The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 12.5

[touchturnfly]

5

"But what do we do now?"

Takigawa was the first to break the ice.

"Do you think they'll agree if we say 'It appears that there is a spirit bound to your house, please let us exorcise it?' or something like that?"

Mai sighed.

"There's no way they would."

"While that may be true, there's no way we can overlook this, can we?"

John was the one who said that.

"To be possessed by Sekiguchi is more dangerous than being possessed by one of the five people in this house. They are bound by an obsession that they must kill."

"Then we have no choice other than going in and forcing them to go through an exorcism without saying anything about his existence?"

Hirota glared at Takigawa.

"I won't allow you to do such a thing. Properly ask them."

"Then you go."

"I'm not a medium. What will I do if I go there?"

Naru turned to look at Lin.

"Lin. Is there a shrine around here?"

"There is one if I'm not mistaken."

Lin located a map from the paper stack in the rack.

"-- There are two relatively nearby."

"How about a temple?"

"There's one. -- For Matsuzaki-san?"

"I wonder if there are trees she could be use somewhere?"

"We won't know unless Matsuzaki-san sees them herself."

Hirota stared in puzzlement at Mai. Mai smiled.

"She's a cooperative worker."

"First a Buddhist monk, then a Catholic priest, ... … what's next, a Shinto priest?"

"Regrettably, she's a shrine maiden."

Hirota sighed somehow.

"Let me explain it to you while I'm at it, Ayako -- That shrine maiden --, isn't what you would call an official shrine maiden of a Shinto shrine. She said that she once studied diligently to become one, but more than half of it is self-taught."

"But isn't she a mere medium and not a shrine maiden?"

"Exactly. But she can have a deity descend, so I think she's a shrine maiden after all. She's something like a shaman like you read in the history textbooks?"

"Deity?"

"Yeah. If there is a nearby tree in which a spirit properly dwells in, she can let off that spirit and borrow their strength. -- When there are no such trees around, she's simply useless."

"I see... ..."

Mai thrust a finger at Hirota.

"I explained it to you beforehand, so that you won't be encouraged to ask the person herself about various things."

"... ... What do you mean by 'encouraged'."

"She's noisy. When she has a fit, she'll be extremely noisy. It'll be a trouble to everyone, so be well-mannered. -- Understood?"

Whether he understood it or not, Hirota nodded.

"-- Mai."

Naru called her and Mai quickly stood.

"Roger. You want me to call Ayako, right?"

"So, I guess we're doing an exorcism."

Naru nodded at Takigawa's voice.

"For the time being we'll entrust the persuasion of Sasakura-san to Hirota-san."

"Hey!"

At Hirota's objection, Naru returned a hypocritical smile that he couldn't complain about.

"I'm a slave driver. I apologize."

Hirota dropped his shoulders.

"Understood. ... … I'll try it for the time being."

Naru bowed his head politely merely for form's sake.

"After that all of you will have to put effort into exorcising as much as is possible. First of all, Sekiguchi, and otherwise Hitoe, of the Sasakura house is a priority matter. -- Hara-san and Mai will continue to attempt the purification of the spirits in this house."

"Eeh. But... ..."

"If we can exorcise Sekiguchi and bring that to their attention, we might stimulate a purification. We'll say that he's no longer a threat."

"Yes indeed. --?"

Masako suddenly turned her face toward the ceiling."

"What is it?"

"They're here again. On the second floor."

Lin's voice overlapped with hers.

"The temperatures are dropping. The second floor's 7.5 tatami mat room, the 4.5 tatami mat room and the bathroom. Particularly, it's dropping rapidly in the 4.5 tatami mat room."

"Don't stimulate them. -- At any rate, we'll endure tonight and tomorrow we'll wait for Hirota-san to persuade them."

There was already no time to visit the other family. It was probably for the best not to irritate their nerves as much as possible.

"What I don’t succeed in persuading them?"

Naru showed a turbulent smile at Hirota's question.

"Naturally, I believe that you will persuade them for us, Hirota-san."

---

Back to Chapter 12.4 | Forward to Chapter 13.1