Starlight Stories (ch6)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $10+ PATRONS!

For this one, I initially wanted to do something with two of the girls who interacted the least in canon (my thought was Maya and Mahiru) but then I just said 'screw it, I'll put all of them with people they don't interact much with' and now this chapter is 8,000 words long haha

I did something similar with the Haunted Trail fic, though this one was actually written first!

Day 6: All of the girls!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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													Chapter 6. Test Of Courage

It's a little over halfway through the school year at Seishou when Classes A and B have a joint meeting to discuss the department's funds and resources. This way, they can arrange and hold fund-raisers as necessary, either by putting on small performances or by going to the local shopping districts to advertise and collect.

Surprisingly, however, it's determined that their funds are actually a bit more generous than the students had anticipated, which has everyone relieved and excited, especially when the girls of Class B start discussing all the new props, equipment, and scenery sets they want to make for the future shows.

Both classes go through all the storage closets and backstage rooms together to mark and clear out old, un-needed supplies. But instead of throwing it away, Amemiya proposes an idea.

"Why don't we girls of Class B redecorate and reuse the old props and things," she suggests. "And set up a kind of… event, or something? Like a test of courage."

Immediately, cheers and squeals of approval sweep through all the other girls.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Nana claps. "Not only is it resourceful in re-using the old props, but it will also test your guys' skills in transforming the old set pieces into totally different things!"

"Plus," Junna adds on. "We could have a trial run-through with students, and if all goes well, we could ask the school if we could open it up to the public to raise some more funds for the costume department."

"Yeah!" Karen blurts, bouncing up and down. "And besides, it'd just be tons of fun!"

The rest of the girls offer similar praises and even a few ideas about which old pieces might be transformed into newer, scarier objects. All of the unanimous and immediate praise has Amemiya blushing for a second before she hastily begins taking notes on everyone's suggestions.

And so the plan is set in motion.

Over the next couple of weeks, Class B's students spend their free time after school and on weekends touching up the old set pieces, props, and costumes for a spooky-themed test of courage. Junna had suggested that they could even reuse these things in the fall for some sort of Halloween attraction as well, if need be. And holding a test of courage now in the warmer spring evenings would work well also.

Junna, Nana, and a few girls from Class B work together to get the idea of a student-run test of courage approved by the school, and when they're granted permission, it excites everyone even more.

Class B works diligently behind the scenes even more so than usual, and the girls of Class A go about their school days eager with anticipation for the announcement of a date.

It's eventually decided the run-through test will be held on an upcoming Saturday night. Word spreads quickly throughout the school, and anyone who would like to join in is welcome.

Naturally, a certain group of nine is first on the list to participate when the designated Saturday rolls around. They'd spent the day a number of different ways; some had practiced, some had cleaned house, and some had assisted Group B with their preparations.

Now, they all sit together in their lounge area, dressed casually and for the warm evening outside, waiting for the call to exit the dorms. Karen is bouncing up and down in her spot on the couch, making Hikari and Mahiru wobble with all the movement.

"Ooooh man, this is gonna be so much fun! I wonder what kind of things they've prepared! I'm sure it'll be really sho… sock… socking?"

"Shocking, Karen-chan," Mahiru assists. "And yes, I agree. Class B has been working so hard. It's sure to be a spooky evening!"

"It's a good thing we're doing it on a Saturday night," Futaba says. "I can already tell you there are a couple people here who are gonna need the day tomorrow to sleep in and recover from a night of shrieking."

"H-Hey!" Kaoruko whines. "Why did you look at me when you said that? I'm not a scaredy-cat!"

"I wonder," Claudine says from her spot leaning against the counter. "Will Tendo Maya get scared out of her wits tonight?"

Maya straightens up to the challenge.

"Of course not. But if you feel scared, please don't hesitate to squeeze my hand and cry out my name, Saijou-san."

"You've got some nerve…"

The friendly, excited chatter continues for another minute or so until Nana's phone rings. When she checks it, she grins and speaks up to announce to the rest of them.

"Okay, that was Amemiya-san. She says they're ready and we can head outside now!"

"All right!"

"Let's go!"

The nine of them leave the lounge area and exit the building together. They head for the forested section of campus where they know the test of courage will be taking place.

The woods on Seishou's campus aren't too expansive or thick, and there aren't any large or potentially-dangerous animals living there. But it would be easy to get a bit turned around if you were scared and running in a panic from getting spooked, so there are plenty of little lanterns and flashlights along the paths.

When the nine girls make it to the start of the woods, Amemiya is there to greet them dressed in black, along with a couple other girls.

"Good evening, my unsuspecting guests." Amemiya gives a slight bow. "I hope you're all ready to enjoy a frightening evening."

"Bring it on!" Futaba says, making a fist. "You guys ain't gonna scare me!"

"Or me," Kaoruko says importantly. "But even if you did, I'd have Futaba-han to protect me."

"Oh, didn't we tell you?" Amemiya smiles. "For this test of courage, you won't get to choose who you experience it with. You'll be drawing straws."

"Eeeeeh?!" Kaoruko's wail is louder than all the other little murmurs put together.

"That's a good idea," Junna says thoughtfully. "Having people go through the woods with people they're close to, but not necessarily the closest to, is a good way to unsettle them a little bit right from the start."

"Our thoughts exactly." One of the other girls hands Amemiya a box of straws. She picks out nine and holds them by the bottoms in her fist. "Since there are nine of you, we'll do pairs and there'll be one group of three. Unless someone would like to try going alone?"

Everyone glances around, but no one seems too enthusiastic about the idea. Amemiya laughs.

"Sorry, it was a joke. No one is allowed to go alone for safety reasons, anyway. So everyone pick a straw and match the symbol drawn on the bottom with someone else's to determine your groups." She walks through Class A's little crowd until everyone has drawn a straw. The girls all squint in the faint moonlight to decipher the symbols, which are just basic shapes like squares and circles.

They slowly break into quite the unusual groupings: Maya and Mahiru, Karen and Claudine, Junna and Futaba, and the group of three being Hikari, Kaoruko, and Nana.

Amemiya seems satisfied with the groups and collects the straws for the moment. One of the other girls hands out flashlights.

"For the sake of being spooky," she says. "Each pair will only get one flashlight! But don't worry, there are lanterns and marked trees along the paths to keep you from getting lost. We have three trails: white, blue, and yellow. After the first group heads in, we'll wait about 5 minutes before sending in the second group along another path. This way we can entertain multiple groups at once without making people wait too long. When you've made it through the whole forest, there will be a finish line and treats at the end."

"If you make it through," Amemiya corrects with a bit of a grin. A couple of the girls swallow.

Once everyone has been given their instructions, they have a moment to prepare themselves and get situated with their new partners.

"Mm…" Kaoruko hums. "I suppose this should be all right. After all, Banana-han is much taller than Futaba-han so I can easily hide behind her."

"Why you-" Futaba grumbles. "I bet you that Hoshimi and I can get through the whole thing without even batting an eyelash!"

"I'll accept that challenge," Junna agrees. "Ghosts and those things don't scare me."

"Are you suuuure, Junna-chan~?" Nana coos. "It might not just be ghosts out here in these woods…"

"I'll be fine."

As Kaoruko and Futaba continue bickering, Nana turns to her quieter partner, tapping her gently on the shoulder.

"Hikari-chan? Are you okay not being with Karen-chan or Mahiru-chan?"

Hikari blinks as if snapping out of a daze.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Just stay close to me!"

"Okay."

Next to them, Karen calls out encouragement.

"You can do it, Hikari-chan!" Then she whirls around to grab Claudine's hand. "Oh boy, Kuro-chan, this is gonna be so much fun!"

"Oui. Just be sure not to talk through the whole thing, all right, Karen?"

"Aww geez, I won't!"

"Mahiru?" Claudine calls to her. "Take care of Tendo Maya for me, would you? She's already white as a sheet."

"W-Will do." Mahiru smiles and turns to find Maya has indeed fallen into a quiet, unmoving state. She taps her arm softly. "Um, Tendo-san? Are you spacing out?"

"Eh?" Maya blinks and shakes her head. "Forgive me. I was lost in thought."

"Thinking about how she's somehow going to have to keep from screaming at the top of her lungs, no doubt," Claudine teases. Maya counters readily.

"The same goes for you, Saijou-san. Please don't damage your voice from screaming too much tonight. It would be an inconvenience if my dance partner was unable to sing on Monday."

"Cette femme…"

There's a clap from Amemiya to get everyone's attention.

"All right, we're ready to begin. The first group going tonight will be the circle group, so if you had circles on your straws please step forward."

"Oh!" Mahiru perks up. "That's us." She takes a step forward, but Maya doesn't budge, so she has to go back and take her by the arm to guide her forward. Amemiya ensures Mahiru has their flashlight, then nods in approval.

"Very well. Please follow the marked path as directed, and hopefully we'll see you on the other side… unharmed…"

Mahiru chuckles a bit at the joke, but she can feel Maya tense up and go rigid.

Their friends cheer them on and wish them luck now as the test of courage officially begins.

Mahiru starts leading the way, guided by the flashlight's glow, but again realizes Maya isn't following and has to retreat a few paces to collect her.

"Tendo-san, we're starting now."

"Eh? Oh… my apologies…"

"Please stay focused. I don't want you to get lost out here..."

Slowly, they begin their journey into the dark woods. Being it's spring, the air is warm and the trees are thick with foliage, which adds to the spooky effect since the leaves block out a lot of moonlight. Several of the tree trunks have been marked with white paint to advise the girls on the intended path.

Right from the start, Mahiru can see strange objects hanging from some of the trees, things she can't quite make out. She pauses, keeping a firm grip on Maya's sleeve to get her attention.

"T-Tendo-san?" she whispers. "Do you see that…?"

Maya barely responds. She whimpers slightly and opens her mouth, but no words come. Mahiru sucks in a breath and slowly shines the light around. Up in the trees are all kinds of unsettling things; bushels of tangled thread, broken toys, creepy little dolls…

"W-Wow…" Mahiru swallows. "They really went all-out with this, huh?"

She tries to prompt Maya to speak, just to keep herself as sane as possible. If she were with Karen and Hikari, Hikari would probably clam up similarly, but Karen would no doubt be talking Mahiru's ear off to keep her grounded.

But Maya being so painfully quiet is only adding to Mahiru's fright as they continue onward. She has to keep ahold of Maya's arm so as not to lose her.

Everything is eerily silent as they advance into the forest, only the sounds of their footsteps making any noise. Mahiru can't take the silence. She tries to talk more.

"Tendo-san? Are you… not good with scary things, perhaps?"

Maya stumbles a little, and Mahiru quickly leans sideways to catch her. She can feel her quivering.

"I…" Maya's eyes flash around like a hunted animal's. "I must admit, I'm… not the best with them…"

"I see." Mahiru notes the next white mark on the tree and guides her to the left. "You never did look up much when we had our scary movie nights."

Maya says nothing for a moment as they continue to hobble through the woods together. She's has starting clinging to Mahiru's sleeve in return now, sticking close.

"Are you… not afraid, Tsuyuzaki-san?"

"Mm… I wouldn't say I'm not afraid. But I feel like I'm so used to taking care of my siblings and Karen-chan and Hikari-chan that I'm definitely not as scared as some people might be. I'm more scared for the people I care about than I'm scared for myself."

To her surprise, Maya manages to flash her a little smile.

"That's very like you, Tsuyuzaki-san. You're definitely one of the most courageous of our bunch."

"Y-You think so?" Mahiru almost smiles back until a sudden sound has them both freezing in their tracks.

Mahiru quickly flashes the light in the direction of the sound. It's a low, deep scratching noise, like claws on bark. And it's in the direction of their next marked tree.

Maya is paler than the moon as she looks to Mahiru in sheer terror, as if her soul is slowly leaving her body. Mahiru tightens her grip on Maya's sleeve and gives her a little tug.

"Tendo-san- let's make a run for it. Straight past."

"I'm not sure if my legs are working properly…"

"I'll be right beside you. Ready? One… two… three!"

The two of them tear off past the source of the creepy sounds, panting and whimpering as they sprint through the trees. There's a rumbling sound and a lot of scuffling as they pass by, but they don't look back.

Mahiru only barely manages to keep one eye cracked open to follow the flashlight and their marked path. Both she and Maya stumble several times in their desperate sprint, but eventually the scratching and growling sounds die away behind them.

When they finally slow to a stop, Maya drops to her knees, and her weight pulls Mahiru down too. They slump to the ground in a shaking, panting mess, still holding onto one another for dear life. Maya fumbles for breath and for words.

"What… what was that-?"

"I… I don't know… but we made it somehow…"

"Tsuyuzaki-san… I'll be honest… I'm not sure if I can do this…"

"Well, we're already halfway into the woods," Mahiru says. "And you know what they say; if you're halfway into the woods, then you're halfway out!" She manages to get to her feet, though she doesn't miss the tiny whimper Maya makes when she separates from her for half a second.

Mahiru can't help but smile as she reaches back down to offer her hand. Maya grasps it with both of hers and heaves herself up, still wobbling all the while. Mahiru has to admit her heart is pounding, but she isn't nearly as bad as poor Maya.

"Tendo-san, I never knew you had such a cute side."

Maya looks away for a moment as she catches her breath.

"Forgive me for saying," she murmurs. "But I never knew you harbored such bravery, Tsuyuzaki-san."

Mahiru smiles.

"I guess we both learned something tonight, huh?"

"Indeed."

"Shall we continue? There are sweets waiting at the end, and like you once told us, sweets help calm the nerves."

Maya nods, honestly a little flattered that Mahiru had remembered that.

So they continue on past all the scary signs and noises and whispers in the trees, along with several jump scares of things and people popping out at them, and somehow manage to make their way through.

By now Maya is whiter than any fake ghost they've seen tonight, and Mahiru is shaking as if it's winter, not spring. But she has to admit she's having a lot of fun, even with Maya, whom she really never spends much time alone with.

Mahiru had been a little nervous to be partnered with her for this, as Maya is typically so confident and out of her league, she feared it would be awkward being with her tonight. But she's learned that even the mighty Tendo Maya has a weakness and a cute side.

And in turn, Maya has learned that even the soft-spoken Mahiru can be fierce and courageous when it comes to protecting her friends.

As they tiptoe on through the woods, Maya wants to make sure to show her gratitude. She squeezes Mahiru's sleeve and tugs at her arm a little.

"Tsuyuzaki-san," she says past faintly-chattering teeth. "I must thank you for your patience with me tonight."

"Not at all," Mahiru smiles. "This might sound rude of me, but to be honest I'm pretty scared too... but knowing you're even more afraid than I am makes me feel brave."

"I see. Then I suppose I'm… happy to help?"

Mahiru giggles, and even Maya's lips almost crack a crooked smile.

But it's then when a gray sheet suddenly drops down out of the trees right in front of them, and a voice yells out, "Boo!"

And both Maya and Mahiru fling their arms around each other and shriek loudly enough to fill the whole forest.

The screams echo all the way out to their respective partners…

Karen and Claudine set out along the blue trail shortly after Mahiru and Maya had left. Claudine justifies holding the flashlight, because if Karen were to hold it, she'd be flailing it around every which way and end up making a strobe light show in the middle of the woods. But though Claudine holds the light, Karen struts out in the lead.

"Come on Kuro-chan! Don't lag behind!"

"I'm not lagging! You're practically running! If you trip and fall I'm leaving you behind, Karen."

"Wah? Nooooo, Kuro-chan, don't leave me!" Karen quickly doubles back to walk beside her now. "Y'know, if we just run through the whole thing right away we'll get to the end first and get dibs on the candy!"

"You're missing the point of this," Claudine sighs. "We're supposed to be testing this out for Class B, remember? We're going to have to give them some feedback, so we can't just plow through it and-"

"Uh, Kuro-chan? What's that?"

"Honnêtement! Are you even listening to me, Karen?" Claudine stomps up after her and shines the flashlight to where Karen is pointing into the darkness. But all she sees are branches and leaves. "I don't see anything. Stop trying to scare me."

"No! Seriously!" Karen insists. "There was something there!"

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Something spooky!"

"Goodness... In any case, we've got to follow our trail." Claudine takes the lead for half a second before Karen is zooming right past her again.

"Got it! Trail's this way!"

"Hey, Karen-!" Claudine tries to keep an eye on her and follow her through the trees. Thankfully, Karen comes to a stop after only a few yards. Claudine catches up and lightly smacks her on the shoulder. "What are you doing? Do you want to get lost in here?"

"Kuro-chan! I saw it again!"

"Saw what?"

"That thing I just saw! It was all white and it looked like a person! Almost like a ghost!"

"Someone dressed as a ghost in the woods during a test of courage? No kidding."

"Uuuu, Kuro-chaaaan!"

"Stop running off," Claudine huffs. "Or you're on your own. I mean it."

Karen sniffles.

"Okay…" They manage to walk for maybe half a minute in silence before she's babbling away again. "Hey, Kuro-chan, are you scared of ghosts?"

Claudine sighs and ponders for a moment.

"You know, to be honest, I kind of am. But it's sort of hard to be scared when I'm so annoyed by the person standing next to me."

"Heehee, I'll take that as a compliment!"

And it's true. Claudine is typically one to shriek here or there when faced with scary things, unlike Maya who would just rigidly keep her terror bottled up. But with someone as lively as Karen here to distract her, Claudine hasn't felt too nervous about any of this yet.

But her heart does start to get a little jumpy when she begins to hear strange noises like snapping twigs and unintelligible whispers coming from here or there. Karen seems majorly unfazed, probably because all she's thinking about are the sweets at the end of it all, but it puts a bit more responsibility on Claudine for needing to keep her in line.

She decides to let Karen ramble away about anything and everything, and her denseness actually allows her to pass up several creepy warning signs and skeleton-like props hidden on the ground without even noticing them.

Normally, Claudine probably would have freaked out a bit, but Karen blissfully walking past it all like nothing's amiss actually puts Claudine at ease and makes her smile. Though she does have to keep her from going the wrong way several times by grabbing her arm and pulling her back onto the correct path.

At one point, they come across something strange in the middle of their trail. When Claudine shines the light on it, it appears to be a mush of wet, organ-looking substances. She feels her stomach heave a little, but to her astonishment Karen walks right up to it and crouches down to poke it with her finger. Claudine yelps.

"K-Karen! What are you-?!"

"Hmmm… spaghetti? And it looks like chunks of jello, too. And I think I smell fish. Did they use food dye to make it look red?"

Claudine exhales thinly before stomping over to her and yanking her up by the scruff.

"You'd be the first to die in any horror film, Karen."

"Aww whaaaaat?"

They start off again, but not a minute later, Karen calls out. "Oh!" and her sudden cry nearly has Claudine jumping out of her skin.

"What is it-?"

"It's the ghost!"

"Pardon?"

"The ghost!" Karen excitedly points ahead through the trees, where a faint white shape is just barely visible. Claudine is about to raise the light to it, but Karen stops her. "No, wait! You might scare it!"

"Karen-"

"Halt! Phantom of the Forest!" And just like that Karen takes off running at top speed again.

Claudine yells after her.

"K-Karen-! Honestly, this girl is worse than Tendo Maya!"

She charges after Karen, dreading what might happen if she were separated from that boundless energy to keep her distracted from her fears. She sprints into the shadows, following the tiny sliver of light provided by the flashlight, but she's already lost sight of Karen.

Claudine nearly stumbles on some thing or another and slows down to catch her breath. The only sounds that reach her ears now are the rustling of the trees. Her throat tightens up.

"Karen…?"

She turns around slowly, arcing the light in a wide circle across the tree trunks.

The wind blows again. Something snaps.

Claudine whirls around, and a blur of white just barely scuttles out of the corner of her vision. When she tries to follow it, she glimpses another blurry shape about as big as she is.

"Karen-? This isn't funny-" Claudine steps backward and bumps into something that can't possibly be a tree. Slowly, she turns her head.

A ghostly figure stands there, clad in stark white as far up as the face, which is concealed by disheveled black hair. There's a low, wailing sound as it lifts up its arms toward her.

Claudine's heart just about stops.

"Kyaaaaa-!"

With a shriek shrill and high enough it could only be made possible thanks to all of her impressive vocal training, she tears off running without looking back. The blood roars in her ears, and every stomp of her shoes sends another throb through her chest. She runs, momentarily forgetting about the marked path she should be on, forgetting this is all just supposed to be a fun little event put on by Class B. She runs until she hears a familiar, carefree voice.

"Kuro-chan? Is that you?"

Claudine veers around a tree and can't stop quickly enough. She bowls head-on into Karen, and with an 'oof!' both of them go spiraling.

Karen staggers back against a tree and manages to stay on her feet, but Claudine trips on a root and ends up in the dirt. The death-grip she has on the flashlight is the only thing that prevents her from losing it in the process. She lies there for a moment, panting and moaning at the soreness in her chest, but relieved she'd found her teammate.

"Kuro-chan!" Karen yelps. "A-Are you okay? Geez, why did you go running off like that?"

Claudine nearly scoffs. If she wasn't so breathless, she'd chew Karen's ear off right now.

As Karen kneels down to help her up, she can feel Claudine trembling.

"Geez! You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Claudine can't speak just yet. She's too caught up in too many different emotions. But being she'd like to say a few colorful things, it's probably for the best that she can't find her voice right this minute.

Karen takes her arms and helps her to her feet, dusting Claudine off a little.

"I didn't find the Phantom of the Forest," she says with a sigh. "But I did find some raccoons! They were so cute and wah-! K-Kuro-chan, y-you're bleeding!"

Claudine blinks at her as she finally steadies her breathing.

"Eh…?" She slowly glances down at herself to find Karen's right. Red is smeared all across her legs, shorts, shirt, and arms. Her heart jolts in shock; she hadn't felt that much pain from the fall.

Beside her, Karen is frantic, to say the least.

"Oh my gosh, o-oh my gosh! U-Uh, here hold onto me so you don't pass out from blood-loss! Um- um-!" As she swoops in beneath Claudine's arm, Claudine tries to locate whatever wound is causing so much bleeding. She tries to wipe the blood away to locate an injury, but she can't find anything.

But what she does find are more dark red stains on the forest floor. She tilts her head suspiciously.

"Karen. I think-"

"D-D-Don't talk!" Karen yelps. "Save your breath, Kuro-chan! Just breathe! It'll be all right, I promise! Just don't go toward the light! Oh-! I think I have my cell phone with me! Quick! What's the number for 9-1-1?"

"Karen!" Claudine says her name loud enough to get the girl's attention now. Karen freezes with her phone in her hand as Claudine slowly steps away from her.

"I'm fine," she explains. "This isn't real blood. It's just something Class B spilled on the ground to frighten us. Though I don't think it was intended that anyone would fall face-first into it…"

"Fake blood…?" Karen blinks and looks Claudine over, her brain gradually registering the fact that her classmate isn't exactly doubled-over in pain or anything like that. Karen blurts out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I thought you were a goner, Kuro-chan!"

"Thanks for having such faith in me," she sighs. "But all that aside, I've had quite enough of this test of courage. I want to take a shower."

"Yeah. Other than that, it was fun, though!"

"Speak for yourself…"

"Awww, c'mon, Kuro-chan! You're only saying that cuz you're scared of ghosts and stuff- Ow!"

Claudine flicks her forehead, then whirls around and begins stomping off. Karen wails and chases after her...

It's right when Junna and Futaba are beginning to enter on the yellow trail when they hear a high-pitched shriek. And despite being arguably the strongest-willed pair of the bunch tonight, both of them pause for a moment. Junna moves the flashlight around a bit ahead of them.

"That sounded like Saijou-san."

"Damn," Futaba chuckles. "I've never heard her scream like that before. Wonder what kinda stuff they have in these woods."

"I guess we're about to find out."

They start off along the marked path with Junna diligently shining the light on every tree to ensure they're going the right way. Futaba follows with her arms folded behind her head in a laid-back manner.

"So," she drawls. "You scared of any of this ghost stuff, Hoshimi?"

"Hmm… I'd say I'm probably as prone to jump scares as the average person, but I'm not particularly terrified. Especially when I know this is all just for fun."

"Right, I got'cha. Kinda hard to be so scared if you're expecting it."

"So I take it you don't get scared by haunted houses and spooky corn mazes and such, Isurugi-san?"

"Me? Nah, not really. Kaoruko, though, she'll cry and wail like a baby. She hides behind me and uses me as a shield, and once or twice she's even left me behind as 'bait' I'm pretty sure."

Junna snorts a little.

"Wow. That girl is something else."

"You're tellin' me."

They walk on for a moment until the conversation is interrupted by a soft gasp from Junna. She shines the light down behind a tree to reveal an old creepy doll with beady black eyes. Futaba grimaces.

"Yeesh, that's freaky. But good use of an old mannequin."

"Exactly." Junna pushes her glasses up onto her nose. "The whole point of this is to recycle old props and costumes, and they did a great job of it."

They continue on through the woods, keeping close together as they follow the flashlight. There's a lot of rustling and weird noises, most likely being caused purposefully by hidden members of Class B at their posts.

Junna and Futaba are the only two who really think about this more logically and aren't as terrified out of their wits, but they both do still jump every now and again, especially when a bundle of old tattered clothes comes dropping down out of the trees in front of them.

"Geez!" Futaba sighs, smoothing her hair. "That was a cool trick, though."

"I'll say. And again, great use of an old costume. I wonder which one it was…"

"We don't have time to examine it, Hoshimi. Let's just get to the end. I wanna beat Kaoruko."

"Isurugi-san," Junna says a little chidingly. "This isn't a race. We're supposed to be guinea pigs for the test of courage so we can give Class B some feedback."

"All right, fine."

They continue on past the raggedy costume that had been dropped in front of them, continuing at their leisure. Futaba whistles a bit to keep herself calm and casual, and starts up more conversation.

"So we both know Kaoruko is kind of a scaredy-cat when it comes to these things, but what about Nana? If a ghost popped out at her, would she be fight, flight, or freeze?"

Junna hardly has to think about the answer.

"Oh, she'd fight for sure. She may not always look like it, but she can be really scary if she needs to be. But only if she has to be. The rest of the time she's like a giant puppy."

"Yeah, I could see that."

They amuse themselves with talk of their roommates a bit more as they continue along the path, jolting at the occasional bloody handprint on the trees or ground, or weird haunted-looking object strung through some branches.

Somewhere along the lines, Junna sort of falls back from being in the lead and Futaba walks next to her so they can stay close.

When the current topic of conversation dies away, they find themselves in silence in the woods. As Futaba is scrambling for the next tangent to discuss, she spots something in front of them in the glow of the flashlight and grabs Junna's arm.

"Hold it!"

"What?" Junna hisses.

"There's something up ahead..."

Junna squints and tries to make things out in the shadows. There are some sporadic rustling sounds coming from a few bushes off the path. She tenses up and swallows.

"Let's go slowly."

"Gotcha."

They stick close as they tiptoe forward, each holding onto the other's sleeve as they keep the suspicious bush in sight. Suddenly, a screeching sound pierces the silence, and both girls leap back.

"Gyaa!"

"The hell-?!"

"Isurugi-san, let's run!"

"Hell no! We gotta fight!"

As the two of them frantically pull at one another in different directions, they end up getting unbalanced and stumble to their knees. There's a small clattering sound.

"My glasses!" Junna cries.

"Screw 'em! We can come back in the morning!"

"What? I can't just- gyaah!"

Both girls cut off with a soft yell and cling onto one another as the source of the odd noises rustles again. Futaba tries to get them both up on their feet.

"Come on! Crap- my legs are all wobbly-"

"Isurugi-san, I need my glasses!"

"Aw geez-"

There's another chittering sound, and then some clawing noises. And suddenly, a plump raccoon skitters up a nearby tree and out of sight.

Both Junna and Futaba melt with relief.

"A raccoon?" Futaba sighs. "Seriously?"

"It wasn't even an intended part of the test of courage?" Junna drops her face into her hands for a second. "Geez, we're a couple of scaredy-cats too, aren't we?"

"I wasn't scared," Futaba snorts. "You were just gettin' me all riled up."

"Oh, uh-huh, sure." Junna casts the light around until Futaba spots her glasses and returns them to her. They slowly get to their feet and dust themselves off. Futaba gives her a bashful glance and clears her throat.

"So, uh. Since that technically wasn't even a part of the test… Maybe we shouldn't even mention it, right?"

Junna purses her lips for a moment before she nods.

"Th-That's right. We don't have to tell the others that what scared us the most was a raccoon."

"Right? That's what I'm saying."

"Besides," Junna smirks. "We couldn't let Hanayagi-san know you're actually a giant chicken."

"Wh-?! Am not! And you were the one shakin' like a leaf!"

"That's an exaggeration."

"I wasn't scared either."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

"You and your Shakespeare stuff…"

After they finally compose themselves, Junna inclines her head and they continue on down the path.

"That's kind of interesting," she mumbles.

"What is?"

"You don't scream like Saijou-san or Tsuyuzaki-san when they're scared. You just say stuff like 'oh crap!'"

"Yeah, I never was a screamer. And by the way, what the heck is your scream? 'Gyaaah'? What are you, a ten-year-old boy?"

"Th-That's not always how I sound!"

They manage to keep themselves grounded for the rest of the path by chatting normally, and taking mental notes about feedback they'll give the Class B girls about their setup of things in the woods...

The final group to head in is the group of three. Nana is the most unfazed about the test, while Kaoruko keeps muttering under her breath to distract herself, and Hikari doesn't say a word. When they get the OK to start, they've already heard quite a few shrieks and screams from their classmates who had gone before them, so Hikari and Kaoruko are particularly ruffled. Nana, on the other hand, is rather amused.

"Wow, sounds like fun! Are you two ready?"

"Hmph!" Kaoruko crosses her arms. "Why do we even have to go through the test when they've already had six other people go? I think we should abstain."

"Ooooh no, Kaoruko-chan, we can't back down now! Are you scared?"

"Me? Scared? Absolutely not."

"You can hold my hands if you want to."

"Th-That's not necessary-"

But Nana blinks in surprise when she feels someone else holding her hand instead. Hikari has shuffled close and wordlessly taken hold of her. Nana smiles.

"There you go, Hikari-chan! I'll protect you!" Nana pulls her into a little hug, then offers her other hand to Kaoruko. There's a lot of mumbling and muttering, but she eventually accepts.

With both of Nana's hands now occupied, Hikari holds up the flashlight for them as they begin making their way into the trees. She's dead silent and rigid while Kaoruko is mumbling, and Nana is entirely casual.

"This is so much fun!" she says. "I don't think I've ever gotten to be with the two of you for something before!"

"How exactly is this fun?" Kaoruko grumbles. "There are all kinds of weird things hanging from the trees!"

"Oh! I didn't even notice!" Nana sings. "How cute! Are these old mannequins and toy props? Wow, they really did a number on them to make them look scary. What do you think, Hikari-chan?"

Hikari just trembles quietly and stares up into the trees as if she's ascending into another dimension. Then, one of the dolls actually falls out of the branches and lands at the girls' feet without warning. Kaoruko shrieks, Hikari's soul seems to leave her, and Nana coos.

"Aw! This one is so cute! Let's take it with us so we can give it back to Class B at the end."

"Have you completely lost your mind?!" Kaoruko shrieks. "Taking cursed objects with us is not an option by any means!"

"It isn't cursed, Kaoruko-chan! They just painted it for the test of courage."

"Either way, we are not taking it!" She tightens her grip on Nana's hand to prevent her from picking up the doll. And even in spite of her silent state of terror, Hikari does the same. Nana sighs.

"All right, you two. Let's keep going then!"

They continue onward in their odd little precession. Hikari barely manages to lift up the flashlight to shine it ahead of them due to how stiff her body is. She probably wouldn't even be able to walk if not for the other two pulling her along. Nana, of course, is still enjoying herself.

"It's such a nice evening! We should do this sort of thing more often!"

"Speak for yourself…" Kaoruko mutters.

Hikari still doesn't say anything. She just swallows and shakily continues shining the light ahead.

Nana reminds them about following the marks on the trees. She believes it might lighten the mood a little if she hums a tune, but somehow that only makes the other two even more anxious because they can't hear what's going on around them in the forest.

"Banana?" Kaoruko says. "Would you actually mind not doing that? It's somehow making all of this creepier…"

"Oh, I guess you're right. Most horror movies have some scary music boxes playing nursery rhymes and that sort of thing, right?"

"Don't remind me…"

"Don't worry, Kaoruko-chan! You're braver than you think! Hikari-chan, too!"

Hikari just shakes her head and steps back closer to the others. Nana pulls them both in for a brief hug.

"Never fear! The Brave Banana is here to protect you-"

But just before she can finish speaking, something drops from the trees without warning. There's a blood-curdling shriek from someone hiding in the bushes at the same time as a costume on strings descends on the unsuspecting trio.

Kaourko shrieks loudest while Nana sort of just jumps a little, and Hikari goes bone-white in petrified silence. The torn rags suspended on strings are connected to a mannequin head that's been painted with black eye sockets and skull-like markings in addition to a wide-open mouth. Sharp claw-like fingers reach out for them from just a few feet above.

Nana quickly pushes the other two behind herself, but Kaoruko takes off running, while Hikari is rooted to the spot. The perfect examples of fight, flight, and freeze.

As Kaoruko's wails echo off into the woods, she doesn't get farther than a few good strides before another figure leaps out at her. She screams again and jumps backward, straight into Nana who had gone after her with a soul-less Hikari in-tow. The three girls scramble in a mix of panic before both Hikari and Kaoruko give out at the same time.

"I can't-" Kaoruko whimpers. "I just can't…" She slumps to the ground and out of Nana's grip. Hikari's knees also give out and she collapses in a trembling mess, having dropped her flashlight at the initial scare. She buries her head in her lap and curls up in a ball, covering her ears.

Nana is the only one left standing as the props are slowly reeled back in by the people controlling them out of sight. The jump-scares had frazzled her a little, but what concerns her much more is the sorry state her friends are in.

"Oh no! Hikari-chan! Kaoruko-chan!" She drops to her knees between them and pulls them both close in a messy kind of hug. "Are you two all right? Was that a bit too scary?"

Kaoruko sniffles indignantly.

"M-Me? Frightened? Hardly. I only reacted that way to boost the confidence of the Class B girls..."

Hikari, on the other hand, has no room for pride. She just clings to Nana and burrows herself into her classmate's shirt like a baby animal. Nana wraps an arm around them both and rubs their backs slowly.

"Don't worry, you two. I'll protect you for the rest of the test! Nothing will get past The Brave Banana! Can you guys stand?" She lets them both cling to her as she helps them up onto wobbly legs.

Nana ends up having to support most of their weight as they slowly continue on in the darkness without their flashlight. But as promised, she protects them with her life. Every strange doll or rustling object in the bushes is met with a battle cry from her, some kind of "hyaaah!" or "stay back, you're not invited here!" Comments that are so cute and harmless and Nana-like it actually has the others smiling before long.

She shields them both from seeing the fake bloody puddles on the ground and prevents them from stepping on the weird squishy things laid out in their path. Whenever something does spook them again, she hugs them close and declares war on said object with things like, "Who goes there?" and "Show yourself and fight The Brave Banana head-on!" and "I'll have you know I can dual-wield!"

She's so over-the-top and at-ease with it all that Kaoruko and Hikari actually begin to laugh and giggle, and they're no longer shaking as they near the end.

Being the last group to enter the forest, they're also the last ones out, but they exit holding hands and laughing.

"Please!" Kaoruko giggles. "Banana-han, you're too much!"

"Were you really gonna fight that ghost?" Hikari says, finally relieved enough to speak.

"Of course!" Nana says. "Anything for my friends!"

Just a few steps later, they walk out of the treeline and find the rest of their classmates waiting for them in various states of disarray and mild fright, but everyone is smiling at least a little bit.

Once they're all back together, they naturally migrate back to their respective partners and begin discussing their experiences.

Amemiya and a few other Class B girls thank them for their test run.

"Based on everyone's reactions," she says. "We'll make adjustments accordingly by keeping some things and changing others. But overall, we think the test of courage will be green-lit and open for the public this spring! And we'll keep making spookier improvements to bring it back for Halloween, too." She bows together with her classmates. "We really appreciate your trial run. It helped us a lot."

"No problem," Junna says.

"Yeah!" Karen blurts out. "It was a lot of fun! Mahiru-chan, Hikari-chan! Tell me about your adventure!"

"Kaoruko, you need a shower."

"Speak for yourself!"

"Junna-chan, were you scared at all?"

"J-Just a little bit. Once or twice."

"My, my, Saijou-san. What happened?"

"Karen happened…"

The nine girls head back to the dorms together as they tell about their tests of courage, and all the little lessons they'd learned about themselves and each other…

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A/N: Gosh it was so much fun to switch things up and try writing some different dynamics! I especially loved writing the trio being all 3 different reactions to fear haha And I loved getting to write Karen being so extra and nuts.

I included something I kinda just figured out one day in Futaba and Junna's part, how some people might yell or scream, and others just say stuff. I, myself, used to scream as a child but I think I lost the ability. Now I'm like Futaba and just say 'oh crap' when I'm scared lol

The final chapter will be a direct continuation of this one! More bedtime cuddles anyone...?