Case 08: Does the Place Underground Exist, or not? (5)

In the end, after discussing what the best course of action would be, we decided to search for Yoishi once more in the evening. It would be conspicuous to wander around the school during class time, so we had to kill some time on the emergency staircase until the end of class – However, I had the feeling no one really had any hope of finding Yoishi anymore.

Krishna-san and Yukihito-kun both had their heads drooped down in silence, and I, being me, was confused, as if I was drowning in the myriad of information.

Just what was the underground space? If it was the womb, then what did it have to do with Yoishi’s whereabouts? In the first place, what did artificially creating a Mary actually mean? And who exactly was the girl I met on the bench who called herself ‘Takamura’? Was that really the so-called Senpai who disappeared abruptly five years ago? Does that mean what I saw was her ghost?

That tall high school girl was most definitely wearing this high school’s uniform. And now that I think about it, she was supposed to have been younger than me, but her presence gave the impression that she was much older. She looked exactly the same as she did in the photo with her and Krishna-san five years ago, and yet, she hadn't aged at all.

But, if that really was Ayana Takamura’s ghost –

Then an undeniable truth presents itself before me.

That I, without realizing, had become a person who was able to see ghosts. In short, I already had more than a foot plunged into the world beyond. To acknowledge that fact, or to speak it out loud, was unbearably scary. As a result, I couldn’t even bear to tell Krishna-san of the fact that I had seen such a girl.

In the house that made me anxious, In the abandoned hospital of Hachioji, in the clock tower, and in the library. I felt I’d seen something resembling a ghost in all of them. But I could dismiss them all as phantoms borne from my delirious mind. I could protect my sanity by telling myself that they were phantoms borne from fear. But a while ago, was I really delirious? No, I was in a normal state of mind, searching for Yoishi; When unawares, that woman appeared besides me. And just by closing my eyes and remembering, I can easily picture that girl’s white face, her short hairstyle, and even the wrinkles of her uniform. I could even clearly recall her voice in my ear. That wasn’t a dream, nor a phantom. Then, that was… a real ghost after all?

The heavy atmosphere that covered the entire school.

The atmosphere I felt… about everything ending before it had even begun.

I had a feeling that I knew what it was, and my stomach felt endlessly heavy.

How could something like this happen in modern society? One student - or two counting the similar cases in the past - had disappeared, and yet, the school refuses to act? What about the police? Or to put it more broadly, the adults. No, they can't move. As long as people are people, and because of the unconscious acknowledgement and fear of a malevolent god that runs deep in the genes of the Japanese people, they are prevented from doing so. Two girls disappeared. They disappeared suddenly and without warning on a certain day. Sako said it: That this private institute was managed by a financial conglomerate. And furthermore, there was a religious group involved as well. That's why things don’t come out in the open.

--It’s closed off.

I recalled the murky atmosphere that covered this school.

This place is inescapably closed off. It’s self-contained, with only the outward appearance kept presentable. That was the truth behind the sense of confinement that I had felt. The temperament of the people of this country, which seals off all sad events as taboos, and pretends they never happened, was specialized in this school in a different form.

“—Nagi-kun?”

Hearing my name called suddenly, I looked up in a start.

“Are you alright?”

I realized Krishna-san was peering into my face.

“…I’m fine.”

No, I wasn’t fine at all. But I felt like if I didn’t answer that way, I’d really feel like crap, so I said it intentionally.

“I just called Sako Takita-san.”

Krishna-san held up her phone.

“I told him about Yoishi. He'll join us as soon as he finishes his business.”

Krishna-san said that, but I clicked my tongue and stood up.

“That guy's useless.”

I don't know why Krishna-san rated him so highly, but that guy was undoubtedly dangerous. At least, that's how I saw him. To start with, if Yoishi hadn’t shown up in the library that night, those countless somethings would have been called down on me. There was no way I could trust him.

“Nagi-kun, where are you going?”

“To the guard post at the main gate. “

“I’m going to ask them if there’s place underground.”

“Krishna-san didn’t say anything after that.

I strode out to the high school courtyard, crossing the campus which was crowded with students on their way home or heading to club activities after class. So many high school students are laughing, but this school is still wearing a mask. Is this school going to continue to operate like this, pretending that nothing bad happened, without properly settling the past?

And that went for me as well. I was trying to pretend that I didn’t see Yoishi. Even though I had gotten involved with her so much, even though I narrowly escaped death thanks to her so many times, and yet, I still couldn’t help but be scared, and ran away. I had ended up deciding not to associate with her anymore.

Inside the guard post across the main gate, there were two guards.

One of them was a young guy about the same age as me. The other had gray streaks in his hair.

I asked the one with the gray hairs:

“Is there an underground place in this school?”

“Huh?”

“I heard a rumor saying there’s an underground place in this school, is it really true?”

The older security guard took a glance at the ‘Koumei Academy Newspaper Club’ armband I had left on my arm, and nodded in acknowledgment.

“That kind of rumor has been around for a long time. I’ve been hearing it since the time I was assigned here. Something about it being an underground air-raid shelter during the war, and about it being used a morgue when this place was turned into a hospital during the war.”

The guard laughs it off as he narrates the rumors.

“Then, what is the place really like?”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. It’s just a boiler room.”

“Is it a big boiler room?”

“No, it’s only big enough to fit a boiler. Five people couldn’t fit in there.”

“Can I see inside?”

The gray-haired security guard sunk into silence. He exchanged a glance with the younger guard besides him.

“No, entry is only allowed for administrative staff.” The younger guard spoke.

“Please let me in there. One of the students has disappeared, and we’re searching for her right now.”

Ahh, the old guard nods his head.

“You mean that first-year girl, right? Yesterday we were informed by the school and we searched for her everywhere. That includes the underground boiler room, of course. But we didn’t find anyone down there.”

“Please check there once again.” I bowed my head.

“The chances that she went there is high. Please search there once again. And let me accompany you as well.”

From behind me I hear, “Please let us”, as Krishna-san and Kurimoto-kun both lowered their heads at the same time as me.

In the end—

It was just like how the guards had described it: a simple boiler room.

There were a few other places that resembled something like baggage store rooms, but there was no sign of Yoishi in any of them. To the annoyance of the young guard, we searched and tapped around the walls everywhere, but there didn’t seem to be any hidden entrances anywhere. There was no sign that a place deeper underground existed any more than that level. I mean, we weren’t structural engineers or anything, so we couldn’t say for sure.

We said our thanks to the guard, and by the time we got back up to the surface, it was already pretty dark outside.

All a sudden, Kurimoto-kun’s cell phone started ringing.

“Hello.”

Yukihito-kun answered the phone, when I saw his expression change quickly.

“…Really? Are you sure?”

“What’s wrong?”

Krishna-san also straddled up close—

After eventually hanging up the phone, Yukihito-kun informed us it was from a friend.

“They found a pair of shoes on the roof. They seem to be the indoor shoes of a girl.”