Piglet: Hi there! It's nice to know that you still read my story. Hehe sorry I just never heard from you after the prologue. But I'm glad you still support my story; makes me smile. And thank you so much for catching my careless mistake. I was so keen on how to write out the design of the house and position of the rooms that I well…got…careless. So the little unknown girl is creeping you out eh? Excellent. I was writing that chapter at 1:30 a.m. in the morning. My computer room is the size of a small walk in closet and the windows that are right above my monitor are partially taped up (don't ask why…long story). So you can imagine what I was feeling while writing in a dark room late at night, the only light coming from the full moon filtering through the partially drawn curtains with the sounds of Beethoven's moonlight sonata to get me in the mood. Needless to say I had to turn on the lights. Well anyways, hope to hear more from you! Enjoy the next chapter. Peace.

CrazyButterfly (Crazy Fairy now right?): Wah! Do you really think it's creepy? Really really? Haha! I hope so. So you think its Tsukasa eh? Hehe. You're not the only one. But you must wait to find out. Oh and I hope you received my e-mail. Again I'm so sorry for the delay.

Lizzie: Yay! A new reader! It's been a while since I updated and I was thinking only two reviews…oh well…I didn't think that anyone else would review anymore until my next chapter. But I was wrong. Thank you very much. I appreciate the time you took to give me your comments. I hope that I do not disappoint you. Peace.

Az09: Wow…after not updating for how long I did not expect anyone else to review...but thanks a lot. Your feedback is encouraging. I've actually never seen the kindaichi case files…I only know it has something to do with mysteries…hehe…and no I did not cry…might have also been because I never ended up watching it….the tape is lost somewhere in the bowels of my basement…anyways enough of my ramblings….enjoy.

Shin-Ora: Thank you. Surreal eh? Hehe…and yes I think you should so write an HYD horror fic…I'd read it!...or maybe you have…I haven't been on fanfiction in a long time and I don't know what's been updated. But anyways…thanks so much for the support! I'll keep doing my best!

Moongur: Really? Is it really scary? Aww you flatter me so….and yes I do plan to finish this story…although how long it will take me is something else…I do try to sit down and write…but nothing likes to come out of my brain…plus I've been terribly busy with school and work but I've been itching to get back at this story…especially since Kamio-sensei recently put out her continued side story of HYD of what happened after the manga series…anyways…enough of this…on to the story!

Take my photo off the wall


If it just won't sing for you


'Cause all that's left has gone away


And there's nothing there for you to prove


Oh, look what you've done


You've made a fool of everyone


Oh well, it seems likes such fun


Until you lose what you had won… (Look What You've Done By: Jet)

Chapter Four – Step…Slide

"Where's Tsukushi? I'm hungry and I want to eat now." Shigeru pouted.

Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps thudding down the stairs caused their heads to turn towards the door. Tsukushi flung the door open. She walked partway into the room before stopping, her hands planted firmly against her hips. Her jaw was clenched and her brown eyes were narrowed in slight annoyance.

"Tsukushi what's wrong?" Yuki asked slowly approaching her friend. From behind her they saw a sheepish looking Rui. He was rubbing his head absently.

"Nothings wrong, except this one over here…" She jerked her thumb back in Rui's general direction. "…decides to ask me to come down to dinner."

"So? What happened?" Akira prodded.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

About to turn her head she screamed in terror as a rough hand grabbed her shoulder. She swung her opposite arm out blindly trying to ward off her unknown attacker. Her open palm connected with a loud smack against a solid object.

Tsukushi suddenly found herself leaning precariously over the bed, as her assailant suddenly released her shoulder. With nothing to hold her back, her forward momentum caused her to fall gracelessly of the bed; crashing face first onto the wood floor.

"Ow…" she groaned while trying to get up. She shakily pushed herself up digging her hands into the soft material…

She froze. Carefully she flexed her hands. She opened her eyes only realizing that she had not opened them yet. She looked down in horror. She was sitting on top of a very startled looking Rui her hands placed right on top of his chest; her fingers grasping the warm flesh through the thin material of his shirt.

"Makino, I had no idea. But we shouldn't. It's not right." He said, the corner of his mouth moving into a mischievous little smirk.

All the blood in her body suddenly rushed up to fill her face. She hastily stood up and turned away from him.

"Hanazawa Rui what are you doing in here? I thought you were sleeping."

"I was just calling you to come down and eat." He replied as he stood up and brushed off his pants.

She whirled on him narrowing her eyes slightly. "You shouldn't have scared me like that. My heart almost leapt into my throat!" She cried.

He chuckled at her nervousness. "Are you mad?"

She narrowed her eyes again but a tell tale little smirk formed on her face. "You…don't do that again. You can just call my name." Then she playfully hit his shoulder.

He smiled. "You violent woman. But you know your face was priceless…" He scrunched up his face in a poor imitation of her former expression. Then he began to laugh. She hadn't heard him laugh like that since he had first gotten his drivers license and had decided to 'kindly' drive her to school. "I should do that again."

She rolled her eyes then stopped halfway. "What! You mean you did that on purpose?" He continued to laugh. She grabbed a pillow off the bed and swung it at him catching him in the face. She repeatedly hit him with the pillow all the while yelling that if he ever did that again she'd 'fix him so that he'd never be able to take another nap'.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Akira and Soujirou were trying unsuccessfully to suppress their laughter. Shigeru was trying to stifle her giggles behind one discreet hand. Yuki was smiling knowing full well how easy it was to scare Tsukushi. Sakurako merely shook her head in amusement.

"Oh stop it all of you!" Tsukushi huffed and strode across the room. She sat herself on one of the chairs by the table with a huff, crossing her arms.

The rest of them took their seats. A young maid suddenly appeared to serve them the first course. Shigeru chattered excitedly about her room and the view. "How are the rooms on the right Yuki?"

"Oh I love it! I've never slept in a four-poster before. Are you supposed to draw the curtains when you sleep though?"

"Only if you want some privacy." Akira smirked wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. He leisurely took a sip of his chilled sake and quickly choked on the liquid upon catching the hard glare from Tsukushi across the table.

"Mimasaka – san! No perverted comments while eating please! I don't want Yuki's innocence to be tainted by you!"

"Relax Makino, he was just teasing." Soujirou interjected.

She grumbled an incoherent response under her breath, something about perverts and reverse-pedophiles. She carefully spooned some of the steaming white cream soup that the maid was offering her onto her plate. After all the years she spent eating with the F4, Tsukushi could still not have other people serve her. She blew on the hot liquid and gingerly placed the spoon in her mouth. The warm liquid slid easily down her throat, its creamy texture coating her tongue.

"Wah! Oishii desu!" she cried already forgetting her earlier annoyance. They continued to eat in silence, once in a while someone would ask about the house. As they began their third course, Tsukushi noticed that it was the same maid serving the meal.

"Nishikado – san? Are there any other people in the house other than us?"

"It's just us now. The staff goes home at the end of every day."

"They don't live on the grounds?" Sakurako asked.

Soujirou cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his napkin before replying. "No. There is another smaller village just twenty minutes away from us; towards the east. The house originally was just maintained by the previous family and since it's been closed for several years there was no real need to have any live-in staff. Course, I don't know how often I'll use this place so I might have an addition attached to accommodate more people."

"No live-in staff? But then what—?" Tsukushi stopped with spoon mid-way towards her mouth.

"What is it Tsukushi? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Huh?" Tsukushi placed her spoon down and looked over at Yuki. "Oh, no, it's just earlier when we were just getting in; you know when I dropped my purse? I thought I saw someone in one of the upstairs windows. I thought it may have been a maid or something."

"Oh it was probably a doll that you saw." Akira offered. He took a sip of sake before turning towards Soujirou. "Didn't you mention to me before that the previous owner used to make hand-crafted dolls or something?"

"Oh that's right." Soujirou said while snapping his fingers. "The curator mentioned something about the previous tenants not taking everything with them. I haven't been into some of the store rooms so there may be some still around. Where did you see it?" He asked while placing a piece of food into his mouth.

"It was…" Tsukushi scrunched up her face trying to imagine the layout of the house. "I think it was one of the bedrooms…yeah…I'm pretty sure it was the room I tried to get into earlier. The locked one, but I could have sworn it was a person; whatever it was even backed away from the window."

"Maybe it fell over." Sakurako suggested.

"Yeah because when we went into the house first we heard a soft thud coming from the upstairs." Shigeru added.

"That's most likely what you saw." Rui commented in a matter of fact tone.

"I guess." But Tsukushi still wasn't sure. Nonetheless she picked up her spoon to finish eating. The rest of the meal was dominated by light conversation; school, business, and the like. There was no more mention of the house.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Wah! What a nice dinner! I'm so full! Thanks for the meal!" Yuki smiled contentedly while patting her stomach. She smiled around the table at her friends who wore equal expressions of satisfaction.

Tsukushi lifted her arms as the maid quickly circled around the table collecting their dishes. With a whirl of her skirt she carefully walked away, disappearing into a door that she assumed led to the kitchen. "Hey it's still early. Is there anything we can do?" She asked while glancing at the clock on the wall. It read 9:23 p.m.

"We could go into town."

"Let's sleep."

"But isn't it an hour drive away?"

"Sleep is calling."

"True."

"Sleeeeeeeep…" Was the long drawn out reply from a certain individual that shall remain nameless.

"…"

"We can go into town tomorrow. During the day."

"Night equals sleep."

"Maybe in your house. But for me night time is a time to be doing other things."

"…"

"How about a movie then?" Tsukushi asked.

"OOOOH! Yeah! Let's have a movie night!" Shigeru squealed excitedly clapping her hands. Before a consensus could be met Shigeru was already up and ushering people out of their seats. "C'mon it'll be fun!" She linked her arm with Rui's and Sakurako's to try and hoist them out of their seats.

"Move it people! Let's go!"

Everyone slowly got out of their seats and followed an energized Shigeru out across the main foyer and towards the common room. She pulled open the double doors, flicked on the light and stepped in. The room was bright and spacious albeit a little cool. Tsukushi rubbed her arms absently as she stepped over the threshold. The room like all the other rooms in the house had a fairly high ceiling. The walls were a rich red colour. It complimented the off white carpet nicely. At the left end of the room was a billiards table. It was situated beside a pin ball machine. Several lounge chairs were loosely circled around a fireplace to Tsukushi's right. Unlike the rest of the house, this room was lit by modern lights along the walls and floor lights set into the carpet.

"So Tsukushi what do you want to see? Everyone said it didn't really matter to them. What about you any preference?" Shigeru asked as she rifled through Soujirou's DVD collection. "Tsukushi?" She looked up to see Tsukushi still looking around the room.

"Tsukushi – chan?" Yuki called to her finally getting her to turn around. "Shigeru – san is asking you about what movie you might want to watch."

"Oh doesn't matter anything will be fine." She rubbed her arms again and glanced around at the others.

Soujirou was showing Yuki and Sakurako the pin ball machine. Rui had crashed on one of the lounge chairs and looked like he was about to fall asleep while Akira was setting up some wood in order to start the fireplace.

"Hey guys I'm going to go grab a sweater from my room. I'll be right back."

She turned around and walked out the door shutting it closed behind her. Her slippered feet padded soundlessly up the grand staircase. Her eyes moved upward at the large painting at the top. The princesses' deep set eye stared back at her. Tsukushi suddenly stopped her ascent up the stairs and narrowed her eyes in confusion. For a crazy second there she thought the eyes were really staring back at her. Almost like they could see right through to her soul. Looking at me…really…. It's just painted really well. She shook her head and continued up to the second story. She quickly made her way down the short corridor to her room and rifled through her luggage for a sweater. She finally selected a blue zip up hoodie. She put it on, and turned towards the exit when suddenly from the corner of her eye she saw her open door shut close.

The resounding thud caused her to jump slightly. She could faintly hear the sound of light steps outside her door. That Rui. He never learns. She frowned and strode quickly towards her door.

"Hanazawa Rui what did I tell you about—" She huffed as she grasped the handle and pulled it open. But Rui wasn't there. Tsukushi was alone with only the silence of the hallway to greet her. She stepped out into the empty corridor her frown deepening.

"What the—?" Tsukushi took a couple tentative steps into the hall before closing her door. She looked around once more hearing nothing. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders. She took a step ahead down the corridor. However a sudden noise made her stop. She slowly turned her head in the direction of …

… the room with the locked door. She held her breath and listened closely. She could hear the barest hint of movement. She slowly walked toward it and laid her ear against the wood door. One hand she placed near her head, the other rested lightly on the door knob. She swallowed thickly at what she could hear. Mice? No—it's… Footsteps? From within the room Tsukushi could faintly hear something walking. But it was labored. As if they were dragging one leg.

Step.

Slide.

Step.

Slide.

The movement was so slow that Tsukushi almost didn't notice that the sound was approaching the door. She cautiously took one step back. Two steps. Three. Her eyes widened as she saw the door knob appear to turn. On instinct she quickly turned to bolt and ended up crashing into a very startled Yuki.

"Whoa! Tsukushi what's wrong?" Yuki asked holding her friend up.

"Eh?" Tsukushi turned her head back to the door. The knob was still and the noise gone.

"Tsukushi?"

"Huh? Oh, I thought I heard something. But I guess it was nothing." Was her tentative reply as she straightened up.

"Okay, well I just came up to get you. The movie is starting now. Let's go down together." Tsukushi nodded and followed her friend downstairs. Back inside the common room, Akira had gotten the fire going and someone had turned off the rest of the lights. Shigeru had selected a comedy. Soon everyone was laughing engrossed in the movie's plot. Everyone but Tsukushi. She sat quietly on the floor in front of Yuki just staring blankly at the screen. Her mind going over what just happened.

It must have been some mice or something. Or something rolled over on the floor. She thought to herself. She repeated it over and over trying to convince herself. Once she adequately drilled it into her head she was able to focus on the movie and enjoy herself a little.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Haha! That was a funny movie!" Shigeru laughed.

"I liked the part where the girl was trying to make a good exit but ended up walking into a street light." Yuki giggled.

"Oh my, it's getting late. I need my beauty rest people." Sakurako yawned.

"For once I agree." Akira said. Everyone got up from their various positions and stretched. They were laughing lightly amongst themselves as they made their way to their bedrooms.

"Good night everyone!"

"Night."

"Nighty night."

"Oyasumi!"

"Sleeeeeeeep…"

Tsukushi closed her door and quickly got ready for bed. The day had been long and her muscles ached slightly from sitting on the floor for so long. She glanced at her bags and decided to unpack tomorrow. She promptly flopped onto the bed and crawled under the sheets. Her eyes soon drooped heavily with fatigue. The last thing she was aware of before losing consciousness was the sound of steps and slides…

To be Continued…

A/N: Well…it has certainly been a long time since my last update. But here I am alive and well. Thanks a lot to those who support me. I really appreciate it. You've all motivated me to start writing again. Now to anyone wondering. I do intend to finish writing this story…I just don't know how often I'll be able to sit down and write. But with continual support I'll try my best to write well and update frequently. And by frequently I mean hopefully more than once a year.

Well review if you like and feel free to point out any inaccuracies or inconsistencies. Peace.