Father
"Are you ready? Because now it's time for… the test of courage!.."
He turns around and looks at them with an evil grin, turning on the flashlight underneath his face. This time, the class gulps and sweats realizing what comes next as they look into the ominous forest.
"You heard him. That's why you got partners in the first place."
Ms. Samuel says with a smug smile before looking away with a nervous smile.
'One perk of being a teacher is not having to do these anymore...'
She thinks with a sweat. Some students try to play it off like they aren't scared while others openly begin to freak out. Shiori and Hikigaya look unsurprised unlike the others who are quite unnerved. They look back at them confused.
"What? Have you guys never been to their website?" Hikigaya asks.
"It's literally the big attraction for the tour." Shiori adds.
They shake their heads. Eventually the class is organized and lined up to walk along the designated path that leads into the forest and loops back around to the front of the house where the other school staff are waiting.
"Okay, two at a time. You will go, we will wait a few minutes then I'll tell the next pair to go. Understood? Great." Mr. Yamada explains. He smiles at them as he begins sending them off. "Make sure to stay on the very clear dirt path!"
He calls out as the first pair enters the forest. Ms. Samuel leans over to Mr. Yamada.
"So just double checking, this is totally safe right?"
"Of course, of course. The path is made very clear so you can even see it in the dark. And there are absolutely no animals around the area. We think it has something to do with the weird time anomaly, but of course we don't know. There's also surveillance around the perimeter of the manor, being a landmark and all." He says confidently.
"Wow, you really got it all covered."
"Well, I have been doing this for many years."
He smiles at her. Suddenly there's screams from the forest of the first pair as they come running out the proper exit point.
"And the screams..?" She asks, startled by the screams.
"Oh, that. I got some help."
In the forest, Tsuki is dressed up in makeup to look like one of the victims of the murdered family. After the kids run away, he goes back behind the tree and giggles to himself.
"The look on their faces! Priceless!"
As the next group comes up, he stands and slowly steps out from behind the tree. Most people don't notice him until he's fairly close. He just slowly stumbles around and stops when they see him. He then turns his head slowly to look at them then lunges. That's when the students take off screaming.
Shiori and the others are mostly towards the middle of the class with Haru, Chizuru and Sugawara leading their group. The more screams Sugawara hears, the more frightened he becomes and he latches onto them more.
"Alright, you three. You're up."
Sugawara's heart starts racing as they begin to step forward. He sweats a lot and closes his eyes as Chizuru holds his hand. Haru then does the same.
"It's okay. If we get scared, we'll be scared together."
Chizuru says, comforting him as she gives a slightly scared smile. He calms just a bit. Haru then speaks up confidently.
"Yeah, that's right. Besides, what could possibly be out here that's so scary? O-"
They stop when they hear a stick crack. They look ahead to see Tsuki slowly turn his head towards them.
"That's…" Haru says.
"Really a…" Chizuru whispers.
They begin to sweat as Sugawara completely freaks out.
"GHOST!!"
He runs away leaving Chizuru and Haru behind. Tsuki then lunges at them causing Haru and Chizuru to scream and run away, following right behind Sugawara. Shiori watches the exit point as the three of them leave running and crying. She giggles a bit to herself as Mr. Yamada calls them forward to head out. As they begin walking, Hikigaya starts chatting with her.
"I didn't realize you were so into things like this."
"Yeah, I'm really into the supernatural. It may also be just because this place is the closest to home but this has got to be my favorite haunted location ever."
"I totally know what you mean. The others aren't really into scary things like this so I don't get to talk about it often."
Shiori looks at him for a moment while he looks ahead, kind of bummed that the others aren't as passionate about the topic. She looks ahead as well.
"Well, I like this stuff. Haunted locations, mysterious cases, weird anomalies."
"Yeah, me too."
He smiles softly at her. She closes her eye and smiles back, feeling a bit proud that she managed to make him feel better, though she'd never admit it.
"So what do you think happened here that night?" Shiori asks.
"Oh, you want to get me started right now? Don't mind if I do!"
He responds excitedly and begins to explain his thoughts on the case as she enthusiastically responds with her own thoughts. They begin to approach the part where Tsuki would normally come out and scare them.
"Okay, the next pair. Let's do it."
He begins to do his normal act and slowly turns his head to look at them. However, they just walk by without noticing a thing. Tsuki gets stunned as they completely miss him.
'Huhh?! They're totally involved in their conversation!'
He thinks. He then tries to make his way next to them quietly and attempts to scare them again from the bushes. They still don't notice him. They eventually get too far for him to still be able to try and scare them. He pouts about them not getting scared and walks back to his spot.
"Dumb first years… Ruining all my fun… Now I don't even feel like scaring the rest…"
He grumbles behind the tree as he hears the next pair approach. He exhales and closes his eyes for a moment.
'Whatever. The show must go on.'
He thinks. He begins to do his normal routine as Lucy and Ryuji approach. As he steps out and turns his head, Ryuji and Lucy, who were smiling and talking a moment ago, stiffen up for a moment, noticing him.
"O-"
They both voice in unison. That is the only noise they make as they stare for a moment before continuing forward, obviously shaken a bit by him. Tsuki goes back behind the tree and covers his mouth trying to hold in his laughter.
'Now that is a reaction!'
Eventually the rest of the pairs make it through getting just as scared as the others. Once everyone is through, Mr. Yamada congratulates them on making it out alive. He then proceeds to gather everyone back into one group again and continues the tour.
Tsuki comes out from behind the tree and through the bushes onto the path. He dusts himself off a bit then wipes most of the makeup off onto his tattered shirt before peeking his head up. He notices a small blue light glowing off in the distance. A light he doesn't recognize. He takes a couple steps forward towards it.
"Blue.. fire?.."
It then proceeds to jump away from him.
"No, wait, come back."
He steps through the bushes, off the trail, to follow the moving blue fire. After a bit of history lessons, the tour goes on break for the class to have lunch. They all sit in the large dining room.
"I didn't know you liked scary things, Shiori."
Chizuru asks as Shiori nods.
"Anything supernatural or horrifying. I love getting scared."
"Lucky you…"
Sugawara grumbles. They look at him making him get embarrassed about him comment.
"On the other side, we also learned that Sugawara hates scary things."
Haru says with a smile as Sugawara droops.
"What about you?" He asks.
"Hmm… I don't mind them I guess. Fictional things I don't find very scary. Like movies, or stories and stuff. Being in real danger on the other hand, no way! Like bungee jumping or hang gliding. I hardly tolerate roller coasters…"
He says drooping as Lucy laughs at him. As they talk and eat, Shiori begins to overhear another conversation.
"Have you seen Tsuki come back yet?" The other staff shakes their head. "That's weird. He should've been back by now…"
He says with a concerned look, thoughts beginning to race. Shiori shifts her gaze in their direction, her eye focused as she listens intently.
"Is something wrong Shiori?"
Chizuru asks. Shiori sits quietly for a moment, listening, until she hears something that makes her ear twitch, something so incredibly faint, no one else could possibly have hoped to hear it. She suddenly gets up and dashes out of the room with haste. Hikigaya stands quickly too.
"Shiori? Where are you going?"
He quickly takes chases after her. Ms. Samuel is caught off guard and can't stop them from running out of the house in time.
"Both of you get back here right now!"
She commands. As she calls them, there is a blood curdling scream from the woods. Everyone freaks out as Ryuji and Lucy begin to rush after their friends. Before they can, however, Ms. Samuel and the other staff slam the doors and windows shut, locking them.
"Ms. Samuel! My friends just ran out there! We have to go help them!" Lucy shouts desperately.
"No one is going out there until officers arrive, understand me? My top priority is protecting my class! I will not abandon the rest of you or let you put yourselves in harm's way just because those two decided to!"
She shouts to the class. Lucy sweats and looks upset with her answer but understands the situation. Ms. Samuel is also sweating as she turns her back towards the class. The other staff have already started calling for help.
'How did this happen? What is even happening? I wasn't trained for something like this!'
She thinks. As she freaks out, Mr. Yamada places his hand on her shoulder. She quickly looks at him as he smiles softly at her.
"It's going to be alright. When help arrives, everything will be handled."
He smiles at her but she feels his hand shaking. She then notices his eyes are beginning to be glossy like tears are forming. Ms. Samuel smiles back and takes his hand.
'That's right. Tsuki could still be out there… I hope those two stay safe while help comes, there's nothing else to do now..' She thinks with a frustrated look.
Going back a few minutes, Tsuki follows the blue fire into the woods deeper and deeper.
"Come on little guy, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
He tries to catch up to the hopping flame but it is always just a bit ahead of him. He eventually makes his way to a clearing in the woods where the blue fire hops off into the thick fog just outside the ring of trees, causing him to lose sight of it. He stops with a disappointed look before getting drawn to the area that he's in. The trees form a circle around the area with fog floating throughout them in all directions except the way he came. The grass is short and brown but still alive. Tsuki looks around confused and almost in awe as he starts to realize the situation he's in.
"Oh no… I have no idea where I am…"
He says with a worried tone when he hears a snapping noise of a twig behind him. He turns around sharply only to see nothing. The ominous setting along with the deafening silence begins to fill Tsuki with anxiety causing him to sweat snd freak out.
"I just have to get out of here. Back the way I came."
He says in a soft whisper, still uneasy, as he begins to walk out of the circle the way he thinks he came in before he hears even more noise come from behind him. He slowly turns to see a large man stepping into the circle of trees.
His eyes are a soft glowing blue with no pupils. He has a long beard that's in a braid and hair in a ponytail with a grey streak in it. He is carrying a large axe in hand. Every time he breathes, blue steam comes out.
He doesn't seem to have noticed Tsuki yet. He then lifts his hand up by his waist as the blue fire from earlier hops onto it. He stares for a moment before sharply turning his head towards Tsuki. Tsuki jumps back a bit realizing he's been caught. Suddenly the blue fire begins to form into a large beast almost the size of a full grown adult. The beast is large like a bear but more slim fit like a wolf. It has large fangs that go past its lower jaw like a sabertooth and large claws to match. It doesn't take a normal physical form as it almost seems to be made of blue fiery energy like the fire it once was. It too is looking towards Tsuki. They stare at him for a moment as the man moves his hand from his open palm to point his finger at Tsuki. As soon as he does this the beast takes off at Tsuki.
He screams as he ducks and the beast dives over him. Tsuki begins to run. He runs as fast as he can while ducking and dodging tree branches and bushes. While running, Tsuki doesn't notice the ditch dug out in front of him and he falls into the side of it hard. He winces in pain and looks down at his leg to see a large gash in his calf muscle. He looks back to see the beast coming towards him. He gets a horrified look on his face as he begins to crawl out of the ditch and away. He doesn't even get a meter away before he turns back around screaming for his life as the beast pounces at him. He throws his arms up in front of his face and closes his eyes right before the beast reaches him. He sits waiting for the pain of its strike but it never comes.
He slowly opens his eyes to see Shiori drop kicking the beast in the side of its head causing it to go flying into a tree. Tsuki watches in awe as she lands and the beast gets up shaking its head. She stares at it as it growls then charges back at her but before it can, Hikigaya kicks it in its stomach up. The beast looks stunned as it falls back to the ground on its side. It gets back up shakily as it looks back at them.
"What is it?" He asks.
"I don't know but it definitely has intent to kill. Keep your guard up."
He smacks his fist into his hand and smirks.
"Got it."
He begins to walk around it while Shiori stays in front of Tsuki. The beast shoots it's head back and forth between the both of them before deciding to pounce at Hikigaya. He leans back and throws the beast into the tree behind him.
"You know, I've always wanted to fight a wild beast just to see how far I've really come!"
It gets up and stares for a moment before its tail stretches and shoots towards Hikigaya. This catches him off guard and strikes him across the face causing him to spit out a little blood. He wipes it away and smirks.
"Yeah, that really hurt."
It strikes with its tail again from above so Hikigaya jumps back as it strikes again and again. As it's so focused on Hikigaya, it fails to notice Shiori who jumps above it and lands a falling axe kick to the top of its head, shoving it deep into the ground. As she pushes it down, it stands a bit then swings its claws at her, catching her just a bit on her side. It leaves three slashes that aren't deep. She jumps back next to Hikigaya, holding her side a bit but not letting the pain get to her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Dandy."
"Good. Now let's finish this."
They both stance as it charges them. As it pounces, they both kick it under its jaw into the air. It retaliates by shooting its tail directly into Hikigaya's stomach causing him to slide back. Shiori takes this opportunity to strike its ribcage directly, breaking bones on impact. The beast coughs out much blood as it's sent flying on its side across the ground. It whips its tail around one last time, striking Shiori across the face. This only causes her to flinch however.
The beast tries to get up but struggles as Hikigaya steps up next to Shiori, mostly unharmed from its last attack. Shiori then looks at it again with a slightly bruised cheek and anger in her eye. The beast tries to stand up to continue fighting but once it sees the both of them are mostly unharmed, it pictures them as large monstrous creatures looking down on it. Beings much more powerful than itself. It whimpers a bit as it glows brighter before flashing back into the tiny blue flame again. It then quickly hops off into the woods. Hikigaya exhales sharply.
"Hmph." Shiori huffs.
They relax and turn towards Tsuki who is amazed at what he just saw.
"How did you..?"
"Don't worry about it. Let's just get you back." Shiori says, quickly shifting the conversation.
"I imagine your dad is worried sick right now." Hikigaya adds.
"But you were so amazing! We can't just overlook what you guys just did- ah!"
He winces in pain again as his leg wound hurts. Shiori crouches next to him and lifts him up in her arms. He looks surprised she picked him up this way and blushes a bit.
They begin walking back the way they came as Tsuki looks at Shiori and his eyes start shining, seeing her with bubbles and sparkles all around.
'She's so beautiful…' "What high school do you go to?" He asks, not removing his gaze from Shiori. Hikigaya quickly answers.
"We go to Iris High. Why?"
Tsuki then wraps his arms around Shiori's neck and lays his head right beneath hers which she doesn't react to.
"Oh no reason…" He says with a dumb smile on his face.