Ghost Hunt:Volume6, page 9
part #6 of Ghost Hunt Series
“That’s not true.... please take this.”
Youko-san silently accepted it— then it suddenly flared up. The charm burned above Youko-san’s hand as if it had spontaneously burst into flames.
“...it’s useless.”
Youko-san laughed. It was a wicked type of laugh.
“These things are completely useless.”
We slowly approached and put ourselves on guard in order to surround Youko-san.
“Ayako, Shichi Baku”
“All right.”
Youko-san frowned.
“What?”
“It’s nothing. We just need your presence for a moment.”
Ayako moved her fingers. She cut the nine syllables. Five horizontal and four vertical. She quietly chanted something with her mouth.
“What is it…?”
“Not bad…. John.”
When he was called, John sprinkled holy water. Youko-san, who took two, three steps backwards with a frown, was caught from behind by Lin-san.
“Let go!”
John lightly cut a cross.
“I accost thee, damned and most impure spirit, cause of malice, essence of crimes, origin of sins, thee who revel in deceit, sacrilege, adultery, and murder.”
John extended his hand towards Youko-san, who widened her eyes. He drew a cross towards Youko-san’s chest.
“I adjure thee in Christ’s name,”
He drew a cross towards her forehead.
“That, in whatsoever part of the body thou art hiding, thou shalt declare thyself, that thou shalt flee the body that thou hast occupied.”
Towards her right ear.
“Thou shalt depart, wheresoever thou dost lurk, and never more seek out bodies dedicated to God.”
Towards her left ear.
“Let these holy bodies be forbidden to thee forever, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Towards her mouth. Then he held up his hand to gently touch her eyes.
“In Principio.”
Youko-san’s legs failed her and she collapsed. She slumped down on the spot supported by Lin-san. When Youko-san opened her eyes, which had been tightly closed, she wore a surprised expression.
“...eh? What?”
John smiled at Youko-san, who was in dismay. He lightly kissed the cross he held in his hand and put it around Youko-san’s neck.
“You’re alright now. Please wear this and do not remove it.”
4
Since Youko-san remembered nothing from the time we came to this house to now, Akifumi-san had to explain the situation from scratch.
“Hey, hey, Ayako. What’s Shichi Baku?”
When I asked that during diner, which we were taking in shifts, Ayako replied,
“That’s an immobility technique.”
“Is that what Lin-san cast on Naru?”
Hearing that, Ayako frowned.
“No way. It isn’t powerful enough to put others to sleep. It only works to the extent of making people a little lethargic and making it difficult to move.”
Ahh. Still, considering it was Ayako, it was amazing that she was useful.
“When you used Shichi Baku, didn’t you cut the nine syllables? You directed it towards Youko-san, but was that okay?”
‘Ah,’ Ayako smiled.
“The nine syllables was originally referred to as the defensive nine syllables and was something used to protect yourself.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“I taught you the fast nine syllables. It’s the one that’s more easily done actually. It’s done during prayer. Ultimately, you use that when you do things such as prayer and training to prevent the intrusion of evil spirits. So originally, it was a method of self-defense. When you use it, don’t you essentially shout and push away from your center with the sword seal? If it’s done in that way, then it can also be used as a kind of attack. When you shout, you’re firing your willpower.”
“I see… Then are things like exorcism ultimately manipulating your willpower somehow?”
“That’s so. In the end, chanting spells and using tools are just rituals for efficiently boosting your willpower.”
“Then isn’t it meaningless?”
Ayako rested her chin in one hand.
“Hmm… perhaps it’s meaningless. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t do it if you don’t use them. For example, if someone uses the wrong mantra, there isn’t any issue from making a mistake…. well, that’s what I think.”
“Ah.”
“There’s a method from China called Qigong. This is Kung Fu that manipulates your willpower. It can be used to cure illness or move objects, and on top of that, it can be used to defeat people that are far away without even touching them.”
“Isn’t that what PK is?”
Ayako looked back at me.
“Ah, is that so? That’s true. Curing illnesses is PK-LT and defeating far away people is PK-ST. Then that means PK is in fact willpower.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“There are few who know that method. I’m not even familiar with Qigong techniques. People who are said to have mastered it are truly amazing, although I’ve never seen it. They can break rocks without even touching them, bend iron, cure cancer, and they even seem to be able to manipulate human beings. It seems some people can do exorcisms with Qigong.”
“Wow...”
“Surprisingly, Lin can probably do it.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.”
After the pair of us laughed, we looked at each other.
“Naru!”
Could there be a possibility that Naru is a master of Qigong techniques?
“It would be useless to even tie him if he knew Qigong.”
“There would be no point even if he was confined. That is dangerous.”
“Then certainly there’s no choice but to keep him asleep.”
“Is that so? Now I understand.”
I see. One question was solved.
Ayako nodded enthusiastically.
“It’s true. Otherwise, Naru wouldn’t even have to practice religious purification and—”
“Oh!”
I clapped my hands.
“What?”
“There’s a question I’ve had for a long time.”
“Hmmm?”
“A while ago, when we went to investigate at Taka’s school, wasn’t there a situation where Naru and I fell into a hole?”
“There was, there was.”
“There was a manhole, and it was full of rubble that had fallen into the hole. I thought it was strange that the reason we weren’t injured much was because we just so happened to fall somewhere that didn’t have any chunks of concrete.”
“Why?”
“After all, we had fallen from the manhole, right? Even the rubble had fallen from the manhole. I thought it was inevitable that we would get injured since both us and the rumble pretty much fell from the same spot.”
“Is that so? Naturally, rubble should have been strewn about the place you had fallen.”
“Right? There wasn’t any debris there.”
“Someone must have either broke it or moved it out of the way.”
“I know, right?”
“Hehehe.”
We finally caught his tail. Ayako and I continued to laugh giddily for a little while.
“Eh? But wait a minute.”
Ayako abruptly tilted her head in puzzlement.
“But, if he’s able to use Qigong techniques, why wasn’t he able to fight off that fox-like thing when it sprang at him?”
“Hmm? You have a point… ”
Come to think of it, Lin-san had said something. Something like, “Don’t do it!”
“I wonder if there’s a reason he shouldn’t use Qigong techniques… ”
In the end, Ayako and I were greatly perplexed.
5
Nao-san hadn’t come back, and it had become a problem since it was approaching midnight.
“It's impossible to not come home until such time without notice.”
Hiroe-obasan and the others began to make an uproar, but when we inquired, no one had seen Nao-san go out. It turned out that even when we tried searching her room, her purse and such had been left behind and we just could not think of where she had gone. Bou-san and John helped by searching the neighborhood, but the figure of Nao was not found. Bou-san and John returned to the base after one in the morning. The moon couldn’t even be seen through the thick clouds in the night sky.
“How did it go?”
When I asked, Bou-san and John shook their heads.
“If she doesn’t return tomorrow, we’ll submit a search request.”
The mood became deeply somber.
Just as I nodded, Lin-san, who had been watching the equipment, raised his voice.
“Takigawa-san. —Look here.”
Saying so, he pointed out the monitor. It was the video of the camera that was placed in the cave. The entrance of the cave was visible to the left of the screen… there were no abnormalities in particular. Was there something?
Bou-san fixed his eyes on the screen, then he stood up in hurry.
“Lin, is there a flashlight?”
“I put one in the car.”
“John, come on.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Mai, you and the others stay here. Young master, I’m entrusting this place to you.”
After seeing off the three people, who left in a rush, I exchanged a look with Ayako.
Was there something wrong in the video of the cave? I stared at the screen again, but I didn’t see anything abnormal in the cave. Only the deserted space was projected with that strangely pale tone characteristic of the high sensitivity camera.
“I wonder what it is.”
I tilted my head in thought at Ayako’s words.
“....there’s nothing. Even if something strange shows up on video, that doesn’t necessarily mean something strange is going on… ”
I broke off mid-sentence and my eyes fixed on the entrance of the cave. At the rocky stretch outside the entrance, white waves were lapping against the protruding rocks. Something was caught there so that it was being washed by the waves.
“What’s that there?”
I stared further, but I couldn’t tell what it was. It repeatedly retreated and hit the rocks.
As I was desperately straining my eyes, the video showed Bou-san and the others rush in. Bou-san headed straight for the thing that was caught in the rocky area. There was something after all…
Akifumi-san stood up half-way.
I switched over the speaker. Bou-san and the others were keeping silent. No sound could be heard from the speakers except the sound of the waves.
Bou-san pulled the thing up while getting swallowed by the waves. With Lin-san, the thing was carried between the pair.
Ayako screamed. Akifumi-san rushed out of the room.
The video was coarse and I couldn’t see well. Even so, I knew that it was a person. As we watched, the person’s body was washed by the waves without resistance. I don’t think that person is alive.
(—Corpses flow in with relation to the tide)
Nao-san had not come back. We could not think of where she had gone.
I closed my eyes. Please be someone else. Let it be someone completely unrelated.
—Still, I also knew there could not be such a chance.
***
It was undoubtedly Nao-san. She was carried by the tide until it had reached that cave. The police were called and Nao-san was carried away. We heard that she underwent an autopsy.
“I would hate to be dissected by someone… even if it was a woman… ”
I was in the base holding my knees. Ayako patted my back consolingly.
The sound of the waves flowing could still be heard from the speaker. I realized for the first time that the sound of waves was actually a lonesome sound.
Bou-san and the others, who had finished changing their clothes, returned after a while wearing sullen expressions.
“Thanks for your hard work… I made coffee.”
“Thanks.”
No one had anything more to say than that.
I finished distributing the coffee and just as everyone had started to drink, Bou-san spoke at long last.
“Masako-chan.”
“Yes?”
“Can you summon Nao-san?”
Masako looked back at Bou-san with a start.
“I think I can, but… ”
“Lin said it’s a bad day for him. I’m sorry, but will you do it?”
“I will try to do what I can.”
“Mai, go to the main building and ask only for these things.”
After he said this, Bou-san began to write a note. Nao-san’s birthdate, blood type, hobbies, favorite artist, money in her purse, where she went on a trip recently, etc.
“...how should I ask for these things?”
“Go now. Don’t say anything about a seance. They don’t need to know about something they won’t understand. —Masako, is there anything you need to prepare?”
6
I asked the endless list of questions as I was instructed to do, and when I returned to the base, the inside of the room was already prepared. Although I say prepared, there was only a candle and an incense, and the rest was the equipment for recording.
“Have you asked?”
“Yeah. Although, I only filled out about half.”
“That’s enough.”
While handing over the note to Bou-san, I asked,
“But why’d you really want me to ask those things?”
“If Nao-san is summoned, it’s necessary to determine that no mistakes were made.”
Oh, I see.
“If that’s the case, should we have Akifumi-san come? Wouldn’t it be easy if it was ascertained by him?”
“That’ll be trouble.”
“Why? I think Akifumi-san will certainly want to see her, too.”
“It won’t do.”
I was slightly annoyed.
“Why? I think Nao-san might surely say, ‘If I knew this would suddenly happen, I would have told you so much.’ Am I right? ...hey, answer me!”
Bou-san looked at me. He had a very serious expression.
“Nao-san didn’t necessarily die in an accident.”
“...what do you mean?”
“I’ll speak plainly. There’s a possibility she was killed by someone in this house.”
“Bou-san!”
“When you guys handed out charms, Nao-san was already gone. At that point, it seems three people were possessed. Youko-san and the two children. It might not have been an accident or suicide. Do you think the young master would want to hear it if Youko-san killed her?”
“...what?”
Bou-san sighed.
“I’d prefer it if that wasn’t the case, too. So, Masako will summon her to make sure of it. The family aren’t allowed to participate. Got it?”
“...Got it.”
***
We all surrounded the low table. The candle and incense were lit and the lights were turned out. Masako, who sat heavily in a zaisu chair, closed her eyes and put her hands together. Then she began to quietly chant what appeared to be a sutra.
“Avalokitesh...Bodhisattva, while...Perfection of..., ...five...empty...”
Masako’s posture immediately collapsed. Her always precisely straightened spine had become slightly stooped, but soon after, she leaned her back heavily against the back of the zaisu chair. Her words were becoming increasingly indistinct. Before long, they, too, were cut off, and for a short while, there wasn’t a sound. Only the faint sound of waves and the low motor noise of the equipment moving could be heard.
“Nao-san,”
Bou-san addressed quietly.
“Nao-san, are you there?”
Masako’s eyes remained closed, but her red lips moved.
“Yes... ”
Someone breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“You are Yoshimi Nao-san, right?”
“Yes… what is this?”
“I would like you to answer a few question.”
Bou-san said and began to ask various questions. Masako answered the questions while being confused. Everything matched well with the responses that I had heard in the main building. The sight of Masako continuing to talk with only her mouth moving felt quite abnormal given that she appeared completely asleep. Masako— Nao-san, who had borrowed Masako’s mouth, had asked several times, “What is this?” It left a strong impression.
“You died. ...do you understand?”
There was a pause following Bou-san’s words.
“...yes.”
“Do you know… how you died?”
There was another pause here.
“I fell… into the sea.”
As soon as she said this, something glistening came from Masako’s closed eyes.
“I was in the garden…watching the sea.”
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“Where in the garden was that?”
“It was on the other side… of the teahouse… I wanted to think about something... ”
“Did you slip?”
There was a long pause this time.
“...I was pushed off.”
As was expected. It was so after all.
“Who pushed you off?”
“I don’t know… someone pushed me from behind.”
She said that and took a long breath.
“I was so...frightened.”
...listening to her was heartbreaking. I lowered my head. How scared she must be. How sad she must be.
“Is there anything more? Don’t you remember something about the person who pushed you off?”
“...I don’t remember… but I’m glad I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“Only the family go there. If it was someone from the family that pushed me… I don’t want to know.”
After she said so, she released another long sigh.
“I guess… I cannot live anymore.”
It was cruel. What did Nao-san supposedly do? Who held this grudge and did this terrible thing? ...who would make someone do this?
“Please rest in peace.”
When Bou-san said this, she cried out slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
Youko-san silently accepted it— then it suddenly flared up. The charm burned above Youko-san’s hand as if it had spontaneously burst into flames.
“...it’s useless.”
Youko-san laughed. It was a wicked type of laugh.
“These things are completely useless.”
We slowly approached and put ourselves on guard in order to surround Youko-san.
“Ayako, Shichi Baku”
“All right.”
Youko-san frowned.
“What?”
“It’s nothing. We just need your presence for a moment.”
Ayako moved her fingers. She cut the nine syllables. Five horizontal and four vertical. She quietly chanted something with her mouth.
“What is it…?”
“Not bad…. John.”
When he was called, John sprinkled holy water. Youko-san, who took two, three steps backwards with a frown, was caught from behind by Lin-san.
“Let go!”
John lightly cut a cross.
“I accost thee, damned and most impure spirit, cause of malice, essence of crimes, origin of sins, thee who revel in deceit, sacrilege, adultery, and murder.”
John extended his hand towards Youko-san, who widened her eyes. He drew a cross towards Youko-san’s chest.
“I adjure thee in Christ’s name,”
He drew a cross towards her forehead.
“That, in whatsoever part of the body thou art hiding, thou shalt declare thyself, that thou shalt flee the body that thou hast occupied.”
Towards her right ear.
“Thou shalt depart, wheresoever thou dost lurk, and never more seek out bodies dedicated to God.”
Towards her left ear.
“Let these holy bodies be forbidden to thee forever, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Towards her mouth. Then he held up his hand to gently touch her eyes.
“In Principio.”
Youko-san’s legs failed her and she collapsed. She slumped down on the spot supported by Lin-san. When Youko-san opened her eyes, which had been tightly closed, she wore a surprised expression.
“...eh? What?”
John smiled at Youko-san, who was in dismay. He lightly kissed the cross he held in his hand and put it around Youko-san’s neck.
“You’re alright now. Please wear this and do not remove it.”
4
Since Youko-san remembered nothing from the time we came to this house to now, Akifumi-san had to explain the situation from scratch.
“Hey, hey, Ayako. What’s Shichi Baku?”
When I asked that during diner, which we were taking in shifts, Ayako replied,
“That’s an immobility technique.”
“Is that what Lin-san cast on Naru?”
Hearing that, Ayako frowned.
“No way. It isn’t powerful enough to put others to sleep. It only works to the extent of making people a little lethargic and making it difficult to move.”
Ahh. Still, considering it was Ayako, it was amazing that she was useful.
“When you used Shichi Baku, didn’t you cut the nine syllables? You directed it towards Youko-san, but was that okay?”
‘Ah,’ Ayako smiled.
“The nine syllables was originally referred to as the defensive nine syllables and was something used to protect yourself.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“I taught you the fast nine syllables. It’s the one that’s more easily done actually. It’s done during prayer. Ultimately, you use that when you do things such as prayer and training to prevent the intrusion of evil spirits. So originally, it was a method of self-defense. When you use it, don’t you essentially shout and push away from your center with the sword seal? If it’s done in that way, then it can also be used as a kind of attack. When you shout, you’re firing your willpower.”
“I see… Then are things like exorcism ultimately manipulating your willpower somehow?”
“That’s so. In the end, chanting spells and using tools are just rituals for efficiently boosting your willpower.”
“Then isn’t it meaningless?”
Ayako rested her chin in one hand.
“Hmm… perhaps it’s meaningless. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t do it if you don’t use them. For example, if someone uses the wrong mantra, there isn’t any issue from making a mistake…. well, that’s what I think.”
“Ah.”
“There’s a method from China called Qigong. This is Kung Fu that manipulates your willpower. It can be used to cure illness or move objects, and on top of that, it can be used to defeat people that are far away without even touching them.”
“Isn’t that what PK is?”
Ayako looked back at me.
“Ah, is that so? That’s true. Curing illnesses is PK-LT and defeating far away people is PK-ST. Then that means PK is in fact willpower.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“There are few who know that method. I’m not even familiar with Qigong techniques. People who are said to have mastered it are truly amazing, although I’ve never seen it. They can break rocks without even touching them, bend iron, cure cancer, and they even seem to be able to manipulate human beings. It seems some people can do exorcisms with Qigong.”
“Wow...”
“Surprisingly, Lin can probably do it.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.”
After the pair of us laughed, we looked at each other.
“Naru!”
Could there be a possibility that Naru is a master of Qigong techniques?
“It would be useless to even tie him if he knew Qigong.”
“There would be no point even if he was confined. That is dangerous.”
“Then certainly there’s no choice but to keep him asleep.”
“Is that so? Now I understand.”
I see. One question was solved.
Ayako nodded enthusiastically.
“It’s true. Otherwise, Naru wouldn’t even have to practice religious purification and—”
“Oh!”
I clapped my hands.
“What?”
“There’s a question I’ve had for a long time.”
“Hmmm?”
“A while ago, when we went to investigate at Taka’s school, wasn’t there a situation where Naru and I fell into a hole?”
“There was, there was.”
“There was a manhole, and it was full of rubble that had fallen into the hole. I thought it was strange that the reason we weren’t injured much was because we just so happened to fall somewhere that didn’t have any chunks of concrete.”
“Why?”
“After all, we had fallen from the manhole, right? Even the rubble had fallen from the manhole. I thought it was inevitable that we would get injured since both us and the rumble pretty much fell from the same spot.”
“Is that so? Naturally, rubble should have been strewn about the place you had fallen.”
“Right? There wasn’t any debris there.”
“Someone must have either broke it or moved it out of the way.”
“I know, right?”
“Hehehe.”
We finally caught his tail. Ayako and I continued to laugh giddily for a little while.
“Eh? But wait a minute.”
Ayako abruptly tilted her head in puzzlement.
“But, if he’s able to use Qigong techniques, why wasn’t he able to fight off that fox-like thing when it sprang at him?”
“Hmm? You have a point… ”
Come to think of it, Lin-san had said something. Something like, “Don’t do it!”
“I wonder if there’s a reason he shouldn’t use Qigong techniques… ”
In the end, Ayako and I were greatly perplexed.
5
Nao-san hadn’t come back, and it had become a problem since it was approaching midnight.
“It's impossible to not come home until such time without notice.”
Hiroe-obasan and the others began to make an uproar, but when we inquired, no one had seen Nao-san go out. It turned out that even when we tried searching her room, her purse and such had been left behind and we just could not think of where she had gone. Bou-san and John helped by searching the neighborhood, but the figure of Nao was not found. Bou-san and John returned to the base after one in the morning. The moon couldn’t even be seen through the thick clouds in the night sky.
“How did it go?”
When I asked, Bou-san and John shook their heads.
“If she doesn’t return tomorrow, we’ll submit a search request.”
The mood became deeply somber.
Just as I nodded, Lin-san, who had been watching the equipment, raised his voice.
“Takigawa-san. —Look here.”
Saying so, he pointed out the monitor. It was the video of the camera that was placed in the cave. The entrance of the cave was visible to the left of the screen… there were no abnormalities in particular. Was there something?
Bou-san fixed his eyes on the screen, then he stood up in hurry.
“Lin, is there a flashlight?”
“I put one in the car.”
“John, come on.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Mai, you and the others stay here. Young master, I’m entrusting this place to you.”
After seeing off the three people, who left in a rush, I exchanged a look with Ayako.
Was there something wrong in the video of the cave? I stared at the screen again, but I didn’t see anything abnormal in the cave. Only the deserted space was projected with that strangely pale tone characteristic of the high sensitivity camera.
“I wonder what it is.”
I tilted my head in thought at Ayako’s words.
“....there’s nothing. Even if something strange shows up on video, that doesn’t necessarily mean something strange is going on… ”
I broke off mid-sentence and my eyes fixed on the entrance of the cave. At the rocky stretch outside the entrance, white waves were lapping against the protruding rocks. Something was caught there so that it was being washed by the waves.
“What’s that there?”
I stared further, but I couldn’t tell what it was. It repeatedly retreated and hit the rocks.
As I was desperately straining my eyes, the video showed Bou-san and the others rush in. Bou-san headed straight for the thing that was caught in the rocky area. There was something after all…
Akifumi-san stood up half-way.
I switched over the speaker. Bou-san and the others were keeping silent. No sound could be heard from the speakers except the sound of the waves.
Bou-san pulled the thing up while getting swallowed by the waves. With Lin-san, the thing was carried between the pair.
Ayako screamed. Akifumi-san rushed out of the room.
The video was coarse and I couldn’t see well. Even so, I knew that it was a person. As we watched, the person’s body was washed by the waves without resistance. I don’t think that person is alive.
(—Corpses flow in with relation to the tide)
Nao-san had not come back. We could not think of where she had gone.
I closed my eyes. Please be someone else. Let it be someone completely unrelated.
—Still, I also knew there could not be such a chance.
***
It was undoubtedly Nao-san. She was carried by the tide until it had reached that cave. The police were called and Nao-san was carried away. We heard that she underwent an autopsy.
“I would hate to be dissected by someone… even if it was a woman… ”
I was in the base holding my knees. Ayako patted my back consolingly.
The sound of the waves flowing could still be heard from the speaker. I realized for the first time that the sound of waves was actually a lonesome sound.
Bou-san and the others, who had finished changing their clothes, returned after a while wearing sullen expressions.
“Thanks for your hard work… I made coffee.”
“Thanks.”
No one had anything more to say than that.
I finished distributing the coffee and just as everyone had started to drink, Bou-san spoke at long last.
“Masako-chan.”
“Yes?”
“Can you summon Nao-san?”
Masako looked back at Bou-san with a start.
“I think I can, but… ”
“Lin said it’s a bad day for him. I’m sorry, but will you do it?”
“I will try to do what I can.”
“Mai, go to the main building and ask only for these things.”
After he said this, Bou-san began to write a note. Nao-san’s birthdate, blood type, hobbies, favorite artist, money in her purse, where she went on a trip recently, etc.
“...how should I ask for these things?”
“Go now. Don’t say anything about a seance. They don’t need to know about something they won’t understand. —Masako, is there anything you need to prepare?”
6
I asked the endless list of questions as I was instructed to do, and when I returned to the base, the inside of the room was already prepared. Although I say prepared, there was only a candle and an incense, and the rest was the equipment for recording.
“Have you asked?”
“Yeah. Although, I only filled out about half.”
“That’s enough.”
While handing over the note to Bou-san, I asked,
“But why’d you really want me to ask those things?”
“If Nao-san is summoned, it’s necessary to determine that no mistakes were made.”
Oh, I see.
“If that’s the case, should we have Akifumi-san come? Wouldn’t it be easy if it was ascertained by him?”
“That’ll be trouble.”
“Why? I think Akifumi-san will certainly want to see her, too.”
“It won’t do.”
I was slightly annoyed.
“Why? I think Nao-san might surely say, ‘If I knew this would suddenly happen, I would have told you so much.’ Am I right? ...hey, answer me!”
Bou-san looked at me. He had a very serious expression.
“Nao-san didn’t necessarily die in an accident.”
“...what do you mean?”
“I’ll speak plainly. There’s a possibility she was killed by someone in this house.”
“Bou-san!”
“When you guys handed out charms, Nao-san was already gone. At that point, it seems three people were possessed. Youko-san and the two children. It might not have been an accident or suicide. Do you think the young master would want to hear it if Youko-san killed her?”
“...what?”
Bou-san sighed.
“I’d prefer it if that wasn’t the case, too. So, Masako will summon her to make sure of it. The family aren’t allowed to participate. Got it?”
“...Got it.”
***
We all surrounded the low table. The candle and incense were lit and the lights were turned out. Masako, who sat heavily in a zaisu chair, closed her eyes and put her hands together. Then she began to quietly chant what appeared to be a sutra.
“Avalokitesh...Bodhisattva, while...Perfection of..., ...five...empty...”
Masako’s posture immediately collapsed. Her always precisely straightened spine had become slightly stooped, but soon after, she leaned her back heavily against the back of the zaisu chair. Her words were becoming increasingly indistinct. Before long, they, too, were cut off, and for a short while, there wasn’t a sound. Only the faint sound of waves and the low motor noise of the equipment moving could be heard.
“Nao-san,”
Bou-san addressed quietly.
“Nao-san, are you there?”
Masako’s eyes remained closed, but her red lips moved.
“Yes... ”
Someone breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“You are Yoshimi Nao-san, right?”
“Yes… what is this?”
“I would like you to answer a few question.”
Bou-san said and began to ask various questions. Masako answered the questions while being confused. Everything matched well with the responses that I had heard in the main building. The sight of Masako continuing to talk with only her mouth moving felt quite abnormal given that she appeared completely asleep. Masako— Nao-san, who had borrowed Masako’s mouth, had asked several times, “What is this?” It left a strong impression.
“You died. ...do you understand?”
There was a pause following Bou-san’s words.
“...yes.”
“Do you know… how you died?”
There was another pause here.
“I fell… into the sea.”
As soon as she said this, something glistening came from Masako’s closed eyes.
“I was in the garden…watching the sea.”
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“Where in the garden was that?”
“It was on the other side… of the teahouse… I wanted to think about something... ”
“Did you slip?”
There was a long pause this time.
“...I was pushed off.”
As was expected. It was so after all.
“Who pushed you off?”
“I don’t know… someone pushed me from behind.”
She said that and took a long breath.
“I was so...frightened.”
...listening to her was heartbreaking. I lowered my head. How scared she must be. How sad she must be.
“Is there anything more? Don’t you remember something about the person who pushed you off?”
“...I don’t remember… but I’m glad I don’t know.”
“Why?”
“Only the family go there. If it was someone from the family that pushed me… I don’t want to know.”
After she said so, she released another long sigh.
“I guess… I cannot live anymore.”
It was cruel. What did Nao-san supposedly do? Who held this grudge and did this terrible thing? ...who would make someone do this?
“Please rest in peace.”
When Bou-san said this, she cried out slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
