Corpse Party: Damaged Souls

Chapter 18: Father

       I don't know how they contacted me, but I didn't bother at the moment. I followed the directions they had given me and arrived at a strange house. If this were a horror movie, I would be the first one who's dead because of her stupid decisions. 

Hiro opened the door and welcomed me inside. Yuki and Aiko were sitting at a table nearby, taking notes from a book. 

"She came?" Aiko asked, without turning around. 

"She's right here," Hiro replied. "We've been busy since we left you four. The entrance won't stay open forever. If anything, it's better to get in, stop the new host, and get the hell out of there." 

"How much damage does the new host cause to the real world?" I asked. 

"Too much," Yuki answered. 

"Can you give me more detail?" 

"Too hard to explain at the moment. If you were here earlier, then there would be less to explain. If you're eager to know, Hiro can explain the rest of the story to you." 

"Leaving me with the dirty work, I see." 

The two of them didn't respond afterwards. Hiro took me over to the living room, far from the girls. "Well, either way, you must know what's going on. Whoever goes to that school is haunted by the host until their deathbed comes around. You, your family, and friends all ended up in that school. How?" 

I shrugged. There wasn't much to tell about this experience. "There...was an earthquake. The next thing we knew, the floor opened up. Throughout that time, I was thinking the floor opened up because of how strong the earthquake was. But even after that, when we returned, no one knew about the earthquake or the people we've lost. They never existed." 

"That's the downside of going there. You die and you're erased from the world. No one will remember what you have done or what you did for the better of this world. You forgotten like you were never there." 

"You seem to know something. Care to explain? Why did you suddenly disappear from my parents' memories. Let alone, Ayumi and the others." 

Hiro sighed, leaning back into the seat. "Where should I begin?" 

"When you first met them." 

"Right. I was a transferred student, from another city. My parents had moved here because they got a better opportunity for their jobs. Of course, being young as I was, I didn't want to move here. I lost everything that day, my friends more than anything else. But...when I walked into that classroom, they welcomed me like I was one of their own. Seiko was the first person that introduced me to everyone there.

Ayumi was attached to Satoshi, but I managed to speak to her a little bit every day. Naomi was...different in a way. Someone who I could count on when I needed them the most. Mayu was kind, but Morishige was an asshole to me. At least, for the first time." 

"Why was that?" I asked. Kotone's father didn't have a record for being mysterious. As little kids, I remember Ruka and I hiding from him when we went to their house for the morning. Poor Mayu was pregnant at the time, causing Morishige to come after us. When the devil found us, everything broke loose. 

"He was protective over Mayu, which I understand. She was the smallest out of all of us. If anyone were to bully her, I don't know if she were to stand a chance. Most likely because of her personality most of all."  There was a faint smile on his lips. "Yoshiki and Satoshi were the people I could count on the most. Seiko was another close friend I had, someone who I developed a crush on." 

"That's sweet." 

"Seiko always had a thing for Naomi, I knew that, but there were times when she showed to enjoyed the opposite sex. Anyway, I became interested in spirits and started reading blogs about them. By then, my powers started to come into play. Depending on my emotions, my eye color will change quickly." 

"And that's when you started talking to Ayumi." 

He nodded. "She was a Shinozaki. Ayumi knew more than me and managed to help me out. Even finding information on Naho's blog and meeting her friend, Aiko. Without her, I wouldn't have gotten this far." 

"And...you want to restore the people who have disappeared all these years. But how does someone like you remember them?" 

"My power," he simply replied. "I am allowed to see things that others can't. That's why I wanted to speak with Ayumi...or Ruka for that matter. I heard about the incident, at Sachiko's old house. I figured she had her mother's ability, that's why I wanted to go and speak with her." He chuckled a little. "And hell, she has her mother's attitude alright." 

"Ruka...almost died that day. She wanted to restore our friends and make them be remembered. I don't know what happened, but there was this book I found. It suddenly started talking and started to try and kill her. Instead, it killed her cousin." 

"The Book of Shadows," he muttered. "I don't know why it exists, but I very little information about it." 

We were both silent for a moment, taking in all the information. The others had made this man out to be the bad guy, but all he needed was someone there for him. Then I noticed the ear cuff that's barely visible. From what my mom said, she helped many people that lost a part of their ear. Maybe the same happened to him. 

"I wish I could see them again," he muttered. 

"See who?" 

"The others...and Seiko. I had talked to her the other night. If I talk to them, they would remember me. What I had done before made them forget about me for the time being. If I talked to them, they would remember who I was. I left to protect them, after we all graduated and married." 

"You're married?" 

He showed me his ring finger, finding a gold band on it. 

"I married Seiko a couple years later. After graduation, we started dating and even talked about the future together. I had to leave later in order to protect her." 

"But...Seiko has two daughters. Aoi and Akahana, the twins. Their father had died when he was in a car accident." 

Hiro frowned at me, but then it ceased. In order to protect them, both of them lied to make sure the secret never got out. 

"Aoi and Akahana are my daughters."