Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction ❯ Halloween: Night of A Thousand Frights ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Touya Akira gave a polite bow to the kind old lady he had spent the evening teaching the rudiments of Go, before stepping out of the gates and into the streets. It was getting rather late and the clouds had already begun to gather in the sky. He could smell the rain in the air and thankful for thinking ahead, he brought out his umbrella and began to walk towards the train station.

As he passed the rather busy stores, he idly noticed that many people were dressed in quite scary costumes. They were dressed as vampires, some as monsters and some as witches or popular Super Heroes. He was just about to cross the sidewalk, when a man dressed up like Frankenstein roughly bumped him.

"Hey, hey! Here's a free mask for you!" he cried out, thrusting the large and ugly-looking thing in the surprised boy's hand. "Happy Halloween!"

"Uh…eh…Happy…"

"Ah, Touya-kun, is that really you?"

He spun around quickly as he noticed that the new voice belonged to none other than Shindo's girl friend. He stared at her for a moment, trying to remember her name before it came to him just as quickly. "Ah! Fujisaki-san! What a pleasant surprise."

She giggled and gave a small bow. She was dressed up in a cute blue maid's uniform, and had stuck bunny ears on top of her head. She looked quite pretty, if Touya said so himself.

"So where are you coming from and going to, Touya-kun?"

The dark-haired boy flushed a little. "I was just coming back from teaching…someone and I am on my way home right now."

"Eh? Aren't you coming to the ghost hunt tonight? It's Halloween, after all."

"Ghost…hunt?"

"Hai, hai!" she grinned and held up the white paper bag in her left hand. "I'm taking this to Hikaru and the others…"

"Shindo's there?!" came the vehement cry that had a few people looking their way.

The girl cringed backwards at the intense look that had suddenly appeared in the boy's eyes. The swift change in Touya's expression was quite…surprising. "Eh…heh…yes…" She stopped in confusion as she noticed that Akira now had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Anoo…is everything alright, Touya-kun?"

"Is this…this a party?" he asked quietly, suddenly doubting whether it was a good idea or not to face his rival at this time.

She nodded quickly. "Yes, but there's always room for one more! So you can come with me, ne?" She placed an arm around his, failing to notice the shocked look on his features. "We can go and surprise Shindo and the others!"

And as she began to lead him towards the outskirts of the city, Akira vaguely wondered if going at all was a good idea.

__

The group huddled in front of the gates, waiting for their host to arrive. Honda, Nase, Fuku, Waya, Isumi and even Ochi (much to his chagrin) had all shown up at nine as they had planned. The street leading to the shop was relatively empty and the few houses around had little to no lights shining within them. The shop itself was a two-story building that had an old-style Japanese design. Compared to the modern houses around it, it looked a bit out of place and quite…formidable. Two large statues of lions flanked the doors to the store and in the gloom, they looked like two evil watchdogs.

"Scary…" Honda muttered as Ochi gave a breathless squeak of fright. "Is it just me or are their eyes kinda…red?"

"Stop saying that, Honda!" Nase whispered harshly as she smacked him on the arm. "They are just statues, that's all."

Waya shone his flashlight over said statues and shrugged lightly. "They don't look so bad to me, but the question is…where the hell is Shindo? He said we were to meet him here by nine and it's already nine-fifteen!"

"Maybe he chickened out," Isumi reasoned with a small smile.

"No, I don't think Shindo chickened out," Fuku replied thoughtfully. "Maybe he just lost track of time…"

Honda snickered. "Or maybe the ghosts got him and used him for sacrifices!"

"Shut up, Honda!" Nase complained as she began to hit him on the head playfully. "Or you'll end up being the sacrifice."

Their laughter slowly eased the tension that they had felt upon arriving, as all that was left to do now, was wait.

__

The laughter had Shindo jumping down from the loft he had lying in and towards the window. He had deliberately kept the lights off in the store and it had taken a lot of bumps and spills before he was able to walk around in the dark. He could see that everyone except Akari was here. Nodding softly to himself, he climbed back up the ladder, only to cry out in surprise as Sai's face appeared suddenly before him.

"Damn it, Sai! Don't do that!" Shindo gasped weakly as he placed a hand to his chest. He hated to admit that this place was creepy with or without his added decorations. He had spent the day and the night before placing terrifying but cheap masks, and fake blood at various strategic positions. He had kept telling himself that it was only for fun. Besides, haunted houses in the city did this all the time for entertainment.

The ghost looked apologetic, but there was a feverish almost desperate look in his eyes. "Hikaru…I really don't think I should be doing this, you know."

"I told you it's going to be fine," the blond reassured him with a grin. "They are going to have the best time of their lives, you'll see." The clock chimed for the ten o'clock hour and nodding to himself, he began to make his way down again. "Remember, the only time you come out is when you hear me say `Haunted Ghosts' okay?" And giving the spirit a thumbs up sign, he went out to meet his guests.

__

"About time you showed up," Waya grumbled as he led the motley crew into the darkened shop. Shoes had been taken off in the front porch and as they stepped through the shoji screen, they found themselves within a rather large space that Shindo had so carefully prepared. He had pushed most of the shelves to the side giving them ample room to move about. However, it still did not do much to ease the rather disturbing shadows most of the objects created. Hikaru's grandfather seemed to specialize in Japanese statues and pottery. Hence, many of these, which were carved after images of the demon gods, seemed to stand out in the piercing darkness.

The sound of something falling to the floor had everyone jumping in fear, and Fuku flushed in embarrassment as he picked up the wooden box of figurines he had bumped into.

"Sorry, guys. I guess I didn't see that."

An awkward silence fell before Hikaru shook his head quickly. "Come on, don't just stand around doing nothing. Everyone sit down in a circle and let's tell ghost stories to kill time."

They did so obediently, all crossing their legs Indian fashion. Hikaru was in the center…somewhat. Waya was on his right, followed by Isumi, Nase, Honda, Fuku and Ochi. It was a rather tight circle, but no one complained as they held their flashlights tightly. No one said anything for a while, as they listened to the dull hollow of the large grandfather clock in the corner. Finally, Waya cleared his throat and asked quickly. "But when do we go ghost hunting?"

"At midnight," Shindo answered promptly. "That way we can catch whoever is stealing my grandpa's things."

"What kinds of things were being stolen?" Ochi asked in bemusement. "Everything looks fine to me."

Nase shook her head as she wrapped her hands around her legs. "Hmm…you said the ghost was only stealing Go-related things, right? I remember my father telling me a story about the ghost of the disgruntled Go player."

Isumi laughed softly. "That sounds like the kind of story a father would tell a child to shut him or her up for the night."

Nase looked annoyed. "It's the truth! And he isn't the only one that believes in it. Mr. Hanada who lives in my block told me the same story too."

"So, tell it," Hikaru urged.

"Yeah, tell us, Nase!" came the cries from the other boys as they all stared at her expectantly.

The girl blushed a little at the intense scrutiny she was receiving, but she gave a light shrug and nodded. "Okay, I'm not really sure of what happened, but a long, long time ago back in the days of Honinbo Shusaku, there was a man who simply went by the name of…"

"Shssh…do you hear something?" Fuku whispered harshly.

They all fell silent as they strained their ears to listen. Shindo tightened his hands into fists, wondering if Sai had already begun to get restless. Perhaps he shouldn't have left the spirit alone, but then again…

"I think it's coming from outside," Honda muttered as he began to crawl on his hands and knees towards the shoji screen.

"Don't Honda!" Nase whispered quickly, as she tugged his shirt roughly. "Look! Shadows!"

"Oh no…" Fuku reached for the nearest person, who turned out to be Ochi. The bespectacled boy did not protest his actions as they both swallowed tightly, trying hard not to scream. Waya, had unconsciously reached for Isumi's shirt as Shindo felt his throat getting drier. Could these be the thieves? Had they finally come to steal his grandfather's things? Well, this was certainly too early for them.

"Okay, stand back guys," he said softly as he reached for a nearby baseball bat he had hidden. "I'll get them." He rose to his feet and began to make his way towards the door. The shadows became more prominent and Shindo could feel his hands slick with sweat as he noticed that one of them had horns - really long horns - sticking out on both sides of his head. The other one had a rather ugly looking face from the look of things.

Kami, this could be bad.

"Be careful, Shindo," Nase cautioned softly. "Please be careful."

The blond could only nod and almost jumped out his skin as he felt someone behind him. It was only Waya, who had come to his side. "Helping you out," he whispered and Hikaru could only give a weak smile of reassurance.

The thieves were talking and if Shindo didn't know any better, he would have sworn that they were actually laughing.

"Are you ready, Waya?" he asked quickly. And at the red head's nod of understanding, Hikaru counted slowly. "On three, we run to the door and clobber them. Got it?"

"Got it."

"One…"

They moved a bit closer.

"Two…"

Closer still.

"Three! Aaaaaarghhh!!"

"Aaaaaaaaargghh!!"

"What the hell?!"

Several flashlights were now focused on the rather ludicrous scene before their eyes. Waya had tackled the `demon' to the ground and was currently straddling its back, while tugging at its `horns'. Shindo had accidentally bumped into the other's face and had somehow torn it off. He shrieked at the hideous green mask in his hand, while the `demon' was beginning to cry out with anger.

"Get off me, Yoshikita-san! It's me, Akari!"

Akari?? And then who was…

"It's Touya!" Ochi announced loudly as he noticed the slumped figure beside the door. "You knocked out Touya, Shindo!"

The blond blinked in surprise, shock and growing confusion. "Touya?! What's he doing here?!"

"I invited him," Akari grumbled as she staggered to her feet. She began to straighten out her dress as she eyed the bemused group. "I met him on my way here and invited him. But he had to stop to make a phone call to his parents, which was what took me so long. Kami! What were you all thinking?"

"That you were the thieves," Isumi explained quickly as he made his way towards Akira. "Help me lift him up, Shindo."

The blond could only nod numbly as he reached for his rival's legs and with Isumi holding on to his arms, they managed to pull him towards their circle. They placed him gently back on the ground and all leaned in closer to take a good look at him.

"Did you hit him with the bat, Shindo?" Fuku asked with worry. "I don't see blood anywhere though."

"I didn't hit him!" came the frantic cry. "I just…"

The Meijin's son groaned and everyone seemed frozen as they watched him slowly open up his eyes.

Akira wasn't sure of what had happened to him. One moment he had been walking with Akari and at her insistence had worn the mask, the next minute it had felt as if a living tornado had barreled into him. He was sure he had managed to catch a flash of blond hair before being knocked out. Kami, he felt like hell right now. He opened up his eyes weakly and was suddenly faced with eight pairs of eyes all staring straight at him.

What the…?

"Touya?"

That voice. It could only belong to one person. He turned his head around sharply and suddenly wished he hadn't as a sharp pain seared through his head. "Shin…Shindo…it was…"

"I'm sorry, Touya. How was I to know that you would show up as that? Or even show up at all?" Hikaru said defensively, not really knowing why the presence of his rival should have him so flustered.

The dark-haired boy tried to sit up and was promptly helped by the Nase and Akari. "I'm fine, thank you," he said with a small smile.

"Whew…all this excitement has made me hungry," Fuku announced with a sheepish grin as his stomach growled. "Let's eat!"

"Now, that's the best thing I've heard all evening," Honda said with a wide grin. No one else seemed to want to argue with the decision and soon enough, Fuku had distributed the small bento boxes to each person. Akari shared the small bottles of soda she had brought with her and in mere minutes everyone seemed much more livelier than before.

Akira watched them with a small smile on his lips. He had never really been in such a close knit group before and sitting beside his vivacious rival - who was currently bickering over a stolen rice ball with his red-haired friend - had him feeling warm inside. It was an intimate setting and being in the company of his age mates was something he was bound to cherish for a long time.

"What time is it?" Waya asked as he glanced at his watch.

"Almost midnight," Ochi mumbled softly as he chewed slowly.

A tense silence fell as they all realized that the ghost hunting was to begin soon. The fun and games would be over and then the real danger would begin. Hikaru stole a quick glance at the loft. He wondered how Sai was doing.

"Should we split up?" Isumi asked softly. "There are nine of us…so…"

"So maybe someone should stay here and watch while the rest of us go up and search," Honda suggested. "Well, who wants to stay down here?"

No one said anything. "Alright, we'll all spilt into two groups, but one group is going to obviously have more than the other." Shindo reasoned. "Isumi…?"

"Waya, Fuku, Honda and Nase in my group," the older boy said. "You go with the rest. Is that okay?"

The blond nodded. "Sounds good to me." He eyed his watch. "We've got fifteen minutes to kill, why don't you finish telling us the story, Nase?"

The girl looked uncertain. "Are…are you sure you want me to continue?"

Akari reached for her hand to squeeze it gently. "Go on."

"Okay then, here goes…" she gave a warm smile to her rapt audience before beginning softly. "It's the tale of the disgruntled Go player who wanted to win so badly that for seven days and seven nights, he did nothing but play Go…"

And as Akira shifted a bit closer to Hikaru, hardly realizing he was doing so, neither one in the room noticed the dark shadow that loomed outside.

TBC…