𝐀 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐓𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

Chapter 18

"I'M NEVER GETTING OUT OF HERE!" you cried, slamming a door shut as tears began pouring from your eyes. You had spent over an hour trying to find the right door to lead you out of this strange world, but you just kept seeing things you didn't want to see. You felt hopeless.

Your knees gave out and fell to the ground, tears streaming down and plopping onto the floor. You just wanted to hurry up and escape this damn place. You wanted to go back to talking to Yashiro and Aoi, to visiting Kou and Hanako in the bathroom, to laugh and joke around.

To go back to the garden, to go back to your beloved club. You wanted everything to just come back to you. "Why did I get myself involved with Yui...?" you whimpered quietly to yourself, leaning againts the door as you took some time to rest and gain at least some energy.

"If only I hadn't agreed to talk to her, if only I hadn't asked her to be my friend...all of this wouldn't have happened. It's all my fault, I got myself into this..." you sniffled a bit and struggled to breathe as you felt panic start to take over. "And I'm never getting out of it..." you said.

You curled up into a ball, accepting the truth that you wouldn't make it out of here. You wouldn't be able to be friends with Yashiro and Aoi, talk and joke with Natsuhiko and Sakura, you wouldn't be able to see that adorable smile Tsukasa would always show you, every time.

Tsukasa...Tsukasa...his name repeated in your head. He was so different, you felt light just thinking about his childish charms. He made you feel brighter, warmer...and you couldn't understand why this ghostly boy was so special to you? So worth caring about.

The thought of Tsukasa made you long for his company. You wanted to see his smile, feel his hugs, hear his voice...you couldn't possibly give that up! This made your body automatically start moving. Before you knew it, you were standing up, still rather weakly though.

You didn't understand. Thinking of Tsukasa made you...stronger? It made you feel like to you could accomplish anything. "If...If I'm not getting out for myself, I'll at least get out for Tsukasa!" you shouted at yourself, clenching your fists as tightly as you could as your legs began moving.

Woah...you felt so powerful, like you could run a marathon and win it. Like you could cure any disease in the world! This was...all because you were thinking of your dearest friend! Friend...that didn't feel right. It was unsatisfying to you..how he was just a friend.

You ran up to a door and pulled it open. Your eyes widened at the sight. It wasn't a portal leading back to the real world or anything like that, it was something entirely different. There was a child standing there, drenched with water and their body was covered with scas and scratches.

Tears were running down their face and they sniffled from time to time. A man suddenly stepped into view, his hands on his hips. "Really!? Again!? They hurt you like this and you didn't think to fight back? How pathetic are you!?" the man shouted at the poor little kid, raising his hands.

You immediately shut the door, knowing what the man was about to do. That child...seemed strangely familiar. You shook your head and walked up to another door. This time you saw that same young child, humming a lively tune as they did some messy garden work happily.

They looked so at peace, that you smiled slightly at their gentle joy. You shut the door and thought about your own love for gardening. You pulled another door open and peeked inside. This time, the child was surrounded by other children, who were laughig at them mockingly.

The child was covering their ears, tears falling down their face. You frowned at the sight, wishing you could go in there and comfort the poor soul. You silently shut the door, not wanting to watch anymore. You put your hand on another door handle, hesitating before pulling the door open.

There you saw the child again, getting brutally beaten and battered by the children in the previous door. They kicked the child, drenched them water, punched and pulled their hair. you covered your mouth, shocked at how badly these small children were beating the poor kid.

They continued this for a while, torturing the crying child until blood was spraying everywhere. You took notice at how the child stopped moving, and your own blood ran cold. The children looked down at them, nudging them with their feet. They backed away from the corpse.

"We killed them! Akimitsu-kun, we killed them! What are we going to do!?" one of the girl bullies cried, tears filling her eyes. The boy who seemed to be the leader and also Akimitsu told his group of friends that they should bury the child in the garden, next to the strawberries.

You closed the door, realizing what this was about. This weird world of doors was showing you exactly what happened to Ichigo-san of the Garden. But why did that child seem so familiar to you, like you knew them or something. You decided to go to another door and open it.

This time, you saw the bloodied corpses of the children who had killed Ichigo-san, though they were slightly older in your eyes. You gasped in horror, and looked up at the murderer. You could feel your heart stop when you saw the face of the one who had killed those little kids.

Facing back at you...was your own face.

You were grinning creepily, blood splattered on your face as you examined the bodies you had mangled. You felt all life drain from your body as you slammed the door shut. You tried to steady your breathing, but you knew that you were panicking too much to calm down at this point.

Yui was right...you were Ichigo-san of the Garden...