by Takehaya
“Huh?”
The girl wasn’t making any sense to Koutarou, and his confusion reached its peak.
“Just like I said! You didn’t notice me at all yesterday! So why can you see and hear me today all of a sudden?!”
“Wait, wait, wait! Explain yourself properly! I’m not following you at all! More importantly, who are you? And how did you get in here?!”
“I’m Higashihongan Sanae, and I’m the resident of this room! I live here! You’re the one who’s barging in!”
“What? You live here? ...Wait a minute.”
“Wh-What now?”
Leaving the now confused girl behind, Koutarou opened the front door and peeked at the door plate: “Room 106, Satomi Koutarou.”
“So I am in the right room...”
Having confirmed that much, Koutarou quickly returned to the inner room. At first, he had been worried that he’d entered the wrong apartment.
“This is my place. I’m the one renting it from the landlord.”
“It’s my room! I’ve always lived here! So get out!”
“I’m the one paying for it, so why should I get out?!”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up! If I’m not here, mama and papa will get worried!”
Their discussion wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hmm...”
Troubled, Koutarou decided to piece together the situation. He crossed his arms and began thinking.
When I came home, there was a girl I don’t know in my room. She’s insisting that this is her room, but she was nowhere to be seen when I moved in yesterday. And there’s no way that Landlord-san would rent this room out to two people at the same time.
“Which means this girl is...”
“What? D-Don’t just stare at me like that.”
To Koutarou, this girl was just a stranger who had entered his apartment without permission. She was spouting some nonsense about why, but Koutarou had never seen her before, so he figured that she was making it up.
She was probably just a kid from the neighborhood who had found the door unlocked and decided to come in to play. In the end, that was the conclusion Koutarou reached.
“All right.”
Having made up his mind, Koutarou swiftly took action.
“No problem, no problem.”
“Kyaah! What are you doing now?!”
Koutarou grabbed the nape of the girl’s dress and lifted her up, heading for the front door as she dangled in the air.
“It’s time for kids to go home, so stop playing around here and scram.”
“Let go! Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean you can— Hey, wait! You’re touching me! But how?!”
The girl struggled to break free, but the difference in their strengths meant her efforts were to no avail.
“No ifs, ands, or buts! Just go home!”
“But you couldn’t even touch me this morning! You just passed through!”
“You’re not making any sense. Seriously, just go home. I’ve been through a lot today, so I’m tired.”
Koutarou threw the girl outside and promptly closed the door.
“Jeez, for someone to just break in like that... I’ll need to make sure I lock the door from now on.”
With a click, Koutarou locked the door and sighed to himself as he returned to the inner room.
“What did you do that for?!”
“Huh?”
However, as he entered, he found the girl he had just thrown out. Her face was beet red with anger as she glared at Koutarou. But because of her short stature, she looked more cute than anything.
“How did you get in here again?”
Koutarou took a quick look at the window, but it was still locked. Besides, there wasn’t enough time for her to run around the building to get there.
“I passed through the wall, obviously.”
“You passed through the wall?”
Koutarou stared at the wall behind the girl, but all he saw was the newly replaced white wallpaper.
“I don’t see any holes.”
“Of course not! I’m a gho—”
“Oh, I get it! It’s one of those magic tricks, right?!”
Koutarou’s eyes started sparkling. He had seen magicians pass through walls on TV, so he was now completely under the impression this young girl was a magician.
“Huh?”
“Do it again! Show me again!”
“Whaaat?! A-Again?! How can you touch me? No one’s been able to do that before!”
“Come on, don’t be so stingy! Do it one more time.”
And so the girl was thrown out again.
“Kyaah! H-Hey you! Just listen for a minute!”
“Come on, just do it!”
Plead as she might, Koutarou wasn’t listening to her at all. He was thoroughly convinced she was some genius child magician.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“I’m begging you!”
Koutarou slammed the door shut and locked it. He couldn’t wait to see how the girl would get back inside. But that was when the most unexpected thing of all happened.
“Would you give it a break?!”
“Whoa!”
Suddenly the girl’s face popped out from the closed door, as if a hole just for her head had appeared.
“You often get told you don’t listen very well, don’t you?!”
“Wh-What are you— How did you...?!”
And as Koutarou looked on, the girl’s entire body passed through the door.
“Move out of the way.”
“Kyaah! Again?!”
Koutarou forcibly pushed the girl aside and examined the door, yet there wasn’t so much as a scratch on it. He couldn’t find anything that would have let her get through.
“How did you do that?!”
“All right! You’re surprised! That’s what I’ve been waiting for!”
Koutarou finally reacted the way the girl had been hoping for. This pleased her greatly, and a smile crept across her lips.
“...Oh, right. I’m supposed to get happy.”
“Just who are you? How did you get in?”
The girl just grinned.
“I told you already. I passed through the wall. And I’m Sanae. Higashihongan Sanae”
“Sanae...?”
“I’m the ghost that’s been living in this room.”
Hearing the girl say that surprised Koutarou even more than when she had passed through the door.
“Whaaaaat?! A gh-ghost?!”
“You can’t believe it? But a normal person couldn’t do this, right?”
“Y-You can fly?!”
“Of course I can. I’m a ghost.”
Sanae floated up towards the ceiling and grinned as she looked down at the astonished Koutarou. As Koutarou hadn’t noticed her at all before, she was quite happy now.
“A ghost... I heard the stories from Landlord-san, but to think there really was one...”
In contrast, Koutarou was rather surprised. While he had heard the stories from Shizuka, he didn’t think he’d see anything for himself. However, with Sanae before his very eyes, he had no choice but to believe it. A normal person couldn’t pass through walls or float in the air.
“So you’re the ghost that’s been haunting this room?”
“It looks like you finally get it. That’s right! I’m the true master of this room.”
“Which means you’re the one that chased out all the previous tenants?”
“Yeah. This is my home after all.”
Sanae gently landed on the floor as she spoke.
“...If you’re a ghost, then why do you have legs?”
“What does it matter? Forget that! That’s not what should be surprising you!”
“Even if you say that... I can clearly see, hear and touch you, you know? I thought you were just some normal kid until I saw you go through the door.”
Because of that, Koutarou was able to stand before Sanae without panicking. She just looked like a normal girl to him
.
“Th-That’s right! Why can you sense me all of a sudden?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t notice me yesterday even when I stood right in front of you or screamed into your ear! You even passed right through me!”
“Even if you ask me...”
The short of it was that Sanae had been around Koutarou since yesterday, watching him constantly.
“I don’t really get it either. The only thing out of the ordinary that happened today was that I slipped and hit my head,” Koutarou continued, turning around to point to the bump on the back of his head.
“You hit your head and now you can see ghosts?! Enough with the nonsense.”
“Look who’s talking, you paranormal anomaly!”
“Ugh...” Sanae flinched a little as she realized the position she was in. “S-So what? Now that you can hear me, we can get down to business!”
“You’re the one who brought it up!”
“Shut up! Shut up!”
“So, what business?”
Sanae regained her cool at Koutarou’s question and began grinning again.
“That’s obvious. This is my home, so get out.”
“Well now that’s a bold declaration.”
“It’s not bold. It’s perfectly normal.”
As Sanae spoke, strange energy began crackling around her as if she was discharging small bolts of lightning.
“And if I say no?”
“Nothing really... I’ll just do what I always do.”
Sanae pointed her hand at Koutarou and a suspicious light wavered at the tips of her fingers. It was what one would call a will-o’-wisp, but Koutarou had no knowledge of that.
This girl wants to fight...
However, sensing that Sanae was ready to throw down, he readied himself.
“But for some reason, I’m in top form today, so hitting you with this will do more than just surprise you!”
The light at Sanae’s fingers grew larger. It went from the size of a firefly to nearly the size of a baseball.
Getting hit by that would be bad...
He didn’t know what the light was, but his intuition told him it was dangerous. He gulped at the realization.
Even though she’s a ghost, I can touch her, so it’s not like I can’t fight back.
As Koutarou was normally quick to pick a fight, he clenched his fists as he resolved himself.
“What a coincidence. I’m in top form today too.”
“Heh, then bring it on... Wahahaha!”
“Bwahahaha!”
As laughter and tension filled the room, things were about to get serious.
The sound of a delivery truck passing Corona House served as the gong for the fight.
“Eat thiiiiis!”
Sanae threw the ball of light at Koutarou.
“Whoa!”
But Koutarou was quick to drop low, and the ball passed by right where his face had been. It flew straight into the wall and disappeared with a sound like a heavy clap.
“You’re surprisingly fast!”
“And that’s not all!”
Koutarou charged at Sanae. Being a small room, he quickly reached her.
“Haaaaah!”
Using his momentum, Koutarou swung his right hand forward.
“Kyaaaaah!”
But Sanae was on her toes too, dodging by passing through the wall behind her—a fitting maneuver for a ghost. Koutarou’s fist just grazed the ends of her hair.
“That’s right, she is a ghost. But I can hit her. I’ve got this.”
As Koutarou processed what had happened, Sanae entered the room once more.
“That was dangerous!”
“I don’t want to hear that from you!”
“It’s a given for ghosts to attack residents! Counterattacking is against the rules!”
“Like I care about those rules!”
“Either get wrecked or get out!”
“Not a chance! I’ve finally found this place to live!”
Koutarou didn’t want to burden his father who had finished raising him on his own. A room with a monthly rent of 5,000 yen was something Koutarou could afford on his own with just the money from his part-time job. The only problem was the ghost after him right now. Koutarou wasn’t going to leave just because of that.
“As if I’d leave because of some ghost! This place is critical to enjoying my high school life!”
“I don’t care about that! Get out! This is my home!”
Sanae’s hands began glowing as balls of light formed in either one. She was going to throw both of them at Koutarou.
“So you’re finally getting serious...”
Koutarou took a stance.
“These aren’t the same as before.”
Sanae meant the two balls of light in her hands. They were indeed slightly larger than before. Not only would dodging them be harder, they now had more power. As Sanae implied, they were more dangerous.
“As if I’d let you try that!”
In that case, I just have to keep her from attacking!
Koutarou made a snap decision and rushed towards Sanae with an outstretched hand.
“Kyaah?!”
“I’ve got youuuuu!”
Koutarou grabbed ahold of Sanae’s left arm with his right hand, causing her to drop one of the balls onto the tatami mat. Like before, the ball hit the floor and disappeared with a loud clap.
“These can be used for more than just throwing!”
“Uwah!”
Not missing the opening created while Koutarou was distracted by the falling ball, Sanae thrust the ball of light in her right hand at Koutarou. Koutarou tried to dodge it, but it wasn’t enough.
“Guwah!”
Again, the ball made a loud clapping noise as it disappeared, but this time it slammed hard into Koutarou. It was like receiving an electric shock.
“I did it! I dunno why, but I really am in top form today!”
“Guh...”
Koutarou fell back and landed on his rear from the impact.
“And now for the finisher!”
Sanae formed two more balls of light in front of Koutarou, who was still on the ground.
“You’ll be sent to the hospital, and I’ll take back my room!”
“Y-You selfish...!”
Koutarou had been hit pretty hard and he could barely move. As he watched on helplessly, Sanae merged the two balls into a single large one.
“If you had just left to begin with, you wouldn’t have to suffer like this!”
The orb that Sanae was holding overhead grew bigger still, to roughly the size of a dodgeball.
If the ball from before was enough to leave Koutarou stunned, the power of this required no explanation.
“Not good! I’ll be killed!”
Koutarou braced himself. It was all he could do to prepare for the incoming damage.
“Nyahahahaha—”
However, Sanae’s triumphant laughter was interrupted by a small explosion at her feet.
“Kyaah!”
The explosion sent her flying and put her head through the wall. At the same time, the ball of light that Sanae had created collided with the wall, causing a loud bang that was powerful enough to send a chill down Koutarou’s spine.
“Owowow!”
Sanae pulled her head out of the wall and shook it a little. This time, it was her turn to be staggered.
“...What did she step on?”
Koutarou had seen the explosion at Sanae’s feet. Trying to find the source, Koutarou crawled over to the spot where the explosion had taken place.
“I see! So this is what she stepped on!”
“Safe delivery.” “Academic success.” “Traffic safety.”
Koutarou discovered the protective charms he had gotten from his grandmother. He had taken them out of a moving box, but left them lying on the floor. Sanae just happened to walk over them.
“That’s right! You’re a ghost af
ter all! You’re weak to protective charms!” Koutarou snatched up the charms.
“Haha! The tables have turned!”
“Feh...”
Sanae got up and sneered at the charms in Koutarou’s hand.
“T-To think you’d have something like that...”
“And that’s not all! From charms to maneki nekos4, there’s no shortage of protective goods in this room!”
It wasn’t just charms he’d gotten from his grandmother. In hopes of Koutarou passing his high school entrance exams, she had sent in bulk all kinds of blessed items thought to bring good luck.
“Feh, just how virtuous are you?!”
“Hahaha! It’s because of all my good deeds! God is watching over me!”
Koutarou slowly approached Sanae with the charms thrust out towards her.
Sanae, who had been on the offensive all this time, was now gradually being pushed towards the entrance with a bitter look on her face.
“Hyah!”
Sanae threw three will-o’-wisps at Koutarou.
“It’s no use!”
But as soon as they touched the charms in Koutarou’s hand, they seemingly melted away.
“It’s not working?!”
“Stupid! As if there’s a charm that couldn’t block a ghost’s attack! Don’t underestimate the ‘family safety’ charm!”
Koutarou grinned at Sanae and took a step closer.
“Now it’s your turn to get out, ghost!”
“There’s no way I’m leaving! I have to wait here no matter what!”
“Too bad I’m calling the shots now!”
“This isn’t over yet!”
As Sanae shouted, objects from around the room started floating in the air around her. Cardboard boxes, a dictionary, a case filled with personal effects... All kinds of things rose up into the air.
“Take this! Poltergeist Attack!”
“Gah!”
The random objects floating around Sanae were sent flying towards Koutarou all at once, and the charms had no effect against them. Despite Koutarou’s attempt to flee, several objects crashed into him.
“Owowow! What are you doing?!”
“Nyahahaha! It looks like these work just fine!”
“You’re going to kill me hitting me straight on like that!”
“Stupid! That’s exactly what I’m planning on!”
“Damn it!”
“Here’s another!”
Sanae began lifting nearby articles from Koutarou’s luggage into the air once more.
