|| A Bouquet of Red and White Roses || [Yu Yu Hakusho Fan-fic] {Edits}

Solving a Hidden Mystery

...Has the school always looked this scary at night ?

"Will you stop holding onto me ? How do you expect me to move if something happens ?" Behind us, Asai chuckled mischievously. "You know..", she mumbled, "I heard that if you leave yourself wide open you can get possessed~" I looked over my shoulder and glared at her. "Shut up !", I whined. Beside me, Shuichi sighed. Ahead of us, Azalin and Juuji. 

"Sara", Azalin called out, "Have you located Seiji or any of the others yet ?" Sara shook her head and continued to look around. She was walking in front of Azalin and Juuji with Ciel. "No sign yet", she replied, "But I'm sure that they should be around here..." "Could they be inside of the school already ?" "Hmm... I wonder..." I reluctantly let go of Shuichi's arm and turned to Botan, who was walking beside me. "Botan ?", I asked, "Do you feel anything ?" She shook her head. "Nothing yet", she replied sternly, "But I can tell you that there's a lot of movement going on in the school. The more we get closer, the more worried I'm getting." I shivered and stared at the shadowed school. "I see..", I mumbled. 

For some reason, the lights that were supposed to be on in the courtyards were off. Usually, if I remember correctly, they would always be on. But in this case, they weren't. Because of that, we had to walk around in dim lighting from the nearby streetlights that surrounded the school. We brought flashlights and other things with us, but Asai advised that it would only be best to use them when we were inside. It was.. strange.

Pssssssst......

I turned my head towards the noise. Botan tilted her head to the side. "Shiori-chan ?", she asked. "..What is it ? You look confused." I grimaced and slowly shook my head. I'm imagining things. "Oh nothing", I replied with a slight grin. "Don't worry about it.." She looked at me with concern. "Right..", she slowly replied as we followed after the others. I didn't say anything afterwords. Especially not when we met up with the others.

Kana narrowed her gaze. Be careful, I heard her say sternly. You're dealing with a jokester. You're bound to fall into their trap if you're not paying attention. There's two of them here. They're waiting for you to play with them. Be careful of their illusions. If not, then you'll disappear like the others. Especially you Shiori. They're interested in you.

"Is everyone ready ?" We were separated into groups of 4. Group 1 was Asai, Yuuki, and Kaori. Group 2 was Seiji, Sara, and Tsukiya. Group 3 was Azalin, Juuji, and Botan. Group 4 was Ciel, Shuichi, and I. We would eventually split into different sections of the school and go from there. I was worried, uneasy about something I didn't know about.

"Jeez", Ciel sighed as we walked along the halls of the East Wing, "To think that the school would be this creepy at night.. Why aren't the lights in the courtyards working ?" "They're probably down", Shuichi replied as he glanced around, "I assume that the main switch to turn them on is off." I grimaced. "Something feels off", I mumbled softly. "Is something.. following us by any chance ?" Ciel and Shuichi exchanged glances. "Not that I'm aware of ?", Ciel replied. "Why ? Do you feel something ?" "For a while to be honest", I said slowly, "I just haven't said anything." "Are you that scared ?", Shuichi asked. He was doubtful. "Naturally", I replied without a second thought. "Can't you tell that I'm shaking ?"

[giggling]

We all looked around. I sighed and shrugged. "See ?", I asked. "I'm shaking.." "Can you be any more sarcastic ?", Ciel asked with a frown. "There's a time and place for everything but now is not the time for you to be sarcastic." I grinned at her. "Prooobaaabbblllyyy..", I replied. "You're weird..", Shuichi muttered dryly. "Will you stop fooling around and focus ? You were shivering a few minutes ago but now it feels like you're playing a game." "That's because I am playing a game", I replied with a slight smile. "I'm playing with the ghosts." Ciel slapped me on my shoulder. "Shut up", she snapped, "Don't make this any more crazy than it already is." I stopped walking and tilted my head to the side. "Too late."

Ciel pointed her flashlight towards the end of the hall. They stopped walking as soon as they saw what I was talking about. There, standing not that far away from us, was a boy. Judging from the way he looked, he was probably in Jr. High. Too young to be in high school and too old to be in Elementary. He looked much older than Mizuki.

"You're funny Nee-san", he said with a mischievous smile. I didn't respond. Beside me, Shuichi turned around. "Do you really want to play a game with me ?" Ciel looked at him. "What is it Shuichi ?", she asked. He grimaced. "Although he's right in front of us..", he mumbled bitterly, "..There's more around here than we thought." The boy chuckled before beginning to walk off. "Ah !", I exclaimed, "Wait !" He slowly brought a finger up to his lips and winked at me before disappearing into the shadows. I ran ahead to follow after him but when I reached the end of the hall, there was nothing. "Shiori !", Ciel called out from behind me, "Where'd he go !?" I looked over my shoulder and shook my head. A frown appeared on Ciel's face as she turned to Shuichi. "What now ?", she asked him. "Should we keep looking ? Or should we look for the others ?" Shuichi pointed his flashlight towards the Library. "If we keep moving this way, then maybe we'll run into Botan and her group", he replied slowly. "What do you think ?"

Don't go there. Go there last, when everyone else is ready. You can't tell, but that place is shrouded in a black veil. Go to the Gym instead. That's where your friends are.

"No. Don't." I turned around and pointed my flashlight towards the Gym. "We should go to the Gym first. Let's check the Library out later. Something tells me that if we go there too early, there will be problems." From the corner of my eye, I could see the shadows around us moving. It was almost as if they were laughing. "If that's what you say..", Ciel mumbled. "Then let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time we reached the Gym, we found Azalin standing alone. For some reason, she was standing at the opened doors, staring into the pitch black gym. I found it a little suspicious so I slowed down and stood at a good distance away. Ciel and Shuichi did the same. Ciel pointed the flashlight towards Azalin. There was no reaction. "Azalin..?", she called out slowly. Azalin didn't move. Ciel and I exchanged uneasy glances. "She's transparent", Shuichi mumbled. "What do you mean ?", I asked. He slightly narrowed his gaze and frowned. "You can see right through her." "Then... could it be one of her shadows ?"

"Wrong."

We turned around to see three familiar faces. There was a look of dismay on Sara's face. "These ghosts sure know how to make illusions", she sighed, "But you can tell the differences."

"It's just as clear day."