Brief Notes: I decided to release this kind of early. Also, some of you have been throwing theories in your reviews about Shizuru and Natsuki and all I can say is…you'll just have to wait and see.

And no, this isn't a horror story, so nobody will die…probably.

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"What about my candy?"

"You're the one who didn't want to stop by the house."

"No you're the one who didn't."

"…I'll put it in my locker."

The sisters climbed the last few steps to the high school. The low drum turned into a pulsing beat when Natsuki opened the metal door, and a wave of warmth overcame them. The entryway was lit by dim orange lights and dark streamers hung over the wide hallways and across the walls. Decorated signs taped everywhere wished the readers a 'Happy Halloween' and pointed towards the gym, where the noise and laughter was coming from.

"Go and stay in the gym." Natsuki held up Alyssa's lumpy candy bag. "I'll go put this away now."

Alyssa glanced at the dark hallway Natsuki motioned to and nodded her head. She didn't need to be told twice.

When Alyssa's steps faded into the party music, Natsuki began down the dark hallway from before. The dim light reflected off the locker's edges and tilted floors, but after a couple steps Natsuki found herself in complete darkness. The music fell into a dull beat and her steps created the loudest sounds in the empty hallway. She pasted by glass displays and the freshmen science classrooms, taking a sharp right and climbing the staircase that rested there. Her locker, '238' sat only a couple feet away, on the opposite wall of the stairway. Posters and pictures covered the surface and it was kept shut by a large foil-blue combination lock.

Natsuki set the candy down and opened the lock with a small click. She had to shove a bit, but the candy fit, squished comfortably at the top next to her beat-up calculus book.

Satisfied, the dark haired girl turned to take the same path down as she did up. When she passed the glass cases, her ears picked up on a faint sound. Her feet slowed until they eventually stopped and Natsuki strained her ears, trying to separate the odd sound from the distant party music. Was there even a sound to separate? Her feet began to backtrack slowly, and if Natsuki had been paying attention she'd know that she was drifting towards the oldest part of the school, once something else but now the music rooms and hallways.

What is that? Natsuki thought, turning around completely. It was much darker in the old parts of the school, her eyes hadn't adjusted yet.

The sound grew and filtered into her head as a wonderful tune, something Natsuki knew she'd heard somewhere before…or maybe it was the sound that she had heard before and not the tune.

She came to an intersection, the once center of the old school. A soda machine hummed to her left, and gave the area a small glow, enough for Natsuki to see the music posters on the chalky walls. And it was there that Natsuki figured out what the sound was: a piano.

"A piano…."

"Natsuki!"

Natsuki jumped around, and found several people jogging towards her, each one of them using the screens of their cell phones for guidance. She blinked when they came closer, the tunes of the piano all but forgotten.

"Mai...Nao? And Chie?" Natsuki looked at each of her friends all covered in their Halloween getups. A witch, a pirate…and Chie was….

"Chie what are you?"

Chie flicked her black bangs back and smiled, showing a set of plastic fangs.

Oh. Natsuki grunted. The tuxedo had thrown her off. She shoved her hands in her pockets. "How original. You do know those are glowing right?"

This sent Nao into a fit of laughter, the fake parrot resting on her shoulder flapping back and forth with her convulsions. She calmed enough to spit out a, "That's what I told her at the Halloween shop!" before falling into a new fit.

Chie sighed dramatically and gave Nao a hard jab to the side. "It doesn't matter, they were cheap." She held up her cell phone to her mouth and grinned. "And besides, as long as I stay in the light, nobody'll know."

"Natsuki," Mai said, grabbing to girl's arm while glancing around, towards the dark hallways. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"The party, where else." Nao sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Man, Alyssa was right. You feeling alright?"

"What did she—"

"Nothing." Mai shot Nao a glare. "Just that you were taking awhile to get back, and that she was worried."

Natsuki blinked. "Yeah…but you guys know my locker's on the second floor."

Nao flipped up her eye patch and took a mock-look around. "Well, the second floor sure looks different in the dark."

"…."

Chie shuffled her feet and checked the time on her phone. "Mm, I'd love to stay and chat, but Aoi can't wait." She began to stroll back towards the party.

"She'll never like you if you keep going on with other girls." Nao called out and followed her, turning only to motion for Mai and Natsuki to follow.

Natsuki moved, but Mai pulled her back. "Natsuki…."

"Hm?"

"Is…everything alright with you?"

Natsuki looked away. "More walking, less talking."

"I'm serious."

"So am I. I want to see Chie get burned."

"Natsuki, Alyssa told us—"

"Told you what?" Natsuki's body went rigid.

Mai bit her lip. "Just that you've been acting sort of weird…and that you wandered into the graveyard earlier…."

Natsuki sighed. "I saw someone out there and went to investigate."

"Alyssa said—"

"Alyssa shouldn't be saying anything. It's my business." Natsuki jerked her arm free and stalked off.

Mai's shoulders slumped. Natsuki? She took after her friend. "Natsuki why—"

"Drop it Mai."

"You left your nine years old sister alone at night—"

"Drop it."

"For a…a stranger in the middle of the dark, Natsuki you could have been hurt—could have gotten your sister hurt!"

"I'm warning you Mai—,"

"And now you act like this. For what? Natsuki what—"

"Shut up!" Natsuki's voice bounced off the lockers and walls, stunning Mai into silence.

"Natsuki…."

Natsuki stopped and turned away from her, running a shaky hand through her hair. She exhaled through her nose. "Mai just, leave it alone, please? Alyssa fine, I'm fine."

Mai narrowed her eyes. "You ignored us earlier."

Natsuki froze. "What do you mean?"

Mai adjusted her pointy hat and nudged Natsuki with her hand, making the girl face her. She faulted when she saw Natsuki's face, but went on a second later. "You…earlier, by the trophy cases. We called your name several times, but all you did was back up, further down the old hallways and…then we couldn't see you, because of the darkness." Mai paused and smiled weakly. "You had this look on your face, like you weren't really there, like you didn't recognize us."

Natsuki clenched her hands into fists. She didn't remember hearing Mai until the old intersection. She remembered hearing only—

"—a piano."

"What—"

"A piano. I heard a piano playing." Natsuki said quickly, wiping her hands on her jeans. "I...must have not heard you over the piano."

"We shouted pretty loudly Natsuki. Nao even insulted you."

"…."

"Plus, why would someone be down in the music halls? They always keep those locked up after school hours, more so than the newer parts."

"I don't know. I just heard what I heard, okay?"

Mai's shoulders slumped. "Let's…just drop this for now and have a good time, alright? We'll talk about this sometime tomorrow, or maybe later next week."

Natsuki grunted, never wanting to talk about it again, and nodded. Then she remembered something. "Hey, Mai."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know…? Have you heard…?" Mai waited and Natsuki shook her head. "Never mind."

Mai's mouth twitched into a frown, but she didn't say anything. She tugged at Natsuki's sleeve and the two made their way into the gym.

Natsuki was assaulted by a mix of lights, music and smells. A middle aged man in a skeleton outfit sang from the stage set up over by the far wall, his moldy band keeping an earsplitting rhythm. Never fond of people and small spaces, Natsuki inched her way along the matted wall and towards the food tables while Mai headed a different direction. There, she found Alyssa munching on a greasy slice of cheese pizza.

Natsuki snatched the other slice Alyssa had resting on her paper plate and leaned down. "Never tell anyone my business again." She took a large bite, savoring the taste and heat, and didn't spare her sister another glance.

"Natsuki!" Nao strolled up, a thin smirk on her face. "Took you long enough. Done sulking in the dark are you?" She ruffled Alyssa's hair. "Hey kid."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes. "Nao."

"What?" Nao was busy scooping out some punch, while trying to avoid the small eyeballs that floated about in it. She didn't sound concerned.

"You know more kids than me at this school."

Nao set the cup on the table and began to pick brightly colored candy from the different blows around the table, shoving them into her pockets. "I wouldn't say that, you just don't pay as much attention."

"So you'd say you know…most of the kids who go here."

"The ones who are worth knowing, yeah. If you're looking for dirt, why you asking me?"

Natsuki swallowed the last of the pizza. "Not dirt, just a little info."

"Who? You usually don't give a rat's ass who walks these halls."

Natsuki crossed her arms. A cold feeling swept over her then, like mentioning the strange girl from the graveyard would cause the school to catch fire or collapse, or the girl would appear, clad in that black dress and armed with those intense scarlet eyes. "…Shizuru. Her name is Shizuru."

Nao hummed, pulling out her cell phone and started pressing the buttons at a high pace. "Just Shizuru? Does she have a last name?"

"No."

"No she doesn't, or no you don't know what it is."

Natsuki shot Nao a dry look and fiddled with her hoody sleeves. "She never gave me a last name."

Nao scrolled through her list of contacts, a frown sagging into her face. "Sorry, don't know any Shizurus, never even heard that name before." Nao flipped her phone shut. "Are you sure that was her name."

"Yeah." Natsuki sighed, feeling a bit depressed at the news.

"Maybe you should ask—ack, heads up Takeda alert."

Natsuki twitched. "Where?"

"Coming this way." Nao narrowed her eyes at the scarecrow bounding towards them, or rather towards Natsuki.

Natsuki turned. The first rule of avoiding someone was pretending like you didn't know they were there, and Natsuki wanted nothing more than to avoid her stalker since the second grade. "I'll be back in ten minutes."

Nao nodded but snickered while she did so.

The gym door shut with an echoing thud behind her, and Natsuki found herself in darkness once again. She walked slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness and listening for any doors opening from behind.

Or a piano.

A couple minutes past and she rounded the same corner, by the glass displays, where she'd first heard the music and a bubble of curiosity began to fester in her head. Had she really heard a piano playing? Natsuki chewed her lower lip and glanced down the hallway towards the gym and to the hallway behind her and began tiptoeing her way towards the music halls.

There it was, the sound of the piano, although this time it was playing a different, faster piece. Natsuki followed the music to a warped wooden door at the end of hallway. A massive handle clung to the aged wood, a cold silver in color, and Natsuki twisted it, grunting when the door didn't budge. She pushed her shoulder against the door, adding all her weight, and then fell as the door groaned and swung forward. The music stopped and the smell of fresh tea and burning wax greeted her.

"Oh Natsuki," a soft voice called. "I was hoping you would join us."

"Shizuru." Natsuki mumbled from the floor. She picked herself up a moment later and closed the door, shutting it with a loud clunk. "I should've known."

The room was small and lit by the moonlight filtering in through the clear window glass and the small candle decorating the shiny black piano. The tables pushed up against the walls glowed a rich brown-red color, and the wooden floorboards underneath made not one sound as Natsuki walked across them. The purple snake, Kiyohime, nodded towards Natsuki from its perch on the small bookshelf near Shizuru, and Natsuki found herself nodding back.

Shizuru smiled and set her fingers back on the piano, still in her black dress. "I'm afraid I did not bring any cake with me this time."

"This time?" Natsuki stalked up to her. "It's been, like an hour since that…thing in the graveyard."

"Natsuki shouldn't sulk."

"I'm not—"

A loud bark sounded in the room, and a grey ball of fur launched itself at Natsuki, startling her into stumbling back. "What the Hell?"

Shizuru laughed, but did not stop playing. "Natsuki's remembers Duran, does she not? He certainly remembers Natsuki."

Duran? Natsuki grabbed the fuzz ball held it at arm's length. Her face brightened when a pair of glacier-blue eyes stared back. The buzz ball was in fact a husky puppy, and a rather excited one at that. It wiggled in Natsuki's hold until the girl released it, only to bound up and start licking her face. Natsuki laughed and fought back, pushing the dark grey muzzle away, unaware of the scarlet eyes on her.

"Would Natsuki like some tea after she is done playing with Duran?"

Natsuki stopped laughing and set Duran down, where he followed Natsuki with his eyes, his tail wagging. "I don't like tea."

"Ah, yes, you mentioned that before, and I'm quite inclined to disagree."

Natsuki huffed. "Shizuru be serious."

"I am serious." Shizuru played a more complicated section. "I am always serious."

"Then who are you, really?"

"Natsuki answered that question herself. I am Shizuru."

"Where did you come from?"

Shizuru missed a key, and this did not go unnoticed by any of the room's occupants. She continued like nothing had happened. "Natsuki should know by now."

Natsuki clenched her teeth. "Should I? Really? I've never met you before Shizuru and frankly, with the way things have been going, I don't think I ever want to again."

"Then why is Natsuki here?" Shizuru was smiling.

"Because I heard the damn piano."

"Natsuki should not sound so angry."

"Then tell me who you are!"

"Natsuki knows who I am."

"Tell me your last name."

"Natsuki knows my last name."

"Tell me where you come from then."

"Oh my, again? Natsuki already knows that as well."

"Why are you here!?"

Shizuru sighed and lifted her fingers from the keys. "Natsuki should know the answer to that, more so than anything else."

Natsuki fumed in a hot confusion, unable to make sense of anything that Shizuru was talking about. Who was Shizuru and what did she want with her?

Shizuru reached over and touched Natsuki's cheek, leaving warm, pink sensation along the flesh. Natsuki smacked the hand away, unable to handle Shizuru touching her in any way. "Please Natsuki, wont you sit with me for a moment?"

Natsuki did so, without complaint.

Shizuru began to play again, slow and soft. Natsuki watched the slim fingers in the candle light with a dazed sort of detachment and reached down once or twice to scratch Duran's furry head. Shizuru was very good.

"Natsuki."

Natsuki sat up straight. A confused and sleepy look on her face, like something loud had just woken her. "Wha…?"

"Natsuki, Natsuki, were you not paying attention?" Shizuru smiled, her eyes closed. "I am glad that some things do not ever change." The candles flickered, like an unfelt wind swept through the room.

"Things do change Shizuru; nobody ever stays the same, not completely anyways." Natsuki barked out and then started to cough, a sharp heat in her throat. Tears stung at her eyes and the buzz from the graveyard was back, although this time pounding in her head and not in her ears.

"Natsuki?"

Natsuki heard a hiss and it did not sound like it came from Kiyohime. Still the pain in her throat continued and her head suddenly felt like it was splitting apart. "Shizuru?"

A soft touch met her back, and began to rub softly. "It's a bit too late for tea now."

Natsuki wanted to tell her that tea wasn't really the issue at the time, and when she couldn't feel her hand anymore, she wanted to tell her to put it back.

"Maybe next time, Natsuki."

A great sound filled the room, like a fire—hot and unforgiving—suddenly roared to life around Natsuki. The dark haired girl remained blind, but when the sounds dispersed, she couldn't feel Shizuru beside her, or smell her tea. She could no longer feel Duran nuzzling her pant legs or hear Kiyohime snoring softly.

She sat a moment later, dazed and without a single thought in her head.

And that is how her friends found her, dazed and confused, sitting in the oldest room of the high school, in complete darkness. Not even the parking lot lights from outside pierced the greasy glass of the windows. Torn and crumpled music sheet lay scattered across the room, a thick layer of dust over them, and the only parts that weren't dusty were right in the doorway and there, it looked like someone had fallen.

Natsuki's friends crept in, their steps causing the wood to moan underneath. Their footprints in the dust met with Natsuki's own and Mai was the first to reach the girl. She laid a hand on the dark haired girl's shoulder.

"Natsuki?"

Natsuki closed her eyes and slapped her hand on the piano keys, not at all shocked when only two of the keys she hit came back with a sound, and the sound was out-of-tune and rough.

She covered the keys, unmindful of the fingerprints that remained, and followed her friends out, never giving the room a second thought or glance.

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TBC

Meh, it came out a bit longer than planned. Probably my least favorite of the three. You all can expect the last part Halloween night…maybe. ;)

Note: Does anyone else think schools are really creepy at night? I know I'm a big chicken when it comes to those kinds of things but….

(Part two of three)