Corpse Party: Killing Harmony

Inside Out

Iruma yelped as she collided with the floor, her foot caught on an unidentified object. She turned and spotted a small antique doll with a red dress and hat. Snatching it, Iruma glared at the toy as if it purposefully tripped her and she prepared to throw it against a wall. Before she could, a high-pitched robotic voice began speaking. It grated Iruma's ears. "Those children were killed so brutally. They did not deserve it. It was not intentional, I was scared too. I am so sorry; I am so sorry; so very sorry. I am actually a good person. I am so sorry; I am so sorry; so very sorry."

The blonde hummed and softened her grip. Maybe the doll belonged to the killer, based on the words it spoke. A doll wouldn't have those sentences pre-programmed into it. Ouma huffed and narrowed his violet eyes. "Isn't it pissing you off? It's just playing around and saying what we want to hear!"

"I am so sorry; I am so sorry; so very sorry," the doll repeated. Ouma sneered and snatched the doll. He prepared to chuck it but Iruma jumped up and grabbed his cocked arm.

She frowned at him. "What if it's repentance, you dumbass?!" Ouma stared at her for a few moments, arm still tense and ready to throw before he sighed and relaxed.

He stared at the doll and huffed. "I'll never forgive him, no matter what he says." The two raced toward the infirmary, terrified that a one-second delay might be a second too late to save their classmate. To their relief, Yumeno was still limply floating between the ghost children. "Yumeno! Look at us! Please!" Ouma begged the girl whose eyes remained closed. She seemed to be peacefully sleeping despite the lethal circumstances.

"Why are you lot doing this?" Iruma demanded from the ghosts. Their faces betrayed no emotions aside from amused grins (well, the one with a head at least). "What happened was horrible and unforgivable, but you're killing innocent people who had nothing to do with it!" The ghost girl's smile faltered and she began wailing, along with the one without a head (which gurgled in sorrow).

Ouma hissed and slapped the woman, rattling her head. "Stop! They won't listen to us if they're upset!" Turning to the sobbing spirits, Ouma dropped his voice to be sweet and soft. Iruma didn't know that he had it in him. "Come on, you two. I have something you need to hear, okay? Please listen closely."

He held the doll in the air and it started sobbing in that same high-pitched, robotic tone. It apologised again and repeated the exact phrase over and over until Iruma wanted to rip her hair from her scalp. The ghosts remained silent, their body language and aura unreadable as the humans' hearts rattled their ribs.

"Mummeh!" The ghosts wailed, crying for their mothers. Their voices gurgled and the ghosts seemed to have trouble speaking.

Ouma softly smiled and lowered the doll that no longer spoke. "You can rest peacefully now. Your suffering has come to an end." Iruma watched the boy, trying to adjust to the new personality. He always had a way with children, they seemed to love and listen to him. Despite claiming that he despised the little cretins, Ouma happily babysit for almost anyone in the neighbourhood.

"The horrible things that happened to you are in the past. Your family and friends are waiting. You can see them now." Neither spirit moved, their heads bowed in sorrow. "Please? I know you can do it. You're safe, and you're both so, so brave." Nothing moved. Not the ghosts, not the humans, and not a single thing in the infirmary. "Let go of that girl," he whispered. "Release Yumeno."

Yumeno's body began bobbing slowly. The ghosts stopped wailing and the silence made Iruma want to gouge her eyes out with one of the rusty scalpels. They suddenly raced toward the door. "No! Stop!" Ouma screamed, but it was too late. Each spirit disappeared through the door, Yumeno's body dragging behind them as if attached to an invisible leash.