Chapter Twelve: Losses

We darted out of the Men's room and headed for the stairs at the other end of the corridor. We went by silently as not to cause a stir. We started climbing up the stairs. We had to get to the twenty-fifth floor fast.

Then as we past an elevator somewhere along the twelfth floor, we heard it open.

"Why not take the elevator?" Tadashi suggested. "We're losing time this way."

"No, you idiot," Akira protested. "We can't afford to let ourselves get caught."

"But we don't have time to spare. Tadashi keep lookout while we slip in."

One by one, we slipped in the elevator. Tadashi entered last and he punched the button for the twenty-fifth floor.

We were all tense and silent. Any sudden movement would make us jump. We heard a ding and the doors opened. This was the first of our problems. Who would go first? I shuddered at the thought.

Jun took out a small keychain-sized flashlight from his pocket and lit the room before us. We saw tress and other plants scattered around the room making it look like a jungle.

My first thought was that we'd lose Tadashi first. I could tell from the other's face that they thought the same.

We started to walk around and saw that nothing approached us despite the glowing eyes from the shadows following our movements as we passed them.

Then I heard the sound of a trumpet. It's as though somebody had called for reinforcements.

Then, the floor started shaking vigorously. It was hard to keep our balance; it was like walking on a tight rope. Then we heard animal sounds. Different kinds of animal sounds, some I've never heard of in my life.

Somebody grabbed my arm. I turned to see Megumi clinging to me. "Where's Ryuu?" I bellowed over the animal noises. I looked around and didn't see him anywhere. Come to think of it. Tadashi and Akira were a few yards from us. Jun was all alone somewhere to my left. I reached out and grabbed Jun and he clung to me. "Where's Ryuu?" I asked him over the noise.

"I don't know!" He yelled back. "I lost him when we heard the trumpets. He darted into one of the bushes and that's it!"

We were in the middle of the room in that instant. I could see two ceiling-high double doors ahead of us. If we could just get to that, but what about Ryuu?

"Tadashi! Akira!" They made their way to us, careful not to trip. "We've got to get to those doors!"

Everybody huddled around me and slowly, but steadily, we made our way to the doors.

Suddenly, figures appeared and they blocked the doors. The shaking stopped and we were all able to stand properly. Their yellow eyes glared at us and they started to move toward us. We all took a step back each time they took a step forward. Now we were backed up against the doors we entered through.

I could feel heat coming from them and they smelled bad as though a pile of animal pellets had stuck to them. Now that I think about it, were there people who stood twenty-feet tall?

There were seven of them. The middle figure was the tallest. It's as though he had a long strand of hair that stood upright on his head.

"Where's Ryuu?" I asked Tadashi, who was on my left.

"I don't know," he muttered back.

Then a spotlight shown on us. We shielded ourselves with our hands. As my eyes were starting to adjust to the intensity of the light, the figures look more recognizable. Apparently, those figures were not people – they were elephants.

I frowned. "So, elephants?"

"Yeah," a voice from somewhere above us yelled.

We looked up and saw Ryuu sitting on top of the middle elephant. "Hey, are you all okay?"

"We're good," I replied. I noticed something in his hand. He was holding what seemed like a remote controller. "What does that do?" I pointed to the remote.

"Oh this," he said as thought noticing it for the first time. "This controls the lights in this room. Here, watch."

He pressed a button and the room lit up. The room was indeed a jungle. Palm trees lined the walls and bushes dotted every corner of the room. Monkeys swung from the vines that connected the trees like telephone wires. Birds perched on the treetops. There was a watering hole to my left; a clear pond in the middle of a mound of dirt.

"I'll lead you to the exit," Ryuu said.

As he led us, all the animals turned their attention to us. One of the monkeys was eating a banana; Tadashi also wanted a banana so he tried climbing a tree. Akira had to drag him down by his shirt's collar and got a random vine on the floor and tried tying it around his neck only to realize that the vine didn't like that for it slithered off Tadashi's neck and bared its fangs on Akira. "Stupid snake!" She shrieked.

Then suddenly, as thought Akira's voice was a signal, the rest of the room joined in and started screeching and making other noises. "Make it stop!" I yelled to Ryuu. He took out a whistle and blew it. The room was silent now. A bird perched on Ryuu's shoulder. He stroked its feathers and it seemed to enjoy it.

"They're distressed, you know," he started. "They're not really good around humans. That's why the Takishima Corp keeps them here and trains them to behave around us." He stroked the bird's feathers almost dreamily. I knew who we were about to lose by the end of this first step.

"So I guess you figured it out, huh?" He said as he smiled at me. I understood perfectly. Ryuu was a natural with animals. He could take even the most rabid dog and turn it into a loving poodle. I guess we have no choice.

"So where do we rendezvous?" He asked.

"I'm not sure yet," I said. "I guess we'll just have to wing it for now. We're losing time."

"It's fine with me," he beamed. "So here we are." We came to a stop at the double doors. "I'll see you later."

He pressed button and the doors opened. We stepped out – rather stepped in an elevator. It only had two buttons, up and down.

"Good luck, you guys," Ryuu said as the doors of the elevator closed.

There was no music in the elevator. Our breathing was slow and steady. I turned to Jun and Megumi. They seem to be taking it pretty well, though you could still see how uneasy they looked. The door opened and we entered another dark room.

Once we were all out, the doors behind us shut and a spotlight shone on us.

"Finally, Jun-kun!" A bubbly voice echoed throughout the room.

"I-I know that voice," Jun said nervously. "I don't think I'm going to like what's about to happen."

Then the room lit up. It had windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. Red velvet curtains, with gold tassels, draped over the windows. We saw the outside through the windows. It was night already!

I felt my body shake. It couldn't have been night already! How long were we in there? We couldn't have stayed long in that jungle!

"Calm down, Hanazono-san," a familiar voice said. So familiar but I can't tell who it was. "This room is designed to simulate an evening affair hence the night sky out the windows. The night sky is just a projection. Now, Jun-kun, it's you turn to disappear!"

Then the lights went out and a spotlight appeared in the center of the room. From the ceiling, some kind of float started to descend. We went closer to see what was on it. Actually, it was a big heart shaped sofa; red with gold trimmings matching the curtains. A girl sat on the sofa. She wore an umpire cut red dress that had black lace trimmings. She was wearing a mask that looked like one of those Victorian masks that covers just the upper half of the face.

She held out her hand and said, "Jun-kun, will you dance with me?"

Jun backed up and stayed behind Megumi. Megumi scribbled, "Not a chance!"

The girl frowned. "Well, if that's the case, Jun-kun, fine!" She snapped her fingers and the room lit up again. Around her was an army of maidservants. They wore the typical maid uniform with puffy sleeves but they were red and black. They all wore masks similar to the girl at the sofa, "I'll let my army of maid servants attend to you then," she huffed.

"Jun, why don't you just dance with her?" Tadashi asked as we slowly backed up to the elevator.

"I just don't like going near girls," Jun said as he shrank behind his sister. "Even if that girl is…" he trailed off. I looked at Jun. His eyes seem to be locked to the girl sitting on the sofa. I could tell he liked her and from the girl's expression, she was worried.

You see, Jun maybe cute and girls may fawn over him from time to time, but he doesn't entertain them. Why? Well it's because every time a girl comes in contact with him, may it be a single touch, he becomes a total pheromone machine. He could attract girls within a ten mile radius. He was even able to attract Akira once but it never worked on me. I guess my mind's been focused too much on beating Takishima so I guess that kept me from ever being attracted to him in that state.

I guess that girl likes Jun and I know her—I just can't remember who she is.

"Well, Master Jun," one of the maidservants said. "We shall attend to your every need." They inched closer to us but we were already backed up against the elevator door. Megumi shielded her brother, holding out both her hands. She took a deep breath and I knew what would happen: she was going to sing. She opened her mouth and immediately a hand flew out of nowhere and covered her mouth. The maidservants grabbed Megumi and gagged her with a lace blindfold so that she couldn't sing. Her hands were tied behind her so she couldn't move. Then, the maidservants all reached out for us—except Jun. They did to us what they did to Megumi.

Jun was left cowering in fear. His eyes were slightly teary. The real reason why Jun doesn't want to interact with girls was the fear of hurting them when he turned into that state.

He turned to Megumi who gave him a face that said Don't give up! He swallowed and said, "Sorry, Megumi, but I have to do this."

He took a step forward and one of the maidservants grabbed him. Upon contact, he fainted.

I could tell that the maidservants were worried because they tried to shake him awake but to no avail. The girl of the sofa just looked away crossing her arms.

Then Jun sat up. The first two buttons of his shirt were opened revealing part of his shirt. He sat in a rather provocative position, inviting the girls to sit beside him. That was only a taste of what he could do.

The maidservants' knee seemed to buckle as though they couldn't resist him. Then, one of the maidservants went forward and sat next to him. Jun held her face to his. Their faces were only a few inches apart making the maidservant tomato red and sweat trickled down from her forehead. She swallowed and leaned in closer. Their lips were barely apart until one of the other maidservants grabbed her and said, "He's mine!"

With that, the army of maidservants started fighting over who would get Jun.

"Ladies, ladies," Jun started. Somehow, his voice became more modulated and manly. He swept his hair back and he sat leisurely gesturing the whole army to sit by him. The maidservants scrambled to get over to his side shoving each other in the process.

"There's plenty of me to go around," he said as he held another girl's face. "Don't fret, you'll all get a taste of me."

Megumi rolled her eyes.

Then the girl on the sofa made her way to Jun. She held out her hand and asked him to dance, though you could see the disapproval in her face.

"Sure, why not?" Jun gave her a winsome smile and I'm pretty sure that all the other maidservants melted.

They walked over to the middle of the room, hand in hand, then the lights dimmed. A spotlight shone where Jun and the girl was.

Then out of nowhere, music started playing. It was a slow waltz. Jun held her close to him but she just looked at him with distaste. He spun her out and when she spun back in, she kissed Jun.

"WHAT?" The maidservants cried.

Then, Jun's eyes widened. He pulled away awkwardly leaving the girl to kiss air instead.

"S-Sakura, what're you doing?" His face was red all over.

"I'm glad you're back, Jun-kun," she said as she approached him and hugged him.

Then as though a spell had been broken, the maidservants looked around them confused. They stood with their fists clenched but they soon calmed after Jun had come back to normal.

"I-I," Jun stammered. He didn't pull away nor did he hug her.

"Jun-kun," she said, "dance with me please?"

Jun hesitantly took her waist and they waltzed around the room. It would've been cute to see how Jun slowly became comfortable enough to dance with her, but we were running out of time. I screamed but it was muffled by the lace blindfold stuck in my mouth. Jun and Sakura turned to us.

"Oh!" Sakura said as thought seeing us for the first time. "Ladies, please untie them please. You guys be on your way. You're losing time."

"I know," I grunted as I rubbed my wrists. Those maids know how to tie a tough knot.

Megumi walked over to her brother and tugged at his sleeve. She gave him a face that said, Will you be okay? He nodded.

"Good luck guys!" He called to us as we ran for the elevator on the other side of the room. We were in and were now ascending.

The door opened and we found ourselves in front of an audience. They were a well-dressed crowd and we were on stage wearing cameo pants and black tops. The door closed and we faced our next challenge.

"Welcome to my stage," a voice called out from the audience. Akira clenched her fist and I knew who it was.

The spotlight revealed someone who was seated at the center of it all. His legs were crossed casually. His arms rested leisurely on the arm rests while his right hand anchored his head. His hair was light and it turned white in the spotlight – Yahiro.

"What do you want?" Akira spat.

"Oh, nothing from you," he said with a slight mockery in his voice. "I want something from all of you." He smiled crookedly.

"What do you want us to do?" I asked.

"Well, sing of course," he said simply.

Sing what the heck were we supposed to sing?

"I want you to sing—" He stopped as Megumi stood forward. She opened her mouth and he glared at her. She seemed to be uneasy with him glaring at her but she talked – she talked!

"Leave my friends alone," she said in a soft timid voice. "I'm the one you want."

He smirked but it quickly turned into a scowl. "I don't need to hear you talk. I want our friends to sing."

"Well, what if they don't want to?" Her voice was a bit louder now, but it was small. "You can't force them to sing."

"Oh?" He jeered. Then with a snap of his fingers, men in black suits appeared. They held Akira, Tadashi and I down, leaving Megumi center stage.

"Let's see if they still won't sing," Yahiro gestured at the man holding Tadashi. But before that man could do anything. Megumi opened her mouth and sang. It was like a supersonic beacon had engulfed us. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, the whole room was a mess. Apparently the audience was merely a backdrop and Yahiro was the only who was truly seated on a chair. The guards have all passed out freeing the rest of us.

Megumi walked over to Yahiro who toppled over his chair. He struggled to get up but the chair seemed too heavy for him to push it off himself alone. Megumi reached Yahiro and we followed after her. She held out her hand so that we wouldn't move any closer. I could tell that she was glaring murderously at Yahiro. With a deep breath she kicked aside the chair with superhuman strength.

Yahiro looked at her disgusted. Her expression softened and she helped him up. He glared at her.

"I told you not to sing!" She smiled and ran back to the center of the stage. We turned to her but we stayed on our spot.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. Akira handed me and Tadashi some earplugs. We put them on. Though despite the earplugs in our ears, I still heard the faint sound of a lullaby. It was sweet and soothing. I almost didn't want to move anymore. I turned to Yahiro and saw tears in his eyes. I guess either it was either supersonic that he couldn't help but cry in agony or it as one of the most beautiful songs he's ever heard. I guess, judging by the way his expression softened, it was one of the most beautiful things he's ever heard. I agree. It was a siren's song that tempted me to remove my earplugs so that I could hear it full blast. Just as I was about to remove my earplugs, Akira held my hands down and shook her head. She nudged to the elevator and we made a run for it. We were in the elevator and Yahiro didn't even notice.

I removed the earplugs as soon as the elevator started to ascend.

"Why couldn't I remove my earplugs a while ago?" I turned to Akira.

"It's because Megumi's voice is one of the most beautiful of all that you'll ever hear in your life. It leaves in a certain trance just like what happened to Yahiro. If you had removed your earplugs, we would've never gotten you out of there because of your desire to finish the song."

The elevator door opened. I don't know how much time I had left. But I'm sure time was running out.

The room was properly lit and it was similar to the first room that we entered. It was jungle except there weren't any animal noises. There were just trees, bushes and other plants.

There was an arrow that led to the entrance of the jungle. We went over to the arrow and found some instructions:

Follow the arrows and you will be led out safely. Touch anything and you will never get out alive.

"That was pretty straight to the point," Tadashi said. "Well let's go!"

Tadashi took the lead and we followed all the arrows we saw. We passed a mango tree. There as a yellow juicy mango that hung on one of its branches. Tadashi looked at it and ignored it. That was a first.

We followed the arrows further. But something didn't seem right. I could've sworn we passed that mango tree already—twice!

"Tadashi," I said, "are you sure of where we're going?"

He grunted and just trudged on. Akira and I looked at each other and we just followed.

Now I was pretty sure that we had been going around in circles because we passed the mango tree again and the mango hung on its branch.

Tadashi stomped his foot on the ground, it echoed.

"Are you trying to test me?" He yelled at the sky. "Well, you are insulting me!"

He stomped over to the tree and cut the mango off the branch.

"Are you kidding me?" Akira shrieked. "After all the times we passed by that stupid tree, you thought of getting it now?"

"Just watch," Tadashi said.

Nothing happened.

Akira tapped her foot on the floor impatiently while I just stood nervously hoping that something would just drive us out of here.

Still nothing. Several minutes passed and nothing.

Akira stomped her foot on the ground n frustration and yelled, "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW? Her voice echoed throughout the whole area.

Then we heard drums. Then trumpets—I thought of elephants but they sounded different like actual musical trumpets. Then I heard cymbals. Is this a band or something?

"What's that?" I said as I scanned the area.

Tadashi and Akira surveyed the area around them as well. We all saw nothing but the drums were getting louder.

The beat of my heart followed that of the drums'. It was getting louder and I could hear my heart pulsing in my ears. It was suspenseful. I couldn't take it and neither could Tadashi nor Akira.

"That's it!" Akira said and she darted into one of the bushes.

"Akira!" I called out. But there was no sign of her.