Chapter 2: The Call from the Room
Thump, thump, thump.
Yuigahama Yui's heartbeat synchronized with the sound of her knocking. Each impact felt as though it was striking her own heart, making her scalp tingle with numbness.
The old wooden door felt rough to the touch, its peeling paint resembling dried bloodstains. The last rays of the evening sun slanted in through a high window in the restroom, dividing the entire space into a bizarre checkerboard of light and shadow. The air was thick with a damp, musty odor mixed with the smell of dust that had accumulated over years, making her chest feel heavy with every breath.
Her friends, the companions who had just boldly declared they would face this "together," were now hiding dozens of meters away at the turn of the staircase. Only a few small heads peeked out, like a group of startled groundhogs. Their nervous gazes offered her no comfort; instead, they felt like invisible ropes, binding her firmly to the center of this stage, forcing her to complete this foolish "test of courage."
"If you don't want to go, don't force yourself."
Natsume Yu's calm, clear voice echoed in her mind without warning.
Ah, why didn't I refuse? Yuigahama Yui asked herself bitterly. She was clearly terrified, her legs trembling uncontrollably, yet the word "no" seemed more difficult for her to utter than facing the unknown before her.
She was afraid of being isolated, afraid of being different, afraid of the disappointment in her friends' eyes. At this moment, this fear even overshadowed her fear of ghosts and spirits.
She closed her eyes, as if that could shut out all the eeriness around her. Her long, curly eyelashes trembled slightly, betraying their owner's extreme unease.
"Ha... Hanako-san... are... are you there?"
The words were squeezed from between her trembling lips, as faint as the buzz of a mosquito, and tinged with the sound of a sob. Yet, in the deathly silent restroom, it sounded exceptionally clear, even carrying a faint echo.
The moment she asked, she regretted it.
Time seemed to stretch on infinitely. One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Nothing happened.
Yuigahama Yui's tense nerves relaxed a little. She let out a long sigh of relief, a wave of post-disaster gratitude washing over her.
It really is fake! Just a boring rumor!
She was about to turn and flee, desperate to leave this uncomfortable place far behind her.
However, just as she was about to lift her foot—
"...I... am... here..."
A faint, ethereal voice, as if coming from the depths of the water,幽幽地 sounded from behind the closed stall door.
The voice was like a little girl's, yet it carried a bone-chilling cold that instantly pierced Yuigahama Yui's eardrums, striking her most fragile nerves.
"!!!"
Her mind went blank.
Yuigahama Yui felt all the blood in her body freeze in an instant. She was stuck in place, her body having lost all sensation, except for her wide-open eyes which reflected endless terror. She even forgot to scream, forgot to breathe.
That voice... it was real!
After what felt like an eternity, but was perhaps only an instant, the instinct for survival finally overcame her paralyzed body.
"Ahhh—!!!"
A blood-curdling scream tore through the tranquility of the old school building.
Without a second thought, Yuigahama Yui spun around frantically and charged towards her friends at the staircase with all her might. She didn't dare look back, not even a glance at the third stall. It felt as if a pair of venomous eyes were staring at her from behind, a cold and damp presence clinging to her like a shadow, pressing against the nape of her neck and making her hair stand on end.
"Yui! What happened?"
"Did you hear something?"
Seeing her terrified state, her friends were also scared out of their wits and crowded around her.
"There was... there was a voice... there really was a voice..." Yuigahama Yui stammered, grabbing Miura Yumiko's arm, her body shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind.
"Let's go, let's go! Let's get out of here!"
The girls' adventure ended in a farce. They screamed, supported each other, and fled the old school building as if being chased by a monstrous beast.
It wasn't until they had rushed out of the school gate, bathed once again in the warm streetlights and surrounded by the bustling sounds of people and traffic, that the chilling feeling on their backs finally began to subside.
On the way home, Yuigahama Yui remained silent. Her friends tactfully avoided bringing up what had just happened. But she knew that something was different now. That cold presence didn't seem to have completely disappeared; it lingered around her like a faint shadow.
That night, Yuigahama Yui had a nightmare.
In her dream, she was lying in her familiar bed. The room was pitch black, with only the faint moonlight from the window casting a dim glow. She could clearly hear her own steady breathing; everything seemed so real.
Suddenly, she felt a slight scraping sound coming from under her bed.
Shhh... shhh...
Then, a small, cold, and wet hand slowly reached out from the darkness under the bed and rested on her ankle. The hand was pale and swollen, as if it had been soaked in water for a long time, and its fingernails were caked with black sludge.
She couldn't move, couldn't cry for help.
An immense terror seized her heart. She watched, wide-eyed, as the hand gave a sharp tug, pulling her entire body off the bed. The cold floor scraped against her back. Dragged by that hand, she was moved, bit by bit, towards the dark bathroom outside her bedroom, which looked like the mouth of a giant beast...
"No—!"
Yuigahama Yui jolted awake from the dream, gasping for air. Cold sweat had already soaked her pajamas, and her heart was pounding uncontrollably.
She looked around. Her familiar pink-themed room looked strangely terrifying in the darkness. The moonlight outside the window was the same; everything was just as it had been at the beginning of the dream.
"...It was a dream..." she muttered, trying to calm herself.
However, when her gaze swept across the floor, her pupils contracted abruptly.
In the faint moonlight, she saw...
Starting from the side of her bed and stretching all the way to her bedroom door, was a trail of small, wet footprints!
Each footprint was damp, leaving a clear mark on the wooden floor, as if a soaking wet child had just crawled out from under her bed and walked, step by step, out the door.
In the direction of the bathroom.