URBAN LEGEND

"No, I definitely heard it," one of the ladies in the hallway said in hushed tones to the other. "It was just as they said it would be. I got within maybe three meters of the end of that hallway in the early evening last Tuesday and I heard it!"

"Oh, come on, it's just an urban legend," the other woman dismissed her. "I bet it was just echoing down the hallway from somewhere else."

"Then, why don't you go up there and prove me wrong?" the first one shot back, sounding mildly offended.

"Because that hallway gives me the creeps as it is. It's always deserted and the lights are always out or flickering at that end. I don't need to hear echoing voices to add to the experience, thanks."

Their voices grew softer as they moved further away from where Kyoko stood, dressed in her usual pink jumpsuit as she quietly removed a series of posters from the large, wall displays to replace them with updated ones featuring more recent dramas and movies. This was not the first time she had heard other people talking about this. In fact, the first few times she heard it, she eventually broke down, despite her better judgement, and asked someone to explain it to her.

On the fifth floor of the LME building, there is an empty hallway, at the end of which an abandoned office is located. The office once belonged to a manager who had long since retired and no one else wanted to use the space as it was isolated from all of the other offices, which made for long treks to anywhere else in the building. As such, it creates the perfect setting for purported eerie occurrences.

It is said that, if you go down that hallway towards the empty office in the evening, you will hear disembodied maniacal laughter that will chill you to your very core. Several LME employees have confirmed this as they have all heard the voice when venturing to the supply closet residing in that same area. Therefore, that supply closet became effectively disused by the majority of LME's clerical staff.

"Kyoko, I'm all out of poster backing on my end. Do you have anymore?" Kanae approached her friend with a weary look while adjusting the bandanna she often tied around her head when their LoveMe assignments required manual labor.

"I only have two more and I need them for my last two posters," Kyoko looked into her box of supplies. "Have you asked Sawara-san where you can find more?"

"I did," she confirmed. "He said we were given all of the supplies they had but there may be some in a storage room up on the fifth floor somewhere. I just didn't feel like going all the way up there if you had extra."

"Eh? Surely that doesn't mean you have to go to that closet, do you?" Kyoko's face paled slightly. "You've heard the stories, haven't you, Moko-san?"

"Mou, as if I'm going to let some ridiculous story of over-imaginative office workers deter me from getting this stupid task done," Kanae snapped angrily. "It's just some silly myth."

With that, she stormed off down the hallway towards the bank of elevators. Kyoko sighed and shook her head before picking up the next poster she had placed on the floor, carefully rolling it up and placing it neatly with the others she had in the box beside her. A large shadow was suddenly blocking the light coming in from the windows on the opposite side of the hallway from the setting sun. Turning around to find the source, she looked up and met eyes with one Tsuruga Ren, her senior, mentor and… friend. Yes, they were just friends. Only that. Really.

"Good evening, Tsuruga-san," she put on her most neutral smile. "What brings you here?"

"Good evening to you as well, Mogami-san," oh, how that smile of his did things to her heart that she hoped would not inadvertently shorten her lifespan. "My manger left me to do some paperwork a few hours ago, I came to meet back up with him."

They chatted back and forth about various work-related things while she hung the last two posters and cleaned up her supplies. When Ren bent down to pick up one of her boxes, she quickly batted his hand away, reminding him of the last time he tried to help with her LoveMe work. She was not about to be deducted points because she couldn't manage to carry two extremely light boxes. Straightening up from her crouch with both items in her arms, she looked up to see Kanae standing before them, white as a sheet and trembling.

"Moko-san what—"

"It's true," Kanae said in an oddly timid voice. "All of it."

"You heard it?" Kyoko's eyes were wide as saucers in an instant. "What did it sound like?"

"I wish I had the words to describe it other than I never want to hear it again," her friend clutched tightly at her left arm with her right hand. "If you don't believe me, you can go hear it for yourself."

"What are you two talking about?" Ren chimed in innocently, completely at a loss with their conversation.

The two women quickly explained the myth that began circulating around the building over the past month. He raised a skeptical eyebrow at the two of them and folded his arms.

"I find that hard to believe," he said logically. "There are no such things as ghosts or hauntings."

"Then go witness it in person," Kanae retorted in irritation, pushing the tall actor and Kyoko towards the elevators.

"Wait, why do I have to go with him?" Kyoko wailed in desperation. "I completely believe you."

"So he can't chicken out and say he didn't hear it because he never actually went," her friend reasoned hastily, still pushing the two of them with all of her might. "And don't think you can just take a detour and corroborate each other's stories. I know when you're lying, Kyoko."

"Let's just go, Mogami-san." Ren said calmly. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this."

"Fine," she gave in with a pout.

When they reached the hallway in question, it definitely felt unearthly quiet. They proceeded slowly towards the office door at the end. Kyoko confirmed they were in the right place by noting the empty nameplate next to the office door and the door to storage closet that was along the wall to the left. A loud cackle suddenly resounded through the hall, bouncing off the walls, giving it a hollow tone and adding a disturbing effect to the entire experience. Ren, instinctively threw an arm out in front of the woman beside him to protect her and she ran right into it. He looked down at her and, instead of a terrified expression, she had one of contemplation.

"Mogami-san?" he figured it was no more than an echo from somewhere else on the floor but wondered what conclusion she had formed.

"I'm not sensing anything menacing from it, whatever it is," she said thoughtfully, her grudge demons were never awakened by the sound and remained dormant. "I'll just tell Kanae not to worry since it doesn't seem to have any ill intentions."

He wondered exactly what she meant by that but decided not to say anything and continued to watch as she walked further down the hall. Completely nonplussed, she opened the nearby storage closet, searched around for a bit and removed a handful of poster backing. The closet door closed with a soft click and she looked up at her companion as if to ask if he was coming with her. With a nod, he returned to her side when they heard the laughter again. This time it was much clearer and Ren suddenly realized what was going on. He followed Kyoko back down to the first floor without another word to report back to her friend the results of their findings.

Kanae seemed begrudgingly placated by Kyoko's explanation and thanked her for bringing the items she forgot to retrieve in her haste to leave the dreaded hallway. Ren politely excused himself from the pink-clad pair saying he had to meet up with his manager and they both bid him farewell. Once again in an elevator, he returned to the fifth floor. At the end of the empty hallway, he reached out and tried to open the door to the abandoned office; it was locked. He raised his hand and knocked quietly on the door with a single knuckle.

"Open the door, Yashiro-san. I know you're in there."

There was the sound of shuffling papers and feet before the door finally opened to reveal Ren's bespectacled manager, dressed primly as always in his suit.

"Ren? How did you know to find me here?" he asked surprised. "I was just about to come downstairs and meet you in the LoveMe room like I usually do."

"You're scaring the employees half to death with your carrying on in here," he scolded his manager. "I'm the only one who recognized out that crazed laugh was yours. What are you even doing in here?"

His eyes flitted about the small office and widened by the second as he took in everything. The first word that came to mind was 'shrine' but he quickly replaced it with 'archive.' That's what it was, an archive of everything his manager was able to collect related to Ren and Kyoko. He saw albums and scrapbooks, posters from their recent dramas, DVDs and… where did he even get a projector from? It was currently pointed towards a blank wall and rotating through a slideshow of amateur photos that looked as if they were taken quickly using one's phone.

"I was running out of room in my apartment and no one even uses this office anymore, so I figured it was safe here," Yashiro complained with a small pout. "Besides, if you would just ask her out already, I wouldn't have to hole myself up in here with only my imagination."

Ren just shook his head sadly, turned around and walked out of the office without another word. He fervently hoped President Takarada would never find out about this room and vowed to never breathe a word of it in his presence. The last thing he needed was to learn that someone had a collection that was larger than his.

-END-

THANKS FOR KEEPING ME UP ALL NIGHT, STORY; THOSE WERE SOME GOOD TIMES: This one came to me right before I fell asleep last night and I actually had to get out of bed and write down the outline for it so that I would not forget. Thankfully, it was still fresh in my mind when I got up so I decided to write it out for your reading enjoyment.

This will probably be the last one for a little bit (probably until next month) as the con that I go to annually is coming up and I'm still scrambling to put the finishing touches on my cosplay. #thatnerdlyfe

To Blushweaver, since we updated on the same day again, I hope you remembered to wear the agreed upon outfit. We really need to stop meeting like this.

See you all next time!

AUTHOR OUT!