Let's Dance with Ghost Stories, and You Dance on the Stairs Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Divine Retribution is a Self-Nomination System

TLed by: TanoshiKara

It has become a habit of mine to coop up in my room, on the second floor, after dinner, instead of watching television in the living room.

I actually love watching television, but my parents will definitely ask about my studies if I do. I hated that and, before I realized it, I had kicked the habit of watching television.

Of course, I am merely reading Manga while cooped up in my room. Just in case, I did spread my reference books and notes across my table to make it seem like I was studying, but this was only so that I could get seated, and pretend that I was studying, right after hearing my parents coming up the stairs.

However, today might have been the day that I should not have ran away that quickly. This is because, although it is only for a short while, the mood is one akin to a welcoming party for Aunt Yuka, our newest family member.

Unlike my mother who cannot drink most beers, my aunt inherits the Miyajima blood; A huge drinker who never gets drunk no matter how much she drinks. This is why my father seems to be extremely happy that he has someone to drink with and they have been drinking merrily for what seems like forever.

I can hear the laughters of my father, my mother, and my aunt coming from downstairs.

It is that hearty personality that gives my aunt the power to energize the people around her as well. It makes me think that during the time my aunt is around, the tense air of this house between a child just before his entrance exams and his parents may dissipate. When this comes to my mind, I feel that my aunt moving in might not be such a bad thing after all.

I eventually hear the footsteps of someone climbing up the stairs. There are some quirks to this sound. That is why, if it is not my mother nor my father, then there is no mistaking that it is my aunt.

I hear my aunt's voice along with a knock.

"Tomohiro-kun~? What are you doinggg?"  She said.

It might be my mother using my aunt as a scout to see if I am actually studying.

"Ah, I am studying...... I am a test-taker after all." I said after I hurriedly returned to my desk.

"I see? My aren't you admirable~! Then I can come in right?" My aunt said and entered the room without much hesitation.

I thought that she would not enter if she knew I was studying though... Well, it is just like my aunt to do this sort of act that is slightly crass.

"I see, I see, so Tomohiro-kun is taking your entrance exams this year~. Admirable, very admirable of you to study right after your meal."

I did not return to my room to study, I returned because I did not want my parents to get mad. ...Such a misunderstanding makes me feel somewhat guilty and apologetic.

It is not like I am studying, or so I felt like admitting to my aunt, but......there is the danger that, being as crass as she is, she would tell that to my mother as is.

I feel bad but I shall leave her to admire my diligence.

"Is this the mock paper!? ......I sure do not think that I can graduate if I were told to be a student again...!"

"But Aunt Yuka is an officer, right? Is it not that a person cannot be a public servant unless they are smart?"

"Ahaha, that is totally not true! It is always those smart people from the Law Department who do not work at all. If that is the case, even a passionate high school graduate is better!"

I do not know my aunt's academic background but I think that it is probably not that good. However, I do think that the worth of people like my aunt has nothing to do with their academic background. Something like my aunt's academic background is trivial when I think about it like this.

"Tomohiro-kun should also aim to be an admirable adult without being fixated on academic background alone, okay? Wellll, I'm not telling you to neglect your studies of course. But there are many more things to learn besides your syllabus you see."

"For example...?"

"Having fun! You should cherish your time with your friends. Staying cooped up at home and only playing games is the worst okay? Does Tomohiro-kun have good friends who you always hang out with?"

Hiroyuki, Tooru, and I are undoubtedly best friends. We have always shared a bond ever since elementary school and our deviation scores are also similar so we will probably go to the same high school as well. We have experienced everything, from the interesting to the ridiculous, together. When I told this to my aunt, she smiled, seemingly ecstatic.

"I see, in that case, Tomohiro-kun is undergoing quite a spectacular education. Cherish your friends and play a ton, okay? You should do a little more things that'll get people mad when you're underage as these will be brushed off. Otherwise, you'll become an adult who can't differentiate between things you can do and things you can't"

"But isn't doing things that'll get people mad bad...?"

"Wellll, it is bad. But, you see, kids who fight a lot growing up will not mess up the control over their strength, as an adult, when they get into a fight. When a kid lives as a model student and gets into a fight for the first time after they become an adult, they, most of the time, will not know how to limit their strength and it becomes a disaster. Doing many bad things while they will be brushed off is also a form of learning, yeap."

"Does that mean that I should get into a lot of fights...? A student's school record would be ruined if they were to do something like that in this day and age."

"Hmmmmmmmm, that is true. It has become quite a restrictive age. Ahahahah."

I have heard a little about my aunt's younger days from my father. It seems like she was a kid who was always up to mischief around the neighbourhood, she was reprimanded by a patrolling officer and her parents had to bail her out countless of times.

However, I feel like those things do not seem to be meaningless when I look at my energetic aunt now.

She probably wants to say that studying at my desk is not the only form of learning. ......These words sound pleasant to me as I hate studying.

"Aunt Yuka, what bad things did you do as a kid?"

"Hmmmmmmm, the statute of limitations has passed already sooo! I guess it's fine for me to spill the beans. Don't do these things, okay, Tomohiro-kun! I did things like pilfering candy stores and entering other people's land and pulling out their bamboo shoots."

These sound clearly like criminal acts but...hearing them through my aunt's mouth made them sound like nothing but brave acts from her childhood so it felt quite puzzling.

Getting caught doing these types of acts in this day and age is...probably really bad. I feel slightly jealous of the age where one would only get reprimanded at the police station before being sent home.

"Come to think of it, I did throw persimmons at the pet dogs of others! I did also thrust my hand into an offering box."

For a second, I was startled by the word offering box.

"Y-You thrust your hand into an offering box...?"

"You can't normally though. The one at the shrine in the town where I lived had its grates removed. That's why I could retrieve its contents easily! The ice pop that I bought with the money was delicious I tell you! You see, back then, there were rumors that ice pops were not hygienic so my parents didn't buy them for me. That's why it was my first time eating it and, my, it was delicious, oh so delicious. I do think that was a bad thing I did there but I guess it's a nostalgic memory from my childhood."

My aunt was courageous as compared to me, who was a coward and thought that I would incur divine retribution if I stole donations. There is no doubt that it is this kind of person who does not incur divine retribution.

"But donations are an offering to the Deities right... Were you not afraid of divine retribution or curses?"

My aunt tilted her head before cackling. It was like she had never thought about that at all.

"I never once had the thought that I would get divine retribution. But doing that now will get you punished by a patrolling officer instead so. Tomohiro-kun should not do something like that okay? Ahahahaha."

"I now know that divine retribution is something one receives not something one gets. I think that Aunt Yuka is most likely the type of person who will not get any divine retribution or be cursed for her entire life."

"Hmmmm? What do you mean?"

I did not mean to complicate it but it seems to have come across to my aunt as sophisticated.

"Ah, no, it is not that difficult. A nonchalant person like Aunt Yuka will not get divine retribution even if you steal donations. No, I think that you will not realize. On the contrary, people who are worried sick over their bad deeds will feel that any misfortune, however small, is divine retribution, or so I think."

"......Ohhh. Tomohiro-kun sure has become someone to say such intelligent things. This is something that applies to all of society. When it rains, weakhearted people'll think that they're rejected by the entire world. Stronghearted people aren't bothered no matter what happens! That's why they're fine even if it rains!"

"That is exactly it. It is not that divine retribution will be passed upon one but...the act of one's mind thinking that something is bad that is the divine retribution."

In the end, it comes down to the interpretation. There exists no divine retribution and curses in this world. When one's heart has emotions like guilt or regret, one unconsciously seeks to be punished, such as getting divine retribution or being cursed, before one even realizes it. One then misinterprets trivial mishaps that happen in everyday life as said punishments and accepts them despite themself...

"Tomohiro-kun is now at an age where you show interest in philosophical talk, huh. Even though it felt like the other day when you would run around, repeating words so uncouth, they might fit in the banned words during broadcasts. Ahaha!" Aunt Yuka cackled with a smile on her face, one that I liked. This caused me to giggle as well.

...My aunt and I both inherit the Miyajima blood but......it seems like I am not as stronghearted as my aunt. This is because I was seeking proof that there is no way that divine retribution would be incurred, even though I am the one stealing donations. In other words, this means that I am afraid of divine retribution, which means that my heart has feelings of guilt and vulnerability.

This would have been natural if I were cracking a safe with gold bars worth several hundreds of millions, but if I am already in this pathetic of a state when I am cracking the lock of an offering box, with money probably worth under several hundred yen... This had me thinking that I most likely would not make it big as a villain.

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Feel free to comment/pm me if you find any mistakes. Many thanks for reading, I hope that you enjoyed it.