Chapter 4: The Can’s Whereabouts
“Hey, what’s the sudden change all about!? Why did you stop eating halfway!?”
Houzuki burst into the seemingly unused social studies preparation room, confronting Yuiru while breathing heavily.
It was fine until he ate that bobcut girl.
The problem was that later, Yuiru stopped eating. He was fine until he ate her arm, why did he do that? It was an act unthinkable of his usual self.
Gracefully swimming through the air, Yuiru responded,
“No one wants to eat a tasteless dish. It was just that.”
“Does that mean that ghost was fake…?”
“Most likely.”
Yuiru snorted and said,
“I’ve never heard that ghosts are fake, but I can’t eat bland food. I guess the ‘rusty can’ is the key to ending the school hide-and-seek game.”
The silver-haired, red-eyed male student who missed out on the meal seemed slightly displeased. He glared at the door of the social studies preparation room, disdainfully muttering, “I have no use for someone who is tasteless.”
With this, the difficulty of the game of hide-and-seek within the school had increased.
Getting caught by the seeker meant being killed, and the game wouldn’t end until the rusty can was found. Trapped in the school building tinged with the color of the sunset, there seemed to be no choice but to spend time in fear of the bob-cut girl.
But… it couldn’t end like this.
“Rather than searching tirelessly, it would be quicker to ask someone who knows the story,”
Houzuki said, then turned to Aoyagi Towako.
“Towako, tell us how to end the school hide-and-seek.”
This story was originally brought up by her friend, Aoyagi Towako. Yuiru had shown interest, and thus they had decided to give it a try.
Aoyagi Towako seemed to be recalling the details as her gaze wandered in the air.
“Um…,” she began, recalling parts of the scary story she had found on the Tsukinashi Town Network or similar websites, where rumors and scary stories were collected.
“”The Oni initially appears in the gymnasium.””
“The gymnasium?”
“Yes, that’s what the story said.”
“I see,” Houzuki nodded.
Though Houzuki and the others had been waiting in the classroom without knowing when it would start, the beginning should have been in the gymnasium. This game of hide-and-seek within the school had turned into a complete irregularity.
Perhaps this was their way of dealing with the abnormal situation caused by the bob-cut girl. If the starting point was different, then maybe the ending would be too.
Well, that wasn’t a problem.
“If that’s the case, we should head to the gymnasium as soon as possible.”
Yuiru glanced at the door of the social studies preparation room.
“Yeah, she’s coming.”
Peta, peta, peta.
Peta, peta, peta.
“Where could they be~……”
Peta, peta, peta.
Peta, peta, peta.
“I wonder where~……”
Peta, peta, peta.
“Are they here~……?”
In a playful tone, the girl spoke.
She was on the other side of the door.
Reflected in the frosted glass window inset into the door, the shadow of the bob-cut girl was clearly visible. She pressed her forehead against the window, seemingly trying to peer into the room.
As Houzuki’s mouth seemed about to let out a scream, Yuiru quickly covered it with his hand.
“…It can’t be helped, it’s just a warm-up before the meal.”
Yuiru pushed Houzuki towards the biology teacher, Kuroomi Otoya.
“Otoya, do your best to protect the students.”
“You’re being high-handed after dragging me into this…!!”
With a gesture that seemed to drive Yuiru away, Yuiru then smirked and slipped through the door of the social studies preparation room. It was a skill only a ghost could perform.
“I found you~”
“Oh no, you found me. But it won’t be over unless you catch me, now try catching me you little shit!! I won’t lose in a footrace!!”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAー, with boisterous laughter echoing through the school building, Yuiru began a game of tag with the bob-cut girl.
After hearing the fading footsteps of the girl and Yuiru’s laughter, Otoya opened the door of the social studies preparation room.
No one was in the hallway, and it seemed the bob-cut girl had chased after Yuiru. It was a new discovery that being found didn’t necessarily mean being caught and killed, but it seemed that Houzuki, not particularly agile, might become a burden.
“I hope Yuiru is okay…”
“If it’s just his speed, he was the fastest in school. He used to run circles around the teachers back then.”
After checking the surroundings, Otoya, along with Houzuki and Towako, left the social studies preparation room.
Their destination was the gymnasium.
Surely, there would be a rusty can related to that bob-cut girl there.
☆
She had been playing with a can, kicking it around.
By chance, the gymnasium storage room was open, so she sneaked in. She was confident she wouldn’t be found.
But then, the gymnasium storage room was locked. She remained hidden and was never found.
Unfortunately, summer vacation started the next day. No matter how much she cried and screamed, the gymnasium storage room wouldn’t open.
Let me out, let me out, get me out of here.
Find me, find me, someone find me.
Until her voice grew hoarse, until she exhausted her last breath, she pounded on the sturdy door of the storage room, crying, screaming, and wailing.
And when she finally ran out of strength, when she reached her end, in the hands of the girl trapped in the storage room, there was a rusty can.
A rusty can that seemed familiar, that triggered some memory, but had been forgotten. She clutched it tightly in both hands and hid it in the gymnasium storage room, just like she used to do.
What was she doing again?
Oh, right.
Hide and seek.
Then, this time, she would be the seeker.
With a grin stretching across her split mouth, the girl covered her face and chanted aloud.
It was the countdown until the Oni began to play.
“One…”
The distorted game of hide and seek within the school continued endlessly.
