Part 1: April
Chapter 12
No. Yamaguchi scurried over to Tanaka, kneeling next to his collapsed body. She took him into her arms, shaking him gently in hopes of getting a response. Her brother’s healthy eye was shut, and the female couldn’t tell whether or not he was unconscious or dead. Either way, she feared for the worst. “Tanaka!” she shouted, shaking his body again. “Wake up!” Yamaguchi felt tears forming in her eyes—anger soon followed, and she glared up at the Shadow staring down at the two.
Shadow Raku merely stood there, observing Yamaguchi as she cradled her brother. The body hanging between the scythes of the monster smirked, giving a satisfied chuckle. “He’s dead. Accept his fate.”
“Tanaka, please…” Her voice cracked into a sob, shaking the male gently as she continued to call out for him. “You can’t be dead…” Yamaguchi’s sorrow developed into more resentment; anger burned in her body, craving for revenge. “He tried to save you, and this is how you treat him… You’re unforgivable!”
The Shadow’s stance signified it was ready to continue the battle. It gave a taunting laugh, beckoning for Yamaguchi to fight. “We all die eventually, and you will be joining him soon.”
“I’ll make you suffer—believe me, I will!” Seth manifested above Yamaguchi, giving a threatening growl. Her Persona began to viciously attack the mantis-like monster, and Yamaguchi stabbed at its legs due to her inability to attack any higher than that. Both Yamaguchi and Seth endured quite a few hits, but the Persona user’s anger kept her motivated and strong.
Several times the Shadow attempted to use the black hole-like attack on Yamaguchi, but all tries failed. Even though it too endured several hits, the Shadow seemed unscathed. “This is boring,” spoke the monster, effortlessly swinging its scythe arms at Yamaguchi.
“You shut your mouth!” yelled the dog-eared female, flinging her knife at the hanging body.
The Shadow tried to defend itself by shielding the body with its scythes, but the knife managed to plunge into the hanging girl. It shrieked loudly and flailed around—it seemed Yamaguchi had pinpointed the Shadow’s weak spot. Unfortunately she no longer had a knife, and Tanaka’s wooden sword was too blunt to puncture anything. The hanging body painfully removed the knife sticking inside it and threw it back at Yamaguchi, but the female was too quick for it to hit.
The dog-eared girl retrieved her weapon, summoning Seth to attack the girl in between the scythes. Many of his assaults were blocked, so Yamaguchi had to somehow climb the monster without falling off or getting wounded. While Seth distracted the Shadow, Yamaguchi cautiously climbed on one of its legs to reach its back. She maintained her balance as the creature flailed around, and Yamaguchi moved over to its neck where the chains that hung the body were located. She took her knife, staring down at the body. The female hesitated for a few moments, but she threw the weapon down at the body and watched it sink into its head.
It made a shrill scream, trying to reach for the knife—but the Shadow’s mantis body lost its balance and collapsed to the ground with an echoing thud. Yamaguchi leapt off the body and thudded to the floor as well, grunting at the pain. She glanced backwards, watching the Shadow before her fade away. Left behind was the original Shadow Raku, staring back at the female with her golden eyes. Yamaguchi reached for her knife, mentally complaining about another fight, but the original Raku appeared and walked up to her Shadow.
“Be careful, that thing’s—”
“Dangerous.” Raku peered over at Yamaguchi, who was still on the ground. “I know.” She redirected her attention back to her Shadow. “If you don’t get a hold of your emotions, they grow out of control.”
The Shadow gave a blank stare at its original self.
“But even if you feel like you’ve fallen into the depths of despair, friends can help pull you out.”
Yamaguchi rose to her feet, standing guard.
“Death shouldn’t be a thing to wish for. That’s what all three of you were trying to tell me.” Raku gave a sheepish grin, glancing over at Yamaguchi and back to her Shadow.
The fake Raku nodded.
“You are me, as much as I hate to admit it in front of others. I accept you. Please don’t harm my friends anymore.”
The Shadow faded away for good, and standing next to Raku seemed to be a young blonde girl who had an ominous atmosphere about her. She introduced herself as Alice, disappearing shortly after. Before Raku could question who that was, Yamaguchi ran up to her and gave the other female a tight embrace.
“No more dying,” she said, tears spilling out of her eyes. “No more—”
“No more dying,” repeated Raku, confirming that she would stay alive. “You two saved me. I’m past that.” She looked around. “Where’s Tanaka, though?”
Yamaguchi’s heart dropped, immediately taking off to find where she last left Tanaka. Raku wandered after her, staring around at the giant hall the trio was in. The dog-eared female kneeled down next to her brother again, pressing an ear against his chest. His heart rate was slow, but he was alive.
“He’s not dead…” muttered Yamaguchi, relieved. “He’ll be fine, I hope. Maybe he’ll regain consciousness later.”
“Did…she do that?” queried the other girl.
“Your Shadow?”
“Yeah…”
Yamaguchi nodded. “Can you help me carry him out of this place?”
“Sure.”
Yamaguchi lifted Tanaka off the ground and carried him in her arms, Raku standing next to her in case the dog-eared female lost her balance or dropped him. As they descended from the fourth floor to the first, Yamaguchi noted that there was not a single Shadow in sight—did she defeat them all earlier?
“This feels like a dream,” Raku muttered as the two females exited the towering building. “No… This feels like a nightmare.”
“How did you end up here, anyways?” Yamaguchi’s voice sounded strained and exhausted.
Raku stared up at the green tinted sky, momentarily musing. “I’m…not too sure… I don’t remember what I was doing before, but I suddenly found myself in that giant hall. She was there, too. We argued for awhile, and then you two showed up.”
“When Tanaka wakes back up, you should tell him everything.” Yamaguchi grinned at Raku. “He’s more interested in this whole world than I am.”
When they departed off the distorted school’s campus, Raku and Yamaguchi parted ways. By the time Yamaguchi arrived at the house, she dropped Tanaka off at his futon and yawned. She felt like sleeping for eternity…
April 10th. Thursday.
When Tanaka opened his eye, Yamaguchi was already standing next to his futon. She hugged him tightly, relieved again that he was alive and now conscious. Tanaka was confused, but his sister caught him up on yesterday’s events starting from when he passed out from Shadow Raku’s attack. He asked what time it was, and Yamaguchi replied that it was almost noon; she notified Shido of her absence and relied on him to pass the news to Roku.
“I told Shido we were sick,” Yamaguchi said, kneeling next to Tanaka’s futon. “We’re going to miss the club’s meeting today.”
Tanaka sat upright, groaning in pain. He glimpsed down at his body, lifting up part of his torn uniform to examine the damage dealt to it. It had all been bandaged; he assumed that Yamaguchi was responsible for this. When he glanced at her, she nervously turned her head away.
“I wanted to stop the bleeding as soon as possible,” she said. “I didn’t bother to change your shirt.”
“Did you get hurt at all?” he asked.
She shrugged. “A little bit, but it’s nothing concerning.” She stood up to her feet and began to walk out of Tanaka’s room. “We should spend today resting. Go back to bed, okay?”
April 11th. Friday.
The dog-eared duo returned to the academy the next day, hiding any wounds they received from the battle with Raku’s Shadow. They only missed a lecture from yesterday as well as one of the short assessments, and the latter was made up during class. By the time lunch came around, Yamaguchi had heard from Shido that Raku returned to the school. The news relieved Tanaka and Yamaguchi, and the rest of their day was spent without a single worry.
April 12th. Saturday.
“Welcome to drama club,” said Shido, greeting the canine-eared siblings with his usual phrase. “I see you two are in better health than last Thursday.” He gave a grin.
Yamaguchi nodded. “Yeah, we feel much better. Right, Tanaka?”
Tanaka agreed with a nod too.
“The last meeting was kind of awkward.” Ruki scratched the back of her head. “Hardly anyone talked to each other.”
“And you’re going to blame me again, aren’t you?”
Everyone’s gazes shifted towards Teddy, who was already giving glares at each club member.
“‘You scared off the new members,’” mimicked Teddy, trying to copy Shido’s voice. “‘If you haven’t made that comment, then maybe they’d be here.’ I thought you guys were my friends.”’
Leo attempted to cautiously pat the elementary student’s head. “Teddy, please don’t start off the meeting in a bad mood. We are your friends.”
Teddy took a step back from the chameleon boy, almost slapping the other.
“Teddy,” spoke Roku, raising his voice in an authoritative way, “do you need to step outside for a minute?”
The youth clenched his fists, pouting. He took off to walk outside, but let out a quiet gasp as someone entered the room.
“Oi, where are you going?” asked Raku, glancing down at the dark-haired boy. “I thought the meeting just started.
“Raku-nee…”
“Sorry for being late,” she apologized, walking into the center of the room. Teddy silently followed behind her.
“Welcome back to drama club,” said Shido, his face expressing his happiness that one of the club’s members had returned. “Everybody’s here.”
Ruki gave a side glance at the blue greenish-haired male, giving a faint grin from his content.
“Alright, today we’ll be reviewing the history of acting…”
…
“Oi, Tanaka.”
The male paused, turning around to face Raku while everyone else left the room. “Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
Even though she didn’t specify what she meant, Tanaka knew exactly what the female was referring to. It felt nice to know that he was able to rescue Raku and change her previous personality, let alone end her suicidal behavior. “You’re welcome.”
“No, I—”
“I know.”
Raku blinked a few times before nodding with a warm grin. “I’m really grateful for what you and Yamaguchi did. I still have a couple of questions regarding what happened, but I’m sure they’ll be explained in time.”
“…They will.”
“Also, I…I want to be like you and save others.”
Tanaka arched an eyebrow.
“I’ve made up my mind. I want to be like you and Yamaguchi and rescue others too, if that’s alright.” Determination reflected in her bright yellow eyes as she formed eye contact with the male.
Tanaka felt as if he was forming a bond with Raku…
“I want to hang out with you two tomorrow,” she said. “Can I have your phone number?”
The dog-eared male nodded, pulling out his cellphone and exchanging numbers with the female. After, she said she would meet up with the duo tomorrow and then wandered out of the club room. He, too, made his way out of the room to meet up with his sister—
“That certainly was interesting.”
Tanaka flinched, instantly recognizing Roku’s voice.
“I’m not too sure what you and your sister did to change her, but I’m glad you did.” The blond was leaning against a wall, holding his smoking pipe with one hand. “Good luck with your ‘saving others’ thing. It’s really needed around here.” After speaking, he placed it in his mouth and wandered off.
Tanaka’s heart raced wildly as he watched the teacher disappear at the end of the hall…