Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 6 Chapter 2 (section)

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—I was running down a path at night.

I was nearly at wit’s end and running with desperation. ‘Oh god,’ I muttered over and over in my mind. (Oh god?) While running away, I steadily began to feel sorrowful. ‘How did it end up like this?’ I think. (Like this?) I wonder what the hell I should do now.

It was a path in the forest. I ran and ran, and when I escaped the forest, I came out to an excessively small open area. Very slightly, all over the grove clearing, there was overgrown summer grass. There were figures visible there. One was standing and the other was lying down. I stopped as if sewn into place, thinking, ‘Oh god,’ once more.

Standing there was Naru. Basking in the moonlight, his complexion was white as if he wasn’t of this world. He was holding a knife in his hand. The blade was wet with crimson and droplets still dripped from the edge of the blade.

“I killed him.”

Naru said. Lying there was Akifumi-san. I closed my eyes tightly (What the hell?). There were no signs of breathing. I covered my face. This..is the end (The end?).

“I had no choice.”

Naru said and threw away the knife. He held out his white left hand.

“...why?”

I couldn’t take his hand.

“When I came, he was here. I thought you betrayed me, Mai.”

“There’s no way I would do such a thing.”

“But he’s richer and also has status.” (Huh?)

“That’s completely irrelevant.”

I covered my face once again.

“I thought you betrayed me, Mai. After all, I thought you chose the better man.”

“But there’s no way...” (This—this must be a so-called ‘liquidation of a love triangle.’)

“If not, then why did he come here?”

“...to do something like this. I told you I’d run away with you. Why didn’t you believe me?”

“Only you should have known about this place.”

“The letter was secretly switched. I was waiting in a completely different place...”

I took Naru’s hand. Naru pulled me towards himself (eek! eek!).

“...what are we going to do now?”

“I killed someone, I can’t run away.” (That’s true.)

“...death?” (eh?)

“Yeah. Even if I surrender, I’ll be killed anyway.”

“...we’ll go together.”

When I said this, Naru smiled. Silently, he lead me by the hand. Still being lead by the hand, I began to run.

—wait a minute.

Of course, isn’t this a dream? What a shameless dream I’m seeing. I mean, caught trying to escape with Naru, someone interfering with it, and a love triangle with Akifumi-san? ...oh, it’s juicy. No, not so. I mean, after this I’m going to commit lover’s suicide with Naru? I think Taka and Senpai will get a laugh out of this when I get back to Tokyo and tell them. —Or not! (Actually, in this situation, the gag would be on me!)

I ran with Naru. When I looked back, pursuers could be seen. We ran and ran until we finally arrived at a shrine.

Suddenly I thought, ‘Why isn’t it the sea?’ I don’t know why, but I had intended to go to the sea.

Barely managing to reach the shrine, my legs lost their strength. Naru tugged, but I couldn’t run anymore. From somewhere, Bou-san appeared standing toward one side.

“There’s nothing else we can do. We’re surrounded.” (Surrounded?) 

Naru overlooked the surrounding area.

“This far?”

“What will become of us?”

Ayako said this. Lin-san was toward one side.

“We must prepare ourselves.” (Prepare?)

When I tried to ask, ‘What do you mean?’, people suddenly came out from the surrounding forest. I didn’t know the number. Although we all had swords, there was no way out for us. With a hopeless feeling, I watched those people rush towards us.

—This… betrayal. (Betrayal?)

“Always.”

Someone said. I nodded and clenched my fists.

“They will always be cursed until the end of days…!” (End of days? Cursed? What do you mean!?)

Eijirou-san, who swung up his sword, had approached. His drawn sword gleamed and I just stared as it swung down.

<font size="4"><center><b>***</b></center></font>

—I suddenly woke up.

The inside of the room was dark. On the wide eight tatami mats, there were two futons. A sleeping Ayako was visible.

For some reason, the paper sliding door that was supposed to be closed was open, and the bright, clear moonlight was penetrating through the window of the veranda.

...what a dream that was!

Just as I pondered the dream, there was a loud *bang* from the direction of the window. I lifted my head. The windowpane thudded once again. Someone was throwing pebbles.

I stood up and went to open the window. Beneath the window, the water surface of the cove was far below. Pitch black water extended, mirror-like. From the surface of the water, innumerable white lights were floating up with the speed of falling snow. The very dimly lit lights, which resembled spirit lights, disappeared straight into the sky. 

...ah, I didn’t wake up.

The figure of a person on the surface of the water was visible… it was Naru. He raised his head and looked up at me, then called, ‘Come on.’ I climbed over the window frame and jumped down as if drawn. It’s no big deal. Since this is a dream.

I gently descended and landed on the surface of the water. It felt like I had stepped on glass barefoot. A number of lights went floating into the sky. Naru smiled. His warm smile appeared slightly troubled.

“It’s become serious, hasn’t it?”

When I said this, Naru nodded. Then,

“...did you see the dream?”

He asked.

“Dream? Perhaps the one where you and I commit lover’s suicide?”

Naru nodded and smiled as if relieved. Then he tilted his head a little.

“...were you scared?”

“Nah. Not really.”

“If that’s the case, I’m glad.”

Naru smiled. His eyes calmed and his expression became exceptionally beautiful.

“Did you possibly show me that dream?”

“Slightly different. I only showed the direction to enter the dream.”

“Showed the direction?”

I asked in return,  but Naru only nodded.

The cove was completely surrounded by cliffs. One of the cliffs was disconnected by a thin, V-shaped crack, and from there the cove joined with the sea. In the thin alley, rocks projected from the cliff as if fighting each other, and waves scarcely shifted the surface of the water. When I looked up behind me, the building was visible, which jutted out atop linked timber similar to the stage of Kiyomizu Temple. It was a rather spectacular view. An infinite number of white lights softly rose up and crossed over there. A large dark hole was visible in the stone of the crack. That’s the cave Akifumi-san was talking about. The sheer cliff seemed to be made of really hard rock. In the rock face, a depression, as if scooped out, led on from the cave entrance. It couldn’t have been made naturally. Someone must have carved out a pathway. It was just wide enough for a person to walk alone, and when I followed it with my gaze, it soon became a stone stairway continuing until the top of the cliff.

Viewing my surroundings, small lights crossed before my eyes.

It truly seemed like snow.

“Are these all spirits?”

“Yes. They seem to be drifting spirits.”

Naru said so and started walking toward the cave. He went to the cave entrance and called to me.

The cave wasn’t that big. It was less than half the size of a gymnasium. I had thought the water most likely passed through here since I heard the cave connected to the cove from the sea, however that wasn’t the case. The ground of the cave was one meter or higher than the surface of the water. Stones, which seem to be scattered about, were lying to one side. The cave curved in the shape of a ‘く’ and the sea could be seen on the other side. Gentle waves rolled across the surface of the water, from which various sized rocks protruded, and broke onto the shore. The ground of the seaward side was a little lower. The waves had reached up to the entrance of the cave. A small shrine was built in the innermost bend of the cave. Then, as if riding a wave, small, white lights blew into the cave from the entrance of the seaward side. After they passed through the inside of the cave and exited to the cove, they blew upwards and went up high.

“Hey, what kind of spirits are these?”

“Probably those of the lives lost at sea around here. Since here seems to be the place where the souls are drifting.”

I tried reaching out my hand. A small light touched my fingertip. There was the sensation of something splashing on the end of my finger, and I somehow understood this was a fish.

“So, there’s a shrine?”

I said and looked back at the shrine. It was a small, old shrine. Somehow, it appeared to be a little bit distorted.

“There’s something... strange.”

Naru nodded.

“I don’t understand it well, either. It’s not a bad place, but it doesn’t seem like a good place... yeah, it’s a sign of sacred ground.”

“Hmm...”

I nodded and tried asking Naru.

“Naru, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Well... I’m glad you’re okay.”

When I said so, Naru smiled. It was a very beautiful smile. While looking at that smile, I thought, ‘I like Naru after all.’

<font size="4"><center><b>***</b></center></font>

—Then I really woke up.

I woke up? ...Yeah, I woke up.

The moment I opened my eyes, I felt very disappointed. I wanted to talk more. Thinking so, I shifted my head while still lying down. The paper sliding doors were properly closed. The bluish light of predawn was shining in across the white paper.

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