Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis and all of its characters are © to Takeshi Konomi. I do not own any of the characters used in this story so far (although I do not plan on using any OCs), but the story is still my property.

Kittymaru

Chapter 4: Out Went the Lights

"NYAAAAAAAAAA! I've gone blind! I'VE GONE BLIND!!" Eiji could be heard panicking in the dark, running around in random directions until he smashed into something hard with a loud WHAM!

"WHO DARES DEFY TAKA-SAN?!?!"

"Wah! Not me, not me! It was O-chibi!"

"What did you just say?!" You could feel Ryoma's glare.

Momo snickered.

"Shut up, you baka!"

"Why don't you shut up, Mamushi?!"

"What'd you call me?!"

"Hey!" Oishi called out, "We have to remain cal—AAH!"

"Oishi? What happened?!"

"Something touched my foot!" he gasped out.

Silence.

"Oh, sorry. That was me," Tezuka apologized.

"Tezuka? How'd you end up over here?"

"I don't know…"

"WAH! The house is haunted, the house is haunted!!!" Eiji started panicking again, this time running into Fuji.

"It's okay, I've got you!"

BANG.

"NYAAA!"

"Someone find the light switch before he screams our ears off!"

"It's no good, the power went out!"

"How could the power go out? It isn't even raining!"

BANG BANG.

"AAH!" This time a multitude of people yelled out.

"Someone find a flashlight!"

"Eiji? Where are they?!"

"…ne, Fuji-ko? Did you lock the door behind you?"

"How can you be thinking about the door at a time like this?!"

"Well, I saw this movie on Wednesday with Fuji-ko…"

"Was it the one with the talking fish?"

"No, no…Nemo's a good fishy! He doesn't trespass!"

"Ah, right. What about—"

"What's this about…trespassing?"

"Did someone break in the house?!"

"…Taka-san!"

"WHAAAAAT?!"

"First, drop your cushion."

"WHYYYyyyy…oh."

"Taka-san, I have a very important question to ask you." Fuji's blue eyes glinted in the dark.

"Eh? What is it, Fuji? Wait—why are the lights out?!"

"Never mind that, Taka-san. Where did you put your sushi knives when you got here?"

No one said anything as the realization set in.

"I left them with Inui. Why?"

"INUI!!!!!" Eiji yelled out. "IIIINUUUUUIIIIIIII!!!!!"

Nothing.

"Oh my gosh! Where'd Inui go?!"

"HE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE MIGHTY MORPHIN' POWER RANGERS!"

"…"

"Ah, no, wait! Wrong movie! Never mind!!!"

"Alright! It's time for Operation Save Inui and Turn the Lights Back On!" Fuji yelled triumphantly.

"Yay! Go, Fuji-ko!!!"

"WHAT?!"

"It is time! Ryoma, the cushions!"

"Hai," was the small reply.

"Okay, now here's what we need to do…"

Fuji and Eiji peeked out from behind a wall, looking into the darkness that was believed to lead to the stairs.

"Fuji, Eiji!" Oishi whispered, "What are you trying to do?"

"Shh! Go and help Tezuka, Oishi!"

Oishi could hear them scuffling around. "H-hai," he replied as he scooted back to Tezuka. "What exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

"We're supposed to be on watch."

"…how could we possib—"

"Yeah, I know," Tezuka sighed.

CLANG!

CRASH!

BONG!

"…"

"I found the kitchen!" Momo whisper-called.

"Good job, Momo! Now find the matches above the fridge!" Fuji whisper-called back.

"Taka-san, help me find the fridge!"

Ryoma's loud voice broke their whisper conversations. "Why are you guys whispering?"

"RYOMA!" The others whisper-yelled at him.

"You gotta be quiet, nya! Otherwise the monster will get you!"

"What mons—MMPH!"

"Ryoma!" Momo slapped a hand over his mouth. "Be careful! You don't want to end up like Inui, do you?!"

Ryoma just growled at them. It sounded more like a hiss than a growl. Fuji then had a thought…

"Hey," Fuji whispered in a slightly louder voice, "Where's Kaidoh?"

Silence.

"Kaidoh?"

More silence.

"No! He's been taken too! They probably took him instead of you, Ryoma! Not that I mind…" Momo trailed off.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, no, this is ALL WRONG!" Eiji suddenly shouted, stomping his foot on the ground.

"Eh?" Oishi blinked through the darkness.

"They always target the funny and good-looking ones first! So why did Inui and Kaidoh get taken away?!"

Momo snickered.

"You know, Eiji, if they would have taken the funniest one first, it would've been you instead of Inui."

"…really?"

Fuji nodded.

"……Of course, I'm completely fine with the monster's decision! Yep, yep, yep!"

Tezuka sighed. "Can we please get something accomplished?"

"You know, now that I think about it…" Eiji trailed off.

"What?"

"Well, if the monster really did take Inui and Kaidoh…Inui would force the monster to drink some of his Inui juice, and then the monster would DIE and then Inui and Kaidoh would be FREE!"

"…"

"Okay, then…"

"He does have a point, you know."

"So you're saying that we should stop looking for them?" Fuji pondered.

"Well, at least until the lights come back on." Tezuka sighed. "Once we can see, we'll have all the time in the world to look for them."

"But what if they need our help?!" Oishi worried.

"You're right, Oishi! Everyone get back to work!!"

Tezuka groaned inwardly.

There was a bit of thumping on the wall before a cry of surprise broke the whisper-silence.

"Fuji-ko, move over a bit!" Eiji whisper-exclaimed.

"What did you find?!" Oishi gasped.

There was some more thumping, before the sound of splitting wood and a loud POP!

"SUGOI! I found it!"

There was a small click, and all of a sudden a dim light shone out from the direction of Eiji's voice.

"Fuji-ko! Help me look through the boxes!"

The other regulars peered through the dim light to see Fuji and Eiji standing by the stairs…next to an open door!

"What's that?" Oishi wondered aloud.

"Secret Stairway Storage Space!" Eiji cheered, "We call it ELKS!"

"…"

Eiji looked over at them. "Hey, I know it's amazing, but shouldn't you have some kind of reaction?"

"Did you say…" Tezuka started.

"ELKS?!" Momo shouted, "What the heck does that have to do with 'Secret Stairway Storage Space'?!"

"It would make more sense if it was called the SSSS," Oishi pointed out.

"Yeah, but it looked weird when we spelled it out! It looks like a hissing noise on paper…"

Everyone waited for Kaidoh to hiss. They then realized that he wasn't there. Taka breaks the silence.

"But why ELKS?"

"Emergency Kikumaru Life Support!" Eiji smiled.

"…Eiji…" Oishi sighed.

"What?"

"That spells E-K-L-S. Not E-L-K-S."

"…………………"

"Eiji? Are you alright?"

"Aw, man! It took me AGES to come up with that name!!!"

"It's alright, Eiji," Oishi sweat-dropped.

"Guys," Fuji called, "I think I found the flashlights!"

"YAY!" Eiji cheered as he threw around said flashlights.

BOP.

"Oow!"

Oishi jumped, "Momo?!"

"GAH," Momo yelled back.

"Woops. Sorry, nya!"

Tezuka sighed.

"Okay, now it's time for phase two," Fuji announced, "Oh, and don't forget the matches, Momo."

"But why do we need the matches? We don't need to use candles anymore…"

"Where'd you get the idea that we were going to use candles?"

"…" Everyone stared at Fuji, except Eiji.

"Sometimes you get the strangest ideas, Momo."

"Mm-hm!" Eiji seconded.

Tezuka was starting to wish he had brought his aspirin with him.

"Moving on, Ryoma, Momo, Tezuka, and Oishi will be together. Taka-san, you'll come with Eiji and me!"

"EH?! You want us to separate?!" Oishi cried out.

"Well, yeah! How else are we going to catch the monster?" Eiji nya'd.

"Eiji, I don't think there is a monster," Oishi tried.

Fuji quickly covered Eiji's ears, whispering to him, "Don't listen to him, Eiji, he's being controlled by the monster!!!"

"WAH! NUUU! We have to save Oishi!!!" Eiji ran up the stairs into the blackness…without a flashlight.

"E-Eiji?! I'm right here!!"

"Saa, here's a walkie-talkie!" Fuji threw it to Oishi. "Come on, Taka-san!"

"BURNING!!!"

The two rushed up the stairs after Eiji.

"So…now what?" Momo asked.

BANG.

"AH!"

Chapter 4! Four chapters…and I still haven't gotten anywhere! I'm proud of myself. =D

Good news for all readers! Now that the semester's over and I don't have any midterms or exams for a few months, I should be able to update more often. 
Just for the record, though, I am being swamped with homework and extracurricular activities, so if you don't hear from me, I've probably met my death by homework.

It's a good thing I can write in death. o-o;

Well, see you later!

~Yukari