Phenomeno:Case 04

1

It’s dark. The air I breathe in stabs at my nostrils. I don’t know if my surroundings are narrow or spacious. In any case I’m inside a room. It’s an ancient room that hadn’t been ventilated in many years, stagnant air drifting all around. And if you were to ask me where I was, all I could say was that I don't know either. At any rate, all of this is a blur, a vague impenetrable space where the inorganic and the organic are directly connected, it's probably a dream I'm having.

That summer – even though I say that, it’s only barely been a month since then, we’re still in the middle of the summer now, and my memories from my childhood had been restored properly. You could say it was a curse, a distortion of memory that was hard to believe if you heard about it. I became aware of that thanks with the help and kindness of many people, and after straddling the line between this world and that world, I came back alive. I managed to retrieve my correct memories. Since then, I've been able to sleep deeply, and I've stopped dreaming - or so I thought.

“So, it’s this kind of dream after a long time.”

I raised my voice in a whine inside the dream. I've heard that people usually dream, no matter how many times they say they don't dream. It’s just that they don’t remember, which could mean that I might have been dreaming as usual all this time. It had been a long time since I felt this feeling: the realization that I was inside a dream.

It was pitch dark and cold; I couldn’t see anything at all. I felt I was enclosed by ancient lumber and a large amount of dust. I touched the floor with my hands and felt a rough and stone built texture. And, this dream was filled to the brim with a nightmare characteristic --- There’s no doubt about it. Something terrible is going to happen from now on.

“….Hey, give me a break.”

I couldn’t help but raise such a feeble view.

Dream - that in itself is already a trauma for me.

“When you dive into the world of the deep subconscious, it’s basically impossible to conclude if it’s a dream or not.”

I recalled the words of Krishna-san. But, the dream I’m having right now, was not a melding of reality and dream like the one before. My consciousness was much clearer than before. I obviously understood that this was a dream. However, even if this was just a one-off nightmare, I didn’t want to dream anymore if possible. To once again, taste that feeling of not being able to come back is so terrifying that I feel like my knees are going to collapse.

It was that moment.

From one part of the dark room, I heard a cracking sound. At the same time, I noticed it… the smell of mothballs, similar to the smell of mothballs when you open an old chest of drawers, wafting through the air. I slowly turned my head, and faced that direction. Two meters ahead of me to the right side. In that darkness, someone was there.

“W….Who is it?”

I strained my eyes but, it was too dark to make out anything. That slender figure was turned away from me. They were standing stock still with their face turned towards the wall. That person wouldn’t move at all. They didn’t reply. Was it a woman, or a man? Was it a young person, or an older person? I didn’t know. Something in the shape of a human being, which could not convey any emotion, stood still.

Once more, I heard a sound.

This time, it was a heavy clanking sound, as if two metals were bashing against each other.

That moment, a light shined in from somewhere. A few meters ahead of me, I saw a light similar to that of a full moon. I felt fresh air pumping in from there. I ran. From the time being, I’d had enough of this darkness. With those thoughts, I stumbled forward and desperately moved my legs.

---What is that person standing close the wall?

---Why am I in this kind of dream?

Even though I knew it was a dream, but the events of the past amplified the fear in me. At any rate, my mind was blank, without thinking anything, I ran towards that light. Beyond the hole, I saw a blue sky. The air was so clear and thick with oxygen that it was hard to believe how good it was, as I drew closer, it was like I had just finished an underwater dive. In spite of all that, I took a glance behind me. Before I knew it, the person close to the wall was looking my way. That face was contorted with delight, and there was a pleasure in it, like things were going the way they planned. It was, maybe, a fraction of a second. The moment I perceived that distorted emotion, I was attacked with a deep regret that was incomprehensible. But that didn't stop my body from moving, and I kept rushing ahead into that round hole that gave me a glimpse of fresh air and the outside world. If I shouted there, I thought I could call someone. I could call someone who could help me get out of here. I rushed ahead with that thought.

The moment I tasted the hard, cold feel of the mud wall around my face --- I knew what the true nature of that regret was. I heard something sliding down with a vigorous crunching sound. My head was blown away, along with my consciousness.

“…ughoooooh”

With that kind of moan, I woke up from my dream. I took a long breath, I realized my body was soaking wet. My heart was still beating so hard, I could hear it. Repeating my deep breaths, I removed the vestiges of the dream still clinging to my consciousness. Then, the carefree announcement of the train conductor reached my ears. He repeated in a nasal voice, "Arriving at Odawara soon”.

In my ears, in my consciousness, the hustle and bustle returned. It was the middle of the summer, the merry voices of children, and a salary man-like voice brazenly using his cell-phone inside the train. I opened and closed my sweaty palms a few times, and looked around. I was in a bullet-train bound for Tokyo.

“Calm down, It was a dream…Just a nightmare. It was different from that dream.” Shaking my head, I whispered to myself.

The glistening sun poured into the landscape flowing outside the window. In the distant horizon, a giant column of clouds rose up. Even though the air conditioner was working inside the train, the unrelenting heat from outside the window kept pouring inside.

It was the last half of August.

I was in the bullet train headed back towards Tokyo.

“Yesterday, I read a little too much of ‘Ikaigabuchi’”

I had decided to return to Tokyo yesterday morning.

It was in the morning after I had finished eating breakfast with my father and sister; I was drinking barley tea and watching TV. When the newscaster announced with a frown:

“In Musashino disctrict, Tokyo, the phenomenon of fish falling from the sky has once again occurred.”

---What? Surprised, I turned up the volume of the television; it seemed a large number of sardines had fallen down in Inokashira park this time. Last time it was Isaki fish in Musashisakai station if I recall correctly. I heard that was only juvenile fish. They didn't say if the sardines were juvenile fish or not, but the news was accompanied by an expert who said it may have been because of a local tornado caused by extreme weather. Well, that makes sense from a common sense point of view, but the occult fans around the nation have a different perspective.

Impossible things falling down from the sky --- That is, what has been observed since ancient times: the supernatural phenomenon known as『Strange Rain』(whirlwinds accompanied by rain which also drops strange objects such as fish). It is known as an omen of a natural disaster, it was actually a famous supernatural phenomenon among us.

A few days ago, when I heard the news of the Isaki fish falling down, I thought:

---Isn’t something intriguing about to begin?

Since that incident, after my memories had been changed fully, I had been keeping my distance from occult topics, but then decided to access Ikaigabuchi after a long time. The forum thread on the board that was at the top had quickly reached over a hundred replies; there was a tumultuous uproar and a heated debate over the strange rain phenomenon that had occurred in Musashino.

Ah, isn’t this great? Joining an occult discussion after a long time, my heart was feeling excited. At first I thought it was dangerous and I should cut off my access to the site, but my mind had recovered more than I thought so. I wasn’t feeling that wobbly shaking in the place I stood. I didn’t feel that sense of hopelessness, as if the world I believed in was falling apart. It was just a doorway to an exciting adventure into unknown territory. Hadn’t I already gotten better? Didn’t the foundation of my soul harden well enough already? From that point on, I started reading articles on Ikaigabuchi everyday as usual. I burned every corner of the articles in my eyes to make up for the delay. Krishna-san had been diligently updating the site every day. When I was reminded of her petite body and lovely face, my love of the occult filled my heart even more.

When I was at my parent’s home, I was definitely at harmony. My old friends are kindred spirits, and even when I'm asleep, I’m served with food. But unfortunately, it's just not exciting enough. The time just moves too slowly. Above all, I’m missing that dazzling ghost factor that I was basked in with my move to Tokyo. In the first place, it was problematic that I was taking time off my part-time job; even if I wasn’t living there my apartment still cost rent. And on top of that, I still owed my sister the rent money.

I should return to Tokyo soon.

I kept thinking that, but, it was still me after everything that had happened. I had been dithering and not making a decision, and then this incident literally fell down again.

The Tokyo Musashino incident was a continuation of the strange rain phenomenon. I couldn’t stand still any longer. In the first place, summer is supposed to be all about ghost stories. In the time I’ve spent here in Fujieda, there were exciting ghost stories happening on Ikaigabuchi every day. This is painful. I want to be mixed in. Something exciting should happen to me!

….So, I packed my bags at a speed that would have stunned my family, and the next day I jumped on the bullet train.

I arrived at Tokyo station, going straight to Mitaka. I got off and, without even stopping by at my apartment, I headed straight towards koumei university with a souvenir in my hand, and barged into the building on the western side.

“I’m back!” So with a big smile on my face, I opened the iron door; I heard a cute scream from the inside, and at the same time Krishna-san fell off from her chair.

When I looked, next to the fallen Krishna-san, were two chairs; on one of them was a washtub, next to that was a side table with several empty ice cups. There were several drinks lying on the working table, besides that there were handheld fans, and somehow water balloons lying on the floor.

“Huh? What were you doing, Krishna-san?”

“T-that’s what I should be asking you, what are you doing here?!” Krishna-san pushed up her trademark red glasses that were about to slip off, then hastily adjusted the bottom part of her exposed one piece dress. If I were to guess from that red face—Aha! Apparently, she was enjoying the summer in a very informal outfit.

“I see, you were lying back on the chair, with your legs upon the back of the other chair, and your feet soaked in the washtub?"

“S-s-shut up! Why are you here? Did you already return from Fujieda?”

“I had too much free time.” I dropped the large quantity of luggage on the floor and replied with a smile.

“F-free time?”

“Ah, this is a souvenir for you, It’s from my sister and father.” I took out the packed souvenir, Then Krishna-san quickly began to spit out a torrent of abuse.

“No, I don’t need something like a souvenir. Besides that, what do you mean you had free time? Didn’t I already tell you that the free time, was meant to be extremely important for you. Altering your out of sync childhood memories is a lot more serious than you think!”

“No, I’m fine now. I can properly open the fusuma, and I also went to visit the grave, all the distortions have been completely fixed in order and rooted themselves in my heart.”

Saying that, I stood up straight, and once again bowed to Krishna-san.

“Everything is thanks to you and the others. Thank you very much.” I really thought that from the bottom of my heart. Now I felt as if I'd been dreaming about it for a long, long time. And because of the discrepancies in my memory, I realized I had somehow raised a ghost inside me, and became drawn to the world of the occult.

“No-no, it’s not like I really did anything.” At my deepest thanks, Krishna-san was caught off guard and stammered her words.

“I only ascertained the line; there is a line in this world that people mustn’t cross. I only warned you because were about to cross it.”

“That’s exactly it.”

“Eh?”

“About that, I decided to write this.” Saying that, I took a letter out of my bag. Written in a word processor, It was my application for joining the club.

“A-application?”

“Yes, it has my proper signature and has a seal attached. As of today, I’m joining the Bee research lab. No, rather than Beetnik research – I’m becoming a staff member of Ikaigabuchi!”

“N-no…. wait a minute.”

“No, I’ve already thought about it thoroughly. Even after all that, I'm still drawn to the occult. I'm fascinated by not only ghosts, but also UFOs, UMAs(Unidentified mysterious animal), perpetual motion machines, cursed artifacts sent through time travel, and all sorts of other wonders – Or should I say, I've come to realize that I love these mysterious phenomena.”

“Oi, Nagi-kun. You’re not liste--”

“No, please just listen to me. I don't want to be scared like that anymore either. I know that it was probably an event that pushed my mind to its limit. No, I think it did go over the limit. I’m saying that because I understand that fear very well. But even after all that, after my mind has been properly arranged, I’m still drawn to the paranormal. I found myself trying to peer into the deep and unfathomable world. And that scares me. I know that there is a part of this world that I shouldn't be involved in, and yet the fool in me still tries to get involved. They say that you have to die to be cured of stupidity, but if that's really the case, then I'm going to have to die. But, my life is a precious thing given to me by my parents. I can’t die that easily. Then, what should I do? I thought desperately and found this answer.”

Saying that, I handed Krishna-san the white piece of paper.

“In short, It would be best for me to be next to Krishna-san!”

“….”

“For example, you know that occult topic about the moon being artificially built, right? The moon being in fact, built by aliens as a monitoring satellite for earth, it’s insides being hollow, the other side of the moon that can’t be seen from earth having a landing base for UFOs, that kind of exciting rumor. Now, I know you're raising your eyebrows in disapproval at me, but just listen to me for a second. There's no way for us ordinary people to verify that no matter what we do, right? That’s right. We can’t verify it, and that’s why our imaginations are stimulated and we get excited. But say, I win some kind of fortune and gain some authority, and I charter a rocket to go to the moon. Then I’d look around every nook and cranny. As a result, What if it turns out that the moon was not actually created by aliens, but was a relic of a very advanced civilization of prehistoric humans? Yes, the time is 65.5 million years ago. If only we knew that the descendants of a small number of moon-dwelling, super-ancient humans who survived that "K-T boundary", where an asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula in the Cretaceous period and wiped out nearly all life, the descendants of the super-ancient humans who live on the moon are the ones in the UFOs that are often spotted around the world. I’d probably shout in surprise, but at the same time, I’d certainly feel lonely. The hope that there may be intelligent life beyond this distant, vast universe, and the idea that they might have come all the way to earth, overcoming the dizzying infinity of space, would be shattered. I think I’d also feel disappointed, knowing that it’s impossible to go to the outer galaxy, after all. Ah, if that's all there was to it, it would have been okay. But say, you’re at your home, and before you knew it, there would be foreigners dressed in black wandering around your house, and the next thing you knew, you’d be kidnapped, and those people would be American or Russian agents in collusion with these super-ancient humans, and then they’d be like ‘hahaha, you’ve learned a bit too much’, and then you'd be brainwashed, secretly buried somewhere deep in the ground, or electronically disassembled by some bizarre device, what would you do? I'm sure my final thoughts before death would be: Ah, how lucky I was to be able to fantasize about the mysteries of this world! Why didn’t I realize the greatness of having the courage to stop there? As the scenery would fade in front of my eyes, I’d surely lament that. And then surely….surely at the end I’d recall Krishna-san’s face. That person warned me of all sorts of things. If you peek from this side, you will be end up seen from the other side -- I was admonished over and over again. That was correct, I’d say with a single tear dropping down --- Ah, I’m sorry, I got a bit too empathetic with myself and shed a tear ---- uhhh, In short, that’s how it is. Krishna-san knows that the world of the dead is always around the corner. Even though you’re concerned about that, you’re still probing the boundary line as a living person while also maintaining control of yourself. You make sure not to step into a place that shouldn’t be stepped into. Didn't you once tell me that it couldn't be helped that I had an interest? That wanting to know is one of the best qualities of a person. But for me, that was dangerous, and yet I still wanted to know, and I don't know why anymore. That’s why… I thought I would try to be by your side. I will stay away from anything you deem as being dangerous. I won’t look at the things you say not to look at; I won’t read the things you tell me not to read. So, it’s fine if you just let me help you with whatever I can. If I leave your side, I’d end up messing with things I shouldn’t have messed with. In order to not do that --- this is the only thing I can do!”

The next thing I knew, the petite occult manager’s face lay near before my eyes. With our noses almost touching, Krishna was just staring at me with her cute, half-open mouth.

--Am I, an idiot?

I suppose so, but these thoughts were also words that I had already asked myself time and time again in my head. When I lived in Fujieda for a month, when I became determined to return to Tokyo and left my home, when I was headed to Shizouka station, when I was riding the bullet train, when I was headed to Mitaka from Tokyo station, and finally, the twenty minutes I spent walking from the station to this club room. So I thought, and thought, and thought and finally spat out these words. Certainly, my fervent speech was hotter than the air coming in from the window, though they might also have been fervent enough to melt iron. After a while--

Krishna-san cleared her throat, and silently whispered:

“In the first place, do you have an interest in Beatnik literature?”

“What?”

“Ostensibly, this is a place to research Beatnik literature. After mastering that topic, I run Ikaigabuchi as a hobby. If you're going to join this club, you're still going to have to learn about beatnik.”

Krishna-san then started shoving old books in my hand from a cabinet.

“I'd tell you to read from Herbert Hankle first of all, but you should read these before next week.”

It was the collected works from authors who represented the Beatnik generation: Burroughs, Ginsberg, Kerouac.

“I…I have to read all of these?”

“That’s obvious, there’s more material to read as well.”

I flipped through the flimsy, yellowed pages, and felt dejected. They were all really thick and the letters were small.

Damn --- I saw Krishna-san’s slender figure rummaging through the cabinets looking for more books to give me.

“W…Wait a minute? In other words, are you giving me permission to join?” Krishna-san pushed up her glasses with her middle finger as she replied.

“It can’t be helped, right? The director doesn’t have who has the authority to turn down someone who wants to join the club, and I know well enough that the people who like this genre aren’t the type who would listen.”

She looks at me coldly and adds:

“That’s right, a fool like you who excels at delusions without knowing your place, it’s better for you to remain within my sight, or else I’d be bothered.”

“Then, then – does that mean I can help you with posting updates Ikaigabuchi?”

I asked with my eyes glittering excitedly.

“No, there’s a condition for that.” Krishna-san abruptly raised one finger. “You must never look at anything unless I tell you it’s ok to look at it.”

“Of course.”

“You must immediately inform me if you notice anything remotely strange.”

“That helps me too.”

“And – this one is the problem.”

Krishna-san looked at me after a pause. She glared at me with her big eyes, and opened her mouth as if she had decided.

“Don’t associate with Yoishi Mitsurugi anymore.”

“With Yoishi?”

“That’s right; you’re not in contact with her, right?”

“No, no… not since then.”

It was that day, when I said farewell to her at Tokyo station. I didn’t know any way to contact her in the first place. I didn’t know her phone number, or her email, or her address. The last thing I remember is, she being a first year high schooler.

“Then it’s fine. Before, I irresponsibly told you that if you wanted to associate with her, you should put your whole life into it, I take that back. When you officially become a member of the club, the safety of the member will be the responsible of the club director.”

“Yes.”

“There’s no doubt about it, she sees ghosts. We stand in a different place than her. When you associate with her, you are inevitably involved with the affairs of Nirvana. And that is definitely---“

With her large eyes, Krishna-san looked at me and declared.

“---Not a world you or I can deal with.”

---

Yoishi Mitsurugi, the high school girl with long jet black hair, skin as white as pottery, posessing beauty akin to that of a western doll. A girl with the bizzare quality of responding to all kinds of monstrosities and amplifying their horror. What you would call a denpa(psychic receiver of signals) in terms of internet slang. Suddenly spreading her crazy occult delusions into the world, causing problems for those around her -- she’s that kind of denpa.

I associated with her, I tasted bottomless fear, but as a result, I was able to confirm the correct place where I should stand. Her powers of concentration are not normal when it comes to the occult, to the point of being left speechless, however, if she hadn’t been close to me at that time, I would stayed held down, swallowed by that deep darkness, unable to return back.

At the same time, I could understand Krishna-san’s concerns.

She is, in one way or the other, extraordinary in many terms. She doesn’t know how to adjust; neither can she read the situation like a normal person could. Generally speaking, her own curiosity is the foremost priority, and she holds no care or concern for other people’s feelings. Things like taboos hold the same meaning as broken down doors in front of her.

However, it was a fact that Yoishi and I hadn’t contacted each other even once since then, Come to think of it, her writings had disappeared from the bulletin board of Ikaigabuchi, which I had started browsing again recently. I went back and read all the posts from quite a while ago, so I'm sure of it. It was as if she had sunk into the sea of the internet, and all traces of her had vanished.

“She might have stopped posting, but maybe she’s still looking at logs.” I muttered.

For the time being, I decided to return back to my apartment.

Speaking of Yoishi, I recalled her last words when I reached Tokyo station.

“Next time, if we meet again...” She had said with a somewhat tense expression.

“I’ll become your friend.”

Those were the words spoken after the train door had closed, so I’m not sure if that’s what it was. But I really feel that those were the words she frantically uttered with her facial movements. I mean, what did she mean when she said we would become friends. You don’t become friends after declaring like that, right? You end up hanging out with someone after getting along with them, you go through various things with them, you feel a sense of respect for their values and spirituality, and before you know it, you’d become friends -- No, it's not even worth talking about such stuff so seriously. Put simply, just hanging out with someone is enough to be able to call them your friend.

Whatever it is, she’s eccentric in all sorts of ways, and she’s beyond compare in terms of her peculiarities.

After all I(without holding any grudges towards Yoishi), was fed up of the feeling of Nirvana she was dragging me into. After all, only gazing at the occult from a slight distance away was enough excitement for me.

I kept thinking thoughts like that alone as I walked, before long I was in front of my apartment building in Tokyo. The scorching sun had completely drenched my T-shirt in sweat. For the time being, I should change put away my luggage, change my clothes and head over to my part-time work place for greetings – it was the moment I was at my front door.

“Hey- Nagi-kun”

I turned to face the seemingly happy face, in front of the corridor was a glamorous beauty dressed in a black camisole.

“Ah, Karasu-san. Long time no see.” That was the self-proclaimed fortune teller, one of the seniors of Ikaigabuchi. Karasu was her handle name of course; I still didn’t know her real name.

“You’re back then? You seemed to have tanned pretty well.”

“The reason I’m tanned is because I’ve been helping with all sorts of things, like weeding, washing the car, wholesaling lumber. In other words, I was worked hard by my father and sister, and ended up running away.”

That's what I said, but Karasu-san wasn't even looking at me anymore. I found her crouched at my feet, she had started tearing the wrapping off the paper bag containing the souvenir.

“Ah, that souvenir was for my boss….”

“Wow—this is a green tea rice dumpling with chocolate paste! Super, super, super delicious! So soft and moist! I'm so happy--! It's true what they say: the friend to have is a neighbor who has a warm countryside home.” Saying things like that, Karasu-san threw a bite in her mouth. That’s right -- this person was my neighbor, my benefactor who introduced this cheap apartment to me. With pretty black hair, age unknown, a nostalgic beauty but, she also had other peculiar idiosyncrasies; even Krishna-san couldn’t control her words or actions.

“It’s so delicious – I can’t stop – “

“Hey – Karasu-san! You’re probably way richer than me, so stop leeching off of poor students like me already.”

“So cruel! I’m not leeching! It’s so sad to see a guy eating alone, so I’m going through all the trouble of eating with you!”

“Then, at least prepare your own meals. Isn’t coming to a person’s house with just a bowl strange enough? In the first place, your house isn’t here, isn’t it located in the high rise apartment complex with a huge terrace in front of the station? The apartment next door is nothing more than a meaningless storage space for you, so please don't come to my place this often. Besides that, it’s a nuisance for you to be wandering around this neighborhood in that getup of yours.”

I said, pointing to the camisole that was revealing part of her plump white breasts.

“Oh? So you’re embarrassed? There’s no need for that, don’t act no reserved. It’s not as if I want to fool around with a bumpkin boy who ran away from the sticks.” Karasu-san laughed in a foolish way as she put clapped me on the shoulders.

“But you know—“, the black haired fortune teller spoke, as soon as she had finished gobbling down her third dumpling. “Even though I said you ran away from there, the real reason is that, right? You got curious about the strange rain and rushed back here, right?”

“…….”

I became silent after being seen through so easily, Karasu-san smirked.

“We have similar interests, after all; you don't have to be a fortune teller to know that. Say—that is quite interesting, isn’t it? Right now Ikaigabuchi is in an uproar. Me too, If I knew the place where it’s going to happen next I’d rush over there.”

Come to think of it, I had been so occupied with getting Krishna-san’s permission for joining the club, I forgot to ask her about the important ‘Mushashino’s consecutive strange rain incident’. I asked unintentionally, “About that strange rain incident, is there anyone who saw it happen? The scene of the fish falling down?”

“No, there was someone who uploaded a picture taken in front of the station crammed with fish, but that was after everything was over. I wanna see the moment everything was falling down.”

“Eh, so there isn’t any new information or anything?” “Presently, we don’t know anything beyond what was reported in the news. There’s very little info on the net as well, Krishna-chan might have some ideas, but, that girl doesn’t speak out until everything is clear.”

“…That’s true.”

So I guess I'll have to wait until the manager of Ikaigabuchi makes an official comment about it. Well, as I officially became a staff member of the Ikaigabuchi today, I’ll be able to get the information a little sooner. As I once again recall about that important position I gained today my expression loosened.

As I grinned, thinking of bragging about it to Karasu-san, she quickly gulped down her fourth dumpling and spoke:

“But, there’s a similar story at your school.”

“Huh?”

“You see, strange rain is famous for raining mummified fish and a large number of frogs, but it can also rain blood, right? So, a while ago on Ikaigabuchi, I read that that there’s a place like that in Koumei institute. Ehh... If I remember correctly… it was near the clock tower.

--Clock tower? --A rain of blood?

That sounds like an interesting story.

“W-where is that? That clock tower?”

“I don’t know, I’m not a student. Isn’t there one? A clock tower?”

“I’ve never seen it before. Or rather, this is my first time hearing about the existence of clock tower.”

“Hmmm…? Well, I really did read about it.”

As I looked at Karasu-san, who was tilting her head in contemplation, I once again pictured the inside of the university.

The university I was attending: Koumei private university.

Originally established as a girl’s school, incorporated as a missionary school. It has a long history, dating back to the Meiji era. It’s famous for the beautiful zelkova trees that lead to the main gate, and I learned after I entered the university that it was known to the public as a university for the prestigious class. All the faculties are located side by side on the campus, and with the high school attached to it, it is quite a large institute. The buildings are arranged around the old main building, with the student’s hall on the east side. On the west side are the buildings of the arts and sciences faculty. Beyond that, sandwiched in between the zelkova trees, is the clubhouse building. To the north are the library, the science department building, and the multi-purpose hall. And on the far side of that is supposed to be the school grounds, But –

No, there’s no such thing as a clock tower anywhere.

“Hmm...... Was it the clock tower that you can't open? Or maybe it was a sealed clock tower? Anyway, there's a hidden room there, and there was a creepy incident there a long time ago, so there's blood raining around the clock tower.”

“Come on, try and remember it properly, Karasu-san.” I urged excitedly.

"Ah---perhaps," spoke Karasu-san while licking her dumpling-dusted fingertips. “That place, has already been classified as an S rank.”

---

An S rank classified haunted place.

It's a haunted place that is said to be extraordinarily dangerous on the occult website Ikaigabuchi. . On Ikaigabuchi, they are usually four ranks classified from rank A to D; In fact, the S ranking does not officially exist. The rankings themselves are investigated and determined by Krishna-san and the spiritually trained experts on a daily basis, with the main purpose of the site being to promote the separation of people and spirits, but if a place is currently dangerous, the article itself is deleted from the site as it’s a place that people shouldn’t know about.

--The rumored S-rank haunted place… in my university?

The information I gained from Karasu-san, greatly excited me. A huge event was occurring at the same time I returned to Tokyo. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to become a staff member in the first place, so I could encounter such spots that I would never have known about if I had only been a lurker on the website.

But-- when I went to the club room the next day and asked Krishna-san about it, she stared at me with the most horrible look in the world, ""I don't know who told you that story, but…" she said, glaring at me with a look that was terrifying. “There's no such thing as a clock tower on the campus, and no such article about a rain of blood that was ever published in Ikaigabuchi.”

“…Ugh”

“You may get all excited by yourself, but you should know better, Nagi-kun.”

Her words were cold enough to freeze a laughing baby’s face, I nodded in a panic.

“Generally speaking, the Fafrotskies phenomenon is not that rare and has sufficient scientific explanations to not be classified as an occult occurrence.”

“Faf…What is that?

“Fall from the skies, abbreviated as the Fafrotskies phenomenon. In short, it’s about the strange rain; the paranormal phenomenon in which fish, frogs, and other impossible things suddenly fall from the sky to a point on the earth's surface.

“Ah…the scientific explanation is like that, right? The tornado theory, or that one about abnormal increase in animal reproduction rates?

“You seem to know about it already. The Musashino incident is the same, if you roughly take a look at past cases worldwide; there are actually very few people who witnessed the rainfall directly. In short, it's mostly an accumulation of post-event phenomena, where there were supposedly a lot of impossible creatures in an impossible place. I said it before, didn’t I? Ninety-nine percent of ghost stories out there in the world are lies, delusions, or misunderstandings.”

“So, the cases of strange rain near Musashino are in that category?

”The temperature of the sea surface has been rising due to the abnormal weather in the past few years. The shift of the earth's axis caused by frequent earthquakes may be affecting the ecosystem. It wouldn't be surprising if there was an abnormal increase of a particular type of life in a particular place, or if it was simply a truckload of fish that collapsed.”

…Oof.

“But even so, the situation has caused such a big uproar that we can't rule out the possibility that some real ghosts might be involved – So we need to start gathering as much material as we can and investigate.”

With a thud, she handed me a large amount of A4 papers. It was so much that even I, a man, staggered - but when I looked up, there was more on the work table in the back.

“W-what is this?”

“It’s material from the middle ages about the Fafrotskies phenomenon that was in the British Library. I asked an acquaintance over there if he could send me some materials, and this arrived today. I thought it had been digitized, but here it is. We have to translate all of this as soon as possible.”

“Translate…all of it?”

“Of course, and we can’t just upload it to Ikaigabuchi like that, we also need to add the summary, analysis and give our own opinion on it.”

“T-thanks for the hard work.” I blurted out without thinking; Krishna-san raised her eyes in disgust.

“Why are you acting like it’s somebody else’s problem? You said you would become a member of Ikaigabuchi, right? From now on, you and I are going to do it together.”

“Ehhhh?”

“Go all out, Nagi-kun. Go at it like crazy.”

As expected, Krishna said this without much effort - but when I thought of the endless work involved, I practically fainted right there.

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