Chapter 21

Case 3: Komazawa School

It had been a long week for everyone, Mai was all done with her finals and was just waiting on her grades, Yasu was busy compiling information for the case on the background of the place and Lin, Ayako and Nashi were busy becoming a full family, Lin had signed the adoption papers and it was now official.

Day 1: 7:35 A.M.

Everyone had finished packing the vans up with everything for the case, they were just waiting for Ayako to come because she had to drop Nashi off at school since today was her first day of finals. Nashi had texted Lin telling him that Ayako would be late as it was the first day of finals and everyone decided to arrive at school early. Naru was not too happy that she was the one late this time instead of Mai, or that anyone was late, but the team told him that it can get crazy if you do not take public transportation to school. By 8, Ayako had shown up and everyone had begun to file into the different cars, Yasu went with Monk and Ayako, John was driving one of the vans with Masako and Lin was in the other van with Naru, Mai and Madoka, who had surprised them for this as Naru asked if she was available since Nashi was out and such a large building to cover and they should remain in groups of 2 or 3. Madoka was in the van with Lin and Naru because her and Lin had begun dating and to keep Mai and Naru from killing each other as Mai had forgiven Lin but Naru was a different story.

By 8:20, they had reached Setagaya City and Komazawa University Senior High School was right in front of them, Masako felt something right away, but it was not too strong. They were meet out front by the president Ryoko Hirose, and two other staff members that they did not recognize.

"Good Morning Mr. Shibuya, Mr. Koujo. So glad you made it here safely. I see you. Thought lots of people and equipment to set up. I can show you to your room for base and the rooms you will be staying in as well with some cots in there."

Everyone noticed how she was very quick prompt and ready to get down to business, you could also tell that this had taken a toll on her as she was having to deal with the media, families, and police. The University was large and open inside with large windows is some areas while some areas had very few or small windows. The team also took not to the architectural design of a part of the school which showed its roots of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhist. Ms. Hirose led them to a wing of the building where there were signs saying what the study was in this part of the university, Philosophy and Religious Studies. Finally, Naru could not take the silence and not knowing who these two staff members were while everyone carried some of the equipment into the room, he had said was theirs to use for a base.

"Mrs. Hirose, who are the 2 staff members with you today?"

She was startled, not realizing she had failed to introduce them. "This is Yano Hidetake professor of Religious Studies and Naito Hisako, professor or Modern Japanese Culture. They are in parts of the building where some paranormal activity has occurred and the two students that went missing were students of each of them."

"We will need to interview and hear from you once we get base set up and then I will introduce you to the team." The president and the staff member nodded and moved out of the way until Mai got them saying they were set up and ready to interview them.

Day 1: 9:10 A.M.

"Let me introduce myself to those who don't know me. My name is Kazuya Shibuya, and I am the owner of Shibuya Psychic Research, and you remember my assistant, Mai Taniyama, and my other assistant here who will be monitoring things here from base most that time, Lin Koujo. Today I have also brought Ayako Matsuzaki, a shrine maiden, Takigawa Hosho, a monk, and John Brown, a priest at a local church from Australia. We also have Masako Hara, a spiritual medium, and lastly we have our two researchers, Yasuhara Osamu and Madoka Mori."

Everyone exchanged hellos and then Naru gave out orders to get temperatures from ever classroom that the president had marked where reports had been made and where the staff and students had gone missing from and the areas around it. While everyone did that, Naru, Lin and Mai sat them down to interview each of them, starting with the president.

"You came to us and said that 2 staff members, 2 students and 3 maintenance workers that have all gone missing without any bodies being found?" Naru asked, getting right to the point as Mai listened and Lin began typing.

"Yes. The staff members who have gone missing are Bessho Yusuke associate professor of Cultural Anthropology and Endo Tsukasa is the most recent professor to disappear and she just disappeared last Thursday, the last day of finals and then I came to you. She is the professor of Educational Psychology. The three maintenance members are all men, and their names are Sama Hiroko, Konya Seiji, and Seno Takumi. Mr. Sama was the first to go missing about a month and a half ago followed by the two students a week and week and a half later. They disappeared a few days apart from one other and they are both young women named Takei Miwa and Ike Gina. The next was about a week later, in the same week it was Mr. Konya and Mr. Seno and they disappeared over the weekend, one on Saturday and the next on Sunday. We had hoped it would stop after that but unfortunately the Friday after Mr. Seno had disappeared, the first teacher Mr. Bessho disappeared and the following Thursday, almost a week later, Mrs. Endo disappeared after she had decided to stay back and finish paperwork for the end of the term."

"Did you file missing persons reports and contact their families?"

"Yes of course. We thought it was a criminal matter at first even though before Mr. Sama went missing some of the staff and student were reporting strange occupancies they could not explain when they stayed late or were alone during the day. No one believed it could be of paranormal cause."

"When did you change your mind that it had gone from Criminal to paranormal?"

"It changed when I experienced so of it right after the last student when missing Ms. Ike as I had stayed late the next day to look for her with the police and I felt something grab my hand so I turned around thinking it was one of the police officers but there was nothing behind me when I turned until I turned back around where I came face to face with a white glowing figure that was as tall of me. I thought it was a joke until I took note of its faceless face, black hair, and white kimono it was wearing as it grabbed me and attempted to choke me until the sound of footsteps and an officer calling out my name I was released and dropped. The officers saw hand marks around my neck and searched the immediate area and blocked off the school's entrance where no one came in or out of the building or through the gates it was hard to explain so the polices working theory is that the person behind all of this is staying hidden somewhere in the building and has yet to be found despite countless thorough searches."

Lin was busy typing this while Naru thought of anymore questions and Mai remained silent, stunned by the spirit.

"Could you tell what period the Kimono was from by chance? Or was it more of a rakusu that the Zen Buddhist wear?"

Everyone in the room looked over at Mai, Naru giving her a look like she had grown two heads before she clarified.

"If I remember in History, the kimono had two periods, the traditional kimono we know today was from the Heian period which was from 794 to 1192. Though there was another one before that from the Nara period from 710-794."

Everyone, especially Naru and Lin, were surprised with what she had said, and it did play a part into the history of the school.

"Honestly, I do not recall if it was exactly a kimono or a rakusu. It had all happened so fast all I remember it was long and white which could be either garment."

"Is there anything else you would like to add?" Naru asked looking at his notes.

"Nothing else beside the reports from teachers and students about the strange occurrences in the school and the museum which is currently closed due to renovations and that began about 3 months ago, before the disappearances. And we had Zen Buddhist come and blessed it and put a protective barrier around it just after the disappearances began hoping it was from an object in the museum but that seems unlikely."

Naru nodded before continuing on, "I see there is also another staff member who is not present that you have listed as a witness to these paranormal phenomena. Might I ask why?"

"Yes, that should be Nishimura Yuko, she is the professor of Social Anthropology, South Indian Studies, Community Development and Gender. She had a family emergency but she has a written statement that she has given me which I forgot the hand you," The president reached into the from inside pocket of her blazer and puller our a piece of paper, "This is her statement and she gave you her phone number as well if you have any question you would like to ask her directly."

"Thank you, now to interview you Mr. Yano and Mrs. Naito."

Day 1: 12:30 P.M.

After the interview of the two teachers and reading the statement of the last one, it was clear this ghost was violent and then neither of the students or teachers would willingly disappear. The police reports did not help much either as they indicated that foul play could have been involved in all the disappearances from a serial kidnapper or even the remote chance it was a serial killer, but none of this was released to the public except that it was stated that all seven disappearances were connected. Limited tips were made and when investigated, the tips that they had received never amounted to anything.

"Naru from the sounds of thing there isn't really anything to go off from their interviews. What now?"

Naru and Lin were looking at the readings and cameras everyone had placed earlier during the interviews. All the temperature readings and emf readings were all well withing normal standards, nothing alarming as of now. And Masako had not sensed anything except in the areas with the students, teachers and maintenance workers had been last seen and taken from.

"Yasuhara, Madoka, have you found anything of importance in the research you have done and complied for this case?"

Madoka began speaking first, "Komazawa University Senior High School is one of the oldest universities in Japan, built in 1952 for young monks of the Soto Sect which is 1 of 2 main Zen Buddhist traditions."

"Soto sect is more commonly called Soto Zen or Soto school now and is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism. It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān Liánjiè. It emphasizes Shikantaza, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content. The essence of Zen Buddhism is that all human beings are Buddha, and that all they must do is to discover that truth for themselves. All beings by nature are Buddhas, as ice by nature is water."

Everyone looked over at Monk, surprised he would know this with him just being a Buddhist monk from Mt. Koya.

"Hey," Monk held up his hands in defense before continuing, "I may not have studied in Zen Buddhism or haver that be my specialty, but I do know majority of what the other kinds of monks are and the background."

"The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centers on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dōgen, who founded the Eihei Temple in 1244 in what is now Fukui prefecture, and further popularized in the 13th–14th century by Keizan," Madoka said, reading from her notes, "Everything that Takigawa said is correct as well. Awesome job!"

Naru rubbed his head at Madoka's bubbly and happiness that someone on the team had previous knowledge of a big part of the Soto Sect before he told them to please continue before they got out of control and off topic.

"There are eight faculties with twenty-two departments with around 15,000 students. This campus also holds seven research institutes and The Museum of Zen Culture and History. The building is next to the Komazawa Olympic Park where the 1964 Tokyo Olympics was held," Madoka said before Yasu took over as he talked about the disappearances.

"Seven people have gone missing from the school, five staff and two students, and none have been found yet. The first is Sama Hiroko, male, age 32, maintenance worker who disappeared while working late one night in a psychology lab after there was water all over the room from a pipe bursting earlier that day. A few other maintenance workers came looking for him when it was time to leave but all they found was the room still partially covered in water and near his bucket was his mop and rags he was using to clean up and a few drops of what the police later confirmed was blood. He went missing on April 23rd.

The second is Takei Miwa, female, age 16, student who was studying under Professor Yano Hidetake, who we interviewed, in Religious Studies. She was having a tough time understanding a part of a lecture from another class unrelated to her primary studies, so she was being tutored by a student 2 years older than her and they stayed after the rest of the students left for the day. Her tutor left and was seen leaving the building at about 5 P.M. but for Miwa, she was never seen on security cameras leaving the campus even though she should have left just after her tutor left, no later than 5:30 P.M. When maintenance workers came in that night, she was not found or seen. The only trace left of her was her backpack full of books and notes partially open in the library floor where she was being tutored at and called it into police and the Principal. No blood was found at the scene this time, and this occurred about a week after Mr. Sama's disappearance on April 30th.

Third we have Ike Gina, female, age 17, student, she was tutoring someone in her primary studies of Modern Japanese Culture, and was under Professor Naito Hisako, who we interviewed as well today. She, against her better judgement with two disappearances and the advice of the student she was tutoring, decided to stay once she was done to work on a paper for her class with Ms. Naito. Much like Miwa, Gina was never seen on security cameras leaving the campus or even in the halls. Maintenance workers did not come in that night or if they did, never entered the library and it was the Librarians in the morning who found her papers, textbooks, laptop that was open and had the battery dead on a table near the receptionist table, like she had stepped away and would be back at any time. They were not alarmed and just thought she may have stayed the night until they looked under her chair and table a notice three blood stains the size of a bagel or slightly smaller and a few small pin droplets directly out from the right chair arm. She was reported missing on the morning of May 3rd but was missing since the night of May 2nd it is believed."

Everyone was stunned at how the disappearances occurred and how much, yet it felt like to little information was presented. Each person was young but different ages from sixteen up to 47 years old. What was the connection between them? Madoka gave Yasu a break as she talked about the last few disappearances.

"I am going to talk about the next two together as they happened only a day apart on a weekend. The fourth person to go missing on school grounds was Konya Seiji, male, age 47, and was a maintenance worker. The fifth person is Seno Takumi, male, age 39, maintenance worker and both were coworkers of the first one to go missing Sama Hiroko and each other. Ms. Konya was there on Saturday the 12th of May doing repair work near an area by the Museum of Zen Culture and History and reports from police and coworkers in nearby areas state that they hear a ruckus, metal falling, which ended up being the scaffolding near her as the Museum is under renovation and the ladder she was on along with her tools. No signs of her were there but paint splatter from the paint she was using to cover the repairs in the ceiling by a light she had done the night before, Friday. In the pain there wase three drops of blood and police were notified immediately. The next day, while police were still present and investigation Ms. Konya's disappearance, Seno Takumi and others were working in one of the research buildings when a scream was heard coming from one of the classrooms. A few other maintenance workers rushed over while two went to find the police as once again, another person had gone missing. His phone, broom and squeegee were found on the ground by some blood splatter on the ground, not droplets like in the other disappearances. Despite police's early intervention and search for Mr. Seno, no other traces were found of him besides his belonging and the blood. He disappeared on the night of Sunday, May 13th."

Madoka and Yasu bother turned the page in their notes before Madoka moved onto the final two people, both who were teachers.

"Our sixth missing person is Bessho Yusuke, male, associate professor of Cultural Anthropology, has a PH.D., works is the Philosophy and Religious Studies department with Mr. Yano who we interviewed and knew the first student who went missing, Takei Miwa. Not Much is known about his disappearance, but he was staying late to grade papers on the evening of May 18th and when fellow coworkers arrive the next day, his desk looked like he had gotten up to get coffee and would be back and there were no terraces of blood present. Police were called in and this was when it was confirmed that this could be a serial kidnapper as he disappeared only 5 days after Mr. Seno.

Lastly, we have the most recent and seventh disappearance from last Friday, Endo Tsukasa, female, professor of Educational Psychology, has a PH.D. in Education, works in the Teacher Education Department and disappeared 6 days after Mr. Bessho did and is the most recent. She was staying late for detention duty and helping a few of her students while she was doing detention. Students state that she had left to go grab some papers from her desk and was gone 30 minutes when the students became on edge and worried because of all the disappearances occurring so they went to go look for her. On their way to her desk, they heard a scream the sounded like it came from her and the sounds of something falling of being thrown. The students called the police as they ran to where the scream was heard, just above a staircase going down towards the office but all that was found was blood splatter on the top stair and a book near the window which was presumed to be the cause of the sound they heard after she screamed. She has been missing for 4 days now and all but Konya Seiji, Seno Takumi, Bessho Yusuke and Endo Tsukasa are presumed to be dead, and it is unclear where their bodies or any of them are being held."

Yasu took over with the rest of the details of the case and reports from students and faculty, "Reports from student's state that object from things as small as pencils or dry erase markers have been thrown at them or across their classrooms and some have experience textbooks hitting and injuring both teachers and students, or ever a chair from an empty desk being thrown and hitting a student, injuring them on their head. Repots at night from students, teachers and maintenance workers have reported hearing voices and screams that echo throughout the halls, classrooms and even the whole building, and it all was described as coming from under the school. Creepy and scary…"

Ayako, Mai, and Masako visibly shivered, and Monk and John just stood there in shock, this could be unbelievably bad and the commonality between all seven cases were becoming clear, everything occurred in the evening or night.

"What appeared to be blood writing showed on the walls, doors, windows, and desks and that began after the third student, Ike Gina disappeared, and all the speakers would go off with different noises and voices, including laughing that was heard more often than anything from the night staff and maintenance workers. The rest of the maintenance and cleaning crew are afraid to go come into the school at night now afraid they might be next even if they pair up or stick together since both Ms. Konya and Mr. Seno's disappearances occurred with other workers close by to them. And the students are starting to become fearful they will be next as well if they stay past the final bell which is at 4:30 P.M."

"Please tell me you are not thinking what I think you are Naru…"

Despite Ayako's warning, everyone in the room knew exactly what that meant, investigation during the night along with during the day, sleeping in groups and sleeping in shifts.

"Go look at the areas where each person went missing for any more clues and changes in the reading and get cameras set up. Then, rest up. We will investigate more beginning this evening at 8 P.M."

A.N. Sorry for the long wait, it was a bit distracted with work and life and finding information to make this credible and I hope I did a decent job. Some of the genders I guessed by searching if the name was a male or female name in Japanese so if I am wrong, I am sorry again. Hope this is good, and I will have more Nashi in the next chapter. Thank you foxchick1 for getting me back into the writing spirit and really cracking down on getting information for this case to get it off the ground. ^^ And sorry forbiddenlore that you feel like this had turned into the nashi story, those few chapters were necessary for future chapters and plans for character development of the ghost hunt characters. Now it should be mostly cases and secrets that lead up to Naru's departure from Japan for a bit like how he did in the Manga. So please everyone, bear with me. Thank you!