Recently, whenever I try to look up Ghost Hunt, I have a tendency to write Blind instead and then I wonder why my search results are so weird…
If everything went as hoped, at least somewhat, this was a rather fast update.
If not…. Well, crap. What else is new?
But, I digress. Here's the new chapters, lovelies!
I don't own Ghost Hunt. Trust me, that's probably a good thing.
Because I can't seem to be consistent on any aspect of my life, diary entrees will be written like this. Is that okay? Not that you have a choice! *heart*
ENJOY!
BLIND
SPR has been hired to investigate a series of dangerous hauntings that have been occurring at Ryokuryo High School.
Unfortunately we can't exorcise anything because Masako is having trouble seeing the spirits.
I started having vivid dreams where foxfires were swallowing other spirits, making them grow larger and more dangerous.
My dreams became a reality when the dog from the first day came back, only bigger and angrier.
Things were starting to get out of control… and now Sakauchi's spirit, which was trapped inside the school, has been swallowed by a foxfire.
Eventually, even I was attacked.
Please, save me Naru!
"Oh Mai, that was so long ago. Don't you have any new stories?"
"Shush and let me finish…"
BLIND
With a new found energy, I found myself running down the halls. I didn't really care where I was running to. I just ran. I knew something was wrong, yes, but I couldn't quite place what it was.
So, I ran.
I needed fresh air, wasn't that it? Something about chemicals…?
There was the roof, of course. It was strange, running so fast and so fluidly. I hadn't tripped, and since I was panicked I would probably be tripping more not less. It felt like I was made of air.
Of course, life could not be easy for me. As I ran around corners, I would find a small child, glowing in the hallways or around the corners. It was like they were following me and mocking me. I had to change courses more times than I cared to count. No matter what, my goal was the same. Get to the roof.
At one point I went to the hallway that led to the meeting room, AKA base, but as soon as I entered that hallway, the little glowing children showed up again and I had to change course. Again. It was a tiresome routine, but these jerks were everywhere.
It may have been guessed, but I got cornered. On either side of the hallway was a child—though it was quite weird, their heads were a bit large—and the only classroom exit I could find was the Bio Prep room. Why was it bad to go in there…? Wasn't I in there before?
Like any sane person stuck between a rock and a hard place, I hastily ended up digging myself deeper.
Carefully, I went to the side of the hallway with the windows. Instead of trying to pass either child or go into the room on the side, I opened a window.
And jumped out.
Currently, this is the second floor. Below is nothing but concrete if you more-than-likely miss the small bushes below. So when I found myself floating in a sea of stars, I was a little confused.
What… what happened to me…?
Something soft and wisplike brushed against my cheek, like an ice-cold feather. A white wisp floated past me, then down, getting caught by a dark purple, almost black blob of… evil.
Oh no, not again. It's being eaten up by that ugly purple thing.
That's all I could think of it, an ugly purple blob of evil that absorbed the little white wisp.
Just like Sakauchi.
A flash of light burst behind me, bringing with it a strange wind. I turned again, and found myself inside of a room.
It was plain, simple, and clean.
…Where am I now?
I turned to look around me, immediately finding a whole wall of bookshelves. Woah, look at all the books! This is the kind of stuff Naru would read.
I glanced around the room assessing the place. A uniform hung off some hooks, as did a bag, and the bed was tidied nice and neatly.
But… there's something about this room that feels lonely, like whoever lives here has been away for a really long time.
I continued my investigation at the desk, ignoring the school bag and instead my attention got caught upon the wallet there. I opened it to find a card plainly stamped with the local train station's name. This train pass is expired, I realized as I read the rest of it, finding the name stamped neatly on the corner of it.
Sakauchi Tomoaki.
This is Sakauchi's room…!
The books on paranormal stuff… he just wanted to be a ghost hunter… I couldn't help it. I started to cry. "I'm sorry!" I cried against the pass. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you!"
Something flashed behind me, and I turned to see the school. I was floating somewhat above it, and could see through the walls and floors and roof. The wallet from before was nowhere to be found.
I turned my attention instead to the second floor. In one room, a girl was surrounded by some sort of liquid. I couldn't get any closer, it seemed, but it looked like something bad had happened.
Then I realized. That girl is me!
Everything that had happened before with the formalin and biology lab came back to me like a flood. I had apparently not escaped the biology lab, and while I was concerned as to how I could have possibly left, I was distracted by something else.
A group of people appeared in the hallway, heading straight to room I was in. Let's see, there was a tall man in dark clothes, a younger guy in all black right next to him, a man with a low ponytail, a red-haired woman, a dark haired girl, another young guy in casual clothing, and a blond-haired boy.
The school is supposed to be empty, so… is that SPR?
Lin I could identify easily. He was the tallest. John had told me he was blond, and though that was forever ago, I found him easily enough. The older man with the ponytail had to be Monk—none of the other guys would have a ponytail. Ayako has long hair, so she must be the red head, which leaves the other girl to be Masako. That left Naru and Yasu. Naru, as it has been said, wore all black, probably—scratch that, most definitely—in mourning of his twin, so the more casually dressed boy was Yasu.
Still… I couldn't really see them well. I was too far. It wasn't that it wasn't a crystal-clear picture. I just couldn't make out any details.
When the group opened the lab door, they seemed shocked to see me there. Ayako immediately swooped down and was shaking me while Monk was trying to stop her. Naru said something to, uh… Lin! Yeah, to Lin, and Lin walked forward and picked me up. Ha! The narcissist with his little arms probably couldn't pick me up! I wasn't even that heavy!
Though, in all seriousness, he probably really couldn't. He could carry equipment, sure, but I definitely weighed more than the equipment did.
Back to the group, I was carried by Lin into a room on the first floor. I think it was the Nurse's Office. I was laid down and Ayako was fussing over me.
Wait…
Isn't it bad to be able to see my own body…?
I'm not dead, am I?! I'm a bit too young for that!
I was then distracted—again—by the group. Ayako had moved out of the way and the black-clad figure I recognized as Naru was leaning over me and…
Was he… caressing my face? He was speaking to me, I think. What was he saying?
I couldn't hear him.
What was he saying?
"Mai!"
January
Day 4
I groaned. I don't remember closing my eyes, but the instant I had, I felt terrible.
"Mai," a voice softly called out. I tried to wake up, blinking my eyes open to see, once again, a familiar darkness. "Are you awake?" Naru asked, and I noticed immediately that he was just a little too close to me.
I instantly shot up only to be reminded that I really felt like I needed to throw up. "I'm alive… but I don't feel so good…" I groaned out as I fell back onto the bed.
"Then don't sit up so fast, dummy," Naru scolded as he tapped my forehead gently, though he seemed to have a strange tone to his voice as he sat on the bed next to me.
"Gee, thanks," I murmured out. Still, he seemed to have a slightly concerned face as he turned himself towards the far wall. Before I could think more on it, a cold cloth was unceremoniously plopped onto my face.
"Just stay still, Mai," Ayako said from where she stood, and I swear her voice had a strange tone of affection to it.
"Okay," I agreed, partially because I don't think I could move if I tried to anyway, while I adjusted the cloth onto my forehead.
As I adjusted it, a voice from behind Ayako said, "Hey." I recognized it as Monk and I then noticed that most of the other SPR members were in the room.
Monk waved from his seat as I took notice of him. "Morning," Yasu greeted cheerfully from where he sat next to Monk.
"G'day," John said happily from his place on the other side of the ponytail monk. Masako quietly stood by the wall next to the priest, and I wasn't entirely sure where Lin was. Oh, there he is, by the door.
"Hey guys," I greeted before turning my attention back to Ayako. "So, where am I?" I asked her, though I was fairly sure of the answer.
"The Nurse's Office," she said, confirming my suspicions. "Why were you wondering around by yourself last night?"
"I had to get a video tape," I answered.
"What?" Ayako said. "Naru! What were you thinking? How could you send her on an errand in such a violate place?" she scolded, only to be ignored by young man in question. "Geez, I can't even tell if he's listening to me…. So, what happened Mai?"
"Hm… Let's see," I said before explaining the incident that happened in the Biology Lab that caused me to pass out.
"The spirits of children, huh?" Ayako commented when I finished. "Masako, can you tell if they're still here?"
"They're gone," Masako replied after a brief moment. "I can't feel their presence."
"You were surrounded by formalin, so initially we thought something more gory had happened," Monk said before adopting a more irritated look. "So, uh, why didn't you use that warding magic like I taught you?" he asked.
"Oh, I totally forgot," I replied sheepishly. Man, this is exactly why I need to learn warding magic. Way to go Mai, way to go.
"Idiot," he responded.
"I know."
"If you're not injured then there's no need for us to stay here," Naru said as he stood up off my bed. "We need to get back to work." He turned to Ayako, and with a strange sort of tone, he said, "Matsuzaki, keep an eye on her."
"Sure thing," Ayako responded to Naru's orders, and with that, Naru led everyone else out.
Well, just going to leave me here just like that? Still, even though Naru was more-or-less acting as he usually did, he seemed to be thinking hard on something earlier. Maybe it had to do with the weird glances he's been giving me recently… Actually, that's not all that is a little strange with him. Now that I think about it, he seems a little apprehensive about what Yasu and I do together. At first he was just fine with us doing errands together, but then he started making sure I stayed at base while Yasu was dragged somewhere. Even during the story retelling, Naru was oddly quiet when, usually, he'd be pressing for details like no tomorrow… I wonder what's bugging him…
After everyone left, Ayako bent down beside me and gently placed her hand on the cold cloth on my head. "If you're still not feeling well, you can stay in bed as long as you want."
I grabbed her hand as she started to pull away. "Wait," I said in an unwantedly feeble voice.
"What is it?" she asked, concerned.
"Stay with me."
Ayako gave a small smile and put her hand on my head again. "I'm not going anywhere."
I smiled and decided to follow her advice, drifting off into sleep once again.
BLIND
I found myself on a sidewalk. All around me, fog enveloped the landscape, and there was a strange feel to the place. Clinging to the trees and making everything too far away be cloaked in gray, the whole place was completely encased in fog.
It was only made more surreal when I saw the building in front of me. That shrine looks important. I wonder if this is another dream? Come on Mai, of course it is. Well, I guess I better start paying attention because it'll probably come true.
Still, I wasn't too clear on how a shrine had anything to do with this case. Beyond the Torii was a prayer path made of stone. On the right there was a small red Torii. Beyond a pair of ceramic foxes was a small memorial hall. Is it the Inari Shrine?
I turned away from the strange shrine to look behind me. Since this is a dream, then… yep, there he is. A figure in black came out of the fog. Eugene. His face was very stern, and his figure looked like he would dissolve into the fog at any moment.
Somehow… I had been thinking that, just maybe, when I was possessed during Christmas, that it was all just a really elaborate dream. It just didn't seem real. But… it couldn't be all lies, right?
Gene got close enough to hear. "It's dangerous out here," he said as he stopped in front of me.
"What?"
"It's not safe here, Mai," he repeated himself. "Wake up. Time to go."
"Wake up?" I asked as something clicked. "You mean not here but the Nurse's office, that's not safe?"
A dark pulse rang through the air. I looked behind me again, and instead of a foggy shrine, the school was in front of me again, and completely transparent.
An ugly, pulsing, purple thing was set dead-center in front of me. It looked kinda like an unborn child or bug. "That's a foxfire," I realized.
"Yeah," Gene said. "It appears to be sleeping now. You can see how it has been feeding on the other souls due to how large it has grown. It'll be hatching any day now."
"What? Hatching?"
Gene elaborated further. "Once it hatches, I don't think we'll be able to stop it," he said.
Seriously?! I looked at him, shocked. His face was so stern and serious. We're screwed, aren't we?
"There's a total of four foxfires," Gene said. "One of the foxfires is inside the Nurse's Office. See it?" I turned back to the school and definitely saw it. It was hard to miss any of them. The Language Lab, the Nurse's Office, room 2-4... "That's why you need to wake up," Gene said.
I came to a realization. About 90% of the entire student population – approximately 600 students, in 4 months – approximately 120 days, had continuously summoned spirits. Thousands of spirits. In such a short time, these spirits had been so greatly reduced. The summoned spirits devoured and absorbed each other, and reduced their numbers to the level currently observed. And the stronger spirits continued to grow… on and on until they took their current form. *1
I was drawn to the last foxfire. On one side to the school, where the ugly thing was located in the first floor printing room, two figures were walking straight towards it. A casually dressed guy and a shorter blond guy looking over a board or papers as they went.
Wait… It's Yasu and John! Oh no, don't tell me they're about to go in there!?
I've gotta stop them!
I started running towards the school. "I'll be right back, okay?" I called over my shoulder to Gene as I ran.
"Please…. Be careful," I barely heard him say back to me as I went as fast as I could.
Instead of finding myself running through the halls, I found myself waking up in bed. I gasped and shot up in an instant.
"What's wrong?" Ayako asked, startled by my sudden awakening.
And… I still feel awful. I ended up falling back onto my arm on the bed.
Ayako grabbed me as I almost fell onto the floor. "What are you doing jumping out of bed like that?" she asked. "Calm down."
"Please Ayako," I grabbed her shoulder. "Get to the printing room on the first floor! John and Yasu are about to do in there. One of those things is waiting for them. They're in danger! Please, go!"
"I don't think I should leave you alone," Ayako said, slightly startled at my dramatics.
"I'll be fine, really," I said as I pulled myself into a sitting position. "Monk taught me some warding magic called The Immovable One or something."
"Or something? ….This is a bad idea," Ayako said. "Please Mai."
We don't have time for this. I gave Ayako the hardest look I could. I was one hundred percent serious right now.
Ayako gave in. "Okay, remember this one too," she said as she put her first two fingers up on her right hand, her thumb put against the ridge made by her first two fingers. She started moving them, horizontal and vertical. "Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen. There's nine of them." The hand movements formed a grid pattern, and one final cut was to the center, like it was forcing the grid out.
"Horizontal first, right?" I confirmed as Ayako stood up.
"Right. It's called the Ku-ji. Chant it after you recite The Seal of the Immovable One. I'll be right back," Ayako said as she ran quickly out of the Nurse's Office.
With a relieved sigh, I couldn't help but fall back onto the mattress. Man I hope I feel better soon.
Not a moment later I started to hear the lights flicker on and off.
Uh oh… what did that girl say happens here again?
"On the second to last bed, there'll suddenly be someone in it."
I turned my head to the side. There it is. My bed was the third from the last, and in the second to last bed, a figure of purple laid under the covers. Another strange thing was lurking below the bed, but I couldn't make it out—it was barely light enough to discern from my blindness and my senses were too fuzzy right now, though I doubt I could have sensed it anyway.
I sat up slowly. The figure on the bed copied my movements exactly. Oh my God, it moved. It's okay Mai, just stay calm and do what they told you to. I stacked my fingers together with more steadiness than I actually felt. "Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan," I recited. "Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan. Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan." I immediately started Ayako's chant. "Rin, pyou, tou, sha-"
I was shot back by a strong force, sending me all the way to the wall and knocked the wind straight out of me. I started coughing to regain my lost air. I still felt completely horrible and I was going one-on-one with this… this thing. The air I was breathing got extremely cold, and by the way the air felt, it seemed to have formed a mist. Cold air, the temperature's dropping…
I used the wall to make myself stand up, and I noticed that violent, purple, and ugly had completely disappeared, and the dark thing I had barely even noticed was disappearing below the floor. …Where'd the ugly purple thing go…? Did it escape beneath the floor…?
…I think now is a good time to leave.
I slowly started shuffling my way across the wall, using it as a support as I made my way to the door. I was making sure to not turn my back to the room until I could make a break for base.
A volatile reaction occurred the second my fingertips brushed against the door handle. Everything started to shake. "Oh no," I gasped as my stomach lurched.
It stopped for a second only to be replaced by a strange feeling of almost weightlessness. I screamed as I found myself falling and hit the floor, hard, and the accompanying crash made me stay down for a moment while I collected my bearings.
"Not again," I groaned as my I felt dizziness set in. I just felt awful, and I almost got my breath knocked out of me a second time. "Why does this kind of stuff only happen to me…?" I pushed myself up. "Come on Mai, you need to get out of here." I pulled myself up on the wall where the door was… Uh… Concrete…?
What the heck? Where's the door where am I what happened?!
I calmed my panic enough to actually send my senses around and found that the whole room was a complete wreck.
The whole floor collapsed...
The door was above me, and all around me there was broken boards and overturned shelves, beds with twisted metal breaking them…
The only good news was that, thanks to being pushed earlier, I wasn't in one of the misshaped beds. I would have seriously been hurt then.
Well, that, and the fact that I was alone.
…Clink… scratch...clink…
…I just walked myself into that one, didn't I?
All around in the wreckage, there were faint clattering, scratching, and clinking sounds, like something was scurrying about in there. I might have even heard a something slithering, but I couldn't be sure.
Is that a mouse?
… It can't be. There's no way those are mice. There's something else.
My mind flashed back to the incident in the biology lab with the children.
Oh, no… if those kids come back again…
I felt myself panicking, and the sounds were getting louder and closer. I wanted to scream, but I didn't.
I tried the warding magic I was taught before. "Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan. Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan. Nau maku san manda bazaradan kan." I felt nauseous, but I went through Ayako's chant again. "Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen." Then, with a final pushing cut, I sent it out.
Whatever it was, it quieted. I turned and tried to climb the wall. I was able to slid the door open and was pulling myself up when something grabbed my leg and pulled me back down again. I screamed and the door slammed shut on me.
I was back down on the floor, and it hurt. I was sick, hurt, and totally screwed if someone didn't come save me.
It was a really bad situation.
I screamed again as the sounds from before started up, but they stilled as I heard the door above me open and Naru yell out, "Mai!"
"Naru, be careful!" I called as I turned my attention upwards.
"What the…" he said as he almost fell into the room. He assessed the extensive wreckage that used to be a nurse's office. "What happened here?" he asked me.
"I don't know, there was a loud sound and everything started shaking, and next thing I know I was down here," I rushed own. My panic was winning over my nervousness as Naru reached down and let me grab his hand.
Something grabbed my foot again, and I nearly pulled Naru with me as I was wretched back to the floor.
"Mai!" he yelled as he immediately jumped down and helped me up.
I gladly accepted his help, nearly falling as he held me somewhat protectively. I was too dizzy and sick and hurt to really focus too hard on it. "I think I probably pissed it off. Badly," I said as I coughed again. Naru held me carefully, trying to be gentle as I leaned against him, seeing as I had already been thrown around the room several times as is and definitely had bruises to show for it.
"I think we should probably get out of here," Naru said, mimicking my words. "Where's Matsuzaki?"
"I sent her to the first floor printing room," I said. "I think John and Yasu were heading there and there's a nasty foxfire in there."
I could hear footsteps running in the hall. It sounded like Monk was yelling about what the hell the noise was and the others were quickly following.
The room shook again, and I found myself meeting up with the floor once again, this time with Naru falling ever-so-gracefully with me.
We started to pull ourselves up, but stilled when we heard a loud cracking sound. We both turned our attention to the ceiling in time to notice as it started to collapse down on us.
"Naru!" I screamed as I threw my hands above my head instinctively. Get out of here Naru!
I promptly lost consciousness.
BLIND
My back feels heavy. I guess it would since the ceiling fell on me… but why is it so warm…?
"Mai!" I faintly could hear Ayako's concerned voice yell out. Her voice got clearer as I continued to try to wake up. "Mai, can you hear me? Are you alright? Answer me!"
"We're fine," I heard Naru respond, though his voice was wavering. I became wide awake and turned to find that Naru was right above me. He was the warm weight…!
He opened one eye to look at me, though I imagine it was probably very dark, and it he seemed to be in some pain.
A scream of surprise died in my throat, leaving me to lay there with a ridiculous expression on my face.
The weight started to disappear, and I noticed that Monk climbed down and was in the wreckage. "There you are," he breathed out a sigh as he partially spotted the two of us.
Naru and I, having enough room to actually move, started moving things so we could sit up. We weren't uncovered just yet and we were still uncomfortable, but at least we weren't in such a, well, risqué position. No way would we live it down if we were found like that. Monk got the rest of the ceiling off of us as he, John, and Yasu worked together to get us out.
As soon as he could, Naru stood himself up and pulled me to my feet. Lin pulled us out of the room, and Naru had to lift me up so I could reach Lin's outstretched hand. As soon as I was sat down in the hall, Yasu patted my back as fragments of ceiling and floor fell off of me.
"Are you hurt?" Ayako asked.
"I'm fine, I think," I said. Everyone seemed to let out relieved sighs.
Naru grabbed onto Lin's hand and pulled himself into the hallway. Ayako glanced over at him. "And what about you?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Naru said. "Mai, are you alright?"
"As far as I can tell."
After we were mostly free of debris dust, we were settled into base for injuries.
"You know, you two are lucky you weren't seriously injured," Ayako said. "I'd expect you to be more cautious, Naru. The fact that you're walking away with only scratches is a miracle."
Even though it was Naru she was scolding, I was the one being treated by Ayako and therefore hearing most of what she was complaining about. Naru was getting his bandaging done by Masako. He had been a brat about getting checked on, saying he wasn't a child and could check himself, to which I had bluntly said that, no, he wasn't a child and therefore should just suck it up and stop complaining.
He's been ignoring me since.
"This school is in dire need of major renovation," Naru explained to the group. "The ceiling collapsed because of weak beams. It's no big deal."
Suddenly a hand was on my head. "We should probably take you to a hospital just to be on the safe side," Monk said as he moved my head around.
I swatted his hands off of me. "Really, I'm just fine. I'm pretty sure Naru's back took most of the brunt anyway."
I felt myself heat up a bit. Now that we weren't down in a collapsed room, it was a blush-inducing moment. I wasn't even sure why!
Yeah, if Naru hadn't protected me… I'd rather not think of how'd that end. Mostly in Mai Soup, I think.
I noticed that Masako was staring at me with a bit of distaste. Despite our efforts to immediately get up, it turns out that they could see Naru and I's original situation. Masako was especially upset with me about it. She huffed and turned away from me. All I could do is laugh nervously in response.
"Does anyone else think this is weird? It would take an incredible amount of power for a spirit to make an entire ceiling collapse like that, weak beams and soft wood or not," Monk said.
"So this spirit is more powerful than what you usually encounter," Yasu said, to which Monk nodded in confirmation.
"But what's more alarming is its brutality," Monk said. I had told them about my wonderful experience while I had been left alone in the (now former) Nurse's Office.
I felt a sudden pulse again.
I set my attention to my knees. "It just hatched," I said quietly, mostly to myself.
"Hm?" Monk looked at me.
"It's been asleep up to this point," I said. It was like I had no control over what I said. It was somewhat frightening to think about. "After it finished absorbing enough power it hatched like an egg."
If that dream I had earlier was true… the one where the white spirit was taken by the ugly purple thing… then… now no one…
"No one will be able to stop it," I said, and I could almost hear Gene's voice mixing with mine as I thought of what he had already told me.
We…. We are so screwed…
BLIND
Day 5
"Go home? Why?" I said as I heard the news. It was morning, and when I had gotten into base, this was the news I awoke to.
"Apparently they decided it at their meeting," Monk said.
"But the investigation's not over!" I complained. "How can they expect us to leave when we haven't finished our job?"
"I don't know, the principal just told us that the reason the situation has become this bad is because our team of 'amateurs' have failed to do what we promised," Monk said. "Our hands are tied on this one Mai. The client says you go home, you go home."
"That's nuts! Right, Naru?" I tried repealing to our boss. He simply closed his binder with a finality. "But… we're not done."
That horrible foxfire I saw in my dream… we can't just leave it here.
"Look, we can't stop now," I started up again. "The remaining spirits will just feed on each other. They'll keep getting bigger and more powerful until finally, one gigantic and extremely dangerous spirit will be left!"
Naru stiffly straightened up after I said that, and turned to me with a wide-eyed look I'd never thought I'd find on him. It instantly made him seem younger. "What did you just say?" he said in a soft, almost disbelieving voice.
"Huh?"
"They'll feed on each other until the strongest remains," Naru said.
"Yeah, that's right," I said.
Naru must have solved something. You could tell that something major had clicked within his head. "What's wrong?" I asked him when he didn't respond with anything more than a far off, dazed look about him.
"How can that be?" Naru seemed to ask himself. "Is it possible that we're up against a kodoku using spirits?"
This caught Lin's attention, and he gave a startled, realizing look to Naru.
"What is that?" I asked. Please don't say it's another curse!
"A zuhzou hex," Naru said as he did a slight finger tapping against his binder. "A curse that dates back to ancient China." Dammit. "It's been thought to be extinct for years now. Zuhzou normally use hitogata, talismans, and other charms to curse, but some can use living creatures. That is a kodoku.
"Usually an insect is used. One known as a 'Golden Silkworm', but exactly what type of bug that is still remains a mystery. Worms and centipedes are also commonly used. They take the bugs and place them inside a pot, and then bury the pot in the earth. Several months later, they dig it up. What remains is a single bug that has devoured the others. The curse is performed with this lone survivor. *2
"The bug takes possession of the house owned by the person being cursed and brings in an enormous amount of wealth. However, in return, a human must be sacrificed for the curse to continue. If not, the bug will devour the homeowner."
I gave out a sound somewhere between an 'ew' and an 'ick'. I couldn't really help it. That's pretty awful, if you think about it. Naru set his binder on the table before continuing on. "If one is unable to feed the bug, they must exchange all of the wealth the bug has produced, plus interest for gold and silver, and leave it in the road. It's called the Golden Silkworm Transfer."
"But if it's laying in the road then what's stopping someone from just taking it for themselves?" I asked.
"Whoever takes it will see the money but never really know what they have," Ayako put in.
"And then they would be eaten as well," Monk said. "Man…"
"This same idea can also be used as a death curse," Naru said. "You preform the kodoku curse and send the bug along with some gold and silver to someone you despise. They don't understand its meaning, neglect to feed the bug, and are devoured in the process."
"Hold on," I said. "The bugs being put into the pot and eating each other, that's exactly what's happening at this school!"
"That's why I believe it's a kodoku curse," Naru said.
"So instead of the usual bugs, we have spirits eating each other," Monk said.
"If they continue doing this without us stopping them and one powerful spirit remains… then… what will happen?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," Naru answered truthfully with a small amount of confusion. "If someone is doing this intentionally in the hopes of a death curse, the remaining spirit will be used to implement the zuhzou, but if this happened purely by chance because the school sits in a spiritually closed-of location due to the cemetery and therefore the kekkai barrier it's built over, then there's no telling what could happen."
"Then, if just one spirit is remaining, the school that it has taken possession of it will have to feed it just like the homeowner does, right?" Monk said. "Like the way they feed a human to the bug."
"Now hold on," Ayako protested.
"But that's how it works!" Monk said. "If it's not fed then the homeowner is eaten."
"But it's different in this case," John said. "Who would the homeowner be?"
"Yeah, right," I said.
"Probably the students that summoned the spirits," Naru said.
"What?! Are you serious?!" I shouted. "Can we do anything to avoid that?" Naru didn't respond. "I mean, nobody knew the consequences when they first started Ouija boarding. If all those students were eaten that would include Yasu too! Right, Naru?"
Naru hesitated before answering. "There's nothing I can do." I gasped. "However…" he continued before looking over to the side. "Lin, your thoughts?"
That's right, Lin's an omniyouji. "Please Lin," I begged in a small voice.
Lin turned to us and set his headphones down. "Kodoku is a form of cursing that is considered to be lost among parapsychologists. In my entire career I've never even heard anyone coming across one," Lin said. "If this kodoku was performed as part of a zuhzou curse, it would behave the same as any other zuhzou. Breaking the curse would not be too difficult. But if this is somehow the product of chance, then there would be only two distinct ways to deal with problem."
"Transferring it to someone, or giving in and feeding it," Naru finished out.
"Right."
"You can't," I protested.
"We still don't know if this is a kodoku," Naru said. "If a zuhzou is being used, Lin can take care of it, but we should continue with our investigation."
BLIND
"Man, I really hope Naru convinces the principal to let us stay," I said as we waiting in base, listening to the last of the school bells. We had been here all day, avoiding everyone that came along and being somewhat sneaky about the fact we weren't packing up. Yasu even played hooky with us in base.
"If they boot us out of here then the case is as good as lost," Monk said as he looked over some papers. "But, knowing Naru, he'll make it work." Monk leaned back tiredly. "Even though he told us to keep investigating I'm not really sure what to do."
Ayako went up behind the slouching Monk, causing him to look straight up at her. "Use your brain for once," she huffed as she put her hands on her hips.
"Same applies to you," Monk said as he readjusted himself so he could look at her without breaking his neck. "Wait, I'm sorry, I forgot. You don't have a brain!"
Ayako's fist, met Monk's head. Monk's head, now met the floor.
Monk shot straight back up in front of Ayako. "Hey, easy! My cranium can only take so much abuse!"
"Shut up! You don't even know what 'cranium' means!" Ayako yelled back.
"I do too! It means head!"
"Well it's too bad that all that space is wasted by that tiny brain of yours!"
"Okay, that's enough," I said from the sidelines.
"Please, just get along," John tried next.
We were failing at calming either one down.
"Maybe we should use this time to organize the information we have?" Yasu suggested. "It's gotta be better than this, right?"
I threaded a hand into my hair. "Yeah," I agreed.
"To start," Yasu said, "Orikiri-Sama, which is a form of Ouija boarding, became popular here in school around the end of summer vacation last year. Immediately following that the school became inundated with stories of ghost sightings."
I continued after that. "Because the school happens to be in a spiritually closed-in location, the spirits that were summoned here were trapped here."
John went next. "Those spirits began feeding on each other, creating a situation common to a kodoku curse."
For a moment, we all tried to figure out what a missing piece could possibly be. "It's kinda like a supernatural sumo match," Yasu said.
As weird as that sounds, it pretty much sums it up.
"You know the way they do Orikiri-Sama with the chant and everything?" I said, bringing Ayako's attention back to the conversation and away from beating up Monk. "It's so different from the times I've played with the Ouija board."
"There are many different styles of doing it, depending on what region you're in," John pointed out.
"Yeah, but even the paper they're using is weird," I said. I decided to elaborate, since only Yasu, Monk, and myself had seen it. "It has the alphabet, numbers, and the yes and no, so everything is normal up to that point… But I thought in order to be an Ouija board, you'd have to draw a Torii arch in the middle. In this version they have a squiggly pattern there instead, plus they've got the character for demon encircling the whole thing…"
Lin, who had been quietly listening, suddenly stood straight up out of his chair. "What?" he said as he walked over to us.
"I'm sorry?" I said.
"What kind of pattern is it?" Lin asked us with a strict tone.
"I'm not sure," I said. "Oh! Hey, Yasu, do you remember?"
"I only did it that one time but I can try to," Yasu said before assuming a deep-thinking pose.
"You said it was called Orikiri-Sama. That comes from the incantation used, right?" Lin said.
"Huh?" Yasu said.
"On, onikilitei, meiritei, meiwayashimaire, sowaka," Lin said.
"That's it," Yasu said.
"And then after you use the paper, you're supposed to bury it somewhere," Lin said.
"Yeah, exactly," Yasu kept agreeing. "You can only use it once and when you're done with it, you have to dispose of it at a particular shrine."
A shrine?
"There wouldn't happen to be a shrine nearby, would there?" I asked. "A little one, with a small Torii gateway and foxes?"
"It's right down the street," Yasu said, shocked at what I was saying paired up to Lin knowing all about the Orikiri-Sama rules.
Needless to say, we booked it out of the school to where the shrine was supposed to be, Lin dragging Yasu along as he sprinted out of base.
"That's crazy," I said as we approached. "Just like in my dream!"
It took a second to compare what I saw to what I was sensing, but there was no mistaking it—this was definitely the same shrine.
"This is where you bury them, right?" Lin asked.
"It is," Yasu confirmed, "but what does that have to do with the case?"
To keep small animals from getting under the shrine, there was wire mesh all around the base of the shrine. Regardless, there was still a small hole in it near the steps. Lin looked instantly to John. "John, I can't crawl underneath there. Could you go underneath and try to find one of the papers?"
John nodded, and was about to go under and get covered in dirt when something interrupted us.
"Uh oh, there's someone here," a girl whispered from behind us. We turned to find the two girls from the first day at the entrance behind us.
The second girl with a paper whispered back to her friend, "We're not supposed to let anyone see us do this, right?"
"I don't believe this!" Monk said. "I told them not to do that anymore!"
"Excuse me," Lin brushed past Monk and went up to the two girls. "I need to look at that piece of paper," he said as he held a hand out.
Oh, that's not gonna turn out well… At least John isn't covered in dirt, though…
Yasu decided to help out. "It's fine," he reassured them, "you're not in trouble or anything."
"Oh," the girl holding the paper said as she relaxed slightly, giving it over to Lin, "sure."
Lin looked over it quickly. "I knew it," he said.
"What Lin?" I asked. "Is it bad?"
"To confound, at crossroads. To kill, underneath a shrine," Lin stated out.
"What are you talking about? What's that mean?" I asked. Riddles are not a legitimate answer at a time like this!
"This is a talisman," Lin explained. "When one of these is used and then buried underneath a shrine, it curses a person to death."
"To… death?" I said, shocked. There was just no way…
BLIND
Naru seemed like he had a serious talk with the principal, and maybe a bit confused as he returned to a completely empty base, but we quickly relayed the information. "A talisman?" Naru said and started tapping his finger against his arm, since he apparently thinks better by tapping…
"Yes," Lin explained the situation. "If it's buried at a crossroad, it will confuse a person, and if it's buried under a shrine, it' a death sentence. Someone spread these talismans around school falsely claiming they were harmless Ouija boards. Whoever's participated in this has aided in casting a death curse."
"No way!" Yasu reacted instantly, banging a hand on the table.
"We should consider ourselves lucky that the person behind this was an amateur," Lin continued on. "A professional like me could easily kill someone with one of these."
… The talismans are that powerful? Lin's that powerful?
Lin passed the paper over to Naru. "Judging by the evidence we have thus far it's obvious we're up against a kodoku curse," Naru said.
"I agree," Lin said.
"What will happen once the kodoku is complete?" Naru asked.
"The person whose name is written on the talisman will die," Lin said.
"And who would that be?"
"Hideharu Matsuyama."
All of us took a sharp intake of air and gasped.
You mean the strict counselor? That bastard?
I'm not surprised, but if it's Matsuyama we have to convince that he's gonna be killed by talismans and a kodoku curse…
… Dammit. We really are screwed.
BLIND
This chapter was hard. It just didn't want to work at all. So if it sounds weird or out-of-character, then it may-or-may-not be the fact that I more or less gave up after trying to make it work with my plot points. I just went with it. It was mainly because of the fact that I've made Mai aware of the Davis situation and she's a bit more aware in this story about her dream potential.
*1 Okay, that was taken from the novels that I don't own. But it's still true. As well as the description of what the shrine looked like, that was also from there.
*2 The Golden Silkworm is also called a kinsan, and the Golden Silkworm Transfer is also known as kakinsan, or the Dowry Insect. Because of this, there is another, slightly hilarious name for this process: the Gold Married Silkworm. All I can imagine is a gold silkworm in a wedding dress or acting like a businesswoman or being a busy mom with little baby silkworms being a hassle as daddy silkworm reads a newspaper... There was also mention of some kind of cat curse thing, but I decided to just stick with what I already had on the kodoku.
Stuff that Sebastian forgets—IE, everything—that you are free to ignore. Seriously, I wouldn't be offended in the least.
So in the previous chapter, I forgot to mention that when Monk mentions Naru's brother, Gene, he uses past tense. It was kinda weird and I edited it, seeing as we all pretty much know what happened to Gene at this point, but, uh… I found it weird. I wonder if the rest of the paranormal world knew they were missing a Davis twin already? Seems a bit soon…
Oh, and when Mai passes out… Well, originally she was in a different room (the Language Lab, actually), not the Bio Prep room, and her running around was really happening and that's how she ended up there. I took the liberty to make that a nice astral-projection activity. Why? Because I can…. And because I might forgotten about it and I am NOT editing the last chapter for that small detail. But because of this, originally they do have a harder time finding Mai. "How in the world did you end up in that type of place? I told you to go to the LL classroom." *Mai decides that it probably isn't the best time to do a retelling of how she was chased by small children* "It's not my fault." (from the novels… which I don't own…)
Also from the last chapter, there was a point in the translated novels where, as Yasu was speaking, the ending was *heart* and I found it hilarious. Like when he's flirting with Monk. He'd say something and it'd end with *heart*. … Just me laughing? Okay….
Mai says herself that she weighs about 40 kg. So if you use the other, completely bullsh—er, nonsense system I was taught, it translates to about… 88 pounds I think. She's also five foot one, so before you freak out about her weight, she's also really freaking short and skinny. And I also might have done my math wrong. Sue me (not really… that would be awkward to explain. 'So why do you have a lawsuit notice in the mail…?' "… The internet…? Haha… ha … ha…. I'm in huge trouble, aren't I?").
OH! You might wonder why I capitalize 'Nurse's Office' or 'Language Lab'. It just shows it is a place, that's all. It sorta helps identify the setting, since it stands out more in the sentence when you do that. It's totally not a habit from the RPGs I've been playing/watching. Nope, not at all. (Though, this is also done in the novel, just so you know.)
There's an adorable scene with Naru and Mai when Mai first wakes up in the Nurse's Office with everybody there. I would totally suggest looking it up if you can, it's in chapter four of volume four. I use BakaTsuki, just so you know.
CURIOUS QUESTION OF THE DAY!
Since we all know Madoka and Yasu, we also know that they are not psychics. But if you could give one of them the power to make illusions, which one would you give it to? Just one of them, mind you. Not both.
In case you're wondering, I was talking to a friend that I recently dragged (kicking and screaming) into the Ghost Hunt fandom. He knows very, very well that I have a tough time with decisions. So he asked me this and has been watching me suffer for the past week. I'm not sure why he chose illusions for the power… But it's been bothering me since Monday morning. Basically, he was ensuring, even though he does like Ghost Hunt, that I don't drag him into another anime. He takes revenge very seriously, I think. Damn sadist.
So, if you would be so kind, please help my inner debate so I can actually focus in math. (Or rather, focus on my doodles while I pretend to focus in math…)
Well, with that in mind, I bid you an 'Until next time'!