Previously:

"He just attacked her!" Nao said. "Why!?"

"He's acting like he's possessed!" Bou-san said. "What do we do, Naru? It looks like the moment we let go of him, he'll go after Hitomi again!"

"We'll have to knock him out, then we can tie him up like Eijirou-san, until John can exorcise him," Naru said.

"We'll need a third person!" Bou-san said. "It's taking both of us just to hold him down!"

"Get Lin," he told Nao.

"Y-Yes!" she said and ran off to fetch him.


The Cursed House (Part 5)


"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Mai told a crying Katsuki and Wakako as the wounds in the shape of the nine cuts that were on their backs were being treated at base by Ayako and Masako. The children were crying while clutching charms. Hitomi watched them with a sympathetic expression on her face.

'Poor things… but if Mai hadn't done that, Katsuki-kun would be dead,' Hitomi thought. "Th… ank… you..." she said horsely when Nao handed her an icepack for her throat.

"Are you sure you're all right, Sempai?" Mai asked. Hitomi nodded carefully.

Once the children were patched up, they left with Nao. Bou-san and John returned from performing Kazuyasu's exorcism shortly after.

"Geez! What is going on in this house?" Bou-san said. "Hitomi was nearly killed! Not that we weren't warned, but still… And you, Mai! I told you… never to do that toward a person!"

"But..." Mai said.

"No 'buts'!" Bou-san said. He sighed. "An exorcism can't be done by just anyone. You do have a talent for it… but don't do it again. Never ever put yourself in a situation in which you have to direct the nine cuts against a person."

"Okay… I'm sorry… very..." Mai said, hanging her head.

"Good," Bou-san said.

"How is Kazuyasu-san?" Mai asked.

"He can't remember anything since around the time of the funeral," John replied.

"He was possessed this whole time!?" Mai said, surprised.

"They also looked into what Wakako-chan said about the car… the brake fluid had leaked out," John said. "If someone drove the car without knowing..." Hitomi and Mai glanced in Naru's direction. He had been talking on the phone to someone.

"—Things have gotten more complicated," Naru said into the phone. "I want you to lend a hand. There are still flights today. I want you to arrive as soon as possible. Yes. We'll be waiting." He hung up.

'That sounded a little underhanded,' Mai thought, sweat-dropping. 'Is he threatening someone?'

"Who... was... that?" Hitomi asked.

"Yasuhara-san," Naru replied.

"Yasuhara-san is coming?" Mai asked, perking up. "Wh—" The door suddenly slid open.

"Who hurt the kids?" Yoko yelled. They all looked at her. "Who did that to Katsuki? And you guys gave him a weird thing."

"Weird thing?" Ayako asked.

"That charm is ridiculous," Yoko said. "Take it off right now! He won't take it off even if I tell him to."

'Yoko-san, is she possibly...' Mai thought.

'Could she be possessed…?' Hitomi wondered.

'You also did something to Hazuki," Yoko continued. "And Wakako, and Yasutaka, and Kazuyasu. And Eijiro! You keep messing with things that are none of your business!" she roared, breathing heavily.

"This is important to protect you," Naru said as Bou-san held out a charm to her. "Do you have it, too?"

"… That thing… won't do anything," Yoko said with a creepy smile.

"That's not true," Bou-san said. "Here." He continued to hold the charm out to her. Yoko stared at him. She accepted the charm.

'She took it...' Mai thought, relieved. The charm burst into flames in Yoko's hand.

"!" Hitomi furrowed her brow.

"… See?" Yoko said. "It's entirely useless.

"Ayako. Shichi baku," Bou-san said.

"Ok," Ayako said. She began performing the nine cuts.

"What is it?" Yoko asked a little nervously.

"It's nothing. We need to talk to Yoko-san, that's all," Bou-san said.

"John," Naru said. John pulled out the stopper on his holy water and stepped forward. John splashed the holy water on Yoko and began praying.

"I strictly order you in the name of Christ. To expose yourself no matter where you are hidden… and to leave the body you reside in," John said. "Go immediately. No matter where you are, leave and seek a body devoted by the Lord. Everybody blessed by the holy trinity has forever banned your existence. In principio."

"Grah!" Youko growled then sank to the floor like a puppet that had its strings cut.

"Yo… Yoko-san…?' Mai said cautiously. Yoko raised her head and looked at them.

"What? What happened?" Yoko asked. They were all relieved to see the exorcism worked.

"You're okay now. Please keep this and never take it off," John told her, handing her a rosary.

"Huh? Yes… um… Who are you people?" Yoko asked.

—∞—

"… I didn't think she lost her awareness that long ago," Mai said as she was eating dinner with Ayako and Hitomi.

"Who, Yoko-san?" Ayako asked. "Probably. Like Kazuyasu, she didn't seem to know what was going on when the young master explained everything to them."

"Oh, what's shichi baku?" Mai asked. "And you did the nine cuts against Yoko-san, but it was safe?"

'I'm curious about that, too...' Hitomi thought.

"Hm?" Ayako said. "That's an immobility chant. It just makes a person unable to move for a while. Originally the nine cuts were known as the defensive nine cuts and were used for self-defense."

"Oh, really?" Mai said.

"You use them when you want to protect yourself from demons intruding while you pray or train. If you take the middle and push it out… you can use it as an attack," Ayako explained. "When you push your spirit out, you're also shooting out spiritual energy." "

Then exorcism is controlling spiritual energy?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. And using chants and tools just enhances the energy," Ayako said. "It's not completely necessary, though."

"Then isn't it pointless?" Mai asked.

"Well… it's more like it doesn't matter if you've incorrectly memorized the mantra… is what I think," Ayako said. "Are you familiar with qigong from China?"

'Ah, I've heard of that...' Hitomi thought.

"Isn't that when you can use your hands to cure illnesses or strike people far away from you?" Mai asked.

'Sounds like PK,' Hitomi thought.

"That's it,"" Ayako said. "It's kung-fu that controls chi. I think it's more like spiritual energy without the rituals."

"I see. And that's different from PK?" Mai asked.

"Curing illnesses is PK-LT, and striking someone far away from you is PK-ST," Ayako said. "So PK is spiritual energy."

"You don't really know?" Mai asked. "You can have this," she said, putting some vegetables from her plate onto Ayako's.

"There's not much we all know," Ayako admitted, putting the vegetables back on Mai's plate, making her eat them. "I'm not familiar with qigong. Although I've heard those who've mastered it are amazing. They can crack rocks without touching them, bend steel, cure cancer… even control people, or so I've heard. And also exorcise spirits."

"I see. Maybe Lin-san can do it," Mai said with a smile.

"Hahaha. Yeah, he looks it," Ayako said. "Like he knows but doesn't do it."

'… I bet he really can do it...' Hitomi thought, wondering if Naru could too. Was that how he controlled his PK?

—∞—

Hitomi sat in front of the monitors with Lin. After she was injured, Naru had basically confined her to the base except for meals. She liked to think that was a sign he was worried about her and cared, but it was really boring. Naru looked over at Hitomi and observed the way she gingerly held the icepack against her horribly bruised throat. It looked painful.

"Hara-san," Naru said.

"Yes?" Masako said.

"Can you summon the spirit of Matsumoto Setsuko?" he asked. The others were surprised.

"Hitomi-chan's great grandmother?" Bou-san said. "Why her?"

"She may be able to tell us more about what happened last time," Naru said. "The sooner we solve this case, the better."

"The sooner the better, huh?" Bou-san said, looking from Naru to Hitomi. "That's true..."

"I think… I can, yes," Masako said.

"Are you all right with this, Hitomi-sempai?" Mai asked.

"… Yes. My family still has questions about her death. Maybe we can finally answer them," Hitomi said thoughtfully. "Are you okay with this, Masako? She may have been murdered."

"I'll be fine," Masako said.

—∞—

They turned the lights out in the room and gathered around the table. The only light was a single candle. The scent of a burning incense stick filled the room. Masako sat with her head bowed and her eyes closed.

"Matsumoto-san… are you there?" Naru asked. Masako twitched.

"Yes..." she answered.

"Are you Matsumoto Setsuko-san?" Naru asked.

"Yes… What is this?" Masako asked.

"You have passed away. Do you comprehend?" Naru asked.

"… Yes," Masako said.

"Do you know how you passed away?" Naru asked.

"I was… smothered," Masako replied sadly. "I was asleep in my room, when I felt something being pressed against my face. I struggled, but… I couldn't get out from under the pillow." Hitomi furrowed her brow and clenched her hands. Mai looked down, feeling sad for her.

"Who smothered you?" Naru asked.

"I do not know..." Masako said. "It was a terrible experience."

"Could you say… any small detail about the person who smothered you?" Naru asked.

"They were strong… That's all I can say," Masako said.

"What do you know about the other deaths thirty-two years ago? What happened here?" Naru asked.

"Nooo!" Masako said suddenly, distressed.

"What's wrong!?" Mai asked.

"It's… pulling me," Masako said.

"Pulling?" Bou-san asked.

"It's pulling me again. Don't pull me. I don't want to go there… no… monster…! Help!" Masako cried. Matsumoto Setsuko was pulled out of Masako. Hitomi could see her floating up and away. The candle went out. Masako slumped. "I… was able to call her," Masako said, looking tired.

"Hitomi's great grandmother was murdered..." Ayako said, holding a hand over her mouth. Hitomi clenched her hands tighter.

"My grandfather… was right… It wasn't natural," she said, the crease in her brow deepening. 'How could they? I know whoever did it must have been possessed, like Kazuyasu-san… but still…!'

"But what was that toward the end… something 'pulled' her?" Naru said, holding his chin.

"And she called it a monster…" Bou-san said.

'What could it be?' Hitomi wondered, frowning. 'She sounded so scared…'

'I wonder… what happened to Hitomi-sempai's great grandmother's spirit?' Mai thought. 'What should we do?'

—∞—

The next morning, Masako and Hitomi stayed back at the base with Lin and a sleeping Mai, while the others went to meet Yasuhara.

"Na… Naru?" Mai mumbled in her sleep. "Where did you go? Naru!?"

"Should we wake her?" Hitomi asked. She was starting to sound upset. Masako furrowed her brow and kneeled down in front of Mai.

"Mai!" Masako said loudly. Mai's eyes popped open.

"Whoa," she said, sweat-dropping, surprised to wake up to Masako being so close to her. Masako looked a little annoyed. "Uh… Huh? Oh, a blanket!? Is this the base? Is it morning? Shoot, did I fall asleep!?"

"Yeah, we put that blanket on you last night," Hitomi said. Her voice was still a little hoarse.

"S… Sorry..." Mai said, embarrassed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have awoken you. You were on a date, right?" Masako said.

"Huh?" Mai said, turning redder.

"You thought I was someone else," Masako said. "You said 'Na...'"

"Aaagh! Aaagh!" Mai exclaimed. "No! It's not like that! It's actually..."

"Did you find any clues?" Masako asked.

"Eh," Mai said. "Oh, my dream. Um Hitomi-sempai's great grandmother was walking through the cave. From the ocean toward the cove, many times… Even though she was older, she was still really pretty."

"What was she doing, walking in a loop like that?" Hitomi asked. Mai remembered what she had been told in her dream.

Ceremony for rebirth.

"Ceremony for rebirth… perhaps," Mai said.

"Tour of the womb… I am assuming," Masako said. "There are similar places in shrines and temples. A large tunnel resembles your mother's womb. If you go through the tunnel and come out, it signifies being born again."

"I see," Mai said.

"But I wonder why Matsumoto Setsuko-san is doing it..." Masako said. "On her way to reincarnation, perhaps?"

"Reincarnation? To be born again?" Mai asked.

"Yes," Masako answered.

"But she died over thirty years ago… why is she still doing it? Shouldn't she have moved on by now?" Hitomi asked.

"… It is difficult to comprehend," Masako said.

"Yeah… By the way, where's everyone else?" Mai asked.

"At the front," Masako replied. "They should be coming..." The door slid open.

"Oh. Speak of the devil..." Hitomi said.

"Yasuhara-san!" Mai said when he stepped into the room.

"Oh, hello, Taniyama-san," Yasuhara greeted her with a smile. "Oh, Matsumoto-san, are you all right? That's a terrible bruise."

"I'll be fine," Hitomi said with a smile, even though it hurt.

"I knew Naru was talking to you on the phone, but… you just came? Wasn't it difficult?" Mai asked him.

"It was really, really difficult," Yasuhara replied. "I flew in from Okinawa."

"Okinawa!?" Mai said.

"I can't believe you were able to get here so soon," Hitomi said.

"Were you on vacation?" Mai asked.

"No, for a part-time job," Yasuhara replied.

"In Okinawa? What kind of part-time job?" Mai asked.

"Actually, it was part pleasure, too," Yasuhara admitted. "I was a hotel page at a resort."

"Heheh," Mai laughed, picturing him in a swanky waiter's uniform holding a tray with a cocktail glass on it and saying 'Madam' with his glasses gleaming.

"I took leave saying that my friend Shibuya-san was near death," Yasuhara said. "And I used every form of transportation imaginable to get here."

"I see. Thank you for going to so much trouble," Mai said and she and Hitomi bowed to him.

"No problem," Yasuhara said, bowing back. "Well? So what should I do?" he asked, looking at Naru.

"We can't move from here, so I want you to go out and gather information," Naru replied.

"You want me to investigate? What kind of information?" Yasuhara asked.

"I'll explain the details later… but first I have a question," Naru said. "What do you know about the Ansei era?"

"Um. The Ansei purge was in 1858," Yasuhara replied.

"Well, that's the information I need," Naru said. "And also, history and legends for this area."

"Consider it done," Yasuhara said.

—∞—

A roaring sound could be heard coming from the monitors and their speakers in their base as Naru, John, Bou-san, and Lin observed the footage they collected of the cave the small shrine was located in.

"What is that sound?" Bou-san asked.

"Is it in every video?" Naru asked.

"Yes," Lin replied.

"We're back. We just had lunch," Mai announced as the girls returned. "We can take over… whoa." She covered her ears to block out the roaring. "What's making that sound!?"

"What… is that?" Hitomi asked.

"I don't know," Naru said. "When we checked last night's data, it was in there."

"Sounds like a sleeping dinosaur..." John said.

"Yeah..." Mai and Hitomi agreed.

RRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGG!

Mai flinched. Hitomi looked around the room.

"Huh… a fire!?" Mai said.

"Where!?" Bou-san asked, rushing to his feet, opening the door to leave the room. Mai rushed to the window.

"Bou-san!" Hitomi called, also looking out the window. "The main house..."

—∞—

They all ran out the base to help.

"Be careful!" Naru said, and they all slowed down just enough to make sure they wouldn't unwittingly run into trouble.

"Shibuya-san!" Akifumi said anxiously when he saw them. He was right outside the room that was on fire.

"Are you okay!?" Bou-san asked.

"Where's everyone else?" Hitomi asked.

"They climbed out a window," Akifumi said. "And the kids were already outside." As he said that, his mother came running over with two fire extinguishers.

"Do you have more extinguishers?" Mai asked as she and John took the ones she brought.

"Yes," she said. "I'll get them."

"I'll help you," Hitomi said.

They all quickly moved to work together to put out the fire and were able to stop it before it spread to the other rooms. Bou-san pulled up his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face.

"Hey! I don't want to see your belly!" Ayako told him, while Akifumi handed out towels to John, Hitomi, and Mai.

"How did the fire start anyway?" Mai asked, wiping her face, while Akifumi handed towels to Masako, Naru, and Lin.

"We don't know," Akifumi said. "We were all sitting around, when suddenly..."

"Maybe it was one of the spirits haunting this place," Ayako said.

"Why set the fire?" Naru said.

"Maybe it was angry because they can no longer possess the family members?" Bou-san suggested.

"..." Naru held his chin, thinking.

—∞—

Later that evening, Yasuhara returned with the fruit of his research.

"First, this newspaper clipping has some information you wanted," Yasuhara said. "This is the previous master, and this, the master before that." he handed the clipping over to Naru.

"Thanks," Naru said. Mai was a little surprised.

"In summary, it goes like this," Yasuhara said for the rest of them. "When the last master, meaning Akifumi's grandfather, inherited the house from his great-grandfather, eight people died. Four of them were family. Of the remaining four, one committed suicide, one died in an accident, and the other two died suddenly of mysterious causes."

"Family, eh?" Bou-san said.

"Yes. The second son killed his wife and two kids, then killed himself. So, family homicide. And two of the guests died, but of unknown causes. Their bodies washed up on the beach, so the deaths were ruled accidental, but it's suspicious. Then three more psychics died. Two died when the holy fire they were building caught on their clothes. The third psychic died mysteriously… for a grand total of thirteen deaths," Yasuhara explained.

'Thirteen...' Mai thought.

"Was there more information on the last psychic?" Hitomi asked

"I'm afraid not. I was only able to find her name, a Matsumoto Setsuko-san… a relative of yours?" Yasuhara asked, making the connection.

"Yes," Hitomi replied. "We found out she was smothered..."

"I'm sorry," Yasuhara said.

"What else?" Naru asked.

"During the great-grandfather's time, the newspapers say six family members died. But it was long ago, so it's not clear if it really was only six," Yasuhara said. "Apparently they died from poison in the well… This happened when they just moved here from Kanazawa. He died at 78, so he was pretty old. I think his son had already inherited the store by then. This is the death book." He handed it to Naru.

"You were able to copy it?" Naru said, taking it.

"Yes. I went to the temple early in the morning, copied it, went to the public library, and then went to Kanazawa…" Yasuhara said.

"You went all the way to Kanazawa!?" Mai said, surprised and impressed.

"Yes, I did," Yasuhara said with a sigh. "I went all over. And I was looking at the copy and noticed something. The grandmother said this, right? 'Every time the head of the house changes, bizarre incidents occur.' But… the times a large number of deaths occurred with the Yoshimi house was only during… the last master and the one before that. So on the way home I went to the temple again. And I got copies of all the death books of the main family and branch family. And what I suspect is…"

"The problem is not with the Yoshimi family, but this location?" Naru said.

"Exactly," Yasuhara agreed. "Akifumi-san's family… which is the Kanazawa branch family… have only experienced incidents since they moved here. Before that the main family was living here. But five years before the branch family moved here, the main family had all died. In addition, when the main family moved here, the first death happened in the third year of the Ansei era. Before that, there was no Yoshimi house in the this area. It was owned by a family called Fujisako. But the Fujisako family went extinct in the first year of Ansei. So I begged the chief priest and obtained copies of the death book of the Fujisako family. Unfortunately, there are only the last two generations left." He pulled the copies of those records from his bag and handed them to Naru.

"You're a genius!" Bou-san told him, clapping his hands.

"Right?" Yasuhara said.

"… So the previous owner here, the Fujisako family, went extinct with bizarre incidents. And the Yoshimi family who came after them went extinct. And the branch family came in after that," Naru said.

"I see, this location, eh?" Bou-san said.

"Right?" Yasuhara said. "So I looked up the history and legends for around this area." He pulled out a huge stack of papers that he had bundled up together with a piece of string.

"What?" Mai said, surprised, sweat-dropping, as she watched him pass it to Naru.

"You looked all of this up in just one day? With the trip to Kanazawa!?" Bou-san asked, amazed.

"Heh heh heh. I'm efficient," Yasuhara said. "Instead of wasting time looking through newspapers in the library, guess what I did?"

"What?" Hitomi asked.

"I went around looking for bored schoolgirls to work for me," Yasuhara said proudly. "I should maximize my manpower, right? So I hired one person in Kanzawa to make copies… and I kept in touch with another person here while I collected all of this."

"Wow..." Mai and the monk said, sweat-dropping.

"And I can pay them with money from Shibuya Psychic Research, right?" Yasuhara said brightly. Lin laughed a little at that, coughing to cover it up.

"I don't see why not," Naru said.

"That's a relief!" Yasuhara said, exhaling a sigh with a hand over his heart. Mai and Hitomi laughed. "!" Yasuhara said. "Oh yeah. I came upon a rather interesting story. It's a common folktale of 'foreigner killing'."

"Foreigner… killing?" Mai asked, not liking the sound of that.

"Foreigner killing. In this case, an outsider can be considered a foreigner," Yasuhara said. "In the old days, a village was a closed society. All the people in the village were relatives and neighbors. So let's say a merchant happens along. The merchant has no blood relation or territorial connection to the villagers. He is completely different from the villagers. Meaning he is an outsider. And there are many folk tales in various areas about killing this outsider, and these murders were called foreigner killings. And foreigners in the old days are smaller in range. Usually the ones killed were marebito."

"Wait!" Mai said, sweat-dropping. "Back up a little. What's a marebito?"

"Oh, sorry," Yasuhara said. "A marebito is a term used by Orikuchi Shinobu. Oh, I guess I shouldn't go into that. Marebito is a 'god who arrives'. They come to a village and bless the villagers or advise them. So expanding on that idea, people who come to a village and act as gods are called marebito."

'So that person comes to bless and advise? Like a god would?" Mai said.

"That's right," Yasuhara said. "And they also have supernatural powers. They can communicate with gods and buddhas and nymphs, so they do that, too. They make predictions or wish for a good harvest. They make it rain, get rid of bad luck… other times they'll drive away apparitions or perform exorcisms."

"Huh?" Mai said. "So that means we're also marebito?"

"We are outsiders and we perform exorcisms," Hitomi said.

"!" Yasuhara said. "Yeah! That's it. So miko and traveling monks were referred to as marebito. And there are many folk tales in japan about killing those marebito. And that connects to the foreigner killings. Usually the marebito who visit a village are killed because they have riches. And as a result, a curse is inflicted. Marebito were scorned as well as feared. That's why their lives are not valued and they are killed for trivial reasons. But after they are killed, their existence can curse. It is unknown if there actually ever was a curse. But there was a fear of what would happen if you killed a marebito and that's probably how the legend started."

"I understand," Mai said. "We are also made fun of or appreciated for no reason."

"..." Hitomi was reminded of the times she went to live with different relatives and how that part of her family had treated her as an outsider and liar for being able to see spirits.

"Right?' Yasuhara said. "And this foreigner killing I found… there are two patterns. I don't really know if just one is true… or if both are true. Maybe both are untrue. First, type A. Long ago, three shugen practitioners came to the village. They saw the Okobu-sma and said it brought a curse, so they performed an exorcism. The the Okobu-sama turned into a golden statue of Buddha and the practitioners said this: It curses because a Buddha statue was thrown around by the ocean and turned into what it was. The villagers should build a scared building and honor the statue. However, the village elder killed the practitioners at the beach because of the golden statue. As soon as the practitioners were murdered, the statue turned back into a wooden stick. And soon after, the elder's house had unfortunate incidents and went extinct. It was said to be the practitioners' curse… And type B goes like this. Long ago, three monks came to the village. They saw Okobu-sama and said that it was a god and the villagers should create a shrine to honor it. However, the villagers did not have much money to do so because of the bad crop that year. In addition, one of the villagers sees that the monks have a lot of money. The villager invites the monks to the elder's house, puts poison in their food and kills them, then steals their money and throws the corpses into the ocean. Afterward, thunderstorms and high waves wouldn't stop, so the villager regretted his actions. He then made a shrine to honor Okobu-sama and made mounds for the monks. Only then did the disasters stop and they were blessed with a good harvest after that."

"… Both stories have Okobu-sama," Naru said.

"There are many similarities between the two tales," Yasuhara said. "Three Marebito come to the village and say something about Okobu-sama. But the marebito are killed by greedy villagers. The crime is related to the elder. And where they died, or where their bodies were thrown into is the ocean. And the end result is that bad things happened to the village. Both story outlines are the same so I tend to think it's not just a legend."

"So you think there was actually a case like that in the past?" Bou-san asked.

"I think so," Yasuhara said. "I think an incident occurred that was the basis for the tale and as it circulated, it grew into two versions. So I researched the local history and found this. A legend called 'About Okobutsu-sama'."

"Okobutsu-sama? Not Okobu-sama?" Mai asked.

"Right. But it's similar to the type A story," Yasuhara said. "A wooden stick washed on shore and when they showed it to a monk, the monk said it was a buddha. When he recited a sutra, it turned into a gold statue, but when the morning came it returned to the wooden stick. Ever since, they call it Okobutsu-sama and honor it."

"Three practitioners," Bou-san said. "Or monks—"

"What is it?" Yasuhara asked.

"The mounds at the shrine?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah," Bou-san said.

"Oh, the tohachi mounds?"

"There were three mounds, right? Also called sanroku mounds. That probably means three roku mounds," Bou-san said.

"That's possible. Then what are roku mounds?" Yasuhara asked.

"Maybe Rokubu mounds?" Bou-san suggested.

"Ah!" Yasuhara said. "So the three rokubu mounds were shortened to sanroku mounds. Then the last part of version B fits perfectly. 'They built a shrine and made mounds.'"

"Bou-san, Bou-san," Mai said, tugging on his sleeve. "What are Rokubu?"

"They're traveling monks who carry transcribed buddhist scriptures to 66 sacred grounds all over the country," Bou-san explained. "They have them for each of the 66 areas, so they're called 'rokujuu-roku (66) bu' or 'rokubu'. They started calling traveling monks that, too. So they're also 'marebito'."

"I see!" Yasuhara said. He began searching through all the notes he had.

"Wh-What?" Mai asked.

"I found and oral epic about rokubu mounds somewhere," Yasuhara said. "This one! It doesn't say when, but… there was once a famine and the villagers rebelled in riot… but eventually they were repressed. They were told that if they turned in the ringleaders the villagers would be spared… so that's what they did. The ringleaders tried to run away, but they were caught at the rokubu mounds. And that's where they beheaded them."

'Pursuers… that dream...' Mai thought, remembering the dream where five of them had been surrounded.

"From then on, the village had continuous plagues and weird incidents, and they thought it was because of the curse of the ringleaders. They made graves next to the rokubu mounds, but the problems continued. They eventually built a temple and gave full honor to the graves, and that's when the incidents finally stopped," Yasuhara said. "… That's what it says."

"Next to the rokubu mounds… that's here, isn't it?" Ayako said.

"There's more," Yasuhara said. "Ringleaders a were beheaded near the rokubu mounds. They made graves and paid their respects. But is anyone disturbs the grave, they'll develop a weird rash on their neck. Eventually it'll rot and they'll lose their head."

'Rash on the neck...' Mai and Hitomi thought, recalling the one on Hazuki-chan.

"According to local history, only one riot has ever occurred in this area… in the second year of the Bunkyu era," Yasuhara said. "So in 1862, a riot occurred. And five ringleaders were beheaded." Mai's eyes widened.

"Five…" she said. 'Same as the dream.'

"So that riot in 1862 and the rokubu mounds are probably connected," Bou-san said. "Five ringleaders, and they have graves next to the shrine… That's what those rocks in the yard are!"

"I see, that's why there were only five of them," Hitomi said. "One wasn't lost, there were five to begin with."

'The ringleaders who were betrayed by the villagers and killed...' Mai thought, remembering how he had said he would curse them for generations to come. 'That's what he meant—'

"Well, then," Bou-san said, standing up. "We should go."

"Bou-san?" Mai asked.

"The five from the riot or the three rokubu. Which do you think it is?" he asked, stretching.

"There's not enough evidence to determine," Yasuhara said.

"It's neither," Naru said, making them look at him.

"What?" Bou-san said.

"It's Okobu-sama," Naru said.

"How do you know that?" Bou-san asked.

"My brain is different from yours."

"You really know how to piss me off..." Bou-san said, sweat-dropping.

"I also have information the rest of you haven't heard yet," Naru said, holding out some of the folklore notes that Yasuhara had handed to him.

"The content?" Hitomi asked as Bou-san took it.

"Curse of the guardian god," Bou-san replied.

"The god honored in a certain shrine as Okoboshi-sama is an ebisu god, so that indicates Okobu-sama," Naru began explaining. "Ever since honoring the Okoboshi-sama, it is said that the storms and high waves have stopped. So it was highly respected. But if the villagers or iwai failed to give honor, disaster immediately followed. Especially the iwai household will be cursed and many people will die. Matsuzaki-san, what is an iwai?"

"Iwai? Oh, it's like a guardian of a shrine," Ayako replied.

"Umm… what does it mean?" Bou-san asked, sweat-dropping.

"This house… isn't it built on the same land as the shrine?" Hitomi asked as her eyes widened slightly in realization. "Could that put them in the same position as an iwai household?"

"!" Bou-san said.

"I see you're starting to get it," Naru said. "There's a shrine, and behind that, a cave. The cave is where corpses wash ashore. There's a small hokora and honored there is an ebisun known as okobu-sama. There is an old stone stairway leading from the cave to the shrine, made by scraping away the cliff. Why go through such troublesome construction? Of course, there's a good reason. Because the main god of the shrine is placed in the hokora. So they had to do it. They wouldn't have done it if it were a minor god. The god in that hokora is powerful enough to make them go through the trouble."

"… I see," Bou-san said, sitting back down. "So that explains the legend."

"Right. I figured there'd be a legend regarding a powerful god," Naru said. "Okobu-sama is an ebisu god that often calmed the waters. But if you forget to honor it, it turns into a horrible cursing god. The shrine that honors Okobu-sama is disconnected from the hokora. This house is doing that. This place was originally part of the shrine. But the shrine grounds were divided and sold in lots. If there were a guardian of the shrine, he probably lived near the shrine. I'm guessing this area is it. But the area where the guardian was living was also split up when the riot ringleaders' graves were built. That's the best guess. In addition, this area was eventually sold as a private residence. Okobu-sama believes that the ones who live here are the guardians who should honor it. But the ones who are honoring it… are not. So it cursed them. That legend proves it. But the whole family hasn't been killed yet. It let some remain so they can become guardians to honor it."

"..." Bou-san said as they all stared at him, amazed by his quick and thorough deduction.

'… Naru is really amazing,' Mai thought. 'He comprehended the situation so easily...'

'Well, that's Naru, for you...' Hitomi thought affectionately.

KABOOM!

Suddenly there came a booming raping noise, and the sound of people running outside the room.

CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER. CLATTER.

"What? The hallways? Is someone running there?" Mai asked anxiously.

"Naru, the temperature is dropping," Lin said as the images on the monitors began to disappear, replaced with a screen that said 'error'.

PEEP! PEEP! PEEEEEEEP!

"I can't see it. All the thermographs are crashing," Naru said.

"The monitors..." Ayako said urgently as they began to click off.

"… I guess they attacked first," Yasuhara said.

"Just when we were thinking of what to do with it, it makes the first move," Bou-san said.

"Well, that's our gain, no?" Yasuhara said.

"If it's a pretty lady, yes," Bou-san said.

"I see. If she's ugly, then it's just unpleasant," Yasuhara said.

"And usually those are the persistent ones," Bou-san said with a sigh.

"Spoken like an experienced playboy," Yasuhara said, nodding.

"Hey..." Mai said, sweat-dropping.

"Let's try to stay on task," Hitomi said. "After all, we're dealing with another 'monster'."

"Hitomi, get your bow," Naru said.

"Right," Hitomi said, nodding. She hurried into the next room. The roaring sound from the cave began to echo all around them.

" 'Sleeping dinosaur'," Mai said nervously as a bead of sweat slid down her face.

"No. Listen carefully," Bou-san said. Mai strained her ears and soon realized what she was hearing was actually something very different.

'… Huh?' she thought. "These are… sutras?"

"It'll make sense if it's the rokubu," Bou-san said. "You sure the culprits aren't those three?"

"Matsumoto Setsuko-san said a 'monster' was 'pulling' on her," Naru reminded him. "In addition, Hitomi said all of the spirits had an 'oily' quality about them, and that they reminded her of Lin's shiki. Okobu-sama is manipulating the other spirits."

"I see… the spirits possessing the children, the ones wandering the house, they were all empty spirits… because they are familiar spirits of another," Masako said. "They're not acting by their own will. Someone is using their resentment… their resentment so painful they're restless and using them as shiki."

"Got it!" Hitomi announced when she found her bow. She quickly began getting it ready to use in combat.

"Okay, you guys stay here," Bou-san told Ayako, Masako, Mai, Yasuhara, and Naru. "John, Hitomi, and I will go take a look."

"Hitomi," Naru said, making her pause. "Be careful."

"I will," she promised with a smile and disappeared through the door with the others.

"I'm going, too," Ayako said, going after them.

"Ayako!?" Mai said. She grabbed Ayako's wrist. "He told us to stay. If we go, we'll just get in the way."

"Don't put me together with you," Ayako told her. "I'm a professional."

"If you're a professional you sure haven't proven it yet!" Mai said, a little offended.

"It's not my fault. Circumstances haven't allowed it!" Ayako said. "But here, I can do it," she said with certainty.

'Here she can do it?' Mai thought. "What do you mean?" They were plunged into darkness. "The lights!"

"Aaagh!" Masako screamed, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Masako, what's wrong?" Mai asked. She didn't answer.

"What is it?" Naru asked.

"… Look!" Masako said, finding her voice, pointing at the window. A hand was dangling from the top of the frame.

"…!" Mai gasped. Naru furrowed his brow. The arm crawled further down, then another hand came down. Then they gripped the edge of the window. They watched as a rotting face lowered itself to peer in at them. Mai and Masako grabbed each other, horrified. Another water-logged corpse stuck itself to the window like a frog. Then another. And another. And another. Men, women, children—the dead were converging on them in all shapes and sizes. The began knocking on the glass. Lin got up and moved to stand with the others.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Yasuhara-san, sit here," Masako said, gesturing for him to move. She sat down next to him and began chanting.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! CRACK.

"!" Mai gasped when a crack appeared in the glass. "The window..."

CRAAASH!

The glass shattered and the dead poured into the room.

"Wheee!" Lin whistled, summoning his shiki.

"Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen!" Ayako shouted, performing the nine cuts.

"Mai! Those are corpses, so go ahead and attack!"

"Uh… Okay!" Mai said. She raised her hand, about to attack, when her eyes fixed on one corpse in particular, it was dark, and her face was half skeletal, but Mai recognized her from her dream. It was Hitomi's great grandmother. 'Setsuko-san!' Matsumoto Setsuko crawled closer. '… Why… Why is Hitomi-sempai's great grandmother...'

"Mai! Get on with it!" Ayako shouted.

"Uh… but..." Mai said. 'I can't...'

"Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zen gyou!" Lin said, performing the nine cuts. The corpse of Hitomi's great grandmother was knocked backwards. Mai gasped and covered her mouth.

"Hey," Ayako said. "Why are these things here!?" Matsumoto Setsuko began crawling towards them again.

'Setsuko-san… please forgive me!' Mai thought. She raised her hand and began performing the nine cuts. "Rin. Pyou..." Something sliced her arm. She winced. "Ow..." More of the dead came crawling in. "Urgh..." she groaned as more kamaitachi hit her. 'Damn. We can't… fight them ourselves!' Some of the dead dodged when something was thrown at them. A vajra stuck in the floor near the window.

"On. Kiri kiri bazara bajiri hora manda manda unhatta," Bou-san chanted, stepping into the room. He was covered in wounds. "On sara sara bazara hara kyara unhatta." The dead began to retreat. "On ami rito do hanba unhatta. On biso hora daraki sha bazaar han jara unhatta." Bou-san advanced as they fell back. "On asan magini unhatta. On sha ungyarei maka san maen sowaka!" he yelled, stabbing the vajra into the window sill. "… Try..." he said, breathing hard, bracing himself with his hands on his knees. "… Getting past… this, bastards…! Damn you." The last corpse disappeared from view. "Phewwww!" Ayako sighed in relief, and Mai slumped to her knees.

"Where are Hitomi and John?" Naru asked Bou-san as Lin helped him close the shoji screens of the window.

"Leading the young master and them," he replied. "They'll be here soon."

"Did something show up there, too?" Mai asked.

"That's an understatement. It was an army of drowned corpses," Bou-san said. "It was like a zombie movie. Hitomi is already out of arrows. She's been doing the nine cuts."

"Waaah!" They heard a young boy scream.

"Was that Katsuki-kun?" Mai asked.

"Aaagh!" Hitomi yelled, sounding as if she were in pain. "Everyone! Stay back!" Naru ran from the room.

"Naru!" Lin yelled.

"Damn it!" Bou-san said, also running back out the room. Ayako followed them. Mai moved to follow them, then paused. She looked back at Masako and Yasuhara.

"… Oh. Um..." Mai said, hesitating.

"Go ahead! Go!" Masako told her.

Naru ran down the hall, followed closely by Bou-san and Ayako. They saw a bunch of wispy white things flying around John, who was standing in front. Hitomi was half kneeling on the floor just behind him, holding a hand against her chest with a pained expression on her face. They were both pretty roughed up. The Yoshimi family cowered behind them. John splashed one of the white things with holy water, repelling it.

"Hitomi!" Naru called.

"Naru!" Hitomi said, surprised to see him there.

"John!" Bou-san said. "This way! We'll be safe in the base!"

"Are you okay!" Mai asked.

"Don't touch those white things," John yelled. "They're dangerous!"

"Huh? Oh," Mai said, watching as one flew into her. Her eyes widened as she felt a stab of excruciating pain. 'Uhh…?' Mai looked down. She was bleeding. She wrapped her arms around herself and sank to her knees. 'I've… been stabbed,' she thought, trembling.

"Mai!?" Ayako said, kneeling down to check on her.

"A… Ayako… I..." Mai said weakly, pulling her shaking hands away to show her. "… Blood..." Her eyes widened when she saw that there was no blood on her hands.

"Mai?" Ayako asked.

'… It's gone. What?' Mai thought, confused.

"Mai?" Naru said, looking down at her.

"What happened!?" Bou-san asked, also looking back at her.

'I thought for sure I was stabbed...' Mai thought. She was startled to see one of the white things flying toward the monk. "Bou-san… look out!"

"What?" Bou-san said as it flew through his leg. "—!" he cried out in pain and sank to his knees.

"Bou-san!" Mai said.

"… Ow… What is this?" Bou-san asked. "There's no injury, but I feel the pain."

"Are you okay?" Mai asked.

"No, Not at all! Dammit!" Bou-san said, gritting his teeth and clapping his hands together in a buddhist seal. "Kyata hanja sahada ya sowaka!" The white things began to glow red.

"A… red light…?" Mai thought. She suddenly realized Naru was already over by Hitomi, helping her up. 'Eh? When did he…?'

"Now's our chance. Run!" Bou-san said.

"Oh. Ugh, right," Mai said. They all rushed to the base. Mai reached the door first. She slid it open.

"Taniyama-san!" Yasuhara said as she and everyone else came into the room. "Good, everyone's safe." They were all panting, trying to catch their breath, and roughed up, but they were alive. And they had light. Yasuhara and the others had found and lit a candle.

"Are you all right?" Naru asked Hitomi. She was still holding a hand over her chest.

"I was… hit by one of those white things… right in the chest… but I should recover soon," Hitomi said.

'I was hit, too… he could at least ask if I'm okay,' Mai thought with a frown. "… Are you… okay?" she asked Bou-san.

"No… I'd pay a million yen… if I could just fall asleep right now..." he replied tiredly.

"Why don't you take a rest?" Masako suggested. "It seems to be fine now."

"If I rest, this kekkai will disperse, too," Bou-san said. They could hear the dead outside the room making scratching noises against the shoji.

"So… What do we do now?" Mai asked.

"We wait 'till morning," Bou-san said. "They should go away at dawn."

"Sorry, Bou-san… Looks like we'll be relying on you a little longer," Hitomi said.

"Matsumoto-san, let me treat your wounds," Masako said, holding a first-aid box.

"Oh, thanks—" Hitomi started to say when Naru sat down next to her with another first-aid kit.

"I'll take care of Hitomi. You take care of Mai," he told Masako. Hitomi blushed a little, surprised that he would offer to do it himself when Masako was already ready and willing.

"Taniyama-san. Let me see your wounds," Masako said with a vein throbbing on her head as she turned to face the other girl.

'How scary!' Mai thought. Although she was also jealous, the look in Masako's eyes was a little… "I'm fine. It's no big deal. Minor scratches."

"But I should at least clean them," Masako said.

"… You think?" Mai said. "Then..."

"I do have all my shiki..." Lin said. "I'll use them to put up a barrier. Takigawa-san can sleep."

"Oh… That's the best news I've ever heard!" Bou-san said with a huge sigh of relief.

"Takigawa-san, how are your wounds?" Yasuhara asked.

"Very bad," Bou-san said. "But I don't want a guy playing doctor with me."

"I guess if you can joke around, you're no that bad," Yasuhara said. "Okay, let me look," He started lifting the back of the monk's shirt.

"Eek! Pervert!" Bou-san said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Shall I pour the hydrogen peroxide over your head?" Yasuhara asked with a straight face. He finished rolling up the monk's shirt. Bou-san's back was covered in scratches with one particularly blood wound on his upper back. Yasuhara and Hitomi furrowed their brows with concern. Mai and Masako gasped. "Okay. This will sting."

"YEEEOOOOWW!" Bou-san shrieked, struggling to get away from the painful disinfectant.

"You're a man. Endure it!" Yasuhara told him.

"Well, tonight I'll be a girl!" Bou-san said in a girly voice. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, please… Don't creep us out!" Yasuhara said. A few members of the Yoshimi family laughed quietly at their antics.