by Takehaya
“I understand, Satomi-kun. I’ll make sure you’re able to finish that sweater.”
“Really?!”
“Of course!”
Harumi was overjoyed that Koutarou was taking knitting seriously and, most of all, that she had found a true companion.
“Let’s do our best together, Satomi-kun!”
“Yeah!”
Koutarou’s lack of skill was just a minor setback. That didn’t matter to Harumi at all.
But I wonder who started that sweater...
There was still a small, lingering doubt, but Harumi was quick to forget it.
It doesn’t matter! Let’s do our best, Satomi-kun!
She was satisfied just to have found a friend. To her, it was something truly worth celebrating.
“I do this here, and...”
Koutarou was reviewing what he had learned from Harumi while walking home. The sight of a boy strolling through the town while moving his hands suspiciously as the sun went down was surreal. However, Koutarou was serious. He moved his empty hands and continued his imaginary exercise.
“Hmm?”
As Koutarou returned to Corona House, he could hear a scraping sound coming from the garden.
“I wonder what that is...”
As Koutarou passed the concrete fence to the property, he spied Shizuka in her school uniform with an apron over top of it. She was also holding a large bamboo broom, apparently in the middle of cleaning up the garden.
“Welcome back, Satomi-kun.”
“Hello, Landlord-san.”
Shizuka stopped what she was doing and smiled.
“Taking care of the garden?”
“Yes.”
There was a pile of uprooted weeds at Shizuka’s feet. She had pulled them out and was currently gathering them with the broom.
“I want to keep this place as beautiful as possible.”
Shizuka smiled and wistfully looked up at the apartment building dyed red by the sunset. Corona House was beautiful. While the design was old-fashioned, the twenty-five year old building itself showed no signs of its age. That was all thanks to Shizuka, who never neglected its maintenance.
“Landlord-san, you said that Corona House was a keepsake left behind by your parents, didn’t you?”
Koutarou looked up at Corona House together with Shizuka.
“Yeah, that’s right. That’s why I want it to stay like this for as long as possible, even though I’m sure that it will be demolished one day...”
“Then I’ll make sure I do my part while I live here.”
Koutarou understood how Shizuka felt. It was very similar to how he felt about finishing the sweater.
“Thank you, Satomi-kun.”
“Well, I do have to act cool from time to time.”
“And it would have been quite moving, if only you hadn’t said that. Ahaha.”
“Wahahaha.”
As the two laughed, a small, blue light flew through the red sky.
“Ah, a shooting star...”
“You’re right.”
The blue light was a shooting star with a long tail. The two of them just happened to be looking up as it passed by over Corona House.
“...I hope that Satomi-kun doesn’t lose to the ghost.”
Shizuka put her hands together and made a wish on the star. As Shizuka finished her wish, the shooting star disappeared.
“I won’t lose to a ghost. Besides, I’ve gotten a bunch of exorcism tools from you.”
“It’s just in case, Satomi-kun. Teehee.”
“You don’t believe in me at all, do you...?”
“I do believe in you.”
“It sure doesn’t sound like it.”
“My, my! Hahaha!”
“Wahahaha!”
But they were only able to carry on with each other so cheerfully because they were both blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.
Standing in front of the door to room 106 and reaching into his pocket for his key, Koutarou heard voices coming from inside.
“N-Noooooooo! Please don’t come any closer!”
“Heh heh heh. It’s okay, isn’t it?”
“I can’t stand ghosts!”
“Come on! What’s the matter, Magical Girl Rainbow Yurika?”
The voices belonged to a frightened Yurika and a gleeful Sanae.
“...What are those two doing now?”
Upon hearing them, Koutarou remembered that he’d left the door unlocked. He then put the key back into his pocket and opened the door.
“P-Please save meeeee!”
“Oh?”
As he did, Yurika came flying out from the inner room. She immediately ran behind Koutarou and began trembling.
“Gh-Ghost-san, i-if you’re going to possess someone, p-possess him instead!”
“Hey, didn’t you introduce yourself as the magical girl of love and courage?”
Koutarou was honestly astounded.
Well, I guess she is just a cosplayer...
As that thought ran through Koutarou’s mind, the other person in the room appeared.
“Welcome home.”
“Thanks.”
Koutarou replied to Sanae as he stepped inside and removed his shoes. The trembling Yurika followed him in.
“Sanae, don’t bully her too much. She’s got nothing to do with this, you know?”
“B-But I do!”
“I know she’s not involved, but I’m not gonna let her throw some cosplay party here!”
“I’m not throwing a party! The evil magical girls... The enemy is coming!”
“...I guess the party is soon?”
“See? I’m doing us both a favor.”
“Please listen to meeeee! I’m begging youuuuu!”
“Sure, sure.”
“We know, we know. Danger is approaching, right?”
“It must be nice to get to play around all the time...”
“It sure must be...”
“Aaaaaahhh! You’re not listening at all!”
Entering the inner room, Koutarou threw his bag into the corner of the room and turned to Sanae.
“Sanae, let’s put this girl aside for now.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Please don’t put me aside! I’m telling you that this is important!”
“For starters, let’s settle things between you and me.”
“Oh...” Sanae’s expression turned from a smile to a frown. “...Yeah. I have to throw you out of here too.”
“Except since I’m not leaving, I have to exorcise you.”
“That’s right. That’s what this was about.”
Just yesterday, that was the only thing that had been on their minds. But for some reason, those feelings had faded quite a bit since then.
“Please listen to me!”
“Could you just be quiet? I don’t have time to play with you right now.”
“Sorry, I’ll deal with you later.”
“Nooooo! I don’t want to be dealt with by a ghost!”
“...Do you want me to listen or not?”
“Hey, Koutarou.”
Sanae spoke in a soft, hushed voice. Since she was normally full of energy, it attracted Koutarou’s attention more than normal.
“Yeah?”
“Do you hate me?”
“Huh?”
“If you—”
But just as Sanae was about to ask something...
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
Yurika screamed as the tatami mat closest to the entrance of the inner room was sent flying. Naturally, as Yurika was standing on it, she went flying with it and landed face first on the other side of the room.
“Why is it always meeeee?!”
She then rolled...
“Bwah!”
...And she kept rolling until she slammed into the wall and stopped moving.
“What?! What just happened?!”
“Koutarou! Below the tatami mat! Somebody’s coming out!”
“Wha
t?!”
Koutarou, who had chased after the flying tatami mat with his eyes, looked back and saw a person crawling up from where the mat had been. In the floor boards underneath the mat, there was a round hole that was just large enough for a person to fit through.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. My apologies for surprising you.”
And now there was a girl crawling out of the hole. She appeared to be Koutarou’s age or slightly older. She was tall, with a proper and formal appearance. Her long, narrow eyes made her look rather composed.
“My name is Kiriha. I am a descendant of the People of the Earth, born to the Kurano clan that presides over oracles and curses.”
However, the strangest thing of all was the way she was dressed. She was wearing unusually old-fashioned clothing, complete with lots of adornments. It looked like an outfit the Ainu of old would wear, or something that might belong to a shrine maiden in ancient Japan.
“Kiriha?”
“What’s up with this one...?!”
Koutarou, Sanae, Yurika, and now Kiriha. With that, there were now four people gathered in room 106.
Why are people gathering in this room...?
Koutarou was less concerned about Kiriha’s appearance, and more concerned with the increasing population of his apartment.
Koutarou, Sanae, and Kiriha sat around the tea table set up in the middle of room. Yurika was still lying by the wall next to the window, unconscious and unmoving.
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. My name is Kurano Kiriha. As Kurano is the name of my clan, I’d prefer it if you called me Kiriha.”
“I’m Satomi Koutarou.”
“I’m Sanae.”
“Koutarou and Sanae is it. Although this will only be until I am done with my business here, it is nice to meet you.”
Confirming their names, Kiriha politely bowed.
“How courteous.”
“N-Nice to meet you.”
Urged on by Kiriha’s mannerly greeting, Koutarou and Sanae returned the bow.
“First off, I would like to apologize. I am deeply sorry for appearing in such a way. However, as I didn’t want to raise any commotion, I had no choice but to do so.”
“N-No, it’s all right. Please raise your head, Kiriha-san.”
As Kiriha continued to bow politely, Koutarou started to feel like he should be the one apologizing.
“I am grateful for your generosity. Thank you, Koutarou.”
As Kiriha looked up, she had a smile on her lips. Her sincere attitude and amiable demeanor suppressed Koutarou’s wariness.
Her clothes are strange and she’s being a bit formal, but it seems like I can hold a proper conversation with her...
As his encounters with Yurika and Sanae had been nothing short of chaotic, Kiriha had so far left a very favorable impression on Koutarou.
“Well, Kiriha-san, what kind of business do you have here? And why did you come from below—”
“Hey, Koutarou!”
“Whoa! Wh-What is it, Sanae?”
Sanae suddenly stuck her dejected face in between the two of them and interrupted Koutarou mid-sentence.
“Your attitude with her is completely different than how you deal with me or Yurika!”
“Of course it is. The situation is totally different here.”
“Aha! I can see right through you.”
“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s because of those huge boobs, isn’t it?! You pervert!”
“What? Kiriha-san’s breasts are large?!”
“If you didn’t notice, you don’t have to look now!”
An English-Japanese dictionary sent flying by Sanae’s Poltergeist powers hit Koutarou in the head.
“...D-Don’t be so unreasonable.”
“This is how we usually act!”
“Then don’t get angry if I don’t hear you out!”
“Grrrrr! I still feel like it’s unfair. Hmph! I don’t care anymore!”
As Koutarou rebuffed Sanae, she looked away with a frown on her face.
“...May I continue?”
Kiriha had blankly watched the back and forth between Koutarou and Sanae with wide eyes, but when it appeared that they were done talking, she cleared her throat and straightened her posture.
“I-I’m sorry, Kiriha-san.”
“There is no need to be. I am the one being unreasonable, appearing at such a strange time and from such a strange place.”
“I appreciate you saying that. But, Kiriha-san, let me ask again: What reason do you have for coming here? And why did you come from under the floor?”
“In order for me to explain that, I’ll need to start by clarifying who I am.” Kiriha looked directly at Koutarou and began her explanation. “As you might guess from the name, the People of the Earth—my people—are people of this planet.”
“Okay... But aren’t we all?”
Koutarou didn’t understand what Kiriha was getting at and looked at her with a perplexed expression. Of course human beings came from Earth
“I did not mean that we are from this planet. I meant that we live inside of it.”
“What?! Are you saying your people live underground?”
“That’s right. To make it easier for you to understand, calling us underground dwellers would be quite accurate. We live completely self-sufficiently under the surface of the earth.”
“You can’t be...?!”
“U-Underground dwellers?!”
Sanae was just as taken aback as Koutarou. She turned back to stare at Kiriha.
“What would someone like that want with us?!”
Sanae slammed her hands down on the table and leaned forward towards Kiriha.
“Calm down, Sanae. It’s still cramped in here because of all the luggage, so don’t move too much and make it worse.”
“Ah, s-sorry.”
Getting scolded by Koutarou, Sanae obediently sat back down.
“Actually, my goal for coming here has nothing to do with you, but rather this building.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our tribe was originally native to the mountains of this region. However, as your ancestors started using metal in large quantities, they chased us out of the mountains so they could begin mining. We then had no choice but to live underground then.”
“So that’s when you became underground dwellers?”
“That seems to be the case. Apparently, those who initially went underground intended to return to the surface soon enough, but living underground was unexpectedly comfortable. About half of the people that took shelter underground decided to stay there. Those people would be my direct ancestors.”
“Hmm...”
Kiriha’s words were convincing considering she had literally come from underground. The hole in the floor seemed to be a passage that led further and further down.
“Recently, we made a historical discovery.”
“A historical discovery? What was that?”
“A single book was discovered by chance. It contained a piece of information we have been looking for for many years. Specifically, the location of the altar where the souls of our ancestors are enshrined.”
“So you came to the surface to search for that altar?”
Kiriha responded to Koutarou’s question with a nod.
“That’s right. However, as the location was precisely recorded, we already know where it is. There is not much searching to be done.”
“Then your business is almost complete already?”
“Good for you, Kiriha-san.”
“It’s not that easy.”
Kiriha sadly turned her gaze downward and shook her head.
“We would love nothing more than to rebuild the altar. However, its location is a problem.”
“Its location...?”
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Sanae grimaced.
“In fact, our altar would be the center of this very room.”
What came
out of Kiriha’s mouth was exactly what Sanae had been afraid of.
“Which means, Kiriha-san...”
“That’s right, Koutarou. Could you please relinquish this room to us? It is most important for the altar to be in this exact location.”
“I knew it!”
Sanae stood up in a hurry.
“Of course I won’t give it to you! I won’t let you build some weird altar here!” she cried.
She had no intention of letting anyone do anything of the sort.
“I won’t forcibly evict you. Our tribe has its pride and traditions. We won’t just force our problems on you. We have prepared the necessary compensation for you to obtain another home... Karama, Korama, bring that over.”
“Got it! Ho!”
“Understood, Ane-san! Ho!”
Two small figures appeared from the hole.
“Wh-What are those?!”
“H-Haniwa5?”
“Ho!”
“Ho, ho!”
There were two haniwas, each about thirty centimeters tall. They both had smooth surfaces and adorable faces. They were working together to carry a golden, glimmering lump of metal.
“Hey!”
“Ho!”
“Hey!”
“Ho!”
Letting out strange cheers, they brought the lump of metal to the stunned Koutarou and Sanae.
“Sooooo cuuuuute!”
“Wh-What are they?!”
“There’s no cause for alarm. These two are my servants. They are similar to the mechanical dolls your people use.”
“Ho! I’m Karama, ho!”
“Hello, ho! I’m Korama!”
After setting down the metal lump in front of Koutarou, the two haniwas waved and greeted Koutarou and Sanae.
“To think these are robots...”
“Hello there, Karama-chan and Korama-chan!”
Both Koutarou and Sanae were quite surprised. If Kiriha was telling the truth, the two haniwas were robots... but nothing about them seemed mechanical. Even though their bodies looked like pottery, their limbs moved freely. In contrast to their adorable appearance, they were apparently the byproduct of some extremely advanced science. Sanae, however, couldn’t see past their cuteness.
“Mackenzie would fanboy over something like this.”
“Koutarou, Sanae. That lump of metal is solid gold. Some platinum was mixed in during the casting process, though that shouldn’t lower its value. We offer you this as compensation if you are willing to leave this place.”