“ 𝑰𝑻'𝑺 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑨𝑾 𝑴𝑨𝑵 !!!”
.
Midnight....
“ And Kotei saw a ghost last night,” she moved her hands animatedly as she excitedly foretold her story of valour.“ But Kotei wasn't afraid.”
She walked between Lev and Tsukishima with quick steps to match their long strides. She realised that without her knowledge Mt. Tsukishima had been there in Karasuno all this time. But she can't possibly climb him. Mount Tsukki is off-limits.
“ You sure you didn't see your face in the mirror?” Tsukishima said with a sly smirk as he held the torch before them.
Kotei didn't like his taunting and decided to punch his leg.“ No, that's Tsukki’s role.” But her brave facade crumbled apart when he smirked down at her feeling no effect overall. Try better next time, was what his face said.
“ So what happened ?” Lev asked, curious.
“ Oh yes ! The ghost took Suga’s form. Suga and Kotei went to bathroom but next morning Suga said Suga didn't go with Kotei,” she said nervously, ignoring Tsukishima.“ Kotei's so scary.”
“ You mean scared ?” Lev looked around the classrooms as they walked down the corridor. Apparently, the music room happened to be just around the corner.“Don't be scared, Kotei. I'm here. You wanna hold my hand ?”
“ Mhm.” She wrapped her fingers around his forefinger. Both the boys being very tall, Kotei reached upto their thighs at max. So she saw how the latter's legs were shaking slightly.“Lev’s legs are shaking. Is Lev scared?”
“ N-no, not at all.” He steadied his posture before Tsukishima could make another salty remark and give him his signature smile. But in the process of it he heard something which made him halt in his tracks. “D-did you hear that?”
Kotei stopped too shifting closer to Lev. Tsukishima, on the contrary, wasn't scared at all.“ It's just someone playing the piano,” he said, nonchalantly.
“ You don't find anything wrong with that?”
“ It's the Suga ghost,” Kotei muttered.
“ It's probably just one of those Shinzen students trying to scare us,” Tsukishima explained. “ I'm going on ahead.”
They had no other option.
Their footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as they stood before the music room. Although they were scared, they couldn't help but admit the fact that whoever the ghost was, they're an excellent pianist. It was a sad melody which was slowly changing into something else.
“ Beethoven ?” Tsukishima muttered to himself as he put his hand on the door when felt someone clutch his shirt.“ What ?” He asked, annoyed.
“ Don't open it. Let them finish the song,” Lev pleaded and Kotei nodded.
It was Beethoven’s moonlight sonata.
“ Are you kidding me ?”
“ I'm not.”
“ Tsukki doesn't understand because Tsukki’s no artist,” Kotei grumbled poking the tall boy in his back.
“ First get your pronouns right, midget,” Tsukishima retorted and was met with an angry red face peeking out from behind Lev’s leg.
“ This is not the time to—”
Lev whispered but stopped as did the music. The sweet melody floated into the air around them, it's soft tune still lingering in their ears for a second or two before there was complete silence.
It has ended.
Or maybe it was interrupted.
“ That's it. I'm opening it.”
“ Wait, no !”
Lev tried to pull him back but Tsukishima slid the door with a slam and entered the room. It was empty. Lev and Kotei followed, fearfully, dreading the silence.
“ Look. There's no one,” Tsukishima pointed out. He found the trumpet in the corner of the room. Walking towards it he stood near the object. Sighing he looked behind him,“ can you two please stop following me everywhere?”
“ I was wrong. I'm not that brave as I thought myself to be,” Lev whispered clutching Tsukishima’s shirt tightly in one hand.
“ Kotei wanna see the ghost one more time,” she admitted although she was visibly shaking from fear.
“ Whatever. We have to blow it, right ?” Tsukishima bent down to pick it up but Kotei was faster. She had never seen a trumpet before so she grew a bit excited.
“ Let Kotei do it,” she looked up at Tsukishima with sparkling eyes.
“ Just get over with it.”
She nodded. Taking a deep breath, she rushed towards the window, and before anyone could comprehend, climbed the chair near it and peered down at the crowd that was gathered below. With zero hesitation she smiled before yeeting it out of the window with all her might.
Lev and Tsukishima stood dumbfounded in the distance.
( O_O ) , ( –__– )
“ Done.” Kotei showed the duo a thumbs up.
Meanwhile....
“ It's our turn next,” Asahi said a bit afraid but Suga patted him on the back reassuring him.
Daichi, who was watching their exchange with an amused look, felt something heavy drop on his head and his whole life flashed before him.
“ Daichi !”
“ Sawamura-san !”
“ Oh my gosh ! Daichi-san !!”
Everyone rushed towards him as the older clutched his head and found the thing that had fallen on his head.
A trumpet ?
“ How many fingers am I holding up ?” Yaku asked as he crouched down before him.
Daichi stared at him blankly.“ None.”
“ Okay, good.” Yaku sighed in relief before getting up and declaring loudly,“ it's okay, guys! He's not dead ! He'll be fine !”
“ What ? I thought it would be free drama.”
“ What a bummer.”
“ I already recorded two seconds of it. Wastage of storage space.”
“ Just delete it, dude.”
“ Shoot ! I didn't record the best part !”
“ Don't scare us like that, Daichi.”
Everyone left him behind before scrambling to their feet and walking away with disappointed sighs.
“ Look a bit more concerned, guys !”
Back to the team....
“ What do you think you're doing ! Someone could have got hurt !” Lev yelled shaking Kotei by her shoulders.
“ Well, someone did get hurt,” Tsukishima muttered, looking down at the chaos below. He turned towards Kotei who had a blank look on her face.“ Why'd you do that ?”
“ Because the aim was to throw the trumpet, right?”
“ No, stupid ! It was to blow the trumpet not throw it !”
“ Like brother like sister,” Tsukishima sighed.
“ Ah, sorry. Kotei didn't understand. Tee-hee !”
“ DON'T TEE-HEE ME !”
“ Calm down you two.”
That's when something strange happened as the piano began playing again. The three of them froze in their spots. The piano was placed in the front of the room, close to the window. The trio stood at the back, near the windows.
The lid of the piano was up so they couldn't see who was playing. But the person's hands playing the keys peeked from between the gap and they (Kotei and Lev) gulped when they saw they were female hands.
“ Oh my god,” Lev whispered to himself.
She started humming a soft tune and it sent chills down their spines. The keys stopped playing and a pair of bloodshot eyes peeked above the lid.
“ AAAAAH ! HELP ME ! OH MY GOD !!!!!!!!!!!” Lev yelled as he rushed out of the room.
“ Lev !!!” Kotei yelled with teary eyes as she bolted out of the room, too. Tsukishima casually walked up to the ghost and bowed politely.“ Sorry for all the noise, Miyanoshita-san.” He apologised.
“ I-it's okay.” Miyanoshita Eri, Ubugawa’s manager said, nervously. You're supposed to be scared of me right now.
Lev ran down the hallway not watching his way and rushed down the stairs to get the hell out of the school. Kotei, who was trying to keep up with him, lost him as he was too fast for her own good. So she just went where her little feet took her and finally stopped near a staircase. She looked right, left, up and down but found no one. It was completely empty.
But then a fleeting sound reached her ears.
“ Aaaaaahh ! It's a real ghost !”
That's Shoyo !
She followed the voice and arrived at the end of the corridor when a tangerine bolted past her. He didn't even notice the little girl as he ran as fast as he could. Good for him the other worldly entity couldn't keep up with the athletic runner.
“ W-wait, Sho—”
Kotei stumbled on her way to call Hinata back but he was out of sight by the time she turned around. Next she heard two pairs of hurried footsteps and Kenma slid out of the corner almost running into the wall. Unlike Hinata he noticed Kotei.“ Kotei !”
Kotei, as if seeing land for the first time after floating mid-ocean for days, ran towards Kenma to hug him, happy tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.“ Kenma !!”
“ Don't come here !” He warned and ran past a dumbfounded Kotei. Turning back he yelled over his shoulder,“ follow me !”
She gulped when the second pair of footsteps revealed it's owner. Oh my gosh, is that chainsaw man ? Kotei paled as she turned on her heels and ran with all her might. She could hear them powering up their gear behind her and she let out a frightened squeal.
She didn't want to die now ! She's too young to die! Who's gonna look after Tobio and Miwa after she's gone !
“ I should have never agreed to this !” Kenma grunted as he turned the corner and rushed down the steps. That's when he saw his friend running ahead him.“ Shoyo !”
“ Kenma ! You're alive ?” Hinata smiled and quickly pulled the boy with him to jump the last few steps.“We're almost there !”
And finally they saw the moon as they came out of the haunted school running straight into Yaku whose back was facing them. They collapsed on top of one another.
“ What the hell ?”
“ We're saved ! I can play volleyball again !” Hinata cheered as he immediately sat up and started kissing the ground.
“ Sorry, Yaku-san,” Kenma apologised as he quickly pulled out his phone to look for any ‘injuries’. He looked back to ask Kotei if she was okay but the girl was not there. “ Huh ?” He tilted his head in confusion.
“ Wait, where's Kageyama ?” Hinata looked up with a pale smile.
Back at the school.....
“ Nii-chan ! Where is nii-chan !” Kotei sobbed as she sat back in the janitor’s closet. She felt very sweaty, stuffy and claustrophobic. But ghosts are scarier for her. She peeked in through the narrow slit to see the ‘chainsaw man’ looking around in the vicinity. He passed by the closet as she held in her breath. And sighed when he went out of sight.
Knocking over the mop, she flinched when her feet touched the bucket. But when no more noise was heard she pushed the door open and stepped out of it. The corridors suddenly looked a never-ending maze to her and she wanted to jump out of the window to escape. Alas, she's too afraid to get hurt. Naturally, she walked down the narrow way to find the way herself.
Wiping her tears she tried to bring a determined look on her face.“ Don't cry, Kotei. Kotei is a big girl. Kotei will find her own way.” She reassured herself. It didn't help her much considering the situation she was in.
Reaching the end, she peeked out from behind the wall to see if the coast was clear. But she went still when the silhouette of a boy came into view. He was looking around as if lost. His back was facing her.
She withdrew behind the wall releasing a deep breath. What should her next move be ? She tried to think of any scene from aot that might help her. Only problem was there were no ghosts but Titans.
That's right !
She felt a growing hope within her. According to her, Titans are scarier than spirits. It's like you're comparing ants to elephants. If she can bring her thought process in that line, she just might be able to pass this hurdle.
Once again she peeked out of the corner.
The figure was still standing there with an oblivious look. He finally turned around and the moonlight lit his face.
Kotei's eyes widened.
With Team 1....
“ Hey, are you sure you're okay ?”
“ Ya-chan...?”
Bokuto looked concerned while Kuroo was too amused to miss out on the fun. Yachi shook in fear as she held onto the wall.“ I-I-I-I-I am f-f-f-fine.”
“ You don't look fine.”
With Team 3...
“ Kiyoko-san, if you want you can hold onto us,” Tanaka and Nishinoya chorused.
“ No, I'm okay.”
“ Are you sure ?”
“ Yes.”
“ Are you really sure ?”
“ Of course.”
“ Really ?”
“ hundred percent.”
“ You look scared to me.”
“ Contact your optician.”
Back with Kotei....
“ Kotei ? Is that you ?”
“ Nii-chan !!!” Kotei ran towards her brother with tears of joy. Reaching him she wrapped her arms round his legs. Needles to say she has never been this happy to see her brother before.
“ What are you crying for ?”
“ That's because... because,” she hiccuped looking up at her brother with red, puffy eyes.
“ Didn't you say you're a grown up now ?”
Kageyama crouched down before her, wiping her cheeks. Kotei reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and buried her face in his hair. He sighed.“ It's okay to cry. Don't worry, I'm here now, Kotei.”
Kotei pulled back to give her brother a weird look.“ Why you talking like that, brother?” He's speaking too calmly for her own good. It was strange.
“ What ? You want me to hit you then ?”
“ Please do,” she once again buried her face in his neck and instead of a smack she felt him lightly pat her on the head.
“ Let's get out of here. Okay ?”
She nodded as he picked her up and walked down the stairs.
Team 3...
“ Are you really really really sure you don't wanna hold our hand, Kiyoko-san ?”
“Yes.”
Team 1...
“ Ya-chan, you're shaking !”
“ I-I-I-I-I am t-totally fine—OH MY GOD ! IT'S A CHAINSAW !!!” Yachi shouted as she rushed out of the scene faster than a jet.
“ Woah, didn't know she could run that fast.”
Kuroo nodded and the duo turned to look at the supposed ghost at the end of the corridor.
“ Even I can tell that's Masaki,” Bokuto narrowed his eyes and once again Kuroo nodded.
Back with Kotei....
“ Nii-chan ?”
“ Hm ?”
“ Please put Kotei down.”
“ Why ?”
“ No reason.”
Kageyama sighed before putting her down and she stood there staring up at her brother. She kept staring at his face searching for something. Why is he acting so nice all of a sudden ? “Did Kotei do something wrong ? Is brother mad ?” She asked, her guards shooting up.
“ No, I'm not. What's wrong with you ?” He asked looking down at her with a blank face.
“ Brother is not acting like brother.”
Kageyama grew annoyed.“ Hah ?” He grumbled.
“ K-kotei meant...”
“ Shut up. I'm trying to act nice for once. You want me to throw you off this building ?”
“ No, no, no. Kotei's good.” She internally sighed in relief. It seems he's back to being his old self.
With the others....
“ Ya-chan, wait ! That's not a ghost !”
Kuroo and Bokuto ran behind the girl but it seems she's extra fast today.
“ IT'S CHAINSAW MAN !!!”
“ No, it's not ! The hell !”
“ I thought she was smart. But she's more of an idiot than me,” Bokuto said.
“ Are you seriously downing yourself now?” Kuroo asked baffled.
“ Hey, hey, hey ! Only I have the right to condemn myself !”
Yachi ran and ran before turning around the corner and coming face to face with Team 3. Her face lit up on meeting three familiar faces.
“ Kiyoko-san !”
Kiyoko instinctively spread her hands as Yachi dove into them and hugged her, tightly. Tanaka and Nishinoya had their jaws dropped to the ground. They were so jealous of Yachi at the moment.
“ What happened ?”
“ Ch-chain...saw....,” Yachi fearfully pointed behind her and on cue Bokuto and Kuroo entered the scene.
“ Are you serious ?” Nishinoya yelled standing before Yachi and Kiyoko in a protective manner. Tanaka had a big fat question mark hovering over his head.
“ Wait, you've got it wrong. She's talking about him,” Kuroo pointed behind his back at the guy with a chainsaw. Where the hell did he get that from, anyway ? Kuroo thought, suspicious.
“ Who's that ? Looks cool !” Nishinoya yelled proceeding to take his chainsaw.
The guy (Masaki, according to Kuro and Bokuto) stopped and put his chainsaw out of the energetic boy's reach, shaking his head, refusing to hand him his weapon.
The others sweatdropped at the scene.
“ Noya-san, that's his prop. You can't take it like that,” Tanaka called out.
That's when a shrill female shriek pierced through the silent atmosphere and everyone and I mean everyone (including the chainsaw dude) jumped up.
Out of nowhere, a flurry of white floaty things appeared before them. What's more strange was that they were going through walls and solid things. That's physically impossible !
“ Hey, hey, hey what're those !” Bokuto took a step back.
The scream pierced through the air. Their eyes widened when they saw a small girl about Kotei's age standing at the end of the hall. A serene smile spread over face which was almost scary.
Masaki finally took his mask off.“Wait, this was not part of the script !”
“ Huh ?” Yachi looked at him blankly. She was running from him all this time ?
“ What do you mean it's not part of the script !”
The girl tilted her head till a crack resounded in the air and she grinned at them, creepily.“ Let's play, okay ?”
That was the last straw. Yachi was the first one to take off followed by Kuroo, Bokuto and Tanaka. Nishinoya was so excited that Kiyoko had to drag him off.
On the floor below them...
“ Did you hear that ?” Miyanoshita asked as she heard noises.
Tsukishima shrugged his shoulders.
They walked towards the staircase. That's when the girl let out a yelp as someone put their hand on her shoulder. Tsukishima turned around and immediately a disappointed sigh escaped his lips.
“ And what do you mean by that !” Kageyama yelled, pointing at him, accusingly.
“ What're you even doing here ? Shouldn't you be with Hinata or something ?”
“ Yeah, I got separated. And for some reason I find myself walking in circles.” He informed and looked around.“ Wait, where are your teammates ?”
“ They ran away.”
“ What do you mean by that, you jerk ! There was a child with you ! And she's supposed to be my sister !”
“ Tell me something new.”
“ Why, you...”
“ Now, now, calm down. This school is not that big. Maybe she has reached the exit,” Eri tried to reassure. Kageyama nodded in acknowledgement. That's when he heard the voice.
“ Aaaaahhh ! This place is haunted !”
That's Yachi’s voice.
Tsukishima and Kageyama exchanged looks. A huge shuffling of feet sounded at the corner and a group presented themselves in a fashionable way. Everyone had terrorised looks on their faces. Yachi seemed the most scared out of them all. Kiyoko had a staright face not really showing what she was feeling inside and Nishinoya had an excited grin plastered across his. Everything is fun for him. Literally everything.
“ Yachi-chan,” Eri muttered.
“ What're you staring at, you baffoon ! Wanna get squished under their feet !” Tsukishima nudged Kageyama once before running away too grabbing Eri with him because the girl seemed too confused to move.
“ Hah ! And you still didn't say what happened to my sister !” Kageyama yelled as he started running too.
Soon the others caught up and Tanaka ran alongside Kageyama.“ Hey ! Don't run before me! I'm your senpai !”
“ Make way for the king !” Bokuto yelled, refering to himself, as he made his way through the group before matching step with Yachi. He greeted her with a smile.“ Oh, hey there Ya-chan ! Wanna race to the finish line ?”
Yachi was too scared to hear him and ran even faster to go ahead Bokuto who whined.“ Hey ! That's cheating ! I didn't even say 3 2 1 go !”
“ These idiots !” Kuroo yelled.“ Screw this shit ! Let me get out of here first !”
And in a hassle they found the exit and once again Yaku happened to be standing in the way causing them to run into him and again everyone fell on top of one another.
“ Why me though !” Yaku sobbed, frustrated.
“ Don't mind, Yaku-san,” Lev whispered.
“ What's the commotion about ?” Coach Nekomata approached the boys, carefully helping them stand up. Takeda pulled Eri, Kiyoko and Yachi to their feet as they thanked him.
“ What happened ?”
“ The school is haunted !”
Kageyama walked upto Coach Ukai and asked him,“ is Kotei here ?”
“ Actually, she's the only one who's not here yet.”
“ What !”
Meanwhile...
“ I think it's this way. Down this staircase you will find the exit.”
“ Nii-chan ain't coming ?” Kotei asked him.
“ I have to find that dumbass. We're on the same team,” Kageyama said.
“ Okay then.” She skipped a few stairs before standing on the fifth step. She looked up at Kageyama.“ Kotei will be waiting. Okay ?”
Kageyama stared at her hard.“Whatever,” he avoided eye contact and started to walk away.“ By the way, last night you forgot to switch off the bathroom lights.”
She turned around and stepped down. Finally reached the bottom something clicked in her. Last night ? Bathroom ? Didn't she go to the bathroom with Suga ? Also Kageyama hadn't woke up when she had called him ! So how did he know ?
Having the mindset of a child her brain couldn't comprehend complex things. So she shrugged before stepping out into the moonlit night.
“ Kotei !” Kageyama ran up to her and held her by the shoulders, kneeling before him. Searching her confused and surprised face he ran a hand through her hair.“ Are you okay ? Why do you look so pale ? Kotei, answer me, damn it ! Dumbass, say something !! I'll hit you !!!”
“ B-but.... brother....,” she looked back at the school. How did he reach here so fast ? She looked back at him.“Nii-chan is so fast !”
“ What ?”
“ Nii-chan was there with Kotei. But nii-chan is here now with Kotei. Kotei's confused.”
“ What are you talking about !”
Kageyama shook her by the shoulders. Did she hit her head ? Miwa will kill him. He shook his own head before picking her up.“ I'm putting you to bed right now.”
“ But—”
“No buts.”
She was going to protest when she noticed Daichi in the background holding a trumpet in his right hand. With a frustrated look he looked here and there as if looking for someone. She gulped and avoided eye contact.
Smiling nervously she said,“ Kotei's suddenly sleepy. Okay, Kotei will sleep.”
Kageyama raised a perfect eyebrow at that. But let it slide.
______________________________________
Three chapters in a row ?! I'm on a roll !! Yk I couldn't wait to upload this one.... it's the second part of the previous chapter. Training camp arc ends with this one so—
Kotei : BOO !!
AH ! GOSH, KOTEI, AUTHOR HAS A POOR HEART 🙂 HAVE MERCY !!!!
Kotei : No mercedes for author, hehe~
You mean mercy ?
Kotei : Right, right, that !
Anyway —
Kotei : Please let Kotei say it ! Please, please, please, please, pretty please (づ￣ ³￣)づ
Okay *sigh* go ahead.
Kotei : Yaayyyyyyyyyy ! Thanks for reading this chapter ! Kotei's really happy everyone's Liking it so far...so so happy, Kotei might cry
(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ') plzzz look forward to the next chapters and don't forget to give Author lots of...lots of....uh....loathe !!
NO ! WHAT'RE YOU SAYING ?
Kotei : Loathe means love, right ?
I really shouldn't let you near the ending script....
Kotei : Welp ¯\( ʘ‿ʘ )/¯