Chapter 13: 13

Chapter 13: The noise inside the storeroom

Next, they interviewed a woman named Sudo Hisami at the altar room. Just like Eiko, she must have looked pretty when she was younger. Even now she was still pretty but her aggressive attitude could be seen from her face expression, giving her a vibe of someone that people would steer away from.

Hisami seemed to be a rich woman herself. She had been living in the Rainy Mansion even after her husband, who was close to the direct lineage of Sudo family, had passed away. Tanimoto wondered if she was after the inheritance too.

All of a sudden, Hisami whispered softly, “The murderer must be Ayano-san.”

Tanimoto almost dropped his pen. “Why do you say that?” he asked.

Hisami: “Although she looked demure, she is Chizuru’s daughter after all.”

And who the hell is Chizuru? Tanimoto thought to himself. Then, Shimizu explained to him in a low voice, “Hayase Chizuru is Hayase Ayano’s mother. She has been reported missing. Although she was not a member of the Sudo family, she had been living here for some reason. There was a rumor about her having an affair with this woman’s late husband.”

“Oh, I see,” Tanimoto whispered back.

However, it seemed Hisami had overheard their conversation and was sending Tanimoto a glare. “Are you saying that I hold a grudge against her? Well, maybe I do. But I’m not the only one who is giving her a cold shoulder. She has no blood relationship with this family but Grandpa Sokichi[1] especially adored her.”

“Uhm- Can I ask a question?” Tanimoto said timidly.

Hisami gave him a sharp glare. “What is it?”

Tanimoto: “Everyone here is talking about the late Sudo Sokichi like he is still around. Why?”

Hisami: “Grandpa Sokichi? He’s in his room. If you want to interview him, you should ask Ayano to come along.”

Although he had kind of expected the answer, Tanimoto felt his head hurting. In this house, the boundary between the living and the dead was far more ambiguous than he had expected.

Hisami: “Among the current residents, Ayano is the only one who has the ability to hear the voice of all spirits including Grandpa Sokichi. Logically speaking, she can pass the message anyway she likes. It gave rise to suspicion, so she ended up being more isolated by others.”

Tanimoto: “In your opinion, do you think Ayano manipulated the words for her own benefit?”

After thinking for a while, Hisami replied, “No, I don’t think she would do that. As I said before, it’s personal grudge.”

Hisami didn’t seem to think Ayano was really a bad person. She only resented her because of her mother.

Tanimoto: “By the way, Hisami-san. Do you have the ability to see or hear the ghost?”

Hisami: “Even though I’m a blood relative of Sudo family[2], I can’t see or hear ghost. But—”

“But what?” Tanimoto urged her to keep talking.

“Nothing. It has nothing to do with the case,” Hisami said with a sorrowful face. She stood up and asked, “Can I leave now?”

After Hisami left, Tanimoto turned to Shimizu and said hesitantly, “Uhm… About Chizuru-san…”

Shimizu: “No one knows the reason why Hayase Chizuru started to live in this mansion. By the time the residents began to notice her, she has already been living here. And then one day she just disappeared leaving behind her young daughter. In this mansion, people dying or goes missing are always left as mysteries.”

Shimizu looked into the distance with a face that seemed to have something on his mind. “Jiro also said earlier – if you want to know more, you should ask Sudo Sokichi himself.”

“Oh. No need, no need.” Tanimoto gave an awkward laugh and waved his hands.

* * *

“Grandpa, I’m coming in,” Ayano said before she slid the door open.

“Ayano, you’re here,” said a male voice in a good mood.

When Ayano entered the room, she saw Sokichi heaved himself upright in the futon laid in the middle of the room.

Ayano: “Do you want me to open the window? I think you’ll feel better if we let the daylight and fresh air in.”

She opened the sliding door just a little bit but Sokichi narrowed his eyes like he was blinded by the light.

Sokichi: “Are you trying to kill me?”

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Ayano: “Grandpa, you are dead already.”

Sokichi muttered softly, “You’re cruel as always.”

Then, Sokichi asked Ayano to fetch his medicine. Ayano wondered why he still wanted to take his medicine when he was already dead but she decided not to say anything since she knew the old man wouldn’t take no for an answer. She then took out a powdered medicine wrapped in paper from a medicine box on top of the decorative chest drawers.

Sokichi: “I think I heard Takato’s voice.”

Ayano: “Today is your death monthly anniversary. His wedding is almost near so he must have come to pay a visit. By the way, is that all you have to say to me? Uncle Yamamura is dead, you know.”

“I see,” Sokichi said and nodded his head.

Ayano: “The ghost in the altar room has left. I think she got satisfied after killing someone with her curse.”

“I see,” Sokichi said again.

Ayano: “Could it be this was your plan right from the beginning? Were you planning to get rid of the residents by getting these people killing each other? Oh, not only the residents, even the ghosts too.”

Sokichi: “This will continue for a while. Ayano, bring me some water.”

Ayano poured the water in the jug into a glass and passed it to Sokichi. He gulped down the medicine with water like it was extremely delectable. Not sure which one was delicious – the water or the medicine that he had been taking for years. Ayano held the jug right in front of her face and looked at the water inside. “Why do ghost like water so much?”

“How am I supposed to know?” said the ghost himself.

Ayano turned her back and throw away the powdered medicine’s wrapping paper.

Sokichi: “Aren’t you mad at me because of my will?”

“Why should I be?” Ayano answered with her back towards him.

Sokichi was self-convinced that he was right. “Ayano, I can’t stand those money grubbers living in this mansion anymore.”

Ayano: “It’s not like there’s any money left.”

Sokichi: “Exactly. But those people don’t understand. They’re the same as those spirits bound by grudges. They’re clinging to this mansion while being obsessed with the desire they had since the beginning. I want Takato to leave this place too. I’m going to end this. Ayano, you will be the last remaining person. You can do whatever you like to this mansion.”

Ayano: “Why do you want to handover the mansion to me?”

Sokichi: “Because you have the right to it.”

Ayano: “I think the member of Sudo family who has been protecting this mansion is the one who has the right.”

Sokichi: “The one who has been protecting this place is not us. By the way Ayano, please make something soft for dinner.”

Ayano: “You still don’t have teeth even after becoming a ghost? Your dentures are there. I already cleaned it.”

Sokichi: “You’re such a heartless girl. Can’t you be more kind towards this old—”

Before he could finish his words, Ayano sent him a glare and left the room.

“She’s really short-tempered. I wonder which part of her that won his heart…” Ayano heard Sokichi talked to himself. She wondered if she should dissolve the Heart Sutra in water and give it to him to drink so that he could move on from this world.

When Ayano walked by the old storeroom next to the toilet, she heard a screeching sound like someone was scratching the board with their nails. Of course, it was not a cat. This spirit had been around for a long time, but she was unable to see it every time she opened the door before.

Ayano opened the door slightly and tried to peek inside. Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind.

“Ayano.”

She was startled and turned around.

“What are you doing?” said Sudo Shun, Takato’s second cousin.

[1] To be precise, Sokichi is not really Hisami’s grandfather. Everyone in the mansion call Sokichi grandpa. 

[2] Both Toru and Hisami belong to the Sudo family but I’m not sure what their original kinship was. Fyi, first-cousin marriage is legal in Japan. 

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