≪ Chapter 21 ≫

No One's POV

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Sugawara knew that this morning would be like no other. Today, after all, was a quite important day. He didn't want to let anything get in the way of today because today was the day he, along with his entire class, worked so hard for.

As soon as the silver-head came to school (and mind you, he made sure to be very early), he rushed for his classroom, somewhat enthusiastic. To his surprise, he wasn't the first one there- in fact, there were already three people in the small area of the classroom that wasn't spookily decorated, which was for the management of the room, whatnot.

"Ezakiya-san, Ishinomori-san, Hikari. Ohayo. You're all early," he commented, waving as he dropped his bag where the others had placed theirs, too.

"Can say the same to you. We just finished checking the list of decorations for the third time, making sure everything's in place. Apparently, there are still problems," Ishinomori sighed, pointing over to the two females stressing over the whole situation.

"Ah, Sugawara! Is that you? Yeah, yeah that is. I need you to do me a big favor and take over for me because I need to run somewhere before school officially starts, when we plan to do the real setting-up. Prep time starts at eight, and Day One of this whole event officially starts at around nine, which is why I only have about an hour to fix everything. These two still have other things to do, which is why I'm asking you. Please, please make sure everyone cooperates, and have the actors change as soon as they get here! Bye Mikocchi, Kazue-san, and Kou-Sugawara!" Hikari practically yelled, throwing a bunch of papers and a clipboard to the silver-head, who watched her sprint away.

"Jaa ne, Hika-chan. Gambatte!" Ezakiya waved, also rapidly cutting out strips of red paper.

"I... think I was just ordered to take over for the leader of this whole thing," Sugawara blinked, looking at the papers his fellow classmate shoved into his hands. "I'm surprised she trusts me to handle this."

"She gets pretty panicky and hasty when she's..."

"In a pinch?" Sugawara finished off for Ishinomori, who pushed his glasses up.

"How do you know that?" the art club president questioned suspiciously, walking towards a box of costumes.

The volleyball player forced a smile. "It's nothing new to me."

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The Third Year, Class 4 classroom was bustling with business, students rushing here and there. The time was already 8:21 in the morning, and Hikari was back, guiding her classmates.

From time to time, Ezakiya, Ishinomori, Sugawara, and even Daichi offered to give her a hand, which she in return gladly accepted.

Today, Hikari was determined to not let anything ruin the joy she was experiencing leading her class, not even letting Sugawara's presence wreck her fun.

For now, everything was going to plan, which she was quite thankful for. The stress of everything was already much. Despite that, however, she enjoyed what she was doing.

It was only 8:29 when she called everyone to stop, for everything was already done. "Let's give it a test-run, to see how well this goes! Oh, and don't forget, we're going to switch shifts after lunch break wherein my team will take over so you guys can enjoy the culture fest as well! Let's go, people!"

The whole class cheered, actors and propsmen getting into position. The sound effects crew went into their small booth, and everyone else went outside.

The remaining people were divided into two groups of five, Hikari's group going last. The mousse-haired female found it amusing that Ezakiya was clinging onto Ishinomori, and they weren't even in yet. Daichi seemed tough, but was quite nervous to go inside, and Sugawara was plain panicked that the actors wouldn't be as scary as Hikari wanted them to be. (Mainly because she would scare the living daylights out of the poor people if they didn't do a good job.)

And finally, it was their turn to go in. The five of them were silent, trying to not get scared of their own work, which was pretty darn terrifying.

The eerie music added so much to the whole experience, which also made it very enjoyable, to their delight (and maybe regret, because they were practically shivering all over).

And suddenly, Hikari, who had been handling it quite well up until now, felt a tap on her back.

'That wasn't on the script. That wasn-'

Again.

She flinched, turning around. "Stop, stop. Sugawara, that wasn't funny. Or was that you, Daichi?"

"Hah? What now, blaming us again?" Sugawara irritatedly commented, confusedly looking at Hikari.

"No, no. Someone tapped me. That was you, right? Knock it off, we need to finis-"

The music goes off. So do the fake dim lights.

"Oh come on."

"Guys, I think we need to run. Maybe it's a power-out," Daichi suggested.

"They're obviously trying to scare us," Ishinomori sighed.

"Let's just continue walking. We're almost done, look, that's the part where the hands are gonna pop out of the paper door," Hikari pointed. "Mikocchi, come on. It's your favorite part."

Silence.

"Mikocchi? Prez, where's she?" Hikari asked.

"Fumiko? Don't tell me you backed out on us!" Ishinomori called out.

"She's probably outside, we need to go already," Daichi stated in a panicky voice. "And even if she's not, she's not lost. We're in school, this isn't a real haunted house."

"Riiight. Let's go, we're almost done anyway." Hikari nodded, pulling along the slightly worried Ishinomori.

It wasn't long until they found that the exit was blocked.

"What the-"

"Okay, I'm pretty sure they're playing with us at this point. We need to-"

Maniac laughter comes from the center of the room, which makes the four students' heads turn to the source quickly.

"Let's just go with their game and just get them back when it's our shift," Sugawara said, leading the way.

"Agreed," Daichi nodded, the rest following after him.

When they reached the source of the laughter, they were quite surprised to find out that there was... what seemed like a ghost on the other side of the pathway.

It was a typical long-haired, white-dressed, pale-skinned ghost, and the four weren't much shaken by it.

But all of a sudden, the white dress it seemed to be wearing started to be tainted by a vile, red color. The ghost dropped to the floor, seemingly-lifeless.

"That's good acting, but I feel that it needs more-"

The ghost, shaking now, slowly crawled towards them, the red liquid being splattered as it took steps forward.

"Do we run?" Ishinomori questioned, instantly regretting it once the ghost crawled faster and faster, until it was closing in on the group.

At this point, the four were shot up with adrenaline because 1. they reached the exit only to find again it was blocked and 2. the ghost was crawling really darn fast.

Panicking, the four pushed the boxes that were blocking the door away. They frantically threw the boxes out of their way and reached for the door's handle once it was in sight.

But it was locked.

"Hikari, the key, where is it?! You have it, right?" Ishinomori yelled, pulling his hair.

Fishing for it in her pocket, Hikari's stomach suddenly felt empty. Her heart-rate increased rapidly, hands only feeling the cloth of her blazer's insides. "It's not here."

"What the paintbrushes? How the canvas do you not have the key?!"

"It's on the clipboard I shoved into Sugawara's arms!" she yelled.

"Stop being senseless, there's a lock for the door that's right there, remember?!" Sugawara exclaimed. "Just turn the lock!"

"You stop being senseless! That broke, so Nakocchi replaced it with a padlock on the outside, you idiot!" Hikari screamed, thumping on the door.

"Nakocchi? As in Nakano-san the janitor?" Ishinomori asked.

"That doesn't matter right now!" she answered back, in a real state of panic.

"Whoever you are, forgive me for this!" Daichi roared, throwing one of the empty boxes at the ghost.

"I-Ittai! Sawamura-kun, you didn't have to go so far! I was planning to let you guys go! Man, that hurt!" Ezakiya complained. "You hit my shoulder."

"E-Ezakiya-san?! I-I-I didn't mean to, I just- don't scare us like that!" Daichi replied, bowing a couple of times. "Hontou ni gomen! Daijobu desu ka?"

"Yeah, my shoulder kinda hurts a bit, but the pain's going away. I forgive you."

"Are you absolutely sure you're okay, Fumiko?" Ishinomori asked, helping her up. "Was this your idea?"

"Mhm! I planned it with the others, knowing we'd have a test-run. Anyway, I think we should unlock the door, it's 8:50," Ezakiya smiled.

"Please don't scare us like that, Mikocchi."

"Gomen, gomen! But you should have seen your faces. I have pictures, Hika-chan!"

"Mikocchi. Delete that at once."

"Hai, hai~"

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The time was 9:52 in the morning. It had been approximately fifty-two minutes since Hikari left Sugawara and Daichi to do their shift.

She, along with Ezakiya and Ishinomori, was on her way to the first years to visit her other friends.

It wasn't very long until the three reached First Year, Class Four. From the window of the classroom, Hikari saw a certain blonde cleaning a table.

"Kei, Tadashi, I see you're working very hard! So your class decided to put up a café, huh," the mousse-haired megane smiled, "and your theme seems to be very pastel and cutesy."

Tsukishima sighed. "Class rep wanted a cute café thing and barked out assigned roles once she got what she wanted. Sadly, I'm a waiter."

The appeared Yamaguchi, who seemed to be dressed as a cook. "Tsukki's right! I volunteered to whip up some of my specialties, and I'm feeling pretty good about it!"

Hikari laughed at this. "Ne, Mikocchi. Can you take my picture with Kei and Tadashi? Their outfits are something I'd love to laugh at years from now."

"Get out, Ayu. I'm going—"

"No, no. You are not going anywhere. Just smile for the camera, you killjoy," she hissed, grabbing the blonde by his arm. She gave her phone to Ezakiya, who giggled and held up the camera.

"Ichi, ni, san! Smile!" Ezakiya counted, snapping a nice photo.

"Aah, it looks pretty nice! Arigato, Mikocchi!" Hikari thanked her friend, grinning at the photo.

"Send that to me, Ayu-chan! We'll go now, and we'll be sure to visit you later! Jaa," Yamaguchi bowed, heading back inside.

"Jaa ne, Ayu-chan, Ezakiya-senpai, Ishinomori-san," Tsukishima waved boredly, following after the freckled first-year.

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Sugawara changed out of his costume and headed out the men's room, bumping into someone as he exited.

There she was.

In all her glory, Hikari Ayumu stood, wearing a long, white, dress. Her hair seemed to be straightened, no longer the curly half-tied hair she was known for. She was holding her school uniform in one arm.

"Ah, gomen. I just changed to my ghost costume. Oh, and I almost forgot, how was your shift? I never got to ask the morning workers because I was rushing to get into this," she asked, the two walking towards the classroom of theirs.

Sugawara was silent for a little, until he finally uttered what we could. "My shift was really fun. I had a really hard time not laughing at people. Etto..."

Hikari looked at him, hair softly falling to one side.

"Your hair."

She stroked a lock of her hair. "Not used to seeing it like this? I can tell. It makes me look pretty scary with this dress, am I right?"

He looked away. 'It looks more nice than scary,' he thought.

Hikari shifted, mumbling a small "Arigato?" in a questioning tone.

"J-Just kidding! I bet you won't be able to scare a single soul!" he laughed nervously, cursing himself for actually saying that out loud.

"I'll scare more people than you ever could," she informed him, rolling her eyes.

'By what you're doing to my feelings right now, you've already scared one without even trying,' he mused, making sure not to say that out loud this time.

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Inhaling deeply, the mousse-haired megane grabbed a water bottle from the table in the management area of the classroom, exhausted from the day's challenges.

With all her classmates waiting for her to wrap up the day itself, she finally spoke, a cheerful grin on her face.

"As your representative, I would like to thank each and every one of you for participating! I truly appreciate everyone's hardworking spirits, and how everyone got along quite nicely this time around! I hope we can continue to be like this 'til the rest of the year. When you get home, eat well and rest up, as we're not yet done. Please hang on until tomorrow!" she announced, bowing. "Minna-san, otsukaresamadeshita!"

The whole class cheered, grabbing their bags and heading out. Each of them bowed lightly before walking outside the classroom.

When everyone but a certain four people headed out, Hikari started to close the lights and lock up.

"Uh, thanks for helping me today, Prez, Mikocchi, Sawamura-kun, Sugawara." Hikari bowed.

"You're welcome, Hika-chan!" Ezakiya smiled. "You've worked hard today. Otsukare!"

"Anyways, I'm uh, going to head home," the glasses-wearing female said, "jaa mata ashita!"

Daichi stopped. "You're not gonna join the four of us for ramen?"

Hikari shook her head. "Um, what ramen? I guess I wasn't informed. Besides, Kei and Tadashi are probably waiting for me-"

"Sugawara?" Ishinomori murmured. "You didn't tell her?"

"Suga. You said that she was busy!" Daichi went on, scolding the silver-head. "You lied to us?"

Sugawara looked at the floor guiltily. "It's not that I didn't want to. It's... I..."

"Couldn't?" Ezakiya grinned knowingly. She had this sly smile up on her face, like she knew something no one did.

The setter shifted his gaze towards the purple-haired female, unable to speak.

She smiled.

"Well, that's alright. You can bring your two friends and we can all have ramen together, if that's alright with them. You see, we asked Suga-chan here to tell you that we were going to all have ramen together. Guess he couldn't ask you, and so he told us that you were busy. But it's all fine now, if you wanna come," she explained, still beaming.

Hikari squinted at Sugawara, then at Ezakiya. "Fine, I'll go. Let me tell my mom, then go get Kei and Tadashi. I'll meet you at the gates."

Ezakiya nodded. "See you there~!"

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The five students, now seven (including the first-years), were now slurping away at the tasty ramen that was placed in front of each person.

When they finished, they found themselves to be quite full, savoring the delicious taste of the last bites.

"That was great," Daichi stated, "and not just any old 'great'. That was actually really tasty."

"Sou da ne? I come here all the time with Kazue-kun and Naoyuki after school," Ezakiya told him.

Hikari gasped, hurt. "You come here without me? I am greatly upset!"

"You're always busy, you know. After hanging out with us for art, you go to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi and walk home. Or if it's not that, you're busy doing all sorts of deeds for the class. Your integrity is pretty high, and that's not a bad thing," Ezakiya reminded her. "So we choose to go on ahead without you."

"Ah, I see. I'll come with you guys next time, for sure. This place is great," Hikari answered, wiping her mouth.

"You really should. Naoyuki misses hanging out with you," Ishinomori chuckled.

"Is that so? Well then, I guess I really should! Ne, Tadashi. You don't mind me leaving you two right?" Hikari turned to her side, staring at the freckled male.

"Oh, yeah sure, go ahead!"

"Don't forget me next time, alright?" Hikari pouted, pushing a few strands of hair behind her ear.

It was then Sugawara stood up (and rather abruptly, mind you), mumbling something along the lines of "I need to wash my hands." It appeared that his ears were quite pink for a somewhat unknown reason.

This made Ezakiya throw her head back in laughter.

"I don't understand why you're laughing so much, Mikocchi."

"Perhaps you don't yet, Hika-chan."

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a/n: sort of crying, sort of throwing my own head back in pure laughter.

I can't. I'm sorry. I just need to sit here and wonder why I'm like this.

I can't rESIST THIS. mY SMILE IS GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER

(*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ

All I can do is laugh, really. I just. I can't.

I hope you guys like what's going on, and if you do, leave a comment on what you presume might happen next as well as what you think of the story so far~

Please point out any errors, I'd appreciate it!

oh, and also i decided to attach a... a small doodle. ;)

it's read right to left and it says :

"Ayumu~"

"Shut up, Koushi."

i had fun drawing it because i do love these two~ heh

jaa ne, minna-san~!

-Nyx