Chapter three:
The twins stare at Nekozawa before backing into the darkness.
Haruhi looks to them in shock wondering why they aren't negotiating Nekozawa's silence. She wonders if they even care about passing this assignment. She turns her attention to Nekozawa deciding that it is up to her to be able to negotiate his silence. She is about to open her mouth to ask what he will take for their silence only to be shoved by Nekozawa into the darkness where she stumbles; luckily being caught by one of the twins. She is allowed to stand on her own feet soon after.
The door opens in stepping the guards seen earlier.
Nekozawa hisses at them about the light flooding in though it doesn't reach far keeping the three in darkness. "You will be cursed if you use any light that isn't candles!" He insists with a sinister warning tone.
"Sorry to bother you sir but did anyone come in here?" One of the guards question clearly not about to test Nekozawa on his threat.
Nekozawa picks up a candle and shines it around a bit making sure that even as he passes by the threes hiding spot they aren't shown. "No. See? Now will you join me in my ritual?"
Haruhi's mouth hangs open as it sounds like Nekozawa is really testing fate on if they will be seen. She closes her mouth blinking as the guards look uncomfortable.
"No thank you." One guard slightly mumbles.
"Then begone!" Nekozawa insists waving his arm. "I need peace to conduct my sacred ritual!"
The guards quickly leave shutting the door behind them.
There is a silence in the room for a few moments before Haruhi finally lets herself give a sigh of relief.
"You can thank me by getting one of my curse dolls." Nekozawa mentions making Haruhi dread how much they are.
"Fine." One of the twins sighs and buys one before Nekozawa leads them to another door leading to the next room so they won't be caught in the hallway. "Why did he have to get the weird clubroom that has three doors?" The twin sighs shaking his head. He hands the wooden doll to Haruhi. "Take it. Use it for whatever. We'll take care of the vase. We'll split up and don't you dare get caught after all of that."
The twins leave together with that making sure to move carefully so they don't get spotted.
Haruhi stands there still partially not believing that what happened actually happened. Her eyes glance down to the wooden doll left in her hands. She isn't actually sure what she is supposed to do with this thing. She shakes her head telling herself that she can worry about it later. She right now needs to get out of here. She stuffs the wooden doll into her shirt managing to make it so it's not visible though it won't fall out. She'll put it in her bag when she gets back to class. She turns her attention to the only other way out. She goes to the door stopping by it to listen for the guards. She hears hurried footsteps and ducks behind the open door. She peeks under the door gap at the bottom watching as the feet of the guards pause at the room she was in then race past. She stays hidden for a few moments managing to peek to see the guards head into the room the vase was in. She slips out of her hiding spot making her way carefully yet swiftly down the hallway. She gets to where other students are as a class is about to start, so students are making their way to their classes, where she glances back confirming she wasn't followed before letting out a silent breath of relief. She heads on her way to class hoping that the school day will end soon. She wants the passing grade for the assignment already.
Later…
Haruhi is glad that the twins do bring the vase to class and they get a passing grade on the assignment as the teacher even said that they weren't caught by anything. She is just glad that this is over.
"Class. Before the school day ends I need to remind you all that next month is our annual school thief event. It will start at the first of next month and end on the last day of the month."
Haruhi blinks at this as she wonders about the annual school thief event. She isn't sure she's really heard of it before.
"Now as a reminder for those who are new here or those who have forgotten, this event is when everyone must get into groups. No larger than eight people in one group and no less than three people. You will submit your groups, with the names of all those in your group, for approval before the end of this month. In the event you and your group will be given equipment to film and help verify your actions." The teacher tells them as Haruhi listens closely getting a bad feeling about this. "You will all be given the entire month to go out into the real world to steal as much as you can. Those with the highest value in stolen items, without being caught in anyway, will win a special prize decided by our principle." She folds her hands in front of herself. "I know you must be very excited about this event and we thank you for your patience as the month for this event was decided upon. If you fail to be a part of one group only before the end of this month you will fail automatically. Your grade for this will be determined by the goods you've gotten, if you were caught, and how well you executed your thieving. This could have a huge impact on your grades depending on how well you do in this, and depending on how your grades currently are. Also a reminder that during the month you still must be able to show up for classes as usual. It is a part of the challenge. That is all."
The bell rings with that though while the rest get ready to leave Haruhi is frozen to her chair.
They can't be serious! A whole thieving annual event where they actually steal stuff for real trying to get the best score!
Haruhi is well aware that her grade could be highly affected if she ends up failing this big assignment. She shivers at the thought that she might even get kicked out if she can't do this. She slightly glances around as a few linger to talk about their groups they're planning to build. She has no idea what she is going to do about this huge assignment. Her eyes drift to the twins as they exit the room before she looks away to look down at her desk. How is she supposed to find a group to join for this assignment?