Okay. I know how pissed off you all must be about the last chapter but HAHAHA Happy April my dear readers! XD Hope you guys got a good one XDDD
But hey in all seriousness (LOL) I didn't plan to just piss you off today so I whipped up something just for you guys! (and so I wouldn't be murdered and/or raided)
THIS IS THE LEGIT NEXT CHAPTER OF TO REACH YOU! XD
That last chapter was written as seriously as its story. So please don't take it seriously. I was not in the sane state of mind at the time I wrote it. Thank you for understanding that let us move along.
In all honesty this chapter should've covered a full day of the fiesta but I wasn't able to finish it on time for April 1 DX So I halfed it again! Just like how I did with the Field Trip Arc! Though I'm struggling to finish the chapter what with all the writer's block and all the anime I feel the need to catch up on so please bear with this slow pace for a while ;w;
I assure you though, I'll be ready with that chapter as soon as I can!
Just trying to get used to my writing again, is all 8D
Alright anyway let's answer those reviews dearies XD:
I12BFree: THANKS FOR LEAVING A REVIEW! Oh that fox and rabbit XD And yes you are correct! As for that question, we can only find out by reading ;D
roxan1930: Thanks for the review! And I hope this doesn't disappoint!
TheRoseShadow21: Thank you for reviewing yet again my loyal reader senpai! ;;w;; Glad you've stuck to this story for a long time and I'm truly grateful for that! Especially when you always take the time to review it ;;w;; Also, I think so too XD When I remembered it it felt like Karma was born to do it XD
Kuroe Chitsu: THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND FOR REVIEWING! And I'm happy to hear that my chapter made you really happy! ANd of course I won't forget to update! Hope you enjoy this one!
FandomSupporter15: Hope this pleases you! And thanks for reviewing!
Title Unwanted: Thank you for the review! And it's glad to be back and free from other worries! Thanks for telling me all the parts you liked about this chapter and for your thoughts of course! And yup XD I had fun writing that last bit since it was very assassin-y of them and not like this shoujo manga for a fanfic lolz
OKAY Things you should know before reading:
'Oni' – means demon. It's usually the term people in Japan use though when someone's it in a game.
Disclaimer: I OWN NOT ANSATSU KYOUSHITSU. All to Matsui-sensei the great.
Chapter 24: What You Are To Me (FIESTA ARC! [Part 1: Let the Games Begin])
"Tch. Look what we have here boys."
A large, bulky man who appeared no younger than 20 (he was only 17 though) scoffed at the generic, black poster that barely stood out from the rest posted upon the cultural festival bulletin board just outside the Kimii High School entrance. His wild eyes moved up to absorb the picture before him with the other four of his group standing behind him.
The Kimii grounds were, besides packed, nothing short of lively. Arrays of colorful buntings and streamers adorned the prestigious academy – students in both costumes and uniforms roamed around with bright smiles and radiated with energy. Just by the gates, were students handing out flyers and shouting out the names of the various attractions found in the campus; such is the art of advertising as there are even those putting up with outrageous costumes while going around screaming to the crowd that they should visit their club's attraction. To much of the Kimii population's luck, there were plenty of all ages entering and at a remarkable rate. Arrows and maps were even conveniently placed upon walls and bulletin boards in various places to help outsiders navigate through the large institution.
There were rows of diverse food and game stalls that were lined up in the vast assembly area just in front of the main building; with a single fountain situated in the very center of the space that gave a great effect to the overall celebratory feeling of the school. Add a beautiful, crisp weather to the recipe, and you have one of the most impressive school fiestas out there – and all of that was just the outside.
Albeit the notable charm of the sight before them, the five, large troublemakers merely kept on sneers as they bashed the entire thing – especially the one, plain black poster that caught their eye. Of course it captured the attention of folk such as them; not only did they feel the so-called need to ridicule it with its plain design (it was just black with the title 'Hide and Seek' and some other important description), but they were extra ready to trash-talk it knowing that it was the attraction of the brats that beat them up once before – and as one may already tell, they're the type that would hold grudges.
"Tsk. Hide and Seek? What the hell is that?"
"A horror labyrinth, eh?"
"This ain't nothin' special. I've been to tons of them out there and none of them were worth it. This one 'ere shouldn't make a difference." With a scowl on as he derided the work, one of them indecorously spit to the side – without a shred of regret coming up on his features.
"Keh. What do you think, Takeo?" the boy on his left scoffed – his narrow, fish-like eyes moving towards the tall leader, who appeared to be smirking with malignant intent as he seemed to be enjoying the plan formulating inside of his mind.
With the widening of his vengeful grin, Takeo finally spoke – his tone of voice bilious and sardonic "These newbie-club suckers wouldn't stand a chance against any of our cheap games."
At that statement, the rest of the boys behind him had their own ill-natured grins stretch across their faces as their eyes lit up at the idea they all had seemed to grasp. With destructive excitement evident in his smirk, one of them said "Does that mean…?"
"We're trashing it." The bulky leader of the group faced his 'minions' with his hands inside his pockets – his back slouched in his poor posture as the wild look in his eyes increased at the same rate his exhilaration for his own plan did.
"It's customer's word against theirs. And the customer's always right." His raspy voice was extra-nasty at the last five words as he stepped to the side to face the school once more – a spiteful air surrounding his gang with each of them holding their own scornful expressions.
"Get ready for the sweet taste of revenge, boys."
Revenge was what they kept on snickering about as they walked through the noisy school campus until they noticed the people in the sidelines. Seemed that those people had just come from the Hide and Seek booth judging from the direction most were coming from; that and there was the stuffy, dismal and dark aura that only grew even thicker as each dead soul—person passed them by.
"H-Hey! Get a hold of yourself!"
A male student's panicked voice reached their ears. Glancing over the direction of its origin, they spotted the said student shaking the shoulders of his friend whose life force appeared to have left him. His eyes – no, not just – his entire body took on a solid white complexion as you can practically see his soul begin to fly out of his mouth the more he muttered some incomprehensible sentences. This only led his friend to freak out even more as another scream left his mouth.
"W-Whoa! D-Dude, your eyes look dead…" another student's voice got the attention of the gang and its leader as each turned to have a look – only to feel a little bit of regret after once their eyes were met with what looked like a mini-fleet of zombies. Upon seeing this, beads of sweat had begun to drop from the side of each bulky boy's head the more they observed the creepy, petrified faces of fear still pasted upon the soulless vessels.
The uneasiness that was beginning to form inside the gut of all had only been reinforced the moment the sound of gagging came to earshot.
"O-OI! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" over to the left where the bushes were, a woman who looked to be an outsider had dropped on all fours, vomiting behind the shrubs as another boy from their own school watched with terror – he too must have come from the same attraction due to his pale complexion and wide, ever-cautious eyes.
When they at last entered a quiet, empty hallway inside one of the buildings (to be a shortcut towards their destination), the next sound that came had irked the biggest man among them.
Gulp
Hearing this come from one of his gang members from behind him, Takeo sharply turned – eyes indicating just how outraged he was (in the outside, at least) by the cowardly display that had just become evident in his crew. "Oi! When did you all become a bunch of wusses?!"
The rest of them only jerked backwards in their panic as the tall man chided them – some drops of saliva even flying out of his big mouth "It's not as if they can actually kill you in there! So stop whining!" he crossed his arms and scowled in annoyance "If they hurt us in any way I'm filing a complaint. And even if they don't, I'm still gonna bring them out of business—!"
Takeo stiffened at the sudden touch of an ice-cold hand upon his shoulder; even the boys he was facing seemed to freeze in apprehension. For seconds, he couldn't move – rather, he refused to. That was until, of course, curiosity got the best of him and he turned around.
Regret couldn't have hit harder for the very moment he spared a glance, his eyes were met with what he thought was the vengeful ghost of The Conjuring. What he was able to perceive before he jumped back with a yelp were the girl's wide, horror-stricken eyes, pale, ice-cold skin underneath the tangled strands of dark hair that covered her face. Her lips were formed into a distressing frown and were just as white as the white in her eyes – almost blue even, as she didn't even look like she was breathing anymore.
As the five large men slightly trembled at the sight before them, the girl who was apparently a student of Kimii hugged her forearms as she shivered – the fright in her void, black orbs never leaving as she faced the floor and uttered "S-She…Sh-She found me…th-that…the demon fo-found me…!" the tone she used was low and ghastly, but overflowing with anxiety as her voice became increasingly louder – her nails digging into her uniform with more force "I…! I tried to hide the best I could b-but…! Her eyes…The eyes…! Beware of those eyes…!" her ghost-like fingers moved up to the sides of her head the more panicked she got.
And when she sharply turned to nothing, she lost it "NO! GO AWAY! The bells…! The Shamisen…! GO AWAY! GO A—!"
Thankfully, before the group of boys decided to book it, another girl came from behind her and held her shoulders for her friend to calm down. Although, something about this girl was also quite disconcerting – her eyes were heavy and burdened by dark bags that were extra prominent with her dead expression.
"C'mon…let's go get some burgers…" she said in a tone a little above a whisper only; remaining expressionless until –
"Th-there are knives there…!"
Gradually, the stone-face the other girl held twisted in fright as the dark-bluish hue that had already came down from her forehead became darker. "H-Heh?!" she heaved in deep breaths – almost hyperventilating before she and her friend screamed with an "UWAAAAHHH!" and ran down the hallway until they eventually disappeared from their vicinity – almost leaving their souls behind.
Even if Takeo could sense his own nervousness piling up and enough to give him a bad stomachache, he managed to use his arrogance to push it all down before he proceeded to yell at the boys behind him once again for he could feel their dread from a mile away.
"What?! You're gonna let that bring you down?! They're just a bunch of girls!"
"B-But I know that the one who was just behind you is a 3rd year Martial arts—!"
"SHUT UP!"
And just as he trudged away – with the five of them tailing behind – Takeo slapped his hands on both sides of his face in a way that would snap him out of his earlier trance. His angry steps stomped through the hallway and even onto the grass once he'd left the building. All the while, he continuously murmured angrily to himself, "It's not like they can hurt you. They're getting out of business if it's the last thing I do. What was that anyway? Trying to make fun of me, are ya? Keh, this is child's play. It's not as if this thing's gonna—! Eh?!"
He had to stop the moment he realized there was no more ground for him to walk on. Lifting his chin to see who owned the feet that blocked his path, he froze in place – eyes in utter disbelief at the appallingly long line ahead of them. If he were to estimate, the amount of people standing in front of them could be enough to measure nearly a fourth of the school's large campus.
And for seconds, all the five of them could do was stare with their eyebrows twitching.
About an hour and a half later…
"Hello~!" greeted a jovial, friendly voice once the group of large boys had, at last, arrived at the registration booth of the outrageously popular cultural festival club booth. Seriously, from the looks of it, they'd taken it way too far to the point that nothing else being showcased in the school could do anything to top it. But that fact didn't seem to be the slightest bit perturbing to the two girls in front of them as they didn't seem to mind at all – especially the one with brown hair who continued to smile brightly at the perplexed set of teenagers.
That wasn't the only thing on their mind though,
What's such a cute girl doing here?
They wouldn't have noticed that they had been stupidly staring with infatuated grins for quite some time now had it not been for the brunette's voice "What are your names?"
Just as they'd finished jotting down their names, Mai thanked them accordingly before extending her palm – her beaming face never faltering, almost like a robot's. "Alright, 180 yen please."
"Wha—?! That expensive?!" the discourteous leader had to lean backward in surprise after such a price left her mouth.
"Why of course, it did take a lot of money to create this, after all." Her countenance did not feign, but she recognized the fools in front of her from the early part of the year– they were the ones that had started trouble with some of the students of her school. But what really mattered was that they were partly (mostly, really) to blame for the reason Combat Club had financial complications.
Begrudgingly, although they couldn't find it in themselves to refuse, the boys handed over their cash to the short girl seated on a Monobloc chair behind the small table. And as she delightedly arranged their money inside the metal box, one of them had apparently mustered enough guts to even say "Miss, you are really a nice source of relaxation right now."
Mai stood up from her seat – the same smile never leaving her face as she said "Oh no, I'm just the calm before the storm. Come along please~" she gestured for them to follow her as she happily skipped about toward the door.
Exchanging a brief look of confusion, the boys secretly wondered if they'd ever done anything bad to her before. But after sharing a shrug to well…shrug it off, they caught up with the small girl who stopped just right outside of the gymnasium's metal door – causing them to have to skid to a stop due to the suddenness of her movements.
"Well then, before entering I will tell you some of the rules and objectives of the booth." She raised her index finger as she explained with enthusiastic eyes "You have 15 minutes inside – within those 15 minutes, you'll have to hide from the goddess and make sure she doesn't find you. If you happen to be able to get out of the venue within the time limit, we may pay you back double the price of the entrance fee."
"Hah! Sounds like a piece of—!"
"However~!" She kept on the older sister-like aura she had a tendency to display even when she cut one of them off before he got too arrogant and carried on with her explanation. "If she does find you, you'll have to pay another 180 yen." Her tone was, ever so slightly, laced with some threat – but this quickly dissipated when she clapped her hands together "But if you're able to hide for the entire 15 minutes without getting caught then there's no problem at all~! Feel free to play again. Also if you break anything that'll be 600 yen coming from each of you. Thank you!" she quickly added before she vigorously pushed the metal door open with a palm next to her bright grin as she exclaimed into the vast room.
"Yaho! Here's your next customer!"
Her cheerful voice echoed throughout the pitch black room in an eerie fashion; and for a second there, the gang members were convinced that no one was inside.
That was until they leaned forward just a bit to find a girl standing in the center of a black wall – the sunlight that had seeped in from the wide-open door had shone on her in such a way a spotlight normally would.
At first glance, the girl had some sort of menacing aura to her, to say the least. Underneath her short, brown hair which had been fixed traditionally, she had the make-up of a geisha – her narrowed fuchsia orbs had a glowing impression thanks to that and the glamorous, red peony lantern she had in her hand. The lower half of her face, however, had been concealed by the ōgi she held in the other hand; she was even poised perfectly as if she were expecting their coming.
Despite this though, Takeo and the rest of his gang's members did not flinch upon seeing her – no matter how pretty she looked. Notwithstanding how they are, they were well aware of how things like haunted houses and horror mazes went, as well as all the clichés with it.
Of course they'd open it up this way! – was what had gone through their mind. Nevertheless, that arrogance on their faces had faltered – shifting to expressions of quizzicality once the sound of creaking metal resonated.
With a fast "I bid thee well" from the girl of the counter, the slam of the door nearly deafened everyone in the room. And with that, they were left alone – with no one there with them but the intimidating lady in traditional Japanese apparel.
At least, so far…
"Oh, welcome." Was all she said when she lowered the fan to reveal lush, red lipstick curved into a smirk – a tone laced with amusement and mock surprise; like how any sassy waitress would greet her evening guests in a fancy restaurant. Upon seeing them, the girl could never have been more excited to give the thugs in front of her the time of their lives…
…or deaths…
Jingle
"Hey, is this gonna take any longer? I'm already bored out of my mind!" one of them had scoffed for the umpteenth time – and it had only been less than five minutes since the girl in the geisha get-up had told her victims—visitors to follow her lead.
Jingle
She turned her head upward at the all-too-familiar sound of the shrine bells; and if she listened closely, there came the faint sound of a shamisen being played quite dissonantly. Gently, she closed her eyes shut as if she were sensing a presence before she let her pink eyeballs move to the side of the fools behind her – catching them pointing and jeering at some of the props and designs they had put up on the walls.
"Hah! Look at this little item over here!" it was one of the dusty paintings that hung on the wall with a golden (yet clearly Styrofoam) frame to support it. Like all the other paintings in the room, there was a label beneath the picture that served as its frame – the one they were meddling with was entitled 'Gastro'.
"Don't touch anything." The smooth yet stern voice of the maiden straightened most of the boys in attention – the only one who still kept his disinterested glower was their one and only leader; who paid her no reaction.
"This is the Hall of the Brave – the first unit of Izanami-sama's maze." She stepped to the side to face them as she spread her arms a little bit to her side – a gesture that told them to behold their surroundings, and they obliged. While the hall itself was narrow due to the black maze walls that followed a straight, almost never-ending line, the path they took had many, rather nerve-wracking adornments to it – such are the portraits of some relatively unsettling folks as dust and cobwebs appeared to form among them. The floor they stepped upon had a number of disoriented Japanese ornaments – lying about as if they'd just been dropped there from a box and swept with a broom to the side for space (they were).
But somehow, that had contributed to the overall feeling of disorder and chaos in the area– both physically and mentally.
The maiden kept her smug face on as the continued with her explanation – moving her sleeved, right wrist close to her lips as the other stayed just underneath it "The people you see here are assassins that have never met triumph in their venture to slay the beast of End. And since then, they have lurked in the dark – hungry for more blood to lick from their very palms. Mind your surroundings – they tend to stare…" at that last note, she swiftly spun around to continue walking with the effect of her Kimono.
Albeit that short bit of uncanniness, Takeo still had the nerve to click his tongue "Tsk. Whatever, are things gonna get real yet? What you're doing here is lame."
Yet again, she did not respond as she merely carried on – not even sparing them a glance anymore, leading to the bulky boy displaying his contempt again, but complying to following her.
As they moved along, none of them had dared to stop rolling their eyes and scoffing at everything they looked at – either saying things like 'Che, lame' or 'my sister's doll is scarier than this' and other insolent whatnot. But the girl merely said nothing; her mischievous grin only stretching a tad wider.
"Heh. Tend to stare…" said one of them as he read the name 'Lovro' and let his eyes travel from the cursive letters up to the man's face as he snickered mockingly. Just as he was about to make yet another rude comment on the frame, he had been met with emerald eyes peering right into him – causing him to jerk backwards a little.
Studying it a bit more, he could've sworn that picture didn't have eyes that color just a second ago – especially eyes as realistic and as threatening as the pair glaring right at him. He had to blink a few times to make sure that it wasn't his mere imagination. Once he was sure that it wasn't, his natural instincts warned him to scurry away; which he followed obediently. However, taking a peek over his shoulder, he could swear to Amaterasu herself that those piercing, emerald eyes had followed him to where he was. In his panic, he hastily caught up to the others.
"Oi, something's watching us." He whispered to one of his gang – anxiety creeping up in his tone of voice.
"What?"
"Over there." But the second he pointed, there was nothing but a portrait of a man with dead, black eyes – there was not a trace of anything that had been there. While the boy who had witnessed it just earlier could only stare at the object with utter disbelief – mouth agape, even, the other remained unfazed before he slapped his friend's hand away from his shoulder to walk again. He didn't even have any time for second-guessing before he insulted "Wimp."
Swash
But just as he said that, a wave of mild and uncertain alertness washed over them – accompanied with a slowly increasing nervousness.
"Huh? What was that?"
"What was what?"
Swish
"This time I could've sworn I heard something—"
"Quiet!" Takeo was beginning to become fed up with the so-called cowardly manners – his voice a volume so high it was enough to not only bounce off the walls of the wide, hollow room, but it even shook one of the large bells (Suzu) of the shrine-like area—
Then they realized that such had been intentionally shaken by the maiden leading their way. Clapping her hands together twice, the girl bowed her head in front of the single Suzu in a prayer position "Say your prayers here."
Unable to follow what had just happened from being taken aback by the sound, the boys mirrored her actions and spent moments of silence – simply going with the flow. This flow had been broken however, when an inquisitive voice interrupted what they were doing just as the owner of which had come to his senses.
"Wait, for what?"
As if she were just waiting for such a retarded response, the classy face they were greeted with just a mere three minutes ago had faced them with a savage, maddening grin accompanied by eyes that brimmed with a hunger for torture – sadism beyond the boundaries of all logic emitted from her very form as she folded her fan to say—
"YoUR LiVeS."
And all sources of light had gone off by the swift movement of her arm. But seeing as most of them had saw it as a typical, pathetic way to even stimulate fear within them, another jeer resounded in the room – this time out of annoyance.
"Still not scared!" sniggers broke out from the rest of them right after he said that; though this had become short-lived once they had noticed that not all lights were gone and turned towards the faint, red light that flickered like a torch.
Their eyes were first met with a peony red lantern – slowly losing its life in the hands of the…
And then they realized those weren't just hands.
Surrounded by darkness, all that could be seen as relatively normal was the lady's decorated face and partly the upper half of her outfit which had still been given view by the weak candle of red fire. The ultimately jaw-dropping sight was the undeniable fact that whatever had not been touched by light upon the girl's body was pure, rotting bone.
And with a maniacal smile – a huff, and a whiff of smoke, the five teenagers had been faced with a lifeless, fleshless, and certainly bloodless, skeleton…
In the pitch
Black
Dark.
It all happened too fast.
One moment they were chilled to the bone by a skeletal woman waving them their probable last farewell, and the next they found themselves tripping over a trap they did not even notice was there the first time they had walked upon the waxed, cemented floors of the room. Hence,– either they felt that they went through different, hidden doors upon the wall and fell to the next room, or were forcibly dragged somewhere else by some unknown being, they'll never know – but the next moment they found themselves no longer in the same place, separated from one another.
The next thing they knew, they could hear the traditional sounds of a shamisen – a regular Japanese instrument, only there was a certain ring to the one their ears received; a frightful, murderous ring that did not feign to inflict a horrendous twist in the interior of their stomachs as it only performed an upsurge.
But that didn't seem to be the end of it, for as the instrument's tune loudened, so did eerily chiming giggles of a girl "Hn? Who is it now?" the voice cooed – disturbingly inviting. At that time, all boys had come back to their senses, discerning that there were probably two of them on either side of the labyrinth, and one all alone. Each drew their heads from their sprawled out positions upon the floor to the origin of the voice.
Jingle
"Oh? Looks like we have more company..." the booming voice of the unknown lady lingered in the air as each word was spoken– they assumed by now it was the Izanami speaking to them.
"Won't you be dears and play with us for a bit? Surely it wouldn't be so bad to join us for a little game…" this sentence was then followed by low, sinister snickers coming from all directions they could look at – but even with this, nothing could be seen; the darkness was much too overwhelming.
Jingle
"You…sinful pigs." There was a drastic change to her tone – what was once just sinister and coy, had turned bilious and hostile just for that one instant. Resultantly, this had been able to slap each one of them back to reality as all, despite being separated, scurried to their feet in frantic search for a way out.
"H-Hurry up and find that exit!"
"Stay by the sides! There should be a backstage somewhere to get out of here!"
Jingle
"Huh? Where did you go? Why are you running away?" As they shuffled through the dark in their agitated states, the goddess' words felt as if it followed them whichever way they went; and although they had tried to muster enough courage and common sense that whoever was speaking was probably just another student of the school, that didn't stop their tense footsteps from quickening.
"Oh I see, you want to play hide and seek?" the goddess cooed once more, with nothing but sheer, sadistic amusement laced in her baleful voice "Okay, I'll be the it*."
In their confusion, little did they know that the groups they were separated into were only being lured farther and farther away from each other – exactly just like how a hill of ants would scatter after being stepped on. And in this scattered state, preys are much so easier to lure into their inevitable dooms.
"But just wait…" She said rather playfully as she giggled maddeningly once more.
"…you can't hide from me."
Jingle
And the game began just like that.
YOSH~! How was it? 83
Please leave a review and tell me what you think or which parts you like! I know there really isn't much to talk about in this chapter as it's merely a half of what was supposed to come (A short half, really). I promise I'm gonna post it as soon as possible to not keep you guys hanging for too long!
I also wanna get this arc finished already since it started almost a year ago and I'm still not finished DX Especially when this arc has a lot of dram-
NO SPOILERS! ;D
Again, Happy April and thank you for your loyal following readers! I love you all! Have a good day!
With love from the other side of the world,
~TheFlowerWeSawThatDay