Happy Sunshine room

Chapter 6 (Part 1) Limits

---

Sunshine 60 — Interior

The door shut behind him.

Soft.

But final.

Shiki stood still for a moment.

Two thoughts anchored him.

Only two.

*Find her.*

*Find out who did this.*

Everything else—

Fear.

Doubt.

That suffocating presence crawling along his spine—

He forced it down.

"...I'm not leaving without her."

His voice echoed faintly through the empty lobby.

The lights flickered overhead.

As if responding.

Or warning him.

He moved.

---

The first floor was empty.

Dust.

Abandoned desks.

A faint hum of electricity with no visible source.

Nothing else.

Shiki tightened his grip on the flashlight.

"...Nicole..."

The name grounded him.

He moved faster.

Second floor.

Clear.

Third.

Nothing.

Fourth.

Just silence.

Fifth—

Still nothing.

But something felt off.

Not danger.

Not yet.

More like—

He was being watched.

His steps slowed.

"...Stop thinking like that."

He muttered.

But the feeling didn't go away.

---

Scene Transition — Convenience Store Parking Lot

Aki grabbed Renji's shoulder.

"This isn't over."

Renji stopped walking.

Slowly.

"...You're still talking?"

Aki stepped closer.

"You don't get to act like you're better than me now."

Renji turned.

His expression—

Done.

Completely done.

"...Better?"

He laughed once.

Short.

Sharp.

Then—

He punched him.

Hard.

Aki staggered back, blood instantly pooling at his lip.

"What the—?!"

Renji grabbed him by the collar.

Slamming him against the side of a vending machine.

"You want to talk about better?!"

His voice cracked with anger.

"If I had known—"

He tightened his grip.

"I would've never given you that ride."

Aki winced.

"...We didn't know this would happen—"

"Shut up."

Renji's voice dropped.

Dead.

Cold.

"You don't get to say that."

His grip tightened further.

"You *knew* that place had history."

"You *knew* people disappear there."

"And you still dragged her into it."

Aki's breathing became uneven.

"...It wasn't supposed to—"

Renji slammed him harder.

"I don't care what it was supposed to be!"

His voice echoed through the empty lot.

"You destroyed someone's world."

His eyes burned.

"My sister's friend is gone."

"...His girlfriend is gone."

A pause.

Heavy.

"And it's because of you."

Aki's expression twisted.

"...Then why not go to the police?"

His voice was strained.

"If you feel so righteous now—why not just tell them everything?!"

Renji stared at him.

Long.

Hard.

Then—

"...Because that'd be too easy."

Aki blinked.

"What?"

Renji leaned in slightly.

His voice barely above a whisper.

"For someone as pathetic as you?"

A beat.

"...That's an escape."

He released him.

Letting Aki stumble.

"You don't get an easy way out."

Renji turned.

Walking away again.

"...You get to live with it."

A pause.

Then, quieter—

"...Just like he does."

---

Sunshine 60 — Floor 18 → 30

Shiki ran.

The sound of his footsteps echoed too loudly.

Too sharp.

Too wrong.

Floor after floor blurred together.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

His breathing grew heavier.

But he didn't stop.

The visions returned.

Fragments.

Broken.

*"...Don't touch her—"*

*"...You don't deserve—"*

*"...Let go—"*

Static cut through it.

Then—

That image again.

The bag.

Nicole's bag.

Clear.

Unmistakable.

Shiki clenched his teeth.

"...I'm close."

He knew it.

Didn't know how—

But he knew.

---

By the time he reached the 30th floor—

Something changed.

His steps slowed.

"...What...?"

The feeling shifted.

His thoughts—

Stopped.

Not slowed.

Not clouded.

Gone.

Like static filled his head.

No inner voice.

No doubt.

No fear.

Just—

movement.

His body continued forward.

Even as his mind went quiet.

"...This way..."

The words weren't spoken.

But they were there.

Guiding him.

---

Door 27

Shiki stood in front of it.

His hand hovered over the knob.

"...Please..."

His voice returned.

Barely.

"...Please be here..."

His grip tightened.

And he turned it.

*Creaaaak—*

The door opened slowly.

A long hiss of air escaped the room.

Like it had been sealed.

Waiting.

Shiki stepped inside.

Flashlight sweeping across the darkness.

Desk.

Broken glass.

Nothing.

"...No..."

His voice cracked.

"...Not again..."

He moved deeper into the room.

Frantic now.

Searching.

Hoping.

Begging.

"...Nicole—"

Then—

He saw it.

His body froze.

"...No way..."

There.

On the floor.

Slightly tucked beneath a desk.

Her bag.

Shiki dropped to his knees.

Hard.

The impact echoed.

But he didn't feel it.

His hands trembled as he grabbed it.

Holding it tightly to his chest.

"...I found you..."

His voice broke completely.

Tears spilled instantly.

Uncontrolled.

"I found something..."

His body shook.

"...I'm getting closer..."

He pressed his face into it.

Like it might still carry her warmth.

"...I'm sorry..."

The apology came out instinctively.

Broken.

"...I'm so sorry..."

Then—

Another fragment.

Stronger.

Clearer.

Not just a flash—

A memory.

But not his.

Someone moving.

Walking through the tower.

Quick steps.

Desperate.

Reaching a door.

A number—

33.

Shiki's eyes widened.

"...That's it."

He stood up instantly.

Wiping his face.

Clutching the bag.

"...That's where you went."

---

### **Ascending**

The stairs felt longer.

The air heavier.

But Shiki didn't slow down.

He pushed forward.

One flight.

Then another.

His body screamed at him to stop.

His mind—

Still quiet.

Still empty.

Guiding him forward.

---

### **Door 33**

The corridor was different.

One light flickered overhead.

Everything else—

Dark.

Still.

Silent.

Shiki stepped forward slowly.

Each step echoed.

Too loud.

Too final.

He stopped in front of the door.

Number 33.

"...Is this it...?"

His hand trembled.

"...Or am I just chasing nothing...?"

Doubt crept back in.

Sharp.

Cruel.

"...I failed her."

The thought hit hard.

"...She's gone because of me."

His grip tightened.

"...Someone like me..."

His voice cracked.

"...never deserved her."

The silence pressed in.

Heavy.

Unforgiving.

Then—

A sound.

Soft.

Like wind passing through something unseen.

Whispering.

Carrying something with it.

Shiki froze.

"...What...?"

The air shifted.

And then—

A voice.

Faint.

Fragile.

But unmistakable.

"...I carry your heart with me..."

His breath stopped.

"...I carry it in..."

Nicole.

His hand shot to the doorknob.

"...Nicole...?!"

The whisper faded.

But the feeling remained.

Calling him.

Pulling him.

His grip tightened.

"...I'm here."

And he opened the door.

---

### **Beyond**

The moment it opened—

Everything changed.

The air—

Inverted.

The space—

Wrong.

The world behind that door—

Was not the same one he entered.

And as Shiki stepped forward—

Sunshine 60 no longer felt like a building.

It felt like something else entirely.

Something that had been waiting.

---

End of Chapter 6 — Part 1

Chapter 6 (Part 2) Happy Sunshine Room

---

The door opened.

And the world changed.

---

Shiki stepped inside.

His foot barely crossed the threshold—

And he froze.

The room was wrong.

Not dark.

Not abandoned.

But *bright*.

Blindingly bright.

Yellow.

Every wall—

Painted in a suffocating, unnatural yellow that resembled the sun itself.

Not warm.

Not comforting.

But oppressive.

Like being trapped inside something that only *pretended* to be light.

Shiki's breath hitched.

"...What the hell...?"

The walls pulsed faintly.

Or maybe—

That was just his eyes struggling to adjust.

His body refused to move.

Every instinct screamed at him to leave.

To run.

But his legs—

Wouldn't listen.

Slowly—

He looked up.

And his stomach dropped.

Written across the wall—

In thick, smeared blood—

---

***Follow the sun beyond the horizon, where shadows fade and silence deepens.***

***Let its fading light draw you closer, until you are wrapped in its eternal warmth—***

***never to escape, forever lost in its haunting glow.***

---

"...No..."

The words barely formed.

His vision flickered.

Like TV static crawling across his sight.

A shape—

A person—

Hanging.

Suspended.

But not by rope.

Shiki's pupils shrank.

"...What is that...?"

It was wrong.

Everything about it was wrong.

The body—

Stitched.

Flesh torn and reattached in jagged seams.

Barbed wire wrapped tightly around the neck.

Digging deep.

Too deep.

Then—

It moved.

Violently.

The body *thrashed*.

The sound—

Wet.

Gargled.

A choking, tearing noise as the barbed wire dug further into its throat.

Shiki stumbled back.

"...Stop..."

The figure clawed at its neck.

Fingers tearing into skin.

Trying—

Desperately—

To breathe.

A sickening *rip* echoed.

And something—

Came loose.

Shiki gagged.

"...No no no..."

His stomach twisted violently.

The sound of choking grew louder.

More desperate.

More broken.

"...Nicole..."

The thought struck him like lightning.

"...Did you...?"

His voice cracked.

"...Did you do this...?"

The image flickered—

And vanished.

The room returned.

Bright.

Yellow.

Silent.

Too silent.

Then—

A voice.

Soft.

Familiar.

But wrong.

"...60..."

Shiki froze.

"...60..."

It came again.

Closer.

"...60..."

His breathing stopped.

"...60... 60... 60..."

The voice began to layer.

Stacking over itself.

Distorting.

Higher.

Sharper.

"...60—60—60—60—"

Shiki turned.

Slowly.

And saw her.

The girl.

From the nightmare.

Standing there.

Her head tilted unnaturally.

Her face—

Drooping.

Skin sagging like it was slipping off bone.

Her jaw—

Hanging too low.

Too wide.

Unnatural.

"...60—"

Her voice spiked.

A high-pitched screech tore through the room.

Shiki covered his ears.

"...STOP—!"

He blinked.

Once.

Twice.

She was gone.

---

Silence.

---

His breathing was erratic now.

His chest tight.

"...What is this place...?"

Then—

Something.

A feeling.

A pull.

Slowly—

He looked up.

And his world shattered.

---

The body wasn't gone.

It was there.

Pressed against the wall.

Not hanging anymore.

But *attached*.

Like a spider.

Limbs bent at impossible angles.

Twisted.

Broken.

Blood poured slowly from its mouth.

Dripping down the yellow walls.

Shiki's flashlight trembled.

"...No..."

The face—

Unrecognizable.

But human.

Once.

The throat—

Destroyed.

The trachea—

Dangling.

Severed.

Swinging slightly.

As if moved by breath that no longer existed.

And below—

His stomach turned.

Intestines.

Spilled.

Hanging down like a rope.

Swaying gently.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The sound echoed.

Too loud.

Too real.

Shiki's legs gave out.

He hit the floor.

Hard.

"...This is it..."

His voice was hollow.

"...I'm dead..."

His eyes trembled.

"...Is this what happened to you...?"

Nicole's face flashed in his mind.

"...Did you see this too...?"

Tears slipped down his face.

"...I'm sorry..."

His body felt heavy.

Cold.

"...I couldn't save you..."

The floor beneath him creaked.

Then—

Collapsed.

---

### **Falling**

Shiki dropped.

Into nothing.

Darkness swallowed him instantly.

The air—

Warm.

Strangely warm.

"...It's warm..."

His voice echoed faintly.

"...That's... nice..."

His body felt light.

Weightless.

"...I really am the worst..."

His eyes closed slowly.

"...I couldn't even show up for you..."

His voice cracked.

"...Not once..."

Tears drifted upward into the void.

"...If I had another chance..."

A pause.

"...I'd do it right..."

His breathing slowed.

"...I'd find you sooner..."

His voice faded.

"...I'm sorry, Nicole..."

Darkness consumed him.

---

### **...**

Footsteps.

Soft.

Familiar.

A door creaked open.

"Babe—hurry up."

Shiki's eyes snapped open.

"...What...?"

The room—

Was normal.

A faint, comforting scent filled the air.

Something warm.

Something *real*.

"...The show's gonna start!"

His heart slammed against his chest.

That voice.

"...Nicole...?"

"Come on! We can grab drinks during the commercial break!"

Shiki sat up abruptly.

His breathing uneven.

"...What the hell..."

His hands shook.

"...How...?"

He looked around.

The room—

He knew it.

Too well.

"...No way..."

His chest tightened painfully.

"...This is..."

He stood up quickly.

Nearly stumbling.

"...This is her house..."

His mind raced.

"...That's impossible..."

But the voice came again.

Closer this time.

"Are you coming or what?"

Shiki clenched his fists.

"...This isn't real..."

A pause.

Then—

"...Or maybe..."

His eyes sharpened.

"...This is my chance."

He moved.

Fast.

Out of the room.

Toward her voice.

Toward her.

---

Date: Saturday, July 27th, 2022

Time: 6:38 PM

Location: Nicole's House

---

Shiki stopped in the hallway.

His breathing slowed.

But his mind—

Was anything but calm.

"...July..."

His voice was low.

"...The start of summer..."

His chest tightened again.

"...I'm back..."

Not just in a place.

But in a moment.

A time.

Before everything went wrong.

"...Why...?"

Too many questions.

Not enough answers.

But one thing was clear—

This wasn't random.

And it wasn't over.

Shiki took a slow breath.

"...If this is real..."

His eyes hardened.

"...I'm not messing it up again."

He stepped forward.

Toward the living room.

Toward Nicole.

Toward the past.

---

End of Chapter 6 — Part 2