CHAPTER 9: MOUNTAIN TRIP PART 2
After Kawamura had destroyed the door with a now very distressed racket, the team (plus our little Aka-chan) had taken a half-hour to get to the lodge where they were supposed to be staying.
It wasn't too bad, really. There were a couple jugs of gas, so they got the oven going nice and warm. There was a sofa in the corner too; some worn books on a bookshelf; a table and a couple of chairs. The only thing was that they had no power- Seigaku, the great tennis team, was relying on a couple of candles and flashlight to stay alive in the middle of nowhere in a rather decrepit lodge.
The second floor they had a big room with only one bed that Akaya took. The regulars would have to sleep on the floor. They had agreed that Ryuzaki-sensei could have the smaller, sturdier room to the side.
"Ugh, I'm so bored," Akaya whined and stretched out his small limbs, occupying roughly ¼ of the sofa.
"I have cards, we can play." Oishi said and started rummaging through his bag.
"No, card games are boring. All games are boring unless they include food, war, violence, or GIRLS!" Akaya shouted animatedly.
"We can talk about my Inui Juice recipes- I brought some samples just for this opportunity," Inui said, his glasses glinting eerily as he smiled pleasantly at Akaya.
"No, I want to live!" Akaya shouted, frightened beyond belief.
"What about some ghost stories?" Fuji asked and smiled kindly. "It'll be more fun now that it's dark outside." The regulars all looked outside the small window at the dark sky.
Just as Fuji finished his sentence, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, its pale light startling Akaya, who squeaked.
"That's a great idea! A really great one!" Momoshiro excitedly said.
"It's just a childish game. I'm going to bed," Kaidoh mumbled and stood up, heading for the door.
"Stop being a scaredy-cat, Kaidoh! It's just a couple ghost stories, they're usually not true anyways," Momo teased with a laugh in his face.
Kaidoh tried to ignore them and continued walking.
"Come on, Kaidoh!" Eiji shouted. "I knew a boy once that was really sick, I visited him on the hospital once." All of them stopped and looked over at Eiji who continued.
"His name was Ren, and he really wanted to tell a ghost story, but he was too busy stuffing his face with cake so he couldn't tell one. Kaidoh, you may never see Fujiko tell another ghost story because he's too busy blackmailing people! Take and appreciate this chance," Eiji preached.
The team plus Akaya and Kaidoh sat in a circle around a newly lighted candle. Fuji sat smiling in front of the light. Akaya shuddered. That kind of reminded him of buchou.
Somewhere in Kanagawa, Yukimura Seiichi sneezed twice. "This can't be a good sign," He said to himself. "Two sneezes means someone is directing negative thoughts at me."
"Oi, where is the joy-killer four eyes and the old lady?" Akaya asked, noticing the two weren't here.
"I'm here, Kirihara." Tezuka said with a voice of steel beside Akaya. Akaya swallowed nervously. "And Ryuzaki-sensei went to bed. We shouldn't be too loud."
"Don't worry, I don't scream unlike someone else." Momo said and nodded teasingly to Kaidoh who, having no reply, hissed back.
"I have Oishi, so I won't scream." Eiji chuckled.
"Eiji!" Oishi whined.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anything too scary." Fuji chuckled as thunder reverberated throughout the cabin. Rain steadily hit the windows for thoroughly un-soothing effect.
"I want my-" Akaya was interrupted by Kawamura who placed his teddy bear into his lap. Did Yukimura really think about everything?! (Scary... and a little stalker-ish.)
"I read something about it from your manual," Kawamura said with a smile. "It said that you like to hug something when you're scared, and I figured... uh, you wouldn't want to hug Tezuka-buchou or Inui-san."
Tezuka (thinking): Am I that unhuggable?
"Thank you…" Akaya grumbled adorably and flushed as he touched the teddy bear. "And I don't need to hug when I'm scared." Akaya mumbled.
Momo started laughing hysterically. "You – hug – people – when you're scared? I didn't know that about you, demon Kirihara!" He laughed again.
"Don't laugh! You probably piss your pants too when you're scared!" Akaya shouted back.
Momo stopped laughing. "That's only Mamushi who does that!"
"Don't bring me up peach-head, and I don't do that!" Kaidoh hissed back, red flushing his cheeks as he looked away.
"Momo, Kaidoh, Kirihara, don't fight." Oishi came in between the three. "Let's just enjoy Fuji's story."
"Thanks, Oishi." Fuji smiled and waited for them to quiet down, so they could hear the wind outside, rustling the tall tree branches. Kaidoh felt the room get positively darker. Or was it just the candle?
No, Kaidoh Kaoru was NOT scared of anything.
Fuji settled down and looked over everyone.
"What I'm going to tell you is something that happened to me when I was in the mountains, visiting my mom's half-brother and his wife with my cute little brother, Yuuta. It was in a hut, kind of like this one."
"We were eating dinner and it was quite late. We listened to the radio, some music show if I remember correctly. The reception wasn't very good."
"After awhile, the radio started to make these strange noises. It buzzed and crackled. The sound was like bones scraping over each other, grinding each other to dust. Very strange."
Kaidoh swallowed hard. He wasn't scared; the real story probably hadn't even started. He looked at Momo, who was listening intently, and then at Inui, who didn't make things any better. Why was there always this glint on his glasses?
"Then Mizuri, because that was her name-"
Akaya hugged his teddy bear close to his chest, his eyes wide with anticipation.
"She went up to the radio. 'There's no point listening if it doesn't work,' she said. Then after she had sat down, the light started blinking, like a dying star. It was strange, since when we had checked the power was still good."
"'Annoying,' Mom's half-brother said. 'Better go out and see if the power boxes are down or something.' 'I can help,' I willingly said. When we went out, it was already dark. I held the flashlight. It was the only light."
"'Give me the flashlight,' he said and took the flashlight. He was using the light to check the switches. They were very red... the rust, I suppose. After about twenty minutes or so, I heard some weird scraping noise. It sounded like a knife scraping something, but I couldn't be sure."
"My half-brother finished checking the power boxes over, so we went back inside and sat down and continued to eat our dinner. But the lights started blinking again. 'What a pain,' the half-brother grumbled. His wife- her name was Mizuri- said, 'I'll do it this time,' and got up and went outside."
"We finished eating, and there was nothing to do. I played some cards with Yuuta to pass the time. We played for about forty minutes, but Mizuri still hadn't gotten back, even though the light was fixed. So the half-brother said that he would go out and check if everything was alright. I remember his words. They were, 'Stupid woman. Probably tripped or something.'"
"So Yuuta and I played cards, to pass the time. I was distracted, because the scraping sound was getting loud. It was very annoying. Five minutes after, a terrified scream came from outside, and we all knew it to be the half-brother's voice."
"I told Yuuta to wait inside, and I went out to make sure they were okay. I searched everywhere in the dark with my flashlight, but I didn't find them. Then I heard the same scraping sound. It was coming from the car, so I hurried up to the car only to find a long mark covering over half of it. I heard the scraping noise again, this time from a nearby tree."
"I lifted the flashlight and shined it towards the tree. Then I screamed. There were two bodies, hanging over a low branch. I knew the faces immediately- they were that of Mizuri's and her husband's. I never knew blood could be so scarlet."
Don't scream, it's not scary! Akaya thought as he trembled and shivered, his pupils dilated to a massive size. Fuji smiled his serene smile and continued talking in that detached voice of his.
"Then I heard the scraping noise from behind me. I whipped around and pointed my flashlight straight at it. It was a grown man with a hat and a cloak. Though that wasn't what I noticed. What I noticed was the silver hook in his hand and the crooked grin spreading over his shadowy face."
"'Little boy...' His voice was old, but it was laughing. 'Care to join your – friends?'"
"I ran back to the hut. My legs were like wind, but somehow the sound of the man's laugh and the glint of his hook still echoed in my mind as I threw open the door and slammed it closed behind me. My first thought was to find Yuuta and Mom, then hide."
"'Aniki, what's wrong?' Yuuta asked as I came back inside. The scraping sound got closer and closer till a knock sounded on the door. Why couldn't Yuuta hear it, that jarring metallic sound? The knock too."
"I nearly lost it, but somehow I managed to drag him with me upstairs as the door was kicked open. 'Don't runaway, I'm here to have some fun,' the hook man laughed. We managed to get into our room and crawl into the closet."
"We sat there for awhile just breathing, trying not to make a sound. Yuuta was crying- I tried to comfort him, but a gnarled voice sounded and we looked up. It was the hook, halfway smashed into the door, and the tip was trembling.
"The gnarled voice said, 'I'm cursing you two. Next time you come here, it'll be your last.'"
The room was totally quiet. No one said anything. They sat there silently, listening the the wind howling and wailing outside.
Then they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Akaya strangled his teddy bear to death as he looked fearfully towards the sound. There came a light, closer and closer. It was a candle, flickering in the darkness.
Akaya swallowed hard.
"What are you kids doing? You-"
Akaya screamed. He would say he didn't, but what else was it? He screamed and ran past the shadowy figure. Where to? Nobody knows.
Kaidoh screamed too. He would deny it vehemently that he didn't, but it was a scream anyways. He was crouched down on the floor, hands over his ears, face to the ground. Yes, he was searching for his non-existent contacts. Of course.
Well, it wasn't that strange that the two screamed. What stood in the stairs looked terrible.
Author's note: Fuji's story is actually based on the hook man legend, but also, not really, because it's totally different. I hope you liked the chapter, sorry for the late update. You know, school is killing me. But, I took my little break to write this chapter. We should also thank my beta, you are awesome Snowpoppy!
If you are still reading this, please review, critic is also always good! Favorite or follow, do whatever you like and hopefully I will see you soon!
