NAOMI

"Gih me my tonhue," Yuki rasped. "GIH ME MY TONHUE!!!"

The dream ended in a bright flash

I woke up in a dark room filled with desks and tipped-over chairs. I slowly stood up, my ankle once again sprained. I cursed under my breath. Where was I?

Oh, no...

Was I back in Heavenly Host? What about..."Ayumi! Ayumi!" I limped towards her sleeping form. I knew she was breathing. She had to be! "Ayumi, wake up!" I shook her shoulder frantically. As she stirred, my eyes skimmed over the newspaper on the wall. I was right. We were back in the dreadful Heavenly Host. "Hmm? Nakashima?" She glanced around, then her eyes finally settled on me. Tears dripped off of her cheeks. "We're back, aren't we?" she whispered.

Every limb of my body protested, but I gave my class rep a tiny nod. It was all I could muster. Yuki said we won't be back in this place! What happened? "Greetings, ladies." A chalk scribbled onto a chalk board, and I gasped. Who was writing it? Ayumi faced me, mouthing, 'I'm so scared!' The floating chalk continued its momentum.

"I can't speak with you directly because I am insane again. So, for safe clarification, I am Yuki...the one-eyed ghost. My time is limited, so I'll make this quick." I read the words aloud as fast as the chalk wrote, and that was awfully quick for a human mouth to speak. "Sachiko is mad, truly mad. With us ghosts she transferred you two back to Heavenly Host. The spirits here that you know, Shinohara, Kishinuma, Yuka Mochida, your teacher, Morishige, Suzomoto, and even Satoshi Mochida, will be the gears of the school.

"No one except Sachiko knows how to appease them and go home. Your survival will be pretty doubtful. If you somehow manage to get out alive, everything will return to normal." With those words, the chalk dropped and rolled on the floor. "Oh my God, Naomi!" Ayumi screamed. "Think of the lives Sachiko will take with a flesh and bone body!"

I nodded glumly, another thought nagging on my mind.

This time, Seiko will hate me.