Jogakusei Tantei Vol 1 Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Don’t Twirl Your Pigtails (first half)

 

 

—It would seem that Amemura Saho had attempted suicide.

The following day, the whole school was buzzing over Saho’s suicide attempt.

I was bewildered when I heard this from my cla.s.smates, just as soon as I’d walked into the cla.s.sroom that morning.

But why? It was only yesterday that the teachers and I had talked about the unlikelihood of it being a suicide.

“I heard that Amemura-san was being bullied.”

After I heard that, my confusion increased. My heart clenched in pain.

Even though she was an honor student, or maybe because of that fact, she had been bullied by a group of other students.

Sometimes even with direct violence.

I had no idea about any of this.

Thinking back on it now, I had noticed that something seemed off. I had seen fresh bruises on her arms before. But whenever I asked about them, she’d always just tell me it was nothing.

She must have been trying hard to hide it from everyone else.

“So that’s why she tried to end her suffering with suicide…”

“There’s no way that’s true!”

Before I could even object to my cla.s.smate’s words, Touka beat me in denying it.

“Saho isn’t that weak…..”

I waited until it was break time to ask Touka about it.

“Yeah, I knew alright.”

As I’d thought, Touka had known about Saho being bullied. And up until now, she had stood up for Saho a countless number of times.

However, Saho had never wanted Touka to help her.

“Even though that girl’s usually so mature, she becomes stubborn over the strangest things.”

Saho had said that she’d manage by herself, and that she had to solve this and overcome it on her own.

“That idiot. Even with how much she was looking forward to the Akebi Festival,”

Touka muttered quietly.

Saho probably wouldn’t be able to attend the festival.

It seemed that she still hadn’t regained consciousness.

 

Touka seemed to be trying to dispel her anger and irritation by busying herself with Akebi Festival Executive Committee duties. And since I was a bit worried for her, I tried to help out with her work after school that day.

Tables, chairs, cardboard, doc.u.ments, wood, instruments, costumes, equipment that I wasn’t even sure the use for.

From here to there.

From there to here.

Not unlike an apprentice, I worked hard to move all these different things around.

However, since I wasn’t particularly strong, I didn’t feel like I was helping all that much.

“It’s heavy by yourself, isn’t it?”

Touka, who was on the way to the incinerator to throw out the trash leftover from the booth preparations, came to my aid.

Even though she’s so small, where does she get all that horsepower from! That’s all I could think about when I saw the amount of trash she was carrying with her.

Despite the fact that I was trying to help her out, she was now helping me instead.

I suddenly remembered that since I still hadn’t finished what I needed to do for the Art Club, this certainly wasn’t the time to helping someone else. I couldn’t help but become anxious.

I could hear mixed voices of joy and distress coming from each cla.s.sroom as they rushed with the preparations.

Someone knocking over paint, or accidentally hitting their fingers with hammers, and in the midst of it all, another confessing to the girl he liked. There was no shortage of things to see.

A free bazaar, a booth selling handmade sweets, and more—there was a variety of different booths between each cla.s.s.

“Woah! Touka-chan, check it out! This cla.s.s has a car’s steeling wheel! Are they selling it? Oh, they have the tires, too! Ah, and even the engine.”

“Did they really just take apart an entire car and bring it here?! As a member of the Executive Committee, I won’t allow that!”

“Looks like they’re trying to open up a hole in the floor of this cla.s.sroom to make a pitfall to the first floor. I wonder why—”

“That’s out of the question!”

Although there was some misdirection, everyone seemed enthusiastic about the Akebi Festival.

By the way, my cla.s.s had decided to run a café.

“I’m understand that what a café is and all, but…. What’s a ‘Youkai Jazz Café’ supposed to be?”

A wrinkle formed on Touka’s forehead as she sighed.

“It’s a jazz café run by youkai.”

“Yeah, I got that much, at least.”

Because the cla.s.s couldn’t agree on whether to do a haunted house or a café, we had compromised and decided on a Youkai Jazz Café.

“The youkai are happy to serve you! Once you drink this excruciatingly delicious youkai coffee, you’ll go to heaven!”

The cla.s.s had united with that theme.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?!”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s weird. Youkai don’t go to heaven, do they?”

“That’s weird too, but not exactly what I meant.”

“By the way, Touka-chan, what youka were you dressing up as again?”

“……Kejourou.”

Kejourou is a female youkai with long hair that flows all the way down to her ankles.

According to "The Ill.u.s.trated One Hundred Demons from the Present and the Past” by the Edo ukiyo-e artist, Toriyama Sekien, he had run up to a woman who, from behind, looked like someone he knew, only to find a prost.i.tute with hair that covered her entire face, hence being named Kejourou (“hair prost.i.tute”).

“Never heard of it! Why couldn’t you have choosen a more well-known youkai, like the Hitotsu-me Kozou (“little one-eyed boy”) or Rokuro Kubi (“long-necked woman”)!”

“Well I like her! The Edo ukiyo-e artist, Utagawa Toyokuni, used Kejourou as the subject of a love story—”

“You sure know a lot…..”

“It’s just what I’ve heard from a friend.”

We headed down to the first floor as we talked, but suddenly, we were stopped.

There were countless sheets of paper spread out in the middle of the hallway, blocking us from going any further.

A single male student was writing something on those papers with an ink brush.

“Brother, what do you think you’re doing?”

At Touka’s abrupt words, the student stopped writing and looked up. He had very deep facial features.

“Ah, sister, what a way to greet your older brother.”

Come to think of it, I remembered Touka mentioning before that she had a brother. It would seem that this person would be that brother, then.

“I’m Inukai Juurou. Thanks for always looking after my sister. She must be hard to see since she’s so small.”

“Oh, no, not at all. Actually, there are times I want to pick up Touka-chan like a cat and spin her around, but since I’ll just be scratched, I refrain from doing so.”

“Hibari, have you really felt that kind of impulse when you’re around me?!”

Oh, how careless.

“So, Juurou-senpai, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been steadily carrying out my job,”

Saying this, he picked up one of the papers he’d just finished writing on and held it out for us to see.

In large, heavy print, this was what was written:

“Please do not remove too many wood sliding panels!”

“Every year, there’s always people that go overboard and end up damaging school property, whether it’s equipment or gla.s.s windows. Well, damage to school property is one thing, but it’ll be no joke if someone gets hurt. That’s why I’ve decided to deter any misconduct by putting these posters up all over the school. As the president of the Disciplinary Committee!”

Only the last part was said in an excessively loud voice. Touka, clearly annoyed at her brother, shouted at him,

“Your explanation was too long! If you’re going to talk, then say it in less than five words, stupid brother.”

That hardly seemed like enough words to explain with.

“By the way, my brother’s always been good with his hands, if nothing else, so I often had him make posters and origami rings and things. But regardless, whether you’re the president of the Disciplinary Committee or the Discipline-airy Committee, you’re in the way! Go to the back! Like you would before a feudal lord’s procession!”

“What was that, sister of mine! Have a taste of that petting attack you hate so much—!”

It then took five minutes to break up the sibling fight that had suddenly started.

“S-speaking of which—”

After being thrown over his sister’s shoulder once, Juurou-senpai dusted off his school uniform while wearing a calm guise.

“Are you the rumored pigtail girl that found and saved Saho-chan?”

“I hardly did any saving. I was just the first to discover her. Um, do you know Saho personally?”

“Of course. When we were little, she often came over to play with Touka. Back then, I’d tag along to play with them, too. I still have many heartwarming memories of when we’d mix gunpowder that we hid from our father’s workplace, or that time we tried to ride a raft we’d made ourselves down Sumida River and nearly drowned.”

As if her own memories had been triggered by her brother’s words, a tired expression emerged on Touka’s face. It would seem that Juurou-senpai was the only one that found those memories to be heartwarming.

“Actually, what did you mean by ‘rumored pigtail girl’?”

“You mean you don’t know? ‘Well done, pigtail girl! The savior of a female student!’ That’s how they’re all writing it up in the school newspaper.”

Since when had this happened? Once the teachers read the latest newspaper and find out about Saho’s case spreading throughout the school, they’ll probably all have a fit. But even without the aid of the newspaper, word of the incident had already begun to spread in the early stages.

“Are my pigtails really my only distinguis.h.i.+ng feature…?”

“That’s not true. You have that mole under your eye too, don’t you? It’s a symbol of a good woman. Oh, but if your pigtails fell off for some careless reason and you came to school to school the next day, I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize you.”

What a terrible thing to say. In the first place, pigtails don’t go falling off just like that.

“In any case, thank you for saving Saho-chan! I’m really glad that the worst didn’t happen. I was… pretty worried myself this time, and I felt frustrated by it, too.”

As he spoke, his voice gradually grew softer. Was he frustrated because of her bullying?

“Juurou, I finished putting up all the posters you gave me,”

And then appeared Igaras.h.i.+-senpai.

“Igaras.h.i.+-senpai, are you helping out too?”

“Yes, as a member of the Executive Committee, I feel it’s imperative that any accidents during the festival be prevented.”

I was honestly impressed with the extent in which the Executive Committee carried out their job.

“Um…”

“What is it?”

I pointed at Igaras.h.i.+-senpai’s hand.

“I’ve been wondering since yesterday but, did you injure your hand?”

There were bandages wrapped lightly around his left hand.

“Yeah, it happened when I was carrying some equipment. Just a minor wound. Executive Committee members end up helping out with a lot of things, you see, depending on wherever help is needed.”

Certainly, I could relate very well with that notion right now.

“If the number of injured can be reduced with my labor instead, it’s a small price to pay. And anyway, Ex might make some kind of move during the festival. No, I’m certain that they’ll try to pull something, and I want to prevent that, at all costs.”

“I’ll give a hand however I can, as well,” added Juurou-senpai,

“Leave patrol on the festival day to the Disciplinary Committee! That Ex fellow is cunning. He’s constantly making statements around the school, as if to sew shut our watchful eyes. Like Yuuma said, we have to keep our guards up while the festival’s going on.”

Right, tomorrow would finally be the day of the Akebi Festival.

That day, in order to finish up everything before the festival, many of the students stayed behind at school until sunset to do last minute preparations.

I took the initiative to stay behind, but since there was a notice telling non-boarding students to go home as soon as possible, I had no choice but to leave.

Yue saw me off with a wave at the entrance. Since she stayed in the on-campus dormitory, it looked like she would still be staying at school.

I waved back from afar and shouted,

“Yue-chaaan, when you see the station name, Ochanomizu, don’t you feel thirsty—?”

“Is that really something to be asking now—?”

After leaving the school, I obediently headed for home—no, of course not.

Today, I would be taking the familiar route to visit the author’s house again.

Along the way, I saw a huge group of people heading down the street. They wore helmets, and carried a large banner. The students that protested the vote for a new Security Treaty.

I didn’t know much about politics, but they were talking more eagerly than I could have imagined, and seemed to be carrying out their activities. Now and then, I would overhear talk of something dangerous. I was afraid that someone might turn up dead by the end of it.

I couldn’t predict what kind of radical action that Ex, who seemed to be imitating these people with his activities at school, might pull again. In which case, it didn’t seem unnatural that there was some circ.u.mstance for what had happened to Saho.

“Sensei—! I’ve come to see you again today. Have you become all shriveled up like a malnourished dried sardine—?”

Once I threw open the door of the study as soon as I arrived at the mansion, I saw a man with his back facing this way. However, it wasn’t Kudou-sensei’s back.

“My, you seem cheerful as always,”

The man spoke in a slightly husky, almost whisper-like voice.

Messy hair, round gla.s.ses, and an indigo garment that exposed his chest.

“Kares.h.i.+ma-san, I didn’t even know you were here!”

I couldn’t believe that he’d just seem me act so shamelessly!

Quickly, I patted down my hair and skirt, and corrected my posture.

This man, with his friendly appearance and an other-worldly atmosphere about him, is Kares.h.i.+ma Soutatsu, the respectable owner that runs “Kokuudou,” the antique bookstore in Kanda Jinbouchou.

He’s known Kudou-sensei since their college days, and they share a senior-junior relations.h.i.+p.

Just like his appearance, he’s always calm, and even speaks kindly to me. I could never understand why someone as good-natured as Kares.h.i.+ma-san would continue to stay friends with that author for so long.

“Unlike Sensei, you’re always really gentle, and it’s calming being together with you, Kares.h.i.+ma-san. It’s like walking in the clear, shallow waters of a river upstream.”

“Hmph. And what’s so gentle about being in the company of this giant salamander of a man?”

“Oh, Sensei. So you were here, after all.”

When I looked over, I saw that the author was sitting in his work chair, reading a book.

“What’s with that att.i.tude, after rus.h.i.+ng into someone else’s home?”

“More importantly, what do you mean by ‘giant salamander’? Kares.h.i.+ma-san and giant salamanders don’t have a single thing in common,”

I objected such to the author’s metaphor, but Kares.h.i.+ma-san himself seemed unfazed.

“Perhaps he refers to how I live quietly while swaying to and fro,”

And to top it off, he was even acknowledging it.

“You see? It’s impossible to figure out what he’s thinking every day, and his ecology is shrouded in mystery. He’s practically the giant salamander of the antiquarian street.”

“Then how about changing the name of the store to Hanzaki Daimyoujin?”

Hanzaki is another name for the j.a.panese giant salamander. It’s said that even if you were to cut it in half, it won’t die, hence being nicknamed hanzaki (“torn in half”), however, it’s uncertain whether or not that theory is correct.

This mysterious creature has been the subject of legends and folklore, and a long time ago, it was widely told that in a place called Ryuuto-no-fuchi (“Dragon’s Head Abyss”) in Okayama Prefecture, there lived a colossal salamander that measured nearly ten meters in length, which they called Hanzaki Daimyoujin.

“—and that’s it. I haven’t left anything out, right?”

“Nope. It was a fine explanation, Hibari-chan.”

“Ehehe. Well, it’s mostly just what I’ve heard from you, Kares.h.i.+ma-san.”

Before inheriting Kokuudou from his father, Kares.h.i.+ma-san was an aspiring folklorist, and traveled to various places across j.a.pan to do fieldwork. Naturally, he’s frighteningly well-informed when it comes to folklore, indigenous beliefs, and youkai.

The truth is, the fact that I’ve come to know so much about youka is due to his influence.

“By the way, Kares.h.i.+ma-san, what brings you here today?”

“I came to bring the book materials that Senpai asked for.”

It seemed that the book the author had been reading since earlier were those very ones.

“Ah, you’re right. I’ve never seen that book around here before.”

“As I’d expect from you, Hibari-chan. So you’ve memorized all the books that are kept here?”

“Ehehe—”

It was true. Since I came here nearly every day and was always reading the books in this house, for the most part, I’d come to learn all the t.i.tles of the books.

“But of course, I can’t say that I remember every single one.”

“I’ve said so before, but I’d like if you would come to my place and help me with the shop soon,”

Saying this, Kares.h.i.+ma-san took my hand and smiled.

“Come to your place—”

My face turned red, and I hurriedly pulled my hand back.

“I…. I-I-I-I-I-I cannot…! I…. Marriage, no, I can’t!”

I shook my head violently from side-to-side, as if to say, “Oh no, no, I couldn’t possibly!”

“Besides, I have yet to even witness a fox’s wedding! And I’m sure that a pure white dress wouldn’t suit me, and there are so many necessary preparations for marriage…… No, that’s not it! I-I have someone like Sensei…. No, no, no, no! Forget what I just said! They were thoughtless words uttered by a maiden possessed by a fox!”

“Um…. Hibari-chan, I didn’t really mean that in terms of marriage…..”

“Jokes, nonsense, meaningless babble! Lies and incoherent mumbling, fabrications! Absurd idle chatter! All merely insignificant utterances—!”

“Just what are you going on about? Hey! Don’t twirl your pigtails!”

I finally came back to senses when I heard the author speak to me. He was staring at me with downright cold eyes. Don’t look at me like that!

“Oh, right! I brought something that I wanted to give to you two, as well.”

Forcibly changing the subject, I opened my bag and took out a couple of booklets.

“You sure are quick to recover,”

Kares.h.i.+ma-san praised me once again.

“Here you go, Sensei. It’s the guidebook for the Akebi Festival. Kares.h.i.+ma-san, there’s one for you, as well. I meant to give it to you at your shop afterwards, but since you’re here now, it’s perfect timing.”

I dutifully handed it over to both of them.

“Thank you. So it’s finally happening tomorrow, huh.”

“Everyone’s very excited for it.”

As I talked with Kares.h.i.+ma-san, the author finished flipping through the guidebook at an extraordinary speed.

No matter what the contents were, this was how he always is whenever he gets his hands on anything resembling a book.

“Speaking of which, the highlight of the festival, or rather, the famous attraction is this monument. Here, on this page.”

“The students at your school work together every year to build this huge monument, hm?”

“Yes. We plan to set it up in the schoolyard at noon on the first day of the Akebi Festival. And on the last day, it’s customary to make a grand show out of burning it up.”

Everyone would gather around that huge flame and give thanks for each other’s hard work. The way the flames dyed the surrounding buildings and the students’ faces in an orange glow was really rather romantic.

“By the way, I heard there was some kind of accident last year?”

Being asked that so suddenly, for a moment, I was at a loss for words.

Yes, there had been an accident.

Last year, on the second day of the Akebi Festival, the monument had been toppled over by a strong wind, and some people had been injured—at least, that’s what I heard.

I hadn’t been there to actually witness the event, so I didn’t know all the details.

On the introductory page for the moment were the following words:

“To prevent something like last year’s accident from occurring again, we have taken extra care this year, and constructed the monument with those precautions in mind. As a result, this year, it has been made significantly more lightweight, and there have also been improvements with the overall stability of the structure. Incidentally, for this year’s monument, it will be a.s.sembled with the previously-constructed parts on the day of the festival, and be transported to its designated location in the schoolyard in its completed state. We feel confident that it will be a truly enjoyable sight for the visitors. –Monument Production Crew Leader, Seno Atsuya”

“I heard that at one point, they considered discontinuing the construction of the monument altogether, but since others objected to losing that tradition, it was decided that they would build it again this year.”

“The design is kept a secret until the day it’s unveiled, if I recall.”

“That’s right. They’re very thorough in keeping it a secret until then. I believe that only the students that are on the production crew and a few of the teachers know what it looks like.”

From what I’d heard, they were supposedly going to make it even bigger than the one from last year.

I think last year’s might have been seven, or maybe even eight meters tall. I’d heard a rumor that ever since the very first year the monument’s been made, it gets bigger with each pa.s.sing year, but I think that may actually be true.

“So, Kares.h.i.+ma-san, do you think you’ll be able to come tomorrow?”

“Well, about that, I have to organize the inventory at my store tomorrow, so I don’t think I can make it.”

“I see…. That’s too bad.”

Managing an antique bookstore didn’t seem easy.

“My apologies. But I’ll make sure to make time to come on the second day.”

“Have you been busy?”

“A bit. For these past few days, I’ve been pulling all-nighters to get work done. But I’ve been able to manage by leaving the radio on to keep myself awake.”

He hardly looked sleepy at all. I always felt this way whenever I talked with Kares.h.i.+ma-san, but he had a mysterious, hermit-like quality about him. I felt like he could live for hundreds of years eating only peaches.

“Whenever I leave the radio on, I always wind up falling asleep. That’s exactly what happened the day before yesterday….”

“Did you really? It’s a shame you missed it, then.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was a rare incident during the broadcast that night.”

“What kind of incident?”

“Some very enthusiastic fans stormed into the studio during the program, and there was an uproar for a while. You have to wonder how those kinds of people managed to get in.”

“Hibari-kun,”

As I was happily chatting with Kares.h.i.+ma-san, the author suddenly interrupted, looking displeased, after he’d finished reading through the guidebook.

“What is the meaning of this?”

He said, and pointed at the last page of the guidebook.

“What is it, all of a sudden?”

As I approached him to see for myself, this was what was written there:

“Cover art by Hanamoto Hibari, 2nd year, Cla.s.s A”

“Ah! So you’ve noticed, have you? As I’d expect from you, Sensei! You’ve even read all the way up to the credits! Yes, that’s correct, it was I that did the art for this year’s guidebook!”

I proudly showed the cover of the guidebook to the two of them.

“So? What do you think of this workmans.h.i.+p!”

However, no matter how long I waited, the response I was expecting wouldn’t come.

“……Um, wow.”

After a pause, that was the only word that came out of Kares.h.i.+ma-san’s mouth.

“You must be joking! What is with this picture that disturbs the soul in such an extreme and boundless manner! It looks like rotting tofu, with eerie, mud-colored hands crawling around it!”

“How rude! That’s the school building, and the fresh green trees that surround it!”

“This is supposed to be a school building? It looks like a scene from the underworld! And what’s more, whose foolish idea was it to make the sky bright yellow and the ground purple? If three children were blindfolded and told to draw Yus.h.i.+ma Seidou Temple, even that would look more decent than this.”

“Uu….. You didn’t have to take it that far! Sensei, you jerk!”

On the verge of tears from the author’s heartless words, I kicked him in the s.h.i.+n.

“Guh! Why you…. If you don’t behave….”

When I saw the author double over, and then bend over on the floor in pain, I felt a bit better.

“There was a request for the Art Club to draw the cover image, and everyone submitted their own version. And in the end, they chose mine.”

“And what did the person that chose it say?”

“If I remember…. He said that on the contrary, this kind of eccentricity is rather nice, a piece that couldn’t possibly be appreciated by only looking at it from a commonsense perspective.”

“Enough…. Judging from the criteria for the selection process, I can already see the madness of all this. Hibari-kun, in order to appease the grudges of the other members that weren’t chosen, I suggest you live humbly as a nun from now on.”

“It’s the beginning of a long, long journey of atonement.”

In times like this, these two adults were always terribly in sync.

“If the art for the guidebook is something like this, then the piece for the exhibition day must be something rather explosive, as well,”

Said the author.

“Hmm. Well, you’ve always had a unique sense for color, Hibari-chan….. I wonder why, but when I look at this picture, I can feel the impermanence of the world,”

Said Kares.h.i.+ma-san.

“You two are terrible! But it’s true that whenever I color my drawings, oftentimes it becomes something sad and sorrowful. For the exhibition piece, as well, I’ve taken it home to finish, but I’m still unsure of what to do. I suppose I’ll be staying up all night today….”

“Hmph. Don’t think about it so hard. Why do you bother to color everything so completely? For instance, if you were tell with ghost story with every little detail, would it still be scary? There’s nothing wrong with leaving some things untouched.”

I quietly closed my eyes, and tried to make sense of the author’s words in my own terms. He continued by trying to figure out what I was thinking.

“That’s right. It’s important to use your brain to think. Well? Have you some idea now?”

“………Hm?”

“This is hopeless. You’re making that face you do when your head’s become completely blank.”

“In any case, Sensei! Since you’ve read the entire guidebook, that means you’re coming tomorrow, right?”

“So noisy. As if I care about that.”

“But…..”

And with that, the author turned back to his desk as if he’d lost all interest in me. He picked up a fountain pen, wrote something down on a piece of paper, and handed it to Kares.h.i.+ma-san.

“I’ll have to ask you to bring me materials again. I’ve written down all the books I need here.”

“Senpai, you really work people hard. Speaking of which, we’ve received stock of the first edition of Izumi Kyouka’s book. Should I bring that on my next visit, as well?”

“Bring it to me even if it costs you your life.”

“I’d really rather not risk my life if it can be helped…”

As the two began their usual exchange, I took the opportunity to go and make coffee. I knew that whenever they started talking like this, they had a tendency to go on and on.

I went to the kitchen, and started to prepare the beans right away. Kares.h.i.+ma-san liked his coffee with a subdued sourness, so I used different beans than the ones for the author. The way the beans were ground, the speed in which the hot water was poured—slight changes were necessary to accommodate each of their tastes.

“Like I said, you didn’t even think of the consequences that time, and put it in your mouth—”

“How else would you know what something tastes like, without tasting it for yourself?”

As I placed the cups on a tray and returned to the study, the two of them were still talking, as expected.

“I’ve brought coffee—”

The author muttered a brief affirmative note and took his cup. I couldn’t help but smile to myself when I saw that. His face seemed to indicate that this had been very good, no, the best timing to bring coffee.

“So, what were you two talking about? It sounded very lively.”

“It happened when we still in college, when I went with Senpai to a rural village deep in the Iwate mountains. And it was there that they had a spirit festival that’s only held once every twelve years.”

“Soutatsu suddenly said that he wanted to go on a field trip to investigate there, and with barely any preparation at all, he dragged me out of the boarding house in the middle of the night.”

“But weren’t you also excited to gather some references for your novel? You actually did end up including our experiences there in a work of yours later, didn’t you?”

If there was a shady psychic in the east, they would go and find out the truth, and if there were some mysterious folklore in the west, they would go to research its origins.

It seemed that back then, they used to do things like this quite often.

“In the mansion we stayed at, they offered us many of their local cuisine, but to be honest, there was a certain food that someone raised in the city couldn’t possibly eat.”

“……Meaning?”

“Hibari-chan, do you like bugs?”

“Ah, I see where this is going. I’ll pa.s.s on the details.”

“As for Senpai, he crunched down on them without a second thought, and it was quite troublesome…..”

“Did he get a stomachache?”

“Even that would have been a better outcome.”

For some reason, Kares.h.i.+ma-san stopped there. I was too scared to even imagine what might have happened.

“In any case, it was a strange place. In that village, the people there coexisted together with monsters. That gave birth to a strong faith, to the point that it dictated their daily lives.”

I didn’t really understand all the details, but I was able to grasp that they’d experienced something phenomenal.

“Dictated their lives….? Like, they stopped acting like themselves?”

“Well, let’s see. Peoples’ sense of self is something rather hazy, not unlike ghosts and souls, so it’s difficult to really define. They have the saying, ‘being tempted by an evil spirit,’ right? It means that you do something you normally would never do, but to a greater extent, what if you were actually being manipulated by ‘something’ to do it? It’s frightening to even think about, no?”

Tempted by an evil spirit.

And what was that “evil spirit,” exactly?

A demon, or a snake?

For some reason, those words made me remember Saho, collapsed on roof.

The blood where she had fallen. The single slipper.

I didn’t know why I suddenly remembered all this, but I felt like there was some kind of connection.

For what reason she had gone to the roof at that time?

Right before the Akebi Festival?

A reason for an honor student like her to secretly go up there?

Temped by an evil spirit—

Despite all these pieces scattered everywhere, if I could only put them together, I would be able to uncover the truth of that day. But at that time, I had yet to realize this.

It was only a feeling I had.

“What, are you thinking about that rooftop incident again? You shouldn’t meddle in unnecessary things. More often than not, it only brings trouble.”

“But…. I think I might be on to something. I can just feel it….”

“…..Hmph. Such a helpless child you are,”

Although the author continued to complain, he suddenly stopped talking and stared straight at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Enough with your reckless, amateur detective play-acting and reasoning. Go and bring me a dishcloth. And make sure it’s thoroughly wet.”

“Why a dishcloth?”

“Look, you’ve spilled coffee here on the desk.”

“But…. Sensei, aren’t you the one that spilled it?”

“As if I know. It was spilled in the evening, so I don’t remember.”

“But that means you do remember. Ah, you’re right! It’s already dry and soaked into the desk! Gosh, if only you’d said so yesterday, I could have cleaned it up then.”

“Which is why I’m telling you to bring me a wet dishcloth right now.”

“Good grief.”

I sighed, and headed for the kitchen once more. Just when I thought I’d finally come up with something, my train of thought had completely disappeared somewhere.

———

translation notes;
 

Youkai (妖怪): supernatural monsters or ghosts in j.a.panese folklore

Disciplinary/Discipline-airy (風紀/空気 ): someone suggested this translation, and I thought it was too good to pa.s.s up so I wound up using it. 風紀 (fuuki) means “discipline” and 空気 (kuuki) means “air”

Ochanomizu Station (お茶ノ水): the kanji literally means “tea water”

fox’s wedding (狐の嫁入り): may refer to atmospheric ghost lights (like will-o’-wisps, a phenomena during which it appears as if paper lanterns from a wedding procession are floating through the dark