Dakota glanced toward the dark windows. The lights in the neighboring houses had begun switching off one by one. The living room was illuminated only by the television's idle screen and the small lamp beside the couch.
Dakota: "It's time for ghost stories."
Chifuyu: "No, meow."
Yukinoya: "Scared?"
Chifuyu: "No, how am I going to tell a ghost story when I'm talking like this, meow."
Dakota switched off the television: "Leave it to me. I'll tell the ultimate ghost story."
The living room darkened. Only the lamp remained
Yukinoya: "It better be good."
Dakota: "There's been a rumor spreading between the classes at our school."
Chifuyu: "About what, meow?"
Dakota: "I don't wanna spoil it. It started with Class Four."
He leaned forward, letting the dim light cast shadows over his face.
Dakota: "It was a rainy day. A few students said they kept hearing footsteps outside their classroom during the final period. The footsteps always began at exactly four minutes before the final bell. Step, step, step, step. Every student heard it, but whenever someone checked, the hallway was empty. At first, the class laughed about it. One boy even shouted for the invisible person to hurry up. The footsteps stopped immediately."
Dakota paused.
Yukinoya: "And?"
Dakota: "Nothing happened that day. But the boy stopped coming to school three days later. His family claimed he had transferred, but his desk was never cleared out. Then Class Three began hearing the footsteps. But this time, the sound didn't stop outside the door. It entered the classroom. The students heard the steps moving between their desks even though nobody was there. One girl began crying when the empty chair beside her slowly pulled itself away from the table. The teacher dismissed it as a prank and pushed the chair back. That night, the teacher returned to the classroom because she had forgotten her bag. She never reached the parking lot. The next morning, her belongings were found on the floor beside the chair."
Yukinoya laughed nervously: "Haha. When did you get so good at making up stories?"
Dakota: "It's not made up. It happened before we started school here. According to the older students, the footsteps belonged to a sixth-grade girl named Saki who had vanished fifteen years earlier. She was quiet, unpopular, and often remained behind after school because she hated returning home. The teachers knew something was wrong, but whenever they asked, she smiled and insisted everything was fine. One evening, a janitor saw her sitting alone inside a classroom long after every other student had left. He told her to go home, but she refused. When he returned ten minutes later, the classroom was empty. Saki was never seen again. Police searched the building. They checked everywhere, but they couldn't find her. The only clue was a sentence carved beneath her desk. 'I don't want to go home.'"
The room fell silent.
Dakota: "The footsteps began after she disappeared. Saki wandered through the school, searching for anyone who had stayed behind. The rumor eventually reached one boy who decided to prove it was fake. He snuck into the school at night and brought a camera with him. He sat inside Class Four and recorded himself laughing about Saki. Then, the footsteps began. You can even hear them on the camera. The boy's smile disappeared. The classroom door opened by itself. The recording began to glitch. A pale hand appeared on the window behind him. The fingers pressed slowly against the glass from the hallway side. Then a girl's voice came through the recording. 'Will you stay with me?'"
Chifuyu and Yukinoya remained motionless.
Dakota: "The video ended there."
Yukinoya swallowed: "What happened to the boy?"
Dakota: "He was found the next morning."
Chifuyu: "Dead, meow?"
Dakota shook his head: "Sitting at his desk. The police thought he had suffered some kind of shock. He wouldn't speak. He wouldn't eat. Eventually, his parents came to get him. The moment they tried to take him outside, he started screaming. He clawed at the floors. He begged them not to make him go home. They ended up taking him to a hospital. It didn't take long for him to disappear the moment he was left alone. There were no open windows, and no one saw him leave."
Step.
Step.
Step.
Dakota stopped speaking.
The lamp suddenly flickered.
Yukinoya gasped and grabbed Chifuyu's arm.
Chifuyu: "What is that, meow?!"
Dakota looked toward the hallway.
The house was silent.
Then a floorboard creaked outside the living room.
All three froze.
Another creak followed.
The footsteps got closer.
Yukinoya: "Dakota…I don't know how you're doing this but this isn't funny."
Dakota's face had gone pale: "This isn't me."
Step.
Step.
Step.
The sound stopped directly outside the living room.
Chifuyu and Yukinoya clung to each other, staring at the dark doorway. A shadow appeared against the wall.
?: "DON'T LEAVE MEEEEE!!!!"
Chifuyu and Yukinoya: "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
A figure stepped into the room.
Chifuyu's father looked at his terrified son and Yukinoya: "Bwahahahahaha! You should see the look on your guys' faces."
Chifuyu: "Dad?!"
Yukinoya threw the pillow at Dakota: "Dakota!! Dang it, you actually got me!"
Dakota collapsed onto the floor: "Hahahaha!"
Chifuyu: "No way, you were in on this, Dad?"
Chifuyu's dad: "Sure was. Looks like your plan was a success, Dakota."
Dakota: "Oh yeah."
***
Dakota fell asleep first.
He lay flat on his back with both arms folded over his chest, his expression so unnaturally peaceful that he looked less like a sleeping child and more like someone waiting inside a coffin.
Yukinoya whispered: "Look at Dakota." She covered her mouth to suppress a laugh. "He sleeps like a vampire."
Chifuyu: "Hehe. True."
Neither spoke for a moment. The room had grown quiet enough for them to hear the faint hum of the air conditioner and Dakota's soft breathing.
Chifuyu looked back toward Yukinoya.
Then continued looking for a bit too long without realizing.
Yukinoya noticed: "What?"
Chifuyu began thinking of an excuse until he actually found one: "There's something in your hair."
Yukinoya immediately sat straighter. A faint blush appeared across her cheeks: "What is it?" She tried looking upward despite having no possible way of seeing the top of her own head. "Can you get it?"
Chifuyu raised one hand and pointed toward the side of his own hair: "It looks like a brownie crumb. It's right here."
Yukinoya reached up and began patting the wrong side. She managed to pick at every spot except where it was at.
Chifuyu: "It's still there."
Yukinoya: "Come on. Get it for me."
Chifuyu hesitated. He looked away: "Fine."
He moved closer and slowly extended his hand. His fingers were only a few inches away when he stopped. Something about the crumb looked wrong.
Chifuyu narrowed his eyes: "Wait a second. I think it's moving."
Yukinoya's entire body stiffened: "Oh my God. Don't joke like that."
Chifuyu stared for another second: "Oh crap."
Yukinoya: "What?"
Chifuyu scrambled backward: "It's a roach!"
Yukinoya launched herself out of the futon: "EWWW! GET IT OFF!"
Chifuyu: "Shake it off!"
Yukinoya whipped her head from side to side in a complete frenzy. Her hair flew in every direction while she screamed and clawed at it: "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"
Chifuyu: "I'M NOT TOUCHING IT!"
The roach finally flew free. For one brief instant, they both saw it land near the television stand. Then it vanished into the darkness.
Yukinoya stared toward the corner.
Chifuyu stared toward the corner.
Neither blinked.
Behind them, Dakota slowly opened his eyes. He rubbed them sleepily before lifting his head from the pillow.
Dakota: "What's going on?"
Yukinoya pointed toward the television with a trembling finger: "There's a roach!"
Dakota stared at her. Then at the dark corner. Then at his bag. Without another word, he stood, picked up his belongings, and began walking toward the door: "Well, I'll see you guys later."
Chifuyu grabbed his shoulder before he could escape: "Where do you think you're going?"
Dakota continued attempting to walk forward despite being held in place: "I don't wanna die. So I'm going back home."
Chifuyu dragged him away from the doorway: "And leave your comrades behind?"
Dakota started flailing around, trying to break free: "I'm not leaving anybody behind if I was never enlisted! Let me leave!!!"
Chifuyu: "I hope you're prepared for the consequences of deserting the battlefield."
Dakota suddenly began running in place, his legs moving at full speed while Chifuyu held onto the back of his shirt: "But I hate roaches! Please let a fella live!"
Chifuyu: "The moment the monster shows itself, I'll sacrifice you!"
Dakota: "NOOO!"
Yukinoya pointed toward the carpet: "Guys!"
Both boys looked.
The roach emerged from beneath a controller.
Yukinoya: "It's right there! Get it!"
Chifuyu and Dakota: "AAHHHHH!"
All three scattered. Dakota jumped onto the couch. Yukinoya climbed onto a chair. Chifuyu armed himself with a slipper, though every time the roach moved, he retreated three steps.
Dakota crouched on the couch like a frightened gargoyle: "Hit it!"
Chifuyu: "You hit it!"
Dakota: "You have the weapon!"
The roach moved again. All three screamed. By the time Chifuyu's father entered the room, they had barricaded one side of the television stand with pillows and placed candy boxes along the carpet as if preparing for a siege.
He stared at the scene for several seconds.
Chifuyu's dad: "What are you guys doing?"
Chifuyu: "There's an intruder."
His father spotted the roach, picked up a tissue, and caught it in less than five seconds. The three children watched in stunned silence.
Dakota: "He's a veteran."
Yukinoya: "A true warrior."
Chifuyu's dad: "Go to sleep."