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[new upload] a night spent in the kenjaku house!
“In the early 90s, a man named Kenjaku murdered over fifty people, all hikers traveling through the forest that his house sits in. Their bodies were discovered in ditches and shallow dug graves over the course of a year. He was only discovered as the culprit after his death, his fiftieth victim stabbing him before dying to their wounds. They had been running back towards the visitor center at the front of the hiking paths, clueing the authorities into who could have been behind these attacks.”
The female voice speaks over a series of shots of an old house sitting in the woods, a few of the shutters hanging off their hinges and glass windows broken over time. The sun is setting behind them, causing long shadows from the house, the trees and the three figures studying the old house. One figure - a man with pink hair - points up at something towards the chimney before the shot cuts.
“For years, people have claimed to hear footsteps running up behind them, screams and heavy breathing in the forest near his old house, which sits unused and fenced off. Some claims even state that they see old Kenjaku walking ahead of them, his black clothes catching their attention as if it’s a void in the sunlight.”
The voice changes to a male one as the camera captures the trio setting up their equipment, the footage sped up as they empty the car parked just out of frame.
“We were lucky enough to be invited to spend a night in the old Kenjaku house to see if there’s any proof to these stories. We want to advise everyone watching to not go into any old buildings without permission and proper equipment. It’s dangerous for anyone and that includes us.”
~
“Hi everyone,” Yuuji says, holding the camera just in front of his face. He smiles widely but immediately frowns when a hand comes up to fix the microphone clipped to his shirt. “Hey -”
“Oh shut up,” Megumi says, fiddling with the equipment. “You put it on backwards again.” He sighs loudly and Yuuji watches him, smiling at him once he pulls his hands away. “There we go.”
“Alright!” Yuuji says, pulling Megumi back into frame. The black haired man smiles a bit before working himself free from the strong grip. “We are here, finally,” Yuuji turns the camera around, zooming out to capture the house. “I know this place has been highly requested so it’s nice that we’re being given the chance to explore and film.”
He walks closer slowly, crouching down to get a low angle. “But we’re finally at the Kenjaku house and we’re spending an entire night.” He turns the camera around as he jumps up, tilting his head a tiny bit. “We have our equipment tent set up back here,” he points over his shoulder, “and we have sleeping bags set up in the back of the car. So we won’t be sleeping inside but it’s close enough.”
Yuuji begins walking towards the tent, the camera facing him again. “So we’re going to finish setting up the equipment in parts of the house and then its tour time!”
~
The youtube channel had started off as a bit of a joke. A dare shared between the trio to spend a night on the haunted old school house on the campus of their university, while filming to document if anything truly existed inside.
They didn’t get any proof of ghosts or spirits or anything of the like, but they did upload it for fun and wake up a few days later to a couple million views and it being viral on social media.
They figured it was the mix of Nobara not dealing with their stupidity - her words not theirs - Megumi being the realistic one and Yuuji being the one who was superstitious. It probably helped that there’s a moment where the old building creaks, settling due to the heat that was covering the city like a blanket, and Yuuji and Megumi go running, screaming just a bit of a higher pitch than normal to a very confused Nobara standing in the entrance.
Or the stats saying that’s the most rewatched part is what makes them think that.
It takes them a few tries to find what works for them - Yuuji finding the myths and legends, Megumi researching into it and Nobara planning the trips, mostly because she doesn’t trust the two of them to get them there all in one piece - but then they’re uploading a new video every two weeks, popping around the country to visit different haunted locations.
It goes from a hobby between classes to their lives.
And they wouldn’t change it for the world.
~
“So now that we’ve put our equipment into the house,” Nobara says, holding the camera at a distance. “We’re going to give you guys a little tour. We actually just got some new equipment, thanks very much to Megumi’s godfather who has more money than he ever needs, so thank you Gojo. But we got a laser grid, which we put in the basement.”
She flips the camera around slowly, capturing the front porch of the house and the front door now shut closed. Yuuji comes into frame, waves before moving to the side as Megumi steps up to the front door.
“You guys ready?” Yuuji asks.
“More than I’ll ever be. Open the door, ‘Gumi.” Nobara says and the black haired man does so. It creaks, because of course it does, and the group shuffles in slowly. “So there are three floors of the house, the main floor, the upstairs,” she captures the staircase running along the left side wall of the front room, “and the cellar.”
“Most of his murders were done in the cellar,” Megumi says, moving into the living room. There’s a table set up in the middle of the room, filled with pieces of their equipment. “But in the beginning, he did kill a few of the hikers in the living room.” He turns towards the camera, face serious.
“One of the stories attached to the house is that people can see shadows in the living room, even during the day.” Yuuji says, picking up a small box. “We set up a few cameras here along with microphones and our trusty little EMF readers.”
Megumi nods and gestures for them to follow him. “There’s been a lot of rumors about why Kenjaku killed those people but no one’s really sure. No one survived meeting him, so the police only have theories. It doesn’t help that Kenjaku,” he says as he stops in the middle of the kitchen, “barely talked to anyone.”
“Some theories think that Kenjaku thought that killing people would bring about a new world,” Megumi says, shaking his head. “Or he was just a mad man that killed people because it gave him a thrill. We don’t know.”
Nobara pans the camera slowly, taking in the absolute mess of a kitchen. There’s a small wooden kitchen table barely standing, one of the two chairs in pieces on the floor and the other one leaning up against the wall, missing a leg. A few cabinets still have their doors but the others are either missing or rotted away.
The sink is coated in gunk, either just dirt or mold, but none of them are getting close enough to figure out. Whatever else was once in either - a fridge, food or even dishes - are long gone either due to being taken as evidence or people looking for souvenirs.
There is a back door that is boarded up, one that Nobara gets some close up shots of. There’s a few marks that could pass as claw marks, victims trying to escape or just stretches from over the years of use.
They try to not forget that people died in the locations that they visit, wanting people to remember the lives lost. But they also don’t want to cross the line in horror and make a mockery of what happened with cheap scares or creepy shots. So they try to balance it out, zooming in stains and marks like these to remind people that these are spots of a tragedy and they still hold details of that.
“Upstairs first?” Yuuji asks, Nobara moving to capture him standing in the doorway that leads to a much smaller room. There’s a doorway that’s propped open with one of their boxes. “Or the basement?”
“Let’s go upstairs,” Nobara says, lowering the camera. “There’s only three rooms of interest there anyway. Plus,” she leads them out of the room, taking the time to shoot the staircase and the other two head up, “with how weak the floorboards are in the second bedroom, it’s not like we’re going in.”
She brings the camera back up, plays with the settings and slowly films them heading down the hallway. They give a quick tour, showing off the rooms and the little equipment they set up before heading back down together. By the time they climb the stairs to the basement, the sun has officially set and Megumi clicks on the high power flashlight he’s been holding.
“This is where everything really went down.”
The camera pans around the large room slowly.
There’s two lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling, casting long and deep shadows into the corners of the room. There aren’t any windows, which doesn’t help the darkness in here, besides the fact at how empty it is.
The police took everything that was down here, leaving nothing but the two lightbulbs that more than likely do not work and the dirt on the floor.
There are some questionable stains on the concrete floor, ones that the entire trio ignore stepping on, and Nobara slowly pans the camera away from one just near the bottom of the wooden stairs.
“This is where most of the murders took place.” Megumi begins to speak, leaving Yuuji near the staircase and Nobara to follow him deeper in. Yuuji clicks on his own flashlight and Nobara glances over at him, finding a little lost in thought. “A large majority of Kenjaku’s victims were young, so mostly eighteen to their early thirties. Police think it goes into that idea that, maybe, he thought he could bring around a new world.”
Megumi shrugs a bit, looking at the camera. “I don’t know… I did a lot of research and there’s just too many conspiracy theories about him for me to make an educated guess.”
“Is now a bad time to mention I’m distantly related to this guy?”
“What?!”
“What the fuck?!”
Nobara swings the camera around, focusing on the man still standing near the staircase. His eyes are focused on a very obvious blood stain, his flashlight tracing the outline slowly. He looks up, his usual light brown eyes just a bit darker and Nobara walks closer.
“But aren’t you related to that,” she gestures a hand out, getting a half smile from her friend, "warrior who killed a lot of people?”
Yuuji snorts a little, “yeah, I am on my dad’s side. He’s, like, my great uncle five times or something. I don’t know, that always confused me, how many greats I need to use.” He glances back at the stain and frowns. “No, Kenjaku is my great uncle on my mom’s side.”
“Did you know this the whole time?” Megumi asks, coming to stand next to Nobara.
Yuuji shakes his head, “no, my grandpa only told me just before we left for the shoot. I don’t really know my mom’s family so… I was really surprised when he told me.” He looks up and smiles, “should we start?”
“Do you want me to leave this in?”
Yuuji shrugs, “yeah, I think it’s fine.”
~
It’s the most talked about part of the video once it’s uploaded, getting clipped and shared on social media for weeks after the release. Yuuji spends a lot of that time blocking weirdos that want to know what it’s like to be related to a serial killer and if they want to go out on a date.
~
The video cuts to a camera set up, already in night vision, and the trio are in focus as they stand around the table with their equipment. Yuuji picks up the EMF reader, turns it on and begins walking around the room carefully.
“Nothing yet.”
Nobara fiddles with something, the video cutting to a shot from the camera on the table. “Let's ask some questions.” She turns on another device, flinching at the loud and laughs softly as Megumi jumps. “It’s always so damn loud…” She places it down and stands up, placing her hands on her hips. “Anyone here with us tonight?”
Nothing comes over the device.
Megumi looks around, “we don’t want to hurt you. We just wanna talk.”
“I hate when you glance around,” Nobara whispers before moving away from the table. She fiddles with one of the cameras as Yuuji wanders back into the room. “Anything?”
“No…”
“I think we should cut to the chase and just head downstairs.” Nobara comes back, having put on a few thermographic cameras. “I wanna go watch the feed and the house is beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic to me. We can leave this one on in case someone talks, we have more than enough cameras capturing the living room at this point.”
Megumi nods and grabs his camera again. Yuuji goes downstairs first, leading him carefully and the two of them pause when there’s a loud creak above them. They look up, waiting in silence and brush it off as the house settling. They hurry down the staircase, trying to ignore the slight anxiety that forms at how loudly it creaks beneath their feet, and Megumi moves to set up a laser grid against the wall.
“Oh…” Yuuji says suddenly, “I have a reading.”
“Really?”
Yuuji nods, “it’s at, like, a 5.” He moves back to the corner where he knows there’s a large stain, he had stared at it an hour or so ago. “It’s at an 8 now. Hello, who is here with us?”
~
The camera cuts to Nobara sitting outside, cuddling a water bottle to her chest. She waves and turns the camera around, filming the screens set up.
“I have this all recording, obviously, but I thought I would just show you guys the tent really quickly.” She laughs a bit as the chair wobbles on the forest ground, causing the camera to shift drastically. “Alright, then, fuck.” She laughs and turns the camera around, “the guys are in the basement and I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to go down there. The amount of women he killed over men wasn’t a lot but it’s never a comfortable feeling to know that you could have been a victim.”
She shakes her head, pausing before letting out a small gasp. “We got something in the living room.” She turns the camera around but the video cuts to the actual feed, the thermographic camera capturing something coming down the stairs from upstairs. “Oh that’s spooky.”
“Oh,” her voiceover continues, “looks like Yuuji has something.” The video cuts back to the two in the basement. “I feel like we’re going to get something good tonight, guys.”
~
“It’s spiking again, Megumi.” Yuuji says, excitement creeping into his voice. “Do you have it on?” There’s a loud noise and Yuuji nods, reaching for it as Megumi digs in his pocket to grab another device. “Who is down here?”
There’s just the loud noise of the machine, running through different radio channels and they wait. The house creaks again and Yuuji looks up, craning his neck to see if maybe it’s just Nobara coming to join them but there’s no one on the stairs.
Megumi looks at him and Yuuji turns back to the spot.
“He’s related to you, you know.” Megumi says loudly, causing Yuuji to jump and then immediately regretting sharing this information. “Distantly but still… he’s about the same age as your victims, I wonder if you even care.”
“I thought we were going to try and contact the victims?”
Megumi tilts his head, looking around at the laser grid. “We are… but you offered up your family tree.”
“I need to learn to shut up,” Yuuji mutters.
“Who- are-?”
They freeze and look down at the small machine in Yuuji’s hand, eyes wide and Yuuji jumps a little bit in place as Megumi comes over to his side.
“Yes, who are you?”
“Mi-mi-”
“Mimi? Was there a Mimi?”
Megumi hits him harshly in the shoulder before he gives the spirit his full attention. “Is your name Mimiko?” The machine makes a noise that they aren’t sure is just the machine or the voice trying to speak again. “There was a Mimiko that was murdered here…” Megumi says sadly. “Her twin sister found her body the next morning on the pathway.”
“Damn…” Yuuji whispers. “We’re sorry that you’re still here… did you want to say anything else?” They wait and Megumi sighs sadly, shoulders sagging a bit. “Thank you for talking to us…” He looks around, eyes scanning the darkness around them. “Should I -”
A door upstairs slams shut and the two jump, looking up at the ceiling at the same time. They hear the building creak above their heads, as if someone’s stalking the wooden boards and Megumi lets out a shaky breath.
“You don’t think-”
“There’s no way that’s Nobara.” Megumi smirks a bit. “I’m telling her that you assumed something - that is very clearly heavy - was her.”
“Don’t,” Yuuji whines. “My wallet only just recovered from her shopping spree she made me pay for.”
“Ssh,” Megumi says. The creaking continues and Megumi looks behind him suddenly, feeling his heartbeat speeding up. “Who’s there?! Are you Kenjaku?” The sound stops and Yuuji shakes his head and Megumi covers his mouth.
They don’t move or make a sound, waiting for something else to happen but suddenly the creaks stop. They wait and wait and when they’re sure nothing else is going to happen, they begin their climb back upstairs.
~
“Unfortuanely as the years have gone by, and with the lack of any information, the internet has created multiple conspiracy theories about this case. We don’t, really, give time and energy to them unless there’s some solid evidence that backs it up.”
Megumi’s voice plays over a series of shots of the trio, either together or alone, within the house. They move from room to room, talking into the darkness as they wait for their equipment or their ears to pick something up.
“The police still do not know why Kenjaku killed so many people and the problem is, we never will. He kept to himself, never bothered anyone to start up a conversation, never wrote anything down about it and had cut contact with his family years before. Even with Yuuji being related to him, there’s still nothing exactly new.”
There’s a small montage of footage of shadows moving, the cameras picking up heat in rooms where no one was and there was no breeze. The montage plays back the voice they captured in the basement along with Megumi and Yuuji listening to the creaking of the floorboards.
“He might have just lost it, the loneliness driving him to kill or it was always in him. We don’t want to give any more room and any more energy into making up ideas of why this man took so many lives, lives that had so much time ahead of them and still have family members alive grieving them. We got to hear the voice of one victim tonight, and maybe some footage of others, but we want to leave the Kenjaku house remembering them and honoring them.
We hope that one day you will find rest.”
~
The video cuts to Yuuji in the car, sitting in the backseat while squished between some boxes of equipment and the door, after a small section of credits roll. He smiles, waving before covering his mouth as he yawns.
“G’morning, it’s just about six.” He says, turning the camera around to show the rising sun on the horizon. The car is zooming past trees, the road is empty and Yuuji brings the camera back around. “We just left the Kenjaku house and we’re headed home. It’s been a long night and we’re just excited to look back through the footage to see if we missed anything and then start editing this video for you guys.”
“Hope you guys enjoy it!” Nobara yells from the front seat. There’s the muffled voice of Megumi for a moment before Nobara speaks again off camera. “Oh shush, eyes on the road.”
“Well, that’s all from us.” Yuuji throws up a peace sign before covering the camera and the video ends.