Edited
Later that day, they collected the equipment from the classrooms where no changes were recorded, and added them primarily to the LL classroom, with the remainder going to the Printing Room and the Sickbay.
They bustled around the school compound where lessons were still going on, collecting and checking the data. They also discussed their next move and their plans for exorcisms.
Mai, ordered to collect tapes, stormed out of the Meeting Room. She was furious that they were still going to attempt exorcism despite the fact that it was only hurrying the curse into the final stages faster.
She kept her senses open a couple of meters around her as she walked. She was getting better at keeping it open for longer periods of time at that distance. She was also working on cleansing away the spirits as she moved. It was tiring work but it made her feel better.
As she walked down the corridor towards the first tape she heard a voice.
"How's it going? Is the exorcism complete?"
Mai turned back; it was Matsuyama. "We are currently trying our very best."
Matsuyama smiled crookedly.
"This morning a fire occurred."
"Ah…"
"You lot are unable to exorcise a single spirit, are you?"
"The situation is not as simple as just doing an exorcism."
Matsuyama continued speaking. "There aren't any spirits to begin with. So mind your behavior, understand? It was all just a temporary hallucination on the part of the students. So hurry up and get lost."
"There are flaws in your argument, Sensei."
"What?!"
"Nothing. Excuse me."
Mai hurried away. Matsuyama bellowed behind her, "You are mesmerized by spirits and other nonsense, and you even end up skiving! Do you want me to tell you what would happen to people who blindly follow foolish superstitions?!"
Mai turned back. "What would happen?"
Matsuyama smiled.
"There was also such a person in our school. One who was fascinated by the occult and met a tragic end."
"You are talking about… Sakauchi-kun?"
"Be careful not to end up like him. Sakauchi is regretting it in the next world."
"That's saying, Sensei doesn't think Sakauchi-kun's death was regrettable?"
"What?"
" 'Such things happened because he was fascinated by nonsense, he got what he deserved.' Is that what you mean?"
"Who said that?"
"That was just what I understood from what I heard you say."
"What's that, you… What's that insolent attitude about?"
"I would think you would be encouraging us to solve the situation considering it's your life that's at risk here." Mai said to him while looking behind him at Sakauchi's spirit who was cackling in amusement.
"What...?"
"You are the eventual target of the death curse Sakauchi-kun put into play before his death. Not that I blame him for doing so. I've seen his memories of how you treated him."
"Death curse..."
"I still have work to do to save your despicable life. Please excuse me. Matsuyama. Sakauchi-kun."
Mai nodded to Matsuyama once more and then bowed to Sakauchi who had moved from behind Matsuyama, to beside her. Then Mai turned her back on them and walked away.
"Hey, wait a second." The furious Matsuyama reached out.
At that moment, loud noises and the sound of many people screaming came from the classroom in front of Mai. Immediately past the terrace was the Art Room. She ran into that classroom. Matsuyama right behind her.
"What happened?!" He jumped in shock when the door opened.
All the students were standing. There were a few people squatting. Shards of broken glass littered the classroom - shards that were slightly curved and milky white.
Mai looked to the ceiling.
There were 3 rows of 4 fluorescent lamps side by side. There was not a single fluorescent tube up there.
"What happened?!" Matsuyama asked again of the students and the teacher who sat fallen on the teaching platform.
All the fluorescent lights in the classroom had fallen down.
Mai suddenly recalled, immediately beneath this Art Room was the Geography Room.
"The spirit from the room above moved location and ate the one that was already here." Mai answered Matsuyama belatedly before contacting Oliver through her communicator.
...
All the students were evacuated from the Art Room. The tables were arranged haphazardly in the newly vacant room. Blood-stained glass shards were scattered all over the floor.
Most of the students were slightly injured in one way or another. They received treatment in their respective classrooms.
"It's my fault," whispered John who stared blindly at the classroom. He had been the one who conducted the exorcism in the Geography Room.
"There is nothing you could have done. Even knowing that the spirits are only moving locations during an exorcism, you would never have realised that it would have moved upwards."
Mai's tone was soft even if her words weren't exactly consoling. John could only nod. Mai was right. She had already said numerous times that the exorcisms weren't working.
Oliver picked up a shard that had fallen on a table. "All the fluorescent tubes fell out at the same time…?"
Without moving a muscle, he surveyed the shard. "Don't you think that the spirit got more powerful?"
"That generally happens when it swallows another spirit." Mai commented sarcastically. Another vision flowed into her mind.
Ayako brandishing her jade rosary. The will-o'-the-wisp escaping. The spirit escaping to other locations, tangling with the smaller wisps there. Wisps swirling around each other as though in battle. And then the larger wisp devouring the smaller one.
"This morning's fire, too, was more severe than those previously reported. Luckily there were people near the Broadcast Room… otherwise it wouldn't just be a small fire." Oliver continued, thinking out loud.
"The Art Room… what strange rumors happened there?"
Takigawa answered, "Indeed it was… 'The Plaster Model that Changed Direction'. The plaster model's direction changed suddenly. It suddenly turned to face the back on its own or something."
"I don't think that will happen again."
"Mai?" Everyone looked at her, surprised.
"I said it before. The spirit that was here in the Art Room has already been devoured by the spirit that escaped from the Geography Room. Hence that spirit became stronger."
Oliver looked at her darkly. "Is that Mai's intuition?"
"... If you don't want to listen when I say something then, don't blame me when it gets worse. I warned you before we started this case that it was dangerous and you needed to listen to the clues. It would serve you right if I walked out now and left you to it. The only reason I'm not is the students who would be left at risk."
Masako and Ayako looked at Mai like they wanted to tell her to shut up. Takigawa went to knock Mai's head. She stopped him without even looking, by hitting his hand away harshly. She didn't want to be around the deaf idiots any longer.
Mai left the room and went back to base to search out Lin. If they weren't going to listen she wouldn't waste her breath.
"What should we do, Naru-chan?" Takigawa asked as Mai headed to the door. He was a little hurt at how harsh she had been to them lately.
"Perhaps… it might be better to put off the exorcisms…" Oliver said haltingly, watching his girlfriend leave. She was obviously angry and he knew it was mostly his fault. He had obviously forgotten something that she had told him about this case.
"Yes. It would be troublesome if those spirits escaped again." Takigawa agreed with Oliver.
"I will continue exorcising." Ayako declared loudly.
"Hey hey, that's not too good."
"To prevent the spirits from escaping, I will erect a Kekkai before exorcising. There shouldn't be a problem with that?"
"Would such a simple solution work?" Oliver asked calmly.
"I will show you." She sounded confident.
"In that case, please slowly exorcise those smaller, harmless spirits. If the spirit here was to escape again, the consequences would be unimaginable."
A furious Ayako was rooted to her spot.
However, Oliver ignored her. "If what Mai said is true… we have already let them escape once. If they escape again, our reputation would be in danger."
Just at that moment, Masako started shrieking.
"What's wrong?!"
"What happened?!"
Masako, green in the face, squatted on the floor. Everyone rushed to her side.
...
Mai, who had just opened the door to base and taken only a step inside, stopped with a hand still on the door, as her vision blurred.
Brightness disappeared; darkness descended. The floors and walls turned transparent. Quickly her field of vision widened, and in front of her was a view of the entire school. She heard a sad cry. It was Sakauchi.
He was the second floor of the South Block. That was the 2-4 classroom. A black chrysalis wisp waited.
A dark pit opened in the floor, white spirits were sucked into it.
Suddenly a white spirit took on human form. It was Sakauchi that let out sad cries as it was engulfed by the black pit.
Hands outstretched, as though grasping at air, he was slowly engulfed by the will-o'-the-wisp. The dark flames surrounded him, and he sank slowly into the sea of fire.
A sad tear dripped down Mai's cheek.
As quickly as it appeared, her vision suddenly went back to normal.
"Mai... Are you alright?" Lin asked her concerned. She was still using the door to steady herself.
"Sakauchi-kun was just swallowed up by one of those chrysalis wisps. Lin, are those hitogatas ready? I know Naru hasn't got there yet but we really need to reverse that curse. It's moving too fast and the others aren't going to stop exorcising the spirits who still remain. Even clearing them with my aura is only helping to reduce it a little. It's still too strong."
"The hitogatas are completed. I'll start getting the stuff ready for the reversal." Lin agreed.
Mai took out the kokkuri talisman that she had saved the other day from her pocket where she kept it. She opened it up and handed it to Lin.
"What is this?" Lin asked Mai, looking down at the paper.
"That is the kokkuri-san that was used in this school. Take note of the differences from the normal one."
Lin looked over it. Paying particular attention to the unusual details on it. He paled. "... and this is buried under the shrine?"
"Yes. They call it Worikiri-sama…" Mai added. "The way of calling it is from an incantation."
" 'on, onikilitei, meiritei, meiwayashimaire, sowaka'…" Lin chanted as a suggestion.
"Yes and then it's buried at the local shrine."
"Shrine…" Lin softly repeated those words, and then he looked straight at Mai. "Do you know where the shrine is located?"
"Not clearly… but there is only one shrine nearby. I could feel it with my aura sensing so I'm pretty sure we can find it quickly." Mai glanced out of the window. In the place where the trees flourished was the shrine. She had also seen it in her projecting.
"Please bring me there, hurry."
Dragging Mai, with his shiki following behind them, Lin sprinted out of the Work Room.
...
The wooden Torii that was going black. The unmoving Inari Kami with flags stuck on it. The small main hall with slopping tiled roof.
Lin walked straight up to the Inari Kami. He walked around the small memorial hall investigating something.
Stones were stacked into a pedestal, and a small wooden memorial hall was placed on top. Even the donation box placed in front of the memorial hall was so small it was pathetic.
Lin said after walking around and looking at the memorial hall, "It is not here."
After that grumble he walked towards the Main Hall. Lin look at Mai who pointed to the floor. Lin studied the floor which was higher than many other temples.
"I'm sorry, I am unable to crawl in, Mai. Can you please crawl under this floor and take a look."
To prevent cats and dogs from going under the floor, it was surrounded by a wire mesh. There was a small hole in a dark corner of the front steps. It was a small hole that the nearly 190cm Lin could never have crawled into. Mai nodded and climbed in.
"Is there anything inside?"
Mai replied to Lin's words. "There is a bit of paper."
"Just a piece will do, please take it out."
Mai quickly crawled back out. She coughed a few times gently, and handed the piece of paper to Lin. "This is it."
Linspread out the paper which had been crumpled into a ball, compared it to the one she had given him at the base and then said, "As expected."
Grumbling softly, Lin passed the paper to the others. The paper was already soiled. It looked exactly like the other one.
Lin's profile was expressionless. "If you wish for madness, bury it the crossing of paths… If you wish to kill, bury it beneath the palace."
Mai watched him sadly. Lin looked straight ahead.
"This is the seal of the curse. If it is buried beneath a shrine, it can become a killing curse."
They started heading back to base to show the others.
"You said earlier you were cleansing the spirits with your aura?" Lin asked as they walked.
"Mmmm, i began thinking about what i could do to help reduce the impact caused by the curse since exorcism was making it worse.
Then I remembered a case from mybpast life where I used my aura to cleanse the spirits while everyone else was trapped and decided to try it. I've been actively reducing the spirits as I walk around the school changing the tapes etc. It's helping but it's not enough.
Ayako could probably donit faster if the trees around here were healthy enough but she's not ready to show her real skills yet."
Lin nodded and said nothing once Mai stopped talking. But he filed away the information in the back if his mind to discuss with Oliver later on.
...
Masako sat on the ground, green in the face. Everyone else observed her blankly.
"What exactly… happened?" Takigawa asked her urgently.
"Sakauchi-kun… has disappeared." Masako answered. Tears rolled down her doll-like face.
"It was just as Mai-san said. The spirits here are feeding on each other. Sakauchi-kun… had been devoured."
...
Masako was still crying when Mai and Lin got back to base. Mai looked at her.
"So you saw Sakauchi-kun being swallowed up, Masako?"
"You saw it too, Mai?"
"Yes. I saw it previously just as I got to base to get Lin."
Masako was trembling. "It was really scary."
"It is when it's the first time you've seen it, yes."
Masako continued weeping. Mai patted her on the shoulder gently.
Lin headed off to get the things he would need to reverse the curse now that he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Oliver watchd him leave confused.
"The first time... Mai, you've seen it happen before?" Oliver asked her.
"Yes, Naru, I've been seeing visions of it flashing constantly since you all started exorcising spirits. I've also seen it through astral projection and through sensing."
Oliver took note of her sharp tone, even more confused than before.
...
"This is an abnormal situation." Oliver announced.
Barely minutes after Mai had returned from the shrine and Lin had left, right in the midst of afternoon lessons, a giant black dog appeared in a classroom.
That dog mysteriously appeared, knocked the tables into a mess, and used its sharp claws and pointed fangs on the escaping teacher and students. Then, like the wind, it vanished after approaching Mai's cleansing aura.
Although no one but Mai and Lin's shiki (and thus Lin through them) saw it getting cleansed. Masako looked suspicious when she couldn't feel it in existence anymore but she didn't say anything about it.
6 people were slightly injured, 1 person was severely so.
"Is there such an evil spirit on this Earth?! " Takigawa paced the Meeting Room, frustrated.
"You call it a spirit?! Let's not joke here; at this level it should be called a monster!" Ayako added.
Oliver moved equipment into the freshly blood-stained classroom. Just as he was about to complete moving the equipment, Oliver's actions stopped. "There's no reason for this…"
Oliver frowned. "First, I have never heard of spirits cannibalizing on each other."
"Because it is a monster." Ayako sighed. Takigawa suddenly turned back.
"If it is a monster, isn't that under the jurisdiction of a Miko?"
"You've got to be joking. Isn't that mainly managed by Monks?"
Mai smacked both of them over the head. It was not the time for arguing.
Oliver looked at his notebook. It contained the notes about the investigation in the school.
"The response in 3-1 has also disappeared. The initial response was so clear too."
The real, abnormal response that had been present up till this morning had completely vanished. Of course, the stench was also gone. It had completely disappeared.
"Was the spirit there also consumed…?" Oliver said that and lapsed into silence.
Just as everyone was lost for words, Yasuhara appeared. Yasuhara probably felt the strange atmosphere about them.
"Could I say a few words? That… some terrible things have happened."
"Young Yasuhara, your news is really up to date." Takigawa was sarcastic.
Yasuhara replied Takigawa's comments with a bitter smile.
"Everybody in the school knows what happened. An ambulance was even called. Besides these, I heard some more slightly worrying news."
"What news?"
Oliver's voice was a little gloomy. His bad mood wasn't helped by the fact that Mai was currently ignoring him and that he could still feel the annoyance shimmering through her whenever he managed to brush against her.
Yasuhara wore an apologetic expression.
"Perhaps it is something unrelated; if you are busy it can wait…"
"There's nothing much going on now. Please tell us."
With renewed vigor, Oliver sat on the chair.
Unconsciously Yasuhara shirked.
"That… it's actually like this; I tried tracing the origin of Kokkuri."
"What? Why?" Ayako asked.
"Yesterday during my discussion with Mai, she suggested that I research it to see if what she said was right. I asked those who had played Kokkuri before whom they learnt it from, and traced it backwards in that order…"
Oliver's expression turned deep.
"Then, did you find anything out?"
"Nothing that is very clear. I only found out that we started playing Worikiri-sama sometime after the second semester. And about the source, there are 2 possibilities. Some say they heard it from a first year student, others say they learnt it from someone in the Aesthetics Department."
Saying that, Yasuhara's expression turned bleak.
"And, what is more worrisome is, amongst the first years in the aesthetics department, that…" Yasuhara began stammering.
"Perhaps this is completely meaningless; the late Sakauchi was from the Aesthetics Department."
Everyone but Mai, Lin and Oliver was mildly shocked. She had already told them Sakauchi had started it although hearing someone else confirm it cemented things in Oliver's mind.
Oliver had sunk deep in thought. He lightly tapped the table with his fingers.
"Anyway, it was after the second semester, and it started from a first year or from the Aesthetic Department… And then it gained popularity in the school and an uncountable number of summonings were performed. Subsequently those summoned spirits…"
Oliver gently shook his head when he finished.
"As expected it is still very strange. Even if an infinite number of summonings were performed how can completely untrained people, even after a thousand or two thousand summonings, succeed in calling forth a cannibalistic spirit?"
"That…" Yasuhara hummed and hawed. "I don't know if it has any relation to that?"
"That?" Oliver questioned.
Yasuhara replied, "Haven't you heard? This school is built on a cemetery."
Oliver froze, Mai's voice echoing through his head. "The Kokkuri-san has been successful in summoning thousands of spirits. The school sits on top of a burial ground and has a natural barrier around it. The spirits have no where to go, so exorcisms are pretty much useless, and its resulted in them devouring each other."
Eagerly anticipating his reply, the others were immediately very disheartened.
Takigawa said, "That's nothing much, it is very common." He sighed, and tilted his head backwards.
"Ah, you think I'm lying. No, this is true. This place is called the Ryokuryo Ruins, it became a cemetery in the Nara era. If you dig in the field, tombstones and human remains can be found."
"Is this true, Yasuhara-kun?"
"It really is true. Will this have any connection to this incident?"
Oliver sank deeper into thought. "So that's how it is… The so-called Old Tomb is the place where the Kekkai was erected to prevent spirits from trawling the Earth and causing hauntings. The spirits bound in the ruins have emerged in large numbers… that shouldn't be the case. The floating spirits summoned into the school are unable to leave due to the Kekkai… there's a possibility that it's like that. Then, there are large numbers of spirits floating around the school. Indeed… the spirits could even follow a person and that person might even bring it home… I've never heard of this theory before."
Oliver tapped the table with his finger. "With this we can account for half of the incident. But, there's the other half… Why are the students here capable of summoning so many spirits with such ease?"
Takigawa said, "Could it be that somewhere in the ruins, there is something that can summon and attract spirits?"
"En… Right from the start the props used in spell casting have an innate ability to affect spirits… But, what is going on here? This is a place where the spirits are sealed."
"If it is used to attract spirits…, there are small special differences from those used in spell casting."
"So it is. The spirits are enclosed in the grave, the grave is then sealed; perhaps there are places where such spells are used. If spirits are gathered around it always feels different. Nothing seems to work here, in this school."
Oliver groaned softly, crinkled his brow and sank deeper into thought. Mai continued to ignore them all as she played with the blue fox sitting in her lap.
...
The darkness of night settled over the school. The school, completely devoid of human life; endless corridors; lifeless windows side by side; dim light.
Mai, who remained alone in the Meeting Room, was ordered by Oliver to retrieve the tape from the LL classroom. She left room and walked towards the first floor of the East Block. She progressed through the long corridors depending on the light of a torch trying to cleanse what spirits she could as she went. It was the innermost classroom in the East Block, just before the turn into the South Block.
Opening the door, the night vision camera and thermometer were clearly visible. Mai, paused, took a deep breath and entered the room. She was scared of what happened last time she came to this room. She bent down next to the camera's recorder, and tried to extracted the rectangular tape.
At that moment, as though it had been sucked out, the light from the torch extinguished.
"Crap! I knew it."
The room was pitch-black. She was terrified and her aura sensing snapped closed unwillingly. Quickly removing her hand from the camera Mai headed back to the door as fast as she could in the dark. Damp, icy cold air caressed her back, and left her shivering.
She could see a blue glow in the distance. That was the light of the emergency exit. From there, there would be a corridor leading back to the North Block.
She ran through long corridors towards that light. Her footsteps echoed hollowly through the school compound.
With a final spurt, she used all her strength to open the door and dash onto the terrace.
There was the narrow space of the corridor. Looking from the window, she could see the field lit by external lighting. It was such a vast and empty space that it felt like there would be a sound the very next second. And it was brighter than inside; perhaps it would be a little better if it was dark.
In front of her was the entry to the North Block. The school compound was as dark as pitch. Over there was a tightly closed glass door. There should be an emergency light over the door. It exuded a green glow.
Suddenly her vision was pulled to, and caught at that place.
There was a small silhouette of a person. A child's two hands were against the window as he looked towards where Mai was. Mai shivered. She remembered that ghost. It lead her to a chrysalis spot where she got into trouble.
That spirit had both hands on the glass, and was looking at her with his forehead plastered to the glass.
"Dammit!"
In her panic, Mai ran back to the East Block, completely forgetting to try to cleanse the spirits chasing her. Before she shut the door, she clearly saw the door to the North Block at the other end open.open. There were stairs next to the door. She dashed up the stairs. She wanted to get back to base. Oliver could get the damned tape himself.
After Mai reached the second floor she sprinted to the third. She swiveled on the landing and ran on. She grabbed the railing of the stairs. She could see the wall of the third floor above and in front of her as she looked up the dark stairwell.
There was a blinking green light that looked like an emergency light. And, there, was the small figure of a person.
Mai's heart thumped loudly.
The figure squatted at the top of the stairs, looking down at her. Due to the back light she could not clearly see the person's features. But, it was a child.
The child squatted at the top of the stairs, gazing quietly at Mai. With the light behind him, she could see a little of his face. The outline of his face looked like he was smiling. It wasn't a nice smile.
Mai maintained eye contact and slowly backed down the stairs. Then she turned and ran as fast as she could.
She ran down one flight of stairs, and sprinted towards the second floor corridor. She opened the door. It was very bright outside the door. There, stood another dark figure.
It was about as tall as Mai's waist. It had slender arms and slender legs. It was obviously the figure of a child but it had a huge head.
She retreated one step at a time. The child's shadow stood there unmoving. Two steps, three steps backwards.
Then the figure moved. One thin arm rose and settled on the door handle.
Stumbling, Mai ran to the right, into the dark corridor. Behind her, she could hear the heavy sound of the door opening. It was herding Mai where it wanted her to go.
Looking out of the window from the corridor, a pale light lit the corridor from an angle. On both sides were identical rows of windows. Window. Window.
Mai's legs felt wooden. She felt like she could not take another step forward. Mai didn't look behind her. She knew he was there.
The shadow of the child walked slowly from the door.
Mai wanted to run. Suddenly she saw the emergency light at the very end of the other side.
Her heart thumped once loudly.
The green glow of the emergency light. Mai knew that immediately beneath that there would be another child. He would be squatting there, hugging his knees. The green light glowed brightly, but it felt darker than black.
Mai turned her head. There too… was the silhouette of the second child. He was walking slowly towards her. Deep in her head Mai could hear the soft sound of a child's laughter.
Coincidentally Mai was standing right in front of a classroom door. She looked at the sign "Biology Preparation Room." Mai shivered. 'Oh heck, no!' She wasn't going in there.
Preparing to run past one of the child spirits, the one who had herded her there, Mai raised her hands in position and focused her will.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan. Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan. Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan.
Rin
Pyo
Tō
Sha
Kai
Jin
Retsu
Zai
Zen."
The spirit in front of her disappeared and Mai ran as fast as she could. She had gotten almost up the stairs when the second one grabbed her ankle.
She screamed as she fell. Hitting her knees and forehead on the stairs as she was dragged down a few stairs. Finally Mai managed to turn over a little until she was facing the spirit and raised her hands back into position. She began chanting again.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan. Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan. Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan.
Rin
Pyo
Tō
Sha
Kai
Jin
Retsu
Zai
Zen."
The second spirit disappeared.
Mai took a few breaths to calm down, waiting for the dizziness to ease slightly before trying to stand back up. It took nearly half an hour before she felt strong enough to get up.
"Stupid spirits."
Mai could feel blood dripping down the side of her face and had to brush some out of her eyes. There was more running down her legs. Holding the rail tightly she limped painfully up the stairs and slowly headed back to base.
She suddenly felt really stupid when she realized that she had gone through all that for nothing when she could have just cleansed them in the first place.
She finally lost consciousness only a few meters away from the door.
...
Oliver was getting worried. The others had come back to base ages ago. But Mai, who had left long after they did, for a brief tape collection, still hadn't come back after an hour. Even Lin had returned already.
Deciding to go look for her, Oliver opened the door only to find Mai sprawled on the floor a few meters away.
"Mai!" Oliver yelled before running to her and checking her over. Taking note of the cuts on her forehead and knees and the hand shaped bruise forming on her ankle, he swiftly but gently picked her up with one arm around her back and the other under her legs.
By this time the others had trailed out of base, staring in shock. They quickly followed Oliver to the sickbay where he was taking Mai.
...
The wind was blowing.
It was a night breeze. Mai felt gusts of refreshing wind blowing over her. It felt like her body had been blown away but it was not a very precise sensation.
She opened her eyes.
It was still night around her… wind was swirling; then she was like a bubble in the atmosphere, floating in mid air. That was what she felt.
In the distance beneath her, there were some white lights; weak, un-dazzling white lights. She could feel them.
Her consciousness flowed towards the light source, and suddenly she regained her sight. The school was beneath her.
In the night, the school appeared transparent. Illuminated within the school were the black koduko chrysalis'.
Mai was annoyed. Although she had reduced their numbers through cleansing, too many of them had decreased from being devoured. The immense amount of floating white spirits had been so quickly and so drastically reduced. Even the original number of black wisps had decreased. There were now only 4 chrysalis which had grown horrendously huge. Not nearly as big as they were in her previous life, but big enough for concern. Compared to this, there were very few little wisps left…
Mai carefully studied every corner of the school; what she saw was the continued consumption of the smaller spirits.
Even those that were like the black wisps floated weightless before being attracted to the larger wisps. The smaller ones were devoured. During Mai's observation, the number of wisps had visibly decreased.
Unwilling to see more of those scenes, Mai shifted her vision. She spotted the figures in the corridor outside of the Meeting Room base.
Mai saw herself lying on the ground and the crowd surrounding her. Ayako, Takigawa, Masako, John, Lin, Yasuhara, and also, Oliver…
Oliver was checking her over before he picked Mai's body up. The others followed him when he carried Mai off. Mai was so far away, yet she could see it all so clearly.
Just like that, Mai's body was carried away quietly to the Sickbay at the end of the first floor.
"Geez, Oliver! Don't take me there! There's a chrysalis there. It's not safe!"
Mai's body was laid down in the Sickbay. Oliver looked at Mai, and caressed her cheek. His face was so close. Oliver was saying something.
Mai strained to hear it.
"Mai!"
Mai blinked.
"Mai?!"
A hand gently tapped her face. Eyes framed with extremely long lashes were right in front of her.
The pair of beautiful clear eyes quickly decreased their distance from her. Oliver touching Mai's forehead with her own in relief.
"Are you ok? What happened?"
"When I went to collect the tape I got ambushed. The spirits caused the camera to malfunction so I couldn't open it. Then they herded me towards the bio prep room. They blocked off my exits. I ended up using a chant to get past one. The second one grabbed me on the stairs. Yanked me down. I chanted against that one too until it released me. When I was able to recover I tried to get back to base."
"How do you feel?"
Oliver sat gently on the side of the bed holding one of my hands with his while his other one touched my face. Someone had put bandages over my injuries.
"Mai?" he said, caressing her cheek.
"I'm still alive…" Mai said sarcastically. Her head throbbed and it hurt. Suddenly everyone let out their held breaths.
"Of course you are still alive." Oliver looked gently at her.
"You only fainted because you hit your head. How do you feel?"
"I have a massive headache…"
An ice-cold object was placed on her forehead. Ayako had placed a damp towel on Mai's forehead.
"How is it?"
"It's very comfortable…"
"You really gave me a shock. Why were you wondering around the school on your own?"
"Because I had to take the tape…"
"Naru, you are too much." Ayako glared at Oliver. "You actually let Mai go to that type of place by herself!"
Oliver frowned. He had to agree with the annoying Miko, even if he'd never tell her that.
Ayako turned to Masako. "Masako, is that thing still around?"
Masako shook her head. "No, I don't think it is here. It's already fine."
Takigawa raised his hand and patted Mai's head. "You shocked me. You were fainted in a large pool of blood. For a moment I thought something worse had happened."
Oliver stood up. "Anyway you are not too injured. The rest of us need to get back to work. Matsuzaki-san, could you please stay with Mai for a while."
After turning to Ayako he looked at the remaining members. "Get back to work."
Mai's displeasure showed on her face.
Ayako looked at her. "Aiya… are you not happy with me?"
"There's no such thing…"
Ayako sighed dramatically. "Ok, you guys go ahead. Mai has me for company."
Oliver nodded, and he kissed Mai's forehead before following everyone else out of the Sickbay.
Ayako watched them leave, and then said, "How is it? Are you still uncomfortable?"
"My head is still throbbing."
"Take a short nap. You'll feel better after that."
With that, Ayako changed the towels. "Thank you…"
"Aiya, that was really honest."
"Occasionally." Mai smiled and shut her eyes.
She was back in the dark, suspended above the school surrounded by the wisps. She turned around to find Gene behind her.
"Gene?"
Gene's expression was hard. There was no trace of the gentle smiling face that usually saw.
"That place is very dangerous." Gene spoke harshly.
"That place...?"
"You know that, don't you? That is a dangerous place. Hurry up and get up and leave that place. You must not remain there."
"Ah, I'm still in the sickbay, aren't I?"
"That place is very dangerous. Get out of there, little sister, now."
"Ok…"
Gene suddenly raised his head and looked at the school. It became transparent. Right on the school's first floor was a pulsating thing. It looked just like the image of an unborn child. A mysterious feeling surrounded the life-like will-o'-the-wisp.
"It's about to be born…" Mai groaned softly.
"That's right. Up to this day they have been dormant. Very soon it will hatch. If it is allowed to hatch, nobody will be able to stop it."
Mai gazed at the school. That was the Printing Room. And that wasn't the only location. There was something in the LL classroom, and the 2-4 classroom too. And the Sickbay also had one. Practically only these 4 were left, all within such a short time span.
With a sudden "Sa", the vision cleared, and the ongoing scenario in the Printing Room emerged before Mai's eyes. They had finally arrived – John and Yasuhara – at that very dangerous place.
"I'm going back." Mai said.
Gene nodded. "Be careful…"
Her surroundings began to brighten.
"That place is…" Gene's figure was swallowed by brightness. Only his voice echo could be heard. "… as dangerous as this one… so…"
Mai woke abruptly and sat up at the same time. She turned to look at Ayako, who was sitting beside her.
"How are you?" Ayako asked.
"I want to get up already."
"Wait a moment, are you fine now? You have not slept for long."
"En. I'm fine. I need to get up." Mai tried to get up. She swayed dizzily.
"That's why I said you are forcing yourself. Honestly, sleep a little longer."
"Ayako." Mai's face was serious. More so than Ayako had ever seen it. "Hurry to the Printing Room."
"Hey…" Ayako looked very astonished.
Mai nodded to her. "John and Yasu have gone to the Printing Room. That place is very dangerous. So please hurry there to stop the two of them."
"Wait a moment, Mai." Ayako said that, before looking at the seriousness on Mai's face, then she nodded to her in comprehension. "Understood. I'm going then."
After her nod, Ayako's expression was uneasy. "Will you be fine on your own? You know how to use exorcism spells?"
"Yes–"
"What do you know? The Ku-ji? The Acalanatha Chant?"
"The Acalanatha Chant and the Ku-ji."
"Good use both."
"I always do." Mai forced a smile onto her petrified face. Ayako looked at her, concerned, then ran out of the Sickbay.
Mai fought the dizziness to stand up slowly. She searched the room for the chrysalis that she knew was in the room.
As she tried to control her breathing, all light in the Sickbay suddenly vanished. It was here.
"What are you doing… Are you playing with me?"
Mai turned to look at the beds lined up inside the room. Light from the street lamps outside permeated the windows. The mattresses glowed white in the dark.
Her heart raced. The second innermost bed… on the third bed away from her towards the inside of the room… someone slept on the bed. It was a human figure cocooned in the blankets.
"So you have appeared, monster."
The fellow inside sat up slowly.
The air was changing. The air, the atmosphere; something like that was changing, distorting. There was a vague black thing below the white mattress.
It rose up and squatted on the bed.
Mai leaned against the wall and formed the hand symbol, trying to focus her will. The dizziness made it hard. She had no energy left to try and cleanse the stupid thing. It was too strong for her anyway.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan."
The black body beneath the mattress swelled. "Dong", a deep and abstruse sound resonated from beneath the ground.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan."
Its body grew larger than the bed. Once more, a moan resounded from below.
It was the sound of that thing starting to rise. A putrid smell filled the entire room. It was black; as though it was nothing but shadow, it did not even have an outline. I could only tell that it was extremely immense.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan.
Rin
Pyo
Tō..."
As Mai's hands moved, with a thump the bed started to shake. She was thrown down from the wall, and landed heavily on the ground.
Cold air crept up her legs. It was sticky, ice-cold air. The figure had gotten off its bed. The mattress covering the gigantic shadow fell onto the ground. Its body sank below, dissolved into the darkness and disappeared.
Mai looked around her, searching for it, as she got up and moved to the door.
The thin darkness had diffused the room. Mai could not even see the shadow of anything. With her hands against the wall behind her, she searched for the door. Leaning on the hardness of the door, just as she was about to open it, the room rocked violently once more. Mai lost her balance and fell down.
At the same time, came a shocking "Dong" that strong enough to shake her body. Mai's body was suddenly suspended in midair, one hand holding the door handle. Then it slipped out of her hand and she dropped. Landing on her feet painfully, one of her ankles twisted and she collapsed on the ground.
Moaning, Mai stood up, keeping the weight off her injured ankle. Taking note of her surroundings, she realised that the floor had dropped. The door was no longer in reach.
"Not again…"
Using the wall for support, she quickly formed the seal with her hands. Mai began chanting once again.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan."
Click. Click. Soft noises sounded around her. It was like there were some small animals moving agitatedly around on the ground.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan."
Mai was completely blind. The critters were coming closer to her, their numbers were increasing.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan."
There was a soft slithering sound. It was coming closer to her. It was already very near.
"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan."
Mai released the first seal and gathered the second one and started the horizontal and vertical strokes.
"Rin. Pyo. Tō. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen."
Mai brandished the sword seal at that invisible thing. "Be gone!"
The room suddenly trembled, and the slithering sound cackled to a stop. The miasma vanished.
Mai hurriedly turned around and tried to reach up the wall. After forcing the door open, she held on to the door frame and lifted herself up. At that moment, something grasped her sore ankle and pulled her back onto the ground. She hit the back of her head as she landed.
The sound of footsteps approached the door.
"Naru!"
"Mai?!"
Lying on the broken surface of the shattered floor, Mai shouted. "Naru!"
"What happened?!"
"Careful!"
The door above her head was open. Oliver halted in the doorway, nearly falling in. "Mai!"
Mai lifted her head and looked up.
Oliver looked, stunned, around the room, and quickly extended a hand towards her.
"Come."
Mai pulled herself back up and stretched her arm out towards Oliver's. Just then something tripped her feet. Before she could reach Oliver's hand, Mai was thrown horizontal.
Oliver quickly jumped into the room, and helped her up. She leaned against the wall while he directly stood in front of her protectively. She clung to the sides of his shirt. His back firmly and fully against her front. He felt warm to Mai's cold shell-shocked body.
"Where is Ayako?" He asked her.
"Printing Room."
As Mai answered the question, the pitter patter of footsteps and the voices of Takigawa and the others could be heard in the distance.
"What was that noise just now?!"
With another sound, the room started shaking once more. Oliver and Mai were thrown off their feet and onto their knees. At that moment when they fell, the sound of something fracturing came from above.
Looking up, Mai could see it. The ceiling was about to fall down…
"Ah…!"
Mai shut her eyes, and instinctively raised both hands. Then came an intense low pitched crashing sound. Her vision went dark as she promptly lost consciousness.
...
Mai could feel the ice-cold floor beneath her cheek. Brushing her forehead, some fragments fell down.
She opened her eyes. Her surroundings were pitch-black and she could not see a thing. The weight on her back was very warm. 'Oliver protected me again.''
Neither her arms nor her legs currently had energy to move. As she tried to force energy to her extremities, the weight on her back disappeared. At the same time sounds could be heard.
"Mai!" That was Ayako's lament.
"We are fine." Oliver's voice came from above her face. He helped Mai to get up.
"Naru?! What happened?!" Lin sounded worried.
"The floor caved in. Then the ceiling collapsed." Oliver answered as though nothing had happened.
"Is everything all right?"
"Ah." Oliver answered as he lifted Mai into his arms. He carried her to the wall and lifted her up. Lin caught Mai's arms from above and pulled her up, sitting her gently on the corridor floor. As Mai's body was moved, fragments of something dropped pitter patter down.
Yasuhara patted her back. "Are you hurt?"
"Not much more than before."
Yasuhara let out a breath with a "hu".
When Mai turned back, Oliver was grasping Lin's hand and emerged from the room. He crouched down to hug Mai tightly. "You're all right?"
"I'm fine. It could have been worse."
Takigawa said, "What do you call 'worse'? The ceiling fell in!"
"The ceilings of this type of building are only made up of soft wooden boards. It's no big deal."
Ayako turned and stared at Oliver.
"Why is it able to cause something like this…" Her voice trembled.
Oliver did not answer, brushing his dust covered body. Takigawa shone the torch around the Sickbay.
The floor had collapsed exactly following the shape of the wall. And covering that was scattered wooden boards from the ceiling.
"Don't joke with me." Takigawa's laughing voice grumbled.
"It has hatched." Mai said softly to Oliver as he lifted her up into his arms.
"Hatched?"
Everyone turned to Mai.
"En. The chrysalis. Until now they have always been dormant. Now they have already gathered enough energy to hatch. There's already nothing we can do."
"Mai, did you hit your head again just now?" Ayako asked in disbelief.
Mai did not answer. She just looked at the room she nearly died in.
"They really hate me." Was all she said further.
Oliver sighed as he lifted his girlfriend and carried her back to base. "Regardless, we cannot handle it as we are now. It would be better to seal the school."
"You need to reverse the curse, Naru. There is only four left. It's almost ready."
...
Oliver gave the principal a call from base to inform him of what had happened.
Being told to go back to the sleep, Mai was brought to the Work Room. Under the protection of John, Ayako and Yasuhara, Mai was forcibly shoved under the covers. Left without a choice, she fell asleep.
She was in somebody's room.
It was a western styled room of about 6 tatami. There was a table and a bed, stereo on a stand, and a bookcase filled with books. Mai recognised the room from her numerous dreams.
As though there was something attracting them, her eyes were drawn to the spines of the books. "Occult", "Psychic", "Principles and Techniques of High Level Magic", "An Introduction to the Science of the Mysterious", "The Theory of Spirit Worship"…
The room was very tidy but came across as lonely. Nobody lived there anymore. Mai walked closer to the table. On the study desk was a student's school bag. Around the bag were some loose items, like a stationery holder and a wallet and a Monthly Rail Pass Holder.
She picked up the Pass Holder and opened it, glancing inside. In it there remained a ticket that had already expired in October. She glanced at the name.
--Sakauchi Tomoaki…
When Mai woke up the next day it was already past noon. When she opened her eyes, she saw the ugly expressions of 7 people squeezed into the tiny Work Room.
She quickly realised what had happened.
The principal had brought a few teachers along to kick them out of the school. After they saw the floor of the Sickbay, they did turn green, but despite that, they remained very stubborn about not closing the school. Matsuyama, who had came along, insinuated that they had purposely caused the floor to collapse.
Furthermore, they made Oliver and the others wait in the Meeting Room, while they gathered the teachers and began a so-called emergency staff meeting.
In the end the meeting took the whole morning, and the conclusion was "cease the investigation, so please leave."
Even though Oliver told them many times that the situation in the school was very dangerous, and that if the investigation was not allowed to continue the danger would escalate, they refused to agree.
"Whatever we say, the teachers seem to think that we played some trick on them."
Takigawa sighed. "What trick… how could it be?"
"It's not that. The principal never did say that we destroyed their floor. Although what Matsuyama said was approximately of that meaning. In any case, it looks like the principal himself understands that spirit-related strange events have happened in the school. However, he thinks that our clumsy handling caused the situation to deteriorate. Regardless, they have decided to observe for a while, although it is clearly very dangerous."
"Have you reversed the koduko curse yet, Lin?" Mai asked.
"Not yet. I have everything ready though." Lin replied.
"What is this curse you keep going on about Mai?" Takigawa asked.
"What did you say?"
Oliver's tone was sharp. Looking at Oliver, Mai frowned.
"Don't tell me you forgot what I said at the start of the case?!" Mai was furious.
Oliver showed a startled expression. "I'm so sorry, Mai. I truly had forgotten that part."
His tone was regretful. "What a scary situation… a Kodoku making use of spirits…"
"Kodoku?" An expression of sudden realization crossed everyone's face but Yasuhara's. They all looked desolate.
"Could you please explain what all this is about?" Yasuhara asked.
"This so called 'Kodoku' is a type of curse."
"A curse?!"
"That's right. Curses can be made using dolls, talismans; there are various different ways to do it. Amongst them is a method called 'Kodoku' that makes use of living things."
Oliver tapped the tatami with his finger.
"There are a lot of traditional methods that have been passed down. But we don't know what it is really like. That part was probably not transmitted. This is an ancient Chinese method of cursing.
Kodoku makes use of normal worms. While the golden silkworm is more representative, it is not confirmed what type of worm is really used. In fact there is the use of snakes, centipedes and the like.
After catching a few of these worms they are placed in a bottle which is buried underground. After a few months the bottle is dug out, and because the worms feed on each other only one remains. Kodoku is a way of cursing that makes use of this worm."
"How cruel…"
"Yes… There are other people who say that the worm is killed and its spirit is controlled, and yet others who extract poison from the worm itself. The worm would haunt the home of the curse user, and bring great riches to that home.
But the price for that… a person's life has to be regularly offered in sacrifice to feed that worm. If that is neglected, the worm would eat its owner.
If one is no longer able to maintain the worm, one must take the property, plus interest, brought by the worm, convert it into gold or silver items, and discard them by the side of the road. This is the so called "Kakinsan".
If someone else covets those riches and pick them up, he would be forced to keep the worm.
Believing that he has picked up a bargain and ignorant of the underlying meaning, the person who unconsciously brings the worm back would end up being eaten by the worm.
It can also be used as a death curse. After enacting the curse, the worm and some gold and silver is given to the hated target. As the recipient is unaware of the cause, he would neglect to feed the worm and get eaten by it.
That should be the original method. After that, this method of cursing was combined with the demon cat method – the curse is on the person that kills the cat to gain control over other spirits – to become the demonic method of killing the remaining worm, and using its spirit to kill the hated target."
"Wait… wait a moment. Isn't that exactly the same as what is happening in the school?!" Takigawa interjected.
"That's why I say this is Kodoku. Ryokuryou High School is located on an ancient cemetery. Leaving modern cemeteries aside for the time being, ancient cemeteries are sacred places where Kekkais are used to prevent the spirits of the dead from leaving.
Spirits are summoned into such a place but are unable to leave. That is to say, the spirits are congregated in the school. And the spirits feed on each other within the school. It is completely similar to Kodoku."
A chill shot down Mai's back.
"Then, if it continues like this what would it become?" Ayako asked.
"Only the strongest spirit would remain."
"And then?" Masako asked.
Oliver's dark look showed a hint of confusion.
"I don't know… If this is somebody's planned action, the last remaining spirit would be used as a tool in a curse, and the cursed person would die a cruel death. But…"
"But?" Ayako pressed.
"If this is a randomly occurring incident – for example, by chance, the school is a place that can contain spirits hence such a thing happens. We still don't know what is going to happen." Takigawa said softly.
"The worms used in Kodoku have to be cannibals, right?" Yasuhara confirmed.
"I'm afraid so." Oliver agreed.
"If that's the case, if only the strongest spirit remains, wouldn't the school be forced to feed it? Regularly give it a living human." Takigawa continued the train of thought.
"Hey! Don't discuss that anymore!" Ayako shouted loudly.
"And if this is not done it will eat its owner. Under these circumstances, who is the owner?" Yasuhara asked concerned.
Oliver replied calmly. "It should be all the students who summoned the spirits."
They stared at Oliver.
"Hey, is there no way to resolve this?"
"There is, right?" Takigawa looked expectantly at Oliver.
"Left to me, I am unable to solve anything. But… Lin?" Oliver turned to look towards Lin.
Everyone followed his gaze and turned as one to look at Lin as well.
"Lin, can it be done?"
Lin tilted his head slightly.
"Mai has already instructed me to get everything ready. I've been ready since last night." Lin spoke, playing it down in a completely emotionless voice.
"Lin…" Oliver looked relieved. "Thank goodness, you and Mai were still on the ball."
"There is no way to neutralize the danger of the Kodoku. The only way is to pass the curse on to another person."
"That is what I think. To whom should we pass it to then?"
Oliver lifted his head and looked at Lin.
"The mutual cannibalism has not ended yet, right? The winner has not yet been chosen. That is to say the Kodoku is not yet complete. If we act now is there anything we can do?"
Lin shook his head expressionless.
"There is no way whatsoever. A curse that has been started cannot be stopped half way.
For curses, there are only 2 choices: to not begin it at all, or, once started, fully complete it. There is definitely no way to stop midway."
Oliver let out a long sigh.
"I'm really sorry, Naru, there are only 2 methods of resolution."
"Pass it on to a certain person, or to give up and feed this spirit."
"Yes."
Before long, Oliver raised his head resolutely.
"We have yet to confirm it is a Kodoku. Or if it is a curse started by somebody at all. If it is a curse, we will leave it to Lin to handle. Until the last possible moment, let us investigate this properly."
Lin interrupted him then. "Actually, Mai and I already have."