Ghost Stories Make the Heart Grow Fonder
It was after lunch time, and most of the groups had split up to do various activities with their clansmen. Munakata had brought the Scepter 4 members together to do some team-build exercises. Fushimi continued to scowl throughout the entire series of pointless events as he thought, "What the hell are we? Some business corporation going on a company retreat? How stupid."
They first began with a speech from their Blue King, discussing the important beliefs and duties that every member should uphold. Saruhiko could have sworn he saw Awashima dabbing away tears at the end of it—completely moved by Munakata's words.
Then, they proceeded to 'bond' with their fellow co-workers through sweat and teamwork. It started off with simple group stretches and exercise, but eventually Reisi made them make a human pyramid to literally show their strength in unity. As they saw their captain take a picture of the pyramid, they simultaneously groaned as they knew instantly that Munakata would be putting the image onto one of his jigsaw puzzles. They could only imagine a scene where the Blue King would spend hours, staring away at their faces with a smile on his.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the captain of Scepter 4 had created pre-made skits in which his subordinates would randomly draw from a hat and have to act out. The violet-eyed man would stare without any hint of emotion on his face, slowly analyzing their every move. Finally, the Scepter 4 members ended their group bonding experience for the day by going into a small dining room and eating together.
Hidaka Akira turned to Benzai Yujirou and whispered, "Why does it become more and more awkward to be around the Captain the longer we spend time with him? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
"It's 'cause he just sits there watching and analyzing our every action. I thought I was going to suffocate today during those skits." Benzai had to reenact a hypothetical situation where he was a Scepter 4 member who had personal troubles and needed to seek advice. Reisi played as himself, where he would express his desire to have his fellow comrade come to him and tell him everything. The script's last line simply said, "Open-ended. Please make up your own conclusion to this scenario." The rest of the Scepter 4 members could do nothing but feel pity for Yujirou as he had a mini-breakdown on stage from all the pressure. The Blue King simply stood there, looking extremely satisfied for some reason.
"You really have the worst kind of hobbies. It's really tough being around you." Fushimi was the only one to ever openly tell his superior how he felt about him, which was probably why he was one of Munakata's favorites.
After dinner, the Blue clansmen were finally allowed to have free time, so Saruhiko got up to go find the vanguard of HOMRA. After the incident at the hot springs this morning, Yata wasn't able to look Fushimi in the eyes for more than a couple seconds without averting his gaze. Not walking more than a few feet from the door, Fushimi could see the man with the chestnut-colored hair standing at the other side of the hall.
"Well, if it isn't Misakiiiiii. What do you think you're—"
Without saying a word or looking in his direction, the little crow began to walk right by the blue-eyed man. Irritated from being ignored, Saruhiko grabbed onto the Red clansman's arm and said, "Wait just a minute."
Yata immediately pulled away his arm and said, "Let go! I don't have time to deal with you right now you damn monkey!"
"Haa? What the hell does that mean? Don't tell me you're still pissed off from this morning?"
Misaki's face began to get redder every second he stood there. "SHUT UP! I said I can't be bothered with you right now I need to—"
"Yata-chan, why are you trying to run away from us? Are you scared?" Kusanagi appeared behind Misaki and firmly gripped one of his shoulders.
"W-w-w-who is s-s-s-scared!? Just leave me alone Kusanagi-san!"
"Come on, even Anna is sitting there. You are older than her, and you are a man. Stop being such a coward and get back into the room." Izumo began to drag the vanguard down the hall.
"No! No! Noooooo! I refuse! Let me go!" Misaki looked like a dog being pulled by a collar and chain by his master as he flailed about and tried to plant his feet firmly onto the floor.
Kusanagi stopped and turned around. "Saru, if you want to join us then by all means."
"Uhhh…what are you guys doing exactly?" Fushimi was puzzled.
"Ghost stories! A few of us Red and Silver clansmen decided we're going to sit and tell ghost stories! Anna says she likes them a lot."
"Ahh, it all makes sense now," Saruhiko thought with a smile. He knew that one of the amber-eyed man's greatest fears besides women is any talk about the supernatural or occult. He hated ghost stories and horror films, and he would often run out of the room trembling in fear. The crow would never openly admit this though. Every time someone brought up the idea, he would just say that it would be too boring or stupid. "Alright, I'll come."
"That sounds like a fabulous idea. If you don't mind, we'd like to come too."
Reisi and Seri were standing at the doorway behind Saruhiko. "I may have a good story or two to tell."
"Haha, got it. Everyone is welcome." Izumo gave a little wink to Seri, who began to blush a bit before putting on her ice-cold stare again.
As the five arrived to the room, they were amazed at what they saw inside. The room appeared to look more like an old, abandoned house, filled with cobwebs and dust. The only light within the room were a few dimly lit candles and the full moon shining from outside the window. A shrill, gusting wind blew outside the window—leaf-less trees and unhinged shutters rattling away.
"Wow, this came out really nicely!" Izumo said with approval.
"Neko did her best! She made it look perfect to tell horror stories, nya!" The Cat Girl looked very pleased with herself.
"This strain girl's abilities can come quite handy sometimes, right Anna?" Kanamoto asked.
Anna, who was sitting on one of the dusty loveseats, rang a bell and nodded.
Munakata eyed the Red King leaning back on one of the couches near the fireplace and sat down beside him. It was always interesting to see how much the two kings differed from one another. The Blue King was always orderly and sophisticated. He sat with perfect posture and was always attentive and mindful of his surroundings. The Red King, on the other hand, was wild and unpredictable. He always slumped against a chair or laid somewhere napping away without a care of the things occurring around him.
"I wouldn't have imagined you as the ghost-story-loving type of person, Suoh," Reisi said with a smile.
Mikoto gave an expressionless stare at the violet-eyed man beside him. "Shut up…I thought you said breathing the same air as me makes you want to vomit. Yet you've been buzzing around me for most of this trip."
"I guess I just like to breathe in toxic air once in a while." Munakata's face suddenly became serious. "I also need to make sure that you don't go out of control and release your Damocles sword, Suoh."
A smirk appeared on Mikoto's face. "I guess you're going to just be stuck watching me 24/7 then, Scepter 4's Munakata Reisi."
Suoh reached over at the table beside him and placed it between the two of them. He handed the sake cup to the Blue King and began to pour. They both took turns drinking as they faced the rest of the clansmen, who were ready to begin with the story telling.
"T-t-t-t-t-this is s-s-s-stupid! Why do I have to be here?" Misaki stuttered.
"Haha, Yata-chan. You can't escape. Rikio, hold onto Yata and make sure he doesn't run away."
"Don't you feel any shame, Red clansman? You are a disgrace to the male gender. Ichigen-sama always said, 'there are two types of people in the world: those who run away from their fears and those who face them head on.' Enjoy being a coward for the rest of your life."
"S-S-S-SHUT UP KURO INU! LET'S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE!"
"See what I mean? You're running away again. How spineless."
"Let's just leave it at that, and begin the stories, shall we?" Shiro realized that this was becoming a common pattern of events throughout the clansmens' hot springs excursion.
"Geez Yata-san! You and the Black Dog have been fighting this entire trip! It's becoming worse than you and Saru!" Kanamoto said to the sulking crow beside him.
…What!? Someone who has moved up on Misaki's ladder of hatred and passed Fushimi? Saruhiko would never allow that. There is no way he wanted anyone to beat him in anything in relation to the crow. The blue-eyed man felt his blood boil from jealousy, and he suddenly grabbed onto the little vanguard and pulled him closer.
"Huh!? What the fuck are you doing you shitty monkey!?"
"Hmmmm? I just figured you'd get scared and would need someone to comfort you when you start bawling your eyes out," Saruhiko teased.
"SHUT UP! I'M NOT FUCKING GOING TO DO THAT!"
A bell began to ring again, and with a bright flash of lightening outside the window, heavy rain began to pound against the glass. Fushimi could feel Misaki jump a bit and subconsciously make a grab for the Blue's sleeve as he began to tremble a bit.
"Alright kids. Let's get started already! Who wants to start off?" the blond bartender of HOMRA asked.
"Ooh, ooh! I want to start!" Kukuri jumped up from the floor and began to wave her hand in the air.
"Okay so, I will tell you guys about one of the four great mysteries of Ashinaka Gakuen. I am choosing this story, because it was actually I who experienced it. It was before one of the school's big festivals, and I decided to stay late to finish one of the class banners that were to be displayed at the main gate. I'm guessing it had to have been around 8 PM, as the sky was already dark and the full moon was out, shining brightly—kind of like the one outside right now.
Anyway, I realized that I was out of red paint, so I went to go find another can. There was none in our school's main supply room, but I remembered that we had another storage room that wasn't used much anymore. I went down to the room, and I opened the door. It was one of those auto-closing doors if you don't put a door stop in. So, I let the door close behind me as I stepped in.
It was really dusty and moldy smelling in there. I couldn't believe that such a room existed in our school, considering we have those machines to clean everywhere for us. I spent a few minutes digging around, looking for the paint, when suddenly I could hear footsteps running outside the door. Now, our school is pretty big, and there was a high probability it was just someone who had forgotten to bring a textbook home or left their PDA in the classroom.
Then, I heard the footsteps run by again, but this time I could hear a female's voice giggling. I turned around and called out, 'HELLO!?' but no one responded. I got a bit spooked out, so I decided I was just going to forget about the paint and leave. But then, I began to hear the footsteps again…this time they were moving a lot slower, and they sounded like they were wet for some reason. I could also hear the sound of something dragging behind the footsteps.
My heart began to pound fast as I saw the shadow of two feet standing behind the door. I called out once again and said, 'Hello, who's there?'
The figure still remained silent. After about a minute had passed, and I was ready to just go and slam open the door to see who it was, an unfamiliar voice called out to me and said, "You are looking for some red paint right? I got plenty of that for you if you want it."
Then, I heard the sound of something fall onto the ground. I think it was whatever she was dragging behind her. Suddenly, I noticed a thick red liquid begin to come from under the door. It was moving closer and closer to me…but it was strange. I originally thought the girl had spilled the red paint she was going to give me, but as I leaned down to wipe the substance off my shoes, I realized it didn't look or smell like red paint. More than anything else…it looked like human blood.
I began to breathe really hard as my heart was about to beat out of my chest. The lights in the room suddenly flickered off, and I was standing in the dark supply room, alone and surrounded by a red pool of fluid. What scared me the most though was when the door handle started to jiggle. Whoever or whatever was outside the door was now trying to get in.
I quickly tried to run towards the door to prevent the person from opening it, but as I approached it…the door smashed open and—"
Suddenly, as the loud roar of thunder sounded when lightning crashed down and struck the tree beside the abandoned house, the sliding door to the room slammed opened. Out popped a dark and shadowy figure.
"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The entire room—with the exception of the Red and Blue King, shrieked in unison.
Then, the shadowy figure began to release a golden glow, and he waved his hand, removing Neko's illusion from the room. He then moved toward the light switch and flicked it on.
"…Lieutenant?" Shiro asked—completely flabbergasted.
"Kokujyoji Daikaku? What business could the Gold King have with us?" Munakata asked.
"I was coming to see if I could speak with the guy with that silly look on his face all the time, but I see that you are all quite busy. So, excuse the intrusion."
As he closed the sliding door, the room was filled with gasps. There sat a room of clansmen with people being held on their laps. Neko was clutching onto Shiro, Seri had jumped into Izumo's arms, Kukuri held on to Yatogami, and Misaki's entire head was buried under Saruhiko's shirt.
Awashima immediately turned bright pink as she moved herself away from Kusanagi, sadly attempting to make her ice-cold expression. Kukuri and the Black Dog both looked at each other and smiled shyly. Neko purred at the Silver King and began nuzzling her head affectionately against him. But…
"Yata-san…I can understand why the women got all scared, but why the hell are you hiding too?" Rikio shook his head in disbelief.
The group remained silent, waiting for the Red vanguard's response. The crow—now realizing what he was doing, instantly slid out from underneath the shirt, moved away from the Blue clansman, and stood up without saying a word. His entire body was blushing from head to toe. His heart was pulsing so hard that he could barely breathe. He then quickly turned around and slammed open the door. As he began to dash out, the crow screamed, "AHHHH! FUCK EVERYONE IN THIS GOD DAMNED PLACE!"
Saruhiko clicked his tongue as he got up and walked out of the room. As he stepped into the hallway, the blue-eyed man slammed the door shut and began to chase after Misaki.
"Friendship is such a precious and wonderful thing, isn't it?" Munakata said with a pleased expression across his face.
Note: This is only the first half of Day 2. There's actually two more parts that I'll get to eventually.
Hope you're enjoying things so far!