Let me start by saying this—I don’t believe in ghosts. I got over that baby stuff by the end of my first year here. But the stories about Haruko are true. I’ve seen her. The person I heard the story from was my ex-boyfriend. Once he told me, I broke up with him on the spot. I was so mad—didn’t he care if all that scary stuff happened to me?
Anyway, once I heard the story, Haruko appeared in my dreams the very same night. I got into bed, and I thought I’d fallen asleep, but all of a sudden, I was there at a church by a lake.
…Oh, that church is where you live? I didn’t know.
Okay, where was I?
Right. I was like, whoa, that story really was true.
“Help me find the boy.”
I heard this voice coming from behind me. I turned around and there she was. Haruko. She looked different from how the story made her sound. She’d lost her son because of those bullies, so I kinda felt sorry for her. I thought she’d be some thin, ragged old lady. But that wasn’t what she looked like at all.
She was slim, but she was tall, too; she seemed like she could be a model. She didn’t talk like someone desperately searching for her son, either. She had a pretty face—gaudy makeup, though—but she seemed less sad and more plain mean. I stared at her for a while, then she clicked her tongue and said, “Hurry up and get started.”
I wasn’t afraid of her because she was a ghost. But she seemed like the kind of grown-up who was scary when she was angry. I did like she said and went into the church. There were rows and rows of long benches inside. People were sitting on them. On every single one of them. I don’t know how many people can fit on each one, but they were all totally packed.
At first, I thought she wanted me to see if her son was somewhere in the crowd, but it was pretty obvious he wasn’t. They were all grown-ups, and their clothes and height and poses and hairstyles were exactly the same. I think…they were women. I can’t really remember, but I think they were women. I couldn’t see their faces because everyone was hunched over and mumbling something.
I was really afraid of what might happen if they looked up and saw me. I started crawling along on all fours. That was the only way I could think to make sure I stayed hidden. I was too scared to even think about searching for the boy. I tried slipping into the room next to the…altar? Is that what it’s called? There were people in there, too. Every room I checked was the same—just tons and tons of people who looked the same. I couldn’t even move anymore. I closed my eyes tight and crouched against the wall, and after a while, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Did you find him?”
All of a sudden, I was outside the church again, and the scary lady from before was glaring at me.
“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just kept apologizing.
“Oh, shut up! I hate children’s voices. Be quiet!”
I clamped my hands over my mouth, so I wouldn’t make any sound. After a while, the lady stared at me again.
“You didn’t find him, then. Children are so noisy and useless. I wish you’d die already.”
She came up to me and grabbed my hair. She forced me to look up until our eyes met. Her makeup was really caked on. I remember thinking she had nice, shiny skin, but it seemed like she had something else on besides foundation to make it look that way.
“I’ll be seeing you again.”
She threw me to the ground. The next thing I knew, I was back in my bed. I tried telling myself it had all been a dream, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. I’ve never had a dream that felt so real before. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I did like the Seven Mysteries story said and told someone else about it. And the next night, nothing happened.
…Sorry, mister, but even looking at your church scares me now.
While she was telling her story, Yuzuki Azuma’s cynical way of talking had gradually changed. The memory of what happened had likely shaken her. She looked pale and afraid now.
“Thank you. Your story was very easy to follow.”
Aoyama’s compliment seemed to help her relax a little.
“Mister, are you an exorcist?”
“No, not me. I’m surprised you know what that is.”
“Well, you see them on TV and stuff.”
Depictions of exorcists in the media tended to be patterned off the legendary horror movie The Exorcist. Really, it was less of a horror movie and more of a buddy cop–style drama starring two priests. Aoyama was about to bring it up but then remembered there were a lot of graphic and distressing scenes in it, especially for young children.
The movie exaggerated the powers of the Catholic Church, too, and there was some debate over where it was appropriate to use these religious themes as consumable entertainment. What would his grandfather have thought if he’d watched it? He had been a broad-minded person, and Aoyama liked to think he’d have been able to enjoy it for what it was.
He knew it wouldn’t do much good, but he made a show of reciting the Lord’s Prayer for Yuzuki. She was back to her old self when he finished, so it had been worth it just to help her feel better.
After Yuzuki, the stories he heard from the other kids were more or less the same. They were taken to the Pádraig Aoba Church in their dreams, where a scary lady told them to help her find “the boy.” The church was filled with identical people, probably women, all looking at the floor, all mumbling. When the children were unable to find Haruko’s son, she criticized them harshly and left, saying she would “see them again.” So many of them said they found the church scary and never wanted to go there again that Aoyama felt like he should be suing Haruko for disrupting his business.
Finally, it was time for Miki herself. She was the one who had started spreading this story, so he had a lot of questions for her. Aoyama would have to stay calm and not make it seem like he was accusing her of anything. He stretched out and tried to center himself. However, when the appointed time arrived, there was no sign of Miki. Hoping that the knocking wasn’t about to start up again, Aoyama opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
“How strange, it’s long past the time we agreed on. Miki’s a…unique child, but not the type to break a promise,” said Ms. Akino.
He waited another ten minutes with Ms. Akino. There was still no sign of Miki. They even tried putting out an announcement on the PA system, but it didn’t do any good.
“I guess that’s a no go.”
“It seems that way. I really am sorry. What do you want to do?”
Ms. Akino was hinting none too subtly that she would prefer if Aoyama left. He couldn’t blame her. Regardless of his tenuous connection with the school, they were doing him a favor letting him talk to the kids. It wasn’t fair to expect the teachers to go along with it any more than common courtesy demanded.
“Something must have come up. I heard plenty from the others, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Ms. Akino, thank you so much for putting aside this time for me. Tell the kids that I’m grateful as well.”
He gave a low bow, which Ms. Akino hurried to mirror.
Truth be told, Miki was the one he’d wanted to talk to most. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. If he insisted on coming back another day, that would only create more work for the school. And considering Nanaka’s situation, waiting too long wasn’t really an option. It would be more efficient to just go home with the information he’d gathered today and see if it could aid the investigation in any way.
Right as he was leaving the school grounds, somebody grabbed his arm. The memory of the knocking on the reception room door made him freeze up. But when he turned around, he saw Yuzuki Azuma, looking out of breath.
“Mister, hold on a minute.”
“Yuzuki? What’s the problem?”
The girl took a minute to catch her breath.
“You wanted to talk to Miki, right?”
“Huh?”
Yuzuki smiled.
“Miki tried to run, but the rest of us were too fast for ’em.”
Pulling on Aoyama’s arm, she led him away in the opposite direction to the train station. After five minutes, they arrived at a park with a distinctive dome-shaped piece of play equipment. Some five or six elementary school kids were standing around it, blocking the way out.
“Hey, guys, I brought him.”
Yuzuki called out to the others, but they didn’t seem to notice. Their faces were all flushed with excitement. The faint sound of sobbing could be heard inside the dome.
“Crying won’t do you any good! You’re not the victim here!”
“Yeah! You’ve caused everyone a lot of trouble!”
“You made Yuki cry, too! Apologize!”