1st Mystery: The Student in the Old School Building
CHAPTER 1 “Rumors About the Old School Building”
gyii~, patan
The sky is painted black, and even the starlight does not reach the ground in a quiet night world.
As if tearing through the silence, the creaking sound of hinges hits the ears.
The surroundings were so quiet that even the act of opening the rusty door made him nervous. He’s terrified that someone will notice him.
“S, sorry to disturb you……”
After politely greeting the dark room, the young man steps into an old wooden corridor with a flashlight in hand.
The long corridor stretches endlessly. Although the range that the flashlight illuminates can be seen, it sinks into the darkness the deeper it goes.
The floorboards in the corridor are rotten and there are holes in some places. Even walking is a dangerous situation, but since he made it this far, he can only proceed forward.
The boy resolves himself and slowly proceeds forward in the dark corridor.
gii, gii.
gii, gishii.
The floorboards creak every time he walks, and the boy’s heart leaps each time.
When he shone the flashlight on the wall to mask his fear, he saw some yellowed posters.
Don’t run in the hallways, say hello, don’t forget anything—— these are common reminders and slogans you often see in schools. Probably because it’s old, the papers seem to be about to fall off the wall at any moment.
“Where on earth is it, the ghost……”
The boy illuminates his destination with the flashlight, paying attention to the holes in the floorboards as he walks.
After walking down the corridor for a long time, the rooms were lined up on the left side from the boy’s perspective.
The desks and chairs are overturned on the broken window glasses, the blackboard is covered with spider webs. The glass on the clock is broken and the time can’t be seen, and even the hands of the clock have stopped.
It’s a pretty dilapidated classroom.
The night world spreads beyond the curtainless windows, and there is no light other than the flashlight. And yet,
For some reason, there is a boy.
“…………?”
The boy loitering in the classroom is sitting on a safe chair and staring at his desk.
In the classroom engulfed in darkness, he seemed to be the only one standing out. That also gives off a strange feeling.
Sitting with his head down, his profile is covered with pure silver hair, like a white shadow floating in the darkness. He’s wearing a black stand-up collar, and the pale skin that can be seen from the fringe and collar seem lifeless.
The sight of him bowing his head in front of the blackboard could only be described as eerie, and there was an atmosphere in which he himself did not exist in this world.
“Uh, uhm……”
Clutching the flashlight in one hand, the boy called out to him in the classroom.
[Uh, uhm…… excuse me. I’d like to ask you something……”
He, who is in the classroom, raises his arm slowly.
Ton, ton.
The other person’s answer to the boy’s question was just tapping the desk twice with his fingertips.
A sense of dread slowly creeps up on him from that mysterious action, but since he already spoke, he can no longer withdraw. It’s unknown how the other party will move if he says something like, “It’s okay, forget it.”
The boy gulped to forcefully dampen his dry throat,
“Uh, excuse me…… I heard that a ghost comes out here……”
The answer was quite simple.
Ton.
The person who tapped the desk just once pointed his finger straight without a sound.
Beyond that was a blackboard covered with spider webs.
It’s not like there’s anything written on it. A spider’s web was stretched over the top, and the overall impression was that it was dirty because it was covered with dust.
A tattered lecturer’s desk was left in front of the blackboard, and then.
“Hiih――”
The boy lets out a shrill scream.
In front of the lectern stood a faceless, very tall female teacher.
She’s neither smooth nor charming, but something like a vortex is formed in the center of her face and it’s twisting and twirling. Calling that bizarre appearance a nightmare isn’t an overstatement.
The female teacher picks up the old chalk that is lying on the teacher’s desk with jerky movements, and silently heads for the blackboard.
Kaa, kaa.
Kaa, kaka.
The female teacher strikes the chalk on the dusty blackboard as if she’s having a class.
It seems to be writing letters, but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t find anything that’s written in Japanese. There were clearly unreadable characters lined up, which made it even more eerie.
Hyuu, hyuu.
Hyuuh, hyuu.
The boy’s breaths leaked out and made a sound like a draft.
I need to run, I need to run, I need to run.
I need to run away from this place, run away, run away, run away, run away, run away, runawayrunawayrunaway.
The boy who accidentally dropped his flashlight tries to escape from that place with his tangled legs.
“What, what? Are you running away already?”
An unfamiliar voice touches his ears.
“I went through the trouble of requesting the ghost you desired, and yet…”
Even though he knows that he shouldn’t look back, his body honestly turns back.
“――Be more scared, okay?”
The distorted face of the female teacher who was facing the blackboard just now was right in front of him.
That’s not all.
The boy who had been sitting in the classroom with his head down was standing in front of the boy. A terrifyingly beautiful face with red twinkling eyes. A glossy red tongue peeks out from the grinning mouth.
The silver-haired, red-eyed boy who moved to the boy’s side without making a sound or making a sound of footsteps laughs.
“Today’s dinner will be you.”
――AAAAAAAH, the boy’s scream resounded in the hallway veiled with darkness.
☆
There is a rural town called Tsukinashi-cho.1
Although it’s called a countryside, houses are built within its capacity and there is also a school.
However, it’s inconvenient to go to the urban center because it’s surrounded with mountains, and most of them are gathered in front of the prosperous station. The number of young people is on the decline, and it was normal for them to move to Tokyo at the same time as entering university after graduating from high school.
In a corner of such a rural town, there is a school named XX High School.
Its name is unknown. “You must never go there”, is what all of the townsfolk say.
The reason itself is also unknown, and the students who went all the way over the mountains to attend XX High School could only wonder. There was no one who tried to find out the truth simply out of wonder.
That’s because everyone will tell you in a fluster, ‘Don’t inquire.’
“…………”
In the third year of XX High School, Kasugadani Houzuki stopped in front of the entrance.
There is something there.
Something that evidently must never be touched.
A small man who could fit comfortably in the corner of the shoe cupboard was staring at Houzuki with resentment. He’s a completely hairless mysterious human wearing no clothes.
He was extremely short in stature, and his limbs were so emaciated that he didn’t look like he could walk properly when he stood up. He twisted his small body into the gap between the shoe cupboard and the pillar, and cast his gaze on the students who passed by in front of him.
Aah, again.
I saw something again.
“I don’t see it, I don’t see it……”
Houzuki, who whispers so only herself can hear, quickly takes out her indoor shoes from the shoe cupboard and slams in her leather shoes.
She wanted to get away from this shoe cupboard as quickly as possible.
That’s because what isn’t supposed to be seen is in there.
“Hey, did you hear about the story of Shiraishi-kun from Class 2?”
“I did, I did. I heard that he went to the old building and passed out until morning?”
“He said ‘I saw a ghost.’ but do you think it’s true?”
Just then, female students from the same class walk up to the shoe cupboard while chatting happily.
It’s nothing, it’s just a rumor in the end.
It doesn’t amount to much anyway. Nothing good will come out of it.
Even though Houzuki was thinking that, she doesn’t know why she listened to those rumors.
“I heard that the ghost in that old building grants wishes.”
“No way?”
“It’s just a rumor though. It’s more like it is unknown if it’s true or not.”
“That rumor.”
Houzuki cuts in between the two girls and looks at the student who was gossiping about ghosts that “can grant wishes” with a serious expression.
“Could you tell me more about it?”
