The Legendary F Rank

Strong sents of sulphur filled the air as a cold breeze ran all around. Haru opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness yet hidden somewhere in that darkness he sensed something familiar. It seemed distant yet he had a distinct feeling that it was something that he needed.

"Suyin? Is that you?" Haru asked with confusion as the darkness seemed to grow more intense but there was no reply. He felt slight dissatisfaction at the lack of a reply but he knew from what Ralph had told him he felt hopeful that he would see Suyin. 

Just as Haru began to think of her a small flash of light wisped past his head leaving him slightly confused as he heard a giggle. 

'Was that a…? If this is the place that all souls go to after death then it was definitely a ghost. But where did it go?' Haru thought as he felt something touch his leg as he stood still in the darkness.

As Haru looked down he almost screamed in both shock and horror to see a small boy no more than eight years old standing behind him. The face of the boy seemed a little bit distorted though as his mouth was completely absent and his nose appeared to be two little slots.

'What is this thing?' Haru asked as the boy seemed to resemble a human yet looked so different. It was definitely from another species but he had never heard anything about them before.

"Hello? Are you okay?" Haru tried to ask but he found that his voice didn't come out. Yet still, he heard the words sound out around him. He didn't think much of it since it was similar to using telepathy to talk but the boy didn't reply at all. He just simply held out his hand and pointed forwards before vanishing.

'He wants me to go that way for some reason?' Haru thought for a moment before the boy appeared again a few metres ahead of him with a slight white glow around him. Once again he held out his hand in the same direction but then held his over hand out to Haru and made a motion with his fingers to tell him to follow.

"You want me to follow you?" Haru asked to which the boy nodded his head slightly before making the same motion with his hand. 

Haru tried to move forwards but while he was in the soul cavern everything seemed foreign to him. Moving his body seemed different somehow and it took effort for him to follow behind the boy as he had to actively direct his thoughts into moving.

Haru followed the boy for what seemed like an eternity as time didn't pass within the soul cavern it was simply eternal but eventually, he noticed a group of white lights in the distance that seemed to be dancing around like fireflies.

As they got closer Haru heard what seemed to be someone humming a song that sounded familiar to him. It wasn't just any song though it was one that Suyin had written and had sung for him in person. 

Upon hearing the sound of the song Haru could think of nothing else. He put his mind into overdrive and began to race towards where the sound was coming from which was also the direction of the dancing lights. 

As he got closer Haru soon noticed that the lights weren't just lights. They were in fact all young children that had the same facial features that the boy who was guiding him had. Each one of them didn't have a mouth yet it seemed as though they were smiling from their eyes alone.

He was a little distracted by the dancing children at first and didn't see the woman sitting down with her back to him. But he recognised the back of Suyin's head instantly as he stopped, hesitating to take another step towards her.

He was at a loss. He didn't know what he would say. He was the one responsible for her death after all and he wasn't sure how he was going to face her. He was sure that she would blame him and be upset to see him.

'I can't do this.' He thought as he looked at her from a distance. 

'Ralph, if you can hear me. Please bring me back. I can't do this.' Haru tried his best to direct his voice outside to Ralph. But while he was inside the Soul cavern there was nothing he could do to let his voice escape outside. 

As the song came to an end the children stopped dancing and immediately focused on Haru as he had yet to say anything or announce himself. They all had a look of distrust in their eyes but when they saw the boy that had guided him they quickly relaxed but still remained staring at Haru.

"Hmm? Did someone come back?" Suyin's voice called out as she turned her head back and saw Haru standing before her. Although his body was translucent while in the soul cavern she couldn't mistake him for anyone else. 

"Haru? Is it really you?" Suyin asked as she looked him up and down. He didn't appear to be exactly the same as she remembered but there was no doubt that it was him.

"I can't believe it. It's really you! I missed you so mu-" Suyin called out with excitement before cutting herself off.

"Wait… If you're here… Does that mean that you're dead too?" She asked with a shaky voice while too afraid to know the answer.

But Haru was still in disbelief. It was actually Suyin. Not just a memory or an imitation of her. It was the woman that he had fallen in love with and she was talking to him once again. The feeling was overpowering and he didn't know just quite how he should react. 

He remained silent for a few moments and took everything in with a couple of deep breathes.

"Why is she acting like this? Shouldn't she hate me for what happened? I told her to stay there because I thought it would be safe. But she is just the same as she has always been." Haru thought to himself as he didn't know what was going on to make her act as though it had only been a couple of hours since they had last seen each other.

"Suyin?" Haru asked as he needed her to confirm that what he was seeing was real.

"What is it?" Suyin asked with a smile on her face. She was glad to see him but something seemed different about her and Haru just couldn't understand what it was.

"You're not dead, are you? I don't know what it is. But when I look at you I get the feeling that you don't belong here. But that would mean that you have the ability to crossover to the afterlife wouldn't it?" Suyin asked with a proud smile. 

She wasn't sure just how long it had been since she had died but she found comfort in knowing that Haru was getting stronger. She initially thought that he had died and was worried. But she was glad that Haru was still alive even if she couldn't be by his side as she knew that he had a purpose in life.

Haru nodded his head slightly before running forwards and trying to embrace her in a hug. But as he did he fell right through her.

"Oh, Urm… Sorry but the souls of the people here can't interact with each other like that. We can only communicate. Would you like to sit and talk for a while? I guess we have a lot to catch up on don't we?" Suyin asked while awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

Haru took a second to process once again before nodding his head and sitting down. Suyin followed his lead and sat beside him before speaking.

"You know when your eyes first changed colours I wasn't too fond of them. It seemed kind of creepy how they went from brown to blue overnight. But after a while, they grew on me. I missed seeing them. They look just as beautiful as I remember." Suyin smiled before looking down when Haru didn't reply right away.

"So, how long has it been since I died? Are my family doing okay?" She asked again with a less cheerful look on her face as she asked about the outside world.

"Uhm, It's been nearly a year. And your family is doing fine. I saw them yesterday in the evacuation." Haru said as a look of both worry and shock glided across Suyin's face.

"Evacuation? What evacuation? Is something happening out there? Is that why you came to see me?" Suyin asked but with Haru's silence after her question, she knew instantly that there was something wrong.

"Is it about what happened to me? Are they back?" Suyin asked.

Haru just simply nodded his head in response before looking down.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault that you ended up here. But I promise I will find a way to bring you back. I won't leave you here alone." Haru blurted out as he could no longer keep himself calm. But Suyin chuckled in response. 

"It's not your fault I died. You know the house didn't collapse from the outside. There was actually someone inside with me. I think he would be the one responsible for my death. He said that he was going to crush you both mentally and physically before handing you over to the demon clan." Suyin explained as Haru felt nothing but rage.

"You were murdered?" Haru asked as he didn't know all the details about her death. He previously thought that Mr Ma had messed with the house or left a bomb inside before giving him the house only to use it to kill him later on. 

But upon hearing that Suyin wasn't alone that day it wasn't hard for him to figure out who was in there with her.

"I told you I would kill you. I knew you were a despicable piece of shit before but I didn't think you would go this far." Haru whispered to himself as he thought back to when he was fighting Mr Ma a few minutes prior. But he was surprised by how calm he felt. 

But he wasn't sure if the calmness was due to being reunited with Suyin or an effect that the Soul cavern had on the lost souls that wander around it.

"Well, I wouldn't say murdered. But he destroyed the building causing it to crush me. So I guess you could see it like that." Suyin said with a slight giggle as she spoke about her own death to which Haru looked back with confusion as it wasn't something that he found funny.  Yet Suyin didn't seem bothered by the fact that she was dead and was more interested in Haru as she continued to stare at him almost as though it was the first time she was seeing him.

"You know. I'm glad that I didn't die a virgin. I heard that virgin souls are collected to perform rituals with. To think that if we didn't do "It" we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now." Suyin said with a grin as she heard Haru stutter with embarrassment as he tried to string together a response.

"You're just as cute as I remember. And I still trust you with all my heart. I know you will find a way to bring me back. But until that day comes I will be patient and wait for you." Suyin smiled before Haru was suddenly snatched back from the soul cavern as his body was awoken by a woman pressing down on his ribs. 

As he looked up he saw light blue hair fluttering in the wind as gunshots echoed from all around. The building that Haru had passed out in had turned to rubbles and he was laying down on a bed of rock.

'Why did I have to come back now? Did something happen? I will just have Ralph send me back again later.' Haru thought before being interrupted.

"Woah, You actually made it…. I would have thought you were already dead if it wasn't for my partner hearing your heartbeat." The woman said in Japanese before Haru noticed the military uniform she was wearing and a small black dog by her side.

He slowly sat back up before looking at the two of them and noticing a familiar feeling from them. 

"Haha, It's been a while hasn't it? Who would have thought that I would run into the two of you here?" Haru asked as the woman looked down at him with a look of distrust. Suddenly the dog began to growl as it stared into Haru's eyes and seemed to notice something.

"Who are you? I don't remember ever meeting you before in my life... You're not with the enemy are you?" The woman asked before taking a step back and pulling out a sword from her lux.

"Hey there Wolfy. Has she been treating you well?" Haru asked as he looked down at the dog as he knew that it was the summoned beast that he called out during his first week of school...