A/N: I have come back! With a somewhat long chappy! Yay for me! I'd like to thank all those who reviewed the last chapter! Finally! People reviewing! bows down to reviewers I dedicate this chapter to all those who read and reviewed! Arigato Gozaimasu, minna-san!
More humor and a bit of fluff here…
To : I'm really sorry I can't put more fluffy scenes in between Setsuko and Kyo since this story isn't really centered on romance. Romance is just a really tiny sub-plot. The story is more about the drama and humor in between. Weird, I know. I'm really sorry! I'll try to put fluff in the following chaps!
Chapter 21: House of Hell: Part II, The Games Hana and Haru Play"Tohru! Tohru! Wake up!" Yuki called out, shaking the said girl's still form.
Momiji peered over his shoulder and asked, "Is she alright, Yuki?"
Yuki sighed, "She's definitely unconscious"
He looked around the room and shook his head. The room was your typical, girly-bedroom minus the fact that the walls were stained with 'blood' and all the stuffed animals and Barbie dolls had some form of weapon stuck in them, and may it be a knife, a pen or a spoon. And Tohru being, well, Tohru, was so shocked that she passed out.
"I think the decapitated life-sized Barbie plushy did her in," Momiji offered happily.
Yuki's eyebrows raised way up, "Momiji! Who taught you to talk like that?"
Momiji grinned, "Sei-chan…and Hana-chan…and—"
Yuki sighed and said, "It's okay, Momiji. You just…surprised me"
Momiji pouted cutely, "I'm sorry, Yuki. I didn't mean to—"
Yuki placed both his arms on the blonde child's shoulders and flashed his 'pretty boy' face.
"Don't worry. I'm not mad"
Momiji wiped the tears that were about to fall and asked, "Really?"
Yuki smiled, "Really"
Momiji smiled, not an overly happy/hysteric one, but a real one. Sometimes Yuki's reassuring aura does that to you. It's kind funny actually. For a person to bring such happiness and light to other while he himself is immersed in darkness and pain…it's admirable. He is indeed someone to be proud of.
Tohru began to stir and so Yuki and Momiji quickly rushed to her side.
Yuki looked worried, "Maybe we should move her out of this room before she wakes up. She might pass out again if she sees all this"
"Okay, Yuki"
They picked her up by her arms and half-dragged her out of the 'Pink' room.
Tohru blinked and mumbled, "Yuki? Where am I?"
Yuki smiled down at her, "We're in the Haunted House. You got really scared by something and fainted"
"Oh" Tohru replied dumbly, "What was I scared of?"
Yuki cast a fleeting glance at the room behind them and said, "It's better if you just forget about that. You could pass out again if I tell you"
Tohru smiled and nodded, "Alright. Where should we go next?"
Momiji tugged on her arm and pointed up a flight of stairs, "I saw these earlier when we came down this hall! Can we go up? Please?"
They then heard two loud thumps, as if something heavy had been promptly dropped to the floor.
"I wonder what that was…" Momiji wondered, before pulling Tohru up the said stairs.
"It doesn't take a genius to guess that that was either Kyo or Uotani-san…" Yuki thought, taking two steps at a time.
When he reached the second floor, he walked to the corridor on the right and spotted Momiji poking Kyo's still form.
"Look, Yuki! Kyo fainted!" he exclaimed, poking Kyo harder.
Yuki sweatdropped and looked at Haru and Hana, "What happened?"
Haru pointed to the knife in Hana's hand and replied, "Kyo saw Hana with a knife and passed out"
Hana smiled eerily.
Yuki shivered unconsciously and murmured, "Scary…"
Tohru did a head count and asked, "Where's Setsuko?"
Kyo and Uo then chose to stir awake.
"Huh?" Kyo mumbled, rubbing his head.
Uo yawned and blinked twice, "Wha—?"
"You fainted!" Momiji offered cheerfully.
Uo raised an eyebrow, "And that's something to be happy about?"
Kyo suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the corridor behind Yuki, "G—g—ghost!"
Yuki turned around and saw a dark blue figure round the corner and turn towards them. Its hand as well as its clothes was stained with red liquid. Tohru shivered and clutched Yuki's other arm seeing as Momiji was on the other one.
Yuki squinted at the figure and said, "Setsuko?"
Setsuko waved her hand and stepped into the light, "Hey…I see Hana and Haru entered the baby's room too"
Momiji walked over to Haru and poked the red stains on his clothes. He looked at his finger curiously and licked it.
"Yum!"
"Momiji!" Tohru shouted, "Don't eat that! It might make you sick!"
Momiji grinned and sucked on his finger more, "It tastes good"
Setsuko rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, Tohru. It's strawberry syrup"
Uo swiped at dollop of the syrup from Hana's uniform and placed it in her mouth, "Momiji's right. It does taste good"
"Gross" Kyo commented, standing up and brushing himself off.
Uo smirked at him, "So where's the ghost now, Carrot top?"
Kyo burned bright red and crossed his arms, "Shut your trap, Yankee"
Uo laughed and continued to eat more of the syrup.
Setsuko snorted and said, "If you get constipated don't come complaining to us"
Uo rolled her eyes and continued eating.
Kyo turned to Yuki and Tohru suspiciously and asked, "Where did you guys go exactly?"
Uo snickered behind her hand and mumbled, "They probably found a closet to make out in"
Yuki turned red, "Uotani-san!"
Tohru turned the same shade as Yuki and exclaimed, "Uo! That's not true!"
Setsuko looked at them and commented, "No hickies in sight"
The two burned a shade deeper.
"Oh don't worry!" Uo said, "You're way too innocent to even fathom to do that"
Hana smiled at Tohru, "Tohru-chan looks really pretty when she blushes"
Momiji stuck his thumb out and shouted, "That's right!"
Kyo edged away from Tohru's "fans" and murmured, "Creepy…"
Setsuko's eyebrow went up once more, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you guys were obsessive stalkers"
Uo wiped her syrupy hand on a random wall and declared, "They are stalkers"
Momiji's smile suddenly dropped and his eyes filled with tears, "But…but…I'm not a stalker! I'm not! Right, Yuki?"
Yuki sighed, "No you're not, Momiji"
Kyo crossed his arms in annoyance and stared pointedly at Uo, "Now look what you did"
Uo glared at the cat and pet Momiji's head, "It's okay, kid. I was kidding"
Momiji quickly wiped his tears and grinned, "Okay! Let's go into that room!"
"That was fast," Uo whispered to herself.
Yuki noted the absence of a particular cow and asked, "Where did Haru go?"
"Looking for your boyfriend?" Kyo asked innocently.
Yuki ignored him and looked around, "Saki-san is missing too"
A vein throbbed.
"Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you, idiot!"
Yuki glared coolly at him, "I wouldn't want to waste my time listening to the stupid things you say, now would I?"
"Guys—" Tohru started.
"Stop fighting before Tohru gets a coronary" Setsuko snapped.
Tohru blushed.
Uo snickered, "Yeah. Hana might just decide to castrate you"
Momiji tugged on Uo's skirt and asked, "What does 'castrate' mean, Uo-chan?"
Uo opened her mouth but Setsuko slapped a hand on it first, "Don't you dare, Uo"
"Yeah, yeah" Uo mumbled through her fingers.
Setsuko withdrew her hand slowly before letting it drop to her side.
"Now where to?" Uo asked Momiji.
Momiji pulled her down the corridor to the left while Tohru ran after them.
"Don't pull her too hard, Momiji!"
Setsuko rubbed her head tiredly, "I wonder how you put up with them"
Hana and Haru both smiled identical evil smiles in a dark room. The only sources of light were a candle on a nearby table and a television screen flickering behind them. It was a very frightening sight. The two were in front of a small control panel where random buttons and levers were placed.
"I wonder what this button does…" Hana said, reaching out to push a button.
As the red light on top of the button lit up, several screams echoed through out the house.
Their grins got bigger.
Kyo turned around sharply and grasped Setsuko's upper arm.
"What was that?"
"Stop squeezing my arm, Kyo. Let go of it or I will chop your hand off," Setsuko said monotonously.
Kyo blushed and let her go, "What was that sound? It sound so…terrifying"
Yuki blinked and stated simply, "It's a Haunted House. It's supposed to be scary"
Momiji shivered and held onto Yuki's hand tighter.
Uo looked into a random room and closed the door quickly. Her face was deathly pale.
"When the heck are we getting out of here?"
Tohru made a move to open the door that Uo just opened but she stopped her.
"Don't, Tohru"
"Uh…okay…" Tohru murmured and withdrew her hand, "What was in that room, Uo?"
"Something scary" Uo replied.
Setsuko peeked into the room and snickered, "That was cool"
Uo made a face and remembered the sight of the life-like mannequin of a woman nailed to the wall and castrated.
"And to think I was just thinking of castrating a minute ago…"
Kyo marched up to the room in a very 'manly' way and went inside. Four minutes later he walked out, pale faced with a tinge of green.
He turned to Setsuko, "You think that's cool? I can't believe you"
"It's only cool because it's not real"
"Uh-huh" Kyo muttered, walking away and turned into a corner.
With Hana and Haru…
"I wonder what this lever does…" Haru said, pulling the lever down.
Hana smiled and stared at the TV screen.
Back with Kyo…
He screamed and a thump was heard.
Uo ran around the corner but she too screamed, followed by a thump. Tohru followed.
"Uo! Are you al— AAAH!!!"
Then Yuki ran after her. And fell. Setsuko walked calmly around the corner and looked down. There was a small trapdoor on the floor. She squinted and saw the others lying on the floor. She sighed.
"I'll go get—"
Momiji started running towards her, "Hey Setsuko! Are they o—?"
"—SHIT."
Thump.
"Great. Just great" Setsuko muttered, getting up and brushing dust off her clothes.
Tohru looked at the dusty ground and whispered, "Are those…cockroaches?"
She went silent then…
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"
Kyo stepped around the roaches and said, "They're just roaches"
Momiji pointed behind him, "Kyo…"
"What is it, brat?"
"GHOST!!!"
Kyo saw a hand from the wall grab his shoulder. He turned around and saw a headless nun coming out of the wall.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
The five of them ran as fast as they could out of that room and stopped to catch their breath.
"What…the…hell…" Kyo panted.
Uo and Setsuko shook their heads, "Such a scaredy cat"
Yuki took a deep breath and said, "He resents that"
"Why you—!"
"Can't you both shut up?" Setsuko asked.
Kyo closed his mouth and glared at her. Uo coughed and said something that oddly sounded like 'ass-whipped'. Kyo glared even more. He didn't know what to be angry at, Setsuko or the fact that he feels a compulsion to do whatever she says. Like the feeling he and Yuki get when they're around Tohru.
"The only difference is that Tohru gets us to do things for her because she's so nice. Setsuko gets us to do things because she's scary…" Kyo thought, annoyed.
Poke.
"What the—?"
Kyo brushed Momiji's hand away, "What do you think you're doing?"
Momiji suddenly laughed and clapped his hands, "Uo-chan was right! You get this wrinkle in between your eyebrows when you're annoyed!"
Kyo's eyebrow twitched.
"Uo-chan said that you'd do that too!" Momiji added happily, "Is Uo-chan psychic? I thought Hana-chan was psychic"
Uo rubbed the top of the rabbit's head affectionately and said "You'll learn to observe people when you're around people like Hana and Setsuko"
Setsuko rolled her eyes.
Tohru coughed a little and asked quietly, "Can we please leave now? It's getting really, really, really scary"
Yuki smiled a little but grimaced when he felt the numbness in his right arm, "Yeah. She's cutting off the circulation in my arm"
"Which way do we go?" Tohru asked them.
They all looked at the eleven or so corridors around and sweatdropped.
"Damnit"
"Haru?"
Haru turned to look at the psychic, "Yes?"
Hana placed her hand lightly on top of a yellow button, "Let's press the yellow and blue button simultaneously and see what happens"
Haru set his hand beside the yellow button, "Okay"
The buttons sank slightly into the control panel before rising up again. Both of the buttons were now a vivid green. The light bulb in between them suddenly flashed red. The screen flickered to life.
Creak. Creak. Drag. Drag.
Hana and Haru turned around and smiled.
"Have you guys found the exit yet?" Uo asked, looking around.
Tohru spotted something to her left and saw a door with the sign 'Exit' above it.
"Look, guys! It's the exit!"
"Good eye, Tohru" Yuki commented, smiling at her.
Tohru blushed and looked away, "Erm…thanks, Yuki"
Kyo looked suspiciously at the door and said, "How do we know that that door isn't just another trick?"
Momiji nodded vigorously, "Yeah! It might have those freaky doll like thingies again!"
Setsuko strode up to the door and pulled it open. There was pitch-black corridor inside…or was it a room? Either way, only a small speck of light at the end showed any indication that there was an exit inside.
"Shall we?"
They all edged away from the dark room.
"Setsuko…I really think that that's not a very good idea…" Yuki muttered uncertainly.
"It's looks…scary" Tohru mumbled, shivering.
Momiji looked into the room, "Is there a ghost inside, Sei-chan?"
Setsuko's eyebrow twitched once more at the nickname but, as usual, she said nothing.
"Just make up your mind!" Uo exclaimed, "We go or we don't. Pick one"
Kyo was about to say something when they heard something very faint from behind them. They froze.
Creak. Creak. Drag. Drag. The sound of a door creaking open…albeit a bit hollowed. Like from someone's throat.
"Do you guys remember the Grudge?" Setsuko asked nonchalantly.
The four in front of her nodded.
"It's behind you"
They all turned around and saw the girl from the Grudge crawling on the floor behind them. All the doors in the corridor suddenly opened and revealed the same faces as that of Sadako.
Setsuko held door open and asked sarcastically, "Now, shall we?"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
Whoosh. Whoosh. Slam.
"I am NEVER going back inside a Haunted House" Uo said, lying flat on the ground.
Tohru shuffled her feet nervously and apologized softly, "I'm sorry…I didn't know it would be this scary…"
Momiji suddenly came up from behind her and announced loudly, "It's okay, Tohru-chan! I had LOTS and LOTS of fun!"
Tohru suddenly beamed and joined hands with energetic blonde, "Really, Momiji?"
Momiji spun her around and said, "I wanna go again!"
"NO!" Kyo, Yuki and Uo said at the same time.
Setsuko sighed and slammed her head onto a nearby post, "Kill me now…"
"Did you guys have fun?"
Setsuko looked up and saw Haru standing beside Hana.
"Where were you?" Kyo asked, suspicion lacing his voice.
Hana and Haru smiled identical smiles.
Lighting and thunder danced somewhere.
"Having fun"
PS: Hello folks. School just started and I'm starting to get my writing mojo back. I have no idea why it even went away in the first place. scratches head ANYWHO, I've just realized that this is the last humor chapter I'm writing. Heck, this is the last normal chapter I'll be writing. The next to chapters will be my Two-Part Ending, excluding the Epilogue.
Since it's that part of the story again, I hope you guys become really patient with me in waiting. The types of ending I'm currently thinking off are really hard to…write? Think up? In other words, it takes a lot of work. SO, please bear with me. I know I'm not the speediest of writers but at least I try to update regularly.
So guys, pray hard and REVIEW hard. (I put more emphasize on the review though) And then maybe I'll update sooner. I'm not making any promises.
Ja ne!
-SaMiE- ("Sadist Extraordinaire")