Chapter Text
"Have you heard the rumor about the ghost in class C?"
"I heard that little otaku killed himself this week, is it true?"
"Since he died, I don't feel good in that class..."
"You know that empty seat? It gives me chills..."
Huh?
Seriously, what's wrong with the people at this crappy school? I can't even have lunch in peace! Just today I got kicked in the butt by that octopus, squid, mollusk!
- "Murmuring about seafood again?" - I twisted to face Muko, who was finishing her lunch - "Chill, chill..." - She ran her hand over my head, trying to calm me down.
- "Stop it, I've already gotten over him!" - Irritated, I slapped her hand away and sighed in defeat when Miko, copying her friend, placed her hand on my head and murmured a soft "Chill, chill."
- "You have to at least try to eat, Momo! Don't let that idiot ruin your appetite!" - Muko poked my cheek, pouting and pointing at my food - "Momoooo..." - She poked harder - "This is your favorite food, you are clearly not okay!"
- "I'm not hungry." - They stared at me with serious eyes and I let out a muffled laugh as I raised my hands - "I'm serious! It's nothing related to that idiot... you can have my crab..." - I slid the plate to her, who accepted it with a worried expression on her face.
- "Seriously? In that case, I'll also take the pompy-"
- "NUH HUH!" - I grabbed the yogurt and brought the straw to my mouth, protecting it like a treasure - "No pompy for you!" - They frowned and looked at each other as I finished drinking and threw the packaging in the trash - "I'm going ahead, enjoy."
As I got up from my seat, all I received was an irritated complaint from Miko before leaving the cafeteria and walking lazily to the classrooms.
- "Ah... I should have enjoyed my lunch!" - I whined as I walked through the empty corridors due to lunch time - "That octopus head! I hope karma hits him right in the face!"
I sighed as I stopped in front of class C and stared inside, it seems I came here on autopilot, huh?
- "E-Excuse me!" - Someone tapped my shoulder and let out a squeak when I made eye contact, it was a girl the same height as me.
Slightly messy dark hair with two braids on each side, glasses, standard uniform... have I seen her before?
The poor thing looked at me scared and trembling with her hands clenched over her torso, did I look that bad?
- "S-Sorry to bother you... you..." - The girl finally had the courage to make eye contact, but it didn't last even a second before she looked away again, with a slight embarrassed blush - "You... can you see that thing?" - She pointed inside the room and I looked away from her to the same place again.
- "Was there supposed to be something there?" - I asked, pointing to nothing and turning to face her with a raised eyebrow, it seemed her determination had vanished before she shrank again and stammered unintelligible words.
- "I'm sorry!" - After a few seconds she managed to form words, bowing slightly before turning and walking away quickly - "It must be my punishment for not being able to help, I'm sorry, forgive me..." - She continued murmuring until she disappeared around the nearest corridor.
- "So... okay?" - I stared at the room again before turning and continuing to walk to my classroom.
There really was some strong energy in that class...
Could the rumor be true?
Of course, I believe in spirits and paranormal things, but coming from teenagers' mouths, it sounds like a joke, but for that girl to be so nervous...
- "Ah... I'm so bored!" - I sighed in dismay for the hundredth time that day as stress fell on my shoulders once again - "When will I find a Ken Takakura to call him mine..."
I have to investigate this further.
It wasn’t a good idea.
Here I am, hiding in the warehouse closest to class C, while my stomach begs for some kind of food.
“I should have had lunch instead of drinking that pompy…” - I crawl out of the warehouse, slowly walking to the famous haunted class.
The first thing I noticed when I entered the room was a slight movement, as if someone had sneaked away after feeling her presence. As if that wasn’t enough, the same heavy energy remained in the air since the incident with the nerdy girl. But there was one place that always caught my attention.
A desk, scratched and dirty with crumpled papers that seemed to have been thrown there, weren’t here at lunchtime…
Getting closer, I read some of the phrases and soon deduced that they were from the boy who had taken his life. These are not nice things to write on his desk, damn it!
I took off my backpack and pulled out a pack of wet wipes, took one out of the package, and wiped the desk, scrubbing until it was completely clean. Besides cleaning, I took some colored papers I had saved and a gum I was saving to chew after eating my lunch, which didn’t quite happen and I ended up forgetting about it.
I took the papers and made a flower I learned from internet tutorials, and along with the gum, I placed it on his desk and clapped my hands together, closing my eyes and bowing in reverence.
“I hope you accept this offering, I don’t have much to offer… so sorry for anything, I don’t know why you… did what you did to end up like this, but I hope you can rest in peace.” - I opened my eyes hoping to see some being that might have been convinced by my mini speech and failed miserably. Maybe this rumor wasn’t even real and was just a way for idiots to intimidate the dead, what’s the problem with leaving him in peace?
In response, a gust of cold wind punched me in the face and I shivered to my heels. The atmosphere in the room seemed to soften but with no sign of the famous ghost. Maybe she was getting paranoid, or as I already imagined, hungry!
But the reaction of that girl didn’t leave her mind, there had to be something wrong there… But that will be for another day.
I grabbed my things and got up to leave, until something fell right behind me and made me scream in fright. It was just a silly occultism magazine, does the ghost like this kind of thing? What a reality check for you, Mr. Occultist!
“Dude… do you want to scare me to death!?” - As I bent down, I felt a slight breeze over my hair, picked up the magazine from the floor, and a scribbled sheet with some drawings and notes fell out - “Huh?” - I picked up the paper in my hands and it was about a famous abandoned hospital that apparently had UFOs and aliens surrounding it. Besides several notes written in English.
Even though I wasn’t fluent in the language, I managed to understand a bit of what was written, being on one side notes from the subject she was learning and on the other information about this abandoned place.
Nonsense.
But where did this magazine come from?
Since I left that classroom, my walk home was, in part, uncomfortable.
I felt watched and followed, I don’t know if it was just my paranoia, but it was only when I set foot inside the temple and passed through the torii gate that this feeling stopped.
How strange…
“It must be just hunger… or maybe I’m going crazy.” - I entered the house and took off my shoes, running straight to the kitchen to make my dinner - “I should have enjoyed the lunch my grandma made, I’m terrible in the kitchen…” - I grumbled as I grabbed the frying pan and some eggs and vegetables, omelets would do for now.
While preparing the eggs with whatever vegetables I found in the fridge, the thought about that paper came up again…
I wasn’t interested in the occult, but I’m sure magazines like that wouldn’t fall off the supposed ghost’s desk without any stimulus and a sheet with information wouldn’t fall out of it! What if this is some clue as to where the ghost is? You can call me crazy, I am, and I will go after this ghost no matter what!
The smell of burning pulls me out of my thoughts as I desperately try to save my omelet, after all, these were the last eggs and I would be left with nothing easy to cook.
“Arghhhh! This day can’t get any worse…” - I looked confused at the omelet, still raw, in the frying pan and glanced at the half-open kitchen window, it was similar to burnt meat… - “Where is that smell coming from?” - It was definitely from outside.
Grandma arrived? No, it’s not her, she would have called me with curses if she had, and she doesn’t usually arrive at this time from work.
Something is strange.
I remember she had warned me if I smelled something strange coming from outside, specifically the smell of burning, it was because of evil spirits trying to invade the temple, but because of some kind of protection they can’t do that.
“That explains the feeling of being followed and watched all the way home…” - I locked the kitchen window and ran to lock the rest of the house until a memory crossed my mind - “What if it’s the ghost of Mr. Occultist?” - I turned around and ran outside, took a good look around…
“Nothing…”
I really hope it wasn’t Mr. Occultist.