Chapter Text
BEFORE READING
This fanfic is a side story that takes place at the same time as my previous work, Chika’s Bizarre Adventure. It is highly advised that you read up to at least Chapter 21 of that piece before starting Nijigasaki Downfall, as spoilers for the main series will be present. This fanfic will be written under the assumption that the reader has completed Chika’s Bizarre Adventure, and contains spoilers for the main fanfic as well. Think of this as the Purple Haze Feedback of my original story.
As a separate warning, let me just preface this by saying this work is going to be brutal. If you’re looking for a lighthearted Love Live fanfiction, this is not going to be the story for you. There’s going to be a great deal of suffering and tragedy, so you better buckle up.
As a side note, I realized at the time of writing that I started by calling the big chaotic event “the cataclysm” but then proceeded to call it “the calamity” in later chapters. Oops. For the sake of consistency and avoiding confusion, I’ll be referring to it from here on out as “the calamity”.
Chika’s Bizarre Adventure Dream Mix: Nijigasaki Downfall
Chapter 1: The Rainbow Runs Red
On August 3rd at 8:47 PM, the calamity struck. A sudden invisible wave rippled outwards from its epicenter in Akihabara, causing the emergence of especially powerful stand users in the Tokyo region. The once bustling city would turn into a blood-soaked battlefield in just a matter of hours. Just a few minutes prior to the beginning of the end, the students of Nijigasaki continued their efforts to prepare for an upcoming festival, blissfully unaware of the chaos to come. On the floor of the School Idol Club laid a colorful poster adorned with depictions of each club member. Above them a giant rainbow crossed the entire canvas, sloppy in places but uniform enough to come together nicely to complete the piece. A large “welcome” laid beneath their feet, each letter outlined in yellow and filled with a vibrant pink. The only exceptions were the E and exclamation mark at the end, which were still a work in progress. With one final brush stroke, Kasumi breathed a sigh of relief.
“Finally, that took forever.” Kasumi sat up and stretched her arms out, her body aching from resting on the floor for so long.
“Nice work, Kasumi,” Yuu said gleefully, “we’re almost done!”
Kasumi stood up with a groan, hands placed firmly on her aching back. “Somebody else can do it, I think I’ve done enough painting for one day. Kasumi needs a power nap…”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but Kanata already has that role filled.” Karin jested.
“I wish she was here to help us out,” Kasumi grumbled, “why’d she have to get sick right before the festival?”
Ayumu turned to Yuu with a concerned expression. “I hope she can get better in time, it’s only a couple of days until the festival. At least we can rest easy knowing she’s being cared for by Haruka.”
“I got a text from her earlier today,” Emma piped up cheerfully, “she said that her sickness is mostly gone and she will definitely be back in time for the festival.”
Ayumu’s worry melted into relief. “That’s a relief…”
An abrupt shout from Ai startled the group. “Aw yeah! Looks like we’re raring to go, aren’t we Setsuna?”
Setsuna shared an enthusiastic fist bump with the boisterous blonde. “Let’s make it a celebration to remember!”
Shizuku responded with a deep yawn, weariness having already set in for her. “I don’t know how you two have so much energy. I’m exhausted.”
“Oh come on,” Setsuna encouraged, “it’s not that late…I think.”
Rubbing her eyes, Shizuku pulled out her phone. “It’s 8:46 right now. Maybe I can muster up enough energy to check how Mia and Lanzhu are doing before I pass out for the night.”
“Aw, but this is such a rare opportunity,” Ai added, “there’s only so many times we can stay after hours at school. We’ve got a whole night to live it up!”
Karin shook her head. “Maybe you do, but I don’t know about everyone else. What do you think, Rina?”
Hard at work painting the last letter, Rina didn’t even hear Karin’s question. Quietly humming to herself, she methodically filled in the empty space with gentle precise strokes. Karin didn’t bother repeating the question, she was content to just stare with a smile at the girl’s hard work. Emma was quick to pick up on her friend’s silent admiration; she couldn’t help but smile.
“I finished the E.” Rina set her brush down momentarily on a paper towel.
“Wow, looks amazing Rina!” Ai exclaimed.
Rina picked up her notepad and flipped to a page with a smile drawn on it. Turning to Ai, she held the back of it up to her face.
“Rina-chan board, happy!”
Yuu admired the nearly finished work with a big goofy smile. “Wow, it’s coming out fantastic! You finished up that letter super quickly, Rina.”
Rina swapped her board to an embarrassed face. “Wawawawa…”
“She’s much faster than Kasumi, too.” Shizuku joked with a smug grin.
“Hey!”
Kasumi’s exclamation elicited laughter from everyone in the room. Kasumi grumbled, but found herself laughing along as well. For some reason, everyone in the room found it rather infectious, not that anyone minded. Rina didn’t audibly laugh along, but joined in spirit by using her board to put on a smile. This was to be the last time the group ever laughed together.
“I’ll finish the exclamation mark.”
Rina put down her board and picked up her paintbrush once more, this was the home stretch and she saw no reason to procrastinate. After getting a blob of pink paint on the tip of the brush, she carefully moved the tip towards the surface of the canvas. That’s when she felt it. An inexplicable feeling sort of like being struck by a wave at the beach, but the way it passed her by felt like it hadn’t even made contact. It was like a ripple in the fabric of reality had washed right over her. It took her a second to realize she had dropped the brush.
“I must be overworking myself, that was probably a wave of exhaustion. Maybe I should ask the others for help.”
Confusion and nervousness was spread across the faces of every member in the clubroom. The jovial atmosphere had instantaneously been replaced by a lingering sense of dread. Nobody spoke, as if too afraid to address the elephant in the room. Never one to stay quiet for long, Ai was the first to speak up.
“Did you guys feel that too?”
Those who responded did so with a nod. To lighten the mood, Ai put on a brave face and smiled to at least appear aloof.
“That was the strangest earthquake I’ve ever felt. That experience sure was EARTHerial, wasn’t it?”
The pun got a nervous laugh out of Yuu and made Kasumi crack a smile, but everyone else remained unmoved. Nobody found the pun annoying or boring, they just didn’t buy the explanation. Rina had lived through more than one earthquake in her lifetime, and whatever this was couldn’t be it.
“If that was an earthquake, I would have felt the ground shake. There would have been some sort of rumble, but it was completely silent. Could it have been a blast from a nuclear weapon? No, that can’t be right either, we’d see and hear if a nuke went off. What on Earth was that?”
“Setsuna-chan, are you ok?”
Yuu’s comment turned all eyes to the girl, who stood gripping her shirt with one hand. She was breathing laboriously.
“M-My chest hurts…”
Ai put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it was nothing to worry about. Just try to center yourself and calm down.”
Grunting in severe discomfort, Setsuna wobbled back and forth as if she were struggling to find her balance. Each breath of hers was pained and deliberate.
“Ai, I think she’s having a heart attack!” Shizuku exclaimed.
Ai’s false calm entirely dissipated. “Where’s the nurse’s office?”
Shizuku stood up from her seat and started for the door. “I know where it is, I’ll go get her.”
Rina watched helplessly as Setsuna nearly collapsed, only staying upright thanks to Ai wrapping an arm around her. Yuu ran around the other side to help prop her up.
“Just keep breathing,” Ai tried to reassure, “Shizuku will get the nurse. You’re going to be alright.”
By this point, everyone was crowding around her and offering their support. Many of them offered encouragement, but Rina could only stare in uneasy silence. Setuna’s gasps for air became interlaced with dry coughing, her head hanging low and her body writhing in pain. Down on the floor, Rina was the first to catch on to the frightening reality of the situation.
“What’s that smell? Is that…smoke?”
Grunts began to be replaced with shouts. With each second, they grew louder and louder.
“Stay with us, Setsuna,” Ai encouraged, “You’re gonna be ok-”
A horrid scream rang out through the clubroom as a plume of fire emerged from the depths of the poor girl’s throat. Ai and Yuu leapt away in fright, leaving Setsuna to stand alone as the flames quickly spread across her face, down her neck, and across her body. Everyone stared in silence as burning heat seared every inch of its victims’ body. All Setsuna could do was wail in agony as searing heat cooked her inside and out, alive.
“Where’s the fire extinguisher!?” Karin demanded above the din.
In a mad frenzy, everyone scanned the room. There was none.
“I’ll go get one!” Ai called out as she raced for the door.
Rina trembled in fear, paralysed by it. A hundred happy memories flooded back, sullied in an instant by the horrific image unfolding before her.
“Is this how I’m going to remember her? A collection of fond memories linked to this one moment of tragedy? I don’t want that. I don’t want this to be it. Please, let me wake up. Let me wake up.”
Rina returned to reality, but only by the sight of Setsuna’s body falling as she collapsed. The charred body collided with a paint bucket, drenching the group’s work in an ugly cascade of red. The crimson tide swallowed up everything in its path, drowning the joyous depiction of Setsuna in its wake. The once beautiful rainbow ran red, and behind it lingering flames began to consume the canvas. The room went deathly quiet. Anyone could’ve heard a pin drop had the shock of the moment not deafened them to all other stimuli. The group could only stand in stunned silence, unable to pry their eyes away. Not even when Ayumu started screaming bloody murder did anyone so much as flinch.
“Everyone, we need to go, now!”
Nobody noticed Ai burst into the room until she had spoken. The girl’s typically cheerful face displayed an emotion Rina had never seen before, a look of abject fright. Beyond the doorway a boisterous cacophony of horrific sounds echoed through the halls. There were shouting crowds and twisting metal, screams cut short and distant explosions, maybe even gunshots. It was too intermingled and horrific to isolate, sounding to Rina as if hell itself had opened its gates directly inside Nijigasaki.
Karin was the first to speak up, but did so quietly and nervously. “Ai, what’s going on out there?”
“I-I don’t know, but it’s not safe here! It’s total chaos and-and some of the girls-they’re-they’re killing each other, I don’t know how, but-”
“Slow down,” Karin commanded, “did you say killing!? Is there some sort of terrorist group in the school?”
“No, it’s everyday students! I saw one of them do it…or at least I think she did, it was like the air punched a big hole through her chest. I-I don’t-”
“Ai, you’re not making sense. People don’t just explode from the air, you must have missed something.”
“People don’t spontaneously combust from the inside either.” Yuu cut in.
Karin’s voice caught in her throat. With all attention squarely on her, Yuu hardened her gaze and addressed the group.
“It’s not safe here. Whatever’s happening is clearly far from natural, and until we understand what it is we should see it as an immediate threat. Let’s evacuate from the building, if we’re outside then at least we can run from danger.”
Her words were enough to motivate the group into action. With Ayumu sobbing in her grasp, Yuu led the charge towards the clubroom door. Rina saw her and Ai run out onto the walkway before jolting in surprise at some unseen explosion to the right. Everyone else flinched, but Yuu ushered them onwards with an overhead arm motion.
“Come on, hurry!”
The rest of the group ran through the door, bumping into each other in a panicked frenzy. Rina was in the very back of the group. As she passed the threshold, two things became readily apparent. The first was that everyone had stopped running. The second was that a perfect circle had been carved out of the floor to her right.
“W-We’re trapped!” Yuu exclaimed in horror.
It was then Rina first saw their assailant.
“Who is that? I don’t recognize her uniform at all, she must’ve been a student collaborating on the festival with us. Her eyes don’t look natural…it looks like she’s possessed or something.”
The girl’s pupils were unnaturally constricted, and to such a degree that from a distance it appeared they were missing entirely. Her hair was long and black, giving her an almost ghostly appearance. A murky black aura enveloped her along with a vaguely humanoid figure floating in the air beside her. Rina couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Where arms should be, there were joints connected to a pair of silver swords. Where a torso should be, there were metal plates ending in a sharp point. Where a head should be, something akin to a sniper rifle sat instead.
“She’s…pointing it right at us!”
“Everyone, get back in the clubroom!!!”
Yuu’s warning came too late. The gun fired, destroying the supports beneath them. With a horrible scraping of metal, the floor gave way. Everyone fell and collided with the floor as it collapsed at an incline. Rina fell on her side, leaving a nasty bruise on her shoulder before tumbling helplessly along the ground. With a groan, she lifted her head to see the other club members strewn about haphazardly. The air had become filled with a cloud of dust released from the debris, causing her to cough a few times.
“The others are coughing too…that means they’re alive, at least.”
Nearby, Ayumu lay on her stomach, coughing. “Y-Yuu-chan, where are you? I’m scared…”
“Ayumu, behind you!” Yuu shouted from somewhere behind the swirling clouds of dust.
Rina could only watch helplessly as the phantom emerged and readied its gun. Ayumu looked over her shoulder, spinning around onto her back as the crosshairs aligned with her head.
“Please,” Ayumu begged, “I don’t want to die…don’t hurt me!”
“Target locked. Ready…aim…”
Yuu’s body moved on its own, lunging forward on instinct. “Ayumu!!!”
“Fire.”
The gun went off. Ayumu watched helplessly as Yuu jumped in the way of the blast at the last second, absorbing the impact. Her entire torso ceased to be, her lungs and heart destroyed instantaneously. What remained of the girl’s upper half soared through the air and landed several meters away with a sickening thud.
“YUU-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!”
Ayumu ran over to what was left of her best friend. Laying on the ground, she clung to her. The eyes that once shined so vibrantly were now hollow and lifeless.
“Come back to me, Yuu-chan! You can’t leave me! I love you, I love you more than anything! I can’t go on without you, I can’t! I can’t…I can’t…”
The murderous fiend walked parallel to Ayumu like a lion stalking its prey from the undergrowth. Rina was petrified by the complete absence of emotion. Over the years, she understood what it was like to not be able to communicate well with others. Deep down though, she could tell she felt emotions just like anyone else did. Yuu’s killer was entirely different. There were no signs of remorse, no words of hatred and no indications of guilt. This was an emotionless killing machine and nothing else.
“Target locked.”
Ayumu slowly rose from the ground. The attacker had walked by Ayumu and stood right in front of her, its gun once more pointed at her head.
“Ayumu,” Kasumi shouted in desperation, “you have to get out of there! She’s going to kill you!”
The gun clicked. “Ready. Aim…”
Ayumu raised her head.
“Fi-”
In an instant, the murderer and her strange partner vanished. There was no flash of light, no explosion, nothing. They were just gone.
“Ayumu…did you make her disappear?”
Kasumi’s question went unanswered. Her head moved around subtly, as if watching something hovering in the air before her. Rina looked, but saw nothing.
“I think she might be in a trance,” Karin warned, “It’s possible that girl was under some sort of curse that spread to-”
Before Karin could finish her sentence the assailant reappeared as quickly as she vanished, now a mangled corpse flying towards the wall. The group yelped as it struck with a startlingly loud slam, leaving a bloody mark before crumpling to the floor. Rina couldn’t keep her eyes away from the atrocious mess of flesh and viscera, sliced and dismembered with what she could only imagine to be an irrepressible rage. Ayumu did not turn around.
“Who did it?”
She uttered the words quietly with an accusatory tone. Confused and frightened, nobody dared to respond.
“I can sense it. The same power I feel in me, it’s radiating from the lot of you.”
As if roused by her words, Rina became keenly aware of the strange sensation. It was like being keenly aware of each and every electric impulse running through her body, each muscle expanding and contracting, blood pumping through her veins, the beating of her heart, everything. Rina stared at her hands, feeling as if she could call forth an unparalleled strength. Out of fear, she refused to.
“I can feel it,” Emma spoke up, “it’s like…I’ve been energized by something. What’s happening to me?”
Emma exchanged a look of fear with Karin. “What’s happening to us?”
“You’re becoming murderers,” Ayumu spoke flatly, “and one of you already is.”
Feet shuffled a few inches back. Looks of disbelief and distrust were cast in all directions.
“One of us…killed Setsuna? No…No, I refuse to believe it. We were all laughing together just a few minutes ago. I don’t understand.”
“Rina.”
She became frozen in place hearing her name coldly pass Ayumu’s lips. All eyes fell on her.
“I don’t know how to communicate with them. Even if I had my board, would they believe me? I feel so alone. I’m scared. I can’t even open my mouth.”
“You were the one person who didn’t say a word when Setsuna burst into flames, like you expected it to happen. You killed her, I know you did.”
“I-I…”
“I can’t even say no. I’m too terrified. What if I can’t communicate properly? I can’t express my feelings, not under this kind of pressure. Ayumu is going to kill me. I don’t want to die. Please, I didn’t do anything. Don’t hurt me. I’m not ready.”
Rina began to hyperventilate as her old nemesis came back to bite her at the worst time possible. Ayumu turned her heel to the side, preparing to turn around and face her target.
“I won’t forgive you…I’ll never forgive you!”
“Rinari, run!!!”
Ai grabbed Rina’s wrist and pulled her back to her senses-as well as away from Ayumu. With her blonde savior leading the way, they raced through the pandemonium to the exit-any exit. Rina purposely chose to keep her head down, hoping to see as little of the carnage as possible.
“Whatever you do Rinari, don’t look Ayumu in the eye.”
“W-Why?”
“That girl who attacked us, she disappeared when Ayumu looked at her. I’ve got a feeling that has something to do with her powers, so just try to keep her out of your vision. Look, one of the exterior windows is broken, we can get out that way!”
Crowds of students had gathered outside. Some shouted, many murmured fearfully. A few watched the two of them approaching with uneasy stares.
“We can lose her in the crowd, let’s go!”
The mass of students parted like a great maw and allowed the two of them to be swallowed up by the sea of uniforms. Rina kept her gaze down, avoiding any and all eye contact. Ayumu or not, she felt deeply uncomfortable meeting anyone’s gaze.
“We should find our way deeper,” Ai encouraged, “the people here are just as scared as you.”
“I can feel it…”
“Huh? Feel what, Rinari?”
Rina held her free hand tight to her chest. “Their powers. I can feel them all around me, like a suffocating blanket. I’m scared.”
Ai tried her best to put on a reassuring smile. “You have powers too, but you’d never hurt a fly. I’m sure that goes for many of the people here too.”
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind them.
“Where is she!? I’ll kill her, I’ll kill all of you!!!”
It was Ayumu. Like sheep being herded by a dog, the sole attacker sent the crowd into a blind panic. Dozens of frightened faces flashed by Rina’s vision as they bumped and pushed by in desperation. In the rampage, Ai’s hand slipped from Rina’s grasp.
“Ai-san!”
“Don’t look up, whatever you do! Don’t. Look. Up!”
“I can’t see you, where are you? Come back-”
Someone bumped a bit too hard against her side, knocking her off balance. Jostled amongst the crowd, Rina found herself being pushed around like a metalhead in a mosh pit. Weary and off balance, a brutish shove sent her tumbling to the pavement. Unable to catch herself, the blunt impact of her skull against the pavement was the last thing she felt before getting knocked unconscious.
Her head throbbed. Her body ached. As consciousness returned, Rina groaned and rubbed a hand along her forehead. The world around her was just about as dark with her eyes open as they were while closed. The street lights which usually illuminated the walkways around the school had gone out.
“What…happened to everyone?” She mumbled to herself.
She got her answer upon touching the cheek that’d been laying upon the ground. It felt sticky and warm. Slowly, she faced the open palm before her eyes. It reeked of iron. In the darkness-right beside where she was at rest-was a mangled corpse. Rina stumbled back and nearly tripped, only stopped by something standing in the dark. It reached out and gripped firmly onto her shoulder.
“I’ve been waiting hours for this.”
“Please, don’t hurt me.”
“You took Setsuna-chan’s life. You’re a murderer, and murderers deserve only what they give…death. Don’t you agree, Rina-chan?”
“I…I didn’t…”
The hand gripped harder. “So you deny it? If you truly are innocent, tell it to my face.”
A bead of sweat ran down her forehead. Ayumu was holding both shoulders now, her cheek rubbing up against the right side of her head. Her lips were mere inches from her ear.
“Come now,” Ayumu whispered, “look me in the eye when you’re talking to me.”
“T-The girl beside me,” Rina stuttered, “you…you killed her, didn’t you?”
“Yup. I had to kill a few of those girls to find you. Six…or was it seven? It doesn’t matter. You know I’m a passionate girl, Rina-chan. When I want something…”
Ayumu’s fingers dug into her shoulder.
“...I won’t stop until I have it.”
“There’s no getting away from her. Ai told me not to, but…maybe there’s a chance she’ll spare me if I can communicate with her. I don’t have my board though. What should I do?”
“What’s the matter? Don’t you trust me? We’re friends after all.”
“If I run, she’ll surely see that as an admission of guilt. There’s no other choice then.”
“If…I look you in the eyes…will you spare me?”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Take a good look…gaze into my eyes.”
Rina’s breathing grew shaky and rapid. At best, all she could muster was moving her pupils to the side. Fear paralyzed her where she stood.
“I can’t turn my head. I’m too scared. Please, if any gods are watching, save me. Somebody. Anybody.”
Ayumu grabbed her chin and began to tug.
“Go on…gaze into my eyes.”
“Rina didn’t kill Setsuna, I did!”
The voice came from a distance behind Ayumu. Both of them froze.
“That’s Karin-chan!”
“What…did you say?”
“You heard me. I killed Setsuna. Sorry about that, I just couldn’t help myself.”
Ayumu’s grip on Rina loosened. A malicious aura swirled around her as Karin’s words incited a wave of rage in their target.
“She was always a bit…lackluster, but I suppose she made a good test subject in the end.”
“You BITCH!!!”
Ayumu practically shoved Rina away as she charged at Karin in a blind fury.
Karin smirked. “Now I have you!”
A flash of light shone bright, casting rays of yellow across the walkway. Using her hands to cover most of her eyes, Rina cautiously turned around to look. It was just in time to watch a golden appendage emerge from Karin and kick Ayumu square in the chest. Ayumu’s head remained fixed on something glowing in the sky. A golden aura swirled around Karin, her back turned to them.
“Forgive me for saying such awful things, it was merely a lie to get you away from Rina. What you see before you, that is my true ability.”
Rina flinched as Ayumu tried to turn around to face her, but her gaze remained fixed on whatever it was that floated above her.
“M-My head! Why can’t I turn it!?”
“Beautiful isn’t it? This is my true ability. Once you get a good look at it, you won’t want to look away. Until I decide to let it dissipate, that light will remain and you will remain under its sway. Now, I want you to tell me something. Are you planning to hurt the other members of the club?”
“I will do whatever I have to,” Ayumu spit fiercely, “even if I have to kill to find out who’s responsible.”
Unseen to either, Karin narrowed her eyes. “Even if it’s Emma?”
“If I must-”
“Then you’re no longer my friend. You’re not welcome here anymore. If you so much as think about laying a hand on my Emma, I will personally hunt you down and kill you. Now go, before I make an example out of you.”
“Wait,” Rina burst in, “you can’t mean that!”
“The same goes for you too, Rina. If you really did kill Setsuna, then I’ll never forgive you either.”
“But I didn’t-”
“Go, now. I will determine your innocence later, but you need to put distance between yourself and this psychopath here. Be warned, if Ayumu’s hunch is right I will gladly kill you to ensure Emma’s safety.”
Her tone was deadly serious. It made Rina want to run, and this time she did not hesitate. Turning on her heel, she began sprinting as fast as she could. What she was running towards, she didn’t know. Driven by pure instinct, she summoned what strength she had left to search for something, anything. Never had she wanted to stay and get away from somewhere so much simultaneously.
Tokyo was not spared. In fact, things were even worse than at the school. The destruction had come quick and left the city scarred and bloodied. Drained physically and emotionally, Rina sat hugging her knees in the interior of a convenience store. Aside from the sliding doors in the front being smashed, it was relatively untouched. With many shelves to hide behind and broken glass near the entrance, it would at least give her a warning for any approaching adversaries. For now, it would have to do. Panic and fear had been replaced with an unshakable feeling of dread and loneliness.
“I hope my friends are ok. Did Ai-san make it out alright? Ayumu couldn’t have killed her, she couldn’t. Why would she, how could she?”
Having a moment to process the tragedy, tears began to gently fill the corners of her eyes before slowly trickling down her cheek and dampening her sleeve.
“I don’t want to believe one of us killed Setsuna. We were all such good friends, we had so much fun together. It was like a dream. For one of us to want to kill any of our friends is unthinkable. Could it have been an accident? Maybe someone couldn’t control their power and unintentionally caused her demise.”
Her eyes widened as a horrifying realization struck her.
“Could…I have killed her without realizing?”
She stared at her palm, the flickering light above flashing an image of its bloodstained surface before her. The blood had dried, stinking and leaving a stain on anything it touched. Death clung to her fingertips.
“Breathe, Rina. Setsuna’s death can’t be your fault. Surely there’s an explanation for this. It could’ve been anyone’s mistake.”
The mere possibility made it impossible to shake it from her mind. Hoping to center herself, she took a few deep breaths. Something still felt wrong.
“I’m not breathing properly, I need to calm down and focus. Just relax and get some sleep, you need it Rina.”
She felt woozy. Laying down on the cold tile floor, she longed for the quiet of home and the comfort of her bed. With so many buildings damaged and power sparse or outright disconnected like Nijigasaki, the digital conveniences for entry could ironically pose an issue.
“Perhaps I’ll try tomorrow. There should be plenty of food to last me through this disaster, I’d probably be bored out of my mind but at least I won’t starve.”
As thoughts drifted to food, she felt an urge to snack on something. Not too far away from her sat a freezer emitting a low constant hum. Curious, she made her way over and peered down through its clear lid. Several frozen desserts were contained within including frozen popsicles and tubs of ice cream. Without a spoon, the latter unfortunately wasn’t an option for her.
“Chocolate. Vanilla. Green Tea. Strawberry. That one was Ayumu’s favorite, I guess I’ll leave it in case she stumbles upon this place. A popsicle should be fine as long as I hold it by the stick.”
She slid open the freezer and shivered as a rush of cold air hit her face. She spent a few seconds deliberating before ultimately settling on a package containing a cherry flavor.
“I hope whoever owns this store doesn’t mind me stealing one, if they’re still alive. Sorry about this whoever you are. I should go sit down while I eat.”
Scanning the interior of the building, that’s when she saw it. In complete silence, a transparent reddish-pink wall had rolled in like a fog bank. Its surface was like that of glass, but it slowly covered everything like oozing honey.
“Maybe this is someone’s ability. No, it has to be. I’m so exhausted, I don’t think I have the energy in me to fight. I should try to figure out its properties somehow.”
She was at the back right hand corner of the store, and headed straight towards her from the front was an encroaching mass. With a frown she contemplated sacrificing her tasty prize.
“Now isn’t the time for eating, I need to figure out what’s happening and fast.”
With a slight reluctance, she hurled the wrapped treat at the unusual entity. She expected it to pass right through or sink beneath its surface, but instead it bounced off and fell to the floor without causing any damage or reaction. A couple seconds later, the redness enveloped the popsicle where it laid on the ground.
“If it can’t get through, neither can I. I need to run.”
Exhaustion limited her to just a brisk shamble towards the center aisle. Down at the other end, she saw the encroaching matter collide with the rear of the store and begin pushing in her direction. Desperately trying to pick up the pace, her vision began to blur and fatigue took its toll. She stumbled and collided against a shelf, crumpling to the floor. Her left hand gripped her chest tightly as her breathing grew ragged.
“I’m not panicking after all…I’m suffocating! That mass must be absorbing oxygen from the air somehow. If I faint, I’m a goner.”
Seeing the mass approach from behind, she forced herself to her feet and shambled toward the central aisle of the store. It was far more open than other aisles, serving as a walkway right to the back from the front doors. Rounding the corner, she saw with horror that the same material had formed a thin barrier at the front. She was trapped. Her only hope was a figure standing on the other side.
“Please,” Rina gasped out, “you have to…stop this…please…”
The figure stood silent as she shambled forward and eventually fell against the glassy wall. Splaying her hands against its surface to keep herself propped up, she breathed heavily.
“Help me…please…”
“I thought I recognized you. You and that blond chick led that psychopath right to us.”
The aggressor slammed a palm against the pseudo-glass and moved close to glare right into Rina’s eyes. “My friend was killed because of you.”
Rina’s eyes shot wide open in horror. “I was just…trying to get away-”
“Shut up. The way I see it, there are two facts that are obvious to me. First, if it weren’t for you, my friend would still be alive. Second, it’s nothing but the two of us here. I was initially just checking for enemy stand users in hiding, but considering it’s you…”
She smiled sadistically. Rina’s hands began to slip down the wall, leaving a trail of red on its surface. Her vision blurred, and even though she fought valiantly to stay awake it was a fight she was quickly losing. A trickle of tears dampened the surface of her cheek where it pressed against the wall of her prison.
“I didn’t…mean to…I’m so…sorry…”
“I don’t believe you. Accept your fate with dignity, you will never break free. These walls are made of suspended air, and as they expand, suspended particles attach to them. An isolated space like this might normally give you a few hours to live. Thanks to my ability, you won’t last more than a few minutes.”
Rina’s body slid to the floor. The broken glass stung where it dug into her skin, but she lacked the strength to move. Her eyelids began to slide closed against her will.
“It’s hopeless. I can’t escape. This is where it all ends. Ai-san, if you’re no longer part of this world, at least I’ll see you soon.”
Letting her eyes close, she let her brain manifest an image of Ai’s smile. Unconsciously, she lifted a shaky hand forward to let herself be pulled into the next life.
“Rina-chan, hold on!”
Rina’s assailant hadn’t even noticed the stranger approaching from behind. “W-What the-!?”
The newcomer kicked the murderous girl in the midsection, launching them through the air at a tremendous speed. The force sent them flying into the dark interior of a neighboring building, landing with a din of crashing and smashing somewhere in its unlit depths. In an instant, the red walls faded and the air flowed free again. Rina gasped as she took deep breaths, rising to her hands and knees as oxygen finally returned to her.
“I’m…alive?”
“Here, take my hand. I’ll help pull you up.”
Rina froze. “That voice…no way.”
Before her, a hand appeared. It wasn’t Ai’s, but it was real. She looked up at her savior, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now that I’m here. Leave it to me!”
“I-Is that really you…Setsuna-chan?”
Author’s Note:
That’s right, I’m back! I had conceptualized making a spinoff for Chika’s Bizarre Adventure even back during its late production, but decided against it as the idea was barebones and lacked a direction that made me feel inspired enough to write it. The reason I am posting this now is because that changed, I’ll elaborate on why when I complete this work. It will be a good bit shorter than the original was, as I mentioned at the top this is basically the Purple Haze Feedback of my main fanfic. Although the chapters will be fewer in number, some may be longer depending how long I feel they need to run for. As you see the stands in the upcoming chapters, you may start to get what I mean by that. Thanks for reading and I hope you look forward to the new installments!