Meanwhile, upstairs, Hiroshi was rushing about the second floor, searching for anything of use. Ignoring some new poorly drawn map on the wall he hurried to the room Takeshi had been in.
"Takeshi!" He exclaimed, not noticing the door had been closed when he had made sure to leave it open earlier, "Takeshi, you were ri-"
The closet doors were wide open and the chair and table were overturned. Hiroshi's heart leapt into his mouth again; Takeshi was gone.
"Where is everyone?" Hiroshi whispered on the verge of hysterics. But hysterical or not, he had to somehow keep it together. So what if Takeshi wasn't here, he'd find him soon and save him.
Then, as if a brick wall had hit him, he suddenly realized he cared for that blonde twat. They didn't even know each other too well, but Hiroshi felt a sudden connection between them. It had to be the danger they were facing, it was a terror Hiroshi couldn't defeat alone and he felt almost as if Takeshi felt the same way.
Before he turned to leave and rescue the others, he noticed a small, white cloth unfolded across the floor. Whose is that? Hiroshi wondered as he bent down to pick it up. There was a small red insignia on the underside and a pattern of swirls on one hem. Strange. Is this Takeshi's?
Feeling uneasy again, Hiroshi stood and bolted to the door. He could feel something was coming. Maybe not at that moment, but soon.
He went ahead and checked the door to the right as well, only to discover it was still locked. Though he was sure he could hear faint moaning from behind it, he waved it off and scurried downstairs to find an escape everyone could access.
His first idea was the front door. He vacantly noted the equipment was still missing and tired to turn the door's knob.
It was locked.
Locked!
Hiroshi took a few drunken steps back, shocked. It can't be! His mind screamed and he tried again for a full minute until his mind finally realized that, indeed, it was locked.
"Then a window!" Hiroshi exclaimed. He checked the nearest one and almost screamed when he realized they were all bricked. "What is this? I-this-what's going on!"
There must be some exit somewhere! He rationed comfortingly, fixing his glasses. His hands trembled with the struggle to keep himself civil, to keep himself from banging his head on the wall or screaming. There must be a secret door, maybe…oh, I don't know! It could be anywhere…
He stood there for a moment, still trying to grasp the full concept of this horrifying situation. Once again, he had no idea how to deal with the situation. But there had to be some way!
Just as he was about to throw himself against the bricks, a deafening, blood-curdling scream rang throughout the foyer. Hiroshi jumped in surprise and rushed to save whomever it was.
In all his wildest dreams, he would have never expected Satō to run out into the foyer like he did, arms flailing and jaw dragging on the floor, and screaming like a child playing Amnesia for their first time. Hiroshi watched, stunned, as Nikoru scrambled out of the staircase's side way just behind, chest bouncing and hair sticking up every which way.
Both of them looked ready to jump out a window. Too bad they'd only get two inches.
"Nikoru!" Hiroshi exclaimed, running to her side as she hunched over and braced her palms on her sore knees. Satō screamed again and bolted to the door, only to find it locked like Hiroshi had. "Are you all right? What happened!"
Nikoru didn't look up or say much, as she was panting like an
Olympic track star. She held up her index finger. Hiroshi obliged and ran a gloved hand over her shoulder comfortingly.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Satō screeched as he pried at the door. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" He instantly turned to Hiroshi with wide eyes and yelled, "Hiroshi, what the fuck have you done?"
"Me?" Hiroshi shouted, incredulous. "What do you mean me! I didn't do a thing!"
"Oh, sure you didn't!" Satō cackled and jumped around in front of the door like a monkey. "YOU DIDN'T! OKAY! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT DAMN PURPLE THING, EXPLAIN THAT, MIGHTY LORD OF HOMOS!"
"Satō, shut up!" Nikoru exclaimed angrily, straightening and checking over her shoulder that the coast was clear. "Dude, he doesn't know! He wasn't even fucking there!"
Hiroshi nodded; pleased Nikoru was standing against that bastard now.
Satō narrowed his eyes. "Son of a bitch, Hiroshi locked the door. You bastard, you just want me to fucking rot, don't you?"
Hiroshi scowled in irritation. "Why the hell would I do that, you idiot? And I know what you saw, I saw it as well."
Nikoru turned to him, shocked. "Y-you did? Was it fucking Barney?"
Hiroshi nodded seriously. "Yes, it was large and purple. It honestly looked like an overgrown toddler to me."
Nikoru's mouth formed an 'o' and she nodded. "Oh, hell yeah, you saw it!"
"A toddler!" Satō giggled hysterically. He raced to a window down the opposite hallway of Hiroshi. "A toddler! How original, asswipe! Admit it, you're behind this!"
Hiroshi sighed impatiently. "No, idiot, why would I do something like this? What would be the point? And you can't escape through the windows, they've been bricked."
Nikoru's jaw dropped. "Dude, no. No, no, no, bricked?" She ran over to one of the alleged windows and gasped, "What! Oh, hell no! Hell no!" She skidded beside Hiroshi with her large brown eyes wider than he'd ever seen them. "BRICKED! Hiroshi, dude, how?"
"I-I don't know!" Hiroshi cried.
"Ah-ha!" Satō pointed accusingly at him. "You stuttered! You lied!"
"No, I did not!" Hiroshi exclaimed, now annoyed. "You're not making this any better, you're making the whole thing worse! Just shut up and let's search for the others and possibly another escape-"
"Possibly?" Nikoru repeated anxiously. "You mean we could die in this hell hole?"
"Did you see that monster?" Hiroshi countered, not meaning to be rude but factual. "Anything is possible."
"But if we don't…" Nikoru swallowed; it looked painful. Then, she suddenly looked Hiroshi full in the eyes with a defiant glimmer in her eyes, determination on her tight lips, and seriousness seeping from her expression. "Hiroshi, I know this sounds utterly cliché and stupid, but if we can't find another way out, could we possibly wait it out until morning? You never see a demon during the day, you know. I'm sure there's sunlight somewhere around here, and, or, we could either hide or wait there or we could somehow bulldoze a window. If we find another escape, thank God, but if not, we could search for any small opening. It's the sort of thing you see in the movies, and I don't know if they're reliable or whatever, but we could try."
Satō looked stunned across the foyer, probably incredulous that he had finally witnessed one of Nikoru's finer moments in life.
Hiroshi nodded tactfully. "Yes, if there's a will, there's a way. That's what mother used to say. Anyway, I agree with you. Demons lurk in shadow, in darker places. So if we find some sort of sunlight we may be all right."
Nikoru smiled on the inside, appreciative for Hiroshi's compliment: he agreed with her. He never agreed with anyone! And that jerk Satō had witnessed it all.
Hiroshi whirled and glared at Satō. "By the way, we have unfinished business to attend to." Satō ground his teeth and was about to retort when Hiroshi cut him off, "But it will be dealt with at a later time. Right now, you two search for something useful. Maybe we can use weapons against them."
Nikoru saluted him. "Heil-I mean, yes, Cap'n!"
Satō fumed but sighed in defeat.
"By the way," Hiroshi said abruptly, "have either of you seen Takeshi, Mika, Naoki or Takuro?"
Nikoru and Satō were silent. He huffed and shook his head; she sniffed and shrugged. Hiroshi's gut twisted painfully. Where were the others? "Are you sure?"
"Mika and Takuro went upstairs," Nikoru said, trying to be helpful. "Takeshi was with-"
"Not anymore," Satō stated gruffly and a little too abruptly.
Hiroshi frowned at him. Did he actually know something? "I saw Takeshi upstairs." Both stared at him, waiting to hear more. "Well, he was cowering in a closet with flashlights. That is, until I was chased by one of those monsters and escaped into a music room. I went back to look for him, but he was gone." Hiroshi took the kerchief from his pocket. "I assume this is his as it was left where he had been hiding in the closet."
Nikoru examined it from his hands and paled. "Dude, that's not Takeshi's. That's Naoki's."
Hiroshi's brows furrowed. "Naoki's? Why would it be in there?"
Nikoru shrugged. "Dunno. But I saw him with it when we got here, right before he went upstairs. He made it in Home Ec. or whatever, it has the same pattern thing."
Out of curiosity, Hiroshi asked, "Since when do you care what Naoki's possessions are, Nikoru?"
She sniffed in what he presumed was embarrassment and shrugged. "I don't know, I just notice stuff."
Hiroshi wasn't so sure about that. She was hiding something.
"Well, fuck that homo," Satō grunted. "He's an asshole, pun intended."
Nikoru opened her mouth to say something and closed it quickly. Hiroshi blinked at her. She would usually defend people who were hated on but this time she kept her mouth clamped shut.
It…must be because of Naoki?
Hiroshi wondered about that. He had noticed some tension between the two, but he'd never actually thought about it until now. He never truly noticed it until he realized the reason Nikoru wasn't speaking up was because Satō had insulted Naoki.
"Nikoru, is there something you want to talk about…?" Hiroshi asked hesitantly. Nikoru sniffed and clicked her tongue. "About…about Naoki?"
She said nothing.
"Yeah," Satō quirked up, "I was wondering about that, too. What's up with you and Emo Boy? Gotta crush on him?" He purposely stared at Hiroshi as he continued, "Or is it coz of Hiroshi?" Nikoru cringed. "Relationship wise?"
"Bastard, shut up," Nikoru hissed angrily. Hiroshi goggled at her. He wasn't sure whether he was marveling about how she had called his nemesis a bastard or if he was shocked at how quickly her mood had changed. "No one gives a fuck about him…"
"Nikoru…" Hiroshi trailed off, not knowing what to say.
She hates Naoki, because he wants to set us up? He thought awkwardly. Is Satō…No, impossible.
Satō cracked his knuckles. "Well, might as well start looking around, I wanna get out of here as soon as I fucking can."
How interesting it is to see his façade deteriorating so quickly after being exposed, Hiroshi thought slyly. "Yes, let's."
Xxx
Takuro awoke, unsure what he was seeing. It seemed dark but there were blue splotches all over his vision, like stars. He sat up and groaned while his aching joints protested. Where was he? His guess was as good as anyone's.
But he knew one thing for sure: it was very cold. A sharp, freezing sting hit his palm and he inhaled sharply as he brought the pulsing hand in front of his eyes to examine it. There was no mark, no scratch, nothing.
He suddenly remembered Mika and jumped to his feet. He ran in circles trying to find a way out, but there was nothing. Nothing but black. He opened his mouth to scream or yell, but nothing came out. Only air where the words were absent. He wracked his memory to recall what had happen but found his memory was blank.
What was going on?
Xxx
This chapter was so easy to write! I guess it's because I love imagining the tension between Hiroshi and Satō because one spews such a sharp, uptight retort and the other is hateful and sarcastic. I like the contrast, and that's why I made dastardly Satō the way he is! XD
By the way, I have NOTHING against homosexuals, nothing at all. I have a couple homosexual friends myself. I just thought the things Satō said about Naoki being bi would be something he'd say and not regret because he is a bastard. And why didn't Nikoru speak up? You'll learn later! Should be obvious, though! And I'm not pronazi, seriously. Just thought that 'heil' thing would add some swag. Maybe that's not the right word…
And then there's the inspiration, which goes to Russica for being awesome, PewDiePie for playing Ao Oni where I first heard of the game in the first place (which was a LONG time ago XD), Switzerland (my favorite Hetalian!), and to Shaun of the Dead, which I watch religiously every night. You probably noticed that where I added in 'twat.' :D Liz is so badass.
Anyway, thanks for reading! It would really helped if you liked it and reviewed, and if you did, you're awesome! Also check out my Hetalia series, Dear Bastard, which are Lovino Vargas' (Romano's) angry letters to the world!
I'll be back to edit later!
Stay awesome, guys! –Cappy