With the day drawing late, the group proceeded through the halls of the Ryokan together. Leading the way like usual was Wataru, who stared down at the pamphlet page as they walked. After a long while of silence, he suddenly spoke.

“Hey, guys. It looks like there's a shrine in this place, according to the map.”

“A shrine?” Yuuna asked. “Shall we go pay our respects?"

“Eh, it sounds kind of boring,” Cho remarked, pouting slightly.

“W-We better go. If we don't pray to a shrine like that every day we're here, we'll get c-cursed.”

“For real?” Ryuko looked to Kaho, nervousness plaguing her expression. “I-If you say it that seriously, I'll believe it, you know.”

“O-Oh yeah. It's happened to a f-few of my relatives in the past,” she replied, glancing away dismissively.

“It's on the way back, so it wouldn't hurt to check it out, right?” Wataru offered.

“Sakurai and I already prayed earlier with the others, so we'll head back to our room,” announced Takagi. “There are some things I need to discuss with the other teachers. Don't break anything.”

“Okay! Good night, Teacher! Miss Sakurai!” Cho said with a big smile.

“Good night everyone.” Sakurai returned the smile and walked off with Takagi. After waving them off, the group headed for the shrine, exiting the Ryokan building and heading up the pathway that led to their destination.

“Ah… it's pretty,” Ryu said, eyes wide in awe as they arrived.

“The flowers and pottery look amazing. This shrine has been well-kept,” Yuuna said as she leaned down to inspect the plants placed decoratively around the area.

“Ah, th-that statue...!” Everyone paused at Kaho's reaction, turning to see her staring in shock at a statue placed at the far end of the shrine’s entrance.

“You recognize that statue, Okeda?” Takeshi asked.

“I-I do! It's Kurokami! The Black God!”

“Kurokami? I've never heard of that,” Wataru said.

“Kurokami is a v-very famous malevolent god that's existed since the E-Edo period! Some say he went around p-possessing samurai and turning them into bloodthirsty k-killers! He's e-evil incarnate!”

“Why would Miss Yamamuro have a shrine dedicated to a god like that?” Yuuna asked.

“Who knows?” Wataru shrugged. “But we might as well pay our respects since we're here.”

As the group approached the statue, Takeshi noticed a fly buzzing around near Ryuko's head.

“Hey, watch out,” he said as he smacked his palm against her. Unfortunately, he ended up missing the fly and simply striking her on the head as it flew away.

“Ow, what the-? The hell was that for, asshole?” she snapped, bringing a hand up to hold the area where he’d hit her.

“There was a fly on you, my bad,” he replied with a casual shrug.

Misinterpreting his behavior as horseplay, she suddenly grinned. “Oh yeah, well I see one on you too!”

In the next moment, she brought her fist up and jabbed him in the chest lightly, causing him to chuckle and retaliate with a gentle shove. From there, the two began full-on rough-housing.

“Heh… M-Maybe you two shouldn't get so rowdy in a place like this…” Emi warned, an awkward smile on her face. Having apparently not heard her though, they continued their exchange, finally ending when Ryuko gave him a shove that was just a bit too hard.

“Ah-whoa!”

The force of the shove knocked him off balance, causing him to trip on himself and fall right into the statue of Kurokami. The sculpture fell off of the pedestal it had been placed on, shattering into large pieces as it hit the ground.

“Ah, oh crap! You okay, Takeshi?” Ryuko asked worriedly, rushing over to help him to his feet.

“Um, y-yeah I'm fine. But the statue…”

“That's… not good, is it?” Yuuna asked, brows furrowed.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What have you done?!” Kaho yelled.

“I-I'm sorry. That was totally my fault!”

“No, I was the one who hit you in the first place! And I could've avoided the statue if I was more careful.”

Wataru waved them off. “Let's not worry about assigning blame, and focus on repairing this the best we can, okay?” Nodding in agreement, the group did their best to fix the statue, putting all of the pieces in place.

“You can still see the cracks, but at least it looks whole again,” Reina said.

“This should be good enough for now,” Yuuna said. “Let's notify the teachers tomorrow morning and apologize to Miss Yamamuro.”

“Before that, we should pray for forgiveness,” Taitchi advised.

“He's r-right!” Kaho exclaimed. “If we don't, w-we'll all get cursed!”

“Okay, then. Let’s do it.” On Wataru’s order, everyone approached the statue and closed their eyes as they pressed their palms together, sending a silent prayer to the statue.

“Th-There. That should be good enough, right?” Ryuko asked.

“W-We're so sorry, Kurokami-sama! P-Please don't be mad and curse us!” Cho cried, pressing her palms together extra hard as she squinted her eyes.

“Please!” Ryu echoed her as he did the same.

“Well, it looks like we've done all we can. Let's head back to the room,” Wataru said. As the group turned to leave, Emi stayed behind and continued to stare at the statue with a worried expression.

“Nothing… bad will happen, right?” she whispered, unsure if she was speaking to herself, the statue, or to Kurokami himself. “Everything will be fine... right?”

“Emi! What's the hold up?” Ryuko’s voice snapped her out of her slight trance, and she swallowed before backing away slowly.

“Yeah… Everything will be fine.”

Turning, Emi ran to join the others, and they headed back to their room together.

-----

“Phew, I'm beat!” Cho said as she sprawled out on her futon. “We've played so much today, haven't we?”

“You've got that right,” Wataru agreed as he and the others sat down in their respective spots. “First there was the pool, then the restaurant…”

“Then the games room, and after that was dinner,” Yuuna continued.

“Next we went to the hot springs, and then the shrine,” Taitchi added.

“And that brings us to now,” Ryuko concluded. “Overall, it's been a pretty awesome day.”

“Yeah, i-if you don't count what happened at the shrine. I bet we're all c-cursed now,” Kaho muttered.

“Look, it's best not to think about those things. I mean, what are the chances that this ‘curse’ even exists?” Takeshi asked.

“Careful. People like you are usually the f-first victim. Especially since you broke the s-statue in the first place,” Kaho replied with a grin.

“Th-That's…”

“Well, if anyone's gonna get cursed, it'd be Ryu-chan right? She pushed him into the statue,” Cho noted.

“W-Well I…”

“Give it a rest, both of you,” Wataru said. “Let's just forget about the statue and focus on other things.”

“Ooh ooh! I vote we play Truth or Dare!” Cho suddenly shouted.

“We're supposed to be getting ready for bed, you know…” Reina sighed.

“It's fine~! We can stay up for a little longer, right Wattan?”

“I don't think that's…”

“I think it would be fun. I've never played a game like that with friends before,” Yuuna said with a gentle smile.

“W-Well if you think so, Yuuna then… maybe it's not such a bad idea.” Seeing the smirk Takeshi sent his way, Wataru rolled his eyes as everyone gathered in a circle.

“It just so happens that for occasions like these, I keep this around~!” As Cho spoke, she produced an empty bottle of sake from inside of her yukata.

Reina reached up to massage the bridge of her nose at the sight of it. “I'm not even gonna ask at this point.”

“Alllllright, I'll spin first!” She quickly placed the bottle down in the center of the circle and swiped one side of it. It spun for a while before landing on Ryuko.

“Ryu-chan! Truth or dare!”

“Heh, dare me.”

“I dare you to call Miss Sakurai while pretending you're Teacher's ex-girlfriend that got the wrong number.”

“...I choose truth.”

“Nope~!”

“C-Come on, I'm beggin' here. I don't wanna die young.”

“I don't think Mister Takagi does either…” Emi smiled awkwardly.

“Hey, you chose dare didn't you? Face the consequences of your actions!” Cho demanded.

Resigning herself to her fate, Ryuko sighed as she pulled out her cellphone. “Hahh, damn it... What was that trick to make your number show up as ‘unknown’?”

“Ah, you gotta put *67 before the number you're calling,” Takeshi answered.

“Yeah, thanks.” With a few key presses, she dialed Sakurai's number and put it to her ear.

“Ah ah ahhhh~” Cho waggled her finger with a huge smirk on her face. “Speaker.”

“Hrng…” She put it on speaker phone and everyone gathered around to lean in closer.

“Um, hello?” came Sakurai’s voice on the other line.

“Uh, hey is Teach…” Ryuko paused, quickly switching to a more feminine and formal tone of voice. “I-I mean, is… Takagi there?”

“...Who is this?”

“This is… Y-Yukko. I just wanna talk-, I-I mean I would like to speak with him.”

“...”

“...U-Um, hello?”

*Click*

“Ah, she hung up,” Cho announced matter-of-factly.

“That's… not good, is it?” Yuuna asked, mirroring herself from earlier.

“I wonder who our next teacher will be,” Reina said, shaking her head in disappointment

“Don't write him off like he's already dead…” Taitchi retorted.

“Alright! Time for round two!” Cho suddenly declared, smiling unperturbed.

“Show some compassion! This is your fault, you know!” Takeshi shouted.

-----

“Just gotta spin this bottle, right? Here I go!” Reaching in, Ryuko spun the bottle, the object turning for a while before landing on Kaho. “Truth or dare, Okeda?”

“Truth.”

“Aw, what? Are you afraid of a li'l dare?” she taunted.

“Like h-hell I'd choose dare when you're the one p-picking,” Kaho replied while rolling her eyes.

“Fine, fine. Okay so... If you could have any one wish, what'd it be?”

“Easy, I'd use it to m-make Koime's mouth disappear forever.”

“Heyyy~”

“Now it's my turn.” Kaho spun the bottle, and it landed on Wataru.

“T-Tanehara. Truth or dare.”

“Uh…”

Everyone's gazes suddenly became intense as they all turned to him, and he could swear that giant letters reading 'CHOOSE TRUTH' appeared behind them.

“Ah… dare?”

Kaho grinned maliciously at him. “I dare you to t-tell the truth. Who do you like?”

“Damn it, I knew that was coming!”

Emi smiled sympathetically at him. “Yeah, there wasn’t much of a chance you were gonna get out of that one…”

“A n s w e r…” Yuuna leaned forward, staring at him with shimmering eyes.

“U-Uh… well… I… um…”

“Answeransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweransweranswer...!” Cho muttered repeatedly as she too watched him closely.

“U-Um… so…” After a while of sputtering and hesitating, Wataru suddenly rubbed the back of his neck and stood up. “I-Isn't it kinda stuffy in here? I think I'm gonna go get some air.”

“Nooooo~! Coward!”

“Who's the coward?!” he barked at Cho. “I-I'm just gonna go get a drink or something. I'll be right back, so feel free to skip me or whatever.” As Wataru exited the room, he continued rubbing his neck. “Jeez, I should've just sent everyone to sleep. What a pain in the neck…” he mumbled on his way out.

After he left, Cho began swinging her legs through the air as she slammed her fists into the ground childishly. “How dare he sneak away right at the good part?! That damned Wattan!”

Though she didn’t voice it aloud, Yuuna seemed to be in agreement with the way she pouted and her shoulders sunk.

“So who'll spin next?” Taitchi asked.

“I vote for Fukuoka,” Takeshi said.

“Funny, I vote for you,” she responded in kind.

“I second that,” Ryuko said.

“Ryu thirds.”

“Fourth~!”

“E-Eh?! How'd this turn on me?”

“That's what you get for trying to cross me. Now spin.”

“Tch, fine. It's not like I mind either way.” Takeshi quickly spun the bottle, only for it to land on Reina.

“What?!”

“Hah! Not so tough now, are we?” he taunted. “Truth or dare, Fukuoka?”

“Truth, obviously.”

“Tch, I bet you think you're all safe with truth. I'll show you. What do you think of Yoshida, huh?”

“I think he's a boy. Was that all?”

“Gah!” Takeshi recoiled at Reina’s simple answer.

“So you mean to say you recognize him as a man?” Cho asked, smirking.

“I wouldn't go that far,” Reina said as she waved a hand dismissively.

“I'm sitting right here, remember?”

“Anyway, it's my turn now, right? Fine.” Ignoring Taitchi, Reina reached in and spun the bottle. It landed back on Takeshi.

“Ahahahaha! Allow me to introduce you to a little something called ‘karma’. Truth or dare.”

“T-Truth.”

“Uh uh uh,” Reina held up her finger “You don't get to hide behind that. Didn't you just call me out on it earlier?”

“Wh-What are you saying?”

“Didn't you know? You can't use truth more than twice in a row in Truth or Dare.”

“Says who?!”

“It's in the official rules. I doubt you've bothered to check them, though.”

Taitchi raised a brow. “Well I doubt using a bottle is anywhere in the ‘official rules’ either…”

“Shush you,” Reina snapped at him, glaring slightly before turning back to Takeshi.

“Grr… fine. Dare,” he relented.

“Good boy. Now, I dare you to call Mister Takagi while posing as Miss Sakurai's ex-boyfriend who wants to make it clear that she belongs to him.”

“That's even worse than the first one!” he shouted.

“Will things be the same with only 9 students from now on...?” Ryuko asked as she closed her eyes and shook her head sullenly

“I'm still alive!”

“Not for long,” Taitchi quipped.

“Ghh... This'll be a piece of cake, you'll see.” Dialing Takagi's number, Takeshi put it on speaker and held it out for the others to hear, only to get his voicemail.

“H-He's alright, isn't he?” Yuuna asked worriedly, thoughts drifting back to Ryuko’s dare. “I-It's just on silent, right?”

“What are you waiting for?” Reina asked. “Go ahead and leave a voicemail.”

“You want me to go that far?! He might actually believe it, you know!”

“This is your queen's order, so you must follow it without hesitation. Understand?”

“Damn it…” With a sigh, he waited for the call to end so he could leave a voicemail. As soon as he heard the beep sound, he spoke in a deep, masculine voice.

“E-Ey, is dis uh… Hagakure? Dis is um… T-Takke callin'. I's be Sakurai's… man. I'm tryna make sure we have an understandin' on certain things, so uh… hit me back.” He quickly pressed the end button before releasing a sigh of relief.

“You… put a lot into that performance,” Taitchi commented.

“Did I? I just said whatever came to mind,” Takeshi responded with a shrug.

“Impressive,” said Reina. “You sounded so authentic that I have to wonder if you've done this before.”

“Of course not!”

-----

After a few more rounds, Yuuna suddenly spoke up, having glanced at the door multiple times up until then.

“...Hey guys, Wataru still hasn't come back, has he?”

“True. Wonder what's takin' him so long,” Ryuko said as she threw her hands behind her head.

Cho waved a dismissive hand. “Ah, you know how boys are.”

“And what exactly does that mean?” Takeshi narrowed his eyes at her slightly.

“...” Yuuna sent another anxious glance towards the door, then stood up abruptly. “I-I'm going to go check on him.”

“Dying to see him, are we?” Cho asked with a grin. Her comment caused a blush to spread across Yuuna’s face.

“Y-Yes! I-I mean, no! I mean...! B-Bye!” She quickly made her way out of the room, tripping over a futon with an adorable squeal on the way out.

“Ahhh, that girl. What are we gonna do with her?” Cho said with a satisfied sigh.

“You sound like a p-pervy old man,” Kaho sniped.

“Eh-he-he. Why don'tcha tell grandpa who yer fancyin'?”

“Can you just spin the bottle? It's your turn,” Reina said, not at all amused by her jokes.

“Alright, alright.” Cho reached in and spun the bottle, and it eventually landed on Emi. “Mi-chan! Truth or dare~!”

“Truth!”

“Okaaaaay…” She put a hand to her chin as she considered what question to ask. “Tell me what your favorite part of today was.”

“Hmmm, I think…” Emi thought about it for a while, and eventually a bright smile spread across her face. “Everything was fun, because we were all together. Anything we do is fun as long as we're together. Every single-”

“KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!” A sudden, blood-curdling cry echoed throughout the entire building, interrupting Emi.

“Eh?! Th-That was Asano just now, wasn't it?!” Ryuko said, eyes shooting open in shock.

“Come on!” Takeshi shouted as he jumped to his feet. The rest of them stood and rushed out of the room with him, running all the way to the source of the noise.

“Asano! What's wrong?! What happened?!” Emi called as they came across her knelt down in the middle of a random hallway.

Yuuna, who was covering her mouth with both hands, slowly moved a shaking appendage to point ahead of her, her eyes wide open in horror.

“H… He… He's…”

“Huh? What are you… say…”

Looking ahead, a chill ran down everyone's spine at the sight of Wataru, noose around his neck, motionlessly hanging from a ceiling rafter.

“Tane… hara...?”

To Be Continued.