Mirror Mirror (self-insert #9)

Chapter 14

The poor guy's voice was strained. "It was through the ventilation window in the bathroom. Our eyes met when that guy was peering in from there." He said, his head lowered. "I might just be seeing things, but I'm only reporting it in case you saw such a person."

Mai looked concerned. "What's wrong, Hirota-san?" She began, but Naru cut her off.

"That's it." His eyes were wide, and realization dawned on his face like the sun slowly peeking out from behind a wall of clouds. "So this was what was bothering me."

Bou-san raised his hand tentatively. "If I may ask, what could you possibly mean, Professor?"

"You said, 'somebody will peer in'. That was what Hirota-san witnessed. The window isn't wide enough for a person to get in from outside the bathroom, and it's situated up high on the wall. In order for one to peer in from there, it's necessary to have a foothold."

"So...of course no human should be peer in from there. Who would've gone that far?" Bou-san asked, mildly creeped out. I didn't blame him, of course—it was the bathroom, after all.

"That'll be someone who persistently continued to peer inside the house. Scared of being watched by that person, the owner of the house set up mirrors on the windows. It was only two months that the previous owner lived here." I could practically see the gears turning. "Within those two months, the peeping incessantly occurred to the extent that he's tempted to seal the house with mirrors. Perhaps that's why there were unusual, frequent, and consecutive complaints from the people renting this house. Then, who was peering in?"

Mai blinked. "'Who', you ask?"

"After the owner listen to the complaints from the tenants who had said they would leave, he decided to live in this house. It didn't matter that the Kawanabe family's spirits remained here. Rather, the spirit who peers in from outside was more problematic. That's why he blocked up the windows." He gazed at us, his eyes dark and unfathomable. "Those four people from the Kawanabe family were giving a warning to the daughter. The daughter came back here, and the entire family was stuck inside the house. Then, who would you say is peeping from outside? There is a spirit who is fixated with this house besides those five people who were killed." He raised an eyebrow at Bou-san. "Why do you think that the Sasakuras wanted this house so much that they even played such an elaborate prank?"

Bou-san blinked. "That is—because they wanted the land, although they would have to reconstruct the house..."

"Well then, isn't it fine if it's not this house?"

Hirota visibly started. I blinked—even that possibility hadn't occurred to me.

Naru went on. "It's all right even if it's not this house. The opposite house and the one behind are fine, too. Much better: if it came to being viciously harassed; he should've sold off this house and bought some other land, to make the story short. Even if there are reasons he can't do that, why much it be just this house that receives harassment? Among the surrounding houses and the Sasakura house, it's only this house. Why was it being left alone without reselling it no matter what? Isn't that because there's a reason behind it?" He pursed his lips. "This house isn't the only one that can enclose you in a nightmare. The Sasakura house is also punching into one. It's due to the magic of Sekiguchi who died in that house."

Bou-san's face was uncharacteristically solemn. "But do you thing we should lure them with, 'It seems like there's a spirit that resides in your house; please let us excorcise it', and have them agree to it?"

John nodded in agreement. "That's right. It's dangerous if we leave them to be possessed by Sekiguchi's spirit. No wonder it wasn't eliminated, because it's sticking around due to their obsession."