Jack Made sure he was the last one to escape; still too tired to to take in all that just happend, but awake enough now to keep up with the group. "Yaaawwnnnn~" he shook his head once he reached the next room, shaking out the rest of the sleepiness in his system. He didn't know why he was so calm, reflecting back he probably should be a whole lot more terrified at the world going around him, but couldn't help but still feel like he was still in a dream or something, a small case of dissonance between his mind and consciousness. For now he just shrugged it off, tending a few cuts he developed saving the two boys, though he could've sworn there was another one with them.

Receiving Katashi's suggestion, he did just that and secured the window shut. He didn't give it another thought as he knew he was the last one in. He looked around the room and saw people people in a mess of different mental states. As much as he'd love to try to help calm everyone down, there were more matters at hand. Jack was used to working in the background and Katashi was making an excellent stage manager. Jack quickly got to work; first setting up a door pinned underneath the handle (for a just a bit of temporary added security in case they needed to quickly leave), then he got to work on the leaky faucet. He reached under the sink, searching for a shut off switch, but wasn't able to find one strangely. His next attempt was jiggling the handles. They didn't budge. His last attempt was to make sure it just wasn't clogged, taking a pencil from his jacket and attempted to shove it as far down the drain without loosing his grip of it.

Awakening, Alexis sat up. She leaned toward as she was greeted by the nasty smell that seemed to some in her nose. She placed her hands over her hand and mouth her nose. She closed her eyes before she opened them again seeing the red coaded room. This wasn't right, it didn't make sense. She closed her eyes one more time in hope when she opened them again the sight would change, but was the same as before.

'What happened?' She wondered to herself. She removed the hand from her face, where she noticed the mysterious red coat that covered hit. She raised an eyebrow and hesitantly brought it closer to her nose, getting a strong whiff of it. She pulled her face away and placed her hand down. At least she knew what that horrid smell was now, the only problem was that everything was covered with it.

Pushing herself up, she looked around. The desk were everywhere and the room seemed to be empty. The last thing she remembered was a earthquake. After that everything was a blur, and she still couldn't tell you what's going on know if she tried.

---

Anri climbed down the pipe as fast as she could short of just dropping. The last thing Anri saw before she left the room however, was the monster picking up Mii and taking her away to who-knows-where. Anri was sick to her stomach. Wasn't she suppose to protect people? Stand up against these monsters? But no. Anri couldn't. These things were well beyond her league and she had to do the only thing to do: survive. But leaving Mii behind was going to haunt Anri for the rest of her life.

Soon Anri and the other students managed to get one of the rooms on the floor below. Once Anri had some dry floor underneath her, she fell to her knees. "What the hell is going on? This can't be happening... This is got to be a nightmare. A freakish dream, a really bad prank. What the fuck is going on?" Anri mumbled quietly to herself. She wanted to deny this insanity, but picking her wrist until it drew blood, she knew this wasn't just all in her head. This was real. And it was still crazy.

Yuriya made a joke about seeing girl's panties and Katashi started to flirt, which made Anri get up and glare at them. "Don't be idiots! This isn't the time to flirt or say stupid things like that! That... Thing... Is still here, somewhere. Yu-chan, you mentioned something about that monster? How to defeat it?" Anri took out one of the lighters in her pocket. It was just a cheap dollar lighter, disposable and weak. She kept her flip lighter in her pocket, not wanting to part with something that could give her comfort in this crazy time. "It's not much, but it's some fire power. I don't know about where we can find alcohol though... The science room should have burners and oil though." Anri also looked to Shizuka, who was just standing against a wall. "Yoshi-chi, what were you saying about this place? It was the world of what now? And what was that thing that took Mii-Mii?"

~Shizune Yoshida~

---

Shizune grunted, at least acknowledging that she appreciated her friend’s humor. At this point she wanted nothing more than to think of things that didn’t involve bloodshed or the constant threat of being killed. So as it was, she was lost in thought even as Jack made it his sworn duty to lock them all in while Anri decided to make a fool of herself by calling them out on trying to keep their minds intact.

“Hmm? Yes, we should. Like I said before, this is the World of Wasted Dreams,” she said finally with a cool voice, addressing Anri, Katashi, and Alex all at once. “The monster that took Mii is something called the Friagne. I’d rather not say what it does to its victims, but Mii is most likely dead….hopefully. You don’t want to know the…alternative…where’s Tony?”

Only now did she come to realize that the boy had said anything at all since their escape from the above floor. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t see him anywhere at all either. Oh no…had they left him behind by accident? Had the Friagne grabbed him before anyone could take notice after all?

“Tony is most likely dead too. We need to-get away from there!”

Her soft words turned into a sharp, sudden hiss when she finally noticed what Jack was doing. The boy had walked right up to the faucet without notice or care and had attempted to fix it. Was he trying to get them killed? Ignoring the others with a renewed expression of pure rage on her face, Shizune ran towards the ignorant boy and prayed nothing would happen.

So dead set was she on her goal that when she tackled him to the ground, her body refused to stop trembling with anger. Her eyes narrowed, showing off their red gleam as she held him to the floor. She did not speak, pupils searching for any sign of anything that would hinder him; only when he checked out ok did she visibly relax, a sigh escaping.

“Do you just touch everything that looks out of place here?” she spat, fingers gripping him harder. “Well don’t! Wait for me to tell you if it’s safe. Got it?”

As she threw Jack away from her, she got up and brushed herself off, slowly but surely calming down. The group wouldn’t have much time to recover though when the sound of wood cracking was heard before finally giving way. The wondering Alexis, who had awakened in a room above them, would walk across a weakened piece of the flooring before tumbling down into their room. She would leave a gaping black hole from the ceiling due to her descent.

---

---

Katashi frowned at the near mania that had gripped Anri in the wake of their escape. He knew it was a perfectly understandable reaction to losing one- no, two of their fellow students. Understandable, but a foolish choice that would only bring them anguish in the long run. This had been something that he and Yuriya had hoped to combat with a moment's levity, but the World of Wasted Dreams was truly intent on propagating their misery. At least Anri presented them with one positive light in the darkness.

"A lighter? Hmm, we could try and get a torch going in case we encounter the Friagne again. Good source of warmth and comfort if we don't burn or blind ourselves in the process. Here, this should help."

He unbuttoned the top layer of his school uniform, revealing the crisp, white undershirt beneath, minute cuts marring it from their encounter with the baby dolls. His fingers dug in and wrenched at the fabric till he could tear off rough strips of cloth, three in total, that left a decent section of his midriff exposed to the cool air before buttoning his over shirt once more. Katashi plucked the offered lighter and gave it to Yuriya along with the strips of cloth.

"Do you mind keeping ahold of these till we get the other components for a proper torch? With a level head you can make better use of our suppl-"

It seemed that while Katashi was contributing his clothing to their continued survival, Jack had chosen to try and plumb the depths of the sink's drain, which had understandably upset the most experienced of the group in regards to surviving in this twisted world. If he hadn't have been occupied Katashi may well have done as Shizune had, violence included, if only to drive home the sheer stupidity of poking around with the potential dangerous sink after sealing them inside. He had clearly suggested they seal the door if they intended to rest, not be curious about their environment with no readily available means of escape! So even as Shizune bodily threw the boy away with eerie strength for one her size, Katashi held his tongue.

Or at least, he would have, if Alexis didn't fall through the floor from the room they had only just escaped from. Leaving a hole to the room where the Friagne had only just killed Tony and Mii. Seconds after Alexis had settled on the floor, Katashi was at the door, pulling the chair back in one hand while the other latched on the handle, abstaining from opening it in case Shizune had some warning that would lead to him being flayed by monster or student if ignored.

"Alright, that settles it. Endlessly flowing sinks, and a hole for that monster to crawl through to get at us? Shizune, unless you have an objection we are leaving for that science lab."

He just hoped Jack and Alexis could move on their own. It would be troublesome if two of their group had to be encumbered carrying them, and if they found something they couldn't drive off it could prove fatal.

"Oh? So, when is a good time for it, Rokudo-kun? After we have met our gruesome fates are the mercy of a twisted monster, maybe?" Yuriya said in a teasing tone, perhaps a bit more maliciously than was needed but, worrying about the dead (or potentially dead) would do them no good, though, goofing around forever was equally bad. "Now that we have that lighter, we may as well be able to overcome that Friagne monster, even if for some time. But-" Yuriya's thoughts were abruptly halted by Katashi baring his chest and shredding his shirt to help build a torch.

After being handed the first two components of it, Yuriya looked at Katashi with a raised eyebrow, her eyes scanning his bare torso with a cunning look, no wonder why some people called Yuriya a vixen, the smile on her lips as she said "Say it, Todo, have you ever been part of any of the sports' clubs? Soeone with your physique would do very well on the swim club, I think. Either way," Yuriya said as she got back to her feet, looking ever so serious again, "if we plan to make a torch we will need something more consistent than alcohol. There should be enough kerosene on the boiler room, the problem is that we will have to get the keys first, they should be on the Principal's office on this same floor. I wonder if we will be able to make it there?"

However, as soon as Yuriya's ears noticed the sounds of Shizune's rampage, Yuriya got to Shizune and Jack and tried to force them apart. "Shizune, no matter how much I would like to see you tear that idiot's throat apart, the last thing we should be doing is thin our own numbers. Furthermore," Yuriya looked at the hole left by the unexpected newcomer, before returning her gaze to Shizune and then everyone else, "As Todo said, we have to go, this place isn't safe anymore. However," she said, glaring at Jack with a serious hatred burning in her eyes, "the next time you do something this stupid, you'll wish that I had let Shizune do whatever she was going to do with you."

---

Looking around the room she realized that there was no teacher to be in site. That didn't make sense,would the teacher really leave her alone in a room especially after a earthquake happened and she was knocked unconscious. There was no chance that was true, it couldn't be. Well they have left them alone in a room before but not after an earthquake.

This caused another question to swirl in her head. 'What time was it?' She wondered. Looking up at the clock plastered on the wall didn't help her much. The clock stayed frozen on the three. 'Broken.' She thought to herself as a frown resided on her face.

Shaking the question out of her head she decided it would be better to stay on task and find out what had happen. She eyed the room deciding where to start. The teachers desk seemed to catch her attention.

Lexy took a step toward towards it, which was when the ground collapsed underneath her feet. As she felt herself surging downwards, she tried to catch herself but it happened to fast. She missed and ended up landing on the ground of the classroom below.

She managed to land on her back, but the wind was tooken out from her. She inhaled and exhaled a few timea trying to regain her breath. After a minute or two it was sucdessful and Alexis slowly sat up. "Ow." She mumbled to herself as she did. She pushed herself up and realized that there were others in the room. She eyed the others realizing they were her fellow classmates.

"I'm okay." She said to the others even though she was pretty sure that no one out of the bunch really cared. "So does anyone want to explain why the walls are red and smell like hell?" She asked. It may of sounded like a joke but was meant to be serious.

After Alex caught his breath, he stood straight again and began to take in everything around him again. Some of the students found ways to keep the sanity of the room calm, while others chose to give in to certainly unnecessary outbreaks. At least they had a lighter though, so they were a bit of a help. Jack and Katashi decided to help too. Jack decided to go be suicidal and touch everything in a unknown world where it felt like anything could kill all of them on a moments notice, and Katashi found a reason to take off his shirt. Well not completely take it off, but he certainly caught Yuriya's attention. Alex's jealousy did go up a bit, well really quite a bit. Yuriya was pretty and he hated the fact she hated him just because he was a little foreign. Maybe if his name was Akio it wouldn't be so bad, but Carter didn't really fit in either.

Anyways Alex watched as Jack began to poke around the sink, with an assumption that Jack may have a clue as to of what he is doing, but by Shizune's reaction it was clear to keep an eye on Jack and stop him from doing just about anything Jack would do. Katashi put his shirt back on finally, but he was still gorgeous and Alex was still a little jealous. He was a nice guy though, so he shrugged it off as the flirting stopped.

With barely any warning beside some creaking floorboards a girl came crashing through the ceiling into their room. How she got there was a mystery, but not one he felt like questioning at the moment. After the dust cleared it was plain to see that it was Lexy who had fallen from the ceiling. He went over to help her up and catch her breath. "Are you ok?" was all he asked as he tried to help her to her feet. She practically did it herself though, so Alex just answered her questions as best he knew. "Well evidently this place is known as the 'World of Wasted Dreams' and evidently it's a total real nightmare. The walls smell like hell because this place is a hell."

With everything that was going on in the room Alex was really eager to get out of it. The talks of actually leaving with a destination were great, but the fact there were two destination ideas was not. He wasn't wanting to wait around and figure out which way to go, so he began for the door with the intention of just randomly picking one and going with it. On his way to the door though he realized why the science lab was probably better. "I'm going to agree with Katashi and say we should go to the lab. There are all sorts of lighters and flammables that burn and burst in there. We have a lot more options for fire that way." Alex unblocked the door and poked his head into the hall before setting off for the science lab.

Jack was just about hammer in the pencil with his fist before he suddenly found himself tackled and pinned beneath the girl with the red eyes. He felt bad for her, realizing he was about to do something that apparently wasn't all that helpful. "hehe.... sorry sorry." He apologized to Shizune just as Yuriya too decided to give him her own lashing. Her eyes said it all before her words confirmed it. To which all he could do was give out another nervous chuckle as he lowered his head and apologized once more, promising to the scary lady that he would infarct wait for a direct order to do something as to not endanger cast and crew in this strange play they found themselves in. Still, his eyes lingered on the sink a moment longer before checking back in with the group, and saying high to the new addition.

He stood up and made his way to the already dislodged door; stopping next to Lexy to talk to her while everyone else finished preparing. "You sure you're alright there? If you need help don't bother to ask. I can carry you if you find yourself with a sprained ankle or leg cramps after that fall." He smiled at the girl, rephrasing Alexes answer with a greeting. "But hey, Welcome to hell. Another member and we're back to full sail." Or were we? Jack wasn't really sure, but he got a head count now and decided to let that be the grop's number until... well hopefully it wouldn't change. He nodded at Lexy, giving a pause before he made sure everyone else was listening.

"So I herd a couple of plans floating about and I just want to mmake sure we're on the same page. Are we going to the science lab, or to the principal's office and then to the Boiler room? I presume it best we not split up now, but I for one think the boiler room is a great destination. Who knows what we could find in there to actually use, and maybe the principals office could have a few items as well? At least in America the principals are allowed to have guns in some states. Surely the guy in charge had something to help protect the students in case of .... well lesser dangers."

~Shizune Yoshida~

---

Shizune was glad to see that the others weren’t in shock for her actions because an idiot like Jack was only going to get them all killed. She lingered her gaze on him to give one final warning glare before she turned away. As everyone seemed to pay their attention to the new arrival, Shizune looked at Lexy just once to give her a nod. One more survivor meant one more hand to help out.

“Yozara-san is right,” she said flatly once everyone had settled in to make up their mind. “Staying here is only going to corner us into a makeshift prison. No thanks to Jack here, we’ll have to find our way out of this classroom without using the doors.”

Once again she turned to glare at Jack, especially with his insistence to go to the boiler room. While his logic was sound, she couldn’t exactly agree with him after that little stunt he had pulled off earlier. That, and the majority of the group already voted for the science lab anyway.

“Maybe you can go off to the boiler room Jack. Just holler if you need any help,” Shizune said with little emotion and it was hard to tell if she was being cold, or sarcastic…or both. “The science lab it is, though thinking about it now, we might as well head to the boiler room next too. We can start by opening up the door Jack has so willingly barricaded…does anyone else hear that?”

There was a low scratching nose, as if claws were scraping onto dead wood. Ordinarily it wouldn’t be too much to worry about because after all, Jack had just locked them in. For safety. But what was most concerning was that the noise was coming from directly behind one of the classroom closets. And the sink only kept spouting out more frothy water…

---

---

Handing off the cheap lighter Anri looked over at the mess happening. First Jack decided to fiddle with the sink and caused more of a mess, and then a girl fell from the ceiling! The ceiling where that monster, the Fringe, had come from! Anri rubbed her temples trying to calm herself down. This was crazy. Everyone was crazy… Anri needed some time to breath and collect herself.

She walked towards on of the corners, relatively free of red bloody liquid, and pulled out her lighter. With one flick she had a small flame in her hand. The fire was as long as her thumb; shapely yet slender, waving back and forth with grace and ease. Anri mesmerized herself with the flame and remembered something… Unpleasant. But she did not act out or shout. She simply looked into the fire as the image was burned away and instead the fire brought joy to Anri’s eyes. A beauty and power that was not solid and clunky like a well-build weapon or massive monster. Fire didn’t have to be force or tough; it could be finesse, soft. Gentle. And yet still burning with enough heat that nothing would dare lay a finger on them, if they even could.

Anri inhaled deeply, snuffing out the flames. She could taste the unique scented butane used to fuel her personal lighter, and she felt a pulse of ecstasy go through her body. She felt her worries slip away for the moment, and she had a clearer head. Turning back to the others Anri pocketed her lighter and turned to the others. Seemed like they wanted it head to the science room for more supplies. ”Sounds fine to me. I certainly know if we need fire power, that's where we'd get some.” If this place was somewhat of a mirror to their real world, Anri might even have a plan. Considering her… Interest, it meter eluded her that some of the chemicals in the science room could have been made into a crude incendiary grenade. Since Anri wasn't that stupid she never dared to try, but she did do some research. Hypothetically speaking, Anri had some ideas if she made it to the science. If If they If they even If they even escape this room first.

There was something in the closet. Anri really, really hoped it was just a dead body. It would be frightening but harmless. Because if there was another monster here, Anri wouldn't know what to do. She crept close to Katashi, hoping to is his body to shield herself if anything attacked. While doing so, she digitized her intentions by clinging fearfully to his arm. ”Kaka, do you hear that noise too?”

---

A lot was going on that was worthy of addressing, but given the limited time available to Katashi he had to be sparing. He immediately dismissed the idea of seeing if Alex was okay, as plenty of others had already done so even if he had brought any injury upon himself in this case. Just as quickly discarded was any notion to investigate the scratching coming from behind the closet. After all, the door was already open so they had no reason to risk life and limb investigating what was either a trap or another monster intent on bringing them to a grisly demise.

It was likely Katashi's own biases towards her form and the sharp mind beneath it that had him addressing Yuriya with a wistful smile despite the situation.

"Since you have brought it up, I had once tried to join the swim club, but the coach told me to leave for distracting the other swimmers. Bit of a disappointment to lose out on the school's pool, but I always favored salt water anyway."

Pleasantries aside, it would appear the time for relief had faded as swiftly as their reprieve from danger, with the need for continued survival overriding all others. At the moment they had the perplexing issue of deciding on a course of action, that being whether to endeavor towards the Science Lab or the Boiler room, which required a visit to the principal's office as a prerequisite.

"Alright, I'm still of the mind that we should hit up the Science Lab first. Even if it doesn't have the material we need for a proper torch there should be other items of use, be they bunson burners, acids, or scalpels. Once we scavenge what we can, assuming we get there at all, we may as well move onto the principals office and the boiler room after."

A goal was good. It gave you purpose, a reason to look past the horror of the present and envision the possibility of a better day if you only worked towards achieving your set milestone. Even if it was an ephemeral dream, they needed something to strive towards or they'd be liable to do something of a suicidal nature.

Katashi demonstrated how opposed he was to the idea of forfeiting his own life by firmly removing himself from Anri's grasp so as not to project the image of some sort of playboy. Acting the fool would only lose him what respect Yuriya had and likely generate enmity from her best friend Shizune, who held all of their fates in her hands with that precious knowledge she alone had amongst the group.

"Yes Anri, I hear the noise. However we are not under the immediate danger of a monster like the Friagne, so as long as the scratching remains on the other side of that cabinet I would advise that we leave without losing our heads. Shizune, since you are the most familiar with this place, would you care to lead us? And do you know if there are monsters that patrol the halls we may encounter?"

Yuriya was quiet as the others tried to explain their collective predicament to Alexis, merely keeping a neutral smile on her face. It wasn't like she cared for another foreigner joining their group, one more hand was always good to help their survival chances and, in the event of something like their first meeting with the Friagne happening again, it was much easier to give up on their lives than that of a person who shared your blood. However, she did trust a malicious glare to Anri, when the effeminate boy began to behave in a further improper way, culminating with he grabbing on Katashi's arm (who thoughtfully shook off the unsightly advance).

Either way, once all was said and done Yuriya got up and was one the first to unbar the door and take a brief look at the corridor. Despite all the shadows and noises that seemed out of some low budget horror thriller, it seemed to be safer than remaining holed up on this classroom after Jack had compromised their safety. "The Science Laboratory it's, then. It should not be far from here, all the laboratories are on this floor, to begin with. Our best course of action is to keep moving, now that our safety has been compromised; just take care to not step on any rotten floorboards, this corridors seems like it might be unstable as well."

"While we are on that, there should be fire prevention equipment on the laboratory, we can use the axe... if it's still there." Yuriya said before turning to Katashi with a smirk on her face and saying, "Would you care todo the honors, Todo?" Finally, as she waited for everyone to get on their way out, Yuriya approached Shizune and said in as low a voice as she could, "Shizune, we need to talk later. There are some issues that I would like to discuss with you. If we ever get the chance to do it in private, that is."

---

~Shizune Yoshida~

---

Once the cycle of idiotic behavior had ended, the group had finally decided to make a plan of escape. Over this time Shizune had once again observed how individual chose to cope with their situation, taking particular interest in Anri’s arson-like tendencies. Because surely that wasn’t going to come back and get them all killed later down the line. Who knew?

Yuriya and Katashi seemed to cope by making light-hearted banter towards each other that bordered on flirting. While Shizune knew Yuriya was a bit tougher than that to fall for simple swooning, that didn’t stop her reflexes of curling her hands into fists. At least she kept up the illusion that she wasn’t bothered by it with a neutral frown.

At least he was smart enough not to act like a complete idiot, Shizune turning her piercing stare away from Katashi and rearing it upon Anri again. That pyromaniac was definitely going to get them killed. Brought back to attention, she nodded for Katashi to lead the way, at least until Yuriya had finished speaking to her. Eyes widening just a little, the stoic girl nodded. Indeed, she had a feeling of what her friend wanted to speak about.

“There are many monsters that inhabit this realm,” she said, moving forward ahead of Katashi and leading their group into the hallway; the scratching behind them died down with every step they took. “Only one poses a serious threat to our stability. The rest can be outsmarted with tactics-oh.”

By now all of their eyes were well-adjusted to the darkness of their surroundings so it was easy to see that the walls were soon dripping with something. Maybe it was red, maybe it was black; colors were still hard to distinguish. But the more they traversed, the more the walls began to be filled with the scribbling of a child’s work, a single phrase marking their every step.

“Do not trust him.”

---

Alexis wiped off the dust that lingured on to her, or at least attempted to, but the red stuff didn't help much. She knew that she probably had a few minor scratches, and her back still ached, but it wasn't much of a problem to her capability to accomplish any tasks, nor was she going to let it be. One thing she didn't want to be at that moment was helpless. She turned to Jack as she shook her head. "I'm good, thanks."

Lexy raised her eyebrow at Alex as he had answered her question. Out of anything he could of said not in a million years would she of expected him to spurt out that answer. Well she wasn't to sure of what she was expecting exactly. "Were in hell?" She questioned. She would of doubted it a bit more if it wasn't for the fact everyone else had accepted it already.

"Well who would of thought hell would be like this." She mumbled to herself as the question came to mind, 'Why was everything covered in red?' She didn't bother to ask the question because she knew there was probably no explanation for it otherthan, 'because it is.' Also the question didn't seem to be relevant to there situation. From what she heard so far they were debating on where to go. She listened in not giving much input as she still tried to understand what was happening.

There were so many things racing through her head as the conversation continued,the most redundent thought being, 'this is all just a crazy dream.' She assumed that had to be right in some senses. Hearing them talk about monsters seemed insane. She wanted to say that they weren't trying to pull some prank or something of the matter but it was harder than it sounded. She knew that the whole class teaming up was unlikely. It was beyond unlikely and its not like they would plan to make her fall from the ceiling. Looking around at the others once again, she changed the thought to that most of them wouldn't. She knew someone would be stupid enough and suggested that if it was a prank.

Shizune's voice seemed to pull her back into reality.She raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you know all of the things that are here?" She asked. She didn't want to use the word monster. It seemed out of place to slip out her mouth, but for some reason she believed that there was something here even though she hadn't seen it yet, and along with this Shizune seemed to know a lot more than anyone else did.

Alexis was hesitant as she looked around the room, before she followed Shizune into the dark hallway. She placed her hands in her pocket as she kept a hopeless eye on her surroundings. It was to dark to see but she couldn't help trying to look for something.

---

"I'm going to presume that whatever left these messages was the one that threatens our stability? Not a bad idea, but we can hold together."

Katashi had been following a step behind Shizune and saw the writing on the wall as she had. It was eerie to see those words there, and after Jack's inquisitive incident with the sink and Anri's mania, they were perfectly timed to plant the seed of doubt when the soil was richest. Even Katashi's attempts to establish some semblance of order could be seen in a negative light after this, a false messiah leading them to a grisly demise...though that was a thought best not pursued for a completely different reason.

If Katashi were honest, and he usually was, he would acknowledge that he was eying up Anri and Jack before his rational mind could get ahold of itself. He even gave himself a brief once over, wondering if something had latched onto him that may cause issue but could detect nothing. Shaking off the bout of paranoia he stepped closer to Shizune and spoke lowly, needing to clear something up with her after her felt some hostility coming from her earlier.

"I know you're Yuriya's best friend. Well, I know we were kind of flirting for a bit, but I don't mean to upset you in the process so I can stop if you want...otherwise can I ask for your...permission, I suppose?"

It wasn't like Katashi was asking for permission to marry Yuriya or anything, but best friends tend to watch out for each other to keep away unsavory people. Katashi thought he was good guy, but that wouldn't keep Shizune from worrying. And right now, Shizune was the last person he wanted on any of their bad sides.

---

It was decided then. They would head to the science room and gather equipment they need to create fire. Anri liked this idea; fire was good. Fire could be relied on. It can purge the unclean and ward off the heartless darkness. Fire was always there when Anri needed it most. Katashi removed himself from Anri's grip and took point. Gripping her lighter in her pocket Anri followed, as did the others. They moved as quickly as they could in a tight group. Anri tried to ignore the idea that if any monster showed up now, they were all in a nice little cluster to take them out in one fell swoop. After all, they had at least managed to create a crude torch, which may not be very effective but it was better then nothing.

Of course the good feelings wouldn't last. Though the halls were dark and there were hardly any sources of light from this hell, even Anri could make out the blood-soaked writing on the walls. “Do not trust him.” Him could mean a lot of things. It could have meant Katashi. Or maybe Jack. Or even Anri. However him could also mean the monsters in the school. While no one knows their exact gender (And Anri wasn't interested in figuring out their sex), male pronouns were often attributed to powerful and dangerous things. Or maybe they'd later encounter a stranger who would try and offer his help to them, only to betray them when they need it. Any of these things could be the truth. Or maybe this was just a bluff to catch them off guard? Surely it was. What reasons did the group have to betray each other?

They all just wanted to survive, right?

Anri glanced around. Shizune and Yuriya knew a lot more about this world than Anri did. They knew enough that Anri wouldn't be able to call them out on keeping secrets. Like how exactly they knew this place, and how they managed to survive. Anri kenw so little that they could tell her anything, and there's be no way she could prove them wrong. The fact they kept acting so damn nonchalant and aloof about it pissed Anri off. Yes they knew what to do, but the rest didn't. They were just blindly following them like sheep to the slaughter. How would any of them even know this wasn't just a big trap, where the girls would sell their souls to some monster in the end so they could get away scot-free? Anri didn't know. She just wasn't sure.

But she wasn't going to let them catch her off guard.

Gripping her lighter Anri flipped it open and smalled the fumes. She didn't release a flame. not yet. She couldn't show her fire right now. She needed to wait for the right time. After taking a whiff Anri cluched her arms close and kept walking. She chewed on her tongue, tasking the sweetness mix with the slight pain. She was starting to get hungry. And while Shizune said they didn't need to eat, that still doesn't change the fact that Anri just felt like eating something. not that she was going to eat her tongue, but... She could use some gum or something. Just something to chew on, keep her mouth closed. What was taking so long?

Jack sighed, listening to everyone's decision on their next destination. He didn't agree, but was sure that sticking together was indeed the best option for them all. He paid the new message no mind. If by 'him' they meant one of them, then there was no way he was going to listen. These were his classmates and nothing was going stop him from making sure they all survive. As for other possible meanings for 'him', he would take that into account as he came across them. If he couldn't trust himself, then who could he trust?

He sorta just scuttled around for the time being. He didn't wan't to do anything that would upset those two women again, but he couldn't help but remain fixated on their surroundings rather than his friends. He didn't know where danger would appear next, but he had made up his mind that he'd be the first to defend and last to flee. This eventually would probably put wear and tear on him eventually, but he was able for now. So he remained ever vigilant as he slowly followed the group forward.

"Take that, you vile Tyrant!" The green-haired Heroine shouted as she swung her Giant Hyper-Mega-Super-Sword-Of-Friendship-And-LOVE, also called BFS -'Big Friendly Smile' -, over her head. "BUSTER BEAM!" She continued to shout, resulting in a giant pink beam of justice which made quick work of the Skycraper sized monster she was just fighting.

Shinobu could see it in front of her. She had defeated A World Eater, THE World Eater, she could see the riches, fame and bi- nice people being nice to her in front of her! "Nyahahaha! I am simply the greatest!" Or was she? A silly dream, really, a kind of dream that the green-haired heroine didn't even like THAT much considering the content of it. It was kinda grand, but in a stupid fashion. In fact, maybe it could even be called a nightmare? Maybe the prince, or princess, she was hoping for was some sort of comedy relief? Whatever the case was, the girl would never find out. A beauty, a gentle(wo)man, or just a clown. Whatever the case was, soon, the younger of the two Resan sisters would have been happy for any of those. Soon, she would give her all for a dream like that. Because soon, she would experience what a real Nightmare was.

---

"Yes, yes, fetch me more of that great turkey meat!" Were the last happy words a certain green-hair spoke as she suddenly woke up, drooling. "H-Huh?!" Laying on rather uncomfortable ground, she slowly pushed herself up. "Urgh..." Her body hurt, her throat felt a bit dry. The air was... stifling. "W...What is this?" Somehow, wherever she was, seemed familiar, yet so strange. The entire scenery was so otherworldly. Destroyed furniture. Chairs and tables mostly. Sticky stuff? Lots of dust. Lots of webs. It was the whole deal. Not to mention the entire scenery being tainted in a slight blood-red through, looking outside, the sky? Even if this was a rare occurrence of a red moon, it was way too bright for this kind of thing.

Instinctivly, the green hair wrapped her arms aorund herself. She was scared. "H-Hello?" She asked, rather loud. Of course, no answer. Only silence. A murdering silence. "Urgh... this sucks." Closing her eyes, she gave it a big breath before opening them again. "Alright, Shinobu, calm down. Whatever this is. It is definitely not normal... a lucid dream?" Quickly pinching herself twice, once gentle and a second time harder, brought no results. "Yeah, don't even know what I expected."

She needed one, two, maybe three more minutes to gather herself. Looking around for any kind of clues. It was apparent by now that this was a school building, a very old one at that. If this was a dream, whatever. But in case it was real... maybe she got abducted? Maybe some pervert from the maid cafe she worked at! Goddamn stalkers. Quickly checking her schoolbag to- "Of course! Silly me." Yeah, they would make quick work of the little bit of self-defense, in form of Pepper Spray, she had. Damn creeps.

"Alright, alright, whatever. You can still do this." Simply checking her pocket, the girl was surprised to actually feel her smartphone there. "Hah! Stupid Ap-" Alas, no signal. "Argh, damnit!" Shaking her head, she sighed. Another few minutes passed as she slowly turned on and off certain switches inside her brain.

Taking a rather stable feeling piece of wood for at least some form of self-defense, the girl had a fat grin on her face. "Isn't this exactly what you wanted, Shino? A dangerous, exciting, great adventure! All I gotta do is walk out of this shitplace, smack whatever baddies get into my way and call the police! Yeah! Let's do this! WOOOOO!" And thus, psyched up, just like that, the green-haired girl made her way towards one of the two class-room doors.

"Don't trust Him."

"Don't trust Him."




"Don't trust H~~"

"Looks like someone slipped right down the sanity slope." Yuriya commented idly as they walked down the deserted hallway, the sound of ruble crunching under her feet being a constant source of annoyance as a deathly silence settled between the surviving students. "They are most likely thinking on this message. Maybe, I'm the strange one for not being affected but, it's not like I trust on anyone, anyway. These words are plain meaningless." The dark haired girl said as she followed her classmates to the Sciences Laboratory, taking notice of each one's behavior.

Right at said laboratory, a new victim of the World of Wasted Dreams, writhed back to consciousness. Shinobu would find that the handle of the door she walked to was coated with a stick, red substance of unknown procedure, the ferrous smell however, making clear what it was. Right next to said door, there the body of a student, a boy not older than her (probably) missing both forearms and with a pained, terrified expression frozen on the leathery mask of his deceased face, long taken by rigor mortis.

"Must not light fire, must not light the fire, must not light the fire..." A voice, that of a girl, came from the other side of the Science Laboratory. It belonged to another student, with a look of madness in her eyes as she clutched a fire axe against her chest, a pair of arms, holding a flask of alcohol and a key laid beside her. "I locked the door, to keep them out... side, but he did... light it. Fire, light... is... bad." The girl continued to mumble. For now it looked like she hadn't noticed Shinobu, but... for how long would that last?

---