Chapter 5
by Whitemeteor
"What should we do now? We can't-"
Knock, knock, knock...then it got louder knock, knock, knock!! Momiji looked at the two dark figures at the door and held onto Tohru. Lightning streaked across the sky, accompanied by a clash of thunder. Momiji and Tohru let out a whimper.
"It's just Ayame and Kagura," Hatori said calmly.
Momiji let out a sigh and opened the door.
"Ayame-san, Kagura-san, why are you guys here?" Tohru asked.
"Well, my beloved otouto got his first job and being the proud oniisan I am, I must come congratulate him plus to give him my moral support. That, and as I was driving home, it began to rain cats and dogs, so it good thing Kagura ran into me. She told me she wanted to come here, and I didn't want her to get her outfit wet, since water is terrible for-"
Hatori looked at Kagura and asked, "Why are you here?"
"Shigure told me Kyou was here and I know he hates rainy weather, so I came to cheer him up."
"You saw Shigure?"
"Nope, I phoned his house," Kagura said.
"How long ago?" Hatori asked.
"Um...20 minutes or so, maybe less."
"So where's Yuki?" Ayame asked.
.
Yuki couldn't believe it, the place went from freezing to scorching in 20 minutes. It was way hotter than this afternoon. Both Kyou and himself transformed to their animal form.
"You guys ok?!" Momiji yelled.
"No, and Kyou looks especially terrible," Yuki called.
"Oh, you look-" Kyou began but was interrupted by the door flying open and Kagura rushing in and picking him up.
Kagura began shaking Kyou like a rag doll and asked, "Are you ok, Kyou-kun?!?!"
"Not if you keep shaking him like that," Hatori said.
"Don't worry Kyou! I'll take you home!" Kagura shouted and ran off like a rocket.
"..."
"Yuki! Are you ok? What happened? You're in your animal form!" Ayame said holding him tightly.
An evil crackling, "Looks like the baka neko and Kagura-san left the building. Well I won't let anyone else leave."
"What's that voice?" Tohru asked in a squeaky voice.
"I don't know..." Yuki said, "but there's been that voice and the keyboards constantly tapping away..."
As if on cue the keys on the keyboard began to move and spelt out the message:
YOU WILL PAY
KUSO NEZUMI
HONDA-SAN
MOMIJI-SAN
HATORI-SAN
AYAMA-SAN
"A ghost!" Momiji cried.
"There are no ghosts, only people who pose as ghost," Hatori said calmly.
Yuki actually agreed with Momiji on this one. Of course, his oniisan was on Hatori's side, "Tori-san's right. Someone is trying to scare my otouto and ruin his first job. I, Sohma Ayame, will not allow such a thing to happen!"
"I need to get home..." Momiji said, "Ha'ri take me home."
"Would you stay for a new outfit?" Ayame asked suggestively.
Momiji looked conflicted. Yuki wanted to tell him to refuse but restrained himself; he couldn't let the others know he was frightened.
"Oh...alright," Momiji said.
"Great! I got a plan, gang! Let's split up! That way we could cover more ground. I want to be with Yuki and-"
"No!" Yuki said.
"Whoever teams up with Yuki should get him some water, he must be dehydrated being in this heat for so long," Hatori said.
"Oh, oh, oh! Pick me!! I'll take him to the kitchen!" Momiji said jumping up and down, "give Yuki to me."Hesitantly Ayame handed Yuki over, "Take good care of him. Don't let anyone harm him, or any stray cats near him. Remember to boil the water before giving it to him or else-"
"I think Momiji knows," Hatori stated.
"Oh, ok, Tori-san. Guess the three of us will be a group. Oh, Momiji!!" Ayame called after him, "start searching the floors from the bottom up for the culprit. We'll start from the top!!"
"Kay!!" Momiji shouted back cheerfully.
"I want to check this room," Hatori said, "you guys go ahead."
"I can't leave you here, it's dangerous. What if you're attacked?" Ayame asked.
"I'll be fine," Hatori said and added with authority, "go."
Ayame hesitated but then grabbed Tohru's hand, "Alright, we'll go ahead. Come on Tohru-kun lets go."
"Uh...hai. Be careful, Hatori-san," Tohru said being dragged away by an enthusiastic Ayame.
Hatori picked up the keyboard and examined the cord.
"Brave aren't we Ha-tori-san?"
"You sound familiar, you've masked your voice but you couldn't change your tone fluctuation. Who are you?"
No reply but the keys on the keyboard began moving again:
HAD A NAME ONCE.
FORGOT IT.
"Why don't you speak anymore? Or show yourself?" Hatori challenged.
It replied with a message:
I'M A GHOST.
YOU CAN'T SEE ME.
"Then prove your existence, if you can tap keys on a keyboard, you can touch me."
As Hatori suspected there was no reply, only silence.
.
Momiji tugged on the doorknob, "Iie it's locked."
"Hold me up to the doorknob," Yuki said.
"Ok..."
Yuki stuck his tail into the key hole and after a moment there was a click sound. Momiji opened the door and stared at him, "Amazing! How did you do that?!"
Yuki strugged, then looked at his rat buddies piled on top of each other behind the door and thought, Thanks guys.'
Momiji turned on the tap and put a bowl of water on the table. Then put Yuki there and proceeded to the fridge, "Do you want anything to eat Yuki? Cheese?"
"No," Yuki said and ran to the rats and asked them, "have you guys seen anthing suspicious?"
"Ooooh! Marshmallows!" Momiji cried.
.
"Floor 17," Ayame said pushing the button, "Tohru-kun do you believe in ghost?"
"I...I guess..." she said, "do you?"
"Well, Tori-san said they don't exist so I guess I don't. But wouldn't it be cool to meet one? I wonder if they really are this white flying sheet. Cause if they are, they really have to work on another outfit. How is looking like a giant pillow suppose to be scary? And I always wonder if you could really run through a ghost, do you get slime all over yourself or..." Ayame began and continued
.
Unknown to all of them, they were being observed by the cameras. A finger went to the emergency stop button that controlled the elevator.
.
The elevator stopped and the light went out. Tohru let out a yelp and bumped into Ayame.
POOF!
The elevator door opened just as Tohru jumped back and was about to apologize, "Gomen na-"
Ayame tried to get out as well, but as he was slithering towards the door, it closed on him. He could hear Tohru's scream.
.
Momiji heard screaming from the floor above and pulled his head out for the fridge, "Ruh-roh."
He swallowed the mouthful of food and grabbed Yuki from the countertop, then raced out, "Tohru!"
.
Hatori was on his way to the main control room, I'm positive the culprit is there. If I'm not mistaken it has to be him. No one else would do such a thing.'
He got to the control room which had a sign saying: Authorized Personnel Only.
He grabbed the handle and turned to find it locked. Someone came up from his right side, he turned but before he could see who it was, the person took off his glasses, "Yoinks."
Upon hearing the voice, he was 100% sure he knew who it was. The door to the control room opened and someone else ran out. Hatori squinted to see who the second retreating figure was but without his glasses, all he saw was a blur, There's two people?'
.
"A-ya, are you in there?"
"Momiji!! Yes, I'm in here! Do you see Tohru-chan?! I figured out what the culprit is truly after! Would you like to hear about it?" without giving Momiji a chance to reply Ayame continued, "of course you would. Scaring us was just part of his plan, I assume it's a he, because in order for my reasoning to make sense, the person would have to be a he - well, not necessarily but it would be less confusing. The person he was after all along is Tohru-chan! He's probably a sad, lonely, hermit in need of some loving and-"
Momiji looked at Yuki and asked, "Can you call your friends out to help us open the elevator door?"
Yuki, the rat, looked at him and let out a soft squeak.
"Ok, then..."
The door opened and Ayame crawled out, "Momiji!! Yuki!! I'm so happy to see you guys. Where did that guy go? You got here pretty quick, you should've seen him."
"What if it was a ghost?" Momiji asked fearfully.
"I doubt it. Unless there are warm ghosts, but I always assumed ghost were cold entities. Guess I- Yuki are you cold, you're shivering. Come to niisan"
Yuki scurried into Momiji's pocket.
.
Hatori squinted at the screen, he turned on the volume for screen 4 and heard Ayame explain how in his snake form, he sensed heat from the person who snatched Tohru, and proceed to explain his ingenious' plan to capture the guy, by using himself as bait and luring the guy out.
Hatori quickly turned the volume off and focused his attention to screen 10. He spoke into the intercom, "Ayame, Momiji the culprits are on the 7th floor and running up. Take the elevator to the 10th floor and drive them down. I'll be waiting on the bottom floor."
"Hai!!" Ayame cried, "quick Momiji. Go, go, go!!"
Hatori looked at the two people running up the stairs, Guess I should go and wait for them.'
.
Yuki frowned, Stupid Momiji! How could he have mistaken me for a common rat? And he trapped me in here too, least he could've done while running out in such a hurry was leave the door open. Just because I can unlock the door doesn't mean I can open it and the only way of escaping according to the rats was the air ducts or pipes. And I can't go through either. What if I turned back while in them? I'll be squished. Unbelievable! Bet no one else has this kind of problem on their first day at work.'
The door opened.
"About time you realized that-" Yuki began and froze, what the-
.
Momiji got over his fear when Ayame and Hatori assured him the culprits was human. He found this very exciting, but the two guys were oddballs, they had brown paper bags over their heads.
They got to the main floor where Hatori stood. Momiji smiled, "Trapped."
"I think you should give me back my glasses," Hatori said holding out his hands.
The taller of the two handed them back to him. Hatori put it on, "You are so troublesome. And how did you convince him to help you with this?"
Ayame whispered to Momiji, "Ask Hatori if he knows them."
"Ha'ri you know them?"
"Ayame you can speak. You know them too. They're..."
TBC
As for my challenge...your profile didn't really help me choose something. So I guess my challenge will be...have parody as a sub-genre/main genre (it can be of NEthing U want, but hopefully it's a parody or something popular that everyone knows like LOTR, HP, Care Bears? L)