Ghost of a Chance

The Forgotten Children (Part 2)

The Forgotten Children (Part 2)

They all went into Naru and Lin's bungalow to hash out the details.

"I am the village mayor," the man with glasses said. "My name is Matsunuma." He gestured to the other old man with him. "This is my assistant, Hatada. Actually... our village is facing some problems. And we were discussing calling in a psychic... when the manager of these bungalows... mentioned that there were people specializing in that sort of thing staying here..."

"And what is this problem?" Naru asked.

"Well, you see..." Matsunuma said. "... There's a nearby elementary school that was shut down. Ever since then... strange things have been happening."

"Excuse me, but... I still do not understand what your problem is," Naru said.

"Oh... well..." Matsunuma said hesitantly.

"This... is something I really need you to keep quiet about!" Hatada said, sitting up more.

"We protect our clients' secrets," Naru said. Matsunuma looked at Hatada and nodded.

"There are many... who have said they saw... ghosts at the abandoned school," Hatada said. "We don't know the details. But some say they saw spirits, or that there's a curse. Since it's an old building, we want to tear it down. But then there are people who say if we do that, we'll fall under a curse."

"When was the school closed?" Naru asked.

"Five years ago," Hatad said. "Five years ago in May."

"That's an odd time of year to close a school down," Naru said. He had learned that in Japan, the school year began in April and the first term ran to around July 20th, when summer vacation began.

"Yes. This is an area suffering from depopulation," Hatada said. "The number of students was small, and even though it was an elementary school there were less than twenty students in the entire school. We were in talks to merge with a neighboring school in a few years, but... it was suddenly closed down because the students in the district moved out. That is because a dam was to be built..."

"This dam?" Naru asked.

"Yes. There are actually plans to build a resort near the abandoned school," Hatada said.

'The dam... it's where Gene is,' Hitomi thought, glancing at Naru. She could see from the look on Mai's face that she had similar thoughts.

"But if the school is there and rumors go around that there are ghosts there... So that is why we need you to be discreet," Hatada said. "And we need this problem to be completely resolved. We are just a small mountain village. We don't even have any fields. The resort is our only chance at a real income. Without money from tourism, we won't be able to survive."

"I see..." Naru said. "By the way, do you have any idea why these ghosts would appear?"

"Of course not! If we knew the cause, we would take care of it," Hatada said.

"Were there any unusual accidents at the school?" Naru asked.

"No," Hatada said.

"Can we meet some of the people who claim that they saw ghosts?" Naru asked.

"No... There are just rumors. And I have no clue who saw these ghosts," Hatada said.

'What the heck?' Ayako, Mai, Hitomi, and Bou-san thought. They were this anxious because of some unsubstantiated rumors?

"So this is all based on rumor," Naru said. "You probably have nothing to worry about, then."

"Yes, that's true... but just in case..." Hatada said anxiously.