Heavenrend City

"Hmmm... I guess I'll be a writer or something. I'm not too sure yet. My future is still a little blurry." Ayano said in response to Alexa's question. Being discriminated for abilities she didn't have rather than being commended on what she did have has not helped Ayano think about what career she wanted to pursue the most. Her answering "writer" was only based on the capabilities she possessed.

She ate a spoonful of ice cream as she looked out the window. Sure enough there was a white van that suddenly pulled over by their shop. "No way. They're not gonna come attacking in broad daylight now are they?" Her heart skipped a bit as she looked at that van attentively. She sighed in relief after some tourists alighted along with a tour guide who started showing them around the area.

"Well I think there isn't much to see in this sad city. What do you guys think?" She asked the others, her mind away from those paranoid thoughts earlier.

Anna was quite relieved when everyone put the man to the side; her acting skills where quite good- maybe she should become an actor. She smiled to herself at that thought, but when it came to her order, she snapped out of it and ordered a cheesecake sampler, a vanilla ice and two small chocolate cakes in a to-go box. Anna was taking full advantage of an ‘I’ll pay’ treatment, ordering more than an average person ever would.
“I’ll pay you back!” She said to Alexa with her pinky up, as if she was pinking promising her to do so. In reality, Anna probably wouldn’t, though if Alexa did come across trouble, Anna would be more inclined to help her do so.

"Um... So, w-what do you want to be when you grow up? I... I've always wanted to be a teacher for elementary school. I don't know why, I just really love helping others..."
Or maybe not; the entire area in her stomach made her feel sour and bitter once more. She shoved a piece of cheesecake in her mouth and a spoonful of ice cream to prevent her from speaking as the others began.
"....A game designer, I guess. It's all I can do, anyway."
Typical dark weird-nerd answer. She thought, shoving another mixture of both in her mouth.
"Hmmm... I guess I'll be a writer or something. I'm not too sure yet. My future is still a little blurry."
Yeah, she’ll probably grow up to be a gloomy business owner who can’t find love because she spends too much of her time being gloomy. Oh god, Anna really needed to lay off the drama at the escorting place; it was really affecting her thoughts on people.

She shoved another spoonful of sweets in her mouth and simply shrugged; there was no way she could answer this question without choking or feeling shitty about her life- which was something that happened a lot but she tried to avoid it at all costs. Her original plan was to be an international history professor who traveled the world, teaching world history in several different languages, places and homes; earning lots of money before settling down at a rescue animal farm somewhere out on the country- but no, her dumb-ass parents just had to-
“Well I think there isn't much to see in this sad city. What do you guys think?"

If Anna wasn’t so stuck up and snobby, she would’ve given Ayano a piece of her cake to thank her for grabbing her attention away from those bitter thoughts.
“Well, I guess there is always a little more to a city than meets the eye.” She smiled while she swallowed whatever food was in her mouth, holding up a finger. “Maybe you guys just haven’t found your muse yet so you’re all gloomy and droopy.” Anna, once again, didn’t mean the words she said. She hated it here, just as much as she hated cauliflower or not getting holiday pay. She scraped the bottom of her ice cream bowl, already finishing it before she turned her full attention to her cheesecake platter, attacking a strawberry white chocolate slice.

"Maybe you guys just haven't found your muse yet so you're all gloomy and droopy."
Alexa flinched a bit.
"Ehehe~ Did I really come off as that gloomy and depressing? I'm sorry..."
A small smile made its way on her face.
'I really am doing a shit job...'
'Hah! I'm stronger than you think I am, Eradicator.'
'Oh, I never doubted that. It's because of your strength that you're my favorite toy to play with.'
"Still, I guess we're all still young so we have time to figure it out..."
Alexa fiddled with a lock of her long raven hair. A dark feeling swept through her.
'That girl we attacked earlier... Rise, was it? I wonder if she has friends...'
'You mean the girl YOU attacked. I didn't want to hurt her.'
'Yes, but I'm still the stronger one. My urges will always prevail because of your stupid martyr personality. Everyone comes before you... That's what you always say, isn't it?'
'Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!!!'
The thoughts were growing more and more out of control. Tears had built up in the corner of Alexa's eyes as Eradicator kept mercilessly attacking her in her mind.
"I... I'm really sorry... I just..."
Alexa stood up and ran outside. She needed to take some deep breaths and calm herself down. The flames flickered in her mind's eye as Eradicator started to force her to remember the fire that killed her parents.

Ataro watched as Alexa ran out on them. Silence took over the best of him as he just found himself sitting in his place, spooning vanilla ice cream into his mouth. "What a mood swing." He thought. Anyway, Anna had mentioned something about them being gloomy and droopy and things like that, and again, he bit his tongue to keep himself from talking any more. Besides, he really did look like your average emo- Black hoodie, eyebags, black hair, black everything. The only thing red he had was his scissors, that would drip blood every now and then.

Ayano had also made a comment about the city. This, he replied to. "At first you'd think Heavenrend is such a warm place filled with laughter. But yeah, there's not much to see here, just gloom all around." He shrugged once more and spooned more vanilla ice cream into his mouth. He decided to wait for Alexa before he spoke. Well, he did have some spare cash to burn, why not be nice and treat them somewhere? Probably to drinks, he thought.

Ayano was in the middle of listening in on whatever everyone's saying when she saw Alexa suddenly walk out on them. She seemed to be deeply troubled as she walked out. "What happened now?" She debated whether she would go after her or not. She glanced at the creepy dude Ataro.

"Usually it's the guy's job to run after them but--" Now that Ayano looked at him, he didn't seem to be the sympathetic type. "To hell with it!" She decided to not wait any longer. "I'll go see what happened." She excused herself as she followed Alexa outside.

Once there, she saw Alexa as if she was having some sort of episode. She found her weird; just a while ago, she seemed to be managing well but now... Ayano simply shrugged it off. She sat down beside Alexa without saying a word. Sometimes, she thought it best not to say anything but just comfort another through your presence alone.

When Alexa shot outside after excusing herself, Ayano went after her; which only made Anna think one thing- well, two things… Drama queen… then, Oh shit! Does that mean she’s not paying? Is she trying to jip us? This caused Anna to grow a bit worried, her eyes shooting towards Ataro, then the empty seats of Alexa and Ayano. They’re in it together!
This thought made Anna stand abruptly, smiling sweetly at Ataro. “It was my fault she ran out, but I think it might be alright if I go check on her.” Anna squeezed herself from the table and she made her way out the door, sneaking a peak at the two girls. She walked closer to the two and stood behind Ayano, her hands in her pockets.

“I-I’m sorry.” Anna cleared her throat, trying to sound guilty. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” She looked up at Alexa and smiled a sweet, remorseful smile- something she was unreasonably good at. “I guess I worded it wrong- what I meant to say is that you guys don’t seem like the type to speak much, so when I was with you today, I was shocked that you guys had an alright personality- that you guys were actually normal.” For the first time they’ve met, Anna was actually telling the truth; this kind of shocked her, making her grow abruptly quiet.

"Normal huh." Ayano thought about it as Anna followed them outside. "Yes. Despite our own issues, we are all normal humans. It's not like we carry all the world's problems. In the end, we are all the same, 6 feet under ground." Now that Ayano's thinking about it, all of her problems seem trivial now, as compared to children starving in Africa or people getting massacred in several war zones. She felt a bit remorseful now. She thought it was selfish of her to despair over her own problems when clearly, her condition doesn't matter one bit.

She took a deep breath and walked beside Anna, whispering something. "Can you cheer her up? I'm not good with this sort of things." She admitted that she is not the type of person to give advice nor to follow it. "How can I be a person whose shoulder you can cry on, if I've never even had someone like that before." She thought as she headed back inside. "I'll go back in for a while. Just go back in once you feel like it. Besides, that Ataro guy might get chewed out by the management once they collect the bill." She told Anna as she headed back inside the shop.

Inside the shop, Ayano sat in a seat parallel to Ataro's, taking down the prices of all the things they ordered. Not surprisingly, Anna had ordered the most of all of them. "She must really be hungry..." She thought as she took out her wallet. Good thing her money can cover for all of it; at the expense of not being able to afford the transportation home. She took it out and paid for their orders.

"Well, seems like I'm in the mood for a nice evening stroll later on..."

Alexa blinked. The words came at her like a blur.
“I guess I worded it wrong- what I meant to say is that you guys don’t seem like the type to speak much, so when I was with you today, I was shocked that you guys had an alright personality- that you guys were actually normal.”
Normal...? HER...? She almost laughed out loud but suppressed herself.
'There is no normalcy for me. There never is for the monstrous martyr.'
Alexa wiped tears out of her eyes.
"Sorry... I just... I remembered something horrible and I needed to get outside..."
'No thanks to Eradicator.'
He was quiet, his point had been proven so there was no reason to keep talking.
"Um... I didn't mean to make it seem like I jipped you out of a sweet treat. I meant to pay you, honest... But... there was something that happened to me... It must have come out when I asked about what you wanted to do with your life. It was stupid to react the way I did and I don't think you want to know about it..."
Alexa was truthful. She doubted Anna wanted to know that she was a homeless street rat with a serial killer as a split personality. Who would want to know that? Alexa wiped the tears out of her eyes.
"So... Let's go back inside. I feel much calmer now..."
Alexa walked back inside with Anna.
"I'm sorry... There was just something terrible that I had remembered but I got it out of my system... S-So, where do you want to go next?"
Alexa made sure to put a huge tip on the table, equal to the amount of cash that would have been paid for the food. She did promise she would buy so she did.

Ataro sighed as everyone ran out on him. The poor fool scratched the back of his head, watching as Ayano ran out, and then Anna followed suit. After a few minutes Ayano came back. She paid for everything they ordered, and Ataro wondered if she would be able to afford a ride home after what she paid for, especially Anna's orders. Alright, he decided, I'll go treat them to drinks. When Anna and Alexa came back, Alexa had placed a huge tip on the table. Ataro stared at it. "Ayano already paid, but...." "I'm sorry... There was just something terrible that I had remembered but I got it out of my system... S-So, where do you want to go next?" Alexa asked.

Ataro finally spoke up. "...I'll get you all drinks, my treat. What do you want?" He offered. He did have some spare cash, anyway.

After that catastrophe, Ayano had asked her to help her cheer up and then left, leaving her alone with the now calmed Alexa, who also followed Ayano and went back inside; having Anna follow behind. She had just heard Ataro offer drinks, coming a little late and just catching that.
Shit! She thought excitingly, grabbing the to-go boxes with the cakes in it. I hit the jackpot with these losers! Anna smiled wide, placing the cakes in the same bag with the two book bags.
“Anywhere is fine!” She exclaimed, clasping her hands together bouncing up, not bothering to lay off the foolish and preppy style she bounced in. “Since I chose this place, why don’t you guys chose?”

"Drinks." Ayano thought for a bit as Ataro made a very generous offer that was--unexpected of him. Still, seeing as how she also paid with Alexa, she thought she deserved some liberty to choose at least.

"Then, I'll have a vanilla shake from that stand there. Large. Is that all right?" Ayano informed Ataro, who now seemed less creepy than before. Or is it because her paranoia had lessened somehow. She waited for this guy to take down everyone's orders as she looked at the display on one of the book shops.

Ayano was apparently the first to tell him her order. "Then, I'll have a vanilla shake from that stand there. Large. Is that all right?" "Yeah, sure." Ataro replied. Then he looked over at the two other girls in the group. "How about you two?" While waiting for their reply, his gaze wandered over to a bookstore. "I wonder if I still have enough money to get a book after this." He thought. He then started to sum it all up in his head. So, the only things he bought today was the hoodie, and drinks for all of them. Thank god he only drank soda and nothing else.

He shoved his hands back into his pockets. His fingers hit the handle of his scissors again. If anything came to this mall and threatened them, he wouldn't be going down without a fight.

Alexa pointed over to a juice stand.
"Um... Can I please have a strawberry and banana juice please?"
Alexa almost smiled. This was one of her favorite drinks from when she was little. She walked over to Ayano and handed her 50 dollars.
"I'm really sorry about earlier."
She then walked back to Ataro, waiting for the juice. There was no sound coming from Eradicator and she hoped it would stay that way.

When Ayano chose the place and asked for large vanilla shake, Anna’s lips parted to say when she wanted when the ring of her cell phone went off, slightly startling Anna.
“Excuse me.” She said with a smile, stepping away from the group to answer it.
“Hello, Mrs. Lee?” Instantly, Anna knew who it was and a growing, sour pain went to her stomach.
“Yes,” Anna answered, being shot back into reality.
“Yes, well, you do realize that the children where all going to go on a field trip today, but because your sons didn’t turn in the money and the permission slips, they weren’t able to participate. They are at the office now and insist that we call you to pick them up.”
Anna couldn’t help but to smile bitterly at her own irony. “A-Alright,” She said, clearing her throat. “I’ll send Anna there right away to pick them up.”
“Again? Ma’am, if I may do so, I must say that you shouldn’t continue to send your daughter out like this. She has a life yo-” Anna hung up abruptly, not in the mood to hear the teacher’s complaints.

Anna walked towards the group and smiled at them. “Well, I have to bolt. I guess I’ll see you guys around later.” She said, smiling and returning to her stature from before. “Thanks for everything today!” She waved them goodbye before turning around and walking off. Of course she deserved this; she should be stupid or at least brain dead for ever thinking that she could be a normal girl for more than a couple hours. Anna checked the time on her phone and realized it was about time for the children to get out of school; she also realized that the field trip at the school wouldn’t end until later- which only meant that she’d have to pick them up now regardless.

When Anna got back to the school, she got into her car and pulled out, making her way to the elementary school, hiding the book bags but got the cakes ready for the boys. She picked them up quickly and was lucky enough to avoid the scolding of the principle of how rude her mother was for hanging up on her like that.
“I’m sorry.” Gideon said as they made their way to the car.
“It’s no big deal, bro.” She said, giving them the cakes she got. “I got you something sweet to eat.” She smiled down at them, watching their faces to light up.
“Holy smokes! Cake!” This time, it was Colby who excitedly jumped up, grabbing the cake out of her hands and not even waiting to get into the car before digging in.
“I met a few people who took me out for some sweets- decided to buy you something as well!” Anna said, getting into the car and starting it up and making her way home, telling them of the people she met today with little to no enthusiasm and using the nicknames to the fullest of their level.

While waiting for Ataro to bring the drinks, Anna had walked away from the group having to go do something important.
'I wonder what she had to do...'
She then waited alongside Ayano and Ataro.
"Um... We could continue to hang out if you want-"
Her talking was interrupted when a slick and wet sound was heard. She then felt an extreme pain on her side.
"O-Ow!"
She clutched her side, blood leaking out. As she turned to face whoever attacked her, she was suddenly met with a gun in between her eyes. The man in question was not happy and had his two friends take Ayano and Ataro hostage as well.
"None of you brats fucking move or blood will spill!"
Alexa's eyes widened.
'No... This shouldn't be happening! What's going on here?!'
The man looked over at the three.
"We want your cash. Hand it over to my colleagues slowly and I'll consider sparing you."
Alexa was trembling at this point.
'Let me take over, Alexa~ I can get rid of these bozos.'
'No! You'll just kill them. I don't want to kill anyone!'
'Tsk, tsk, tsk. I expected that you would say something like that. Looks like we have to do this the hard way.'
And with that, Alexa lost control of her body. She somehow kicked the guy's gun out of his hand and then his face.
"You little bitch!!"
He picked up the gun and commanded the rookie to follow Alexa. Alexa turned and looked Ayano and Ataro in the eye as if to say 'I'll get the police so hold on tight.' As the rookie continued to chase Alexa, she managed to lose him in an alley in the walls. He couldn't see due to the shadows but then a dark, male cackle escaped.
"I'm ever so glad to wake up to screw with the new blood~"
Alexa walked out of the corner to reveal that Eradicator had completely taken over. Gone are her girlish features and are now replaced with masculine ones along with white hair and pink eyes. Eradicator flicked out his knife.
"Now then, how shall I kill you~?"
The rookie's scream was loud and agonized. Everyone near that corner could hear it. Eradicator grinned at his handiwork. The rookie was stabbed six times in each major organ. If one looked deep, they could actually inside the rookie. Eradicator decided to screw around some more so he cut off the rookie's head and then walked slowly over to Ataro and Ayano. The leader instantly turned completely pale.
"No... It's you! You're that Eradicator Sins guy!"
Eradicator grinned.
"Ding-ding-ding~ And here's your prize!"
He then tossed the rookie's head on the ground leaving everyone to stare at it. Eradicator looked over at Ataro and Ayano.
"Now then, you get to tell me how to play this story out. How should I kill these men?"

Ataro mentally panicked at the fact that they were cornered by a bunch of gunmen. Worse, they were hostages. Even worse, he was just a shut-in. He stared up at the men. "D-Damn..! I can't die here....Wait, was this what I always wished for? Wasn't it--!!?? No......Wait....." His head started filling with more and more panicked thoughts until adrenaline suddenly started flowing through his veins, and something just forced him to. He wasn't sure if it was panic, or if it was his insanity fit, but he was pretty damn sure he needed to survive.

A deep roar escaped the boy's throat as he lunged at the men cornering them, bloody red scissors in his hand. Panic took over the best of him as he started attacking wildly. On the outside he looked like he was insane and berserk, but inside he was really panicked. Blood splattered onto his face and clothes as men fell around him. He could have sworn he saw that killer that was reported on the news, but right now, he didn't care.

Panting, he wiped off some blood, but it smeared on his face instead. He had blood all over him- Some of it were of the men that tried to hostage them, and some was his own. "Now then, you get to tell me how to play this story out. How should I kill these men?" The guy with white hair and pink eyes asked them, and in front of him was the leader of the men. He remained silent, panting as his bloodshot eyes continued to stare at the man.

Ayano looked on in shock as the scenario suddenly changed. The events were so fast, one second they were calling out on drinks and in an instant, some robbers took them hostage. But the shocking thing was, both Ataro and Alexa, who changed? or was it a different person? Either way, she was gone and this new stranger fought them off and... killed them. Ataro too, had a part to play in the scene.

She felt a little nauseous after seeing all that. She tried to maintain her composure as she placed a hand on her mouth, choking up the bile that was coming out. She managed to succeed and maintain her calm. Anyway, the events went by too fast.

"Who were those men?" Ayano wondered as she stared down on them. The two were just finishing up and she checked some of their features. None of them matched whom she knew, at least whom she knew on that night.

"These people, are they connected somehow? To that incident a few years ago?" She turned to the two that stood there. "And more importantly, can I trust them?"

It would’ve been for best that Anna left; if she had stayed to see the scene with Eradicator- she would’ve seriously panic. Hell, knowing he was the one who killed her customer then kissed her on the lips, smearing blood all over her face; Anna would’ve just sat in the corner, slowly losing her mind. The ‘bad dream’ always left an unsavory taste in her mind and made her seem to question her own sanity to whether or not she should report it to the police or even question whether it was real or not- of course she didn’t. Anna assumed it was a bad dream despite the fact that particular customer never came back.
Chances where his wife found out about his cheating ways, and in anger, ignored the whole thing and kept it in secrecy to stop any rumors from spreading. Or, at least, that’s how Anna imagined it- that is, if she believed it to happened- she wasn’t exactly sure though, from her perspective, rich people where odd; unlike normal people.

Anna sighed slightly when they got home, boiling up a pot of water to make some Mac and Cheese; something easy that involved little to no work. It wasn’t long afterwards though, that the phone rang in her house. When she answered it, a woman’s voice rang through it, causing Anna to hold the phone out.
“Oh Anna Darling! It’s terrible, terrible!” Automatically, Anna knew who she was; Martha, the head of the quadrant of escorts she worked for; aka, her boss.
“What is it, Martha?” She said, leaning onto the wall and watching the water slowly heat up.
“Gabby got the flu, and Sandra can’t walk- both are in the hospital and no other girls will cover for them!” Her melodramatic voice mocked a sob.
“So you want me to cover?” Anna’s voice seemed exasperated; Sandra’s shift went all the way ‘till 10 and Gabby’s shift continued back into the night. Not to mention Gabby had ‘other’ services that Anna would no way be able to fill.
“I’m not asking you to go out on dates with their clients; but just keep them company for the time being. Use your boyish charms but don’t steal!” Before Anna could even say something, Martha continued. “Also, if you do show up, you’ll get 5 paid breaks; each lasting an hour long~!” Anna sighed slightly at this, causing Martha to continue. “And you’ll be paid over time and get free meals; I’ll even through in a bonus…”
“Alright.” Anna sighed, causing the other end to squeal with excitement.
“Great! Just be here in an hour- I’ll set you up to be a high class escort, babe!” No matter how you said that, Anna still felt that it would never be a compliment. None the less, she hung up the phone and finished cooking the macaroni before wishing the boys goodbyes and making her way to the escort place in the middle of town.

Eradicator had grinned at Ataro's handiwork.
"Very impressive~ I couldn't come up with this much blood even if I tried. But, there's still one alive; the main man."
He grabbed the head man's shir collar and pulled him up to look him in the eyes.
"Tell me, what were you thinking to commit this crime here?"
The man at this point was trembling.
"I-I just wanted some money with the boys..."
Eradicator's grin widend.
"Well, isn't that a stupid reason to rob kids."
The man yelled at Eradicator
"Like you're any better! You'll kill anyone for any number of reasons."
Eradicator then shut him up by punching him over and over again until he took his last gurgling breath. Eradicator turned to Ataro and Ayano.
"Normally, I would have killed you by now. But, just blindly killing is getting rather boring. So~"
Before anyone could make heads or tails of what happened, Eradicator placed a blood stained kiss on both Ataro and Ayano.
"You two along with some other chick I met are going to be my toys for the next several months. I want to know what it takes for a person to snap and you three look like wonderful partners in crime~ I'll always find a way to know how you are doing. Well then, au revoir~!"
And with that, Eradicator disappeared. He appeared back in the alley and turned back into Alexa. Alexa's eyes were wide.
"No... Oh god please no... He can't... He can't kill my friends!"
Alexa ran back, clutching her injured side. Alexa found them. A small and weak smile made its way on her face.
"Thank goodness... I was so worried... about... you........."
Alexa then felt dizzy and nearly fell to the floor.
'I lost a lot of blood back there... But, what did Eradicator even do?'

The deed was done and she stared in silence at the two boys after their craft. Quite casually, the white haired one, obviously not Ataro, made his way towards them and planted a kiss on both of them, a bloody one at that. He left afterwards, leaving her still in a state of confusion. Shortly, Alexa returned, injured.

"She probably manage to escape through the confusion..." Ayano helped Alexa up and explained what happened, even to the point of telling her about the guy who arrived to emm...help them.

"Let's get you to an infirmary or something." Ayano told Alexa as she called for help on her phone, worried about the injury. "Plus, I need to rest to be able register what's going on."

Ataro's frenzy faded. He groaned, dropping his scissors to the floor. He gripped at his stomach. "I'm gonna be sick...." He muttered, gripping at his head. Darkness was getting the best of him as he collapsed to the floor, a hand coming up to grip at his shoulder. He was bleeding in several spots and, as expected, it hurt as hell. Groaning again, he placed a hand on his head.

The bloodstained black haired boy limped over to the two. Though blood was smeared on his face and body, he managed a small smile.

"T-They're....okay...." After that he fell over, darkness taking over the boy as he fainted.

Alexa saw Ataro smile at her and Ayano. A small blush made its way on her face.
'Stupid! Don't fall for him, you barely know him!'
'But... He looks so wonderful with a smile.'
'Ugh, I'm starting to regret leaving him alive.'
'Don't kill.......'
'Lexy? Hey, Lexy?!'
Despite Eradicator's worried yells, Alexa found herself passing out.

Alexa awoke slowly. She took a look up and saw the white hospital walls and then looked down to see a bed. A wave of panic took over Alexa.
'Ayano! Ataro!'
Alexa was about to stand up only to be stopped by a male nurse.
"Miss, I don't think you're in any condition to stand up yet."
Alexa noticed the man had short blonde hair and grey eyes.
"What happened to me...?"
The nurse frowned a bit.
"You had to get some blood transfusions in you and you had some stitches."
Alexa shook her head.
"Never mind me! What about Ataro and Ayano?!"
The nurse sat down in a chair next to Alexa.
"Ayano is just fine and Ataro's going to be alright too. He had a pretty bad panic attack and collapsed due to a lack of sleep and water. Honestly, that boy must have been really sleep deprived. As for you, I have some questions I need to ask you regarding your health. Mainly the fact that you seem to be malnourished."
Alexa sighed a bit.
"I-I don't want to talk about it."
The nurse looked at Alexa.
"Please? If you're being mistreated, the police can help you."
Alexa stared at the man. He sighed.
"Sorry... I have a bad experience with abusive parents. Well, I'm your nurse as well as Ataro's. I need to go check on some other patients. See you soon, Alexa."
Alexa stopped him.
"Wait!"
The nurse turned to Alexa.
"Ataro is in the same room as you."
"That wasn't what I wanted to ask. What's your name?"
The nurse looked at Alexa and flashed her a smile.
"My name is Arata Natari. Nice to meet you."
Arata walked outside after that leaving Alexa alone.
'Arata Natari...'
Alexa looked at the bed, a small smile on her face. Even if it was a little old, she was grateful to even be in a bed again. She wondered about Ataro's condition. She started to whisper.
"Ataro-kun...? Are you awake?"

"W-Where...am I?" Ataro started to get up from the floor. Darkness surrounded him as he looked around. "Where...are the others?" A black serpent suddenly slithered up to him, hissing. He frowned.

"Hatsuyuki Ataro."

"What do you want this time?" He growled. The serpent seemed to spit at him. "Do you recall what you have done?" The dark scenery changed into the mall- Bloodstained mall, actually. He looked around at the dead bodies. "Right....those guys robbed us, didn't they-- Wait, what about Alexa and Ayano!?" "Relax. They're not dead." The serpent hissed. "Though they better off were." "Shut up, you damn snake. What do you want from me now?"

"You already know." Ataro glared at the serpent. "You're not taking them if that's the last thing I do on this damned earth." "Relax. I won't kill them. Rather, I'll paint them in your colors." Ataro coughed as the serpent began to fade. "Goodbye, Hatsuyuki. Until the next time we meet."

He finally woke up. "Damn snake..." He thought. "I'm hallucinating again..." Then he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Ataro-kun...? Are you awake?" He looked over and saw familiar, violet eyes staring at him. "Alexa...?" Then he stopped. "Where's Ayano?"

Alexa smiled a bit when she heard Ataro's voice.
'Thank goodness he's alright...'
"Ayano-chan's okay. I think she's waiting for us outside. I'm sure Arata-san will bring her over soon."
Alexa frowned a bit as she tried to remember what Eradicator did but couldn't.
"Ataro-kun? Sorry but... could you tell me what happened with you and Ayano...?"

Ayano was escorted out of the room by a rather friendly nurse. She thanked him courteously and waited for the two outside. She just had some rest as the two were being treated. She managed to find some rational explanations for the chain of events and was mesmerized herself as she managed to remain calm through the whole ordeal.

"Maybe it's my lack of tact? Or is it because my own fears lie somewhere else..." She strolled around the hospital, checking out the sights to see. It was within the school perimeter so students are allowed to view some rooms. She looked at the organ specimens. After what she's been through in the past, she's very much desensitized too view this...morbid exhibit.

"Whatever was taken from me, does it get sold here after that?" She tapped a container causing some people to reprimand her. She muttered an apology and moved on. "They must be finished soon..." She decided to head back. Along the way, she stopped by a vending machine and bought three sodas. When the two came out, she handed each of them theirs before opening hers.