Of Ghosts and Underwear
Title: Of Ghosts and Underwear
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Sakuraiba
Word Count: 1804 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho's paranoia of ghosts leads to an amusing, silly misunderstanding.
Disclaimer: So far I only own two photosets of Sho and a set of Arashi playing cards. I wish I'd own Arashi, but no. I don't. ._.
Author note: (See end of story)
I'm NEVER going out to the movies with you ever again!"
Sho said shakily as he was escorted by Ninomiya Kazunari out of the cinema.
Yes, they were best friends. He knew.
Yes, Nino has his mischievous antics. He knew, and he was used to it.
But what possessed him to accompany him to three different horror movies for a cinema promotion in October, he had no idea.
Then again, Nino had left out the part that it was a horror movie marathon when he was told about it.
"Well, at least now we've watched our money's worth. We can go back home now to sleep in pea-"
"Excuse me? You might be sleeping soundly later tonight but I won't be!" Sho retorted, "really now, you knew I hate horror movies!"
"Well, it was fun at least."
"It was NOT fun for me!"
Nino sighed. "Alright. Just sleep well tonight. If you get nightmares tomorrow morning, you can call me out for a huuuge dinner, ne?"
"What are you talking about? I don't even know if I'll wake up tomorrow!" Sho said, "if THAT thing appears out of the closet and takes me away.."
"... Well if IT does appear and you want to stay alive," Nino said, "be sure not to scream or it'll rip your tong-"
"SHUT UP, NINO. SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sho yelled as he covered his ears and walked faster, leaving a snickering Nino behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, Sho woke up tiredly in his bed.
Oddly enough, he had a rather dreamless sleep. Then again, his subconscious was probably too scared to properly fall asleep. He shuffled lazily over to the bathroom, giving himself a stretch as he did so and washed up. He placed two slices of bread in the toaster and reached over for his mug. He shuffled over to the sink to rinse it and looked out of the window.
"Wow, the sun really is beating down this morning," he thought and was about to turn away when he saw it.
He turned back towards the window and looked closely.
In a window of the apartment building just opposite his, he could see a faceless woman with fair skin, long black hair and a red headband. He froze right where he was, his eyes squinting as he watched the woman stay right where she was.
And then her body moved slightly, as if she was doing something by the windo-
DING!
Sho jumped as the sound jolted him out into reality. He looked over at the toaster. His breakfast was done.
"No," he whispered to himself," no. No no no, that was just my imagination."
He shook his head and walked over to his toaster and got ready for breakfast.
When he was done, he went back to the sink and started washing his plates and mug. As he did so, he looked up, and once again, the faceless figure was STILL there.
Sho could almost feel shivers run right up his spine. He had heard that even apartment buildings these days might even have their own ghosts, but absolutely had not dreamed that the apartment building opposite his could have a ghost living there.
A faceless one too.
Just like the Noppera-bo, the ghost without a face.
It might be searching for a face to call its own..
Sho's blood ran cold as he reached over for his phone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nino grumbled as he heard his phone ring and picked up the call.
"Good morning, Sho-kun," he said sleepily in his bed,"now what the hell do you want?"
"N-Nino," Sho said fearfully, "I think I just saw a ghost."
"Whaaaat?" Nino said, "that's not possible. It's broad daylight."
"But I swear! I saw it! It's a faceless woman with long black hair and a red headband.."
"Faceless woman? Eh... but really now, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"I'm not!" Sho protested as he hurried to the window, and indeed, the woman seemed to be moving her arms (though they were unseen and hidden by the window), as if she was washing dishes like Sho was.
"Well, if it really bothers you, why not go over and check it out?"
"WHAT?!"
"Seriously, Sho-kun. I think you're very mistaken. Ghosts and evil spirits don't come out in the day."
Hearing Nino's tone, Sho sighed. On one hand, Nino could be right and that he was being overly paranoid. But...
He looked over out at the window and saw the faceless woman move her unseen arms again.
"... O-okay. I'll.. go and.. scope it out."
"Is she right opposite you?"
"No, about.. maybe 45 degrees to the right?"
"At any rate, even if it WAS a ghost, you will be safe," Nino said cheekily, "spirits only move in a straight line after all. Just hang out a mirror outside, and then..."
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANY BETTER!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sho gulped as he pressed the lift button. He had made his way over to the opposite block and pressed the floor number he had noted from his window. He took huge deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
The doors slid open, and he stepped out.
The apartment unit, however, looked surprisingly normal. Sho did not feel like it looked haunted, secluded, decayed or anything. With a shaky hand, he pressed the doorbell under the name plate that read "Aiba".
*Ding Dong~*
"Coming~" a voice called from inside, and Sho blinked. Someone was in there with the faceless ghost? And whoever that is sounded perfectly alive and well.
The door swung open, and a tall man with brown hair and puppy-dog eyes looked at him in complete surprise.
"..May I help you?" the man asked curiously.
"Good morning, Aiba-san," Sho said politely,"I apologise for interrupting anything, but... er.."
He started to fumble over his words as he tried to pluck up the courage to pop the question.
The man only gave him a slightly awkward smile as he patiently waited for him to continue.
"... You don't.. .happen to have a faceless doll of any sort, right?" Sho asked. The man's eyes arched in surprise.
"What?! No, none of the sort, but why..." he answered.
"B-but, the thing is," Sho said,"I thought I saw a faceless figure out by your window.."
The man seemed even more confused as he directed a look towards the kitchen.
".. I don't know what you're talking about, but would it make you feel better if you went in to have a look?"
Sho hadn't expected that, but he nodded.
"E-excuse me for intruding then," Sho said as he slowly made his way past the living room to the kitchen where he knew the window was.
Oddly enough, the man was right. There wasn't a faceless figure of the sort over there, and the sink was too far from the window for a figure to be washing dishes.
And then he saw it.
A flesh-coloured bra and a red-coloured panties hung out on the laundry line.
"Masaki-kun, do we have a guest?" a female voice called from one of the rooms, and a woman shuffled out.
"Ah, Minami-chan, don't worry about it," Aiba said as he shuffled over to the kitchen towards Sho, who seemed completely frozen and red in embarrassment.
That faceless spirit Sho thought he saw was only a reflection of the laundered underwear against the window from outside- the red panties, the beige bra that formed the "faceless head" and the dark appearance of the window from outside that gave the illusion of someone with long black hair. The reason the "ghost" had moved was because the wind blew and the undergarments swayed with the breeze.
"Well?" Aiba asked as he looked over at Sho and then at the underwear hung out, and a slightly appalled look came over him.
"... d-don't tell me you are a stalker?!" Aiba said, horrified, "you're not here to stalk my cousin or steal her underwear, are you?!"
"What?!" Sho exclaimed, "NO! I'm not stalking anyone or stealing underwear, I swear!"
"Then what is it?" Aiba asked, "you barged in on a Saturday morning into my house, you know. I should at least know."
"... Promise me you won't laugh?" Sho said timidly, "... actually... I thought that I saw a ghost in the apartment building on the other side. I thought I should come over and check and ensure that it was... not.. er.. anything paranormal."
Silence hung in the air for a while.
And before long, Aiba started bursting out in laughter.
"You said you won't laugh!" Sho cried.
"Actually I didn't," Aiba said as he wheezed in laughter, wiping tears away from his eyes, "but I guess you're not a big fan of ghosts, huh."
"And my best friend took me to watch a horror movie last night.." Sho said, "well, I'm going to go now. I'm so sorry I disturbed you." He then walked straight for the door.
"Hey, wait!" Aiba called after Sho as he walked for the door, "wait over at the door and don't move!"
Sho curiously looked over at Aiba as he scurried over to the fridge to get something. He then hurried over to him with a small, cold jar of chocolate chip cookies.
"Here," Aiba said, "I bought these just yesterday, and I think this might help in curbing your fears."
"What? No, I can't possibly acce-"
"It's okay it's okay!" Aiba said cheerily as he shoved the jar of cookies in his hand, "just return the jar to me when it's finished, ne?"
Sho looked down at the jar of cookies and nodded.
"..Thank you," Sho said.
"You're welcome... uh... what should I call you?"
"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sakurai Sho," Sho said. Aiba grinned.
"Aiba Masaki. Well, Sakurai-san, when the cookies are done, you know where to find me."
Sho laughed. "Thank you, Aiba-san!"
Sho shuffled back with the jar of cookies in hand and exhaled deeply.
He certainly hadn't expected that the apartment with the "ghost" inside would have such a friendly guy.
He reached home with the jar of cookies and took one out, nibbling at one of them. He walked over and stood by the window, and looked to see Aiba opening the window to take the laundry (and the dry underwear) in. Aiba seemed to pause as he looked around and caught Sho's gaze across him.
He then gave a bright smile and waved over at him, and Sho couldn't help but raise his hand and do the same.
Somehow the idea of a ghost living in the apartment opposite him doesn't scare him as much. The cookie bits in his mouth tasted chocolatey and sweet. Just the way he liked it.
He made a mental note to return the jar over to Aiba with a small thank-you note.
Author note: This storyline was burning in my mind so I thought I'd pen it down while working on "From Then Till Now". It was actually inspired by a real experience- I was washing dishes one day and I seriously thought I saw a faceless ghost in the apartment block opposite mine. I had to look REAALLY close and really long to make out what it really was (nope I didn't go over. XD ). The rest... well, were ideas that came out of it XD
Group/pairing: Arashi/ Sakuraiba
Word Count: 1804 words
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho's paranoia of ghosts leads to an amusing, silly misunderstanding.
Disclaimer: So far I only own two photosets of Sho and a set of Arashi playing cards. I wish I'd own Arashi, but no. I don't. ._.
Author note: (See end of story)
I'm NEVER going out to the movies with you ever again!"
Sho said shakily as he was escorted by Ninomiya Kazunari out of the cinema.
Yes, they were best friends. He knew.
Yes, Nino has his mischievous antics. He knew, and he was used to it.
But what possessed him to accompany him to three different horror movies for a cinema promotion in October, he had no idea.
Then again, Nino had left out the part that it was a horror movie marathon when he was told about it.
"Well, at least now we've watched our money's worth. We can go back home now to sleep in pea-"
"Excuse me? You might be sleeping soundly later tonight but I won't be!" Sho retorted, "really now, you knew I hate horror movies!"
"Well, it was fun at least."
"It was NOT fun for me!"
Nino sighed. "Alright. Just sleep well tonight. If you get nightmares tomorrow morning, you can call me out for a huuuge dinner, ne?"
"What are you talking about? I don't even know if I'll wake up tomorrow!" Sho said, "if THAT thing appears out of the closet and takes me away.."
"... Well if IT does appear and you want to stay alive," Nino said, "be sure not to scream or it'll rip your tong-"
"SHUT UP, NINO. SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sho yelled as he covered his ears and walked faster, leaving a snickering Nino behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, Sho woke up tiredly in his bed.
Oddly enough, he had a rather dreamless sleep. Then again, his subconscious was probably too scared to properly fall asleep. He shuffled lazily over to the bathroom, giving himself a stretch as he did so and washed up. He placed two slices of bread in the toaster and reached over for his mug. He shuffled over to the sink to rinse it and looked out of the window.
"Wow, the sun really is beating down this morning," he thought and was about to turn away when he saw it.
He turned back towards the window and looked closely.
In a window of the apartment building just opposite his, he could see a faceless woman with fair skin, long black hair and a red headband. He froze right where he was, his eyes squinting as he watched the woman stay right where she was.
And then her body moved slightly, as if she was doing something by the windo-
DING!
Sho jumped as the sound jolted him out into reality. He looked over at the toaster. His breakfast was done.
"No," he whispered to himself," no. No no no, that was just my imagination."
He shook his head and walked over to his toaster and got ready for breakfast.
When he was done, he went back to the sink and started washing his plates and mug. As he did so, he looked up, and once again, the faceless figure was STILL there.
Sho could almost feel shivers run right up his spine. He had heard that even apartment buildings these days might even have their own ghosts, but absolutely had not dreamed that the apartment building opposite his could have a ghost living there.
A faceless one too.
Just like the Noppera-bo, the ghost without a face.
It might be searching for a face to call its own..
Sho's blood ran cold as he reached over for his phone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Nino grumbled as he heard his phone ring and picked up the call.
"Good morning, Sho-kun," he said sleepily in his bed,"now what the hell do you want?"
"N-Nino," Sho said fearfully, "I think I just saw a ghost."
"Whaaaat?" Nino said, "that's not possible. It's broad daylight."
"But I swear! I saw it! It's a faceless woman with long black hair and a red headband.."
"Faceless woman? Eh... but really now, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
"I'm not!" Sho protested as he hurried to the window, and indeed, the woman seemed to be moving her arms (though they were unseen and hidden by the window), as if she was washing dishes like Sho was.
"Well, if it really bothers you, why not go over and check it out?"
"WHAT?!"
"Seriously, Sho-kun. I think you're very mistaken. Ghosts and evil spirits don't come out in the day."
Hearing Nino's tone, Sho sighed. On one hand, Nino could be right and that he was being overly paranoid. But...
He looked over out at the window and saw the faceless woman move her unseen arms again.
"... O-okay. I'll.. go and.. scope it out."
"Is she right opposite you?"
"No, about.. maybe 45 degrees to the right?"
"At any rate, even if it WAS a ghost, you will be safe," Nino said cheekily, "spirits only move in a straight line after all. Just hang out a mirror outside, and then..."
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANY BETTER!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sho gulped as he pressed the lift button. He had made his way over to the opposite block and pressed the floor number he had noted from his window. He took huge deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
The doors slid open, and he stepped out.
The apartment unit, however, looked surprisingly normal. Sho did not feel like it looked haunted, secluded, decayed or anything. With a shaky hand, he pressed the doorbell under the name plate that read "Aiba".
*Ding Dong~*
"Coming~" a voice called from inside, and Sho blinked. Someone was in there with the faceless ghost? And whoever that is sounded perfectly alive and well.
The door swung open, and a tall man with brown hair and puppy-dog eyes looked at him in complete surprise.
"..May I help you?" the man asked curiously.
"Good morning, Aiba-san," Sho said politely,"I apologise for interrupting anything, but... er.."
He started to fumble over his words as he tried to pluck up the courage to pop the question.
The man only gave him a slightly awkward smile as he patiently waited for him to continue.
"... You don't.. .happen to have a faceless doll of any sort, right?" Sho asked. The man's eyes arched in surprise.
"What?! No, none of the sort, but why..." he answered.
"B-but, the thing is," Sho said,"I thought I saw a faceless figure out by your window.."
The man seemed even more confused as he directed a look towards the kitchen.
".. I don't know what you're talking about, but would it make you feel better if you went in to have a look?"
Sho hadn't expected that, but he nodded.
"E-excuse me for intruding then," Sho said as he slowly made his way past the living room to the kitchen where he knew the window was.
Oddly enough, the man was right. There wasn't a faceless figure of the sort over there, and the sink was too far from the window for a figure to be washing dishes.
And then he saw it.
A flesh-coloured bra and a red-coloured panties hung out on the laundry line.
"Masaki-kun, do we have a guest?" a female voice called from one of the rooms, and a woman shuffled out.
"Ah, Minami-chan, don't worry about it," Aiba said as he shuffled over to the kitchen towards Sho, who seemed completely frozen and red in embarrassment.
That faceless spirit Sho thought he saw was only a reflection of the laundered underwear against the window from outside- the red panties, the beige bra that formed the "faceless head" and the dark appearance of the window from outside that gave the illusion of someone with long black hair. The reason the "ghost" had moved was because the wind blew and the undergarments swayed with the breeze.
"Well?" Aiba asked as he looked over at Sho and then at the underwear hung out, and a slightly appalled look came over him.
"... d-don't tell me you are a stalker?!" Aiba said, horrified, "you're not here to stalk my cousin or steal her underwear, are you?!"
"What?!" Sho exclaimed, "NO! I'm not stalking anyone or stealing underwear, I swear!"
"Then what is it?" Aiba asked, "you barged in on a Saturday morning into my house, you know. I should at least know."
"... Promise me you won't laugh?" Sho said timidly, "... actually... I thought that I saw a ghost in the apartment building on the other side. I thought I should come over and check and ensure that it was... not.. er.. anything paranormal."
Silence hung in the air for a while.
And before long, Aiba started bursting out in laughter.
"You said you won't laugh!" Sho cried.
"Actually I didn't," Aiba said as he wheezed in laughter, wiping tears away from his eyes, "but I guess you're not a big fan of ghosts, huh."
"And my best friend took me to watch a horror movie last night.." Sho said, "well, I'm going to go now. I'm so sorry I disturbed you." He then walked straight for the door.
"Hey, wait!" Aiba called after Sho as he walked for the door, "wait over at the door and don't move!"
Sho curiously looked over at Aiba as he scurried over to the fridge to get something. He then hurried over to him with a small, cold jar of chocolate chip cookies.
"Here," Aiba said, "I bought these just yesterday, and I think this might help in curbing your fears."
"What? No, I can't possibly acce-"
"It's okay it's okay!" Aiba said cheerily as he shoved the jar of cookies in his hand, "just return the jar to me when it's finished, ne?"
Sho looked down at the jar of cookies and nodded.
"..Thank you," Sho said.
"You're welcome... uh... what should I call you?"
"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sakurai Sho," Sho said. Aiba grinned.
"Aiba Masaki. Well, Sakurai-san, when the cookies are done, you know where to find me."
Sho laughed. "Thank you, Aiba-san!"
Sho shuffled back with the jar of cookies in hand and exhaled deeply.
He certainly hadn't expected that the apartment with the "ghost" inside would have such a friendly guy.
He reached home with the jar of cookies and took one out, nibbling at one of them. He walked over and stood by the window, and looked to see Aiba opening the window to take the laundry (and the dry underwear) in. Aiba seemed to pause as he looked around and caught Sho's gaze across him.
He then gave a bright smile and waved over at him, and Sho couldn't help but raise his hand and do the same.
Somehow the idea of a ghost living in the apartment opposite him doesn't scare him as much. The cookie bits in his mouth tasted chocolatey and sweet. Just the way he liked it.
He made a mental note to return the jar over to Aiba with a small thank-you note.
Author note: This storyline was burning in my mind so I thought I'd pen it down while working on "From Then Till Now". It was actually inspired by a real experience- I was washing dishes one day and I seriously thought I saw a faceless ghost in the apartment block opposite mine. I had to look REAALLY close and really long to make out what it really was (nope I didn't go over. XD ). The rest... well, were ideas that came out of it XD