Horror in the Foyer

Xxx

Takuro found a light switch right next to the door and he carelessly flicked it on. The group halted and gaped in awe; everything looked absolutely normal, as if a maid had just stopped by that day. No dust, no scattered items, no rotting floors, no blood, nothing. It was just as pristine as the outside.

There was a staircase off to the side, a door further down the isle beside it, and two junctions off to the left and right. The setting was just so wonderful for a mansion in the middle of nowhere.

Hiroshi couldn't place a finger, but he knew there was a problem. He felt as if he were being watched, but waved the feeling away, concluding he was being infantile. However, it made him slightly uncomfortable, and it didn't help having Naoki cling to him like a child.

"Wow." Nikoru whistled, glancing around. She sniffed in the clean air and blew her bangs out of her face. "Nice place."

"Yep," Takuro agreed. "Big and comfy."

Nikoru sniffed airily and glanced at Naoki. They locked eyes for a moment while the others commented on how spacious the place was. Then Naoki turned to Hiroshi and grinned. "So, Hiroshi-kun, how do you like the place? It's interesting, isn't it? I personally think it's roomy and I bet it was beautiful in its day. Oh, I wish I could have met the family who first lived here!"

Nikoru rolled her eyes and turned to Takuro and Mika, settling for a calm conversation. Naoki acknowledged it and smirked. Hiroshi caught him out of the corner of his eye—then Naoki smiled warmly. "Anyway, very interesting. Yes. Very nice!"

That was strange. Again, it seemed they were competing for attention. Why? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsipop? If the world didn't know, Hiroshi didn't either.

I'll just face it; Hiroshi thought wearily, they're both extraordinarily weird and shouldn't even be worth my time…

"Yeah right," Takeshi mumbled cynically. "Nice. Ha. Yeah right…"

Nikoru and Takuro exchanged sheepish glances. Hers said, 'Dude can't take a joke,' and Takuro's said, 'Well, he's fun to mess with at least.' Satō laughed and pulled Takeshi over in front of the tall staircase. Nikoru loitered by Mika and Takuro stood close by. Naoki strolled, still linked with Hiroshi, to fill the rest of the circle.

"I don't like this, guys," Takeshi whimpered. "It's really creepy in here, and I-I-I don't think we're aloud to trespass." Satō smirked, trying to keep his laughter at bay. "B-besides, there's a monster here! It's like an oni or something!"

Hiroshi sighed irritably. "Ao Oni? You idiot. You must be joking."

Naoki giggled girlishly. "Oh, Hiroshi-kun! You can be so blunt! It's so funny!" And then everyone laughed except for Takeshi, who was slumped in shame.

A smile crossing his handsome, dark face, Satō nudged Nikoru playfully. "What do you think, Nik?" Hiroshi burned—a pet name? "I mean, we're all pretty skeptical here. So how about it? What's your opinion?"

Naoki cleared his throat rudely but Nikoru grinned. "I've got glowsticks. If there's a freaking monster, I'll own it with the power of neon."

"Yeah right!" Takuro snorted. "You're probably so terrified your insides are melting!"

"Takuro, do you like you mouth where it is? I think it would look prettier up your ass." Nikoru countered mockingly.

He snorted, struggling with laughter, but quickly sobered enough to say, "How could I eat ice cream with my ass?"

"You're right, you're not very creative…" Nikoru grabbed her chin and pretended to look thoughtful.

Mika and Satō busted out laughing. Takeshi's ears rang and he cringed away, knocking his elbow against a railing. Naoki indifferently laughed right along with them. Hiroshi rolled his eyes; play fighting. The usual.

"Yeah? Well…!" Takuro sputtered incoherently for a moment before trailing off with a defeated glare. He narrowed his eyes at Nikoru. She laughed a little and sniffed in amusement.

Those two were always at it like that, bickering about something stupid. Half the time it was just for fun, but when they did actually fight, tt was over something small and ridiculous. Hiroshi found himself remembering all the past times they'd shared like this.

Like the time they tied him to an office chair and drove him to the fairgrounds. They argued over what to buy, what to ride, everything—but whenever Hiroshi made a comment, they'd jump on his decision.

"Guys, we should get coffee. Who's with me?"

"Nah, I want tea."

"Come on, man, coffee is way better!"

"Dude! Tea is the awesome!"

"Tea is for losers."

"I'm not a loser! You're such a dick"

"Well you—"

"Just shut up! Both of you! Just buy coffee and tea and call it a day!"

"…Dude, that could actually work."

"My man Hiroshi, always the one with the killer idea. You go, man!"

Hiroshi almost smiled despite himself. They were so stupid, and yet they still meant the world to him. He wanted to clonk their heads together a lot and developed headaches frequently and sometimes he even wanted to kill them, but they were his family, and that was all that really mattered.

"So, now that we're here," Mika said, "what should we do?"

"Split up?" Naoki suggested, stealing a glance at Nikoru. She was suddenly very interested in one of her Converse and she sniffed quietly. "I think it would be a perfect plan based on the fact there are a lot of us here and so many places to explore."

"Sure." Takuro rubbed his hands together and gazed sideways at his beloved. Anyone could guess what he was thinking. Takeshi stole a gloomy glance at him. "Sounds like a plan!"

"Takuro's with me!" Mika shouted enthusiastically. Hiroshi noticed the slightest blush on said idiot's cheeks. Takuro bounced on his heels in excitement.

Takeshi suddenly looked pallid and Hiroshi had only a second to recognize grief etched into his frown before he turned away.

Naoki chuckled and rocked Hiroshi's arm. "You'll have to team up with me, Hiroshi-kun!"

"Not if my life depended on it," Hiroshi spat.

Naoki took an exam in a Literature class the month prior over Sherlock Holmes. Incredibly, his test score was the highest in the class and so he had earned the name Sleuth. A super-intelligent mind paired with a mind set for clues. They would make a pretty rational team. But Naoki could be…really annoying when he wanted to be.

Satō shrugged and lifted the hefty backpack off of Takeshi's shoulder. "All right, Nikoru and I will hang out and help Ghost Man here set up while you guys look for that monster."

Hiroshi sighed in annoyance. "So stupid. There's no such things as 'monsters,' especially not here." He was surprised when Nikoru didn't copy him in her Consuela voice, something she'd picked up from some Swedish guy on Youtube. She was looking around as if an invisible butterfly had caught her attention.

Satō frowned at him and shifted with the pack weight. Before he could respond, there was an abruptly loud shatter from down the right hallway. Takeshi jumped and squealed; Mika stepped closer to Takuro; Nikoru's breath had hitched and Naoki made a soft 'whoa.' Satō nibbled on his bottom lip and Hiroshi didn't even flinch. He pulled a long face and shook his head.

"You're all paranoid," he concluded sharply.

"What if it was the monster?" Takeshi shivered. "I really hope not. I mean, I didn't even wanna come! I-I-I just came because I didn't wanna be rude to Mika, and I thought that—" He cut himself off and swallowed.

Satō laughed again and patted his shoulder. "No worries. Hiroshi says there's no monster. He must be right."

Hiroshi wasn't sure how to take that.

Satō leaned in close to Takeshi's ear and murmured loud enough for everyone to hear, "Unless you've gotta crush?"

"I DO NOT!" Takeshi screamed. Then he sheepishly cleared his throat, stole a glance at Mika, and mumbled, "Uh-uh, if you guys don't wanna go, I'll go check…it…"

Hiroshi shrugged his arm out of Naoki's grip and grouchily walked off to investigate. "If you're all going to be idiots, then I'll go."

Naoki pouted dramatically. "But Hiroshi! You're my teammate!"

"Just stay there," Hiroshi demanded. This was what he meant by annoying.

"All right, bring me back something cool, Hiroshi." Nikoru said, playing with her box of glowsticks.

His heart skipped a beat like it always did when she called his name.

But he didn't falter; he couldn't in front of Satō. That poser had an obsession with her and Hiroshi knew that if that bastard noticed any quick second of weakness in Hiroshi he'd be all over her. He clearly disliked Hiroshi in a silent way; glaring at him from across the classroom or scooting closer to Nikoru at the lunch table whenever he'd catch Hiroshi's eye on her.

Hiroshi kept on, brushing past a confused Takeshi and the otherwise indifferent Satō, who didn't even spare him a glance as he stomped by. It frustrated Hiroshi that he was more affected by Satō then Satō was of him.

"Cool!" Takuro exclaimed with a fist-pump. "Good luck, HiroshiPEN!"

Hiroshi scowled at that ridiculous nickname. Takuro came up with it in tenth grade over something he couldn't remember well. Something about an anime convention, Nikoru dressed to the nines in some pirate costume, a pen, and nailing some vendor with a green and white-stripped hat in the forehead.

"While you're doing that, we'll set up," Satō announced and he led Takeshi to the stairs. They set everything down on the first step.

"Good luck, Hiroshi!" Mika called after him. There was a worried quiver in her voice. "Be careful! Watch out for bugs!"

"Yes, good luck, Hiroshi-kun!" Naoki chuckled. It sounded rather sour but Hiroshi quickly dismissed it.

"Quiet, you," Hiroshi grumbled.

"Want me to go with you?" Nikoru asked. Hiroshi swore she sounded desperate.

He turned for a quick second just to say, "It's fine," and then he was off again.

Xxx

Nikoru watched Hiroshi go and sniffed uncomfortably as he disappeared around a corner. In her peripherals she noticed a sly smirk crossing Naoki's lips. She pretended not to noticed but fumed on the inside. He ruined everything! She felt inferior to him—I guess you could say she felt as if Naoki was taking over her place next to Hiroshi.

It was funny how Hiroshi had been her inspiration for making it through many of the obstacles she'd faced. They had been through a lot together.

They'd known each other since first grade. She and Takuro met Hiroshi for the first time and agreed he would be too much fun to mess with. So they bugged him daily, religiously. He ignored them at first but soon started arguing with them. Nikoru kept trying to kiss his cheek and Takuro kept trying to get a high-five out of him. Nothing seemed to work until the day the great fifth grade bully Shota Kim pushed her off a swing during recess.

That sparked something inside Hiroshi. He threw his face in that bully's and started shouting until a tight crowd had surrounded them. Takuro would have jumped in immediately but he was delayed due to other bullies trying to swipe his food. Once outside, he saw Nikoru on the ground and Hiroshi in some fat kid's face and he knew it was a showdown. He ran over and said some rather obscene things to the kid. Pissed off that some dork kid was nose to nose with him, the bully swung at Hiroshi's face.

He hit him right across the bridge of his nose and damaged his eyes; hence the glasses Hiroshi has worn till this day.

Hiroshi became infuriated and he swung right back. For such a nerdy, wimpy kid, he sure packed a punch. He nailed that kid right between the eyes with a fist of steel and sent him flying backwards like a bird. Then, Hiroshi turned around and stared blindly at Takuro and Nikoru. There was a deep gash along his jaw and an inward dent on his nose. A liquid, triumphant fire raged in his.

It was one of the most amazing and inspiring moments of Nikoru's life.

Of course, the teachers came out and restrained both Hiroshi and the bully. They even went as far as calling on his parents for an expulsion. Hiroshi's parents dismissed the suggestion and took him straight to an eye doctor.

Since that day, Hiroshi had been known as a legend among the elementary schools and he was still well known in high school. In fact, those dorky glasses he wore made all the girls swoon harder.

After that experience, Takuro immediately took a stronger liking to him and Nikoru fancied herself in love with him.

Since then, people called them Three Musketeers.

And then there was the first time she had been on stage. Hiroshi told her again and again that she needed to find something more intelligent to do instead of being surrounded by drunken groupies. He went as far as telling her he wouldn't dare watch one of her concerts; it was meaningless.

It was her first real gig, and she was shaking in her socks. Not even Takuro could calm her down. Her gaze swept over the room quickly and then suddenly stopped. White hair and nerdy, circular glasses caught her eyes. It was Hiroshi, scowling but standing there like he belonged. He gave her a thumbs-up and the music started.

It had been one of her best performance. Of course, she had made a few mistakes but no one noticed, which gave her the confidence she needed to continue along this career path. Hiroshi made it to every concert after that. It touched her that he was so dedicated to seeing her every time, even though they had started on a rocky surface beforehand.

She'd never realized what it truly meant to have a best friend. She'd always had Hiroshi and Takuro by her side whenever she needed them. But she had never realized how deep those bonds went until Hiroshi bought her a bouquet of daisies after she sang the school anthem at the first football game of the year. The nerves from before the performance and gratitude and excitement between flowers and ovations swarmed her until she broke down, crying exhausted tears as she realized how far she had come with this early career, and how far she and Hiroshi had come as friends.

And then there was that undeniable feeling of passion. Since the time they had grown, Nikoru's crush had grown into the most ardent form of love. It was infuriating when the academy girls fawned over him—especially the Freshmen girls. They were so immature and obvious; if you're going to hit on someone, at least make it subtle. But those girls…they were like man eating bunny rabbits. They talked about him all the time in every class, made daily trips past the Cram Committee's room, stalked him down the hallways, and she had caught them glaring Naoki's way several times, but it didn't make her feel any better since they glared at her with the same intensity—

"Hey, Nikoru, help me with this."

She snapped out of her trance and focused on Satō. The others were already gone, but he was helping Takeshi pop batteries into the back of some cameras and EVP recorders. "Yeah, sure." She hurried over and grabbed a camera and some batteries. "But I think I wanna check the place out for a bit."

Satō slumped in disappointment…and irritation maybe? "The left hallway's open, and they all went upstairs with flashlights," he replied casually, acting as if he hadn't been sulking. Takeshi squeaked when Satō twirled a camera up into the air and breathed a sigh of relief when he caught it. "You wanna go check that out or would you rather hang out here and help out with the technical equipment?"

"Nah, I'll go investigate," she resolved. "That's what I came to do, anyway. You guys enjoy that stuff." Deciding she was far too lazy to find the hallway's light switch, she pulled out a glowstick and cracked it.

Satō grinned after her, enjoying the view of her nice butt. "Ah, yes, we will!"

The moment she thought no one could see Nikoru frowned thoughtfully and sniffed again, quietly. Why did that asshole Naoki always ruin everything? Why did he even tag along? Why did Mika invite him in the first place? It was so stupid!

What she would give to be a serial killer.

"Hey," Satō shouted, "be careful down there, will you? I don't want everyone getting mauled by raccoons or something."

Nikoru scoffed and waved the glowstick into a blur. "Neon."

Satō chuckled and plugged the computer cord into an outlet. It sparked ferociously and the lights flickered. Takeshi yelped and grabbed hold of the railing, eyes stinging and watering. Satō only laughed harder and expertly flipped the flashlight in his hand.

Xxx