Well, good to see a couple people are liking the story so far. :D Thank you guys for the follows and faves!
And now for the next chapter!
Genre: Humor
Setting: When the cast had to rehearse for the first boss of the game.
Synopsis: Weird things have been seen and heard at the dorm late at night, and the group decides to investigate and see if paranormal activity is about.
Disclaimer: Rights to Persona 3 FES belongs to Atlus and its creators.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Aaaaand cut!" Director Akitaya called. "Alright, guys, got a little shaky near the end there, but good effort! …Someone adjust the sound system, I could barely hear Mitsuru through the receiver. And enhance the definition on the boss-shadow, the colors looked muted in some parts! We'll move on to the next scene tomorrow."
Yukari let out a heavy sigh. After a few slip-ups, stuttered lines, and performing stunts on a shaking set, they had finally finished their take for the day. Stepping off the monorail with Makoto and Junpei, she looked at her watch, seeing it was getting late.
"I wish we didn't have to do these stunts at night… Can't we get a late-night set for the studio?" The young teenage girl stated, feeling exhausted.
"Nahh… Akitaya-senpai claims it's more authentic. Plus, we already spent a ton on the Tartarus set," Junpei replied. He then smirked at Yukari. "Why? Are you scared of walking home in the dark?"
Yukari gave him a look. "N-no, I just like to get some sleep… or need I remind you we also have school-work to do?"
Junpei groaned. One of the things he didn't like about the project was how they were required to attend school. The producers claimed that, since players would have to attend school in the game, it was important to get a feel for the environment and to explore the interactions of all the characters and their personalities.
That, and their families claimed that just because their kids were going to be stars of a JRPG didn't mean they should skip on their academics. "It is important to keep up with your studies, so that you may have a future after productions. You can't always depend on fame to get through life," the director agreed.
That was actually what Junpei had been hoping for… but nope. He still had to attend school, regardless of fame. "Man, way to add stress to a long day, Yukari," Junpei sneered in response.
"Wouldn't be so stressful if you actually did your homework, Stupei," Yukari retorted. "And considering we've got mid-terms coming up, you'd better be catching up!"
Junpei developed a stunned expression, and let out a long groan. "Oh, maaaan! Not mid-terms! We've already got lines to study!"
"Don't worry. I heard that during the week of exams, we won't have any rehearsals. After tomorrow, we'll be getting time off until after mid-terms are over." Makoto told him- startling the two, as he had been quiet the whole time.
"What a relief! …Hey, want to help me cram, buddy? I'll pay you back!" Junpei asked.
"Don't you owe him enough for sneaking you answers in class?" Yukari quipped.
Junpei ignored her. "What do you say, dude?"
Makoto shrugged- as Yukari said, he already helped Junpei in class, so helping him cram wasn't a big deal. "Sure. It'll help me get some extra studying in. We can get to work on it tomorrow night," he replied.
"Awesome! You da man, Mako-san!" Junpei gave his friend a friendly slug in the arm.
Makoto gave a grin in response; once Junpei ran ahead, he cringed and rubbed his arm. "Agh…" he quietly moaned.
Yukari chuckled, patting his other shoulder. "C'mon, lets head back and get some rest- and some ice for your arm, ha ha." She joked.
"Sounds good. (ow)"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~1:05 AM~
*mmmmmoooooaaaaaannnnnn…*
"Huh…?! Wazzat…?" Yukari gasped, groggily waking up. She saw that she had fallen asleep on the couch in the lounge, her textbook on her lap. She looked around, but didn't see anything.
She sat her textbook on the coffee table, standing up and stretching. I must've dosed off while studying, she thought, stifling a yawn. That's never happened… I must be working harder than I thought.
*creeeaaak*
*shuffle, shuffle*
She paused at the sound of dragging feet, coming from upstairs. "Huh? Who's there?" she called, walking towards the stairs, but didn't receive a reply.
Somewhat startled, she walked over to the computer desk, where an emergency-button was located under the table; the studio had it installed in case of any break-ins, thefts, or fan-girl attacks. …The latter was the main reason it was installed.
Once she got to the table, however, she paused. Perhaps she was getting worked up too easily- for all she knew, it could have been Makoto walking back from the bathrooms; the reason he didn't answer was probably because he had his headphones on, as he liked to sleep with them on and hardly took them off outside of school and rehearsal.
Calm down. Double check to see if there is someone else here, then you can push the button. Yukari told herself, beginning to walk towards the stairs…
*Mmmmmooooaaaaaaaannnnnn….*
She froze in her tracks at the sound of the inhuman sound- the sound she only heard in ghost movies, or heard in nightmares.
Gasping, she turned around and ran to the table, ducking underneath it and preparing to push the alarm if she had to. She tried to steady her heartbeat, but her paranoia was really getting the best of her tonight.
*creak… creak… creak…*
She held her breath, hearing someone come down the stairs, and her hand shakily reached upwards…
"Hello? Who's there?!"
She let out a sigh of relief, hearing Akihiko's voice. "Aki-san, over here," she called in a whisper, peeking out.
Arching an eyebrow, the silver-haired champion of the boxing team walked over, feeling his way through the darkness until he found the light-switch. "Yukari? What are you doing down here? It's after 1 in the morning!"
"I fell asleep while studying. Something woke me up, and I heard it upstairs… did you see anything?"
"No, but I did hear someone walking around. I figured it was you,"
*creak, creak, creak, creak*
They looked up the stairs. "It's heading up to the third floor!" Yukari whispered.
"Let's go find out who it is," Akihiko replied, beginning his way up.
Yukari grabbed his arm. "Hold it- we can't just run up there, ourselves! We should just use the alarm,"
Akihiko shook his head. "We can't ring it unless we know whether or not it's a threat. …For all we know, Pharos is probably just wandering around,"
Yukari considered this; Pharos was a young kid who lived on-and-off the set; he normally helped out on behind the scenes when he didn't have any lines to do. Every couple days before and after his takes, he'd stay at the dorm- sometimes, he'd linger around and act like a ghost (to the rest of the cast, at least).
If Akihiko was right, Pharos was probably just pulling a prank. "If it's him, he probably went back up to the fifth floor. He always hangs out up there," Yukari noted, though wasn't quite convinced. "But, what if it's not him? Those moans I heard sounded too deep to come from him…"
"Which is why I'm going to go check; you stay down here and sound the alarm if it turns out to be trouble," Akihiko began to walk up the stairs, but Yukari held him back. "What?"
"You're still injured. The doctor said you shouldn't overdo it, remember?"
Akihiko groaned. "I'm healed up enough! If I'm allowed to do some action takes after mid-terms, I'm well enough to investigate-"
"And what if you get hurt? Do you really want to risk having to sit out on the next boss-fight?" Yukari's tone was firm and demanding- almost like Mitsuru's, only it struck less fear into someone's heart.
Again, Akihiko groaned. "Fine. What do you suggest we do?"
"You stay down here and activate the alarm if there's an intruder. I'll head upstairs and look around- I'm more light on my feet, so I won't make as much noise,"
"Alright… but be careful. If it turns out to be an intruder, come back down here- or yell, if they spot you,"
Yukari nodded, then- after inhaling deep- walked upstairs quietly. She paused on the second floor, looking around. Maybe I should wake the others… she thought when she looked down at the boys' rooms.
*moooaaaan….*
She let out a small gasp, hearing the noise on the next floor… sounding like it was coming back down. Quickly and as quietly as she could, she made her way to the last door at the end of the hall, knocking. "Makoto? Makoto-san, wake up!" she stated quietly.
The door opened a moment later, and there stood Makoto, half-asleep. "Yukari…?" he asked, groggily. "Wuz go'n on…?"
"There's something upstairs-" Yukari tried to keep her voice steady, but it came out as a squeak.
*Creak… creak… creak… creak…*
Gasping, Yukari made her way into Makoto's room, closing the door slightly and peeking out the crack of it. Despite her eyes having adjusted to the darkness, she couldn't see too far down the hall.
Whatever had been going down the stairs seemed to have stopped. She turned to Makoto, who was fully awake by this point. "Something is out there…"
"Some… thing? You sure it's not one of our dorm-mates?" Makoto asked in a whisper.
"Not unless they like to wander the hallways and moan like they were dying,"
*mmmoooaaan…* the sound in-question came from down the hall.
"See?"
"We should wake the others," Makoto advised.
"Akihiko is already downstairs… Whoever- or whatever- is making these sounds is on the third floor."
*creak, creak, creak, creak…*
"Sounds like they're going farther up," Makoto replied after listening carefully. "C'mon, let's go see who or what it is; you can wake Mitsuru-senpai,"
Yukari held back a groan. Waking Mitsuru sounded worse than facing the source of the ghastly sounds. "Let's wait- just in case it's nothing major," she advised.
Makoto shrugged, and they made their way to the stairs. Walking up quietly, they looked around on the third floor- though it was hard to see anything, outside of a bit of moonlight shining through the window.
"It must've gone up to the fourth floor…" Makoto guessed. "…It could be someone heading to the control room, better go wake Mitsuru-senpai."
Yukari bit her lip, but nodded. She hated the idea of waking Mitsuru at this hour, but knew it would be worse to neglect to inform her of an intrusion. As Makoto made his way up the stairs, Yukari headed towards the student-council president's room.
She raised her fist to tap on the door…
*shuffle shuffle shuffle*
*Moooaaannn…*
She froze, looking out of the corner of her eye and seeing that- unbeknownst to her and Makoto- a figure had been standing in the far corner near a couch… and was slowly walking towards her!
Without hesitation, Yukari rushed into her own room, shutting and locking the door and gasping for air.
Stay calm… stay calm… stay calm…! She tried to tell herself, shaking a bit. At this point, she wished the studio allowed the students to bring their weapons home in case of situations like this!
She scrambled to her dresser, opening the drawer and grabbing a flashlight- wishing she had thought about grabbing one from the supply cabinet downstairs… or, more importantly, having turned on the lights in the halls! Though, the latter probably would have caused the intruder to make an escape, leaving them running loose.
*Knock, knock, knock*
Someone was at her door now; without hesitation, she flung it open and shined the flashlight in the person's face, hoping to blind the intruder-
Only to find it was just Makoto. "Agh! Yukari, it's just me!" he sputtered, covering his momentarily-blinded eyes.
"M-Makoto-san! Sorry… It's just, while you were upstairs, the intruder stepped out of the shadows- I didn't have time to wake Mitsuru-senpai…" she was stammering.
"What is going on in here?" came a stern voice, as Mitsuru herself stepped out of the room. "There had better be a good reason for this-"
"Senpai, we think someone is in the dorm," Makoto explained. "We heard moaning, and Yukari saw a figure down the hall."
"I-It must've went back downstairs- did you see anything, Makoto?" she asked.
"I heard someone going downstairs- I went to investigate, but then I heard your door slam,"
"Why did you not inform me first?" Mitsuru questioned Yukari.
"I was about to, until that figure came out of nowhere- Oh my gosh! It might go after Akihiko!" Yukari suddenly realized. "He was going to sound the alarm if there was trouble!"
"Let's go check," Mitsuru led the way down the stairs.
As soon as they got to the second floor, they saw Akihiko coming from his room with a pair of brass knuckles. "I heard yelling- what happened?" Akihiko asked.
"No time to explain. Did you see anyone come downstairs?"
"I didn't see anyone- I heard moaning, and ran up to my room to grab my brass knuckles,"
Mitsuru gave him a surprised look. "You brought your weapon home?! That's against regulations!"
"They've BEEN here- ever since my injury, they've never left my bedroom drawer. …Good thing, considering we may have trouble,"
"Why didn't you sound the alarm?"
"Because Yukari didn't warn me!"
"I'm warning you now-!" Yukari began to state.
"Shh! Guys, listen!" Makoto gasped.
Everyone paused….
*shuffle, shuffle*
*creeeaaak*
"They're downstairs!" Mitsuru whispered. "Makoto, come with me; Akihiko, go stand by the alarm; Yukari, go wake Iori and make sure he's alright,"
Yukari nodded, and the group split up. She headed for Junpei's room, knocking on the door. "Junpei, wake up! We've got trouble!" she stated, no longer keeping her voice quiet.
But, there was no answer.
"Dammit, Stupei, how can you sleep at a time like this?!" She pounded harder on the door, but no answer. She grew both concerned and aggravated- either something had happened to him, or he was a really heavy sleeper. "JUNPEI!"
"Gah! What?!"
"EEP!" Yukari spun around, seeing Junpei was standing at the end of the hall, wearing a sleeveless shirt and his boxers (something she did NOT want to see at 2 in the morning). "Junpei?! W-Why aren't you in your room?!"
"What, can't a guy use the bathroom whenever he wants? …What's going on? I thought I heard a bunch of yelling and talking,"
"Someone's in the dorm… We've been hearing footsteps and moaning. Whatever was making the sounds is downstairs- the others are investigating. …Didn't you hear anything?!"
Junpei shook his head. "Nahh, I'm a heavy sleeper, so I don't hear much; I was actually half-asleep just now, before you screamed my name," He nodded towards the stairs. "C'mon, let's go check it out!" He sat on the railing, preparing to slide down.
"Hold it, that's not a good idea!"
Junpei scoffed. "C'mon, Yukari, I'm alright- I go down the stairs like this all the time!"
Yukari gave a deadpanned expression. "…In your underwear?"
Pausing, the teen looked down, realizing his lack of pants. "Guh!" he covered himself, and ran to his room; he stumbled out seconds later, pulling on a pair of jeans. "Okay, NOW let's go," He then hopped down the railing and slid down. "Woo-hoo!"
Yukari shook her head- how could her friend still act like a clown in a serious situation?
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The lights were on downstairs in the lounge, as the group gathered around the table. "We didn't see anyone in the kitchen or near the computer, and both the back door and front door are locked- we didn't hear anyone go out," Akihiko reported.
Junpei got up and walked over to the cabinet by the stairs, opening it. "They're not in here, either," he replied with a smirk.
"Get serious, Junpei…" Yukari sighed.
"They could be in the bathroom," Makoto noted, looking over at the restrooms. "They might have ran in there after hearing us come down,"
"Let's check it out then," Akihiko agreed.
"Right- we'll check the girl's room, first!" Junpei cracked- though it was hard to tell whether it was just a joke, or if he were seizing the opportunity to peek in there.
"Nice try, Iori. Yukari, come with me, we'll search the girl's restroom. Akihiko-san, you and the others check the boy's restroom," Mitsuru ordered.
Junpei's shoulders slumped. "Aw man…"
Everyone walked into the bathrooms. Mitsuru and Yukari checked all the stalls, but did not see a single trace of a disturbance. After a couple minutes, they met up with the boys in the hall. "Did you guys find anything?" Yukari asked.
"No one was in there, but…" Makoto held something up. "We found this near the sinks."
"M-My textbook?!" Yukari gasped, taking it from Makoto; she flipped through it, to make sure it hadn't been damaged.
"Something you want to explain, Yuka-tan?" Junpei asked with a smirk.
Yukari shot him a look. "Oh, get real!" She looked at the others. "I swear I had left it on the coffee-table! How'd it end up in there?"
Mitsuru walked up the stairs. "I'm going up to the control room. Whoever's been causing these disturbances had to have been caught on-tape," she stated.
Everyone followed Mitsuru up to the control room and checked the tape, seeing it had run out and ejected some time ago. Popping it back in and rewinding it to a point when everyone had left the dorm for rehearsals, they began to watch each screen to find a clue of who broke in.
"…Anyone feel like popcorn?" Junpei quipped.
"Shut it, Stupei!" Yukari hissed.
"Geez! A simple 'no' would've been alright…"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
After almost two hours of watching- and fast-forwarding- the tape, the group didn't see anything outside of everyone eating breakfast or dinner, Makoto going over lines with Mitsuru, Akihiko practicing his punches, Yukari listening to music while reading, and Junpei raiding the fridge around 11 PM. ("Is that one of my protein bars you're eating?!" Akihiko snapped at that last part).
It got to the point where Yukari was reading in the lounge and dosed off, and that's when the tape ran out. "I knew we should've changed tapes earlier," Makoto stated.
"Yeah, now we'll never know." Yukari sighed.
"Ah, it was probably just Pharos pulling a prank, anyway." Junpei scoffed, leaning back in a chair. "The twerp probably thought it would be funny to get us rattled- I bet he's hiding somewhere now, having a laugh!"
"Akihiko did bring that up… But, we would have seen him- and I doubt he could have made his voice that low to scare us,"
"Unless he had one of those voice-alternating gadgets," Akihiko replied.
"Hey, yeah! I used to have one as a kid!" Junpei said, chuckling afterwards. "I used it to make prank calls all the time. …Until my mom took it away after I kept using it to convince the teachers that 'my dad' wanted me out of school so much,"
"Ugh…" Yukari sighed, rubbing her head. It was way too early to deal with Junpei's remarks.
"There's only one problem with those theories, guys," Makoto spoke up.
"What is it?" Mitsuru asked.
"I talked to Pharos yesterday- on his way to the train-station. He's out of town until this weekend!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~7:30 AM~
Safe to say, no one really got enough sleep that night. After Mitsuru explained the situation, the producers claimed it was alright for the students to take an 'extra' day off, and they would work on the next scene after mid-terms.
"We need to spend more time with the upcoming characters, anyway." Akitaya had added. "It'll give us more time to explore their characters, and have them get familiar with parts of the set. However, I'll be having Officer Kurosawa patrol the grounds tonight, in case there was a stalker on the grounds. If this happens again, use the alarm immediately!"
Despite knowing they would have an extra day off from rehearsals, Makoto, Akihiko, Yukari, and Junpei still felt groggy; Mitsuru, since she was the last one up (and was used to hardly sleeping with such a packed schedule), was the only one able to stay the most focused.
…Though, she was also drinking coffee before class, so that could have been a reason, too.
Akihiko, having luck on his side, was allowed to miss afternoon classes for a doctor's appointment.
Sitting in his afternoon class now, Makoto wished that he could fake an injury or sickness in order to go home early and catch up on sleep, himself. …However, Junpei already tried this morning, the school nurse having seen through his act; since they were close friends, she would probably think Makoto was following his influence.
He sighed, looking up at the clock. Only 10 more minutes of class remained, and their teacher- Mr. Edogawa- was giving a lecture about different types of meditation and how they benefitted the magical arts.
"Let's see, there's only a few minutes of class left. I'll just call on someone, and we'll stop here for today," Mr. Edogaway stated, his eyes scanning the room… where they fell upon a student who, apparently, was sleeping through class. "Ah, yes, Mr. Iori! I'll call on you,"
"Zzz- huh?! What?" Junpei slurred, waking up.
"Since you seemed so 'intrigued' in the act of (ahem) 'meditation', perhaps you'll have the answer to my question. Name a form of religious act that would count as meditation. …If you were paying attention, I'm sure you'll have the answer,"
"Oh... It's uh…" Junpei looked at Makoto out of the corner of his eye, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Dude, a little help here?"
"Christian act of prayer," Makoto replied bluntly. Thank God for Junpei he managed to stay awake during classes- let alone paid attention.
Junpei gave the answer, and Mr. Edogawa beamed. "That's correct! …For a minute there, I didn't think you were listening at all. Keep that mind of yours well-focused, Mr. Iori, and you'll probably be reincarnated as a human-being in the next life!" the teacher responded. "Maybe I'll include that on the exams next week…"
Junpei let out a sigh of relief, sitting down in the desk as the teacher went on with his lecture. "Thanks for the save, Mako-san. I owe you another one," he said, giving his friend a slug in the arm.
"You're welcome," Makoto replied, giving a grin. Once Junpei lied his head back down to resume his nap, the protagonist rubbed his arm. "Ow…"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
If staying awake in class wasn't a challenge, cramming for exams was.
…Especially when Makoto was keeping to his promise in helping Junpei. He was reminded of this as, after Mitsuru had told everyone to start studying immediately that weekend, he passed by his friend's dorm, hearing his cries.
"Augh, how do I solve this problem?! …What language is this in?! Gaaaah!" was basically how the rant went.
Makoto walked over and tapped his fist on the door. "Junpei? It's Makoto," he called.
There came a sound of rushed (and tripping) footsteps as Junpei flung the door open. "Mako-san! 'Sup, dude?" he replied with a grin. By the sound of his tone, Makoto had no doubts that his friend was hoping he would give him an excuse to procrastinate from studying.
"I came to help you study,"
Junpei scoffed. "Help? Who said I need help studying?!"
Makoto arched an eyebrow. "…You did, remember? Yesterday when we were walking home?"
His best friend paused, thinking back. "…Oh, right! Ah, sure, we can cram together!"
And so it begun.
Twenty minutes of quizzing each other, going over math formulas, and translating words went by slowly, before Junpei eventually claimed his 'brain was fried' and suggested they take a break and play videogames for a while.
That 'while' ended up lasting two hours. Makoto looked at his watch, seeing it was already 9 o'clock. He sighed. "So much for cramming…" he muttered.
"Hey, don't worry! We've got the whole weekend to cram," Junpei assured him, hooking his arm around his friend's shoulders. "We can pick up from here tomorrow, if you want some extra help."
"Uh… sure." Makoto replied, then walked to his room. He decided to cram a little more, listening to music as he did, before he dosed off around midnight…
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~3 AM~
*Moooooaaaaaaannnnnnn…*
It wasn't until the ghastly noise returned that Makoto realized he had fallen asleep with his headphones on- and that his iPod's battery died. "What the…?" he whispered to himself, standing up from his desk and- headphones still on- walked into the hall, looking around.
He wasn't the only one, as Akihiko stepped out of his room. "You heard it again, too?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Yeah. Where's it coming from?"
"I think it came from the top of the stairs. I'll go get Officer Kurosawa- you make sure the girls are alright," Akihiko began to walk, then turned to Makoto. "Better lose the headphones, you'll hear better without them."
"I'm not listening to any music…" Makoto tried to respond, but his friend was already heading downstairs to get the police officer. "Never mind,"
Taking off his headphones, he set them on the coffee-table near the vending machines, and went upstairs to check on the others, as well as alert them.
Cautious after last night, he made sure to keep an eye on the shadows, in case the unknown figure was lurking around them. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he went straight to Mitsuru's room-
*shuffle shuffle*
*thunk*
*mooaaann…*
He paused, hearing a sound coming from one of the vacant rooms in the hall. Someone was in there!
*Click*
The next sound alerted him, as he saw Yukari walking out of her room. She rushed over to him, quickly. "It's back?" she could easily guess; this time, she was armed with a flashlight.
"Yeah- quick, lets get Mitsuru-senpai." Makoto whispered.
He knocked lightly on Mitsuru's door, while Yukari kept watch in case their intruder heard them and made a break for it.
After a couple knocks, Mitsuru answered. Seeing the startled looks on her friend's faces, she had them enter her room. "Where is it coming from?" she asked in a whisper.
"I heard it in the room across the hall-" Makoto began to explain.
*Clomp clomp clomp clomp clomp!*
Sounds of footsteps running upstairs alerted the trio. "They must be making a break for it!" Yukari gasped.
"After them!" Mitsuru exclaimed, and they all ran out of the room, heading upstairs, seeing someone heading into the control room. "Stop!"
A light blinded them. "Who's there?" a voice demanded.
Yukari shined her light on them; to her relief, it was just Officer Kurosawa. "Oh, thank God… it's just you…" she sighed with relief.
"I came up here to check the tapes; we didn't see anyone enter the building, or leave. Akihiko is standing by the alarm just in case,"
They went to the monitors, as the officer prepared to check and see what was going on-
*Bzzzt!*
…only for the power to go out. "Ah, shit!" Kurosawa snarled, pounding his fist on the table.
"A power out?! NOW?!" Yukari cried.
"KUROSAWA!" came a shout from downstairs.
"That's Akihiko!" Makoto realized, and everyone rushed downstairs, seeing Akihiko on his way up. "What did you see?!"
"Someone went into the kitchen- I tried hitting the alarm, but the power went out!" Akihiko explained, as they hurried down. "C'mon, we can't let them get away!"
Once downstairs, Kurosawa motioned everyone to remain silent, as he made his way towards the kitchen. They heard footsteps and sounds of someone going through the fridge.
Without hesitation, he made his way into the kitchen, having his gun aimed. "FREEZE!"
"Augh!" came a shriek, followed by the sound of something being dropped.
The others ran in, Yukari shining her light on the culprit… and she couldn't help but groan. "Dammit, Stupei…!" she snarled.
Junpei, who had his hands in the air, knees shaking, looked at everyone. "I swear to God, I was just getting a snack!" he stammered. At his feet were a box of Oreos©.
Kurosawa sighed and holstered his gun. "Bad time to get a midnight snack, Iori." He grumbled.
"Can someone fill me in, here?"
"Your friends heard moaning and someone lurking the halls. …Akihiko thought they came down here,"
"…yet we end up cornering Junpei." Akihiko finished, sighing.
"Junpei, did you see anyone on your way down here?" Makoto asked.
"Barely- I'm lucky I can see my own hands in front of my face, let alone made it to the fridge without bumping into anything," Junpei answered.
"I'm going to go around and check for any intrusions; whoever's breaking in probably found an alternate entrance," Kurosawa said. "If any of you hear anything else, come get me immediately,"
"Yes officer," Mitsuru replied.
Everyone decided to hang around the lounge the rest of the night. Once Kurosawa reported there were no signs of break-ins, they all dosed off.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~12:15 PM~
Akihiko was lucky he made it to the lunch period, and decided to spend it napping in the library. "Long night cramming?" asked one of the students, Kenji.
"Sort of…" Akihiko replied, groggily. "I haven't been sleeping well, either."
"Ha, I hear you on that. I try to study while I watch TV… but ended up watching more TV than cramming,"
"Yeah. Ha." Akihiko lied his head down on the desk. He was so tired…
"Oh, hey, it's the student council president! You guys share the same dorm, right? Better not let her catch you napping!" Kenji then walked away.
Mitsuru approached Akihiko, sitting down next to him. "I spoke with the others. We're going to meet in the control room right after school, so don't make any plans." She stated.
How can she still be so awake…? Was the first thought that came to Akihiko's mind, but he nodded in response instead. "Yes, senpai." He said, holding back a yawn.
Once Mitsuru left, he lied his head back down. A meeting right after school during mid-term cramming and two nights of sleep deprivation.
Great.
Just. Great.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Once back at the dorm, the four teens gathered in the lounge. Everyone looked tired, so they were hoping to make this meeting a short one. "Alright, Mitsuru-senpai, what's the meeting about?" Yukari asked, sounding a bit drowsy.
"Ask Iori. He's the one who requested we have one," Mitsuru replied.
"Huh?!"
Junpei took this moment to stand up; the others then noticed he was holding something behind his back. "I guess since you're all wondering why I've called you all here, there's no need for a long introduction," he stated, giving a smirk. The others then noticed that he looked the most rested out of them all- perhaps due to the fact that he slept through most of his classes.
"It had better be a good reason, Junpei- otherwise I'm using you as a punching bag!" Akihiko muttered bitterly, clearly wanting to get some sleep.
"It's a good reason! You all know how there's been weird things going on, but no one's been seeing entering the building? I've come up with a logical explanation…"
"And that would be…?" Mitsuru asked.
"The dorm… is haunted."
Everyone just stared.
"Are you kidding me?!" Akihiko sneered.
"Of all the dumb things…" Yukari scoffed, face-palming.
"I shouldn't have asked," Mitsuru sighed.
Makoto only shrugged, and walked over to the kitchen area, while the class-clown gawked at everyone. "Oh, c'mon, you guys don't believe me?! …Makoto, what do you think?" Junpei exclaimed, turning to his best friend.
"I think I'm going to get a snack. Anyone want anything?" Makoto responded.
"I just want to go study and get some sleep," Yukari muttered.
"Guys, think about it!" Junpei exclaimed, gesturing with his free hand while keeping the other held behind his back. "Kurosawa-senpai patrolled the grounds all night, but didn't see any signs of someone breaking in; all the doors and windows have remained locked the whole night; and whenever you guys heard spooky sounds, you didn't find anyone! It's obvious the place is haunted!"
"There has to be a more logical reason behind it," Akihiko scoffed.
"Then why didn't anything show up on camera? Answer that one, Aki-san!"
"The last tape ran out, and the power went out last night before we could check anything," Mitsuru answered matter-of-factly. "The power is back on, but the tape ended up warped. Kurosawa took it to the station to examine the film, but I'm sure there will be a logical explanation found soon. Chances are, we just might have a stealthy stalker hiding somewhere."
"Like that doesn't sound any less creepy…" Yukari whispered to herself.
"Oh yeah? Then why would they put Yukari's textbook in the bathroom the other night?!"Junpei challenged.
"…Or my headphones in the fridge?" Makoto added, walking out of the kitchen.
"Exactly!" Junpei paused, turning and looking at his friend. "Wait, what?"
Makoto held up his headphones, which seemed a bit frosty. "I opened the fridge to make a sandwich, and I found them on the top shelf," he scratched his head. "…and I had left them on the coffee-table on the second floor last night,"
"That's weird… Why would they be put in there?" Yukari asked.
"Probably as a prank." Akihiko guessed.
"But none of us were in the kitchen this morning- we all overslept and had to skip breakfast to get to school!"
"Oh, it was a prank alright…. A GHOST prank!" Junpei stated. "They do these things all the time- putting objects in weird places, just to confuse their victims. Pretty soon, we're going to be finding furniture stacked up- on the ceiling!"
Yukari gave him a glare. "Would you cut it out with the ghost talk, already?! …And what are you holding behind your back?!"
"The answer to our problems!" Junpei then unveiled that of which he kept behind his back.
"Is that… an Ouija board?" Makoto questioned, arching an eyebrow.
"Sure is!" Junpei spread the board out on the coffee-table. "All we have to do is hold a séance and ask whatever spirit that's haunting us what it wants, and find a way to get it out of here!"
"I don't know, Iori. Not that I don't believe in the supernatural, but you really shouldn't tamper with things beyond your understanding," Mitsuru firmly stated.
"…That would involve a lot of things…" Yukari quipped.
"Oh, c'mon! Let's at least test it out!" Junpei exclaimed, sitting down by the board. "I spent $15 on this thing!"
"I'd say it's worth a shot," Makoto said, sitting down next to his friend.
"*sigh* Whatever gets us to bed, quicker." Akihiko muttered.
The group sat around the coffee-table. "Alright, everyone join hands," Junpei advised, and everyone did so. He then smirked. "Heh, I should've thought of this sooner; best way to get a girl to hold- OW! …Dammit, Yukari, lighten your grip!"
"Stop being stupid and lets get this over with. We've got studying to do!" Yukari snarled.
"Alright, alright! Here we go…" Junpei then began to speak in an eerie tone. "Oh, spirit of the dorm, please speak to us and answer our- Hey, hold on; none of you are easily freaked out, right? Any squeamish people are advised to leave now, otherwise-"
"JUNPEI!" The whole group shouted, getting [more] annoyed with their friend.
"Okay, just checking! Sheesh!" His tone switched back to eerie. "Spirit of the dorm, please answer our question- why are you in our dorm, and what is it that you seek?"
Everyone looked at the board, anxiously awaiting an answer.
…which never came, because the dial didn't move an inch.
"…Well, Junpei? We're waiting," Akihiko stated.
"Give it a minute!" Junpei hissed.
They waited for up to 5 minutes.
Makoto then realized they were still holding hands, suddenly wishing he could reach his iPod.
"Okay, they're not answering. Can we go to bed, now?" Yukari groaned.
"M-Maybe I didn't ask right. Let me try again!" Junpei replied in desperation.
"Junpei, unless the 'ghost' doesn't know how to spell, I doubt the dorm is haunted," Akihiko scoffed, releasing Makoto and Mitsuru's hands. "Not that this wasn't fun… but we've got cramming to do."
"Yeah, enough of this nonsense," Yukari agreed, prying her hand out of Junpei's and walking upstairs with Akihiko. "I'm lacking enough sleep as it is just from studying,"
"I recommend you put this idea out of mind, Iori- at least until mit-terms are over with," Mitsuru advised. "In the meantime, I'm going to go check with Officer Kurosawa and see if he's found anything," With that, she walked out.
Junpei shot everyone a glare. "…Well, don't come crying to me if you end up possessed!" he called. He then noticed Makoto still next to him. "Can you believe that? I try to solve a mystery, but they treat it as a joke! That's actually what causes ghosts to harass people," he looked at the board. "…I bet the ghost was just messing with me, trying to make everyone think I'm crazy until it's too late. …Cliché, but effective."
"Junpei?" Makoto stated.
"Well, I'm not giving up just yet! Not until I prove my theory! I'll show 'em I'm not kidding around!"
"Junpei?"
Junpei snapped his fingers. "I've got it! You and me can hold a stake-out, keep an eye on the monitors and solve the mystery ourselves! I don't know whether the ghost will show itself on-tape, but if it's pulling something we'll spot it on camera! …What do you say, Mako-san? You in?"
"…Sure. Junpei?"
"Yeah, buddy?"
"…Can I have my hand back, now?"
Junpei paused, seeing that he had yet to let go of Makoto's hand… and in his moment of determination, had been gripping it tightly. "…Whoops. Sorry, dude!" he released his grip, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um… Let's meet in the control room tonight, okay? I'll be in my room, preparing for our stake-out!"
Makoto nodded, waving to him as he walked up the stairs. "Sure, meet you there!"
Junpei gave a grin, then packed up the Ouija board…
Once Makoto was in his room, he rubbed his hand. "Ahh-agh…! This keeps up, I'm going to be sitting out action scenes with Akihiko…"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~11:02 PM~
Junpei had his eyes on the screen…
Makoto had his eyes on his book. He decided, while they were having a 'stake-out', to get some studying in- as well as try to get his best friend to cram. "Alright… Out of the three, which of these is not identified as a devilfish: Squid, Jellyfish, or Octopus?" he quizzed.
"Huh? …Um, I don't know. Squid?" Junpei replied, eyes still on the monitors.
"*sigh* No, it's the 'Jellyfish'. Got it wrong again, Junpei."
Junpei only rolled his eyes. "I don't see how you can study during a ghost-hunt. We've got all Saturday and Sunday to study- which will be easier once we get rid of whatever's been making everyone lose sleep!"
Makoto sighed; there was no way he could get his friend's mind off his 'haunted dorm' theory enough to cram…
That is, until he got an idea of his own.
"Sorry, but I'm just aiding myself against evil spirits. I learned in Mr. Edogawa's class that ghosts always possess those with the least intellect- that way they have better chances of having full control of their victim."
Junpei did a double-take. "What, for real?!"
"Sure. Haven't you seen a pattern in horror-movies? The victims have to be at their wits-end before they're nabbed by ghosts, but the smartest ones are harder to control because they take longer to possess." Makoto gave a shrug. "…But if you want to be on the front lines, go ahe- hey!"
Junpei had taken his text-book. "Gimme that! I've got brains to rack! …Why don't you go on patrol, double-check everywhere in case there's something weird going on,"
Makoto nodded, walking out. He looked back through the door-crack, seeing Junpei had his nose in the text-book, and he couldn't help but smirk to himself.
Why didn't I think of something like this before? He thought, as he walked down the hall.
He checked the lounge, kitchen, bathroom (men's only- in case Mitsuru caught him), the hallways, and even peeked into a couple vacant rooms; thankfully, there were no signs of any intruders. He walked upstairs to the 5th floor, making sure the rooftop door was locked, before going back down to the control room.
"I'm back, Junpei. See any-" he began to ask, but paused. "…thing?"
Within the last 15 minutes, Junpei had fallen asleep on the couch, book covering his face and muffling his snores.
Must've bored himself to sleep, Makoto thought, lightly chuckling as he walked over and took his textbook off his friend's face. He then sat down in a chair, deciding to study, while looking at the monitor's every few minutes.
After all, he did agree to a stake-out.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~Meanwhile~
Mitsuru stood by the squad car, where Officer Kurosawa stood. "And you're absolutely sure of this?" the student-council president asked.
"Positive. It's pretty surprising we didn't figure it out sooner," Kurosawa replied, then looked at his watch. "I need to do continue my rounds. You'd better get back to the dorm yourself, Miss Kirijo- just in case our 'culprit' has pulled anything."
Mitsuru nodded, then hopped on her motorcycle and rode back to the dorm. He's right. Why didn't we figure this out, sooner? It all makes sense! She thought, then couldn't help but chuckle. …No wonder he'd think it was a ghost.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
*MOOOAAAANNN…*
It was a little after midnight when Makoto awoke to the ghastly sound. He looked around, seeing that he had dosed off while studying. He also noticed Junpei wasn't in the room.
Did he go off to investigate by himself?! He thought in disbelief. He thought back to the action-scene they had done, where Junpei decided to run ahead. Perhaps this was the same case- he obviously wanted to prove he could handle the situation.
Knowing better, Makoto stood up and ran down to the third floor; the moan had come from the fifth floor, meaning he had to act fast and gather the others before the culprit disappeared again- let alone if Junpei got hurt.
Thankfully, the others were awake already. "It's upstairs!" he told Akihiko and Yukari.
"We know. We heard it," Yukari replied.
"Where's Junpei? He wasn't in his room when I went to wake you guys up!" Akihiko demanded.
"We were both in the control room watching the monitors- I think he went after it himself!" Makoto answered.
"Shit! Doesn't he ever use his brain?!" Without hesitation, Akihiko ran upstairs. "Makoto, come with me! Yukari, go sound the alarm!"
Yukari nodded, running downstairs while Makoto followed Akihiko all the way up to the fifth floor, seeing a shadowed figure lurking about. Akihiko took out a flashlight, shining it-
They couldn't believe what they saw.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Yukari had made it down to the lounge by the time Mitsuru walked through the door. "Mitsuru-senpai, where have you been? Our intruder is back- it's on the fifth floor! We've got to sound the alarm!" she exclaimed, rushing towards the table.
Mitsuru stepped in her way, raising her hands. "There's no need, Yukari. The mystery is solved," she stated calmly.
"W-What?"
"I went to see Officer Kurosawa, and we analyzed the tape-ribbons… I'm surprised none of us figured this out sooner!"
"Figured what out? Who's been wandering the dorm?"
Mitsuru lead her up the stairs. "Think. Who was always the last one to show up, never complained about the moans, and even appeared last night in the culprit's location?"
Yukari thought for one second before it clicked. "Son of a…" she growled, then ran upstairs.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Makoto and Akihiko were gawking at the sight before them. "So… you're tell me the whole time it was…?" Akihiko began to question.
"Makes sense to me." Makoto said with a shrug.
Across the room, Junpei was shuffling across the floor, moaning a bit while carrying Makoto's textbook. He bumped into a chair once, but only moved around it, heading for the stairs. His friends followed him. "Should we wake him up?" Makoto asked once they were on the fourth floor; Junpei went into the control room, pulling open a drawer and putting Makoto's book in it.
"Should we wake him up?" Akihiko asked, while Makoto retrieved his book.
"I heard it's dangerous to wake someone while they're sleepwalking," Makoto replied. "Let's go find Yukari, and tell her it was only-"
"JUNPEI!" came a shout as Yukari and Mitsuru came into the room.
"Zz- huh?" Junpei snapped awake, looking around. "What?"
"…Yuka-san obviously doesn't fear danger," Makoto quipped.
"No- she just doesn't fear Junpei," Akihiko retorted, and they watched as Yukari stormed up to Junpei, grabbing him by the shirt-collar and shaking him.
"You idiot! This whole time it was you wandering around the halls! What kind of joke were you trying to pull?!" Yukari was shouting as she shook Junpei, who was now completely awake.
"Whoa! Hey! Take it easy, Yuka-tan!" Junpei snapped, pulling away from her. "First of all, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Allow me to answer," Mitsuru spoke up, walking up to Junpei. "It turns out you've been walking in your sleep, Iori."
"Walking in my sleep…?" Junpei paused, thinking about it. His shoulders then slumped. "Oh… yeah. I should've figured that…"
"Really? No denial? No demand of proof?" Makoto asked. "…You knew you were sleepwalking?"
"Well, I didn't know- but I guess it's obvious. I mean, the past couple nights, I ended up waking up in either the kitchen or the bathroom downstairs." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh… kind of have this condition. Every time I'm under a lot of stress, I end up walking in my sleep."
"Stress? You barely got a care in the world!" Yukari questioned.
Makoto thought about this. "But he's right." He replied. "The first night, you brought up how exams were coming up and how we all had to study. That's the first night he started sleepwalking!"
"Right. There's nothing more stressful than having to cram for an exam," Junpei said, leaning against the couch. "…Chances are, I'll probably be sleepwalking until mid-terms are over!"
"I vote we chain him to his bed," Yukari quipped.
"Perhaps not. I believe if you studied more often, Iori, you'd have less stress on your mind and would sleepwalk less," Mitsuru advised.
"One thing still puzzles me," Akihiko spoke up. "Why the heck did you keep taking things and putting them in odd places?"
"Dude, I don't know! People do weird things when they sleepwalk!" Junpei scoffed.
"I think it's best if we don't find out, anyway." Makoto joked.
"Yes. Let's just be happy the situation wasn't too serious," Mitsuru added.
"Well, now that the mystery's solved, let's just head to bed. If I don't get some sleep soon, I'll pull a Junpei and fall asleep in class!"
"Hey…!" Junpei snapped, giving Yukari a glare.
"C'mon, buddy. Save it for the morning," Makoto said, patting his friend on the shoulder and leading him downstairs.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
~After School, The Next Day~
The students managed to make it through yet another school-day. With mid-terms fast approaching, everyone either went to the library or to their dorms to cram.
…though one student had a different idea.
"C'mon, I bet it'll work this time!" Junpei stated as he and Makoto sat in the lounge with the Ouija board.
"Junpei, you can't ask a game-board for test answers…" Makoto sighed.
"I'm not asking a 'game-board'- I'm asking spirits! They've been around a long time, I bet they'd have every answer for the next several exams!" he then looked at the board. "Okay- Spirits, let me hear the truth: What will be the following answers for our mid-term exams this season?"
They watched, as the dial then began to move! "It's… It's actually moving!" Makoto said.
"What's it spelling out?" Junpei had a notebook ready, to write down each letter.
"F… O… R… G… E… T… …I… T… …S… T… U… P… E… I…"
*Snap*
The pencil broke in Junpei's hands… and he ended up throwing the board off the table. "Ah, forget it! …They'd probably give me the wrong answers just to mess with me, anyway." He then looked at Makoto. "Mind helping me cram?"
"Sure," Makoto replied… then received a slap on the back. "Oof!"
"Great! We can start tomorrow- let's play some videogames, first, and work off this stress!"
"Okay… ow…"
Junpei arched an eyebrow. "You okay, dude? I heard you've had a couple aches lately,"
Makoto let out a heavy sigh. "Junpei… did anyone tell you that you don't know your own strength?"
"Not really…" Junpei then smirked and wrapped an arm around his friend's neck. "But I do work out! Thanks for the credit, bud!" With his arm still around his friend's neck, he hauled him upstairs. "C'mon! To the platform!"
"Gack!"
As the two went upstairs, Yukari peeked out from the dining area with a little remote. Chuckling, she walked over to the coffee-table, where she took off a magnet that she used to move the dial on the board. "And that's for making me miss sleep," she said in triumph, walking away.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
A/N: And there was my second attempt and making this story interesting. …Admit it, how many of you knew it was Junpei from the start?
Special thanks to my boyfriend for inspiring the 'Ouija Board' bit, as well as the 'great' reveal.
Might include some fluff in the next chapter, might just be more humor- we shall see.
Hope you all enjoyed. Review, don't flame, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Peace!
