#manteno

“Is that so? Well, how could I pass up such an enticing opportunity from such a lovely kitten?” Hifumi asked, voice alluring and smooth as the atmosphere around him seemed to sparkle.

His client, a woman in her early thirties, kept going on and on about a quaint little “cabin” her family owns, insisting Hifumi take a weekend there to recharge and relax. She pressed the idea of him going with some friends, it’d be much more fun than going alone after all. Hifumi agreed, his mind wandering; who could he invite along on a little backwoods adventure?

Hifumi had just arrived home, Doppo was still gone at work, this was no surprise. Hifumi’s client had arranged for him and his guests, whoever they may be, to stay that weekend at her family’s cabin, Friday until Sunday. It was rather short notice; it was Wednesday today! Unlike Hifumi, there was no way Doppo could get time off work on such short notice, looks like he wouldn’t be able to invite him along as much as he’d like to.

Hifumi pulled out his phone and gave a quick call to Jakurai. “Hey, hey Sensei! So, I got this awesome deal from a client to stay in her cute little cabin this weekend located off in the forest and I wanted to invite some friends along! Doppo won’t be able to make it since it’s for this weekend, the notice won’t be enough, but I was hoping you’d come!”

Jakurai chuckled, quickly followed with a small sigh. “It sounds like a lovely time, but I’m afraid I agreed to cover for a coworker of mine this weekend at the hospital. I apologize Hifumi-kun, I cannot accompany you.”

“Awww! Dang… That really sucks! I might not get another chance to go but I don’t wanna go all alone! Now what do I do…” Hifumi pouted, a deep sigh of disappointment escaping him.

Jakurai was silent for a moment as he thought before speaking up and offering an idea. “Hifumi-kun, why not invite people from the other divisions along? You could get to know them a bit better and perhaps make some friends in the process. It’s worth asking if you really don’t want to waste this opportunity.”

“That’s a great idea! I’m sure someone will be willing to go! Thanks Sensei, I’ll give that a go!” Hifumi exclaimed eagerly.

And somehow, by some miracle, Hifumi was able to convince one member from each division to come along with him to the cabin. Jiro, Jyuto, Gentaro, Rosho, and Jyushi all agreed to come along on this weekend venture into the woods.

Jiro didn’t take much convincing, actually. Hifumi called and asked to speak to Ichiro. When Jiro inquired about why, Hifumi explained he wanted to invite Ichiro along on a trip. Jiro wasn’t having it, Ichiro and this host hanging out? No way! He jumped in and said he’d go along in Ichiro’s place. In Jiro’s mind, he was protecting his big bro.

Jyuto almost got out of going, that’s right, he didn’t want to go. He suggested Riou since he was a more suited fellow for this kind of thing, but Hifumi pressed Jyuto to come, saying he wanted to know more about the guy who somehow knows his best friend. Jyuto couldn’t come up with any excuses, so he reluctantly agreed. It’s only a weekend, right? And a cabin is better than a tent like at Riou’s.

Gentaro agreed right away to come along, though, it’s not because he wanted to go on a trip with Hifumi and company per se. Gentaro and Hifumi don’t have the best relationship after all. A quiet trip to the forest, very scenic, a lovely place for inspiration and writing is reason enough to go, he just might avoid everyone else while he was there. Another reason being, perhaps, that he wanted to watch this potential train wreck take place as it occurred.

Rosho was unwillingly dragged into the unfortunate situation of going along with Hifumi as a practical joke. Hifumi spoke with Sasara, inviting him along on the trip, but Sasara had to decline because he had a show that weekend. Sasara, unbeknownst to Rosho, enthusiastically told Hifumi that, “Rosho will go! He loves that kind of thing! Just be at his house Friday morning and he will be ready to go!”

Jyushi was another unwilling candidate pushed into this against his will. Hifumi called and caught Jyushi while Jyushi was at the temple with Kuko doing some training. Jyushi had initially declined, but Kuko overheard the conversation and told Hifumi that Jyushi would be going because, “It’s excellent training to be out in the wilderness! It will strengthen your body and mind, you’re going!” Despite Jyushi’s tears and begs to not make him go, he ended up agreeing to go anyway.

Hifumi was up bright and early Friday morning, all packed and loaded up into an RV he’d rented for the weekend trip. No one had a car large enough to hold everyone and traveling together is half the fun! Renting an RV was definitely the way to go in Hifumi’s mind. He set off, having told Doppo of his weekend plans the night before, though, Doppo would likely not recall since he was half asleep listening to Hifumi ramble on about the cabin. All Doppo thought about was how he wanted to go to bed and how unlucky he was to have been dragged into weekend overtime.

The first stop was in Ikebukuro, Hifumi parked in front of the Yamada residence and honked the horn a few times as he leaned out the window of the RV. “Yoooo! I’m here for Jiro-kun!” He called out.

Unprepared as usual, Jiro was still in the middle of packing his bag when Saburo barged into his room, annoyed by the noise Hifumi was making. “Jiro! Hurry up your ride is here! Seriously, how annoying.” He complained, a scowl on his face as he loitered in Jiro’s doorway.

“Don’t just be barging into my room like that Saburo!” Jiro snapped as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

“Jeez, seriously though. You’re really going out to a forest with that host and whoever else he invited along?” Saburo asked, stepping aside when Jiro passed him.

“Yeah well… It’s for Nii-chan. If I didn’t go then he’d be stuck going. Anyway, it’ll probably be alright. Maybe a little fun even.” Jiro shrugged as he made his way to the front door.

“Be safe Jiro, have a good time and make sure to behave, alright!” Ichiro called out to Jiro from the kitchen, giving him a wave and a wide grin.

“Don’t go and do anything stupid. Oh wait, sorry. I shouldn’t ask such an impossible task of you.” Saburo snickered.

Jiro irked, flipping Saburo off as he left out the front door. “See ya in a few days Nii-chan! And fuck you Saburo.” He growled as he left out front, pausing a moment when he saw the RV.

Hifumi swung the door open and greeted Jiro with a big, cheerful grin. “Ya-ho! Come on in! We’re headed to Shibuya next! Hurry, hurry! I wanna make it to the cabin by night fall, ‘kay?” He hummed as he returned to the driver’s seat.

Jiro sighed, stepping into the RV and setting his bag aside, sitting down in the RV cabin next to the window. He was already regretting agreeing to come along.

Not 30 minutes passed before arriving in Shibuya to retrieve Gentaro. Once again, Hifumi parked and honked the RV horn signal he’d arrived. “Hey Gentaro! We’re here!” He called out from the window.

Gentaro had already been awake a while already and was patiently waiting for Hifumi, reading a book to pass the time. He heard the all too familiar obnoxious voice calling out and closed his book with a sigh. He picked up his bag and headed out promptly, stopping and staring at the large RV in front of him.

“A recreational vehicle? Is this really necessary?” Gentaro asked as he slowly made his way into the RV.

“You betcha! Ya see, no regular vehicle would hold us all and taking more than one car might be a hassle, so I went ahead and rented this!” Hifumi grinned proudly.

“Mm, I see.” Gentaro replied simply as he took a seat, glancing to Jiro when he spotted him. “Oh, the middle Yamada brother. Hello.” He greeted calmly.

“Yo.” Jiro gave a little head nod to Gentaro, not saying much else.

Hifumi continued on, making good time so far. Next stop, Yokohama. Hifumi parked, again he honked the horn and was about to shout when Jiro spoke up.

“Do you have to honk and yell every damn time we stop to pick someone up?” Jiro complained, visibly irritated by Hifumi’s behavior.

“Huh? How else will they know we’re here?” Hifumi pouted.

“Well, might I suggest stepping out of the RV, knocking on the door, and alerting the person you’ve arrived that way? You know, like a normal, decent human being?” Gentaro retorted with a slight hint of sass and a small smirk on his face.

“Haaa? What’s that supposed to mean?” Hifumi frowned slightly as he stood up and exited the RV.

Jyuto heard a knock and sighed deeply as he picked up his luggage case. “Let’s get this over with.” He mumbled to himself as he answered the door. “Izanami, you’re right on time. I’ll be honest, I’m a little surprised.” He teased.

“Haha! Of course! I wanna make sure the trip goes well after all! Okay, right this way to the RV!” Hifumi laughed as he made his way back to the vehicle.

“The what now?” Jyuto asked, blinking. He looked past Hifumi, seeing the large vehicle. “Oh lord, you can’t be serious…” He muttered as he walked into the RV with Hifumi.

“Okay! We have a little bit of a drive to Nagoya so get comfy everyone! No stops for 2 or so hours!” Hifumi declared as he went back to his driver’s seat.

Jyuto found himself a seat and glanced at Gentaro then to Jiro. “Seems you two were invited along as well. How interesting.”

“Eh?! Why’d you go and invite this shitty cop for?!” Jiro growled, glaring Jyuto down.

“Hah! Well, I could ask why Izanami would invite along a delinquent high schooler, but you don’t see me doing that, now do you~?” Jyuto retorted with a sly smirk.

“HAAH? What did you say you scum bag-” Jiro started to shout as he abruptly stood when he was interrupted.

“Hey, hey! Come on no fighting!” Hifumi pouted, glancing at the bickering two in the rearview mirror. “Play nice! I don’t wanna have to tell Ichiro-kun that you were fighting the whole trip!”

Jiro flinched slightly and sat back down with a plop, crossing his arms, angrily looking away from Jyuto and out the window. “Tch. Not worth my time anyway.” He muttered to himself.

Gentaro watched the commotion, hiding a small smirk behind his open book. “Things are off to an entertaining start. This is going about as well as I anticipated.” He thought to himself.

The next stop was Nagoya to pick up Jyushi, again Hifumi parked and was about to honk when he paused, hand hover over the horn. Hifumi was feeling a bit disheartened from the bickering between Jyuto and Jiro the entire drive to Nagoya. He sighed softly, getting up and walking to Jyushi’s doorstep. He internally pumped himself up a bit, he didn’t want the trip to be a bust and he wasn’t the type to dwell on things, he’d get things back on track for sure! Okay! Back to smiles and enthusiasm!

Jyushi soon heard a knock and squeaked, gulping, and taking a moment to calm himself. “It’s okay… It’s a trip meant to be fun. Kuko said it would be good for me and… I trust him. Okay. I can do this, here we go.” He pep talked himself, hugging his stuffed pig Amanda close.

Hifumi grinned brightly and gave Jyushi a happy little erratic wave when the door opened. “Heyo! Ready to go?”

Jyushi gave a silent nod and followed Hifumi out to the RV, entering and looking at the others in the RV, his anxiety rising a bit. “H-Hello, it’s been a while.” He mumbled a bit as he quietly headed towards the back of the RV and sat down.

“Oh? How interesting.” Gentaro hummed to himself when he saw Jyushi had been invited along.

Jiro glanced over and then looked away. “Should a guy like that be out in the forest? He’ll probably just get scared. Oi, you sure you wanna go?” He asked Jyushi, looking over his shoulder at him.

Jyushi flinched slightly and nodded, his eyes drifting away from Jiro. “M-Mhm… I’m sure. I know, I don’t seem like the type to do something like this and honestly, I’m not but… This is something I need to do for myself.” He answered with a bit more assurance in his voice.

A small smile crept across Jiro’s face as he looked back out the window. “Huh. I didn’t know you were that kind of a guy.”

“Right-o! Next stop Osaka!” Hifumi piped up as he took a seat and took off on the road once more to pick up their last, and unknowing, guest.

Another two hours passed on the road, Hifumi was feeling again like things weren’t off to a great start. The ride to Osaka wasn’t filled with bickering like from Yokohama to Nagoya, but instead an unsettling and awkward silence. Gentaro silently read his book, Jiro fell asleep while staring blankly out the window, Jyuto was checking emails on his phone, and Jyushi was playing games on his phone while listening to music through his earbuds. Hifumi was determined to turn this trip around and make it fun. Soon they arrived at Rosho’s home, Hifumi got out of the RV and knocked on the door eagerly awaiting Rosho to answer.

“Hm? Who could that be?” Rosho mumbled to himself as he set his bowl aside. He had just been eating lunch when he heard the unexpected knock at his door.

“Heya there Rosho-kun!” Hifumi greeted happily. “Are ya ready to go?”

Rosho was completely and utterly confused. His gaze went past Hifumi to the huge RV behind him before his eyes fell back on Hifumi. “Pardon?”

“The trip! Are you ready to go?” Hifumi asked once more, it not dawning on him that Rosho had no idea he’d been volunteered to go on a little wilderness trip. “Sasara-kun said to pick you up around this time, maybe I was told the wrong time? Anyway we all just got here and from here it’s straight to the cabin down in Nara!”

Rosho heard Sasara and instantly knew he’d been set up. He irked and sighed, about to tell Hifumi that he never agreed to such a trip when he saw the sparkle of excitement in Hifumi’s eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to do it, he couldn’t crush that child-like excitement. “A-Ah… Right… Sorry, I had last minute grading to do so I’m not ready. Please give me just a moment.”

Rosho hastily packed a bag, stuffing clothing violently inside along with things he thought he may need when out on this trip he knew little to nothing about. The entire time he cursed Sasara under his breath for throwing him into such a situation and on a teacher’s holiday too! He had planned to take it easy and enjoy himself, but now he was being forced on some strange outing with a man from Shinjuku that he barely knew as well as the other mystery participants going along on this excursion.

A mere 10 minutes and Rosho was ready to go, following Hifumi back to the RV and climbing on board. He took a brief pause when he saw the others in the RV. “The idiot Buster Bros brother, the dirty cop from Yokohama, the liar from Fling Posse, and that Visual Kei kid from Nagoya…” Rosho thought to himself as he decided to seat himself in the passenger seat next to Hifumi.

“Yes! We got everyone, now it’s a straight shot to the cabin in Nara!” Hifumi cheered, pumping a fist into the air before he took off driving once more.

“Um, Hifumi-san, sorry to ask but Sasara didn’t exactly fill me in on much… Or anything for that matter… What are the details of this trip again?” Rosho asked curiously. He wanted to know what he was blindly walking into.

“Haha! That’s no prob! Ya see, I got a cool little deal from a client of mine to stay at her family’s cabin this weekend, so I called up people to come along! I thought it’d be more fun than going all alone.” Hifumi explained as he drove along.

“Well, that makes sense but why go with people you don’t know well? Or… I don’t know maybe you do know the others well, but why invite me?” Rosho asked.

“Well I was gonna invite Sensei and Doppo, but they were both busy and Sensei suggested I try and get to know others a bit better so here we are!” Hifumi grinned happily.

“Ah… I see. Well, thank you for inviting me along then.” Rosho smiled a bit. He thought perhaps this would be a relaxing weekend after all.

A long three hour drive later, Hifumi was off the main roads, driving down a bumpy dirt path that could barely even be called a road. The trees around became more and more dense as they progressed. They went over the mountain pass, entering a tunnel. It was dark and was carved right through the mountain itself. Dimly lit and narrow, the RV barely made the clearance of the tunnel. Rosho and Gentaro insisted it wouldn’t fit, but Hifumi wasn’t backing out and somehow, he made it work. Another two miles after exiting the tunnel and they finally pulled up to an old, but large sized “cabin”. Well, not really a cabin as much as it was just a very old, traditional house from the Ashikaga period… Very, very old! Hifumi parked the RV right out front and was the first to eagerly exit.

“Whoa! This is super-duper old! Huh, when my client said a cabin, I was thinking an actual cabin, but we don’t really have old cabins like in the Western countries! But this is neat!” Hifumi chuckled as he waited for the others to join him.

Out next was Rosho who went straight into a history lesson. “Ah, this style of architecture looks about 14th century. It’s really well preserved for the age. These kinds of structures are still found in places like this, but…” He trailed off, something just seemed off about this lone house in the forest.

Gentaro walked up beside Rosho and hummed, eyes sparkling. “It’s very beautiful. I’m eager to have a look inside.” With that, he wasted no time walking towards the door.

“Haha! Do you feel more at home with housing that matches your wardrobe, Gentaro?” Hifumi asked teasingly, not meaning any harm, but boy… Gentaro took offense instantly.

Gentaro came to an abrupt halt, irking and clenching his teeth. “What was that?”

Jyuto was quick to act and deflect for Hifumi as he walked past. “Well then, we were going inside, right? It’s a decent size so let’s go in and set up where we’d all like to sleep.” He walked past, right up and into the house.

Jiro and Jyushi exited the RV one after the other. Jiro stretched, eyes watering at the corners as he let out yawn. “Huh, this is the place? Does it even have electricity? I sure as hell don’t have a signal out here.” He groaned as he held his phone up higher, trying to catch a signal to no avail.

“Oh wow! It’s really kinda cool! It reminds me of the temples and stuff when I go for training with Kuko!” Jyushi gasped in awe as he hurried past Jiro, following right behind Jyuto into the house.

Gentaro sighed, deciding to let the comment from Hifumi slide for now and followed the others into the house, Rosho followed behind Gentaro. Hifumi was the last to enter, still not realizing he’d even offended Gentaro. The house looked like it had a few minor renovations here and there, but most of it was original and traditional, the colors white and dark brown; It was quite plain. There were several oil lamps scattered around and even a wood stove which looked to be one of the few non-original additions to the house along with the tea green flooring.

“Ugh, seriously? Living in the stone age up in here. I can’t even charge my phone!” Jiro complained with an exaggerated sigh.

“It’s cute and it’ll be fun! Like pretending you lived in the old country and whatnot!” Hifumi laughed, patting Jiro on the back firmly. “And you can charge your phone in the RV, we all can! But we should make sure to conserve the gas for the trip home, so I am limiting it to once a day!”

“Ugh, so lame… Yeah, alright, fine.” Jiro agreed, it was better than nothing after all.

Jyuto had wandered into one of the side rooms of the house, finding it to be open and simple. There was a single small closet and small wooden window on the far wall. “Tch. Not decorative at all. I’m not too surprised but… Are there even sleeping mats?” He asked himself as he slid open a closet door, finding exactly what he’d mentioned. “Oh good. They look to be new too, that’s nice. I won’t be too uncomfortable then.”

Gentaro wandered into another of the spare rooms, finding the same as Jyuto did. “Well, that’s good. I wonder… Two sleeping mats in here. I hope there are more in the other rooms.”

Rosho was in the final spare room, once again, same as the other two. Identical in the colors, a single small window, and one small closet with two sleeping mats tucked neatly inside. “I wonder if the other rooms are the same?” He asked himself as he slid the closet door shut.

Jyushi looked curiously around the small kitchen area, opening storage containers, all of which were empty. “I wonder if Hifumi-san brought food along? There’s nothing here at all… Not even a refrigerator or an ice box!”

“Well, I found two sleeping mats in that room. Were there more in the others?” Jyuto asked curiously as he walked back out into the front room, meeting back up with everyone else.

“Were there? The room I explored also has two.” Gentaro hummed as he walked out.

“Really? The room I was in also had two…” Rosho mentioned as he rejoined the others.

“Awesome! We all have sleeping covered then!” Hifumi cheered. “We can share rooms, it’s only for sleeping anyway. I’m surprised there was that many side rooms in a house like this to begin with!” He laughed, leaning back against the wall.

“Share? Who should room with who then?” Jiro asked, yawning again, he looked rather bored already with everything.

“Ah, before that… Hifumi I am curious. Did your client know we were all coming? Looking around I have noticed things have specifically been set up for six people.” Gentaro asked, pointing out a few strange details.

“Huh? Well they knew I was coming with people yeah! I don’t really remember if I mentioned how many or anything like that.” Hifumi shrugged, not thinking much of it.

“Wait, there was only six sleeping mats, that’s a stretch to call it being specifically set up for six people.” Jyuto chimed in.

“You’re not very perceptive then. I’ve only just skimmed around the house, but I see utensils for six, teacups for six, sleeping arrangements for six… The more you look around the more you notice everything is for exactly six people.” Gentaro corrected.

“Well like I said, my client knew I was coming with guests and I’m sure I probably mentioned a number at some point. We should thank her for being so on top of it!” Hifumi hummed happily. “Anyway! We’re here now, though the suns starting to set… We can go out and explore the forest a bit tomorrow but for now, let’s have some fun inside!”

“Fun? Well, I’m not opposed but shouldn’t we figure out sleeping arrangements first?” Jyuto reminded Hifumi.

“Okie dokie! Who do y’all wanna room with then?” Hifumi asked, watching the other’s as a silence fell over the room.

After an awkward moment or two, Jiro spoke up. “Uh… I’ll share with Jyushi because we’re closer in age and it’d feel weird as hell rooming with any of you. Uh… No offense or whatever.”

“Me?” Jyushi blinked, a little surprised to hear someone was so willing to room with him. “I… Yeah okay!” He smiled softly.

“Alrighty! What about you Rosho-kun?” Hifumi asked, moving things along. He was eager to get this sorted out so they could start partying.

“Oh, well…” Rosho began to say before Jyuto pipped up.

“I’ll room with Tsutsujimori.” Jyuto smiled. He’d much rather room with Rosho than a host or Gentaro. Between the three, Rosho seemed like the best option.

“Oh! Well, alright then I’m fine with that.” Rosho nodded, finding that acceptable.

Hifumi clapped his hands together and grinned. “Sweet! Then that’s all figured out! Now, are we ready to-”

“Wait, wait, wait hold on a moment.” Gentaro interrupted. “That would leave us to room together.” He told Hifumi apprehensively.

“Yeah, so?” Hifumi blinked.

Gentaro was silent, he so badly wanted to refuse sharing a room with that boorish host, but it would only cause a commotion. He’d deal with that problem later. “…Well, as long as you remember your manners and watch what pours out of that mouth of yours, I suppose it’s tolerable.”

Hifumi disregarded most of what Gentaro said, only wanting to liven up the atmosphere, and in a hurry. “Cool, cool! Yeah, no sweat! Alright now~ Let’s party!” He cheered loudly, throwing his hands up in the air.

The night set in quickly, the sun was long gone, and the old house was lit only by the soft glow of the oil lamps and the wood stove. Always being prepared for a good time, Hifumi had supplied champagne to those of age, even offering some to Jiro and Jyushi once he was a few drinks in, though, Jyuto was quick to remind Hifumi that it was illegal and he was a cop even out of uniform. Hifumi was pretty smashed, Rosho close behind and Jyuto not doing much better, Gentaro had only a single glass of champagne, and Jiro and Jyushi nothing at all. Hifumi had brought in food from the RV, he really was well prepared for the trip, not forgetting a single essential thing, and some not so essential.

“I feel so out of place. Look at these idiots.” Jiro sighed, sitting cross legged on the floor near Jyushi as he watched the adults make fools of themselves.

“It’s kinda funny to watch but yeah… Maybe they shouldn’t have invited younger people like us along.” Jyushi agreed with a small giggle.

“Well, consider who invited us all. He’s not the brightest.” Gentaro added, overhearing Jiro and Jyushi.

“And another thing! I swear to God if Sasara pulls something like this again I’m gonna deck ‘em square in his face!” Rosho ranted to Hifumi and Jyuto, he’d been going on and on about Sasara for a while now and how he’s always pulling jokes at his expense.

“My oh my, aren’t you aggressive? I wouldn’t have expected that from a schoolteacher.” Jyuto chuckled. “Sasara-kun can’t seem to stay away from those types.”

“Hehe~ Everyone has a type! We’ve pinpointed Sasara’s!” Hifumi laughed, stumbling a bit as he walked around, a bottle of champagne in one hand. He bumped into Rosho, earning himself a shove.

“Oi! Watch yourself!” Rosho snapped as he shoved Hifumi off of him.

Hifumi managed to stumble away and fall into the adjacent wall. His shoulder pressed into a wooden beam, it concaved in slightly, like a long thin rectangular button. A small portion of the wall suddenly became ajar with a POP, revealing a wooden staircase down into pitch black.

“Whoa! What the hell is that!” Jiro gasped as he jumped up and walked over to the newly found mysterious path.

The others gathered around as well, Jyuto helping Hifumi to his feet and steadying him a bit. “A secret door?”

“It’s not too uncommon in certain types of houses even from this era but…” Rosho mumbled a bit as he stared at the staircase with a studying gaze.

Gentaro grabbed one of the hand lamps and started to walk through the hidden door when Jyushi grabbed him by the shoulder. “W-Wait! What are you doing?” He asked, his voice quivering.

“Hm? What’s it look like? I’m going to see what’s down there.” Gentaro answered bluntly. “This is too good to pass up, think of the material I could come up with even if there’s nothing down there at all. I’m going down for a look.”

“Yeah! Let’s see what’s down there! It’s kinda spooky but it’s too cool and tempting to not take a look!” Hifumi agreed, following down the staircase close behind Gentaro.

“Well, it’s probably a simple cellar or maybe a type of panic room. Whatever the case, I’ll take a look too.” Jyuto decided, more than anything he didn’t want to look cowardly.

“Escape routes aren’t uncommon I suppose in this type of house… It probably leads outside.” Rosho muttered as he followed behind Jyuto. He was uneasy about the dark descent but like Jyuto, he was no coward and his curiosity was getting the better of him. A nice bonus would be that it’s something interesting to tell his class back at school.

Jiro, as well, didn’t want to look like he was afraid and began to follow Rosho when he suddenly stopped. He noticed Jyushi was frozen where he stood, an obvious look of fear in his eyes. “You comin’?”

“I-I…” Jyushi’s voice trembled as he clutched his jacket over his chest. He wanted to retreat into his room, hug Amanda and pretend they never found this eerie hidden doorway.

Jiro held out his hand and offered it to Jyushi. He’d do the same for his little brother if he were scared, well… If he wasn’t being a little shit that is. “It’ll be alright. Stay with me, okay?” He smiled comfortingly, trying to help ease Jyushi’s fear and worry.

Jyushi hesitated a moment before slowly reaching out and taking Jiro’s hand. A sense of ease slowly came over him as he very slowly followed Jiro’s lead. “A-Alright… Th-Thank you…” He whispered.

The staircase went down in a straight path of nine steps. Gentaro looked around for any other oil lamps he might be able to light, finding three and lighting each. The room was small and rectangular, Gentaro had to hunch over as to not hit his head on the ceiling of the very small room. It was filled with many very old, bizarre items that varied in size and shape. Soon Gentaro was joined by the others, all of them piling into the cramped room; everyone began to take a look at the odd items the room held.

Concurrently, unknown to the six back in the old house, they were being watched via hidden video cameras and hidden microphones. Every action each of them made was being watched and influenced by a secret task force. This whole thing was a set up! But… Why?

“Last call on bets! Get them in!” Called out a scientist collecting money from other workers in the large observation room.

It was filled to the brim with large monitors and rows of control panels lined with numerous buttons and switches, each labeled neatly.

“Oh, there you are! We weren’t sure you were going to show, Amayado-san.” Another scientist chuckled when he saw a tall man sporting a fur coat, sunglasses, and black fedora walk into the room.

“Yo! Haha, miss this? Not a chance.” Rei chuckled as he walked over, glancing to the screen that displayed the six back at the house. “I was a little behind schedule, this isn’t my only shindig y’know. Not to mention I had to set up for this all to happen.” He reminded him.

“We are very grateful! Of course, you’ve been paid directly into your account already.” The scientist informed Rei. “Will you be making a bet this year?”

“If there’s money to be made, then you know it! I haven’t lost a single year yet, so let’s see…” Rei tapped his chin as he looked at the screen and decided his bet. “I know my bet.” He answered, handing the money to the scientist, and whispering into his ear.

Back at the old house, the group began taking a look through what they found down in the mysterious hidden room.

“What is all this?” Jyuto asked as he picked up and examined what looked like an ancient hand lamp but without a place to put oil or fuel for use.

“It looks like this room is simply a storage unit of sorts.” Rosho replied to Jyuto as he picked up a headless straw doll. “Seems some of these things are falling apart, but that’s not surprising, they seem to be antique.”

“Neat-o! Look at all this really cool old stuff!” Hifumi gasped excitedly as he walked past Rosho, picking up a beautifully carved and painted wooden box, decorated with pink and white sakura blossoms.

Gentaro looked upon an old bookcase holding a few scrolls, his eyes skimmed through them, one with a gold shimmer to the paper catching his eyes. “Your client has an interesting collection of ancient things; does she belong to a family of collectors?” He asked as he began to reach for the scroll.

“No idea! I’ll have to ask her when I see her again!” Hifumi chuckled as he moved to lift the lid of the box he held.

Jiro released Jyushi’s hand when they had reached the bottom of the stairs and laughed as he looked around. “This is so cool!” He quickly made his way towards the back of the room, something covered on the wall caught his eye.

“J-Jiro wait!” Jyushi called out, managing to grab and hold the tail of Jiro’s jacket like a small child as he followed him to the back of the room.

“What do you think this is?” Jiro asked once he reached the covered object on the wall. He didn’t bother waiting for Jyushi to guess, quickly pulling the cloth off the item to reveal an old sterling silver, oval mirror.

Jyushi screeched in surprised when he was greeted by his and Jiro’s reflection in the mirror. Unintentionally and without thinking he hugged onto Jiro’s arm out of fear. “Wah! I hate this!”

“Whoa, calm down! Jeez my fucking ears.” Jiro glared slightly, shaking his head to rid his ears of the ringing from Jyushi’s high pitched wail.

“C-Can we please just all go back upstairs? This stuff isn’t ours! We shouldn’t be messing with someone else’s things! A-And don’t you know what happens with old things like this? Curses!” Jyushi began to sob as he continued to cling to Jiro’s arm. “Please, please, please I just want to go back upstairs!” He begged pitifully, burying his tear stained face into Jiro’s shoulder, makeup beginning to run down his face.

It was uncomfortable and awkward, but more than that just plain pitiful for Jiro to see. He sighed heavily and covered the mirror and led Jyushi back to the front of the room. “Hey, he’s super upset and shit can we just go back now? He’s got a point about it not being ours and whatever. He’s fucking terrified, let’s go.”

Rosho was the first to agree with Jiro and Jyushi. Jyushi reminded him of his students; he felt bad for the poor kid. “You’re right. It’s rude to just look at someone else’s things.” He set the doll he had down and began to leave with Jiro and Jyushi. “Come along now, we obviously aren’t meant to be down here, the room was hidden after all.”

“Aww! But-” Hifumi started to complain, setting the box he had down and closing the barely ajar lid.

“But? You don’t want to betray your clients trust and kindness, do you?” Jyuto asked Hifumi as he put the lamp back where he found it.

“No… Dang. Well, it was fun just seeing this stuff I guess!” Hifumi chuckled, following the others. He stopped at the stairs and looked over at Gentaro. “Come on Gentaro, time to go!”

“Of course, be right there. I’ll put out the lamps down here then be right up.” Gentaro called, his eyes still fixated on the scroll, but his hand slowly backing away.

“No, no, no!” One of the scientists back in the observation lab yelled, slamming his fist down on the table. “This is bad! If they don’t activate anything then the whole thing is a bust and the world is fucking screwed!”

“Heh, calm down.” Rei smirked slyly as he casually walked over to the control panel, flipping a switch. The reaction in the house caused the scroll to fall off the bookshelf. “The Deceiver just needs a little coaxing, that’s all~” He hummed as he glanced at the screen in front of them showing Gentaro.

Back at the house, Gentaro turned and took a single step when the scroll fell from the bookshelf and onto the floor. He paused and looked back at the scroll on the ground. It only took him a moment to think about it before he turned, picked up the scroll and slid it into his robe. He then put out the flames of the lamps and returned swiftly to the others upstairs.

“Woohoo! Alright let’s get back to partying!” Hifumi cheered, hopping around, and pumping his fist into the air.

“I won’t say no to more champagne.” Jyuto chuckled, making his way to pour himself a glass in the kitchen area.

“I’m going to turn in for the night. You’ll have to have your fun without me.” Gentaro replied quickly as he resealed the hidden door.

“What a wet blanket! No fun!” Hifumi pouted as he joined Jyuto for another drink.

“Your opinion.” Gentaro shrugged, making his way past the others and into his and Hifumi’s shared room, closing the door behind him.

“Hey, pour me a drink too!” Rosho called as he walked over to Hifumi and Jyuto. He couldn’t seem to shake this uneasy feeling that came over him, perhaps another drink would help settle his nerves.

“I-I’m going to go to bed too…” Jyushi spoke barely above a whisper as he rushed into his and Jiro’s shared room in a hurry.

“O-Oi Jyushi, wait!” Jiro called, sighing when Jyushi closed the door to their room. “I guess that really shook him up. I should make sure he’s alright I guess…” He muttered, following Jyushi.

In Gentaro’s room, he’d set up his sleeping mat on the far side of the room. He changed into his sleeping robes and got comfortable in bed, pulling out the scroll he’d sneakily taken from the hidden room. He removed the string binding the scroll and slowly unraveled it, revealing the contents.

“Oh, it’s written in… Old Japanese.” Gentaro mumbled as he skimmed the scroll. “I am pretty sure I can make this out.” He smirked confidently as he began to read the scroll silently to himself.

“On the night of New Moon in the new house something terrible happened. Two large monsters came down from the mountain. Their looks like that of an ox, but their size far more massive and with sharp claws and teeth bigger than that of a tiger. The house took damage and while father, elder brother, and I were able to escape and hide in the forest until dawn, mother was not so lucky. Her blood still stains her and father’s bedroom walls and floor.

The monsters in the mountains come more often. Father and elder brother have figured out now that as long as you set out an offering, the monsters will eat and leave us. Father made a room in which to hide. I am to stay until morning while he and elder brother keep watch on the New Moon.

There was less to hunt this time, there’s no wild animals to be found, we have to hide it out this time, the monsters will be very displeased.

They’ve come into the house. They can smell our scent, our fear. They will find us I am sure. There is not much time left. I don’t want to die.

Morning has come, I have survived. The monster’s accepted my offering. Father and elder brother didn’t make it, but their fate was sealed once they failed to protect me. It’s their duty and they failed. I have the blessing of the monsters now. Every New Moon I will provide them their offering, even after I am dead and gone.”

Gentaro closed the scroll and chuckled, setting it aside. “An old folk legend. That was an interesting read.” He glanced around the room at the white walls and the matted floor. The matting wasn’t original, it’d been replaced and was another of the few newer renovations to the house. “What a silly thought. I’m sure the deaths never even happened at all.” He told himself, laying down and covering himself up. He put out the lamp lighting the room and closed his eyes to rest.

Jiro opened the door to the room he and Jyushi were sharing and peeked in. “Uh… Yo Jyushi, you alright in here?”

Jyushi was in the corner, sitting on his sleeping mat, hugging Amanda close to him, his knees to his chest. He glanced to Jiro, but quickly looked away, hiding his face into Amanda. “Mm…” He answered in a mumbled, though, it was incoherent.

“Huh? I can’t understand you when you’re mumbling and covering your face, speak properly!” Jiro scolded, though it was a gentle scolding. He walked the rest of the way into the room and closed the door behind him and made his way over to Jyushi, sitting beside him.

Jyushi raised his head slightly and glanced over to Jiro, face cherry red, eyes matching from the crying. Black makeup was smudged all around and down his eyes. “I-I’m alright…” He managed to mumble a bit more clearly.

“Jeez, you look like a complete mess. You’re wearing makeup? What are you, a girl?” Jiro asked, not realizing his words were as sharp as they were.

Jyushi looked away, eyes beginning to tear up once more. “I-If you’re going to make fun of me then leave me alone…” He muttered shakily. He didn’t want to pick a fight, but he wasn’t letting anyone bully him anymore.

“Hah? Making fun of you? I’m the one here checking to make sure you’re okay, aren’t I?” Jiro frowned. He stood up and momentarily left the room without an explanation of where he was going.

Jyushi watched him go, trying to bite back more tears welling up in his eyes. “...J-Jiro…” He muttered quietly, not that he would be heard.

Jiro quickly returned with a damp wash cloth in hand and knelt down in front of Jyushi. “Look at me.” He demanded in a soft tone.

Jyushi looked up at Jiro, face redder than before now as Jiro began to wipe away the running make up from his face. He was close, too close! Fear was the last thing on Jyushi’s mind now as he was flooded with very confusing feelings. His heart was racing, his body temperature rising, and… was he holding his breath? Why?

At the laboratory, Rei was flipping switches and pressing buttons, turning knobs and dials with the help of the two other scientists left in the large observation room with him now. “Everything is in motion now. Everyone will fill their role, the sacrifices will be made, and the world will be safe.”

“Amayado-san isn’t that boy there one of your sons? You’re really alright with this?” One of the other scientists asked, pointing to the monitor displaying Jiro and Jyushi.

Rei glanced up then away and shrugged. “I mean, these circumstances are being controlled but even if we weren’t influencing cognitive function and bodily functions and this was happening, I have nothing against gays.”

The scientist sweat dropped and shook his head. “No, not that! I mean sacrificing your son!”

“Oh! Well, I don’t want to see him die, no but… Well if they don’t then I along with my other two sons and the entire world does, so it can’t be helped.” Rei answered simply. The less he thought about it, the less it would hurt him. Or at least, that was his logic.

“I’m glad you understand how important this is. I’d do the same.” The other scientist chimed in.

“It’s for the best. Now, moving on…” Rei hummed, changing the focus to Hifumi, Jyuto and Rosho. “All the Roles are being set as we speak. Looks like Hifumi-kun is passed out, he’s easily solidified his Role as the Fool. The champagne he was sold was drugged to cause poor judgment. This will help the Whore, Jyuto-kun, play his role and the others to make decisions they wouldn’t normally make.” He explained.

“Good, the Whore must reveal themselves as the Whore otherwise the Role won’t take effect.” One of the scientists added.

“Don’t worry about that. Their room is pumped full of pheromones and those gloves Jyuto-kun has been wearing this whole time are laced with another type of chemical similar to the one in the champagne, basically, it makes him an extra loose guy.”

“Your son’s being influenced to play the Athlete’s Role while that goth kid has already solidified his Role as the Virgin.” One of the scientists explained, gesturing to each on the screen.

“Rosho-kun’s constant analyzing as him set as the Scholar and Gentaro-kun taking that scroll sealed him as the Deceiver.” Rei added.

“And with the opening of the scroll, the demons will come. We can only hope things go smoothly.” The other scientists sighed.

Rei chuckled and nodded. “Indeed. And those monsters are on their way down to the house from the mountain as we speak.”

“Hifumi-kun is passed the hell out.” Jyuto chuckled. “What should we do with him?”

“I ain’t moving his ass! Cover him up and let him sleep where he is, I’m goin’ to bed.” Rosho slurred a bit, tossing a blanket sloppily over Hifumi then stumbling towards his and Jyuto’s bedroom.

Jyuto walked up behind Rosho and hugged him from behind to “help” steady him. “Having trouble~?” He purred into Rosho’s ear, pressing himself close against Rosho. Slowly over the night his brain had become foggy, the chemicals laced in his gloves stimulating his body heavily.

Rosho was highly uncomfortable and wasted no time opening the door and squirming out of Jyuto’s hold and getting away from him. “What the hell are you doing?!” He snapped, now in the pheromone filled room.

Jyuto walked into the room and closed the door behind him. “Heh~ Calm down, relax~” He purred, his gaze fixed on Rosho as the pheromones filled his body.

Back with Jiro and Jyushi, things had progressed to an unexpected make out session between the two thanks to just a tiny push of pheromones into their room. Jyushi’s more inclined to give in and follow an “alpha” thanks to tampering done to his nail polish. Jiro’s hat was laced, causing him to take on more protective and alpha male traits, securing their roles as the “Athlete” and the “Virgin” for this sacrifice. Everything that everyone had used was tampered with in some way to influence them.

Things began to progress a little bit further when Jyushi broke the kiss and gasped softly. “Ah- Wait- I-I’m a virgin-” He blinked and blushed darkly. “I don’t… I don’t know why I mentioned that?” He spoke in a semi question.

“Do you… Uh… Should we stop…?” Jiro asked in a whisper, still staying close to Jyushi.

Jyushi blushed a deep crimson and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Let’s continue~” He flirted shyly, leaning back in to kiss Jiro.

BAM!

Jiro was about to reconnect the kiss when he fell back with a startle from the loud noise. “The FUCK was that?!” He shouted, heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline course through him.

“I-I-I dunno!” Jyushi squeaked, his heart pounding and fear filling him once more. “I-I’m scared… Jiro…” He whimpered quietly.

“Stay here, I’ll go see what this is about, okay?” Jiro smiled reassuringly at Jyushi, giving him a soft pat on the head.

Jyushi nodded and was quick to grab Amanda and hug her close as he stayed in the corner, hugging his legs to his chest. Jiro headed out of the room and looked around the front room. It was silent. He saw Hifumi peacefully asleep on the floor and no one else around. He picked up one of the oil lamps from the front room and headed to Gentaro’s room to ask if he heard the loud noise when an ear-piercing shriek came from Rosho and Jyuto’s room.

Jiro ran to the source of the scream and ripped the door open, looking inside, shining his lamp in front of him. “What’s going on?!” He asked frantically, his lamp lighting the room with a soft yellow glow.

There was a massive hole where the window once was in the room, blood was dripping from the jagged edges of the hole. A large smeared trail of blood revealed a path from the center of the room and out the gaping hole. The sleeping mats both stained from white to crimson, the top half shredded.

Jiro was frozen in shock for a moment before he frantically looked around the room for Rosho and Jyuto. “Oi! J-Jyuto, Rosho!” He called out, spotting Rosho in the furthest corner from the window, on the floor, stark naked, and trembling harshly in utter terror.

“J-Jiro-kun!” He gasped, stumbling over himself as he crawled over the door, through Jiro’s legs to get out of his room. “Close the door! ARE YOU DEAF?! CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!” He snapped, managing to his feet.

Jiro slammed the door shut and looked at Rosho. “What the fuck is going on?! Where is Jyuto and why are you naked?! Is that fucking BLOOD?!” Question after question came as Jiro and Rosho were quickly joined by Jyushi, Gentaro, and Hifumi.

“What is with all the yelling-” Gentaro asked, stopping in his tracks when he saw Rosho standing there naked and smeared with blood.

“Jiro! Are you okay?!” Jyushi asked worriedly as he ran over, coming to a halt when he saw Rosho. His face paled and his heart thumped. “W-What… What… I-Is…”

“Ugh… you’re all so loud… I’m trying to sleep!” Hifumi complained, still under his blanket and oblivious to the state Rosho was in. He was too tired and dumbed down to care about anything but sleep right now.

“Oi! Care to fill us in on what the FUCK is going on?!” Jiro snapped at Rosho, demanding answers.

“It’s not safe… It’s not safe! We can’t stay here, we’re sitting ducks! We…” Rosho explained in a panic before gasping and running to the hidden door of the house. “Hurry! Everyone into the hidden room! I’ll explain down there but it’s not safe here and we need to hide NOW!”

Rosho was gone in an instant running down the steps into the concealed room. Gentaro watched, his face losing color as his heart rate slowed. “This is impossible! The scroll… It… It was just a folk legend! This can’t be happening… No, there’s no way such things are real. There has to be an explanation.” He thought to himself as he desperately tried to think of a logical reason for what was happening. He needed more details before jumping to conclusion.

While Gentaro was lost in thought, Jiro called to him as he let Jyushi go down before him. “Oi come on! Grab that host while you’re at it!” He then headed down into the hidden room to join Jyushi and Rosho.

Gentaro snapped out of his trance and nodded. “Right…” He pulled the blanket off of Hifumi and nudged him with his foot. “Hifumi! Wake up! We need to go into the hidden room, now!” He stressed.

Hifumi didn’t move, he only groaned and curled up into a ball on the floor. “Nooooooo…” He whined quietly.

Gentaro irked and grabbed Hifumi’s arm, forcing him to his feet. “Yes! This is no time to play games and be lazy now shape the hell up and listen for once!” He snapped.

BANG!

Hifumi jumped, violently startled hearing the loud bang that broke the front door open, the wind gusting in and sending a child over Hifumi and Gentaro. Gentaro cowered slightly, holding Hifumi in front of him unconsciously as if he were a shield. A low, sinister growl echoed from the pitch black of the doorway, all the oil lamp’s flames blown out with the gust, and with the New Moon, not even moonlight illuminated the night. Slow, heavy footsteps made their way into the house, creaking on the floorboards as they approached. Two sets of eyes glowed a bright red, their gazed fixed on Hifumi and Gentaro.

Gentaro’s heart sank in his chest as he realized the so-called fairytale, he read was all too real and right before him. He knew what was coming and he also knew how he could save himself. Without hesitation, he shoved Hifumi towards the two beasts with all his strength then ran down the steps of the hidden room, sealing the door behind him as he rejoined the others down below. He ignored the horrific cries and screams for help, deafening them from his ears.

Hifumi stumbled right into one of the monsters, letting out a grunt when he snacked against the beast’s skull between two large protruding horns. His eyes wide with terror, he stumbled back, falling instantly over his on feet, landing with a thump on the floor. The beast instantly pinned Hifumi and bit into his abdomen, pouring his guts all over the light green floor mats. The other beast tearing into Hifumi’s lower half with its claws, ripping a leg clean off and instantly devouring it.

“GENTARO! PLEASE HELP! HELP ME!” Hifumi screamed and sobbed out as he reached out for anyone, anything to help him as he was viciously devoured, torn limb from limb by the monsters, his blood paining the walls around them.

Gentaro reached the bottom of the stairs, panting and trembling as he tried desperately to settle his nerves. “Did… Did I really do that? I… I killed…” He thought to himself, his sanity slipping from his grasp. He was quick to clutch to reason, shaking his head as his breathing evened out. “No… No, this isn’t my fault. He should have listened! Why should I die because he was an idiot and didn’t listen to me?! Right… Right… It couldn’t be helped…”

“Gentaro?” Jiro called when he heard someone had come down. “Oh good, it is you I… Where’s Hifumi-san?”

Gentaro looked away and made up a lie on the spot. “He… I did what I could… I couldn’t save him I’m sorry… These two… beasts… They burst through the front door and I tried to run with Hifumi but… But one of them grabbed him! He… He’s gone…”

“W-Wait… M-Monster? You said a monster…?” Jyushi asked, voice shaking as he hugged onto Jiro’s arm.

Rosho had just finished slipping on some old pants he found in the room among all the other items, they were a bit short on him, but it was better than being naked. “No, not monster, monsters. There are two of them, maybe more! But… Those bastards… They crashed through the window and ripped Jyuto from me right before my eyes, I only narrowly got away as they… They dragged him off into the woods… His screams… It happened so fast and I couldn’t… I couldn’t do shit!” He slammed his fist against the wall, closing his eyes tight as he choked back a sob.

“Hold up… That… in your room… That was caused by monsters? And… And Gentaro-san you said you saw these monsters too and they got Hifumi-san?” Jiro asked, trying to put together what was going on.

Gentaro nodded, his voice hushed. “It sounds unbelievable but… I know what I saw. Two witnesses… It’s true.”

“Whatever they are, it doesn’t matter. What matters is our plan of escape to get the HELL out of here!” Rosho declared, clearing his throat. “Listen, we need to get to the RV. We can haul ass and get out of this hell hole as long as we make it to the RV.”

“Right! We can do this! We just need to get from the house to the RV, that’s what, like 500 feet?” Jiro asked in a hushed voice.

“W-What about the keys? D-Doesn’t Hifumi-san… He was…” Jyushi’s voice trembled and cracked as he held tight to Jiro’s arm.

“Last I saw, the keys had been set on a shelf in the kitchen after his last trip out to the RV for drinks. That was before he passed out on the floor. They should still be there or close around.” Rosho explained calmly as he became more analytical of the situation. “This needs to be done in one go, no fuck ups.”

“How exactly do you propose that we do this?” Gentaro asked, raising an eyebrow. “Can this even be called a plan? Go get the keys and run to the RV. We may as well be handing ourselves over on a silver platter.”

“We need a diversion.” Jiro muttered. “Someone needs to go up alone, get eyes on the monsters, and keep them away while the others get the keys and run to the RV.”

“Hah! So now you expect one of us to willingly offer ourselves as bait? I knew you were the dumb brother, but this is ridiculous.” Gentaro scoffed, shaking his head.

“H-Hey! Jiro isn’t dumb! H-He’s right and at least… At least he’s trying to contribute!” Jyushi argued in a stutter.

“Hey, it’s fine Jyushi.” Jiro smiled softly, looking over to Gentaro with a glare. “Tch. Unlike some people, I’m no coward. This will work and no one’s gonna die.”

“Jiro-kun… You can’t be serious, you…” Rosho trailed off as he realized Jiro was offering to be the distraction.

“I’m probably the most athletic and fit out of all of us. I can be sneaky, and I know I’m not the smartest, but… I know I can do this.” Jiro spoke with determination.

“Jiro no! What if… What if something happens?” Jyushi held tighter to Jiro’s arm, trembling at the thought of Jiro willingly going off to face those monsters alone.

“He suggested it, he should be the one to do it.” Gentaro pointed out. “And he’s right, he’s the most physically fit. If one of use were to pull it off, it’d be Jiro.” He agreed, just wanting to get the possibility of himself having to do it off the table.

“I will be fine. I promise.” Jiro smiled, patting Jyushi’s head. “Just make sure you stay safe and get to that RV, okay? I’ll rejoin you guys soon. I promise.” He spoke softly.

Jyushi nodded and hugged Jiro tight just for a second before letting him go. “I promise…”

Jiro grabbed a few items from the room, putting them in his pockets before making his way up the stairs with one of the oil lamps from down below. He cracked the door silently, only enough to see out. When he heard and saw nothing, he opened the door another few inches and slowly stuck his head out, looking at his surroundings. It was dark and silent, nothing in sight. He very silently moved out from behind the door and sealed it behind him. He tiptoed to the room farthest in the back, Gentaro and Hifumi’s room. He slowly opened the door and peered inside, entering once he saw it was empty. He took a deep breath and placed the oil lamp on the windowsill and left the bedroom door wide open. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a small teacup and hurled it at the wall by the lamp and proceeded to shout in an attempt to draw attention to himself in the room.

“OI! WHERE ARE YA FUCKERS?! COME ON! I’M RIGHT HERE! COME AT ME!” Jiro shouted at the top of his lungs, heart racing and pounding in his chest as he listened and looked for any sign of something coming.

After a brief moment, he saw the flame of the lamp flicker as an eerie silence fell over the house. He rushed to the closet, opening the door, and squeezing himself into the small space, shutting the door. Seconds after Jiro had concealed himself, the window where the lap sat was struck with a loud THUD! The walls cracked, caving in. The lamp fell, the light going with it. Heavy breathing could be heard along with thumping, heavy footsteps. Jiro covered his mouth with his hands and made sure to keep his breathing silent and under control. He heard clawing, thumping, breathing right near the door, a few moments seemed like an eternity before the footsteps trailed off. Jiro shakily reached out and cracked the door open only a hair, peeking out he saw nothing but darkness. Cracking the door only an inch more, he saw the shining reflection of a glowing red eye by the bedroom door. It was now or never, Jiro flung the closet door open, springing to his feet and throwing another item he’d taken from the hidden room, an ancient kunai. Though he threw it blindly, he managed to hit one of the beasts directly in the eye! Jiro didn’t look back, he took off right through the massive hole the beast’s created by in the wall and ran as fast as he could, yelling as loud as he could to alert the others in the hidden room.

“GO! GO NOW! HURRY!” Jiro shouted as he disappeared into the forest. The two beasts snarling and growling as they both charged after Jiro, their sole focus on him.

Jyushi, Rosho, and Gentaro heard Jiro’s shouts and hurried up the stairs and to the kitchen. Rosho snatched the keys from the shelf and ran out to the RV, Gentaro and Jyushi right on his tail. He fumbled a bit, cussing under his breath as he hastily unlocked the RV door and hurried inside, sitting, and starting the engine immediately. Jyushi and Gentaro hurried in after Rosho, Gentaro shutting and locking the RV door behind them.

“Go! Fucking go!” Gentaro yelled, a bit of panic finally showing through in his voice.

“Wait! We can’t go, we’re supposed to wait for Jiro!” Jyushi protested, looking out the window to see if he could see Jiro anywhere.

“There’s no way we can wait! Who knows if he’s even still alive! We need to go now while we have the chance!” Gentaro argued, his frustration showing though.

“Shut the fuck up, both of you! We’ll wait one minute! If we see those fuckers we’re out of here before then! I’m sorry Jyushi-kun, but it’s the best I can offer you in this situation!” Rosho snapped at the two of them, his eyes on the clock in the RV to start the time for the single minute wait for Jiro.

The minute seemed like twenty as everyone watched the windows, on edge and terrified. As soon as that minute passed, Gentaro was sure to say so. “Time’s up let’s go! He’s not coming.”

“Shit… I’m sorry Jyushi but we can’t wait.” Rosho sighed, hesitating a moment before putting the RV in gear and starting to move forward.

The RV had just turned around back to the road when something slammed on the side of the RV door. “IT’S ME! LET ME IN, HURRY!” Jiro shouted, out of breath and pounding on the door.

Jyushi gasped and swung the door open, quickly pulling Jiro inside as the RV was still moving. “Jiro!!! Oh my god! Oh my god…” He sobbed, hugging Jiro close and cradling him in his arms.

Gentaro slammed the door shut once Jiro was pulled inside and shouted at Rosho. “Step on the gas! FUCKING DRIVE!”

Rosho floored it, taking off at high speeds down the dirt road. “I can’t believe it! Jiro-kun, you’re amazing! You actually did it and survived!” He praised, utterly shocked.

Jyushi helped Jiro take a seat and looked him over, noticing he had a large gash in his left side. “You’re hurt! Do… Do we have a first aid kit somewhere?” He asked, tears still streaming down his face.

“Heh… Yeah I did what I could, but those things are fast and one of ‘em got me. I’m alright though…” Jiro chuckled weakly.

“Shit… Check around, I’m sure there’s one somewhere in here. Maybe the bathroom?” Rosho suggested as he drove, the road beginning to wind a bit, causing him to slow his acceleration on the sharp curves.

Gentaro was seated in the middle of the RV, tapping his foot anxiously, eyes fixed on the floor, mind racing. He was oblivious to anything being spoken. When he did finally look up from the floor, he looked to the windshield, seeing something in the road up ahead. “LOOK OUT!” He shouted to alert Rosho, though it was too late.

Rosho slammed on the breaks, simultaneously, one of the monsters leapt through the windshield, glass flying everywhere. The beast pierced and sank its claws into Rosho’s chest. “AHHHHH!” Rosho screeched in agony, gripping the claws of the beast, kicking and flailing as he desperately tried to escape.

Gentaro, Jiro, and Jyushi were throw forward with the collision, Gentaro quickly recovering and getting to his feet. “SHIT! FUCK!” He cursed, trembling, and acting with only one thought in mind: Survive.

“G-Gentaro!” Rosho called out, reaching to Gentaro who was only an arm’s length away.

Gentaro’s breath was ridged, he trembled violently as he moved quickly and grabbed Rosho… But he didn’t pull him away from the beast in an attempt to save him, instead, he shoved Rosho to the beast and sat himself in the driver’s seat and took off as soon as the beast had swiftly dragged Rosho off into the forest, Rosho’s cries echoing through the trees.

“WHAT THE FUCK MAN?!” Jiro screamed at Gentaro as he got to his feet, leaning on Jyushi for support, wincing in pain as he held his side. “You just fucking KILLED Rosho!”

Gentaro snapped back defensively at Jiro, driving as quickly as he could away from the beasts. “H-He was already dead! They pierced him through the chest, through the heart! We wouldn’t have been able to save him, but we can save ourselves! I… I was thinking of you two! It was too late for Rosho, but not for us, we need to get you medical attention quickly as well! We can’t waste time!” His words were convincing, his face wore heavy concern as he glanced back at Jyushi and Jiro. But… It was all a lie.

“Bull shit! BULL SHIT!” Jiro cussed, wincing, and panting a bit. “Ah… Fuck…”

“J-Jiro! Here, sit down. You need to take it easy!” Jyushi cried with concern, gently lowering Jiro into a seat. “L-Listen… Gentaro-san, he’s… He’s just like us… Doing our best and trying to make the right calls for the majority, right? S-Sometimes the right call is hard to make but… I don’t think he’d have done what he did without a good reason…”

Jiro groaned, not bothering to arguing anymore. He didn’t believe it for a second, but it was pointless, and he didn’t have the energy. “Whatever…”

Gentaro was rounding a bend and at rather high acceleration causing the RV to tilt and sway, nearly losing control. “S-Shit!” Gentaro gasped when the RV was suddenly hit with a great force, toppling it and sending it rolling.

The RV rolled several times, crashing and knocking down smaller trees before coming to a halt, smashing into a few larger ones. Gentaro, Jiro, and Jyushi were tossed around like ragdolls within the RV as it crashed and rolled, all of them losing consciousness in the process. Then all was silent with the exception of the hissing steam coming from the destroyed engine.

Jyushi awoke, groaning and disoriented. It took him a moment to remember where he was and what had happened. He stayed deadly silent; eyes wide as he tried to keep his irregular breathing hushed. He glanced around but couldn’t see anything, it was just darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he began to be able to make out a few shapes close to him. He saw Jiro, right next to him, unconscious. He quickly moved his hand and gently placed it on Jiro’s back, feeling for a rise and fall. It was shallow, but he was breathing. Jyushi let out a quiet sigh of relief then tried to move, wincing in pain. It hurt, but he could move. He crawled forward inch by inch, making his way through random debris that had been thrown about in the RV cabin until he was close to the windshield. He didn’t see Gentaro anywhere. After a moment of listening for any sounds he crawled back to Jiro and as gently as he could, he pulled him and himself from the wreckage. He moved himself and Jiro away from the RV, hiding behind a few trees a couple hundred feet away. He propped Jiro up against the tree and quietly tried to wake him.

“J-Jiro… Jiro wake up, we need to keep moving…” Jyushi whispered softly, cupping Jiro’s face in his hands. “P-Please Jiro I-” Jyushi suddenly fell silent when he heard something moving from behind. He whipped around and was about to let out a shriek when Gentaro slapped his hand over Jyushi’s mouth.

“Hush. Do you want the beasts to hear you?” Gentaro scolded quietly. “Come on, we need to go.” He whispered as he began to drag Jyushi by the wrist away from Jiro.

“W-Wait!” Jyushi exclaimed in a hushed tone. “We need to get Jiro. I… We can carry him he’s just not come to yet…”

“No. Jyushi, look at him. He’s dying. If we leave him, we can still escape, and it will keep the beasts distracted for longer.” Gentaro explained, continuing to drag Jyushi away.

Jyushi yanked his arm away harshly from Gentaro and gave him a look of pure disgust. “You… You want to use him as a decoy… You don’t care about any of us… Do you? Jiro was right…” He scoffed, taking a step back. “You only care about yourself. Tch. Go. Escape on your own. I refuse to go along with you. I’m going to get out WITH Jiro! I won’t leave him!”

“Jyushi!” Gentaro snapped, sighing, and shaking his head. “You want to die? Fine, stay and die, I-” Gentaro paused, hearing heavy footsteps approaching. He turned and saw one of the beasts towering over him.

“O-Oh god…” Jyushi whispered in complete terror, about to turn and run back to Jiro when Gentaro grabbed him by the arm.

Gentaro yanked Jyushi over to him, shoving him to the ground in front of the beast as he ran off as fast as he was able in the opposite direction, not looking back.

“Fuck! The Virgin needs to be the last to die!” The scientist back at the lab cursed as they watched the events unfolding. “Hurry, we need to deter the monster from that kid!”

The other scientist gave a nod and pressed three different buttons, pheromones poured out of the ground in the forest, acting as a repellent to the beast, the scent of the pheromones covering a large area of the wreck site.

The monster reared up one of its arms, about to take a swipe at Jyushi when it snarled and stopped, suddenly turning tail, and running off into the forest. Jyushi was trembling, face down in the fetal position, too terrified to move or look up to see what happened. He suddenly felt a hand on his back and gasp, flinching in fear.

“Jyushi… It’s me.” Jiro spoke with a scratchy voice. “Hey… Get up we gotta keep moving… The monster ran off.”

Jyushi turned his head and looked up at Jiro, jumping up and hugging him, sobbing yet again. “J-Jiro! You were right… Gentaro he… He wanted to use you as bait to escape… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” He cried.

“Hey, it’s okay… Let’s worry about that later, right now we need to go.” Jiro muttered weakly, leaning onto Jyushi as he ushered him along.

It was slow going, Jiro’s ankle was broken, and he needed to limp along with Jyushi’s support. Jyushi wasn’t much faster, having torn a calf muscle in the wreck. They stayed near the road, but off of it directly, keeping their eyes peeled as they slowly made their way back to the tunnel the entered to get here. When they finally arrived to their destination, they were met with a very unfortunate discovery.

“What… What the hell happened?” Jiro’s heart sank as he looked on at where the tunnel once was, it now caved in and sealed tight with fallen boulders.

“W-What do we do now?” Jyushi asked, choking back sobs, his hope fleeting.

“This… This can’t be the only way out. Maybe there’s another path… We just gotta find it. It’s gonna be alright Jyushi…” Jiro tried to reassure him, though, he’d lost a lot of blood and his consciousness was beginning to fade once more.

“J-Jiro? You’re really pale… Here sit for a minute.” Jyushi helped Jiro sit on the roadside and held him close. He moved behind once of the large fallen boulders to keep them both out of view. “Rest a while, then we can worry about finding a new way out.”

“…I’m sorry. I’ve become a burden. Heh… Jyushi… Hey, promise me if those fuckers show up… You’ll run. Leave me… Okay?” Jiro whispered faintly before slipping out of consciousness.

Jyushi silently cried, holding onto Jiro as he waited in silence for Jiro would awaken. Everything was silent for a long time while Jiro rested, two hours passed, Jyushi watched out for threats diligently the entire time. Soon, a figure showed up walking down the road towards them. Jyushi could make out that it was a human silhouette, it must be Gentaro! He laid Jiro down gently and kept him hidden where he was and walked out to confront Gentaro.

Gentaro saw Jyushi and hurried over but kept his distance. “Jyushi! You’re still alive! I’m… I’m glad… You may not believe me and that’s fine, but I’m so glad…” He sighed heavily with relief. “H-Have you seen the monsters around? Where’s Jiro?” He asked curiously, noticing Jyushi was alone, he was unaware Jiro was hidden away, very much alive.

Jyushi didn’t trust Gentaro, not anymore, so he was the one to lie this time. He wanted to protect Jiro. “He… Died. He managed to throw himself in front of me right before the beast went in for the kill.” He glared Gentaro down, his eyes cold with hate.

“I-I see… Jyushi… I-I’m sorry. I know that means nothing, I basically tried to kill you to save myself. It was wrong, I know… I was terrified… I-I’m not handling things well and-” Gentaro was very quickly cut off by Jyushi.

“Yeah. You did. You threw me to my death without hesitation. You did the same to Rosho-san. And… And I am starting to think you did the same thing to Hifumi-san too.” Jyushi spoke coldly. “You may have found me, but I won’t work with you to escape so… So do what you want but do it alone.” He glanced back at the sealed tunnel. “As you can see that route is blocked. You’ll have to find another way.”

Gentaro flinched and irked slightly. “Is that so? I can’t say I blame you. Well… I will find a different way then. Good luck to you, Jyushi.” He muttered before walking past Jyushi and over to the side of the mountain, peering over the side. “Looks like there’s no escape, huh? We can’t get out.”

“Are you saying we’re doomed to die? I don’t accept that. There’s gotta be another way out. And I’m going to find it.” Jyushi scowled at Gentaro, being sure to keep his distance.

Gentaro hummed and casually approached Jyushi once more. “I didn’t say there was no way to survive, I said there was no way to escape.” He corrected.

“W-What… Are you saying we fight those beasts?” Jyushi asked, keeping a watchful eye on Gentaro as he got closer.

“Fight? Hah…ha… No, that’s silly. There is no way mere mortal humans could kill such beasts.” Gentaro chucked, his gaze fixed on Jyushi. “However… I know how to survive this.”

Jyushi frowned, taking a few steps back, nut soon hit a boulder, he was trapped now. “If you know, then why not tell us? Why not say something sooner?!” He demanded to know.

Gentaro chuckled darkly, the laugh growing into something rather maniacal and menacing. “Jyushi… Telling everyone would give it away.”

Jyushi gulped, becoming more and more terrified by the deranged look in Gentaro’s eyes as he spoke. “J-Just out with it already! Stop beating around the bush!”

“Saying I know how to survive would reveal that I know why this all happened to begin with.” Gentaro explained. “That room, my… You were spot on Jyushi! Those things were cursed. We should have left them alone, but I couldn’t resist. I took a scroll, I hid it and read it in my room. It was a story, similar to what is happening now, but long ago when that house was still new. There was a lone survivor… You know how she survived?”

Jyushi was in complete at Gentaro’s claims. He was the cause of all this? Countless questions were swirling in Jyushi’s mind, but the one on the forefront came out. “How? How did she survive…?” He asked in a whisper.

“She appeased the beasts; she gave them her offering! Her father and brother, they both perished, and she was able to live! Do you see? Do you see now, Jyushi? Only one of us can survive! Those beasts will be here soon enough and I’m going to give them their final offering!” Gentaro laughed crazily, grabbing Jyushi violently by the wrist and pulling him closer. “I was chosen, don’t you see? That scroll fell to me, it called to me, I was meant to feed these beasts and I will fulfill my part so that I can LIVE!”

Jyushi fought, trying desperately to pull away from Gentaro’s grasp, looking past him and seeing the glowing eyes of the beasts as they approached. “G-Gentaro let go! This isn’t funny! You’re talking crazy! Those things… They’re right there! We need to run!” He pleaded, tears falling from his eyes once more.

“Run? Why run? I am not afraid, once I give you to them, I will be spared. I will be SAFE!” Gentaro turned and faced the beasts, any fear he had before was gone now. He pulled Jyushi along closer to his death.

“STOP! PLEASE!” Jyushi begged, pulling back, and beginning to kick and fight more aggressively. “LET GO!” He managed to get loose and ran back to the tunnel, stopping when his path was cut off by the fallen rocks. He turned around and faced Gentaro, terror in his eyes as Gentaro ran up and slammed Jyushi into the boulder.

“Stop making this so difficult and accept your fate!” Gentaro growled, fighting with Jyushi, them both getting dangerously close to the edge of the mountain side.

The beasts were charging in from behind, closing in fast on Gentaro and Jyushi. Hearing the rapid footsteps, Gentaro looked over his shoulder, his grip suddenly slipping from Jyushi. He was gone! Nowhere to be seen! He looked around frantically, his eyes widening at he stared one of the beasts in the face, a grunt escaping him as he felt warm liquid running down his chest. His gaze shakily fell, the beast’s large claws pierced right through him.

“Heh… I guess… This is the end.” Gentaro muttered weakly, coughing up blood as his vision blurred. The beasts ripped open Gentaro’s torso, guts spilling out onto the road, blood staining the dirt and rocks.

Jyushi’s eyes were shut tight, he felt the sensation of falling for a long time before feeling as though all the air was forced form his lungs, his whole body overcome with intense waves of pain with a sudden impact, though he was not able to make a single sound. After a few breathless minutes, his lungs filled with air once more and he struggled to catch his breath. He hurt too much to move, looking around without moving, he realized he was laying on something that felt softer than just the ground. That’s when he heard a very weak, struggling voice.

“J-Jyush…Jyushi…” Jiro muttered, barely audible.

Jyushi’s eyes widened, he forced himself to roll off of Jiro, crying out in pain in the process, clenching his teeth. “Gah! Nhg… I-It hurts…” He whimpered, gasping, and shakily looking over at Jiro. Tears overflowed his eyes instantly as his heart shattered at the sight before him. “Jiro…”

Jiro was barely clinging to life, he was pale, eyes only holding a flicker of life to them, blood dripping from his lips. “I never was very smart… But… This was all I could think… To do… To maybe… Just maybe… Save you…” He coughed weakly, more blood spilling from his mouth. “S-Shit… I’m… I’m fading fast Jyushi…” He muttered softly as his eyes slowly shut.

Jyushi struggled but made his way closer to Jiro, gently cupping his cheek with one hand as tears continued to stream down his face. “Jiro… Why did you do this? Why? I’m not…” He lowered his head and bit back a sob, shoulders trembling.

“…Who knows why…” Jiro chuckled weakly followed by several violent coughs. “Follow this stream until you make it back. D-Don’t stop until you’re back… Keep… Moving… Hurry…” His voice slowly trailed off, his last breath exiting his body along with his life.

Jyushi sobbed silently for a few moments, his face buried into Jiro’s chest as he slowly gathered himself. He calmed himself, raising his head before leaning back down and kissing Jiro’s forehead softly. The Virgin sacrifice is always optional, so long as it’s last. Yet another year of a successful ritual, another year the Gods remain in their slumber and the world safe and oblivious. It was a struggle, he crawled his way back to civilization, the lone survivor, but Jyushi eventually-

“Are you serious? That’s the ending?” Walking along the roads of Shibuya and listening intently the entire time up until now, Dice couldn’t help but to butt in and interrupt Gentaro.

“What, no good?” Gentaro asked, frowning slightly as he walked beside Dice, tapping his chin. “I haven’t written a horror like this before; you really don’t think it’s any good?” He asked.

“No way! None of it is believable at all!” Dice laughed, coming to a stop outside Ramuda’s office. “There’s so many random elements and no one is acting like themselves. You didn’t even put me in your story!” He complained with a small pout.

“I suppose it could use a little revision perhaps.” Gentaro admits with a small sigh, glancing over when he heard the front door of Ramuda’s office open up.

Heya Gentaro~! Heya Dice~!” Ramuda cheerfully greeted, hugging them both tight.

“Oi, Ramuda what did you call us over for?” Dice asked, trying to squirm free of Ramuda’s tight grip on him.

Ramuda released Dice and Gentaro and twirled around with a little hop. “Hehe~ I got a really cool offer from an Onee-san I just saw! She has a cute old rustic house out in the country and said I could stay for the weekend and wanted to invite you two along~!” He cheered happily.

Dice paled and went silent, Gentaro was speechless as well before smirking and speaking up while nudging Dice with his elbow. “You don’t want to go, Dice? I thought it was a stupid story?”

“Huh? You don’t wanna go? Awwww! Why not? Please, please, please!” Ramuda begged, hugging onto Dice’s arm tight.

“Yes, Dice, why not? Sounds like fun~” Gentaro chuckled, only teasing.

“NO, NO WAY! NO WAY IN HELL!” Dice yelled, slipping away from Ramuda’s grasp and taking off down the street.

“Diiiccceee! Come back! Wait! Why won’t you gooooo!” Ramuda whined as he ran down the street after him, Gentaro chuckling as he followed behind.