Chapter 392: This Isn’t What a Haunted House Is For

"I originally wanted to design a river or something, but since this is a rented classroom, I had to scrap that idea..."

Listening to Rinji's endless rambling, Onodera slowly stepped out of the 'forest'.

"Yah!"

Seeing the 'female ghost' approaching, Hayasaka quickly clung to Rinji's arm.

In the pitch-dark environment, it was impossible to see Hayasaka's expression or tell if she was genuinely scared.

Rinji didn't react much to the ghost's appearance and just waved, "Yo, Onodera."

"You're making things difficult for me."

Onodera took off her wig and spoke flatly.

"This is really disrespectful to the haunted house staff."

"But you didn't scare me."

"What a shame," she said, then glanced at Hayasaka clinging to Rinji. "So Hayasaka-senpai is here too?"

"Yep," Hayasaka smiled.

It was clear that her frightened act just now had been entirely fake.

"…Did you two come here just to mess with the staff?"

"Of course not, but I really can't pretend to be scared." Rinji shrugged. "I just couldn't feel any horror elements."

"I figured. Scaring you was always going to be a challenge."

Onodera Rei nodded thoughtfully, then her eyes lit up.

"Hey, do you want to try playing the ghost yourselves?"

"Hm?"

"You're one of the creators of this haunted house anyway. You could experience what it's like to scare others," she said. "Of course, Hayasaka-senpai can join too."

Rinji glanced at Hayasaka, who smiled and nodded.

"Of course! I've always wanted to try something fun like this~"

"OK, I'll go get the costumes."

---

"Now we just wait here for someone to come by."

Rinji and Hayasaka crouched behind the 'forest', waiting.

Hayasaka wore a white dress, her face mostly covered by black wig strands. Rinji wore a traditional Japanese monster costume.

When people found out Rinji was going to play the ghost, some students from Class 1-B wanted to apply the female ghost makeup on him, but he firmly refused.

Otherwise, Hayasaka's outfit would've been his.

"Rinji, aren't you hot in that thing?"

"Not really. Even if I am, it's better than wearing a girl's outfit," he said from within the monster costume.

He pointed ahead.

"Someone should come in through that path soon. When they get close, we'll jump out."

"Got it."

There was still quite a bit of distance between the haunted house entrance and their spot. Most people turned back before getting this far.

Rinji didn't know what scared them so much, but in reality, very few made it through the whole haunted house. Many backed out midway.

The two of them waited, even pulling out their phones to kill time. No one showed up.

"...Did everyone chicken out?"

"Could be," Hayasaka nodded, then glanced at Rinji in costume.

"My legs are falling asleep. Can I lean on you for a bit?"

"Of course."

Rinji sat down. Hayasaka settled on his lap, resting her face on his chest.

Due to the thick costume, Rinji couldn't feel her warmth.

"I'm surprised you agreed to dress up as a ghost. We could've gone to so many other places this afternoon."

"It doesn't matter where we go. What matters is who we go with," Hayasaka said with a smile. "As long as I'm with you, I don't mind helping out as staff."

"Really? That makes me kind of happy."

Rinji's gloved hand gently stroked her hair.

From an outsider's perspective, it was a weird scene: a female ghost curled up in a monster's lap.

"Mmm... mm..."

"Sounds like someone's here." Even with the thick headgear, Rinji could hear a faint sound nearby. It sounded like a girl.

"That sounded odd. Think she's scared?"

Hayasaka sat up and looked in the direction of the sound.

"...Did someone get lost?"

The haunted house only took up two classrooms, but it was still possible to get lost.

With the darkness and creepy staff around, some people were so terrified they'd hide in a corner and tremble, unable to move forward.

Those people usually had to be escorted out by staff.

Rinji and Hayasaka moved toward the sound, using their phones for light.

"Hello, I'm with Class 1-B staff. Did something happ—what the hell are you two doing!?"

Under the flashlight, a boy and a girl were passionately making out in a corner.

Both were students from Shuchiin, and Rinji recognized them.

Tanuma Tsubasa and Kashiwagi Nagisa.

They jumped in shock at the light and turned to see a grotesque monster and a ghost standing over them.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" x2

"Why the hell are you screaming!? You've been holed up in here for ages just to make out?" Rinji snapped. "Go home if you wanna do that."

"Eh? That voice… Takamine-san?"

Even through the costume, Tanuma recognized him.

"Yep, it's me. Caught you red-handed. But since it's the Hoshin Festival, I'll let it slide. Just don't do this stuff at school again."

"Ah, we're really sorry."

"Sorry for the trouble."

The two bowed to Rinji before holding hands and walking toward the haunted house exit.

Their faces didn't even turn red. They didn't seem the least bit embarrassed at getting caught.

Looked like they were pretty experienced.

Hayasaka's face, however, was flushed red. She didn't even glance toward where they had left. Her eyes were fixed on Rinji's lips.