Said elevator was at the end of the hallway with its doors open. The inside was glowing with a clear blue light that seemed deliberately conspicuous. It was painfully clear that the light meant safety. Lighting was used in a similar way in video games to distinguish between areas you’d get attacked, and areas you were safe.
“We can make it! We just gotta run into the elevator, Iroha!”
“G-Got it! Just don’t run off without me!”
“Obviously! I’m too scared to let go of your hand!”
“Jeez, you’re a massive wuss! But boy, am I glad for it right now!”
“Stop trying to wind me up when you’re running full-pelt with tears in your eyes!”
Iroha was so well versed in being annoying she could even do it on the fly like this. I’m pretty sure that counts as some sort of acrobatics.
As we shouted over each other and scrambled for the elevator, the ghosts stepped things up another couple of gears.
“STOP FLIRTING!”
Their voices were so throaty I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I could definitely feel their anger and resentment. If I had to guess, they were mad because we were breaking so many rules right now. I couldn’t think of any other reason.
“C’mon, Iroha! We’re gonna...”
“...make it!”
I didn’t even know what we were shouting about anymore as we barreled into the elevator and pressed the “close door” button sixteen times in a row.
There was a crash, a bang, and a series of slams as the ghosts walloped the closed doors, making the cabin rock back and forth. I grimaced, worried that they were actually going to break through. But then, as though realizing their defeat, the banging suddenly stopped.
“Going down.”
A professional, female voice sounded from the speakers, and the elevator began its descent. It seemed I was right in thinking that this was a safe zone where the ghosts couldn’t come after us. That I hadn’t been totally sure of that until the very last minute just went to show the quality of acting training that went into creating these roles.
“Wh-Whew...” I gasped. “You alive?”
“I-I think so,” Iroha wheezed back. “B-But there were like, three times there I thought we were dead.”
“I get you. I had that four times.”
“Then I had it five.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“I need to make sure you don’t forget that I’m the dominant one in this relationship. You won’t find a senpai out there who’s stronger than their kouhai.”
“Wouldn’t it make you more domineering if you thought we were gonna die fewer times than me?”
It was a pointless argument, exchanged between bouts of ragged breathing, but Iroha’s teasing and bragging were proof that things were regaining normality.
And, as if I needed further proof, once we had our breath back, Iroha grinned at me mischievously. “Y’know, Senpai, I never knew you could scream like that. Are you a scaredy-cat or what?”
“You’re one to talk. You can’t pretend you weren’t a total mess out there.”
“Aww, but I’m just a frail young girl! Being terrified makes me even cuter!”
“Tch. Hiding behind your femininity, huh? That’s pretty low.”
Iroha puffed out her chest and wagged a finger at me. “There’s that, and there’s the fact I’m so darn good at adapting to any situation! Have you forgotten what my specialty is?”
I didn’t know why she was bragging like this all of a sudden, but what the heck.
“Acting,” I replied.
“Exactly! And acting is all about observing and copying!”
“Okay. What’s your point?”
“My point is...I observed those ghosts as much as I needed to. I now know everything about their behavior and thinking patterns, which means I can predict anything they might try to do to us after this. It’s gonna be mighty hard for me to be scared when I know exactly what’s about to happen! Whaddya think of that?”
“You get five outta ten.”
“Wait, what am I getting graded on?”
“That was annoying to listen to. But you played it too safe, and it was kinda bland.”
“You were scoring me on how annoying that was?!”
“What else would I score you on?” I grinned at her.
“Hmph! I guess it’s good you know you’re my punching bag, but picking on you’s gonna get boring if you’re just gonna start analyzing it all the time,” Iroha muttered, sulking.
I felt really calm right now. Exchanging the most pointless of blows with Iroha made me smile without even realizing it. Even though I was on a class trip—in the middle of a haunted house, no less—it felt like I was relaxing at home under the—crash!—kotatsu.
Huh?
Was it my imagination, or did the elevator just sway again—and pretty violently at that?
The ghosts had stopped attacking us. We were supposed to be on our way to the first floor already.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Gah!”
“Eeek!”
Out of nowhere, an alarm went off. The blue light in here turned red and started to flicker. Crackling white noise interlaced with the announcement that came from the elevator’s speakers.
“Going down... Going...down...hell... Going down...to hell...”
“Elevators aren’t supposed to say that, right?!”
“I thought the blue meant we were safe!” Iroha cried.
“I think it did—but the blue’s gone now!”
“Even zombie games don’t change a save point into a monster house just like that!”
“This is your fault for bragging so hard! You totally jinxed it!”
“Excuse me?! Don’t pin this on me! You’re the one who jinxed it, saying this elevator was the end and everything!”
“Hell... Hell... Kill the couple! Hell...”
“EEP! WE’RE SORRY!!!” we yelled together.
The second the elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened, Iroha and I were outta there, sprinting towards the exit—a large door that was flung open right in front of us, revealing what looked to be natural light—as fast as we could. Even when we entered the morgue, which seemed to be the final obstacle (though I don’t know why there was a morgue in a freaking mansion, and I didn’t have time to think about it) and people—sorry, ghosts—started getting up left and right to chase us, we didn’t look back. We just kept on running.
And eventually...
“We made it...”
“We did it, Senpai!”
Iroha and I looked at each other.
“This is really the goal now, right?” she asked.
“Yup. We did it, Iroha. This is the one and only...”
“Goal!” we cried in unison and we beamed like marathon runners finally running through the golden tape at the end of a telethon.
It was a truly exhilarating moment. I could hear the ending theme, the roars of the waves and the cheers of the wind... Not in real life. Just in my head.
What ending theme? Probably the national anthem or something, I dunno. You pick.
But it felt genuinely amazing.
Thank God no one died.