Chapter 29: 29

Chapter 29: That is a dead body

The Rainy Mansion was normally quiet all day long but Satoshi noticed it was a little noisy today as he sat in the toilet in a daze.

“Hey. Toilet ghost, are you there?”

Satoshi heard a voice from the small window behind him. It was a clear and crisp male voice. It wasn’t Takato or Ayano. He turned around and saw Shun.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Satoshi asked but there was no reply. Shun was unable to see him, so most likely he couldn’t hear him too. Satoshi wondered why Shun would call out to him.

Then, Shun started talking all of a sudden. “There is something that has been bothering my mind but I don’t want to tell others about it. I think I saw something at the storeroom next door before. Do you know what it is?”

Even if I answer you, it’s not like you can hear me, Satoshi thought quietly. If they wanted to communicate, they might need help from Ayano. But as Shun had said just now, he didn’t want to tell others about it. It seemed Shun just want to talk to himself while organizing his thoughts.

The storeroom?

After Ayano started talking to Satoshi, he began to have awareness about the passage of time. Before that, he spent his time in oblivion. However—

“Now that you mention it, I also feel like I used to wander around here freely in the past. But since some time ago, I think a strong magnetic field was formed nearby, and since then I couldn’t get out of here,” Satoshi spoke out although he knew Shun was unable to hear him.

Shun stood on the corridor nearby the window immersed in thought. After a while, he left to who knows where.

* * *

After the mansion had regained it calmness, they finally were able to hold the funeral for Yamamura Tatsuo. Ayano was busy helping Nobuko and other housekeepers while the Buddhist monk was reading the sutras in the altar room.

Kana: “You don’t have to do it.”

Nobuko laughed and explained, “Ayano-san would be more uncomfortable sitting with everyone.”

That’s right, Ayano thought silently as she rushed through the wide hallway preparing the dining table for the visitors. Then she saw a large and a small shadow behind the old frosted glass fitted in the sliding door at the entrance.

Shimizu slid the door open while saying, “Sorry I’m late.” Tanimoto stood next to him.

“Oh, it’s fine. Thank you for coming. Welcome,” Ayano greeted them. Then she thought maybe it was weird to say welcome since it was a funeral.

“Ayano-san, the tray of food just now—” said a well-built woman. It was Kana, one of the housekeepers. She saw Shimizu and gave him a bow.

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When Ayano was about to leave with Kana, she realized something and turned to Tanimoto. “I’m sorry. I think there is no more cushion[1] left in the altar room. I will go get some—”

Tanimoto: “Oh, don’t worry. I will find one myself.”

“Sorry to trouble you then,” Ayano said before leaving to help Kana.

Shimizu: “The ceremony is almost over. It’s okay even if there is no cushion.”

“Okay,” Tanimoto answered while watching Ayano’s retreating figure.

He watched her walking back and forth through the hallway carrying the tray of food to serve the visitors. She looked more like a housekeeper instead of someone who would be the future owner of the mansion.

Tanimoto watched Ayano with a smile on his face before turning to look at Shimizu. Then he noticed that Shimizu was staring at the storeroom with a frown on his face for some reason.

Hmm. The storeroom? Maybe they keep the cushions in the storeroom?

Tanimoto opened the door of the storeroom offhandedly. The next moment, he saw a woman lying on her back with her hands on her neck with a grimace. Base on her expression and her posture, it seemed the woman is dead.

“Ayano-san, three more,” said someone from the hallway.

Ayano saw Tanimoto stood motionless in front of the opened door of the storeroom.

Tanimoto: “Ayano-san. There is a living spirit here.”

“… I don’t think that living spirit is alive,” Ayano replied cryptically.

Tanimoto: “Oh. Does it mean I can also see spirit of the dead now?”

“No. That is a dead body. It is Hisami-san,” Ayano said with a frown.

Kana walked up to them when she heard their conversation. “What? Hisami-san?”

Behind them, Shimizu let out a sigh before taking out his phone and dialed his office. “Hello, it’s me—”

[1] Zabuton: Japanese cushion for sitting on the floor.  

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