Edited
Mai sat at a desk. It wasn't her desk and this wasn't her room. In front of her lay a Kokkuri paper. It was customised. Not like the standard ones she'd seen most people used.
Mai could see a school uniform hanging above a single sized bed and books on a heavy book shelf. They were all parapsychology titles similar to what Oliver had on the book shelves at the office.
Looking down at her hands, Mai realised she was in a first person dream. The hands weren't hers.
'I am not a dog!' It was a boy's voice.
Mai opened her eyes. She had been dreaming of Sakauchi for the last week, starting from a couple of days after Christmas. She'd seen memories of him being persecuted by his teachers, researching parapsychology books and now designing a death curse.
They were even starting to flash through while she was awake. It was unnerving to be in the middle of filing to see an image of a teacher ripping a book or yelling at her. Even more so to be in the middle of cooking or washing dishes to suddenly find herself studying a parapsychology book at a strange desk.
...
"Hu..."
Mai could not help sighing aloud as she opened the newspapers and the glanced at the headlines as she supported her jaw on her palms.
On the third page of the newspaper, a bold headline announced: "35 Students Suffer Mass Hysteria"
That incident occured the day before in a public high school in Chiba. Apparantly, a student complaint during class that his foot had been bitten by a black dog that could not be seen by the naked eye. Subsequently that caused a large uproar.
"Ah..."
Mai cut out the article and put it in an open folder. There were three other articles in there with it. While she was re-reading the article for the multipleth time, Kasai interrupted.
"Wha~at's up, Mai?" Raising her head from her book, Kasai said, looking at her.
Kasai began working and training at SPR recently to help with her depression. Yuuko was also working there now. Both were part time to help Mai with the office work and cleaning.
"What happened?"
In response to Kasai's query, Mai showed her the article of interest.
"Look at this. It concerns that Ryokuryou High School again."
Ryokuryou High School. A school that has appeared in the news many times in the past week.
"Them again? What happened this time?"
"They say someone was bitten by a black dog and caused a commotion in the classroom."
"Dog?"
"Eh. Although the teacher could not see it, students claim to have been bitten and caused a rukus. Furthermore, amongst those who claim to have been bitten, some have what appears to be wounds caused by a dog bite or something similar."
"Ah... And the reason?"
"It was explained as mass hysteria. 'We believe that due to the spate of recent inexplicable occurences in the same school, some aggitated students experienced mild hysteria, and spread the hysteria to other students.' Is what they say."
"But, wasn't someone injured? What was that about?"
"Unexplained."
"Forget it. This is a common occurence."
"I wish I could. I've been dreaming of this case since just after Christmas."
"What was the first incident?"
"Mass absenteesm."
Kasai rolled her eyes.
"Eh... And was the next incident was the fires in the locker room?"
"It is as you say. Since autum, there were a series of fires in the gymnasiums' locker room. When it came out, it was quickly published on the news."
"Wasn't it arson?"
"About that, it is said that the teachers seriously took watch. They even put locks on the door. No one should have been able to enter, but the fires continued to occur."
"And the next incident was the fourth incident about the exorcism.
"The students thought that there was something haunting the school, and attempted an exorcism." Kasai counted on her fingers.
"Some time ago, there was a student who commited suicide."
"Eh, about nine months ago there was a male student who committed suicide. Apparently the students believed the spirit of that student was haunting the school. They gathered in the gynmasium to exorcise the spirit but the teachers stopped them. In the end the exorcism became a fight."
"So, is this the fifth incident?"
Kasai glanced at Mai's clippings. At this time, someone spoke up suddenly behind us.
"What fifth incident?"
When they looked at the door where the voice came from, they saw Yuuko taking off her coat.
Yuuko rushed over and looked at the items in Mai's hands.
"What is it?"
Kasai showed the newspaper clippings to Yuuko.
"Ryokuryou High School. Another incident occured."
"Them again? Incredible!"
Mai concurred with Yuuko's words.
"You think so too? If that's the case, then it is incredible indeed."
"Exactly."
Kasai was shocked.
"Incredible?"
Mai nodded.
"Because that, supposed unexplained incident..."
"Or rather, strange occurence..."
"Or more accurately, paranormal phenomenon. This type of things tend not to be discussed openly in public, and happen without anyone noticing. Don't you think so?"
"Yeah. Like with the incident at our school - in the end it was not publicly announced."
"Eh, eh. But for them, the headline was printed so boldly on the papers."
"And they are even on primetime television."
"It's really incredible."
"Yeah."
Kasai looked at the other two and gave up on arguing with them, who were nodding in agreement.
"... is it like that."
"It is exactly like that."
Still nodding, Yuuko grabbed Mai's mug.
"Come on."
"Forget it."
Saying that, Mai finished the water remaining in the mug.
"However, boss is not interested. Such a huge incident is an opportunity to make us famous overnight."
Kasai was shocked by Yuuko's words.
"... Why is that?" Kasai asked.
"Ah? Haven't you heard from boss? He came yesterday - the principal of Ryokuryou High School." Yuuko laughed.
"The fact is, our company is famous within the education community. Just look at it: haven't we solved cases in both Mai's and my school? Therefore he came with his request."
Kasai whispered, "Then what happened? Was he rejected?"
"Eh. It was an immediate rejection. He said he did not like highly publicised incidents."
"It is regretful to do that." Kasai said.
"Exactly. If we solve su~uch a large incident, the company would shoot to instant fame. We would get interviewed by the media and other stuff."
"Boss, too, would be an instant celebrity."
"Yeah. Boss is really handsome, so he'll probably get a fanclub."
"Naru isn't in this line of work to get famous though and he has his reasons for keeping out of the limelight. Good ones." Mai interrupted the two girls.
Yuuko and Kasai looked at Mai meaningfully. "...What?"
"Great, he rejected the principal." Yuuko stated the fact softly.
"Yes, yes. We won't be getting any new rivals this way." Kasai agreed.
"It's not like I need to worry about them anyway. Naru certainly isn't going to be paying attention to them." Mai shrugged.
"... So lucky!" Kasai and Yuuko sighed together.
Someone opened the office door. In the doorway stood a male about the girls age. Mai looked up at him. "Yasuhara Osamu..."
"Eh?! Yes, I am Yasuhara Osamu from Ryokuryou High School. How'd you know?"
Mai merely smiled and after waving towards the seating area, left to get Oliver.
When Yasuhara saw the beautiful male coming from Oliver's office, he was really shocked. Something that was a common occurrence. Of all of SPR's clients, Yasuhara managed to be one of the fastest to regain his cool.
With an anxious expression, Yasuhara bowed to Oliver who was sitting opposite.
"I am the student council president of Ryokuryou High School, Yasuhara Osamu. This -" He retrieved a stack of papers from his bag and handed it to Oliver. "I have collected the student's petition. I represent the entire student body to ask a favour of you."
Yasuhara folded his tall body and bowed deeply to Oliver. "Please accept our principal's request."
Oliver took the petition and placed it on the table. Pale fingers pinched together, he rested his hand on his knee. "Regarding this situation, I have already refused your principal yesterday." Yasuhara looked directly at Oliver.
"I know. I already know of your rejection. Despite that, I still would like to ask for your help." said Yasuhara seriously. "Just as you know, the situation in school is really serious. But what worries everyone the most is the media's attention. At first it was just some wild rumours; recently the situation has escalated such that people are getting hurt. If this continues, who knows what might happen. Please, help us."
Oliver considered a moment, looking up at Mai who stood next to the couch. She nodded at him and mouthed silently.
"Take it."
"To tell the truth, I am really interested in the situation in Ryokuryou High School. However, I would prefer to avoid the media's attention." Oliver replied.
"I understand where you are coming from. Right now, I am one of many who is troubled by this situation. Therefore I truly hope that the situation can be resolved as soon as possible.
Currently, horrifying rumours are all over school. We all feel unsettled and insecure, and the atmosphere is gloomy. That petition..." Yasuhara eyed the petition lying on the table.
"This was collected, just this morning between when I heard of your rejection of our principal's request and before I left school, to ask that you reconsider. It only took about half a day. Despite the short time we collected so many signatures."
With this, he bowed yet again. "We really need you help. Please - you must help us."
Oliver was deep in thought.
Mai stood at the side feeling anxious; agreeing to help would resolve everything. This case was important to their time line. Oliver had to take it but he didn't like public cases in case something made the connection to his true identity.
Oliver closed his black eyes and thought about the case without moving; Yasuhara quietly observed Oliver. Before long, Oliver looked up and turned towards Mai.
"Mai, give Ryokuryou High School a call."
Mai gave him a huge smile in relief.
"Tell the principal, if he has yet to decide on a substitute investigator, we will accept his request."
"Right away, Naru!" Mai replied. She made quick work of the phone calls to the principal and the irregulars regarding the case.
Later, once Yasuhara had left and Kasai and Yuuko had finished work, Mai made a coffee for Lin and tea for herself and Oliver and asked them for a meeting.
When they were seated around the coffee table in the seating area, Oliver looked at Mai. "Is this one of those cases?"
Mai nodded. "Yes, and a very dangerous one too."
"What do we need to know?" Lin asked.
"Well... I'm not sure how much to tell you. It all links back to Sakauchi-kun and to one of the teachers. Sakauchi-kun committed suicide 9 months ago after he was continuously ridiculed by his teachers. One in particular was especially harsh. He wasn't happy about Sakauchi-kun being strongly interested in parapsychology. Often throwing his books into the bin etc. Sakauchi-kun wanted to be a ghost hunter." Mai smiled wryly at this. "Anyway, to get revenge he devised a special Kokkuri-san and spread it around the school. It has a special chant and has to be buried under the shrine just up the road from the school."
Lin froze. "If you wish for madness, bury it the crossing of paths… If you wish to kill, bury it beneath the palace."
Mai nodded. "Yeah... The death curse Kokkuri-san has been successful in summoning thousands of spirits. The school sits on top of a burial ground and because of that it has a natural barrier around it. The spirits have no where to go, so exorcisms are pretty much useless. It just results in them devouring each other."
"Devouring..." Oliver looked thoughtful.
"Yeah, you called it to a Kodoku curse."
"Who is the target of the curse?" Oliver asked.
"Matsuyama Hideharu. The teacher who terrorised Sakauchi-kun as well as the rest of the students. Lin... You're probably going to want to get a complete list of the student body and begin making hitogatas for them all. We're going to need them."
Both Lin and Oliver stared at each other for a while. "So... We have to reverse the curse?" Lin asked.
"Yes... Um... One other thing, Oliver, I've been dreaming about this case all week. That's new for me, at least in this life. Normally I only dream of cases on site. But since the night before Christmas eve and this case, I've been dreaming before they even started. They're even starting to flash through while I'm awake."
"What about Gene? Isn't he helping you?"
"Gene is only my spirit guide when you and I are near each other. He's not there if you're not."
"Then the dreams you're having?"
"My natural talent. Though it was only in the last 6 months of my previous life that we worked that out. Until then Gene instigated almost all of my dreams to aid you in your cases. It was only when you two learned how to talk to each other in the mirror that we learned that I had been having dreams that he hadn't sent."
"We could talk through a mirror?" Oliver asked surprised.
"Well any reflective surface really, but yes, mostly mirrors. You could pass your pk through it for him to bounce it back. It helped cut down on the hospital visits. Though you didn't discover that until after we'd found Gene's body last time."
"I wonder if we could do it now?" Oliver had a hand on his chin in contemplation.
Mai shrugged. "You can only try, but don't forget he tends to sleep between cases."
"Well, we're on a case now." Lin suggested.
"Hang on, let me see if he's awake first."
Mai opened her senses much to Lin and Oliver's confusion at her words. Mai giggled as she spotted Gene behind Oliver giving him bunny ears with his fingers.
"Gene's here, Naru. You can give it a try."
Oliver nodded and the four of them headed to the bathroom for the mirror.
Oliver stood in front of it and searched his reflection. It wasn't long before his reflection changed slightly. It looked like Oliver but not. Slightly younger, less defined.
"Gene..." Oliver gasped. Despite his hope he was shocked.
"Long time, no see, little brother."
Gene grinned at Oliver. Mai and Lin could see him too but only Mai could hear his voice along with Oliver. Lin could only lip read.
"It really worked. Mai said we could do it in her past life."
"Guess, little sister was right, then."
Mai snorted. "Does this mean you're going to carry around a mirror now?"
They all laughed.
"How long have you been able to see Gene through your aura sensing?" Lin asked sternly, a little while later.
Mai shrugged. "The first time was at Christmas while we were unwrapping presents. He's usually sleeping though so he's not here often."
"Anything else you've neglected to tell me about your growing abilities?"
"Um... the last time Gene pulled me into an astral projection, your shiki somehow followed me in?"
Lin had already known about it since his shiki had told him, but he was glad Mai told him of her own accord.
"I see... For now, I suggest trying to practice keeping your senses open for as long as you can. It would be a good idea to see if you can get them to stay open for long periods of time. Focus on trying to identify everyone in the vicinity so that you know who they are instantly. That way you'll learn to pick up outsiders and anomalies. Try doing it for up to an hour at a time for now."
"Ok Lin, I'll start practicing that now."
...
They set off to Ryokuryou High School the next day.
It was 3 hours away from the office by car. After passing through Funabashi and Chiba, with a view of Yokosuka and its surrounds across the ocean, came the school's compound.
Attending the investigation at the school would be Oliver, Lin and Mai from SPR and all four of the irregulars: John, Takigawa, Ayako and Masako. Kasai and Yuuko would stay in the office.
Although they had all worked together often in the past, this was the first time they started a case with the intention of cooperating. The shocking thing for the irregulars was that this was the first time, Oliver, through Mai, had contacted them, saying "I hope to have your help".
Based on everyone's schedules, first to enter the school would be Oliver, Takigawa and Mai. Based on their preliminary investigations, they would discuss what equipment they would need, and then Lin and Ayako would bring them. Masako and John had plans they could not get out of, and would come the following day.
Mai hated this school. Not because of how it looked. But because of her memories of the things that happened there and the teachers who worked there. Added to that were the memories that Sakauchi had shared with her for the last week. She didn't mention any of this to Oliver, though he saw the look of dislike appear on her face in the car mirror.
When they arrived at the back gate at the appointed time, there was a teacher waiting for them. However, that teacher's attitude was terrible. Even when they greeted him, he didn't even acknowledge them with a nod. After entering the back gate, the teacher took them to the principal's office.
The principal was even worse. His attitude was incredibly arrogant, his tone very impolite. Furthermore, although he requested SPR to do an investigation, he did not trust them and made no attempt to hide it.
And then, the finishing blow was the guidance teacher, Matsuyama Hideharu. Oliver could feel the rage rolling under Mai's skin even without touching her. He was impressed with how well she was keeping her mouth shut despite the teacher's provocation.
"Are you the head?" he asked Oliver as he brought them to the meeting room that was to be the headquarters of their investigation.
Matsuyama looked at them judgmental. "All this commotion about spirits - there's nothing more nonsensical and stupid."
He glared at them with naked contempt. Takigawa was too shocked to reply. Oliver and Mai purposefully ignored him. His gaze finally settled on Oliver.
"Just how old are you anyway?", he asked.
"Seventeen."
"What about Senior High?"
"Please use your own imagination."
Matsuyama snorted in laughter at that and turned his head to look at Mai.
"And you?"
"Sixteen. Second year of Senior High."
"Don't you have school today? Playing truant, aren't you? Where's your school? Let's hear it."
"I have already been granted permission by my school and Shibuya-san is a university student, not a drop out. Just because you weren't intelligent enough finish school so early, doesn't mean everyone else is."
When Mai said that, Matsuyama showed her a hate-filled glare.
"Eh, Mai, I thought you were a first year still?" Takigawa interrupted, curious.
"Hmmm, my grades have been good and I'm ahead of my work so they recently pushed me up a year." Mai responded nonchalantly.
"It's a really leniently managed school, to be so lax." Matsuyama remarked in an arrogant tone.
"Or... it is a decent school that allows students to have some individuality without turning them into obedient dogs." Mai replied, her expression dripping with obvious disdain.
Matsuyama hurried through the school's corridors with irritation.
"Belief in the supernatural is a recent fad; when one thinks like that, one gets lazy, hence its popularity. When brats who have not even completed their compulsory education are bound by such beliefs about super powers and UFOs, they use these non-existent things to escape from reality. Furthermore, taking advantage of the situation, conmen come to mingle. Youths these days for no good reason, can't seem to do work reliably."
Mai rolled her eyes and ignored him. Oliver and Takigawa did the same. Matsuyama sneered at them mockingly.
"Recently amongst these fraudulent neo-religions, it looks like even girls have been implicated in these malicious situations, right?"
Takigawa started speaking in a seldom used, quiet, extremely polite tone.
"If we are talking about the recently popular small scale religious groups, I think it is more accurate to call them New Rising Religions."
"What?" Matsuyama looked unprepared for that attack.
Takigawa continued his act and said, "That is to say, recent - in what they call the Third Age of Religion that we are currently in the midst of; about the rapidly spawning witchcraft based small scale religious groups, they should be called New Rising Religions to be accurate."
Matsuyama looked like he was about to say something, but Takigawa did not give him a chance to interrupt.
"And if we are discussing these New Rising Religions, these are the ones that came chronologically after the Second Age of Religion. This is common knowledge."
"Such small details don't matter!" Roared Matsuyama.
Takigawa smiled a satisfied smile.
"So it is. But, don't you feel that arguments based on mistaken knowledge are meaningless?
No, Sensei might have only been slightly misinformed; but if you are really unaware, I can enlighten you. Even though you are an educator; to allow you to persist in your misunderstanding is unthinkable."
Instantly, Matsuyama was stunned.
"As long as people don't mess up the essential parts in life, that is enough! What the heck, you people! I don't know if it is the attraction of boring religion, or if there is something strange going on in the depths of your minds; a student like you who is clearly skiving, and a man like you who keeps his hair long and messy will sooner or later wind up on the wrong path!"
"Is it here?" Oliver pointed to a door; above the door hung a sign, "Meeting Room".
"Yes." Matsuyama said as he violently opened the door.
When the door opened, student council president Yasuhara was waiting for them inside.
He rose upon seeing Oliver. "I've been waiting for a long time."
Oliver nodded in greeting towards Yasuhara.
Matsuyama spoke up. "Yasuhara, don't you need to be in class?"
"The third year's class time has already been greatly reduced."
"No problems with exams?"
"Please do not worry." Yasuhara was clearly forcing his expression.
Looking slightly put off, Matsuyama sat heavily on the chair. "Now what? What do you do first?"
He looked at them sarcastically. "Start a fire, and then chant scriptures?"
The corners of Matsuyama's lips raised slightly in a hint of a smirk.
They ignored Matsuyama's presence.
To Takigawa's question, "Shall we start our investigation now?" Oliver glanced at his watch.
"So we shall. Let's start by seeking out students involved in the various incidents to understand the situation."
After saying that, Oliver turned to Mai and continued.
"Ignore the case of the small fires. Go and look for the students involved in the other three incidents."
Before Mai could reply, Yasuhara cut in. "Let me do it."
"That would be much faster. Thanks."
"Sure."
Matsuyama sat on the chair, looking on as they spoke.
Oliver bowed slightly to Matsuyama. "Thank you very much for your help. Sensei may return to your office. We do not require further assistance."
"That won't do. It is my job to manage students.
"These supposed students may not leave the field of vision of the teacher."
Yasuhara's and Mai's expressions hardened with anger. Oliver, still expressionless, calmly continued.
"Anyone involved in these incidents is considered our client. We need to maintain the privacy of our clients."
"Do children have any privacy to speak of?"
Oliver remained calm.
"Regardless of age, clients are clients. Now please leave."
"Do you mean to say you will be inconvenienced by my presence?"
Takigawa said angrily, "The principal said we would have freedom to do our work."
"Even if it was freedom it would be limited. I'd like to hear what you self-proclaimed psychics are up to under the guise of mingling with our students."
"In that case, please go to the principal's office."
Oliver's reply caused Matsuyama to be temporarily lost for words.
Matsuyama's face was crimson with anger. He straightened his back and looked like he had something to say, but only creased his lips in disapproval and stood up. Hastily he left the meeting room and fired his parting shot as he stalked through the doorway.
"Do as you please. Whatever happens at the end of the day is the principal's responsibility!"
After that, Matsuyama slammed the door with enough violence to shake the walls, and exited the scene.
"Despicable bastard!!! He's the cause of this whole bloody mess and he's still blind to it all." Mai grumbled loudly under her breath once he at left.
Yasuhara looked at Mai, shocked.
"How do you know he's the cause?" He asked curiously.
Mai smiled at him. "That's my secret."
Takigawa let out a sigh. "It's not like we're trying to be his friends. For me, I was eagerly anticipating when Naru's poison tongue would make its appearance."
Oliver gently shrugged his shoulders, wearing that godly expression of his.
"It's meaningless to preach to a pig." Oliver said with great gravity despite his anger. Mai giggled and on hearing her, Oliver's anger began to calm.
Mai could feel the strange static tension that had previously been in the room begin to still and fall peaceful. She raised an eyebrow thoughtfully but said nothing as Oliver proceeded to give out instructions.
"Yasuhara-kun, could I trouble you to have the people involved gather here. Could you send them here in order?"
"Yes. Leave it to me."
Yasuhara nodded and sprinted out of the meeting room.
"In the meantime... Mai... can you do a sensing?"
Mai shuddered but agreed. Opening her senses and expanding them outside of the room they were in and across the school reluctantly, she was bombarded by the images of spirits everywhere.
Thousands of them mixed in with the student body and teachers. Even in the room they were in. Sakauchi stood in the doorway of a classroom watching the students inside as they were oblivious to one spirit devouring another. A dark grin spread on his face.
Mai paled quickly and both Oliver and Takigawa were quick to grab her as she collapsed, thankfully closing her senses as she did so. 'I'd hate to know what Urado's mansion looks like if the school is this bad.'
She took a few deep breaths before telling them of her findings. Oliver helped her into a chair to recover while they waited for the first group of students to appear.
The first people Yasuhara brought in were a group of girls. They were the girls involved in the mass absenteeism, from class 2-5.
"And the representative is?"
"I am Okamura Kazumi."
Oliver opened his notebook.
"Please tell us how the incident occurred."
Okamura bobbed her head. Clearing her throat, she said: "Spirits appeared in the LL classroom. Then, we were afraid and refused to attend class. Even though we told the teacher, we would only get scolded. There was no other choice except for us to all take leave from school." She said that forcefully.
"What type of spirits appeared in the LL classroom?"
"It was a child, a little boy."
"Has Okamura-san seen it with your own eyes?"
"I've seen it." Her reply was short and crisp. Her face turned green. She definitely had encountered a really frightening thing.
"It started with the voices. When I played a tape that I previously recorded, I realized there was some sound I hadn't heard before in the background. I thought it was the voice of a child."
"Could you hear what he was saying clearly?"
"No. The voice was soft, not at the level where I could discern what was said. Subsequently..." She paused. "There was someone touching my leg."
Oliver signaled her to continue.
"I was shocked and looked down. Under the table there was a boy grasping my leg."
She hurried on.
"There's barely any space under the table for a child. Although that's the way it should be, there really was a child there, just kneeling under the table. Even now, I still clearly recall what he looks like. A boy, about six years old, and he wore a Goosebumps inspiring smile on his face Finally it became the sound of weeping.
I was shocked and jumped out of my chair, shrieking. Just as I was about to call the teacher to inform him about the boy, when I looked down again, he had already disappeared. The teacher did not believe me, but there really was someone there!"
Oliver nodded. Okamura relaxed upon seeing the acknowledgement.
Oliver looked at the rest of the girls. "Is there anyone else who has seen this spirit?"
All five girls raised their hands in response.
Oliver questioned them individually. Everyone had experienced incidents similar to Okamura-san.
"Besides the persons here, is there anyone else who has seen it?" Oliver asked.
Okamura nodded. "There are about two more persons. Many more have heard the voice."
"How many?"
The girls all pulled faces. "Probably everyone has heard it."
"What about students in other classes?"
"I know a few who say they have seen it; it looks like there are large numbers who have heard the voice."
Oliver nodded.
Takigawa was marking the hot spot in blue ink on the floor plans provided by the school.
Oliver showed a thoughtful expression before continuing. "Finally, have you heard of the other incidents that have happened in the school?"
The group looked at each other, and Okamura responded once again with a hardened expression. "They say Sakauchi-kun has appeared in school."
"And this Sakauchi-kun is?"
"A first year student who died in September."
Oliver looked at Mai who nodded back.
The other girls started speaking. "In school, one feels that someone has brushed pass; and some things have appeared in the classroom. Then... more recently, there have been new Seven Wonders..."
"Yeah, that's been there for ages. The rumors have increased, not about that, there are new stories."
One of the girls started counting off on her fingers. "First, 'The Unopenable Safe'. Following that, 'The Dismembered Human Model'. And then there was, 'The Man Who Jumped'. A man appeared to jump from the school's roof, but on closer look, there was no one... next was..."
"'The Old Man of the Furnace', when the lid of the furnace was opened, the face of an old man appeared inside. 'The Reversed Mirror'."
"Oh, yes. Doesn't the mirror in the gym's toilet often show reflections of objects that are in reverse?"
"And 'The Geography Room'? When it was cleaned, the fluorescent light fell."
"Eh? What about 'Footsteps in the Chemistry Lab' there's that, right?"
"And 'The Sickbay'? The second to the last bed would suddenly appear to have been slept in."
Everyone reported various strange incidents, and the meeting room became very noisy. The floor plan Takigawa was writing on was soon covered with blue.
Oliver had everyone quiet down. "Thank you everyone. We will investigate the situation properly."
Following that was the group that planned the exorcism. There were eight males and females in the group.
Oliver asked them who their representative was. After squabbling amongst themselves for the position, they finally decided on a girl called Araki Kozue to speak for the group.
"Then, Araki-san, please tell us how the incident progressed."
"Oh, where should I begin... My classroom is located in the East Block. This supposed "East Block" is basically made up of special classrooms, like the chemistry lab etc. The room neighboring my classroom is the Music Preparation Room. It is used to store musical instruments. Strange sounds came from there."
"And these strange sounds are..."
"Sounds of things being dragged on the floor; and the noises were loud and clear. The teacher also appeared to hear it and went next door to check, but said there was no one there.
"There were also strange sounds being heard in the LL classroom. Although I have never heard it myself, many others have.
Besides that, there was that day when my class was in charge of cleaning the geography classroom: when we were cleaning, the bulb of the fluorescent light dropped down. Or rather, the fluorescent tube. In any case just one tube fell out. The tube shattered and the shards of glass flew all over the place, so there were many people who were injured. Although we reported it to the teacher, he could only tell us to be careful; the problem was not solved at all."
She looked both angry and frightened. "And besides that there were the fires; everyone says they started last autumn. More accurately, they started since that first year student committed suicide. I'm convinced all these are linked, but the school does not take any action."
"So you decided to take matters into your own hands?"
"Yes. Because if we leave things as they are, who knows how many people would be hurt the next time? The teachers are useless. If it were us, we might be able to do something. Unlike what the news and tv claims, we are not entirely certain that these incidents are the fault of Sakauchi-kun; but to take no action? With no action we would never know if it was good or bad, so..."
"So it was like that."
"Does Araki-san know Sakauchi-kun?"
"No. I only knew of his existence after the incident."
"It looked like he left a suicide note... do you know of the details?"
"Yes. It was famous instantly: 'I'm not a dog'."
Oliver glanced at Mai as her words to Matsuyama ran through his mind."Or it is a decent school that allows students to have some individuality without turning them into obedient dogs."
"Do you know what it means?" Oliver asked them.
"I feel I can understand what he meant. Because sometimes I feel like a dog or some cattle. I'm micromanaged from the color of my hair to the color of my personal belongings; I'd get lectured for things from my language use to my attitude: it's just like disciplining a dog. That suicide note probably referred to something like this.
And then I thought, Sakauchi-kun must have hated the school; there are some people who say they have seen the ghost of Sakauchi-kun. That's why I thought the students of the school could properly console the soul of Sakauchi-kun. However the teachers did not allow us to do so. Somehow teachers always think that a gathering of large group of students means we are up to no good."
Oliver gently nodded. "And besides these, would you know about the strange incidents that happened in this school?"
They, too, related countless tales experienced by themselves or their close friends.
Takigawa, looking frustrated, had given up taking notes midway.
After Araki's group left, the next group was represented by Miyasaki Masayo. This group had claimed to have been bitten by the black dog.
Disregarding the already frustrated monk, Oliver continued his questioning patiently. "Then, Miyasaki-san?"
Looking small surrounded by her friends, Miyasaki raised her head. Her foot was bound by a white bandage.
"Please."
"Yes. That..."
She scanned the room, frightened, before slowly starting to speak. "Starting this autumn, strange things have been happening in our class. That is... we heard strange sounds; like the whining of a dog, with "he... he..." like breathing sounds. It was very discomforting. Then... who knows when... people started getting leg wounds. That was about December. It was just like being bitten by a dog, there were even bite marks."
"Is that victim currently here?" Oliver scanned the group.
A frail looking male student had raised his hand.
"What was the situation?"
"That is, while many described hearing the dog's sounds, I have never heard it, and I thought they were only lies. Then one day during class I suddenly felt pain in my foot. It was a sudden spike of pain. I examined my foot after class and found a bite mark. As I was wearing long pants it wasn't a big deal, there was only a little blood; there were also puncture holes through the uniform."
Oliver nodded, and turned once more to Miyasaki and had her continue.
"Yes... After that incident similar incidents would occasionally occur, but no one ever saw the dog... until recently..."
"On the day of that incident, who was the first to be bitten?" Oliver asked.
One of the girls replied. "It was I."
"And what happened?"
That girl shrugged. "Nothing much, I was just suddenly bitten by something. There are around 5 others who were bitten after that. I realized what had happened and jumped up in shock. The teacher asked me what had happened; I said I had been bitten. And then the student beside me pointed to the side of my foot and said: 'there's a dog.' When I looked down, I saw a black dog running past my foot."
"Nearly everyone in the class saw the dog?"
Miyasaki nodded and spoke in a whisper, "It was actually a lie, that the teacher said he did not see the dog. That was a lie. Because, the teacher fled the classroom with us. But on the papers, the teacher nevertheless claimed not to have seen it. When we asked that teacher, he denied seeing it."
All the students nodded in agreement to Miyasaki's words.
"Does anybody have any theories about the reason for the appearance of the dog?" Oliver asked.
A different male student said, "Initially it wasn't a dog but a fox."
"A fox?"
"Yes. For a period of time, our school... eh?" He looked around him at the 2 female students sitting on either side of him. "Please, what was it?"
"Trying to hide it won't work; the briefest investigation would reveal all." She said this, looking straight at Oliver. "For a period of time, it was very popular to play Kokkuri-san in our school. Because of that, we thought it was a fox doing the haunting. All this while, until we saw the dog, everyone believed it was just a fox."
Oliver's expression turned solemn.
"Our school is managed very strictly; if we were caught the punishment would be severe. Everyone was playing in secret, it was really popular."
Miyasaki said, stuttering. "Probably very few have not played."
"Is there anyone amongst you who have not played?" Oliver's question did not receive a single reply.
Oliver nodded in understanding, and asked if they knew of the other strange incidents in the school. Like the last time, there were so many peculiar stories.
The last to enter was the group who had suffered mass poisoning.
Student Council President Yasuhara showed in six students, and seated himself too.
"That is to say Yasuhara was also one of the victims?"
Yasuhara smiled at Oliver's question. "Yes. I am also one of the 'students with weak constitutions'. Whatever the question, fire away."
Oliver's expression momentarily softened. "In that case, let me ask your representative, Yasuhara. What are the details?"
"Perhaps you already know from reading the newspapers, the incident occurred on the 18th of December, Monday, at 2pm in the middle of class. Nearly half the class collapsed, to be precise there were 19 persons.
At the beginning of class there was already a male student who felt nauseous. Just as he deliberated leaving the class, suddenly there appeared many others saying the same thing. I was wondering what was going on, when I too suddenly felt unwell. From the start of the class, I had thought that the air in the classroom was somehow bad. There was a strange stench; we opened the windows; but we continued to discuss what the source of the smell was so everyone was restless during break, that's why that made an impression."
"So it was like that. Do you know of the cause?"
"No. When the furnace burns wrong, one's mood is affected, although it isn't that big a deal; it a similar type of feeling. I have previously eaten raw food and experienced food poisoning, and it felt totally different from this incident. This incident had nothing to do with food poisoning. Furthermore, the school uses air conditioning, hence eliminating the possibility of a gas leak."
"Does this stench persist in the classroom?"
Yasuhara nodded. "We are all numb to it so we are not sure if it is still there, but even now one can smell slight traces of that stench. When students from other classes visit our classroom, they would all ask, 'what's this odor?'
And there are times when the smell would suddenly become overwhelming. After that incident, there were also instances when the teacher first felt unwell. At that time everyone evacuated the classroom with a sense of dread, although only the teacher went to the sickbay. And after that, I can recall there were also several occasions when the stench suddenly became much stronger. Yes, about seven or eight times since that incident."
"Were there any victims?"
Yasuhara shook his head. "No. Or rather... Initially I did not believe this was a supernatural phenomenon. Our classroom is on the first floor; below... I mean what was further beneath, that is, in the stratum there is a pool of bad gas, was what I hypothesized to be the reason. However, Eda..."
Yasuhara turned back to look at the male next to him. "This fellow would scatter salt whenever the stench grew strong. After doing so the foul smell would suddenly vanish. What the heck, if it was explained as a natural phenomenon, that would be really weird."
Oliver looked at the male student called Eda. "Why scatter salt?"
"That, because don't they say that salt is cleansing? We throw salt when we return from funerals and other stuff. So I felt that we could try it in school to see if it worked. After scattering the salt the stench disappeared instantly." Eda replied. He scratched his head. "Anyway, at the end of the day, I thought, people often say that doing so in school would force spirits to emerge, and the reason for the poisoning is unclear; I always felt there was a link to spirits and what not..."
Oliver's pale fingers lightly rapped the table. "If spirits are involved in this incident, do you have any hypothesis about the cause?"
Yasuhara's group tilted their heads in thought. "I don't know."
"Really? Sorry to trouble you then." Oliver nodded gently towards Yasuhara. "On a separate note, I have a question for student council president Yasuhara."
"Yes."
"When did you first notice the strange things happening here?"
Yasuhara paused slightly to think. "I started thinking 'there is definitely something wrong here' first with the mass absenteeism. Only... yes, I had started feeling something was amiss around the period of the cultural festival."
"The details are?"
"Because the number of weird rumors increased. Since autumn, the student grapevine has reported nothing but strange tales. Here and there someone saw a ghost or something; I heard these stories, and started feeling uneasy."
Yasuhara looked very serious. "As there was preparation work to do for the cultural festival, everyone would remain in school until late. That is, everyone suddenly became very reluctant to stay back. The change in the girls' (behavioral) tendencies was especially acute. Normally they would loiter around even if they had nothing on. I felt that was a little strange."
Oliver nodded. "What about the series of fires that happened before the mass absenteeism. What do you feel about that?"
"I can't recall the exact date; the first fire was around the middle of October. At first I thought it was started by some mischievous fellow or other who used fire carelessly. Then 10 days later there was another fire. At that time the teachers were getting a little nervous, the perpetrator was still unknown. And then the next... "
"12 days later?"
"Yes. To call it an accident would be too strange, and there were those who said it was not arson. The teachers had apparently increased their guard, but 12 days later the fire still happened. Although the teachers had diligently patrolled (the school), they still could not identify the perpetrator."
"And there was yet another fire 12 days later?"
"Yes. Then they even used the special locks boys' schools use, although now they no longer bother. But still there was a fire. At that time the mass absenteeism incident happened; deep down I felt that it would be very weird if it was actually arson."
"And from then on there was a 12 day cycle?"
"Yes. Always on the morning of the 12th day."
"Locks?"
"It is locked."
"When will the next fire be?"
"The last time was on the 11th, so this time it should be on the 23rd. That's 2 days from now."
Oliver was deep in thought. He tapped his ball point pen on the table and quickly looked up.
"Lastly..." As he said that, he looked at the group, and asked them about the strange rumors. After listening to their last incredible story, Oliver shut his notebook and rose. "Can you let me see your classroom?"
"Yes, please." With Yasuhara's group leading the way, they made their way to classroom 3-1.
The classroom was located at the first floor of the West Block. Ryokuryou High School's compound is shaped like the character "コ", to the north is the gymnasium; the staff rooms and student canteen are adjacent to each other in the North Block; turning a corner is the East Block consisting special classrooms; turning another corner is the South Block with normal classrooms. A turn away from the South Block is the West Block. It is a 3 level facility with only classrooms.
Once the door opened, a weak odor slammed into Mai's senses. It was a hateful stench, like the smell of something rotten.
Yasuhara entered the classroom, and turned to look at them. "I practically can't smell the stench anymore, what about you guys?"
Oliver nodded. "It's not a very strong smell, but there definitely is an odor."
Takigawa opened the classroom's windows. "Even after opening the windows, the stench does not dissipate."
Squinting, Oliver scanned the room. Touching each table, he moved around the room. Mai knew he was reading the events through his psychometric. That weird static tension was back as he did so. "There is no place where the stench is particularly strong."
Yasuhara nodded. "It is like that. Although we have carefully searched for the source of the stench, the whole classroom stinks."
Oliver nodded, and then he suddenly stood still. He turned to look towards Yasuhara's group surrounding the door. "Has anything strange ever happened here?"
"Strange things?" Yasuhara tilted his head.
Oliver's expression was severe "Like summoning, this type of thing."
Oliver studied everyone's faces; the crowd started murmuring.
"Isn't he talking about Worikiri-sama?"
"That is..."
Addressing the various softly squabbling voices, Oliver said, "What is it?"
Yasuhara represented the crowd to reply. "Recently... That is to say, from the start of the second semester, Worikiri-sama has been popular. Is that it?"
With that last line was directed to the girls behind him.
The girls nodded nervously. "Not just our class, it is popular throughout the school - Worikiri-sama, Gongen-sama and what not."
"What is that?" Mai directed her question at the girls.
"I have it with me, it has not been used." A girl piped up. She retrieved a piece of paper from her desk and handed it to Mai. "This."
Takigawa looked at it. "Isn't this Kokkuri-san?"
The girls went into an uproar. The girl who had handed Mai the paper looked at them, highly dissatisfied.
"As if. Your supposed Kokkuri-san is summoning a fox, right? At the center there is an illustration of a Torii... I've heard that Kokkuri-san is very dangerous, and shouldn't be done casually. For this, look."
She pointed to the strange symbol in the center of the page. There were words arranged into a circle with the words "Yes" and "No" on either side. The repeated word "鬼(Oni; Demon)" arranged in a circle and the checkered pattern within left a strange impression.
"Worikiri-sama is summoning a god. It is very accurate in predicting love matches etc. Gongen-sama is..."
While she spoke, Takigawa snatched the paper without warning.
"Watch it!"
"How does Gongen-sama appear?"
Takigawa had crushed the piece of paper into a ball.
"Gongen-sama is a summoned god. Because it is a god, it can help us solve problems etc..."
Takigawa threw the paper ball. It hit the wall before dropping into the rubbish bin. Mai went to collect it so she could pass it on to Lin later. That paper was important to the case.
"What? Is there a problem?!"
The girl looked uneasily at Takigawa.
"Gongen-sama. Tarou-san. Hitofude-sama. Cupid-san. They are all aliases for Kokkuri-san."
"Eh!"
The exclamations came not just from the girl who had handed Mai the paper.
"What you were doing was well and truly Kokkuri-san. It is the same thing regardless of what you name it. You casually summoned spirits, and treated them as toys."
"How could it..."
Takigawa looked furious.
"Even the uninitiated is capable of summoning. Summoning a spirit can be done by anybody, but to send a spirit back needs practice. Don't do it anymore."
"But... everyone says that if it is Worikiri-sama then it isn't frightening, and it does not matter..."
"That's bullshit. It's because you all do this type of stupid thing that these strange disturbances occur!"
Seeing Takigawa's face, the girls were immediately dejected.
"Really, here and there is all like this. In the class where the black dog appeared, there were also people playing this type of sick games. They probably summoned a low level wondering spirit. The mass poisoning must have been the fault of something similar."
"But! Worikiri-sama is very popular throughout the school!"
"Goodness... This fellow is really lucky, the school building has yet to collapse."
The girls lowered their heads.
Oliver interrupted.
"You said it is very popular. How high is its popularity?"
The girls made eye contact with each other.
"The truth is that in school, everyone has been doing it."
"Amongst those present here is there anyone who has not done it?"
Including Yasuhara, not a single person raised his hand.
At this time the SPR group spread out and visited various classrooms, getting hold of any remaining students, and asked if and how many times they have done Kokkuri-san.
The main aim of the investigation was to determine the popularity; the proportion of students who have done it; estimate the frequency of the practice. The investigation was more or less complete before sundown, so they returned to the meeting room for tea.
As the meeting room did not have any facilities, Yasuhara brought utensils for making hot drinks from the student council room. After using an ancient heating plate to boil water, Mai added the tea leaves that she had brought with her. She scrubbed the old fashioned western styled enamel tea cup, and appreciated the retro feel.
After Mai served the tea to everyone, Yasuhara seated himself. Then he surveyed them. "How is it?"
Leaning on the chair's back, Takigawa stared at his pile of notes, sighed a huge sigh before placing them on the table. "This thing is huge, god help us."
"Is it very serious?"
Takigawa nodded his head, frustrated. "All the students in the school are doing Kokkuri-san."
His sight fell on the pile of notes.
Those were the results of the investigation done with the help of Yasuhara and his group. Of all the students, more than 90% have done Kokkuri-san at least once, and since September, most of them have done it every break time.
In November and December, before the strange incidents started the volume was still low. Despite this, with continued repetition, who knows how many times spirits have been successfully summoned in the school?
"... is the fault of the spirits that were summoned. Exactly how many spirits are there wondering in the school? Maybe not just thousands, maybe tens of thousands."
Takigawa let out another huge sigh and turned to Oliver. "I say, Naru-chan, are you really serious?"
Oliver, also looking frustrated, stared at his reflection in the window, and made no reply. Mai could see Gene talking to him in the window out of the corner of her eye.
"I say, why don't we just give up and leave. In any case it is the responsibility of the students, so they should just exorcise the spirits themselves and the case would be closed." Takigawa said like a child throwing a tantrum. "I can't stand it. Doing Kokkuri-san and the type would call out some unmanageable spirits."
Yasuhara said "relax, relax," to sooth.
"I understand your feelings. Please."
"Right-o. I'll teach you the ways of exorcism, and you will do it."
"That..." Yasuhara's face was troubled.
Mai chided Takigawa, "That won't do, Bou-san! Exorcism won't work anyway. The spirits have nowhere to go and will only end up consuming each other. And besides it's not truly Kokkuri-san either, despite how it looks."
"So all we have to do is let them eat each other and it'll be over?" Takigawa asked.
Mai ignored the question. He wasn't ready for the answer yet. "Ah, you're just being difficult because you were bullied by Matsuyama."
"Shut up..."
Mai ruffled Takigawa's hair. "Poor Bou-san. Your pure soul has been hurt."
"Exactly. To be so blatantly treated as a conman; although that does happen quite often. It's really a difficult job to be a psychic power user." Takigawa pretended to cry and Mai laughed at him.
"If that's the case, this will do. Collect all the various wondering spirits and have them concentrate on Matsuyama, that'd be fun." He continued.
"If only we could. But murder is still murder even if committed by a ghost." Mai replied. Somehow, she was turning into the voice of reason in this life.
"I'm really sorry that Matsuyama is that sort of fellow." Yasuhara apologised. "From the students' perspective, issues involving that fellow are completely ignored. Everyone tries not to have anything to do with him, because it's not like he'd listen to the opinions of others. It is the students who are more mature in having to tolerate him instead."
Takigawa raised his head. "Yasuhara-kun, are you all right?"
"What?"
"That is, with you helping us at our request? Did Matsuyama say anything to you?"
"No worries. Because my grades are good." Yasuhara said that smiling in a serious way. "In the past he has said a lot. I'm not sure when, I wrote that my goal was to enter the Literature and Economics Department, he suddenly stopped criticizing me. People who abuse their power are weak in the face of power."
Uncovering the truth, Takigawa was impressed. Oliver was was staring motionlessly out of the window. Mai could still see Gene's reflection staring back at him. Gene winked when he saw Mai look fully at him. She poked her tongue back at him.
"What's up? Still thinking of something deep?" Takigawa asked when he saw Oliver staring towards the window. He didn't notice Gene though.
Oliver remained apparently deep in thought when he was really conversing with Gene on their private channel. Mai wondered if they were discussing the case.
"...yeah. It's not like there's any deep, I'm just a little concerned." Oliver finally responded to Takigawa.
"Concerned? What about?"
"As Matsuyama mentioned, the Japan of today appears to have popularized the occult."
"So it appears. So what?"
"Within Japan, the schools where Kokkuri-san is popular, how many do you think there are?"
"I understand what you are saying, but don't you think the volume here is exceptional?"
Hearing Takigawa's words, Oliver's expression became even more complicated. "Untrained people do not always succeed in summoning a spirit even if they try. In other words, the number of successes is very low. Is this school a special school for psychics? Even then, I don't believe that the situation would progress so smoothly."
"Perhaps."
"Furthermore, there is the current situation. Even if all the strange stories are all simple lies, what about the child in the LL classroom? The black dog? The fires? We are clear that playing Kokkuri-san will summon wondering spirits, and amongst these spirits there some that are powerful, and incidents where they cause harm is not unknown. But, if this is the case, the numbers are also abnormal."
"You're forgetting what the school sits on and the special way this so-called kokkuri-san is performed, Naru." Mai reminded him.
"Would Kokkuri-san really summon spirits?" Yasuhara asked.
"That should be, if it was a psychic."
"It would not happen with non psychics?"
"No. To start, that's too arbitrary."
"It would in this case though." Mai added. "It's not technically Kokkuri-san. We need Lin so he show you why though."
She pulled out the screwed up paper the she'd collected after Takigawa threw it in the bin and smoothed it out, before folding it up nicely and putting it in her pocket.
"Eh, why is that? Are you holding back information again, Mai-chan?" Takigawa whined.
Mai just laughed at him. "Wait for Lin. He's the expert in this situation. "
Yasuhara, who had been listening quietly to us, interrupted. "But, if there was a powerful psychic present? Wouldn't they really summon a spirit?"
Oliver shrugged. "It is possible. But this hypothetical psychic would be able to avoid evil spirits. He would be innately able to avoid summoning evil spirits."
"That... is this not wrong."
"Anyway," Oliver said as he restlessly ruffled the mountain of notes.
"Summoning a spirit is similar to adjusting the frequency of a radio. 'A crowd gathered and summoned spirits, resulting in the school being filled with wondering spirits'; on this opinion of Bou-san's I think there must be a certain degree of truth. If we exorcize but fail to find a cause, we can only assume that to be the cause. Until everyone gets here, we can only exorcize the spirits as they appear."
Mai groaned at Oliver's words. He'd forgotten that exorcism would only bring about the end of the kodoku curse faster. She hoped Lin finished those hitogatas quickly.