HitoriKakurenbo, a from the new world/新世界より fanfic

A request from Fuuchi Munchy, well, I request something a tad bit horror to write and she gave me this www

Please understand that I do NOT recommend you to do this. Never. Even I understand that this game is highly dangerous, after browsing in Google for materials. This thing isn't suited for anything, even more for a mere a dare. If someone ever dares you, please don't do it. There are some high consequences that definitely not worth it. If you go google hitori kakurenbo in Google, a link from creepypasta wiki will appear, it's based on a true story, and after you read it, I'm sure you'll realize just how dangerous it is.

And that's only one of many true stories you can look up in Google.

Honestly, I'm a complete coward in horror and unable to stand thrill, even so, I stubbornly wrote this. *sigh*

And this is unbeta-ed so I apologize for the ever annoying grammar mistakes….

Enjoy!

Beta-ed by (NONE)

Hitori Kakurenbo

DarkBlueLynx

Shall we start this game of hide and seek?

"Saki! Saki! You should read this !" Satoru yelled as he ran across the meadow to where his friends were gathering in front of the calm river.

"Stop yelling, Satoru! It hurts my ear!" Maria complained as she laid her head on Mamoru's lap. Mamoru just chuckled at his friends' behavior, especially the cute pout Maria supported after she yelled back at Satoru, who in turn stick his tongue at her in mocking manner before he sat beside Saki.

"Look what I've found in the library!" He excitedly said as he shoved a black book with red logo to Saki's lap.

"A.. weird book?" Saki hesitantly said as she observed the book. It looked old, even though the cover was still intact and strong enough to hold off the entire contents.

'Probably from the past ages.' Saki deducted.

"Just read page 103!" Satoru said with an excited smile.

Casting a hesitant gaze to Satoru for the last time, she opened the book and began to skim across the contents as she heard her partner and Maria argued over something like usual.

"Hey, even though you're Saki's partner, you should tell us too!" Maria whined after she saw the thing Satoru brought. She wasn't exactly interested in books, but this one has captured her attention with the abnormal cover.

"Then come here and stop acting like spoiled child with Mamoru!" Satoru said back with fervor.

She heard Maria retorted back, but her focus was completely immersed in this book, what on Earth-

"Satoru, where did you find this book?" Saki impatiently asked as the book was taken by a curious looking Maria. Mamoru quietly sat beside Maria and looked over the book together with her as he cradled her.

"Eh?" Satoru said. "I…dug it from the untouchable shelf…?" Satoru said hesitantly with a nervous smile as he rubbed his head.

"SA. TO. RU!" Saki scolded.

Satoru visibly flinched. God, this woman could scold like hell.

"You know that we aren't supposed to read or take any books from there, right?" She dryly said. "But then again, how come you could take it? Isn't the librarian always known every time someone gets near the shelf?" Her curiosity over take the irritation she had earlier.

"She has stomachache when I came to linger around." Satoru said with a grin.

"It doesn't justify your action, Satoru. What if the elders know this ?" Saki shook her head

"Don't worry, Saki." Satoru grinned as he ruffled Saki's head; earning a small yelp of protest from her.

"Even if we get into trouble, the book has nothing but Japan's old legends and myths. It's harmless." Satoru coaxed. "Have you read page 103 ?" He asked again as he retrieved the book back from Mamoru.

"No. I just skim the whole book." Saki shook her head a little. "Why ?"

"Just take a look at it." He grinned mysteriously.

Saki stared at Satoru's grin for a while before she sighed in defeat. Every time he did that, eventually he would always drag her into trouble with the elders, even though it's still partly her fault for giving in and she has to admit that she enjoyed any activities that Satoru has brought upon them.

She took the book from Satoru and opened the book. She searched for page 103 for a while before she found it and read it out loud.

"Hitori Kakurenbo."

"The one-man hide and seek, aka the one-man tag, is a ritual for contacting the dead. The spirits which are wandering restless on the earth are always looking for bodies to possess. In this ritual you summon such a spirit by offering it a doll instead of a human body." She continued.

"Sounds scary." Mamoru commented as he petted Maria's head.

"I agree.." Saki replied. "Satoru, I don't think it's a good idea." Saki frowned as she stared at Satoru. The book was taken again by Maria, who for once, actually read the passage and not just skims over it.

"Aw, come on! It sounds interesting!" Satoru went into coaxing mode.

"No, Satoru. I think there's a reason why the elders put this out of our reach." Mamoru said.

"I admit it sounds interesting, but I think it's dangerous." Maria commented after a while. "Look, even they put some warnings here," Maria showed the section with her hand.

"This is a dangerous ritual. Don't stop halfway, you must do it to the very end. And after you end the game, you have to burn the doll as soon as possible, after it dry. If you don't burn the doll, the game is over but the spirit is not dispelled or banished and could still hurt you. When commencing the ritual, no other people should be in the parameter, because you might put them in danger too. Don't continue this ritual for more than one or two hours or the spirit might get too strong." Maria ended.

"Aw, come on! As long as we do as the instruction, everything will go well!" Satoru whined.

Mamoru shook his head. "I don't think it's safe enough."

"I agree with Mamoru, Satoru." Maria nodded. "We shouldn't try this."

"We have Cantus for God's sake. It'll be fine." Satoru complained. "Right, Saki?" He nudged at the silent young woman.

"Well…." Saki trailed off. A part of her was interested in doing this, but another part of her was afraid at the implications. What if something go wrong ?

"Satoru is right, we have Cantus." Saki unsurely said. "But still, it's dangerous, Satoru." She tried to coax Satoru to put this crazy idea of his on rest.

"Are you afraid, Sa-ki?" Satoru mocked with a knowing and haughty smirk over his handsome face.

"I'm not!" Saki half yelled. "Why should I get scared ?" She lied smoothly as she huffed; trying to cover up her fear.

"Then, I dare you to do it with me." Satoru challenged with a cheeky smirk.

"Wh-what?" Saki flabbergasted.

"Let's do the ritual together." Satoru continued.

"It's said "One Man Hide and Seek" for a reason, Satoru." Saki nervously said as she evaded his request.

"Oh? Don't worry." He grinned mischievously. "I'll be doing the ritual, you'll just need to watch." Satoru said with a smirk. "Or if you want, I actually find the page where there are instructions to do it with friends…"

"No, thank you." Saki quickly said. "And no, I don't think I'll join this stupid idea you've conceived, Satoru." Saki said with slight hesitation.

"Ah, I should've known you're a scaredy cat, Saki." Satoru goaded.

"Don't do it." Saki heard a faint whisper on her right ear. She turned her head and found it empty. She has heard the same, familiar voice for several times. Mostly when something's about to happen or when she shouldn't do anything. And no matter how much she tried, she just couldn't remember whose voice it was.

"Aw, look, Saki is indeed scared." Satoru continued when he saw Saki turned her head in slight puzzlement. "Looks like we have new nick name for her, Scaredy Cat Saki." He mocked.

Saki's head snapped on his direction. "You're going to regret that." She hissed indignantly.

"Deal, let's do it together." She said confidently against her better judgment. "When ?"

"Are you sure, Saki?" Maria concerned. "I could always knock this idiot out." She offered suggestively as she floated the book in her hand.

"I really don't think it's a good idea guys…" Mamoru whispered.

"Tonight, at my place." Satoru smirked. "My parents are away until tomorrow afternoon."

"Fine. I'll meet you at eight. But you'll prepare everything we need, Satoru." Saki huffed. There's another faint whisper of 'Don't' but she paid it no mind. She's already trapped deep in this.

"What about you, Mamoru, Maria?" Satoru turned his attention back to the pair. "Will you join us?"

"Um.." Mamoru hesitantly trailed off.

Sensing her partner's distress, Maria cut off. "I don't think we will take partake in this crazy bat idea of yours, but we will stay outside in case something happen." Maria turned her head to Mamoru in confirmation. Mamoru looked hesitant for a moment, before he nodded.

"It's settled then, eight at my place." Satoru said in utter triumph etched on his face.

Asahina's Household

Satoru's Bedroom

02.15 AM

"Shh.. Saki, wake up!" Satoru gently woke the young woman who currently occupied his bed with Maria. The said teenage girl slowly opened her eyes. Sleepiness was still clearly visible from the way her eyes darted to him and his surrounding.

After they gathered together in his house, they decided to get some sleep before the do the ritual. He and Mamoru each slept on the sofa he has in his bedroom, while the girls got his bed. Currently, Mamoru was still curled up on his orange sofa while Maria still oblivious to the world as much as her partner.

"Satoru?" Saki whispered in confused voice. It took a while before her bleary eyes began to focus and began to remember everything.

"What time is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes off of the sleepiness and stretched her limbs.

"It's a quarter past two." Satoru softly said. "We still need to prepare after all." He shrugged before he went to wake Mamoru.

Gently slapping her cheeks with both of her hands, she turned her back and faced Maria's sleeping body.

"Maria, wake up." Saki shook her head. "It's time." She elaborated as she saw the red haired girl opened her eyes. Unlike Saki, who need long time to process everything as sleepiness was washed from her mind, Maria just need some time to rub her eyes before she went all cheerful and active like usual.

"So, what are we going to do first ?" Maria asked.

"Let's see…" Satoru opened the book. "I've taken the cotton stuffing earlier and fill it with rice along with my nail. All I need to do is sewing it with red threads." Satoru said. "This is pretty easy." He commented as he sewed the hole and bind the dog's doll legs, wrap it around the doll as many times the threads could give before tied it off.

"Why Rice and red threads ?" Maria asked as she watched Satoru performed the task.

"Well, the doll itself is a body for the entity you create/summon to inhabit. The rice is both thought to be an offering for the spirit to make it strong and to represent the innards of the body. The red thread represents blood vessels and seals the entity inside the doll. Or so it said in the book." Saki replied as she read the book.

"How about your hiding place ?" Mamoru asked with slight anxiousness visible on his face after he heard Saki's explanation.

"Ah, I think we could use my closet." Satoru tilted his head as his hand pointed to his closet. Instead of the usual paper rice, Satoru's closet door was made from quite thick wood, for he always made a hole out of the paper rice door every time he played around his room.

"Have you readied the salt water, Satoru?" Saki asked as Satoru was finishing the bind.

"Yep." Satoru said. "It's already on the closet."

"The bathtub?" Maria asked.

"Already prepared." Satoru replied once more.

"But we don't have this tv thing." Mamoru suddenly said.

"I've thought about it and I think we could use the old radio my parents have instead." Satoru shrugged. "I've put it near the closet too."

"Now, everything's ready." Satoru said as he clasped his hand. "Mamoru, Maria, both of you would be outside my house, if something happen, I'll press this button," He showed Maria and Mamoru a square box plastic with red button on it. "And this," He held up a similar box, although bigger, "Will ring."

"How does it work?" Saki curiously asked.

"I put a small part of my cantus in it and it connected to this." He wriggled the smaller box. "If I push the button, the bell I put inside the other box will start moving and obviously make a sound."

"You're so smart to make something like this." Mamoru commented as he observed the box.

"Nah, you just need to think about it. It's not hard at all." Satoru humbly said.

"Let's do it." Satoru said with excitement and determination, while the other occupants only nodded in hesitation and slight fear.

"Now, we should name this doll." Satoru said as he stared at the doll.

"It shouldn't be our names or other people's." Saki reminded.

"How about Mago ?" Satoru asked.

"Sounds good." Saki said.

"Is it already three ?" Satoru murmured.

"In one minute." Saki replied. Her feet were rather cold from slight fear, but she pushed it to the back on her mind. Getting scared will only make everything get worst.

"It's three." Satoru said. "I'll start then."

"Satoru is the first it. Satoru is the first it. Satoru is the first it." Satoru said with stern voice she recognized he would only use when he's serious.

Then, both of them went to the bathroom together and put the doll in the water filled bathtub before they turned off all lights in the house. Saki quickly went into the closet while Satoru turned the radio on with his Cantus before he closed the door. He and Saki have burned each word of the instructions and how to end it into their brain, but incase, Saki has brought the book inside the closet.

After Satoru checked that the box he invented was already in the closet along with some protective charms and the salt water, Satoru closed his eyes and counted to ten. Saki did the same, though she only closed her eyes. She has already felt bad feelings from this.

"What will you use?" Saki whispered.

"I'll just use needle." Satoru replied. "I still take precautions you know, in case something do happen"

Saki nodded in approval before they went together to the bathroom with the said needle in his right hand.

When they arrive, he took the doll out of the water and with a stern voice, he said, "I have found you, Mago."

Satoru quickly stabbed the doll with the needle; careful enough so it won't disturb the red threads that bind the doll.

He casted a look to Saki; who nodded in preparation. "You are the next it, Mago." He said with stern voice as he put the doll back to the tub. As soon as his hands were out of the water, they sprinted back to the closet and closed the door tightly.

Her heart was surely racing as adrenaline pumped high in her nerves. She didn't know why, but her warning alert has blared loudly. She couldn't stop chewing her lips as she quietly put protective charms around her and Satoru. It seemed that Satoru was also on high alert. His back and shoulder were tense and his eyes looked sharp with his surrounding. The salt water lay silently between them.

They didn't know how much time has passed, but nothing happened.

"Maybe we did something wrong?" Satoru wrote with his cantus upon a board with white, glowing sand he has. They've used this kind of communication for years now, when they were having a night's out, on a field trip together, or simply in class. It really saved them from getting scolded by their teacher and elders.

"I don't know…" Saki wrote back. "But we have-"

Her control over the sand dropped when suddenly they heard the radio emitted some loud screeching static sounds. Unconsciously, she bit her lips tighter in favor to drown her surprised yelp.

They didn't dare to move a limb, in fear for making sounds. Their breaths turned fast and shallow as endless possibilities raced their mind. Sure, he has turned on the radio, even she saw the old contraption was on, but the radio was completely silent before!

Slowly, after the initial screech, the static sounds went down until what Satoru and Saki could hear was only some buzzing noise.

Satoru turned his head to look at Saki. She was biting her bottom lips as she fisted the protective charms on her right hand. When Saki turned her head to face him, she nodded as a silent compromise was made between them. Gradually, they put their ears above the door of the closet; careful so they won't press their ears on the hard wood but close enough to hear the sounds from outside.

They didn't hear anything for a while as the buzzing sounds went really low. They strained their ears for something more, but finding none.

Saki stared at Satoru as confusion etched on her face. He also has the same confused expression, before they jumped out of their mind as suddenly knocking sounds echoed within the closet.

Knock

The knocking sounds persisted as the static sound came back to life. Satoru, who has recovered from his shock, touched Saki's upper arm and squeezed it in calming manner.

"Don't panic. Don't succumb to your fear. Calm down, I'm here." Satoru wrote as he kept his gaze sternly to Saki's eyes. Saki took a big silent gulp of oxygen before trying to calm her nerves with happy memories.

Nodding at his companion's action to calm her nerves, Satoru tensely waited as the knock kept happening. He began to realize that it's truly happening.

They did the ritual correctly.

Some part of him was excited, but another part of him, the rational one, was slowly panicking as he recognized the serious and dangerous situation they were in.

He honestly didn't expect it to actually happen, but the cat was out of the bag now.

After another three knocks, it stopped completely.

Cold sweat began to drench his back while from the corner of his eyes he could see Saki's complexion went another shade paler. After a while, he dared to give some distance of his head from the closet's door. The static noise from the radio went up and down like a wave right after the knock stopped. It would get so loud that he swore Maria and Mamoru should've able to hear it, and then it would go so low that he wasn't able to hear it properly.

In the middle of another wave of loud noise, suddenly it went off completely; surprising Satoru and Saki. Saki visibly flinched at the sudden change from his vision. Feeling protective, Satoru motioned her to come closer to him as he re-arranged the salt and water silently with his cantus so Saki could sit beside him with the salt water in the glass still easy to reach for both of them.

She has just repositioned herself so she came in contact with Satoru's figure directly when they heard the radio turned on again with its static noise.

Saki's eyes widen in fear as Satoru felt cold enveloped his whole being.

'Where

'Are'

'You

'Hiding'

They heard someone whispered in the same volume and tone as the static noise. The noise itself went up and down, as if it was turned on and off repeatedly.

Saki clenched Satoru's right arm in fear.

'Are'

'You'

'Here?'

Saki inched closer to Satoru, who welcomed her without a thought. His face was still serious although there was trace of slight fear on his face. He looked to Saki, who looked like she was about to faint. He squeezed her shoulder in comfort before he wrote with his cantus

"Calm down. I'll protect you."

He gave Saki a tight smile before his focus was taken away by the sounds.

'I'

'Know'

'You

''Are'

'There'

Dread began to filled Satoru as they registered the -whatever it was- words.

'COME OUT!' whatever it was yelled through the static noise.

Satoru protectively buried Saki's head into his chest while Saki's hands found their way to clenched upon his clothes. He was afraid now, but just like he advised to Saki, he tried to calm down and erased his fear.

After all, fear will only make things worse than it already was.

They didn't dare to breathe as the static sounds went up and down, but never turned of f like before. Satoru clenched the clothes on Saki's back as they half-expected for someone, or something, opened the door.

'I'

'Guess'

'Not'

'Here'

The noise itself went up and down; as if it was turned on and off repeatedly again.

Then static noise came; filling the tense silence. Satoru began to loosen his hold on Saki and so did Saki. They unconsciously let out a sigh as the adrenaline pumped high in their nerves.

"Satoru… Why is it so cold ?" Saki wrote with her cantus.

"I don't know." Satoru honestly wrote back.

True to her words, the closet felt so cold. Colder than it supposed to be, since it was in the middle of summer and the weather should be warm enough to sleep without blankets and thin clothes.

His heart was beating furiously in his chest as he waited. After he felt like eternity, the radio was turned off; leaving an eerie silence to them. And it wasn't turned on again like before; giving some high suspense for them.

Saki already looked so scared as he saw tears slightly misted her eyes. Honestly speaking, he was also scared that he almost didn't want to go outside. But someone has to end this thriller game.

Satoru took a deep, calming breath before he motioned Saki to give the book to him. Accidently, the book fell as she held it with her shaking hands; making a soft thud.

At that exact moment, the radio was turned on.

'What'
'Was'
'That'
'Sound?'

The static sound went up and down quickly; as if it was excited.

But after the initial thud sound, Satoru and Saki didn't dare to move at all. Even breathing was scary enough as they thought if they breathe, whatever it is would be able to hear them.

After a while, the radio was turned off again and the eerie silence came back, although stronger than ever.

They've just breathed out a sigh of relief when they heard a soft click sound from the radio being turned on.

'HEY'

With that loud yell, the static noise came again.

After a moment, the noise went up and down again.

'I'
'Know'
'You'
'Are'
'There'

Saki's eyes widen in fear as she stared at Satoru pleadingly; as if begging him to end this crazy game and save her from this nightmare.

'I'll'
'Find'
'You'

Then right after it ended, the static sound went up and down again for a while before it turned to a stable static sound. Satoru gripped Saki tighter as he pushed his fear aside and forced his mind to think clearly.

'Where'

'Are'

'You'

Then the sound of someone's laugh resounded in the cold room. It sounded like the twisted, female version of him.

Cold shivered his being as he listened to the inhuman laugh.

He has to end this.

'You'

'Are'

'Mine'

He heard the static sounds turned into words, words that he feared to be true. With steel resolve, he pushed Saki's head out of his chest so she could see what he wrote.

"I'll end this."

Satoru gripped Saki's cheeks on both of his hands and made her face him. He took another look at Saki's scared face before he left a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll protect you. Don't worry." Satoru gave her his smile as he patted her head.

"As soon as I came out, push the button. Escape quickly from the windows. Call the elders with Maria and Mamoru." Satoru wrote with seriousness etched on his face; gone the trace of fear and anxiousness.

Saki just stared at him after she read his message. He sighed when he saw the hesitation and fear on her face.

"I'll be fine. Aren't I always?" He gave her his cheeky smirk before he took the glass and put a gulp in his mouth.

Saki was torn between wanting to help him and escape from this nightmare. She couldn't possibly leaving him like this, but he's the one who can end the game properly and she's too scared to go wandering around the house.

"Go with him. I'll protect you."

She heard a faint whisper, not from the radio, but from a familiar voice as she felt she was hugged from the back for a second before the fleeting warm moved and stayed on her right hand.

Satoru has just stood with his hand left hand on the door and right hand holding the salt water glass when Saki tugged at his clothes. He turned around and faced Saki with questioning expression.

"I'll go with you."

Saki wrote with calm face. She didn't know why, but she felt…less scared.

Satoru shook his head in refusal.

"No. You go outside. I have to finish this first."

Saki shook her head.

"I'm coming with you. No matter what."

Saki wrote with a stubborn look on her face.

"We do this together. We end this together." Saki wrote again.

Satoru sighed before he motioned her to take a gulp from the glass in his right hand. She did and the salty taste actually kinda snapped her back to Earth; erasing another part of her fear. She put the protective charm around Satoru's neck and hers before she nodded to him. She simply pocketed the plastic box Satoru made before they went out of the closet.

It was silent.

As if it was a silent agreement between them, they broke into a sprint to the bathroom.

Just to find the bath tub to be empty.

Fear gripped her heart again as her breath quicken and her mind felt a little bit dizzy. But, —

"Stay calm. I'm protecting both of you."

She heard the same, comforting whisper before the warm on her right hand intensified for a while before it went back to the fleeting warm she felt earlier. It seemed that Satoru also notice her discomfort because she felt he squeezed her left hand in comfort, as in he said "Don't worry. I'm here with you."

She let out a small smile before she took breath and nudged Satoru to keep going.

As they walked around the house to find the doll, suddenly Satoru stopped.

She tilted her head in confusion as Satoru put his finger in front of his lips in silence manner.

Then she heard it

Thud

"Go to the laundry room. Now." She heard the familiar voice guided her.

With newly found bravery and determination, she took Satoru's hand and raced to the laundry room. Thankfully she has been in his house more than enough times to remember every crook and corner of his house.

As soon as they arrived, Satoru opened the door and there it was.

The doll was lying on the floor.

It looked like it crawled out of the bathtub with the messy pool of water it made.

Swiftly he ran to the doll's side and pour all the salt water on it before he spit out his share of salt water in his mouth. As soon as he finished, Saki quickly did the same; spitting all of the salt water from her mouth on top the doll.

That's when she saw the needle was laying right beside it.

"I win. I win. I win." Satoru said with the same stern voice he used on the beginning. Saki felt relieved, although the aura was still suspiciously eerie.

Then with his cantus, he made the doll fly and took it outside and turned on the lamps as they walked to where Maria and Mamoru were; anxiously waiting for them.

"Saki! Satoru!" Maria cried in worry.

"Quick, burn the doll." The familiar voice whispered on Saki's ear.

"Burn it, Satoru!" Saki half yelled to Satoru; startling him.

With a nod, he burned it with his cantus.

But it won't get burn, no matter how many times he tried.

"You have to dry it first." Maria said.

Relieved at the logical explanation, Satoru quickly dried the doll with his cantus.

That's when the four of them felt menacing presence.

Saki's complexion turned totally pale as Satoru protectively held her.

"Don't disturb us again. They're my friends." The familiar voice said with calm and surprisingly stern voice; completely different with the usual soft and gentle tone she used to hear.

Then as quick as it appeared, it vanished completely.

After the quick event, Satoru swiftly burned it into tiny ashes along with the needle. Maria and Mamoru decided to take some sweet drinks, maybe chocolate, from Maria's house for both Satoru and Saki, who looked really pale. It's already around half past five after all. The adults were probably already up. When Saki asked what kind of excuse they'll make, she simply said that they were going to have a morning run and Satoru didn't have any chocolate drinks in his house.

"It's over." Satoru said with visible relief after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Yeah, it is." Saki whispered as she slid down to Satoru who held her in his embrace.

"I'm sorry." Satoru said after a while.

"It's okay." Saki replied.

"I shouldn't have brought you to such dangerous situation." Satoru sincerely said as he buried his face on to the top of her head.

"I'm fine. After all, you'll always protect me, right?" Saki said with a gentle smile as she faced Satoru.

Satoru looked surprised for a while before he returned the smile with his own. "Of course, silly." He ruffled her hair a bit before she went back to his embrace.

"Thank you." She murmured silently.

"Your welcome, Saki." The familiar voice gently said as she felt a warm feeling on her forehead before she lost consciousness in the warm embrace of Satoru.

Meanwhile

The black book on the closet was emitting dark aura as it floated in the air before it vanished into thin air; leaving no trace except for the faint laughter.

Owari.

How about it ?

I have to stop a few times before I could continue writing this fic, since as I said before, I couldn't stand thrill-feeling and horror. But I enjoyed it.

Reviews are highly appreciated *wave*

-DBL