Ghost Hunt Volume 1 Prologue

[sera131]

Prologue

---

The room was completely dark. The blue glow of a penlight hovered in the darkness. It was a light too faint to illuminate the entire room. Only the face of the girl holding the penlight was visible in the shine of the blue light.

At the moment, it’s raining outside. The faint, dreary patter of raindrops overlaps the girl’s hushed voice.

“...This is a story I previously heard from my uncle.

“One summer, he went to the mountains with a friend. Their aim was to walk to the peak of some mountain.” She briefly paused. “...Here’s the thing, even though the weather was nice that day and they'd been to that mountain several times, they still got lost.

“They should have reached the peak in about three hours, but no matter how much they walked, they didn’t make it there.

“They thought it was strange, but continued walking anyway and arrived at a ridge they didn’t recognize at all. They couldn’t tell where they were. Anyhow, they decided to turn back and retrace their footsteps, but after walking for a little while, they arrived at the same place.

“However much they walked, they kept ending up on that same ridge. Eventually, it grew dark and they had no choice but to set up camp there.”

No one spoke.

“During the night, as they were talking around the campfire, there was the sound of someone’s voice. Even though they called out, there was no reply.

“They thought it was just their imaginations, but when they sat down, they heard the voice again. This time it was closer than before. Again, they looked around, but there was still no one there.

“As that repeated over and over again, the voice grew closer and closer. Eventually, the voice could be heard right next to the campfire. They could hear breathing, footsteps, and the rustling of clothes, but there was nobody in sight. As you’d expect, they were creeped out and my uncle’s friend started chanting, ‘Namu Amida Butsu.’ Then the sounds suddenly stopped.

“Consequently, they couldn’t sleep that night and waited for dawn together. That’s when they found a cairn right next to their camp even though they didn’t notice it at all on the previous day.”

“Cairn?”

“Yeah. On a mountain, when someone dies, people will pile stones on that spot in place of a grave. That’s a cairn.

“—That cairn was about the height of a person, so there’s absolutely no way they could have missed it. But even so, on the previous day, my uncle and his friend completely failed to notice it.

“Surely, the person who died there felt lonely, so he was probably the one calling out to my uncle and his friend…

“My uncle wonders what would have happened next if his friend hadn’t chanted, ‘Namu Amida Butsu’— he still says so.”

As Yuuri stopped talking, all went quiet save for the sound of the rain.

She quietly turned off her penlight.

Two more lights remained inside the room.

“Next is Mai,” Keiko prompted from the darkness.

After a short pause, I finally spoke. “...This is a story I heard when I was in elementary school.

“One night, a woman was walking home along the road. That was in the autumn when it was really chilly out and apparently she had to use the bathroom midway. Since she was just approaching a park, she decided to use its public restroom.

“Public restrooms are creepy at night, right? Even the lights are dim.

“Well, the woman reluctantly entered the restroom. Then she heard a voice out of nowhere.” I spoke in a feeble, trembling voice, “Shall I cover you in a red cloak…?”

“No!” someone screamed.

“The woman was startled and tried to rush out of the restroom, but for some reason, the door wouldn’t open.

“As she shook the door, she heard the voice again… ‘Shall I cover you in a red cloak...?’ She struck the door with all her might, but it wouldn’t open. So, when she heard the voice for the third time, she answered, ‘No!’ and then the door quickly opened.”

No one spoke. The sound of rain and faint heavy breathing could be heard.

I resumed my story.

“The woman rushed out of the restroom, but now she was too afraid to walk home by herself. Then she saw a pair of policemen patrolling the area.

“So, hoping they’d walk her home, she called out to the policemen and explained what happened. After she explained the situation, the policemen said, ‘It’s probably just a pervert hiding somewhere in the restroom. We have to catch him,’ and they decided to check the restroom again.

“When they went to the restroom, the policemen told the woman to go inside, saying, ‘If you hear the voice again, say yes.’

“So, although the woman was overwhelmed with fear, she found the courage to go inside.

“After a little while, as the policemen waited outside the door, they heard an eerie voice from inside the restroom say, ‘Shall I cover you in a red cloak…?’ Then the woman’s voice answered, ‘Yes.’ And in the next moment, they heard a terrible scream.

“When they quickly opened the door to the restroom, they found the woman dead.”

The sound of rain filled the silence…

“It looked as if the woman was wearing a red cloak.

“She was stained crimson with blood. Her whole body was covered in small holes as if she had been stabbed with the needle of a compass…”

Everyone screamed.

“No way!”

“Aaah!”

Ignoring the screams, I turned out my penlight.

One more light remained.

Illuminated by the only remaining light, Michiru spoke. “I have a story about this school...” Her hair hung about her pale face, wherein her penlight cast a blue hue. “Mai, do you know the story about the old school building?”

I looked at her and shook my head. “No, I haven’t heard it. The old school building... that’s the wooden building on the opposite side of the sports field, right? The one that’s half-collapsed?”

“Right. It’s not collapsed, though. That’s where construction stopped when they tried to demolish it...”

“...Why?”

Michiru flashed a ghostly smile. “It’s cursed…”

“C—cursed?”

“Yes… most definitely…

“While that building was in use, a lot of strange things used to happen at this school. Things like students and teachers dying every year… And on top of that, all kinds of really bad things like fires and accidents happened…”

The old school building… I saw it the moment I entered this school. It’s an old building that’s half-collapsed with cracked glass and ivy climbing the walls… It really is a creepy building…

“It was just over ten years ago when the new school building was completed.

“At the time, they tried to demolish the old building, but strange things started happening once construction began. The machines would stop and the workers suffered from illnesses or accidents. Despite this, they were forced to tear down the western wall. When they did that, the roof caved in. Along with the second floor. All of the people working in the room below died…”

Illnesses, injuries, accidents…

“Because of that, the construction was cancelled temporarily. For a long time, the west side remained slightly collapsed and was left alone.

“But even so, bad things still continued to occur. A neighborhood child was found dead in the building and a teacher who went inside committed suicide three days later…

“…Demolition of the old school building resumed last year in order to rebuild the gym, but it was cancelled after only half the building was demolished. It was the same as before. Machines broke down and the workers…”

...Oh my gosh.

“Once, a construction truck suddenly lost control and plowed onto the sports field while a P.E. class was in session. At the time, two people died and seven were seriously injured. It was even mentioned in the newspaper.”

...This is… awful.

Michiru continued once more in a hushed voice. “My club senpai’s friend said she saw a man’s silhouette in the old school building…

“She said a white silhouette was looking out from the second floor. She was passing by the school at night… you know the road along the wall of the old school building, right? She was walking her dog on that road and felt someone’s gaze on her. When she turned around, there was a white silhouette at the window of one of the half-collapsed classrooms…”

“No way…!” Keiko exclaimed.

“It’s true… And she said the person raised his hand, beckoning her.

“As soon as she saw that, she felt compelled to go inside the old school building and started walking without knowing what she was doing.”

“Th—then what happened...?”

“That’s it. When she began walking, her dog started barking like crazy and then she came back to her senses. When she looked at the window again, there was no one there...”

“Jeez...”

“...I’m going to turn out my light,” Michiru said quietly. The inside of the room fell silent once more.

There was a faint click, then Michiru’s penlight went out. The room was enveloped in darkness and the sound of rain.

“One...” Keiko said softly from the darkness. Her voice was trembling.

When telling ghost stories and turning out the lights like this, if you count at the end, it’s said the number will increase by one. That additional person is a spirit.

“Two...” came Yuuri’s voice.

My turn. “Three.”

“Four...” Michiru said quietly.

There are four of us in total. Will we hear the voice of a fifth person?

We listened carefully. There was the sound of rain. Rain…

“Five.”

Aaaaaaaah!!

The entire room became a maelstrom of screams. We were frightened out of our wits, crying out in terror.

What was that voice just now!?!?!?

Keiko and the others clung to me desperately.

“Aaaah, aaaah!”

Then a dim light suddenly turned on.

It was the emergency light near the door.

The cluster of desks seemed forbidding under the faint green light. We’re currently in the Audio-Visual classroom that’s in the school basement.

When we looked toward the door, a tall young man could be seen standing there.

His face was magnificently beautiful, with hair darker than night and eyes deeper than darkness. His black clothes suited him far too well. In the dim light, he seemed to melt into the darkness. Only his face and hands were white like moonlight.

He isn’t wearing a uniform. I wonder if he’s a transfer student.

“Just… just now, was that you who said five!?” Keiko asked.

“Yes… was that bad?” His voice carried well in the quiet.

Having half-risen from her seat, Michiru sat down. “What a surprise! I was sure my knees would give out...”

“Sorry. The lights were out, so I thought no one was here. However, when I suddenly heard voices, I couldn't help myself...”

“Oh no! It’s okay!”

Keiko cried out excitedly, “Are you a transfer student?”

He paused for a moment. “...I guess it's something like that...”

What’s with the pause?

“Are you a first-year?”

“...I’m seventeen this year.”

That’s a strange way to reply.

“You’re one year our senior, then!” Keiko said excitedly.

...This girl! She’s only interested in goods looks.

Well, he certainly is handsome. He’s tall, and like I said before, his face is beautiful.

...Still, he makes me feel a bit uneasy. It’s just my intuition, but I don’t think I’ll get along with him. It’s intuition, but…



Michiru flashed her most charming smile. “We’re the one’s who should apologize for surprising you! ...We were telling ghost stories.”

“Really,” he said, then smiled. “May I join you?”

Everyone screamed happily.

“By all means! Please sit down.” Michiru tugged on his arm. “What’s your name?”

“Shibuya...”

Keiko was staring at him with hearts in her eyes. “Shibuya-senpai, do you like ghost stories?”

“In a way.” He smiled.

Everyone screamed again, but I still felt uneasy. I wonder why, but I really don’t like him.

“Shibuya-san.” When I spoke, he turned in my direction.

He smiled as if to say, ‘Hm?’ It’s just as I thought. This guy has an ulterior motive. His eyes aren’t smiling.

“Why are you here?”

“There’s something I have to do.”

“Well then… you should do that. We’re going home.”

“Whaaat!?” Keiko and Michiru voiced unhappily.

Even the meek Yuuri tugged on my uniform.

“Sheesh, Mai! Senpai, please don’t mind her. Oh, what did you need to do? We’ll help you!”

“...No, it’s tape dubbing...” Once again, Shibuya-senpai smiled with only his mouth. “Actually, it’ll be bad if I don’t hurry and do it. But let me join you the next time you tell ghost stories.”

“Tomorrow after school, then!” Keiko said fawningly.

“Okay. Where?”

“Our classroom! It’s room 1-F!”

He smiled and raised his hand in understanding.

“Excuse us, then.” Michiru stood up in an unusually graceful manner.

“Take care.”

“O~kay ♡,” everyone answered jubilantly.

I walked out of the Audio-Visual classroom along with Keiko and the others, who were extremely pleased with themselves. I alone felt dissatisfied.

Collaborators: csakuras

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