A/N: Many thanks for the reviews and for reading it until the end. ^___^ Please don't hate me for what I have done in the ending. It would've been better that way…
Disclaimer: Characters depicted in the story aren't mine. They belong to Takeshi Konomi. Sadako isn't mine either.
Seven Days
Man fears what he doesn't understand. True. Yet, try as the Tenipuri might, understanding the dark powers of Sadako, her vengeful spirit, her curse that will one day destroy humanity, is remotely impossible.
Six of the Tenipuri have unknowingly fallen prey to her vicious wrath. One finally dies. And the question now is "Who will be next?"
Time is quickly running out as the remaining five struggle to undo the curse that has befallen them. Each has his own fear to deal with but it will all result to one morbid fact. They are going to die that very same day and there is nothing they can do about it.
Yet, there is a way to stop the curse.
And only one of them has the power to do so…
* * *
I'm next… I'm next… The words ran around Takeshi Momoshiro's mind as he stared blankly in space. His body started to shiver uncontrollably as a sense of helplessness settled upon him. Sadako's after me and there's nothing I could do! With his breaths short and spastic, his heart palpitating, and his stomach churning, Momoshiro started to feel a little lightheaded.
He couldn't think… He couldn't move… And perhaps, that was when he fully understood what fear truly meant.
"Momo! Momo! Daijobu?" Kikumaru crouched down beside the stunned Momoshiro who sat outside the club room and roughly shook his shoulder. The dark haired junior blinked, his glazed violet eyes finally focusing on his worried senpai. "You better snap out of it, Momo. We still have a lot to do." The acrobatics player held up a water canister toward the junior's face. "Here. Drink this."
"E-Eiji-senpai…" Momoshiro said weakly, his dry throat working as he reached for the canister. "Taka-san's…"
"Yeah, I know. W-We just saw him." Kikumaru cut him off, his face a little pale as he kept glancing toward the club room. He, too, was afraid, Momoshiro noticed. Hell, who wouldn't be? They were all going to die that same day! "Listen, we have to stop the curse." Momoshiro looked back at the red headed senpai as he spoke. "Where's the original copy?"
"I-I think it's in my shoebox. Brought it here just in case." Momoshiro scowled as he looked up at Kikumaru. "That punk Akutsu… He didn't watch Taka-san's copy."
"Maybe. Maybe not. We don't know that, Momo." The acrobatics player answered as he stood up. "We still have two hours before the deadline." He said after checking his watch. "Go get the tape. I have a feeling we're going to need it again. I'm going back inside the club room and discuss with the others what we're going to do with Taka-san's…" Kikumaru didn't finish. He couldn't. Instead, he offered his arm toward the junior to help him stand up. Momoshiro nodded weakly, accepting his senpai's assistance, and hauled himself up to his feet.
"I'm sorry about this, Eiji-senpai." Momoshiro said and bowed before Kikumaru could go. "It's all my fault. I made you guys watch the flick…"
"We'll talk about that later, Momo." Kikumaru answered, waving a dismissive hand. "Right now, we have our lives to save." Momoshiro nodded once again and left to get the tape. Kikumaru watched his teammate disappear before he turned and went back to the club room.
"Don't touch him, Fuji!" Kikumaru heard the frantic voice of the vice captain as he stepped inside the room. He found Fuji crouching beside Kawamura's body, reluctantly pulling back his hand as he heeded Oishi's warning. "We can't have your fingerprints on him. If an investigation will be called for this…" Oishi's voice trailed off as Fuji straightened up.
"You're right, Oishi." Fuji shook his head. "This is already hard to explain as it is."
"What are we going to do now?" Kikumaru asked his teammates as he ran his hand through his hair. They already did what they were supposed to do in order to uplift the curse, as what was done in the movie. But were they truly safe? Kawamura has already fallen prey to Sadako's deadly wrath. And they're going to be next. "Shouldn't we check if our copies were watched?" Kikumaru looked at his teammates. "M-Maybe that's why this happened to Taka-san. Akutsu didn't watch his copy so…"
Kaidoh hissed before he spoke up. "Is it really because of that, Kikumaru-senpai?" He shook his head. "I think we did something wrong."
Three pairs of eyes settled on Kaidoh when he spoke. "What are you trying to say, Kaidoh?" Fuji asked when the grim junior didn't continue.
"As I was saying earlier in the courts, senpais, we should have been the ones who made our own copies. Not the baka powerhouse." Kaidoh replied, walking toward his teammates, careful not to look at Kawamura's haunting expression. He knew that it was going to give him nightmares. "The curse is like a chain letter. The usual way for you to rid yourself of the misfortune the chain letter brought you was to pass it on to others. Personally." He said, stressing the last word. "And that's what we did wrong. That baka saru was the one who made our copies for us. That's why we're still cursed." Kaidoh continued. "And perhaps, among us, he's the only one who's really safe from Sadako."
A long silence fell as they let Kaidoh's words sink in. Despite the dilemma that they were in, Fuji's poker smile reappeared on his face. "Good for him." He said sincerely. "He is undoubtedly safe since there were eight copies sent out. There is a high possibility that at least one of the eight recipients watched the flick." He sadly smiled. "How lucky. I'm envious."
"We aren't dead yet, Fuji!" Kikumaru insisted, with a tinge of desperation in his voice. "We can still get the tape from Momo and make copies for ourselves!"
"You're right, Eiji." Fuji answered after a while. He smiled. "The day isn't over yet."
Kikumaru beamed, pleased with Fuji's reply. "I already asked Momo to get the tape. All we have to do is go to the A/V Room, make copies for ourselves, and force others, if we have to, to watch it for us."
"If only it were that easy." Fuji sighed, shaking his head. He crouched once again beside Kawamura's body, taking in his friend's wretched state before his untimely death, careful not to touch him. It was still unbelievable, this dilemma they were in. But this inert body before him, his doubles partner's, was a glaring proof of the hell they unintentionally stumbled upon. "It'll be hard looking for willing subjects who'd watch the flick for us. Especially when they know what awaits them by the end of the week."
"W-We'll help, minna. Tezuka, Inui, and I… w-we're not cursed." The vice captain suddenly said, indecision apparent on his face. Watching the flick would undoubtedly mark the early end of their existence. It was as if putting an invisible tight rope around their necks for a whole week, accompanied by the fear of dying a horrible death as the days pass quickly by. After all, what proof do they have that Fuji and the others could truly escape Sadako's curse? It was a major risk Oishi was about to take for he, Tezuka, and Inui could lose their lives in the end as well. He wasn't sure if he should do it but in order to save his friends' lives, he must. "We could watch the flick for you guys. It'll save time. I-I'm sure both Tezuka and Inui would understand…"
There was a long silence before Kikumaru asked. "R-Really, Oishi?"
The vice captain nodded solemnly.
"Domo." Fuji smiled. "Now, before Oishi changes his mind, shall we go get Momo and find Echize--"
"Osu." Ryoma Echizen suddenly called out lamely in a greeting from the door, cutting Fuji in mid sentence. Four pairs of eyes quickly settled on the small form that stood by the open doorway.
"Ochibi! You're okay!" Kikumaru exclaimed as walked toward Echizen. Oishi slowly sauntered toward them as well and placed a hand on Echizen's shoulder as if to check if he really was all right. Fuji straightened up from his crouching position and joined the others, effectively blocking Echizen's view. Even the grim Kaidoh took a few steps toward them but stopped when he realized what he was doing. He hissed instead.
The white capped freshman could have sworn relief was etched on each of his senpais' faces as they looked at him. "Eh?" He asked in bored confusion.
"Listen, ochibi, we have to stick together from now on." Kikumaru instructed the kouhai. "We don't know who she'll attack next."
"Who?"
"Sadako, of course!" Kikumaru answered. At Echizen's skeptic expression, Kikumaru continued. "I know it's hard to believe but—"
"We better show him, Eiji." Came Fuji's rational suggestion. "That way, it would be easier for him to believe it."
"But he might not be able to handle it. Seeing Taka-san could be traumatizing." Oishi shook his head worriedly. "And it's all because of that stupid curse!"
The curse again? Echizen thought as he scoffed, pushing his way past his senpais to go to his locker. "Mada mada da—" Echizen stopped short as his gaze settled on the lifeless body of Kawamura sprawling on the cold floor. He took in the horrified expression on the frozen face of his once burning senpai. Kawamura's vacant eyes, which were wide open, stared at him. Echizen stared back quietly.
He then blinked. "Heh." Echizen smirked as he looked back at his surprised senpais. "Momo-senpai's lying flat on his back outside, too." He informed the other four. "He's making faces like Kawamura-senpai. They have almost the same expression but I think his is a lot scarier because of the shadows in the room." The freshman pointed at the dark blond senior.
Echizen suddenly found himself being forcefully dragged by Kikumaru as he and the other regulars ran out of the room to check on Momoshiro. And there, by the drinking fountains, they found the motionless body of the junior, his mouth wide open, his face also frozen with fear as if he witnessed the most horrifying thing before he died.
Echizen's companions visibly paled.
For Sadako has claimed yet another victim.
"M-Momo…" Kikumaru took a few steps toward the spiky haired kouhai. "Uso!" He cried. "I was only talking to you a while back! Y-You can't be…"
Oishi quickly grasped his doubles partner by the shoulder before the red head could even think of grabbing the junior by the collar and start shaking him. "H-He's gone, Eiji." The vice captain shook his head.
"Tch!" Kikumaru tore his gaze off Momoshiro and clenched his fists. What did they have to do to escape the curse?!
"Ne, Kaidoh." Fuji called over his shoulder, his sharp blue eyes settling on the junior behind him. "Your theory was wrong. Momo wasn't spared."
"A-Aa." Kaidoh agreed reluctantly, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. If the baka powerhouse, who had more of a fighting chance against the curse, was found dead, what unlikely possibility of escape did the other remaining four have? "We're done for, senpai." He stated grimly.
The tensai player didn't answer.
"Fuji!" Kikumaru cried out in panic as he looked at his classmate. "What do we do now?!"
"Where's the tape?" Oishi asked when Fuji remained stonily silent.
"In Momoshiro's shoebox." The red head answered. "He was about to get it when he…" Kikumaru shook his head. "Kuso! There must be a way to stop it!"
"The tape, Eiji." Oishi insisted. "Analyze it. There must be a clue somewhere."
"Oishi's right." Fuji finally spoke up. "Let's split up, Eiji. You and Echizen check out the night market and find out where Momo got the tape. Find out what you can about the flick. The video guy should know something." At Kikumaru's nod, the tensai continued. "Kaidoh and I will get the tape from Momo's shoebox and analyze it in the A/V Room. We meet up there later."
"Good idea." Kikumaru nodded his head vigorously while Kaidoh hissed his agreement. Echizen had a do-I-have-to-go look on his face. The acrobatics player grabbed Echizen by the hand before the freshman could complain and led him out of the school grounds. "Be right back."
Fuji looked at the grim junior. "Let's go, Kaidoh." Just as the tensai and Mamushi were leaving, Sadaharu Inui appeared in the scene.
"Ya, minna." He greeted. "Tezuka wants you back in the courts."
"We can't, Inui." Fuji replied then nodded toward Oishi. "Ja." Kaidoh hissed and followed the tensai.
"I'll explain everything to you later, Inui." Oishi said as he and Inui watched Fuji and Kaidoh disappear from their view. "But first, I better call Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka." He said and turned to leave.
"Matte, Oishi." The vice captain stopped short when Inui spoke. The tall senior just noticed Momoshiro's wretched form lying by his feet. Oishi walked back toward the data collector and stood beside him. He looked at his teammate but remained quiet. It was hard reading what Inui was thinking behind those square glasses of his. But he knew those sharp cogwheels in his mind were rapidly turning, searching for a rational explanation behind this incident.
Inui took a step closer toward Momo's unmoving body. And with only one look at the miserable form of the spiky haired junior lying on the floor, he understood everything.
* * *
Che. This is useless. Ryoma Echizen lowered his cap over his eyes as he strolled around the busy streets of the night market. He and Kikumaru decided to split up to search for the video shop Momoshiro told them about.
"That way," the red headed senior told him, "we could cover more grounds."
Tch. The freshman scoffed yet again.
He only had forty five minutes to search his side of the market. He had specific instructions from his senpai that he should get back to the school by 6:30 pm, successful at finding the shop or not. For their deadline was around seven fifteen.
The white capped freshman checked his watch. Twenty minutes more to go. He sighed, a sweatdrop forming on his head. His senpais were taking a horror film too seriously. He promised himself not to watch any films with them again since they were dragging him around like this, as if in a wild goose chase.
Mada mada dane.
Echizen looked around the busy streets of the night market and spotted a fast-food outlet a block away from him. He was getting hungry and decided to order a burger and fries while looking around. He shrugged mentally as he stepped inside the burger joint. He had all the time in the world. His senpais' game could wait.
On his way out, while sipping on a soda he ordered, Echizen felt the hairs at the back of his neck suddenly prickling. He sensed that someone was watching him. He looked around and saw a long haired girl in white quietly standing by the stalls on his left. He stopped short as he stared at her.
His eyes widened in recognition when the girl slowly stalked toward him.
* * *
"Is this Momo's shoebox, Kaidoh?" Syusuke Fuji asked his companion, pointing at one of the shelves before them.
"Hai." Kaidoh answered, opening his so-called rival's shelf and taking out the cursed videotape. He stared hard at the little thing in his hand and gripped tightly on to it. Damn this thing! It ruined their lives!
"Let's go, Kaidoh."
The grim Mamushi nodded and led the way to the A/V Room which was on the third floor. They ran out of the room and up the stairs as fast as they could, for time was running out. The school corridor was dark and empty as they passed by. It was getting late and most of the students had already gone home. Not even a faculty member nor a janitor was in sight as they sped by.
Their hurried steps and ragged breathing were the only sound that broke the deafening silence around them, echoing the fear that plagued their minds. And it was when they reached the third floor that Kaidoh noticed that the footsteps of Fuji behind him were gone.
Kaidoh looked back only to find himself alone in the dark corridor.
Masaka… The junior thought as he looked down the empty hallway. "F-Fuji-senpai?" He called. But the flickering light by the stairwell was the only answer he got. There was absolute silence. Eerie and blood chilling. A cold gust of wind blew from the open hall window, Kaidoh's hands started to get clammy as he gripped on to the tape.
He couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Cold sweat started to break on his forehead. Fuji-senpai was gone, defeated by Sadako's vengeful wrath. He was alone in the dark building.
His heart started to palpitate as he looked around.
Sadako was somewhere near, lurking in the shadows. Waiting for the right moment to attack…
He backed himself up to the wall and started moving toward the A/V Room. He wasn't going to give the goblin's daughter a chance to attack him from behind, which was how she undoubtedly got Fuji-senpai. His eyes darted from left to right, up and down the long hallway. If he saw one glimpse of white floating in the dark corridor, he was going to run away from it. Fast.
Kaidoh touched something cold behind him. He stilled. It was the door handle of the A/V Room, he recognized. He quickly slid it open and slipped inside.
Kaidoh quickly flicked on the switch and breathed a sigh of relief when light flooded the room. His gaze settled on a television sitting on a low stool in a corner. A forbidding feeling settled on the pits of his stomach.
To trap himself in a room with a television could be the stupidest thing he has ever done in his entire life. For it was from a television where Sadako crawls out of and stalks toward her victim to give him her deadly look which will finally seal his fate.
* * *
Eiji Kikumaru slid the door to the A/V Room open, startling Kaidoh who was alone inside. The grim junior weakly sat on one of the chairs, relieved to see at least one of his teammates still alive. Good. He wasn't alone. "Eh? Ochibi isn't here yet?" Kikumaru asked as he stepped inside the room, looking around to see if there was anybody else inside. "Where's Fuji?"
"H-He's gone, senpai."
Kikumaru paled. "Y-You mean…?" The junior nodded in response. "A-And ochibi? He hasn't returned?"
"I thought he was with you."
"We split up." Kikumaru answered weakly. "I told him to come back here by six thirty! But that was half an hour ago!"
"M-Maybe he's…" Kaidoh didn't have to finish for he knew his senpai understood. First, it was Kawamura and Momoshiro. Then, Fuji and Echizen followed suit. Now, it was only the two of them. It really was the end. They were going to die that night.
Kikumaru shook his head, determination burned deep in his blue eyes. "We're not dead yet!" He said, more to himself than to Kaidoh. "Did you find anything in the tape?"
"Nothing yet." The junior muttered. He would never admit it but he couldn't summon the courage to watch it again. Especially when he was alone. He knew Sadako was just somewhere in the building, waiting for the right moment to strike. Kaidoh shook his head.
Watching the tape again was like an invitation for her to come and get him.
"It's too late, senpai." Kaidoh continued. "Time's almost up. It's a miracle we could still think rationally at a time like this—"
"K-Kaidoh." Kikumaru suddenly cut him off, grabbing the junior's shoulder and roughly shaking it to catch his attention. When Kaidoh looked up, the senior pointed at the shadow of someone standing on the other side of the door. Both stilled. Was it Sadako? Had she come to finish them off?
The door slowly slid open in a soft whoosh, revealing the pale, ghostlike form of Takashi Kawamura. Cold wind entered the room. Kikumaru and Kaidoh quickly straightened up, unbelieving of what they were seeing. They slowly moved back until the wall touched their backs. H-He was dead, wasn't he?! Then, what--?
Had he come to haunt them? To make them pay for his untimely death?
Kawamura's hollow eyes scanned the room, his haunting gaze settling on the two figures standing on the farthest side of the room. He took a step forward but suddenly stopped, his wide, unblinking gaze never leaving the last two of the cursed regulars. An eerie smile spread across Kawamura's pale, cracked lips. He raised his hand toward them and uttered a single word that sent chills running through Kikumaru's and Kaidoh's spines.
"Yo."
* * *
"Frozen facial muscles… Suspended animation…" Sadaharu Inui mumbled to himself, scribbling something in his notebook, as he sat alone in the infirmary. "Required time of recovery… 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 43.5 seconds." He stopped when he heard the door behind him slide open.
"Ya, Inui." Syusuke Fuji greeted rather cheerily as he stepped inside the room. "How are they?" He looked at the figure lying on one of the beds inside the infirmary and smiled. "Where's Taka-san?"
"With Tezuka and Oishi." Inui answered. "They're probably in the A/V Room by now, explaining everything to Eiji and the others."
"Eh?" Fuji tilted his head to one side. "It's all over then?"
The bespectacled regular nodded. "It seems like the Exceptional Crystalline Remix of my Inui Juice has conveniently helped you in your little joke, Fuji." Inui understood everything when he saw Momoshiro's state by the drinking fountains. He also saw the water canister that rolled out of his hand when the junior fainted. It was his brand new remix of Inui Juice which was still on experimental stage. Kikumaru must have made a mistake, taking his canister to Momoshiro instead of the kouhai's. Kawamura must have made the same mistake. Since the new concoction had the same attributes that of normal tap water. Only the smell and taste was altered. Completely altered.
"I was surprised with your new version, Inui. It looked ordinary. Too ordinary." Fuji replied, seating himself on one of the chairs adjacent to Inui. "But the effects were quite fascinating. I stand corrected."
"Want to try it?" Inui smiled sinisterly. "And end up looking like…" The data collector took two photos inserted between the pages of his green notebook. "…this?" He held the photos up toward Fuji. They were pictures of Kawamura's and Momoshiro's horrid forms lying on the ground that he took earlier. "This is good data."
Fuji took the pictures from Inui and scanned them. "Maybe I could put this in my journal." He smiled as he returned them to his teammate. "I'd like a copy."
Inui nodded, putting back the photos in his notebook. "Well, what are you going to do now?"
"It was not my intention to scare them, Inui." The tensai player replied, the poker smile now firmly back in place. "I only did it to amuse myself." He stood up and walked toward the now calm-looking Momoshiro resting on the bed. "Think I overdid it this time?"
"Maybe."
Fuji smiled. Inui was just as entertained as he was. "I don't know what happened to them that made them believe the curse was real but it certainly served my purpose."
"Mere coincidences, I suppose."
"Tezuka never believed it." Fuji continued, amusement apparent. "That's why he didn't take the tape when I asked him to watch it. Oishi was fun to watch, getting all worried like that even though he wasn't 'cursed'. Echizen didn't believe the curse either. He's probably home right about now." The tensai smiled yet again. "It was all good and fun. But I think I must go home now and just deal with them tomorrow." He waved a dismissive hand at Inui as he walked toward the door. "Playing along and trying hard not to laugh while everyone's running scared for their lives was just too exhausting."
Before the tensai could open the door, it suddenly slid open, revealing five figures standing on the other side. Kikumaru and Kaidoh glared menacingly at him, fists clenching and teeth gritting. Kawamura, who still suffered the after effects of the juice, stood eerily behind them. Oishi scratched his head and sighed. Tezuka, just as he always was, stood behind them without an ounce of expression on his face.
Fuji smiled before sliding the door shut.
* * *
"I was surprised to see you here, Ryoma-san." Nanako Meino, Echizen's cousin, remarked as they walked side by side in the night market. "What are you looking for?"
"A video shop."
"Hm?" The college student tilted her head to one side. "I've seen a chain of video shops on the other street." She informed her cousin. "Would you like to check it out?"
Echizen shrugged, as if saying 'why not?' Just as they were leaving, a fat middle-aged man suddenly ran out on one of the stalls and called out to them. "Oi! Seigaku shonen! Matte yo!" Both stopped and turned to look at the man as he ran toward them. "I'd recognize that blue and white jersey anywhere." He grinned when he reached them.
"Can we help you with anything, oji-chan?" Nanako asked politely.
The man laughed. "W-Why, yes." He motioned at them to follow him toward his shop. "A week ago, one of your teammates dropped by here and purchased a horror flick for 300 yen. A spiky haired junior, I think." He said, rubbing a hand thoughtfully on his smooth chin. "Anyway, my baka son gave him the wrong tape. What the junior got was a snapshot taken from one of our bestselling horror films. The Ring."
Nanako looked at her young cousin in confusion. "Heh." Echizen smirked, finally understanding everything. "That tape of yours caused a lot of problems."
"It did?" The man scratched his head. "He must have been very disappointed to find that he didn't get quality entertainment when he paid good money for it." He sighed. "I had my son follow him for a day to change the tape. But he came home unsuccessful."
Echizen sweatdropped. Momo-senpai mistook the guy as someone stalking him. That was when the junior started believing the curse. "Mada mada dane."
"Couldn't agree more." The storeowner shook his balding head. He took a tape from one of his shelves and gave it to Echizen. "Could you please take this to that junior? It wouldn't be fair if he got that snapshot instead of a complete movie."
The white capped freshman took the tape and looked at the title. Freddy VS Jason.
"And here's a copy for you for delivering that tape to him." The man grinned and supplied him a copy of the same movie.
"D-Domo." Echizen muttered and turned to leave. Nanako smiled, bowing before the man, and left. She caught up to her cousin and remarked.
"I didn't know you liked watching horror films, Ryoma-san."
"I don't." Echizen answered, a smirk forming at the corner of his lips. "But it's fun watching it with the senpais. Each has an overactive imagination."