Chapter 28: 28

Chapter 28: Back to normal daily life

They wiped the toilet bowl dry and then fixed it back inside the toilet near the entrance.

Shimizu returned to the mansion and straight away went to see Tanimoto. “There are still a lot of follow up procedures that need to be done, so you should stay here tonight as well. It would be troublesome for you to come and go. I already talked to the housekeepers and they advise you to stay too. Anyway, other team members also said they don’t want to come here, so this assignment is on you alone since you’re the rookie.”

Tanimoto was shocked but he accepted the instruction reluctantly. He informed Ayano that he needed to go back to the station briefly and would return later. When he was about to leave the mansion, Ayano suddenly came and stopped him. “Excuse me, Tanimoto-san. Can you peek through that window for me?”

He was puzzled by the request but obediently looked into the toilet through the back window.

Ayano: “Can you see Satoshi-san?”

Tanimoto: “No.”

“Okay. Thank you for your help,” Ayano said and bowed to him.

After sending Tanimoto out, Ayano went back inside the mansion. Then, she heard Takato calling her name. She looked at him and asked, “Takato, you’re still here?”

Takato looked at her with a face that said this is my home before saying, “Why did you ask Tanimoto to look through the window just now? Do you think Satoshi is a living spirit?”

“… I just want to confirm,” Ayano replied before walking away. When she walked past the storeroom next to the toilet, she could still hear the screeching sound from deep inside the room.

* * *

“We could finally return back to normal daily life,” Ayano said to Satoshi through the window when she went to visit him that night.

Satoshi: “Yes. I’m also glad that I could return to this place. I feel at peace here.”

Inwardly, Ayano said: Yeah, right. You didn’t seem disturbed staying at the bottom of shichinin bishaku though.

Coincidentally, Satoshi said to her, “It was quite warm and gloomy inside that pond. It felt nice.”

Ayano: “But I’m really surprised that you are actually bounded to the toilet bowl, not the toilet.”

Jiro saw Satoshi sat on the toilet, so he removed the fixture to kidnap Satoshi but actually there was no guarantee that Satoshi would follow the toilet bowl. Perhaps Jiro was in a panic so he had no time to think deeply. Ayano wondered if Jiro would destroy the toilet if he saw Satoshi was still in there after the fixture was removed.

While thinking about that matter, Ayano realized something. “But this new model toilet was installed recently. Why didn’t you follow the old toilet?”

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Although Satoshi had been there for quite some time, it didn’t seem like he had come to the mansion together with the toilet. Besides, his surname was Sudo.

Satoshi: “Actually, I was very happy when I saw they installed the new toilet. Maybe that’s why I’m attached to it. Isn’t ghost normally appears at places with emotional attachment?”

“I see…” Ayano recalled the words that Shun had said to her. It turned out that he was right all along. “But it seems that you can leave this toilet if we remove the fixture. Maybe I can bring you outside someday. Do you want to see cherry blossom? [1]”

Satoshi laughed innocently like a child. “That sounds great. I want to see the desert.”

Ayano wondered if it was possible to bring the toilet bowl on a plane or ship. “Is Tottori Sand Dunes acceptable?” she asked trying to bargain.

Satoshi laughed while holding the book that seemed stuck on the same page for years.

* * *

Ayano had a dream that night. In her dream, she was holding a toilet bowl while riding a camel crossing the Tottori Sand Dunes. Takato was on the camel too and was hugging her from behind to prevent her from falling.

Hmm. This doesn’t feel so romantic, Ayano thought while dozing off. She was half awake when she noticed a presence of a spirit peeking through her bedroom door in the dark. This was not the first time it happened.

“…You’re not coming in?” Ayano said to the spirit. However, the spirit stepped back and then went down the stairs – just like always.

Ayano put on her thin cardigan and went out into the hallway. There was no sign of the spirit that was there earlier. She then walked quietly to the stairs and looked down.

“Shall I push that thing down next time?” the staircase ghost said referring to the spirit that went down the stairs earlier.

“No need. Good night,” Ayano said before she went back to her room.

She closed her eyes and hoped that she could continue her dream just now. But in her dream this time, there was no Takato. And there was no camel either. She was walking alone, dragging the toilet bowl while looking for water in the desert.

Not only my life, even my dream is lacking… Ayano thought.

Then she heard a creaking sound followed by a bang. She wondered if someone was using the toilet near the entrance. That latest model toilet was equipped with sensor and it would make a loud sound when the automatic toilet lid was closed. The sound was more prominent during a silent night like this.

I thought no one wants to use the toilet anymore now that everyone know Satoshi-san is there, Ayano thought before she fell asleep.

[1] Hanami: Japanese traditional culture watching sakura (cherry blossom) as the flowers only bloom for a short period.  

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