Hello again! I got back from the baseball game. The home team lost 0-9... But oh well, I won't let that get me down! If anything, I got a shiny blue souvenir mini baseball bat!

Anyway, let's get this chapter underway.

---Kouji Tamino

Love Hina Next: Second Phase

Week 2, Day 7: Conversation With a Sad Spirit… (Haunted Adventure, Part 3)

Still walking through the dark hallway, the group happens across a porcelain doll in the hallway. "Aww, such a cute doll…" Ami said, holding her cheeks. She got a closer look at it. "Oh, but it has a crack on it's face…"

Shinichi gasped. "Hey, I remember that thing! I accidentally broke it when I was younger…"

Suddenly, it hopped up, scaring everyone. It smiled evilly and jumped at Shinichi. He yelled and ran down the hallway. Everyone watched Shinichi get chased down a hallway and sweat dropped.

Shinichi screamed, running down the hallway. "Gyaaah!! I'm sorry for accidentally knocking you off of my mother's drawer!!" He was running away from a doll in a blue dress. It was pale looking, had short black hair, brown eyes, and had a crack in it's porcelain head.

The doll spoke with a soft, yet cruel voice. "You will pay for messing up my beautiful face!" She jumped on his back and began to pelt him with her hard hands. "Die!!"

Shinichi yelled. "Ow! Hey, it was an accident!!" He grabbed the doll and attempted to toss it off of him. But unfortunately, it grabbed onto his arm and began to bite into his arm. "Gaaaahh!! Hey, stop that!!" He swung his arm around until he accidentally smacked the doll into a wall, shattering it's head. He looked down to the ground and raised an eyebrow. "Geez, that was crazy…" He looked down in the direction he had been running away from. "Now to go get back to the others…"

Suddenly, the now headless doll jumped on Shinichi's back, then ran up and latched itself on Shinichi's head. In a deeper, almost demonic voice, it screamed. "You cannot beat me that easily!! Now you shall perish so that I may feast upon your flesh and quench my thirst with your blood!!"

"Noooo, I don't want to die!!" Shinichi reached for the doll, yanked it away, then tore it to pieces. He breathed heavily as he looked at the pieces of the doll on the ground. He bowed. "Rest in peace…" He then ran down the hallway to meet up with the others.

"My, do you think that Shinichi is all right?" Megumi began, a look of worry on her face.

Junko crossed her arms. "I'm sure he's okay… I mean, he got chased by a doll… He'd have to be really pathetic in order to not be able to handle that…"

Sakura nodded. "She's right about that…"

Junko sighed. "So, shall we keep going?"

"Shouldn't we wait for Shinichi, though?" Ami asked, looking in the direction the doll had chased her friend.

Junko rolled her eyes. "Possessed or not, it was still just a doll… He'll be fine." She raised an eyebrow as she heard someone walking down the hallway. "See, here he is now…" She turned around and began to walk in the direction the dog had went in. "Now let's -- gah?" She was grabbed by the collar. She looked in the direction of the culprit. "What the hell is it, Sakura?"

Sakura pointed to a walking suit of armor. "Th-that!"

Junko sighed in exasperation and walked over to the suit of armor. "Look, it's obviously Shinichi dressed up trying to scare us…"

Megumi raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, that doesn't sound like Shinichi…"

Junko pulled the helmet off. "Then explain this!"

Tenshi gasped and pointed. "Th-th-the--"

Junko frowned. "What is it? Spit it out!"

Kai sighed and pointed. "The thing has no head…"

Junko turned around to see what they were talking about. "What are you ta-" She gasped as she saw that the empty suit of armor really was empty. "Um… Heh heh…" She ran as the armor raised an axe and attempted to slice her in two. Junko was frozen in one spot.

"Junko!!" Kimomo screamed, running up and blocking the axe with her sword. She sighed in relief. Her eyes widened as the axe was tossed toward her, then she smirked as a force field Ami had put up protected her. "Not that easy to hit us, now is it?" She and the others sweat dropped as the empty suit of armor snapped it's fingers and stomped away. "Oh well, looks like we won't have to worry about that guy anymore!!"

"Um, Kimomo…" Megumi began. "You spoke too soon…" She pointed to the suit of armor, which had returned with a chain saw. "He's back and has bigger toys, too!"

Ami yawned and put a hand out towards the suit of armor. It fell into a heap on the floor. "Well, that's that! Let's get going, shall we?" She was suddenly grabbed from behind. "Eek!" She looked back to her captor and giggled. "Um… Hey there?…"

"Hi there…" Sakura muttered. "Could you have done that a few minutes ago, and to the doll that chased Shinichi away?…"

Ami blushed, nodding. "Now that you mention it, yeah…"

Sakura crossed her arms, nodding. "Uh huh… And why didn't you?"

Ami giggled nervously. "Um… I don't know! Sorry!"

Junko sighed. "And once again, we waste more time… I'll be surprised if my sisters bones are left when we finally get there…"

Ami frowned. "Hey, that's a pretty mean thing to say…" She sweat dropped. "Um, even if it may be true…"

Just then, Shinichi came running up. "Um, hey everyone! Sorry it took so long, but that doll was persistent! I smashed it's head and it was still after me! So I eventually had to tear the thing to bits!"

Ami pouted. "Aww, it was so cute, though! Did you have to wreck it?"

Shinichi coughed, staring at her. "Um, it was kind of a kill or be killed situation, so I sort of had no choice…"

Ami cheered up a bit. "Oh, okay…" She smiled. "As long as you're safe!"

Suddenly, the black dog appeared again, growling at them all. Junko glared. "So you're back to get another one of us, huh?…"

Megumi quickly snatched up the bunnies and held them up. "Take them! Take the evil bunnies!"

Kai glared at Megumi. "You're asking for it, lady…"

Junko pounced on the dog. It yelped and ran back in the direction it came, dragging Junko with her. "I'll try to slow it down!" Junko managed to yell out. "You guys chase it and don't let it out of your sight!!"

And so, they all chased the dog down the hallway until they reached a huge room. They looked around in awe, Shinichi taking a gulp. "I think this is where the ballroom was supposed to be…"

"So, you've finally found me…" a female voice said. Everyone looked upwards to see the ghost of a woman with black hair, and a white, frilly dress. Her eyes were completely white, devoid of color. She slowly floated down and petted the black dog. "Why do you disturb my home?"

Junko quickly stood up. "Because your stupid dog kidnapped my sister!"

The ghost glared. "Fluffy protects this place from intruders… You were the ones that came up here… First you people tear down my home, then you invade the floor of this house that I have made my home."

Junko growled under her breath. "Look! You're dead! This isn't your house anymore!! Get over it!!"

Tenshi coughed. "Um, Junko… I don't think you should talk to a powerful ghost like that…"

"You should listen the rabbit, girl…" the ghost woman threatened.

Junko stuck her tongue out. "You don't scare me! Now what did you do with my sister?"

The ghost smiled. "Oh, that sweet child? She's your sister? I never would have known… She's so polite and well behaved! Shame that she's related to you…"

Junko sighed. "All right, I'm sorry for being rude… Now where is my sister, please?"

The ghost nodded. "By the way, my name is Kairi Hikibi… Your sister is in the play room, located to the right…"

Junko nodded. "Thank you…" She ran over to the room while the others stared up at the ghost, Kairi. Ami smiled. "I'm impressed… You managed to pull this whole thing off while being a ghost?"

Kairi nodded, smiling sadly. "You see, I've managed to retain my powers through my emotions…"

Ami tilted her head. "Hm?"

"I haven't been truly happy in years…" Kairi looked away. "My depression is what retains my powers and is what's keeping me in the living world…"

Megumi frowned. "That's so sad… Is it because the loss of your husband?"

"… Who told you that?" Kairi asked, glaring.

Everyone pointed at Shinichi. Shinichi looked around. "Hey! It was my grandmother that told me the story!"

Kairi smiled slightly. "Oh, it's okay…"

Naoko walked up and smiled. "Hey, everyone! I hope you didn't worry about me! Fluffy is such a good doggy and Ms. Hibiki is a nice lady!"

Kairi smiled. "Yes, Naoko, but I think your friends want you back…"

Naoko pouted. "Awww, I wanted to stay here a little longer…" She cried as Junko grabbed her ear and dragged her out. "Waaah! Big sister, you can be sooo mean!"

Junko rubbed her temples. "Naoko, I just want to get out of this freaky place as soon as possible… And I'm not leaving without you!"

Ami smiled nervously, waving at Kairi. "Well, looks like we have to go!"

Kairi nodded. "That's all right… I understand… You all have your own lives to get back to… But thank you for bringing this lonely ghost some company… And treating me like a person…" She giggled and quickly added. "Oh, and sorry about almost killing you with my traps earlier!"

Kimomo and Sakura sweat dropped. "Yeah, really…"

Shinichi grinned. "Don't worry, we'll be sure to make another visit as soon as we can!"

Sakura finally nailed the last plank in. "There! Now the ceiling and floor are fixed!"

Kimomo sighed. "Finally! Back in the outside world!" She smiled at the others. "Well, I have to get going now! I've been gone for over a week and the others are sure to be getting worried by now!"

Ami waved goodbye, soon followed by the others. "Goodbye, Kimomo! Thanks for your help!"

Shinichi chuckled. "Well, she was interesting… This whole day was interesting, in fact… Almost got killed again and met a real life ghost!"

Sakura nodded. "That ghost woman, Kairi, turned out to be very nice! I'd like to talk to her again someday!"

Naoko sighed. "Junko doesn't seem to think so…"

Tenshi looked around. "Hm? Where'd Kai go?"

Meanwhile, in the bath room, Junko was soaking in the water. "Ugh, I feel so dirty…" She looked around. "There'd better not be any perverted bunnies out there!" She listened for a few seconds. Not hearing any noise, she relaxed a bit more, slowly sinking under the water. "Peh… Ghosts…"

End of Day 7

Sorry for the rushed ending. I'm really tired right now. I was actually falling asleep at the keyboard, and I've never done that. I'm going to try and get some more sleep and hopefully get enough rest for the next time.

---Kouji Tamino