Corpse Party: Redemption

Why Only Me?

"You're really good at this."

"I learn quickly," I lied. Had he had any idea that the real reason I knew what I was doing was because I'd had quite a bit of experience, we probably wouldn't be here right now.

I wasn't really a whore, but I wasn't exactly hard to get with either. Of course, the only ones who knew that were the ones I'd been with. Each of those times had been a one-time thing with a guy and none of them knew about any of the others. I'd never done anything with the same guy more than one time, except for one.

He'd been a good friend of mine who'd been pretty crazy about a girl that he didn't think he had any chance with. He was ok with that, because he'd had me to keep him company, and no one had to know anything about it.

This time, however, was different. I had feelings for Yoshiki.

Now here we were, finally I was getting what I wanted.

The fun didn't last long. Nearby the door opened and we both froze as Ayumi walked in. I'd known Yoshiki had feelings for her, but he was convinced she was interested in Satoshi. Personally, I had no clue why anyone would be, but apparently, I'm not much of an expert on the whole "love and relationships" thing.

She had a horrified look on her face and without a word, turned and ran out the door and down the hallway. Normally, I wouldn't have cared, but Yoshiki took off after her, leaving me alone in the empty room.

For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to think of my lost friend. Sakutaro Morishige. He'd disappeared off the face of the earth one day and no one seemed to remember him at all. It made no sense at all. Had he just been a dream? No, he couldn't have. He was the only memory I'd really had. He just had to be real, right?

"I wish you were here Sakutaro," I whispered into the nothingness. "I'm so lost without you."

When I'd met him, I'd had no memory, no family, nothing. I had been lying unconscious on the ground and he'd tripped over me. When he'd managed to wake me, I had no idea where I was. The only thing I could remember was my first name.

From that day on, we'd been the closest of friends. He'd even been the first boy I'd ever kissed. I'd never really had any romantic feelings for him, but that was fine for both of us. It gave us both a release from our stress. He even had feelings for someone else, a girl I couldn't even remember now.

"How can you remember him? You're not supposed to," said a voice from beside me.

"He was the only memory I have," I said, turning to see a young girl standing before me. She looked just like a much younger me, though I guess that's probably just a coincidence. "Before I knew him, I had no memory at all."

"You... really care about him, don't you?" she asked, a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Why can't anyone else remember?"

"Satoshi and Yuka Mochida, Naomi Nakashima, Ayumi Shinozaki, Yoshiki Kishinuma, Seiko Shinohara, Mayu Suzumoto, Yui Shishido and Sakutaro Morishige," she said calmly. While I couldn't remember some of them, I could feel a stirring in my mind, like it was there but I couldn't quite reach it. "They performed a special charm and were transported to Heavenly Host Elementary. Those that died are the ones you cannot remember. Those who survived retain their memory, though part of them longs to forget the things they saw there."

"There... there isn't any way to bring them back?" I asked, though I already had a pretty good idea what she'd say.

She started to say no but then stopped. The look on her face told me that she hadn't even thought of it. "There may be a way..." she said, more to herself than to me. "I wonder...."

"Whatever I can do to bring them back, I'll do it!" I begged.

"Even if you had to give your own life, would you still do it?"

I hesitated before I realized that even if it came down to that, it wouldn't stop me. "Yes. I'd bring every one of them back if they wished it. Even if..." There was no need to say the rest, the girl already knew.

"In Heavenly Host," she began as if she were attempting to talk me out of it, "when you die, you will feel the pain of your death for all eternity. If truly wish to save them, you will have to go there yourself and feel the pain of their deaths. You will still risk everything for them? Even for those whose names you've never known?"

That last part caught my attention more than the rest. Names I'd never known? Did that mean there were others who had been trapped inside that place like Sakutaro and his friends? "There are others besides the ones who were once here at Kisaragi?" I'd only been thinking out loud, but the girl took it as a sign that I was going to change my mind.

"I see. Only your friends mean anything to you," she said, almost taunting me.

"I'll do it," I stated definitively. "Anything it takes, I'll do it. I'll save every one of them if there's a way."

"You truly mean that?"

"If I can save even just one of them, I could die in peace."

"So, you'll go to Heavenly Host right now and bring back the countless people who've suffered and died there?"

"Yes." It was just one little word, but I felt so powerful as I said it.

"Then I will help you," she said, finally smiling as she walked up towards me. As she moved closer, her true form was revealed. Really, it was just the same except she was transparent and blue. She was a ghost. "Together we will undo what damage I've done to those innocent souls."

"Who are you?" I questioned, just now realizing she'd never said her name.

"Sayuri Hoshikawa," she said, revealing to me my full name, "my name is Sachiko Shinozaki."