Um…
I don’t dislike it. Naturally, I don’t dislike it. In fact, I think I like it.
Mako is, well, the first friend I made after entering school.
Usually, when a teacher says, “Get close to that kid,” people tend to dislike it, don’t they? It’s not that I’ve experienced it, but at that age, you tend to rebel against someone telling you what to do.
Let alone being forced to make friends, which is a matter of personal freedom—how would you feel about that?
Typically, the ones you’re told to befriend are often not the ordinary type. It’s like saying they have some reason for not naturally making friends — not even one or two.
It’s nice to say “make friends,” but it’s like saying, “You take care of them.”
Of course, Suzuki-sensei probably thought it through. After all, she was our homeroom teacher and had just started—having barely met the new students, she might have entrusted the most reliable kid with this task. Sensei must be trying her best to look after us too.
That’s why Mako is kind.
She accepted those words purely and sincerely became my friend.
That’s why I don’t dislike it. It’s good.
It is good, but…
The problem is, I still haven’t gotten rid of my doubts about the haunted house.
It could just be a picture of a moth or a bird flying by, but can I let my guard down in a world where ghosts actually exist?
“You really don’t need to worry too much, Koto Ne,” Mako said.
“Anyway, we’re going in together, and even though it’s a haunted house, it’s just an ordinary two-story house.”
Well, she does seem to be trembling.
It’s summer now. The height of summer, to be exact.
Naturally, it’s hot even at night during summer. Plus, this is a small island. Being literally in the middle of the sea, the air feels humid.
Yet, the fact that I’m trembling is proof that I’m really scared.
“Yeah, I’m not worried,” I replied.
Still, it was a bit better than when I had no plan. Yuka handed me talismans. Three of them, no less.
I carefully folded them and put them in my pocket.
So I could take them out whenever needed.
Fortunately, we weren’t the first ones going in.
“Wow!”
Koko, with her face that looked like she could just tilt her head at a ghost and walk away.
“Uh, uh…”
And beside Koko was Tsuneda, who had just joined the literature club.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Koko said, patting Tsuneda’s back. It seemed she just copied what the other kids were doing.
Koko didn’t seem to understand at all why this situation is scary. After all, knowing Koko, if a ghost were to show up, she’d probably just go “Huh?” and tilt her head. And if she attacks, she’d surely just slice with her hair.
Even though an attack wouldn’t work on a ghost, would a ghost be able to attack with that bright attitude? It seems they typically target weak spirits.
“Uh, right?”
That positivity from Koko must’ve helped, as Tsuneda seemed to regain some strength.
“Um, um. Okay.”
Kaoru nodded and said.
“What we need to do is simple. We’ve hidden these flags all over the house, okay?”
Kaoru held up a small green flag.
“What’s going to happen is, both of you just need to go in with a flashlight. As long as you find one flag inside, you’ll succeed. If you can’t find it or feel too scared and think you might get lost, just call or shout on your phone. We’ll be waiting at the front.”
When Kaoru pointed to Izumi and spoke, Izumi nodded.
“Yeah. But since we’re the seniors, we have to look after the juniors.”
That calms me down a bit. At least it means there’s set to be someone nearby.
Moreover, even though the atmosphere nearby is a bit eerie, it doesn’t feel too dangerous. Even if it is a haunted house, with all that surrounds it being just forest, it doesn’t seem likely we’d get lost. The reason is quite simple—the island is so small.
If you walk towards the direction of the lights for about an hour, you’ll just hit the village. Plus, even though it’s a haunted house, there were flashlights lighting the way all along the way here.
Still, walking into the forest in the middle of the night could be troublesome. Being on an island, you could easily slip and fall into the sea or trip over rocks and die.
“Besides, the other kids should all be waiting outside too, so you don’t need to worry too much. We’re thinking of turning off the lights, though.”
This is the plan.
We’ll team up in pairs of two and go into the house. Izumi and Kaoru will wait at the entrance, while the other club members who haven’t entered will also wait outside. Among those waiting will even be the owner of the house, an old lady.
In between all that, we just need to enter this not-so-spacious house and come back out with one of the hidden flags.
Compared to how tense I was, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be too hard.
It’s honestly just a small courage training session that students can enjoy together.
“Alright, everyone understand? Good.”
Kaoru nodded and turned around towards Koko and Tsuneda.
“Then you two come with us. We’ll wait outside until you come out, so don’t be too scared.”
Tsuneda, swallowing hard, held onto Koko’s hand.
The two followed Izumi and Kaoru into the gate.
…There shouldn’t be any problem, right?
*
“I’ve never heard of such a ghost story.”
That was something the old lady said while the children chatted while waiting.
“Our island isn’t that big, you see. If there were really a house with ghosts, wouldn’t the villagers be panicking?”
True, since it’s right behind the village on the hill, if such stories existed, people would have been very uneasy.
“But why is that house left empty?”
Harumi asked, looking curious.
“Well, it’s rather scary, isn’t it? The villagers live all below the mountain, and this house is built halfway up. There’s a resort at the very top, but there’s nothing around here, and living here would only be uncomfortable.”
That’s… true. If there’s a weirdo who dislikes noise, it would fit that they’d deliberately choose to live here.
“I was thinking of converting it into a hotel, but, hmm…”
The old lady shrugged and said after pausing for a moment.
“Since someone died in that house before, it’s somewhat unsettling, so I can’t really rent it to anyone; I’ve just left it as is. It won’t sell, and it’s a huge problem.”
At that, the children’s faces turned serious.
“A death?”
When I asked, the old lady chuckled bitterly and said, “Yeah. About thirty years ago, when I was still young, my uncle passed away. Just unfortunate he tripped on the stairs.”
…Indeed, if someone died of old age, it wouldn’t be a big issue. That’s just something common.
But… if it were someone who died young…
Gulp.
One of the children waiting swallowed hard.
“Oh dear, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned such stories?”
Only the old lady mumbled with a slightly awkward expression under our gazes.
*
Yet it seemed like what they said about no ghosts appearing was indeed true.
The kids came out, one team at a time, holding the flags.
And the plan devised by Izumi and Kaoru clearly had its effects; even the possibly awkward team members seemed to have gotten closer to each other.
Harumi and Shii, Yuuki and Yuka. It almost seemed like an eccentric combination of teams.
…I thought we had ten people, but pairing them up made our turn come quickly. Even though we were the last ones, it felt like it was in no time.
“Don’t worry too much. The house is just normal. It’s only a little smaller than where we live.”
Harumi said with a smile.
“The flags aren’t hidden in any weird places.”
Looks like Harumi and Shii deliberately took the ones from the deepest parts. They went up to the second floor. They probably noticed the flags placed along the way.
The reason they went to the deepest spots seems to align with their interests. Harumi wanted a bit more fun, while Shii saw that Mako and I were a little scared towards the back. It was a combination of adventure and kindness.
If those two had created a hero party, they would surely be amazing.
“It was a bit creepy, but nothing too scary. Right?”
“Yeah!”
Shii happily shouted.
If Shii feels that way, I can’t be scared.
“Then shall we go? Are you ready?”
Kaoru said while looking at Mako and me.
We exchanged glances and nodded.
After all, everyone else had gone in; we couldn’t be the only ones left out.
*
“Eek.”
However, contrary to what the other kids said about nothing special, being inside the house was scarier than I had expected.
The flashlight wasn’t dark. It was one of those heavy-duty flashlights that takes big rectangular batteries. In terms of brightness, it felt even a bit too bright.
By each person having one or even two, the entire living room was completely lit.
However, due to the flashlight’s unique brightness that still felt dim, it instead made everything feel eerier. Even if the area directly in front of me was bright, I kept turning the flashlight here and there, thinking about how dark everything else seemed.
“They said it’s on the way to the second floor…”
“…Yeah.”
I tried to take the lead.
Honestly, Mako seemed to want to leave me behind, but she clearly couldn’t move her feet.
We stuck close and gradually entered further.
It really was strange how, outside, there were so many noises, but once inside, all sound seemed to abruptly stop as if we were cut off from the world.
It was quite a big island, and there were many people, so the sounds of laughter and singing were quite audible.
We climbed the stairs, step by step.
Mako was gripping the hem of my shirt from behind. I could hear her anxious breaths.
Thanks to that, I felt more at ease. I didn’t feel alone.
Even though there was quite a lot of dust in the house, the places where the teams that came before us had gone were relatively less dusty. The dust shifted underfoot.
As soon as we reached the second floor, I noticed a small flag at the end of the hallway.
I knew it was placed by Kaoru, but honestly, it looked super “occult.” If someone didn’t know it had been placed, they would have been spooked right away upon arriving.
“There it is.”
“Is, is it there?”
“Yeah, over there.”
Mako, holding onto my clothes tightly, followed me as I took a step forward.
We made it safely to it, bending down slightly to grab the flag.
“…Huh.”
That’s half done now.
Although I was still tense when we first entered, it had eased a bit now.
All I had to do was go back the way I came.
I thought that as I turned to head back—
The grip of Mako’s hand on my clothes tightened.
“K-Koto Ne…”
Her voice trembled. I could hear her teeth chattering.
Just hearing her made the hair on my back stand up.
…Could it be?
“Is, is it there?”
“Y-Yeah, it’s there…”
What is it?
What exactly is there?
I didn’t want to look back.
If possible, I’d rather just step back and leave the house like this, but—
I couldn’t just leave it to Mako alone.
I slowly turned my body.
Mako was already shining the flashlight behind us.
At the end of it—
A staircase.
Ah, right.
The old lady mentioned that’s where her uncle passed away.
At the top of the stairs, a face was peeking out.
Black hair cut short was visible, and below that, two eyes looked our way.
What we couldn’t see was what was beneath those large, unblinking eyes staring at us.
The flashlight’s beam might’ve contributed, but that face looked unnaturally white.
The big, unblinking eyes stared at us without blinking or making a sound.
“…”
Seeing it face to face, I couldn’t find my words.
Yet, I hurried to step forward and protect Mako, only to have her block me.
Then, with her trembling voice, she said, “I-I won’t leave you alone this time.”
Mako blocked my body with her arm and said, “Huh?”
“I won’t go on ahead.”
Mako said, her voice trembling.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.