Phenomeno Read online

  That low voice that I had heard somewhere, was asking my boyfriend.

  “□□□□□□?” “□□□□□□?” “□□□□□□?”

  – the “three questions.”

  – those questions, that they say you die if you answer.

  I was supposed to have finally heard – but my consciousness was forcibly ripped away, and I woke from my dream.

  I was on the bed in my room. The sun was still high in the sky, its light pouring into my room. I hadn't changed out from my school uniform, and was lying on my side in tears. The emotional remnants from the dream hadn't left yet, and my heart was racing. Conscious or not, I immediately woke up, and called my boyfriend's cellphone.

  But he didn't pick up. The ringtone sounded fifteen times, and I cut off the call when it switched to his voice mail. No, maybe he's still in a lecture. Maybe he's just moving. I told myself that, but I remembered Haruka-chan's case, mom's case, and the freezing anxiety suffocated me. As if to escape, I faced my desk and pulled out Tarot cards from the drawer. It was a set I'd bought out of interest while I was researching the grim reaper. That time, I learned how to use them.

  I calmed down my breathing, and placed the Tarot cards on the desk in Major Arcana form. Thinking hard about him, I asked the Tarot. However, his close future – the card that appeared shocked me. I shuffled the Tarot again, and this time placed them in Minor Arcana form. And then, once more, I knocked away the result with my hand, then I tried changing the spread to the Celtic Cross, the Hermit's Lamp, and the Carterhough. But the result was always the same. I flew out of my room.

  Tarot is just an appeasement.

  You can put any sort of meaning to cards, and they exist just to comfort the anxious. I tried to think that, but I couldn't help but calculate the odds of five straight Tarot readings turning up the same result. 22 cards in the Major Arcana, 56 in the Minor Arcana. In other words – the first two alone meant a 1/1232 probability. Did – did this not mean something was absolute?

  My boyfriend's university was in the neighboring town, so as I waited for the bus, in an effort to escape from my anxiety, I visited the occult site where I'd created the 【”man in blue clothing” thread】 for the first time in a while. Other than the meaningless spam, there were a lot of advertisements to adult sites, and–

  Beyond that, I saw.

  【I saw the blue-clothed man】

  I stopped breathing when I saw those six words.

  When I looked at the time of the post, it was just five minutes prior.

  ●

  【– Oh?】

  When I remembered that much, the old demon man wrote.

  【The person posting on the forum knew me?】

  【I… I think so.】

  【Interesting. Do continue.】

  ●

  … umm, because you interrupted, I don't remember where I was.

  Right, maybe they're still there, I wrote a response in the thread.

  【Where? Where did you see him? Who are you?】

  While waiting for the bus, I refreshed the page over and over again. Eventually, the bus arrived, and I jumped in. When I sat down, I couldn't wait any longer, and posted once more.

  【In my case, he appeared in my dream. I also saw him in reality. In both cases, he was speaking to someone I knew. And the people all die. What is that? Who is that man?】

  I wrote, and I held my cellphone in my hands, as if praying to it.

  It felt like an eternity passed before the response, but it probably had not been a minute. Eventually, that whoever appeared and responded.

  【Did you answer his questions?】

  My heart thudded, and before I could think of how to answer, the next post appeared.

  【If that's the case, then I don't think that person can be saved.】

  I wrote.

  【Do you know the content of those questions?】

  【I know.】

  【Tell me. What're the questions? Is there a way of being saved after being asked?】

  【There is, but I can't really recommend it.】

  【It's still better than dying! Tell me!】

  And then–

  That inexplicable post appeared.

  【Hey, are you scared?】

  ………. what?

  【Are you, scared, right now?】

  【How does it feel to be afraid?】

  I felt chilled by those words, posted in succession.

  – What is this person?

  Of course I'm afraid! Are you stupid? Or, what? Is this person a psycho that scatters occult fantasies everywhere? I mean, not that I can speak for others, but it's the kind of person posting on this forum during midday, so it might be some weirdo who's too obsessed with the occult – and just as I was pondering whether it was worth continuing, those words appeared.

  【I need to go now.】

  – What? Go?

  【I need to do my homework.】

  ….. H-homework? Then – what? Is this an elementary school kid? Was I being teased by an elementary school kid? No – no, who cares if they're in elementary school. Even if it's an urban legend, if there's an answer, I wanted to know. Two acquaintances had died to that “man in blue clothing.” Regardless of whether this person is an elementary school student or not, this was my one rope that had been extended down into Hell. In this dark world, where I couldn't even make out my own feet, with deep darkness extending everywhere, was this one single rope. If they became displeased and disappeared into the internet, it would truly be over–

  I thought, and with my trembling fingers, I responded.

  【I'm scared.】 【I'm really scared.】

  I held back my tears and continued posting.

  【So, please. Tell me what's asked, and how to be saved.】

  Then–

  The answer was given from the other side of the internet.

  【The blue-clothed first asks, “What is my name?”】

  – Name?

  【The next question is, “What is the name of my child?”】

  – Child? Why? That blue-clothed man is the type to have a child?

  【And then finally, this is the trick, but the blue-clothed will ask for the contents of the box. Don't fall for it.】

  …. Trick? Box? Don't be fooled – but I don't get it at all. I don't understand at all, but alright. Understood. I was just about to accidentally miss my stop, so I hurriedly shouted and mashed the stopping bell, and jumped off. And then as I ran toward the university, I called my boyfriend's phone again. After a few rings, I heard a familiar voice asking, “hello,” and that moment, I felt tears well up in my eyes.

  ”….. Ahhh, you're alive! Thank god!”

  《What're you on about?》

  “Nevermind, it's nothing. Please, listen. If you love me, remember what I'm going to say. Even if it's in your dream, remember.”

  《Hey, hey, calm down.》

  “Just listen! If someone you don't know asks 『what's my name,』 don't give anyone's name. If they ask 『what's my child's name?』 don't give anyone's name. And then–”

  《How did you know?》

  My heart froze with pain – at his words.

  《I mean, the dream I saw. When I was dozing off during class. I was asked in my dream, by a guy in blue clothing. What's my name?》

  “What – what did you say?”

  《What, my name, Iida Kimihiko.》

  “W- why? Why would you tell a stranger your name?”

  《It wasn't a stranger.》

  ………. What?

  《Because, the guy in blue clothing behind me》

  As the rest of his words came toward me – an immense noise sounded from across the phone.

  Someone's scream roared, and rolling metal sounded over it. The sound of something continuously falling onto the ground continued, and I could hear countless screams.

  The cellphone remained to my ear…..

  As my body heavily, hardened, and froze.


  I could do nothing, I could not resist… the deep, dark, swamp.

  All that was there – was an overabundance of despair.

  ○

  That sound from across the receiver–

  Was part of the campus building, which was currently being strengthened against earthquakes, suddenly falling off.

  Countless students were milling about in the courtyard of the university Kimihiko attended, and I heard that as I made my way through the crowd. “A student was caught under it” “Where's the ambulance?” “Hurry up and help him out” but along with that I heard “It's too late” “There's no way he could have survived that.”

  And then I – through a lot of people, saw.

  Sticking out from between the piles of reddish-brown steel pipes, Kimihiko's sneaker. A familiar set of jeans. And around that, the ground was stained with a reddish-black liquid. I was overcome by a strong urge to vomit, and couldn't step forward anymore, and eventually was pushed into the crowd by the emergency crew and the faculty leading them.

  After that – I don't remember. My head was hot, and there was confusion, like all the sounds were mixing together. I don't know how much time passed – but I was wobbling around, my hand still clutching the cell phone that was connected to Kimihiko's line. When I snapped out of it, I'd arrived at the rooftop garden of a station building that Kimihiko and I frequented, and was gazing at the university campus, dazed.

  The scene reflected in my eyes was fogged white, as if I were dreaming. The early-summer wind swayed my hair, and the feeling of it sweeping through my uniform finally put words back in my throat.

  ”….. What….. Why….. Why is this happening? What's the man in blue clothing? What's going on and why's this happening?”

  I scrunched my face, gripped the iron fencing around the rooftop, and repeated the questions to no one in particular. Maybe everything's a dream. Maybe I just misunderstood, that I just needed to go back to the university and Kimihiko would smile at me. That sneaker, those jeans, might have been someone else's – I tried to tell myself, but my legs wouldn't move.

  I heard the sound of wings above me, and raised my head.

  Several ravens had perched on the rooftop fence. Each of their obsidian eyes was directed toward me, and they cried as if jeering. Their crying made it appear as if they were trying to tell me something important, and yet, also as if they understood that it would never get through.

  “Please… tell me…”

  I glared at the ravens and said.

  “If you know… what's happening, if you know.”

  Please, tell me.

  Just as I shouted that – I heard it.

  “What's my name?”

  It was so cold that I was about to shiver–

  I slowly turned around, and before me was blue so bright that it felt like it would pierce my eyes.

  ●

  ….. That's right.

  That day – I was asked that.

  I definitely met the “man in blue clothing,” and was asked that question.

  【… continue?】

  Floated in text from across the internet.

  【What I want to know is past that.】

  Abruptly, the words jiggled.

  – Is it truly alright to remember?

  Right now, I was definitely being controlled by the other's pace. I felt like I was on a trolley headed straight toward the abyss. However, it was a trolley on rails that had no redirecting. There was no escape, or rather, I had no chance of winning this conversation from the start.

  “Is the guy on the other side really…”

  Along with the bad feelings rising up from my feet–

  That scene spread itself out in my mind, unstoppable.

  ●

  Blue, azure, cobalt, blue.

  In the world filled with white fog, that showed up. Suit, shirt, necktie, slacks, and the hat worn over his eyes – someone stood there in all blue, as if swallowed up by the sky.

  “Y… you…”

  It felt like time had stopped there, and I heard his voice like the voice of someone else.

  “What is my name?”

  It felt nostalgic, familiar, and, in a way, it gave me an uneasy feeling, his voice. And while letting off such a cold-to-the-core air – he asked, pleasantly.

  “Y… you… you're…”

  And then, the blue-clothed slowly raised his hat, and showed me the face beneath.

  Yes – there.

  Holding the hat in one hand, her long, black hair flowing.

  Was me.

  Covered entirely in blue, and smiling, that was, without a doubt, “me”.

  I felt an immense urge to vomit, but I held that back, and finally understood. That familiar-sounding voice came with the weirdness of hearing a recording of your own voice. As if your own shadow was acting differently from you, as if something that shouldn't be revolting revolted, I felt the terror of seeing the impossible.

  “What is the name of my child?”

  Chuckling at my expression – the blue-clothed continued questioning.

  However, that face.

  ”……………!!?”

  On the face on top of the blue clothing, instead of my face, was the ashen face of my dead mom.

  I see – I remember now. The despair I forgot I had felt at the time was finally re-materializing.

  You ask for your own name. Your mother asks for her child's name. In either case, the answer is “your name”. That's why people end up answering their name to the blue-clothed questions.

  And then this time, the blue-clothed took something out of its suit pocket. But I understood without even seeing it. The final question was a box, I think.

  “What is inside this box?”

  What the blue-clothed presented with that expected question – was a sleek, white, porcelain funerary urn. The face of the blue-clothed crumbled. Flesh peeled off, and the white, cracked skull became visible.

  – Grim Reaper.

  That was the case, after all. This was a Grim Reaper. And the “three questions” were there to guide me toward saying “my name” in different ways. However – I couldn't figure out why it was using such a roundabout means. The meaning behind the blue clothing, where it comes from, and why only I can see it. I didn't know, but in any case, I understood that if I answered this question, the next one to be taken would be me. I stood my ground with my trembling legs, and pursed my lips. I clenched my teeth, and stood defiant against answering a thing.

  More than fear – my body trembled out of vexation.

  I had always thought that facing death straight on would a more resigned, refreshing affair. You know, like hearing soothing hymns in an endless world filled with light, or being able to see the Sanzu River in a world filled with white mist. But instead, I was disappointed that it was this roundabout, underhanded way. That urn probably contained my name. This asshole was trying to get me to say my name using such different ways. It was too underhanded. It was too vile. I wanted to hit back even a little bit, and then – I noticed the name in the urn.

  ○○由貴子 (Yukiko).

  My name was there, but one of the letters was wrong.

  My name is ○○由起子. No matter what happens, that I grow up to be a girl that can always wake up with my own strength, was the hope behind my name. I remembered my mom, with her effusive smile, as she explained that to me. When nothing had happened yet between my mom and I.

  ….. Why had my mom and I grown so distant?

  ….. Why had I grown to distance myself from her?

  It was since that day that I learned my mom still kept a letter from an old lover. It's not an easy thing to throw away peoples' feelings, my mom said, but I couldn't help but feel like that was an act of betrayal toward the family. But I realized when I saw that letter during her funeral. That old lover had long since passed away. He was an existence that couldn't affect our family anymore. Maybe my mom couldn't throw it away because he had passed away. Maybe she th
ought that if she were to throw away the proof of his life, then he would truly be dead.

  Those thoughts suddenly swept through me – and the world became clouded over.

  As long as you're alive, you can't overwrite sad things with happy things. But, the dead can't come back. You can't talk to them anymore – mom was the one who said that.

  “Hey, you…..”

  Anger built up inside me, and I opened my mouth.

  “If you're a grim reaper – don't get people’s names wrong!”

  My.

  My name.

  My name, which my mom so carefully gave me.

  My name, when I shouted my correct name, that moment–

  That color leaked in, into the white, foggy world.

  – Red?

  That was the color of a ransel.

  There was one girl with a pure, red ransel on her back.

  ●

  【– Her】

  Just as the old man on the other side of the LCD typed,

  ”….. I see.”

  I was also mumbling.

  – I see, so that's how it was.

  I was finally beginning to remember everything. I realized why my memories had faded.

  “That was close.”

  “You were asking for my name again, weren't you.”

  My head became flushed with red at the brutal truth.

  Yes – I hadn't forgotten.

  My story had already been devoured.

  “That day, what you'd been unable to hear, 'my name,' – you wanted me to remember the name I'd sealed away, and then say it, that's what you wanted me to do – isn't that right?”

  ●

  “Don't fall for it.”

  That time, that person who appeared on the occult site forum, the words that were posted came to mind. And those words came fresh, overlapping with the image of the little girl with the red ransel.

  Yes, the person who posted that on the forum said.

  Be careful of the final question.

  Box. The name written inside.

  My name, written incorrectly.

  ….. It was deliberate.

  The blue-clothed wrote my name wrong on purpose.

  Or rather… would a Grim Reaper really do that? Maybe it's not a Grim Reaper? Then what is this? And – who was that elementary school kid, and why did she know?

  Then, I saw the blue-clothed slowly turn around. And then acknowledging the presence of the unexpected girl, it changed its posture.