Chapter 3: The Truth Behind the Old School Building
“It……devours people……?”
Houzuki couldn’t make sense of it and pondered Kuroomi Otoya’s words.
It was inconceivable that the old school building devoured people. She had never heard of a building eating humans.
Yet, why couldn’t she outright deny it?
Seeing Houzuki freeze with fear, Otoya asked, “Don’t you know?”
“Many people have been eaten. Each successive principal felt uneasy and tried to demolish the building multiple times, but the construction workers were forced to give up on demolition several times.”
Otoya flipped through the pages of the graduation album.
“And finally, a victim appeared.”
With that, he showed the graduation album to Houzuki.
There were several pages with photos. They were just snapshots of high school life, but one photo featured a male student who looked familiar to Houzuki.
However, his hair color was not the one Houzuki knew. He was next to an expressionless male student with jet-black hair, showing a lively smile and making a peace sign. His eye color was also unfamiliar.
Houzuki couldn’t help but snatch the graduation album from Otoya’s hand and scrutinize the photo intently.
“Yuiru…!?”
“So you do know.”
“…!”
Reflexively closing the graduation album, Houzuki pushed it back towards Kuroomi Otoya.
“He… he writes horror novels himself. The protagonist’s name is ‘Yuiru Enen.'”
“…?”
“He’s using the name of the protagonist of his novel.”
“…What’s the point of telling me that?”
Turning her back to Otoya, Houzuki said,
“If you want to then you can just go and meet him. He’s probably using the old school building as his headquarters, pranking other ghosts.”
“I wish I could see him.”
Looking back, Otoya smiled sadly.
“He won’t meet me. I’ve visited the old school building several times since coming here, but I’ve never been able to meet him. Even though I can see ghosts.”
――He’s the only one I can’t see.
His voice sounded lonely somehow.
☆
“Hey, Otoya. This story is a masterpiece, you know.”
With those words, the friend of Kuroomi Otoya, holding a notebook in one hand, charged forward.
Fearless and mischievous, he was the type of curious boy who would eagerly investigate any ghost rumors circulating within the school building.
He enjoyed writing horror novels by adapting various rumors he had tried before. Each time he completed one, he would show it to himself, but no matter how he read them, his horror novels were never scary. The interactions between the protagonist and heroine were too comical, often causing him to burst into laughter.
This time, he had adapted the rumor of Hanako-san in the bathroom into a horror novel, but why did Hanako-san end up sticking her head into the toilet?
“What do you think? Is it scary?”
“It isn’t.”
Otoya says while returning the notebook to his friend.
“Thanks for writing another comedy this time.”
“It’s horror! I was supposed to write a novel that would scare the readers, so why aren’t you scared?”
“Because there’s nothing to be scared of.”
With an expression that seemed to convey dissatisfaction, his friend pursed his lips, but no matter how he read the horror novels written by him, they were just entertaining. They weren’t scary at all.
Seeing his friend’s discontented expression, Otoya gave him some casual advice, “You’ll be able to write something scary next time.”
His friend, still looking dissatisfied, glared at Otoya as if determined to scare him next time, enjoying the sight of Otoya enjoying reading horror novels.
“I’ll surely scare you next time!”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’ll check out the old school building next time.”
“Don’t do that.”
His friend’s insatiable curiosity was something he wished he could stop.
That old school building devours humans.
Students who trespassed into the old school building to confirm the truth of the rumors all ended up refusing to attend school, and construction workers had no choice but to give up demolition work multiple times. This was undoubtedly something extremely dangerous.
His friend tilted his head in wonder and said,
“Why?”
“Because that school building is rumored to devour people.”
“But it’s just a rumor, right?”
“Even so.”
Otoya grabs the hem of his friend’s uniform.
“I don’t want you to go. ―― I don’t want you to put yourself in danger.”
“I see.”
His friend grins.
“If you’re the one saying it then I can’t do anything about it. I’ll stop.”
His friend picked up his school bag and stuffed the notebook with his novel into it.
“Come on, Otoya. It’s already after school. Let’s stop by the ramen shop on the way home.”
“…Another detour? How many times is it this month?”
“You’re so uptight. We’re high school boys, getting hungry is normal, isn’t it?”
“It’s not normal at all.”
With his own school bag slung over his shoulder, Otoya followed his friend’s back.
Kuroomi Otoya woke up.
He was in the science preparation room. It seems he had dozed off while preparing materials for the next class.
As he straightened his back, his spine cracked audibly. He must have been sitting for too long and gotten stiff.
He had a dream.
A very happy dream.
His friend, whom he thought he had lost, was alive, and they were spending another peaceful after-school day together.
They were going to grab a meal at some casual place before heading home.
“Haa……What am I seeing now after all this time?”
It was all a fantasy.
A wishful fantasy, that is.
Because at that moment, Otoya couldn’t say anything. Not even a “Don’t go” came out.
He regretted hiding his true feelings and letting his friend go. If he could never see them again, he should have expressed his true feelings.
But now it’s too late.
What good is it to dream of what could have happened if he had said, “Don’t go”?
“Let’s go home.”
The time had already embraced the night.
Otoya tidied up the materials spread out on the desk and turned off the lights in the preparation room.
Since he was the only one using it, he didn’t particularly care and left the preparation room, closing the door behind him.
However, he didn’t notice.
In the now dark preparation room, there was a figure of a silver-haired, red-eyed male student standing in the corner.
And in that student’s eyes, there was a sense of loneliness.
But Kuroomi Otoya couldn’t see it.
