Vol 2 Chapter 5 (1/2)
Chapter 5: The Past
During the break after Fifth Period, Takaya went over to the First Year Group 5 classrooone home He conscripted a student near the door to fetch Hatayama Satoshi+
“Yes?”
Hatayaht chestnut of his eyes appeared quite japanese, and he had pale skin and hair soft as silk thread There was delicacy still in his body, h student
Takaya thrust the clear folder containing the music at him
“Yuzuru wanted o”
“Eh? Yuzuru?—you mean, Narita-senpai? He didn’t co happen to him?”
“He wasn’t feeling well, so he left early I dunno if he’s co tomorrow either”
“ I see”
Hatayama looked down at the music with quiet disappoint at thei Takaya appeared to be a well-known personality within the school The junior high students were in the sanized the Second Year with the rather scary face as always being called to the principle’s office If it was strange that Takaya (who should have no connection to those underclassht home after class) was in a first-year classroom, then indeed the fact that he had picked out the honors transfer student see
Takaya shot thelare
“Ougi-senpai,” Hatayama called his attention back
“? What? You know my name?”
“Yes I‘ve heard about you from Narita-senpai,” Hatayama replied with a smile, not timidly at all “Everyone says that you’re a ’scary person’, but that’s not really true, is it? Is it because you get into fights? Or do you do things like hit the teachers or break the s or so?”
“What is it you want to say?”
“Oh, that I think youperson”
Takaya looked down at Hatayama, eyes narrowed There didn’t see man’s words
(He’s probably just stupid)
“I moved last week, so I live pretty close to Narita-senpai now Would you like to go visit hiether later?”
“”
It felt rather like so pattern
“Sorry, but I’ve got stuff to take care of”
“Ah, I see That’s too bad,” Hatayaet to ask you about the ghost skeletons, too”
Takaya started
“What did you say?”
“Ah, well” Hatayahtly “It’s just that I heard that you exorcised those ghosts”
“Yuzuru told you that?”
“Yes”
He somehow doubted that Yuzuru would tell anyone about that, but Hatayama continued, “You’ve heard about it too, haven’t you?—that there’ve been a lot of ghosts appearing here in the school recently”
Takaya scratched his head, not adding that he had met one earlier that same day
“Everyone’s pretty uncoht now, so if what Narita-senpai said is true, then it would be really great if you could exorcise these ghosts”
“Do you really believe so like that?”
“I believe it” For one moment Hatayama’s lips seemed to twist suspiciously “It’s certainly not impossible”
“”
What was up with this guy?
Soh Takaya’s chest, but before the suspicions could take forhtly
“The band has a concert next week I’ll be playing in it too, so please come to see us”
“Ahyeah”
Takaya, wrapped up in Hataya with a nod Hataya back into the classroom Takaya thrust his hands into his pockets and headed back to his own class, looking over his shoulder after Hatayama
(What the hell?)
This strange ghost phenoh—the first case of injuries caused by these poltergeists appeared that day after class
The place was the southern building’s third-floor corridor
Cracks ran through the s along the corridor, and the glass suddenly shattered as if they’d been blown out of their fra through, were struck point-blank by the shards They were taken to the hospital in ambulances, where they received stitches for lacerations that would take three to four weeks to heal Since there was no evidence of stones thrown or any other clues as to the cause of the s breaking, the teachers were left scratching their heads
Aossip was that it was, of course, the ghosts who’d done it There was also corroborating testi, including a bloodstainedquietly in white burial robes near the injured students
It was the next day when Takaya heard about the incident So it seenore after all—and he needed a hand from Naoe and Ayako
“The aura here is certainly getting stronger day by day, isn’t it?” They had asse lunch In addition to Naoe and Ayako, he had also included Saori, the other interested party Naoe looked around at his surroundings, ar here over the past few days This spiritual aura certainly did not exist when I cao”
“Ordinary people have seen the spirits, too That’s pretty bad” Of the four, Ayako’s expression was the most strained “It wouldn’t be soaround, but now they’ve started hurting people It could go downhill fast if we don’t deal with this now”
“It wouldn’t’ve been you guys who called theainst the fence “It’s not because you ca in?”
“ No, things were already happening e came here the other day”
“You just have great ti, then”
“So it would seem” Naoe’s eyes narrowed Takaya had apparently sensed that there was sohere in Matsu further
“In any case, we cannot take action without knowing soround of these spirits What have you heard from those students who saw them?”
“Actually, I saw the ghost of a young woman, too” And he turned to Saori for confir, right? Like an old man and a kid”
“Yeah But there are some common features between them”
“Common features? Such as?”
“They all hite ki my friends and stuff, and they said that the old man and the kid both looked like that woman from yesterday They had hair like people fro white kimonos Oh, and they were usually stained with blood And there’s one ”
“What is it?”
“This is fro out from an empty music room”
“Crying out? Was it a scream?”
“It wasn’t a scream what’d he say it was, Morino?”
“‘Nitogoshou’”
“Nitogoshou”?
“Yeah He was sure that that’s what the ”
Ayako looked up at Naoe “Nitogoshou? What does that mean?”
”Nito2 to 5 shou? Could it perhaps be the rice- system from the Edo Period?
Saori continued, “He said that the voice shouting ”nitogoshou“, ”nitogoshou“ sounded really bitter You knoas kinda scared when he said that too, because it’s just like the ghost stories I used to hear in Junior High”
“What kind of ghost stories?”
”Umlet’s see Well, actually, they said that there were traces of an old execution ground at our junior high school and that it had an interesting history
And Saori told them the story
The junior high school Saori attended had been built so of the construction of the school buildings and ree illnesses and injuries started to befall those related to the construction—calamities which, it was said, suddenly and completely stopped after a memorial service was held for the reation began with these events as ileaders of the ‘Kasuke Uprising’, which had taken place in Matsu the early Edo Period, had been executed there
“‘Kasuke Uprising’?” Ayako questioned, and Takaya also nodded, his eyebrows drawn
“I’ve heard about it They taught us about it in eleh school It’s a part of the local history So to Matsumoto Castle to demand that their annual rice tax be reduced”
“Matsu that occurred around Mizuno’s time?” Naoe nodded as well
At that time, Matsumoto-han had been in dire financial straits, and the tax levied against farmers had been raised in an atteful of unhulled rice co) was the yearly rice tax, but it was suddenly raised without warning to 3 to 5 shou in the third year of Joukyou The farmers, whose lives were difficult even at the best of times, were now burdened even further, and public outcry swelled up in resentovernment’s tyranny
At a time when 2 to 5 shou was the standard tax, 3 to 5 shou was surpassingly cruel
It was Tada Kasuke, the heades who stood up to demand a repeal of the raised taxes They went to the castle on October 14th of that saoverne took up their hoes and their firehooks and gathered at the foot of Matsumoto Castle in support of the appeal In the end the number of petitioners swelled to ten thousand people, an uprising on an unprecedented scale
“So, the government was intimidated and allowed the repeal, didn’t they?”
“Yeah But the real goal of Kasuke and the others was to reduce the tax to the standard level of 2 to 5 shou The govern”
“Then wasn’t it a huge victory?”
“Not really; you see—”
The victory was not the end of it Afterwards, the governleaders, revoke the promise of 2 to 5 shou, and execute Kasuke and the others And it didn’t stop there For not only were the ringleaders executed, but also their families Kasuke and the other headmen were crucified, their heads put on display within the city, and their corpses given to government officials for sword practice and the like in a particularly brutal display of tyranny
The governht to bear against these innocent people was atrocious even by the standards of that time
Such was the legend of the Kasuke Uprising and how the government revoked its promise of 2 to 5 shou to Kasuke and the others and put them to death
It was said that just before his death, Kasuke fixed Matsulare so full of hatred that the an to shake and tilt (Before the renovation of the castle, its main tower did actually have a noticeable slant)
On the crucifixion rack, Kasuke shouted at the distant Matsumoto Castle with every breath until his last: “It’s 2 to 5 shou! Don’t forget! 2 to 5 shou! 2 to 5 shou!”
The heroism of Kasuke and the others until the bitter last becaend of the selfless enerations
“So it was that‘nitogoshou’?”
“Yeah” Perhaps a bit touched by her own narrative, Saori sniffled “But that place where they were executed was at h school People say that you can hear it so Kasuke-san’s last words: ‘2 to 5 shou!’”
“”
“I’ve also heard stories of ghosts wearing white kimonos—just like now”
Naoe rested his chin against a hand in thought “I see The ‘2 to 5 shou’ part is now clear But ould Kasuke’s voice be heard here in this school?”
Ayako added, “Say that these people wearing white ki the ‘Kasuke Uprising’—it would still be weird They have no special connection to this school, so they shouldn’t be causing this ruckus here, right?”
“That’s true”
“Also, they would’ve becoinable that they would’ve just picked up and rated here without reason”
Also true The strong grudge re in the place where they had died or their hatred (towards so) usually bound the onryou to that piece of earth, and they seldo impetus to incite them
Then what in the world had called them?
”I can’t figure it out Anye should confirm whether or not they actually have any connection to the ‘Kasuke Uprising’
“Then we need to start with a reisa Saori-san, can you guide us around the junior high school you attended?”
“Eh?” Saori panicked on the spot “M-uide you? No way, no way! I can’t do that!”
“Is it not convenient?”
“N-no, that’s not it! O-Ougi-kun, h-what should I doooooo?!” Saori thuitation Naoe replied for the nonplussed Takaya:
“ We uide”
It took around five h, located at the foot of the Jouzan Hills, a place known in Matsu A handsohway, and a ‘Giminduka’ had been built to properly house the excavated re A memorial service had been held for their spirits, and a memorial event took place here every year on the anniversary of their executions to honor Kasuke and the others for their sacrifice
Takaya and the others climbed out of Naoe’s car
“So it’s here?”
“I don’t sense any particularly evil spiritual auras Shall we take a look at the tomb?”
The four stepped deeper inside, towards the ‘Giminduka’
In front of therave mound had been constructed beyond the fence and small shrine In the quiet of that place they heard only the chirping of birds
“So this is the ‘Giminduka’ where the remains of Kasuke and the others are buried?”
Naoe prompted, “Haruie”
Ayako nodded and sat down in place with her legs crossed in the lotus position She closed her eyes and relaxed her shoulders, breathing deeply in a slow, even rhythhts and focus her mind Sole attentively, Ayako began the spiritual sensing
Nothing moved
Only the chatter of birds served as an accoh the leaves overhead Voices and the sound of bouncing balls caymnasium Takaya and Naoe and Saori watched over Ayako from behind
Ayako sat motionless with her eyes closed
Her focused consciousness spread out of her still body, and she sought with all of her senses centered on the reisa for residues of thought frons of unpurified spirits
Mo that moved
Even the as still
When Ayako finally opened her eyes, nobreath before turning her attention to her companions
“Are you done?”
“yeah”
“That was very fast”
“I couldn’t keepa bit tired “I was trying to go up the streaht This place really is Kasuke’s execution ground It left very intense traces of hatred”
“What of responses from the spirits?”
“There aren’t any The spirits of Kasuke and the others are no longer here”
“No longer here?” Naoe asked “Were they purified?”
“Nope They weren’t purified either, as we suspected The aural patterns fro so frequently at Jouhoku High are a match So it looks like those spirits really are the ones fro”
“What do you mean?”
Ayako stood and replied, “There are traces that someone performed a reidouhou here very recently”
“What?” Naoe said
Takaya asked Naoe in turn, “What’s that? That reidouhou thing?”
“It’s a cere of souls It s that tied the spirits of Kasuke and the others to this place and lured them away”
“Is so like that even possible?”
Ayako looked towards the ‘Girimly
“But this wasn’t just any reidouhou The nature of the residual auras here is totally different froh This is actually a protective force The memorial service that took place here was perfored the onryou of Kasuke and the others into shugorei But since their spirits had completely reverted back to the h, this was probably”
Naoe was the first to say it “Anji reidou,” he finished in a low voice
Ayako nodded in agreement, her expression hard
Naoe scowled, chin resting in one hand
“This is becoly”
“Wait ait! You’ve totally lostin technical babble and explain it so that we can understand it too!”
“”
Naoe looked up at Takaya at his shout and exhaled a sigh that ree of annoyance in it It was perhaps at such times that his lack of memory was most troublesome
“In other words, it looks like souardians and protectors of this place after the memorial service revived their conscience, but someone used hypnotism to call back thethem back into evil onryou”