02x05 - Rikka Returns

[bunniefuu]

You still haven't been able to track down Rikka-san?

I do get some eyewitness accounts every now and then,

but nothing solid.

It's already the middle of July.

It's been nearly a year since she disappeared.

I've told all the yokai and ayakashi in the land

to contact me immediately if they see her,

but there's no guarantee I'll hear something immediately.

I'm sure she's also traveling around to places where there are only a few ayakashi.

It'd be quite helpful if she could just stay in one spot for a while.

You and Rikka-san did actually get along at one point, didn't you?

Well, somewhat.

When she was at my mansion, we even had a conversation like this...

Kotoko-san...

What are you scared of?

Well...

I'd say a hot cup of tea is scary.

That's exactly what I hate about you.

Huh?

How could there possibly be a problem with my answer?

I asked you a proper question,

but you blew it off like you were reading "Manju Kowai."

Also, don't just suddenly use the final punchline like that.

Rook

Gold General

You're spoiling the story.

How do you even spoil a classic rakugo story?

I mean, I'm not sure how to answer your question, though.

You're a girl, so are you scared of spiders?

I just listened to the problems of a giant spider the other day.

I can't say I was that scared.

It may have had long legs, but I could've easily crushed its head with my fist.

What about snakes, then?

I'm used to them.

What about bugs?

Though I'm sure you're probably fine with those, as well.

If I was scared of bugs,

I wouldn't be able to go to the mountains or deserted houses where yokai live.

Okay, then what if Kuro ends up hating you?

Oh, I guess he already does.

Bishop

He does not hate me.

Still, every relationship has ups and downs when you've been in it long enough.

That's nothing to be scared of.

Then I guess you're probably not afraid of Kuro tossing you aside.

Oh, wait... I guess he's already basically tossed you aside.

"Basically," my foot.

For one thing, if that ever were the scenario, I could fix it using any means necessary.

You do realize that makes you sound like a stalker, right?

You have some nerve, insulting me like that when I'm letting you stay in my home.

Well, your parents like me.

That's just the thing, though.

What could my parents possibly like about a woman who resembles a sukima onna?

How can you say such cruel things about the cousin

your boyfriend cares so deeply for?

And that's exactly why no good would come of me telling you what I'm scared of.

Well, then, Rikka-san...

What are you afraid of?

You scare me more than anything,

Kotoko-san.

Yeah, Rikka-san totally hates you.

What?! Wait, doesn't the last thing she said

make it sound like she finds me endearing?

I mean, see? "Manju Kowai."

I wonder what she's up to right now.

Two Months Earlier

Hello, Sakuragawa-san.

Oh. Hello, Manager. Is something wrong?

I forgot to take the tape off of room 's mailbox.

Sorry I didn't realize it, even though you moved here a week ago.

No, it's fine. It's not like I'd get any letters.

Kazuyuki!

Oh, isn't this the new tenant?

Yeah, she moved in last week.

I'm Sakuragawa Rikka.

This is my girlfriend, Oki Marumi.

It's a pleasure to meet you!

Are you headed out somewhere?

Yes. I'm heading to the horse races.

,st

Kantou

Race

SUIHANABI PRIZE

Quinella

Horses, eh?

How unexpected. I hope you win.

Thanks. Now, if you'll excuse me.

She's so pretty!

But you're the only girl for me, Marumi.

I know. She doesn't seem like your type.

But you know... She has this extraordinary aura around her.

Say, Kazuyuki...

Isn't her apartment...

Sakuragawa-san?!

Sh-She tried to save my child, and then she...

Marumi! Call an ambulance!

R-Right!

Sakuragawa-san!

Don't worry.

I'm fine.

Er, but...

Wait, the blood... Um, you don't have any wounds?

Not really.

N-Not really?!

But that's impossible. You flew so far...

It's in period dramas all the time. The character is cut many times, but isn't hurt.

Yes, like being struck by the blunt side of a sword.

The blunt side of... a vehicle?

I've been tasked by my uncle to manage these apartments,

and there's an apartment where three su1c1de victims appeared within the last year.

It's what you'd call a stigmatized property.

finally had a new tenant...

and that was Sakuragawa-san.

If it ends up becoming four... it's seriously one hell of a stigmatized property.

Maybe we should let one of Sakuragawa-san's relatives know about the accident.

But she moved in with just one piece of luggage.

What?

Like she fled with the minimal amount of clothes and whatever else she could grab.

I called my uncle, and he said she didn't have a cosigner,

plus he couldn't get a hold of any family or relatives.

She looked like she had a history. I guess she really does.

And that's why she had no problem renting a room with a history.

SUIHANABI PRIZE

With less than to go, Number , Sunagimo Shioaji, has the lead.

Oh, isn't that Sakuragawa-san's?

Yeah, it was on the ground earlier.

Yagen Nankotsu has caught up and taken the lead!

But Number , Sunagimo Shioaji, surpasses Yagen Nankotsu and wins the race!

Hey, she won!

No way!

I wonder if she actually knows a lot about horse races.

How much did she win?

Um... She chose a quinella, which pays back , yen,

Win

Place

Bracket Quinella

Quinella

Exact

Trio

Trifecta

Wide

,st

Kantou

Race

SUIHANABI PRIZE

Quinella

Total

which is multiplied by ,, so she got...

Total

. million yen?!

Huh?!

Er, maybe I just calculated wrong.

Sunagimo Shioaji... So her ticket pays out least a hundred times more?

That's amazing...

Sakuragawa-san.

Sorry for all the trouble this afternoon.

Weren't you in the hospital?

I was released.

As you can see, I'm perfectly fine.

I-I see... Well, I'm definitely happy to hear that.

It's a miracle you survived an accident like that.

Here's a token of my gratitude.

We stretched the limits of low carbs.

Oh, we couldn't...

Sakuragawa-san! This is a ticket that pays out at least a hundred times!

Oh, you picked it up. Thank you very much.

B-But the payout is really huge...

Konno

Oh, it's really not that rare. Goodbye.

Um, Sakuragawa-san.

Why don't we drink together?

I had heard that three people committed su1c1de here,

but I wasn't bothered by it.

And it made it easier for me to rent the place.

Has anything unusual happened to you?

Like any strange sounds at night?

Or seeing things out of the corners of your eyes?

No, nothing.

But you're not worried about ghosts and stuff?

The first guy who committed su1c1de in that apartment

mentioned something about a face in the ceiling...

It would be quite nice if something like that could k*ll me.

Besides, most stigmatized properties have quite logical explanations.

So why did the first man commit su1c1de?

The first guy was single and in his forties,

and apparently, he suffered a huge nervous breakdown due to trouble at work.

Meaning he had a reason to commit su1c1de that had nothing to do with the room.

And because of that su1c1de, you had no choice but to lower the rent,

making it more accessible to people with dark histories.

Which probably means the second person also had some reason for their su1c1de.

Yes, well...

The second was a woman in her late twenties

who was apparently dumped in a horrible way by her boyfriend,

so she came to live here since she had nowhere to live or work anymore.

She made a fresh start, but then committed su1c1de three months later.

She left no note or will.

It was as though they were influenced by the will of the last guy who committed su1c1de.

Well, she was someone who very well

could have committed su1c1de right after her breakup, right?

She managed to initially push through that,

but in the end, she couldn't get over the pain of the breakup,

and then, one day, took her own life.

It's quite an everyday occurrence.

Mugijitsu

The power of barley

The same can't be said for the third victim, though.

He was a man who was nearing thirty,

but he also committed su1c1de within the first three months of moving in.

His work was going well, and he was even in a relationship.

There was no apparent reason for su1c1de, and we couldn't find a note or a will.

But when the police decided to investigate the death,

we found out that this man was the ex-boyfriend

of the woman who had committed su1c1de there prior.

The one who supposedly dumped her in an awful way?

Yes. That's weird, right?

There's no way he just happened to move into

the apartment where his ex-girlfriend committed su1c1de.

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine he intentionally moved in knowing that, too.

No Trespassing

MPD

That's why the police thought there might be something behind this

and investigated further,

but there were no indications that this was a m*rder,

so they determined that his su1c1de was done impulsively.

After the first two suicides, bad rumors started to circulate,

but that was all affirmed with the third death.

It's great if this doesn't faze you, Sakuragawa-san,

but if it bothers you even a little, please let us know.

Thank you very much for your concern.

Um...

So why did you end up in that apartment, Sakuragawa-san?

I heard that you barely made any moving preparations,

but you don't seem to be suffering financially, either.

My cousin, who's three years younger than me, ended up with an awful girl.

Cousin?

I figured that even if I did nothing,

their relationship wouldn't have lasted.

But instead, they just seem to be getting closer.

I realized that this couldn't continue, so I tried to put an end to it,

but she truly is... such an awful girl,

and she just refuses to leave him alone.

I see...

If my cousin and I became proper human beings,

we would definitely be able to get rid of her,

so I tried various methods, but the girl kept interfering,

and in the end, I ended up being the one who had to go into hiding.

Proper... human beings?

There's no deep meaning behind it.

She's just the farthest thing from proper.

So... I decided to rent that apartment temporarily.

It'll be nothing but trouble if that girl finds us, so I probably won't be able to stay there long.

Don't worry. I haven't done anything illegal.

But if my cousin continues down this path,

he's just going to be dumped by that girl in an awful way, and end up unhappy.

He probably doesn't realize that, though, because he's always been a bit dense.

I want to take care of this as soon as possible.

This cousin must be very important to you.

He was supposed to be mine.

Rikka Returns

Konno

Huh? What brings you here?

Especially at this hour.

I'm sorry to come by so late at night,

but it seems my cousin and that girl have figured out where I was.

I know this is sudden, but I'm going to disappear for a while.

Huh?

It's not much, but please take this for all the inconvenience I've caused.

Huh? Um...

There may be even more bad rumors about that apartment as soon as I leave.

Uh, but...

My cousin and that girl will come here soon.

I'm sure that girl will give you

a perfectly logical explanation for why all the suicides happened.

You'll have no trouble renting out that apartment after that.

Thanks for everything.

Please take care.

Um...

I hope everything works out with you and your cousin.

Is she just that intuitive,

or did she just happen to pick the right future?

Either way, it appears she got away just in time.

Konno

Sorry to visit you so early on a weekend morning.

My name is Iwanaga Kotoko.

This is Sakuragawa Rikka-san's cousin,

Sakuragawa Kuro-san. He's also my boyfriend.

Thank you for taking care of Rikka-san.

Wait, this is the awful girl?

Is there something about me that concerns you?

Oh, no. It's not a huge deal...

You just seem very different from how Sakuragawa-san described you.

I hadn't imagined that Rikka-san's cousin's girlfriend looked so much like a doll.

A doll? But there's definitely blood flowing through my veins.

And Iwanaga is actually quite hairy, so she's very different from a doll.

Who are you calling hairy?!

I'm not hairy at all!

You were even lamenting the fact

that you couldn't enjoy drinking wakamezake from my crotch!

I definitely don't remember lamenting that,

nor do I even know what kind of sake that is.

I'm sure it's something that'll further lower my reputation.

You don't know what it is?

Then let's try some tonight!

Yeah, I guess you can say

that this girl is pretty awful.

Um...

Why are you looking for that girl?

She didn't seem like a bad person.

Actually, aren't you the two who made her go into hiding?

It's not like we want to harm Rikka-san, either.

You could say it'd be a huge issue for society

if we let her run free for too long.

In actuality, we might be the ones being trapped by Rikka-san.

Did Rikka-san say anything about what she was planning to do?

Um...

I probably shouldn't tell them what we were talking about.

Especially the part about her wanting to break them up.

She did talk about wanting to figure out what she was going to do now,

but didn't mention any details.

We managed to track her down today because she stayed in one spot for so long,

but I'm sure she won't make the same mistake again.

It's such a pain.

Thank you for everything today.

If you happen to remember anything about Rikka-san,

please contact me.

Right...

Also if you're ever in any trouble.

Oh, I guess you might actually be troubled about this stigmatized apartment.

Yes...

Have no fear.

There aren't any ghosts, curses, or other strange things attached to this place.

If you don't let any more suicidal people rent it,

the same thing won't happen again.

Huh? But...

The first su1c1de victim

clearly had a reason to go through with it.

The second was in a very emotionally fragile state,

so it wasn't surprising that the same fate awaited her.

The reason the suicides continued was partially due to the cheap rent,

but it was really no more than an unfortunate coincidence.

But that explanation doesn't work for the third guy.

Why would the ex-boyfriend of the girl who committed su1c1de here

bother renting this place,

and then end up committing su1c1de three months later?

Because he just had to find out for himself.

Find out for himself?

If the ex-girlfriend he horribly dumped happened to commit su1c1de,

he may not be judged in the court of law,

but I'm sure those around him blamed him

and gave the cold shoulder.

Even if they broke up in a very amicable way,

the girl may have imagined it being much more horrible than it was.

But it's also true that he was a huge reason why she ended up dead.

That would probably be a big deal for normal people.

I guess you're right.

Unless they were completely insensitive, they probably felt a little guilty.

But why this apartment? It's like their guilt would've multiplied.

And that's exactly why he wanted to find out for sure

that the reason she committed su1c1de was because of the apartment and not him.

Because he felt so guilty, he wanted to find something he could shift the blame to.

Once he d*ed, rumors about this apartment being haunted spread

because consecutive tenants d*ed by su1c1de, right?

Yes.

Some supernatural power was at work in the room, driving its tenants to their deaths.

The series of suicides in that room started long ago.

The hair of those who d*ed is buried in the walls and ceiling, et cetera.

Those rumors all sound plausible, and will get spread.

Yeah, I actually heard something pretty similar.

After the man heard that, he ended up blaming this apartment for his ex's death.

And because of that, he might be able to escape from feeling responsible.

To confirm if there were any actual ghosts in this apartment,

he decided to move in.

It's uncertain if those around him would actually believe him.

But if he experienced this for himself,

he could convince himself that the su1c1de wasn't his fault.

That would've been a huge weight off his shoulders.

And if he did confirm anything ghostly in the apartment,

he was going to leave immediately.

Confirm? But isn't it scarier knowing something like that exists?

If there was something ghostly haunting this room,

it probably wouldn't have been able to do anything once he left.

But his guilt was always with him,

and he couldn't escape from it.

Everyone has different fears.

If anything, at the time,

the man was more scared of his own guilt than anything supernatural.

Then why did he also commit su1c1de?

If he planned to leave if the apartment was actually haunted,

there was no reason to feel pressured to end his life.

You have that backwards.

Three months had passed,

and there was nothing haunting the apartment, so he felt pressured to die.

Not only was there nothing in the room,

but he was the cause of her death.

That fact became even clearer.

Day | Day | Day | Day No issues | No issues | No issues | No issues

Which just made his sense of guilt grow,

until his heart could no longer escape it.

So he didn't commit su1c1de because there was something wrong with the room,

but he committed su1c1de because there wasn't anything wrong?

The reason he didn't leave a note was either because he wasn't mentally able to...

or because, by dying without leaving a note,

he was trying to make it seem like he was also forced into su1c1de

by something haunting the room.

He wanted to at least make sure he wasn't going to be blamed after his death.

It was his final act of resistance.

What a horrible sore loser.

But his narrow-minded family might become more generous because of the su1c1de.

Having a relative who not only forced a girl to su1c1de,

but committed su1c1de himself,

would be rather rough for those left behind.

The fact that he gave them an escape route

could be considered a final act of kindness

because the man had nowhere else to go and had to die.

Well, this is a perfect example

of why you should never get involved with the supernatural.

Those two actually seemed to get along really well.

Yeah, it seemed like her cousin, especially,

really thought Iwanaga-san was important.

But Iwanaga-san...

was pretty awful.

Yeah.

I wonder if Sakuragawa-san was just jealous because

she took her cousin away from her.

It didn't seem like the cousin would end up unhappy just by being with Iwanaga-san.

I'm not sure.

They might get along right now, but who knows what might happen in the future?

So was your explanation about that apartment actually true?

Who knows?

It's not like I could guess the truth

with so little information and no preparation.

The third man who committed su1c1de was incredibly insensitive

and couldn't actually care less that his ex d*ed.

For all we know, he might've been ecstatic at how cheap the rent was.

He might've been tricked and his only way out was su1c1de,

and his relatives might be keeping it a secret because of how shameful he is.

What I presented was an answer that didn't contradict reality,

was the easiest to swallow, and wouldn't leave a bad taste in their mouths.

The only thing necessary back there was an explanation

that would ease the manager's worries.

I figured as much, but...

And I wasn't being irresponsible.

It's true that nothing is haunting that apartment,

so there won't be any supernatural incidents there in the future.

Besides, there's no way any ghosts would dwell

in an apartment Rikka-san lived in.

She has the same body as you,

so all the supernatural beings would consider her horrifying or smelly.

Even if something was haunting it, they'd run away.

And in that case, they would've told me about her even sooner.

We have to stop Rikka-san as soon as possible.

But I wonder how Rikka-san was describing me to those people.

I'm certain she made it sound like I'm an awful woman.

Well, considering you're not scared of anything, you can be pretty awful.

Of course, even I have something I'm scared of.

Like what?

No fire bells. It'll ruin everything.

Now you're quoting the rakugo story "The Fire Drum."

Impressive, Kuro-senpai. You're nothing like Rikka-san.

Would you stop trying to hide behind rakugo punchlines?

That doesn't actually make you smart or anything.

Well, I can't think of anything else.

Relationships between a man and a woman tend to go better

if they have a secret or two.

To be continued