Phenomeno Page 13
That's how it is, and still seated straight, I shot Krishna an insulted look.
“I- I see – sorry. And, are you alright?”
She said, and Krishna placed a big travel bag at the edge of the room and looked at me. I noticed that there was a bit of displacement between her shoulder and her head.
“I don't know… but Yoishi was saying that everything should be solved.”
“Say what?”
“I don't know what she's doing, and I really don't know what she did this time.”
Krishna sank to her butt on the spot, and sighed. She must have really rushed over from Aomori. I felt sorry for her faintness.
“I'm sorry. I've bothered you quite a bit.”
I lowered my head deeply, and she venomously replied, definitely.
“It was quite hectic. I couldn't connect to your cell phone anymore, and our cell phone got wrecked a bit – anyways, I'll tell you what teacher said. The results of your spiritual vision.”
She pulled out a thick memopad from her bag and began reading.
“First – the result of the “Shisoushikibetsunodaiji,” you said your middle finger trembled. The middle finger, as we mentioned over the phone, is a high god or a demonic god, but afterwards you said your medicine finger also moved, right? If you said that earlier we would have reacted differently.”
“What do you mean?”
“The medicine finger means a living ghost.”
”… Huh?”
No, wait.
Living ghost? Like, where jealous or hatred become a spiritual form…
“Yes, that living ghost. The person who fired it doesn't realize it either, a rather bothersome spiritual obstruction.”
Krishna continued, but it didn't make sense to me.
“In other words? I was going through this, but the person who fired that off is just living happily every day?”
“Well, yes.”
I instantly became angry. I'd been put through this much despair and fear, so I was overcome with rage.
“Who? I want to punch them.”
I said, and Krishna shrugged her shoulders, that'd be pretty tough.
“Feel like going around punching every occult-lover around the nation?”
”…….. Around the nation?”
“Well, to be specific, probably almost everyone around the Tokyo region. Because the rumors about the 'hospital that grants wishes' spread quite oddly around the Tokyo locale. In other words, every person who feels a hint of hope from the idiotic information that the hospital grants wishes – their wishes became a living ghost, gathered together with that hospital as a home, and became an incredibly large spiritual clump.”
“Then, the man I saw wearing a kamishimo–”
“Probably a ghost floating about in the area. For a clump of spiritual forms, the ones that have the most memories are the ones that gain superiority. I said ghosts float about when they've lost sight of their purpose, but basically, that means the true suspect behind this incident is that huge spiritual form. The large, floating ghost and the living ghosts then further combined, gathered around the urban legend that 'wishes come true,' and became as powerful as a god.”
I was aghast, and Krishna turned the page and began reading the next page.
“And another. There's a device that amplifies living ghosts.”
“Device?”
“The internet.”
Krishna pushed her red-framed glasses up with her middle finger, and stared at me.
“Ahh, it's pretty stupid – the fuss over that hospital on the internet. It's not like putting something randomly in the hospital in the proper position would be enough to grant a wish, and nobody's wish really came true. However, it is a place with that much focused emotion. I'm sure one or two ghosts existed. So they go there for a selfish wish, and then end up hurt. What do people do, then?”
”… Scum.”
Everything was coming together.
Slowly, the feeling of hope would inflate. They would go there, braving fear. Yet, nothing happened. Wishes were never granted. I would feel ashamed for believing such a thing – but there are people who refuse to let themselves be the only ones fooled.
“Yes – such a pitiful, helpless gathering of malice in letter form. The twisted desires transform into malice, and those call even crueler thoughts. The urban legend of 'the hospital that grants wishes' was born this way.”
That's why Yoishi said it was pathetic.
That's why she said ghosts exist on the internet.
– I'd understood to that point, but I realized there were still other mysteries. Like the incident last year at that hospital. Where Yoishi alone had disappeared from the others, but there was a difference in their memories. How was that explained?
I asked, and Krishna shot me a doubtful look. She was probably worried about my mental stability. But I begged.
“Tell me. I mean, if that mystery isn't solved, I feel like I'm going to die of shock from the imagination inside me.”
“Well, yes… maybe. You're quite delusional.”
She said, insulting me, and then explained.
“It's simple. Because everyone Yoishi was with was a living ghost.”
Those words gave me goosebumps.
Within that endless darkness–
I imagined Yoishi walking alongside living ghosts enjoying evil delusions.
“The members other than Yoishi had probably gone there to have a wish granted. In other words, when they saw the words on the wall, they wondered what was needed to grant their wish. And they wished on their hearts quite heavily. Yoishi probably saw that.”
And then with a big of an envious look, Krishna looked at the sleeping Yoishi.
“This girl can probably see ghosts.”
“Then Zippo's friend, only mumbling Yoishi–”
“Living ghosts are a clump of dirty ego that people don't want others to know. Imagine having this girl whisper those to you.”
I remembered Krishna's words some time ago.
That Yoishi easily crosses the boundaries.
Yoishi's words are filled with things humans must not know.
So her words always sway us, who live on this side.
I was still fortunately standing on this side, but–
There was always the possibility that I would not make it back to this world.
And Zippo's friend was not able to.
“Anyways–”
Krishna said, scratching her head.
“In this case, we have to admit fault, too. Compared to the horror stories of old, that took time to change and grow in strength, urban legends these days spread quickly along the internet, and eventually, result in explosive growth. There's no root behind them. It was just an irresponsible post by someone that causes reactions and thus a landing spot. They end up summoning a real one. They say the darkness lacking any source whatsoever is the real thrill of the occult – but in this case, a symbol appearing where things gathered to begin with was the start of everything.”
“That was, the words on the note?”
I asked, and Krishna sadly nodded.
“That's how compelling his feelings were.”
– Please fix my sickness.
Those lonely words reappeared in front of my eyes.
Wanting to play outside, wanting to leave the hospital, wanting to go to school, wanting to eat a lot, wanting to play games.
To the bitter end, he returned with those wants.
“Pure, yet powerful words – the Japanese people of old called that the power of language.”
Krishna concluded.
Silence filled my room, and we could only hear the low rumbling of the refrigerator.
“But still.”
Karasu said, as we were sitting there in silence.
“Does that, really, solve everything?”
… That was it.
To be honest, I'd been wondering that myself. Was it possible to exorcise a god-class spiritual fo
rm? What did Yoishi do on her cell phone? Why did she look so satisfied before losing consciousness, saying that it was comfortable: that still bothered me.
Indeed, said Krishna, and she glanced at Yoishi's white face, as she slept like she was dead.
“She said she solved everything, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hmph.”
Pushing up her glasses, which had slid down a bit, she snorted.
“Well, we'll see. Truthfully, I don't sense much from you right now, and I'm personally curious as to how Mitsurugi Yoishi exorcised all of that.”
I had also grown tired of thinking about all of these complicated things. My body still hurt, still felt heavy, and my mind wasn't fully cleared yet. I could sleep at any moment.
“Nagi, if you want to sleep, you can use my room.”
Karasu laughed, as I stifled a yawn that probably came about from relief.
“You'd be overwhelmed if you were to sleep in the same room as a high school girl, right? What youth.”
W- w- what is she talking about?
I was about to say, but Krishna was the one who spoke.
“Y- you shouldn't, Nagi! How… vulgar… you can't you can't.”
She was blushing as she flailed about, and Karasu calmed her down a bit and sat next to Yoishi. Then, she turned the towel over and smiled.
“I see – this girl is Yoishi. Even though she looks so cute asleep.”
Whispered Karasu, with a fond look, but–
Well, as long as she stops vomiting and takes a bath every day, I would agree.
“Nagi.”
Krishna said to my back.
“You've done plenty.”
”…….”
“I'll responsibly send off that book where it belongs. I won't treat it with disrespect. Understand?”
I suddenly felt like crying–
So I looked away, and nodded repeatedly.
After that, my body felt lighter day by day.
Strange things stopped happening. I didn't see the man in a kamishimo. I didn't hear the sound of flutes. I didn't sense creepy people. And more than anything, the world was bright enough for me to want to skip around.
On such a day, when I'd recovered quite a bit, I passed by the main gate of the feeder school on my way to Krishna's room in the west wing. I gazed at the high school students passing by, and wondered about Yoishi.
The next morning, when Karasu and I had gone back to my room from the warehouse, she was already gone. There was no letter or anything, but the blankets were folded neatly. I fearfully took a whiff, but only the scent of my shampoo remained. That was the last I saw of her.
– In any case, I should give at least a word of thanks.
Is what I thought, as I waited for Yoishi to come out, but she didn't. Eventually I gave up and asked a random student about Mitsurugi Yoishi.
“She's probably still in the library.”
I heard. She was apparently a problem child that rarely came to school. And she emitted an aura which suggested that she didn't want to interact with other students, which I could totally imagine.
So, I hurried to the city library, which was under five minutes away, on my mama-cycle.
I passed by the receptionist, and glanced through the reading seats, and found Yoishi by the far window. She was mesmerized by a thick book.
“Yo, what're you reading?”
I called out, and she answered without lifting her head.
“Kürten's manuscript.”
“Who's that? An author?”
I sat across from her and asked, and she shook her head.
“A famous German serial killer. His murders were so abnormal people couldn't arrest him until he turned himself in.”
I was exasperated, but she continued with a bewitched expression.
“Kürten's orgasms, where he ejaculates while killing, are very interesting.”
I took a peek, and it was a book with gross monochrome photographs that made you want to look away.
“Oh, well.”
I mumbled, and said what I had come to say.
“I don't know what you did, but my body feels lighter. I stopped seeing weird things, too. And Krishna took care of that notebook. In any case, you saved me quite a bit. Thanks.”
I bowed my head.
“That's good.”
She mumbled, and she grabbed the book and bag as she stood up.
She carefully returned the book to the shelf, and began walking to the entrance.
– So, what did you do?
I was about to ask, but this time I restrained myself. Krishna said I had no capacity for learning, but that wasn't true. I had room to grow. I understood that this was as far as I could go. This time I really, painfully learned. So I restrained myself, and saw her off as she walked away.
However, after a few meters, she seemed to remember something, as she turned around.
She came back near me, leaned in, and whispered in my ear.
“You shouldn't look at websites related to that abandoned hospital for a while.”
”… Huh?”
“Farewell.”
And with that, she walked away.
I stood there dumbfounded for a bit–
But something bubbled forth, an immense level of curiosity.
No, wait, stop that. I'm the type that goes when I'm told not to go. I'd been like this all my life. And of course, I could already imagine myself crying from this, but – I'd realized I'd already taken my cell phone from my pocket. Just a bit. Just let me take a quick peek, and if it was dangerous, I'll run away. I told myself.
I immediately accessed the internet, and randomly did a search for “Hachiouji” “abandoned hospital” “wish.” A bunch of pages I'd looked at before appeared, and I opened the first one.
However–
”… What the hell.”
I was surprised, and checked other sites.
”… the same.”
Each site had the respective threads abandoned after a flurry of posts. The day they stopped being posted in was exactly a week ago. They matched the time and date that Yoishi had been typing into her phone.
“She wrote this?”
Fearfully, I read the post.
And at the top of the post, I immediately understood.
They all began with that famous line.
“You alone are responsible for reading this story. Please understand as you continue.”
The self-responsibility-type horror story that was famous around the internet.
They say that just by reading, you begin experiencing the paranormal, and they always have odd lacks of closure. Some say that the text itself contain the words for summoning ghosts hidden within, and others rumor that the words are designed to ward away guardian spirits.
I read a bit more and immediately understood. No matter who read it, it was apparent the story was related to the “abandoned hospital.”
”… I see, that's a nifty idea.”
To remove the will hovering about the abandoned hospital, you just needed to make it taboo.
It was a story of a girl attracted to the “abandoned hospital” that slowly stepped foot into a world of madness.
I was drawn in from the beginning. The words were filled with reality, and the depictions of personalities crumbling apart were powerful. The somewhat twisted backdrop felt very real, and the horror stories she spoke of, the real ones with a bit of a strange feeling, were written in such a way that there was an odd sense of discomfort left by them. Yoishi was able to write like this? I was surprised, but at the same time, I wanted to read the end.
In the library, as the sun set, I found myself clutching my cell phone to me as I read, entranced by the story. Her usage of hiragana to depict the crumbling minds was terrifying. It was like Algernon. Even as I thought that, I held my breath and kept reading. I felt a bit of coldness as I kept reading. And then, as the girl faced destiny and was stepping into the basement of the hospital–
When I looked up, Yoishi had returned and was reaching out with her hand.
And with her dark, deep eyes gazing upon me–
“You shouldn't read the end.”
And those were the most terrifying set of words I'd ever heard.
『Raven Notes』 -- 「The Raven's Memorandum」 or 「The story that gets devoured」
The writing that begins here is, to put it simply, written from memory.
You know, don't you feel better when you write down things that you don't get? Basically, it's a memo to sort out in writing what I couldn't figure out no matter how much I thought about it. Crudely put, a memorandum.
So if you're reading these words because you felt suspicion over my death, that's useless, I think. Even if you keep reading, you won't get any logical explanation for my “death”. Because of that, this writing may have the connotation of a “will,” but obviously as I currently write this, I am not dead. I don't intend to die – I'm living so blissfully that I was window-shopping for cute summer clothes just now, and licking my lips at baked custard at Ginza's I Bischero, and I can't suppress my excitement over the offline meeting tonight. Then why am I writing this? I can only call it a sixth sense. I have no intention of dying, but I strongly feel the presence of death -– this is the only way I can explain it.
“Ahh, I see, Karasu-san – you're a fortune-teller. Did you see your own death?”
Some people may ask, but that's not quite right. Generally, fortune-telling is a combination of cold reading – the “layering of bluffs” – and hot – using the “gifts of prior knowledge.” It's just an occult style of therapy combining those two and conversational skills and presentation. And you know, forget my own death, I can't even figure out if or when I'd marry – well, yeah, about that. That marriage thing. That's the start of this memorandum.
You know, I'm getting to the limit where it'll be tough for me to sell myself as a young, beautiful lady. I mean, I do want to marry. I know, I'm not blissful enough anymore to think that some handsome guy on a white horse will suddenly show up one day, but I do sometimes have enough hope that I'd like to scream up at God about when he'd like to prepare some happiness for me, even just a meeting. And – it's embarrassing to admit, but the other day, I decided to sign up for one of those, well, they call it, a dating site. Well they did offer the first month free. You can't know until you try. And then I typed in my info during sign-up, and then looked at the “want” profiles of others, and then I gasped and froze. Desired height? Desired education? Desired age? Huh? What? That sort of stuff doesn't have what I want! Do you think I'd come sidling up to such a salad-like appeal? Aren't there more, you know, values relevant to your core as a person? I'm trying to become the king of pirates, or I'm trying to master hamon, or I'm preparing to move to Mars. And not just completely talk, you know, but the type of guy who has twinkles in his eyes as he says that, and tries to make it a reality. I don't get excited unless you're someone like that! I don't think it'd be fun being with you, otherwise! And then I tore out my hair and gave up. Gave up on marrying. My whole world had gone dark – but, that happened.