Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume4 Chapter2 (section)

=== 6 ===

While I verified the (disappearing) footsteps of the pair, I tilted my head in thought.

Why did I say something like that…? That was just a dream. It had no special meaning. It shouldn’t have… What happened in the Printing Room was that water would frequently drip down and create puddles everywhere. It was only an incident of this level; nothing that could be considered “sinister” had happened. 

But…

When I could not help starting to ponder, the Meeting Room’s door was opened, and Yasuhara appeared.

He was ordered around by Naru, and had run all over the place moving equipment.

“Is the job done?”

“Yes. If you are referring to the errands I was assigned.” Yasuhara said, beaming.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Ah, I’ll make it.”

“No need, it’s always been my job to make the coffee.”

“If that’s the case then I really should make the coffee. Won’t you get bored doing the work that you always do?”

Wa. Sorry to trouble you~

“About that, Taniyama-san… was the cause as we expected – the Kokkuri?”

“It looks like it.”

“Hu… It’s really unfair. Kokkuri and the type, they are clearly games that are played everywhere.”

“That’s even though Naru also said something like that.”

“It appears to be very popular in the middle school my little sister attends. But this type of strange things only happens in our school.”

Yeah yeah.

“But the Kokkuri popular in this school is very strange. It’s called Worikiri-sama right?”

“Is it? Although I don’t know the details, it looks like it is very complicated with this and that. That’s despite saying this place really gives one a strange feeling.”

“Complicated?”

“Yes. Unlike regular Kokkuri, it appears to have various rules. For example, the paper cannot be used more than once.”

“He~ It’s really strange.”

“The used paper must be disposed at the shrine or something. And there is the chanting of incantations…”

“Worikiri-sama, Worikiri-sama… like this?”

“It’s not like that. How was it done…? I’ve only heard it a few times myself. ‘Oh~Worikirittenantara’ or something.”

“What was that, ah, this?”

I immediately started feeling strange.

“As expected was it very strange? Perhaps this method of doing it only done in our school.”

“I always thought it was weird; Kokkuri and what not… where did everyone first learn of this method?”

Yasuhara tilted his head.

“You’ve got a point. Perhaps someone heard it somewhere… It might be interesting to investigate this. ‘From whom did you learn how to play Worikiri-sama?’ or something similar. There must have been someone who invented it.”

“And there are people still playing the normal Kokkuri?”

“There probably aren’t that many. About autumn everyone was homogeneously playing Worikiri-sama. There were people casually calling Worikiri-sama ‘Kokkuri-san’, ‘Cupid-san’ etc right from the start. That, isn’t there a saying that Kokkuri-san would cause haunting? So nobody still plays that anymore. Then someone said that Worikiri-sama would not cause haunting, and the steps are very complicated. And they said that if you followed the rules it would be completely safe.”

“So that’s why you played?”

“My curiosity is very strong. I would always want to try it out once.”

“I can understand that… On hindsight, the volume is really exaggerated. Why would it be so popular?”

“If we analyze the reasons for its popularity you wouldn’t have so much trouble. Perhaps it’s like this: maybe it’s because the steps are very unusual. Look, didn’t you see those papers? That alone is already a little strange. People think it is a novelty.”

“Is it?”

Yasuhara’s expression turned slightly more serious.

“Although there are other explanations, ‘suppressed students looking to vent their stress’ and the type, this type of explanations are not convincing; because it would grow into a problem of some sort.”

“Yasuhara-kun… I can’t help feeling you are very knowledgeable.”

“Yes. I’ve been called a little old man by others. As for my nickname, it is ‘Echigo-ya’.”

“Eh… Echigo-ya?”

“Yes. They say I have the image of a kindly old man, but they can’t tell what I’m really thinking of deep down.”

Perhaps it’s like that… deep inside…

“It’s today.” Yasuhara said suddenly.

“Eh?”

“The twelfth day. Tonight. More accurately tomorrow morning. There will be another fire in the Locker Room.”

He said it like it was an inevitable event.

I suddenly thought of the dream I had.

“Perhaps… not in the Locker Room.”

“Eh?” Yasuhara asked suspiciously.

Ah… not good…

I frantically waved my hands.

“That… there’s no profound meaning to it… I just suddenly felt that this time it could occur somewhere else… whatever. Like the Broadcast Room…”

There was no deeper meaning, because, it was just a dream. Firstly, I don’t even know if Masako and Ayako ever really visited the Locker Room. Furthermore, the monk and John had exorcised basically all the places where incidents have happened that were reported on the news.

“Are you a person with sixth sense?”

“That’s why I say, ah…”

This is really troubling…

“I’ve already said this is nothing important. Only in the previous case my hunch was right. It’s not like being able to detect spirits or anything similar…”

It’s not… I think it’s not… maybe…