Scare War! Part 3
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Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building...
Sendoh kept his left hand on the wall, feeling the texture change every time he reached a door. He was leading his little troop - himself, Koshino, and Fukuda - into the unknown regions and depths of the school, and yet he had no idea why. They were trying to find out why they were here. That's right, they were on a quest! A noble adventure into the uncharted depths of Spika High. However, the lack of a torch in their group was a severe disadvantage. Not only that, but they weren't near any windows either, so there was no moonlight to aid them.
His two followers seemed to have noticed the same problem and appeared a lot more concerned than Sendoh was. Both were sticking close to their unofficial leader. Fukuda appeared quite normal, besides the fact that he appeared to be sweating as if he'd just come off the court. Koshino was being more...Koshino than usual. His insistent muttering, Fukuda's sudden tendency to jump at small noises, and their utter closeness to Sendoh were all combining to make Sendoh feel a little more than claustrophobic.
"Hey, guys..." He turned to smile at them. "Could you please...move away a bit? I feel like I've got a few more shadows than I should have."
"Fine!" Koshino muttered, unwilling to leave Sendoh's side but still moving a few feet away. "But if I die a horrible death, I'm blaming you."
Sendoh nodded. "That's fine. Now, off we go again!"
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"So...where are we again?"
"Koshino, if I knew that, I'd be more than happy to answer."
Fukuda looked around. "I don't remember this place." He indicated the windows with a slight jerk of his head. "At least there's light to see by here, though."
Koshino sighed irritably and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Fukuda occupied himself with tracing patterns on the windows. "Well, I vote we wait here until somebody finds us." Koshino said. "Since somebody was good enough to get us lost in here." He shot a glare in the direction of his spikey-haired friend.
Sendoh smiled back indulgently. Koshino was so cute when he was angry. "Hey, it's not like I asked to be leader." he answered, pretending to be hurt. Koshino looked away huffily. Sendoh chuckled and leant on the wall near his friend, looking out the window at the Spika High school grounds. The moonlight illuminated the grounds nicely, creating an almost unearthly effect, blurring the outlines of trees, buildings, and sky, merging it all. Sendoh smiled happily. He liked the pretty things in life: a nice landscape, ice-cream, the stars, fishing, Koshino...
His happy day - night? - dreams were interrupted when he became aware of something attached to his leg. Looking down, he was surprised to see Koshino had wrapped both arms around his left leg and was staring rather fixedly at one of the nearby classrooms, near where they had entered the corridor.
"Ne...what's wrong, Koshino?"
"I...I thought I saw something move." Koshino answered tensely, arms still glued to Sendoh's leg, trying to hide behind Sendoh on the floor. Fukuda, as if by magic, appeared near Koshino's side, staring tensely in the same direction. "Where?"
Koshino loosened one arm from Sendoh's leg long enough to point a shaky figure in the direction of the shadowed classroom before reattaching himself to the taller boy. "Over there...I s-swear I saw something..."
And deep in the shadows, something moved.
Sendoh was now completely anchored to the floor, because Fukuda had decided to join in the fun and had attached both arms around his right leg. He looked almost like a giant octopus with hair, Sendoh mused, looking down at his two friends. He glanced back at the shadows blankly. Sure, something had moved in the shadows, but it could have been anything! A walking science model, a rat, an alien...it didn't have to be something scary, right? Of course not!
A figure materialised from the shadows.
Fukuda went white and shut his eyes. Koshino buried his face in the crook of Sendoh's knee.
"What's up with you two?" Sendoh asked quizzically. "It's just Hikoichi."
Sure enough, the area's resident stalker was busy scribbling in his notepad. He looked up and stared silently at the...admittedly strange position the three boys were in. "I'm...not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked, gaze roving from Koshino, to Sendoh, to Fukuda, then to his notebook.
No answer came from the three. Hikoichi looked up quizzically.
All three looked fairly stricken. Fukuda's eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates - no mean feat where he was concerned. Koshino still appeared to be burying his face into Sendoh's leg. Sendoh was just staring at Hikoichi. Or, more specifically, a point behind him.
"What's wrong?"
Koshino let out a high-pitched squeak, incapable of movement.
Hikoichi never would have realised why they were staring at him so intensely had it not been for the prickling sensation on the back of his neck. Well, perhaps more obviously, the gentle touch of...something...sliding from his shoulder down his arm from behind.
He looked down at it.
It was a hand. A pale, black-fingered hand.
It was attached to an arm in a big, white, kimono sleeve.
He turned, following the arm with his eyes. It hit a shoulder, a pale neck, and then...a white face, obscured by long, unkempt black hair.
Perhpas not completely obscured. The boy could see, beneath one of the fringes, an eye. A wide, red eye.
Watching him.
Hikoichi squeaked. Stuttered. Stumbled backwards a few steps. And finally took off down the corridor, screaming.
Sendoh, on the other hand, couldn't move. Koshino and Fukuda had a foot each. All three were rooted to the spot. The figure turned to them and slowly raised her hands.
Piercing screams and rapid footsteps echoed loudly around the school.
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As soon as the footsteps had faded away, the spectre began to giggle and bounce on the balls of her feet. Success! She gathered the kimono away from her feet - the damned thing was too long, that was the problem - and scurried off down the opposite corridor.
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"This school is too damn big."
Hanagata and Fujima, on their journey to the water fountain, had run into Akagi and Uozumi on the way back, and coerced them into joining their little party. Hanagata was muttering to himself.
"I can see why people think this place has ghosts, I mean, look at it, you'd get lost just trying to find your classroom--"
Fujima poked him in the side. "Stop bellyaching, here's the water fountain." He pressed the button on the side and braced himself for the stream of cold water.
Nothing came out. He blinked and pressed the button a few more times, and all he could get form the machine was a click every time he released the button.
Hanagata peered over his shoulder. "What's the matter?"
"I don't know...it's not working." Fujima stared accusingly at Akagi and Uozumi, who were conversing in quiet 'ookookook's in the background. "Why didn't you guys say it wasn't working? You could have told me."
"What?" Akagi walked over and punched the button a few times. Sure enough, nothing came out. "That's odd. It was working when we were here." He looked at Uozumi, who nodded confirmation.
Fujima noticed Hanagata looking around nervously and smiled, moving to comfort his friend. "Aww, c'mon, they must have just cut off the water temporarily, or for the night, or something like that. What, you think that someone came here and cut it off? There's no-one here but us."
"B-But--"
"Nono, listen. There are no ghosts. Only us."
Fine time for them to hear screams echoing from somewhere on the school's campus. The screams died away slowly, leaving silence.
The four boys looked at each other with shocked expressions.
And finally, a lone shriek of terror.
And again, silence.
Fujima was the first to move, his natural leadership coming to the fore. "That came from somewhere near the class we started in. Come on."
And he was off, followed closely by a rather reluctant and terrified Hanagata and the two stoic captains. Something weird was going on here, be it ghosts or pranks, and Fujima was determined to figure it out.
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End of Part Three
Author's Notes:
O.O
Wow, it took me a long time to get this one done and dusted. School was putting the pressure on me, and the first draft of this wasn't exactly terrific, so I re-did it. Now it's the summer holidays, and Pleiades, my partner-in-crime, is off vacationing in Japan, the lucky sod.
Anyway, apologies for the long long wait for this.
Now for the standard teasers for next time: What has happened to the rest of the boys? Who's bloodcurdling scream did Fujima and co. have the misfortune to hear? And who will be lucky enough to survive a night at Spika High? Stay tuned!
~T