The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 10.5

[touchturnfly]

5

After Takigawa said that he was going to the bathroom to put up charms for caution's sake, Hirota came along with him. He was interested in what he intended to do.

Takigawa looked over the changing room briefly while holding a small bottle in one hand. Then he placed the inkstone he brought with him on the floor and began to color it in ink.

"-- What's that?"

Takigawa quickly replied to Hirota who was pointing at the bottle.

"Delicious water from Mount Rokkou."

"-- Huh?"

"Mineral water. Don't you know that?"

"I know. Why do you need something like that?"

"Well, actually spring water is used for this. But how do I get my hands on that in Tokyo."

"That's true, I suppose."

Even so, Hirota thought that something was wrong.

"Isn't it better than just water from the tap? But it's a matter of feeling I guess."

"... ...That's half-hearted."

He said it with a scornful tone, but Takigawa laughed out loud.

"It's not all a matter of feeling. If there's no water, then I'll use dirty water and even that wouldn't be a problem in particular. -- It's too dubious to say 'I ordered water that trickled from the rocks Mount Kouya' or something like that."

Even though Hirota thought, 'Isn't it the other way around?', but he kept quiet.

"If there's trouble with paper while investigating, I will even use toilet paper or the back of a receipt."

He felt that was quite questionable.

"It's not that I'm giving you advice in particular, but isn't it better to have a bit more of an aura that's suitable for your profession?" Hirota said as he gazed at Takigawa. No matter how you looked at it, he didn't look like a medium or Buddhist monk at all.

"Basically, I hate mediums."

"-- Why?"

Takigawa smiled complacently.

"Because there are many frauds."

"You're saying that?"

"Because that's the truth after all. I was on Mount Kouya, but actually I only know of two monks other than myself who can do a proper exorcism."

Hirota widened his eyes.

"... ... It's only that much?"

"Yeah. After all, it's more rare to have people who can do it. I often meet people who are in the same business, but they didn't turn out to be the real deal. They're only fakes and frauds. That's why I hate them. It gets on my nerves because they easily claim to do things they're not capable of. I hate that they make money out of deceiving people."

"... ... What about the people here?"

"I work with them because I think they're the real deal? -- I met them while investigating. The client gathered mediums and we met up by chance like that. At least, I think the client of that case certainly had a real eye for selecting mediums. Because out of all things he pulled nothing but winning lottery tickets."

After saying that, Takigawa made a cynical facial expression.

"-- Even so, you probably wouldn't understand that."

Hirota looked disappointed.

"... ... I don't like the way you use 'you' on me."

"But you're doing the same."

"Just how old are you?"

"I could say the same. How old are you?'

"I'm twenty-four years old."

"Well, then just 'you' is fine if we go by Japanese tradition. Because I'm a bit older than you."

"That couldn't be."

"Call me 'Takigawa-san'. While we're at it, Lin is also older than you. He's older than me."

He could imagine that Lin was his senior, but he didn't think that Takigawa was older than him. He thought he was from the same generation, but he was thinking that he may be one or two years younger than him.

"Then I hope you'll refer to us seniors with respect by calling us Takigawa-san and Lin-san."

Hirota glared at Takigawa.

"Calling you in that way is good enough. You're an adult male and yet you grew out your hair and dyed it. It's like you're pretending to be a juvenile delinquent."

"Isn't having it grown out like that just fine? I went through the trouble of getting off the mountain and now I'm liberated from having a shaven head. Also, I haven't dyed my hair. It's all natural. It got better than when I used to be a kid, so don't say that."

"I wonder about that," Hirota muttered. "Just 'Lin' and 'you' is fine."

Takigawa's face suddenly turned serious.

"Lin?"

"His forelock. It's irritating to look at."

"Isn't it just your personality that's irritating?"

After he said that, Takigawa glanced towards the equipment. After standing up he went to the corridor and beckoned Hirota. A puzzled Hirota followed him and Takigawa closed the door. His voice was low.

"-- You must be an idiot if you said that in front of him."

"-- Why that?"

"Because that guy cannot see with the eye under there."

"Eh?" Hirota looked at Takigawa's eyes.

"It's not like he can't see anything with that eye. He can distinguish light and darkness, but it seems to be inconvenient if he used both of his eyes to see things. To avoid that he covers it with hair in that way. It's not because he's fashion-minded."

Hirota stared back at Takigawa's unusually stern face feeling very guilty.

"... ... Why?"

"He was born like that. The iris of that eye seems to be blue. In China a blue eye is common among great mediums. They say that it can see light other than visible rays. It's inconvenient to see a surplus of that when using both eyes."

"... ... So it's like that."

"No matter who it is, we all have various problems."

Hirota hung his head downward.

---

Back to Chapter 10.4 | Forward to Chapter 11.1

Notes

- Delicious water from Mount Rokkou: Rokkou no Oishii Mizu (1983-2010) was a brand name for mineral water from Mount Rokkou. It is now sold under the name Asahi Oishii Mizu.

- Mount Kouya: The name of mountains in the Wakayama prefecture, to the south of Osaka. Known for hosting the world headquarters of the Shingon sect in Japanese Buddhism.

- Hirota and Takigawa refer to each other with お前 (omae), which is a very casual way of saying 'you'. It expresses a higher status or age of the speaker. It's disrespectful when if said to an elder. It's also used between friends of the same age.