Operation: Scare Nozomi

Chapter 4

In the stunned silence when the Muses realized the loophole in their plan, they could not do anything but stare horrified at each other.

"We're not done! Our jump scare is not checked yet, it's not foolproof!" Kotori shrieked.

"Harasho..." Eli crossed her arms and sunk her head, deep in thought.

Nico's eye twitched. The way everyone was panicking right now, we'll probably waste the little time we have left. She growled exasperatedly and yanked down the hanging ghoul that Maki was desperately trying to salvage.

"Wha-WHAT?! Nico-chan, we already don't have time for this!" Maki snapped at Nico incredulously because her work was destroyed.

"Listen everybody!" Nico ignored Maki and yelled for the room to quieten," We already don't have much time, let's stop fretting over the useless things. Screw this, let's just do it!" She stuffed the ornament in her hands into the cupboard.

"She's right, nya! In times of panic, we must work together to overcome all odds!" Rin proclaimed cheerfully.

The room was so deathly silent that they could almost hear a cricket chirping. Or wait-was that Kotori? Everyone stared at Rin in surprise.

"Wow! That was very well said, Rin-chan!" Hanayo smiled encouragingly and clapped.

Maki whispered to Eli, "I never knew Rin could say something like that..." Eli in reply, gave a curt nod to the underclassman leaning towards her.

"Uhm, I read that in a novel and just wanted to try saying it nya! Ehehehe..." Rin began sheepishly, tugging cutely at the hem of her skirt.

Umi began barking orders around the room, and pointed out the things they needed to do. "Eli, Rin, Nico and Kotori, you guys will be the jump scare focus. Me, Hanayo, Maki and Honoka will hide in the back to make things rattle and cause noises. Hurry and get ready, Nozomi will probably get here soon."

"Yup!" They all chirruped in unison and went about to prepare their roles.

"Aww... No fair... Why can't I do the actual scaring with Kotori-chan and the others?" Honoka gripped Umi's sleeve, whining.

"That's because Honoka-chan will probably laugh halfway. This is safer!" Umi pointed out matter-of-factly.

Hanayo pulled Honoka to a corner to prepare, good-naturedly ignoring Honoka's protests and struggling.

The room sounded of scratches of chairs being dragged, the chatter of girls, and an occasional banging as one of the girls whacked into the walls amidst the squeezing. Until at last the crescendo shrank into a silence full of anticipation.

It had been 10 minutes since the great panic and the clubroom was now drowning in silence. Except for the occasional whisper of course. The girls shifted in their places now and then uncomfortably impatient for the surprise to begin.

"Kotori-chan, later we will put on the masks and jump out, nya?" Rin leaned forward excitedly.

Kotori smiled and nodded, before putting a finger to her lips. "Mhmm!"

And the rest of Muse continued to wait for their target to appear.

Nozomi walked cheerfully towards the clubroom, completely oblivious of the storm that occurred there just minutes ago. I wonder why Elicchi wasn't in the school gardens at all today... She walked on deep in thought, subconsciously humming cutie panther.

Still wrapped in her thoughts, she opened the door to the clubroom.

"AIEE!" Four figures with the faces of demons jumped in her face and the meeting table shook violently. The sudden movement and loud screams from the figures shocked her roughly from her thoughts.

"Woah." Nozomi took an involuntary step back, but said nothing more. She stared at them, and for a couple of seconds no one knew what to say.

Just when the silence became unbearable, Nozomi laughed. " You surprised me! Wow, are you guys redecorating our clubroom? Why didn't you tell me, I have tons of ideas Elicchi would love!"

A shiver of uncertainty passed all the girls, again oblivious to Nozomi. Does she really does not know that we are plotting something, or is she just playing along with us? Seeing that their attempt failed, the scarers took off their masks indignantly.

"Alright, I'm going to the washroom for a bit, we'll start our practice when I get back okay?" Nozomi set down her school bag. For some reason, she paused to poke at a model of a witch, before smilingly heading out.

Once they assumed Nozomi was out of earshot, Nico slammed her hands onto the table and cried out incredulously, "She doesn't know?!"

All the girls fell silent, thinking,

This time Kotori broke the silence, "I almost feel sad for her... But that means we can try to scare her again right?"

Silently agreeing with the plan they nodded, smiles full of secrecy and excitement. Seems like Operation Scare Nozomi is still in action...

Harasho is a Russian word 'хорошо', it means 'good' in English.