So I broke up the scary stories and the test of courage. ;)
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Breakfast was uneventful, and all throughout practice, Miyuki and Jun avoided two things; Haruichi and talking about what happened the night before. Neither wanted to relive the experience, but what was worse was that all the bruises and the pain came from someone nearly half their size and weight.
When dinner was over, Tanba said, "We need to redraw. Masuko and I won't fit in the same bed again." Furuya, Jun, Eijun and even Miyuki were all too happy to agree.
"Why don't we just give you each your own futon?" Ryousuke suggested. Before anyone could protest he put his arms around his brother and said, "Haruichi and I are small enough to fit with two others." He ignored the way Haruichis' face lit up a bright red and tried to squirm away.
"I don't know," Jun said, not wanting to test his luck and get another night next to the pink nightmare he'd shared with the night previously. Miyuki shared his sentiments. Furuya wanted to agree, hoping to get the chance to share with Haruichi, but he didn't want to share with Ryousuke again and he definitely didn't want to share with Eijun. Not surprisingly, Eijun felt the exact same way.
"We don't even need to draw again," Ryousuke said when he saw the looks on everyone's faces. He gave a smile that sent shivers down everyone's spines when he said, "Haruichi can share with Furuya-kun and Sawamura-kun. I'll share with Tetsu and Kuramochi. Jun and Miyuki can share."
"I'm up for it," Miyuki said a little too quickly, Jun nodding along with him. Tetsu and Kuramochi didn't care, but the two first year pitchers were conflicted. On one hand, they'd get to sleep next to Haruichi, but on the other hand…The two glared at each other but nodded.
"Now that we have that settled," Ryousuke said, "Who's up for a little game?"
"How about scary stories instead?" Jun suggested, not wanting to know what type of game his roommate was thinking of.
"I wanna hear the game Ryou-san thought of," Miyuki said, turning to the older pink haired player. "What was it? Truth or dare?"
"A test of courage," Ryousuke said. "It's a new moon tonight, so it'd be perfect. However, we can't do that until it's dark, so let's go with Jun's idea first and tell scary stories while we wait." Jun felt like smashing his head into the nearest wall.
That's how, five minutes later, the regulars were settled in a circle with the lights off and a flashlight in the middle of them, ready to tell scary stories. "We'll go in a circle," Ryousuke explained. "So I'll start and Haruichi will end. When we're done, we'll go out and do the test of courage."
Miyuki snickered and said, "Anyone who chickens out will have to have a punishment!"
Ryousuke nodded. "I'll start then." He opened his eyes slightly and gazed around the circle before starting his story in a whisper, causing the others to lean forward so they could hear him. "It started on a day like any other. A boy around our age got up, had breakfast and went to school. His parents heard him leave, but only four minutes later did they hear the door open again. 'Riko,' They called, thinking it was their son, 'Did you forget something?' But there was no answer.
"When the mother went to check the door, nobody was there. Thinking she heard wrong, she went back to the kitchen. Four minutes later, the door opened again. This time, the father went to check the door, only to find nobody there. This continued for the next four hours. Every four minutes, they would hear the door open, but each time, nobody was there.
"The mother was starting to get worried, so she and the father both waited by the door after they heard the sound. Four minutes later, the door opened. Nobody was there. When Riko got home, he happily called out to his parents, wanting to show them the A he had gotten on his test, but he couldn't find them. Four minutes after he'd entered, he heard the door open. Thinking it was his parents, he ran down and checked. Nobody was there."
He smiled and sat back, signaling that he was done. Some of the regulars looked spooked, but for the most part everyone was fine. Ryousuke chuckled and turned to Tetsu, who was sitting next to him. After Tetsu was done, Jun went, followed by Kuramochi, then Tanba, then Furuya, then Masuko, then Eijun, then Miyuki and finally Haruichi.
When it was Haruichi's turn, the younger Kominato put a hand on his chin as he thought. After a minute or two he looked down and started his story. "A young girl disappeared once. Her parents didn't realize she was missing until a week later, since she was supposed to have been staying with her grandmother. When they went to pick her up though, they found the grandmother had passed away a little over a week before.
"They frantically called the police, who formed a search party. Everyone in the town helped look. The parents were getting desperate when a month passed and there was no sign of her. Just as the police was about to pronounce her dead, a letter showed up for the parents. Inside was a chunk of their little girls' hair. There was no note, or any instructions to hand over money. It was simply her hair.
"The police scanned the envelope and hair over and over, but there were no fingerprints. The next day, they got another letter, only this time, the envelope was red. Inside were their daughters' eyes. The envelope had been stained with her blood.
"The next day it was her teeth. After that, her ears. Then her fingers. Her toes. Her nose. Her tongue. Her stomach. Her left arm, then her right. Her legs followed, then her head. When her body was left for them, they thought it was finally over, that they wouldn't have to be tortured like this anymore.
"Two weeks passed and they got a package. There was no name, and no note. When they looked inside, they found their daughters' heart." Haruichi looked up at everyone before he said, "It was still beating."
"I've never heard that one before," Ryousuke said when he finished.
"One of the ladies next door told me," Haruichi said happily, "She said that it was a true story that happened a long time ago in our town."
Ryousuke raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yep. According to her, the parents lived in that old house near the temple that nobody's lived in for so long. She said her grandmother told her, who was told by her grandfather, who was told by his father who was friends with the parents. I asked mom and dad about it later, and they said that it actually was a true story. Apparently it's been happening around our town even since it was built, but that it only happens every forty years or so. Nobody likes to talk about it, and nobody knows who does it. All they know is that when it's time, if a child goes missing then you can bet they're dead. Last time it happened was thirty years ago, and one of aunties friends was the one who was taken."
All the regulars were pale, not knowing what to think. "S-so," Eijun said, "N-Nobody's found t-the person doing it?"
Haruichi shook his head. "They stopped looking about fifty years ago, when more people turned up dead, but that's another story."
"W-What do you m-mean?" Kuramochi asked, hugging his arms from the sudden cold that washed over him.
Haruichi tilted his head. "Well, there's another legend in our town where if you go into the surrounding forest at midnight on a new moon, then everything will suddenly become a wash of blue and the sprits will come out. If you're caught, then you're dead."
"I know that one," Ryousuke said with a chuckle. "Didn't a journalist come to see if it was true?"
Haruichi nodded. "They were found by the side of the river."
"And they had their eyes gouged out."
"And some weird symbol was carved into their chest."
"And-"
"Enough!" Jun cried, holding his hands over his ears and violently shaking his head. The Kominato brothers' looked up.
"You're still here?" Ryousuke asked, causing many of them to sweat drop. "Anyway, should we do the test of courage now?" He looked out the window and saw that it was nearly pitch black outside. "If so, we'd better hurry so that we don't get caught. It's nearly midnight after all." He took one of the many flashlights they had and put an arm around Haruichi. "We'll meet you outside."
When they got out of hearing distance Haruichi frowned at his brother. "That was mean of you," He said. "Lying about the time. It's past midnight already."
Ryousuke raised an eyebrow. "I'm the mean one? What about you, making up that story and pretending it was true."
Haruichi stopped and stared at his brother. "But it is true."
/
So let me know what you thought!
~Akirafanatic