Chapter 24:
Ambition and the Foreign Girl
There is running in fear, and there is cowering in fear. Both are two sides of the same coin, the coin of course being an unknown threat either real or imagined. Believe it or not, handling fear is one of the rungs on the ladder to the top of the world; atop the grandest of heights are the abundance of threats looking to take you down.
Tani has spent countless hours preparing for the many things that could destroy him, yet after years of hard work, what remains are a handful that still elicit unbridled fear.
One of which is failure; every successful person has a distinct fear of never reaching their potential despite their best efforts, hard work worth nothing has no value after all.
At least in their eyes.
Most use that fear as a driving force and motivation to excel and try even harder, pushing themselves to a level where failure becomes impossible.
Another is the fear of being wrong; this could mean being wrong about anything considering that no one is always right. But being wrong at the biggest of moments is a pitfall anyone could unknowingly fall into.
Next is the fear of what he can’t understand. And this means 'everything' he can’t understand. If not made properly known, the feelings of those around him can shake him to his core, as evidenced by how he’s acted around Anita as of late. That particular one out of the many doesn’t actually trigger the fight or flight instinct laying dormant inside of everyone quite like a figure in the shadows would.
He doesn’t understand what is sharing the halls of Kokusai with him, and he doesn’t understand why. Which is, of course, terrifying.
And thus, he has run in fear, and now he is cowering in fear inside class 3-D.
Hiding underneath Yoshikawa sensei’s desk alongside him is Anita, and they are in the process of tempering their breaths so as to not make any noise to alarm whatever is looming outside in the dimly lit hallways.
“This is a crazy situation to be a part of.” Tani says with a nervous laugh. “Everyone’s cell phones are in the computer science clubroom, we can’t even call for help unless we make it back there.”
“What should we do? We can try to warn the others about the ghost?”
“It’s not a ghost, Anita, there’s an actual person here. Which is way more scary!”
“Sshh…” Nudging his shoulder with her own, their bodies press against each other in the tight space underneath the desk. “The ghost will hear you.”
“Listen, this isn’t the time for jokes.” Tani pays no mind to her contact, he actually leans in closer as he speaks in a whisper. “The others should be safe since they’re locked inside the gym and auditorium until they finish their tasks. We’re going to have to do this on our own.”
“What can we do?”
Tani ponders her question, he sucks on his bottom lip. “I’m going to take advantage of the fact that I have extensively studied the schematics of this school’s design in case an emergency ever came up.”
Anita tilts her head. Just what kind of emergency was he planning for where he’d have to do that?
“If the intruder going to try and sneak up on us, we will use the same tactic against them. All we need to do is get to the computer room in time before the club members finish their tasks. I’ll permanently lock the others where they are to keep them safe from harm, and with ourselves barricaded in the club room along with our phones, we’re only one quick call away from securing our safe exit off school grounds.”
The plan sounds feasible, as of now every room other than the ones being used by the Language club are open and accessible. If they can reach his headquarters he’ll use all the tech available to him to trap the intruder wherever it may be.
Anita clenches her fists in excitement.
Tani looks into her golden eyes, glistening even from within the relative darkness of the desk they're hiding under.
“I hope you’re light on your feet, let’s make our move.”
She smiles and salutes him. “Copy that!”
“Shhh! Not so loud!”
Anita shrinks back and covers her mouth like a school child just scolded by an adult. Tani can’t help but feel like she isn’t taking this situation serious enough.
Poking his head out from under the desk, his gaze lands on the window of the door of the classroom, he’ll need to get a better view of what’s outside if they want to make their escape, so he crawls to the door and slowly stands to his feet.
Not sparing even an inch, he discreetly peeks out into the hallways.
“!!”
He rips his head away upon seeing the dark shape of a humanoid figure gliding down the hallway right towards him. Hoping that the figure didn’t see the corner of his face peeking through the window, he nervously leans his back against the door, stuck in a crouching position.
His triggered senses are embroiled in a desperate attempt to hear the incoming footsteps needed to gauge the location of the intruder, but instead, what reaches his ears is the unnatural sound of a steady whiz. Nothing in his brain is able to recollect the noise and place meaning to it, which has the effect of skyrocketing his heart rate.
The light peeking in from the little window on the door is suddenly blocked off like a solar eclipse, the temperature of the darkened classroom seems to drop from within the shadow being cast by whatever is outside the door.
Tani holds his breath, he can’t see what’s above him, but he knows there is someone there behind the unlocked door peering in, attempting to spot them hiding amongst the desks.
It won’t take but a simple pull, and Tani would be the last line of defense, or in this case, the first victim, before the figure can make its way to Anita.
Never in his life has he felt more vulnerable.
Thoughts of horrors race uncontrollably into his mind as the presence outside of the door lingers on for torturously long seconds. But as quickly as the tension came, it scatters away once the faint light returns through the window, and the whizzing sound slides off down the hallway before disappearing all together.
The figure has passed by class 3-D.
Tani’s tense shoulders fall with the weight of anvils.
“Okay…” he says with a quiver in his voice. “I’m willing to entertain the idea that it might be a ghost.”
To Be Continued!!
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