01x11 - The Back Alley/Headless Statue

[bunniefuu]

[hip-hop music]

[woman] Thank you so much once again
for coming, Ishida.

Lately, it seems students prefer living
in condos and apartments.

I wasn't sure if people would want
to stay in a board house like this.

It's a well-kept room.

My only daughter, Shinobu,
has been using it until now.

Oh! Um, I didn't force her out, did I?

Oh no, not at all.
The room started as a room for boarders.

She's staying in another room now.

Your boarding includes
breakfast and dinner.

- Please join us every morning and evening.
- Right. Sure.

Also, I head out to work each weekday,

so I apologize in advance,
but dinner may be late every so often.

No worries, that's fine. The rest
of my belongings arrive tomorrow.

[landlady] Sounds good.

Um... it was very nice to meet you!

[landlady] Likewise!

[sighs]

"ALLEY"

I'm gonna walk around a bit.

All right, then. See you.

That fence is super tall.

[eerie music]

[landlady] Ishida! It's time for dinner.
Uh, come on down.

[footsteps]

[Ishida] Hey. Thanks!

[landlady] Of course.
You can sit over there.

Great. Thank you.

Honey, this is Ishida,
our brand-new tenant.

Very nice to meet you.

Shinobu. It's nice to meet you, too.

I'm gonna take a guess
that you're in high school?

[landlady] She's 14.
She's in middle school.

Oh, really? Middle school, huh?

That's right. Now, don't hold back.

- Eat as much as you like.
- [Ishida] Okay.

It's so nice to have you here.

[dog barking]

[crickets chirping]

[yawns]

HELL OF THORNS

[laughter outside]

- Huh?
- [girl] Stop it!

- [girl] That's not fair!
- [sighs]

It's too late for playtime.

- [girl] No! Wait a minute!
- [Ishida growls]

[girl] Oh, you can't get away!

Hey! You're too noisy!

- [boy] Someone's saying something.
- Ugh. Little punks.

[grunting]

[girl] No, you can't!

[boy] Oh! Too fast!

[girl] Come on! You can't do that!

- [boy] I'm next.
- [Ishida gasps]

[children laughing]

[grunting]

That was a close one.

Hey, shut up, alrea...

[creepy music]

- [Shinobu] Excuse me...
- [gasps]

[Shinobu] Can I help with that?

Ah, Shinobu, hey. You surprised me.

There isn't much to help with,
so I think I'll be okay.

THOUGHTS OF A MONOLITH
THE BARD'S FATE

Thanks a lot.

This bookshelf,
it used to be mine, you know.

Hmm. Uh, yes, I'd heard that.

Oh, I should tell you,
something weird happened last night.

I heard the voices of children
playing on the other side of this wall.

It sounded like they were in that alleyway
over there, surrounded by a fence.

I checked it out,
but I didn't see anybody.

Oh yeah. About that.

There are lots of alleyways around here,

so sounds from far away
can feel like they're really close.

I heard the same sorts of things
while I was in this room.

Sounded like they were on
the other side of this wall, didn't it?

Uh, yeah.

- Uh, it did.
- Wait.

Mr. Ishida, you said you checked it out
earlier. What did you mean?

Oh! I mean I jumped onto the fence
from that window.

But it was dark
and I couldn't see anything.

[Shinobu]That's dangerous...

Please don't do anything
like that again, okay?

No! Oh, I won't, I promise.

To tell you the truth,
I almost fell down to the ground.

- I won't risk that again.
- I'll hold you to that.

I'm glad you weren't hurt.
I'm relieved, honestly.

One's life is far too precious.

[laughs] You sound like a grandma.

[both laughing]

[crickets chirping]

- [children laughing outside]
- Hmm.

Huh?

- [deep snarling sound]
- [laughter stops]

- [gasps]
- [deep growling]

[growling]

Hmm?

[growling voice] Shinobu...

[Ishida gasps]

- Shinobu...
- [shudders]

Shinobu!

[growling continues]

[gasps]

Shinobu...

- [man] Excuse me...
- [grunts]

You're boarding in the second floor
of Mrs. Uchiyama's place, aren't you?

Yeah, that's right...

[sighs]

There's something I need to tell you.
Do you have a moment?

[Ishida] Okay. Who are you, exactly?

[man] Right. I was a boarder
in that room about ten years ago.

[Ishida] And?
What do you wanna talk about?

I tried to stay quiet about this,
but I just can't do it anymore.

The memories
play over and over in my head.

I have nightmares about it
every single night.

I presume you're familiar with that tall,
narrow fence right next to the house?

- You had to have seen it.
- The one with the barbed wire?

That's it.
From everything I've discovered,

a m*rder took place
on the other side of it.

What? A m*rder?

[man] In a corner of that closed-off alley

is an iron lid
that leads to an underground area.

I opened that lid and found the rotting
corpses of three children down below.

[Ishida] Are you serious?

[man] And on that alley wall
behind the lid

were three stains
in the shape of children.

Each night when the sun goes down,
those stains, they escape from the wall.

You can see and hear them
running around playing.

Every night, I'd watch it all happen
from my window and tremble in fear.

I don't know what your deal is,
but if this is a joke, it isn't funny.

You were just having a bad dream.

I wish it was a bad dream, but it's not.

These horrifying memories
are ingrained in my mind.

I don't know. There aren't any windows in
that room with a view of the alley anyway.

That's not possible. I swear, I saw it!
[shuddering]

There's a window there, I'm sure of it!

Please inspect the room closely!

[trembling]

I'm in no mood
to entertain any of your delusions.

CAUTION: INTERSECTION
CITY OF ECHIZEN

That guy was completely off his rocker.

Hmm.

Hmm...

[gasps]

[grunts]

So... [gasps]

[eerie music]

[gasps]

But...

[shudders]

[trembling]

[gasps]

IDIOT.
I'LL STAB YOU.

I WANT TO k*ll.

DIE OLD MAN.
SHUT UP.

DIE DIE.
I DID IT, I DID IT.

[breathing unsteadily]

- [thumping]
- [Ishida grunting]

[shivers]

[metal groans]

[Ishida gasps]

[cries out]

[echoing slam]

Everything he said was true... [shivering]

[panting]

[gasps]

[yells]

[screams]

[groaning]

[trembling]

Uh... Shinobu?

So you found the hidden window.
Man, you are nosy.

Those corpses down there.
Did you k*ll them?

When I was little, I decided
to trap three mean bullies in a hole,

because they were hogging that alleyway
as if it was their own personal property.

You see, this wasn't
just some old alleyway to me.

It was a special playground.

One just for me.

About a week after I trapped them inside,

the shadows of those same three bullies
appeared on the wall.

I thought,
"Oh, I guess they must've died."

Later on, my dad happened
to take a look down inside that hole,

and found the three corpses.

He must have realized quickly
that I was the one that did it,

because he put up that tall fence
to this area almost immediately.

[humming]

[Shinobu] After that, we couldn't
keep new boarders around.

They all freaked out
and left this place right away.

It's because those bullies come
out of the wall to yell and play at night.

That's why this became my room.

So years later, once again, this alleyway
became my space that only I can enter.

Not long after, I invited over
two classmates I hated and k*lled them.

And my nagging dad, too...

But each one of them is so persistent.

Everyone who dies in this alleyway
shows up as stains on the wall.

They sneak out of those spots
each night to throw curses up at me.

They're discussing various plans
on how to go about dragging me down there.

Too bad. I make it a point
to never go into the alley at night,

so those apparitions will never catch me.

I have to admit, watching those specters
get really frustrated

is quite entertaining for me.

So when Mom said she would start
looking for boarders again,

I was obviously against it.

Mr. Ishida?

I guess the poor guy passed out. [giggles]

[gasps]

Huh?

[eerie music]

[whimpers]

[stone grinding]

[gasps]

ART ROOM

[boy] Rumi, head home without me.
I wanna stay and help our teacher.

[Rumi] But it's time for us
to leave campus.

She's right, you really should be going,
Shimada. Your parents will be worried.

Nah, it'll be fine, sir.
My parents are on vacation right now.

Besides, what will you do if you don't
finish in time for your exhibition?

I can find a way to manage
on my own from here.

[Shimada] You don't have
many days left, sir.

As an art club member,
I want to help and do my part!

[teacher] All right, fine. Thank you.

Wow, you have an art exhibition
coming up, Mr. Okabe?

How wonderful! I haven't seen
work like yours anywhere.

These headless statues are unique!

Thank you! The theme I'm going for
is that by getting rid of faces,

you can create infinite possibilities.

You don't need faces for art.

Human faces express such an abundance
of various emotions,

but look at all the faces drawn
on famous paintings of past and present.

Most have no emotion,
or no more than a faint smile.

If that's the case, then why don't we
simply get rid of faces altogether?

The only face you need's
the one at the bottom of your glass.

Oh, wow. What a concept, sir!

Sounds like an artist.

[laughs] Well, I do fancy myself
an artist.

Who knows? Maybe someday,
I will make a statue with a head.

"HEADLESS STATUE"

[murmuring]

[boy] I had his class today.

Hey, Masami, Sanae, did something happen?

Rumi! Mr. Okabe was m*rder*d last night!

What did you say?

It's just awful. One of the third years
found him in the art room this morning.

And he was missing...

missing his head.

No way!

[Masami] The rest of his body
was found lying in the art room.

But the head was gone.

[echoing] All right, Shimada,
I'll be going home now.

- Bye!
- Oh! Hold on!

Please don't tell anyone
that I'll be staying late on campus.

[Rumi] I won't. See ya later!

[Masami] Rumi? Hey, Rumi, you okay?

Uh, yeah.

Have either of you seen Shimada?

Uh, not today, not yet.
Is he late?

Maybe...

DO NOT ENTER

[doorbell rings]

[sighs]

- [intercom picks up]
- [gasps]

[Shimada] Yes? Who is it?

Shimada! It's Rumi!

Oh, Rumi... Is something wrong?

You heard about Mr. Okabe, right?

You and I just talked to him yesterday.

I didn't think something like that
would happen.

- Hey, is there anything...
- [hangs up]

Huh?

[door creaks]

[gasps]

Shimada? What...

Rumi, you don't think
I'm the m*rder*r, do you?

No way!
That's not why I'm stopping by here.

You're acting strange!

Strange? Everyone becomes strange
if they fall in love.

Rumi... you're so beautiful...

What's come over you? I'm what?

I confess that I've always eagerly awaited
your presence over in the art room.

I can't believe you never realized

just how much my heart raced
each time I saw you.

Let's walk a bit.
I promise to tell you everything.

[whimpers]

[girl shivers] This is so creepy.

[Masami] I'm sorry, I need my study guide
because I have an English test tomorrow.

[Sanae] I get it, but why'd you have
to leave it in the art room?

ART ROOM

Look there.

That's where Mr. Okabe's corpse was found.

[Sanae] Why would anyone k*ll him?

[Masami] Maybe someone had
some kind of grudge against him?

You'd have to if you did that.

[Sanae] Whatever, just hurry
and grab your study guide.

[Masami] Such a horrific way to go...
having your head cut off like that?

- And the head is still missing...
- [Sanae] Not another word about that!

Come on, Masami, hurry up.

I'm looking! Where did I put it, anyway?

- [echoing thump]
- [gasps]

- Someone's here...
- [shivering]

[door creaks]

[girls whimpering]

[in unison] Mr. Okabe?

[both crying and screaming]

[Rumi] Mr. Okabe is still alive?

[Shimada] He's hiding
in the old campus building.

I'm meeting him later tonight.

Now, take my hand...

[Rumi] Uh...

[creaking]

[whimpers]

[Rumi] Shimada, where's Mr. Okabe?

[Shimada] He'll be along.
Let's wait inside for him.

It smells really strange in here.

Ugh, like rotting meat.

Or is it just me?

Wait up. All of the statues are missing.

Strange. The only thing left
are the pedestals.

- [lock clicks]
- Huh?

Hey, why did you lock the door?

[creepy music]

[gasps]

Shimada... Is something wrong?

[Shimada, muffled] No, it's nothing...

Wh... Where did your voice just come from?

Where is he?
What happened to Mr. Okabe? Tell me!

- [gasps]
- He's right there. He's been here.

See?

[Rumi screams]

- [gasping]
- The great artist himself, Mr. Okabe.

[Rumi whimpering]

[Shimada] Oh, Rumi...
Your face is so beautiful...

- [shrieks]
- Rumi...

Rumi...

[trembling]

Rumi.

[gasps]

Get back! [screams]

[squelching]

[Rumi gasping]

[screaming]

- Rumi...
- [whimpering]

Rumi...

Someone! Someone, help me!

- [gasping]
- Rumi.

Rumi...

[gasps]

[screams]

Huh?

It's... just a plaster statue?

[whimpers]

It won't open! Why won't it open?

Please, just open!

[whimpering]

[rumbling and grinding]

[crashing]

[gasps] Huh?

[whimpers]

[screaming]

[screaming] No, no!

[gasps]

- [crunching]
- [gasping]

No! No! [panting]

[crunching]

[continues gasping]

Huh?

[screaming]

- [whimpering]
- [stone tapping]

[crunching]

[Rumi screaming]

[continues screaming]

[stone cracking]

[woman 1] Hey! Look over there!

[woman 2] There's another one right there!

[woman 1] That beautiful face
will be mine!

[woman 2] No way! It will be mine!

- [Rumi screaming]
- [crashing]

[girl] Give it to me.

Go away! Go away!

- [girl] Your head.
- [Rumi screaming]

[girl] Give it to me!

[cheerful pop music]

[man] I decided to head to the room
next door through a new gaping hole.

The insects were whispering,
and that made me realize.

"Ah! What a fool I've been!"

"I've only been following the orders
of the insects until now."

I won't listen
to what they have to say anymore.

I rammed my bony body
through the open hole

and jumped out of the room.