Urban Legends: Himuro Mansion by Lady Nefertiti

Trick or Treat?

Urban Legends: Himuro Mansion

Lady Nefertiti

Summary: Said to be located on the outskirts of Tokyo, this haunted house is considered to be the worst mass murder in the history of Japan. Those that enter for answers to this mystery are found dead or torn apart. **The Halloween Challenge**

A/N: For Dokuga’s Halloween challenge. Oh and I don’t own Inuyasha, the movies/game I mention or the urban legend in this one-shot. Anonymous Viewing has been disabled. 

 Japanese Urban Legend: Himuro Mansion.

Chapter 1: Trick or Treat?

“Bye guys! See you soon!” Kagome called over her shoulder to her friends. She would be the one hosting a Halloween party this year. What’s more was that Miroku and Sango would be coming this year too. They were both in high school and Kagome missed them since they were always busy and that they couldn’t always come to visit because their school was far away.

Rumor had it that both their families were trying to get them together so they could think about marriage. They were in their senior year of high school after all. She smiled as she walked up the steps to the shrine. Some of her friends were supposed to come over and help with decorations. As she reached the top she was greeted by a friendly face.

“Hojo. I’m surprised to see you here so soon.” Kagome said walking closer to him. He had changed from his school uniform to casual jeans and a t-shirt. “Ah Higurashi. I thought I might stop by earlier to help with decorations. Look I brought this guy (scary ghost looking person) and thought I might set it up in front. It makes a scary sound when people walk up to it.”

“Interesting.” Kagome said touching the creepy thing. Very human looking, eyes and all. She looked up to see Hojo looking at her with a wistful look on his face. “Uhm Hojo?” she said. Hojo took her hand and said “Higurashi…” he stepped closer and kissed her forehead. Kagome tensed. Why was he kissing her? Sure it might be a friendly kiss---and she wasn’t seeing anyone but a kiss nonetheless and it didn’t make her feel any better. They were just friends!

“Hojo what are you…” Kagome started trying to pull her hand away. She always had this weird feeling that he liked her and she avoided him most of the time---or hanged out with him in public with other people around….lots of people.

“You will unhand her and step away from Kagome right now….if you would like to keep your head that is.” A cold voice said. Kagome turned to see a face she hadn’t seen a year. She was surprised, slightly annoyed (that he left without saying goodbye) and yet happy beyond anything. She had thought she’d never see him again since he’d moved to America.

He was here….here in Japan…he’s here! Her conscious chanted and danced around. But for how long? He was probably on a visit. Her happy bubble deflated somewhat.

“I…yeah well…I’ll see you around then Higurashi.” Hojo said hurrying down the stairs muttering something about crazy rich guys (who dyed their hair silver) who should go to jail with padded rooms.

Kagome ignored this and walked towards him. “I…I’m surprised to see you here Sesshomaru. I thought…that you’d stay in America for good? Your father sent you to…” Sesshomaru took her hand, brought it up to his lips, kissed it and smirked up at her.

“This Sesshomaru figured that his home was here in Japan.” He said. Kagome nodded and gulped. He always made her legs shaky; her heart beat a million times too fast. He didn’t say anything but he felt her arousal pick up---it made his beast rise to attention but he stamped it down. Not now. He might be a family friend to the Higurashi’s…but how he had missed her, it was almost too painful. He had decided he had to come back home—no matter what his father said. His father had other people working for him.

“Anything interesting happen while I was away?” he said pulling away as he looked at the ghost curiously, finger tapping to his chin. That Hojo guy left this hideous thing here. Hopefully he wouldn’t be back for Kagome’s party. How dare he touch her like that?

“No, not really. Sango and Miroku are trying to get together…at least that’s what everyone thinks. School’s out well…you should know. Inuyasha found himself a new girlfriend, her name’s Kikyo. He thinks that ‘she’s the one’ whatever that means.” Kagome said.

“We’ll get to meet her when she comes here tonight.”  Her family comes from a long line of Miko’s, family tree known all the way up to the feudal era…that’s what I heard. She seems a bit snooty about it. Of course she hasn’t shown any Miko abilities.” Kagome said. She took the ghost but Sesshomaru took it from her and said he’d carry it inside. It looked heavy.

“Is your mother and Souta here?” he asked as she opened the door fumbling with the keys.

“No. Mom went for groceries and Halloween stuff with Souta. They have to stop at one of his friends house because she’s coming here tonight too. Mom teases that Hitomi’s his girlfriend and he turns red. It’s cute.” She said remembering what happened yesterday.

“Hn. and have you had any boyfriends as of recent?” Sesshomaru asked.

“Jealous?” Kagome teased. She loved their witty banter. She had missed it now that she thought about it.

“Hn. This Sesshomaru just wanted to make sure if he had to kill some males who dared break your heart or harmed you in any way.” He said.

‘Sure…’ Kagome thought as the front door opened and the both stepped inside. Sesshomaru shut the door behind them. He dragged the ghost-man-ghoul thing inside and asked Kagome where she wanted it. He saw that the house had already started, almost finished being done with decorations. Cobwebs, eerie lights and spiders with bowls of what looked like un-edible food (It was bug candy), souvenirs, toys and fake creepy pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns.

“Uhm by the front door so when people come in it makes a scary sound to ‘raise their hair’ so to speak.” Kagome said walking into the kitchen humming a tune.

“Indeed.” Sesshomaru said looking amused. He set it down on the ground and turned around to follow Kagome into the kitchen. He turned around to look at the clock. It was around four. People would start to arrive around eight. Hn…

“Kagome?” Sesshomaru said walking into the kitchen. She was on the phone looking disappointed? about something. This wouldn’t do. Here he was about to ask her something of vital importance.

She hung up and looked at him, a question in her eyes. “Mom said she’s going to be later than usual. She got caught up in other things as they hadn’t even gone to Hitomi’s yet. She was hoping I could finish up here as best I could before the party starts.” Kagome said.

“Hn.” Sesshomaru said. Of course she could….and he was here to help her. Her mother didn’t know he was here at the Higurashi’s.  

“Well I should probably go upstairs and change first.” Kagome said looking down at her school uniform. Yeah…sure Sesshomaru and she were close but she didn’t exactly want to show her ass to him if her skirt went up while working. Jeans…yes. Jeans were safe to wear especially when one was working with decorations---and had a sexy ‘friend’ at their house.

“Hn. Should this Sesshomaru accompany you?” he asked as if this was no big deal. Kagome turned around, blinked and shrugged. He’d been upstairs plenty of times. Slept in Souta’s room overnight so no big deal.

but this time they had the house to themselves…..

“Did you come up with a costume Sesshomaru? Or are you just going to go with ‘feudal lord of the west’ like you always do?” Kagome said from over her shoulder. She grinned inwardly. Ah how sexy he looked in those white silk hakamas. She walked up the stairs to her room, hearing him follow her. “…I do wonder why of all lands you would choose the west…” Kagome said walking into her room and opening her closet door.

A hand came up from behind her and shut the closet door close. She turned around to look at him…he was staring back into her azure eyes. “Kagome.” He whispered burying his head into her shoulder/hair. “….this Sesshomaru missed your presence in America.” Kagome stilled as she inhaled his scent. Something clenched in her belly. Well this was new. He had never touched her…..or said anything like this before. She thought she was like a little sister to him? or disliked her as he always said in the past. When they were younger she always played with Inuyasha and he always was too busy, working with father etc….or that’s what she was told.

 She didn’t know what to say or how to move. Should she push him away? Ask what the hell? Nope nothing came out. So she just stood there. “Umm…” she said. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. “eeehh?” was all came out of Kagome. She felt his hand on her…on her….

Ding Dong!

Ding Dong!

Sesshomaru growled. He was going to kill whoever was at the door right now or have them sent off to a frozen foreign land where there was no food or people. Reluctantly he had to pull away from Kagome and leaned against the wall, eyebrow raised at her. “Well? Answer the door Kagome.” He said. Kagome sighed as she smoothed her skirt out, huffed (inwardly of course) and marched down the stairs wondering whether Sesshomaru was going to follow her---and kill said person at the door. She wouldn’t put it past him. He’d threatened to do so before but she had never seen it. Anyway...

She opened the door to see familiar silver hair she saw everyday in school, a smile on his face and in his gold eyes. “Hey Kags! Can I come in? I was wondering whether you needed help with anything. I got a text from Souta saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it---so since you’re alone and all…perhaps you needed help? There was hope and sincerity in his voice.

“Why didn’t you bring Kikyo with you? Or Rin?” Kagome asked moving aside to let him in. He walked in to look at her living room. She shut the door behind her.

“Kikyo went home. She’ll be here tonight. Rin is home as well as Sango. Her and Miroku arrived this morning. They are at our house, paying their respects to my family.” Inuyasha said. He critically looked at the ‘webs’ on the ceiling and asked where the candy-apples (the granny-smith apples with caramel and nuts) were. Kagome smiled softly looking at Inuyasha assessing her decorations. He was a great friend to have around---someone who’d be there when one needed help.

“So Kagome…” Inuyasha started turning to look at her. There was something off in her smile and the way she was talking. Hell they were best friends since basically birth.

“What’s wrong Kagome? You know you can tell me anything be….BASTARD!!!! What the hell are you doing here?” Inuyasha yelled abruptly staring at his half-brother at the bottom of the stairs. He was supposed to be in America! And good riddance to him! He always thought Sesshomaru had a ‘thing’ for Kagome and now…what was he doing here at her home? And they were all alone too!

“Hn.” Sesshomaru said walking close to him. Inuyasha was seething he could tell. It was amusing really. You could just see the steam blowing off of him. “..This Sesshomaru thought it was best to return home.” He said as he saw Inuyasha’s eyebrow raise in suspicion. Something was ‘iffy’ about all this.

“Keh. Well whatever.” Inuyasha said crossing his arms and ignored Sesshomaru, his attention going back to Kagome. He asked when people were coming, what her plans were to do and if she needed any more help. Kagome directed him to the ceiling and said she couldn’t reach the high walls.

“Be nice okay? You both are always at each other’s throats.” Kagome whispered to Sesshomaru. He raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged as she watched Inuyasha work. A few hours went by as the three worked to finish up. Kagome smiled looking at their ‘handiwork’  and looked at the clock. People would start to arrive soon. Time for a shower and getting ready. She wasn’t really in the mood for a costume. She got suggestions from her friends to wear Miko garbs since she lived on a shrine but she declined the idea.

Inuyasha left to get ready and asked whether Sesshomaru was coming too. He said “This Sesshomaru does not wear human’s garments and does not wear this outfit called ‘costume’ to be someone else for a day.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and left with a, ‘Keh…arrogant asshole like always.’  And said he’d be back in an hour or two with the rest of the group.

Kagome sighed as she sat down on the couch and watched Sesshomaru close the front door. He turned and came to sit beside her on the couch. “I’m going to go get my costume on…uhm watch the phones and the door okay?” she said getting up suddenly. It felt weird sitting next to him…her stomach…damn those butterflies!

“Hnn.” he said as he watched her leave the room. He sighed deeply. Damn his younger brother. He always knew when to ruin a perfectly good moment. He heard humming upstairs from Kagome and stood up suddenly when he heard a loud scream from her. Was it a scream of happiness? Pain? Fear? He didn’t know.

He just ran to her. Kagome….he’d do anything for her. Of course he’d never show it to others. You did not show your emotions to others. Doing so would make one weak in others eyes. Especially enemies. Sesshomaru heard this from father. Perhaps this strategy/thought worked in feudal-war-era times but now it just sounded odd….

He walked into Kagome’s room and asked what was wrong. What he got was a huge hug from her. His inner beast liked this. She said she found a tale she was going to use during their scary story session during the party. The scariest story would get a prize….and she was sure she had the scariest one of them all. Sesshomaru liked this idea as he nuzzled her neck affectionately. He sighed inwardly glad that she was safe. He was sure he would be the winner.

*~*~*~*

Kagome was wearing cat ears (After kicking Sesshomaru out of her room) and a black dress with red designs that looked like blood and used makeup on her skin like someone had hurt her and gave her bruises. After she walked out of her room Sesshomaru demanded to know how she got those bruises on her legs….anyway….

The doorbell started to ring as her friends started coming in excited to see her, seeing the decorations—and surprised to see Sesshomaru. Kagome got a huge bear hug from Sango who whispered something to Kagome who turned red and both looked at Sesshomaru, who raised his eyebrow. Miroku kissed Kagome’s hand saying how he’d missed seeing his ‘Kagome-sama’ and he was about to grab her ass but Sango grabbed him by the collar before Sesshomaru killed him.

Over blood punch, spider cupcakes, candy and pizza----and a skeleton jumping out at Inuyasha (who screamed like a girl) making everyone double over in laughter. Inuyasha glared at everyone and to save him more embarrassment Kagome announced it was time for scary stories.

Miroku talked about Hanoko-san (The toilet ghost). Sango’s story was about Yuki-onna (The snow witch). Inuyasha’s story was about the Aka-manto (The red cloaked man), Kikyo spoke of the Kuchisake onna (The slit-faced woman). Rin talked about the Kashima Reiko (the woman with no legs) and Kagome’s story was about the Teke-Teke (Girl that fell under a train and cut in half). The only one left was Sesshomaru….Surely he couldn’t come up with something better right?

*~*~*~*

The lights were off in the living room as the group sat around on the ground in front of the fireplace—which was the only source of lighting. Due to the weather conditions outside was the  cause of Kagome’s mother and Souta being delayed. Of course Kagome’s mother couldn’t call her and tell her that. The phone lines were dead. Everyone was wrapped in blankets as they awaited Sesshomaru to speak.

Kagome was wrapped in a blanket with Sesshomaru and didn’t miss Inuyasha’s eye twitch. Everyone else seemed to be ignoring it---like they already knew it was bound to happen and nothing was wrong. “Hurry it up…we’re all dying of old ag….” but he couldn’t finish because the wind slammed against the windows and the whole house shook. “…Err…” Inuyasha ended. Even Miroku looked jumpy. Looked like these haunted stories weren’t helping matters. Why was it always like this on Halloween?

“Ha-ha…” Sango tried nervously. “It’s just the stories guys. Nothing to worry about.” The fireplace flickered. Kagome jumped up and started to walk towards the switch. She was going to turn the lights on. Perhaps that would help with the nervous jitters. She flipped the switch; it flickered for a while and then died. Rin, Sango and Kagome all gave a panicked scream/shriek.

“What the hell?” Kagome said swearing as lightning flashed through the windows. What’s going on? She sat on the sofa biting her lip.

“Uhm Sesshomaru hasn’t gotten his turn yet.” Miroku said calmly. He was in his meditating pose.

“Fuck the damn scary Horror stories Monk! We’re in danger here. Someone is out to get us. This is like those movies where there’s a killer waiting his turn to ‘do away’ with us one by one. Like the Texas Chainsaw movie or the Scream.” Inuyasha swore and yelled out loud. The rest turned to look at him in disbelief.

“Maybe we should all relocate to another place?” Rin helped.

“Oi! Rin. Do you think that’s wise? We got no electricity and are scared because of a few forces of nature. The weather outside is horrible to go anywhere on foot, a car impossible to drive. Someone is trying to kill us I’m telling you!” Inuyasha said. He wouldn’t…couldn’t insult her like he did the others. Rin was like a sister to him although not blood related. It would be like a blight upon Taisho honor to insult one of their own.

“Do you think we should finish our horror stories…uhm…you know because they are urban legends and well….” Miroku trailed off.

“Houshi-sama superstitious are you now?” Sango said. He shook his head. The rest sighed knowing it probably couldn’t get any worse. They got back under the covers of the blankets and awaited Sesshomaru’s story. Kagome scooted closer to Sesshomaru, no one saw this though. It was just too dark. 

*~*~*~*

“There is a Japanese urban legend like no other. A house said to be located on the outskirts of Tokyo itself called Himuro Mansion. A large traditional house, the family practiced ancient and forgotten Shinto rituals long forgotten—and outlawed. One of these was called the “Strangling Ritual” involving a sacrificial murder of a young girl. This was to protect the Himuro Family from bad karma.” Sesshomaru started. Gasps from the girls as they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Inuyasha was too frozen to say anything. That was a first.

“This was performed every 50 years to prevent the family from being destroyed. A baby girl was selected within the family and raised in secret. They called her the “Rope Shrine Maiden”. She had to be kept away from the rest of the world, in isolation; otherwise the ritual would not work.” Sesshomaru continued. Sango bit her lip thinking about the poor girl who would have to suffer such an ordeal. Rin looked like she was going to cry, thinking what she would’ve done had it been her in that situation. Knowing that you were born into this world… just alive to be a sacrifice later on for a crazy ritual.

“When it came time for ritual they dragged her out to a shrine in the courtyard. Her arms, legs and neck tied with ropes. A team of oxen would pull the ropes in different directions tearing the young girl’s body apart. The blood-stained ropes were then placed over the shrine’s gateway to ensure no bad Karma came onto the family.” Sesshomaru said seeing the many uncomfortable faces on his friends.

“This tradition continued on for generations until the last recorded Shrine Maiden saw a boy through her window…… and she fell in love. It was a disaster to the family because she was to remain pure from the world. Her blood was tainted when she was sacrificed. The ritual failed.” 

“Okay. I think that’s enough Sesshomaru. We’ve heard enough.” Kagome said shivering as she thought of having to face being ‘Pulled apart and torn’ into pieces. Rin was hugging onto her knees tightly, eyes wide open as she thought about the grisly idea of being locked up, dragged and torn by oxen. She could just see the poor girl screaming in pain. What had she done to deserve such treatment? Just a stupid ritual long outlawed.

“No! I want him to continue.” Inuyasha said. This was just getting interesting. Terrible people…these old fanatics yes….. but he’d never heard such a horrific story before. Kagome gave him a look but he ignored this. She sighed as she heard Sesshomaru talk again. Where had he heard such a tale before? Surely she’d read them all….but had this one been long forgotten? Or was this a story so terrible no one wanted it to be ‘passed down?’ for others to remember.

“Fine I’ll continue.” Sesshomaru said. Everyone glared at the hanyou. The weather wasn’t getting better as the trees started to move outside like shadows of people and were hitting against the windows. The wind sounded like screams in the night.

“The head or elder feared that since the ritual failed, disaster would come on the family. He went insane and murdered the entire Himuro family, hacking them to death with his Katana. He believed he was saving them from doom and later committed suicide himself.”

“Bloody handprints have been found on walls. Apparitions at night and at daytime. People who are foolish enough to enter the mansion are found dead. A window has become famous. They say if you take a picture of the window, an image of a young girl will appear in the developed picture.” Sesshomaru said and ended his story.

*~*~*~*

There was silence in the room as everyone tried taking in this whole gruesome scenario. This story was nowhere in history books. Yes they knew it now….Sesshomaru was the winner. Also no one would be able to sleep at night. A flash of lightning and then there was a knock on the front door. Everyone jumped at the knock and looked directly at Kagome. She shrugged. Probably everyone’s imagination. That had to be it.

Another knock on the door. Then there was a loud scream of a girl outside. A blood-covered hand showed/appeared in the window of the pouring rain. The fire went out in the fireplace and everyone looked at each other in dread.

Perhaps some urban legends were true…...

Lady Nefertiti: Well everyone can use their imagination of what happens next lol…Oh and there is a video game on many gaming platforms--- and it’s a guess that its based on this urban legend. The game is called ‘Fatal Frame’  Happy Halloween everyone! Please read and review! thanks.