01x02 - Suspicion

[bunniefuu]

Wait!

Wait up, Yoshiki!

Yoshiki…

Thanks for stoppin'.

What happened?

I heard some "master aura" lady died.
Mama was talkin' about it this morning.

Not "master aura"…

Matsuura.

Yeah, her!

Matsuura!

I've never seen a police car before!

Ain't it cool?

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

EPISODE TWO: SUSPICION

Remember what Hara was sayin'
during homeroom this morning?

Oh, about that old lady from Kubitachi?

Yeah.

I heard she committed suicide
by stuffing her own fist down her throat.

That's freaky.

I'll say.

It's a curse!

That old lady probably
saw somethin' she shouldn't have!

Should I let a tear roll down my cheek
when I sing this part?

Well, that's a bit overdramatic.

All this spooky stuff lately
is givin' me the creeps.

Ya know what? I might be cursed too.

Huh?

I always take the east gate mountain path
to get home to Ashidori.

So?

The tunnel there is under construction.

So I gotta take a detour
through some forest.

And lemme tell ya,
that forest is scary as hell.

C'mon, don't be ridiculous.
You're just afraid of the dark.

No, you don't understand.

I can't even see into the woods.

It feels like my eyes
physically can't stray from the path.

When I try to look up, my body freezes.

Whoa, creepy!

Now I'm invested in this!

So you gotta help me out!

Yoshiki, will you walk me home?

Hell no.

-What?!
-Be quiet.

Just pretend
it's a test of courage or something!

I'll leave that to those dumb tourists
we get sometimes.

C'mon, man! I'm beggin' ya!

Holy heck, that sounds fun.

I wanna go too.

-Huh?
-Huh?

Are you sure?

I thought you hated
this kinda thing the most.

Didn't you faint for two hours
after watchin' a horror movie before?

Yeah, about that.
That stuff doesn't faze me anymore.

Right, Yoshiki?

Uh, yeah.

All right, then it'll be
Yoshiki, Yuki, Asako…

and Hikaru.

Probably safer to stick together anyway.

Phew, sorry I'm so late.

Actually, I was…

You sure took your sweet time!

Why don't we chat inside
to escape this heat?

KEEP OUT

Little prick, that's ill*gal!

You're the ones
who hired me to investigate.

Be careful with my hamster's cage, okay?

-What do you think you're doin'?!
-Don't do that!

Sorry to barge in.

Gross, this place is a dump.

By the way, Takeda,
how's your father doing?

Won't come outta his room.
He swears he's next on the chopping block.

I figured as much!

Listen, twerp. People are dyin' here!

I reckon it might be 'cause
that "company" of yours came trampling in!

Letting that ignorant corporation

alter the land would've been
an even bigger disaster, if you ask me.

But my company put a stop to it.
You should be thanking us right now.

"Company," huh?

If only we knew who they were.

It ain't just Ms. Matsuura.

Strange stuff has been happenin'
all over the village lately.

You already know
the Indos' son went missin', right?

Their ritual must've been a failure,

which caused "it" to start acting up.

Yeah, that's kinda spooky.

Scared, Yu-chan?

What? No way, you kiddin' me?

I am! I'm scared as hell!

-I'm so scared!
-C'mon, let's go.

Wait, don't leave me!

I might die, ya know.

I might die!

Wha?

-Nothing happened.
-Yup.

Safe and sound.

Yeah, that was totally ordinary.

Thanks, guys! I was just bein' paranoid.

Be careful headin' home, okay?

"Nonuki-sama," huh?

I'm guessing this lady
saw something in her past.

Apparently, she had a traumatic experience
in the mountains as a child.

And that's when she saw it.

So, that's what messed her up?

Well, actually, she used to be normal.

But her daughter
disappeared without a trace.

You know her well?

This lady strongly feared
whatever lurks on that mountain.

But the more she fears it,
the more it's attracted to her.

Now we gotta trek back through the forest.

-This is exhausting.
-Oh, something bit me.

At least it's cool and shady here.

Wait, what?

What's that zigzag?

The heck?

No…

It's…

It's swingin'… toward me…

Yoshiki.

Aw, crap. You saw it, didn't you?

That's not good.

It's followin' you.

Come here.

Mind tellin' us why we came
to Mikasa's house all of a sudden?

The situation was worse than I thought.
We needed a safer place.

I just installed a sort of barrier
around the shrine here at Mikasa's place.

What?

By the way,
I visited that mountain this morning.

I found something good up there.

This thing.

That's the bag Kohei always used.

Did his son Hikaru
bring that up the mountain?

Here, take a look inside.

What on earth is this?!

A black stone?

I'm pretty sure
this used to be someone's head.

This thing?

What's it doin' in his bag?!

Who knows?

But it's highly effective
in warding off spirits.

With this, most of those menaces
won't lay a finger on you.

Initially, I assumed it was responsible
for clearing out the mountain's impurity.

Wait, the mountain's impurity is gone?!

But maybe it's a bit of a stretch
to give this little guy all the credit.

Especially after
what happened with that granny.

What're you sayin'?!

It's come down from the mountain.

I think it's found a way to stay hidden
while it lurks among us.

Kohei was right all along.

KUBITACHI - UDEKARI
KIBOGAYAMA TOWN

What should we do?

ASHIDORI

All righty.

Can I start digging around now?

What was that?! What was that noise?!

Ah-chan?

Hey, wait! Where are you going?!

Ah-chan? Hey, Ah-chan!

C'mon, wake up. Hikaru!

You okay?

Just a nosebleed.

Got any tissues?

No.

What did you do?

That was kinda weird.

That thing wanted to latch onto you.

So I crushed it and ate it.

Guess I kinda… sucked it in?
Or swallowed it, maybe?

It put up a fight, though.
Made my nose bleed.

By the way, Yoshiki.

Don't look at anything else but me.

They follow you 'cause you look at 'em.

Those guys are real lonely.

You should only look at me.

I'm the only one allowed to latch onto ya.

What?

You're clueless!
Just don't look at 'em, okay?

If you see one, lemme know.

Okay, fine. Quit stretching my shirt.

Oh, there they are.

Sorry, guys.
We didn't mean to leave you two--

Huh? You're bleeding!

Oops, I tripped and fell.

We heard a loud "pop," though.

Maybe someone
misfired a scare g*n or somethin'.

Relax, nothing happened.

Oh, that's what it sounded like to them?

And that creepy feeling
the forest was givin' off is gone…

Did they cancel each other out?

Hikaru.

Sure you're not hurt?

Nah, I don't even know
what "hurt" feels like.

I don't gotta take him.
He's gonna stick with me anyhow.

I'll make sure nothing steals him away.

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

Hikaru.

If ya find someone ya really like,
you gotta marry her as soon as possible.

What happens if I don't?

Unuki-sama will drag her
into the mountain.

It's an Indo family rule.

We've got an agreement.
It's not gonna touch our family.

So if you marry her, she'll be safe.

Why does it take people away?

'Cause it's lonely.
But it won't lay a hand on our family.

Instead, it takes the one closest to you.

It's only a myth, though.

It's lonely, huh?

This…

feels kinda raunchy.
How'd we end up like this?

The heck, dude?

Why're you askin' me? This was your idea.

I mean, you wanted to know
what's inside of me, right?

I wanna know
how you "crushed" and "ate" that thing.

What exactly did you do
in that forest the other day?

That's what I'm gonna show ya.

Yoshiki.

Wanna stick your hand in?

What?

Something weird just…

How is it?

Huh?

Uh, it kinda feels like
marinated raw chicken.

It's cold.

Ya know what? You're kinda warm.

Feels nice.

It's been a while since
I felt somethin' alive inside me.

C'mon. Reach up in there farther.

Yeah, that's the spot!

This feels good?

Feels just like a good pat on the head.

Nobody's ever touched me here before.

Did that scare ya?

The hell…

C'mon.

Don't wipe your hand!

Oh, my shirt?

Take a free look if ya want!

Or not.

Hey, what's the matter?

Didn't like that, huh?

Hurry and button up.
What are you, a caveman?

I might be.

SHIITAKE MANJU

Oh!

You're the Tsujinakas' son, aren't ya?

All grown up, huh?

That boy…

Is your little sister okay?
I heard she's been missin' school.

Those Yamazakis were worryin' too.

Sayin' she can't get up in the mornin'
or some such.

Well, wakin' up is hard for everybody,
ain't it?

Kaoru's a middle schooler now.
Don't let 'em spoil her, okay?

Your mom's from Tokyo, right?
Maybe they got different parenting styles.

So, your folks were fightin'
in the middle of the night again?

Everyone's concerned, ya know.

Must be tough for you, too.

If ya ever need help, just ask.

You still in photography club?

My son once got second place
in his track and field event!

And Yoshiki, you'd better cut those bangs.

Here's your change.

'Kay?

Stop it right now.

You're in trouble, young man.

What? Uh…

You're gettin' too close
to something real dangerous.

Get away from it right now.

Otherwise, you'll get "mixed."

Mixed?

It's hard to explain.

Mix with that too much,
and ya won't be human anymore.

Hang on, who are you?

Oh, don't be scared!

I'm just a housewife
who happened to pass by.

I see stuff other people can't.

I'm not lying.

Ya know that forbidden area
in the mountains near Kubitachi Village?

For a while now, I've felt
a terrible air wafting in from there.

Something horrible. I just knew it.

That's the mountain
where Hikaru went missin'.

But here's the thing.
Recently, it vanished all of a sudden.

That dreadful feeling is gone.

I've been wonderin' where it went.

I dunno what happened to it,
and it's been scarin' me half to death.

But it's taggin' along with you, ain't it?

Why? Do you know something?

No, not really.

But one thing's for sure.
You can't go on like this.

I've never seen a case like this before.

Though I'm sure you have your reasons.

Gimme a call when you're ready to talk.

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Thank… you…

Stop it!

Yoshiki.

Yoshiki.

Yoshiki… Yoshiki…

Stop it!

Yoshiki.

It's a secret!