Phenomeno:Case 00: Chapter 2

Case 00 – Chapter 2: A World of Ash

Let’s say you were to try and divide all possible life events into happiness and unhappiness.

If so, the ratio generally comes out to be 50/50, which means that in short, how one perceives happiness as happiness is proportional to our experience of unhappiness as unhappiness – is what I felt someone once told me. The details are fuzzy to me since I don’t have any memories, but at any rate, it seems that people who are always "happy" do not feel "happy” based on the premise of their current state. It may be that "happiness" is perceived as "happiness" only when there is something to compare it to. That’s why unhappiness might be a critical spice for life is what that someone might have been trying to say, but—no, wait a minute. I would like to say it out loud right now. Even if that was the case, isn’t my condition right now a bit too high on the side of “unhappiness”?

First of all, I had no reason to live. I mean, being dead to begin with means any reasons go to hell, but in any case, I don’t feel like I’m moving forward at all. I was unable to decay physically, only an eternity of endless thoughts continued, and even in those negative mass of thoughts, I can only think, “I want to die properly as soon as possible”. I never thought it would be this painful to not be seen or cared about by anyone. When I wandered alone in town, my thoughts and emotions were headed to an endless oblivion because of the extreme bitterness, but I was saved thanks to meeting the young girl known as M. No, I don’t know if it would be right to say that I’ve been saved completely, but at any rate, my condition now was a little better than rotting away in the city as I was back then. That’s the extent of my “happiness”.

However—

That girl in the black dress said it.

『Around two weeks from now – On the 31st of July, they will all die.』

After that, I checked the calendar. The 31st of July 2001, was, by chance, an unlucky date. What in the world was going to happen to the family on that day? Just who the hell was that Takamura girl to begin with? What was she trying to make me do by telling me, me who was already dead? She was able to see me and have a conversation with me; She seemed to know me back when I was alive. And on top of all that, she had a sense of biological superiority, as if looking down on everything. Recalling Takamura’s pale, tomboyish beauty, I trembled with fear. She was, how should I put it… dangerous. Undeniably dangerous. I understood that much. Even I, who had little emotion, couldn’t stop feeling goosebumps, her whole body was covered with a stagnant cold air.

Could it be that she was the “God of death” incarnate? Or perhaps a demon? Or an Anunnaki, interdimensional aliens described on Sumerian clay tablets? Ah, those might have all been the same thing – is what I felt the easygoing me thought back when I was still alive, however, because she had a supernatural aura about her, I didn’t feel like there was any hint of a lie in her words, which was troubling. Perhaps her awakened gaze that seemed to regard ‘death’ as a trivial matter led me to believe so.

『Don’t you think it’s really inefficient to live in human form?』

Takamura spoke as if looking down on the world from the top of the building afterwards.

I don’t know. I had no idea. I didn’t have the answer to such a difficult question even after death. Why do people live, and why are they so afraid of death? Where did the emotion known as ‘fear’ come from in the first place? I had no clue about that at all right now – and when I reached that thought, something suddenly came to me.

『Hey, are you scared?』

『How does it feel to be scared?』

I don't know if that was from my own memories, or someone’s scattered memories from that Akashic something. At any rate, that vague someone stood beyond the darkness. She turned her pale face toward me and asked me in a voice that sounded like a bell. In my jumbled memories, I tried my best to concoct an answer, trying to convey the true face of fear. I was infatuated with her even while fearing her, and I became unable to leave her alone. Before I’d realized, she had become a very familiar existence.

Ah, what is this scene? What did she say her name was?

--It’s no use. I can’t remember. Everything was vague, as if covered by a fog. Is this what you called lingering attachments? Was I clinging to life once more? I had completely begun to accept myself as a ghost, but thanks to the girl in the black dress, I felt so frustrated at my lack of memory.

That’s right, in the end – there was no ‘hope’.

There was too little hope from here on out. I was troubled to stay near M for forever like this, and after being forewarned of the ‘The Noose Mansion Massacre Case’ that would happen two weeks from now, there was just too little "happiness" in my life.

I vacantly thought on such things—

As I lay alone on the roof of M’s elementary school.

I had already spent two days in idleness since I met that girl dressed in black.

The sun was already shining brightly, and clouds rolled high above across the sky; today would be another beautiful day.

As things stood, the fun summer vacation would soon arrive, then the delicious food of fall, the jam-packed winter full of events, and then spring when the vegetation would sprout all at once— It was so sunny that I could only think of such natural happiness coming and going.

M and the others were the same as always. They were in the flow of a peaceful time as they peacefully passed their days in tranquility. It was hard to believe they were a family that had been marked by a Death God.

The father came home right after finishing his work, the mother would cheerfully tell jokes, and the elder sister was busy with her club activities, and M being M was content with her life, smiling alone in the corner. That was surely because of the exquisite feeling of balance that both her parents brought about. It felt like the two of them didn’t just care about a single family member, but acted conscious of the whole family in mind. That was surely what created the warm and inviting household, and made me wish it would stay that way forever.

Irritated, I scratched my hair, and looked up at the sky.

At any rate, this was about the limit of what I could do right now. My thinking was dull, painful, and I couldn’t construct things logically. I came here because when inside Mr. Frog, my consciousness was taken up by what was in front of my eyes, which was a problem, but even here — my ability to think didn’t really change. In any case, if what that death god-like, or alien-like young girl said was true, I had to do something to save that family. And that, I felt, was the reason why I had wandered ten years into the past.

There was no sign of that light pouring down from the heavens in the blue sky that appeared again that time. It was perfectly clear as far as the eye could see. I’m sure it must have ended up going somewhere again.

And I felt that it would never appear again.

---

In the end, no bright ideas came to mind, and the merciless passage of time continued.

And then, I learned of that strange incident on the day of M’s schools’ end-of-term ceremony.

“Say, M-chan. Do you know about the incident that happened in the neighboring town?”

Tomorrow being the start of summer vacation, the students were making a big ruckus since the homeroom teacher had yet to arrive in the classroom, but M was sitting alone in her seat, when Kii-chan spoke to her.

“Mom didn’t really tell me much about it, but something scary happened.”

“Something scary?”

M cocked her head slightly, and Kii-chan replied in a hushed tone.

“That’s right, something really scary. I don’t know what it was. But mom was really scared.”

M’s face darkened at hearing those words, and I too, who was inside Mr. Frog affixed to her bag, felt like I had swallowed iron. Well, in my case, it was because I was anxious not knowing what to do despite the two-week deadline drawing to a close that the girl who called herself Takamura told me.

“I heard a Tengu appeared.”

Thereupon, S-chan, a girl who was on good terms with both M and Kii-chan butted into the conversation, saying something outrageous.

“My father told me. Someone was murdered by a Tengu.”

“Eh--? Being murdered means they died, right? That’s scary.” Kii-chan spoke.

But when S-chan saw M suddenly look unwell with her head cast down, S-chan hurriedly put on a cheerful face.

“Ah. But it’s going to be alright! Papa said the police are looking into it, and they'll catch the Tengu or whatever it is soon!”

“…Yeah.”

M finally opened her well-shaped eyebrows when she heard that.

I managed to take a look at the entire classroom from within the frog.

With summer vacation starting tomorrow in mind, most of the first-year elementary school students were brimming with excitement. Summer festivals, the Bon Festival dances, swimming pools, the beach, and playing in the mountains. The watermelons would be delicious, and some of them would probably play with their grandparents and cousins who they rarely met. However, looking closer, there were faces of elementary schoolers talking with serious faces here and there, and it seemed a number of kids already knew of the so-called ‘Tengu incident’. For the time being, I drew closer to those guys and tried to gather up all the gossip – but I still didn’t get a complete picture.

“I mean, even the lowest branch of the ginkgo tree at that shrine is around four meters, right?”

Suddenly, a lively boy in the back of the class, who seemed to be the leader of a group of kids, raised his voice somewhat excitedly.

“It would have had to be a big guy to have an old guy hanging upside down there.”

“But if it was four meters long, then even a bug guy couldn’t have…”

• Whack*

The boy who objected to his argument was smacked on the head by the leader.

“You idiot, that’s why it must have been a Tengu.”

“Where did you hear that from?”

“An uncle from the neighborhood association who always brings me rhinoceros beetles. That’s why it’s not a lie.”

I didn’t understand it well, but it seemed that an old man from the shrine had died. And moreover, in unusual circumstances.

However, the great commotion that started with the ‘Tengu theory’ ultimately jumped to the boys in the class talking about forming a ‘Tengu subjugation squad’.

…Somehow.

This sure felt nostalgic, I thought to myself. It felt like the world of children was largely decided by the opinions of influential guys with clout. Though I didn't know for sure since I had no memories.

“The boys are full of energy, aren’t they?”

Kii-chan laughed exasperatedly at their behavior.

“But why would a Tengu do a thing like that?”

“Maybe because it might have wanted to eat him later. You know, Sensei told us there was a bird who did the same thing.”

“S-chan, you mean, the murdered old man was impaled on the branches?”

As Kii-chan and S-chan returned to that kind of inappropriate conversation, M suddenly opened her mouth, “Hey, aren’t you scared?”

“…Eh?”

“Don’t you think it’s scary to talk about such things?”

Both Kii-chan and S-chan faltered in response to M's straight-faced questioning.

“It is scary. It’s scary, but how should I explain it? It’s strange, but it’s a little exciting as well.”

Kii-chan eventually answered, and M cocked her head in puzzlement.

“Umm… I know I'm not supposed to say it like that, but, well, there were a lot of TV people there, and a lot of police cars driving around, it was different from usual, it was like a festival.”

…Ahh. That was called – ummm, a spring day. One of the worldviews unique to the Japanese, The usual days were separated as ‘Ke(Ordinary)’, and the unusual as ‘Hare(Spring)’ from what I can remember. And somebody explained that the concept of ‘defilement (Kegare)’ came to be mixed in there afterwards…

Wait a minute, how do I know that story? Was I a student majoring in folklore studies or something back when I was alive? However, it felt like I wasn’t especially knowledgeable about it, so it might have just been second-hand information from that certain someone.

“Well, since someone got killed, it really is different from a festival. But, even though it’s scary, it’s… how should I say, it ends up feeling festive. Maybe it’s because the person who was killed was someone I didn’t know.”

“…………..”

“How was he killed? Was he hung by the neck? Was he stabbed with something sharp? Both of those seem like they would hurt.”

M took one look back with a sad expression in response, “Let’s just stop. Kii-chan,” and broke off the conversation.

“Why?”

“Somehow – I don’t think it’s right to talk about the dead.”

While inside the stuffed frog, I too, couldn't help but look behind me. It somehow felt like the murdered victim ended up drawing closer. M probably felt the same thing.

When, thereupon—

“Hello. Good morning everyone--!”

The plump middle-aged and gentle-looking female homeroom teacher entered the classroom and called out to her students, causing all the first-year students to hurriedly rush back to their seats. They stood up, a cute sounding chorus of “Good morning!” rang out, and after they finished their mannered greeting:

“A sad incident happened in the neighboring town yesterday.”

The homeroom teacher began to narrate with a solemn expression on her face.

“But the adults are doing their best. The police are very good at their job. They’ll definitely catch the bad guys soon, so let's all study hard as usual.”

In response, Ye—sss, the first graders, who were still very obedient, replied loudly all at once.

“Today is the end of the first semester, but a word of warning. During summer vacation, don’t play with your friends in any secluded areas away from people. Always go with an adult wherever you go. Moreover, I believe there will be TV people in town. They’ll be the ones with microphones and cameras. If they ask you something, tell them you don’t know anything. If we talk too much, then the adults might be late in solving the case. Answer them properly with politeness. Can you all do that?”

Another loud ‘Yeees’ rang out in the classroom once more.

“You’re all such nice children. Then, sorry to keep you waiting, I’ll be handing out all your report cards!”

The classroom immediately erupted in an uproar, but the teacher roared, ‘Be quiet’, and began to hand out the report cards in turn. Talk of the ‘Tengu Incident’ as well the ‘Subjugation Squad’ was instantly forgotten in the commotion.

Children quickly change their interests from one moment to the next, however, I couldn’t afford that luxury. Before homeroom finished, I gently slipped out of the stuffed frog affixed to M’s bag, and went to the staff room.

The staff room was situated on the same floor as M’s classroom. I slipped through the door, and sure enough, the teachers were talking to each other about the incident. Thereupon, after gathering bits and pieces of information from walking here and there, this was the general feeling I got:

The man who died was said to be in his fifties known as Mr. Niizawa from S-town. Just how the leader of the group from M’s class had described, his body was discovered hanging from a two-hundred-year-old ginkgo tree on the grounds of an Inari shrine. However, it seemed he wasn’t hanging upside down, but simply hung by his neck. The reason why this case had not been highlighted by the public was that it was treated as an ordinary suicide -- however, the people in the locality seemed to treat it a mysterious death. The reason being that the branch Mr. Niizawa hung from was about four meters above the ground, and the trunk of that large ginkgo tree was thick enough that even a trained person would have had great difficulty climbing it. There was no ladder nearby, and there was no knowledge of Niizawa-san being good at climbing trees, so they were creeped out, wondering how he climbed all the way up with a noose in hand, and that If he was going to kill himself, weren’t their easier ways to do so?

--I see, so that’s why they’re calling it the work of a Tengu.

I somewhat understood, but it was no doubt a creepy incident.

However, two days into summer vacation, it happened.

The next strange incident happened. That morning, something felt different from usual, and my consciousness, which had dozed off in the frog, was suddenly awakened.

The hot sunshine was already pouring in from behind the window curtains, but the clock on the wall showed that it was only 7:00 in the morning. In her room, M was sleeping peacefully in her bed, with the air conditioner set to low, and the temperature remained constant. However, I could hear the somewhat tense voices of the adults ringing out from downstairs. I slipped out of the frog, then through the doors, and descended the stairs.

There were two strangers at the front door with a grave expression on their faces deep in conversation with M’s parents.

“…Anyway, let’s keep the doors locked tight. And if there are any strangers around, let’s communicate with the rest of the neighborhood association right away. It might be better to keep kids inside for the time being.”

“But why Nagami-san…?”

“We don’t know. The patrol car is on its way here now, and many more will be here soon. One of the policemen told me that it was a murder case.”

“Um, does it have something to do with the incident in the neighboring town the other day? The random attacker or something?”

“The police will be looking into that as well. However, the fact that we don't know what happened at all after that incident is troubling.”

It seemed the two people talking to M’s parents were from the neighborhood, and judging from the nature of their conversation, it seemed that “An incident similar to the one three days ago in the neighboring town had occurred very close by.” Which meant that the ‘scary incident’ the first-year elementary school kids were making a fuss about had occurred once more. And I couldn’t help but feel that these two scary incidents were the beginning of ‘something’.

Ten days from now, M’s family would be attacked in a mysterious incident that would remain unsolved ten years in the future. I was assailed with an inescapable sense of dread as if it was finally happening.

Unable to sit still, I passed through the four of them and went outside. Under the blistering sun that was sure to get even hotter from now on, I searched for the house of that ‘Nagami-san’. However, before I even thought of ‘searching’, I could see that the town was in an uproar after just a short walk. A dozen or so meters ahead of me, a single patrol car stood parked silently with only its red-light blinking, and next to it was a normal passenger car that seemed to have been an unmarked police car. Even though it was still early in the morning, there were countless onlookers swarming the surroundings, taking photos of the uniformed police officers at the entrance with their cell phones in one hand. The house at the center of all this commotion probably belonged to the so-called ‘Nagami-san’.

I slipped past the crowds of onlookers and entered the house. Yellow tape had already been plastered in front of the entrance, and the interior was hectic with several uniformed police officers going up and down the stairs. The incident seemed to have occurred upstairs. I continued to slip through the officers and stepped onto the stairs.

On the second floor, there was a middle-aged guy who looked like a plain clothes detective. He was dressed in a creased navy-blue suit, his stiff hair was streaked with gray, and he had a bitter expression on his face, as if he had just eaten an astringent persimmon. I peeked into the room the old guy was looking at. And, standing next to the old guy, I ended up making a face like him.

In the Japanese style room about 10 sqm in size, the man probably known as ‘Nagami-san’ lay collapsed.

I wondered what kind of person he was, but even after looking at him, I had no idea. Because his head was cleanly missing from the neck up. He had a knife gripped with both hands, and was covered in a pool of his own blood, well it’s obvious to say, but he was dead. Judging from the condition of the corpse, it was as if he had died by chopping his own head off. But – was such a thing even possible? At the center of the neck there was the bone after all, and midway through there would be massive blood loss leading to a loss of consciousness, that would surely make it impossible. I looked around the tatami-mat room, but the head was nowhere to be found. And that's when I suddenly realized.

--Ah, so that’s why it was being called a ‘murder case’.

Did that mean that there was someone who took only the head out of the house.

Perhaps it was because my emotions did not really undulate, but even seeing a dead body in front of my eyes did not upset me. Still a bitterness rose up from the bottom of my stomach. Perhaps a feeling of resignation at an extremely common occurrence, of the taboo of the human world since time immemorial, of “man killing his fellow man.”

“Oi, the forensics still haven’t arrived?”

One of the uniformed police officers replied with a frown in response to the old man’s inquiry.

“Tatsuke-san, aren’t you out of your jurisdiction?”

“Isn’t it alright? Just let me take a little look.”

A faint smile appeared unconcealed on one of the officers who was looking at the old man.

It seemed this old man was a police officer, but seemed to be a little frivolous in nature.

“Oh dear, this tatami has become quite useless now, hasn’t it?”

The moment the plain clothes officer called Tatsuke muttered that…

《We found the head!》

The report simultaneously came in through the radios of the cops present.

“Where is it?”

《It’s in the garden. On the branch of a persimmon tree in the garden--》

“A tree in the garden?”

I stuck close to the galloping old man as he ran out the room. We both jumped down the stairs, exited the front door into the garden and looked around. There were two police officers there, and their faces were pale as they pointed somewhere to Inspector Tatsuke after he arrived. The old man and I looked up almost simultaneously in the direction their fingertips were pointing.

There, among the leaves of the thick and overgrown elliptically shaped persimmon tree, was Nagami-san. He was looking down at us with a radiant smile on his face.

--Ughhhhhhhhhhh.

A sense of nausea bubbled up inside my body. It was a distorted pale smile drained of blood I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to. It was an artificial smile, as if pins were used to keep all the facial muscles in place, and the fact that only the head was present gave it an eerie appearance, as if a persimmon fruit was smiling.

“Tsk…”

As soon as the old man clicked his tongue, I staggered out of the house premises. The atmosphere was already too heavy, and I was at my limit. I really felt at home inside that stuffed frog.

Outside, there were even more rubbernecks than before. It was exactly what I expected: more rubbernecks calling for more rubbernecks. The people in the back must not have known what was going on. And it was only a matter of time before this would all be on television, and I sighed, despite being a rubberneck myself.

In the meantime, more and more patrol cars arrived to assist, and a wagon car loaded with what seemed to be forensics people in navy-blue suits; the site finally started to become noisy. I returned to M’s house, as if to change places.

---

This time, the incident was reported in the newspapers. Not just the newspapers, but also on TV, day after day, night after night, and I became familiar with the case, even though I didn't like it.

The victim was Kōichi Nagami-san, a 38-year-old self-employed male who lived in K town of Chōfu city. The report of his head not being discovered at the scene of the crime, but instead on the branch of a tree in the garden became a news sensation (However, they didn’t report the smiling expression on his face). The police began investigating the case as a possible accident or a murder. The first person who discovered the body was the wife of Nagami-san, 35-year-old Noriko-san. When she returned from walking their pet dog in the morning, she discovered the headless corpse of her husband. She was so terrified that she ran out of the house and collapsed on the street where she was helped by a neighbor. Thereafter, the police were called, and the crime scene was discovered. As of now, it seemed they still hadn’t figured out why the head was placed on the tree branch in the garden. There were no eye-witness reports of anyone suspicious, and it seemed no one who bore a grudge against Nagami-san was identified – but this was just information from the news on television, there might have been a few suspects in mind, but for the time being, that was the official story published.

And thanks to this case becoming the talk of the town, the incident that occurred three days ago in the neighboring S-town was looked at closely as well. The commonly known ‘Tengu Incident’ that was made much about on the last day of school in M’s class. However, it seemed the police weren’t taking any proactive action in this case, and in irritation, the neighborhood watch held a meeting to see if they should go to the police for advice. Then, according to the mass media who caught wind of the developments, connected the two mysterious incidents to various things. The topics were veering in unimaginable directions, for example, the troubles surrounding the construction of the building for a new religious group around half a year ago, or that a serial killer on the run in Kyūshū was hiding close by, or even that it was because a manga artist famous for his brutal depictions lived nearby. Seeing the reporters on television excitedly discussing these stories, M’s mother sighed on the sofa, “It would be nice if they would solve it quickly.”

“It really is annoying. They've had to cancel all summer school activities, and if things go on like this, the summer festival is going to be canceled, too.”

Dressed in a tank top, M’s elder sister spoke in a huff.

“I have no idea what they were trying to do by placing only the head on the branch of the tree.”

Muttering those words – the mother suddenly looked at M sitting beside her. She must have thought it was a story a first-year elementary schooler shouldn’t hear. Incidentally, I heard their story unconsciously while inside Mr. Frog which was in M’s hand. And I recalled Nagami-san’s pale face and complacent smile looking down at me through the crevices in the branches, and a bitter feeling came over me again.

“Well, anyway, there’s nothing we can do by worrying about it here -- A. Make sure you're always with M.”

“Suuuure.”

A, a freshman in high school, must have had many summer vacation events she was looking forward to. Instead, she had been forced to look after her first-grade sister for almost 24 hours a day. She gave an unconcealed grimace even as she replied as such. From the tone of A's voice, M felt that she was something of a nuisance -- “I’m sorry.” She apologized to her sister in a tiny voice. A shrugged one shoulder in reply and said, “It’s not your fault,” before patting M on the head.

“Well, I’m off to work. Keep the doors locked tight. If anything happens, call our neighbor Oomine-san.”

“I know.”

“And, if a stranger comes, you don't have to answer the door.”

“Yes, yes, you’re getting late, right?”

After the conversation, M’s mother headed to work, leaving A, M, Leo and myself alone in the house.

“Well then.”

A spoke while lying down on the sofa and flipping channels on the television.

“I promised I’d go out with a friend this afternoon.”

“…Eeeh?”

“Can you stay at home by yourself?”

“But mom told us to stay together…”

“She did, didn’t she--? Um… well it can’t be helped, will you come along? I’ll treat you to some ice cream.”

“…But, are you sure it's safe to go outside?”

“I'm sure it's fine. I mean, everyone is living normally. It might be a good idea to avoid the streets late at night when no one is around, but there are TV reporters all over the place, and the police are patrolling the streets, it’s fine.”

“But... Is it alright if I come with you?”

“It’s alright. In exchange, dress up before we go. You had a cute dress, didn’t you? That one-piece.”

The two then went up together to M’s room. I was left alone on the sofa in the stuffed frog. Leo looked at me with a whimper. Are the two of them going out? Is what I felt he asked me, to which I answered, ‘That seems to be the case’.

Eventually, A came down dressed in short jeans layered together with a tank top. Ohhh, she looked super cute despite having a short bob haircut and her shoulders being bare. She looked gorgeous enough to blow away my unpleasant feelings in one fell swoop. As I was thinking that she was bound to be accosted by loads of bastards, M descended the stairs with a somewhat timid look on her face, Uwooooo, I couldn't help but open my mouth in surprise.

Dressed in a white summer one piece and a small straw hat, M was really beautiful – no, those words were lacking. Her lustrous long black hair combined with her fair complexion made her look like a foreign model. No, she was like a fairy, an angel descended from the heavens.

“Yeah, you look cute.”

A grinned gleefully as she tapped M’s straw hat.

M looked down as if embarrassed, ‘Ah’, when she noticed me.

“Can’t I take Mr. Frog with me?”

“It’s not suitable! A stuffed toy doesn’t go with that outfit.”

“…Yeah, but.”

“You should let Mr. Frog relax sometimes. Mr. Frog will be looking after the house today.”

M eventually nodded in response. After that she picked me up and apologized, “I’m sorry.” Well, I was going to slip out of Mr. Frog and go with them, but—when she said that to my face, I felt like I had to stay behind and look after the house. In addition, Leo whined as to if to say, “Hey, you're not going to let me stay here alone, are you?” So, somehow, I ended up staying at home.

Well, you could say it was exactly the right time.

There were exactly ten days left from today until Takamura’s declared deadline. As expected, my inner thoughts were in turmoil. I had the choice to not believe Takamura, but even so, I had to take all possible precautions and think about what I could do. In any case, what was happening in this town right now? How was it related to M and her family? And what would be the best course of action for me to take? I was uncertain if I was bad at logical thinking because I was dead or because I was just innately bad at it, but at any rate, it was time for serious contemplation.

A and M left home a little after 1 PM.

The door was locked, the house was dead silent, with just me and Leo.

Now -- let’s think. Let’s think things though.

I slipped out of the frog and sat on the sofa with my arms crossed, however, at that moment, Leo wagged his tail happily. No, wait a minute. I don’t have time to play with you today. I told him that, but Leo had already brought a toy ball in his mouth and held it out to me. I was about to say, “I’ve already told you many times, I can’t physically interact with this world, so I can’t do anything even if you bring that to me”—when I suddenly realized.

I tried to pick up a felt-tip pen left behind on the table.

However, as expected, my fingers ended up slipping through. Not even the slightest sensation of touch could be felt in my fingertips. I thought I’d try going to the kitchen and running some water through my fingers, but that didn't work either.

…Ah, that’s right.

I truly had nothing to do with anything in this world whatsoever.

I couldn’t make the air quiver to send out my voice to others, nor could I write to convey my wishes. In short, even if I figured out something about this incident, it was impossible for an unsteady existence like me to communicate it to anyone who had anything to do with this case.

…Hey, what am I gonna do?

I was made to feel my place again after all this time and felt depressed, when—

Suddenly, the front doorbell rang.

Both Leo and I looked at the front door at the same time. But neither of us could answer. It felt uncomfortable in this situation, to not be able to answer even though we were here, as if we were pretending to be out. Sorry, please come again. As I was sending such a glance at the front door, the doorbell rang again. Darn, it must be some delivery, is what I thought as I tried approaching the door, when it happened. Suddenly, the doorknob was turned and pulled gently. It merely swayed and stopped with a clunk as it was locked, but that act startled me.

--Eh? What? What the hell are they doing?

Leo gave a low growl from the back of his throat. It seemed that he, too, had sensed the abnormality of the situation.

(Wait.)

I restrained Leo with my hand, silently made my way to the entrance, and looked outside through the peephole.

An unfamiliar pale face was present there. A young man wearing a shaggy gray jacket. His expressionless pale face was devoid of blood. And his narrow eyes were filled with a strange light that made it hard to tell what he was thinking.

--T, this guy, who the hell is he? What the hell is he doing there?

I couldn’t move even as I thought that. And, despite not having a heart, I still felt my pulse quicken. Come to think of it, human emotions are supposed to be governed by the mind, and yet, why is it that the emotions are actually felt inside the heart? When you receive people’s affection, you feel pleased and your heart feels warm. When you’re startled, your heart pounds. What’s feeling is not the mind, but the heart. No, those things were inconsequential. At any rate, the thing I had to think about right now was who the hell this guy was.

As if holding my breath, I stayed extremely still as I examined the situation on the other side of the door though the peephole.

Thereupon, I recalled the word ‘random attacker’ from the conversation M’s parents were having this morning. The man on the other side of the peephole was strangely in sync with the two incidents that had occurred in the periphery of town, the ‘Tengu incident’ and the ‘Headless Incident’.

…Hey, it can’t be.

As I stood in front of the entrance petrified—

The man on the other side of the peephole swayed in a large, slow motion to the right, and disappeared.

Remembering that the garden was in that direction, I rushed to the living room which faced the garden, and Leo followed me with a growl. I leapt into the living room and did a quick visual confirmation to see that the doors were locked. Eventually, that thin shadow wandered on the other side of the sash. Then, he abruptly stuck his face all the way up to the glass, as he began to peer in my direction through the laced curtains. I felt petrified, even though there was no way he could see me. The man stared motionlessly in my direction, before slowly looking around the interior of the house. I don’t know how long I was glared at – before the man abruptly moved again. This time he moved to the direction of the rear garden. I, too, quickly rushed in the direction of the kitchen. In the far back of the kitchen lay the kitchen door that led to the rear garden. The key there must have been locked, right?

I quickly ran there with Leo and breathed a sigh of relief when I confirmed that the kitchen was locked properly. The kitchen door had a lattice design with a frosted glass set on it. The black shadow eventually appeared beyond that glass. The man did indeed put his hands on the doorknob and pulled. This time, he had the nerve to pull it with a little more force, and the door clattered and shook. And thereupon, Leo finally barked. It was the sharpest bark I had heard until now. I held my breath; The man on the other side of the glass stopped moving, too. Please. I prayed that he would flee after finding out that there was a dog present inside.

Was he the random attacker? Could it be that he was the culprit from both cases, and was targeting M’s family this time? Aaah, was he related to the incident that would happen on the 31st of July that Takamura mentioned – no, no, there were still ten days left, it was far too soon, I fretted.

What should I do if those two sisters were to return and if that man were to hide in the backyard? No, even if he were to leave, how would I relay the events that had transpired here and now? How would I tell them that a strange man ended up trespassing in the garden while you guys were out? I couldn’t even hold a pencil. I couldn’t physically interact with this world.

At that moment--

The man didn’t hide in the backyard, and neither did he leave… Incredibly, his actions became even more audacious. He took something out from his pocket and fit it inside the knob’s keyhole. With a clatter and click, he began to fiddle with the keyhole.

…Eh, it can’t be, this isn’t a movie… there’s no way he can open it that easily – as I thought that, the inner lock turned with a click. Which meant that in short, it opened. It ended up opening.

After that, the man slowly put the lockpick back in his pocket, looked inside for a bit, and put his hand on the doorknob once more. Then he slowly twisted and pulled.

The kitchen door opened with a creak right in front of me. Leo stood firmly in place on all four limbs and growled. I, too, aimed all the aura of animosity I could muster towards him. If ghosts really could curse someone to death, I tried to brandish that power here and now as I glared at his face.

The pale face that peeked in through the crevice of the door, was thin.

He was tall and looked to be in his twenties. His features were originally well-arranged like that of an actor, but his pale face gave a strong impression of being in poor health. His hair was long and carelessly slicked back, and his gray jacket was full of wrinkles as if he had slept in it for months.

Leo barked.

The man extended one finger in response – pointed it at Leo, and then brought it against his own lips.

“Shhhh--- please be silent.”

He whispered in a hushed tone of voice which was unexpectedly overfamiliar.

He then narrowed his slender, foxlike eyes in the direction of me, who couldn't move.

“Yo, nice to meet you—is what I should say, right?”

I couldn’t even move a finger to respond to the words that were clearly directed at me.

“My name is Sako Takita.”

The man displayed his white teeth in a broad grin as he spoke.

“Even though I’m only a graduate student, but I’m still a head priest.”

---

“Now then—Where should I begin?”

The young man known as Sako Takita sat brazenly deep down on the sofa in M’s house, his long legs crossed and swaying gently.

“Anyway…huh? You are there, aren’t you?”

--Ah, I’m here.

I stood in front of the sofa with my arms crossed, and answered haughtily while looking down on the man. I felt a fear as to who this guy was, but on the other hand, I felt a nostalgia from his detached way of talking.

“No, at any rate, I know you are here in this house, but I can’t see you. I can see most of your everyday ghosts, but not you. Anyway, let’s start with introductions. I am university student studying comparative religions in one of Tokyo’s universities. Although I say that, I’ve previously worked as a Shinto priest, which is why I called myself a head priest earlier. To tell you the truth, Sako Takita isn’t my real name. Well, I guess you could call it a stage name, or a business name.”

That’s right – the reason I’m referring to this guy with his full name is because it’s not his real name. Moreover, it was strange that in his case, I couldn’t help but feel that even if it was his real name, it wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe it was because he had one foot thrust deeper in the world beyond than even me who was dead, or maybe this guy was a ghost himself…at any rate, his hopelessly weak sense of existence made me think so, but he was far too talkative to be a ghost.

“But you see, people usually realize how inexperienced they are when they start their careers. Disgracefully, I too am unable to escape the conventions of society and thus feel inadequate, so I thought I’d restart my studies from the beginning, but, you see, when I look around the world from multiple angles once more, my suspicion deepens: aren’t the roots of the various religions in the world born from the same nature? I was deeply reminded once more to look at the world from a broader perspective —Eh? What am I talking about, you ask? Well, I’m speaking in turn so please don’t fret. It’s not something one should rush. I’m talking in turn so that you may comprehend. At any rate, I might be older than the other graduate students, but you can say that I truly obtained the right timing for studying. The occasion being the incidents occurring in this town right now, and the story you will be involved in from here on.”

Hey, you don’t mean…

(Are you talking about the incident in which M’ family will be attacked ten days from now? Do you know what that’s gonna be?)

I asked in a panic, but the man who introduced himself as Sako Takita just looked at me blankly. It seemed that he was different from the girl known as Takamura, in that my words didn’t seem to reach him.

“…Hmm. To tell you the truth, I can’t tell who you are, if you’re a man or a woman, old or young. I can’t see you, after all. But I am able to feel you. Whether you’re angry, happy or disturbed, that’s the kind of vibe I get. From there I can willfully converse by inferring your opinion, but you are different after all.”

(…Different? What do you mean by different?)

“I recently realized that there are ghosts I can’t see like you in this world, who come from the future, it was when I was researching ancient Mikkyō religious scriptures in university. That scripture is not publicly acknowledged by Koyasan, but I happened to come across it through a source. In it was an interesting passage regarding a switch in perspective – for example, you believe that time flows from the past into the future, correct?”

…Hey, what are you talking about?

“Well, the majority of people in the past and today believe that to be the case, and in the religious view that everything began with the creation of the universe by the creator God, it is necessary in a sense. However, if the events of the past end up creating the entirety of the future, doesn't that mean that since the events of the past can’t be altered, then the future can’t be changed either? However, there is one way of thinking to solve this contradiction. That is to look at everything from reverse. That’s right, the way of thinking in which the past is the result of the present.”

Thereupon, Sako took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.

But then he recalled that this was someone else’s house and that he was trespassing right now. He hurriedly stood up and walked towards the kitchen, turned on the ventilation fan and began smoking in front of it. He looked uncomfortable as he looked around restlessly, it couldn’t be helped, so I walked up to him.

“Sorry, I wonder if you can hear me. Let’s continue the conversation, shall we? If the result of the present is the past, then the future rapidly approaches oneself, and without even stopping for a moment, passes through the self in the present and leaps back into the past. I believe you can imagine this sensation. In short, the future, which flows into you like raging billows from somewhere unknown is littered with infinite possibilities, and there is a thought that only those who make the most of it in the ‘present’ can create a successful past.”

…Oi, I have no idea what you’re going on about.

(Explain it more clearly, or just tell me the answer.)

Perhaps my annoyance got through to him, the young man known as Sako looked at me as if he truly pitied me.

“…You don’t seem very bright, do you? Well, I suppose it’s alright. If one were to acknowledge the possibility of time flowing from the future to the past, wouldn't it be possible to overturn modern physics, which says that a person can go to the future but not to the past with his or her present consciousness? Well, the summary of that scripture did say that the subject would not be a living person.”

Ah, in short, it’s the thing Takamura was talking about, 『Spiritual things sometimes transcend time and space. 』

“In short, you, who are invisible are a ghost to me, but not an ordinary deceased person, it can be said that you are weak signals from the future accessing this point in time in the past for some unknown reasons.”

…Signals again, huh?

To sum it all up, all this guy wants to say is that I’m something that’s peeping into the past?

Ahh, be it signals or whatever. At any rate, why did I turn out to be like this, and tell me if there’s anything I can do in this world.

I appealed as such, but my complicated thoughts probably did not reach Sako.

“At any rate, you who are dead or on the verge of death in the future, have something you desperately want to know in this timeline. Well, I don’t know what that is, and I can't help you find out. Because I’m very busy with a lot of things, after all.”

A busy person wouldn’t be puffing smokes in a carefree manner, I rebutted.

“Ah, too much smoke for you?”

Sako drove away the tobacco smoke with one hand as if he cared.

(That’s not the problem here. What kind of person smokes when they’re trespassing?)

“No, well you could say that smoking is my only hobby, or my raison d'etre, to deprive me of that would be quite a cruel act, so won’t you please forgive me?”

Sako laughed nonchalantly, but I had completely forgotten about it because I had been taken in by this guy’s foolish persona. How did he know I was in this house, despite not being able to see me in the first place? And why did he go to the trouble of committing the crime of ‘trespassing’ by sneaking into M’s house?

“Oh, that's quite simple, really.” Sako shrugged his shoulders in response. This time, he seemed to have understood. “I was pursuing a certain psychic phenomenon – or you could call it a certain ‘ghost’. That’s why I came here to this town, but I simply mistook that to be you.”

--A certain ghost?

“There’s an elementary school girl in this house, correct? A fair-skinned, long-haired girl who’s quite beautiful. I merely caught a glimpse of her in town just the other day, but I understood that something was haunting her. That’s when I decided I’d meet her once and confirm it for myself but – well, it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. You were not the ghost I was searching for. That’s right, it would have been far better if the thing I was chasing turned out to be something foolish like you. After all, the girl who’s being haunted is out and about, yet the thing that’s haunting her is relaxing at home without a care. And judging from the pooch ball that’s dripping in drool, you were extremely carefree as you played with the dog. You are quite defenseless. And haphazard.”

…Hey. Isn’t that going too far?

“Ah, apologies if I caused any offense. I didn't mean it in a negative way. At any rate, a simple case of mistaken identity – there's nothing more between you and me.”

Thereupon, he discarded the elongated tobacco ash on the portable ashtray he took out from his pocket, “Well then, I have no further business in this house”, before taking one last longing puff and stubbing it out.

He quickly moved to leave, causing me to panic.

(H…hey wait, wait a second! I have less than ten days left! Something terrible is going to happen to M’s family! And since you’re the only one in the world that can perceive me and likely to be of some help, help me solve my problem, even if it’s just a little!)

I fervently made a fuss as I waved my hand and tried to stop Sako, who made a really annoyed look face in response as he looked back.

“Please take care of your own problems. Like I said before, I’m busy with my own business – Eh? What? Hmm… The two incidents that have occurred in the vicinity of this town?”

This bastard, he started making inferences all by himself about things I didn’t even think about.

“I read about that in the newspaper, but it’s not such a big deal, is it?”

(N, not a big deal you say? A person was hung from a tree that was seemingly unclimbable, and even though a head cut off by someone was found in the garden, you say that this isn’t a big deal? No matter how you look at it, it’s a case of a monster materializing!)

“...Ah, yes, yes. I understand. If I solve that then you can rest in peace – no, or maybe you're not dead, to be precise, but the problem will be solved, won’t it?”

Sako took a deep breath and ruffled around his long hair.

“It can’t be helped – a chance meeting that is preordained or something, is it? Well then, let’s go and take a look now, shall we?”

---

“But the weather really is quite nice, isn't it? It’s so peaceful you’d hardly believe it’s a town where a series of bizarre incidents have occurred.”

Saying something like that, Sako lankily swayed as he walked in the residential area. I had no choice but drift behind in his stead.

“First let’s try going to the house nearby where the headless case occurred. Umm, the ‘Nagami’ household, was it? Where is it…ah, we don’t even need to look for it. It’s the house over there with the swarm of crowds that regrettably look like they haven’t gone back home in days.”

Saying that, Sako drew close to the front of the Nagami household which was swarmed with a few dozen or so reporters. He stood up straight as he looked around the entire house with a relaxed expression on his face. His appearance was so peaceful that he appeared to nothing more than a shameless onlooker, but seeing his face right next to mine, a cold shiver ran down my back.

It was because of the look in Sako’s eyes. Cold, emotionless, and hollow eyes. They reminded me of that girl named Takamura in a way, and there was a sense of dread in them, as if they were seeing right through this world.

“Hmm… I see.”

Going around and seeing the entirety of the house surrounded by a fence, Sako muttered lazily when he reached the back of the house.

“So, this was the persimmon tree where the head was stuck in. Not under the Cherry blossom tree, but on top of the persimmon tree, is it? Ah, it does seem like he cut it off himself. And yet despite that, the person in question seems to be bewildered. Hmm.”

Muttering such creepy things, Sako continued a few steps closer to the fence of the house, and while the reporters were giving him suspicious looks, he suddenly climbed up onto the fence. He then stretched his long fingers towards the branches of the persimmon tree. And thereafter, picked up something in his hand.

“Um, excuse me?”

A man with an armband of a major TV station, who seemed to be a television reporter, came up behind him with a microphone in one hand.

“Are you related to this incident? Or are you from the police?”

“I’m merely a passerby.”

“Eh, wait, if you’re not involved, then please stop. This is inappropriate given that this is the scene of a crime.”

“Being told what is inappropriate from the fellows making a big fuss in front of other people’s homes at the crack of dawn is quite something.”

Replying aggressively, Sako stroked something invisible in his hand as if he cherished it. It was just about the size of a person’s head, causing me to take a step back, “Hey, it can’t be?”

“What did you take just now?”

“What, I'm trying to help you guys and the police –Hmm, it seems his consciousness was thrown off here from the head itself. Conversation isn’t really viable anymore.”

As Sako muttered that kind of thing, a uniformed police officer who was guarding the area near the entrance came running, perhaps noticing the noisy media.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Get down from there!”

“Well, please just wait a moment. He won’t be able to speak soon. If that were to happen, then the moments before his death are bound to become even more confusing.”

Sako narrowed his thin eyes to be even thinner and continued to mutter something with his lips. From the looks of it, Sako had found the ghost of Nagami-san’s head on the branches of the persimmon tree. I'm sure he’ll be thought of as a crazy person after giving that explanation, and if I wasn’t dead myself, I’d fully agree with that assessment a hundred percent.

“According to the reports, Kōichi Nagami-san is supposed to have died on the second floor, and the window was closed. Only a married couple lived in this house with no children. And yet – he said, "a child". Who is that I wonder?”

Thereupon Sako turned around, and spoke to the police.”

“I suppose you won’t allow me inside.”

“O-of course not! Who are you?”

“Sorry for the late introductions. Here, please take a look.”

Even though it would have been better for him to come down, Sako crouched down on the fence, and with his left hand still clutching the invisible head, he skillfully took out a business card with his right hand. I took a peek, and the words therein were: “Sako Takita, Chief Priest of Okitachi Inari Shrine.”

“C-chief priest?”

“Yes, the late Nagami-san wished for a Shinto funeral when he was alive, and I am merely here to fulfill his wishes.”

--Hey, that kind of lie will get exposed right away.

I was worried, but the police did a visual comparison of the business card with Sako’s pale, featureless face, waited a while, and began to communicate with someone on the radio. Before he could even reach a decision, Sako nimbly jumped down on the other side of the fence, in short – on the side of the Nagami household’s garden. “Ah—Hey, wait a minute!”, a voice came from the other side of the fence, but without as much of a care, Sako quickly went around to the front entrance and ended up entering inside. I had no choice but to follow in his stead.

It was my second time in the Nagami household, and despite being daytime, it was deserted. Well, that was natural. The wife seemed to have returned to her parents’ home, and no one was present inside. It would be scarier to sense the presence of a person. Sako took off his shoes, and quickly entered inside. He turned his somewhat vacant gaze toward the second floor, and climbed up the stairs without hesitation.

There were three rooms on the second floor. One was presumably the couples’ western style bedroom with a double sized bed. A second room that was presumably Nagami-san’s study room. And the last one which was a Japanese-style room where the body was discovered, it seemed to be an empty guest room with only a vase of flowers present. Sako entered the Japanese style room after removing the yellow tape sealing it. He then bowed toward the white tape that marked the location of the corpse, then stepped over it as he opened the window.

“Yes, this room is the closest to that branch of the persimmon tree.”

I looked at the scenery from the window and saw a member of the media below aiming their camera our way. It must have been their instinct as reporters to record anything that might happen right away.

Suddenly, Sako turned to me and called out.

“Are you there?”

--Yes, I’m here.

I answered, and in reply, Sako spoke with his hands still in his pockets.

“I mostly figured it out. Let’s move on.”

From there, we made our way to the neighboring S town, about a ten-minute bus ride away. As I recall, it was the incident where an old man who went by the name ‘Niizawa’ was found hanging from a tree in the grounds of the Inari shrine there. After asking passersby about the location, we arrived at the shrine just past 2 pm.

A dense thicket of trees lined both sides, and the path towards the shrine stretched in the center. Walking slightly leftward from the center of the stone paving, Sako spoke:

“There really is a god here. Shrines with gods are always enveloped in a faint mist for some reason.”

--Mist?

Come to think of it, there did indeed appear to be a faint mist in the air even though it wasn’t early in the morning. I mean, if there really was a god here, then I was the one who wanted to implore them. I continued to walk a little nervously with this thought in mind, but no voice came down to me.

It must have been so because I lacked faith, right?

As I pondered such things to myself, “Aren’t you mistaken about god?”

As he stepped on the gravel, Sako spoke as if narrating a monologue.

“The original god of this country you see, is not the almighty personal god like that in the west. It’s something that has spilled from the realm where humans are not allowed to tread. It is something only to be feared, not something to ask favor of. If anything, a thing revered and sealed in order to minimize calamities.”

--Calamities?

“That’s right, most of them are curse gods.”

With those creepy words, Sako eventually stopped a few meters in front of the main temple building. He stroked his thin beard as he looked around the surroundings, and I saw it. I heard that the old man was hung from a large ginkgo tree, but – I see, from a rough look around I could see a dozen or so ginkgo trees.

“Now then, which one was it?”

Muttering that, he drew close to each ginkgo tree and touched it by hand.

Eventually, he began to repeatedly stroke one of the large trees, and nodded.

“I guess this is it.”

(…You can tell?)

“It’s far more unsettled than the other trees; It’s still shaking. Yes… this does seem a bit too thick to climb. It’s around four meters in height, and if we’re talking about branches not breaking if a person is hung from them– then was that…?”

He then looked around the surroundings restlessly, and eventually caught sight of a worn out shed next to the shrine office, headed over to it, and took the liberty of bringing a step ladder meant to be used for pruning. He brought it up close to the trunk and began to climb the ginkgo tree.

I was worried someone might come, but no one was passing by, as if the fact that a man had died had put everyone off.

“Ah, I see.”

Eventually, Sako’s voice came down from up above.

“I understand the gist of it. It wasn’t a significant incident after all – no, it wasn’t even an incident.”

Sako sat down on the branch where a dead man would have been hanging from just a few days ago, and spoke that kind of thing while yawning.

(Hey, I don’t understand at all. What do you mean you get it? Aren’t these two incidents the work of some psycho killer? Isn't he still hiding somewhere in this city, and in the next ten days, he’s going to make a move on M’s family, isn’t he?)

He must have sensed the intent of my unrelenting questions. The pale faced young man spoke, “Now, now, please calm down.”

“Firstly, the man who hung from this branch merely committed suicide. If there’s a death that’s considered suspicious in this country, then the autopsy is very thorough every time. It is true that the lack of good medical examiners in the field has led to a number of cases and accidents being misjudged, and it’s also true that the police are not as good at investigating as they once were, but the investigative organizations in this country aren’t that dumb yet.”

…Suicide?

No, if that’s the case, then how did he climb up there?

“That was simple. He probably used that stepladder like I did. The problem is how the step ladder disappeared, but the truth is quite simple. Someone put it away.”

……..

I was dumbfounded with the way Sako recited those words like poetry.

--Wa, wait a second. You mean to tell me that someone who put the step ladder away didn’t notice the feet dangling above it? Even if the old man was around 170 cm in height, his legs would surely be in the field of vision, right?

“That is the unpleasant fact about this case. That someone put it away even after noticing.”

(…Huh?)

“What would happen if a step ladder or anything to climb on wasn’t discovered in the surroundings when they found the hanging body? It would probably cause a strong sense of discomfort at the scene. That's what someone was trying to do. They merely put it away because it would be amusing.”

--Merely, amusing…?

“And that Nagami-san – was it? With the headless corpse. That was the same thing. Nagami-san cut off his own head with a terrible strength. You might question if that’s possible with a human being’s mental and physical strength, but it probably is. It’s recorded that after Antoine Lavoisier was decapitated in the year 1794, he continued to blink for more than fifteen seconds. In 1904, the French physician Baulieu described how decapitated heads could react to their names being called. Looking at the direction of the corpse on the tatami floor, the direction of the blood spray, and the position of the head discovered on the persimmon tree, they all point to this as the most likely explanation. With a strong will. Nagami-san cut off his head with his own hands, and the moment it separated from the body, it shot off towards the window, where it was caught in the branches of the persimmon tree.”

(But, that window was closed, right?)

I saw it myself right after the incident had occurred. I saw that the window was closed together with that old inspector… “Ah”, I suddenly realized.

“That’s right. Because that window was closed, the crime scene became that of a different nature. Someone must have closed the window after Nagami-san had committed suicide. If that was done, then it would have the same effect on the people who discovered the headless corpse. The same effect as removing the step ladder, to create an intense sense of unease that clung to the area around the body.

………………

“Why did Niizawa-san hang himself at the shrine, and why did Nagami-san cut off his own head? To be honest, I have no interest in that, and I'm sure the police will look into it. However, the reason the incidents became tinged with a bizarre aspect to them is definitely because someone added a slight sense of unease to the scene of the crimes. That’s why these aren’t even incidents.”

That’s all, the end – and with that, Sako quickly descended to the ground using the step ladder, and returned it to the shed.

---

As Sako had said, in contrast to the ‘Whodunnit’ rubberneck curiosity that had raged across Japan, the police investigation seemed to be leaning towards ‘suicide’ being the cause. “That’s strange considering the fact that the head was discovered in the garden,” is what the internet, the mass media and conspiracy theorists were spouting. However, it seemed unlikely that the course of the investigation would be overturned based on the crime scene situation which had not been made public, of “Someone having closed the window,”. The question was who it was and why they did it, but it seemed the police had not been able to ascertain that far. If I was indeed looking at the past like Takamura had said, then it would have been easy to find out the truth if I could go back and forth in time more freely – is what I thought, but I couldn’t do it easily.

In the end, a gloomy air hung over the city, as two more days had passed since the incident. At the same time, that strange young man called Sako Takita ended up disappearing, and my thoughts without end coiled inside my head constricting my body.

There were only eight days left until Takamura’s proclaimed date of July 31. It would be great if August comes without incident and I can say to myself, “That bitch was telling a lie” – but for some reason, I didn’t think that was the case. I definitely had nothing but terrible premonitions as the day drew closer. There’s a phrase called ‘spirit sense’, and I wonder if I ended up becoming sensitive to it since I became a ghost. Anyway, I was being swept away by the cold river at night without resisting, and I couldn't get rid of the cold chill as if a bottomless waterfall lied in wait for me just ahead.

--Dammit.

Vague anxieties can be dispelled by taking action.

If I recall correctly, I think some genius shogi player said something like that. Staying inside the house, staying still inside the frog in M’s hand was comfortable but, I couldn’t do anything about this intensifying anxiety. Something might change if I took some action. And, the only person who could connect me to this world, where I couldn’t physically interact with anything, excluding the existence of Takamura who was like an inter-dimensional being, was Sako Takita right now. At any rate, shouldn’t I look for him, somehow convey this danger so that he could at least warn the family?

He could see ghosts. And he must be smart. And, that’s right. Didn’t Takamura say it as well? 『A graduate student appeared out of nowhere and settled the case like a great detective in the classics.』That was referring to Sako, wasn’t it? To put it simply, if I could somehow convey the information at my disposal, it felt something would change. No, I had to change it.

I strengthened my resolve, and flew out of the house.

In any case, I intended to search thoroughly for Sako Takita’s whereabouts to the utmost of my ability. He said he was chasing after some paranormal phenomenon. It was the reason he was in this town. Which meant that he should still be wandering around, investigating something. Perhaps he could be looking around all over town even if it took him all night or something – and as I arrived at the station, I easily found Sako there.

The pale young graduate student cum chief priest was pecking at his chocolate parfait or something, sitting on the second-floor terrace of a coffee shop that overlooked the roundabout in front of the station.

(--Hey, Sako.)

I called out to him as soon as I got there, but he merely threw a glance in my direction and ignored me. I flew into a rage and hurled all the abuse I could muster close at him, Sako looked annoyed and brought his finger to his lips.

“Shh, please be quiet. Your existence is invisible to everyone. If I answered you here, I'm going to look like a weird guy mumbling to himself.”

He whispered in a small voice as he took a peek around.

(Never mind that, I need your help. It’s an emergency!)

“You seem quite agitated, but I’m afraid it’s not my job or duty to help you.”

Sako whispered as he lovingly savored the spoonful of ice cream, chocolate and fresh cream. It might have been a time of supreme bliss for him, but I ignored all of that as I spoke. I talked about how I met the girl named Takamura, how at the end of the month – no, how in just eight days, M’s family would be assaulted in an incident that would remain unsolved even ten years into the future. How I wanted to prevent it at all costs. I asked him if he could at least call or give that family a letter to warn them.

Narrating the story non-stop without pause left me exhausted as expected. Wasn’t this asking too much of a ghost? I looked at Sako, who, whether he was listening or not, was plunging his spoon into the end of the glass bottle to dig out the ice cream with a demure expression on his face.

(Hey, do you understand what I’m saying?)

“That’s why, I’m troubled you see. I know you’re vehemently trying to communicate something, but like I told you before, you’re not a normal ghost. I can't hear you, and I can’t understand exactly what kind of problem you have. Look, that couple of girls over there see me muttering to myself and are eyeing me suspiciously, aren’t they?”

“Do I care? Look, please, the incident still hasn’t been settled. I'm sure that something more is going to happen – no, maybe the real thing is just beginning. Even if those two incidents were suicides, some guy crazy in the head must have tampered somehow and created a sense of unease, right? They did it just for the fun of it, right? Isn’t that dangerous? Isn’t it possible that guy might perpetrate something else in this town?”

“I have a job to do. I sympathize with you, but I can’t help you.”

Finally realizing how loud his voice had become, Sako lowered his voice, but – no, wait a minute, that’s it, I leapt.

(Who is the ‘ghost’ you’re looking for?)

I asked, and perhaps sensing the mood of my question, Sako took a deep sigh and spoke.

“The name of the ‘thing’ I’m chasing after is inconsequential at this point. The name has changed over the ages, and the earliest accounts of it can be traced back to the Nara period.”

--N, nara period?

“It keeps changing the person it possesses, a troublesome spirit that spreads misfortune wherever it goes.”

Thereupon, Sako looked longingly at the glass of chocolate parfait he had just finished eating, took a cigarette out of his pocket and lighted it. I looked at the relaxed Sako blowing tobacco smoke around, and spoke irritably:

(Then why are you slurping Chocolate parfait in a place like this when you’re searching for something dangerous like that? Can you afford to sit around and take a smoke?)

In response, Sako unexpectedly whispered a question at me.

“Have you heard of the illness known as antisocial personality order?”

…What?

“To put it simply, it’s the mental disposition of irrepressibly experiencing joy in destroying the peace. It is said to be a central nervous system dysfunction found in many criminals who are commonly referred to as serial killers, but not all of it is understood yet. Not everyone with antisocial personality disorder will commit crimes, and they are not aware of their malicious intent in the first place. The destruction of order is as natural as eating a meal to them. The norms of good and bad are completely alien to them. They follow their curiosity – they destroy their surroundings, simply because it’s amusing.”

Something nasty crawled down my back upon hearing those words.

“But you know, it would still be better if that disease were to afflict a flesh and blood human. Because you can flee from them, or restrain them. But what if it was a ghost? What if it were an existence invisible to the human eye? Wouldn’t that be a modern-day curse god?”

Hearing those words – the vague anxiety in my head finally took shape.

The twisted smile of that girl in the black dress was, right now, clearly drawn in my head.

『Because it’s fun, after all.』

Her lips twisted into a sneer, Takamura’s tomboyish looks spread across my retinas.

That’s right – our sense of values was fundamentally different. They were out of sync. That's what made me shudder at the time. Could it be that… Takamura is the ghost Sako is searching for? If Sako’s story were to be believed, could Takamura have been changing the person she possessed and spread misfortune wherever she went? No – no, wait. If that were the case, doesn’t that mean that Takamura deliberately warned me of her actions in advance? Is that why she told me to wriggle? To squirm? Ah, but somehow it feels like she’s capable of anything. And also, didn’t she say that crazy line at the end? 『Show me a fightback so magnificent that I fall in love with you.』

(Hey, Sako!)

I yelled. (You need to move right now! I know who it is, so do something quick about it! I’ll haunt you until you help me. And if something happens to M’s family, I’ll curse you until you die!) I shouted as I waved my arms and legs in the air, but of course, it didn’t reach Sako. However, it seemed my panicked mood got through to him.

(…Hmmm?)

Sako rose from his chair, and looked in my direction.

“It seems you know something, and you have a strange obsession with that family. In short, you mean to say there’s some sort of connection between the family and the ghost I’m searching for?”

I vigorously nodded my head.

“Hmm…alright, understood. I have no other leads to go on either way. It’ll be my first experience trying to do something by teaming up with a ghost, but well, it might be interesting. Communication will be a bit of a problem, though.”

I looked up to Sako’s tall figure as he spoke those words – and felt a relief deep enough to make me collapse to my knees.

Without any clues, I still didn’t know what to do in the face of this inexplicable danger – but, even still, I was able to gain one ally for the time being, and a hope began to sprout within me, that if things went well, I might be able to save M and her family.

However—

I should have paid more attention to the words Sako had spoken earlier.

In the Nagami household, Sako picked up the invisible thing resembling Nagami-san’s head and spoke.

『And yet – he said, "a child”.』

It happened early morning on the following day.

At school, M’s best friend, Kii-chan… was discovered at the bottom of the pool.

---

Translator's notes and references

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