Chapter 6: The Ghosts Increased in the Old School Building
Houzuki was perfectly fine on her own.
The monologues she used to hear came to a sudden halt, and her student life, which had always been boring with her absentmindedly gazing out of the window, continued.
Her classmates seemed to feel a sense of fear towards the suddenly silent Houzuki, but she couldn’t care less about other people’s opinions. What occupied her thoughts were exclusively conversations about after-school activities.
“Hey, do you know?”
The female students were gossiping in whispers.
“The ghost in the old school building.”
“Oh, if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t it a male student wearing our schoool uniform?”
“That’s right, but I heard that a female student also comes out recently.”
“It’s rumoured that the male and female students don’t get along so they’re always fighting.”
“Where’d the rumour about granting wishes go?”
“That thing’s fake, it’s not true.”
That’s right, it’s just a rumour with added exaggeration.
For others, it’s a slightly stimulating spice to enjoy life, a bit of gossip.
Houzuki, quietly listening to the rumors, glanced out of the window while hearing the bell announcing the start of the class.
In a corner of the spacious schoolyard, a weathered wooden school building quietly existed.
Despite attempts by successive principals to demolish this building, construction workers consistently encountered accidents, and companies involved went bankrupt. There are rumors that it is protected by something akin to a curse.
Houzuki’s place is not in the new school building. Her place is always in that old school building.
☆
“Ho~u~zu~kiiiiii!!”
After school, when Houzuki visited the old school building, she was greeted by a male student whose usually proud silver hair was now disheveled – Yuiru Enen.
Although he typically displayed a composed attitude, today he seemed completely exhausted.
As they gently closed the door to the old school building, Houzuki responded indifferently, “What is it?”
“Take that little girl back!!”
“No way. Towako seems to like it here.”
“That one’s atrocity is too much!!”
Yuiru screams.
“You know, she pulled my hair, dug her nails into the blackboard and made a cacophonous sound, ran around the school building, stepped through the rotten floor, fell down, and was crying so I helped her but she called me a pervert and hit me!? I can’t spend 24/7 with her!!”
“Isn’t it fine, it’s not like you’re busy.”
An elementary school student wearing silver-rimmed glasses peeking out from behind Yuiru, Aoyagi Towako, looks up at Houzuki and smiles.
“Hello, Houzuki-chan. Good job with school.”
“I’m also glad that you’re having fun every day, Towako. Is the old school building fun?””
“Yup!! Because I have such an energetic toy!!”
“You’re not talking about me, are you? Oy, little girl. Should I set it straight with you who’s the senior here?”
Escaping the intense gaze of Yuiru, Towako sought refuge behind Houzuki, sticking her tongue out in a cheeky manner. Watching her antics, Yuiru gritted his teeth in frustration.
Towako, liberated from that intersection, ended up taking residence in the old school building.
Towako stubbornly refused to see her parents, declaring, “I don’t want to see them.” Even if she could meet them, being dead meant they wouldn’t recognize her, and she simply said, “Serves them right.” She didn’t explain the reasons behind her decision.
Having settled in the old school building, Towako seemed to enjoy playing with Yuiru. Not as “with” Yuiru, but “using” him as if he were a toy.
Although Yuiru exclaimed, “I’ve had enough!” he found it preferable to engaging in a physical brawl with an elementary school girl, so being with her was probably better than being alone.
“Look. Towako. I brought candies today so let’s eat them.”
“Really? Yay!”
“Houzuki, I demand payment for my labor.”
“You usually eat ghosts and strange things, so you’re fine.”
“Sweets are separate!! I’m against gender discrimination!!”
Houzuki was ignoring the ruckus that Yuiru was making but, she notices his sudden silence.
When she looks back, he was staring at the old school building’s entrance.
He’s being on guard ―― that’s what he’s showing.
“……Hey”
“Houzuki”
Yuiru looks serious,
“Say that I’m not here. No matter what, absolutely.”
“?”
Saying that, Yuiru suddenly disappeared. As expected of a ghost.
Before Houzuki could ponder what might have happened, her question was quickly answered. The door of the old school building was being opened from the outside with a creaking sound.
Giiii…
A face peered through the gap, belonging to a man with black hair. He was tall and had a natural perm reminiscent of a bird’s nest.
Wearing a loosely fitted shirt and slacks with a loosely tied tie, he stood out. What caught the eye, however, was the white coat draped over his unkempt attire. He slipped on bathroom sandals, took a few steps into the dusty interior of the old school building, and then, after surveying his surroundings, he spoke.
“Is the male student here?”
“……Who might you talking about?” (TN: Her tone is respectful.)
Houzuki asks the man.
“……It’s fine if he’s not. I heard his voice so I thought he’s here.”
“He isn’t. Aren’t you just hearing things?”
“Really……”
As the man slowly closes the door,
“There’s- an- elementary- schoolgirl- in- there- though-“
“Wha――”
The man quietly closed the door, making a shuffling sound as he left the old school building. Houzuki’s thought process momentarily came to a halt.
The realization hit her – the man had just mentioned Towako, the elementary school girl.
In other words, he could see ghosts.
“…….Is he gone?”
“Oh”
Yuiru, who had apparently been hiding somewhere, appears and lets out a sigh of relief when he confirms that the man in the white coat is gone.
“Hey, just now”
“I don’t know him.”
Yuiru answered, interrupting Houzuki’s words, and glared at the door of the old school building.
“……I don’t know anything.”
That voice seemed lonely somehow.
