Title: Riding the Roller Coaster (Part VII)
Author: ficeler37
Note: Don't own Mai-Hime. I'll let Sunrise take the credit.
Rating: PG
Word count: 1281

Summary: The haunted house.

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The Haunted House is designed to be like a maze with many dead ends filled with morbid surprises. A park worker stands at the entrance of the maze to make sure that people do not all enter the maze at the same time in order to intensify the fear in the visitors, making them feel like they are truly alone. For security purposes, there are panic buttons scatter all over the maze, just in case some visitors are unable to find their way out.

When Shizuru and Natsuki are waiting in line to enter the maze, they cannot help but notice a huge poster listing out rules to which visitors should pay attention while in the maze. Natsuki taps her foot nervously and reads through the poster in order to kill some time. 1. Please do not sit, kneel, or run while in the maze. Ok, fair enough. 2. Please do not engage in intimate activities in the dark. Uhm …okay? A slight blush appears on her cheeks. 3. Do feel free to scream. And they just had to add that last statement, didn't they? Natsuki's body trembles involuntarily as her face pales.

The attentive Shizuru is naturally taking in all of Natsuki's reactions. Could it be that Natsuki is scared of ghosts? Huh, I never would have guessed that about my brave Natsuki. To test her theory, Shizuru gets behind Natsuki, who seems to be zoned out due to her fear, and whispers with a coarse voice. "I didn't want to die"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Natsuki's sudden scream makes everyone turn around and stare at the source of the shriek. What they see is a gorgeous blue haired girl with her face all red glaring at a chestnut haired beauty who is laughing so hard that she has trouble standing up straight.

Damnit, how did Shizuru know that I'm scared of ghosts? Natsuki tries to stifle Shizuru's laughs with her famous death glare but to no avail. On the contrary, it only seems to make Shizuru laugh even harder.

Oh my god, just when I thought you couldn't get any more adorable. Natsuki, did you know that your combination of death glare and red cheeks almost gave me a heart attack? Afraid that Natsuki will storm out of the haunted house, Shizuru wipes away the tears at the corner of her eyes and reverts back to her usual elegant self. "Ara, I wonder if Natsuki will be brave to escort me to the end of the maze."

"Are you kidding? Me? Scared? Never!" The look on the green eyed girl's face spells steadfast determination, but the goosebumps on her arms tell a different story.

At last, it is our heroines' turn to enter the maze. Natsuki takes the lead and walks a few steps ahead of Shizuru, trying to prove her fearlessness. The first few minutes into the maze seems to be a warm-up. The girls see morbid scribbles and spider webs scattered all over the walls. Occasionally they run into funny mirrors at corners that give the illusion that their reflections are actual people standing in front of them.

Huh, this is not as bad as I had imagined. But is it cold in here or what? Natsuki puts her hands into her jeans pockets and curses silently. Suddenly, she remembers the reason they are in the maze in the first place. Damnit, Shizuru, you must be freezing by now.

The blue haired beauty turns around and finds her crimson eyed friend with her arms crossed in front of her chest and trembling slightly. "Are you cold, Shizuru?"

"Yea, a little." Shizuru offers a weak smile. Oops, I got too excited about seeing a frightened Natsuki and totally forgot about the cranked up air conditioning.

Without a word, Natsuki gets next to Shizuru and puts her arm around the older girl's shivering shoulder. She uses the same hand to rub Shizuru's arm gently to help her warm up faster. "You should have told me earlier." Natsuki lowers her head a bit and mumbles with a flushed face.

Shizuru closes her eyes and lets Natsuki lead their way. I feel much better now. Thank you, my sweet Natsuki. When the chestnut haired opens her eyes again, she spots a suspicious white figure lurking behind the corner that they are about to come across. Hm… intriguing.

Just as Shizuru had expected, after walking a few more steps forward, a person dressed entirely in white with a hideously bloody mask jumps out from behind the corner.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Taken by surprise, Natsuki hides her face at the crook of Shizuru's neck and squeezes the Kyoto woman's shoulder tightly. What is that? Get it away from me!

Shizuru brings her hand up to Natsuki's waist to pull her closer to her body and gazes at the white figure in front of her with a killer's intent. How dare you terrify my Natsuki? This is my privilege and mine alone.

Receiving Shizuru's version of a death glare, the person behind the bloody mask falls under the hallucination that ten thousand naginatas are flying towards him. "AHHHHH! Forgive me!" The 'ghost' disappears willingly into the darkness.

Seeing how Natsuki is still burying her head in her neck and griping firmly onto her shoulders, Shizuru can only shake her head lightly. Ho ho, this is a side of Natsuki that only I can see. I wish we can stay still for longer, but we have to keep moving. "Natsuki, it's ok now." Shizuru puts more pressure on the blue haired girl's waist to break her trance.

"Ah!" A moan escapes Natsuki's lips against her will, and she quickly breaks away from Shizuru's embrace.

Was that … a moan? Shizuru raises an eyebrow at Natsuki, whose face looks as if someone has just dumped red paint on her. Ara, I guess Natsuki is sensitive at the waist. One learns something new everyday, ho ho.

Natsuki clenches her fists tightly and stares intently at her feet. What just came out of my mouth? I can't believe I made that noise. This is so embarrassing! After a few seconds, the ice princess decides that she cannot stand the inquisitive glance of her friend any longer, so she starts walking forward without saying anything while her eyes are still stuck to the ground.

When Shizuru jogs after the quickly departing Natsuki, she spots another suspicious looking white figure a couple feet away. Another one? With her head down like that, Natsuki is not going to notice this 'ghost' either. Just as Shizuru tries to open her mouth to warn Natsuki, the white figure has already jumped out and completely entered into their view.

This time, instead of screaming out loud, Natsuki's face turns as white as a sheet of paper in a blink of an eye. A second later, her gut instinct makes her jump back a little, turns around, and runs the other way. Blinded by her fear, Natsuki forgets about Shizuru who has been jogging towards her. The two of them collide, and Natsuki pushes Shizuru down to the ground accidentally, unable to stop her own momentum.

Hey, I fell, but how come it doesn't hurt? And what's so soft in my right hand? Natsuki supports her body weight with her left hand and opens her eyes. What she sees is a pair of crimson eyes staring back at her with a look that she cannot quite discern. As if under hypnosis, somehow she feels like her body is getting heavier on its own, and her head is gradually being pulled down by gravity. At this moment, things no longer make sense in Natsuki's mind, and yet everything seems so right.

TBC.