Note: I have nothing to do with Here is Greenwood and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the OVAs a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in the OVAs. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit in with the manga.

"Where have you been?" Kazuya demanded.

Shinobu looked up at his friend, mildly surprised to be pounced on the moment he entered the room. "Doing research," he said, moving past Kazuya to drop a notebook on the desk.

"Research?" Mitsuru asked. "What for?"

Shinobu began unwinding his scarf. "Among other things, I was just verifying to the degree I could that last night's spell to summon the mummy worked as we had intended."

"What?" Kazuya asked. "Why? We know the spells worked."

Shinobu shook his head. "We know that the spell to summon a vampire worked because Haru gave us visual and verbal confirmation that it had. We could only assume that the other spell worked. Today I attempted to confirm that it had."

"And how could you possibly do that?" Mitsuru demanded, "It isn't as though there are huge neon signs saying 'The Spell Worked' or 'The Mummy's Coming' lighting up the sky."

Shinobu shook his head and sat down. He motioned for his friends to sit as well. "If you have the patience and ingenuity, you can track down just about any fact, if you know where to look and what to look for." He waited until his friends were seated before going on,

"My first stop was the newspaper office," Shinobu said. "Once there, I had two tasks to fulfill. First, I met with an acquaintance of mine, the reviewer who reviewed Tochizawa's two movies for us. He introduced me to a reporter who was researching Egyptian collections around the world."

"I don't get it," Kazuya said. "Why would they be doing that?"

"As I understand it," Shinobu said, "the authorities are concerned that the break-in at the museum in Osaka was part of a plot to steal Egyptian artifacts, including the mummy, or perhaps only the mummy. The editors felt that there might be a story in potential robberies involving other Egyptian collection, so they assigned the reporter I met to keeping abreast of all current Egyptian collections around the world."

Mitsuru whistled. "That must be a really big job. I'm surprised they didn't assign more reporters to that."

"The mummy theft is old news," Shinobu told him. "It happened nearly a month ago. But the reporter was optimistic. He believes that the thieves are just staying under cover until they can return to the museum, or are maneuvering to rob another Egyptian collection elsewhere."

"Okay," Kazuya said slowly. "I think I understand now. What exactly were you looking for?"

Shinobu shrugged. "I was searching for news about other permanent or touring Egyptian collections that include mummies. Right now, the closest one with a mummy is at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in Hawaii."

"You said you had two tasks to fulfill," Mitsuru said. "Let me guess. You also went to the newspaper to see if any of the collections had a break-in last night."

Shinobu nodded. "That's correct," he said. "There were no reports of any, at least not before nine o'clock this morning." Then he shook his head. "On the other hand, even if the collection in Honolulu had anything to report, the mummy probably couldn't make it here anyway. After all, shambling over land is one thing. Swimming across the Pacific Ocean is another."

"Then we don't really know if the spell worked," Mitsuru said.

"For now, let's just say that it did work," Shinobu said. "Besides, the priests said that we would read two spells before used the book for good, and we've done so. I'm taking that to mean that both spells worked, and that it's now just a matter of waiting."

Kazuya sighed. "I just hope you're right."

"Shinobu," Mitsuru said then, "where else did you go? It wouldn't take you all morning and half the afternoon to do all that research at the newspaper, not if the reporter had done all the research already and was just giving it all to you."

Shinobu nodded. "You're right, Mitsuru," he said. "I also called Shun." He smiled inwardly as Kazuya blinked at him and Mitsuru's jaw dropped.

"Called Shun?" Kazuya stammered. "Why?"

"I decided to find out more about the person Shun bought the book from," Shinobu said. "To do that, though, I needed more details about the person and where Shun met him."

"Any leads?" Mitsuru asked hopefully. "I'd like to get my hands on that guy."

Shinobu shrugged. "I have some leads," he said, "but nothing else."

Mitsuru's eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something," he said.

Shinobu gazed calmly back at his roommate. "Of course I am," he said. "But this is my mission, so don't try to interfere."

"Your mission?" Kazuya said, staring at him. "I don't get it."

"You don't have to," Shinobu said. "But I'm going to deal with this, and I want both of you to stay out of my way."

Mitsuru leaned slowly back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest. "So, Shinobu, you're finally going to get your hands dirty."

Shinobu studied his friend carefully. It was entirely possible that Mitsuru had guessed something about what he'd discovered. Regardless, he would not let his friends get involved.

"You might say that," he said finally. "But don't say any more."

* * *

Kazuya stared out the window, watching as the shadows of the buildings around the school went from long and dark to nearly invisible. Finally, the entire world faded into a blanched sort of shadowless state, the setting sun no longer able to warm the land.

He sighed, then stepped away from the window. He turned around and gazed solemnly at his sempai.

"That's it," he said softly. "The sun's down."

"Haru will be arriving soon," Shinobu-sempai said. He looked up from the notebook he was writing in. "Then we can fill him in on what we've learned."

Kazuya sighed, then walked over to the bed. He sat down on its edge, then swung himself into it, stretching out. "Do you think it will come tonight?" he asked.

Shinobu-sempai turned around in his seat. "I believe it will," he said. He reached behind, then held up a detailed map of the city. "I've marked out what I believe to be the mummy's progress." He pointed to a section of the map. Kazuya recognized it as being the area around Greenwood.

"This," Shinobu-sempai said, "is approximately where I recall sensing the mummy's presence. As you can see, it is fairly close to Greenwood already."

Kazuya shivered. "Too close," he whispered.

His friend nodded. "However, when we took Shun to the hospital, the mummy changed direction. Regardless of the direction it arrived from, it went in a straight line to the hospital." He lowered the map and marked something on it. When he held it up again, there was a line connecting two points on the map. One seemed to be where Shinobu-sempai had pointed before. Kazuya sat up and looked more closely at the map. The other point was on the hospital Shun had been taken to.

"You didn't see the mummy there, did you?" Kazuya asked.

"No," his friend said, "and we can conclude that it didn't reach the hospital, but this is the absolute maximum distance the mummy could have traversed." Shinobu lowered the map again and began drawing on it.

"Now," he continued, "accounting for the passage of time between the moment I sensed the mummy and the approximate moment Shun left the hospital, and ignoring the fact that straight-line travel is an impossibility, I estimate that the mummy managed to get this far as it tried to follow Shun's trail before the spell you read pulled it back in this direction." He held up the map again.

Now Kazuya saw a second line, this one about half as long as the first. If the map was larger and they continued the line, he knew it would eventually point to Shun's family's inn. But as it was, something didn't feel right about the line. "Why is that one so short?" he asked.

"The mummy might be moving at the same speed all the time," his friend explained, "but it has apparently been taking a more discreet route during the daylight hours. That will delay it and result in a shorter distance covered."

Something about that definitely didn't sound right. "Aniki," Kazuya said slowly, "the mummy must always be taking a discreet route. Otherwise, there would have been sightings of it already. The line should be shorter because of the time difference, but not that much shorter."

Shinobu-sempai frowned. "You may be right," he said. "You're getting better at analyzing data, Kazuya."

"I have you and Mitsuru to thank for it," Kazuya said honestly.

"Okay," his friend said, marking the map again. "Let's say that the mummy made it this far," he continued, holding up the map and pointing to a new point on the map. "That places it nearly one and a half times the distance from Greenwood to the hospital. Nearly twenty-four hours have passed since you read the spell, so the mummy should be arriving here sometime within the next four to six hours."

"Aniki, you said that the first line was the maximum distance it could have traveled," Kazuya pointed out. "What if it didn't make it that far?"

"I thought we taught you better than that, Kazuya," Shinobu-sempai chided. "It doesn't matter, because the theory of similar triangles applies to this situation. If the mummy made it only half the length of the first line, then all the other lines have to be adjusted accordingly, and the end result will still be the same."

"Oh." Kazuya felt embarrassed. He could remember Mitsuru helping him prepare for a math exam that had covered similar triangles. It was a painful memory--all his memories of tutoring sessions were, since they invariably involved getting hit over the head with a rolled-up magazine or newspaper--and he should have recognized the situation.

"Sorry," he said. "I guess I'm just worried." He looked down at his hands.

"Kazuya," Shinobu-sempai said, and Kazuya jumped because his friend was suddenly sitting beside him, "you don't have to worry. Mitsuru, Haru, and I are here. We won't let anything happen to you. And don't forget, the three priests have foreseen our success."

Kazuya sighed. "I know," he said softly. "I just wish we had some way of finding the mummy and keeping track of where it is."

His friend frowned. "There may be a way--"

"I'm back," Mitsuru called as he entered the room.

"And where have you been?" Shinobu-sempai said, standing up and crossing to the desk again.

"Talking to Shun," Mitsuru said innocently. Then he sighed. "His mother, actually. Shun's pretty well out of it, thanks to his medications."

"Why?" Kazuya asked. "What's wrong with his medications?"

"Nothing's wrong with them," Shinobu-sempai said calmly. "But according to what Shun told me today, the painkiller the doctors gave him for his headaches has a codeine base. It's reducing the pain, but it's also knocking him out."

"Oh," Kazuya said.

"Shun's fine, Kazuya," Mitsuru said as he sat down at the other desk. "He wants to come back to Greenwood already, but his parents want him to recuperate at home."

"It's probably for the best," Shinobu-sempai said. "Even with the medication, I doubt he'd get much rest here."

Kazuya couldn't help but admit that truth. "I guess he's safer there, too. If he keeps moving around, the mummy will never get to him."

"Perhaps," Shinobu-sempai said, "but I'd rather deal with this problem now and put the whole thing to rest."

"I agree," Mitsuru said fervently.

There were all silent for a few moments.

"Mitsuru," Shinobu-sempai said, breaking the silence, "Kazuya is worrying about not knowing where the mummy is."

"We're all worried," Mitsuru said. "So just relax, Kazuya. You're in good company."

"I was wondering if you could do a favor for us," Shinobu-sempai continued.

Mitsuru's eyes narrowed. Kazuya sympathized with him. Doing favors for Shinobu-sempai could get out-of-hand in a flash. "What sort of favor?"

"Would you ask Misako to look for the mummy and keep an eye on it?"

Kazuya's jaw dropped. Of course! Unlike Haru, Misako wasn't really bound to the school. She could actually go and find the mummy for them! "That's a great idea, aniki!" He flinched when he saw Mitsuru glaring at him.

"It's the only way, Mitsuru," Shinobu-sempai said. "I told Kazuya before you came in that the mummy would probably reach us within the next four to six hours, but we don't want it to get here. We want to lure it away someplace where we can deal with it. If Misako can find it for us, and let us know when it gets close enough, then we'll know when to move. We may even be able to get some sleep while we're waiting for it to approach."

"I can follow your reasoning," Mitsuru said, "but..."

Kazuya understood his friend's reluctance to call on the ghost. Still, she was the one best suited for the job. "Please, aniki?" he asked. "I don't want anyone in the dormitory to get hurt because of the spell I cast last night."

Mitsuru sighed. "All right," he said finally. "But the final decision is up to Misako."

"You called?"

Mitsuru sprang from his seat and whirled around so quickly that he almost fell to the floor, but Shinobu-sempai caught his hand and Kazuya jumped up and caught his shoulders.

"Don't do that!" Mitsuru shouted at the ghost who had poked her head through the wall.

Misako's eyes watered.

"He didn't mean it that way," Kazuya said quickly as he pushed Mitsuru upright again. "It's just that you startled Shun when you did that, and he got hurt. You wouldn't want that to happen to Mitsuru, would you?"

Misako looked down as she finished stepping through the wall. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to scare you, Mitsuru."

Mitsuru looked around nervously. "Oh, that's all right," he said shakily as he sat down again. "I understand."

"Misako," Shinobu-sempai said. "We need your help."

The ghost brightened considerably. "Really?"

Kazuya nodded. "We know the mummy's coming," he said, "but we don't know where it is. Could you find it and keep track of it?"

"Sure!" Misako said cheerfully. "I'll be back!" She floated past them through the window.

"Well, that's taken care of," Mitsuru said, regaining his own cheer now that Misako was gone.

Kazuya shook his head. "Okay, we'll find out where it is, but then what?" he asked. "Where do we lure the mummy?"

"The school's track and field would be most suitable," Shinobu-sempai said. "It's big enough and open enough that we'll be able to see the mummy long before it reaches us."

"But then what?" Kazuya pressed. "None of us can fight it. We wouldn't last more than ten seconds against it. Haru might be able to, but he's confined to the dormitory."

"So you assume," Shinobu-sempai said. "I have an idea about that, but let's wait on it."

"Did I hear somebody say my name?"

They all turned to see a new figure standing by the window.

"Good evening," Shinobu-sempai said. "We were wondering what was keeping you."

"Nothing was keeping me," Haru said. "It's earlier than usual, and I wanted to make sure no one saw me. Did I miss anything?"

"A lot," Kazuya said. He quickly filled his friend in on the details.

Haru whistled appreciatively. "That is a lot," he said. "You've all been busy!"

"Haru," Shinobu-sempai said. "There's going to be a confrontation tonight, and you're the only one who can hold the mummy back long enough for us to read any spells out of the book."

"That's ridiculous!" Haru said. "I can't leave the dormitory. You know that!"

"That may or may not be true," Shinobu-sempai said cryptically. "We can test that theory later. Right now, though, we can relax for a bit." Kazuya squirmed when his friend turned and studied him. "Well, we can try, at least."

Kazuya felt himself blushing. He tried to hide it by looking around while trying not to look like he was looking around, and he immediately caught sight of a steady gaze between Mitsuru and Shinobu-sempai. Mitsuru was frowning, while Shinobu-sempai was his usual calm and controlled self.

"Haru," Mitsuru said then, "have you had your blood tonight yet?"

Kazuya blinked. It was the last thing he would have expected to hear Mitsuru say.

"You know I haven't," Haru pointed out. "You were all together when I came in, remember?"

Mitsuru grimaced as he shook his head. "I forgot. Well, listen. As Shinobu said, you're the only one among us who has a chance at stopping the mummy."

"That's true," Haru admitted, "but it doesn't matter since I can't leave the dormitory anyway."

"Never mind that," Mitsuru said impatiently.

Kazuya frowned. "Aniki, what are you getting at?"

"Never you mind either," Mitsuru told him. "Haru, I think you'd better be at full strength tonight, just in case."

Haru shook his head. "I can't," he said. "If you three are going out to confront the mummy, Shinobu and Kazuya are going to need all their strength. If I took even the bare minimum from each of them that I'd need to regain my full strength--and that's accounting for what any solid food will offset--they'd be too weak to last long. They'd still be faster than the mummy, but they'd run out of energy too soon, while the mummy would just keep going."

Kazuya shook his head. "The mummy will keep going anyway, and eventually we'd still get too tired to run."

"Kazuya," Haru said, "if you and Shinobu were at full strength yourselves, then I wouldn't be so worried. But the two of you have been giving me your blood for just over two weeks now. If I took all I needed, I doubt either of you would be able to stand up, let alone run races against a mummy."

"You don't have to do this, Mitsuru," Shinobu-sempai said suddenly.

Kazuya turned. To his surprise, Mitsuru had pulled off his sweater and was undoing the top buttons of his shirt. "Aniki," he whispered.

"Take my blood instead, Haru," Mitsuru said. "I'm sure I can spare enough to get you up to strength and still be able to run from the mummy."

"Mitsuru, why are you doing this?" Haru asked. "As I said, there's no use for it anyway. I can't leave the dormitory."

"Just do it," Mitsuru said patiently. "You need blood, and right now I'm the only one who can provide it in quantity."

"But--"

"Aniki--"

"Mitsuru--"

"Do it."

Kazuya watched as Haru slowly stepped towards Mitsuru. His sempai watched as Haru moved closer to him, then slowly tilted his head to the side, plainly exposing his throat. Then, Haru was standing face-to-face and toe-to-toe with Mitsuru. He, too, tilted his head, but Kazuya knew that he was actually leaning forward towards Mitsuru.

As he watched, he saw Mitsuru's eyes widen in shock, then slowly flutter closed. He started up from the bed, but Shinobu-sempai--who had somehow crossed to the bed again without him noticing--pulled him back.

"Let them be," his friend whispered. "Unfortunately, Mitsuru's right. He's the only one with blood to spare."

"But--Haru's right! He's still confined to the dormitory, so none of this is of any use!"

"Perhaps, or perhaps not," Shinobu-sempai said cryptically. "But Haru needs blood anyway, and the two of us--you, especially--need as much of our strength as we can manage."

"But--"

"Everything will work out, Kazuya. Trust me."

Kazuya sighed. "All right," he said softly.

What other choice did he have?

* * *

Mitsuru opened his eyes slowly.

He was lying down on a bed, and it wasn't his own. "Where--"

"You're in Kazuya's bunk," a voice said. "Or, rather, Shun's bunk."

Mitsuru started to sit up, then fell back, feeling dizzy. "Haru, what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," the other boy said softly. "You're just a little light-headed from the loss of blood."

Looking around slowly, Mitsuru could now make out Haru's form sitting at the desk.

"My head hurts," he complained. "How much blood did you take anyway?"

"I'm sorry," Haru said. "I took more from you than I normally take from Shinobu or Kazuya, but you were able to handle it."

Mitsuru carefully raised himself up onto his elbows, then into a sitting position. Even that effort left spots in front of his eyes and a painful throbbing in his head. He groaned.

"You should rest," Haru said. "You'll need it if you're going with them to face the mummy."

"Where are they anyway?" Mitsuru asked. Then he blinked. "And why's the room dark?"

"The room's dark because they're not here," Haru explained. "That way no one would come in unexpectedly, looking for you or for them. Right now they're down in the baths. They went after I took some of their blood. The plan is for them to come back here and for all of you to go down for dinner."

Mitsuru started to shake his head, remembered his headache, and settled for sighing instead. "How come I need the rest while they can go down to the baths?"

"As I said," Haru explained patiently, "I took more blood from you. Also, you aren't used to it, so you slipped into unconsciousness and we had to lay you out."

"I what?" Mitsuru demanded incredulously.

"You fainted," Haru said. "Don't worry, it's common enough. Kazuya was always fainting when I first started coming...or he just went back to sleep, I'm not too sure."

Mitsuru sighed. "Is it going to go away any time soon?"

"Will what go away?"

"This headache and dizziness."

Haru nodded. "You'll feel better once you get something to eat or drink. It's like when you donate blood. It leaves you feeling dizzy, but then you eat or drink something and you feel better almost immediately."

"Oh," Mitsuru said. "I guess that makes sense."

The door suddenly opened. Haru jumped up in shock, but even in the dark Mitsuru could recognize the forms of his two friends. Then again, it was pretty apparent that one of them was Kazuya since the shorter of the two was leaning on a cane.

"It's just us," Kazuya said. "Shall I--"

"Leave the lights off," Shinobu said. "We're going out again soon enough. Isn't that right, Mitsuru?"

Mitsuru slowly got to his feet. "You could have waited for me to wake up before you went down to the baths," he said, slightly irritated.

"We waited for you before we went to dinner," Shinobu said. "Be happy with that."

"Yeah," Kazuya said. "Be nice. I'll even let you steal half my dinner tonight."

Mitsuru sighed. It was going to be one of those nights. He turned back to Haru. "Will you be all right by yourself?"

Haru laughed. "Of course. Enjoy your dinner."

Dinner was just what Mitsuru needed. True to his word, Kazuya did let him snatch nearly half of everything from his tray. It wasn't quite so much fun as when Kazuya was trying to keep the food away from him, but Mitsuru was hungry enough that he didn't really care. From the very first bite he felt better.

They were on the stairs back up to their rooms, with Aoki, Tochizawa, and some of the other residents behind them when Misako suddenly burst into their midst. Only Shinobu's steadying hand and presence kept the boys from tumbling backwards into each other.

"It's coming!" she cried. "The mummy's coming!"

Mitsuru winced. It was bad enough that Misako was fixated on him, but to have her exploding in among them, practically announcing to them all everything that was going on? He wasn't surprised when he heard the other boys whispering excitedly behind him.

"I thought you said between four to six hours," Kazuya muttered furiously. "It's only been about two."

"Four to six to get here," Shinobu said calmly. "Misako, where is it now?"

"It's on the other side of the school," she said, "about twice as far from there as the school is from here."

"And is it going fast or slow?"

"Very slowly. It sort of limps and hobbles along."

"Then it would take about another two hours to get here."

Kazuya made a disgusted sound, and hurried up the stairs. Shinobu followed quickly behind him.

"Sempai, what's going on?" Aoki asked him.

Mitsuru turned around. He fixed Misako with a fierce scowl, then faced Aoki and the other boys. "Remember the mummy that was stolen from the Osaka museum last month?" he said. "Well, it was actually summoned, and it's here, and we have to stop it."

The boys whispered excitedly. "Let me get my video camera," Tochizawa said, taking off down the hall.

"Fire should work," Aoki told Furusawa.

"Water might be better," Furusawa told Aoki.

"Mitsuru, what's going on?"

Mitsuru turned and stared helplessly at Shinobu. "They want to come along," he said. "They want to help destroy the mummy."

"Mitsuru, there's something I need to tell you about the mummy," Misako said urgently.

"Not now, Misako," Mitsuru told her. He turned back to Shinobu. "Should I try to stop them?"

"There's no time," Shinobu said. He held up the book. "We have to get going now." He paused. "You didn't tell them about..." He made a vague gesture with his hand.

"Of course not!" Mitsuru said. "Just about the mummy."

"Mitsuru," Misako began.

"Not now," Mitsuru snapped.

"Well, the damage is done," Shinobu said. Kazuya appeared behind him. "Let's go, and let's hope no one gets hurt."

Mitsuru whole-heartedly agreed.

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