So, no one ever asked for this, and I could have spent this time doing more Haunted, but sometimes you just gotta follow your whims. Here’s a novel I found on Amazon that I took a liking to, and decided to translate for the heck of it. This is a single volume self contained story.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy.
Prologue
It was right before I climbed into my bed, that I noticed my phone was missing. Even after sifting through my bag and turning the pockets of my uniform inside out, it was nowhere to be found. "It can"t be, back at school...?" If it were an ordinary person, they might have been let it go thinking "it"ll be fine if I just go grab it tomorrow". However, in my case, even a single speck of unrest would ceaselessly spread in my mind until it coloured my entire consciousness. Just thinking about it, if the cellphone I left at school were to be stolen by someone, I might get hit with hundreds of thousands of Yen in fees, or it could even be used in some sort of crime! Imagining myself proclaiming my innocence from the inside a jail cell, I made the decision to head to school. The time displayed on the clock mounted to the wall of the school would soon close in on midnight. The entire building was like a box, big and dark, and a feeling of oppression unlike during the day pressed down upon me. Looking out to see if there was anybody around, making sure I wouldn"t be spotted by someone in the neighborhood, I wandered around the school for a while, before quickly hopping over the fence. Blowing a breath out from between my clenched teeth, I quietly opened the window. That this window in the art room is still left busted from the other day was a blessing in disguise. As soon as I entered the room, I started at the feeling of someone"s gaze on me. "Uwah! Who! I"m sorry! I"m not anyone suspicious or...!" As I spewed my excuses, I noticed that the thing behind the gaze was actually just the bust of a head. "For G.o.d"s sake man, don"t scare me like that..." In the moment I jumped back in surprise, I ended up smearing the "Congratulations on Graduation!" written up on the chalkboard. I dusted off the chalk on the sleeve of my jersey. Today, this Seishiro High had its graduation ceremony. During it there were seniors with flowing tears. I was watching those graduating students from my second year seat, but trying to imagine myself in their position next year, flowing tears and all, was pretty impossible. Well leaving that aside, finding my phone is a bit more of a pressing matter right now. "It"s not scary at all~ I"m totally fine~" Timidly humming the song filled with lies that I came up with just now, I arrived at the cla.s.sroom that I spent the past year in. b.u.mping into numerous tables and chairs along the way, I headed to my desk. Thrusting my hand in and searching around, I quickly found my phone, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank G.o.d. Though, when"d I put it in such a place..." I don"t recall anything, but it does seem like something I"d do. What if it goes off in the middle of the graduation ceremony! Or something like that was probably worrying me, leading to me stowing it away in my desk. "Alright, all that"s left is to get back home." However, my tendency to worry wasn"t so mild just finding my phone safe and sound would leave me relieved. Having the worry of my phone being stolen eased, my mind is immediately filled up with new things one after another. What if, I was found by someone, or what if, there was a murderer hiding out inside the school building at this very moment... The hallway that could be observed from end to end during the day was now shrouded in deep gloom, hiding away its deeper contents. Almost like a hole of darkness was connected, gaping in the hall.Feeling like the temperature suddenly dropped, I pulled the zipper of my jersey up to my chin and hurriedly descended the stairs. It was the portrait hanging on the wall"s turn to startle me this time, as I straddled the art room"s window and exited into the courtyard. Seeing if the security guard was around, I hid in the shadow of a tree and peeked out. Surveying the entire courtyard, I noticed that the sakura trees planted here were all soon to be in full bloom. With the moon illuminating the pink petals, my eyes seemed to catch them shining faintly in the moonlight. "It"s beautiful even in the night..." My worries seemed to soften for just a moment as I watched entranced by the scene. When I casually walked out from the shadow, what was previously hidden on the other side of the trunk came into view, and there stood a lone girl. "Uwaah!" As I jumped back in surprise, her body also gave a jolt as she took some distance. Her long hair tied in a single bundle swayed greatly. "Hya...! Who? Who is there?" As we both hid our bodies with the trunk of the sakura tree, we peeked towards each other. "M-my apologies, I didn"t think there would be anybody here..." The reason I spoke more politely, was that she clearly gave the impression of someone older. Her height was around the same as mine, and her facial features were well defined and mature looking. It was a bit hard to be sure due to the darkness, but her hair seemed to have a reddish tinge to it. "Err, are you... a student of this school?" She was wearing the uniform of our school. However, I don"t recall ever seeing her before. "I... Came here to get something I left behind. But it was kind of scary, so I ended up getting stuck here..." Her voice was slightly shaking. If someone were to see this scene, they might have gotten the wrong impression that I was some deviant attacking her. "Me t-no, I am also here to retrieve something I forgot... I am definitely not a suspicious individual!" I displayed the cell phone in my hand. "Ah, see, this is our school jersey. Look." Bringing my body out from the tree"s shadow, I showed her the words "Seishiro High" embroidered on the front. Doing so, she seemed to be relieved as well and finally walked up to me. "Thank goodness. It was really hard being alone here...!" She shortened the distance between us to the point where her nose almost reached my face. Being unused with such proximity to the opposite gender, my chest felt a ticklish sensation. "Erm... Isn"t this a bit close..." "But it was so scary... Do you not feel afraid here?" Saying so in a feeble voice, she lightly grasped on to the sleeve of my clothes. "I-I"m not really scared, or anything. This is nothing." A big fat lie. I reflexively ended up trying to look cool. "If it"s not too much of a bother, would you mind if I tag along until we leave the school grounds...?" To be honest I felt like I wanted someone to come save me, but after acting all cool just now there was no way I could refuse. "O-of course that would be fine certainly yes. Ah, but what about the thing you came here to get?" "Thing?" She tilted her head. I tilted my head. "Earlier, you said that you"d came here looking for something you left behind..." "Ah, that"s right. That thing. It"s fine for now. It"s scary, so I"ll get it tomorrow." Taking along the pretty girl I started walking. Anxious all the while, I felt restless inside the entire time. "By the way, do you know of the Seven Wonders of this school?" Walking a little bit behind me, she suddenly asked. "What?" "The Seven Wonders. Do you know about it?" "Err, well, just what I"ve heard here and there." Honestly I wished that she wouldn"t bring up such an ominous subject right now, but with my earlier declaration of "totally not scared" there was nothing I could do. "As one of those Seven Wonders, there is the legend of "Hanako-san of the bathroom"." "So, quite the cliche right." I wanted to cover my ears, but I somehow endured. "They say it was a night just like this." Her voice suddenly lost all its warmth, and gained an inorganic l.u.s.tre. "What...?" "Like I said, a night just like this." Hit by her voice, I felt gooseb.u.mps rise along my spine. "Wha-what do you mean...?" "When Hanako-san comes out." If by any chance, ghosts actually existed in this world. If the Seven Wonders really existed in our school. Just if, the girl right behind me, was that Hanako-san..."...!!" I turned around. There, was the courtyard, the sakura trees, and the same girl from before. "O...Oh jeez. It was nothing after all. Please don"t scare me like that alright." Along with a sigh, I rapidly dished out my complaints towards her. "Ah, perhaps, did you end up thinking that I might have been said Hanako-san?" "Hahaha, just kind of yeah." "Oh you silly, of course not." The girl had a completely innocent smile she hadn"t shown before now as she said. "Hanako-san is over there." She pointed at the s.p.a.ce behind me. At that same instant, the sound of a gate creaking resounded. In the courtyard, that shouldn"t have such a thing in it. *Giiiiiih...* A sound loud enough to cause discomfort, whilst also retaining its eeriness, sounded out seemingly from some faraway place, yet it also resounded like it was right by the ear. I spun around before even my thoughts could catch up.The s.p.a.ce in the empty courtyard started to tear open. A gate that couldn"t be seen by the eyes came into existence. Opening up as if swallowing the surrounding scenery, the other side manifested itself. Wooden walls filled with graffiti, the small tiles laid out as the flooring, and in the center of that a j.a.panese style toilet. And, standing there in the middle, a lone girl. "Uu... Eh... Aa...?" Though I say "girl" it was only because contours of its figure were like one, and she herself was pure unblemished blackness. However, it was just the places where the face"s eyes and mouth were supposed to be, that were carved out in pure whiteness. "What is h.e.l.l is this..." I drew back. The mouth carved out on the girl deformed slightly, and seemed to smile. In the next moment, the girl"s outline started distorting, turning into black fog. "Uwah! What the h.e.l.l is this! What the h.e.l.l is this! No way no way no way no way this is real!" As I was screaming with tears flowing from my eyes, the girl who became thick fog came at me with terrific force. "Uwaaah! I"m sorry!" My legs became tangled and my b.u.t.t fell to the ground. The black fog swept over above my head. Following it with my eyes, I see the black fog, losing none of its momentum, coil itself around a sakura tree in the courtyard like a snake. That tree alone seemed to get stirred up like it was. .h.i.t by a string wind, and even the trunk began to sway. Within the roaring noise, the sound of a small branch breaking was heard. "You can stop now Hanako-san. Do take care of the sakuras." From somewhere a voice that reverberated through the core resounded. With that the Black fog made one last round, carefully licking the tree, and separated itself. Running straight by me, it returned into the washroom. As the invisible gate seemed to close up, the fog once again returned to the shape of a girl. "Wh-wh-what"s up with that, just now..." "Hanako-san. Didn"t I say so just a moment ago?" I turned my head left and right looking for the owner of the voice. "I"m over here, right here." I looked up into the sky. There she was at the top of the sakura tree. The girl that was supposed to be with me just a moment ago, was floating there. "Sorry I about the scare. Is what I shan"t say. After all such is our duty." She wasn"t wearing our uniform anymore. She was clad in an arrow-feather patterned Kimono, and her mouth was spread widely from side to side in a broad grin. "Mine name is Tenko. I am the one who governs the Seven Wonders of this school." All around her, the sakura petals that were in full bloom just earlier separated from their branches and fluttered about. And in the pitch black night sky, the pink petals, the girl"s red hair, and the brilliant violet of the hakama displayed their prominence. All together it was like a scene in one enormous painting, my breath was taken away as I stood overwhelmed. "Congratulations, right now at this moment, thou hast been selected as a new Seven Wonder of this school." One of the countless dancing petals fell and clung onto my face. I"ve gotta get outta here. That was all I thought of. Without looking back, making some unintelligible noises all the while, I did nothing but run towards my home. Entering my home, entering my room, entering my bed and covering my head in the sheets, I earnestly waited for the morning to arrive.
Notes
On the t.i.tle: A ‘Seven Wonders’ of a school is a commonly seen collection of ghost/supernatural/extraordinary stories around said school. You might have seen this topic pop up in anime and manga before. Most likely adapted from the well known English term ‘The Seven Wonders of the World’.
Hanako-san: A common ghost story about a girl who haunts bathrooms.
Hakama: Basically the pants part worn over the kimono.