“Oh dear, I’m so sorry.”
It was only the next morning that the aunt regained her senses and said that.
“I must have gotten too hot yesterday afternoon. I caused you all trouble, didn’t I?”
“……”
She probably had no memory of what happened or thought it was just a dream, so we decided not to mention it further.
“By the way, Aunt…”
—I thought so, but it seemed Yuka had a different idea.
“Could you tell us a bit more about uncle? What kind of person was he?”
“Uncle? Are you talking about the one who passed away at the mansion?”
The aunt pondered for a moment before answering.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know much either. He went to Tokyo when he was young and came back home around the time I was ten.”
The aunt spoke as if she was lost in memories.
“He said he was doing well at first, but… it didn’t seem like there was any sign of his business failing when he suddenly returned home. Even my grandparents back then, and my parents, were puzzled. He was someone who had made a lot of money.”
Based on current standards—that is, about 30 years ago, around the mid-1970s.
It wasn’t to say it was an overflowing wealth that rotted in the corners of his house during the bubble economy, but Japan’s economy was on the rise.
You could live off interview fees just by going to interviews all day long, and even if companies wanted to hire someone, they couldn’t find anyone. It was remarkable times when businesses were profitable enough to survive even without employees.
Thus, there was no reason to close a business that was just gaining momentum. If he had held on for a few more years, he would have made a lot more money. Though no one knows what would have happened afterward.
“At first, he fought a lot with my parents. My grandparents too… something must have happened in Tokyo. It’s probably related to personal relationships? After uncle passed away, my parents and grandparents never spoke about him at all, so I don’t know the details.”
“Hmmm,” the aunt said, creasing her brow.
She looked as though she was reminiscing about someone she hadn’t thought of in a long time.
“Uncle was really nice to me… he often patted my head and hugged me. He brought me a lot of delicious things to eat and suggested we go on outings together. My parents hated that, so whenever they saw us together, they would pull me away.”
The aunt, who had her eyes narrowed, suddenly blinked and awkwardly smiled.
“Oh, what am I talking about? I’ve delved too deeply into something I’m not even interested in.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. I’m the one who should apologize for asking so many details.”
We thanked the aunt and returned to our lodgings.
11 o’clock.
Because of yesterday’s events, everyone was sluggish and we all came back to the lodging, roughly lay down, and fell asleep.
This morning when I woke up, I found a leg napkin stuck on top of me, making it a bit difficult to get out.
In any case, we all got up, washed our bodies, and had a light meal with cup noodles.
Then Yuka pulled on my arm and led me to the living room, sitting me down at the table.
My friends surrounded me and stared quietly.
“……Why?”
Honestly, I had a bit of an idea why.
But really, how unfair.
I get that this so-called uncle has many suspicious sides.
He probably got involved in some terrible incident, related to crime, and went back home, living off his parents after that.
And the fact that he was very warm and friendly with the aunt, who was just ten back then… plus, the parental and grandparental figures often separated them.
At least that suggests they knew what he had done. Meanwhile, the aunt herself seems not to have suspected anything from childhood until now.
No matter how I think about it, it seems abnormal.
These things often go unnoticed by the person themselves. If they had been aware, more than half of child sexual crimes would have vanished by now.
In any case.
I know it’s suspicious, but why does this human seem to appear only when I enter?
I wouldn’t want him to have shown up at all when the other kids went in. It would have been best if he hadn’t shown up from the start, since he seems to have malicious intent anyway.
“For now, this.”
Yuka handed me a talisman with a serious expression.
“……What is this?”
“Carry it with you.”
“Why?”
“In case something happens again.”
I mean, I get it.
But isn’t it just coincidence? They might have been waiting to see if someone would come in.
Now that I think about it, as soon as I went in, it felt as though the sounds from inside and outside had drowned. It didn’t completely cut off, but the noises we made likely wouldn’t have been heard outside.
Tsk such a creep.
“……Koto Ne.”
Mako looked at me and spoke.
I could tell something she couldn’t put into words, so I guessed Mako was thinking about something.
She probably thinks I almost went through a sexual assault after having already experienced one.
That’s right.
I never got to tell Mako what really happened yesterday. To be honest, I was just out of it, and the kids were acting clingy because they had seen a ghost, so the timing just didn’t come.
Yuuki seemed surprisingly unfazed, but Harumi was unexpectedly a bit scared.
Tsuneda and Shii were no exception, and those two kept clinging to Koko.
In any case, we all stayed in similar places.
“……”
And now, how long until I’ll have to wait to talk?
Was it because of the mix of frustration and helplessness?
Eventually, I exploded.
“Mako, what you’re thinking… is actually wrong.”
Even if I say exploded, I’m not angry.
If we keep knowing each other, it’s inevitable that they will gradually learn about this kind of thing.
I don’t think my future would change dramatically just by sharing a little now.
Mako flinched at my words, and I spoke as calmly as I could.
“On that day, I was not sexually assaulted.”
Yuka’s eyes widened.
……Ah.
She must have gone through something similar.
Back then, she almost went through it too.
I was about to spill everything but felt the conversation was tangling all over again. Then I finished my sentence.
“Actually, I met an Aoni.”
“Aoni?”
Mako asked back, a little flustered.
The kids around her shared similar expressions.
Indeed, the person who reacted the most was Yuka.
……Right. She knows what an Aoni is. The only reason she transferred here was because of that Aoni, and that Aoni had already tasted human flesh.
By then, similar serial killings had already occurred.
Feeling the story getting entangled even more, I decided to save that discussion for later. After all, once the trip ends and I return home, Yuka will either follow me or visit the very next day, so I can just wait till then.
“……Uh, um, it’s a Yōkai that eats anything and everything.”
The expressions of the kids became complicated.
Yuka, Yuuki, Koko, Kaoru looked appalled. These kids know Yōkai.
Izumi’s face turned pale. Even if she says she doesn’t know other Yōkai, she has seen the Woman with a torn mouth. Well, the time she even got a ghost expelled was during the early first semester last year.
The other kids seemed puzzled, as if asking what that even meant.
What can I say?
Still, they had seen the ghost. They had also seen Yuka beat up the ghost, and Mako even kicked the ghost several times.
So, nobody outright denies it. I think that’s reassuring, so I spoke again.
“……You can think of it as resembling a ghost. I, um, know that I have that kind of blood flowing, right? So I’d say I kind of exorcised the Yōkai. That’s it. So don’t worry. I wasn’t violated.”
I looked directly at Mako while trying to ease her concern, but
“Then, what happened then…”
Mako asked, her face growing pale.
Ah, this isn’t what I wanted.
I just meant to let her know I hadn’t been sexually assaulted.
…….
However, on second thought, it sounds more like I almost got eaten instead of being assaulted.
I felt my own face growing pale.
“What do you mean don’t worry?”
Mako asked with a trembling voice.
“Then that means you almost died…”
Mako suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and rushed at me, gripping my shoulders tightly.
“So, you mean that the serial eating incident was the Yōkai’s doing!?”
Mako is smart.
She instantly deduced the conclusions about things I hadn’t even said.
She doesn’t doubt my words. Rather, that seems to cause a bigger problem. The irony that believing in each other has turned into a problem.
“Uh, I…”
“No.”
I cut her off.
“You shouldn’t have been there. You would have died.”
Mako was left with a dazed look.
“If it were anyone else, it would have gone wrong. There would have only been more victims.”
“I was there too.”
Yuka said tersely.
“I transferred to Hanagawa for that reason.”
“……I wanted to at least reduce the number of victims.”
Yuka paused for a moment in thought. She still looked sulky but nodded after looking at Mako. It seems she understood. What could have happened if I hadn’t intervened back then.
“……”
The room fell into a moment of silence.
“But then, why did you give me the talisman?”
“Ah, that.”
Yuka said.
“That man appearing in front of you must have a reason. Normally… you know, right? Those who touch little girls often tend to bully social vulnerabilities.”
“You mean I look weak?”
“Probably looked like a weak target. The two of you were frightened. Besides, maybe he’s drawn to you because he’s done it before. It has a familiar scent.”
“……”
As I stared at Yuka, she shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m not afraid of that kind of thing at all. I told you. He only touches those he perceives as the weakest. The one he tried to touch you wasn’t an easy child to deal with anyway.”
Saying this, Yuka smiled a little.
“Still, keep that talisman on you. We never know. We might discuss it more when we visit a shrine later… ah, right.”
Yuka suddenly chuckled as if she recalled something.
Before I even had a chance to feel fear from her laugh, she said,
“Let’s also tell your mother. She might know some other method.”
It seems like using honorifics means she has cleared up a lot of misunderstandings—
“Uh, I hope you refrain from that.”
“What do you say, Koko? Wouldn’t you like Koto Ne to feel safer?”
Ignoring my plea, Yuka turned to Koko.
“Uh-huh!”
And Koko naturally nodded as if that was the answer.
Koko didn’t interfere when Yuka was beating up the ghost.
Koko has also learned to read other people’s expressions. After my diligent teachings, she has definitely learned that she shouldn’t transform in front of others.
Especially since no one at that place knows her identity yet.
Of course, I noticed that after the incident, Koko’s hair became a little stiff, but after seeing Yuka handle it, she probably didn’t care.
She has intuition… right, she has gained intuition.
But right now, it doesn’t feel like a moment to be moved.
Koko was smiling at me.
Koko was a child who had lost me twice. It’s natural for her to react that way in such situations.
……But, didn’t she look like she couldn’t grasp the situation just a moment ago?
Could it be that since Shii and Tsuneda were beside her, she acted that way to prevent the atmosphere from getting too serious? Perhaps she couldn’t transform because Tsuneda happened to be right next to her?
Tsuneida still seemed a little dazed, not fully grasping the situation.
I guess I’ll have to explain it to her slowly. After all, she’ll be in the same school with us for more than a year.
I wonder how Tsuneda would react when she hears about the story of ‘Light Novels’.
It’s still uncertain.
*
Despite everything, we had a short bit of fun on the last day.
When we went back into the sea, the kids were gleefully splashing water as if nothing had happened yesterday. It’s thanks to the fact that yesterday’s events ended up more like a comedy.
Still, who knows what that true identity is. Our thoughts were merely assumptions.
It’s possible that he just fled because his business went belly up. Perhaps he didn’t want to burden the young aunt with such heavy stories.
The ‘rich uncle’ chasing them all the way to here, it didn’t seem the aunt was that wealthy. Even though she had two houses up above, one was left abandoned and the one they lived in didn’t look much different from the other houses on the island.
Perhaps the ‘financial troubles’ caused the family to clash and they were unhappy having the uncle stay with them.
……If so, that would be a bit regrettable.
After some lively play and a thorough wash, we got back on the boat.
We set off around three in the afternoon.
The sky was clear.
I was thankful that this was one of the things that didn’t follow the ‘Light Novel’ formula.
“……We had a lot of events, but in the end, we couldn’t use the last one.”
“We took lots of photos, so it’s fine.”
Izumi came up beside me and said that, to which I replied reassuringly.
Izumi wore a smile on her face.
“Filling the content with photos is the job of the photography club, right?”
While she gazed at me for a while, Izumi suddenly said,
“I’m glad you joined the literature club.”
Suddenly blurting that out caught me off guard.
“……You’re still in the senior year…”
“I should’ve resigned as president at the start of this year, but I dragged it on until now.”
“……”
Wait.
It feels like this conversation is drifting strangely.
“Well now, I might seem rude saying this, but would you mind taking on the president’s role for the next half year? I feel like I could graduate in peace knowing you’ll be there.”
“Pardon?”
Uh, what?
Well, I would have to pass on the presidency to someone next year anyway.
I thought Tsuneda, who would jump from the first year straight to the second year, would take over.
“I’ll tell the teacher once school starts again. Well then, do your best from now on, prospective president.”
With that, Izumi headed towards the guest room.
“……”
I stared blankly at Izumi’s back,
“Uh, wait a minute, Izumi-senpai!”
I shouted a bit flustered and hurried after her.
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