Author's Note: Whoo, Chapter 8 is finally here! I must say, though, this is definitely my longest chapter yet. It should definitely keep you all occupied until next week (nyahahaha). But anyway...don't worry about the whole "I'm sorry if I'm being impatient" thing! :) I don't mind, it shows how much people love reading this story XD So reviews like that make this authoress very happy! Thank you, and enjoy this chapter, I hope everyone is satisfied with it and will continue to read this story!
NOTE: Also, I apologize for being so careless about Chapter 7. For people who don't know, "otaku" is a Japanese word that refers to someone who is addicted or obssessed with anime/manga. Also, "kame hame ha" from DBZ also isn't mine, it is simply one of the many anime references Rukia, the otaku, will make XD
Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine, it's Tite Kubo's. Also, the quotes used in this story are all from (I think...). They are also not mine.
"...Come on, people! I want you all to pick up your pace and put your effort into it!" Soifon-sensei, the gym teacher, barked at her gym class. The gymnasium was filled with students who attempted to follow Soifon-sensei's rather difficult exercises. She scanned the room like a hawk, and barked, "Now give me thirty sit-ups!"
The students groaned, but all got on their backs and began to do the wearisome sit-ups. One student at the back of the fourth row, however, had a better plan. Instead of actually doing all thirty sit-ups, she only did the sit-ups whenever Soifon-sensei looked her way or walked by her row. Her name was Rukia Kuchiki, and she hated doing anything in any class.
...Oh, that's not very true. I love gym class. I get to jack off and not get yelled at...well, so as long as I'm not caught, heh. What's so great about gym class is that this is a torture chamber for all those neeeeerds. Nerds suck at gym, it's a known fact. It's great, 'cause that's the only class where I can do much better than they can. In your faces, ass--
"KUCHIKI! What do you think you're doing, just lying around?! Get with those sit-ups!" Soifon-sensei yelled at Rukia.
Oops. I forgot I was still under watch. Well, anyway...this is typical gym class. Today is free time, which means several things--dodgeball, volleyball, basketball. I play volleyball, but if the nerds are up to it, I play dodgeball just to kick their asses. Look, there's Tatsuki...
A boy who was hit by a dodgeball dropped to the floor, leaving only one player left, a nerd.
Hey...that last nerd left over there...he was the nerd who annoyed the hell outta me, Shuuhei, and Renji when we got detention a few weeks ago...I hope he gets killed by Tatsuki.
The nerd with glasses trembled in front of the unstoppable, invincible, and incredible dodgeball player...Tatsuki Arisawa, and stuttered, "Eh...eh...eh..." Tatsuki then smirked, and used all her power to throw the dodgeball against the nerd's face, knocking him down. Tatsuki's team cheered, as Orihime went up to Tatsuki and smiled, "That was amazing, Tatsuki-chan! You always play so great!"
Tatsuki only replied by smirking, "Heh."
Wow. Some power. Anyway, I heard that Tatsuki's GPA has begun to show some great progress. It's great, really. I think it's a good progress.
Just then, Rukia heard a girly voice--she turned around to see alpha girl Rangiku Matsumoto surrounded by her circle of popular A-list friends. "Like, so I can't play! I mean, what if I break these totally new manicured nails?!" Rangiku explained to her friends why playing sports would be a bad idea, and her friends seemed to agree.
Oh, there's Rangiku, sitting out...as usual. And look, even Yumichika is entertaining her and her little entourage. How nice, they all seem to get along SO well. Both have improved their grades greatly, and so have I. Basically, it's a nice little progress--
A volleyball suddenly hit Rukia in the head. Rukia snapped as she turned around angrily, "What gives?!" She turned to see Shuuhei and Renji laughing hysterically, pointing at her.
Why those little...dickwads! Why I oughta...just 'cause THEY happened to pull up their grades pretty well, too...Renji and Shuuhei are eternal idiots, no matter what. NO MATTER WHAT.
With that narrated, Rukia picked up the volleyball and threw it hard at Shuuhei's face, causing him to yell out, "Ooh!!" And drop to the floor, groaning in pain as he had his hand over his face, and before Renji could escape, Rukia quickly picked up another volleyball and threw it in his face, and ran up to him and kneed him in the stomach, but due to her height, she had to jump slightly to ensure that she hit him, and Renji screamed incredibly loudly, "Eyah!" and fell to the ground as well.
Rukia was about to run away when she heard a whistle blow and Soifon-sensei ran up to the three. "What's the meaning of this Kuchiki?!" Soifon-sensei yelled at Rukia, and the students immediately shut up and began to gather.
"Oh my...Shuuhei! Renji! Are you alright?" Rukia suddenly gasped, kneeling next to them. She faked dramatic tears as she suddenly yelled angrily at the same nerd from before who got owned by Tatsuki, "How could you do this to them, you terrible person?! Why would you hurt them, even though they're total idiots?!"
"What?!" the nerd exclaimed.
"What...?!" Shuuhei and Renji managed to croak out.
Rukia, acting again, gasped, and exclaimed, "Oh, you guys, don't try to talk!" She glared at the nerd and snapped, "Apologize! Apologize right now! Apolo--"
"Okay, okay, that's enough, Kuchiki. Take those two to the office. And Yamabuta, come with me. You have detention." Soifon-sensei said, waving her hand dismissively.
"What! But I--" the nerd with glasses exclaimed, sounding weak.
"Now." Soifon-sensei snapped, and the nerd with glasses followed as the two disappeared, and the crowd around the three started to disperse.
Rukia, continuing her acting, said cheerfully and sweetly, "Ooh! You two look hurt badly! Don't worry, it's off to the nurse's office we go!" She then grabbed each boy by the ear and pulled them up harshly, causing them both to groan in pain.
"Oops!" Rukia fake giggled, and dragged the boys off to the nurse's office.
Ahh, yes. The beauty of the female power and acting.
-Rukia's House-
Rukia came out of her bathroom wearing black shorts, a white t-shirt, and a small, pink Chappy the Bunny towel around her neck, and as she entered her room, closing the door behind her, Rukia fell backwards onto her bed, sighing.
Today had been another rough day of classes and studying with her study group, the Idiocracy. Rukia stared up at the ceiling, thinking about all the things that had happened to her so far in her senior year. Ever since freshman year, she had been considered "unapproachable" and was pretty much a loner, and went on unnoticed in school. But all of a sudden, in senior year, her failing grades had earned her friends, a chance to improve, rivals, and so much more. She even found herself talking to others rather easily now.
Everything changed so quickly, it was almost too difficult for Rukia to keep up. But she managed, somehow. And the changes didn't feel so terrible. At all.
Before Rukia could get anymore lost with her thoughts, though, her cellphone rang. "Huh?" Rukia said before picking up her phone and saying into it, "Hello? ...Oh, Shuuhei. Yeah? ...What? ...What?!"
Wow. Shuuhei's such an idiot.
-Karakura High School-
Shuuhei and Renji stood in front of the school as the cool, night air blew against them. Both boys had bandages on their cheeks, a reminiscent of Rukia's powerful hits on them. Just then, they saw a petite figure approaching them, which turned out to be Rukia.
"Yo, Rukia! Over here!" Renji called rather loudly
"I hear you, dammit!" Rukia snapped as she neared them.
Suddenly, a limousine pulled up in front of the school, and Rangiku and Yumichika both stepped out. "Ugh, it's like, so freaking cold..." Rangiku grumbled as she walked towards the group.
"Hmm...not the most fashionable way to meet, is it?" Yumichika commented.
The group came together as they saw Tatsuki running towards them. "Hey." Tatsuki greeted as she reached her fellow Idiots.
"Alright. Tell us the entire story in detail." Rukia said irritably.
"Okay, okay. So, you know how we have that test for Ishiyama-sensei's class tomorrow?" Shuuhei said.
Everyone nodded, and Shuuhei continued, "Well, I need some extra review, but I don't have my history textbook with me. It's at school."
"In your locker...?" Tatsuki asked.
"...No." Shuuhei said, after a moment.
"Then where?" Rukia asked.
Shuuhei and Renji both looked at each other before Renji said, "...That's the thing. We don't know where his textbook is."
Everyone groaned in annoyance, and Rangiku, angry, snapped, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Don't even bother! Just borrow one of our textbooks!"
"...What textbooks, Rangiku?" Rukia asked in a deadpan tone after a moment.
It took a few seconds for Rangiku to realize that all of the Idiots in the Idiocracy had lost their textbooks a long, long time ago. "Oh, shit!" Rangiku snapped, scowling.
"...Great. Just great. None of us have textbooks, but Shuuhei needs it 'cause he's a retard." Rukia said grouchily.
"Hey...!" Shuuhei exclaimed, but Rukia ignored him.
"...Well, then we're obviously going to have to enter the school. Let's try jacking one from the library." Rukia said.
"It's probably locked, though." Renji commented in a serious tone.
Rukia looked at Renji as if he was a moron, and she snapped, "That's why you PICK it, Renji." Renji gave Rukia a look, but Rukia simply turned around and began to walk towards the school, and everyone else began to follow.
"Just wait one moment, everyone!" Yumichika exclaimed. Everyone turned to him with questioning looks, and Yumichika cleared his throat before he went, "Now, I realize that we will be heading inside school, where there is no light visible...and communication will be difficult. Therefore...I have brought the necessary equipment!" He clapped his hands, and Yumichika's chauffeur arrived with six backpacks.
"Alright, everyone! Each backpack contains a flashlight, a map of the school, and the latest walkie-talkie. This walkie-talkie is excellent--it has perfect signals, and you can hear loud and clear through them." Yumichika explained cheerfully.
"...What are we, going spelunking?" Shuuhei sneered.
"Hmph! I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, you scum...it's highly important that we make this quick, because I've heard...that a ghost roams the school at night." Yumichika said in a serious tone.
"What?!" Shuuhei exclaimed.
"Whoa, no way!" Renji exclaimed.
"For real?! How totally creepy!" Rangiku shuddered.
"Yes, apparently, there was a particular student who was bullied by the other classmates. It was so terrible that she killed herself in the girls' bathroom. It is believed that she still roams the school with the knife she killed herself with during the night..." Yumichika explained, and everyone went silent.
"Oh, come on, that's so stupid, there's no such thing as ghosts." Tatsuki snapped.
"Yeah, she's right. Let's go." Rukia said in a tired and irritated voice, letting out a yawn.
"Well, someone's cranky tonight." Renji grumbled, but Rukia had already headed for the door.
Shuuhei seemed to lag behind a bit, with a rather worried and somewhat frightened expression painted on his face. "Oh, man, oh man, oh, man..." Shuuhei whined to himself as he followed the rest of the Idiots.
-Inside the School-
The Idiots turned on their flashlights as they began to make their way towards the library. "...Okay, guys. The library is on the third floor, all the way at the end of the right hallway. We can do this, right?" Rukia said, and the rest nodded.
They began to take steps towards the staircase, but it was difficult, even with the flashlights--it was apparently much darker than the Idiots had expected it to be. "Damn, and I thought school was just plain scary during the day..." Rangiku muttered.
"Hey...which floor is the ghost on, anyway?" Shuuhei asked rather meekly as the group began to walk up the stairs.
"Hmm...I believe the ghost roams all floors, randomly. But its favorite floor is the second floor." Yumichika answered, and Shuuhei let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Rukia, however, heard it, and sneered, "Oh? Does little Shuuhei have a little fear for ghosts...?"
Shuuhei immediately got into a defensive mode and snapped, "No, of course not! I was just curious!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Rukia said, grinning.
Renji snickered, "It's true! Shuuhei's scared of ghosts! Listen, Shuuhei. If you hear closely, you can hear those white-faced ghosts nearing you...saying your name...'Shuuuuuhhhhheeeeiiiii'...'Shuuuuuhhhhheeeeiiiii...'" He then burst in to laughter as Shuuhei looked at him, not amused.
"Cut it out, you two." Rukia snapped.
"Yes, it's rather ah-nnoying." Yumichika sniffed.
Suddenly, Renji stopped dead in his tracks as his face paled slightly. "Hey, wait a minute...guys..."
Rukia, Yumichika, and Shuuhei stopped and looked at Renji questioningly as Renji said in a nervous voice, "...Did you notice...Rangiku and Tatsuki...they're...gone."
Rukia, Yumichika, and Shuuhei grew quiet and stared blankly as they realized that Renji was right--Rangiku and Tatsuki were nowhere to be seen.
Holy fuck! No way that ghost was real. No way!
Back to the group...after a few moments of dead silence, Shuuhei screamed in a rather girly voice, "THE GHOST KILLED THEM...!!"
"Calm down!" Rukia yelled over the guys, who were now screaming and Yumichika was...well, crying.
"Calm down! Look, this is ridiculous. So they've disappeared. Maybe Rangiku and Tatsuki just ditched us, 'cause they didn't want to be here. Or maybe they just got separated from us." Rukia said.
"How the holy fucking hell do you get separated from a group on a staircase?!" Shuuhei yelled, panicking.
Rukia stuttered, "I, I don't know! Maybe they just left, then!"
"No way. NO WAY." Renji growled at the thought of Rangiku and Tatsuki ditching the group.
"Look, let's calm down, and try contacting them with the walkie-talkies. Maybe they'll tell us that they decided to ditch us. They can't hide from us forever." Rukia said, pulling out her walkie-talkie and pressed the number that connected to Rangiku's walkie-talkie.
After a moment, Rukia said in an uncertain voice, "Uhh...she's not picking up. Let's try Tatsuki..." She then connected to Tatsuki's walkie-talkie, but no avail. Rukia lowered her walkie-talkie blankly as she said, "...She's not picking up either."
"Oh. My. Gawd. You, you know what? I, I'll just fail that test. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter! My grades aren't worth my life!" Shuuhei panicked, and turned around.
"What! We can't leave those two here if they really did get caught by something!" Renji exclaimed.
"That's true, it's not very noble!" Yumichika agreed, nodding.
"Are you kidding me?! There's no point if we all die here!" Shuuhei snapped.
"What?! Where's the man in you, dammit?! Rukia, talk some sense into him! We have to find them, right?!" Renji exclaimed, looking at Rukia.
Rukia replied, "...You're right, Renji. Rangiku and Tatsuki could be in some serious trouble right now, and they could be lying around dead right now."
Renji smiled, "Rukia..."
However, Rukia then ran up next to Shuuhei and said quickly, "Well, that's why we should save ourselves. We have to, heh, live to tell the story!"
"See?!" Shuuhei said.
"I can't believe you, you little prick!" Renji yelled at Rukia, pissed.
Rukia said innocently and she said, "Ha ha, uhh...!"
Renji glared at Shuuhei and Rukia, and snapped, "Who was the one who said there was no such thing as ghosts?!"
"Yeah! I know! And I didn't believe it! But hey, you know what? This is what happens to skeptics. THIS IS HOW SKEPTICS CHANGE." Rukia snapped.
"Oh my...I don't believe this!" Renji muttered, kicking the stair railing.
"Hmm...perhaps we should call the police instead..." Yumichika suggested.
"We can't do that! Then they'll KNOW we snuck into school at night, and Ishiyama-sensei, no matter what, isn't going to be too happy about that!" Renji snapped.
"Hey...if you think about it...with two less people in our group...that really decreases the chances for failing..." Shuuhei said innocently, as if trying to point out something. Renji then took off his shoe and threw it at Shuuhei's head.
"Ahh!" Shuuhei yelled in pain.
"Come on! Are you actually gonna risk your LIFE against some supernatural force?!" Shuuhei exclaimed.
"'An evil foe is better than a cowardly friend'!" Renji quoted.
"...I believe it was 'A courageous foe is better than a cowardly friend'..." Yumichika stated, but shut up when Renji glared at him.
"Oh, oh yeah, well 'Better be a coward than foolhardy'!" Shuuhei countered.
How did these retards know these fricking quotes, anyway?!
Renji then rolled his eyes and looked at Rukia and said, "Come on, Rukia. We can't just leave them here. How can we? No matter what, they're still our friends."
Rukia stayed quiet for a moment, but Shuuhei snapped, "Oh, shut your mouth, Renji, the stupid corny 'friendship first' thing always got the dumbasses in those horror movies dead."
Rukia just stayed quiet, as she had no idea what to do. No matter how much the possibility of the fact that a ghost was roaming this school could be false, there was still that chance. You never knew. After all, it was a mysterious world people lived in these days. But still, Renji was right--Rangiku and Tatsuki were her friends. And they actually had common sense, as compared with the guys.
Man, this is SUCH a difficult choice.
Just then, Rukia spotted a stained, old piece of paper near the stairs with some sort of drawings and markings on it. "Huh? What's that...?" Rukia said, and went over to the paper and picked it up. The guys crowded around to examine it as Rukia held up her flashlight to get a good look.
The paper was clearly very old--it was a brownish-yellowish color, with a coffee stain on it. "Hey, I think it's like that map of the school Yumichika gave out." Rukia said, looking at the paper carefully.
"Hmm...? Why, it is, indeed!" Yumichika exclaimed in surprise.
"But here's the difference, Sherlock--Yumichika gave it to us in better quality." Shuuhei commented.
"I know that." Rukia said in a hard voice, making Shuuhei shrink back a little. She looked at it closer, and gasped, "Whoa!"
"Huh?" Renji, Yumichika, and Shuuhei asked.
"I think this is a treasure map, you guys!" Rukia exclaimed.
"What?!" they all yelled in unison.
"Look, look--this has a large 'X' on the map of the school. This just might lead to treasure!" Rukia exclaimed, eyes shining.
"...Wow, you sure are simple-minded, Rukia..." Renji said.
"No kidding...look, twerp, that 'X' is probably just some stupid markings a nerd marked to figure out which place was the best place to lock himself up and study so he doesn't get a 97 on his next test!" Shuuhei snapped mockingly.
Yumichika then said, "Actually...I have heard that a long time ago, thieves stole ancient, valuable textbooks from a rich noble scholar...and sold them to the first principal of this school, and that the textbooks were stashed away in several different places. Apparently, there was a serious lawsuit dealing with the property of the books, but since the scholar happened to die before the trial could be carried out properly...the case was dropped."
Rukia immediately was energized, and exclaimed, "There you have it. We have background info, we have the idea of what we're looking for, and we have this map. We'll definitely find it! This is a rare chance, you guys! Come on!"
"No way! What about Rangiku and Tatsuki?!" Renji snapped.
"Yeah, and what about the ghost?!" Shuuhei snapped.
"Oh, please. We'll find Rangiku and Tatsuki as we search for the treasure," Rukia smiled, and she turned to Shuuhei, smiling confidently and giving him a thumbs up, "And Shuuhei, don't worry--I'll protect you from ghosts!"
Renji and Shuuhei's jaws both dropped in stun. It was amazing how the opportunity of finding treasure could change Rukia's mind so quickly. "Come, Yumichika! We have treasure to find!" Rukia said in a cheerful voice, and Yumichika followed Rukia.
Renji and Shuuhei looked at each other, and both sighed before heading up to follow Rukia and Yumichika.
Treasure, treasure, which treasure? Ha ha! Holy shit, if I found this treasure, I could become rich and famous, and I wouldn't need grades anymore to live a luxurious life! I'd be laughing at Ishiyama-sensei's miserable and humiliated expression as I left school FOREVER...oh, yes, this treasure was SO mine.
The small, cramped room was dark. And filled with other stupid cleaning shit the janitor needed. Rangiku cursed as she found that her hands were bound behind her back, and her feet were bound as well. 'Dammit..where am I...?' Rangiku thought, panicking.
"...Hey, are you awake?" Rangiku heard a familiar voice.
"Whoa, like, who, who are you?!" Rangiku hissed in a cautious voice.
"It's just ME, moron. Tatsuki!" Tatsuki snapped in a low voice.
Rangiku gasped, "Tatsuki! Oh my gawd, what're we gonna do? What happened? Why are we tied up like this?! Like, oh my gawd..."
"Look, I'm not sure, either, but I think someone hit us in the head from behind and knocked us out before tying us." Tatsuki said.
"Well, yeah, whatever with that! I mean WHY." Rangiku snapped, but suddenly gasped, "Oh, no! Someone must be kidnapping me and holding me for a ransom! I mean, I'm like, rich, you know? There's no question...!"
Tatsuki rolled her eyes, "So it's YOUR fault I'm tied up like this too?"
"Like, oh my gawd! I'm SO sorry." Rangiku exclaimed.
"Shut up, shut up...look, we have to bust out of here. We're still in the school, so..." Tatsuki said.
"How?" Rangiku squeaked.
"...Alright, there has to be something that old geezer keeps in here that can be of use." Tatsuki commented, but as she looked around, she could see nothing but darkness, and she cursed.
"Crap...we need the flashlights, but our packs...they're missing..." Tatsuki muttered.
"So what do we do now...?" Rangiku asked in a genuinely frightened voice.
Tatsuki stayed quiet for a moment, but said afterwards, "...We'll definitely bust out of here."
"Well, maybe we should just wait. I mean...even if we get out of here, we'll probably still have to get past those people who did this to us, right?" Rangiku pointed out.
Tatsuki leaned back on the wall and said coolly, "True. But if that does happen, the second strongest girl in Japan will protect you."
"...Oh." Rangiku said, realizing.
Pause.
"...But you're still not the strongest, you know?" Rangiku asked, and she could feel Tatsuki spitting on Rangiku's leg.
"Hey!" Rangiku snapped.
However, Tatsuki simply quoted briskly, "'He who takes his own rank lightly raises his own dignity'. Let's remember that, Rangiku."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Shakespeare..." Rangiku muttered, rolling her eyes.
Anyway, we had NO idea that such a thing was happening. And since I am sadly not omnipotent, I would not know such a terrible thing happened. So I will choose to ignore it and follow the rules of reality and the story. So, anyway, we were pinpointing the map...
"Treasure, treasure, where can you be?" Rukia said in a sing-song voice, smiling widely as she followed the map.
"Ugh, this sucks..." Shuuhei muttered, scanning the hallways cautiously.
"Oh, come on, Shuuhei, are you still being a puss about the ghost?" Rukia sneered.
"Shut up!" Shuuhei snapped.
"Hey, worst comes to worst, I'll become a...shinigami." Rukia laughed.
"No, really, please cut it out..." Shuuhei said in an incredulous tone, rolling his eyes at Rukia's obvious otaku-ness.
"No, no, I'm serious!" Rukia laughed, and continued, "I'll change into my shinigami form and protect you from all evil spirits, Shuuhei!"
"Oh, shut up!" Shuuhei snapped.
However, Rukia kept on going, snickering, and pretended to swing a sword as she said in a deep and serious voice, "Bankai." She then burst out laughing, and Shuuhei pushed her.
"Will you guys stop being so immature..." Renji muttered.
Just then, Rukia stopped right in front of a wall. "Eh?" she said in a confused voice.
"Eh?" the guys echoed.
"...Uhh...ahh...this is strange...but, the map said it's here..." Rukia muttered.
"See! I told you, that entire map is just bullshit!" Shuuhei snapped.
"Well, I don't think a NERD would want to study in the hallway against a wall, either!" Rukia snapped back, glaring. She began to feel around the wall, using her flashlight to give herself a better view, and said, "There HAS to be something!"
After several minutes of searching herself, she looked at the guys, glaring, and snapped, "Will you guys help me out here?!"
"Oh." they said, and began to search around the wall with their flashlights as well.
Just then, Yumichika called out, "Oh! Kuchiki-san! Look!" Everyone went over to Yumichika, who shone his flashlight through an unusually large vent. "I think it's rather too large...and too loose for it to be a normal vent. It also seems rather too clean inside the vent as well..." Yumichika commented, shining his flashlight over the vent.
"You're right! Alright then..." Rukia used her monstrous strength to pull off the vent covering, and shone her flashlight as she peered in. "Hmm...looks safe enough. Okay!" Rukia stood up straight, and pointed at Renji, "You. Go in first."
"What! Why me...?!" Renji exclaimed.
"You're the brave one, aren't you? Hurry up and go in, hero." Rukia said, pushing him towards the vent,
"But--!" Renji began. However, Shuuhei and Yumichika both pushed him towards the vent as well, and said, "Go on, go on..."
"Some friends you guys are..." Renji grumbled as he gave up and began to crawl through the vent sulkily, with Shuuhei, Yumichika, and Rukia following.
For awhile, the group continued to crawl through the vent. Surprisingly, the vent was a one-way vent, with only one determined path, with no forks or split directions. Renji stopped upon reaching a dead-end--only a fan, which wasn't currently functioning, was at the end.
"Ugh, see?! What'd I tell ya?! There's NOTHING here!" Renji yelled at Rukia angrily.
"Heh." Rukia smirked, and sneered, "You're so naïve, Renji. Try checking the fan. There has to be SOMETHING."
Renji sighed in an annoyed tone, and felt around the fan. He noticed that it was strangely loose. "Whoa!" Renji exclaimed, as he pulled off the fan.
"Well?!" Rukia asked excitedly.
"Do you see anything, man?" Shuuhei asked.
Renji pulled off the fan and looked behind it to see...nothing. "See?! See?! What'd I tell ya?!" Renji snapped.
"Ehh?! There's nothing?!" Rukia yelled in surprise.
"Not a single freaking thing...wanna check yourself??" Renji sneered.
"B-But! There's no other possible purpose for..." Rukia exclaimed, looking back at the map.
"Man, how pointless..." Shuuhei muttered.
"Yes, indeed..." Yumichika commented.
"You're the one who supported this stupid thing, bringing up the dumb story about the ancient books!" Renji snapped.
Rukia was puzzled. She was SURE this was a treasure map, and she was POSITIVE this spot was the marked place. Rukia then flipped the paper over to see some writings. It was written: "Vent...room 205...room 304...principal's office...cafeteria..." 'What...?' Rukia thought. And then she remembered how Yumichika said that the books were stashed in different places. She then turned to Yumichika and said, "Hey, Yumichika...do you know how many of the textbooks there were...?"
"Hm? I believe about five, or so..." Yumichika replied, thinking.
"Five...hmm..." Rukia said.
"Why?" Shuuhei asked.
"Well, because...ahh, this writing. It says 'vent, room 205, room 304, principal's office, and cafeteria'. We're in a vent, right? So...maybe...there was treasure here. And different places around the school...maybe...someone found the treasure before we did." Rukia said.
It grew deathly quiet in the vent. "Think about it. Other people probably know about the story of the hidden textbooks, so of course they, too, would try to find them..." Rukia said.
"Damn...so there's no treasure?" Shuuhei asked.
"No. We still have two left. And plus...they have to be here, right now, looking for the treasure. The people who are looking for it, I mean." Rukia said.
"Huh? Why's that?" Renji asked.
"Ugh, isn't it dead obvious?! Geez, you're so stupid...look, in the morning, when everyone was in school, someone would have obviously seen that paper lying the floor. And afternoon, I went up to the second floor to use the bathroom since the first floor bathroom was closed. There was no paper. But now, in the night...it suddenly appears. Doesn't that mean that obviously, there are other people besides us in this building?" Rukia explained.
The guys realized this, and Shuuhei said, in a panicky voice, "There you go. We have to get the hell out of here, now."
"What?!" Rukia exclaimed.
"These people could be dangerous!" Shuuhei yelled.
"So what? If they are, you have me." Rukia said casually as she turned around, beginning to make her way back to the entrance of the vent.
"Listen, he's right, Rukia--whoever these people are, if they've captured Tatsuki, the second strongest girl in Japan, then you're no match!" Renji pointed out.
"But we don't know if Tatsuki got captured or not. For all we know, she could be beating up those guys right now." Rukia commented.
As the group reached the entrance of the vent and crawled out, Rukia said, "...If they left the map on the floor just like that, they'd be stupid. So...we have check the rest of the places. Chances are, they accidentally dropped it while roaming the school...there's probably one or two left. We have to find the rest of the books...and get the hell out of here."
"You're unbelievable." Yumichika, Shuuhei, and Renji all said at the same time.
"Heh, well, believe in me. 'Cause I'm all real." Rukia smirked, and ran off to room 205, with the guys following after.
Meanwhile...
"...Okay, you know what? This is pissing me off. We have to get out of here." Tatsuki said.
"But we can't see..." Rangiku said.
"That's right, we can't see. So we won't. We'll feel our way. The old fart must have at least a knife or something..." Tatsuki said, and began to use her bound hands to feel around the area to find something sharp.
"You do it, too!" Tatsuki hissed at Rangiku, who sighed, but did so.
Tatsuki eventually felt something...sharp...smooth...cold... "A-ha! A knife!" Tatsuki exclaimed, and Rangiku let out a "Yes!"
Tatsuki then started to rub the ropes binding her hands together against the sharp object, and felt the bindings around her hands loosen, and fall off. "Excellent." Tatsuki grinned, and she proceeded to untie her feet.
"Oh my gawd...Tatsuki, you are, like, amazing...I'll reward you for saving me from my kidnappers!" Rangiku exclaimed.
"Whatever, princess." Tatsuki muttered, rolling her eyes as she proceeded to untie Rangiku. With the two girls now both free, Tatsuki cautiously looked out the window of the door. She spotted two men who were rather bulky and muscular, and looked quite dangerous.
"Heh, I expected something like this..." Tatsuki said, and turned to Rangiku, "Alright, Rangiku. From here on, we have to be really careful if we want to get out of here. There are some pretty strong-looking guys out there."
"What? For real? Man, they really want my dad's money..." Rangiku squeaked.
Tatsuki inwardly rolled her eyes, but said, "Alright, alright. Come on, let's get you out of here." She then cautiously opened the door, and peeked to see the men. They were standing with their backs to the closet, staring off into the hallway.
Tatsuki examined the closet's location. The closet was exactly at the end of the hallway, which meant that the only way out would be by getting past the men who were guarding. 'Looks like things are about to get a little rough...' Tatsuki thought for a moment, before smirking, 'But then again, that's what idiots do best.'
Tatsuki gestured for Rangiku to be quiet as she slowly opened the closet door, careful not to make any sound, and snuck up against the guard on the right before tapping him. He turned around, only to be punched--hard--in the face by Tatsuki. The man was knocked out as he fell to the ground. The other man, surprised, turned to face Tatsuki, but he too, was knocked out by a hard bang of a fire extinguisher by none other than Rangiku Matsumoto.
"Ha!" Rangiku exclaimed, flipping her hair. She smirked at Tatsuki and said, "'Power is strengthened by union'! I'm not so bad at quotes myself, Tatsuki!"
"Wow, not bad, Rangiku." Tatsuki commented, smiling.
"That's right, I'm awesome!" Rangiku laughed, as Tatsuki rolled her eyes and walked down the hallway.
"Okay. So we have to be careful. The janitor's closet is still on the second floor--all the way at the end of the hallway. That means walking all the way down to the staircase. We don't have our flashlights anymore, either, so keep your ears sound, and your eyes as open as possible." Tatsuki advised.
"Mm'kay." Rangiku said, as she grabbed the fire extinguisher. "I guess I'll keep this for a weapon. It'll be handy."
"Nice. Alright, let's move!" Tatsuki ordered, and both girls slapped a high five before running down the hallway.
And speaking of the getting on the move...
"...Hmm...just as I thought. People are definitely here. The room is all messed up." Rukia commented as she searched room 304.
"Damn...we should just call the police. After looking in room 205 and seeing it messed up too with no book, the police should be able to handle this..." Renji said.
"No way, we can't do that." Rukia protested, still searching the room.
"Why the hell not?" Shuuhei snapped, looking under a desk.
"Because--the police will obviously take the treasure away. We find the treasure, and THEN we call the police." Rukia answered.
After a while of searching, Rukia sighed, "They got this room, too. Next stop, principal's office."
The guys all sighed. Shuuhei checked the time on his phone, and said, "Hey, Rukia, it's like...2 AM in the morning. You can't be serious about staying here even longer."
"Of course I am. If I don't find the treasure, who will?" Rukia grinned, walking out of the room.
"Oh my fucking..." Renji breathed.
The group walked down the hallway, as Rukia grumbled, "Damn, these people sure are fast...hopefully they didn't get to the principal's office just yet--" She shut up upon hearing voices, and stopped the others from walking, and hissed, "Quiet, I hear voices!" The group then huddled together against the wall, listening to the voices around the corner.
"...What do you mean, you lost the map?!" a man's voice was heard, and Rukia felt herself unconsciously grip the map tighter.
"Sorry, nii-san...I think I dropped it when I was walking up to the second floor. But I can't find it anywhere!" another younger man's voice was heard.
"Dammit! We don't remember the last two locations of the books, and the map isn't here when we need it!" the man cursed.
"Sorry..." the younger brother mumbled.
While Shuuhei, Renji, and Yumichika were listening with fear and tension, Rukia herself was silently cheering for the fact that two books were still left open for game--and she would definitely get them. She then looked at the guys, and pointed to go down to the first floor through a different hallway, and they silently slipped back.
In the alternate staircase, Rukia said excitedly, "Alright, guys...so there we have it. We still have two more books to go!"
"I can't believe in a situation like this, you're just..." Shuuhei mumbled.
The group then managed to enter the main office, as they were confronted with the locked principal's office. "Oh, it's locked...heh, looks like it's time for my special tactic!" Rukia smirked. She fished out an ID card and worked her magic as she picked the lock and the door opened.
"I could be a world-class secret agent." Rukia smirked, laughing to herself.
"Or a thief!" Yumichika, Renji, and Shuuhei all said.
However, Rukia ignored them as she began to search the office, saying, "Wow, the principal's office must be like the most fricking neat room in the entire damned school."
"Yeah, honestly." Renji agreed.
"Hmm...yes, it is very luxurious and much more grand." Yumichika commented, searching around the desk. "However, my father's position in the world is much more valuable."
"Riiiiiight." Rukia, Shuuhei, and Renji said, rolling their eyes.
"After all, 'Money, like a queen, grants rank and beauty'!" Yumichika quoted, winking. While Shuuhei and Renji fell over gagging, Rukia simply turned away in disgust.
Okay, could this guy get any gayer? But honestly, what's with everyone and their quotes?! I don't know any quotes!! However, while we were searching...
"Ahh! I think the next location was the principal's office!" the younger brother exclaimed.
"Yeah? Well let's go!" the older brother said, and the two began to walk towards the principal's office.
Back to us...
"...A-ha! I found it!" Rukia exclaimed in triumph, fishing out an old-looking, worn book, and hugged it with excitement!
"Yes! Yes! My one-way ticket to wealth!" Rukia exclaimed happily, as the guys just stared at her.
Rukia, realizing that they were staring at her, turned, smiled sweetly, and laughed, "Don't worry, I'll give you all 1/8th of my profits! For your cooperation and support in this!"
"Ugh." the guys looked away in disgust.
The group then left the principal's office and began to make their way downstairs to the basement level, where the cafeteria was. They didn't notice that the two men they had heard talking before had come downstairs to the principal's office...
When the two men reached the office, they found it in a rather big mess, and the older brother stared at it in shock, "...No way. Did...did those two girls we caught earlier have accomplices...?!"
"They couldn't have..." the younger brother exclaimed, equally shocked.
"Damn...contact the two guarding those girls right now!" the older brother yelled.
"R-Right!" the younger brother nodded, and pressed a button into his walkie-talkie, but no words came through.
The younger brother swallowed and said, "...I...I think the two girls...escaped."
The older brother than slammed his fist on the principal's desk and, seething with anger, growled, "...Where's the last area?!"
Cutting back to the cafeteria...
As the idiots were busy searching the cafeteria, Rukia felt a rubbery object, and looked under the lunch table to see a ghost mask with long, black hair. "Ahhh!" Rukia screamed, and the guys immediately rushed over to her.
"What?" Shuuhei asked, but he paled and screamed upon seeing the mask.
Renji picked it up and looked at the white dress on the floor, "Hmm...hey, you know what, Yumichika? I think your story is false. Looks like those people from before have been impersonating a ghost to keep away people as they search..."
"WHAT?! Impossible!" Yumichika exclaimed.
"Looks like it. It's pretty fake, and I don't think a ghost costume would be normally hanging out under a lunch table..." Rukia commented.
"Hmph!" Yumichika sniffed, and walked away.
"So...what should we do?" Renji asked gravely.
Rukia let out a "psh" and snapped, "What do you mean by that? We're not gonna do anything. Come on, more importantly, we should be looking for the book!"
Renji rolled his eyes as Rukia began searching again. And then..
"Yes! Yes! I've found it!" Rukia squealed with glee, holding up the book.
"Great! Can we go now?!" Shuuhei snapped.
"Yeah, yeah..." Rukia grinned, and the two began to walk out of the cafeteria when Renji and Yumichika blocked their paths.
"Wait!" Renji exclaimed.
"What?!" Rukia snapped, annoyed.
"What about Rangiku and Tatsuki??" Renji asked.
"Oh, yeah! No worries, they'll be fine--we'll call the police once we're out." Rukia explained, as the group left the cafeteria and out into the hallway.
"...I don't think so." a voice came from behind them.
The group, shocked, turned to see a man with a more meeker looking man next to him. "...I'm afraid you'll have to hand those books over to us." the man said in a dangerous voice.
"You're...!" Rukia pointed, realizing the two men were the same men talking before.
"W-Well, you can't just take it...we found it!" Shuuhei exclaimed.
"Hmph. You don't seem to understand the situation. I am Shino Orimoto. This is my younger brother, Shizu Orimoto. We are the great-grandchildren of the thieves who had stolen these books long time ago!" the man snapped.
"What?!" the Idiots yelled.
"But didn't they, the thieves, sell the books to this school?!" Rukia asked, stunned.
"Ha! Foolish girl...of course not! They just happened to run into this school in order to hide from the police, and at a last minute, they hid all the books in different places! And then my great-grandparents...were caught, but because they didn't have the books...they were let free. But then the school prevented them from ever entering the school again by tightening all security! So we've been sneaking in here every night ever since the school weakened their security...to find those books." Shino explained.
"Geez, Yumichika, stop giving us the fucking false information!" Shuuhei yelled at Yumichika, who sniffed and looked away, annoyed.
"So you were the 'ghosts' haunting the school, huh?" Rukia said.
"Correct...we felt it would scare away others." Shizu replied.
"Well, anyway...let's hand over the books, children, and we'll all be happy." Shino smirked.
However, Rukia smirked and said, "No!"
"RUKIA!" Shuuhei and Renji yelled, as Yumichika yelled, "KUCHIKI-SAN!"
"No way! We found these! They're ours! Besides, you guys already have three!" Rukia snapped.
Shino smirked as he held up a gun at them, and snarled, "I suppose you kids don't know the motto of Shino Orimoto-- 'Finders keepers, losers weepers!'"
The Idiots had to restrain themselves from falling over at such a corny motto, but maintained their composure. There was a silence between the two parties afterwards.
Damn! I've been taught how to protect myself using self-defense, but against a gun, I'm powerless! ...I guess...it has come to this, then. I must use my special power...!
"J-Just give him the books, Rukia." Renji stuttered as he eyed the gun cautiously.
However, Rukia simply put on a bold face, and said, "...And I suppose YOU people don't know the motto of Rukia Kuchiki!"
All men looked at Rukia with a puzzled expression, and Shino even looked distracted for a moment, lowering his gun ever so slightly in confusion as everyone waited in tension for Rukia's answer. Renji, Shuuhei, and Yumichika all stared at Rukia--what was she planning? Was she more talented at combat and situations like this than they had believed?
All of a sudden, after a tense pause, Rukia turned sharply and began to run extremely quickly down the hallway, screaming, "'THOSE WHO FIGHT AND RUNS AWAY, LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY'!!"
HA, SUCKERS! I DO KNOW A QUOTE!!
"What the--?!" Shuuhei, Renji, and Yumichika yelled in shock before running after Rukia.
"Hey!!" Shino yelled, and would have shot them, had they not turned and entered the staircase.
"Dammit...!" Shino cursed, and ran after them, with Shizu following as well.
Rukia, Shuuhei, Renji, and Yumichika began running up the stairs extremely desperately, not looking back as Renji yelled angrily, "What happened to protecting us, you little priss?!"
"My self-defense skills are used against bulky men who use steroids, not against gun-holding madmen!" Rukia screamed back, still running.
"Yo, slow down, you run way too fast!" Shuuhei complained, huffing.
"Heheh, I've been trained by my brother to run like this endlessly! I am the best runner in this school! And besides, it's every woman for herself right now! Right, Renji?! Yumichika?!" Rukia laughed maniacally as she continued to run.
Renji and Yumichika both yelled angrily at Rukia, "WENCH!!"
However, the same thoughts were running through Renji, Shuuhei, and Yumichika's heads--'Just what kind of person is her older brother...??'
The group managed to reach the first floor, and would have left through the exit had they not been blocked by two, large, bulky men pointing guns at them, and the group stopped dead in their tracks as Shino and Shizu caught up with them.
"Excellent, you two!" Shino grinned evilly as he turned his focus towards the teens, and snarled, "Now, hand over the books..."
"Damn...!!" Rukia cursed.
Shit, shit, shit! It was formulated perfectly, too...!!
Shino then was about to pull the trigger, but Rukia yelled out, "Stop! Or else...I'll rip these books into shreds. I have the strength to do it, trust me." She paused for Shino's reaction, who looked startled at her threat.
"...Al...Alright, calm down. Just hand over the books...I won't shoot. I swear." Shino said cautiously, lowering his gun. Rukia was then about to run yet again when...
"STOP!! THIS IS THE POLICE!!" a loud voice boomed from outside as all of a sudden, a large group of policemen entered the the school building and bound Shino, Shizu, and their two bulky helpers.
At the sight of the miraculous rescue, all four Idiocracy members sighed in relief, sinking to the floor.
Later...
"...Wow, so you guys were caught by them, and escaped? Then you made a police call?" Rukia asked, impressed.
"That's right! We figured that there was something weird going on, so as soon as we got out of the school, I made a call to daddy and to the police." Rangiku smiled.
"Not bad...and now...I even have these books!" Rukia exclaimed, proudly, staring at the textbooks.
"Ugh...she's the only one with the happy ending...I didn't even get my textbook..." Shuuhei muttered.
Just then, a detective approached Rukia and laughed, "Oh, what do you know! You found the last two books. They're not worth anything, though."
"What?!" Rukia asked, shocked.
"Haha, yeah. Turns out the real books were destroyed long time ago. The fake ones were stolen by the thieves. Isn't that funny??" the detective then laughed as he walked away.
At this, Shuuhei, Renji, and Yumichika laughed maniacally at Rukia, pointing at her as she seethed in anger as Rangiku and Tatsuki looked on in confusion.
Oh, well. Looks like I won't get my luxurious life just yet. Sucks for me! Well, whatever...either way, thanks to Shuuhei's forgetting of his textbook, we got into this whole big adventure...which didn't turn out so bad. I guess sometimes, we all go through a little panic and fear in our lives. But you know what? When you experience it with friends...it's pretty exciting!
-The Next Day-
Ishiyama-sensei glared at the six Idiocracy members, who were all sleeping soundly during his test, as he yelled, "WHAT TIME DID YOU KIDS SLEEP AT YESTERDAY?!"
Haha...oh, well, uhh...'He who never fails never grows rich'! Heheh...
Author's Note: Whew! That was pretty long, huh? And of course, I couldn't help but stick in that "Bleach" reference, haha. Anyway, until next week...SEE YAS! :)
