(A/N) I really want to upload something so I'm cutting this oneshot in half and here's the first part

Word Count: 4183

THIRD PERSON POV

A young girl ran through the many crowds that were scattered across the city, her footsteps quiet against the many apologies she gave out as she rushed past all the people in her way.

"Sorry, sorry, excuse me..!" Bright (E/C) eyes expressed her regret. She could feel the sweat dripping down her face, the cool breeze quickly drying out the clammy moisture. 'Out of all the days to be late to something, and I chose today...'

"(Y/N)!! Over here!" A voice called out. (Y/N) smiled, knowing exactly who it was. Her walking pace increased, gently turning into a sprinting speed as she ran towards her pals.

Three girls were seated at a table, each one looking over at (Y/N) and giving her a soft grin. Except for one, who was instead beginning to stand up and beckon, her hand high in the air.

"(Y/N)!"

"Hey Akari!" Akari had looked just like she always does. Red and white colored school uniform, with her usual orange striped stockings. Her orange and red hair was as vivid as the sun, perfectly matching her personality.

"Luna, Seria. Good seeing you two." The two in question were both around the same height, one with green hair and the other purple. (Y/N) always wondered if their hair color was natural or not, but she kept the question to herself. They were nice people, and that was all that mattered.

"Anyways, sorry I'm late." (Y/N) laughed, while her orange-eyed friend gave her a dismiss with her hand. "The streets were really crowded."

'You're here now, so it's all good! We're just waiting for Ginka to come back with the food, so feel free to take a seat."

"Hey (Y/N)! Long time no see." And speaking of Ginka...

A petite girl wearing a navy blue dress with a bright yellow bow walked up to the table, holding two paper trays with multiple takoyaki kebabs stuffed inside. (Y/N) replied to her greeting with a small wave.

"Oi Ginka, did you bring enough for all of us this time?" Seria questioned, her seemingly neon blue eyes pierced the serving trays the blonde was carrying. Ginka huffed, a pout forming on her small lips.

"How rude of you! To think I would only get enough for myself. Actually, the person working it recognized my fan, and offered me a bunch more for it! For free!"

Akari sweatdropped. "You've used that trick before though..."

"So? It's his fault for trading with me." The blonde had already stuffed an entire kabob inside of her mouth by the time she finished her sentence. She left the still full trays of food on the table for everyone else to take.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in pure and innocent bliss, a melancholic happiness spreading through the air as the four girls laughed, ate, and talked their way through the next couple hours.

"Hey (Y/N)." (Y/N) turned her head to the person, only to find Ginka holding the last piece of takoyaki out to her.

"You sure you don't want one?" Ginka asked, her mouth stuffed with takoyaki. She held out a stick with the fried food stuck on, waving it in her friends face. "They're really good!"

(Y/N) simply gave a soft smile and shook her head. "No thanks, I think I'll survive."

"Suit yourself." She said, before popping the takoyaki off the stick and eating it whole. She sighed and swallowed, which was followed with an immediate frown as she realized she'd already eaten all of the tasty treat.

"Aw man... Well, thankfully I can get more. Be right back!"

The group of four watched Ginka get out of her seat and rush towards the nearby food vendor. Seira gave an offhand smirk at the shrinking silhouette of the small and dainty girl.

"I keep on telling her she's gonna gain weight if she keeps on eating too many of those things."

"It's best to just let her, Seira. You know she loves food, it's not as if you telling her to stop is going to make her." Luna said.

The purple haired girl merely grunted in response.

"Anyways, I think we should be leaving now. It's getting late, and I still need to do my daily training." Seira began to stand up, with everyone else following lead.

"Says the one who just ate ten whole kebabs." (Y/N) covered her mouth to hide her giggle, but failed miserably.

"Hey!"

Seria playfully tried to slap the (H/C) haired girl, but she missed by only a second. (Y/N) quickly ran behind her friend and held her hand, hiding her body behind the redheads. She peeked her head up by Akari's shoulder, just so she was visible enough to give a wink and a stick of the tongue.

"Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!" The playful taunt only made everyone laugh at the situation.

The faintest shade of red grew on Akari's cheeks. Flustered, the orange eyed schoolgirl looked down at the ground and took a step away from the girl next to her, yet didn't stop holding her hand.

"I'm back!" A female's voice interrupted their mini conversation. It was Ginka, returning with two more kebab sticks in hand. "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Mm-hmm." And with that, they set off.

The once full city was now sparse, the only lights remaining being the streetlamps and occasional ceiling lamps shining through building windows.

Orange and yellow hues bloomed through the sky, with the sun beginning to lower as the four friends walked back to their respective homes.

"Hey everyone?" Akari asked out of the blue.

"I'm going to walk home with (Y/N), so you three can go back to the school without me." Luna gave a small frown to the blush Akari had gotten, but didn't comment on it. Instead, she and the others choose to walk back the opposite way.

Once the two were alone, the (E/C) eyed girl spoke up.

"You didn't have to do that. Besides, you all live at the same place, so now you have to walk longer..."

"I wanted to spend more time with you! We rarely talk to each other nowadays, is it so bad I just wanted to see you a little more?"

"I-I didn't mean it like that! I just meant I didn't want you being alone because it's getting dark out and by the time I get home it'll be late which means you'll have to walk home alone and-"

(Y/N) was cut off her rambling with a giggle. "I was just teasing you~"

"Oh... right. Hey Akari?"

Akari hummed back in response, her eyes closed gleefully as she held (Y/N)'s hand.

"Thanks for letting me spend the day with you and your friends. I really enjoyed it."

"Of course! You're their friend too, don't forget-"

The redhead suddenly stopped in her tracks, the grip on (Y/N)'s palm quickly loosening as she fell to the ground. Dark red had stained her school uniform, a starking contrast to the white fabric.

(Y/N) stopped dead in her tracks, the cool air around her suddenly feeling much colder than it should've. Scarlet blood freckled her (S/C) cheek, the crimson liquid tasting of iron touching her lips.

She slowly turned her head to the side.

"A-Akari..?"

There was no reply.

A deafening scream ripped through the air.

"Akari!"

Akari lied still, her fingers involuntarily twitching to the beat of her scratchy coughs, which were full of blood and saliva.

The sound of rushing footsteps filled (Y/N)'s ears, replacing the loud and harsh rushing blood filling her head.

"What happened? We heard a scream- oh my god..." Seira eyes widened, her hands moving to cover her mouth, feeling a bile feeling rising from the back of her throat.

"I don't know, I swear! We were just..." (Y/N) trailed off, tears already beginning to flow.

The trio looked at each other, already having a good idea on who could've done something this cruel.

Luna and Ginka dropped down to the ground to try and help the dying girl. Seira followed in pursuit, stretching her arms out wide in front of the body, her purple pigtails swaying in the light breeze. As much as she wanted to run and fight the bastard who caused this, She knew it would be too dangerous to leave Akari in her current condition.

"(Y/N)! Go get help! We'll stay back here and protect Akari!" Seira yelled.

(Y/N) nodded, despite her entire body yelling at her to try and do something, anything, else that would be more helpful. A clear liquid began to form in her eyes, but she quickly rubbed them away and ran.

Clenching her eyes shut, she leaned forward and started to pick up her pace. The sound of screams made her open her eyes and look back. (Y/N) immediately regretted her decision as she saw a strange hooded boy step in from the corner of her eye, his arms spread wide. She rammed into him, his arms wrapping tightly around her torso as she began to struggle.

"Let go of me!" (Y/N) tried to scream, but her words were muffled by the strangers hand wrapping around her mouth.

"Ah-ah-ah," he began, a teasing lilt to his voice, "Not yet. I still need you to watch the show, darling."

With a soft yet forceful push, he managed to turn (Y/N) around with her still in his arms.

Like she was hypnotized, the (H/C) haired girl stood still, eyes wide with shock and horror at the sight before her.

Once alive, the girls she knew as her friends lay down on the ground.

Although they weren't recognizable. All that remained of the girls was a bloody, gory mess. Pink intestines and masses of flesh of varying sizes speckled the ground around their corpses.

Akari's body lied amongst the massacre, the least damaged out of all.

Crimson liquid had pooled around her torso, a gaping hole where her heart would be gone. Red arteries that connected the organ to her body still remained visible, while her legs and arms were covered in deep cuts.

Her once orange eyes full of light were gone, blood sliding down her pale cheeks and down onto the concrete sidewalk.

"How did... They were all just..." Alive. Just a moment ago, all four of them were going their separate ways, happy and without a care in the world. But now this...

"Oh, don't worry about it. You'll find out soon." The tiniest of smiles grew on the stranger's face as he heard small sniffles emerge from his darling, although she couldn't see it.

"Now let's go back to our home."

─────────────────────

"Wake up (Y/N)! You're gonna be late at this rate!"

Two hands ripped a fuzzy (F/C) blanket off in a flash, causing a young girl to whine as her body was exposed to a harsh white light.

"That's too bright!" She griped, choosing to retaliate by removing the pillow from under her head and instead stuffing it over her face.

"No it's not, now get up and get dressed. It's already twelve thirty."

Starting to comb out the many tangles with her fingers, (Y/N) started her sentence off with a yawn as she spoke, "Why are you waking me up? It's the weekend."

"You were gonna hang out with Akari and her friends today, remember?" (Y/N)'s mother sighed while shaking her head, muttering 'and I thought I was the forgetful one in this family...' as she left the room.

'What? But I already did yester...'

Her thoughts immediately trailed off as the memories began flooding back.

Blood.

Screaming.

Gore.

Carnage.

And the mysterious man who held her back.

"Day..." (Y/N) looked down at her hands, already feeling the nonexistent burdens of her sins weighing her down.

She didn't do anything. She had a chance to save them... and yet...

Nothing.

'Are you sure that wasn't just a dream?' The tiny voice in the back of her head called out, as if such a foolish idea would prompt her back to her normal cheerful self. 'You already knew that you were going to see them today, so maybe you were just imagining the worst case scenario?'

"Y-yeah, that's all. And I did watch a few horror movies a couple days ago, so that probably didn't help either." (Y/N) took a deep breath, the concern in her veins already beginning to disappear.

The rest of the morning was a blur, with (Y/N) following her daily routine without a word. Even as she left the house, even when her mother called out "Be sure to make good choices! Love you!", she didn't say anything.

The walk to the meetup area was silent as well, with (Y/N) trying her best to say to the very edge of the sidewalk.

It didn't take long before the (H/C) haired girl had reached her destination, the sun still shining bright as the plastic table her friends sat near was glistening in the light.

"(Y/N)!! Over here!"

"Akari! Seira, Luna!" (Y/N) waved at her friends. As much as she hated to admit it, there was still this ever growing fear, one that was telling her this was all wrong, to just run away now and never look back.

But when three very familiar figures began to smile and wave back, those feelings of worry and fear all washed away. A smile formed on her face.

What did she have to worry about? Everything is going to be just fine!

What a joke.

"Sorry I'm late." (E/C) eyes creased as a genuine smile formed on her face, voice laced with fatigue. "There's so many people outside, almost got lost a few times."

'You're here now, so it's all good! We're just waiting for Ginka to come back with the food, so feel free to take a seat."

"Hey (Y/N)! Long time no see." A familiar blonde with blue eyes walked up to the table, her hands full with delicious street vendor food.

"Ginka!" (Y/N) replied with a friendly wave.

"Oi Ginka, did you bring enough for all of us this time?" Seira asked, her hand under her chin as she stared at her friend in a suspicious matter. Ginka pouted in response.

"How rude of you! To think I would only get enough for myself. Actually, the person working it recognized my fan, and offered me a bunch more for it! For free!"

"You've used that trick before though..."

"So? It's his fault for trading with me." The blonde replied, taking one of the kababs that sat on top and stuffing it inside her mouth. She placed the two trays of food down on the table for the others to take.

Akari took lead by grabbing a small handful of the fried food, with the others following suit. (Y/N) took a deep breath, hues of (E/C) widening by a margin.

God, this is exactly like what had happened in her dream, from their actions to even their tone of voice being the same. A seed of despair had been planted inside her heart, weaving its way around. Even though she had repeatedly told herself that it was all just a dream, there was this lingering feeling stuffed down inside her that she was lying.

And she was starting to believe it.

The rest of their time spent together was spent just like any other day, with a looming idea of gloom hanging over all of their unaware heads. Well, almost everyone.

"You sure you don't want one?" Ginka asked, her mouth currently stuffed full of takoyaki. She waved a stick with the bite-sized food in front of (Y/N) teasingly. "They're really good!"

(Y/N) breath hitched, her mouth slightly opening and closing like a fish. "U-uh, I don't... No, no thank you." Her lips quivered, slowly lowering back down as she looked down at her hands, which were laying down on her lap.

"Suit yourself." Ginka was about to eat the final piece, before she swallowed the contents in her mouth and fully turned to her friend. "Are you ok? You seem like you're nervous or something."

"Me? No, I'm good! Just really tired today, that's all. Don't worry about it." The (H/C) haired girl forced a smile, the whites of her teeth shining bright. Seira gave a glare as a response, while everyone else just stared confused.

A small chuckle was let out, as (Y/N)'s thoughts began to grow and grow which each audible, nervous laughter.

"Now let's go back to our home."

The (H/C) haired girl slumped down in her seat, the anxiety in her mind eating her whole.

'What does that even mean?! Our home? I don't even know who that was, it looked like they had blue hair? I don't know. Me and Akari were just walking home and then they... they...'

The sound of crying suddenly cut through the quiet afternoon like a knife.

(Y/N) didn't even realize she was the cause of it.

Hot torrents of grief coursed down her face. Akari held her tightly, running her fingers through her hair and rubbing soothing circles on her back. The crying girl vented her frustrations and her heartache and Akari caught it all. She held her friend tightly, as if her tight embrace was keeping (Y/N) from completely falling apart.

"I'm sorry," (Y/N) let out a small hiccup amidst the pain, "I don't... I just feel like I saw... I don't even know I just...."

The snapping of fingers brought her back into reality.

"Hey (Y/N)." It was Akari. (Y/N) stared back with a blurry view, the tears welling up in her eyes continuing to seep out like a leaky faucet.

"I don't know what this is about, but I don't think it's something we could help you with." Akari helped her stand up. Her pointer moved up to wipe away a few stray tears.

"Why don't we just leave a little early? We can still hang out some other time."

(Y/N) rubbed her arm, the guilt gnawing and scraping at the inside of her heart. If anything, this is the exact opposite of what she wanted. Just like what had happened before, they would begin to walk home, Akari would offer to take her home, and then...

(Y/N) didn't want to think of that right now.

"A-are you sure? I don't want to-"

"It's fine! We need to get back to the school anyways," Akari gestured to the others, "Etia's probably getting worried sick about us." The others nodded in response.

Already accepting the fact that there was no getting out of this, (Y/N) gave a meek "If you say so." Her fingernails dug into her palm out of nervous tension. The tears were thankfully already starting to stop, albeit at a slow pace.

And with that, Akari and (Y/N) set off with the other three in tow. Even though it was the middle of the day, no one else was outside. Odd, considering how many people flooded the streets just an hour or two ago.

The sun had just begun to set, shades of yellows and oranges overlapping purple. The four friends walked down the sidewalk, the soles of their shoes hitting the concrete ground as a solemn yet serene silence filling the empty air.

"Hey everyone?"

Everyone turned to look at the orange eyed girl.

"I'm going to walk home with (Y/N), so you three can go back to the school without me."

'No no no no no Akari don't-'

"You don't need to, I'll be fine by myself." The words bubble up like bile in her throat, but (Y/N) pursed her lips and avert her gaze from Akari instead.

"Too late! I already said I am." A sneaky and lively slithered onto her face, before relaxing into a smile much more melancholy. Before (Y/N) could retaliate, Akari had grabbed her (S/C) hand and began to drag her back the opposite way.

"See you all later!" Akari called out to the others as they sighed at their friends stubbornness and began to slowly make their way back to the school.

Around a half hour later and once (Y/N) confirmed they were completely alone, she spoke.

"Uh, hey Akari?"

The girl in question hummed, her eyes trailing the sidewalk ahead as she held (Y/N)'s hand.

"I'm sorry about messing up today. I know you wanted me and your other friends to hang out today, and I just messed it all up." (Y/N) could feel the tears already beginning to return. Her bottom lip quivered, and her shoulders dropped in resignation.

'God please please please don't happen please God I'm begging you please don't let anything happen to them!'

She already knew what was going to happen, deep down in her heart. Why didn't she just accept their fates? Hope? Delusion? She didn't know.

"Don't worry about it! We still had fun, and as long as you're doing better now-"

Her sentence was cut short by the sound of the blowing wind and a loud thud hitting the ground.

"Ak... Ari..?"

(Y/N) felt like her heart had crawled up her throat to take permanent residence, where every single beat easily made nausea bubble up inside her stomach. Regret was rapidly growing in her mind, festering like a fresh wound.

She knew what had happened. She was too afraid to look.

(Y/N) turned her head to the side, before screaming in horror of seeing the macabre scene once more.

She didn't hear the footsteps of her friends, already knowing their doomed fates.

"What happened? We heard a scream-" The purple haired girl staggered in place, face freezing into shock. Luna covered her mouth with her gloved hand, shock welling up in her eyes as she looked down onto the bloody body.

(Y/N) didn't respond; instead choosing to nod her head left and right.

Seira ignored her actions. "Go get help! We'll stay back here and protect Akari!"

Thoughts ranging from escape to calling for help flooded (Y/N)'s mind, dulling her ability to make a proper decision. Chest constricted and dizziness rose, as (E/C) eyes desperately searched for any way out.

The feeling of someone shaking her shoulders brought her back into reality.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Seira yelled. "Go! Now!!"

The (H/C) haired girl held back the rancor feeling slowly rising in the pit of her stomach, turned tail, and ran.

Before she could say a word to her colleagues, a sharp sting plunged into her shoulder blade and a scream tumbled out of her lips, causing Seira to stumble back and land on the concrete in immense pain.

(Y/N) didn't look back, her footsteps increasing with a rapid pressure as her breathing deepened.

Why was she running? She knew what would happen. She knew how it would happen. You can't change fate.

The screams instantaneously stopped, the violent bloodshed no more.

She hoped on the last part, at least.

Covered arms grabbed onto her body, pulling her frail form into a painfully tight hug.

The smell of blood was overbearing, making her nauseous. (Y/N) had only stiffened, holding her breath as the boy nuzzled into her neck. She could feel some dark fabric brush up against her cheek.

"No, no no no oh God no... Please don't..." She managed to croak between the sobs that rippled her throat. (Y/N) moved her hands to cover her eyes, but they were quickly restrained behind her back as the stranger held them with a firm grasp.

"Stop struggling dear," he murmured, easily and effortlessly holding (Y/N) in place despite her best efforts, "just relax and watch the show."

Just as he did before, the boy turned her around with little to no effort.

The grotesque sight alone was enough to make her want to puke. It may have looked and smelled exactly like the corpses from her so called dream, but that didn't change the fact that those dead bodies used to be her friends.

There was silence, broken only by her quiet sobs. His calloused hands held hers, pulling her closer to her body, if that was even possible. Any semblance of composure was lost when (Y/N) met a corpses dull orange gaze. She couldn't hold the downpour of tears, or the whimpers escaping her quivering lips as his eyes scrutinized her frightened features.

She couldn't see his face, but she knew. He was smiling.

It was the smile of a monster.