Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Jin’s POV
   Well this is awkward. For the first time in his 16 years of being alive, Jin is eating his meal together with people who are not part of his family.

   “You should try the tonkotsu ramen here, Minase-kun. It’s really good.” Watanabe suggests to him.

   “Sure. I’ll get just that.”

   He calls a waitress over and places his order. What a shame. He was planning to get a bowl of ramen plus every single side dish available in this establishment. With others around, he can’t go crazy like that.

   “Oh Jin, to think that we would meet like this. This must be fate!” Estyshana exclaims.

   Jin wish she would just stop that. There are only the four of them at the table, so her acting is pretty much pointless.

   “I’ve been meaning to ask. The two of you knows each other, right?” Watanabe asks him.

   “We do, but we’re not on good terms.”

   “How could you say that, Jin?” Estyshana sobs.

   “Oh shut it. You know that it’s true.”

   “How did the two of you get to know each other?” Watanabe continues to ask.

   Jin looks at Estyshana. From her expression and non-intervention, she has no desire of sharing the secret either.

   “Sorry, but I rather not say.”

   “I don’t feel like talking either.” Estyshana agrees.

   “There’s no need to be shy. Just a little bit of information will do.” Watanabe insists.

   “Just quit it, Anri.” Wakaba chides.

   “Fine, fine. I’ll stop with the prying.” Watanabe grumbles.

   Jin is glad that Wakaba is around. There’s no way he could ever stop the overly inquisitive Watanabe from asking too many questions.

   The girls get served with hot bowls of ramen soon enough.

   “Is it okay if I get a fork and a spoon?” Estyshana asks the waitress who served them the food.

   “Certainly. I will get them at once.”

   “Thank you.”

   Jin stares at her critically.

   “What?” she demands.

   “I don’t care how you ate your meal before this, but there’s a saying here that goes ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’.”

   “What’s that even supposed to mean?”

   “It means you’re supposed to follow the culture of the place you’re at.”

   “I can’t help it, okay? Chopsticks are too hard for me.” she complains.

   “You should have practiced more then.”

   “Now now, you two. Just give Esty more time, okay Minase-kun?” Wakaba intervenes.

   “...Sure, I guess.”

   Estyshana sticks her tongue out at Jin and starts eating her ramen after the waitress got what she wanted.

   “Oh, this is really good!” she exclaims. “It’s a bit like the soba Mama Kana made for us last night, except the soup is much thicker.”

   “They’re somewhat similar. After all, both of them are made of flour.” Wakaba explains.

   “By the way, you have to slurp the soup loudly, or you’ll be deemed as rude.” Watanabe tells the she-demon.

   Estyshana picks up the bowl and drinks the soup really loudly.

   “Like this?” she asks Watanabe.

   “Perfect.”

   “Wait a minute. Wasn’t the soup piping hot?” Wakaba asks.

   It was then that Estyshana realized that she made a blunder. Being a demon that could even withstand being burned by magma, she won’t of course be harmed by mere hot soup.

   “I, um, have better heat resistance than normal humans, I mean people.” she quickly lies.

   Naturally, Wakaba and Watanabe aren’t convinced. It was then that Jin’s ramen arrives. He proceeds to scoop up some soup with the given long handle spoon, blows into it to cool it down and slurps it louder than Estyshana did. While all three of them are looking at him, he shows Estyshana a smug smile.

   Her right eyebrow twitches irritably. She then imitates him, except she drinks the soup even louder.

   For the next minute, the two of them are going back and forth drinking their soup as loudly as they can and try to be louder than the other. Even without looking, Jin could tell that everyone inside the shop are looking at them.

   “Okay, that’s enough you two. You’re bothering the other customers.” Wakaba eventually tells them.

   “Well he started it!” Estyshana says angrily.

   “It doesn’t matter, Esty. Now can we please finish this meal in peace? We still have to go to school, remember?”

   “Speaking of which, how did all of you managed to get permission from your parents to wander around the school at night?” Jin asks just to make some conversations.

   “Our parents were kind of hesitant to agree to it at the beginning, but then my elder sister chimed in and told them that it’ll be fine when I told them you were coming too.” Wakaba tells him.

   Ah, that explains a lot.

   “As for me, I told my parents that I’ll be crashing over at Chifuyu’s place tonight.” Watanabe answers.

   Jin looks at Wakaba.

   “You’re actually okay with this?” he asks her.

   Wakaba sighs like she got used to this kind of thing.

   “It can’t be helped. We’ve known each other since eternity, and I’m basically stuck with her. You can’t imagine the number of times I had to cover up for the trouble she caused.” she says in an exasperated manner.

   “So the two of you are childhood friends.”

   “Yup. As I said, it’s nothing but headaches.”

   “Hey, it’s not that bad!” Watanabe objects. “Besides, it won’t be a lie if I crash over at your place for real.”

   “Why is this the first time I heard of it?”

   “That’s because it is. I just thought up of this brilliant idea like three seconds ago.”

   Wakaba sighs again and continues to eat her ramen before she gets even more headache. Once they are done with their meal, it’s almost time to head to school, so they asked for the bill and left the shop.

   On the way to the school, Watanabe and Wakaba are walking at the front while Jin and Estyshana are following them from behind. The two of them at the front are bantering pleasantly, while the two at the back are not saying a single thing. It was then when Estyshana looks at Jin.

   Jin has fought her so many times in the past that he could tell that she was up to something just by looking at her expressions. Right now, she’s putting up a look that clearly says she’s using a spell. Given the circumstances, Jin guesses that she wants to communicate with him telepathically. Jin obliges by temporarily turning off his anti-magic barrier.

   “What do you want?” he demands through his mind.

   “I’ve been wanting to ask this. What exactly are the Seven Mysteries?” she asks without opening her mouth.

   “It’s about seven ghost stories that most, if not all schools in Japan has. The rumors in one school might differ from the others, but they’re generally the same thing. The ghost inside the girl’s toilet, a board that lets you talk to the dead, that sort of things.” Jin explains.

   “So all of them are related to ghosts and spirits? Interesting.”

   “Bah, they’re mostly bogus anyway. Then again, I’m not so sure after I was back from Ifezan and saw real ghosts.”

   “Are you sure you’re not hiding your fear by trying to think that they don’t exist over here?” Estyshana smiles mockingly.

   Jin scoffs at that. “As if I’ll be scared of some pesky ghosts. And speak for yourself. Try not to wet yourself when you happen to see a will-o’-the-wisp or some other flimsy spirits.”

   “Me, the Whisperer of Deceit, cowering over some minor spirits? You must be joking.”

   “Says the one who got scared by the spirit of a dead frog.”

   She looks very flustered in an instant.

   “F-Frogs are an entirely different story altogether, okay?”

   “Sure, Whisperer of Deceit (lol).”

   “Oh, you are so insufferable!”

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   All of a sudden, she starts to look embarrassed.

   “I, um, I need to thank you.” she begins.

   Jin raises his eyebrow.

   “Did I ever do something to deserve your gratitude?”

   “You know you did. I was talking about the part where you drank your soup loudly on purpose to distract the two of them so that they won’t question about why I was spared from being scalded.”

   “Ah, that. You’re overthinking it. I just felt like doing it.”

   She smiles at that. It’s a genuine smile that has warmth in it.

   “Sure you were.”

   It didn’t take them long to reach the school gate. The school administration of Yokosuka High did not bother to hire security guards to patrol the school ground. Hence, students are technically free to go in and out of the school even after the school has long closed.

   “All right, people. The first Mystery is near the entrance of the school, so I’ll be telling you about it before we go in.” Watanabe tells them.

   “So, what kind of ghost story is it?” Esty asks curiously.

   Watanabe turns on the flash light of her phone and shines it on her face before answering.

   “This one is titled ‘The Shoe Locker’.” she rasps ominously.

   Estyshana gulps audibly like she’s actually believing in this nonsense. Jin and Wakaba, on the other hand, patiently wait for Watanabe to finish her tale.

   “Our school has rows and rows of shoe lockers, but there are one row of them that weren’t being used. Part of the reason is because they were getting all rusty. The other, is because one of them is cursed. The owner of the particular locker was, shall we call him Student A? Student A comes from a poor family. As such, he needs to save up money as much as possible so that he doesn’t increase the burden of his working parents. However, he has a bad habit of spending his money on food-”

   “How is spending money on food a bad habit? Poor guy was just hungry.” Jin interrupts.

   Watanabe points the light away from her face.

   “Do you mind, Minase-kun? I’m trying to tell a story here!” she demands with her normal voice.

   “Oops. My bad.”

   She clears her throat and points the light at her face again.

   “As I was saying, Student A can’t resist spending money on food at the cafeteria when the money could be used on one of his younger siblings or his parents. One day, he has a brilliant idea. If he stores what little money he has inside his shoe locker, he won’t be tempted to use them since they’re not even with him. For five days, this went extremely well. His stomach was always rumbling during lunchtime, but that’s not important. On the sixth day, after he put his money inside the shoe locker again, he overheard some students talking about the new takoyaki stand.”

   “‘I wish I could afford some takoyaki.’ Student A mutters to himself while closing the door of the shoe locker. When it was finally time to go back, he has the shock of his life when he opened his shoe locker. For inside the locker, right next to his usual shoes, there’s a pack of takoyaki! Rather than feeling surprised, he realized that some of the money was gone. When he asked around he realized that the money that went missing matches the price of the takoyaki. He thinks that someone is playing a prank on him, so he decides to catch the culprit. On the next day, he put his shoes and his daily allowance. And then, he mutters ‘I wish I have a pear’. However, instead of going to the class, he went and hide somewhere near the locker to wait for the culprit to arrive. He was so keen on doing so he was absolutely fine with skipping lessons.”

   Watanabe pauses for a second before continuing, probably to catch her breath after talking for so long.

   “He waited until school was over, and no one came to his locker. Disappointed, he went to his locker to take out his shoes and money. And then, next to his shoes was a round, ripe pear! Once again, some of his money magically went missing, the amount is the same with the price of a pear. It was when Student A realized that his shoe locker is magical. However, he soon realized that he has mistaken the word magical, with cursed. On the next day, he did the usual thing before finally muttering ‘I wish I have ten diamonds, all of them as big as my fists.’ Naturally, he couldn’t even afford one tiny piece of diamond with his measly allowance, much less ten large ones. However, they appeared anyway. The money he put inside the locker was gone. His shoes were gone too, so are his bag, and even his school uniforms. But he was so happy for getting the diamonds he doesn’t mind walking naked back to his house.”

   Finally, the end of the story in near. Jin could feel it. This story was so, so long.

   “When he got back to his house, however, the entire house has disappeared. Just when he was standing in front of the spot where his small house was located, he felt a presence. Before he could do or say anything, he hears a soft whisper from his right ear.”

   Watanabe pauses dramatically. Estyshana waits in anticipation.

   “‘We have taken your belongings, your siblings and your parents to cover up the fee of the diamonds. However, none of them were enough. And so, you must be taken as well.’ the presence whispered. And then, Student A ceased to exist as well.”

   She switches off the torch light on her phone and keeps the phone inside her pocket.

   “How could he even managed to each his house by walking around butt-naked? Won’t someone call the police to have him arrested for public indecency?” Jin asks.

   “Exactly. It’s not the middle of the night, so I’m pretty sure someone saw him. Even if there wasn’t, there were definitely lots of other students around.” Wakaba agrees.

   Watanabe groans loudly.

   “Remember Esty-chan: never grow up to be like them. They’re just empty husks devoid of imagination and dreams.” she tells Estyshana.

   “Whatever. Can we go in now?” Jin asks.

   “Just a minute. We’ll never know what we might find in there, so take these.”

   She hands out some small packs of salt to each of them. Estyshana takes one and shakes it, all the while looking at it in wonder.

   “Don’t freak out. That has salt in it.” Jin tells her telephatically.

   Estyshana drops the salt pack in alarm.

   “Didn’t I tell you not to freak out?” he chides.

   “Whoa, what happened Esty-chan?” Watanabe asks the demon.

   “It’s nothing. Really, I’m fine.” she replies.

   While trying to remain calm, she bends down and picks up the salt pack. This time, she’s holding it like she’s holding a venomous snake. She then puts it inside her pocket gingerly.

   “Anything else?” Jin asks Watanabe.

   “Nope. Let’s go in.”

   And so they did. All of them climbed through the school gate and head inside. They were then stopped by the locked doors.

   “So, how do we go in?” Jin asks.

   Watanabe shows him a keychain full of keys while smiling smugly.

   “Where and how did you even get those?” Wakaba asks her childhood friend.

   “Let’s not sweat about the small details, shall we?”

   Watanabe keeps trying different key until the right one goes inside the lock. She then unlocks the door.

   The inside of the school is very dark, so all of them got out their phone and turns on the flashlight.

   “So, where’s the supposedly cursed locker?” Wakaba asks Watanabe.

   “Right this way.”

   The locker in question is at the middle of the row of lockers that are really worn out by age. Watanabe opens the small door and takes out a five hundred yen coin.

   “So what should we ask for?” she asks the others.

   “Whatever it is, let’s just ask for something that costs less than five hundred yen, just in case.” Wakaba suggests.

   “Got it. Hmm…”

   Jin looks at the locker while activating a spell called the Eye of Truth. While it’s activated, he could see hidden traps and curses and also see through all illusions. He sees nothing dangerous. He looks at Estyshana next. She shakes her head. So the tale was fake. What a surprise.

   “I wish I have a can of Cola.” Watanabe mutters after putting the coin inside the locker and closes it.

   “So, how long are we supposed to wait?” Jin asks.

   “I’m not sure. I guess we’ll come back until we’re done with the rest of the Mysteries.”

   Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. The locker isn’t even cursed, so the result would be the same no matter how long they wait.

   Jin suddenly notices something odd with his still-activated Eye of Truth. A few of something odd, he might add. His magic is so potent all the spells and magic he uses are automatically of the highest level, and in the case of Eye of Truth he could scan a building as big as this school without any issue. Right now, he sees a few odd shapes at some places of the school. He doesn’t know what they are, but they could be dangerous. Best to be cautious.

   While Jin is busy with his thoughts, Watanabe is starting to tell them about the next Mystery.

   “Did you know that our school was built over an old military base?” she begins.

   “Oh, right. Our history lesson mentioned about it last year.” Wakaba remembers.

   “Right. So there’s this sweet old lady who works at the cafeteria in this base. She was always cooking delicious, warm food for the soldiers. One day, all the soldiers had to be deployed to the front line. A few of them begged the old lady and her crews to cook them a feast once they come back. All of them agreed to do so. But then, tragedy happened. Not long after the soldiers left the base, it got attacked by an enemy force.”

   Estyshana gasps in horror. She must be pretty invested in the story.

   “The enemy soldier butchered everyone inside horribly, even the old lady. To commemorate the capture of an enemy base, the enemy army threw a party. All of them got drunk and wasted despite the possibility of the Japanese force coming back and reclaiming the base. It was then that things went wrong for them. One by one, they went missing. Not even their corpses remained. When the Japanese soldiers rushed back to the base, they were met with zero resistance. All they saw was the spirit of the old lady. She welcomed them back with a smile and served them food made from the flesh of their enemy troops. Of course, none of them want to eat those food. That got her very mad, and she butchered them mercilessly. After the war has ended, the base was demolished, and this school was built. But rumor has it that the spirit of the old lady is still around to serve people food made from the flesh of their enemy.”

   Well, at least this story is short.

   “So, we’re heading to the cafeteria then.” he asks Watanabe.

   “Yup. Let’s go.”

   The moment they get close to the cafeteria, Jin realizes that one of the odd shapes he sees with the Eye of Truth is at the cafeteria.

   Oh boy.

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