7th Mystery: Hide and seek in school
Chapter 1: Hidden
“One… two…”
In the deserted school building at dusk, a voice could be heard counting numbers. It was a countdown.
Slowly tallying the numbers, and eventually declaring “ten,” marking the beginning of an action.
“Two…”
A certain female student hid herself in a janitorial closet. Now inside a locker that was no longer in use.
The air was thick with a dusty smell, making her want to get out of there right away. But she couldn’t. It was impossible.
Because she was being chased.
“Three…”
The count continued to diminish gradually.
“Four…”
Slowly, steadily.
“Five…”
The count reached halfway.
The heart of the female student hidden in the locker raced.
She hugged her trembling body tightly, pressing her hand against her mouth to silence any sound.
It was terrifying, too terrifying to bear.
Yet she had to escape.
“Six…”
Where was the voice of the countdown coming from?
“Seven…”
For some reason, it felt like it was getting closer and closer.
“Eight…”
Finally, the countdown reached the classroom where the female student was hiding.
“Nine…”
Approaching the janitorial closet.
“Ten…”
In front of the janitorial closet where the female student was hiding, the countdown came to an abrupt end.
Through a gap, she could see it.
In the classroom tainted red, someone stood. They looked like a small child, with a bobbed haircut, gazing intently at the janitorial closet where the girl was hiding.
While looking up at the closet, the child with the bobbed haircut spoke.
“Are you ready to come out now?”
The female student remained silent.
If she opened it now, it would all be over. Everything would end.
She should have never casually checked this rumor. This was undoubtedly a real supernatural phenomenon.
Creak…
The door made a grating sound as it was opened from the outside.
“I found you.”
Opening the janitorial closet, the child who had been looking up at the girl revealed something horrifying—its mouth split open on both sides, extending up to its ears.
It wasn’t the cute child with the bobbed haircut. With bloodshot eyes, it gazed up at the female student, offering her an eerie smile. Its teeth, reminiscent of a shark’s, were sharp and jagged, with bits of flesh visible between them.
Indeed, whose flesh could that be?
“――――KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Screams echoed through the school building as the female student let out a high-pitched shriek, piercing through the dusk.
☆
“Tsukinashi Town Network?”
Houzuki tilted her head at the unfamiliar term.
“Yes, that’s right.”
The one who brought up this topic was Houzuki’s best friend, Aoyagi Towako.
Tsukinashi Town was a place where ghosts gathered due to its geographical features, and incidents involving ghosts and supernatural phenomena were common there. There was a website called the “Tsukinashi Town Network” that collected rumors about these supernatural phenomena.
It was a site far removed from Houzuki, who naturally attracted ghosts. There were too many frightening events happening around her, and she was already desensitized to them.
“There was a rumor about XX High School on that Tsukinashi Town Network.”
“What rumor was that?”
“A game of hide-and-seek within the school.”
Towako spoke with a solemn expression. “Regular students of XX High School usually finish school at 4:00 PM, but at 4:44 PM, someone would call out ‘Let’s play hide-and-seek’ in the gym.”
“And then, the hide-and-seek starts?”
“That’s right.”
Towako glanced around before continuing, “And you know, someone went missing.”
“What do you mean?”
“A missing person.”
Houzuki’s breath caught at Towako’s words.
Rumors were just rumors, and whether to try them or not was up to oneself.
However, it seemed that those who actually tried the “hide-and-seek within the school” ghost story ended up really disappearing. It was a pity.
“Is there a solution?”
“Well, there is one, but…”
Towako seemed hesitant.
“There’s supposed to be a can placed somewhere in the school.”
“A can?”
“It’s a rusty can, but you see, even though it’s called ‘hide-and-seek within the school,’ the rules are more like a game of kicking the can. But…”
Towako approached Houzuki with a serious expression.
“The Oni1 is very strong. So you need to be prepared to find that can.” (TN: The seeker.)
“So the Oni play hide-and-seek, while the ones running away play kick the can… That’s absurd.”
“There’s nothing absurd or shitty about ghost stories.”
“Towako, you have such a foul mouth.”
“Oh my, did you hear me?”
Towako chuckled and stuck out her tongue.
If such a story existed, undoubtedly that silver-haired red-eyed male student would be eager to join in.
It was still lunch break, but no, precisely because it was lunch break, he might come attacking. It was too dangerous.
“What are you wary of?”
“I’m worried that Yuiru might come. He’s sure to hear about the rumor of hide-and-seek within the school and suggest we try it…”
“Oh? That sounds quite intriguing, doesn’t it?”
“Ah.” (TN: This is in a “Oh sh*t!” kind of meaning.]
The person they were wary of was already there.
With pure silver hair and vivid red eyes, sporting a sharp profile, he wore the uniform of XX High School and grinned with evident enjoyment.
The male student whom Houzuki had been cautious of—Yuiru Enen—was right there.
“Yu-“
“All right, Houzuki, let’s give it a try.”
“No way, why would I?!”
“You fool, it’s naturally going to be my food. It’ll be part of my meal plan. And since it’s after school, let’s get Otoya involved too.”
While smiling happily, Yuiru said.
“Ah, I can’t wait for after school. I wonder what flavor the next ghost will have.”
This embodiment of gluttony had nothing on his mind besides eating ghosts.
Houzuki let out a deep sigh.
Since Yuiru was going to eat the ghosts from the hide-and-seek within the school anyway, there was no need to stress too much. Perhaps he was surprisingly useful after all.
