grave, barely wavering with the cold as she asked the question again.

"Chiyo, what happened?"

For a long time Chiyo was silent as she reflected on what happened to her over the passage of time for the first time in hours. For the first time since she'd left that hideous building, she began to actually slow down and _think._

For the first time since that terrible moment when Tomo had walked through the portal she could talk to someone else about what had happened to her.

So she did. Chiyo began to tell her story.

"I was late for school." Chiyo started, slowly. "I was walking through the town when I noticed there was no one around. I was so scared of getting into trouble I…"

Chiyo hesitated.

"It was so stupid." she said numbly.

Kagura turned back to Sam briefly.

"Are you ok?" she asked. Sam nodded, his attention seemingly more on Chiyo. That worried Kagura as she doubted Chiyo had anything to say that was fit for a six year old to hear. At that moment in time however Kagura was far more worried about Chiyo.

"I was running through the streets. I didn't know where everyone was. I… I ran into someone. Somone I knew from school." Grief began to infiltrate Chiyo's voice steadily as she completed those sentences and it was heavy in her voice as she whispered the next one.

"A friend…"

For a long time Chiyo just sat in the darkness as the words seemed to saturate every wall. The tears were flowing freely again, slowly washing away the blood. Kagura began to weep too as she saw the hideous lines that ran down Chiyo's face. As the blood ran away it began to expose the scars.

"We took shelter inside the school. Neither of us knew what was going on." Chiyo paused, her voice never rising above a whisper. "Then _the things started showing up._" she said, her voice strained with dread from the memory.

Kagura and Sam whispered softly. Neither of them noticed that Izanaga had also turned round to listen too. The demonic chatter had stopped.

The demons wanted to hear this too. It was personal to one of them at least.

"Tomo was _amazing._" Chiyo recalled in awe. "Somehow she always knew what to do. When the monsters came she hid us away. She knew how to unlock all the doors, how to find what we needed to survive. She saved my life_ so many times…"_ Chiyo's voice was poisoned with anguish and guilt.

"She never thought of herself. Not even _once._ When one of the monsters was injured, she covered it with a_ blanket._ I couldn't even _approach._"

Everyone stared as they saw Chiyo was actually smiling at the memory. It faded away quickly but it had been there. Then the anguished and guilt-ridden expression came back as she continued.

"Somehow we found a way out. We tried to abseil down the roof. All the other exits were blocked off… before we began the climb I remember her telling me to run and abandon her if something happened… she made me promise to get out of the city if anything happened to her."

Chiyo began to gasp and sob as she recalled the promise that had been broken and cast away on the wind. She broke down in front of her staring audience, pained gasps echoing out through the halls as the watchers looked back nervously, fearing what her tears might bring. Several of the demons looked to Izanama for guidance but she shook her head and muttered something in her own language.

Eventually, Chiyo stopped sobbing. She continued.

"We made it about halfway down when the _thing _caught us."

Chiyo's eyes went wide. Her voice filled with terror as she recalled the very worst part of her experiences in the school.

"I don't know where Tomo was dragged off to. All I know is when I woke up…"

Chiyo fell silent. She hung her head, not speaking for some time as she tried to build up the courage to talk about her horrific ordeal, to find the words to express it without exposing herself too much to the pain.

Finally, she spoke three bitter words, each one laced with anger as her voice rose above a whisper.

"They _found _me…"

Chiyo let those three terrible words sink in to all who listened as Kagura and Sam both looked on with horror and Izanama with terrible, keen interest.

"I woke up hanging by my ankles. It was dark, it was cold. I was naked, and scared and I _didn't know_ where I was. Where _Tomo was…"_

Chiyo paused, lost for a moment. When she spoke again her voice was so quiet Kagura had to restrain herself from leaning in to hear, even as she didn't want to hear the content.

"They tortured me… burnt my hair, threw things at me… then..."

Chiyo's voice rose as she trembled with fear and dreadful anger.

"Then…. _he_ turned up."

Izanama's eyes hardened as she heard her brother mentioned for the first time. Chiyo continued, a bitterness in her voice that Kagura couldn't believe was coming from a child.

"I don't know how long he played with me in the darkness. All I know is that he wanted me gone, wanted me erased. He took everything I cherished, everything I dreamed about, _everything I was_ and tried to twist it. Tried to make me forget who I was... he nearly succeeded…"

Chiyo's eyes narrowed as she stared into space, the painful memories coming back.

"Then Tomo saved me _again._" Chiyo's voice was laden with a mix of wonder and terrible grief. "She fought her way through the school. Dodged Izanama's men… no, _defeated them. Saved them._ Fought off a monster made with fire with only an extinguisher… and then…"

Chiyo paused as she tried to explain the terrible confrontation she hadn't been there for.

"The demons… I don't know what they did but they…"

Chiyo paused.

"They did something to Kimura. Turned him into a monster."

Kagura's eyes went wide with disbelief as her face contorted. "What?"

"He was the one who set the traps. The one who prevented us from escaping. They held his wife to ransom and… they did something else to him as well. Something that drove him-"

"They broke him." Izanama interjected.

For a second Chiyo looked up, and there was a look of such hatred on her face that Kagura half expected Izanama to turn pale. As it was the demon met her stare evenly, studying the anger.

When it was clear Chiyo wasn't going to get a reaction from the demon, she turned back to her story.

"He wouldn't let us out. So Tomo killed him…"

For a moment, Kagura felt the strength ebb out of her. Someone in her school, someone _like her _had had to kill their own teacher just to get away from the hideous monsters that had occupied their city. She felt her blood begin to boil.

"What the _hell_ did you want them for anyway?" Kagura asked, glaring at Izanama. "They were doing nothing to you-"

"We were mopping up." Izanama said coldly. "Never leave an enemy alive to resist you."

"She was _sixteen."_ Chiyo hissed.

"Yes, and she allowed you to hamstring my brother after butchering three of his men. And when Kimura died she weakened the others so badly they had to be rescued by another team." Izanama started to rant as her voice rose. "She almost killed them all! Who knows what she could have done if we'd left her alone to act against us-"

Izanama was cut off as she heard the laughter.

Everyone stared at Chiyo as she began to laugh hysterically, uncontrollable fits of hollow laughter incapacitating her as she doubled over, the bitter sound ringing through the caves. It was horrifying, terrible laughter that made Kagura wonder if Chiyo was even sane anymore. The full extent of the damage that her time on the surface had done was becoming pitifully clear. A bitter, angry look came onto her face as she slowly recovered.

"You _idiots._" Chiyo shook her head and ignored the enraged look on Izanama's face. Kagura just looked on anxiously, increasingly afraid of the madness that surrounded her as the oni's face darkened.

"She was trying to _escape." _Chiyo said. "She was trying to _get out._ If _you_ hadn't shown up and forced her to fight she would have been away out of Tokyo and off to safety!"

Chiyo looked up, too angry and vindicated to be afraid of Izanama's terrible expression. She smiled, a terrible, angry grin that was utterly insincere. For a moment, Kagura could have sworn that Chiyo had carried a piece of Izanama's brother out of the school with her.

"Do you get it?" Chiyo asked, false innocence dripping from her words. Izanama just stared.

Kagura tried to interrupt, terrified of what was going to happen. "Chiyo…" she warned.

"Your brother brought Tomo down upon himself." she finished, her face twisting into a bitter, angry mess as her head dropped down towards the ground.

The air could have been cut with a knife.

For five terrible seconds Kagura was sure Izanama was going to tear Chiyo apart with her bare hands. Yet it was Chiyo who continued.

"I would have killed your brother. Slowly, in the dark. Like he tried to do to me. I was barely human by that time, after what he did to me in the dark. I was a blood-stained ghost no better than Izanama himself. I was barely connected to the world anymore. _Tomo_ brought me back…"

The anger seemed to ebb out of Chiyo as she concluded.

"She allowed me to be a human being again." she said. Her words began to fall back down towards a whisper.

Behind her, Kagura could hear Sam sobbing openly. She was unable to hold back her own tears.

Izanama's expression was as impassive as ever, but Kagura could have sworn she'd seen some of the anger ebb away.

"Then you took her away from me…" Chiyo hissed, the hatred ringing clear. "She was all I had left and you _murdered her_ because you knew she'd never leave you alone until she _saved her friend."_

Chiyo was shaking with anger as she vented her grief and anger.

"I tried. I tried to keep going, to follow her example. I should have known I could never live up to it…"

Chiyo stared at the ground, the self-loathing coming back into her voice.

"Now I'm going to die in a hole in the ground. And Yomi's going to die with me. What a waste of time that was…"

There was a very pregnant pause. As she glanced behind her Kagura could see the guard she guessed was Nageki rubbing the back of his neck. The implications were so terribly clear for everyone.

Chiyo fell silent. Her story had been told. Slowly, Izanama sneered.

"Are you done being a liability?" she asked.

If Kagura had been capable of using her arms she would have punched Izanama in that moment, never mind the fact that she was two feet taller and could probably have pulled Kagura's arms off. Yet she was also conscious of the fact that Sam had dissolved into terrified sobs as Chiyo finished that last demoralising statement. Even the other demons, the ones who couldn't understand the words, were visibly shaken.

As much as Kagura pitied Chiyo, as much as she hated the demons and sided with the injured girl, she understood Izanama's statement. Her soldiers needed hope, they _all_ needed hope, to get them out of these caverns.

Hope was a resource that was in desperately short supply as they stood or sat up to their ankles in bones and Chiyo wasn't offering any of it. Kagura desperately tried to stretch for something to say, but she came up short.

What could you possibly say to someone who has been through horrors like that? Was there any combination of words in the world that could possibly reach Chiyo now?

Eventually, Chiyo responded to Izanama's barb. She looked up slowly, and Kagura expected an angry retort.

Instead, she just shrugged and looked down at the floor again.

Kagura hastily decided a more pro-active course of action was needed. Much as she hated the demons they knew what was going on better than either Chiyo or herself did.

Getting out of the caverns at least offered the possibility of escape. It might not work, it might mean recapture or even death, but it was better than dying in a hole in the ground. And maybe it might just revive Chiyo a bit.

Kagura was also painfully aware of Yomi on the floor. Yomi's last hours were ticking away while she lay there on the floor. She might only have minutes.

If she was to stand any chance at all they had to get out of the caves.

"Can you get us out of these caverns?" she asked. Nageki echoed it with a meaningful look, and Kagura's focus on the oni drew the gaze of others with it. Except for Chiyo, who simply returned to studying the air.

Izanama looked around at the gathering. From the watchers to the demons surrounding her to the humans she was guarding everyone except for Chiyo had turned to look at her for direction. As much as Kagura hated Izanama she was dependent on her at that moment for survival. Everyone waited in tense anticipation for her pronouncement as Izanama glanced around at the waiting faces.

"Ip zottizg wi zgolg woltemp od." Izanama said to the demons that surrounded her. Then she turned to Kagura and grabbed her roughly by the arm. Kagura was hauled to her feet roughly as she felt Izanama stare her in the eyes.

"I suggest we start walking up." Izanama repeated.

Before Kagura could reply she was forced to start moving through the tunnels. Soon the other demons were shoving the others to their feet. Nageki took the rear, slinging Yomi over its shoulders as it did so.

As Chiyo was shepherded off towards a twist in the path that seemed the most likely to lead towards the surface, she muttered something under her breath.

"Goodbye Tomo."

It was a final goodbye, a last whisper to a fallen guardian whose last efforts had finally failed. Chiyo believed that whatever happened now, it didn't really matter.

Tomo had died. Yomi was dying. And soon, Chiyo would die too.

But she was wrong.

Tomo was not dead. At that moment in time, her heart was still beating, her mind was still working, and she was very much alive.


	35. Diminished

Diminished

Tomo woke up to the sensation of cold stone.

She was lying face down on the ground. As her eyes slowly opened she saw what it was she was resting on.

The grey tombstone of the crypt was gone. Replacing it was blood-red rock, seemingly natural in formation yet clearly and horribly out of place. It was stone that didn't look anything like any rock formation Tomo had ever seen.

She wasn't home anymore. Not even "home".

Tomo scrambled to her feet in fright, scraping her knees against the ground as she did so. She then found herself on her hands and knees as her weak blood pressure forced her back onto them again.

Slowly, Tomo adapted to her weakened state. She took a look around and soon wished she hadn't as she stared in horror at where she had been taken to.

The world around her no longer even resembled her own. In front of her, a gigantic concrete building stretched up towards the sky, huge stone doors looming up in front of her. Three massive floors of lifeless concrete and barred windows made up its exterior as it seemed to stretch into the sky. The stone was covered in moss and discolouration. Patches of orange stained the sides, as if corroded metal was slowly seeping out of the concrete. Tomo only had to look at the building for her heart to begin to sink to the bottom of her stomach. She had never seen such a dreary and hideous construction, and the sheer scale of it overwhelmed her. She was dwarfed by it.

When Tomo looked up and around her, she realised that the sky was a dark and alien purple. Far up in the sky, impossibly far up, higher than any clouds on earth, were blood red clouds that unleashed terrifying displays of lightning that made her want to crouch down and shield herself, as if raising her hands might protect her from the deadly streams of electricity.

As they drifted overhead, it began to bombard the stone with red liquid. Tomo stood numbly with her hand outstretched as she was drenched with freezing blood.

Tomo too had changed and she only now realised it as she stared in disbelief and fear at the tiny limb in front of her. The hand in front of her was too small to be hers. As she looked down, she realised that she didn't come far enough off the ground. She was wearing a school uniform again, but it wasn't the one she had worn to school that morning. The cardigan she had on now was a dark blue, with a light blue shirt underneath. Her skirt was a brighter shade of red, far more colourful than the more subdued colours of Ieysu High's winter uniform.

Tomo realised she was wearing the uniform of Azure Wings Elementary, a uniform she had hoped to leave behind forever. She'd moved school early just to get away from this place. As she looked over her miniscule frame, smaller even than Chiyo's, she realised she was nine years old again.

Tomo stared at the change and tried to get familiar again with her smaller frame as she tried her best not to break into a panic. She couldn't run or climb like this, or fight to defend herself. Yet far worse than that was what the change represented.

She'd felt trapped and vulnerable enough when she'd woken up wearing different clothes in the assembly hall. Kimura had had power over her, forcing her to go wherever he wanted in her desperate attempts to save Chiyo. But this was much worse. Whatever had done this didn't just have power over the world around her. It had power over _her._ As she'd lain unconscious it had reduced her to a powerless state, a state that was also associated with some of Tomo's very worst memories. Tomo's hair had even been cut short into a plain bob cut, a style she hated because it had made her feel even smaller than she already was.

Something had hand-picked everything she'd hated about her time and forced her into it. For the second time in less than a day Tomo felt herself in the hands of a higher power that meant her nothing but pain. If it hadn't been so cold Tomo would have pulled the hated garments off herself, so much did she despise being paraded around in that uniform.

Whatever malevolent intelligence had brought her here it hadn't healed her injuries. Tomo could still feel her jaw swelling up and the stinging from her broken nose. The pain seemed so much worse now and Tomo knew that she must have looked a mess. She was so hungry that anything would have looked attractive to her in that moment, weak with hunger and also from bloodloss that desperately needed some kind of outside input to recover. Her body was running out of iron, and Tomo was beginning to weaken even without a further loss of blood.

The bloody cuts across her torso were still there and Tomo stared numbly at the bloody cross that had stained itself into her uniform. She nearly fainted from the sight of her own blood.

If she'd taken no injuries that day Tomo would have been fine. She would have felt starving, but she would have been able to function normally. After the medley of barely rested injuries and the staggering loss of blood she _desperately_ needed food however. The only sensation that Tomo understood was the ravaging, debilitating hunger that spread weakness to every part of her body, threatening to bring her to her knees. For the first time, Tomo understood what it was to begin to truly _starve._

Yet even her pain and weakness were not enough to block out the grief and guilt of the memories.

Tomo was too weak to sob. As tears began to stream down her face, her legs slowly gave way beneath her. Soon she was lying on the ground, arms out to the side as she stared despairingly at the thundering sky. She wished that one of the lightning bolts would strike her down at last, that the strange and alien heavens would finish her off and let her rejoin her parents in whatever afterlife there was… or else just put her out of her misery.

She'd had the three most important individuals in her life torn away from her in a few poisonous minutes. Memories of her parents' swollen and staring eyes swirled nightmarishly through her brain as they looked up at her accusingly. Tomo heard her mother screaming at her and calling her a murderer. She heard her saying that she should never have been born. That she was a mistake.

Then the nightmarish memories of the corpse in her room and the shambling sounds from downstairs flashed through her memory. Tomo closed her eyes out of terror and revulsion as she relived those awful moments. She remembered the cold hand on her shoulder, the dead stare of Yomi's corpse as it chased her out of the room. She could still feel dead matter on her hands where she'd pushed the decaying corpse out of the way.

Tomo didn't have any strength left to roll onto her side and try to repress the terrible memories of what had become of her that day. She let it play back over her like a horrifying film. Tomo relived the bloody corridors and the hideous cries of the monsters. She relived being torn off the building and wrapped up in silk by the gigantic worm. Worst of all, she remembered the state Chiyo had been in as they'd met in the corridors, a damning indictment of Tomo's failure to keep her safe. The bloody bat, the struggle with her doppleganger, the sight of her own lifeblood in the assembly hall… every horrifying detail washed over Tomo in a flood of misery and terror.

Above all, Tomo was scared for Chiyo.

At least she hadn't come into the house with Tomo. Maybe she would escape. Maybe she would do the right thing, the smart thing and take the car out of town.

Tomo knew that was almost certainly untrue. Chiyo was too good a person for that.

She'd go off to find Kimura's daughter, the daughter that Tomo was supposed to find. Chiyo would try to fulfil her foolish promise.

She'd probably die fulfilling it, assuming that she wasn't already dead. _Why hadn't_ Tomo just left the city with her first? Made sure she was safe before embarking on her own mad quest to save Yomi? _How had she been stupid enough to have hope?_

What hope was there for her in a place like this? It had seemed to burn so brightly at the time, after their escape from the school.

Tomo tried to motivate her body to do something as the rain slowly covered her in watery blood. Her body could barely shiver and a terrible feeling of tiredness began to sink into her bones. She was rapidly becoming hypothermic, yet Tomo couldn't find the will or energy to move herself. What was the point of living when you were so utterly and completely alone?

She wasn't in Japan anymore. She probably wasn't even on earth anymore. The more she surveyed the hellish landscape, the more Tomo was convinced that she had died and that this was her punishment for failure. Whatever force had brought her here had even provided a prison for her.

She was stuck in a hated form and doomed to wander this place until whatever was controlling it decided to do something else with her instead. She was trapped in a living hell.

The idea of being punished forever ignited bitter anger in Tomo as she finally managed to sit up, blood staining her black hair a dark red as she stared at the ground, anger and pain visible in her features.

She'd been defending herself. She'd _tried_ to save Chiyo. This wasn't _fair._

For the first time in her life Tomo had given everything she had to try to help someone else. She'd risked her life countless times and taken over two dozen injuries just to try to save one little girl and save her best friend from oblivion. Yet now, in this dark place, whatever captor had flung her here expected her to meekly accept punishment for daring to take a stand. _She didn't deserve to die here._

She didn't deserve to be called a monster by her own mother; to come home and find a tomb there instead. She didn't deserve to have everyone taken from her, to be dumped in this prison, never to know what had become of the one person she had managed to make a difference to.

Slowly, Tomo wiped her eyes and tried to think of what to do. If there was anything she could do.

More than anything else Tomo wished Yomi was by her side. She wished that her calmer and more sensible friend could be there to tell her what to do, what course of action to take. She wished that Yomi was there to talk to, to be a sympathetic ear at a time when Tomo had no one else who would.

That was an old instinct and it stemmed right back to the age Tomo was reliving now. Because she had needed Yomi at age nine. And she needed her now.

Tomo would never hear that voice again now. It was up to her to decide what she was going to do to extricate herself from the mess she'd landed in. Yomi wasn't going to be here to help her out of it now.

The first decision she had to make was whether or not to even try. Was it even worth getting up?

The sky was filled with lightning and it didn't seem like this storm would ever end. Tomo could hear the blood splashing around her. If she'd lain down and turned her head now she could have submersed it in the gore. It would be so easy to lie here, until the bolt struck her and she was dead or until the freezing cold finished her off anyway.

The alternative was getting to her feet and struggling towards an unknown and probably horrific future.

In the end, Tomo decided she had nothing left to lose. Slowly, she got to her feet, not out of any kind of spirit or motivation but from the sheer determination that comes from having nothing for the world to take anymore. She would go on and try to find some way out of here, some way to claw her way back to the real world… and she would try to pick up the handful of remaining pieces in her life.

Or she'd collapse and die trying. Tomo knew which one she expected to happen.

She nearly ended up back on the stone as her weak blood pressure failed to adapt in a timely manner to her body's new position. Tomo staggered back to a crouch before trying to rise again. It took her several seconds to return to a standing position and several more before she could be confident that she would actually stay there.

As Tomo staggered to her feet, half dead from blood loss and barely able to think, she began to try to think about where she was and where she needed to go from here. Slowly, she looked up at the massive monolithic structure in front of her. It was obvious where she was supposed to go.

But Tomo hadn't survived everything that had been thrown at her by following the tracks she'd been set on. There was no way she was going into the building that she had obviously been pointed towards. Not until she'd explored every other option. She turned her back on the foreboding structure and looked around her. Any place would be better than walking into yet another structure, this one seemingly custom built to torment her.

But there didn't seem to be anywhere else to go.

Tomo had three priorities. Above all she wanted to be rid of the tiny form she'd been stuffed into. She had to try to reach the thing that had robbed her of her age and force it to give it back. She couldn't defend herself like this. Tomo didn't want to be nine again, especially not now. Even if she somehow managed to escape she'd be easy pickings for the demons that now owned her city.

After that, she had to try to reach at least one of the others. Tomo still had three people in her life that she could still call friends. Those friends were Chiyo, Sakaki and Osaka. None of them were individuals she'd known longer than a term and yet all of them were precious to her, and all the more so now that the main figures in her life had been torn away. Tomo needed to reach them. She needed to hear the voices of at least one of them again. She still had people left, someone she might be able to pick up the pieces with. It was a starting point and the only thing she had left to strive for. Tomo couldn't leave the city without them. She couldn't face being alone, utterly alone. Being the last survivor was unbearable and she would rather die than face it.

After that all that was left was getting out of the city. If it was even possible anymore…

All of her goals seemed utterly impossible to even contemplate from her present condition, let alone attempt. Yet Tomo managed to take the first step in that journey simply by not giving up.

A small and haunted part of her mind also demanded revenge. It demanded redress for the things that had been taken from her, the life she'd been torn away from. She wanted the demons to pay the blood price for Yomi and her parents.

The structure seemed to be surrounded by a small fence. It was rusted and looked like it hadn't been touched for years, yet it was still large enough to block Tomo's tiny form from clambering over it. Yet it was also far in the distance and from where she was standing it didn't seem so insurmountable.

Furthermore Tomo didn't need to climb over the fence. Not when there was a gate right in the centre of her vision. She knew it was almost certainly locked but it was worth a try.

Tomo might have considered that whatever had brought herself here would have expected her to try for the gate. If she'd been anywhere close to thinking properly.

It was a long way away. In Tomo's state that was a bad thing. The energy it would take her to make it to that gate could be used to progress elsewhere. She looked out beyond the gateway, doubt forming in her mind.

There didn't seem to be anything out there. The gate was far enough away for the land beyond to be shrouded, but Tomo couldn't even see if there was a plain there or if the land just ended in darkness. The feeling of being alone in an alien landscape grew as the possibility that she was just floating on a rock in the middle of space came to her tired mind.

Despite all her considerations however the same stubborn attitude that she'd taken towards the bloody writing prevailed. Tomo would not be led, not even in her weakened and diminished state. She began to walk away from the building and out towards the gate, even as she seemed to shrink against the ground, appreciating for the first time what it had felt like to be Chiyo in their terrifying journey through the school.

It was an eerie and frightening experience, crossing that dead plain. It was also incredibly lonely. Tomo cowered several times from the lightning, painfully aware that she could be struck down at any time. Just as she was beginning to become convinced that it wouldn't actually fall towards the earth she fell back as a bolt hit the ground twenty yards in front of her. For a long time Tomo simply cowered on the ground, expecting a bolt of lightning to fry her at any moment.

It didn't come. Tomo climbed to her feet again, anticipating the fatal shock to fall any second now. She was still only halfway to the gate.

Tomo was becoming more and more afraid of the lightning as she left the relative safety of the building. She was becoming the tallest thing for a considerable distance around, a living lightning rod. She knew that trying to go any further was foolish. Coming to a stop still a long way from the gate, she could only barely resist the urge to run towards the doors. Nervously she looked out across the plain.

This wasn't working. She couldn't cross far beyond the gate, not in this storm. It was now not a question of if but when the lightning would strike her.

As she'd come closer to the gate, she was able to see that the ground did extend past the gate. But she couldn't see how far… it ended in shadows. For all Tomo knew the ground could extend forever.

She was about to turn back when she saw something moving ahead.

No, everything was moving. The shadows were getting closer.

It was then she realised that they weren't shadows. The ground itself was disappearing.

Tomo realised in horror what was happening as she heard the sound of crumbling rock as it fell away and into the void. She turned.

As the fence collapsed into darkness she ran for the door. Tomo barely had enough strength to run as she kicked off the stupid plastic shoes that you apparently had to wear as a child. Behind her she could hear the rumbling getting closer and closer.

She stumbled wildly and nearly fell over as a lightning bolt hit the ground a short distance away. It cost her valuable time and she could hear the crumbling rock only a short distance behind her now. Tomo's legs weren't long enough to carry her very far very quickly. She couldn't believe how slowly she was making it back to the building. Had she really been this slow?

She was becoming tired as well. If Tomo's stamina was bad as a teenager it was atrocious as a child. She was rapidly becoming out of breath; her legs were beginning to hurt not just from the pain of her injuries but from her tiring muscles. Her depleted blood struggled to deliver the extra blood needed by her muscles and Tomo began to feel her legs cramping up. She was so close to the door…

Tomo began to slow down. As she put her foot on the steps, she could hear the last of the stones falling away behind her.

She put all her remaining strength into one last push from both legs and Tomo dove up the stairs and towards the tiny gap in the doors as the land gave way beneath her.

She half made it. Tomo managed to get her torso inside the crack in the doors, but the rest of her remained outside, floating in the void. Almost mindless with panic she pushed herself off the inside of the closed one. Even if it had opened outwards her meagre weight wasn't enough to push it open.

Somehow, she managed to claw her way inside the building. For a long time she just lay there panting, long raucous breaths burning away at her parched throat.

She didn't know if she would be able to run like that again. As she lay on the floor face down, too tired even to roll onto her side, her head spun. She was so weak that it was impossible for her to even move for some time. The cold blood had saturated her clothing, turning her blue uniform crimson. Loose droplets fell off of her and began to trickle across the rough ground.

For many minutes she simply lay there recovering. As the cold began to dominate and threaten to drag her into unconsciousness Tomo forced herself to get up. She had to keep moving.

That couldn't be done in one motion anymore however and she first of all had to force herself into a sitting position. Then, a kneeling position, until finally she could rise dizzily to her feet. Tomo grabbed the door frame for support, terribly aware of the gulf that lay behind her.

Curiosity forced her to turn around and look out at that gulf. Tomo stared out into the space that the falling rock had left.

What greeted Tomo was darkness.

The sky had disappeared above. What Tomo stared into was the void, the same terrible void that she'd probably fallen into when she passed out. It was following her now, chasing her and Tomo didn't doubt for one moment that she hadn't seen the last of it. For a moment she even considered leaping into it.

After where she'd ended up that seemed like a bad idea. But on the other hand Tomo couldn't imagine it leading her to anywhere worse than this. Maybe she'd just fall forever.

Or maybe there was something down there and she would be obliterated upon the hard ground.

At any rate Tomo was too scared to act on it. Any wild impulses that might have provoked her to such behaviour before had been left behind in the school. She remembered the mukadas and how Chiyo had yelled at her afterwards. She wished that Chiyo was there with her now, ready to stop her from doing something stupid. Yet perhaps that lesson had already been learned. Tomo was _terrified _of that void and she stared at it in paralysed mesmerisation. She was surprised to find that after all she'd been through she genuinely didn't want to die.

The alternative wasn't much better. Exploring the building was almost certainly what whatever was controlling this strange world wanted. Tomo was caught miserably between a suicidal decision and following the instructions of something that inevitably wanted to hurt her.

In the end it wasn't really a choice. Reluctantly, Tomo turned around and away from the darkness and into fresh darkness, facing the utter gloom as she found herself standing in pitch blackness.

Tomo was only able to know where the doors were now because of her hands. The sky had allowed some faint light to trickle in before but now there was no light at all. She felt her way forward slowly in pitch blackness.

The ground was cold and bare, yet it also seemed to be covered in dust. Tomo's feet were soon filthy as she walked slowly and carefully through the darkness.

Then she froze as she heard a door open on the other side of the room… and heard something even more dreadful than that as heavy footsteps began to cross the room towards her.

_Screeech… screech… screech…_

It was the sound of metal upon metal.


	36. Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Tomo froze in terror as she heard the chilling sound advancing closer and closer to where she was.

_Screeeeech, screeeeech, screeeeech…_

She was too terrified to move her legs. Every muscle in her body tensed up as she tried to think of something to do, some way to avoid the terrifying figure that was strolling invisibly towards her in the dark. Movement was terrifying because that meant noise.

_Screeeeech, screeeeech, screeeeech…_

Tomo got down on her hands and knees and began to crawl. She shuffled silently out of the way, heart in her mouth, as whatever was hidden in the darkness passed inches away from her and came to a stop. Tomo froze up, unable to turn around or move away as she waited in mortal terror to be noticed by the source of the terrible noise. The scraping was now becoming deafening.

_SCREEEEECH, SCREEEEEECH, SCREEEEECH…_

It must have been a full fifteen seconds. Tomo just waited there, cold and terrified, as she waited for the thing to move off. From the sound of the terrifying metal objects high above she could tell that whatever was in the room with her was far, far taller than her. It would be far stronger too.

It didn't seem ready to move. Tomo slowly began to crawl away from it, every kneefall or handprint threatening to betray her to the stalking terror as she steadily distanced herself from the giant and made her way towards the door.

As she approached the door her hand grabbed something sharp.

It was too sharp. Tomo bit back a cry of pain as she cut her hand upon a knife. As she lifted her hand up in shock she heard the terrible sound of the blade hitting the ground. The sound of metal against stone echoed around the room.

The figure in the darkness turned around… and Tomo closed her eyes.

As it stormed towards her she got to her feet and scrambled out the way. She fell to her hands and knees again as it approached and crawled, trying to stay silent.

Behind her a gigantic metal blade crashed down behind her, followed by another. The blades smashed against the ground again and again. The terrible sound of metal and shattered rock filled the air of the room as Tomo crawled into a corner of the room, shaking like a leaf as she waited for the onslaught to cease. A stone from the floor bounced off the wall beside her and nearly hit her in the face as the blades came down again and again, completely shattering the floor. It seemed to go on for so much longer than it did, the ground reverberating and time seeming to slow down as Tomo anticipated each terrible impact.

Finally, the terrifying cacophony stopped. Dread silence filled the room as dust settled on top of Tomo, covering her and irritating her throat as she breathed it in. She didn't dare cough as her mouth and throat filled with the chalky material. Instead, she silently began to choke.

As Tomo felt the area around her and tried not to breathe too deeply through the dusty smog she realised that she'd crawled underneath a table. She waited through those terrible moments, shivering with fear and praying that whatever this malevolent nightmare was would leave the room after her lucky escape.

_Screeeeech, screeeeech, screeeeech, screeeeech._

The terrifying metal sounds heralded the sound of the footsteps beginning to walk once more. To Tomo's dismay and terror they began to hug the wall heading towards her. The footsteps searched along it, looking for the elusive prey. Tomo just stayed put, praying it wouldn't search for her here.

It slowly approached and Tomo covered her head with her hands. Surely it couldn't find her under here?

As it approached the table Tomo expected it to crash into the side of it. Instead, it came to a stop. Tomo waited tensely.

Then she realised the blades had stopped.

Tomo's mind was filled with an almost incapacitating fear. Her mind flashed back to the dead monster lying next to a shattered cabinet. She scrambled out from her hiding place as she realised what was coming.

She'd barely left the table when the blades crashed down behind her, shattering it into splinters as she rolled onto her side and curled up into a protective ball from the splinters that flew from the table. She felt several dig into her legs, struggling to keep quiet as they dug into her flesh. Her hunter brought its blades down for a second time, vaporising the table into splinters and fragments as Tomo lay there in shock beside it, unable to even tremble as her mind closed down with shock. A third terrible reverberation of the ground and the metal cracked the stone underneath the pile of dust and broken fragments that now comprised the table. A piece of wood flew over Tomo's head and bounced away into the darkness, sawdust smothering her from head to toe as she prayed for an end to the violence. She could feel the tiny cut on her hand bleeding and covering her palm with blood.

The pounding stopped and Tomo lay still, only inches away from the dark figure. The same eerie silence descended upon the room as she waited stunned with fear for the terrible blades to start up once more.

_Screeeeech, screeeeech, screeeeech…_

Tomo didn't dare move as the figure stalked away from the table. She couldn't, because to move now would require her to roll over and the fabric of her clothing would have made a noise against the ground. Tomo had to wait as a pair of enormous legs stalked past her, inches from where she lay. They reached her feet… and stopped.

The blades stopped and Tomo prepared for the end.

_CRASH!_

Tomo's entire world reverberated as a giant blade came down inches from where she lay. The cracked ground physically threw her legs into the air, leaving her to come down roughly on the broken ground. Tomo was too scared to scream even if her mouth was left open in blank horror. All her senses were overwhelmed as she waited for the blades to begin falling around her, one of them destined to strike as the figure made another guess in the darkness.

It didn't come. Tomo waited anxiously, praying that somehow that was the end of it.

_Screeeeech, screeeeech, screeeeech…_

Tomo felt cold, wonderful relief flow over her as she heard the blades begin again and the figure stepping away from her. It began to stalk away towards the other side of the room. Slowly, Tomo began to crawl away in the opposite direction, not caring that she was crawling through dust and splinters as she tried to get away from the terrible thing with the crushing blades.

Then the tip of one of the blades struck the ground beside her. Tomo's world was shaken to pieces as she was rolled away through the dust. She rolled onto her back and stayed there, arm covering her face, unable to move as she lay utterly still and waited as the second blade fell where she'd been lying moments previously, each blow showering her with sparks and bits of rock that struck her in the arm and ribs. Each one left deep bruising and burns, yet Tomo didn't dare lift her arm away from her face. It was all that was protecting her now…

By this time the ground around Tomo was filled with cracks. Instinctively she rolled away over the rough ground, a rip being torn in her cardigan and fresh bruising spreading across her battered flesh. She barely saved her life as the blade came crashing down beside her, the other one falling where its terrible sister had fallen just moments before. The blades began to move up towards the wall, following her as Tomo tumbled again and again, each roll sparking complaints from her beaten sides until she was next to the concrete door.

Tomo's mind closed down with fear for a second as she heard the blades coming closer and closer. There was nowhere left to go and each thunderous crash brought fresh fragmentation to batter her sides with. Tomo thought she was going to pass out one last time as she crawled parallel to the wall, desperately trying to get out of the way of the terrible blades before they reached her. The blades were just one blow away…

Tomo put all of her strength into rolling forward and out of the way, landing on her back as the blade fell against the door. She heard a sickening crack and the sound of metal hinges sheering away from stone. Then she screamed as what had once been the door slammed down upon the ground, sending spasms through her bruised and battered back muscles as the impact lifted her bodily off the floor and dumped her back on the broken ground.

Her voice echoed tellingly around the entire room. Tomo cut it off and tried to block out the feeling of her spasming back muscles as she rolled over one last time. She struggled to her hands and knees, every inch of her body complaining as she desperately tried to crawl away. Behind her the footsteps were coming closer and closer.

It wasn't working. She couldn't escape. Tomo tried to stumble to her feet, her final burst of strength carrying her a few feet away from the brutal messenger of death as she half ran, half crawled across the floor.

She stumbled to her knees again as the blades fell behind her, throwing up stone and debris that struck her in the back. Wincing in pain Tomo struggled towards the doors, crawling on her stomach now.

As she did so her hand closed around the hilt of the knife that had betrayed her in the dark. Tomo could have sworn she'd found it elsewhere in the room yet here it was waiting for her again. She instinctively grabbed it as she weakly picked herself up onto her hands and knees and threw herself to one side, the blades missing her by an inch in the dark as her terrifying assailant struck the ground where she'd been standing full force. If she'd been there one second longer Tomo would have been cut in half.

That didn't stop her from feeling the full effects of the impact. Tomo was flung around upon the shattered ground again and this time she couldn't recover. She lay there incapacitated, waiting for the final blow to come.

She listened as her dread pursuer made one final merciful mistake as it began to hammer the ground in front of her, one stride after another. If she'd maintained her course it would have easily caught her. Yet because she'd thrown herself away from its course it didn't find her. She lay there, barely conscious as it hammered a path to the door, each terrible, stone shattering crash taking it further and further away from her.

It came to the door, and there was a terrifying pause as Tomo waited in a mixture of hope and abject terror for the wielder of the two blades to leave.

Her blood turned to ice as she heard a cry that sounded vaguely human and yet was terribly not so. A strange, impossibly high-pitched scream echoed through the room, deafening her as her arms remained too weak and paralysed with fear to cover her ears. It slammed the door leading out of the shattered room outward and to the ground. Tomo heard one last terrible impact and another terrifying scream as wood splintered and glass shattered. The horror of the lobby stalked out the room, wandering deeper into the building as Tomo was left to lie there paralysed with pain and fear, immobilised as she waited for it to slowly move away.

It took a terrifying half minute for it to finish shuffling into the darkness. Tomo lay there quite still in the darkness as she began to process the terrifying experience. Nothing echoed through her head but the sound of the pounding blades as her ears rang, accompanying the pounding in her head.

It was a long time before Tomo could even move her arms. As she waited for some kind of strength to return, she prayed that she would never meet that terrible warden of the prison again. As her mind began to download the incomprehensible experience she began to tremble uncontrollably, incapable of movement not from weakness but because she could no longer control her muscles.

That was how she lay, too weak and scared to move, when the candles lit up around her.


	37. Reflection

Reflection

As the room lit up slowly around her Tomo battled to stay conscious.

It was too hard for a time to even move a muscle. Tomo was terribly aware that she was lying in the middle of a lit room; she knew that anything could come along and finish her off any second now. Yet she couldn't get her arms to respond.

Her lungs were the first things to obey her commands, however reluctantly. Tomo quietly began to cough, and then sputter, as she cleared the layers of noxious dust out of her system. It hurt to do it as her battered torso was jolted by every exhalation, yet the coughing continued to expel the irritating powder.

Tomo experienced what it was to be completely helpless during those moments, able to nothing but cough noisily on the floor. She couldn't even see what was going on around her as she nearly passed out from the pain from her accumulated wounds.

Her lungs never seemed to fully clear either. The irritation remained, her body too dehydrated to remove the layers of pulverised rock completely. Tomo struggled to breathe through the layer of chalk that had adhered itself to the walls of her dried windpipe. The dust was threatening to finish her off before anything more unnatural could find her.

Yet her body got enough oxygen to slowly begin to recover its higher processes. Tomo slowly began to move her left arm, slowly placing it beside her head even if she was too weak to actually use it to pick herself up. As the fear began to come back into focus she moved her right more urgently, pulling it up beside her. Still coughing away, she managed to lift her head slightly.

Tomo was desperate to do something, anything, to move away from where she was. Out in the middle of the room like this she was helpless. The immediate terror of avoiding blades in the dark was replaced by a growing dread, a fear of being in the open. Tomo was scared to look around, afraid that she would have to see the monster that was to be her final demise running down the corridors at her.

Yet look she did. Tomo picked her head up though it felt like a lead weight was lying on top of it. She stared around at the wreckage that surrounded her, the coughing stopped for a second as she strained her neck.

Tomo's assumption that the entire room would be made of stone was wrong. Far away from her, past the terrible rents in the concrete ground was a shattered wooden door, far taller than any adult. She stared in shock as she realised that it had been shattered into seven pieces.

The rest of the room was hardly any better off. Tomo herself was lying on broken ground where the force of the blow had left a great trench only a short distance beside her. Deep cracks ran away from where the ground had been displaced upwards. If she'd seen that kind of damage anywhere else she would have assumed some kind of machine had done it. Whatever had inflicted such terrible damage must have been incredibly strong and carrying… Tomo didn't want to think about what kind of weapon could cause such destruction.

That was all the strength Tomo had for the moment. She lay her head down again and the coughing resumed, more urgently and painfully this time as the reflex desperately tried to clear the remaining dust and protect her lungs. The swelling in her torso intensified and Tomo once again had to fight just to remain conscious. Her world dulled once more.

She must have lain there for minutes at a time, simply waiting for her strength to return. She began to panic as it seemed to fail to, wondering if she was just going to fade out on the ground. It took all her strength just to focus on not falling into a sleep that she would never wake up from. Tomo desperately wished that she had someone who could just pick her up and carry her away. She was in so much pain that she could barely focus on anything except the pangs of agony that were radiating out of the bruises on her chest.

It was impossible to tell if there was even anything broken; the bruising was so bad as to be indistinguishable from a fractured rib. Had an organ ruptured? Tomo supposed that she would have bled out by now if that had been the case. Even the tiny cut on her hand made her feel weaker and weaker, as if it were some mortal wound and not a miniscule injury that had barely penetrated the skin. Blood was so much more precious when you couldn't replace it anymore.

As she continued to lie there almost paralysed Tomo's thoughts turned to anger and self-recrimination. She bitterly commanded herself to get up and when that didn't work she asked herself futilely _why_ she didn't get up. She strained and struggled and wasted what strength had been built up again as she berated herself for her weakness.

She couldn't die like this! She needed to… she needed to…

She needed to what?

Tomo went limp and felt a wave of despair begin to roll over her as she began to sob, dry, tearless weeping that her body was barely strong enough to even sustain. The pain in her torso intensified from each shock from her gulping breaths as she cried weakly on the floor.

What _was_ the point? How would she ever find Chiyo again? Tomo's mind went blank as she tried to wrap her head round the enormity of the task she was setting herself.

Would she go straight to the mall? Which mall? Tomo realised bitterly and silently cursed Kimura's name as she realised that she'd not even been given the name of the shopping centre his daughter was supposed to be in.

Chiyo could be searching any one of the dozens that were in Tokyo. Tomo pictured her wandering alone, growing weaker and weaker from exhaustion and injury as the monsters began to close in. She would have no one to protect her, no one to pick her up and run away from the demons. They would take her so easily…

Then what? Tomo shivered miserably on the floor as she imagined Chiyo being dragged off to whatever horrifying end the demons had in store for her. Chiyo had injured one of their own. She'd be punished horribly for that. And that was assuming that they didn't just murder her.

Tomo realised with dread that that was where she was going to have to go. She would have to go to wherever the demons had come from and… somehow try to rescue Chiyo from their clutches.

Yet where had they come from?

Tomo had never read the journal that Chiyo had found in the torture room. She hadn't read about the demon's fear of the surface or their subterranean nature. She didn't in fact know anything about them, other than the fact that they were bloodthirsty and apparently lived off human misery.

Tomo lay in bewildered despair as she tried to grapple with the fact that she had truly hit a dead end. She had nothing to go on.

Then she remembered the bestiary.

It had said something about the demons weakening above ground. Tomo felt a tiny amount of hope shoot through her as she realised that the demons had to be subterranean in nature.

Then she realised the full implications of that fact.

They lived underground. They were _underneath the earth._ For all Tomo knew they could have been living there the entire time she was growing up, planning their invasion while she went around her daily business, cheerfully unaware of the apocalypse that was going to be unleashed on her.

Worse, they had taken _Tokyo._

Tomo might not have been the most academically minded student but she could grasp the scale of Tokyo city. The capital of Japan was a huge metropolis of 13 million people. The prefectures around, all within the city limits, comprised a further 9 million. Tomo only knew of the former figure but the fact remained that a gigantic, unimaginable number of people lived within the city. Every single one of them would have to be guarded, yet instead of giving her hope for a breakout and a sense of not being alone Tomo was instead filled with hopelessness.

A city of prisoners required an army to guard them. Tomo shook as she began to understand how large the demon invasion had to be. There had to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of demons all crawling around underneath the city.

It also made finding Chiyo utterly hopeless; a forlorn endeavour. How would she possibly find one little girl in that sea of forsaken humanity?

It wasn't possible. Chiyo was lost, and as that despairing recognition smashed through Tomo's mind another terrifying fact stared her starkly in the face.

_Thirteen million people._

Thirteen million people lay underneath the cold earth, each one of them trapped and at the mercy of the demons. Thirteen million scared and frightened souls huddled together in fear and misery as the monsters came to take them one by one. The wave of human tragedy crashed over Tomo as she comprehended the true extent of the catastrophe that she had been swept up in.

The dark cloud of despair continued to hang over Tomo but it was joined by a newer and far darker emotion.

Tomo had felt fear from the demons before. She'd felt anger and hatred for Izanama and his minions as she raged through the halls of Ieysu High desperately trying to save Chiyo.

Yet never in her life had she felt anything quite like the raw, overwhelming cauldron of bitter outrage, the sheer _hatred,_ which consumed her mind in that moment.

There were families, _children._ Generations of people huddling together in the darkness, terrified of what was to become of them. Tomo was lost in the overwhelming visions of pain and suffering that threatened to destroy millions of lives.

It was an overwhelming tidal wave of sorrowful empathy that for a moment pushed aside the darkness. Despite the bleakness of the revelation Tomo found herself filled with new purpose. Neither forlorn death- nor petty vengeance motivated her now. For the first time Tomo felt seized by something far greater than her own world.

She had to do something.

Tomo didn't know how she could possibly influence that world of misery and death that surely lay underneath the surface. She couldn't even begin to think about how to save it. It wasn't arrogance or any belief in success that motivated her silently rested arms and legs to begin to move again. Nor was it a simple desire for death. Tomo was motivated by the simple desire to do something, _anything,_ to stem the tide of human misery that she knew had to be going on beneath her.

She had nothing else. So Tomo attached herself to the one place, the one connection she still had to the rest of the world. In that moment she took up the banner of Tokyo city itself. Slowly, she began to rise.

It was not easy for her to do. Pain seemed to rack every movement as her bruised flesh complained. Her legs screamed at her as she pulled herself back onto her hands and knees. She nearly passed out from the effort of pulling herself upright.

Then the agonising climb began.

Tomo slowly began to force herself upright. She couldn't stand up, not all at once. Instead, she groaned in pain and tried not to pass out as she forced herself into a squat, huddled like that and trying not to black out from the pain. Several times she nearly rolled over but a quick intervention from her hands saved her from ending up on the floor again. Slowly, experimentally, she began to extend her legs.

The first time, Tomo simply ended up back where she was and almost tumbled over backwards again. The second time was more successful, but Tomo still found herself back in a half crouch, fear of falling keeping her down this time rather than actual weakness. She experienced a fear that most people don't experience until they are very old; the fear of being so weak that a simple fall could do her serious damage. Tomo stayed there with her legs half bent for some time, expecting to weaken and have to roll back onto the ground again.

Yet the fall never came.

Slowly, Tomo straightened up for her third and final attempt.

She could barely believe that she'd done it. She still felt weak and lightheaded and her mind was a cloud of pain. Yet she was standing under her own power once more. Tomo wavered for a few seconds, testing her balance as if she might topple over again, and then took an experimental step forward.

It worked. Her feet felt like leaden weights but she didn't seem to be at risk of toppling over anymore. Tomo withdrew the foot and surveyed the broken room once again.

It seemed even more forlorn and broken now that she actually looked around. Along the entire left hand side of the room ran massive cracks. As Tomo turned around she blankly observed the pulverised remains of the table, the wood smashed to splinters and sawdust that spread over that entire corner of the room. The great stone door lay shattered in three pieces upon the floor, cracks radiating out from around it as the void continued to be the point where all light ended, where the world seemed to end. It was as if some natural disaster had rent the earth and Tomo stared at the devastation as if it were a metaphor for the way her own world had been so completely blasted apart. Even the flickering candles on the walls seemed to only add to the melancholy of the scene.

Tomo's eye was drawn slowly rightward as she examined the only part of the room to avoid the destruction. As she examined the right hand side of the room, she saw something that wasn't quite as dismal as the rest of the world around her.

It was a pristine surface of polished glass, framed in a faded leaf gold frame. The mirror was untouched by the blows that had ravaged the rest of the room and seemed to sit there perfectly. Despite her fear of this unknown artefact Tomo couldn't look away. She felt drawn towards it by simple curiosity.

As she drew herself up in front of the mirror Tomo saw herself for the first time since she'd left the house yesterday.

She stared in dismay at her diminished form. The teenager was gone, replaced by the miniscule form of Tomo's nine year old self.

Even for a child Tomo looked frail. She wasn't short for her age but her limbs were thin and gangly. They looked like they could snap in the breeze or if she pushed too hard on something. She'd forgotten just how weak she'd been as a child. Tomo had easily been the weakest person in her class. She'd been quick, but that was all she'd had going for her physically.

At some point those muscles had swollen and she'd become stronger. For now however that strength had been robbed from her. Tomo realised just why she was feeling so weak. It wasn't just that she'd been made smaller but weaker as well. Her muscles simply couldn't support her injuries in the same way her teenage body could.

Tomo could also see the terrible injuries. Her face was barely recognisable under a patchwork of blue and black bruises that would have sent her teachers straight for the emergency lines to child services had she shown up like that to school. Where her shirt met her neck She could see dark blue patches running down towards her battered torso, slowly turning purple as the broken blood vessels were steadily patched up. A line was also barely visible, a nasty looking red cut that was plastered up with clotted blood. It was where she'd been torn open by her own mother and Tomo knew that that line extended all the way down to her pelvis. She could still feel it stinging, and the blood on her shirt still formed the sign of the cross.

Tomo tried to block out the terrible memories but it was futile. The sight of that terrible injury brought everything back. Yet it did something far worse than that.

For a few moments Tomo didn't really see anything. She stared out into her reflection blankly as she relived the terror not through her widened eyes but through her mind. Her arms were once again fastened at the wrists. Tomo was staring not at her reflection but at the knife coming down to tear across her flesh, her mother smiling serenely at her as she was cut. Tomo remembered every detail of the first cut, every searing moment and then, as the knife came down again…

Tomo snapped back, stumbling back from the mirror and covering her eyes as she hunched over, trying to control her hyperventilating lungs. She stared wide-eyed at the ground as the terror slowly began to fade…

She'd been there. She'd been back there.

For a few moments Tomo simply stood hunched over, trying to block out the fear and nausea that had come over her afresh. She wasn't even thinking about the danger she was in, or even her surroundings. Tomo could only think of her mother's face as she reassured her about the little cut, the little cut that would end her life entirely as her skin was stripped away from her skull.

As Tomo trembled there in the dark the memory slowly began to fade. With her dry skin cold and clammy, she straightened up, not daring to look in the mirror again for a few moments.

Eventually, Tomo forced herself to look at the mirror again. She forced herself to examine her own demented state.

Underneath the blood and alterations was a completely different person. Despite her youth and frailty Tomo couldn't see any trace of a schoolgirl in there anymore.

Instead what stared out at her was the face of a grim woman, a dour warrior with empty eyes. Underneath the clotted blood she could see a deformed nose that had been visibly displaced sideways. It would have been nauseating to look at just hours earlier but after everything she'd been through Tomo didn't even blink at it. It was painful and something that would slow her down. Yet it was no more to her than that.

Behind the bloodstains was a grim, taut expression. The muscles of her face were permanently drawn into a grimace, unmoving and unresponsive to outside stimuli. As Tomo stared at the terrible expression she realised that she couldn't imagine ever being the same person again. Her experiences had forever changed her into a person she didn't want to be.

Yet the woman in front of her was a world away from the child Tomo had been at age nine. Despite everything she was glad for that difference.

Tomo had not liked herself at age nine. In those four disastrous years in school before she'd finally left she'd had all of the annoying and obnoxious traits of her older years. Yet those traits were amplified by her short temper and thin skin. The bullies had quickly realised she was easy to bait and Tomo's social skills were so poor that there was almost no one to come to her defence. Provoking her into loud and often humiliating outbursts soon became a school sport.

The one person who had come to Tomo's rescue was now a shambling corpse that terrified her simply to recall. Yomi had stood up for Tomo when no one else would.

Tomo had never told Yomi how much that meant to her…

Until that moment Tomo had been able to keep herself stable. She'd been able to block the grief and pain out, to keep the ghosts that haunted her at bay.

She could hold it back no longer. As she stared into the mirror, the gaping hole that Yomi had left behind began to implode inwards as she covered her face and broke down into sobs. It only took a moment of remembering a time when she'd been unusually reliant on Yomi to bring crashing home the enormity of her loss.

For Tomo Yomi was canonised in that moment. She was the one who had always been strong, who had always known what to do, the one who was level-headed and calm. As much as Tomo boasted it was always Yomi who could actually take care of a crisis and Tomo shamefully admitted to herself that she'd been praying that Yomi would know what to do.

For a few terrible moments Tomo focussed all her hatred and anger inwards as she realised she'd secretly been hoping that Yomi could have taken on her burden. That she could have taken charge and led them out of the city to safety. Because Tomo couldn't cope with the pain anymore…

As she cried into her hands she reflected on how she'd been crumbling ever since she'd left the school. It had taken everything she'd had and more just to keep herself together, to maintain some kind of sanity in the face of the monsters she'd found there. Tomo had been praying for a relief, hoping against hope that someone else could take control of the terrifying situation for her.

Even if it was just her sick friend. Because Tomo was too weak to cope…

Or at least, that was Tomo's thought processes as she broke down. She didn't think about the fact that she was placing Yomi on a pedestal. That Yomi had her own insecurities and irrationalities, that she would have been just as scared and traumatised as Tomo would have been. Tomo dismissed her own triumphs, the sacrifices she'd made, as grief overwhelmed her. The loss of her friend overwhelmed what little self-confidence and resolve she had as the guilt of failure crashed down on her like a falling sky. Tomo's vital energy, the force she needed to stay alive in that terrible situation, was drained out of her and contained uselessly within a corpse.

Tomo didn't even consider that her attempt to save her friend had been sincere and that she'd had no intention of abandoning Chiyo or leaving everything up to Yomi. The guilt consumed everything, and for a few minutes Tomo was left as paralysed as she'd been on the ground, not from weakness and physical pain but from emotional anguish as a mixture of grief and trauma played with one another within her mind.

Eventually, the racking sobs began to die down. But they took away Tomo's newfound resolve with them.

Tomo must have spent a good quarter of an hour in that room by now. Slowly, she straightened up and looked in the mirror one last time as she observed the miserable expression on her face, the hardened warrior that had burned with anger just a few minutes ago gone. That was a façade she had kept up for her own benefit as much as Chiyo's. But she couldn't maintain it any longer.

That wasn't Tomo. She wasn't a soldier, some vengeful ronin seeking to avenge her fallen kin. Those were the clothes she'd been dressed in but it wasn't her.

But Tomo was having increasing trouble knowing who she was at all anymore.

For a long time she dwelt on that loss of identity, that loss of connection with the rest of the world. The feelings of isolation threatened to crash over her again, to bring her to her knees and weigh her down so that this time she would never get up.

Somehow, Tomo kept those lonely feelings at bay as she turned to leave. It was time to go. She would have to find something else to define who she was.

Or at least, she would have turned away. If she hadn't noticed one more detail in the mirror.

One more detail that caught Tomo's eye and terrified her more than anything else she'd seen there.

She was still holding the knife. And now that it wasn't dark Tomo could see that it was the same bloodsoaked knife she'd used to slay her own parents.

Tomo opened her hand in shock, expecting the horrid weapon to drop to the ground as she prepared to turn and leave the room as fast as she could.

Yet it wouldn't drop. And something else was forming in the mirror.


	38. Paralysis

Paralysis

Tomo tried desperately to get her frozen legs to respond as the mirror went dark in front of her.

She couldn't move! The glass surface gradually went dark, Tomo's reflection disappearing into the gloom. As she desperately shook her arm to try to dislodge the murderous blade which had somehow bound itself to her the mirror turned as black as pitch.

The void she was left staring into was frighteningly akin to the one outside the door. Unable to do anything else Tomo was forced to wait in dread anticipation for what was to come, still clutching the reminder of her horrifying deed. For too long she was left in oppressive silence.

Then the first crack began to appear.

She watched as a message was slowly carved out into the glass, cringing as a sound like nails down a chalkboard rang throughout the room and away down the corridors. She covered her ears, nearly cutting herself with the knife as she tried to block out the screeching.

She watched with a mixed sensation of fear and outrage as her name was carved out upon the glass.

"_Hello Tomo."_

That would never stop being creepy. No one in this bizarre and violent world should know who she was and a shiver went through her spine as she waited for the message to continue. It was as if her very soul was being violated.

Slowly, as noisily as before, the message erased itself. Tomo watched as the glass sealed itself up, no longer shocked by such phenomena as she waited in scared resignation for the next line to be written.

It took too long and all the while she anticipated the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor towards her. The message once again began to scratch its way into the pristine darkness.

"_Are You A Good Person?"_

Tomo read the message blankly. She didn't know the answer to that anymore. The opaque mirror began to light up again, returning to normal. Tomo seemed to examine her soul as much as her appearance as she stared at her reflection once more.

She'd _tried._ Tomo had tried to save Chiyo. She'd tried to save Yomi from the house.

It wasn't her fault that everything had gone so horribly wrong…

Yet the guilt still held sway over her. The memory of the knife tearing through her father's throat, of the way her mother's neck muscles had spasmed as she'd choked her to death, these images haunted her.

Had they been her parents? The more Tomo's confused and guilt-ridden mind reflected on it the more it seemed like a macabre puppet show. The way the room had changed… the way those horrid corpses had come back to life… how could any of it be real?

Was _this_ real?

A tiny glimmer of hope began to come back to Tomo as she began to believe that maybe she was living an illusion. That it was a horrifying, dangerous illusion, but an illusion.

Maybe she hadn't murdered her parents after all. Maybe they were still alive.

Maybe Yomi was still alive.

That didn't change the grief and fear Tomo felt. She had no way of knowing if her world was real or not and her senses demanded that she believe in what she was seeing, if only to avoid going mad.

The unanswered question in her mind was whether or not she should be alive.

When she'd swung the knife, Tomo had put her father's life ahead of her own. He'd been insane, not responsible for his actions. She had killed him and then strangled her mother to death after just to save her own hide. How could she possibly justify that to herself?

Tomo tried to tell herself that she'd meant to wound him. She told herself that she'd needed to save Yomi. Yet Yomi hadn't been in her head as she'd desperately tried to stave off the maniac who had replaced her father.

She'd been so afraid of dying that she had been willing to murder her family to save herself. The guilt and shame of that act would stain her conscience forever. Tomo shook her head miserably.

She couldn't call herself a good person. Not after what she'd done…

The mirror seemed to digest that information slowly, the lines fading away gradually with a less harsh sound. Tomo felt like it was silently judging her, marking her response and filing it away for later reference. As the lines erased themselves she shook slightly, feeling horribly exposed and vulnerable as her legs continued to disobey her commands. It was the feeling of utter powerlessness that was most horrible.

The writing began to form again, another question forming. A terrible sense of foreboding hung off of it.

"_Are You Ready To Proceed?"_

Tomo nodded even as she dreaded what was to come. Whatever the thing behind the mirror had planned to her it was unlikely to be in her interests. Yet the thing she was most afraid of in that moment was having to stay in front of that mirror any longer, being judged by it silently while terrible dangers lurked in the shadows. It was better to be moving, acting, doing _anything_ other than standing there.

She waited as the writing began to recede again, the sound as paralysing as ever. Tomo hoped that it would let her go, let her get on with whatever trials this world had for her. Above all, she wanted it to stop asking her questions.

Yet when the text formed, it was with yet another question. And this time, Tomo truly had no answer, because she was too busy trembling with fear as she absorbed the implications.

"_To Proceed Will Kill Another. To Stay Will Mean Your End."_

_Do You Wish To Still Wish To Persevere?"_

For a long time Tomo simply stared at the words as if they might somehow change their meaning.

She began to tremble as she tried to get her head to move, her eyes blinking furiously as she began to panic. The sensation of being trapped threatened to overwhelm her; she was prepared to do anything, say anything if it got her away from this mirror. What was she going to do?

Her survival had already cost her parents their lives. Tomo didn't know if she could take causing another death. Yet despite everything she had been through she was still gripped by a powerful desire to stay alive. When presented with the bleak choice between life and death she still desperately wanted life.

For a long time Tomo stood there paralysed, trying to make justifications and excuses for why she had to live, why she had to survive. She had people she still needed to save. It was _her,_ not this random stranger, who deserved life. All the while she stared at the words as if doing so might change their dreadful meaning.

She knew what the right answer was. Yet for a long time she simply stood there stock still, putting it off.

_To proceed will kill another…_

Tomo stared at the ground in despair. She closed her eyes, clenching them shut in anticipation as she slowly shook her head from side to side.

She waited for the mirror to respond in terrible anticipation.

Yet there was no response. The writing remained unchanged, the question still there, taunting her.

Dread filled Tomo's heart as she believed that her answer had been honoured in the most succinct manner possible.

She still couldn't move… and now she was going to be left to die in this place, waiting for the thing with the blades to come back.

Thirty seconds and nothing. Tomo's face contorted, even if no tears could be produce. A minute and she was sobbing quietly in despair.

The worst part was waiting. She was waiting for her executioner to come back. Would he ever come back?

Would she be left here to starve to death?

Tomo began to hyperventilate as she imagined herself standing here years later, a dessicated husk standing forever in front of a mirror asking her that same fatal question. For her _anything_ would have been better than this. Being unable to move, unable to escape as her body slowly shut down, was the worst punishment imaginable.

Yet the question was still there. It was beckoning her to make another choice… waiting for her to weaken.

Tomo began to feel anger rising in her throat, anger that displaced some of the fear and despair. This thing was playing with her. She wouldn't give her tormentor the satisfaction of watching her break down simply from the fear of being trapped and unable to move. She realised that she was afraid of the immobilisation itself. Not being able to move was terrifying for her.

Slowly, she forced herself to calm down. It didn't help her situation but at least she wasn't panicking anymore.

It had been bad enough making the decision. The offered way out, easy to take yet if she could live with herself after, made it murderous. Tomo tried to fight back the fear of waiting as time wore on.

The minutes went slowly by, untracked by her mind. Her legs began to feel stiff from standing in one place for so long. Yet Tomo kept her head immobilised. She was determined not to capitulate, yet she was also too afraid to say no out loud and confirm the terrible decision. It became easier to simply wait there, not shifting from the spot. Somehow it was easier to wait for death to come when you have a way out in front of you.

It gave her some last fleeting semblance of control.

Yet as time wore on the fear crept up on her. She began to rationalise asking the mirror to let her go, come up with more desperate reasons for surviving.

If she died then wouldn't that mean her parents had died for nothing? Tomo hated herself for thinking that, yet the idea of dying anyway after killing her family to save herself somehow made the crime so much worse. She really would have been better just letting them kill her.

She didn't deserve to die. Hadn't she tried? Hadn't she given Chiyo a chance? It wasn't her fault she'd been attacked. She'd tried to save Yomi, even when she could maybe have fled the house.

She wanted to live. The urge to nod her head, to give in and just let the future take its course was becoming overwhelming. She only had the mirror's word on what would happen anyway. Maybe she could stop it. Maybe she could save that person anyway.

But the mirror had _promised_ her that someone else would die.

The pressure broke. Slowly, Tomo opened her mouth. She closed her eyes…

…and shook her head a second time.

"No." she said. "No, I don't want to go."

It was a lie. Yet she wasn't willing to sacrifice someone else to save herself. Tomo was left standing miserably in front of the mirror, waiting for the words to fade away, her choice confirmed.

After a few seconds they didn't. Tomo looked up towards the ceiling in exasperation. Would this thing put her out of her misery already? Take away the choice, away the temptation! Stop torturing her with the decision and get it over with!

It was awful enough knowing she was going to die in a place like this, alone and with no one to say goodbye to. But to have to do it with this cop out constantly hanging in front of her was unbearable. Tomo began to speak, her voice rising.

"I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to let you win! Just leave me alone!"

Tomo yelled.

"Let me die!"

The sound ricocheted off the walls, ringing down the corridors and echoing before ominously fading into the darkness. Tomo was aware that she was breathing heavily, her skin cold and clammy as she stood there with her eyes scrunched closed.

Slowly, her rage began to be replaced by mortal fear as she opened her eyes and looked to her left down the corridor.

There was nothing but murky darkness there. Tomo turned her head back to the mirror.

The writing had disappeared.

And she still couldn't move.

A mixture of despair and warm relief swept over Tomo as she realised that that was it. The choice wasn't hers to make anymore.

Would it be painless? Would she at least drift into unconsciousness, never to wake up again? Tomo was already feeling so weak that it was an effort to not hunch over her immobilised legs. Surely it wouldn't be painless, growing weaker and weaker yet unable to bend down as she slowly lost consciousness. She'd condemned herself to a horrible, horrible death.

The worst part was that she would never know if it had made any difference or not. If any of it had made any difference. Tomo would never know if she still had parents, if it had all been a horrifying illusion. She would never know if Chiyo had escaped or if she'd wound up dead or tortured to madness in some dark tunnel underneath the city. She wouldn't even know if the individual she'd just given up her last vestiges of hope for would even make it out of the city or not.

Had she redeemed herself? Or was this simply giving up? She only had the mirror's word that she had done anything other than walk into a hideous trap. Tomo had spent the entire day trying not to follow instructions that were designed to ensnare her. Yet how could she keep resisting?

How could anyone keep resisting when the world around had such power over her? Whatever was behind this mirror called all the shots. Tomo had been forced to follow the scenario it set for her.

Time went by. Tomo didn't know if it was five minutes or fifteen. She was left with her thoughts. Slowly, the feelings of fear and isolation began to build again.

She didn't want to die. Tomo began to sob, the waiting becoming unbearable again as hideous reality began to stare her in the face. As her legs began to ache from the lack of movement it really sunk in how horrible this death was going to be.

And she'd thrown away her only lifeline.

She waited there miserably in silence, cold and growing weaker by the second. Her body demanded movement that she couldn't provide. It must have been forty minutes she'd spent in this room now. Maybe even an hour.

It was just as Tomo was about to either break down and beg for mercy, or scream at the top of her lungs and bring something running towards her to finish her off, when the mirror shattered.

Bits of broken glass spun out onto the floor towards Tomo's bare feet as she jumped back with a scream. In shock from the sudden control of her legs she tumbled backwards and onto her backside, looking on in shock as the frame of the mirror broke apart as well, falling to the floor in a heap in front of her.

It took a moment for her to recover from the sudden shock. Shakily, she got to her feet.

Whatever test the mirror had been setting her she had apparently passed it. Tomo stared at the remains hauntingly for a moment as she turned to leave.

The knife still wouldn't drop from her hand. She suspected it would probably follow her as long as she was in this strange world. It would always remind her of her guilt, her great failure. Tomo hated the cruel object, the long double-sided blade with the crude brass hilt. It was an ugly weapon, a tool for a murderer. She tried to forgive herself for what she'd done, what that weapon had done, but she couldn't.

The pain was still so close.

Tomo stared at the doorway where the thing with the blades had stalked off. It was the only exit from the room and she had no choice but to follow it into the pitch black corridor beyond. Reluctantly, she made her way towards the doors, picking up a candle to light her way as she did so.

It was not nearly as reassuring having a candle in the dark. The flames did little to light up the hallway around her and Tomo had the feeling it was making her a target rather than providing her with fair warning. As she paced through the gloom she anticipated the sound of footsteps running towards her. She would be seen before she saw anything through this gloom and she suddenly understood the massive advantage she'd had in the school. It was scary being on the other side of it.

Yet she was also afraid to douse it. It was her only light in these gloomy surroundings and it was already a proven fact that there were other dangers in these halls besides the bladed horror. Tomo wanted to see any traps before she walked into them.

The corridor was large, large enough for Tomo to be unable to see the roof. It was, however, narrow, and Tomo suddenly felt very claustrophobic. There would be no way to hide from anything here and if she met something coming the other way she would have to fight it.

If she couldn't fight it she was dead.

The passageway ended in a junction leading left or right. Tomo had no way of knowing which way was the correct way, so after listening around the corner for a few seconds, she turned right, making a wild guess that was as good as the other course of action available to her. She did, however, take careful note of her decision, just in case she had to make her way back.

This passageway here was wider, but still not wide enough to feel comfortable or open. As Tomo walked, she realised that it was lined with row upon row of stone boxes. They were large enough to fit her if she needed to hide suddenly.

That was if, of course, she wasn't seen first. The urge to extinguish the candle came back to her.

She continued down the corridors, trying futilely to maintain a sense of roughly how far she'd travelled down the featureless passageway.

Then she heard a yell.

She froze, expecting to hear charging footsteps. Yet it wasn't a cry of anger. Tomo began to march down the corridor as fast as she could manage as she realised that it had been a cry for help.

The cries became more distinct. Tomo was given a fresh sense of urgency as she realised that the voice was that of a small boy. She hastened, ignoring her already complaining lungs and torso as she broke into a run.

The distance closed and the shouts became distinct. All too soon Tomo could see the source of the cries.

It was a cage suspended just above her height from the ceiling high above. Trapped inside was a child her age.

That child was now looking at Tomo in astonishment, his fear washed away for a minute by the shock of recognition. Tomo stared back.

The boy in front of her wasn't a stranger. Tomo had seen him before.

His name was Ichiro, and he'd been Tomo's classmate back in Azure Wings Primary School.

He should also have been sixteen years old by now.


	39. Indictment

Indictment

"_Tomo?"_

Ichiro's voice was filled with disbelief as Tomo rushed towards her imprisoned classmate.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice rising with new fear for her classmate as the spectre of losing someone else she knew rose, even if it was an acquaintance. This was the last place that Tomo had wanted to find one of her classmates and it was reflected within her already tumultuous sea of negative emotions.

Ichiro, for his part, was shaking, his face a picture of near mindless terror. Tomo didn't know how long he'd been stranded here in the dark but it had obviously been a terrifying experience.

At least he didn't seem injured however, which was more than Tomo could say for herself. Ichiro stared mortified at the bloody mess on Tomo's face.

"What happened to you?" he asked, his voice softening to a whisper as Tomo self-consciously felt him staring at her injuries.

She didn't want to address that. The last thing she wanted to talk about was the nightmare she'd endured receiving the hideous blotches that covered her face. She ducked her head to hide the horrid wounds and tried to suppress the fresh wave of guilt that surged within her.

"Tomo?" Ichiro asked again, his voice softer this time through his fear as he saw Tomo struggling with her emotions. Despite her efforts her expression contorted against her will, and her voice was choked with tears her eyes couldn't produce when she raised her head to speak again.

"Why are you here?"

The heavy despair that weighed in Tomo's voice as she stared up desolately had a visible impact on Ichiro. His fear seemed to visibly die down and melt away, being replaced by a soberer yet no less grim expression as he spoke in a whisper.

"I don't know." he said, voice still quavering with fear and confusion even if the terror of before had been subdued by his visible pity and concern for Tomo. "I was on my way to home when suddenly…"

Ichiro fell silent for a second, trying to articulate his own terrifying experiences properly. The grimace that came onto his face told Tomo that this was obviously a difficult recollection.

Yet time wasn't on Tomo's side and she looked around herself nervously. If that monster came back Ichiro was helpless like this. The rusted metal of the cage would do nothing to protect him from those massive blades.

That was to say nothing of the terror that Tomo still felt for herself. She was just about to cut him off in fear when Ichiro continued his story.

"I don't know what happened. I was sitting in class, waiting for homeroom to start when I was suddenly taken to this… pit underground."

Ichiro's eyes were wide with fear, and his shaking got worse as he recounted his ordeal. Tomo had to force herself to maintain eye contact as those terrified eyes stared at her from outside the bars, even as she tried to resist the urge to nervously glance around her.

"There must have been a thousand of us in there, all huddled together. Then these things swept down from the air and began to carry us off! There were thousands of the things!"

"Did you see anyone you knew?" Tomo asked. She still had some hope that maybe if the others had been taken they were at least together. She desperately hoped that Osaka at least wasn't alone and had Sakaki to look after her.

Yet that hope slid away as Ichiro shook his head, leaving Tomo in no doubt as to the isolation of her friends. They would be as alone and scared as she was.

"I don't think so. I was crying out like everyone else, searching for my classmates. Tomo, those things were monsters!" he cried, shaking from the terrifying recollection and looking at Tomo as if she'd never believe him. Some slight reassurance came onto his face as she grimly nodded her head, a knowing expression on her face that spoke volumes about her experiences.

"I know. I've seen them. They chased me and a friend round my school for hours. We barely got out alive." she recounted, in fear and partially in disbelief that she'd actually survived that nightmare.

From the astonished expression on Ichiro's face he was clearly finding it hard to believe himself.

"You escaped from those things?" he gasped.

A tiny amount of self-confidence came back into Tomo as she looked at the stunned expression on Ichiro's face.

"It certainly wasn't easy." she admitted, a hint of a grin coming onto her face as she remembered how wonderful it had felt to be free of that horrible building, to walk out of it into the air with Chiyo at her side. The world had seemed so much more hopeful in that moment, even if the knowledge that Yomi was in danger had been hanging over her head.

Then her face fell again as she remembered how costly that victory had been, and how short-lived it was. The catastrophes and the evidence of overwhelming odds had mounted up constantly after. Now it hardly seemed like an achievement, or even a good thing. If she'd died maybe her parents would have been…

It had been a victory, and seeing Ichiro's astonished expression rekindled something in Tomo as she suddenly gained some perspective on just how much she'd overcome that day. It was enough to momentarily cut through the grief and terror, and her mind cleared just enough for her to begin to express the fragmented memories of what had happened to her that day.

"We managed to get out by the backdoor. I was trying to get back home to rescue…" Tomo hung her head again as she was immediately overcome by the weight of her experiences. Recounting what had happened was just too much for her.

"I was trying to rescue a friend." was all she managed.

There was a very uncomfortable silence as Tomo hid her face from Ichiro's pitying expression. It was very clear from the way she hid her face how well her attempt to save that friend had gone, and for a very long time neither of them spoke.

When Tomo eventually continued her story her voice was barely audible.

"Everything went wrong." she whispered, as if explaining it to herself as much as to Ichiro. "Yomi was already dead. My parents were there but they were…"

"Yomi's dead?"

Tomo looked up to see the astounded look on Ichiro's face. Somehow, the expression just made everything worse. She quickly looked away, beginning to sob.

Ichiro's face softened into a look of pure pitty as he looked on with sympathy. For a long time all Tomo could do was sob.

After a long pause she forced out the horrible confession.

"I killed my parents."

Ichiro's sympathetic expression was warped with pure horror as Tomo let her hand fall away from her face and stared blankly down the corridors, momentarily lost in a grief-filled haze. The lost look in her eyes, the confusion and the doubt, it was all laid bare as she tried to make sense of the madness of the past few hours. Yet there was realisation there, and desperately needed context.

"I was trying to save Yomi." she began, quietly. "I didn't know she was already dead. My father was attacking me with a tyre iron. I had a knife so I…"

"Tomo…" Ichiro tried to interject

"I cut his throat out." she said, her voice rising slightly as she trembled with fear and confliction, her hand covering her mouth as she said the terrible words and her eyes narrowing with sorrow and pain. "I cut his throat out and watched him bleed out onto the floor." she continued, her voice breaking as she looked away. "Then my mother attacked too… and I had to choke her."

Any attempt Ichiro might have tried to make to calm her down or reassure her was swept away at the double murder.

"I heard her neck snap!" Tomo cried, her breaths coming in short gasps even if the tears wouldn't come. The self-hatred in her voice in that moment could have corroded the iron bars of the cage. Ichiro was left staring at her in stunned astonishment as she buried her face in one of her hands.

"Why?" was all he could manage to say.

Ichiro had obviously meant to ask why her parents had attacked her. Yet to Tomo in that moment the question had other dimensions to it that were as damning as they were numerous. She let her hand fall to her side as she stared into space desolately.

"I was scared." she admitted. "I didn't want to die. I was so desperate to save Yomi that I stopped thinking about what was going to happen next. Then I was so scared that I just… I felt the knife in my hand and I just… I just…"

"Tomo!"

Ichiro's yell momentarily snapped Tomo out of her grief-filled daze and forced her to focus again. He could see her beginning to lose control.

Slowly, as her head turned to face him, shock breaking through the shimmering grief in her eyes for a second, he began to speak, slowly, but with as much certainty as he could manage with his child's voice.

"Tomo, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. You were defending yourself."

"But it should have been me!" Tomo exclaimed, her voice strained with grief and internalised anger. "My parents didn't…"

"You were defending yourself and your friend." Ichiro reminded her, trying to focus the weeping girl in front of her on the reality of what had happened and not on her grief-warped version of events. "And someone else too! Your other friend, is she alright?" he asked urgently. "How did you end up here?"

"I don't know where she is." Tomo said miserably. "I went upstairs" she continued "and there… there I saw it… I saw…"

Tomo fell silent as her voice faded away from a high pitched crescendo. The dead look in her eyes had come back and she was back to staring numbly into space, her expression not unalike the stunned expression on Chiyo's face when she'd woken up from fainting in the bloodstained corridors. Ichiro urgently tried to get her to focus again. He needed to know.

"Tomo, what happened next?" he asked firmly.

Ichiro's voice was as soft as he could manage, yet Tomo still closed her eyes and turned her head away in disgust.

"It was like she'd been dead for… a thousand years. The whole room was made of stone, like it was some kind of crypt."

Tomo paused for a second as she built up for the next part.

"Then everything came back to life."

Ichiro's face curled up in fear, but also disbelief, as if he couldn't quite… no, because he didn't want to believe what he was hearing.

"Tomo, are you saying…"

She nodded.

"I ran, and… I don't know what happened next. I tried to get to the door. When I opened it there was a void. Then something touched my shoulder and…"

Tomo paused.

"I passed out, and woke up here. And that's how I got here." She completed quietly, her voice emptied of emotion and all energy. It was like she was explaining why she was in prison to a fellow inmate.

Silence followed. Tomo's head was a maze of conflicting and confusing emotions, yet somehow her head seemed slightly clearer as she put everything into order in her head. It had been slightly purifying to speak to someone else about what had happened, yet it was still so much to handle. Grief and guilt still hung over her like a cloud, undiminished yet slightly easier to deal with now that she'd had time to reflect.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Ichiro had stretched a hand out of the bars and shaken her reassuringly.

Tomo didn't have any emotional reserves left to acknowledge the gesture. She simply stared off to one side, unresponsive.

"You didn't finish telling me what happened to you." she observed silently.

"They took our clothes and herded us into cages." Ichiro explained. "Then after a few hours these… hideous creatures came for me. Their leader said they needed me for something."

"For what?" Tomo asked, her face turning towards him again, anxious for information despite herself.

"I don't know. All I know is that they marched me through this maze of tunnels for what must have been hours. All the time, going down."

Ichiro paused for a moment before he went on, seemingly wrestling with his own preoccupations. Tomo was beginning to regret asking him about it.

Yet she needed to know. Ichiro continued, and this time horror was in his voice as it quietened.

"As I went down… I began to hear screams from some of the tunnels. Then they forced me into this chamber and… Tomo, it was horrible."

Tomo listened on in growing dread as Ichiro's face contorted with fear again.

"They were torturing people Tomo. Hundreds of them. They forced me to walk through one of the chambers. I… I saw a woman without…"

"Ichiro…"

This was what Tomo had been dreading; news of what was going on below. It sounded like they weren't just cutting people anymore. She began to wonder how many people had already been hurt, how many had already been permanently mutilated, or driven mad by the demons. She spoke softly, trying to get Ichiro to come down from the increasingly hysterical state he was in.

The same question that had plagued both her and Chiyo echoed through her head once more. Why were they doing this?

Ichiro slowly began to come down from the terror that had flashed through his eyes. He took a long time, yet he seemed calmer, as if he had been allowed to skip the worst part of a story. He continued urgently, trying to get the horrid tale over with yet glad that part was done with.

As he went on however, his expression changed. It was as if he'd realised something, something that weighed on his mind.

"They took me to a chamber with… Tomo, listen to me, I don't know what this means but…"

There was something about the way Ichiro was looking at her that made Tomo feel extremely uncomfortable. The confusion there was mixed in with some kind of recognition, as if he was only just putting the pieces of a puzzle together inside his head.

"Tomo, the rest of the class was there. From Azure Wings."

Tomo stared in confusion.

"But why would they bring you all together like that? " she asked, even though a horrible suspicion was beginning to form in her head.

"That's just it. Tomo… it wasn't the whole class. Just the people from year four!"

Tomo's eyes widened in hideous realisation, and a cold feeling of dread crept over her as she put together the implications. She heard Ichiro confirm her suspicions yet her mind was barely focussed on his voice anymore. Tomo had already put two and two together.

Year four. That had been a turning point in Tomo's life, and a fork in the road that she'd thought she'd never have to return to. It was supposed to be just an unpleasant memory for her, a recollection of an environment which she'd never really been happy in, but which she'd eventually escaped from. Not a big deal, just somewhere she hadn't belonged to.

Now it had come crashing back into her life in the worst possible way.

"Tomo… that was the year you left school!"


End file.
