spr | The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 12.4

I see. The one who opened his mouth as usual was Takigawa.

"So that's the reason why those five spirits are wandering about. -- We know the background. The problem is, what do we do with those five spirits?"

"Aren't you going to exorcise them?"

Mai was the one who said that.

"It's not like they didn't do anything bad in particular, but we have to consider Midori-san's and her mother's feelings too. ... ... Besides, it would be pitiful to let them roam around like this."

"Well, yeah."

"I wonder if we should put them at ease."

Masako sighed.

"The question is whether those five spirits have any interest in becoming purified. The girl who died at the end surely does not understand that she died. If that's the case, giving her a lift is not impossible. -- However, I wonder about the other four family members."

Mai inclined her head.

"Yeah... ... That's true. Even if they make an appearance, from their perspective, they'll probably have the feeling of wanting to save the girl. Even if we persuade them that they're dead, a purification might not happen."

"This afternoon, I tried to address them many times, but I didn't feel that my words got through to them for even a little bit. If I think from the parents' position it's only to be expected. ... ... Even if I place myself in their circumstances, they desperately try to protect the girl. They do not feel like replying to someone who addresses them from the side."

"Right... ..."

While hearing Mai and Masako's conversation, Naru was sunken into his thoughts.

Five people were killed. A warning. -- Is that really all to it?

Then why did there have to be mirrors in all of the windows?

-- Because someone's peeking in.

Takigawa's opinion seemed to be very fitting.

There were only two places with mirrors containing proper glass and that were without a mirror. These faced the garden and balcony, along with the shutters. Couldn't this be obstructing the view completely as well? Or turning it around - having a window that is unable to obstruct a view completely, and inserting a mirror and concealing the inside.

-- Beyond the full-length mirror is Kosori.

-- Kosori is peeking inside the house.

-- Peeking.

Wouldn't that be a keyword? -- However, what it meant was unknown.

"What is it, Naru-chan?"

Takigawa suddenly called out to him. Naru came back to his senses.

"What, thinking about difficult things again?"

"It's a simple thing."

"Is it the reason why the windows were made into mirrors, by any chance?"

Naru stared at Takigawa. Takigawa looked up at the ceiling and seemed to ponder.

"That's the only thing I'm not fully satisfied with. ... ... Well, what kind of hocus-pocus could that be?"

Naru took a soft breath.

"Your explanation that it was because someone peeks in isn't bad, I think."

"Hmm?"

The one who was startled was Hirota.

He saw those eyes peeking in. That happened in the bathroom. -- If there was any meaning to it, shouldn't he say something about it now?

However, he thought. He must have imagined it. It was an illusion that displayed his fatigue.

-- Still, even if it were an illusion, shouldn't he say it for the time being and let these people judge whether it was real?

He felt conflicted for a small moment. There was the possibility that it would be dismissed point-blank as an illusion like in Saki's situation and the possibility that it would be praised as a spiritual vision holding a significant meaning. Either way, Hirota was reluctant to both possibilities.

"Wasn't it Kosori peeking in?"

Mai was the one who said that.

"Because the person possessed by Minoru-kun saw Kosori outside the window. For that reason it's no good."

Or rather, John said.

"Wasn't Kosori the spectre who haunted this place in the first place? That it controlled people --"

"Well, then the reason that the culprit is a person from another house is unknown, is it not?"

Masako protested. In a blink of an eye, the members stated their personal opinions and it became noisy.

Hirota opened his mouth. He put a lid on his inner conflict and his tongue was heavy.

"... ... I think I saw the guy who peeked in... ..."

All of them turned to look at Hirota. He involuntarily stiffened. He already said it, so he cannot say nothing now.

"I saw it in the ventilation window of the bathroom. When I peeked to the outside from there, my eyes met with some guy who was peeking at the inside --"

The various personal opinions of the members had gone out of control. It must be avoided if Midori and her mother were put at a disadvantage if the wrong hypotheses were overlooked. A clue was essential. He cannot hide it anymore. -- No matter how much it hurt his pride.

"It might have been a mere illusion. But, I only wanted to report that I saw that kind of thing."

Having finally said that with a heavy tongue, Hirota closed his mouth. He didn't feel like looking straight at the vexing members and cast down his eyes. He waited for the bantering voices to start.

"-- That's it. ... ... I understand."

It was Naru's voice. Hirota looked back at Naru's doll-like face.

"So this is what was bothering me... ..."

Everyone inclined their head at Naru's muttering.

"-- Huh? Could you tell us what that means, Sensei?"

Takigawa asked and Naru stared back at him.

"Someone peeked in, you said. That was what Hirota-san witnessed. At least, it wasn't a human. It's not wide enough for a human to get in from outside the bathroom and the window's location is also high. A foothold is absolutely essential to peek in from there."

"Well, it's obvious that it couldn't have been a human who peeked in. -- I understand that much. So how about it?"

"It continues to peek inside this house relentlessly. The owner of this house became afraid when he saw this and ended up inserting mirrors in the windows. The previous owner lived in this house for a mere two months. It happened so frequently to the point that he wanted to seal it off with mirrors in those two months. -- Or, he heard that there were unusual, frequent, and consecutive complaints from the people who rented this house."

"That must have happened, I suppose."

"-- Well then, who was it?"

"Who?"

"Apart from the five people who were killed here, there's a spirit who is obsessed with this house. The four family members send out warnings to the daughters from here. The daughter returns to this home. The family is captured inside this house. -- Then, who is the one peeking in from the outside?"

"Well... ..."

"The owner decided to live in this house after listening to the complaints from the tenants who said they would leave. The family of five spirits weren't that important. Rather, the spirit that peeked in from outside the window was the problem. So he filled up the windows with mirrors until he found it sufficient enough and tried to live in the house. -- Am I wrong?"

"It's something like that. But--"

"Why do the Sasakuras want this house to the extent that they pull those elaborate pranks?"

"Well, that's 'cause they want to reconstruct the house, right?"

"If that's the case, any other house would have been fine, wouldn't it?"

"That's--"

Certainly, Hirota thought. At first there was harassment, so it was easy to understand that their motive was their desire for this plot of land. -- However, if he thought about it the other way, wouldn't it be strange?

"It's fine even if it isn't this house. The opposite house or even the one behind are fine too. Furthermore, it would have been faster to sell off their current house and buy the other land, than doing vicious harassment. Even if there were circumstances that wouldn't allow them to do so, then it's fine if it wasn't only this house. Because the ones receiving the harassment must not only be this house."

Takigawa nodded.

"That's --- true indeed."

"Out of the houses in the neighborhood, why do only the Sasakura house and this house always remain without being resold? Isn't that because there's a reason behind it?"

I see, Hirota thought. He found Kazumi's attitude was unusual. When thinking back upon it, didn't that unusual behavior overlap with Reiko's state in which she said unthinkable things?

Naru said:

"This house isn't the only one that's enclosed in nightmares. -- The Sasakura house is locked up in one as well. It's due to the grudge of Sekiguchi who died in that house."

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The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 12.4

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