Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume4 Chapter1

==Chapter 1 - Don't Play with Spirits, Children ==

===1===

We set off to Ryokuryou High School. This was the second day.

It is 3 hours away from the office by car. After passing through Funabashi and Chiba, with a view of Yokosuka and its surrounds across the ocean, is the school's compound. 

This time the investigators include Naru, his assistant Lin-san and me. Regretfully Taka and Chiaki-sempai remained in the office.

And there were the usual 4 psychic users. 

The Monk, John, the Miko and Masako.

Although these members have worked together often in the past, this was the first time we started a case with the intention of cooperating. The shocking thing is this time, Naru contacted them, saying "I hope to have your help".

After checking everyone's schedule, we made our plans. First to enter the school was Naru, the monk and myself. Based on our preliminary investigations, we would discuss what equipment we would need, and Lin-san and the Miko would bring them. Masako and John had plans they could not get out of, and would come the next day.

Ryokuryou High School is a rather dislikable school.

Although I say that, I don't mean that it is an eerie place or anything like that.

First, when we arrived at the back gate at the appointed time, there was a teacher waiting for us. However, that teacher's attitude was terrible. Even when we greeted him, he didn't even acknowledge us with a nod. 

After entering the back gate, the teacher took us to the principal's office. The principal was even worse. His attitude was incredibly arrogant, his tone very impolite. Furthermore, although he requested our company to do an investigation, he did not trust us and made no attempt to hide it.

And then, the finishing blow was the guidance teacher Matsuyama-sensei.

"Are you the head?" he asked Naru as he brought us to the meeting room that was to be the headquarters of our investigation.

How could that person speak like that to someone he has just met?!

Matsuyama-sensei looked at us judgmentally - "All this commotion about spirits - there's nothing more nonsensical and stupid." - and flung out such a line.

That bastard, who does he think he is?

Matsuyama-sensei glared at us with naked contempt while we were too shocked to reply. His gaze finally settled on Naru.

"Just how old are you anyway?"<!--(using impolite language)-->, he asked.

"Seventeen."

"What about Senior High?"

"Please use your own imagination."

Matsuyama-sensei snorted in laughter at that and turned his head to look at me.

"And you?"

"Sixteen. First year of Senior High."

"Don't you have school today? Playing truant, aren't you? Where's your school? Let's hear it."

So what if he knows which high school I go to? Contact the school and have them give me demerit points? Firstly, even if I told you the name of the school, would you even know where the school was?

[TL/N: this was accurately translated from the Chinese raw. My guess is that it was supposed to be in reverse, ie, "even if I told you where my school is, would you know which school it is?]

"I have already been granted permission by my school."

When I said that, Matsuyama-sensei showed me a hate-filled glare.

"It's a really leniently managed school, to be so lax."

Don't you stick your nose into other schools' business. I really like my own school.

Matsuyama (I will address him without an honorific from now on) hurried through the school's corridors.

"Belief in the supernatural is a recent fad; when one thinks like that, one gets lazy, hence its popularity. When brats who have not even completed their compulsory education are bound by such beliefs about super powers and UFOs, they use these non-existent things to escape from reality. Furthermore, taking advantage of the situation, conmen come to mingle. Youths these days for no good reason, can't seem to do work reliably."

...Conmen. Was that referring to us? How dare he call us, well-behaved and honest workers, conmen?!

Come on Naru, hurry up and refute him. When, if not now, are you going to use that normally poisonous tongue of yours?

But Naru was silent. Even the monk made no reply.

Matsuyama sneered at us mockingly.

"Recently amongst these fraudulent neo-religions, it looks like even girls have been implicated in these malicious situations, right?"

Hmph... Just as I was about to express my displeasure, the monk started speaking in a seldom used, quiet, extremely polite tone.

The monk, Takigawa Housou, age 25, is a monk from Mt. Koya. He has a day job as a studio musician. He manages band activities on one hand, and is a psychic power user on the other. In other words, he is multitalented. 

"If we are talking about the recently popular small scale religious groups, I think it is more accurate to call them New Rising Religions." <!--[新新兴宗教]-->

"What?"

Matsuyama looked unprepared for that attack.

The monk continued his act and said, "that is to say, recent - in what they call the Third Age of Religion that we are currently in the midst of; about the rapidly spawning witchcraft based small scale religious groups, they should be called New Rising Religions to be accurate."

Matsuyama looked like he was about to say something, but the monk did not give him a chance to interrupt.

"And if we are discussing these New Rising Religions, these are the ones that came chronologically after the Second Age of Religion. This is common knowledge."

"Such small details don't matter!" roared Matsuyama. The monk smiled a satisfied smile. 

"So it is. But, don't you feel that arguments based on mistaken knowledge are meaningless?

"No, Sensei might have only been slightly misinformed; but if you are really unaware, I can enlighten you. Even though you are an educator; to allow you to persist in your misunderstanding is unthinkable."

Instantly, Matsuyama was speechless.

Success. Well done, Monk.

"As long as people don't mess up the essential parts in life, that is enough! What the heck, you people! I don't know if it is the attraction of boring religion, or if there is something strange going on in the depths of your minds; a student like you who is clearly skiving, and a man like you who keeps his hair long and messy will sooner or later wind up on the wrong path!"

That... What? Is he trying to say that we're walking a path forbidden to man?

That bastard!!

"Is it here?"

Naru pointed to a door; above the door hung a sign, "Meeting Room".

"Yes."

Matsuyama said as he violently opened the door. 

<!--[tl/n: Help! The monk spews tons of pseudo religious crap. I really don't think there is a proper term for 新新兴宗教, even within the original language or culture. Hence the coining of "New Rising Religions". I'm not too sure what he is actually trying to say, so if anyone knows better, please edit.] -->

=== 2 ===

When the door opened, student council president Yasuhara was waiting for us inside.

He rose upon seeing Naru.

"I've been waiting for a long time."

Naru nodded in greeting towards Yasuhara. Matsuyama spoke up.

"Yasuhara, don't you need to be in class?"

"The third year's class time has already been greatly reduced."

Oya, so Yasuhara is a third year. It is rare for a student to continue to be council president in the last month of his third year. 

"No problems with exams?"

"Please do not worry."

Yasuhara was clearly forcing his expression.

Looking slightly put off, Matsuyama sat heavily on the chair.

"Now what? What do you do first?"

He looked at us sarcastically.

"Start a fire, and then chant scriptures?"

The corners of Matsuyama's lips raised slightly in a hint of a smirk. He's a really irritating fellow.

We ignored Matsuyama's presence.

To the monk's question, "How shall we start our investigation now?", Naru glanced at his watch.

"So we shall. Let’s start by seeking out students involved in the various incidents to understand the situation."

After saying that, Naru turned to me and continued.

"Ignore the case of the small fires. Go and look for the students involved in the other three incidents."

How do I find them?

Before I could reply, Yasuhara cut in.

"Let me do it."

"That would be much faster. Thanks."

"Sure."

Matsuyama sat on the chair, looking on as we spoke.

Naru bowed slightly to Matsuyama.

"Thank you very much for your help. Sensei may return to your office. We do not require further assistance."

"That won't do. It is my job to manage students.

"These supposed students may not leave the field of vision of the teacher."

Yasuhara's expression hardened with anger. Naru, still expressionless, calmly continued.

"Anyone involved in these incidents is considered our client. We need to maintain the privacy of our clients."

"Do children have any privacy to speak of?"

Sure they do!

I could not help getting increasingly angry. Naru remained calm throughout.

"Regardless of age, clients are clients. Now please leave."

"Do you mean to say you will be inconvenienced by my presence?"

Uncle, who do you think you are, you bastard.

The monk said angrily.

"The principal said we would have freedom to do our work."

"Even if it was freedom it would be limited. I'd like to hear what you self-proclaimed psychics are up to under the guise of mingling with our students."

"In that case, please go to the principal's office."

Naru's reply caused Matsuyama to be temporarily lost for words.

That's right. The one who summoned us had always been the principal.

Matsuyama's face was crimson with anger. He straightened his back and looked like he had something to say, but only creased his lips in disapproval and stood up. Hastily he left the meeting room and fired his parting shot as he stalked through the doorway. 

"Do as you please. Whatever happens at the end of the day is the principal's responsibility!"

Such irresponsible words!

What could happen? What was he talking about?

After that, Matsuyama slammed the door with enough violence to shake the walls, and exited the scene.

=== 3 ===

"Despicable bastard!!! Just because he is the scum of human society, he looks like others as though they are the same as him!"

I could not help shrieking in the direction Matsuyama disappeared in.

"Teachers, educators; what are teachers! Aren't teachers supposed to be role models for students?!"

Haaa. Haaa. Oh my, I hate this type of immoral, rude, and tyrannical bastard the most.

Crap. When I noticed, Yasuhara was already looking at me, shocked.

Ah ah, I'm in really deep trouble now.

Then he gurgled with laughter.

"Well said!"

Huh? I'm saved?

The monk let out a sigh of relief.

"It's not like we're trying to be his friends. For me, I was eagerly anticipating when Naru's poison tongue would make its appearance."

Yeah, me too.

Naru gently shrugged his shoulders, wearing that godly expression of his.

"It's meaningless to preach to a pig."

Naru said with great gravity.

He's really, really incredible. 

The truth was that Naru was also angry.

"Yasuhara-kun, could I trouble you to have the people involved gather here. Could you send them here in order?"

"Yes. Leave it to me."

Yasuhara nodded and sprinted out of the meeting room.

The first persons Yasuhara brought in were a group of girls. They were the girls involved in the mass absenteeism, from class 2-5.

"And the representative is?"

"I am Okamura Kazumi."

Naru opened his notebook.

"Please tell us how the incident occurred."

Okamura-san bobbed her head. Clearing her throat, she said:

"Spirits appeared in the LL classroom. Then, we were afraid and refused to attend class. Even though we told the teacher, we would only get scolded. There was no other choice except for us to all take leave from school."

She said that forcefully.

"What type of spirits appeared in the LL classroom?"

"It was a child, a little boy."

"Has Okamura-san seen it with your own eyes?"

"I've seen it."

Her reply was short and crisp. Poor dear, her face was turning green. She definitely had encountered a really frightening thing. 

"It started with the voices. When I played a tape that I previously recorded, I realized there was some sound I hadn't heard before in the background. I thought it was the voice of a child." 

"Could you hear what he was saying clearly?"

"No. The voice was soft, not at the level where I could discern what was said. Subsequently..."

She paused.

"There was someone touching my leg."

Naru signaled her to continue.

"I was shocked and looked down. Under the table there was a boy grasping my leg."

She hurried on.

"There's barely any space under the table for a child. Although that's the way it should be, there really was a child there, just kneeling under the table. Even now, I still clearly recall what he looks like. A boy, about six years old, and he wore a Goosebumps inspiring smile on his face!

"Finally it became the sound of weeping.

"I was shocked and jumped out of my chair, shrieking. Just as I was about to call the teacher to inform him about the boy, when I looked down again, he had already disappeared. The teacher did not believe me, but there really was someone there!"

Naru nodded. Okamura-san relaxed upon seeing the acknowledgement. 

Naru looked at the rest of the girls.

"Is there anyone else who has seen this spirit?"

All 5 girls raised their hands in response.

Naru questioned them individually. Everyone had experienced incidents similar to Okamura-san.

"Besides the persons here, is there anyone else who has seen it?"

Naru asked. Okamura-san nodded.

"There are about two more persons. Many more have heard the voice."

"How many?"

The girls all pulled faces. Then, "probably everyone has heard it," was the reply.

"What about students in other classes?"

"I know a few who say they have seen it; it looks like there are large numbers who have heard the voice."

Naru nodded.

The monk was writing something with blue ink on the floor plans provided by the school. 

Naru showed a thoughtful expression before continuing.

"Finally, have you heard of the other incidents that have happened in the school?"

The group looked at each other, and Okamura-san responded once again with a hardened expression.

"They say Sakauchi-kun has appeared in school." 

"And this Sakauchi-kun is?"

"A first year student who died in September."

Ah... That male student who committed suicide... a common plot device in regular ghost stories. 

"In school, one feels that someone has brushed pass; and some things have appeared in the classroom. Then... more recently, there have been new Seven Wonders..."

The other girls started speaking.

"Yeah, that's been there for ages. The rumors have increased, not about that, there are new stories."

One of the girls started counting off on her fingers.

"First, 'The Unopenable Safe'. Following that, 'The Dismembered Human Model'. And then there was, 'The Man Who Jumped'. A man appeared to jump from the school's roof, but on closer look, there was no one... next was..."

"'The Old Man of the Furnace', when the lid of the furnace was opened, the face of an old man appeared inside. 'The Reversed Mirror'."

"Oh, yes. Doesn't the mirror in the gym's toilet often show reflections of objects that are in reverse?" 

<!--[tl/n: well, clearly this ghostly mirror shows things not in mirror image, but jumbled up somehow.]-->
"And 'The Geography Room'? When it was cleaned, the fluorescent light fell."

"Eh? What about 'Footsteps in the Chemistry Lab' there's that, right?"

"And 'The Sickbay'? The second innermost bed would suddenly appear to have been slept in."

Everyone reported various strange incidents, and the meeting room became very noisy.

That is, the so called "Seven Unthinkables", was, in general, more than seven such tall tales. Despite that, the sheer volume of the stories gave me a bad feeling. The floor plan the monk was writing on was soon covered with blue. 

Naru had everyone quiet down. 

"Thank you everyone. We will investigate the situation properly."

=== 4 ===

Following that was the group that planned the exorcism. There were 8 males and females in the group.

Naru asked them who their representative was. After squabbling amongst themselves for the position, they finally decided on a girl called Araki Kozue-san to speak for the group.

"Then, Araki-san, please tell us how the incident progressed."

"Oh, where should I begin... My classroom is located in the East Block. This supposed "East Block" is basically made up of special classrooms, like the chemistry lab etc. The room neighboring my classroom is the Music Preparation Room. It is used to store musical instruments. Strange sounds came from there."

"And these strange sounds are..."

"Sounds of things being dragged on the floor; and the noises were loud and clear. The teacher also appeared to hear it and went next door to check, but said there was no one there.

"There were also strange sounds being heard in the LL classroom. Although I have never heard it myself, many others have.

"Besides that, there was that day when my class was in charge of cleaning the geography classroom: when we were cleaning, the bulb of the fluorescent light dropped down. Or rather, the fluorescent tube. In any case just one tube fell out. The tube shattered and the shards of glass flew all over the place, so there were many people who were injured. Although we reported it to the teacher, he could only tell us to be careful; the problem was not solved at all."

She looked both angry and frightened.

"And besides that there were the fires; everyone says they started last autumn. More accurately, they started since that first year student committed suicide. I'm convinced all these are linked, but the school does not take any action."

"So you decided to take matters into your own hands?"

"Yes. Because if we leave things as they are, who knows how many people would be hurt the next time? The teachers are useless. If it were us, we might be able to do something. Unlike what the news and tv claims, we are not entirely certain that these incidents are the fault of Sakauchi-kun; but to take no action? With no action we would never know if it was good or bad, so..."

"So it was like that."

"Does Araki-san know Sakauchi-kun?"

"No. I only knew of his existence after the incident."

"It looked like he left a suicide note... do you know of the details?"

"Yes. It was famous instantly: 'I'm not a dog'."

Not a dog...

"Do you know what it means?"

"I feel I can understand what he meant. Because sometimes I feel like a dog or some cattle. I'm micromanaged from the color of my hair to the color of my personal belongings; I'd get lectured for things from my language use to my attitude: it's just like disciplining a dog. That suicide note probably referred to something like this."

Ah ah, I understand where she is coming from. My school's school rules are not strict, but it's not like I don't know how strict the rules are in other schools. Not long ago, when I heard there was a rule like this: "the maximum time for a toilet break is 3 minutes", I wondered: did the makers of the rule have people in mind when they made it? 

"And then I thought, Sakauchi-kun must have hated the school; there are some people who say they have seen the ghost of Sakauchi-kun. That's why I thought the students of the school could properly console the soul of Sakauchi-kun. However the teachers did not allow us to do so. Somehow teachers always think that a gathering of large group of students means we are up to no good."

Eh eh. If it was Matsuyama, I'd easily believe he could say such things. 

Naru gently nodded.

"And besides these, would you know about the strange incidents that happened in this school?"

They, too, related countless tales experienced by themselves or their close friends.

The monk, looking frustrated, had given up taking notes midway.

After Araki-san's group left, the next group was represented by Miyasaki Masayo-san. This group had claimed to have been bitten by the black dog.

Disregarding the already frustrated monk and myself, Naru continued his questioning patiently.

"Then, Miyasaki-san?"

Looking small surrounded by her friends, Miyasaki-san raised her head. Her foot was bound by a white bandage. 

"Please."

"Yes. That..."

She scanned the room, frightened, before slowly starting to speak.

"Starting this autumn, strange things have been happening in our class. That is... we heard strange sounds; like the whining of a dog, with "he... he..." like breathing sounds. It was very discomforting. Then... who knows when... people started getting leg wounds. That was about December. It was just like being bitten by a dog, there were even bite marks." 

"Is that victim currently here?"

Naru scanned the group. A frail looking male student had raised his hand.

"What was the situation?"

"That is, while many described hearing the dog's sounds, I have never heard it, and I thought they were only lies. Then one day during class I suddenly felt pain in my foot. It was a sudden spike of pain. I examined my foot after class and found a bite mark. As I was wearing long pants it wasn't a big deal, there was only a little blood; there were also puncture holes through the uniform."

Naru nodded, and turned once more to Miyasaki-san and had her continue.

"Yes... After that incident similar incidents would occasionally occur, but no one ever saw the dog... until recently..."

"On the day of that incident, who was the first to be bitten?"

Naru asked. One of the girls replied.

"It was I."

"And what happened?"

That girl shrugged.

"Nothing much, I was just suddenly bitten by something. There are around 5 others who were bitten after that. I realized what had happened and jumped up in shock. The teacher asked me what had happened; I said I had been bitten. And then the student beside me pointed to the side of my foot and said: 'there’s a dog.' When I looked down, I saw a black dog running past my foot."

"Nearly everyone in the class saw the dog?"

Miyasaki-san nodded. Then, in a whisper,

"It was actually a lie."

Eh?

"I mean, the teacher said he did not see the dog; that was a lie. Because, the teacher fled the classroom with us. But on the papers, the teacher nevertheless claimed not to have seen it. Then we asked that teacher, he denied seeing it."

All the students nodded in agreement to Miyasaki-san's words.

"Does anybody have any theories about the reason for the appearance of the dog?"

Naru asked. A different male student said,

"Initially it wasn't a dog but a fox."

"A fox?"

"Yes. For a period of time, our school... eh?"

He looked around him. The 2 female students sitting on either side of him continued urgently,

"Please, what was it?"

"Trying to hide it won't work; the briefest investigation would reveal all." 

She said this, looking straight at Nrau.

"For a period of time, it was very popular to play Kokkuri-san (summoning Fox Spirit) in our school. Because of that, we thought it was a fox doing the haunting. All this while, until we saw the dog, everyone believed it was just a fox."

Naru's expression turned solemn.

"Our school is managed very strictly; if we were caught the punishment would be severe. Everyone was playing in secret, it was really popular."

Miyasaki-san said, stuttering.

"Probably very few have not played."

"Is there anyone amongst you who have not played?"

Naru's question did not receive a single reply.

Naru nodded in understanding, and asked if they knew of the other strange incidents in the school. Like the last time, there were so many peculiar stories that I could faint.

=== 5 ===

The last to enter was the group who had suffered mass poisoning.

Student Council President Yasuhara showed in 6 students, and seated himself too.

"That is to say Yasuhara was also one of the victims?"

Yasuhara smiled at Naru's question.

"Yes. I am also one of the 'students with weak constitutions'. Whatever the question, fire away."

Oh yes, the newspaper report wrote "we believe that students with weak constitutions were brought down for some reason". The correspondent had tried his best to rationalize the incident. Whether we looked at Yasuhara or any of the others, none of them appeared frail. 

Naru's expression momentarily softened.

"In that case, let me ask your representative, Yasuhara. What are the details?"

"Perhaps you already know from reading the newspapers, the incident occurred on the 18th of December, Monday, at 2pm in the middle of class."

Straight to the point and easily understood. Yasuhara is really an intelligent person.

"Nearly half the class collapsed, to be precise there were 19 persons.

"At the beginning of class there was already a male student who felt nauseous. Just as he deliberated leaving the class, suddenly there appeared many others saying the same thing. I was wondering what was going on, when I too suddenly felt unwell. From the start of the class, I had thought that the air in the classroom was somehow bad. There was a strange stench; we opened the windows; but we continued to discuss what the source of the smell was so everyone was restless during break, that's why that made an impression."

"So it was like that. Do you know of the cause?"

"No. When the furnace burns wrong, one's mood is affected, although it isn't that big a deal; it a similar type of feeling. I have previously eaten raw food and experienced food poisoning, and it felt totally different from this incident. This incident had nothing to do with food poisoning. Furthermore, the school uses air conditioning, hence eliminating the possibility of a gas leak."

En en.

"Does this stench persist in the classroom?"

Yasuhara nodded.

"We are all numb to it so we are not sure if it is still there, but even now one can smell slight traces of that stench. When students from other classes visit our classroom, they would all ask, 'what's this odor?'

"And there are times when the smell would suddenly become overwhelming. After that incident, there were also instances when the teacher first felt unwell. At that time everyone evacuated the classroom with a sense of dread, although only the teacher went to the sickbay. And after that, I can recall there were also several occasions when the stench suddenly became much stronger. Yes, about 7 or 8 times since that incident."

"Were there any victims?"

Yasuhara shook his head.

"No. Or rather... Initially I did not believe this was a supernatural phenomenon. Our classroom is on the first floor; below... I mean what was further beneath, that is, in the stratum there is a pool of bad gas, was what I hypothesized to be the reason. However, Eda..."

Yasuhara turned back to look at the male next to him.

"This fellow would scatter salt whenever the stench grew strong. After doing so the foul smell would suddenly vanish. What the heck, if it was explained as a natural phenomenon, that would be really weird."

Naru looked at the male student called Eda.

"Why scatter salt?"

"That, because don't they say that salt is cleansing? We throw salt when we return from funerals and other stuff. So I felt that we could try it in school to see if it worked. After scattering the salt the stench disappeared instantly."

"Feeling...?"

He scratched his head.

"Anyway, at the end of the day, I thought, people often say that doing so (scattering salt) in school would force spirits to emerge, and the reason for the poisoning is unclear; I always felt there was a link to spirits and what not..."

Naru's pale fingers lightly rapped the table. 

"If spirits are involved in this incident, do you have any hypothesis about the cause?"

Yasuhara's group tilted their heads in thought.

"I don't know."

"Really? Sorry to trouble you then."

Naru nodded gently towards Yasuhara.

"On a separate note, I have a question for student council president Yasuhara."

"Yes."

"When did you first notice the strange things happening here?"

Yasuhara paused slightly to think.

"I started thinking 'there is definitely something wrong here' first with the mass absenteeism. Only... yes, I had started feeling something was amiss around the period of the cultural festival."

"The details are?"

"Because the number of weird rumors increased. Since autumn, the student grapevine has reported nothing but strange tales. Here and there someone saw a ghost or something; I heard these stories, and started feeling uneasy."

Yasuhara looked very serious.

"As there was preparation work to do for the cultural festival, everyone would remain in school until late. That is, everyone suddenly became very reluctant to stay back. The change in the girls' (behavioral) tendencies was especially acute. Normally they would loiter around even if they had nothing on. I felt that was a little strange."

Naru nodded.

"What about the series of fires that happened before the mass absenteeism. What do you feel about that?"

"I can't recall the exact date; the first fire was around the middle of October. At first I thought it was started by some mischievous fellow or other who used fire carelessly. Then 10 days later there was another fire. At that time the teachers were getting a little nervous, the perpetrator was still unknown. And then the next... "

"12 days later?"

"Yes. To call it an accident would be too strange, and there were those who said it was not arson. The teachers had apparently increased their guard, but 12 days later the fire still happened. Although the teachers had diligently patrolled (the school), they still could not identify the perpetrator."

"And there was yet another fire 12 days later?"

"Yes. Then they even used the special locks boys’ schools use, although now they no longer bother. But still there was a fire. At that time the mass absenteeism incident happened; deep down I felt that it would be very weird if it was actually arson."

"And from then on there was a 12 day cycle?"

"Yes. Always on the morning of the 12th day."

"Locks?"

"It is locked."

"When will the next fire be?"

"The last time was on the 11th, so this time it should be on the 23rd. That's 2 days from now."

Naru was deep in thought. He tapped his ball point pen on the table and quickly looked up.

"Lastly..." As he said that, he looked at the group, and asked them about the strange rumors. After listening to their last incredible story, Naru shut his notebook and rose.

"Can you let me see your classroom?"

"Yes, please." 

=== 6 ===

With Yasuhara's group leading the way, we made our way to that classroom - 3-1.

The classroom was located at the first floor of the West Block. Ryokuryou High School's compound is shaped like the character “コ”, to the north is the gymnasium; the staff rooms and student canteen are adjacent to each other in the North Block; turning a corner is the East Block consisting special classrooms; turning another corner is the South Block with normal classrooms. A turn away from the South Block is the West Block. It is a 3 level facility with only classrooms. 

Once the door opened, a weak odor slammed into my senses. It was a hateful stench, like the smell of something rotten. 

Yasuhara entered the classroom, and turned to look at us.

"I practically can't smell the stench anymore, what about you guys?"

Naru nodded.

"And it's not a very strong smell, but there definitely is an odor."

The monk opened the classroom's windows.

"Even after opening the windows, the stench does not dissipate."

Squinting, Naru scanned the room. Touching each table, he moved around the room.

"There is no place where the stench is particularly strong."

Yasuhara nodded.

"It is like that. Although we have carefully searched for the source of the stench, the whole classroom stinks."

Naru nodded, and then he suddenly stood still. He turned to look towards Yasuhara's group surrounding the door.

"Has anything strange ever happened here?"

"Strange things?"

Yasuhara tilted his head. Naru's expression was severe.

"Like summoning, this type of thing."

Naru studied everyone's faces; the crowd started murmuring.

"Isn't he talking about Worikiri-sama?"

"That is..."

Addressing the various softly squabbling voices, Naru said, "What is it?"

Yasuhara represented the crowd to reply.

"Recently... That is to say, from the start of the second semester, Worikiri-sama has been popular. Is that it?"

With that last line was directed to the girls behind him.

The girl nodded nervously.

"Not just our class, it is popular throughout the school - Worikiri-sama, Gongen-sama and what not."

Worikiri-sama...?

"What is that?"

Although I directed my question at the monk, he turned to look at the girls.

"I have it with me, it has not been used." a girl piped up. She retrieved a piece of paper from her desk.

"This."

Ah!

On the paper were the Fifty Sounds. This is... Kokkuri-san...

<!--[tl/n: the Fifty Sounds probably refer to the fifty phonetic alphabets in Japanese. Imagine a hiragana or katakana table.]-->
The monk appeared to think so too.

"Isn't this Kokkuri-san?"

The girls went into an uproar. The girl who handed us the paper looked at us, highly dissatisfied.

"As if. Your supposed Kokkuri-san is summoning a fox, right? At the center there is an illustration of a Torii... I've heard that Kokkuri-san is very dangerous, and shouldn't be done casually. For this, look."

She pointed to the strange symbol in the center of the page. There were words arranged into a circle with the words "Yes" and "No" on either side. The repeated word "鬼(Oni; Demon)" arranged in a circle and the checkered pattern within left a strange impression. 

"Worikiri-sama is summoning a god. It is very accurate in predicting love matches etc. Gongen-sama is..."

While she spoke, the monk snatched the paper without warning.

"Watch it!"

"How does Gongen-sama appear?"

The monk had crushed the piece of paper into a ball.

"Gongen-sama is a summoned god. Because it is a god, it can help us solve problems etc..."

The monk threw the paper ball. It hit the wall before dropping into the rubbish bin.

"What? Is there a problem?!"

The girl looked uneasily at the monk.

"Gongen-sama. Tarou-san. Hitofude-sama. Cupid-san. They are all aliases for Kokkuri-san."

"Eh!"

The exclamations came not just from the girl who handed us the paper.

"What you were doing was well and truly Kokkuri-san. It is the same thing regardless of what you name it. You casually summoned spirits, and treated them as toys."

"How could it..."

The monk looked furious.

"Even the uninitiated is capable of summoning. Summoning a spirit can be done by anybody, but to send a spirit back needs practice. Don't do it anymore."

"But... everyone says that if it is Worikiri-sama then it isn't frightening, and it does not matter..."

"That's bullshit. It's because you all do this type of stupid thing that these strange disturbances occur!"

Seeing the monk's face, the girls were immediately dejected. 

"Really, here and there is all like this. In the class where the black dog appeared, there were also people playing this type of sick games. They probably summoned a low level wondering spirit<!--(浮游灵)-->. The mass poisoning must have been the fault of something similar."

"But! Worikiri-sama is very popular throughout the school!"

"Goodness... This fellow is really lucky, the school building has yet to collapse."

The girls lowered their heads.

Naru interrupted.

"You said it is very popular. How high is its popularity?"

The girls made eye contact with each other.

"The truth is that in school, everyone has been doing it."

"Amongst those present here is there anyone who has not done it?"

Including Yasuhara, not a single person raised his hand.

=== 7 ===

At this time we spread out and visited various classrooms, getting hold of any remaining students, and asked if and how many times they have done Kokkuri-san.

The main aim of the investigation was to determine the popularity; the proportion of students who have done it; estimate the frequency of the practice. The investigation was more or less complete before sundown, so we returned to the meeting room for tea. 

As the meeting room did not have any facilities, Yasuhara brought utensils for making coffee from the student council room. After using an ancient heating plate to boil water, I added the instant coffee. I scrubbed the old fashioned western styled enamel tea cup, and appreciated the retro feel. It must have been used through many generations of student councils.

"How is it?"

After serving the coffee to everyone, Yasuhara seated himself. Then he surveyed us.

Leaning on the chair's back, the monk stared at his pile of notes, sighed a huge sigh before placing them on the table.

"This thing is huge, god help us."

"Is it very serious?"

The monk nodded his head, frustrated.

"All the students in the school are doing Kokkuri-san."

His sight fell on the pile of notes.

Those were the results of the investigation done with the help of Yasuhara and his group. Of all the students, more than 90% have done Kokkuri-san at least once, and since September, most of them have done it every break time.

In November and December, before the strange incidents started the volume was still low. Despite this, with continued repetition, who knows how many times spirits have been successfully summoned in the school?

"... is the fault of the spirits that were summoned. Exactly how many spirits are there wondering in the school? Maybe not just thousands, maybe tens of thousands."

The monk let out another huge sigh and turned to Naru.

"I say, Naru-chan, are you really serious?"

Naru, also looking frustrated, stared out of the window, and made no reply.

"I say, why don't we just give up and leave. In any case it is the responsibility of the students, so they should just exorcise the spirits themselves and the case would be closed." - said like a child throwing a tantrum. 

"I can't stand it. Doing Kokkuri-san and the type would call out some unmanageable spirits."

Yasuhara said "relax, relax," to sooth.

"I understand your feelings. Please."

"Right-o. I'll teach you the ways of exorcism, and you will do it."

"That..."

Yasuhara's face was troubled. I chided the monk, saying,

"That won't do, monk! The principal has asked a favor of us."

"For me, I dislike this school's principal."

"Ah, so you're being difficult because you were bullied by Matsuyama."

"Shut up..."

I ruffled the monk's hair.

"Poor monk. Your pure soul has been hurt."

"Exactly. To be so blatantly treated as a conman; although that does happen quite often. It's really a difficult job to be a psychic power user."

The monk pretended to cry.

"If that's the case, this will do. Collect all the various wondering spirits and have them concentrate on Matsuyama, that'd be fun."

"Oh, not a bad idea."

En, the moment Matsuyama is mentioned, the monk pays attention. 

"I'm really sorry that Matsuyama is that sort of fellow."

No, that's not something you need to apologize for, Yasuhara.

"From the students’ perspective, issues involving that fellow are completely ignored. Everyone tries not to have anything to do with him, because it's not like he'd listen to the opinions of others. It is the students who are more mature in having to tolerate him instead."

I can't help feeling Yasuhara said some incredible words...

The monk raised his head.

"Yasuhara-kun, are you all right?"

"What?"

"That is, with you helping us at our request? Did Matsuyama say anything to you?"

"No worries. Because my grades are good." - completely unmockingly, Yasuhara said that smiling.

"In the past he has said a lot. I'm not sure when, I wrote that my goal was to enter the Literature and Economics Department, he suddenly stopped criticizing me. People who abuse their power are weak in the face of power."

So it was like this.

Uncovering the truth, the Monk and I were impressed. I don't know if Naru was listening, he was staring motionlessly out of the window.

"What's up? Still thinking of something deep?"

Naru remained deep in thought.

"...yeah. It's not like there's any deep, I'm just a little concerned."

"Concerned? What about?"

"As Matsuyama mentioned, the Japan of today appears to have popularized the occult."

"So it appears. So what?"

"Within Japan, the schools where Kokkuri-san is popular, how many do you think there are?"

So it is. "Why would such strange things only always happen in Ryokuryou High School?" is probably what he is trying to say. 

"I understand what you are saying, but don't you think the volume here is exceptional?"

Hearing the monk's words, Naru's expression became even more complicated.

"Untrained people do not always succeed in summoning a spirit even if they try. In other words, the number of successes is very low. Is this school a special school for psychics? Even then, I don't believe that the situation would progress so smoothly."

"Perhaps."

"Furthermore, there is the current situation. Even if all the strange stories are all simple lies, what about the child in the LL classroom? The black dog? The fires? We are clear that playing Kokkuri-san will summon wondering spirits, and amongst these spirits there some that are powerful, and incidents where they cause harm is not unknown. But, if this is the case, the numbers are also abnormal."

"That..."

I said. I wanted to ask the monk some basic questions. In these scenarios, Naru is basically useless. (Note: even if I asked he would not answer...)

"Would Kokkuri-san really summon spirits?"

"That should be, if it was a psychic."

"It would not happen with non psychics?"

"No. To start, that's too arbitrary."

"To tell the truth... I have done Kokkuri-san before."

"Heh. Even Mai can do such bored things."

"It's what you call the ignorance of youth. Kokkuri-san was very popular in Junior High. And then, that time the spirit came... or rather, the 10 yen coin moved, and really correctly predicted a lot of things. How would you explain that?"

"En... how should I put it..."

The monk looked at Naru; Naru shrugged.

"Mai, try placing your finger on the table. Like when playing Kokkuri-san."

I placed my finger on a point on the table.

"Your finger is shaking. Don't move."

I did not deliberately make my finger tremor. But looking at my own fingertip, my hand was indeed shaking, albeit slightly. 

"Even if you say that..."

Even if I tried to be still I could not stop.

"Get it yet?"

"Huh?"

"The human body is just like that."

Ah, it is.

"When there are many people doing that together, under the influence of each person's shaking, the coin moved. Kokkuri-san and the Ouija Board (note: Ouija Board - used in communicating or summoning spirits as a divining or prophetic board, similar to the Japanese Kokkuri. Using the Latin letters and numbers, Yes/No etc on the board, the planchette would move under the direction of spirits, or spell out some deep message.) etc... the theory behind these are all similar. Everyone is moving unconsciously. Because the movement is unconscious that's why the resulting movement is unexpected."

"En."

Once I knew that I felt it was uninteresting.

"But, it really predicted a lot of things accurately - what was that?"

"Usually, people who think like that would also think, ‘it'd be great if the coin moved’, right?"

"Yes - it'd be more interesting if it moved."

"People would also think, ‘if the answers to the questions were correct, that would be more interesting.’ ‘How old is Mai this year?’ someone asks. Everyone knows the answer. 16 years. Subconsciously everyone is thinking, ‘if it moved to 1, then 6, it'd be incredible’, this hope within the players' subconscious caused the coin to move. And so it moves to 16."

"It also predicted something that only I knew." 

"Like?"

"It predicted the current contents of my pocket."

"En. That was due to everyone's subconscious inference. The contents of a girl's pocket: handkerchief, comb, mirror... everyone's expectations are all different. All the participants are thinking on their feet. An item starting with "ki" - key holder (キーホルダー)? Then it follows to move to ‘ー’ (‘i’ sound). It would finally make up the word 'key holder'."

"Exactly."

Unbelievable.

I took the key holder out of my pocket.

"Idiot. It has been making noise from the start."

"Ah, is that so?"

"When playing this sort of game, there will appear answers that are right simply because it is common sense, and answers that are wrong. What is interesting here is the human mentality. For example, I ask ‘what is the name of the monk's mother’. And the answer that appears is ‘Ayako’... monk, the answer is?"

"It is Masayo."

"Didn't get it right. Furthermore, because somewhere in the human mind, we think that it'd be more interesting if it got it right, he would carelessly say it. 'Although it didn't get it right, I do know someone called Ayako. How would it know that?'"

"Ah, so that's how it is..."

"If the answer was 'Ayayo', although it is wrong, but only the 'yo' was right; or if it was 'Masako', the 'Masa' alone would do it. If we are asking if it got the right answer, in this situation, by right neither of them should pass. But humans would incredibly have the feeling that it 'got it right'. Furthermore, even if it was completely wrong, one would think 'ah, as expected, it was wrong'. Because one would be surprised if it were right, that would leave a lasting impression on anyone. In a real experiment, when asked about 24 questions, only 3 were answered correctly, and these were not even strictly accurate answers."

"Listening to what you say, that might be the case..."

I think I felt like that when I was playing.

The monk looked suspiciously at Naru.

"What?"

"After listening to your speech, based on what you say, you don't believe in Kokkuri-san."

"Perhaps... Personally I don't believe in Kokkuri-san."

"Eh?! Is that so?"

"Why do you say so..."

"Everyone thinks that spirits are all knowing. Like, Mai's future, the monk's thoughts, the object hidden secretly in my pocket, everyone thinks that spirits would know these things as a matter of course, but is that really the case?"

"Ah."

The monk and I said simultaneously.

"If Mai dies and turns into a spirit, do you believe you would know these things?"

"No."

"Exactly. I personally think so too. Basically the only things that spirits know more than man have got to do with 'death' and 'the world after death'."

En... So it was like this... only with things associated with 'death'; it's not something one would understand without experiencing it firsthand. 

"So, unlike the monk, I think Kokkuri-san is only a harmless game."

Yasuhara, who had been listening quietly to us, interrupted.

"But, if there was a powerful psychic present? Wouldn't they really summon a spirit?"

Naru shrugged.

"It is possible. But this hypothetical psychic would be able to avoid evil spirits. He would be innately able to avoid summoning evil spirits."

If he could not, he would not be a psychic.

"That... is this not wrong."

"Anyway," Naru restlessly ruffled the mountain of notes. 

"Summoning a spirit is similar to adjusting the frequency of a radio. ‘A crowd gathered and summoned spirits, resulting in the school being filled with wondering spirits’; on this opinion of the monk's I think there must be a certain degree of truth. If we exorcize but fail to find a cause, we can only assume that to be the cause. Until everyone gets here, we can only exorcize the spirits as they appear."

Naru sounded like he was deeply frustrated.



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