Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 6 Chapter 5 (section)

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Upon returning to base and going inside, there was a strange feeling like caressing downy hair. It wasn’t a particularly unpleasant feeling. Once inside, I lowered Wakako-chan and sat down. I was out of breath, and I couldn’t move anymore. Both my hands and feet were trembling.

Bou-san soon rushed in as well and, with a thud, fell on top of the tatami mat where he had entered the room.

“Are you… okay...?”

“I’m dying.”

It was a carefree voice, but his breathing seemed like he was suffering terribly.

“Are you alright?”

Masako hurried over and tried to help him up. Bou-san refused it and simply wiggled his fingertips.

“I wouldn’t mind paying 100 million yen… if I you’d let me sleep right here.”

What are you saying?

I glanced at the doorway. Both the lattice and sliding doors were open at the dark entrance. The white things were flying over again from the corridor, but they seemed to be repulsed at the entrance. I dragged my trembling legs and closed the sliding door. Watching them is bad for the heart.

“You should rest a little. It seems to be all right now.”

“If I rest, that barrier will be dispelled, too.”

...oh, is that so?

Without noticing, the curtains had been tightly closed over the veranda window and there was a low table propped up there. It was like a simple barricade. Several candles were lit. I would have never thought such small lights could feel as warm as this.

“Hey... what do we do now?”

“We wait until morning. They should go away at dawn.”

I reflexively looked at my wristwatch. It was already close to one o’clock. Since dawn is early in the summer, we’d be able to hold out somehow.

“What about Naru? Is he okay?”

After I asked, Lin-san nodded.

“He’s fine. He wasn’t woken up.”

Ayako, Masako and Yasuhara were treating all the wounds.

“Taniyama-san, also. Are you injured?”

I was called by Masako and looked at my opened cuts. The blood had already clotted. They didn’t seem like such deep cuts.

“Mine aren’t serious. I’m okay.”

“Well, it’s only disinfection.”

...I don’t like it because it stings. I thought this, but I quietly had them treated. Yasuhara-san kneeled beside Bou-san.

“Are you injured, Takigawa-san?”

“A bunch.”

“Please don’t move for a moment.”

Bou-san’s t-shirt had become covered in blood. When Yasuhara-san attempted to raise Bou-san’s shirt, 

“Pervert.”

“Would you like me to pour the hydrogen peroxide over your head?”

“I wouldn’t like it because I’d be heavy metal.”

Yasuhara-san laughed and pulled up his shirt forcefully. His back was covered in cuts of various sizes. The ones visible below his shoulder blades were especially deep. At this rate, he should be covered in blood. Yasuhara-san momentarily frowned, but he immediately spoke as if it was nothing.

“This will sting.”

After saying this, he applied the cotton wool and Bou-san raised a pathetic voice.

“Ow, ow, ow.”

“You’re a boy. Endure it!”

“I’ll be a girl starting today.”

“You’re grossing me out, so please stop.”

While speaking of one thing or another, Yasuhara-san disinfected Bou-san’s wounds, then tore sheets and bandaged him. After a while, Lin-san looked up unexpectedly.

“What’s wrong?”

“It has returned.”

“Eh?”

“My shiki. Now all five are present. Takigawa-san, it is safe to sleep.”

I didn’t see anything with my eyes and I didn’t feel anything.

Masako frowned.

“That is your shiki?”

“It is, but can you sense its presence?”

Masako nodded.

“I understand why the spirits in this house were so empty.”

What?

“The ones who possessed Hazuki-chan and Naru, as well as the ones wandering the house, every one of the spirits felt so empty because they are the enslaved spirits of someone.”

Masako’s hands, which were clasped together, were trembling.

“Those spirits are not acting of their own will. Someone is using them, enslaving them as shiki. Using their resentment… using their deep suffering to the extent that they are unable to rest in peace.”

...Nao-san passing through the cave. If that’s the rebirth ritual, then what is it for? Why was Nao-san participating in the attack? ...with such… a pitiful appearance.

It’s not over yet. Nothing is over until...

We have to cut off this grotesque root and release the trapped spirits.

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