The sun was now beginning to set in the sky. The leaves on nearby Sakura trees went from a near-white pink to a deep rosy red, and they rustled gently in the light evening breeze. The waters of the nearby pond were now making nice calm ripples in the water as the sun lowered in the west. The path we walked on was starting to empty out, people were going home getting ready for the new week. As I walked, I couldn't help but fall victim to a deep thought that emerged every time a looked at anyone. At Satoshi, at the ten year old child and his father, at the passengers on the passing bus, at the bus driver, and back to Satoshi, I was looking at living people, people that belonged here. I was dead, well...at least was dead, I could help but feel as sense of not belonging. What were the possibel problems that could surface, I felt that something would happen that would right the discrepancy of me being "resurrected."

My grip tightened on Satoshi's hand at the thought. We have been walking hand in hand since we left the cafe.

"Naho, your grip tightens a significant bunch periodically, is everything alright?"

"Huh? Oh- Yeah... I'm... Okay..."

"Naho, what's wrong?"

His grip tightened.

"Nothing, it's nothing, I'm fine-"

"Tell me." He looked into my eyes with a straight stare.

I was speechless.

"What's wrong Naho?"

"I-It's just..." Tears began to shake my vision. "I feel I don't belong!"

"Why- What? What do you mean?"

"It's just... I don't belong here! I shouldn't be here! I'm dead! I am dead!"

"Naho, you're here! You are alive!"

"No, Satoshi! I don't deserve to be here! I died at Heavenly Host! I got so many people killed, I am still getting people killed! I killed your friends! I don't deserve to be here! I-I don't deserve you!"

"Naho wait-"

"No Satoshi! I shouldn't be here! I-I don't belong!"

I was immaturely wailing now, on my knees and crying. Satoshi knelt beside me and held my shoulders.

"Listen Naho, you are here. You made it out! I don't care about the past right now! Maybe later, maybe it will haunt me later in life, but I don't care about that right now. Right now, I am with you Naho, you are here, breathing, and living life. You had no control, you did what had to be done, you saved us! We wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be here without you!"

Naho was really breaking down right before me. What could I say though? A usually well composed person, she was falling to pieces severerly, and quickly too.

"Naho, listen. I am not sure exactly what you are thinking, or how those thoughts got into that smart head of yours, but I want you here! I am happy you are here! I wouldn't want you anywhere else, not in another city, not back at that damn limbo we came from, I want you here with me!"

Her arms wrapped around me and pulled me into a constricting hug.

"I-I feel that something, I don't know what but something will happen and I'll open my eyes, and I'll be looking at that demon Sachiko and I'd be back in Heavenly Host, all alone by myself again! I don't want that to happen Satoshi, I want to be with you!" she managed to cry out.

"And I want you to be here with me, Naho. I won't let anything of such to happen! And even if something like that we're to happen, I would return to that nightmare once again to bring you back! Even if it means working to points of extreme exhaustion, tearing apart the many fabrics and layers of that school. Nail by nail, board by board! I will keep you safe!"

She calmed down significantly after this. Her hug, loosened, however mine got tighter. I could feel her tears soaking through my gakuran and white shirt, however I was certain she could feel mine going through her blazer as well.

I didn't know what to say. I mean, what if she was right? How would I save her? would there be anything I could even do?

I held her tighter and closer.

"Let's go," I said, "let's get moving, I want to get out of here, back home."

"Ok Satoshi..."

We walked alongside each other for a prolonged period of time, it a word spoken between us. The only contact made being physical. The touch of each others palms, and the tightness of each other's embrace was all we really needed right now.

The amount if people we encountered on the way home really did decrease, more and more until there was no one but us.

"Lets pause a moment Satoshi..."

"Huh? Okay."

Naho sat down on a parallel stone barrier overlooking the edge of the water and the Sakura trees. The sun was basically gone from view, leaving nothing but an orange sky, now fading with dusk.

"What's the matter Naho?"

"Nothng Satoshi, I just want to pause a bit."

"Are you-"

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better... Because I'm with you..."

I stuttered a bit.

"Yeah, I like being with you too, Naho."

"Satoshi, there is something I have to say to you..."

She stared at the ground with a slight smile.

"Satoshi...I...I-I like you."

Her cheeks were engulfed in red.

"Me?"

I did have suspicions and was basically 100% sure of it, but the confirmation from alive confession, that is a very different story.

She could only nod and silent and embarrassed "yes."

There was no ideas of how to react popping up, just uncontrolled impulses. Out of reaction my arms grabbed her and pulled her close. Her hug was tighter than ever before, as if it was restricted by what she just confessed. Without letting go, we pulled our heads back and looked at each other's faces. Her glasses mirrored the evening surroundings. I could see the trees and orange sky in her lenses and layered a picture in its self, above her deep blue eyes.

My eyes shut instinctively. I felt her lips press against mine for a long minute.

For a moment the world, time, it all stood still.

After we withdrew, I finally said, "I love you too, Naho."

"Ever since I first saw you. You were brave, always optimistic, always positive. You truly caught my eye...and when you learned about all the evil I had done, you still didn't lash out at me...instead you cared for me. You were there especially when no one else was... Satoshi, I love you."

"The feeling is mutual, Naho. I will never let anything happen to you."

There was no body around us anymore, the walk ways were empty, everyone was home. The orange sky had dimmed to a soft but dark blue, transitioning to the black of night. There were no vibrant colors in the sky anymore and the street and walkway light posts had come on.

It was just the two of us and the warmth of each others hearts.

Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded. There wasn't a cloud in the sky! The ground shook violently. An earthquake?!

"Come on Naho! We have to get to safety!"

We got up and tried to start of running.

The sidewalk cracked and split upward. Naho's foot caught the suddenly uneven ground and tripped. I caught her hand and stopped her fall. She spun around to my direction. The ground split open into a large black hole! What was going on?

The hole was very black and you could not see the bottom. It seemed to drop forever! From the depths if the hole I heard the shriek of a young girl's scream. As it sounded out, I swear I could here the voices of many other shrieks and cries from what seemed to be hundreds of different girls join in the shriek. Finally the shrieking stopped and a thick, black mist rose out of the hole, gathering together in a mass cluster of black mist behind Naho's back. Just an arms distance away from her!

"Naho, get away from, that-"

Another tthunderclap sounded. The black mist flickered. A yellow line appeared that quickly split into a an opening, revealing a very bright red aura. A portal!

"Naho, get away from that portal!"

I tried to run to her. The moment my feet finally allowed me to run forward to her and try to pull her away, was a moment too late.

Quickly, a bloody pair of scissors shot through the portal and pierced straight through Naho's back. The blades pierced far through with so much force that they actually came out her stomach agree, piercing through her blazer as well.

"NAHO!"

As I got close to her, a shockwave erupted that pushed me to the ground. Naho coughed up blood and choked and gagged, grasping her wound, blood spilling out.

"Sa...to...shi..." she managed to sputter, "I...love..you."

The color, the life, in her eyes began to drain and her eyes changed into a lifeless gray tone, like the eyes of a dead fish.

I tried to get to my feet, I had to help her! The instant I got up, another shockwave broke out, blowing me down again. I tried to crawl forth since walking was not an option, but upon my first movement forward, another pair of scissors shot out, bullet-like, at my direction, barely missing me and ricocheting off the ground next to me.

The wind was blowing fiercely.

"Stay back...Sat..oshi, stay...safe," she coughed.

There was nothing I could do, but watch.

The scissors jerked sharply in reverse.

Naho whimpered in pain, coughing up more blood.

"Go fish," she managed to sputter.

The scissors quickly retracted from her back and returned to the darkness of the portal.

"Satoshi...I love...you... I..will miss you," she coughed.

I reached fourth and grabbed her hand.

"Don't go. Don't leave, please! Fight it! It'll be okay! Just hang in there!" I really didn't want to lose her! I promised I'd protect her, that I wouldn't let this happen!

A bloody hand reached fourth from the gateway, grabbing onto her blazer, then Sachiko, the girl with the red dress appeared in the gateway, managing to send chills down my spine.

"Saenoki-san... Did you think you could escape? I worked really hard to get here... YOU LIED TO ME!"

Naho, quickly let go of my hand at the precise moment. Sachiko pulled her toward the portal. Naho, struggled desperately to escape without grabbing on to me for fear of dragging me with her. With all the punishment, her body had endured from those scissors, she couldn't get free. She was dragged into the gateway and disappeared from view. Naho's scream echoed from the depths of the darkness.

I quickly stood up and charged at the portal, there was still a chance. At the instant I got to the gateway, it quickly shut, returing to black mist which I ran through. The black mist swiftly retreated back into the bottomless hole in the pavement. Thunderclapped and the ground shook violently. In the blink of an eye, the hole had shut, the ground that broke apart to open the cavern snapped together like linking blocks.

The ground stopped shaking and the wind settled down. The sky returned to a calm night and the area was peaceful again.

She was gone.

I fell to the ground looking for anything, anything at all to help her, but not a crack was to be found in the pavement, as if it never happened.

Just like that she was taken from me. I had failed.

I sat up, with tears building up. Something caught my attention.

On the ground before me, was a maroon pentagram hair pin, the one Naho wore in her hair. This was all I had left of her.

"I love you, Naho."

This marks the official end of this tale. I hope you have enjoyed my first ever completed story! Please review, tell me your opinions, thoughts, and suggestions if you'd like. (I love reading reviews) I'm a big fan of Naho's character, so I just had to make a tale around her. I actually have an idea for a sequel if enough people are interested. The idea for a sequel to this story actually hit me while I was in the middle of this story, so let me know what you think! Once again, hope you enjoyed and please review!

Til next time!