10- Hide and Seek

Rain hammered against the window with thunder claps in sky. 

The lights flickered at first then went off.
Total darkness.

Chi-chan: "Gaaah! I can't see! Uwaaa! my toe hit a table leg!"

Rinka: (Calmly lighting a candle) "The fuse box blew up It's gonna be dark for hours."

Poko: "It’s spooky! Like a horror movie scene!"

Chi-chan: "Wait... this is the perfect opportunity. Rinka! I challenge you! Hide-and-Seek!"

Rinka: "No. I have to calculate the repair costs."

Chi-chan: "Are you scared? If you find me, I will scrub the toilet for a month! But if I win... you have to be my slave for rest of life!"

Rinka: (Slowly turns her head toward Chi-chan, her grin  illuminated by the candle from below) "You want to play prey? Fine. I will count to ten."

Rinka walked to the wall. She pulled out her Iron Fan.

Rinka: "One..."

Her voice sounded different. It wasn't Rinka the Shopkeeper...It was Rinka the Sadist.

Chi-chan: "Why does 'One' sound like a death threat?! SCATTER!"

Chi-chan and Poko ran up the stairs to the storage room.

Baku-chan was too lazy to run so she just opened a drawer and stuffed her head inside. Her body was still sticking out.

Chi-chan: "Poko! We need high-level stealth! Transform into something inconspicuous!"

Poko: "Got it! I’ll blend in!"
(Poko puts a leaf on her head). "TRANSFORM! MICHELANGELO’S STATUE OF DAVID!"

POOF.

Poko transformed into a beautiful, white marble statue of a naked muscular man... except she still had Poko’s face, raccoon ears, and giant chest. she was posing like a bodybuilder.

Chi-chan: "Are you really that dumb? What's the point of this? That stands out! Transform into a box! Just a box!"

Poko: "Okay, okay! CARDBOARD BOX!"

POOF.

Poko became a cardboard box.
Chi-chan: "Good. Now let me inside!"
Chi-chan lifted the box and crawled under it.

Chi-chan: "Hehehe. Perfect defense. She will never look under a dirty box."

Rinka (Voice from downstairs): "Five... Six... I smell fear..."

Chi-chan: "Why can I hear her through the floor?! She’s coming!"

[The Hunt Begins]

Rinka walked through the dark hallway holding the candle.
She passed the drawer where Baku-chan’s body was sticking out.

Rinka: "Found you."

Rinka poked Baku-chan’s butt with the fan.

Baku-chan: (snoring) "ZZZZZ..."

Rinka: " I’ll deal with you later."

Rinka kept walking. Creak. Creak(floorboards sound).

[Upstairs - Inside the Poko-Box]

It was tight. Chi-chan and Poko (Box Form) were sharing the same space.

Poko (Box Form): "Chi-chan... your elbow is hitting my kidney...Or what used to be my kidney."

Chi-chan: "Shhh! I hear footsteps! Hold your breath!"

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The footsteps stopped right in front of room.
Through the hand-hole in the box, Chi-chan saw Rinka’s wooden sandals.

Rinka: "I know you are in this room."

Chi-chan’s heart stopped. She covered her mouth.

Suddenly, Chi-chan felt a vibration.
 Hebi-o, was tickling her nose.

Chi-chan: (Internal Scream) "No! Not now! Hebi-o, stop! I’m going to sneeze!"

Hebi-o: "I’m bored, boss."

Chi-chan: (Desperate) "Mmmph... Mmmmgghh..."

She pinched her nose and she stopped the sneeze.
But the pressure had to go somewhere...

Pooot....Tut.

A fart echoed inside the cardboard box.
Because it was a box, the acoustics amplified the sound like a subwoofer.

Poko (Box Form): "CHI-CHANNNNN!"

Chi-chan: "IT WASN'T ME! IT WAS HEBI-O!"

Hebi-o: "Boss..."

Rinka: "Found you."

Rinka didn't lift the box.
Instead, she sat on it.

Chi-chan: "GYAAH! CRUSHED! THE CEILING IS COLLAPSING!"

Poko (Box Form): "I can't hold much longer!"

Rinka: (Sitting calmly on the box) "I wonder what is inside this box? Maybe I should tape it shut and ship it to Africa."

Chi-chan: (Banging on the inside) "NO! PLEASE! I SURRENDER! OPEN THE LID! IT STINKS IN HERE!"

Rinka: "Say the magic words."

Chi-chan: "RINKA THE GODDESS OF BEAUTY! I AM A SMELLY SWAMP GOBLIN!"

Rinka: "Good girl."

Rinka stood up.
Poko (unable to hold the form anymore due to laughing/choking) reverted to human form.
Chi-chan and Poko sprawled onto the floor, gasping for fresh air.

Chi-chan: "I almost died... due to friendly fire..."

Rinka:(with a sadist grin) "Hehe!! Game over. Punishment time."

10 minutes later light came back on.

In the middle of the living room, there was a new art installation.
Chi-chan was duct-taped to the wall.
Poko was duct-taped to the wall just above chi-chan's head.
Baku-chan was duct-taped to the ceiling (still asleep).

Rinka: "Since you like hiding in the dark, you can stay there as 'Wall Decorations' for the rest of the night."

Chi-chan: "My nose itches! Rinka! Scratch my nose!"

Poko: "Hey Chi-chan... you know what's funny?"

Chi-chan: "What?"

Poko: "I have to pee."

Chi-chan: "DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU DARE! POKOOOOOO—!!"