Case 00: A World of Ash (4)

The young man known as Sako Takita sat brazenly deep down on the sofa in M’s house, his long legs crossed and swaying gently.

“Anyway…huh? You are there, aren’t you?”

--Ah, I’m here.

I stood in front of the sofa with my arms crossed, and answered haughtily while looking down on the man. I felt a fear as to who this guy was, but on the other hand, I felt a nostalgia from his detached way of talking.

“No, at any rate, I know you are here in this house, but I can’t see you. I can see most of your everyday ghosts, but not you. Anyway, let’s start with introductions. I am university student studying comparative religions in one of Tokyo’s universities. Although I say that, I’ve previously worked as a Shinto priest, which is why I called myself a head priest earlier. To tell you the truth, Sako Takita isn’t my real name. Well, I guess you could call it a stage name, or a business name.”

That’s right – the reason I’m referring to this guy with his full name is because it’s not his real name. Moreover, it was strange that in his case, I couldn’t help but feel that even if it was his real name, it wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe it was because he had one foot thrust deeper in the world beyond than even me who was dead, or maybe this guy was a ghost himself…at any rate, his hopelessly weak sense of existence made me think so, but he was far too talkative to be a ghost.

“But you see, people usually realize how inexperienced they are when they start their careers. Disgracefully, I too am unable to escape the conventions of society and thus feel inadequate, so I thought I’d restart my studies from the beginning, but, you see, when I look around the world from multiple angles once more, my suspicion deepens: aren’t the roots of the various religions in the world born from the same nature? I was deeply reminded once more to look at the world from a broader perspective —Eh? What am I talking about, you ask? Well, I’m speaking in turn so please don’t fret. It’s not something one should rush. I’m talking in turn so that you may comprehend. At any rate, I might be older than the other graduate students, but you can say that I truly obtained the right timing for studying. The occasion being the incidents occurring in this town right now, and the story you will be involved in from here on.”

Hey, you don’t mean…

(Are you talking about the incident in which M’ family will be attacked ten days from now? Do you know what that’s gonna be?)

I asked in a panic, but the man who introduced himself as Sako Takita just looked at me blankly. It seemed that he was different from the girl known as Takamura, in that my words didn’t seem to reach him.

“…Hmm. To tell you the truth, I can’t tell who you are, if you’re a man or a woman, old or young. I can’t see you, after all. But I am able to feel you. Whether you’re angry, happy or disturbed, that’s the kind of vibe I get. From there I can willfully converse by inferring your opinion, but you are different after all.”

(…Different? What do you mean by different?)

“I recently realized that there are ghosts I can’t see like you in this world, who come from the future, it was when I was researching ancient Mikkyō religious scriptures in university. That scripture is not publicly acknowledged by Koyasan*, but I happened to come across it through a source. In it was an interesting passage regarding a switch in perspective – for example, you believe that time flows from the past into the future, correct?”

*TL/N: Shingon Sect

…Hey, what are you talking about?

“Well, the majority of people in the past and today believe that to be the case, and in the religious view that everything began with the creation of the universe by the creator God, it is necessary in a sense. However, if the events of the past end up creating the entirety of the future, doesn't that mean that since the events of the past can’t be altered, then the future can’t be changed either? However, there is one way of thinking to solve this contradiction. That is to look at everything from reverse. That’s right, the way of thinking in which the past is the result of the present.”

Thereupon, Sako took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it.

But then he recalled that this was someone else’s house and that he was trespassing right now. He hurriedly stood up and walked towards the kitchen, turned on the ventilation fan and began smoking in front of it. He looked uncomfortable as he looked around restlessly, it couldn’t be helped, so I walked up to him.

“Sorry, I wonder if you can hear me. Let’s continue the conversation, shall we? If the result of the present is the past, then the future rapidly approaches oneself, and without even stopping for a moment, passes through the self in the present and leaps back into the past. I believe you can imagine this sensation. In short, the future, which flows into you like raging billows from somewhere unknown is littered with infinite possibilities, and there is a thought that only those who make the most of it in the ‘present’ can create a successful past.”

…Oi, I have no idea what you’re going on about.

(Explain it more clearly, or just tell me the answer.)

Perhaps my annoyance got through to him, the young man known as Sako looked at me as if he truly pitied me.

“…You don’t seem very bright, do you? Well, I suppose it’s alright. If one were to acknowledge the possibility of time flowing from the future to the past, wouldn't it be possible to overturn modern physics, which says that a person can go to the future but not to the past with his or her present consciousness? Well, the summary of that scripture did say that the subject would not be a living person.”

Ah, in short, it’s the thing Takamura was talking about, 『Spiritual things sometimes transcend time and space. 』

“In short, you, who are invisible are a ghost to me, but not an ordinary deceased person, it can be said that you are weak signals from the future accessing this point in time in the past for some unknown reasons.”

…Signals again, huh?

To sum it all up, all this guy wants to say is that I’m something that’s peeping into the past?

Ahh, be it signals or whatever. At any rate, why did I turn out to be like this, and tell me if there’s anything I can do in this world.

I appealed as such, but my complicated thoughts probably did not reach Sako.

“At any rate, you who are dead or on the verge of death in the future, have something you desperately want to know in this timeline. Well, I don’t know what that is, and I can't help you find out. Because I’m very busy with a lot of things, after all.”

A busy person wouldn’t be puffing smokes in a carefree manner, I rebutted.

“Ah, too much smoke for you?”

Sako drove away the tobacco smoke with one hand as if he cared.

(That’s not the problem here. What kind of person smokes when they’re trespassing?)

“No, well you could say that smoking is my only hobby, or my raison d'etre, to deprive me of that would be quite a cruel act, so won’t you please forgive me?”

Sako laughed nonchalantly, but I had completely forgotten about it because I had been taken in by this guy’s foolish persona. How did he know I was in this house, despite not being able to see me in the first place? And why did he go to the trouble of committing the crime of ‘trespassing’ by sneaking into M’s house?

“Oh, that's quite simple, really.” Sako shrugged his shoulders in response. This time, he seemed to have understood. “I was pursuing a certain psychic phenomenon – or you could call it a certain ‘ghost’. That’s why I came here to this town, but I simply mistook that to be you.”

--A certain ghost?

“There’s an elementary school girl in this house, correct? A fair-skinned, long-haired girl who’s quite beautiful. I merely caught a glimpse of her in town just the other day, but I understood that something was haunting her. That’s when I decided I’d meet her once and confirm it for myself but – well, it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. You were not the ghost I was searching for. That’s right, it would have been far better if the thing I was chasing turned out to be something foolish like you. After all, the girl who’s being haunted is out and about, yet the thing that’s haunting her is relaxing at home without a care. And judging from the pooch ball that’s dripping in drool, you were extremely carefree as you played with the dog. You are quite defenseless. And haphazard.”

…Hey. Isn’t that going too far?

“Ah, apologies if I caused any offense. I didn't mean it in a negative way. At any rate, a simple case of mistaken identity – there's nothing more between you and me.”

Thereupon, he discarded the elongated tobacco ash on the portable ashtray he took out from his pocket, “Well then, I have no further business in this house”, before taking one last longing puff and stubbing it out.

He quickly moved to leave, causing me to panic.

(H…hey wait, wait a second! I have less than ten days left! Something terrible is going to happen to M’s family! And since you’re the only one in the world that can perceive me and likely to be of some help, help me solve my problem, even if it’s just a little!)

I fervently made a fuss as I waved my hand and tried to stop Sako, who made a really annoyed look face in response as he looked back.

“Please take care of your own problems. Like I said before, I’m busy with my own business – Eh? What? Hmm… The two incidents that have occurred in the vicinity of this town?”

This bastard, he started making inferences all by himself about things I didn’t even think about.

“I read about that in the newspaper, but it’s not such a big deal, is it?”

(N, not a big deal you say? A person was hung from a tree that was seemingly unclimbable, and even though a head cut off by someone was found in the garden, you say that this isn’t a big deal? No matter how you look at it, it’s a case of a monster materializing!)

“...Ah, yes, yes. I understand. If I solve that then you can rest in peace – no, or maybe you're not dead, to be precise, but the problem will be solved, won’t it?”

Sako took a deep breath and ruffled around his long hair.

“It can’t be helped – a chance meeting that is preordained or something, is it? Well then, let’s go and take a look now, shall we?”