NAOMI

I regained consciousness, consciousness which I did not know I lost, until I woke. My ankle did not feel any better than it did when it started, and I cursed some unflattering things under my breath. "Ayumi? You there?" I called out, waves of exhaustion dunking me under its water. No answer. I sighed, and stood up, balancing carefully on my other foot. The cast that Ayumi had fixed for me had fell apart, but it didn't really make a difference in appearance, since my shoe and sock were covering it up.

If I stripped it away, though, it would probably be as red and ugly as ever. My uniform shirt had magically reappeared, a change which I was thankful for. My shirtless act was terribly awkward. I started to walk, wincing a couple of times as I proceeded. My ankle throbbed, screamed, and hurt even more by the second. But I ignored it, focusing on only one single task. Finding where the heck Ayumi went. I tried to summon her with my acknowledgements again, but there was still no reply.

That disappointed me dearly, but there was one possibility that nagged in the back of my mind. A thought which I let slip through: Did somebody switch us in closed spaces? "NO!" I found myself yelling out loud. I experienced this before, with Seiko. But Satoshi found me not long after, and Yuka. This time, it was only the two of us roaming in here, and if we are in entirely separate spaces... I might go insane. Literally. I stared at the ground desperately, my fingers absentmindedly tracing the cracks on the walls.

"Please, please, Satoshi..." I prayed, since he used to be our leader, "let me be with Ayumi. I'll die. I'll join you and the others. Please, just..." I collapsed, slowly sinking to my knees, "just let me see her face one last time," I finished in a whisper. I might sound like I was in love with her, but I wasn't. Well, not in that way, anyway. No romance lingered in my words. I loved her, but in a friendly love. I trust her with my life, and she trusts me with hers. Even though those words were never spoken, it was felt.

Losing her felt like losing my own life. Who desires for that wish? I closed my eyes, and hoped they would never open.