Hey all!

Congratulate me on my completion of finals! :D

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO Sergeant Salt's Shaker Beat for commenting and being super awesome. Thanks a bunch!

And in this chapter, Fuji has somewhat of a possessive side to him. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Boo!

"Riko, are you done?" Fuji called.

I hopped out of the bathroom in jeans and a thick, dark blue long-sleeved shirt.

"I had to bundle up! It's cold outside, you know!" I retorted, pouting. Eiji was really rubbing off on me.

Fuij chuckled. "Shall we go, then? They're probably waiting outside by now… since you took so long, I mean…"

He gave me a sideways smile, which I returned with a huff. We headed out the door.

I power-walked down all the stairs to the bottom floor and hopped off the bottom third step of the outside staircase to where my fellow tennis teammates, plus Taka, were waiting. Fuji descended the steps gracefully as I was glomped on by Eiji.

"I think this is everyone, Oishi said, looking around. "Let's go."

I fell into step beside Taka and Eiji as the tennis regulars headed to a location unbeknownst to me. Fuji and Oishi were in front of us, chatting quietly, and Tezuka was in the very back beside Ryoma, who was drinking a Ponta in silence. Inui was jotting down notes in a notebook, and Momo and Kaidoh were arguing.

"Hey, Taka," I said, nudging my taller friend in the ribs. He looked down.

"Um… sorry for… taking your place on the team." For some reason I had felt really bad for 1) beating Eiji and 2) for pushing Taka off the tennis regulars.

Taka smiled and shook his head. "It's all right. There's more time for me to pursue my career, you know?"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Eiji reassured me from my left. He still had one arm around my shoulder since he couldn't have his full weight on me and walk at the same time.

"And… sorry for beating you, too, Eiji," I apologized. "But… I'll make sure to beat you again next time."

Eiji pouted.

I pouted right back.

We both burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Fuji asked, turning around. His face held an amused expression. Oishi turned as well.

"Nothing, nothing," Eiji and I both answered, giggling.

A freezing wind blew, and I shivered. My teeth chattered, and I got some serious goose bumps.

"Are you cold?" Oishi asked. He took off his grey sweatshirt and handed it back to me. I put it on. The fluffy lining on the inside kept me much warmer than I had been, but it was way too big for me.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

The mother hen and Fuji both smiled back, and then turned to see where they were walking. The group halted.

"Ah, here we are," Oishi remarked.

We had arrived in front of a very large, dark, Victorian-style building. I shivered, but not because of the wind.

"Everyone ready?" Fuji called over the din of Momo and Kaidoh's arguing. "Let's go in."

The ten of us headed up the steps and into the house where we were greeted by an attendant.

"Welcome to the best haunted house in Japan," the man said with a creepy smile that was only acceptable in an actual haunted house. "Please get into groups of two and climb to the top to start. Have a good fright."

I sighed. Of course they'd have cheesy sayings; did I really expect anything different?

Eiji automatically jumped over to Oishi, begging him to be his partner. The mother hen accepted with a laugh, but I could sort of tell that he wanted to be my partner. Taka turned and paired with Tezuka, and as far as I could tell Ryoma had partnered with Momo and Kaidoh with Inui. That meant the only person left was… Fuji - the tensai.

In pairs, all of the tennis regulars headed up four stories to the attic of the massive house and arrived in front of a dark curtain.

"Hey, Fuji," Oishi said with a smile. "I think you and Rikio-kun should go first since this was your idea."

"All right," the brunette agreed. He walked first into the doorway behind the curtain, and I followed nervously. Everything inside was completely black.

"F-F-Fuji…" I whispered shakily. "I should probably tell you that I-"

Something popped in front of my face. I shrieked and latched onto Fuji's left arm.

"H-hey, are you okay?" he asked. "Ready to go on?"

"Y-yeah."

We very slowly continued forward, my screaming getting less and less loud and intense until I was biting my fingers to keep from completely taking away Fuji's hearing.

On the third floor, which seemed to take forever to get to, there were spooky voices coming from all around, or so it seemed. I knew the entire time that nothing around me was real, but I couldn't help but be frightened out of my mind.

"I'm going to kill you…"

"Don't run away…"

"Haha… Hahaha… Hahahahaha!"

"Um… can we please go faster?" I begged Fuji.

We quickened our pace forward, but the laughing still got louder and louder. Something grabbed my shoulder. I, in turn, screamed and took off running forward.

"Riko! Riko! Wait! It's only…"

But I was too far away to hear anything else.

I was too drunk on fear to realize at the time that there were tears streaming down my face. I found a pocket of light and sat huddled against the wall between two dark pillars and waited for someone to find me. I was breathing quickly and shaking.

After what seemed like forever, I heard and felt someone coming, but I didn't look up to see.

"Riko? It's Fuji. It's okay now."

He knelt and lifted my chin with one hand and dried my tears with the other's sleeve. He helped me stand.

"We're not far from the exit now," he whispered. "Stay close, and don't run off again, please."

I looked with wide, teary eyes at his face. He smiled at me, and I suddenly wasn't as scared.

Fuji put one arm around my shoulder gently and helped me through the rest of the house. After stepping on bones and being chased by apparitions, I was glad to get out into the dusk.

-FUJI POV-

Riko and I arrived outside the haunted house, and I sat her down on a small grass hill.

"Are you okay now?" I asked.

Riko nodded wearily. She was still shaking.

I sat down next to her and stared off into space.

Before we had arrived, I was angered by the fact that I hadn't been quick enough to give Riko my jacket. It was probably warmer than Oishi's, anyway.

Inside the haunted house, I felt terrible whenever something scared Riko so much that she screamed. It made me feel like I couldn't protect her enough - like I was too far away to do a thing. When she ran, for example, I almost lost my mind. I couldn't stand being away from her. I bolted after her and wasn't thinking clearly. I took a wrong turn that led to a dead end and had to retrace my steps in a maniacal panic. Once I found her I was relieved, but I almost started to cry as well when I saw her face. She was so adorable.

By this point outside she was asleep on my shoulder.

I heard the door to the giant house open, and Eiji and Oishi came out. I didn't want to see the latter's face, but that couldn't be helped.

"Hey, is Rikio-kun okay?" Oishi asked with a concerned expression. He needn't have cared so much.

"He's fine," I answered, plastering a smile onto my face. Oishi couldn't tell the difference between a real or fake smile, anyway. "He just got scared out of his wits inside."

"Oh dear," Oishi worried further. He had never gotten on my nerves like this before.

Meanwhile, Eiji was giggling to himself. "Rikio-chan totally screams like a girl!"

"Eiji, that is not nice!" Oishi cried, looking over to his redhead friend.

"But it's true," the acrobat whispered in my general direction.

The door to the haunted house opened again and Momo, Ryoma, Inui, Kaidoh, Tezuka, and Taka-san came out. Tezuka shot me a look, and somehow I could tell that he knew Riko's and my secret. He wouldn't do anything, though, or else he'd get blackmailed by me.

"Should we head back now?" Oishi suggested.

"Riko… Riko… wake up…" I whispered so that no one could hear, shaking Riko gently.

She stirred, and gradually opened her eyes. She looked up at me, somehow got scared, and flew backwards, landing against Eiji. A red tint formed on his cheeks.

"Sorry," Riko mumbled, and wobbled to her feet.

Eiji and I got up and joined the group in walking back to Seigaku. What a day.

Even tensais have feelings, too. :)

Hope you liked the chapter! Ehe…

Comment, comment, comment! Please! I could really use ideas for future chapters if you have any!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!