Chapter 8: The Things Haunting the Second Floor
Having somehow managed to climb the wooden staircase, Houzuki and Yuiru were greeted by the sight of the second floor.
The first thing they came into was a classroom.
However, the closed door was half open, and a small child was peeking out through the gap. Their glassy eyeballs were observing Houzuki and Yuiru with interest, and you could feel the fear and creepiness in their eyes.
Jii~…… (TN: stare)
Avoiding the seemingly pleading gaze, Houzuki turned her gaze out to the hallway.
Lined up along the hallway were the classrooms the students used.
Just like on the first floor, slogans and posters were plastered on the walls, and artworks created during art class were on display. The group of crayon drawings looked more like those made by elementary school students than high school students.
Houzuki took great care not to stray far away from Yuiru,
“It looks like it was drawn by an elementary school student…”
“I wonder who drew something like this.”
Yuiru looks over the crayon drawings,
“Houzuki, the girl in the picture is following you.”
“Why did you have say that?”
Looking closer, she saw a drawing of a girl hanging on the wall glaring at Houzuki with a resentful gaze. Her wide-open mouth was dyed bright red, so vividly colored it was as if she had spat blood.
It was a very creepy painting that didn’t have a shred of cuteness in it. The peaceful landscape would be best titled “Field Trip,” but the person painted there was far too creepy.
Houzuki averted her gaze from the group of paintings, and then,
“Hiih!”
He saw something white on the other side of the window.
There was no hair, no eyes, and no nose. Just a mouth that was torn to the left and right, which was grinning, peering intently into the old school building.
It was a white human being that she hadn’t seen on the first floor. Looking neither male nor female, it was roughly banging on the closed window pane, trying to get Houzuki’s attention.
Bang, bang bang bang!!
Bang bang bang bang!!
The sound of something tapping on the window shook Houzuki’s eardrums.
How could something like this have been outside the old school building? And why had Houzuki not noticed this strange monster until now?
If she had noticed it then she could have prepared herself, her heart won’t last long if this is what she sees right after getting to the second floor.
“Houzuki, don’t listen to them.”
When Yuiru covered Houzuki’s ears,
“It’s over once they notice you.”
Houzuki desperately tries to push the sound of the knocking on the window out of her head, but eventually realizes that she can no longer hear it.
The white humans tilt thier heads in confusion and leave the place.
Perhaps because Houzuki doesn’t respond, they seems to have grown tired of knocking on the window and scaring her. Maybe they’re the kind of monsters that will eventually give up if you pretend not to notice them.
Yuiru sees off the white humans swarming outside the window,
“Those guys always knock on the window for the fun and scare.”
“What’s so funny about that…?”
“I don’t know.”
Yuiru gave a vague answer, and then…
Thud.
The sound of something meaty being slammed against something touched Houzuki’s ears.
It was from the other side of the window where the White People had been clinging until a moment ago.
Boys and girls in black uniforms jumped off the roof of the old school building without the slightest hesitation and hit the ground, dying. Their vacant eyes were wide open as they sent an envious look at Houzuki, who was standing on the other side of the window, stunned.
Thud, thud, thud.
Thud, thud, thud.
Over and over, over and over and over and over and over and over and over again the boy and girl committed suicide. It is unclear what is so fun about them repeatedly committing suicide, but it is sad that they end up committing suicide even after they are dead.
“Houzuki.”
Yuiru takes Houzuki’s hand,
“Let’s go. If you see the scene of suicide over and over again, it’ll make you go mad.”
“…I agree.”
Houzuki looks at the girl who has committed countless suicides with pity,
“Maybe the ghosts are going mad, too.”
–Probably because they’ve committed suicide so many times that their senses are numb.
