by Takehaya
“As if I’ll just lie down and take a beating!”
Koutarou picked up his treasured bat that was lying right in front of him. He was going to use that to protect himself against the airborne objects.
“In a room this small, just how long do you think you’ll last against my attacks with that?”
Sanae quickly sent several objects flying at Koutarou.
“Hmph!”
Koutarou swung his bat vertically to knock them out of the air.
“Too slow, ghost! They might as well be flying in slow-motion!”
“Curse you!”
Sanae made several more objects float.
Five more again, huh?
In total, there were five objects floating in the air now. Her previous attacks had also consisted of five objects.
It looks like her limit is five at a time...
Without lowering his guard, Koutarou readied his bat to fend off the next attack.
“Hmm?”
That was when the dictionary floating to the right of Sanae fell to the floor.
“That’s...”
Next to the dictionary was the maneki neko. Koutarou suspected that the dictionary had become inert when it got too close to it.
I guess I should give it a try.
As Koutarou made up his mind, he grabbed one of the charms he was holding together with the bat. It read “safe delivery.”
“Hyah!”
Koutarou then threw it towards Sanae.
“Uwah?!”
Seeing that, Sanae quickly brought the floating objects together in front of her to protect herself. The charm hit the makeshift shield and fell to the tatami mat.
“Don’t scare me like that!”
“This will scare you even more!”
By the time Sanae recovered, Koutarou had already picked up the maneki neko.
“Wh-What will...?”
“This guy!”
Koutarou thrust the maneki neko out towards Sanae, and their eyes met.
“A cat?”
“Look around you.”
“Huh?!”
The objects circling around Sanae fell to the floor one after another.
“It looks like you can’t make things fly next to this guy.”
“You and your stupid blessed items!”
Sanae grit her teeth in frustration and hurriedly escaped towards the entrance. As she did, she lifted more of Koutarou’s belongings into the air around her.
“Then I’ll just attack you from a distance!”
Sanae flung a plastic tissue box at Koutarou. Only throwing one object this time, it had terrific momentum behind it.
“It’s no use!”
As the tissue box got close to Koutarou, it stalled and fell to the floor.
“How?!”
Once it got close enough to the maneki neko, the tissue box lost the power supporting it. It made it as far as Koutarou’s feet with the momentum it had behind it, but it lacked the power to do any damage.
“It looks like the tables have turned again, ghost!”
Koutarou laughed, full of confidence.
“S-So what? I still haven’t lost!”
“None of your attacks can reach me. But I can still attack you!”
Koutarou brandished the maneki neko and protective charms as he boasted.
“Hmph! They’re no big deal as long as I don’t get close.”
“But that means you won’t be able to chase me out. That’s why I win, ghostie!” Koutarou triumphantly declared his victory. “You don’t stand a chance now, so just give up and leave. Or better yet, pass on!”
“No way! Why should I have to? You leave!”
With the boost to Koutarou’s defenses thanks to the maneki neko, the battle had reached a standstill. Both Koutarou and Sanae lacked a decisive measure to defeat the other.
All of Sanae’s attacks were blocked by the maneki neko. While smaller, lighter objects might reach Koutarou with her Poltergeist Attack, they would hardly deal any damage. And the larger, heavier objects would be deflected by the maneki neko before they ever reached him. Moreover, Sanae couldn’t get near the maneki neko herself, so she couldn’t attack Koutarou directly either.
At the same time, Koutarou was unable to defeat Sanae. He could touch and grab her, or throw his charms to knock her back. However, Sanae could freely move through walls, making his attacks ineffective. The problem was exacerbated by Sanae keeping her distance in order to avoid the maneki neko. And most troubling of all was that Koutarou didn’t have any way of exorcising her. Even if he were to throw her out of the room or oust her with the charms, she’d be back right away.
“What is your obsession with this room anyway?”
“What does it matter?! Either way, I have no intention of leaving! This is my home!”
Sanae hurled some crumpled up paper at Koutarou, but he easily caught it and threw it right back at her.
“Jeez, you’re such a child.”
“I couldn’t act like a ghost if I wasn’t childish!”
“Ain’t that the truth...”
“Don’t treat me like some idiot!”
“You’re the one who suggested it!”
Thus, having lost any practical means of attack, the room was decisively split in half as the two continued their quarrel despite the stalemate. While someone would throw crumpled paper at the other from time to time, the actual attacks had stopped.
“In that case, it’s a test of spirit! I won’t stop until you give up. And don’t think for a minute that I’ll let you get any sleep, either!”
“Do your worst! My iron will was forged by baseball. When it comes to spirit, I’m unbeatable. Besides, not being able to sleep will go both ways!”
“You’re not cute at all!”
“Neither are you!”
And so they stared each other down for hours, well into the morning. It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang.
“Hmm? Huh?”
“Who would bother us at a time like this?!”
Following the doorbell was loud knocking.
“Get up, Kou! You’ll be late for the entrance ceremony!”
Finally, Koutarou recognized the voice of his childhood friend, Kenji, coming from the other side of the door.
“It’s Mackenzie.”
“Mackenzie? Oh, the cute boy with the glasses.”
“Crap! It’s already morning?”
Looking at the clock on the wall, Koutarou’s eyes shot open wide. It was already 7:30 AM. As the school was twenty minutes away, Koutarou had to leave by 8 AM to make it on time. And since today was the entrance ceremony, getting there earlier would be for the best.
“I can’t just sit around here!”
“Ah, hey, wait!”
“We’ll continue this when I get back! I have to go to school to first!”
Koutarou slid open the wardrobe and pulled out his uniform and school bag.
“Hey, Kou! Are you awake?”
“I’m up, I’m up! I’ll be right there!”
“Oh, you really were awake.”
Koutarou shoved the maneki neko and various charms into his bag and hurriedly began changing.
“Wait! Shouldn’t we settle this before you go to school?”
“I don’t have the time for that! We’ll do it later! I’m living here so I can go to school! Besides, who would believe me if I told them I didn’t show up for the first day of school because of a ghost?”
“Whaaaaat?!”
Sanae started sulking. She puffed out her cheeks and glared at Koutarou.
“Don’t start acting up when I’m gone, okay? We’ll settle this when I get back.”
“I got it. I don’t want to start trouble here either.”
“...You are the trouble though.”
“You’re the one who’s trouble! I didn’t have any problems before this!”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure. Just sit tight until I get back, okay?”
Sanae reluctantly nodded.
/>
“Fine. Just don’t waste any time and hurry back.”
“Yeah.”
Thus they entered into a temporary truce until that evening.
Hmm... Commence Invasion?
Monday, April 6th
“Haaahh...”
Koutarou let out an audible yawn.
“You look sleepy, Satomi-kun.”
“I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“That’s awfully rare for you, Kou.”
Koutarou, Kenji, and Shizuka were walking to school together. They were all wearing their brand new uniforms and carrying brand new bags. Soon enough, they would be attending Kisshouharukaze High School’s entrance ceremony.
“Yeah, just some stuff, you know?”
“Did something happen, Satomi-kun?”
Shizuka was asking, not as a landlord, but as a concerned friend. The day before yesterday, her tone had changed with Koutarou when she went from calling him Satomi-san to Satomi-kun. Koutarou, who wasn’t good with formal speech, welcomed this development.
“Actually, Landlord-san, the you-know-what appeared.”
“What?! You don’t mean...?!”
“The ghost?!” Kenji clamored.
“Yes. I couldn’t believe it at first either, but that was definitely a ghost.”
Shizuka and Kenji were shocked by Koutarou’s answer.
“So that’s why it was a bit noisy yesterday...”
“Are... Are you okay, Kou?!”
“Calm down, Mackenzie. It’s not that big of a deal. A ghost appeared and some weird paranormal stuff happened. That’s all.”
“O-Okay... If you say so.”
Kenji was relieved to see that Koutarou was his usual self. The truth was that he didn’t do well with scary stories.
“But are you okay, Satomi-kun? Do you think you’ll be able to keep living there?”
Being the landlord of Corona House, Shizuka shared Kenji’s worries and then some. If Koutarou moved out now, Corona House’s reputation would sink even further.
“It’s okay, Landlord-san. Like I said, it’s not a big deal. I’ll settle things tonight.”
“I see. You’re so dependable, Satomi-kun.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it.”
As Koutarou pounded his chest and boasted, Shizuka flashed a smile. She looked both relieved and happy, which reaffirmed Koutarou’s decision not to back down.
“But to think there really was a ghost...”
“I was surpri— Huh?”
As Koutarou smiled wryly at Kenji, he noticed the shadow of someone peeping at them from a nearby utility pole.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look. Over there. There’s a girl, and she’s staring right at us.”
“You’re right. What’s with that outfit? It’s really flashy...”
“It might be rude to say, but... How is she not embarrassed to walk around in that?”
The girl peeping at the three friends appeared to be about their age. Most of her body was concealed by the utility pole, but they could tell how ostentatious her outfit was just from the parts sticking out from behind the pole. She was wearing a colorful, frilly dress that looked like it came straight out of an anime.
“Ah...”
Although they couldn’t hear her voice, the way her mouth moved made it obvious what she had said. Immediately after that, she turned tail and ran, vanishing around a nearby corner.
“What was that?”
“Who knows...?”
As Koutarou and Kenji looked on in confusion, they could hear the sound of a collision coming from around the same corner the girl had just turned.
“Kyaaah!”
“You idiot! Don’t just jump in front of a bike like that!”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It wasn’t on purpose!”
“And what’s with that outfit? If you’re gonna play, do it somewhere else!”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m not playing! This is part of my job!”
The next thing they heard was a quarrel breaking out.
“What was that?”
“Who knows...?”
“I wonder if it was that girl.”
The three classmates kept walking, approaching the nearby corner.
“Sheesh, who knows what kids are thinking nowadays...?”
However, by the time they peeked around the corner, all they could see was a middle-aged man picking his bike back up. The girl from before was nowhere to be seen.
“It had to have been that girl that jumped out and got hit by the bike,” Kenji concluded as they walked past.
“I see! As expected from Mackenzie! ...I wonder if she’s all right though.”
Koutarou took a glance back at the corner they had passed.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Satomi-kun. If not, she would have probably still been lying on the ground.”
“You have a point there.”
Koutarou had been worried, but smiled at Shizuka’s reassurance.
“But still, that girl sure was strange...”
“It’s spring, you know?”
“Now that you mention it, the strange ones do seem to come out in droves this time of year, don’t they?”
And so they continued to school as if nothing had happened.
After getting through the entrance ceremony and their first homeroom class, Koutarou dragged his feet to his part-time job. He then worked roughly a seven hour shift into the evening. After that, both Koutarou and Kenji were exhausted by the time they reached Corona House.
“I’m just going to jump into bed for today.”
“I wish I could do the same.”
Koutarou sighed as Kenji got on his bike.
“Make sure you get some sleep. You fell asleep in the middle of the entrance ceremony after all.”
“Yeah, I will. See you, Mackenzie.”
“Later.”
Koutarou and Kenji waved at each other before they both departed. Koutarou was headed for his own room, and Kenji was headed to the station.
“...Well then, it’s time to get down to business.”
Koutarou glanced over his shoulder at Kenji and slapped his cheeks to pump himself up.
“What the—?!”
As Koutarou opened the door, he found his belongings piled up by the front door. Most of the furniture he’d put in the inner room had been moved to the door too.
“It’s to prepare you for moving out, and to serve as a barricade to protect from intruders.”
Sanae grinned as she poked her head through the pile of luggage.
“Yeah, sure. Just move, will ya?”
“Oh come on!”
But as Koutarou brandished his bag, Sanae disappeared into the inner room. His bag was still stuffed with the charms and the maneki neko.
“Jeez, what a childish thing to do... Oh, right, you are a child.”
Koutarou removed his shoes and climbed over the pile while complaining. Fortunately, he’d only moved in with enough stuff for the small apartment, so there wasn’t all that much, and getting over it wasn’t particularly difficult.
“If you don’t want to put up with childish antics, then just hurry up and get out! Waiting around is boring! Besides, you said you were just attending the entrance ceremony, so why are you so late?!”
“My bad. I had work after the entrance ceremony. Unlike you, I have to earn my keep. I don’t want to cause too much trouble for my old man.”
Koutarou picked up the TV and followed after Sanae into the inner room.
“Hmm, so you’re doing your best too...”
“That’s why I refuse to walk away from a cheap room like this.”
“But I’m going to make you leave.”
As the inner room was completely empty now, Koutarou sighed and carried the TV over to the antenna outlet.
“All right, next is...”
After setting down the TV, Koutarou walked past Sanae and headed back to the front door to get the nex
t piece of furniture.
“Hey, you can just do that later, right? What about our discussion? Besides, you might have to leave soon anyways!”
“Listen, ghost, if you want to talk, help me put my stuff back. I’m not talking about anything until this room is back in order.”
“Jeez, fine...”
Sanae reluctantly followed after Koutarou.
She can be quite obedient from time to time...
Watching Sanae reluctantly helping him, Koutarou realized that she might not be all that bad.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, this is the last of it.”
Sanae shook her head and answered Koutarou’s question as she levitated a cardboard box through the air.
“I see.”
Hearing that, Koutarou stopped moving towards the entrance.
“All right, hand over that box, Sanae.”
“‘Sanae’...?” she stammered.
Koutarou reached out to take the box from Sanae, but for some reason, she was staring at Koutarou in amazement with tears starting to form in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Koutarou asked as he noticed, but Sanae quickly wiped her eyes.
“It’s nothing! I just got some dirt in my eyes!”
“I see.”
Being a ghost, there was no way she could actually get dirt in her eyes, but Koutarou didn’t give it so much as a second thought.
“Come on, give it over, Sanae.”
“O-Okay.”
Sanae floated the cardboard box over to Koutarou, which he then carried over to the still open wardrobe.
“He called me Sanae...” Sanae muttered sheepishly as she watched Koutarou walk away.
Nobody had called Sanae by her name ever since she had become a ghost several years ago. The sentiment alone kept her from attacking Koutarou, despite how defenseless he was with both hands full, and with the charms and the maneki neko so far away. She simply gazed at his back with a mysterious emotion welling up in her heart.
“That should do it.”
Closing the wardrobe, Koutarou turned back to Sanae.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
Koutarou realized she hadn’t moved.
“I-It’s nothing! Th-That’s right, we need to settle things!”
“Oh, yeah, right.”
Koutarou had been so focused on reorganizing the room that he’d almost forgotten.