Take: Seven

Word Count: 1,192

Mai burst into the office, being very off-script since she happened to arrive on time. She was holding a piece of paper with medical words and phrases written all over it. She was very pale.

"Naru!" She called out to him and she started to bang her fist on his office door. "Something terrible is happening!"

Naru peeked out of his door, and Mai had to shield her eyes from the light pouring out of the room.

Mai started to sob. "It's awful! So awful! So, very, very awful!"

Naru impatiently waited for her to cry it out. He didn't allow her to touch him, because she might get tear-stains on his clothes.

"So, very, very, very, very, very awful! So, very, very, very, very, very, very awful!"

"All right, enough! I get the point."

Mai gave him a cocky smile through her tears. He lost the bet of how long he could listen to her whine. That was fifty bucks for her.

"What is wrong?" Naru asked, sounding very monotonous. As if he had just been reading his script in his office, which he probably had been.

Mai shoved the paper in front of his face.

Naru took it from her and looked it over.

It was about five minutes before he said, "None of this makes sense."

Mai promptly burst into tears. "It's the new disease going around, and Naru…" Mai dropped her eyes. "I think I have it."

Before Naru could respond, Mr. Monk came into the office carrying John. But honestly, John looked fine.

"Naru, it's terrible," Mr. Monk said. "That new disease got John."

Mai covered her mouth and started to cry profusely.

Mr. Monk set John on his feet while Naru strolled over. He poked John on the forehead, and he almost fell over.

"Why, he's turned into cardboard!" Naru said, turning John sideways. Their priest had indeed turned into cardboard. Like one of those cardboard cut-outs you see at movie theaters.

There were words written on the back of John's head: John Brown – Deliver to Ghost Hunt Set.

"Poor John," Naru said as he set him by the wall, where he continued to smile like he always does. "They finally got his name right."

"It's the terrible Cardboard Character Disease. It struck John first," Mr. Monk said. "May he rest in peace." He bowed his head in respect, but he was cut off by his cell phone ringing, and he immediately headed off to the kitchen to answer it.

Naru was still staring at Cardboard John, until he finally said, "There's no difference to him. I never realized that John was such a flat character."

"You didn't?" Mai asked, "He always seemed flat to me. He doesn't even have a back story."

"Mai, you don't always need a back story to be a full-rounded character..."

"I know, but it sure does help sometimes."

"But the question is," Naru said, picking up John and proceeding to stick him in the closet, "Is that which one of us will catch it next?"

Mai's eyes got wide.

And on cue, Masako and Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako entered.

Masako was wearing jeans and sandals, and a plain white T-shirt. Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako was yelling at the dust that was settling on her jacket.

Mai leaned closer to Naru, "Which one do you think is more of a flat character?"

"I'm thinking Masako."

"Wanna bet?"

Naru's eyes narrowed. "Absolutely. I'm never wrong."

"What are you guys whispering about!" Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako yelled in their faces.

"Nothing, Ayako," Mai said, trying to smile, but honestly, the scowl that Ayako was wearing scared her. Mai felt more content hiding behind Naru.

Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako suddenly straightened, "Where is my lovely husband!" She shouted.

"I'm on the phone, honey," Mr. Monk said from the kitchen.

Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako strutted to the sound of his voice.

"Has anyone seen John today?" Masako asked once Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako had left.

Mai slipped a glance at Naru while Naru gave a look at the closet.

Just as Masako turned to look at the closet, Mr. Monk started to yell from the kitchen. Masako ran to the adjoining room, but Mai and Naru didn't have to move to know what had happened to Loud-and-Obnoxious Ayako. In some ways, they were thankful.

"I win," Mai said to Naru.

"Damn it."

The door to Lin's office opened a crack, and he peeked through the sliver it offered him. "What's going on out there?" He asked, with a timid note to his voice.

Naru sighed, "Do you think Lin is a flat character?" he asked Mai.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know – he doesn't speak to me enough for me to know."

"And when you don't speak to the Main Female Love Interest…" Naru said, letting the hesitation stretch, "You have more chance of catching the Cardboard Disease."

"I am not the Main Female Love Interest! I am the Main Character!" Mai said, stomping her foot.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

Lin had started shaking and tears were glistening in his eyes. He slammed the door, and Mai heard him lock it.

Masako and Mr. Monk came from the kitchen, Mr. Monk carrying the Cardboard Ayako, who was wearing a scowl that would be forever frozen on her features.

Masako was crying. "This is terrible. What are we going to do?"

Mr. Monk set Loud-and-Obnoxious-Cardboard Ayako by the wall. He pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket, which had an 'M' embroidered into the fabric. He dabbed at his eyes with it.

"Mai," Naru said.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Go get me a drink. I want…lemonade."

"You can't have lemonade," Mai hissed at him underneath her breath. "You had a citrus drink in the first shooting."

"Fine, fine, fine. Coffee. Black."

"Roger that," Mai said, heading for the kitchen. She found a big, white mug which was filled with the strong drink, steam rising from its surface. She was pleased she never actually had to prepare one of these drinks. What kind of life would that be?

When Mai got back to the main room with the coffee mug, Naru was standing amidst the Cardboard people.

"What did you do?" Mai gasped as she handed Naru the coffee. He stared at it as if wondering if he was really supposed to drink it.

"I don't know," Naru said, "I turned around and then suddenly they were both cardboard. I think Masako went first, though. She was a tad less of a character than Takigawa."

Mai sighed. "So I guess that we're the only two left?'

"Three left. Lin is still hiding in the office."

Lin gave a squeak as if he were listening to them through the keyhole.

"And there's Yasu…" Mai said.

"Hm. I'm sure that Yasu was probably the one to let the germ loose in this area."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

They both stared at Lin's office door.

"How long do you think until the disease gets to him?" Mai asked, "I say half-an-hour."

"Ah, I'm thinking about an hour," Naru mused.

"Wanna bet?"

"You're on."

Lin was left to cower in his office as Mai and Naru stared at his door like hawks.