Chapter Text
it was the start of a new day the time hit seven o’clock all kinds of people rose alike from their short-lived slumpers students headed out to their schools and workers to their respective jobs
with the intent of starting a
new productive day
but that didn't apply on certain people who decide to be…. like this
mido torao- a famous celebrity
known for his sexy persona and ability to sweep all women off their feet including ur mom.
he’s far from being a hard-worker nor does he respect time and appointments but he never failed to manage doing the work required almost perfectly so.
that same mido torao was still lying in his bed till 12 o’clock sleeping like he never seen sleep for days and doing absolutely nothing productive!
despite his graceful image outside and how collected he seems and such
torao's apartment was in
a …….terrible state
all different kinds of trash were scattered all over the place there wasn't a single thing organized
torao woke up to finding 21 missed calls from touma
“what's with that guy we did not have any work scheduled today, did we?”
he thought to himself
while dialing touma's number part of him was starting to feel a little bit worried he might have missed their work
touma picked up finally after three times of calling him
torao spoke immediately in his defense
“why did you take so long to-!!!!-”
“look, i didn't know we had work and-”
both spoke at the same time torao didn't get to hear touma clearly
he paused and decided to listen to what touma had to say instead
“I don't give a fuck about work!!!-- wait what we don't even have work today.
ugh just meet up with me as soon as possible
i need to tell you something important”
,touma said
his voice was like he’s in some kind of a hurry, mixed with a hint of worrisome
torao thought something felt off at first but he instantly brushed off the idea of anything big happening he believed touma was just exaggerating of whatever he wanted to tell him
“can't you just tell me through the phone”
“ok mina and haru have been missing for a while now and their whereabouts are unknown”
“....”
“you're joking right, is this the important thing you wanted to tell me”
“im not and yes it is
we had plans to meet around 9 however neither of them arrived-”
“wait you were planning to go out without me why didn't you invite me too”
“that's not the point here!!”
touma didn't believe this is what torao had to cut him off for
he continued
“besides we were probably gonna invite you either way
anyways
i know something weird is going on and i can't leave them just like this they might have been dragged in some kind of trouble but there's a limit to what i can do alone that's why we’ll search for them together im sure we can find them”
torao had a hard time grasping what he just heard but he knew touma was like he thought exaggerating
he needed to put some sense into him and make him realize how totally-not-grave-the situation is
“we’re talking about minami and haruka here it's highly probable they forgot or are going off on their own somewhere and if they were really missing like you’re saying you could wait for more 21 hours and ask the police to look for them”
“first of all haru was looking forward to it neither of them seemed not interested so much that they’d forget about it and at the same time? both of them? plus they usually have their phones on them everywhere
when i tried calling them they didn't have connections too.
i’ve been looking for them for 3 hours now i checked everywhere they might be or had relations with yet still couldn't find anything
there weren't any traces left of either of them since then-
scratch that!! we can't wait this long damnit!! you and i are gonna look for them now you hear me”
“......” torao was silent for a bit
“come on don't be like that don't you wanna be the hero who comes to their rescue when they need most”
torao felt something twitch inside him he didn't know whether touma said this on purpose or not but he finally felt like giving up
he signed
“don't give me that cartoonish stuff, i’ ll meet you in 5 minutes”
“understood don't forget that you need to hurry any minute matters”
touma replied he was relieved torao didn't turn him down like he’d usually would have…
.
.
.
touma looked at the time he then heard torao calling his name
he looked up from his phone torao looked like a mess he didn't care about dressing properly or looking decently and it showed touma thought that even when he's not trying to torao looked really beautiful but that wasn't the time for that
“you're fast it's only been four minutes and what’s with that horrible bed-hair at least fix yourself properly”
he laughed
touma found it amusing in a way how a mess torao was in he never saw him before like that
“what the heck you're the one who told me to hurry and since minami and haruka could be in danger it's expected i’d try to arrive as fast as i could”
the brunette said before trying to catch his breath
touma noticed how torao was panting which meant he came here running even though he’s trying to not let it show
touma sensed a warm feeling in his chest he was glad even torao came to care about the other members this much he knew he was never wrong to believe their bonds are slowly deepening
torao cut touma's thoughts and asked
“so what do we do now”
“i have a place in mind
not really in mind but when i was trying to reach mina through rabbitchat he didn't say a single word but only sent a map of a certain location. i found it suspicious since it was spotted in an abandoned area
I thought it may be a bug at first but something was definitely off and if they really happened to be there unharmed then that would be great but if it were a trap to take me out then i couldn't just go alone”
“so you're saying it's better if i get taken out with you too?”
torao questioned touma's mind sometimes no a lot of times at that
“well absolutely no duh its because if we're together we have more man-power on our side
put those muscles of yours to some use for one damned time
and if something were to happen to one of us at least the other would seek help from the police or some shit!”
“ok so where's the location exactly”
“it's a warehouse in the middle of a forest named ‘Boseki’ it's not far off from here we should hurry”
“wait wait isn't that too dangerous and creepy let's call the police and have them investigate-”
“hahao being absolute cowards now are we~”
“fuck it we’re going”
after nearly half an hour the two of them reached their destination they were lucky it didn't take much time to reach that warehouse but going on feet was the worst idea possible and they realized that the hard way
the warehouse of fuckin course looked creepy no one has stepped foot in there for probably decades it was dark and ruined as if it could crumble without much effort any minute on them
one thing caught torao’s eye was the windows
in spite of how dilapidated the warehouse looked the windows were in a too good of a shape
it ticked him off but he decided to throw this at the back of his head
“don't space out and let's go in”
torao didn't reply to touma and just went after him he knew this was bad news and had a feeling he’d regret going but minami and haruka’s safety comes first for now
he was growing a little bit anxious about this whole thing
they went in
the atmosphere was calm too calm
it was dark although there weren't much sun to begin with due to the clouds covering it up outside but even then there was still some light but that dim light did not reach this place it was as if it was covered by a big barrier that prevented the light from getting through
torao turned on the torch he had brought
he found that the warehouse was much spacious than it seemed from the outside it consisted of two floors
the ground had what seemed like blood it looked like there was someone butchered here
there were countless, big and small photos framed on the walls in weird shapes and places
it was like whoever owned this place dedicated their life to framing photos and paintings
torao found it weird and pointed his torch at one of the paintings
it was of a woman who looked like she was staring intensely at him she was glaring at him she didn't move or anything but the painting was too realistic and it felt like it was dead only its eyes were alive
the look the women gave torao took his attention so bad he didn't look at the whole thing
he regretted doing so at once
a headless women was standing and held in her hand her ripped off head
torao felt a chill run down his spine
he was never a person for horror stuff
no he despised them he wanted to hurry up and find wherever the fuck minami and haruka are and leave this place as fast as possible
he turned around to tell touma anything in an attempt to distract himself
but touma was nowhere
torao wanted to die
he noticed that he didn't hear him speak a word since the moment they stepped into this damned place why didn't he find this odd and even then he walked on his own without checking on touma
torao realized they were separated and he couldn't blame anyone but himself oh and the fact this was starting more and more to resemble a typical horror movie now the next thing that's supposed to happen is he will probably die or something
torao decided it was best to look through every room for his three missing partners because apparently this place liked to eat his teammates and be done with it
he opened the first room to his surprise it was normal there was a bed and a mirror
he knew he might find something in this mirror he’d hate and so decided to not stay any further.
and he was right because the entire time torao was looking throughout the room his reflection on the mirror remained the same even when he moved and left the room his reflection didn't change
he closed the door
it was now time for the second room deep down torao had hoped it’d be like the first one but it didn't
this time the room had one of those in-great shape windows torao’s doubts were confirmed the windows were locked firmly opening them was an impossible task
the room had some sort of a dining table
chairs were circulated around it there was something big laid on the table torao couldn't see it well but he knew it was anything but food
out of nowhere a chair was suddenly moved backwards so fast it looked like someone sat on it but there was no one
this caused torao to gasp in horror
he wondered
“it definitely wasn't the wind if there isn't a single thing that let it in then what in the living hell was this just now”
torao wished he would meet with anyone at this point this warehouse is certainly haunted and he started getting scared for real
before moving on to the third room torao felt a presence behind him he didn't want to turn around to see
yes mido torao was too afraid to look behind he was afraid of whatever thing he will be met he hated every single sec of his time in this place
but it was unbearable the presence kept getting nearer and nearer
when he finally looked with his torch to see what that presence he felt creeping near him belonged to
he was met with a face looking directly at him with wide eyes
barely no distance between them
he couldn't make out their features but their glare and the way the light of the torch reflected on their face made it look horrific
torao went numb for a sec trying to comprehend what he just saw
“give me a fuckin break!” torao lost his composure and threw the torch in his hand at the face
he then heard
someone itching in pain from the impact
however it was an incredibly familiar voice
“ouch that hurt so much mido-san you sure are an aggressive man can't you take a joke or were you possibly scared already”
“Minami?!”
torao never felt this glad to hear minami like he did now
he felt a lot of worries he didn't know he had been feeling wash over him
he was relieved to see minami not only because part of him had started to believe something had happened to him and seeing him safe unharmed put him at ease but also because he would no longer have to deal with this place on his own
amidst his thoughts torao realized he just threw a torch at minami the glass in the torch was shattered and it was probably broken now
he knows he used great force when he threw it out of reflex but how would he know it was him
he noticed the impact caused minami to step back and crouch down
he hurriedly went to his side
“oi minami are you ok, I'm sorry i didn't mean to hit you, are you hurt, are you bleeding anywhere did anything happen to your sight it was my fault for not looking closely i’ll get you a doctor as soon as we get out can you walk on your own where have you been since this morning touma had been worried sick about you you know speaking of which where's haru-”
minami raised his index finger and put it onto torao’s lips to shut him up
“not all at once
what's wrong, it's not like you to say this much and in such a tone
im not hurt anywhere so don't pay it any mind besides your startled face was priceless I regret nothing thank you”
“You..
you're right though I lost my composure there.
so where's haruka and where have you been”
“let's discuss this while we search for them”
minami stood up and reached his hand out to torao so he could get up too
torao left minami's hand in the air for a while he found it weird because he was the one who just hit him so why’s he helping him now when he can get on his feet on his own just fine
but he didn't hate it
he grabbed minami's hand he squeezed it for a sec then got up and let go
minami was surprised then laughed at the gesture
then held his own torch which had been there all along and lightened the path for them
they were still planning on exploring all the rooms and the second floor
minami proceeded to answer torao’s questions
“you were separated from inumaru-san, right? so was i with isumi-san moments ago
like i told you me and isumi-san just arrived here not long ago and im turning this question right back at you”
minami started to sound pissed
“you tell me where have you and inumaru-san been since 9pm you only sent me a map of this place’s location when I kept asking you through rabbit chat then i decided to meet up with isumi-san and search for you two here and he-”
torao didn't believe what minami was saying why was he describing exactly what happened with him and touma it just made no sense
he didn't let minami finish and yelled
“stop joking around! the ones missing since morning were you and haruka there's no way you were looking for us when we ourselves were looking for you and i didn't receive a single message from you neither did I send you a damned thing related to this place”
“there's no use getting angry and i have no reason to be joking with you now
im telling you
you and inumaru-san were missing and involved us in this horror movie situation if you wanted to blame someone blame yourselves”
“ahh even though i sacrificed my precious time and went out to search for you now this is the treatment I get.
hurts just a little bit”
minami wore a saddened expression on his face
torao didn't buy anything he said
“as if i refuse to accept this nonsense”
“goddammit i could have been enjoying my time in my apartment now why’s this happening to me”
torao wondered out loudly then started walking
minami followed behind him
“true, why did you come it's not like you to go that far for us especially when you seem like you are not good in the slightest with dark and horror stuf-”
torao stopped and turned to face minami
“look! it's not because I was worried about you or anything don't get any weird ideas i just had nothing to do is all
and there's nothing on this planet that could make me tremble in fear”
he lift his index finger and with a threatening aura started repeatedly poking minami's nose
“i. fear. nothing.”
minami was shocked at the unexpected move at first then started giggling
“you sure are cute, mido-san”
a smile appeared on his face
“no need to try hard to be brave it's ok i’ll protect you from the ghosts fufu”
“I said im not afraid!”
“yes yes you are”
torao had already walked away from him a little, minami ran to catch up to him
weirdly enough he believed they had been walking for a while yet there were no more rooms in sight
staring at torao’s wide back he thought he’ll get to witness a different side to him today the thought of him being scared or not acting confident and cool like he always have had
he knew he was in for a treat
cutting his thoughts
“so are we really going to check every room till we find touma and haruka or what”
“do you have a better solution, we can't just abandon them you know”
“well, true”
“let's hurry up im getting tired of this place”
“wait mido-san, isn't it really weird how some of us got lost when the warehouse is not that huge in the first place”
“now that you say it but we can't really just call out to them”
“why not they might hear us and lead us to their whereabouts”
“no something would go wrong i have a feeling it's better if we don't”
“this is pretty unreasonable of you what possible harm could be brought upon us by simply shouting out their names”
“ughh ok i’ll do it but if something happened minami i swear to god”
“don't worry i’ll protect you if a ghost were to show up”
“don't bullshit me with this bullshit again”
torao screamed on top of his lungs
“Touma, Haruka Wherever You Are Come Here We're On THE First Floor!!!!!!!-”
before torao could finish his sentence he heard the thud of a closing door had not a second passed till all the doors in the hallway started opening and closing rapidly it was like someone who lost their mind was repeatedly banging their head against the wall
torao regretted listening to minami sfm
the scene of doors going mad was something dreadful to say the least
the sound was so loud and strong and so was the impact the two thought this might definitely cause the roof to crumble on their heads and they’d be buried alive
minami shouted so torao could hear him over the noise of the doors
“apparently this was a bad idea”
“and who came up with it?!? i was a fool for listening to you i knew this’d happen i knew!!”
“hold on, how'd you know? i was just using common sense”
“it's the way it is in horror movies!!”
“come again!!?”
“anyway it's not the time to chit chat if we’re not getting out of this place let's head to the second floor my ears are hurting and we don't know what will happen if we stayed any longer!!!”
minami nodded and they both ran while covering their ears upstairs till they reached the second floor
the sight before them was expectedly unexpected
it was in an even more ran-down state than the first floor
there was a strong scent of rotten dead beings
the smell was stinky and unbearable
torao and minami covered their noses at first but soon after gave up and just decided to live with the pain
torao was the first one to break the silence
“thanks god the noise stopped”
“yea the look of horror on your face was so good too”
“how did this not scare you though are you enjoying it”
“ah there's no way i am in fact i'm scared myself”
“sounds unbelievable but fine”
minami noticed torao was the one slowly walking behind him this time
“what’re you doing don't tell me you are making me face whatever-thing might come our way first”
“like hell i am! it's just you’re the one holding the torch right it's better if you were at the front”
“my my, someone sure is scared you feel safer behind my back huh that's adorable.
fine by me”
“i won't argue with you on this but you're wrong and you need to stop”
“so like we haven't made any progress and have been merely standing or talking for a while-”
“hey minami nevermind there's something stuck in the roof”
minami directed the light at the roof
“oh that's a women's head whoever owned this place was probably a killer and had bad taste at that”
“this isn't right this looks familiar so familiar”
torao was looking at the head in disbelief
“don't tell me you knew the owner of this head how can you even tell when half of the face’s skin is peeled off”
“it looks just like the head the headless women was holding in the painting downstairs but this time her eyes are….. nowhere?”
“that's interesting now let's open the first room”
minami opened its door but he knew torao was still staring at the head even though he was no longer directing the light on it
he didn't know what was the deal with torao and the head but he knew something was odd about this and the way torao looked both horrified and mesmerized by it was weirding him out he realized it's best to prevent torao from staring any further
“mido-san”
minami called out to him but received no reply
“mido-san”
still no reply
it was like he was paralyzed knowing it's better if he didn't raise his voice minami walked up to torao till he was standing in front of him exactly he called out to him but nothing changed
minami didn't want to resort to doing that because it’d be a real shame but he was left with no other choice
minami raised his hand and with as much force as he could muster he slapped torao
“what the fuck was that for! that hurt like hell!! heck how are you even this strong you don't look the part at all”
“you were staring grossly at that head in the ceiling and refused to move an inch for a long time what else could i do to bring you to your senses besides it was painful for me too to do this to your beautiful face”
“eh for real? good job then”
“you're welcome can we stop wasting more time than we’ve already wasted and look seriously for isumi-san and inumaru-san”
“ah you right how long has passed since we lost them i bet it has been a long time”
“yes so let's enter the room and search for any traces of either of them and leave this awful place”
“hey minami hear this how about i leave this place and go look for help when you try to find touma and haruka
don't worry i know i can depend on you so goodbye for now i’ll definitely come back for you”
minami grabbed torao from the elbow
“you're not going anywhere”, he said while smiling
torao felt threatened and just gave in
minami went back to the room with torao following behind him
he suddenly stopped in front of door
torao bumped into his back accidentally he noticed minami didn't step in and raised his hand to prevent torao from entering too
“hey what's wro-”
torao didn't finish and averted his eyes to look inside the room
there was a women standing calmly brushing her hair she wasn't facing them but looking at a mirror
however her figure wasn't reflected on the mirror it was as if no one was there
both of them didn't move and kept watching her
when the women finished she put down her brush still only her back was facing them
she didn't move
there was silence
her head took a 180° turn suddenly and she was staring right at them
“aaaaaaaah!!”
“Oh”
“asdbjonbmxs!!!!!”
torao key smashed irl while minami let out a big oh and closed the door with a thud
they heard someone else scream too
thus startled them even harder it wasn't the women because she didn't have a mouth to begin with and the voice sounded familiar
before torao or minami questioned anything they heard running footsteps
“what's coming after us now give me a break”
torao grew tired of everything
the footsteps gotten nearer
“just be prepared for whatever shows up-”
torao felt someone bump into his chest they immediately hugged him
“getmeoutofhereidon'twanttostayhereanylonger!!!!!”
they said everything in one breath and it sounded like they were crying
torao and minami looked at whoever was the owner of the voice
“haruka!!”
“isumi-san!!”
“eh”
haruka looked up from torao’s chest and found out that it was really torao then looked at the person beside him and saw minami
he couldn't believe how lame he was just now
but he didn't find it in him to care that much all that mattered is he’ll be safe now
he was happy he crossed paths with them finally
“you are crying like a baby now, haruka lol where did your all badass and cool as ice self go now ha ha ha”
“i don't want to hear that from you mido-san you aren't better off him yourself”
haruka wished he didn't meet torao
“so how long are you going to hug me”
he realized he was still holding onto torao
“shut up! I wasn't hugging you”
haruka felt his face heat up and moved away at once
he planned to think of ways to erase torao's memory later or he will live through a hell of teasing for this move
turning his attention to minami
“minami you bastard why did you disappear suddenly for no reason and leave me all alone to face everything on my own what if i got lost and never returned what if i were to die! you promised to stay by my side!”
“now now isumi-san I didn't have a say in the matter and you’re here doing fine and we met so everything ends well, right?”
“oh ah you're right…. what nO don't just resolve it this quickly!!”
“ahaha I didn't though”
seeing them being… like this brought a
genuine smile to torao's face
“and you torao where have you been and touma what were you thinking staying in a place like this and having us look for you
you're the adults right act like one!”
“is it my turn now”
“don't phrase it like I am scolding you!!”
“isn't that what you are doing”
“so where's touma, i don't see him anywhere”
minami interrupted before torao spoke
“uh inumaru-san he…….. unfortunately…………..”
torao picked up on what minami was going with and decided to remain silent
“he what now”
“he left us”
“huh you mean as in left us specifically as zool or moved out of Japan”
“he left the living”
“....”
“.... you mean touma died?”
minami wore a sorrowful expression and looked down
“you must be joking and for your information this is such a tasteless joke i can't even laugh”
“I'm not” minami told him in a serious tone haruka never heard before
“and i don't believe you.
hey torao say something there's no way minami is spouting the truth right where’s touma!”
torao didn't answer him his bangs covering his eyes
haruka couldn't make out his expression
“don't fuckin mess with me where’s touma dammit i know he didn't die”
“......”
“ don't give me the silent treatment!!”
haruka went to torao grabbing him by the collar
“say something!!!!!”
“something”
“you!!!!”
haruka let go of torao his anger was stirring up
“ugh fine! just wait till we get out of this place and I’ll confirm it myself whether touma is dead or you two are bullshitting”
“suit yourself”
“so what are we waiting for let's hurry up and leave this place”
the three didn't stay any longer nor checked the rooms and went downstairs
but something felt wrong
they were still on the second floor
“what the hell didn't we just leave this and went to the first floor”
“hm this sure is weird”
“whatever let's go down again”
the three made sure to go downstairs this time and found themselves on the second floor yet again
“fuck my life we’re inside a maze now!?
“isumi-san I want only you to go downstairs, there's something I need to confirm”
“Like hell i'm going alone what if I get lost or encountered some ghosts”
“you won't now please do it”
minami started getting tired of this
“no I won't unless one of you goes with me”
the white-haired let out a long sigh and glanced at torao asking him to go with haruka
“understood even though it's a pain minami, im counting on you”
“hey hey w-wait a minu-”
torao grabbed haruka's hand dragging him
both were engulfed in the darkness
leaving only one figure standing still in the hallway
“....”
torao and haruka didn't return
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