The Occult Club members had all agreed that they were going to do a haunted house for their School Festival activity. They were the Occult Club, how could they not do a haunted house?
Their club room was too small for the haunted house, so the student council gave them a room to set up in. They had done a haunted house the year before. It was a big hit. They made it very scary and realistic. Lots of people came over and got super scared, but went in a few more times after because they loved it so much.
The year before, the Student Council didn't give them much of a budget, but they did amazing with the little they had. And since they had done so well the year before, their budget was bigger. So everyone wanted to top what they did the year before.
All the members of the Occult Club were in their assigned room. Some were setting up props and others were making costumes or fixing the costumes from the year before, while two other club members were practicing their costume makeup.
One of the lucky people they were practicing on was Ayoshi. The person doing Ayoshi's makeup was Jutsu and she chatted with Ayoshi.
"Aishi-kun, did you come to our haunted house last year?"
"Last year I wasn't a part of a club, so I was made to help one. Other than helping them, I didn't really participate in the festival."
"Well, you missed out last year. Luckily you'll get to experience our awesome haunted house this year. And we're going to make sure to scare you until you're petrified with fear. Right guys?" Jutsu asked while looking at the others.
They all said yes, promising to make the haunted house extra-extra scary. Tekina even made a bet with Ayoshi, saying if they couldn't scare Ayoshi, he would wear a frilly pink maid dress.
Everyone laughed, a few of them saying now they hoped they lost so they could see Tekina in a maid outfit.
Then Jutsu asked, "What if Aishi-kun loses?"
"Then Aishi-kun wears the maid outfit!"
Now they all changed their minds once again, "Ok everyone! We have to do everything we can to win this bet! I know we all want to see our cute Aishi-kun in that dress. Especially a special someone," Jutsu said as she side-eyed Oko.
Everyone else side-eyed Oko as well as they giggled.
Oko blushed and tried to cover his face. "Guys!"
They ignored Oko's cries and continued to giggle.
***
It's finally the day of the School Festival. Ayoshi was getting his makeup done. He was going to be a zombie.
"All done!" Jutsu said as she held a mirror up to Ayoshi's face.
Ayoshi looked at himself and touched his face slightly, not wanting to mess it up. "This is really impressive."
"Thank you! I hope I can get good enough to work on movies."
"Mm, I'm sure you can do it," Ayoshi encouraged.
Jutsu smiled, "Thank you."
After everyone got their makeup done and set up the haunted house, Oko walked in with snacks. "Ok everyone, the festival is going to start soon and when we open, we're going to be here for a few hours. So I brought you snacks to get you through until your break." Everyone got excited and went to start eating the snacks, but he made sure to keep them from touching a small box of sweets he had brought. He brought the small box to Ayoshi and placed it in front of him with a strawberry milk box.
"Thank you," Ayoshi said as he tried to eat a cream puff without ruining his makeup.
"Awww, not fair! Why does Aishi-kun get his own box?" Higaku asked with a fake pout.
Everyone started giggling. "You know why," Jutsu said.
Oko blushed as he stuffed a cream puff in his mouth and looked away, too embarrassed to look the others in their faces.
As Ayoshi sipped his milk, he asked, "What's the reason?"
Oko didn't know what to say and just plugged Ayoshi's mouth with a cookie to distract him. It worked and Ayoshi didn't ask again.
The club members couldn't stop giggling, thinking the two were cute together.
***
In front of the room that the haunted house was going on in was a long line.
Higaku controlled the line and said, "Have fun, girls," as he let the girls through the door.
The two girls walked through the doors very nervously. They had been at the last school festival and had thought it was super scary. When they walked through the door, they were enveloped in complete darkness. There was a huge contrast between the lighting of the haunted house and the hallway they were just waiting in.
They were met with dozens of eyes staring at them and felt shivers go down their spine. They tried to look away, but every spot their eyes landed on there was another pair of eyes looking right back at them. They were frozen on the spot, but they tried to push each other to walk through. Soon they finally started moving, but when they got close to a pair of eyes, a smile would appear under them.
The smile looked like it reached a monster's ears. Dark blood covered the sharp teeth and was smeared along the entire mouth. Arms shot out from nowhere at the girls.
They let out the screams they were holding as they ran away from the hands trying to grab at them from all directions. As they were running, they were met with more and more scary sights of the club members in their makeup and costumes. As the girls were finally seeing the light of the exit, they sighed with relief, but one of them bumped into something, knocking it over.
They looked down to see what had fallen. They were met with a rotten face that dripped with puss. Pieces of flesh were barely hanging on to the decaying body. The zombie looked up at them with a pair of eyes that only had the sclera and dark veins running through the eyes. The zombie's jaw hung open, showcasing its black rotten teeth that were reaching out to bite at the girls.
They screamed, running away when the zombie's sharp claws snagged the clothes of one of the girls when it tried to grab at them. The girl screamed even louder and was about to kick off the zombie's head when the other girl snatched her hand and ran out.
When the girls finally ran out of the haunted house, the club members gathered together laughing. One of them helped Ayoshi off the ground. After they talked briefly, they switched positions. They did this so that if any of the people who had previously gone through told anyone, the new group would be thrown off guard.
A few more hours went by and it was finally time for Ayoshi to go through the haunted house. Ayoshi had seen it all done, but he hadn't seen it with the full effect of all the club members acting.
All the club members had gone through and they weren't that scared, but they still got jumped scared.
Ayoshi quickly took off his makeup and costume. He was given back his uniform, which he soon put on. Higaku and Oko were standing alone with him outside the haunted house.
"Ok Aishi-kun, it's finally your turn," Higaku said.
Oko grabbed Ayoshi's hand nervously, "Ayoshi-kun, if… if you get scared don't worry, I'll go with you! I'll… I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
Higaku laughed at his club leader, "President, that wasn't part of the bet. Aishi-kun has to go by himself."
Oko looked at Ayoshi, "Ayoshi, you know you don't have to do the bet if you don't want to."
"Don't worry Oko-kun, I'll be fine."
Oko just nodded at Ayoshi, "Let him through."
Higaku gestured for Ayoshi to walk in. As Ayoshi walked through the haunted house, many things were going through his head. 'Mother gave me extra pocket money for the festival and I haven't spent any of it, so I should have enough money to buy three extra strawberry milks. Should I drink them as soon as I buy them or save them for later?' He was so distracted by the thought of strawberry milk that he didn't realize that he had walked past all the club members until he made it all the way to the end.
As Ayoshi walked past, he left them all in disappointment and they followed him silently with their heads downcast at the thought of not being able to see Ayoshi in a dress.
When Ayoshi finally left the haunted house, he thought, 'No, I should drink the milk. Don't want them to go to waste.' He was so lost in his own world that he didn't see the confused expression on Oko's face.
"So, it didn't work?" Oko asked.
When Ayoshi heard Oko speak, he finally realized that he wasn't in the haunted house. "Is that it?"
Ayoshi's question echoed in the club member's heads, 'Is that all you can say?!'
Tekina deflated at the thought of wearing a dress, "... yes…"
"Oh, that's good. I think I deserve a celebratory strawberry milk," Ayoshi said as strawberry milk appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.
After everyone had taken off their makeup and costumes, they cleaned up the classroom, packing all of their materials in boxes. While they were packing, they were all talking about the day and all the people they had seen go through the haunted house. They all couldn't help, but laugh at the screams and facial expressions, but they soon came around to the topic of Ayoshi going through the haunted house.
"Aishi-kun, were you even a little scared?" Tekina asked.
"No."
The club members felt a pain in their hearts.
"Well, what did you think of the haunted house while going through?" Higaku asked.
Ayoshi tried to think of what he thought of the haunted house while seeing the full effect, but nothing came up. "Hmm…"
"Ayoshi-kun… what was running through your mind at the time?" Oko asked.
"Strawberry milk."
The pain in their hearts grew stronger.
"Are you serious? Come on, strawber-ahh!" A scream interrupted Tekina's words.
When they heard the scream, they grew concerned and started asking him what was wrong.
Tekina's face went white as a sheet, "Ro-ro-ro-ro–"
"Spit it out already!" An anxious Jutsu yelled.
Tekina pointed at the cream-white walls and yelled, "Roach!"
They all looked at the wall and saw a dark spot on the white walls. A few grew a face of disgust and others looked scared.
However, Atsu was just mad. "All that for some stupid bug?"
Tekina stuttered out, "Yo-you don't understand! Those th-things are vile creators!"
Atsu walked over to the roach while the others warned him not to go. "Guys, calm down. It's just a little bug. What can it do?" He asked as he picked up something to kill it when it suddenly flew off the wall. His arm stopped mid-air, "Oh my fucking god! Ignore everything I said! The disgusting thing fucking flies. Run for your life!"
Everyone started to run around the room as the bug flew around. They were all freaking out, not wanting the roach to touch them with its dirty body.
Soon the bug disappeared, "Whe-where did it go?"
"Ahhh, Aishi-kun!"
They all looked at Ayoshi and on the shoulder of his pure white shirt sat the roach.
At that moment, Oko knew what he had to do. He had to throw away his fear, his giant fear of bugs, and save Ayoshi from the vile creator. He ran towards Ayoshi and swatted the roach away, threw Ayoshi over his shoulder, and ran out of the room.
The rest followed along, not wanting to be left alone with the roach. When they were all out of the room, Oko had already put Ayoshi back on the ground. After they all calmed down, they all looked at Ayoshi with admiration.
"Wow Aishi-kun, you're amazing."
"Right, while the rest of us were running around like idiots, you stood there bravely."
"I can understand not being scared of the haunted house, but to not be afraid of the roach."
"Truly amazing."
They were praising Ayoshi when they realized Ayoshi held Oko's shirt in a death grip.
"Aishi-kun… are you ok?" They all looked closely at Ayoshi. He had a thin layer of sweat on his face, causing a few strands of hair to stick to his forehead. He had a strange look on his face, and he was slightly shaking.
"Aishi-kun… were you scared?"
The question made Oko look at Ayoshi with concern. "Ayoshi, were you scared of the bug?" Ayoshi nodded at the question and everyone was shocked.
Oko pushed down his previous fear and gently started rubbing Ayoshi's back. "It's ok, don't be scared. Would strawberry milk make you feel better?"
Ayoshi once again just nodded. "Ok, come on. I'll buy you as many as you want." The two walked away while holding each other close, and Oko whispered comforting words to Ayoshi.
The others were left there in awkward silence.
"... does this mean I won the bet?"