Healing Kisses (ch16)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $30+ PATRONS!

Here it is, the next reward for nadie95! They asked for Maya and Claudine (and the others) going through a haunted trail!

Now this one is a bit interesting because I actually wrote them in a test of courage for a fic that is going to be posted a few weeks from now, and it's very similar to this. But even though this one was written after that, it's being posted first. So if you end up reading the other one, just know there will probably be some similar aspects.

But nadie gave me some great guidelines in writing a haunted trail to make it unique! It was really fun to write so I hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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															Chapter 16.

"A what?"

Claudine's incredulous voice rises up in the lounge room where all of her friends are gathered. Junna is speaking, and has just explained a certain idea proposed by the drama department in order to hold a fun event for students on campus. Junna looks to Claudine with a grin and pushes her glasses farther up onto her nose.

"A haunted trail," she says again. "It's sort of like a test of courage, except it's a race."

"Oh?" Futaba cracks her knuckles. "Now you're speakin' my language, Hoshimi."

"A haunted trail race?" Karen blurts out. "Like, through the woods?"

Junna nods. "Well, more like around campus, though. It's sort of like flag football. Each participant will be given three colored fluorescent flags to tie around their waist, which are basically like your lives. There will be a trail set up around campus for you to follow, and hiding all along that trail will be people dressed as monsters waiting to chase you and try to steal your flags. If you lose all three before you finish the race, you 'die,' but conversely the more flags you finish with, the higher you score." She gives a textbook explanation of the rules and setup, putting her hands on her hips in satisfaction. "So, what do you guys say? Anyone wanna participate?"

"Oh! Me! Me!" Karen jumps up from the couch and flails her arm in the air. "That sounds like so much fun! Right Hikari-chan, Mahiru-chan?"

"I-I suppose, if you're doing it Karen…" Mahiru mumbles. Hikari is quiet, but after looking between her two roommates, she gives a tiny nod.

"I'll do it!" Nana says happily. "On account that you do it too, Junna-chan."

Junna grimaces. "I actually already promised the girls in charge that I would, so I'm already in it."

"Count me in, too!" Futaba calls out. "This'll be a piece of cake. You in, Kaoruko?"

"I'll say, the whole idea sounds rather boorish," Kaoruko huffs, crossing her arms. "But I suppose…"

"Great! Kuro, Tendo, what about you guys?"

Both Claudine and Maya jolt a little bit as Futaba addresses them. They share a nervous look with one another.

"Actually," Claudine begins. "That night, I think I have plans…"

"As do I," Maya adds on quickly.

"As if!" Kaoruko snaps. "Don't try to weasel your way out of this just because you two are a couple of scaredy-cats."

"Excuse me?" Claudine wrinkles her nose. "We are not. Or at least I'm not."

"Oh please. Whenever we watch something scary for our movie nights, you two are practically cowering every single time."

"You're imagining things."

"Am I?" Kaoruko gets that devilish, Cheshire grin on her face as she glances back and forth between them. "You two are rivals, yes? Always competing to see who will come out on top? Well then I'd say this is the perfect opportunity for you to compete. Whichever one of you comes out of the haunted trail alive wins! It's as simple as that, really. That is, unless you're both too scared to even participate…"

She really is a demon, giggling so innocently while showing her teeth, her eyes glinting like a predator's. She knows that when it comes to Claudine and Maya it's always a matter of pride.

The two of them share a glance now, and they're both equally trapped. Maybe if Kaoruko hadn't challenged them in front of everyone, they could've gotten away with their lame excuses. But now they simply can't back down, and they both know it. Maya rises from her seat slowly and calmly, acting as casual as possible.

"Very well. I suppose my plans can be postponed."

"Mine too," Claudine adds. "Fine. We're in."

"Excellent." Junna sweeps her gaze around the room to all of them. "I'll put all of your names in for the haunted trail this Friday at 8PM."

With that, the girls break up into their own conversations amongst themselves. Kaoruko gives Maya and Claudine one last grin before turning away.

And only then does it seem to settle in exactly what they've signed themselves up for.

When Friday night comes around, the nine friends put on their track clothes and running shoes to prepare for the event before heading outside as a group.

The evening is a little bit cool, sending a few shivers up their spines as they head for the designated area of campus. A few girls from the costume and drama department, as well as a couple of teachers, are waiting for them. There is a handful of other girls who are looking to participate in the race as well. Miss Sakuragi greet them all.

"Good evening, girls. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who made this little game possible. I'm sure it'll be a good time. Not only will it test the designing skills of our costume department and the skills of our monster actresses, but it'll also test the stamina of the people running. I hope you're all prepared."

A unanimous reply comes from the gathered crowd.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Sakuragi waves her hand and signals to a couple of girls holding boxes. Inside are the ropes with three fluorescent flags each that will be tied around the runners' waists.

As the ropes are passed out, Sakuragi explains the rules just as Junna had; they each have three 'lives' to defend and must try to make it to the finish line alive. Their trail will begin at the dormitory building and take them to Seishou's main campus for one full lap, then back to the dorms and around that building until they end up back at the starting point.

The girls listen to the instructions as they tie the ropes around their waists. Most of them seem eager to begin, mainly Futaba, Nana, Karen, and even Mahiru. Kaoruko is trying to act cool about it, while Hikari is sort of huddling up to Mahiru. Claudine is also doing her best to appear unfazed, as is Maya, but they can see through one another with ease. Claudine tries to feign some confidence with a smug remark.

"Are you ready for this, Tendo Maya? You're finally going to come in second to me for once."

Maya snaps out of her little reverie in order to shoot back a suave response.

"We shall have to see about that, Saijou-san."

"Just try not to fall flat on your face when someone jumps out at you," Claudine huffs, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "It won't look very good if my partner has a bruised nose on Monday."

"The same goes for you, Saijou-san. Please refrain from damaging your voice from screaming too much."

"All right!" Sakuragi claps and calls for attention. "That's the gist of it. Any questions? No? Then on your marks…"

The runners all check to ensure they have all three flags on their belts, then line up.

"Get set…"

They all take a deep breath-

"Go!"

And they tear off all at once.

It's about a ten-minute walk to the school's main campus, so running it shouldn't take very long. It's dark out, but eerie little green lights have been strung up along the intended path for them, showering them all in an unsettling light.

Claudine knows it's foolish to be at the head or rear of the group, so she doesn't run as quickly as she can, but rather sticks to the middle. Maya is nearby, but of course she's just a few paces ahead. The one running at the front of the pack is none other than Karen.

"Haha!" she laughs. "All those mornings of waking up late and having to run to class are really paying off now!"

"K-Karen-chan! Look out!"

But Mahiru's cry comes a second too late. Someone dressed as a werewolf-like creature suddenly jumps out and ambushes the group, and everyone shrieks. At the last second, Karen manages to avoid the snarling masked person and duck out of the way.

The monster ends up grabbing one of Junna's flags. Yelping and scattering, the girls in front manage to pass them up and the girls in back manage to dart around the chaos as Junna cries out.

"Holy-! Oh my gosh, this is actually terrifying! Guys-?!"

And of course her trusty partner Nana doubles back to grab her hand and pull her from the monster's grasp before another flag can be stolen.

"Junna-chan! I've got you!"

"Th-Thanks!"

As the person in-costume growls and waves the stolen flag, the girls tear off. But not even twenty feet later, another monster jumps out at them from some bushes. This time Karen loses a flag right off the bat, and Mahiru and Hikari each lose one trying to help her. Most of the rest of them keep running, except for Maya who freezes up in terror. Claudine nearly stumbles as she comes to a sharp halt and dashes back to grab her arm.

"What are you doing? Don't just stand there!"

Maya's eyes are wide as she swallows, watching as the monster person who had already taken three flags turns toward her next. Claudine gives her partner a good hard shake.

"Tendo Maya!"

Luckily, Maya snaps out of it and takes a step back when Claudine pulls her, but her legs are clearly a little wobbly.

"Saijou-san I… don't think I can do this after all-"

"Well then you're going to lose to me!" Claudine gives her another tug just as the monster lunges, and Maya snaps out of her trance long enough to move out of the way. Keeping hold of her hand, Claudine begins running again, and Maya follows.

"That's right!" Claudine calls to her. "If you give up because you're scared, then I'm going to beat you, Tendo Maya! And I'd hardly feel like I deserved the win if it's only because you were cowering in fear somewhere on the sidewalk. Don't worry about the monsters; just focus on me. If we just stay on the path and run, we can finish this!"

In spite of the tremors still traveling up her spine, Maya actually manages to smile briefly. This race was by no means a partner activity, but everyone in their group - even her rival - was treating it as such.

Well, almost everyone.

They catch up to the group as they continue running along the sidewalk, and it's then when two monsters jump out at them this time. Another chorus of shrieks and screams rises up, but loudest of them all is Kaoruko.

"Uwaaaaah! Get your hands off of me! Futaba-han, help me!"

"Kaoruko, hold on!" Loyal as ever, Futaba runs back to try and grab her partner. As Kaoruko manages to tear herself free from the monsters, she clings onto her roommate.

"Futaba-han, they took one of my flags!"

"It's fine, just run!"

"Futaba-han, your sacrifice will be a worthy one."

"Hah? The hell are you-"

But before she can finish, in a very Kaoruko-like turn of events, she shoves her childhood friend directly into the claws of the waiting monsters.

"H-Hey! Kaoruko, what the hell!?"

"Please forgive me, Futaba-han!"

"Crap! My flags!"

Claudine is just passing them by to witness the hideous betrayal that leads to Futaba losing all three of her flags at once. To avenge her friend, Claudine runs past the chaos and bumps just a tiny bit into Kaoruko - just enough to unbalance her.

"Whoops!"

"H-Hey, Kuro-haaaan!" Karouko stumbles, and one of the monsters is right there waiting for her. As her screams pierce through the night, Claudine almost feels a little bad as she runs on ahead.

By this point, Maya is still shaken, but she's managing to keep her focus on Claudine rather than the terrifying prospect of the game.

"My, my," she pants. "Saijou-san playing dirty. Now that's something I don't get to see too often."

"She deserved it," Claudine huffs back.

"I would have to agree."

By now Seishou's main building is in sight. The rest of their friends are just ahead, but Claudine can see shifting shadows on the edge of the path already holding a couple of flags. She steers herself a bit off the path to avoid them, and Maya follows suit.

As they begin rounding the building, she realizes that hanging back a little bit might be their best option. From here, they can see exactly when and where the others get ambushed and avoid those spots themselves. Like a few seconds later when someone dressed as a Snow Woman jumps out at them.

There's more screaming all around as the girls react. Karen ends up falling flat on her face with a sound something like "du-waah!" and loses another flag, but she's able to get up and keep running.

And at the next monster attack, Hikari ends up running off the trail and Mahiru has to go after her to bring her back on track.

By staying a dozen yards behind the rest, Claudine and Maya are able to anticipate and avoid the brunt of the jump-scares.

By this point, Maya has regained some of her confidence and gives her partner a satisfied glance as she realizes her tactic.

"Quite cunning of you, Saijou-san. But are you not simply doing what Hanayagi-san did and using the others as 'bait'?"

"I'm doing nothing of the sort," Claudine huffs. "I didn't force them to run ahead of us. It just so happens they're in front now and whoever is waiting to attack us will naturally pop out at them first."

"How clever. I'm glad I'm on your side, then."

"Quiet. We are not on the same side. I'm going to win this, remember?"

The two of them continue around the perimeter of the building, following the trail of little green lights to mark the path. They maintain a good distance between themselves and their friends so that the larger group can take the brunt of the hits from the people in-costume.

But at one point, someone dressed as some undead skeleton or another notices there are two more people coming and is ready to attack again as Claudine and Maya race by. The skeleton grabs hold of Maya's ankle and she goes down. It takes Claudine a second to react, but she quickly skids to a halt and whirls around.

"Tendo Maya!"

Maya doesn't quite scream - she's far too terrified to make a sound like that - but there are just sheerly horrified whimpers tumbling from her lips as the hissing skeleton reaches bony fingers out toward her.

Claudine rushes back to her and scoops her up from beneath her arms, and though the monster rips off one of Maya's flags, Claudine is able to pull her out of range and get her on her feet again.

"Honestly!" she huffs. "Do I need to hold your hand through all of this?"

"That… might be nice."

"Well too bad. Come on."

And Claudine does hold her hand for just a second before turning to run off again.

By now there's a significant amount of distance between the others and themselves, so Claudine has to guess where the monsters are based on the whereabouts of the echoing screams she hears.

To be completely honest, she's probably just as terrified as Maya is by all of this - after all, she'd never been good with the scary movies either. But somehow knowing that Maya is just as freaked out as her is giving Claudine a little boost of confidence in all of this.

Though she does still scream at the top of her lungs when a vampire leaps out at her and snatches one of her flags. On reflex, she nearly whacks the person, but before she can, Maya is already grabbing her sleeve and hauling her away.

"Sorry," Maya grunts. "But the only person allowed to bite that neck of yours is me."

"Mechante! Whoever said you were allowed?!"

Maya grins and they keep on running.

They finish lapping the building as the course mandates and then continue on back down the sidewalk toward the dorms. Several more shrieking, hissing, groaning people jump out and them, and now some of them even give chase to add to the terror of it. By now the runners are getting tired, so it's even more bone-chilling to look back and see monsters are actually pursuing them.

"Don't look back!" Claudine calls out. "Just keep going! If you fall behind now I won't be able to save you!"

But just as they shake off one monster, a horde of several people dressed as zombies appear in front of them. Moaning and limping and grabbing at them, the zombies don't move very quickly, thankfully, but they provide a sort of maze to navigate through in the darkness.

Claudine shrieks and whimpers every time she comes within 3 feet of one of them, which is just about every second.

Maya suffers her torment more quietly. She isn't a screamer by nature, and instead conveys her fear in how wide her eyes get.

Somehow, they manage to make it through the horde, though Maya ends up losing another flag. Claudine notes she's beginning to slow down a bit, likely overwhelmed by so much fear that her legs are shaking too much. In an effort to reignite her spirit, Claudine calls back a smug comment to her.

"I'm winning now, you know. I've still got two flags left~"

"Saijou-san-"

"Don't give up on me now! How pathetic that would be if my one and only rival were to quit when we're almost finished! The Tendo Maya I know would fight it out until the very end!"

A determined spark flashes across Maya's gaze as she realizes the truth in Claudine's words. What kind of number one student would she be if she failed in any department, even if it was just a game?

So she continues running as quickly as her shaking legs allow alongside Claudine, following the eerie green trail and the distant sounds of shrieking.

The two of them brave several more monsters and jump-scares without losing anymore flags, until at long last the dorm building is in sight.

Claudine's heart is pounding in her ears and her whole body is rushed by a mixture of fire and ice from the all the running and the fear. She glances back toward Maya a few paces behind herself.

"As I said, today will be the day you finally come in second to me!"

"We shall see about that, Saijou-san." Maya calls upon a sudden burst of speed to pull ahead of her. Claudine yelps indignantly.

"H-Hey!"

But just as she starts giving chase, a sudden hissing sound fills the air. In seconds, her vision is clouded by a thick white mist, courtesy of some fog machine hidden in the bushes, no doubt. She loses sight of Maya rather quickly in the middle of it and has to slow down a bit.

The green lights are still easy to see, but nothing else is. She proceeds with caution rather than speed this time, knowing someone or something is going to jump out at the last second on the home stretch. She whirls around as the hissing sound comes again, but she doesn't see anything. She can hear something else, but she can't quite make it out.

She takes a few steps backward in the haze, trying to keep herself quiet, but every breath she takes and every beat of her heart feels too loud.

"M-Maya…?"

All thoughts of winning or losing are banished from her mind for the moment as survival mode kicks in. She tries to run along the path of green lights as best she can, but the hissing fog machine keeps churning out more mist.

And then something touches her.

It's a brush of something light and flimsy against her arm, and with a shrill scream it sends her reeling backward.

"Kyaaaa-!"

"Ah-!"

A collision, and both she and the other person end up on the ground tangled together. Claudine instantly pushes herself up and is prepared to fight until she recognizes the other party.

"T-Tendo Maya!"

"Saijou-san… thank goodness I found you."

"Did you… come back for me? Or were you just too scared to move on your own?"

"I'd say it was a bit of both."

"Incredible. The high-and-mighty Tendo Maya reduced to a puddle of mush. I wish the whole school could see you now."

"Forgive me for saying, but you also appear to be quite pale, Saijou-san."

"Oh, give it a rest." Claudine gets to her feet and dusts herself off, then offers down her hand. "Come on. We're almost finished."

Maya takes her hand and Claudine gives a tug to try and pull her up.

But for some reason, Maya doesn't budge.

Claudine tries again and gives her a yank until she realizes there's an opposing force pulling on Maya from her other arm.

And Maya herself has gone completely out of commission now. Her face is bone-white and her eyes are glazed with terror as a thin whimper falls from her mouth.

"S…Saijou-san-"

Claudine's heart catches in her throat.

Through the thick mist, she can just barely make out the form of another person kneeling on the ground on Maya's other side. She's wearing a long white dress that's spattered with red, her hair is long and black and messy like seaweed, and her eyes are a sickly yellow. When the ghoul speaks, her teeth are sharp and her voice is like a moan.

"Lucky me… I've caught another one…" She pulls Maya toward her and reaches for her waist and the one remaining flag.

And Maya is absolutely petrified, unable to so much as blink, let alone breathe or speak.

Only Claudine's fiery terror is able to yank her away from the corpse bride.

"Get up, you idiot!" she screams. Dipping down, she manages to grab Maya around her side and pull her up. The ghoul's fingers just barely miss her final flag. Claudine gives Maya's wrist a tug and starts tearing off. "Run, run, run!"

She can both feel and hear Maya stumbling along behind her, and the witch-like cackling of their pursuer isn't far behind. Claudine runs blindly, not even paying attention to the lights anymore. There's a thin, terrified call of her name.

"S-Saijou-san-"

And then she hears a slumping sound. Claudine whirls around in time to watch Maya drop to the ground as her legs give out on her completely. She gives Claudine a wounded kind of look and smiles sadly.

"Please… go on without me…"

"Oh, are you serious-?!" If not for the adrenaline pumping through every inch of her body right now, Claudine might've spared a second to groan over how cliche all of this is. Part of her is telling her to run, both to save herself and to finish the race while she still had two lives left.

But when she sees the shadow of the corpse bride crawling through the mist toward Maya, Claudine can't take another step in the other direction.

"Tendo Maya!" she shouts. "No rival of mine is going to lose to some half-dead wench! Now get up!"

But before Maya can react, the bride zombie reaches her and grabs her around the waist, groping for her flag. Maya opens her mouth but no sound comes out. Probably just her entire soul.

The dirty, ragged fingers pluck the final flag from her. Maya closes her eyes as if she's accepted the fact that she's going to be eaten alive.

"Claudine-"

Claudine can see it in her eyes. Maya is telling her to run, to finish what she couldn't. Claudine swallows, trying to resolve herself to leave her behind.

The crazed voice of the bride rises up in another laugh as she takes hold of Maya's arm and drags the frozen girl closer.

"Yes, finally! I've got one! This lovely girl will be my partner for all of eternity! Tendo Maya will be my bride! We will be together forever!"

And that does it. Something inside Claudine snaps in that instant.

Suddenly, all of her fear and anxiety is replaced with a white-hot rage. Forgetting her terror for a split second, she whips around and storms back toward them.

"Excuse me? I don't recall ever saying you could have her!"

"S-Saijou-san-"

"Quiet, you. No way in hell am I letting anyone claim they can marry you and take you away forever. You're my partner, after all."

For a second, the girl playing the corpse bride is clearly confused, considering this is all just in good fun. Clearly, she never expected someone to take it as seriously as this.

But the genuine fear in Maya's eyes melts into the utmost adoration as Claudine comes back to defend her.

"Saijou-san…"

Claudine offers her hand again.

"Like I said, I'm the only one who's going to be staying by your side forever. Now get up."

Maya takes her hand with a smile. The poor girl in costume is so baffled she ends up just letting her go.

Claudine hoists Maya up to her feet, moving close to support her since her legs are still jello.

"I'll be taking my partner back now, thank you very much." She turns her nose up to the girl sitting on the ground who has no comeback for any of that.

Claudine relishes her moment of calm, collected heroism as she leads Maya through the mist.

"Saijou-san…" Maya whispers. "You came back for me…"

"Of course I did. I wasn't about to let some idiotic undead handmaiden-"

But before she can finish, there's one more monster waiting for them. Some beast-like creature jumps out snarling at them, and both girls scream louder than all the others before them had combined. Though thanks to the vice-grip she has on Maya, Claudine doesn't lose hold of her, but she does lose her remaining flags.

By the time she and Maya stumble and flop across the finish line, both ropes around their stomachs are empty. Their teachers and most of their classmates are waiting for them.

"Maya-chan! Kuro-chan!"

"You guys made it!"

Nana and Junna go to help them up, though at this point neither Maya nor Claudine can really stand on their own

"Tendo, Saijou," Sakuragi greets them. "Looks like you managed to finish. Though I'm sorry to say you're both out of lives."

As Claudine and Maya finally catch their breath, they look around to see who else is present. Other than Nana and Junna, Futaba and Kaoruko have also made their way back after 'dying.' Junna still has one flag left, and Nana somehow has all three.

And a few seconds later, their missing trio comes stumbling in.

"Phew!" Karen blurts out. "We made it! Hey, how did you guys finish before us?"

"It's because you ran off the trail four times, Karen-chan," Mahiru sighs. "I still can't believe you tried to fight that one person who was dressed as a phantom…"

"Hey, that person took one of my flags!"

"Because you gave it to her trying to distract her for us," Mahiru reminds her. "You can't get mad at her for taking your flag, Karen. That was her job. But yes, that's definitely part of the reason why we came in last. And because Hikari-chan froze up and we accidentally left her behind so we had to go back and get her, remember?"

"Sorry," Hikari mumbles.

"It's okay!" Mahiru smiles. "It was pretty scary. And you still have one flag left, unlike Karen…"

"Mahiru-chan, you still have two!" Karen claps. "And wow! Banana, you have all three! You're the champion!"

"Why, thank you!"

Sakuragi claps to get everyone's attention.

"That means Daiba is our winner, having kept all three of her flags. Tsuyuzaki is our runner-up. And congratulations to the rest of you for making it back at all. That'll be a wrap for tonight. Thanks for participating. We'll clean up here, so you girls just head to bed."

"Yes, ma'am."

At last, Claudine and Maya can stand and walk on their own, and they head off back inside together with the rest of their friends. Everyone breaks off into light-hearted conversations filled with laughter as they reminisce the haunted trail experience.

Naturally, Claudine and Maya are right beside one another. Claudine catches her eye and snorts.

"Technically, I did still win," she starts off. "I held onto more of my flags for longer than you did."

"Indeed," Maya agrees. "And you definitely still would have won had you gone ahead and left me to perish."

"Oh, please. You wouldn't have perished."

"Believe me, at the time, it certainly did feel like I might. Thank you for coming back for me, Claudine."

Claudine lifts her chin and puffs out her chest a bit, blushing a little at the sudden use of her first name.

"Like I said, I couldn't just leave you there like that. I have to beat you fair and square, or else it'll feel like I cheated somehow."

"How noble of you." Maya chuckles softly as she moves in a little closer to Clauidne's side, until their shoulders are brushing.

As they reach the building, everyone else files in before them, already talking about having some snacks and a pajama party. But Claudine stops Maya before she can go inside.

"Hold on. Let me see your hand."

"Eh?" Puzzled, Maya holds out her left hand, which Claudine has an eye on. Claudine takes it and turns it over to inspect it.

"I thought so. You must've scraped it when you fell earlier. Does it hurt?"

"To be quite honest I hadn't even noticed. But I suppose it does sting a little."

Claudine glances around to ensure they're alone before lifting Maya's hand to her lips, pressing a soft kiss onto the redness on the back of her hand.

"We can put a band-aid on it when we get inside, but this should hold you over until then..." She kisses it again for good measure. Maya smiles.

"Saijou-san. Did you truly mean all of what you said earlier? About you being the person who will stay by my side forever?"

Claudine glares up at her.

"Of course I meant it, or I wouldn't have said it in the first place. I'm a woman of my word. You're my partner and my rival, Tendo Maya. We'll be together forever whether we like it or not."

"You know, saying that as you kiss my left hand… this seems an awful lot like a proposal."

"Wh-?! You're delusional! Mechante!" Claudine drops her hand and whirls around, her face red and warm.

Maya chuckles again and gently wraps both arms around her from behind.

"If I'm being honest, I'd say I would definitely enjoy spending the rest of my life with you, Ma Claudine."

"Shut up. Let's go shower…"

"Oui, mademoiselle."

Having faced their mutual fears as good partners should, they head inside together.

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A/N: Sorry if it felt a bit rushed! It was a lot to cover in a certain amount of words!

In both this (and my soon-to-be-posted test of courage chapter) I really enjoyed figuring out how each of the girls would react in these sort of situations. For example, Karen would absolutely try to fight one of the 'monsters' or give them her flag in order to let the others get through. Kaoruko would absolutely throw Futaba to the wolves. And I really do think Nana would finish flawlessly, since she's so skilled and I don't see her being afraid of ghosts and such at all.

But of course Maya is a total wreck, and though Claudine is scared of ghosts too, she's less scared if she realizes there's someone who's even more scared than she is. She feels like she's obligated to protect Maya and at least get her to the finish line in one piece.

I hope you enjoyed reading! The next chapter will be some good old hurt/comfort!