Another chapter for you guys for the weekend. ^_^ For the first time in a while, this is the longest chapter I've ever written... It may not be quite to Estrea's extreme-ness yet, but at 9k words there's still a lot going on.
I feel like I put a good bit into it, and although it was hard I'm happy with the result. I'm not getting many responses yet, but I hope maybe this will cause some more people to chime in. ^___^ I'd be thrilled if someone commented on quite a few of the different things that go on here... Anyway! Here you go! It's audition time.
Chapter 5 – AuditionReina walked through the moonless darkness, doing her best to act as if she wasn’t afraid of the night since of course as Captain of the Skulls she couldn’t be. However, even if she betrayed any sign of fright or cowardice, nobody would see her because good girls of Seishin didn’t walk by themselves out-of-doors in the middle of the night.
She was trying her best, but it was hard, especially after she’d seen what the Circle was capable of the night before. They’d even put some curse on her to make her unable to tell anyone what she’d seen. It was the little one that did it; it had to have been! She looked at her and did… something.
That has to be it… Reina kept telling herself. She was
not just going crazy.
Then again, it also didn’t help that as she walked through the night to the cave, she heard more rustling noises in the trees around her than there should have been.
It’s just some animal running through the trees trying to find food, she told herself.
Or else it’s just the wind. Either way, it was nothing to worry about.
She wasn’t crazy about even coming out here tonight, although walks in the dark like this were nothing new to her. There was just some kind of mood to the night; something she sensed. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but something just seemed wrong with it. She had no choice though since she now led the Skulls. It was her duty to meet the Master and prepare for the Okai girl’s audition.
Eventually the blackness ahead fell into an even deeper darkness, and she knew she was nearing her goal. She barely realized that her feet picked up to walk just a little more quickly at the sight, but as the gaping maw of the cave reared ahead of her she was almost at a run… until a figure jumped out at her from what must have been atop a rock. She couldn’t help a shrill cry, and before she could stop herself hopped a step back.
“Well, I know I’m a terrifying sight, but
seriously Reina…
screaming…?” an older girl said as she leered in front of her.
Reina felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest, but she tried her best to calm herself down. She couldn’t afford to look this pathetic in front of…
“Mikitty…?” she asked, peering up at the face that was becoming more recognizable by the second.
“In the flesh,” the girl said, grinning.
“
You’re the Master now?” Reina asked, completely flummoxed. The girl had just graduated!
“Yeah,” Miki said, looking off into space and adopting a frown for some reason. “Ohtani-san didn’t want to do it anymore, and they like to keep someone young in the position because of the…” she looked around the area they stood, “…responsibilities it comes with.”
“But Ohtani-sama was so old!” Reina exclaimed.
“Hey!” Miki said quickly with a sour look. “Watch your mouth! She’s only a few years older than me!” And she cuffed Reina on the side of the head without too much force.
As Reina turned back to her, rubbing her cheek, she mumbled, “As long as you don’t start going along and saying I should call
you Fujimoto-sama…”
Miki grinned again. “Of course not, little buddy!” This time she wrapped an arm tightly around Reina’s neck as if in some twisted friendly embrace and pulled her toward the cave entrance. “That’s another reason they like to keep someone young in this position. They like to have the current captain and master on somewhat equal footing since they share a lot of duties when they come together. Did you ever hear me call Masae ‘Ohtani-sama’?”
“Well… no,” Reina admitted. Come to think of it, she never had. Reina always thought that was just due to Miki’s badass-ness, so this was definitely a new piece of information. She no longer held Miki on a pedestal that was quite as high as it used to be. Wait, did that mean…?
“Yes, that’s right,” Miki said, and Reina for the first time noticed the girl was grinning at her with a sparkle in her eye. “You do the same with me and it will… improve your authority.” She was now grinning very widely, and Reina realized she was doing the same. “So!” Miki said, breaking away from Reina’s gaze and looking around again. “A new audition! How exciting! I know Kusumi managed to pass, but I hope this new girl does a, er, better job…” She sighed as she thought about Reina’s housemate.
“I thought you liked her!” Reina said, bristling. “If it were up to me, there’s no way I would have let her join…”
“But it wasn’t up to you,” Miki said briskly. “The vote is just a formality, you know, to try to get a consensus, since that’s best for us all. If a girl passes the audition though, no matter how well, she’s in. Not everyone might be happy with it, but if she passes, then it means there’s at least
something in her making her worthy of being a Skull.” She peered into Reina’s face as if trying to draw something out of it. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed
anything remarkable about her yet?”
“Well…” Reina said hesitantly. She still didn’t like the girl, but she supposed she’d gotten used to her since she was all she had for company lately except for Miyabi. Then she thought of the times when Koharu seemed to be thinking more than she let on. “Maybe…”
“See!” Miki said as if the issue was settled. “There you go, she’s still new. I’m sure as time goes on she’ll prove herself even more to all of you. Not everyone’s an anomaly like you or Miyakko, you know.”
Reina hesitated again wondering if she should be offended by the girl’s statement, but couldn’t do so long before Miki went on in that one-track mind of hers. “So, this audition! It’s so exciting, isn’t it?! Aside from Kusumi’s a few months ago, we haven’t had one in… over a year, no? Since Maihacchi joined. Of course things were quite active before then with you and Miyakko.”
“How’s Maihacchi doing, by the way?” Reina said quickly, eager to not get into the subject of join dates. “Surely you’ve been keeping up with her.”
“Of course!” Miki said, giving her a frown. “I wouldn’t be a very good Skullmaster if I didn’t keep track of our members. She
is still a member, of course!” She apparently felt it necessary to point that out, although Reina didn’t see the need.
Once a Skull, always a Skull. It was a motto of sorts. Well, if they used such silly things as mottos.
Miki adopted a vexed face before continuing. “However, the school she transferred to has no tradition at all, and there’s no Skulls chapter there. That’s not surprising, of course,” she added hastily. “Very few schools are as long-standing as Seishin – none that I know of, actually – and any that survived the Restoration were necessarily quite separate from Seishin, and the Skulls are an institution rather unique to here…”
Reina stared at the girl, who still held her in a headlock, as she seemed to become lost in reminiscence of some kind. She obviously had a lot to learn as Captain. “And so Maihacchi…” she said, trying to prod the girl in that direction again.
Miki seemed to snap out of her reverie and spoke quickly again. “Oh yes, of course. She’s doing fine, and we’re even trying to work with her to start up a chapter at her new school. We would have preferred someone with a bit more… experience… but any Skull should be capable of it.”
“I sure hope Koharu never transfers then…” Reina said with a sour face before realizing what had really come out of her mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that…”
Miki tapped her on the side of the head again. “As Captain, you really need to get over whatever issue there is between you. You can’t lead with that kind of attitude.” She looked back at the dark entrance to the cave. “Now, about this audition.” Reina finally realized that perhaps
she wasn’t the one trying to keep the conversation focused, and decided to finally keep quiet. “Who’s the unlucky girl?”
“A second year,” Reina said, still frowning at nothing. “Okai… Chisato, I believe.”
Miki gave a low whistle through her teeth. “Just become a second year and granted an audition, eh? That’s pretty impressive. Of course, she still has to pass, and even if she did she wouldn’t hold a candle to you and our Miyakko…” Reina’s face darkened, and the older girl looked into it. “I take it you weren’t the one who invited her?”
“No,” Reina said quietly.
“Didn’t think so,” Miki responded casually.
Reina looked up at her, her emotion now dancing in her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not good enough to recruit for auditions?”
“I’m not saying that,” Miki said, and she finally released her hold on Reina’s neck, which she quickly rubbed to ease her muscles. “I just know you’re a little touchy about girls challenging your standing.”
Reina felt like she was struck by a blow at that. The girl had noticed what went on between her and Miyabi? “I…” she began, but became unable to continue. If she thought that way about her, why did she ever select her as captain?
Miki was giving her a very intense look, a small smile gracing her lips. “You think I didn’t notice your little feuds?” This time Reina really did begin to feel a little offended by the girl’s choice of words. They bit at each other a lot as Skulls, but she was the Captain now! This girl had
chosen her! “I chose you partly for your seniority, yes. But true Skulls rarely become close with anyone out of a general distrust of the status quo. Miyakko has a lot of talent and potential, yes, but she’s a bit too… open-minded as well. Tell me. Has she found a girlfriend yet?”
Reina blinked at her senpai, startled at the question. “Um… no…” Miki continued to look at her expectantly though, and she finally found herself capable of thought. “Well, apparently she’s got her eye on a second year or two.”
“Ahh…” Miki said, nodding wisely. “You can count on this: before long, she’ll have herself a girlfriend. If not one of those you say she’s got an eye on, someone else. But it’ll happen.”
Reina kept staring at her, slightly confused. “But… Mikitty…” she tried her best not to trip over her words. Why was it so hard to talk about this anymore? “You had all kinds of girls. What’s so special about her getting one?”
“The fact that she’ll get
one,” Miki responded, giving her that intense look again. “True, I indulged in certain…” she grinned, “pleasures… but I could never become attached. Such is the typical Skull’s life. Don’t get me wrong,” she said, responding to a look apparently of mutual pity that Reina tried to quickly erase from her face. “I don’t desire anything more. Because…” she said, looking carefully at Reina to make sure she heard her. “That’s the point.”
Reina fell into thought for a moment. The girl was right, she supposed. Reina herself even felt no need to have someone to count on or be attached to, whether a lover or a friend. But Miyabi…
did…? She’d have to be more attentive to the girl’s attitudes from now on.
“Miyakko might be Captain some day,” Miki said in a more relaxed voice now. “She is a year behind you after all, and you could always transfer.” She gave her a dagger look as if to say she’d better not, though. “But the Skulls need to be wary of everyone, and so need a leader that is.”
Well, Reina understood now. Still, she didn’t know if she was supremely thrilled by the revelation. “Speaking of girlfriends and being wary…” Reina began hesitantly. “One of your old flings is now part of the Circle.”
This time it was Miki’s turn to blink. “From Nakazawa?” she asked. Reina nodded. “…Who?”
“Takahashi,” Reina replied.
As if she was imitating Reina’s earlier emotions, Miki’s face darkened now as well. “Oh really?” Suddenly she broke into a shrill laugh. “Ai-chan in the Circle, huh? Really? Good for her. I couldn’t see it in her.”
Reina nodded again, and as if her voice was spurred on by itself, she added, “And there’s more. Last night, the Circle, they… did stuff. Takahashi threw me across the room somehow, and the little one messed with my head to where…” She snapped her mouth shut, eyes wide at what had come out of her mouth.
“Where I couldn’t tell anyone about it…”Miki’s eyes widened too as Reina spoke, until it seemed she was almost struck speechless too. “You… you saw it too?” she asked, and for perhaps the first time ever Reina heard fear in the girl’s voice.
“Too?” Reina asked intently. “What do you mean?”
Miki’s mouth was working, but it didn’t seem like any words would come out. Eventually she gathered herself though to say in a quiet voice, “I haven’t been able to talk freely about this… ever…”
“Me neither…” Reina said carefully. “You don’t suppose… they did the same thing to both of us, and whatever it was doesn’t work between us for that same reason?”
Miki wrapped her arm around Reina again, though this time it was just around her shoulders in what was really no more than a friendly gesture. “We have a lot to talk about, Reina. Okai, right? Is she bringing friends?”
“Probably,” Reina said, still reeling from their mutual realization. Maybe she wasn’t going crazy after all… She came back into focus momentarily though. “Her friends are the ones I told you that Miya was interested in.”
Miki was silent a moment as if she saw something in Reina’s words that she couldn’t herself. “It sounds like an interesting night.” She looked back at the cave. “Come. Let’s talk while we prepare.”
Reina now felt much more tentative about the audition tomorrow night. Somehow she thought it would mean more than the test of a second year wanting to join the Skulls. As she and Miki walked toward the cave, her eyes were drawn to the brush around them, having thought she saw something shining from within. When she properly looked though, she caught sign of nothing except the movement of some of the foliage as if an animal was bounding through it and away. Putting the evidence of the glowing spots and what might have caused that much disturbance together, she wondered if there might not be any coyotes or wolves around. The area around Seishin was fairly wild, after all. The thought left her mind though when the two of them entered the cave’s dark interior.
…
“Are you
really sure you want to do this?” Airi asked her friend for what seemed like the hundredth time. She couldn’t deny there was a certain…
charm… to the Skulls, but she still couldn’t believe Chisato of all people wanted to do that to herself. She was just always so happy… and energetic…
At another resolved nod from her friend, she sighed. “I swear though, Chisa. If I ever find tobacco around our room…” The other girl gave her a cute glare, but didn’t respond.
It was eleven-thirty on Sunday night, and although both girls were tired, they marched out through the empty Matsuura lounge toward the eventual goal of the cave that was just beyond some of the woods to the east of the school. Airi didn’t really think she wanted to do this at all, but she wanted even more to support her friend as best she could, and just could not turn her down. Besides, Natsuyaki at least didn’t seem to be that bad a person. Well, when she wasn’t trying to constantly bully her around that was. She wished the girl would at least actually remember her name…
When they left the house, as they walked along the path to the woods they saw a figure walking quickly up toward them. Airi pulled Chisato to a stop, although the other girl seemed reluctant to do so in her eagerness to get to her audition, and they waited as the girl came into view. Before long though, Airi felt she could have sighed in relief.
“Hey, Okai, Toothpick,” she said, nodding at each of the girls in turn. Airi narrowed her eyes.
“It’s Airi,” she said in a low voice. “Ai. Ri. Not too hard to remember.”
“Love is never logical,” Natsuyaki said in response, looking levelly at her, and Airi stared in befuddlement. “Like I said before. What a sickeningly cute name.” She looked at the two girls again. “It’s just the two of you here?”
“Yes…” Chisato said, furrowing her brow as if confused by the question.
Natsuyaki stared at her for a moment with her head slightly cocked before giving Airi a short glance and turning back to the auditionee. “Are you ready?” she asked her.
This time, as if she was waiting for the question, Chisato nodded without hesitation. “Yes, Natsuyaki-san.”
“Good,” the other girl responded, and looked the two girls up and down. “You’ve brought nothing with you. That’s good too.” Then she suddenly started walking down the path. “You two going to join me?” she asked, and with a quick look at Airi, Chisato jumped ahead to keep up.
Airi herself felt like throwing up her arms, but instead just followed her friend. “
What are you getting me into, Chisa?” she growled into her friend’s ear when she caught up. The shorter girl just gave her a smile and shrugged.
They walked through the woods in silence for the most part, Natsuyaki keeping up a brisk pace before slowing down when Airi estimated they were about halfway through.
“You know the Skulls have accepted only two new members in the past two years,” she told them casually. “I hope you’re ready. I hear the Captain and Master have prepared something especially fun for you.”
The two younger girls exchanged glances. “I’m ready for whatever you can throw at me,” Chisato said in a small but challenging voice.
Natsuyaki looked over at her and smiled. “That’s a good attitude you have there. Be careful about being too proud so soon though. Even if you pass and are able to join, you’ll have a long road ahead of you before you’ll be more than fresh meat in the Skulls.”
“Tell me,” Airi said, sidling up toward Natsuyaki and breaking in. “What is really up with you guys? You act all cool and talk like you’re all yankiis or something, but times like this you seem just like any other girl.”
Natsuyaki kept the smile on her face and shifted her cool gaze toward Airi, who for some reason felt warm beneath it. “You tell
me,” she said. “Are you going to like having a friend who beats up other girls as a hobby? You remind me of a choirgirl like that new Nakazawa head is. You ever even broken a school rule?”
Airi looked nervously over at Chisato, who kept her gaze carefully away from her and on the path ahead.
“I didn’t think so,” the Skull continued. “You’re in for a rude awakening tonight I think. I wonder how well you really know your friend. Or am I mistaken?” she asked, this time directing it at Chisato. “You keep this company. Do you really have what it takes to be a Skull?”
“Yes, I do,” Chisato said between gritted teeth, still not turning her head. Airi also noticed her fists were clenched at her sides. She couldn’t help staring a bit herself. She’d never heard Chisato talk like this. True she wasn’t as into school and keeping up a clean image as Airi or even Risako, but she was far from a delinquent. If she passed tonight, was that what she would become?
“I see,” Natsuyaki said, looking forward as well. “Then there must be something special about you, toothpick.”
“It’s Airi…” she responded in almost a resigned whisper, trying to hide a blush she felt for some reason.
“Oh, I need to tell you about your task tonight,” the Skull said, and Chisato suddenly perked her ears eagerly. “You’ll be going into the cave to fetch a real skull. We’ll tell you more when you arrive, but basically, if you find the skull you pass. If you don’t, or if something happens to it, you fail.”
Chisato finally looked up at her, a little anxiously. “That’s all I have to do? Find a… skull?”
“Don’t sound so scared of it,” Natsuyaki responded. “Do you think you can call yourself a Skull if you can’t even handle a real one?”
Chisato’s eyes sank back down. “No… I guess not.”
“And yes, that’s it,” the other girl said. “Like I said, we’ll tell you more when…”
Trailing off, the older girl suddenly stopped and looked around them. Chisato and Airi did too, and they almost unconsciously gathered toward their guide, looking around nervously themselves.
“Something’s wrong…” Natsuyaki said.
Airi could feel her heart beating in her ears, her senses straining to their max in this quiet night. She didn’t know what she was trying to catch, but if Natsuyaki had heard or seen something, and thought it was something to be concerned with, she thought she probably should be too. She could hear the trees swaying and perhaps some brush being swept past in the distance, though that could have been only the wind.
“What?” she asked in a high whisper. “What is it?”
“I don’t know…” their guide responded. “Hey, you two wait here. I’ll go check it out.” Then, before Chisato or Airi could respond, she strode off the path into the trees and soon disappeared.
Airi’s eyes widened, now becoming terrified at being left alone while their older companion went to research something that apparently was enough of a threat to cause her to investigate it. As minutes dragged on, she moved closer to Chisato, to where eventually the two girls held hands tightly between them as they squeezed together, looking around wildly.
“Where do you suppose she is?” Chisato asked quickly. “You don’t… You don’t think this is part of the test, do you?”
“What?” Airi said, momentary startlement calming her nerves slightly. “Of course it wouldn’t be! Your audition is at the cave. Plus, Natsuyaki-san and the other Skulls would want to make sure you’re not cheating or something, since you could do anything unsupervised out here.”
“I’m not sure…” Chisato began, but cut off when they heard movement from behind them. Airi barely had time to react before something flashed beside her and her friend fell to the ground, her hand going limp as Airi kept it clutched tightly.
“Chisato!” Airi cried, and tried to spin to see what had hit her before she herself keeled forward in sharp pain as something hit her own head, and then all she could do was try to keep hold of her friend’s hand with quickly numbing fingers while the darkness of the moonless night pressed in around her.
…
“Ow…” Chisato said, groggily opening her eyes to find she was lying on the ground. Sitting up unsteadily, she rubbed her head while trying to remember how she ended up here. She was out in the woods for some reason, but she didn’t recognize the location until she turned around and saw the gaping maw of a cave right behind her.
“Give me a
break…” she said, and did her best to stand. After some initial wobbling she managed to steady herself, and peered into the darkness of the hole. It wasn’t a huge opening, but since she wasn’t the tallest person she would be able to get into it easily. It was about twice her length any way around.
She’d been here before of course. Most girls new to Seishin who had any sort of adventurous spirit about them made the trip through these woods to stare in awe at the place which was said to be haunted. She’d never seen any evidence of it herself, but Airi for one was convinced there was something unnatural in it. She’d even had to drag her out here the one time she wanted her to see it, and the girl hadn’t returned since. Until now, perhaps.
She looked around her again. That’s right. Airi was with her when…
something… happened, and the next thing she knew she was at this place which was strangely exactly where she was heading for. “I’m gonna
kill Miss Natsuyaki Miyabi when I get my hands on her…” she grumbled, and dusted herself off.
Whatever Airi thought, this obviously had to be part of her “audition”. Only, the girl had been right about one thing. Why weren’t the Skulls around and watching her every move? She didn’t even know what she was supposed to do. She peered around at her surroundings before turning back to the cave entrance. “Well, I guess I should go inside and see what happens,” she told herself.
As she took a step forward, she heard a rustling in the trees around her. At first she thought it might be the wind, but when she saw light reflecting off two almost pinpricks just above a bush, she shouted out, “That’s right! I’m catching on to your stupid game! I’ll prove to you I have what it takes!”
Then, as if the apparent audience gave her extra motivation, she walked confidently into the cave without a backward glance. The passage narrowed and widened as she walked along, but she took it all in stride. Unlike her friend, Chisato cherished adventure and what might lay hidden and unseen. She’d been into the cave before, and alone as well since most others were too scared of the stories to try it – except for Airi of course who just thought the whole idea of ‘adventure’ was ridiculous – but as she kept walking, she realized she hadn’t yet gone quite this deep in.
After walking a few minutes and totally immersing herself in this underground world, with only the sound of dripping from the damp roof to entertain her, she thought she heard something else break the silence. At first she thought it was a draft from some crack ahead that led to the surface, but when she stopped and listened more closely, it sounded more like a high-pitched voice.
She began running ahead and toward the sound until she started to pant, and then stopped to see what she could catch of it now. When her panting and heartbeat pounding in her ears slowed, her eyes widened at what she heard.
“Chiii~saaaa~!” came a shrill voice from somewhere much deeper than she already was.
“Heeee~lp me!”Recognizing the voice to be Airi’s, she now began running even harder down the twisting passageway. She was no longer sure this was all part of the audition. Why would they kidnap Airi? They didn’t even know that she’d be coming. It was
her audition! She suddenly regretted getting her friend involved.
“Airi!!” she shouted in a voice that fell dead against the claustrophobic walls. Weren’t places like this supposed to echo?
“I’ll find you,” she said under her breath as she ran. “I swear…”
Suddenly around one turn she came upon a wall in front of her, and stopped with a skid. A dead end? It couldn’t be. Airi’s voice was still coming from ahead of her. She studied the wall closely, illuminated as it was by some phosphorescent fungus or other, and saw that there was just darkness at the bottom of it. She could see the rest of the wall, but at the bottom it looked like nothing existed.
She stepped closer to it, but when only a few steps away, she felt her foot splash into what was probably an inch of standing water. “You’ve
got to be kidding me…” she said, and knelt down to peer at the ground.
Sure enough, there was a pool of water leading up to the wall that had looked like a dead end. Taking another careful step forward, she felt the water rise over her shoe and soak her foot, but it was actually pleasantly cool, so she really didn’t mind much.
“Help~!” She heard Airi’s voice, a bit stronger now, coming from just above where the water stood. It appeared she’d have to take a little swim to get to wherever her friend was trapped. Sudden thoughts of Airi drowning fueled her on, and she felt her way carefully ahead.
She knew this wasn’t going to be easy from the beginning, but as she became wetter and wetter, she realized this was going to be an even longer night than she thought she’d bargained for.
...
“Aiiiiriiii~!” echoed a soft voice from somewhere ahead of the girl it named. Airi stared at the cliff above her, from which it seemed the voice came, and fought a bit more at the ropes that bound her.
“This is
not making me think more highly of you, you know!” she told the girls surrounding her in a voice that she supposed was more furious a few minutes ago not long after she’d woken up. “If anything happens to Chisa…”
“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Tanaka said, scraping a knife along her fingernails. “And if she’s got what it takes to be in the Skulls, she’ll be even more than that. Don’t you have any faith in your friend?”
“Ugh!” Airi burst out, disgusted, and the girls around her laughed.
“She’s quite the little firecracker, isn’t she?” Fujimoto asked from beside Reina. She peered curiously at Airi as if she’d not seen anything of her like before. Airi herself certainly must have stared almost as much when she first saw the girl here. She’d hoped to never see her again in her life, and now here she turned up at a time that, to her, almost could not have been worse.
“Choirgirl you said, Miya? She’s nothing compared to my Ai-chan.” Tanaka’s mouth turned up in a smirk at that, though Kusumi, standing a bit behind the others, looked a little frightened at the topic. The whole time they’d been here the Nakazawa girl appeared as if she was totally out of place among the rest of them. At least they weren’t chewing that filthy tobacco this time. She supposed that wasn’t exactly proper spelunking gear.
Natsuyaki, in response to Fujimoto’s jibe, just looked at Airi with narrowed eyes. She’d been doing that almost constantly since she woke up and started fussing at them, and for some reason Airi didn’t like it one bit.
“I don’t know who this ‘Ai-chan’ is, but if she’s any sort of good person, I’d be proud to be told I’m like her!” Airi said, raising her chin at the four girls surrounding her.
The Skulls exchanged glances with each other. “Why Suzuki,” Fujimoto began. “Don’t you know? Ai-chan – you might know her better as Takahashi – is one of your new great leaders.”
This time Airi really did just stare at them. The new head of Nakazawa? They sure were talking about her with nothing amounting to the respect normally due the Circle… She shook her head. It must just have been because she was new.
“Is she?” Airi asked. She tried to keep the weakness caused by the new information out of her voice, but failed. “Well then I
should be proud you’re comparing me to her.”
The four girls looked among each other again. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Tanaka said, and for some reason the two other current Skulls frowned over at her and she lowered her eyes. Fujimoto seemed to be uncomfortable too. What was going on there?
“Well!” the recently graduated Skull said. “I think it’s time we should be going. You have our directions down, right?” she asked Airi.
“I understand what it is you asked me to do,” Airi said in a tight voice. “But I’m not sure I want to do it.”
In response, Tanaka shrugged. “Do what you like,” she said. “But remember, if you don’t follow what we said, your friend fails her audition, and I doubt she’d be happy with you for causing that, would she?”
Airi ground her teeth at the girl’s words. She was right; Chisato wouldn’t be happy with her about that, and she had come along to support her after all. Still,
she wasn’t happy that these girls were putting them through this.
Fujimoto grabbed at the rope hanging off the side of the ledge Airi’s chair was perched on. “Well, depending on how your friend does, one way or another I’ll see you on the other side.”
“I’d rather hope
not…” Airi responded with a growl.
“Ouch!” Fujimoto mocked, holding a hand to her heart. “You wound me with your words. Where’s all that hate from, little sister?”
“I’m
not your sister!” Airi spat. “And you should know quite well where it comes from!”
Fujimoto grinned. “Oh yeah, the little ordeal involving you and the Great Yajima.” She shrugged and for some reason gave a glance toward a stone-faced Natsuyaki. “It wasn’t my fault you decided to jump in the bath with her.” Airi felt her face blush as the girls around her snickered. “Adieu,” the girl told her with a salute and a nod of her head, and jumped off the ledge, sliding down the rope out of sight.
“I want you to know, I’m rooting my hardest for your little friend,” Tanaka said, grasping for the rope herself. “I really am. You don’t know how lonely it gets sometimes with just these two knuckleheads for company.” She grinned at Airi, but she noticed her eyes stray toward Natsuyaki as well. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of you, no matter
what happens tonight.” Then with a nod, after handing her knife to Natsuyaki she slid down the rope herself.
“I just want you to know…” Kusumi repeated, and became the third to grab onto the rope. “Oh screw it,” she said. “I don’t care how you two do. I’m happy being the youngest and cutest.” And with a quick mocking smile, she slid down after the others.
“You’ll have to forgive her…” Natsuyaki said, stepping around to face Airi. “She’s still new after all.” She leaned in close to Airi’s ear, making her feel slightly uncomfortable in her helpless position. “And between the two of us, she’s also an idiot.” Then she leaned back again, grinning.
“I’m actually amazed you
all managed to get into this school,” Airi said, giving the girl a glare.
“Careful now,” Natsuyaki said, examining the knife. “Your friend will be one of us soon enough, you know, and you don’t think she’s an idiot, do you?”
“
If she passes your stupid audition,” Airi shot back, nonplussed.
The older girl just smiled. “Oh, she will.” Her gaze didn’t falter as she studied Airi’s face. “They’re right,” she said. “You
are kind of cute, especially all tied up like that.”
Airi suddenly felt her entire body flush with heat at the girl’s words, and she also became very anxious about her current situation. “Um…” she began. “I…”
“Oh don’t worry,” Natsuyaki said, grabbing onto the hanging rope. “Even though I probably should, I won’t take advantage of your condition or anything.” Despite the uncomfortable feeling, Airi couldn’t pull her eyes away from the Skull’s.
“Um…” Airi said. “Thank you…”
“Don’t mention it,” the other girl responded, creeping to the edge and laying her knife as high as she could reach up the rope. “However… I’d watch yourself in the halls from now on,” she said with a grin, and Airi gasped as with one stroke she cut through the rope above her, and both her and the rope fell out of sight.
She listened carefully, but didn’t hear anything from below. Then she mentally chided herself for even worrying about the other girl. Who cared what happened to a Skull? The less of them, the better off the school was, as far as she was concerned.
“Your friend will be one of us soon enough, you know.” Natsuyaki’s voice reverberated through her mind, and she sighed. She wondered yet again what she was getting herself into, but for some reason the truth of it seemed to hit her much harder now.
Now that the cave had become silent, she looked up at the cliff again and the rope that angled toward it and lay somewhere atop it out of sight. Well, she’d gone this far, she might as well keep it going.
For Chisato’s sake… she thought.
“Chisa!” she yelled again.
“Help me!!!” There was no response, but from the cry before she knew the girl must be coming. It was apparently now time to wait.
While doing so, she vaguely wondered where the Skulls went. They made no sound after vanishing down that rope. Did they just have nothing more to say? That seemed unlikely since she was now getting to know them better. Did they run off somewhere? She didn’t want to think of the other, more likely reason: that it was a long way down.
She didn’t know where she was or how she got there, except that apparently she was in the cave past the woods. After being knocked out earlier she’d just woken in the chair to the unpleasant sight of Fujimoto’s face. Quickly she had decided there were much better ways of coming back into consciousness.
“…Airi?” she heard a weary voice call from above. Breaking quickly out of her reverie, she looked up to see Chisato apparently on her hands and knees peering over the cliff’s edge.
“Chisa!” she said, excitement bubbling up inside of her. “You made it!” She squinted her eyes for a better look at the girl, and for some reason it appeared her hair was sticking to the side of her head like it was wet or something. What had the girl been doing?
Chisato kept looking down, but Airi noticed her eyes flicker to her side for some reason, as if something from the wall beside her was catching her attention. “Are you all right?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yeah!” Airi responded. “I was just…” she caught herself quickly. “I mean, er, the Circle ambushed us in the woods. They seemed to know where we were going, and apparently didn’t like it very much. They kidnapped me and tied me up in here… I didn’t expect you to come after me though…”
She hated lying to her friend, but there was no other way. The girl would be much less happy with her if she’d told her the truth. “Of course I would come after you, Osuzu!” Chisa said, apparently trying to inject some playfulness into her voice. She sounded almost too weary to be capable of it though. Plus, whatever it was to Airi’s side seemed to keep distracting her. “You’re silly.”
“Well…” Airi responded, wondering if the girl was ever going to come rescue her. “I
am stuck deep in a cave somewhere…”
“Right…” Chisato said, but now she seemed completely distracted and barely even looked at Airi anymore.
“What is it?!” Airi demanded in the nicest voice she could, unable to stand it any longer. “You’ve come this far. Are you going to help me? You can probably get down here on that rope up there.”
Chisato blinked and looked at Airi almost as if she’d forgotten about her, and then glanced over to the rope. “Yeah, probably…” she said, and looked back down. “Um…” she began, and seemed to be uncomfortable with continuing.
“Yes…?” Airi said. She had a feeling the girl was not doing well in her audition being this dense.
“Well,” Chisato said, her eyes straying to the side again. “It’s just that… there’s a skull in a chamber just like yours a few meters away from you...”
Airi stared at her. The girls from earlier definitely had
not told her about that little part of the deal. She opened her mouth to tell Chisato everything, but stopped short, grinding her teeth. It was all a set-up. They knew what they were doing. The problem was they
had told her that if for some reason Chisato didn’t swing down on that rope to save her, there was no easy way to get to her ledge, and it might be days before anyone could set her free. They assured her she had nothing to worry about though… Man, she hated those girls.
“But…” Airi said, in a voice that was really quite genuinely pleading. “I need you to help me… I don’t want to be stuck here forever!”
Chisato stood up and walked over to the rope. After picking it up, she stared down at Airi, then moved her eyes as if she was scanning the wall. “Hang on, Osuzu,” she said tenderly, and fed some of the rope through her hands, peering closely between it and the wall in front of her. Airi felt suspense building constantly within her. The girl had to find the right length of the rope to use to jump down; that was right. She would be down momentarily…
Then, giving a slight nod, her friend gripped the rope tightly in her hands and shuffled toward the edge, concentrating downward, before jumping off. Airi’s heart seemed to fly up into her throat in excitement until… Chisato vanished from sight past the wall to her left.
“Chisa!!!” she screamed, but received no response. Sure that her friend had given up on her and sacrificed her for her stupid ambition, she began crying, unable to stop. She heard scuffling from what she knew must be the hollow beside her, but she didn’t care. Chisato had made her choice; she’d be stuck here for days. Her terror rose as she thought of the classes she would miss. Her grades would never recover!
When she had nearly completely succumbed to her own personal pit of despair, the scratching from the wall outside her cubby became louder, and she blinked through her tears trying to see ahead of her. There was no hope, but what else had she to do?
As such, she almost didn’t register when Chisato came crawling around the wall, grasping her rope tightly in her free hand, and almost collapsed right in front of Airi. A skull that was threaded through the rope just above Chisato’s head stared through its empty orbs straight into Airi’s face.
“Chi…” she began, trying to catch her breath. “Chisa…?”
Her friend looked up at her, her face covered in sweat and dust showing a concerned expression. Now that Airi got a closer look, she also saw that the girl was completely soaked almost from head to toe. Only the top of her head seemed to be spared from whatever she had been doused with.
“What’s wrong?” Chisato said, stumbling up and over to her friend. “Did something happen?”
“I thought…” Airi sniffed, unbelievingly. “I thought you had left me here…”
Chisato’s face suddenly became stricken with pain and scandalized. “Of course not! How could I do that to you? You’re my best friend!” Her tired fingers fumbled at the ropes holding Airi to the chair as she tried to untie them. Eventually she succeeded, and squeaked as Airi nearly jumped up at her to give her a tight hug.
“I’m sorry…” she said, still sniffing. “I’m such a baby… I should have trusted you more…”
When she felt Chisato awkwardly patting her back, she pulled away slightly to look into her face. “Yes,” the girl said with what breath she had left. “You should have.” Then her mouth slowly turned into a grin, causing Airi to smile and laugh too.
“But you know…” Airi said, her sniffling finally clearing up. “You look like hell…”
Chisato laughed at that too, raising her hand to scratch at the back of her head in embarrassment. “Yeah,” she responded. “I kind of feel like that too.”
“So…” Airi said. “Do you think we can get down now? They said there was an exit below…”
“They did?” Chisato asked sharply, then looked down and to the side, grumbling to herself. “Would have been nice if they told
me that before I swam, crawled and jumped my way here from the main entrance…”
“Come on,” Airi said looking up at the skull, now excited about what would happen when they showed up not too much the worse for wear at wherever the four girls were waiting. She wrapped her arm around Chisato’s waist and pulled her over to the rope. “That was brilliant you know, what you did with the skull.”
“I know,” Chisato said, grinning, and Airi smiled at the sparkle she saw in her friend’s eye. “It actually makes me disappointed in them though… If it weren’t for the Circle interfering, it wouldn’t have been much of a test.” Airi just grinned as they swung out from the ledge and slid down the rope.
Upon reaching the bottom, there was a very obvious slope up toward a glow that could only be the exit they’d mentioned. Weary as both of them were – Chisato because of whatever she went through to get there, and Airi from numbness after being knocked out and tied to a chair for who knew how long – they ran toward it, and eventually burst out once again into the night air. Moonless though it might have been, it was still considerably brighter than the place they had just left. The Skulls had left candles around Airi’s ledges, but in general the only light came from that glowing fungus that seemed to be everywhere.
Chisato laughed at being back in the fresh air again, but Airi was looking around wildly, trying to discern where the Skulls were hiding. She didn’t have to look long though before four figures strode out from behind some trees. She looked steadily at them, but Chisato didn’t notice them for a few seconds. When she did, she squinted as if unsure whether she believed what she saw.
“Congratulations,” Fujimoto said, raising a flashlight to her face. She flashed it between the two girls and to the skull Chisato held in her hand. “You have both your skull and your friend. I’d say you’ve passed our audition with flying colors! Don’t you?” she looked around at the three younger girls beside her, who looked at Chisato with varying expressions. All, however, seemed very interested. Airi wondered how many of them actually thought Chisato would pull it off. Seeing Natsuyaki’s face, she knew that girl apparently hadn’t lied about her expectations. She wondered how she could be so confident in them.
Wearing a stern look, Tanaka nodded. “Quite impressive…” she said, what seemed a bit reluctantly. “In good time too. I can’t say anything but ‘yes’.”
Airi looked at her friend, grinning. Chisato was staring among them all with wide eyes, apparently still in a bit of disbelief.
“Of course a ‘yes’ from me,” Natsuyaki said casually. “I chose her, after all.” Fujimoto nodded at her response and looked to the third current Skull.
Kusumi seemed very reluctant to say anything, but finally grudgingly mumbled, “’Yes’ from me too… She’s obviously got what it takes…”
“Well that does it!” Fujimoto said, and stepped forward to wrap her arm around Chisato, hugging the small girl to her side. Chisato gave Airi an uncertain smile. Airi’s smile had completely vanished when Fujimoto stepped up to her friend. Well, the girl no longer went to this school. Surely she wouldn’t be here long.
Fujimoto looked over to her. “Your friend is quite something,” she said, giving Chisato a pat on the arm. “Are you sure you don’t want to audition too? I see quite a bit of potential in you as well, even if you aren’t quite as… adventurous… as your friend. Chisato, right?” she asked, looking back at the new Skull. Chisato nodded, a bit hesitantly. “Yo Rei-chan,” she called over to the captain. “What should we call her now?”
“Hmm…” Tanaka said, stepping toward the three of them as well.
“How about Okacchan?” Kusumi said, coming up to join Tanaka. “That sounds pretty cool.”
“Okacchan…” Tanaka said, bringing her hand to her chin as if pondering it. “Yeah, that could work.” Chisato just beamed around at all of them, even Fujimoto this time.
Also despite Fujimoto, Airi found herself smiling at her friend’s happiness. It truly did seem this was what she wanted, and she was glad she could be a part of it. She looked over at Natsuyaki – Miyabi, she decided she’d call her from now on; the girl had told her to do it in fact, but she hadn’t been comfortable enough with it until now – who was still standing back from the rest. Despite all of their attention on Chisato, she was just gazing at Airi, who saw a smile come to her face when she noticed Airi looking at her. This of course caused Airi to blush again, but the hot rush that suddenly jolted through her body wasn’t caused by the blush this time.
Amid the trees behind Miyabi, she saw twin glowing points that led a dark form as it bounded out of its hiding place. She tried to cry out in warning, but the shadow was too fast, and Miyabi went down in a tangle of fangs and guttural growls.
She finally found her voice at seeing the girl being viciously mauled, and screamed the loudest she thought she ever had. She heard muffled swearing from behind her, and footsteps hurrying in the direction of the attack.
Apparently hearing their approach, the beast swiped its maw up to look with its beady glowing eyes at the other girls – ‘beast’ was the only word Airi could think of to describe it; it looked like a large dog, but with teeth that looked like they could shred a cow and sticky hair that was falling out in patches – and once again quicker than they could react, jumped over at them.
This time Airi wasn’t the only one screaming, but Fujimoto and Tanaka did their best to fight with the thing. They did the best they could at least while trying to avoid being sliced by either its teeth or its abnormally long claws. Airi felt herself bowled over to the side at another of its leaps and tried to crawl away, but within seconds its growls faded away, and she looked up to see it hurdling down the path, sticking its snout up into the air to give a shrill howl, before it disappeared into the darkness, the howls the only remaining trace of its existence.
Almost feeling afraid to, Airi looked back at the other girls. Tanaka was holding her arm, which was bleeding around her fingers, and Fujimoto was limping along, apparently trying to run after the animal. “You’d better run, you damned bastard!” she shouted after it. “Nothing does this to my girls!!!”
Kusumi just sat crying and rocking with her knees pulled tightly into her chest, but Chisato ran up to Airi to make sure she was all right. Sweat and dirt-streaked as she still was, she now seemed in the best shape of them all. “Are you okay?” she asked quickly.
“Yeah…” Airi began, trying to reorient herself. “Yes. I just got the wind knocked out of me.” Her eyes still felt pried wide open at the horrible sight. The horrible… “Miyabi!!!” she yelled, and turned to look at what looked like a pile of clothes lying motionless toward the trees.
Chisato held her back, looking warily at the first victim. “I… I don’t think you should go over there, Osuzu…” Airi started crying again.
The others had now caught onto their surroundings, and although Fujimoto still limped along the path, Tanaka walked slowly over to where Miyabi lay. Kneeling down, her face drawn in horror, Airi saw her begin crying herself. “No…
no!” she cried. “Miyakko… I can’t believe this…
Miyakko…!” As she leaned fully over the fallen girl, gripping her clothes tightly as she wept into them, Airi finally tore herself away from her friend. She only made it about halfway though before falling to the ground in her own shock and anguish.