“……Speaking of which, do you know any other rumors like this?”
The aging, now almost unused wooden two-storied old school building.
On the second floor, in the music room, the four of us were gathered.
“It’s a story I just learned about recently, but there’s an urban legend about a "person who committed suicide while laughing”.“
The one who was showing off about rumors he’d heard from somewhere like usual was A-ya.
As his hair hadn’t been styled, his slightly long hair was bouncing here and there. Under his eyes were dark circles, and it’s hard to say that he was a good looking youth, by any standard.
With a menial smile ghosting over his expression, A-ya continued.
"It’s a story about a certain skilled cameraman, but that day, he thought to take some pictures of a nice scenery, and it seems that he was taking pictures on a mountain.”
“Mmhmm.”
“When he opened the view, he could see a cliff just in front of him, and he set up his camera to take pictures of the cliff, but when he tried to look through the lens, it seems that he saw something.”
“……Something?”
“……Yes, on top of the cliff, there was a person. A young girl, wearing a white one-piece. He had a bad feeling, but since he couldn’t look away from the finder, as he continued to snap pictures—-”
“……You don’t mean…”
“—-That girl jumped off the cliff.”
“……!”
“He thought that he’d captured something terrible. After all, up until she disappeared from view, his camera had been continually snapping shots. But, that wasn’t all. When he gingerly looked at those photos to confirm what he’d seen, in a single one of them, somehow, a strange image was there.”
“……S-strange……you say?”
“……When he tried to enlarge the image……”
“……”
“—-The girl was definitely looking at the camera and laughing.”
“……Eep!!”
“……Well, it’s just a rumor.”
A-ya’s menial grin twisted even further as he spoke.
“Hahah, there were a lot of scary stories today, too, weren’t there.”
The one who spoke to A-ya while grinning as if he hadn’t been affected by the scary stories just now, was C-ta. Light-colored hair that was thin and soft-looking, with droopy, friendly-looking eyes, with an appearance that could generally be called ikemen.
“Is that so? I thought they were really interesting stories, though.”
“Y-you……it’s your usual bad tastes, huh……”
After raising a cute scream, the one who finally opened her mouth was B-ko. Her prettily maintained short-cut hair was light-colored, and looking at us from below that, with well-endowed facial features, was, without a doubt, the beauty in the top class of our school. Normally, she was tidy and mature, and friendly to everyone, but in this classroom, that mask of a honors student with clean-cut features loosened slightly, and now she slung around curses with expressions usually not shown.
I very much loved that expression.
“……I think B-ko-chan’s dual personality is equivalent to having bad tastes?”
I said with a humored expression.
“Dual personality……someone like you who acts like you have multiple-personality disorder shouldn’t be saying that.”
“Well, to be honest, it’s at a level where it really seems you might?”
“……D-ne……You……”
B-ko seemed as if she was going to say something, but stopped and sat back in her chair with a sigh.
–D-ne.
That is my name.
Just one of the usual faces gathered in this classroom.
Long, heavy black hair, the opposite of B-ko. I can’t very well say I make many facial expressions. Otherwise, it’s not like I particularly have all that many features, I’m just a normal girl.
……Well, no matter how you look at it, it may be that I’m like A-ya, giving off an impression of being pessimistic.
“About other stories, especially ones like that one, there’s this story.”
A-ya continued with a grin.
“……Th-there’s still more?”
“Yeah. It’s a story about "a girl near the window”, though……? A certain student, returning from cram school, came back on a narrow street, and when he inadvertently looked at a mansion on the side of the road, there was a girl looking his way and smiling from the window.“
"Hmm, it seems like a pretty great story, huh?”
C-ta said with a smile.
“……Yeah, it really is. And then, on that day, he just went home like that, but the next day, and the next day after that, she was there by the window at the same time. But even if he waved his hand, there was no response whatsoever, and she just merely kept standing by the window……”
“……Mmhmm.”
“One day, he, having become curious as to why she was always there, tried to go up that path during the day. When he did that, on that day, too, that girl was by the window again……”
“……What do you mean……?”
“He thought that it was strange that she was always, aaaalways by the window, and he strained his eyes, trying to look at the girl. And when he did so……”
“—-It was a corpse hanged by the neck.”
“……!”
“She hadn’t been looking at anyone, and had remained like that for a while, looking this way with empty eyes. When the student sent a report and the police went to investigate, it seems that the body was already hopelessly decomposed to a point where they couldn’t do anything……”
The classroom was wrapped in silence in an instant.
A-ya held his laughter, hiding his face with the palm of his hand as he did so.
……Really, it’s disgusting. But, A-ya’s rumors were always superb.
We always talked urban legends and rumors of that sort like this.
It was something like an occult research club, but it wasn’t a club or anything like that, we simply gathered here just to talk.
Even if we decided on dates, there wasn’t anything like a quota to fulfill.
Speaking honestly, I didn’t have all that much particular interest in the occult, but B-ko seemed to be enjoying herself very much when she came here, and more than anything, the only place in the school where I could talk to someone as popular as B-ko, was here.
I was only here because I wanted to be together with B-ko.
It was really just only that.
“Ah, it’s about time I went home.”
After a bit of time had passed, C-ta said that and picked up his bag.
“It’s about time for me too……ah, but, that doll, I’m curious about it after all.”
B-ko said while pointing to a doll in C-ta’s bag.
“Ehh, even though it’s cute? D-ne-chan, you think so too, don’t you?
"No, I don’t think it’s cute at all?”
I said, smiling.
Even so, C-ta, without breaking his smile,
“Ahaha, that sounds like something D-ne would say.”
replied so.
“……Speaking of dolls, in the urban legend "hide and seek alone”, dolls are used.“
A-ya also picked up his bag to go home.
"Hide and seek alone?”
“Yeah, a doll or stuffed toy is used, it’s kind of something like a kind of necromancy. At the very end you’ll have to stab it, though.”
“……Huh. Ah, speaking of stuffed dolls, I remembered something from when A-ya and I were small.”
“……Hm?”
“Nah, it’s nothing. Just, even if you ever do "hide and seek alone”, I’d like it if you didn’t use that doll.“
”……What do you mean?“
"It’s nothing.”
C-ta was smiling.
—-Childhood, a doll…….
What’s this, certainly, when I, was young, I had a precious, precious doll.
That’s right, her name was, Ririka. Even though she had been my friend, and I had loved her so, so much……
—-I wonder where she is right now?
“D-ne? Aren’t you going home?”
“!”
When I came back to my senses, B-ko was calling to me from the doorway of the classroom.
“…… Ah, yes, I am! Sorry about that.”
“……?”
Grabbing my bag, I jogged out into the hallway.
The entire time that we walked home, and even after everyone went their separate ways, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The doll that I had loved when I was young……
Why had I loved Ririka so much?
And, where could she be now?
… Why… had I stopped playing with her?
I felt that I was very close to remembering, but in the end, I couldn’t.
What was tingling feeling in my chest……?
Once I reached home, I searched in all the places where the doll might be.
In the back of my closet, in the storeroom……However, no matter where I looked, I wasn’t able to find her.
—Where in the world could Ririka have gone……?
*
The following day after school, I met up with B-ko and headed for the old school building as usual.
Going up to the second floor and opening the door to what had originally been the music room, we saw that someone had already arrived.
“…… Oh? You seem awfully angry today.”
It was C-ta. He was probably talking about B-ko looking angry.
B-ko did seem rather uptight due of the rumor that had spread throughout the school today.
“…..Can’t you do something about that childhood friend of yours?”
B-ko and I put down our bags and sat down in our usual seats.
“Ahh, that rumor, you mean? Isn’t it a masterpiece? As usual, it’s the best.”
“….Why you….”
The moment B-ko stood up, we heard the sound of the door opening again.
“…. Hey.”
——It was A-ya.
“No, it’s not just ‘hey’….I don’t really care about your bad tastes, but would you stop using people as your topics?”
“….What’re you talking about?”
“…… Just like yesterday, don’t act you like don’t know. The rumors are only getting worse!”
B-ko was desperately trying to suppress her anger.
“Look, don’t call smoke where there’s no fire. I only meant it as a little prank.”
“….Why you…”
“If someone happened to see you right now, won’t they think you’re an impostor?”
“I’m serious, if you don’t stop now……”
“…… Anyway, there’s something that I’ve been thinking about recently.”
Just as B-ko was closing in on A-ya, he suddenly spoke up.
“It might just be my imagination, though, or it might actually be an unnatural phenomenon.”
“….Unnatural phenomenon?”
B-ko, who has risen from her seat, sat back down again, facing A-ya.
“That’s right… Lately, when I wake up in the morning, I’m certain that I can feel someone’s gaze on me.”
“Are you sure… it’s not just your family?”
“My parents leave early in the morning, so it can’t be them.”
“Then, is it like someone’s watching from outside?”
“That’s not it… How should I put it—I can feel the gaze of a third party… It’s almost as if someone’s looking down at me from outside of this world…… Of course, when I turn around, there’s no one there. This kind of thing has been happening frequently.”
“…..Huh…”
“Maybe it’s something like a ‘zashiki-warashi’….”
“If it’s ‘Mearry-san,’ you’d be getting phone calls, right?”
“Hmmm…”
A-ya took a breath, and then continued.
“There’s something else that’s also been on my mind.”
“What is it?”
“The other day, we did Kokkuri-san, didn’t we? The three of us: B-ko, C-ta, and I…”
“Yeah….”
“—The following day, I started to feel someone’s gaze on me…. That’s why… Perhaps this has something to do with the “Bookmark of Demise, is what I’ve been thinking.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
—“The Bookmark of Demise.”
According to what we’d heard from A-ya, the “Book of Demise” and the “Bookmark of Demise” seemed to be hidden somewhere within this school. In the book, each and every urban legend in this world is written down, and when the book is opened to the page the bookmark is placed on, that urban legend is said to become a reality.
It didn’t seem possible from just the rumors. However, to us, there was an important reason why this rumor was different compared to others.
——It would seem that this book and bookmark really do exist.
About ten years ago, the year that this old building had become unused, an inexplicable serial murder case occurred at this school.
This is a fact that can even be found in newspapers from that time.
No matter which teacher you ask, they’ll only give a vague answer about it.
However, among the students of this school, it’s a famous story that everyone has heard at least once.
The reason why most students know about this incident, despite it being from so long ago, is because it’s been handed down like a ghost story.
—That incident…It is because they had obtained the “Bookmark of Demise.”
In this way, the rumor about the Bookmark of Demise is often talked about along with the incident from ten years ago.
But, in the wake of A-ya’s discovery of the diary, our activities had suddenly became lively.
——That discovery was “a diary from ten years ago.”
An exchange diary belonging to the students from ten years ago, who had gathered “occult stories” in this old school building, just like us. Many of those stories were ones we had never heard before.
And within those were mentions of the “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise,” urban legends that have been told in this school.
They had obtained these two items, and …… ——died.
Before this, we’d only get together about once a week, sometimes not even meet at all, but lately, almost every day, there was at least one person in this classroom.
A few days ago, it seemed that they had actually tried doing Kokkuri-san, according to the rules written in the diary.
Although I hadn’t been there at the time, just when they started to try it out, they were hit by a very strange sensation and stopped halfway because of their fear.
Today, all the members in the old building were gathered.
“…… Anyway, the last attempt at ‘Kokkuri-san’ failed.”
A-ya spoke those words and continued further.
“Failed ….?”
“We weren’t able to obtain the “Book of Demise” or the “Bookmark of Demise,” right?”
“…… It’s true that we didn’t do it as it said in the rules… but …”
The classroom was filled with silence.
I expected what his next words would be, and simply thought them to be truly irritating.
“…… Let’s do it one more time.”
The following day, I felt absolutely terrible upon waking up.
The fact that something like that had happened in the old building yesterday was part of the reason, but at the time, I had yet to even understand what true fear was.
*
“…… Let’s do it one more time.”
According to A-ya’s suggestion, we began the ritual of “Kokkuri-san,” as was written in the diary.
The way to perform it didn’t differ much from the Kokkuri-san that is commonly performed.
On a piece of paper that’s about A3 size, draw a shrine gate in the center, and on either side of the gate, “yes” and “no.” Below that, write the fifty hiragana characters, and the numbers one through ten.
For the coin, we used the ten-yen coin that A-ya had.
Everyone placed their index finger on the coin. Because there were a lot of people, it was slightly difficult to keep all our fingers on it at the same time.
We closed the curtains, and with the only light in the pitch dark classroom coming from the television that we had turned on, we began.
“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, if you have come, please proceed to ‘yes.’”
The ten-yen coin slowly moved to where the word “yes” was written.
It seemed that this was as far as they’d gone last time, being too afraid to go any further.
“Next, everyone will ask each other questions in turn. First is…… D-ne……”
“Okay, does D-ne have a crush on anyone?”
“Are you fine with it being such a boring question?”
I answered B-ko’s mischievous question without changing my expression.
“Ah, it moved.”
“……… It says ‘yes’……”
“D-ne! So there is someone!?”
“Eh? That’s because I love B-ko.”
I answered with a broad grin. B-ko shrugged her shoulders, as if not convinced by that answer.
“Pfft, as usual, B-ko has a soft spot for D-ne, huh?”
“Oh, shut up.”
It seemed like we were just fooling around, but I could feel a tension that couldn’t be put into words.
Everyone probably had the same contradictory feelings of hoping something would happen and at the same time, hoping that nothing would.
“Next, does B-ko have a crush on anyone?”
Going along with the light mood, I returned that question to B-ko.
“Wait! D-ne! Why’re you asking that!?”
“Fufufu, it’s payback.”
The ten-yen coin moved slowly from the shrine gate.
“…. Ah, ahhh ….. geez …”
B-ko seemed upset.
Thinking that she looked cute when she was like this, too, I watched her.
And so, the ten-yen stopped at “yes.”
…… Well, of course it would.
“So it’s ‘yes’?” …… Huh …”
“A-ya! Wh-what’s with that reaction, acting like you’re not interested at all!?”
“…… No, I was just thinking, it’s pointless if we ask questions where we don’t know if the answer is correct or not.”
A-ya said this as if disappointed.
”…… W-well, that’s true, but….”
B-ko looked a little offended, but quickly asked a different question to change the topic.
“Ah, h-how about this, then? A-ya’s dinner last night was fish!”
“….. What’s up with that?”
A-ya made an almost amazed face at B-ko’s question.
“…… We’ll know the answer for sure, right?”
“….. Yeah, I guess, but…”
“Ah, it moved.”
“….. It says ‘no’……What did you eat?”
“…… It was hamburger steak.”
“Hamburger, huh~ The hamburger steaks at A-ya’s place are really great. I want to eat them again…”
C-ta muttered in a small voice. Whether or not A-ya had heard him, he didn’t particularly react to it.
“How about this, then?”
C-ta raised his voice a little and looked at A-ya as he spoke.
“…. The doll that was in my home long ago, was a cat.”
“Eh?”
“What do you mean?”
“…. Ah, it moved.”
Kokkuri-san moved to “no”.
“C-ta, what is this ….?”
“Whether Kokkuri-san was really correct or not, we didn’t know, right? That’s why, I thought I’d ask a question that A-ya knew the answer to, as well. ….. A-ya, what that doll that was in my house long ago was …. You know, right?”
“………”
A-ya thought for a bit, and then replied,
“…… It was a rabbit.”
The expression on C-ta’s face looked somewhat distorted, but I wasn’t able to see it very well.
B-ko didn’t seem to have a very clear grasp on this situation either.
After a moment of silence, just as I was about to open my mouth to say something…… That was when it happened.
——BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!
「「「「———!?」」」」
Suddenly, the old cathode-ray tube television that was set up in the old building began to light up while spouting noise.
“What?”
“Kyaaaaaa!”
“….. It couldn’t be …!”
“………”
「——Due to a single traitor, a “fox”, the game has begun.」
The robotic voice resounded inside the room.
It was as if unpleasant noise had been poured directly into my brain.
『If you wish to escape, pay attention to the following conditions, and seek the end.
——Now, let this fun Demise Game begin.』
・To reach the end of the game, the “fox” must be killed.
・If the “fox” cannot be found, everyone else will die.
・While searching for the “fox”, Kokkuri-san’s demands must be met.
・Kokkuri-san’s demands will be sent via letter.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
・Until the end of the game is reached, you absolutely cannot escape. ……Absolutely not.
The enumeration of indifferently said words whose meaning I didn’t understand.
I wanted to just laugh it off as a poor joke, but this absolute fear told everyone that it was no trivial matter.
“…….. kh”
——BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!
Just when C-ta finally tried to speak, the intense noise came again.
The man’s face that was displayed on the screen was twisted as if it were something not of this world, and switched between a laughing, troubled, crying and angry expression.
——And then, the incoming silence.
“….. Wh-what was that….. j-just now……?”
“….. I don’t know.”
“….. ‘Fox’? ‘Traitor’……?”
“I-it’s just a really bad joke, right……?
“…….”
We all fell silent at the same time, and looked at each other.
In the dim classroom, all of us had pale faces.
A long period of time passed…… In reality, it might not even have been longer than a minute, but…. The silence dragged on. Someone spoke up, saying, “…. Anyway, let’s just go home for today…” and on their suggestion, we left the school.
Even after I reached home, I felt an indescribable sense of unease, and hoping that it had all been a dream, I climbed into bed.
*
——The following day, I learned that it was not a dream, but the beginning of true fear.
Or perhaps it was that I’d become trapped in a never-ending, continuous nightmare.
In the middle of my morning slumber, I felt something strange on one part of my bed.
A sensation like being pressed down by something…… Sleep paralysis? No, that wasn’t it…… There was something on top of me. Something light.
Very slowly, I moved the covers away, and the thing fell off the bed with a heavy thump.
It had a pitch black cover.
Bigger than a dictionary, the cover of an old book.
…… And inside of it…… a bookmark.
“…… Eek!”
I immediately knew that it was something bad.
I could tell by the sensation on my skin. This wasn’t any kind of joke or trick.
——It was the real “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise.”
“…… Wh-why……!?
My voice couldn’t have sounded more scared and upset.
For the longest time, I stayed in my bed, staring at the book.
How much time had passed?
After I’d calmed down mentally, I put the book in my bag.
I got ready quickly and hurried to school.
Perhaps it was because I’d already panicked once, but I felt strangely calm.
I had to get rid of this book somehow.
I had yet to receive the letter. If I could get rid of the book and bookmark before the letter arrived, then wouldn’t the game end without starting? I found myself thinking lightly about this idea.
If I could just get rid of the book…… If I could just……!!
“Huh? D-ne-chan, good morning~!”
When I arrived at the shoe lockers, I suddenly heard a voice call out to me from behind.
It was a female classmate, affiliated with the track club, the type of girl that that was always the center of the class, and kind and cheerful to everyone. Because of that, she would occasionally even talk to me, as well.
I wasn’t so servile that I would show resentment towards her kindness, but I did think that her behavior was very hypocritical.
In reality, I’d rather she not force herself to talk to me if she didn’t even like me at all.
“You’re sure here early~ I have morning practice, so I always get here at about this time……”
“…… I see…… I’m, in a hurry, so……”
Dismissing the conversation, I opened my shoe locker so that I could leave.
But at that moment, I caught sight of something that shouldn’t have been there.
Inside of the shoe locker was a single letter.
“That” image, together with a chill, ran through my body.
“……ah!”
“Hm? Oh? D-ne-chan, what’s that letter~? Hey, could it be…… a love letter?”
Because of her personality, she would probably want to see the contents of the letter, but, this was……
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
No, it couldn’t be. But, if that were really true, then this wasn’t good……!
While these various thoughts spun around in my head, she suddenly reached for the letter.
“…… Ah!”
“It’s fine, don’t worry! It’s best to ask your friends for advice for these kinds of things~”
This was bad, but…. No, it wasn’t possible…… I wasn’t even sure if it was really “that letter,” after all…… But, if it really were the real thing, then……!”
“…… No—”
“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………..………………… What is this?”
“—Ah!”
Having already opened the letter, all of the emotion drained from her face, and she spoke with a completely empty expression.
Afterwards, she glared at me as if I were something filthy, and walked off into the school building, muttering incoherently with the letter still in hand.
I was too horrified to move from that spot.
*
After school, having not yet seen the contents of the letter, nor found the chance to get rid of the book and bookmark, I went to the old building. Once there, I found that everyone had already gathered.
“………!”
B-ko looked in my direction for a moment, but then quickly turned in the other direction.
What was wrong? Perhaps something strange had already happened to her, as well.
I tried to act calm, and joined their conversation.
“…… About yesterday…… In the end, I wonder what that was all about.”
“…… It’s hard to tell at this point…… I hate to admit it, but there’s a chance it might’ve just been an elaborate prank……”
B-ko seemed slightly relieved at A-ya’s words and raised her face.
I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t tell them that the “Bookmark of Demise” had come to me.
“….. But, if it’s true, then one of us is……”
“——Stop it!”
B-ko suddenly yelled, holding her head as if covering her ears.
I thought her to look very cute like this.
Most likely, my mental state wasn’t very stable at the moment, either.
However, I wasn’t able to outwardly express emotions like fear very well. I felt that the B-ko who I loved, was acting scared in my place instead, and it made me happy.
With my better judgment at a degraded state as well, I silently pulled out the camera app on my phone to secretly take a picture of B-ko like I usually would.
Looking at B-ko through the screen, the afternoon sun was streaming in through the classroom window, creating a lovely backlight.
The moment I pressed the shutter button, I felt uneasy for some reason.
——THUD!!!
There was a sudden loud noise, and a shadow appeared outside of the glass room of the old building music room we were all in.
——It was a person.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
We heard B-ko scream a moment late.
I was too horrified to take my eyes off of the figure outside the window.
That person, was her. The one that had seen my letter this morning, the girl from the track club……
Right now, she was dangling in the air at the second floor, staring into the classroom.
The rope that hung from the roof held her up by the neck, and her vacant eyes met with mine.
“…… I-it’s ‘the girl by the window’……”
A-ya was trembling in fear, with a tight, half-smile on his face.
“…… W-we…… have to go call someone……”
C-ta was scared, too.
But they didn’t understand. None of you… Not a single one of you could even begin to understand my fear right now……!
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
This game was real,
So was the book and the bookmark,
And if nothing was done, then……!
Then, just like, this girl, right in front of us, with the vacant eyes, we’d……!!
——Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.
My memories after that were vague.
After the teachers arrived at the scene, and we briefly explained the situation to the police as well, we were told to go home early.
From what little information we’d heard from the police, along with what we heard afterwards, it seemed that this incident clearly had too many uncertain points.
In the first place, the roof of the old school building wasn’t openly accessible, and even when they went to the roof after the incident, the only door remained firmly shut with a padlock.
Furthermore, the roof could be clearly seen from the fourth floor veranda of the new building, and at the time of the incident, several members of the brass band club had been there, but none of them recalled seeing anyone on the roof.
The rope had been tied tightly to the tip of a three-meter pole that extended beyond the fence on the roof.
It would have been difficult unless they scaled the fence first and then climbed the pole.
If they’d tried to tie a rope in such a place, someone from the new building would definitely have noticed.
In other words, this was an impossible murder…… No, an impossible suicide.
In the evening, the media came to do coverage on the mysterious incident, and afterwards, the school was closed for a week.
I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten home, but even upon reaching my home, I still felt like I was being watched by those vacant eyes and couldn’t relax at all.
With my head completely blank, I made to put down my bag, and that was when I noticed something unusual.
…… My bag was strangely light.
When I slowly checked the contents of my bag, the “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise” had vanished without my noticing.
In its place, was the “letter” that that female student had taken with her.
“……ah!”
・Kokkuri-san’s demands will be sent via letter.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・Until the end of the game is reached, you absolutely cannot escape. …… Absolutely not.
I couldn’t run away……
I couldn’t run away from this “letter”……
Preparing myself, I slowly took the paper out of the envelope and unfolded it.
——One-Man Hide and Seek Author: D-ne——
“…… I knew it……”
The despair which I had expected struck me.
Because of me, because I hadn’t stopped her, she had been killed by the “fox.”
It was my fault, my fault……
The memories from several hours ago flashbacked before me.
That girl, who had always been cheerful and never a bad person—had looked at me for the last time with such a horrible expression.
I closed my eyes and covered my ears, trying desperately to forget that look on her face, but no matter what, I couldn’t. And also, those eyes that looked in from outside of the old building—those, those, those vacant eyes……!
I immediately took out my cell phone, deciding that I had to tell B-ko and the others that the girl’s death had been my fault.
However, realizing that I couldn’t tell anyone else about the letter, I stopped.
I didn’t want to involve any more people than I already had.
I decided that I’d try to at least mentally calm down by looking at the pictures that I’d secretly taken of B-ko.
Looking through the photos, I found the ones that I had taken of B-ko earlier.
However, for some reason, there were five of the same photo.
No, they weren’t the same.
I remembered the uneasiness I’d felt when I’d taken them. It was because it had, for some reason, changed into continuous shooting mode.
Without thinking too deeply about it, I enlarged each photo and viewed them one by one.
…… Reasonably speaking, my judgment had been low at the time.
In every photo, B-ko’s fearful expression was captured wonderfully.
As if being drawn in, or influenced by something, I viewed the first, second, third, and fourth photo, and when I reached the last and fifth photo, I screamed a silent scream.
“……!”
There, smiling in my direction, was my classmate from the track club.
Even though she was hanging, she was, without a doubt, facing me with a smile.
In her right hand…… she held the “letter.”
I remembered the stories that A-ya had told. “The girl by the window.” “The person who committed suicide while laughing.”
“…… Nooooooooooooooooooo!!”
The fear gouged my heart and replayed the tragic scene over and over as a flashback.
My mind was unable to process it, and stimulating my lacrimal glands, the tears and sobs spilled forth.
*
I had no idea how much time had passed after that.
In reality…… This fiction-like reality didn’t change, and the “letter” was still there before me.
Whether it was because my spirit had already exceeded its limits or because it had finally reached some kind of resolve, I settled on one course of action, although still facing anxiety.
I was already involved in this game.
Once more, I recalled the rules of the game.
・To reach the end of the game, the “fox” must be killed.
Kill? How was I going to do that? It was impossible……
However, unless I found the “fox,” I would be killed, without a doubt……
An ordinary tragedy suddenly struck me.
“…… Why……”
But, in any case, I had to do something……
As I let out small screams at odd intervals, caught between the feelings of wanting to run away and the despair of knowing there was nowhere to run, I decided that I would first, seek out the “fox”……
Beginning the following day, I started to immediately make my move.
Firstly, I began from gathering information.
In particular, information concerning “the incident from ten years ago.”
Going by what I had heard from A-ya, along with the rumors told within the school, ten years ago, the bodies of the four students who had gathered at the old school building had been discovered under strange circumstances. According to the rumors, they had died after acquiring the “Bookmark of Demise.”
However, if it was an incident that had actually occurred, there should be additional information recorded about it somewhere.
I made to first go to the school library, and set out into the streets.
It was hot outside, and when I walked briskly, my clothes stuck to my skin a bit because of the sweat, bringing about a peculiar discomfort.
When I passed by the shopping mall that was between my house and the school, I spotted several people I knew there.
To them, their classmate’s suicide, and even the mysterious cause of death, must have seemed like something completely fictional; even with the school closing for an entire week, they probably only saw it as a long holiday.
Inside, I could see pairs of boys and girls, most likely couples.
As I looked them, I felt more uncomfortable than I usually would.
… However, I then saw someone that I hadn’t expected.
There was so mistake; it was the ribbon that I was always looking at.
That loveliness which stood out even in a crowd.
——It was B-ko.
Why was she here?
I quickly hid myself in the shadows and observed her.
She seemed to be looking for someone.
…… Could it be that even B-ko was…… Even in a situation like this……? It couldn’t be. There was no way that could be true…… No! Impossible!
She seemed to have found who she was looking for, and took off.
When I tried to see who that “someone” was, the wind suddenly blew.
“……nn!”
Something had entered between my eye and my contact, causing pain to my eye. I looked away from B-ko for a couple seconds to take out my contact for now.
With only one contact on, my focus was unfocused, but B-ko, and the person she had been waiting for, were already nowhere in sight.
“…… B-ko?”
—Had they disappeared? No…… had they run away? Why? For what reason? Could it be that they’d noticed I was watching them?
I started to think about the “fox.”
Of the ones who had been in the old building, one of them was the traitor. But, perhaps it wasn’t only one person.
There was the possibility that everyone other than me was a traitor……
I shook my head to dispel those thoughts and headed for the washroom inside of the shopping mall to put my contact back on.
No matter how much I thought about it right now, I wouldn’t be able to find an answer…..
“……Okay.”
After readjusting the contact, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
…… Huh? My eye color……
For a very brief moment, I thought my eyes had turned the same light brown color as B-ko’s, but when I looked again, they were black, as they always were……
…… Had I… been imagining it?
I left the shopping mall and headed for the school.
Because of the fact that the school was currently closed, it didn’t feel like there was anyone around.
It looked like reporters and cameramen from the media had been here for a few days, but presently, they were no longer here.
I entered through the back gate and headed towards the school building.
I considered the possibility that the school building might not be open, but even at a time like this, there still seemed to be a few teachers that stayed.
As I headed for the school library and reference room, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to go in without borrowing the key.
…… Would it be unlocked, or not?
I started thinking about those things as I neared the library and reference room, but decided I’d go and see first.
Although I immediately thought, “It’s not open after all, is it?”, contrary to my expectations, the door to the library was unlocked.
…… Had it been left open even during the break……?
I entered slowly, walked towards the reference room, and to the corner where all the local newspapers and such were kept.
I searched for the binders that collected all the newspapers by decades.
Rather than keeping every page of all the newspapers, it seemed that the newspaper club clipped out articles of interest from local and international newspapers and organized them according to the decade they were from.
If the gruesome incident that was told in the rumors at school had actually happened, then it was certain to be filed somewhere.
I took out of the binder from ten years ago, and laying it open on a nearby desk, I began to search for an article relating to that.
However, no matter how many pages I flipped through, I couldn’t find anything like it.
But on the contrary, there were traces of some missing articles on the pages.
No matter how you looked at it, the article about “the incident from ten years ago” must have been here.
Had it been hidden? Or……?”
“……”
I suddenly felt someone’s gaze on me and stood up. However, there was no one……
Deciding that nothing would come out of staying here much longer, I headed for the local city library.
This library was located a short distance away from the school area. Because it was a smaller library, along with it being past noon on a weekday, there didn’t seem to be any other visitors besides me.
There was one staff person at the counter, but because I was sitting at a table in the very back of the bookshelves, I was completely alone.
Just as I had done before, I opened the binder they had of the local newspaper clippings.
There were many more different articles here than in the binder at the school library, and therefore, it took some time to find the one I was looking for.
However, I eventually found that the articles concerning the incident from ten years ago still remained.
“…… Here it is……”
An Accident During School Club Activities Results in 4 Deaths——
So this incident really had occured……
While I felt dizzy from the sudden reality of everything, I began to search desperately through the other articles for more detailed information, and becoming so lost in doing so, I failed to notice that there was someone right behind me.
——Tap.
“…… Eek!”
I was surprised by the sudden tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around, I saw someone I recognized was standing there. It was B-ko. Her expression was, for some reason, full of something that resembled disgust.
“…… Wh-what’s wrong……? Why are you h——”
“What’ve you been doing?”
“…… What?”
“I asked you, what’ve you been doing all this time?”
“……”
B-ko was a very special person to me. I was sure that I liked her more than just a friend. Because of that, I definitely did not want to get her involved.
And more than anything, I didn’t want her to hate me.
“…… Aha, what’s wrong? B-ko-chan, you seem angry about some——”
“Earlier, too! You were looking for someone at the shopping mall, weren’t you?”
“…… What?”
“Were you looking for me……? Did you think that you would corner me here?”
“B-ko-chan, what’re you talking about……”
My thoughts were thrown into confusion. What was B-ko afraid of? What was she thinking? It was if, she was trying to say that I——
“I saw it, you know!”
“…… What?”
“……… That day, at the shoe lockers…”
The worst scenario I could have imagined flashed through my head. Please, no, anything but that!
“I saw you show her the ‘letter’…… You killed that girl, didn’t you!?”
“…… N-no, that’s…. not…….”
“Enough already, just stop it! I’ve started to think that you might really be the ‘fox,’ and…… If that’s really true, if you really are then…… Just put an end to this nightmare already……!”
“…… B-ko-chan, you’re wrong…… I’m……”
I started to say something, but then fell silent again.
No matter what I said, I wouldn’t be able to reassure her.
The fact that I’d been at the shopping mall earlier, too……
I realized that this was the best that I could do.
No matter what I said now, she probably wouldn’t believe me.
——In that case, there was only one thing that I could possibly do.
“…… B-ko-chan.”
“…… Wh-what is it……”
“I said that I liked you, B-ko-chan……”
“…… What?”
After saying this, I brought out my best smile, the same as I usually would.
“…. When I said that before…. It wasn’t a lie.”
Walking past B-ko’s motionless figure, I left the library.
No matter what happened now, I no longer had any doubts.
*
On the way home, I saw someone I recognized again, near the shrine.
“…… D-ne-chan?”
It was C-ta. He tried to smile like usual, but it seemed forced.
I walked into the shrine a bit and spoke to him.
“…… C-ta-san, what’s wrong?”
“…… No, it’s… nothing……”
“……?”
“…… This may sound weird, but… You haven’t…. met ‘me’ today, right?”
“……? I’ve… only just met you with right now… haven’t I?”
“……… Yeah, you’re right…”
C-ta continued, seeming to have relaxed a bit.
“…… Everyone’s… been acting weird……”
“…… What’s wrong? When I met with B-ko-chan earlier, she also seemed… different from usual……. Like it was an imposter.”
An imposter…… Was I also one, as well?
It shouldn’t be possible that I was so calm in a situation like this.
“…… An imposter… huh……”
“…… Are you really alright?”
“…… Yeah, I’m fine… is what I’d like to say, anyway……”
“…… That’s… true……”
There was a brief silence.
“…… C-ta-san, who do you think… the ‘fox’ is?”
“……… I don’t know……”
“B-ko-chan told me that… she thinks I might be the traitor……”
“…… B-ko did……?”
“…… Yes……”
“It wouldn’t be surprising… Everyone’s feeling on edge right now…… Even I think that you could be the ‘fox,’ but B-ko’s also suspicious to have told you that. …… I‘m not sure about A-ya, though……”
C-ta seemed even more fatigued as he faced me and said this.
“…… But, if—just if it does happen, you know? If you ever find out the identity of the ‘fox,’ and you’re able to end this game, D-ne-chan…… I want to you end it, instantly, without any hesitation.”
End the game……
I didn’t know who the ‘fox’ was.
But there was one thing that I could do—the one thing that I could do to prove that I wasn’t the traitor……
Would we be able to understand something after my next actions, or……?
“……… Alright,”
I answered after a silence.
We exchanged no further words, and left the shrine.
——I had to end this game, and soon.
I returned home, and when I entered my room, I placed the “letter” on top of my desk.
I’d decided that, starting now, I would perform the urban legend written in the “letter”.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・If the demands are not met, you will die.
It didn’t seem like I would understand anything about the “fox” by meeting Kokkuri-san’s demands, in accordance to the rules of the game.
However, I felt that, if I performed this, then I’d be able to come a little closer to understanding the truth of the “Bookmark of Demise”.
No matter how unfair the rules of this game were, I could do nothing but follow those rules.
Inside of the “letter”, it had been written that the author of the urban legend called “one-man hide and seek” was me.
On my way home, I had tried to look up that urban legend. A-ya had said it was a form of necromancy, but it was a famous urban legend, so I had been able to investigate even the tiny details of the procedure.
“……Alright.”
I strengthened my resolve, and took off my contacts, putting on my glasses.
My vision blurred momentarily. When my regular vision returned to me……
—-THUMP!!
“…..Eep!”
Something fell from on top of my desk.
It was that doll that, no matter how much I searched and searched for it but would not appear, Ririka.
Ririka had a ribbon tied around her neck, and was suspended in midair from on top of the desk.
At this unbelievable reality, goosebumps arose from deep within. Ririka’s empty eyes linked with the girl from the track club, and my memories flashed back.
My thoughts only paused for a moment, but, taking advantage of Ririka’s appearance, my resolve grew even stronger.
“……I am……not a traitor……!”
I took out my cell phone, and sent a text to B-ko.
『Re:Starting now, I will prove to you that I am not the traitor.』
Once I confirmed that the text had finished sending, I finally began to perform “one-man hide and seek”.
※
Firstly, prepare a stuffed toy or doll with limbs. For this, I “carefully prepared” Ririka to be used for this.
Certainly, I had very much loved her, and wanted to become close to her.
Although my emotions had been peculiar as a child, I had most certainly considered Ririka as a friend.
I always spoke with her, and when I thought of how good of friends we’d been, at the thought of the things I would have to do to her from after this, my chest hurt.
Next, I had to prepare the rice. When I went into the kitchen, it seemed that none of my family was there.
In that manner, I prepared a cup of salt water in the kitchen, and headed towards the living room.
And, I obtained a sewing needle and red thread, as well as a pair of scissors and a cutter knife.
Starting here was the phase before the game’s start.
I whispered, “Sorry……” to Ririka, and slashed open her stomach.
And then, I placed rice and some of my own nail clippings into the opening, and sewed it shut.
The whole time while I worked, I felt as if I was being watched by someone, and so could not work carefully.
I tried to sew up the doll’s arms and legs, and even the mouth with the red thread, and just by looking, it appeared to be an extremely grotesque object.
“……It’s as if, they were blood vessels……”
I whispered softly, and, carrying the salt water, took the cup deep inside the closet in my parents’ room. This seemed to be something I had to place in my hiding place.
“……Decide on the stuffed toy’s name……”
With this, all of the preparations were finished.
“……Let’s begin……”
I turned off all the lights in my home, and closed the curtains, leaving only the television on. I set the television to a static screen.
“D-ne is first to be it. D-ne is first to be it. D-ne is first to be it—-”
I told her with a blank expression, and heading to the bathtub, I submerged Ririka in the water.
In the pitch black darkness, the water reflected only a little light, as if distorting Ririka’s expression like she was living.
Her expression looked like she was sad, as well as angry.
I felt slightly guilty.
Ririka’s eyes were looking at me, and I was also looking at her eyes.
Returning to the bedroom, I took out my cutter knife, closed my eyes, and counted to ten.
Ooone, twooo, threeee, foooour, fiiiive, siiiix, seeeven, eiiiight, niiiiiine……
While my eyes were closed, right behind me, I felt as if someone were there, and as I counted, I felt it come even closer, and fear wrapped around me on my arms, legs, and neck.
—-Ten.
“Are you ready?”
I said, and set off for the bathroom, opened the tub, and took out Ririka……
——I stabbed her stomach.
Again, and again, and again……! Messily, messily, messily.
Water had probably gotten in from the gap in her clumsily sewn-up stomach, hadn’t it.
Together with an eerie sound, liquid flowed out from the gap.
Because it was so dark, I couldn’t be sure of the color, and the liquid looked like as if it were blood.
Water droplets pooled in her empty eyes, and she looked at me, as if she were a living thing, and the water droplets ran down her cheeks.
“Next is Ririka’s turn to be it. Next is Ririka’s turn to be it. Next is Ririka’s turn to be it……!”
My voice wavered as I said that, and after returning once more to the kitchen to put down the cutter knife, I returned to the bedroom where I’d placed the salt water, and hid far behind the sliding doors of the closet.
After this, I just had to wait for a while, pour some of the salt water into my mouth when I exited the closet, search for the doll, pour the remaining salt water in the cup and spit out what was in my mouth one by one over the doll, and declare “It’s my win!” three times, in order to finish the ritual.
In the depths of the closet, I thought of various things.
Of that girl classmate from the track club, and of Ririka’s appearance.
It’s still feasible that that broadcast from when we did Kokkuri-san was just a prank, but……
Could it be, could it be that……the identity of the “fox” was……
Creak. Creak.
In the corridor, the sound of footsteps echoed about.
In the corridor that no one should be in……why?!
I held my breath and hid myself.
The footsteps seemed to gradually, gradually come closer to where I was.
Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak.
Could it be that, Ririka was……?!
I imagined a future of being stabbed in the stomach in the same way.
Ririka would take my internal organs out from inside of my stomach, and declare thus:
“……It’s my win.”
No, no, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared!
Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak.
Without thinking, my voice slipped out, and while I covered my mouth with the palm of my hand, I slowly, slowly peeked through the gap in the sliding door of the closet.
—-There, peeking at me in the same way, was an “eye”.
“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
“……!!”
I threw the sliding doors open and flew out, and something that I had not expected was there.
The instant I tried to run away, my wrist was grasped. Without thinking, I lost my balance, and hit the ground. Confused, I frantically tried to calm my mind, and looked at those eyes.
“ｘｘｘｘｘｘｘｘ!!”
The voice that rang out next to my ears rapidly cooled my head, and stole the strength from my body.
“ｘｘ ｘ ｘｘｘght, tｘｘ ｘｘｘ ｘｘｘ ｘoｘ.”
—-I said, and laughed with my final breath.
“……Speaking of which, do you know any other rumors like this?”
The aging, now almost unused wooden two-storied old school building.
On the second floor, in the music room, the four of us were gathered.
“It’s a story I just learned about recently, but there’s an urban legend about a "person who committed suicide while laughing”.“
The one who was showing off about rumors he’d heard from somewhere like usual was A-ya.
As his hair hadn’t been styled, his slightly long hair was bouncing here and there. Under his eyes were dark circles, and it’s hard to say that he was a good looking youth, by any standard.
With a menial smile ghosting over his expression, A-ya continued.
"It’s a story about a certain skilled cameraman, but that day, he thought to take some pictures of a nice scenery, and it seems that he was taking pictures on a mountain.”
“Mmhmm.”
“When he opened the view, he could see a cliff just in front of him, and he set up his camera to take pictures of the cliff, but when he tried to look through the lens, it seems that he saw something.”
“……Something?”
“……Yes, on top of the cliff, there was a person. A young girl, wearing a white one-piece. He had a bad feeling, but since he couldn’t look away from the finder, as he continued to snap pictures—-”
“……You don’t mean…”
“—-That girl jumped off the cliff.”
“……!”
“He thought that he’d captured something terrible. After all, up until she disappeared from view, his camera had been continually snapping shots. But, that wasn’t all. When he gingerly looked at those photos to confirm what he’d seen, in a single one of them, somehow, a strange image was there.”
“……S-strange……you say?”
“……When he tried to enlarge the image……”
“……”
“—-The girl was definitely looking at the camera and laughing.”
“……Eep!!”
“……Well, it’s just a rumor.”
A-ya’s menial grin twisted even further as he spoke.
“Hahah, there were a lot of scary stories today, too, weren’t there.”
The one who spoke to A-ya while grinning as if he hadn’t been affected by the scary stories just now, was C-ta. Light-colored hair that was thin and soft-looking, with droopy, friendly-looking eyes, with an appearance that could generally be called ikemen.
“Is that so? I thought they were really interesting stories, though.”
“Y-you……it’s your usual bad tastes, huh……”
After raising a cute scream, the one who finally opened her mouth was B-ko. Her prettily maintained short-cut hair was light-colored, and looking at us from below that, with well-endowed facial features, was, without a doubt, the beauty in the top class of our school. Normally, she was tidy and mature, and friendly to everyone, but in this classroom, that mask of a honors student with clean-cut features loosened slightly, and now she slung around curses with expressions usually not shown.
I very much loved that expression.
“……I think B-ko-chan’s dual personality is equivalent to having bad tastes?”
I said with a humored expression.
“Dual personality……someone like you who acts like you have multiple-personality disorder shouldn’t be saying that.”
“Well, to be honest, it’s at a level where it really seems you might?”
“……D-ne……You……”
B-ko seemed as if she was going to say something, but stopped and sat back in her chair with a sigh.
–D-ne.
That is my name.
Just one of the usual faces gathered in this classroom.
Long, heavy black hair, the opposite of B-ko. I can’t very well say I make many facial expressions. Otherwise, it’s not like I particularly have all that many features, I’m just a normal girl.
……Well, no matter how you look at it, it may be that I’m like A-ya, giving off an impression of being pessimistic.
“About other stories, especially ones like that one, there’s this story.”
A-ya continued with a grin.
“……Th-there’s still more?”
“Yeah. It’s a story about "a girl near the window”, though……? A certain student, returning from cram school, came back on a narrow street, and when he inadvertently looked at a mansion on the side of the road, there was a girl looking his way and smiling from the window.“
"Hmm, it seems like a pretty great story, huh?”
C-ta said with a smile.
“……Yeah, it really is. And then, on that day, he just went home like that, but the next day, and the next day after that, she was there by the window at the same time. But even if he waved his hand, there was no response whatsoever, and she just merely kept standing by the window……”
“……Mmhmm.”
“One day, he, having become curious as to why she was always there, tried to go up that path during the day. When he did that, on that day, too, that girl was by the window again……”
“……What do you mean……?”
“He thought that it was strange that she was always, aaaalways by the window, and he strained his eyes, trying to look at the girl. And when he did so……”
“—-It was a corpse hanged by the neck.”
“……!”
“She hadn’t been looking at anyone, and had remained like that for a while, looking this way with empty eyes. When the student sent a report and the police went to investigate, it seems that the body was already hopelessly decomposed to a point where they couldn’t do anything……”
The classroom was wrapped in silence in an instant.
A-ya held his laughter, hiding his face with the palm of his hand as he did so.
……Really, it’s disgusting. But, A-ya’s rumors were always superb.
We always talked urban legends and rumors of that sort like this.
It was something like an occult research club, but it wasn’t a club or anything like that, we simply gathered here just to talk.
Even if we decided on dates, there wasn’t anything like a quota to fulfill.
Speaking honestly, I didn’t have all that much particular interest in the occult, but B-ko seemed to be enjoying herself very much when she came here, and more than anything, the only place in the school where I could talk to someone as popular as B-ko, was here.
I was only here because I wanted to be together with B-ko.
It was really just only that.
“Ah, it’s about time I went home.”
After a bit of time had passed, C-ta said that and picked up his bag.
“It’s about time for me too……ah, but, that doll, I’m curious about it after all.”
B-ko said while pointing to a doll in C-ta’s bag.
“Ehh, even though it’s cute? D-ne-chan, you think so too, don’t you?
"No, I don’t think it’s cute at all?”
I said, smiling.
Even so, C-ta, without breaking his smile,
“Ahaha, that sounds like something D-ne would say.”
replied so.
“……Speaking of dolls, in the urban legend "hide and seek alone”, dolls are used.“
A-ya also picked up his bag to go home.
"Hide and seek alone?”
“Yeah, a doll or stuffed toy is used, it’s kind of something like a kind of necromancy. At the very end you’ll have to stab it, though.”
“……Huh. Ah, speaking of stuffed dolls, I remembered something from when A-ya and I were small.”
“……Hm?”
“Nah, it’s nothing. Just, even if you ever do "hide and seek alone”, I’d like it if you didn’t use that doll.“
”……What do you mean?“
"It’s nothing.”
C-ta was smiling.
—-Childhood, a doll…….
What’s this, certainly, when I, was young, I had a precious, precious doll.
That’s right, her name was, Ririka. Even though she had been my friend, and I had loved her so, so much……
—-I wonder where she is right now?
“D-ne? Aren’t you going home?”
“!”
When I came back to my senses, B-ko was calling to me from the doorway of the classroom.
“…… Ah, yes, I am! Sorry about that.”
“……?”
Grabbing my bag, I jogged out into the hallway.
The entire time that we walked home, and even after everyone went their separate ways, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The doll that I had loved when I was young……
Why had I loved Ririka so much?
And, where could she be now?
… Why… had I stopped playing with her?
I felt that I was very close to remembering, but in the end, I couldn’t.
What was tingling feeling in my chest……?
Once I reached home, I searched in all the places where the doll might be.
In the back of my closet, in the storeroom……However, no matter where I looked, I wasn’t able to find her.
—Where in the world could Ririka have gone……?
*
The following day after school, I met up with B-ko and headed for the old school building as usual.
Going up to the second floor and opening the door to what had originally been the music room, we saw that someone had already arrived.
“…… Oh? You seem awfully angry today.”
It was C-ta. He was probably talking about B-ko looking angry.
B-ko did seem rather uptight due of the rumor that had spread throughout the school today.
“…..Can’t you do something about that childhood friend of yours?”
B-ko and I put down our bags and sat down in our usual seats.
“Ahh, that rumor, you mean? Isn’t it a masterpiece? As usual, it’s the best.”
“….Why you….”
The moment B-ko stood up, we heard the sound of the door opening again.
“…. Hey.”
——It was A-ya.
“No, it’s not just ‘hey’….I don’t really care about your bad tastes, but would you stop using people as your topics?”
“….What’re you talking about?”
“…… Just like yesterday, don’t act you like don’t know. The rumors are only getting worse!”
B-ko was desperately trying to suppress her anger.
“Look, don’t call smoke where there’s no fire. I only meant it as a little prank.”
“….Why you…”
“If someone happened to see you right now, won’t they think you’re an impostor?”
“I’m serious, if you don’t stop now……”
“…… Anyway, there’s something that I’ve been thinking about recently.”
Just as B-ko was closing in on A-ya, he suddenly spoke up.
“It might just be my imagination, though, or it might actually be an unnatural phenomenon.”
“….Unnatural phenomenon?”
B-ko, who has risen from her seat, sat back down again, facing A-ya.
“That’s right… Lately, when I wake up in the morning, I’m certain that I can feel someone’s gaze on me.”
“Are you sure… it’s not just your family?”
“My parents leave early in the morning, so it can’t be them.”
“Then, is it like someone’s watching from outside?”
“That’s not it… How should I put it—I can feel the gaze of a third party… It’s almost as if someone’s looking down at me from outside of this world…… Of course, when I turn around, there’s no one there. This kind of thing has been happening frequently.”
“…..Huh…”
“Maybe it’s something like a ‘zashiki-warashi’….”
“If it’s ‘Mearry-san,’ you’d be getting phone calls, right?”
“Hmmm…”
A-ya took a breath, and then continued.
“There’s something else that’s also been on my mind.”
“What is it?”
“The other day, we did Kokkuri-san, didn’t we? The three of us: B-ko, C-ta, and I…”
“Yeah….”
“—The following day, I started to feel someone’s gaze on me…. That’s why… Perhaps this has something to do with the “Bookmark of Demise, is what I’ve been thinking.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
—“The Bookmark of Demise.”
According to what we’d heard from A-ya, the “Book of Demise” and the “Bookmark of Demise” seemed to be hidden somewhere within this school. In the book, each and every urban legend in this world is written down, and when the book is opened to the page the bookmark is placed on, that urban legend is said to become a reality.
It didn’t seem possible from just the rumors. However, to us, there was an important reason why this rumor was different compared to others.
——It would seem that this book and bookmark really do exist.
About ten years ago, the year that this old building had become unused, an inexplicable serial murder case occurred at this school.
This is a fact that can even be found in newspapers from that time.
No matter which teacher you ask, they’ll only give a vague answer about it.
However, among the students of this school, it’s a famous story that everyone has heard at least once.
The reason why most students know about this incident, despite it being from so long ago, is because it’s been handed down like a ghost story.
—That incident…It is because they had obtained the “Bookmark of Demise.”
In this way, the rumor about the Bookmark of Demise is often talked about along with the incident from ten years ago.
But, in the wake of A-ya’s discovery of the diary, our activities had suddenly became lively.
——That discovery was “a diary from ten years ago.”
An exchange diary belonging to the students from ten years ago, who had gathered “occult stories” in this old school building, just like us. Many of those stories were ones we had never heard before.
And within those were mentions of the “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise,” urban legends that have been told in this school.
They had obtained these two items, and …… ——died.
Before this, we’d only get together about once a week, sometimes not even meet at all, but lately, almost every day, there was at least one person in this classroom.
A few days ago, it seemed that they had actually tried doing Kokkuri-san, according to the rules written in the diary.
Although I hadn’t been there at the time, just when they started to try it out, they were hit by a very strange sensation and stopped halfway because of their fear.
Today, all the members in the old building were gathered.
“…… Anyway, the last attempt at ‘Kokkuri-san’ failed.”
A-ya spoke those words and continued further.
“Failed ….?”
“We weren’t able to obtain the “Book of Demise” or the “Bookmark of Demise,” right?”
“…… It’s true that we didn’t do it as it said in the rules… but …”
The classroom was filled with silence.
I expected what his next words would be, and simply thought them to be truly irritating.
“…… Let’s do it one more time.”
The following day, I felt absolutely terrible upon waking up.
The fact that something like that had happened in the old building yesterday was part of the reason, but at the time, I had yet to even understand what true fear was.
*
“…… Let’s do it one more time.”
According to A-ya’s suggestion, we began the ritual of “Kokkuri-san,” as was written in the diary.
The way to perform it didn’t differ much from the Kokkuri-san that is commonly performed.
On a piece of paper that’s about A3 size, draw a shrine gate in the center, and on either side of the gate, “yes” and “no.” Below that, write the fifty hiragana characters, and the numbers one through ten.
For the coin, we used the ten-yen coin that A-ya had.
Everyone placed their index finger on the coin. Because there were a lot of people, it was slightly difficult to keep all our fingers on it at the same time.
We closed the curtains, and with the only light in the pitch dark classroom coming from the television that we had turned on, we began.
“Kokkuri-san, Kokkuri-san, if you have come, please proceed to ‘yes.’”
The ten-yen coin slowly moved to where the word “yes” was written.
It seemed that this was as far as they’d gone last time, being too afraid to go any further.
“Next, everyone will ask each other questions in turn. First is…… D-ne……”
“Okay, does D-ne have a crush on anyone?”
“Are you fine with it being such a boring question?”
I answered B-ko’s mischievous question without changing my expression.
“Ah, it moved.”
“……… It says ‘yes’……”
“D-ne! So there is someone!?”
“Eh? That’s because I love B-ko.”
I answered with a broad grin. B-ko shrugged her shoulders, as if not convinced by that answer.
“Pfft, as usual, B-ko has a soft spot for D-ne, huh?”
“Oh, shut up.”
It seemed like we were just fooling around, but I could feel a tension that couldn’t be put into words.
Everyone probably had the same contradictory feelings of hoping something would happen and at the same time, hoping that nothing would.
“Next, does B-ko have a crush on anyone?”
Going along with the light mood, I returned that question to B-ko.
“Wait! D-ne! Why’re you asking that!?”
“Fufufu, it’s payback.”
The ten-yen coin moved slowly from the shrine gate.
“…. Ah, ahhh ….. geez …”
B-ko seemed upset.
Thinking that she looked cute when she was like this, too, I watched her.
And so, the ten-yen stopped at “yes.”
…… Well, of course it would.
“So it’s ‘yes’?” …… Huh …”
“A-ya! Wh-what’s with that reaction, acting like you’re not interested at all!?”
“…… No, I was just thinking, it’s pointless if we ask questions where we don’t know if the answer is correct or not.”
A-ya said this as if disappointed.
”…… W-well, that’s true, but….”
B-ko looked a little offended, but quickly asked a different question to change the topic.
“Ah, h-how about this, then? A-ya’s dinner last night was fish!”
“….. What’s up with that?”
A-ya made an almost amazed face at B-ko’s question.
“…… We’ll know the answer for sure, right?”
“….. Yeah, I guess, but…”
“Ah, it moved.”
“….. It says ‘no’……What did you eat?”
“…… It was hamburger steak.”
“Hamburger, huh~ The hamburger steaks at A-ya’s place are really great. I want to eat them again…”
C-ta muttered in a small voice. Whether or not A-ya had heard him, he didn’t particularly react to it.
“How about this, then?”
C-ta raised his voice a little and looked at A-ya as he spoke.
“…. The doll that was in my home long ago, was a cat.”
“Eh?”
“What do you mean?”
“…. Ah, it moved.”
Kokkuri-san moved to “no”.
“C-ta, what is this ….?”
“Whether Kokkuri-san was really correct or not, we didn’t know, right? That’s why, I thought I’d ask a question that A-ya knew the answer to, as well. ….. A-ya, what that doll that was in my house long ago was …. You know, right?”
“………”
A-ya thought for a bit, and then replied,
“…… It was a rabbit.”
The expression on C-ta’s face looked somewhat distorted, but I wasn’t able to see it very well.
B-ko didn’t seem to have a very clear grasp on this situation either.
After a moment of silence, just as I was about to open my mouth to say something…… That was when it happened.
——BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!
「「「「———!?」」」」
Suddenly, the old cathode-ray tube television that was set up in the old building began to light up while spouting noise.
“What?”
“Kyaaaaaa!”
“….. It couldn’t be …!”
“………”
「——Due to a single traitor, a “fox”, the game has begun.」
The robotic voice resounded inside the room.
It was as if unpleasant noise had been poured directly into my brain.
『If you wish to escape, pay attention to the following conditions, and seek the end.
——Now, let this fun Demise Game begin.』
・To reach the end of the game, the “fox” must be killed.
・If the “fox” cannot be found, everyone else will die.
・While searching for the “fox”, Kokkuri-san’s demands must be met.
・Kokkuri-san’s demands will be sent via letter.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
・Until the end of the game is reached, you absolutely cannot escape. ……Absolutely not.
The enumeration of indifferently said words whose meaning I didn’t understand.
I wanted to just laugh it off as a poor joke, but this absolute fear told everyone that it was no trivial matter.
“…….. kh”
——BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!
Just when C-ta finally tried to speak, the intense noise came again.
The man’s face that was displayed on the screen was twisted as if it were something not of this world, and switched between a laughing, troubled, crying and angry expression.
——And then, the incoming silence.
“….. Wh-what was that….. j-just now……?”
“….. I don’t know.”
“….. ‘Fox’? ‘Traitor’……?”
“I-it’s just a really bad joke, right……?
“…….”
We all fell silent at the same time, and looked at each other.
In the dim classroom, all of us had pale faces.
A long period of time passed…… In reality, it might not even have been longer than a minute, but…. The silence dragged on. Someone spoke up, saying, “…. Anyway, let’s just go home for today…” and on their suggestion, we left the school.
Even after I reached home, I felt an indescribable sense of unease, and hoping that it had all been a dream, I climbed into bed.
*
——The following day, I learned that it was not a dream, but the beginning of true fear.
Or perhaps it was that I’d become trapped in a never-ending, continuous nightmare.
In the middle of my morning slumber, I felt something strange on one part of my bed.
A sensation like being pressed down by something…… Sleep paralysis? No, that wasn’t it…… There was something on top of me. Something light.
Very slowly, I moved the covers away, and the thing fell off the bed with a heavy thump.
It had a pitch black cover.
Bigger than a dictionary, the cover of an old book.
…… And inside of it…… a bookmark.
“…… Eek!”
I immediately knew that it was something bad.
I could tell by the sensation on my skin. This wasn’t any kind of joke or trick.
——It was the real “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise.”
“…… Wh-why……!?
My voice couldn’t have sounded more scared and upset.
For the longest time, I stayed in my bed, staring at the book.
How much time had passed?
After I’d calmed down mentally, I put the book in my bag.
I got ready quickly and hurried to school.
Perhaps it was because I’d already panicked once, but I felt strangely calm.
I had to get rid of this book somehow.
I had yet to receive the letter. If I could get rid of the book and bookmark before the letter arrived, then wouldn’t the game end without starting? I found myself thinking lightly about this idea.
If I could just get rid of the book…… If I could just……!!
“Huh? D-ne-chan, good morning~!”
When I arrived at the shoe lockers, I suddenly heard a voice call out to me from behind.
It was a female classmate, affiliated with the track club, the type of girl that that was always the center of the class, and kind and cheerful to everyone. Because of that, she would occasionally even talk to me, as well.
I wasn’t so servile that I would show resentment towards her kindness, but I did think that her behavior was very hypocritical.
In reality, I’d rather she not force herself to talk to me if she didn’t even like me at all.
“You’re sure here early~ I have morning practice, so I always get here at about this time……”
“…… I see…… I’m, in a hurry, so……”
Dismissing the conversation, I opened my shoe locker so that I could leave.
But at that moment, I caught sight of something that shouldn’t have been there.
Inside of the shoe locker was a single letter.
“That” image, together with a chill, ran through my body.
“……ah!”
“Hm? Oh? D-ne-chan, what’s that letter~? Hey, could it be…… a love letter?”
Because of her personality, she would probably want to see the contents of the letter, but, this was……
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
No, it couldn’t be. But, if that were really true, then this wasn’t good……!
While these various thoughts spun around in my head, she suddenly reached for the letter.
“…… Ah!”
“It’s fine, don’t worry! It’s best to ask your friends for advice for these kinds of things~”
This was bad, but…. No, it wasn’t possible…… I wasn’t even sure if it was really “that letter,” after all…… But, if it really were the real thing, then……!”
“…… No—”
“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………..………………… What is this?”
“—Ah!”
Having already opened the letter, all of the emotion drained from her face, and she spoke with a completely empty expression.
Afterwards, she glared at me as if I were something filthy, and walked off into the school building, muttering incoherently with the letter still in hand.
I was too horrified to move from that spot.
*
After school, having not yet seen the contents of the letter, nor found the chance to get rid of the book and bookmark, I went to the old building. Once there, I found that everyone had already gathered.
“………!”
B-ko looked in my direction for a moment, but then quickly turned in the other direction.
What was wrong? Perhaps something strange had already happened to her, as well.
I tried to act calm, and joined their conversation.
“…… About yesterday…… In the end, I wonder what that was all about.”
“…… It’s hard to tell at this point…… I hate to admit it, but there’s a chance it might’ve just been an elaborate prank……”
B-ko seemed slightly relieved at A-ya’s words and raised her face.
I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t tell them that the “Bookmark of Demise” had come to me.
“….. But, if it’s true, then one of us is……”
“——Stop it!”
B-ko suddenly yelled, holding her head as if covering her ears.
I thought her to look very cute like this.
Most likely, my mental state wasn’t very stable at the moment, either.
However, I wasn’t able to outwardly express emotions like fear very well. I felt that the B-ko who I loved, was acting scared in my place instead, and it made me happy.
With my better judgment at a degraded state as well, I silently pulled out the camera app on my phone to secretly take a picture of B-ko like I usually would.
Looking at B-ko through the screen, the afternoon sun was streaming in through the classroom window, creating a lovely backlight.
The moment I pressed the shutter button, I felt uneasy for some reason.
——THUD!!!
There was a sudden loud noise, and a shadow appeared outside of the glass room of the old building music room we were all in.
——It was a person.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
We heard B-ko scream a moment late.
I was too horrified to take my eyes off of the figure outside the window.
That person, was her. The one that had seen my letter this morning, the girl from the track club……
Right now, she was dangling in the air at the second floor, staring into the classroom.
The rope that hung from the roof held her up by the neck, and her vacant eyes met with mine.
“…… I-it’s ‘the girl by the window’……”
A-ya was trembling in fear, with a tight, half-smile on his face.
“…… W-we…… have to go call someone……”
C-ta was scared, too.
But they didn’t understand. None of you… Not a single one of you could even begin to understand my fear right now……!
・If the demands are shown to someone outside of the game, that person will die.
This game was real,
So was the book and the bookmark,
And if nothing was done, then……!
Then, just like, this girl, right in front of us, with the vacant eyes, we’d……!!
——Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.
My memories after that were vague.
After the teachers arrived at the scene, and we briefly explained the situation to the police as well, we were told to go home early.
From what little information we’d heard from the police, along with what we heard afterwards, it seemed that this incident clearly had too many uncertain points.
In the first place, the roof of the old school building wasn’t openly accessible, and even when they went to the roof after the incident, the only door remained firmly shut with a padlock.
Furthermore, the roof could be clearly seen from the fourth floor veranda of the new building, and at the time of the incident, several members of the brass band club had been there, but none of them recalled seeing anyone on the roof.
The rope had been tied tightly to the tip of a three-meter pole that extended beyond the fence on the roof.
It would have been difficult unless they scaled the fence first and then climbed the pole.
If they’d tried to tie a rope in such a place, someone from the new building would definitely have noticed.
In other words, this was an impossible murder…… No, an impossible suicide.
In the evening, the media came to do coverage on the mysterious incident, and afterwards, the school was closed for a week.
I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten home, but even upon reaching my home, I still felt like I was being watched by those vacant eyes and couldn’t relax at all.
With my head completely blank, I made to put down my bag, and that was when I noticed something unusual.
…… My bag was strangely light.
When I slowly checked the contents of my bag, the “Book of Demise” and “Bookmark of Demise” had vanished without my noticing.
In its place, was the “letter” that that female student had taken with her.
“……ah!”
・Kokkuri-san’s demands will be sent via letter.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・Until the end of the game is reached, you absolutely cannot escape. …… Absolutely not.
I couldn’t run away……
I couldn’t run away from this “letter”……
Preparing myself, I slowly took the paper out of the envelope and unfolded it.
——One-Man Hide and Seek Author: D-ne——
“…… I knew it……”
The despair which I had expected struck me.
Because of me, because I hadn’t stopped her, she had been killed by the “fox.”
It was my fault, my fault……
The memories from several hours ago flashbacked before me.
That girl, who had always been cheerful and never a bad person—had looked at me for the last time with such a horrible expression.
I closed my eyes and covered my ears, trying desperately to forget that look on her face, but no matter what, I couldn’t. And also, those eyes that looked in from outside of the old building—those, those, those vacant eyes……!
I immediately took out my cell phone, deciding that I had to tell B-ko and the others that the girl’s death had been my fault.
However, realizing that I couldn’t tell anyone else about the letter, I stopped.
I didn’t want to involve any more people than I already had.
I decided that I’d try to at least mentally calm down by looking at the pictures that I’d secretly taken of B-ko.
Looking through the photos, I found the ones that I had taken of B-ko earlier.
However, for some reason, there were five of the same photo.
No, they weren’t the same.
I remembered the uneasiness I’d felt when I’d taken them. It was because it had, for some reason, changed into continuous shooting mode.
Without thinking too deeply about it, I enlarged each photo and viewed them one by one.
…… Reasonably speaking, my judgment had been low at the time.
In every photo, B-ko’s fearful expression was captured wonderfully.
As if being drawn in, or influenced by something, I viewed the first, second, third, and fourth photo, and when I reached the last and fifth photo, I screamed a silent scream.
“……!”
There, smiling in my direction, was my classmate from the track club.
Even though she was hanging, she was, without a doubt, facing me with a smile.
In her right hand…… she held the “letter.”
I remembered the stories that A-ya had told. “The girl by the window.” “The person who committed suicide while laughing.”
“…… Nooooooooooooooooooo!!”
The fear gouged my heart and replayed the tragic scene over and over as a flashback.
My mind was unable to process it, and stimulating my lacrimal glands, the tears and sobs spilled forth.
*
I had no idea how much time had passed after that.
In reality…… This fiction-like reality didn’t change, and the “letter” was still there before me.
Whether it was because my spirit had already exceeded its limits or because it had finally reached some kind of resolve, I settled on one course of action, although still facing anxiety.
I was already involved in this game.
Once more, I recalled the rules of the game.
・To reach the end of the game, the “fox” must be killed.
Kill? How was I going to do that? It was impossible……
However, unless I found the “fox,” I would be killed, without a doubt……
An ordinary tragedy suddenly struck me.
“…… Why……”
But, in any case, I had to do something……
As I let out small screams at odd intervals, caught between the feelings of wanting to run away and the despair of knowing there was nowhere to run, I decided that I would first, seek out the “fox”……
Beginning the following day, I started to immediately make my move.
Firstly, I began from gathering information.
In particular, information concerning “the incident from ten years ago.”
Going by what I had heard from A-ya, along with the rumors told within the school, ten years ago, the bodies of the four students who had gathered at the old school building had been discovered under strange circumstances. According to the rumors, they had died after acquiring the “Bookmark of Demise.”
However, if it was an incident that had actually occurred, there should be additional information recorded about it somewhere.
I made to first go to the school library, and set out into the streets.
It was hot outside, and when I walked briskly, my clothes stuck to my skin a bit because of the sweat, bringing about a peculiar discomfort.
When I passed by the shopping mall that was between my house and the school, I spotted several people I knew there.
To them, their classmate’s suicide, and even the mysterious cause of death, must have seemed like something completely fictional; even with the school closing for an entire week, they probably only saw it as a long holiday.
Inside, I could see pairs of boys and girls, most likely couples.
As I looked them, I felt more uncomfortable than I usually would.
… However, I then saw someone that I hadn’t expected.
There was so mistake; it was the ribbon that I was always looking at.
That loveliness which stood out even in a crowd.
——It was B-ko.
Why was she here?
I quickly hid myself in the shadows and observed her.
She seemed to be looking for someone.
…… Could it be that even B-ko was…… Even in a situation like this……? It couldn’t be. There was no way that could be true…… No! Impossible!
She seemed to have found who she was looking for, and took off.
When I tried to see who that “someone” was, the wind suddenly blew.
“……nn!”
Something had entered between my eye and my contact, causing pain to my eye. I looked away from B-ko for a couple seconds to take out my contact for now.
With only one contact on, my focus was unfocused, but B-ko, and the person she had been waiting for, were already nowhere in sight.
“…… B-ko?”
—Had they disappeared? No…… had they run away? Why? For what reason? Could it be that they’d noticed I was watching them?
I started to think about the “fox.”
Of the ones who had been in the old building, one of them was the traitor. But, perhaps it wasn’t only one person.
There was the possibility that everyone other than me was a traitor……
I shook my head to dispel those thoughts and headed for the washroom inside of the shopping mall to put my contact back on.
No matter how much I thought about it right now, I wouldn’t be able to find an answer…..
“……Okay.”
After readjusting the contact, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
…… Huh? My eye color……
For a very brief moment, I thought my eyes had turned the same light brown color as B-ko’s, but when I looked again, they were black, as they always were……
…… Had I… been imagining it?
I left the shopping mall and headed for the school.
Because of the fact that the school was currently closed, it didn’t feel like there was anyone around.
It looked like reporters and cameramen from the media had been here for a few days, but presently, they were no longer here.
I entered through the back gate and headed towards the school building.
I considered the possibility that the school building might not be open, but even at a time like this, there still seemed to be a few teachers that stayed.
As I headed for the school library and reference room, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to go in without borrowing the key.
…… Would it be unlocked, or not?
I started thinking about those things as I neared the library and reference room, but decided I’d go and see first.
Although I immediately thought, “It’s not open after all, is it?”, contrary to my expectations, the door to the library was unlocked.
…… Had it been left open even during the break……?
I entered slowly, walked towards the reference room, and to the corner where all the local newspapers and such were kept.
I searched for the binders that collected all the newspapers by decades.
Rather than keeping every page of all the newspapers, it seemed that the newspaper club clipped out articles of interest from local and international newspapers and organized them according to the decade they were from.
If the gruesome incident that was told in the rumors at school had actually happened, then it was certain to be filed somewhere.
I took out of the binder from ten years ago, and laying it open on a nearby desk, I began to search for an article relating to that.
However, no matter how many pages I flipped through, I couldn’t find anything like it.
But on the contrary, there were traces of some missing articles on the pages.
No matter how you looked at it, the article about “the incident from ten years ago” must have been here.
Had it been hidden? Or……?”
“……”
I suddenly felt someone’s gaze on me and stood up. However, there was no one……
Deciding that nothing would come out of staying here much longer, I headed for the local city library.
This library was located a short distance away from the school area. Because it was a smaller library, along with it being past noon on a weekday, there didn’t seem to be any other visitors besides me.
There was one staff person at the counter, but because I was sitting at a table in the very back of the bookshelves, I was completely alone.
Just as I had done before, I opened the binder they had of the local newspaper clippings.
There were many more different articles here than in the binder at the school library, and therefore, it took some time to find the one I was looking for.
However, I eventually found that the articles concerning the incident from ten years ago still remained.
“…… Here it is……”
An Accident During School Club Activities Results in 4 Deaths——
So this incident really had occured……
While I felt dizzy from the sudden reality of everything, I began to search desperately through the other articles for more detailed information, and becoming so lost in doing so, I failed to notice that there was someone right behind me.
——Tap.
“…… Eek!”
I was surprised by the sudden tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around, I saw someone I recognized was standing there. It was B-ko. Her expression was, for some reason, full of something that resembled disgust.
“…… Wh-what’s wrong……? Why are you h——”
“What’ve you been doing?”
“…… What?”
“I asked you, what’ve you been doing all this time?”
“……”
B-ko was a very special person to me. I was sure that I liked her more than just a friend. Because of that, I definitely did not want to get her involved.
And more than anything, I didn’t want her to hate me.
“…… Aha, what’s wrong? B-ko-chan, you seem angry about some——”
“Earlier, too! You were looking for someone at the shopping mall, weren’t you?”
“…… What?”
“Were you looking for me……? Did you think that you would corner me here?”
“B-ko-chan, what’re you talking about……”
My thoughts were thrown into confusion. What was B-ko afraid of? What was she thinking? It was if, she was trying to say that I——
“I saw it, you know!”
“…… What?”
“……… That day, at the shoe lockers…”
The worst scenario I could have imagined flashed through my head. Please, no, anything but that!
“I saw you show her the ‘letter’…… You killed that girl, didn’t you!?”
“…… N-no, that’s…. not…….”
“Enough already, just stop it! I’ve started to think that you might really be the ‘fox,’ and…… If that’s really true, if you really are then…… Just put an end to this nightmare already……!”
“…… B-ko-chan, you’re wrong…… I’m……”
I started to say something, but then fell silent again.
No matter what I said, I wouldn’t be able to reassure her.
The fact that I’d been at the shopping mall earlier, too……
I realized that this was the best that I could do.
No matter what I said now, she probably wouldn’t believe me.
——In that case, there was only one thing that I could possibly do.
“…… B-ko-chan.”
“…… Wh-what is it……”
“I said that I liked you, B-ko-chan……”
“…… What?”
After saying this, I brought out my best smile, the same as I usually would.
“…. When I said that before…. It wasn’t a lie.”
Walking past B-ko’s motionless figure, I left the library.
No matter what happened now, I no longer had any doubts.
*
On the way home, I saw someone I recognized again, near the shrine.
“…… D-ne-chan?”
It was C-ta. He tried to smile like usual, but it seemed forced.
I walked into the shrine a bit and spoke to him.
“…… C-ta-san, what’s wrong?”
“…… No, it’s… nothing……”
“……?”
“…… This may sound weird, but… You haven’t…. met ‘me’ today, right?”
“……? I’ve… only just met you with right now… haven’t I?”
“……… Yeah, you’re right…”
C-ta continued, seeming to have relaxed a bit.
“…… Everyone’s… been acting weird……”
“…… What’s wrong? When I met with B-ko-chan earlier, she also seemed… different from usual……. Like it was an imposter.”
An imposter…… Was I also one, as well?
It shouldn’t be possible that I was so calm in a situation like this.
“…… An imposter… huh……”
“…… Are you really alright?”
“…… Yeah, I’m fine… is what I’d like to say, anyway……”
“…… That’s… true……”
There was a brief silence.
“…… C-ta-san, who do you think… the ‘fox’ is?”
“……… I don’t know……”
“B-ko-chan told me that… she thinks I might be the traitor……”
“…… B-ko did……?”
“…… Yes……”
“It wouldn’t be surprising… Everyone’s feeling on edge right now…… Even I think that you could be the ‘fox,’ but B-ko’s also suspicious to have told you that. …… I‘m not sure about A-ya, though……”
C-ta seemed even more fatigued as he faced me and said this.
“…… But, if—just if it does happen, you know? If you ever find out the identity of the ‘fox,’ and you’re able to end this game, D-ne-chan…… I want to you end it, instantly, without any hesitation.”
End the game……
I didn’t know who the ‘fox’ was.
But there was one thing that I could do—the one thing that I could do to prove that I wasn’t the traitor……
Would we be able to understand something after my next actions, or……?
“……… Alright,”
I answered after a silence.
We exchanged no further words, and left the shrine.
——I had to end this game, and soon.
I returned home, and when I entered my room, I placed the “letter” on top of my desk.
I’d decided that, starting now, I would perform the urban legend written in the “letter”.
・You will be given one week to fulfill Kokkuri-san’s demands.
・If the demands are ignored, you will die.
・If the demands are not met, you will die.
It didn’t seem like I would understand anything about the “fox” by meeting Kokkuri-san’s demands, in accordance to the rules of the game.
However, I felt that, if I performed this, then I’d be able to come a little closer to understanding the truth of the “Bookmark of Demise”.
No matter how unfair the rules of this game were, I could do nothing but follow those rules.
Inside of the “letter”, it had been written that the author of the urban legend called “one-man hide and seek” was me.
On my way home, I had tried to look up that urban legend. A-ya had said it was a form of necromancy, but it was a famous urban legend, so I had been able to investigate even the tiny details of the procedure.
“……Alright.”
I strengthened my resolve, and took off my contacts, putting on my glasses.
My vision blurred momentarily. When my regular vision returned to me……
—-THUMP!!
“…..Eep!”
Something fell from on top of my desk.
It was that doll that, no matter how much I searched and searched for it but would not appear, Ririka.
Ririka had a ribbon tied around her neck, and was suspended in midair from on top of the desk.
At this unbelievable reality, goosebumps arose from deep within. Ririka’s empty eyes linked with the girl from the track club, and my memories flashed back.
My thoughts only paused for a moment, but, taking advantage of Ririka’s appearance, my resolve grew even stronger.
“……I am……not a traitor……!”
I took out my cell phone, and sent a text to B-ko.
『Re:Starting now, I will prove to you that I am not the traitor.』
Once I confirmed that the text had finished sending, I finally began to perform “one-man hide and seek”.
※
Firstly, prepare a stuffed toy or doll with limbs. For this, I “carefully prepared” Ririka to be used for this.
Certainly, I had very much loved her, and wanted to become close to her.
Although my emotions had been peculiar as a child, I had most certainly considered Ririka as a friend.
I always spoke with her, and when I thought of how good of friends we’d been, at the thought of the things I would have to do to her from after this, my chest hurt.
Next, I had to prepare the rice. When I went into the kitchen, it seemed that none of my family was there.
In that manner, I prepared a cup of salt water in the kitchen, and headed towards the living room.
And, I obtained a sewing needle and red thread, as well as a pair of scissors and a cutter knife.
Starting here was the phase before the game’s start.
I whispered, “Sorry……” to Ririka, and slashed open her stomach.
And then, I placed rice and some of my own nail clippings into the opening, and sewed it shut.
The whole time while I worked, I felt as if I was being watched by someone, and so could not work carefully.
I tried to sew up the doll’s arms and legs, and even the mouth with the red thread, and just by looking, it appeared to be an extremely grotesque object.
“……It’s as if, they were blood vessels……”
I whispered softly, and, carrying the salt water, took the cup deep inside the closet in my parents’ room. This seemed to be something I had to place in my hiding place.
“……Decide on the stuffed toy’s name……”
With this, all of the preparations were finished.
“……Let’s begin……”
I turned off all the lights in my home, and closed the curtains, leaving only the television on. I set the television to a static screen.
“D-ne is first to be it. D-ne is first to be it. D-ne is first to be it—-”
I told her with a blank expression, and heading to the bathtub, I submerged Ririka in the water.
In the pitch black darkness, the water reflected only a little light, as if distorting Ririka’s expression like she was living.
Her expression looked like she was sad, as well as angry.
I felt slightly guilty.
Ririka’s eyes were looking at me, and I was also looking at her eyes.
Returning to the bedroom, I took out my cutter knife, closed my eyes, and counted to ten.
Ooone, twooo, threeee, foooour, fiiiive, siiiix, seeeven, eiiiight, niiiiiine……
While my eyes were closed, right behind me, I felt as if someone were there, and as I counted, I felt it come even closer, and fear wrapped around me on my arms, legs, and neck.
—-Ten.
“Are you ready?”
I said, and set off for the bathroom, opened the tub, and took out Ririka……
——I stabbed her stomach.
Again, and again, and again……! Messily, messily, messily.
Water had probably gotten in from the gap in her clumsily sewn-up stomach, hadn’t it.
Together with an eerie sound, liquid flowed out from the gap.
Because it was so dark, I couldn’t be sure of the color, and the liquid looked like as if it were blood.
Water droplets pooled in her empty eyes, and she looked at me, as if she were a living thing, and the water droplets ran down her cheeks.
“Next is Ririka’s turn to be it. Next is Ririka’s turn to be it. Next is Ririka’s turn to be it……!”
My voice wavered as I said that, and after returning once more to the kitchen to put down the cutter knife, I returned to the bedroom where I’d placed the salt water, and hid far behind the sliding doors of the closet.
After this, I just had to wait for a while, pour some of the salt water into my mouth when I exited the closet, search for the doll, pour the remaining salt water in the cup and spit out what was in my mouth one by one over the doll, and declare “It’s my win!” three times, in order to finish the ritual.
In the depths of the closet, I thought of various things.
Of that girl classmate from the track club, and of Ririka’s appearance.
It’s still feasible that that broadcast from when we did Kokkuri-san was just a prank, but……
Could it be, could it be that……the identity of the “fox” was……
Creak. Creak.
In the corridor, the sound of footsteps echoed about.
In the corridor that no one should be in……why?!
I held my breath and hid myself.
The footsteps seemed to gradually, gradually come closer to where I was.
Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak.
Could it be that, Ririka was……?!
I imagined a future of being stabbed in the stomach in the same way.
Ririka would take my internal organs out from inside of my stomach, and declare thus:
“……It’s my win.”
No, no, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared!
Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak.
Without thinking, my voice slipped out, and while I covered my mouth with the palm of my hand, I slowly, slowly peeked through the gap in the sliding door of the closet.
—-There, peeking at me in the same way, was an “eye”.
“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
“……!!”
I threw the sliding doors open and flew out, and something that I had not expected was there.
The instant I tried to run away, my wrist was grasped. Without thinking, I lost my balance, and hit the ground. Confused, I frantically tried to calm my mind, and looked at those eyes.
“ｘｘｘｘｘｘｘｘ!!”
The voice that rang out next to my ears rapidly cooled my head, and stole the strength from my body.
“ｘｘ ｘ ｘｘｘght, tｘｘ ｘｘｘ ｘｘｘ ｘoｘ.”
—-I said, and laughed with my final breath.
