Let's Dance with Ghost Stories, and You Dance on the Stairs Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Cursing Miyoko Tanashi

TLed by: TanoshiKara

We soon learned of Miyoko Tanashi's class. A girl from B-class, she had a slender and tall body and gave off a slightly stern air. I have never talked to her, so I do not know her personality, but... I got the feeling that a lot of people do not get along with her.

 

In the end, we decided that each of us should wait for an opportunity and carry out the attacks in our respective ways. At first, we were going to set up a large-scale prank as a group of three, just like the blackboard scribbling incident, but I suggested the former as I did not want to participate in the attack on Tanashi.

 

...By doing nothing, I would, at the very least, reduce the attack on a girl I neither hate nor know by a third. I do not know whether this will serve as some form of repentance, but......regardless, I have already had my fill with aiding in spreading the 'Curse of The Bone' further.

 

Hiroyuki and Tooru seemed to be enjoying themselves, discussing what prank to pull in a make-believe strategy meeting, and coming up with various evil ploys. I joined in on their conversation on the surface and laughed with them.

 

......And the day finally came when 'Curse of The Bone' would be used against Miyoko Tanashi. She was in the class beside mine, so I did not know what attacks were used against her.

 

After school, I surmised, from hearing the two of them boast that they tried various pranks, that they were only testing the waters. To be exact, they tried stuffing a piece of paper, with a weird scribble, into her desk compartment, and putting a 'Bone' in her shoe locker. They are not much different from the pranks up until now, so I was a little relieved.

 

.....However, I was slightly concerned about whether this Tanashi girl would see all those as mere pranks. Fortunately, it seems like Hiroyuki and Tooru had no intention of carrying out fifty-thousand-yen worth of ‘concentrated attacks' on her; They would make her the target of their pranks for only two to three days, with no plans to do them persistently. Knowing this made me feel that I was able to rid some of that lump-like unease that remained in my chest ever since that cursed letter.

 

......However, the situation did not develop as I had hoped. On a certain day, about one week later, the rumor that the 'Curse of The Bone' against Tanashi was still ongoing had reached our class as well. Furthermore, it seemed like it had escalated from a prank to actual targeted bullying, and Tanashi was feeling quite cornered.

 

"Say, Hiroyuki, haven't you already done this Tanashi Attack for over a week already...?" I said to Hiroyuki and Tooru, feeling that this had gotten out of hand.

 

"I-I'm not doing anything anymore... It's Tooru, right? I am already over Tanashi."

 

"Ehhhhh!? What's up with that! I haven't done anything else as well. I only did them until last Saturday, and I haven't done anything to Tanashi since!"

 

"Then, what that means is...Hiroyuki and Tooru have not done anything else to Tanashi...?"

 

"Yeah, at the very least, I haven't."

 

"I haven't as well!"

 

"...I'm telling you it's probably the B-class students that are doing them."

 

"Right. Seems like there were even students who gathered up bones and stuffed them into Tanashi's desk compartment when we were setting up the prank."

 

To sum up Hiroyuki and Tooru's conversation, their targeted attacks became the spark for the other students to participate, as it caught their interest.

 

It was like an anonymous group had taken advantage of the 'Curse of The Bone' to conduct bullying, which was slightly revolting... We meant to have a clear distinction between pranks and bullying. However, we probably cannot escape the responsibility if our pranks are really the spark for the bullying of Tanashi.

 

From what I have heard, they scrawled lots of curse words on her desk, stuffed a lot of bones into her bag, and even sent bones to her house. It seems to have escalated quite a lot.

 

"......Well, even we think that those recent pranks are wretched. The B-class people really don't hold back, huh."

 

"It’s just a little something I heard, but that Tanashi girl seems to have always been quite hated in B-class. That's why I think that it was kinda there, that atmosphere, even before our pranks."

 

"In other words, our prank added fuel to such an atmosphere."

 

"Seems like she was especially hated by a group of girls in B-class. Most of the pranks were done by the boys, but when it comes to Tanashi, it seems like the girls were doing it too. No, if anything, the girls were probably the ones who did them."

 

"I don't know girls well, but it seems like there were girls in the group who did not get along with her. There are times when girls are nasty after all."

 

It is not in a boy to use something like a curse that relies on deities.

 

Did someone in the girl group, who hated Tanashi, put in that letter, take advantage of the 'Curses' that Hiroyuki and Tooru did, and continue them?

 

"Say, I don't know what kind of girl that Tanashi is, but I feel kinda sorry for her..."

 

Have Miyoko Tanashi taste a little of that popular 'Curse of The Bone'... It should have been a prank of that scale. However, we should not have done it if we knew that it would become the spark for its escalation into such a persistent form of bullying...

 

"I know nothing, and it ain't my fault! Even if I am to be blamed for the first three days, the other students are to be blamed for the rest, you know!? I ain't related to this!"

 

"As you can see, it's everyone who is being nasty. Just them taking advantage of someone else's prank to play around a little. Everyone wants someone else to have a taste of their malice, risk-free, as a little respite from boredom. We did the first few, but the rest of the people who rode the bandwagon are also to blame, right? We are not the only ones who are at fault!"

 

For some reason, I only saw this as Hiroyuki and Tooru making up excuses. In the end...seeing how miserable they were taught me that curses do not exist. Things that are seen as curses are merely the malice of people covered up as 'Curses'. To say that one wants to be on the side that curses because one does not want to get cursed is the very same as the middle schoolers' way of subsistence—if I am going to get bullied, then I might as well be on the side that bullies.

 

Come to think of it, it is the same here. We three humans are the ones who created the 'Curse of The Bone' and the ones who gave it form and created its curse, and its settings were all humans. This 'Curse' is simply the symbol of the ugliness of humans.

 

......No, if this 'Curse' exists even then...It will undoubtedly be the impulse to expel the frustrations we, third years, feel from the hidden unease towards the entrance exams and our future path, at something...This impulse merely makes us loath to put our academic report at risk, but it allows malice to grow in our hearts should there be a situation where we can ride on someone else's bandwagon to expel our malice without any risks.

 

The one that allows malice to grow is the mask-like existence known as the 'Curse of The Bone'. As long as one rides the 'Curse of The Bone' prank bandwagon, no one will question their prank. This is because someone is doing this 'Phenomenon' here and there every day, so it is a waste of time to find each of the respective culprits. And, when one sees someone else receiving a targeted 'Curse of The Bone' attack, they will also lend a little hand. Everyone else is also assisting in the attack, so there is the relief of running the red light together. What kind of guilt is there if one throws an eraser bit at a person who is bullied by the class? There are tons of people who are doing worse things than me. What I am doing is tame in comparison. And so, without any weight on one's conscience, they put on a mask and expelled their daily buildup of frustration...

 

The one that suggests such convenient bullying is the 'Curse of The Bone'. There is no deity known as 'The Bone' from the start. There was only the mask called 'The Bone'. By putting that mask on and pulling a prank on someone close by, one can enjoy a temporary sense of pleasure, allowing them to merely deceive themselves into forgetting about their unease towards the future for a short while.

 

"They say it's a curse or something, but in the end...it's just the same as bullying."

 

"Ahahahaha, that might be the case."

 

"I definitely think that B-class has gone too far, especially the girls. We wouldn't even pull that wretched of a prank."

 

"......I wonder if we should partly be blamed as we created the 'Curse of The Bone', the pretext for bullying."

 

It is true that we could not predict that it would turn out like this. However, I think that taking no blame because we were not able to predict this situation does not count as a valid argument...

 

It seems like Tanashi has no friends who act like one; she has no allies as well. She seems to be living her life while being surrounded by an atmosphere where she is being bullied by the entire class. Turn to her right, and the person on the left will throw bones into her desk compartment. Turn to her left, and the person on her right will throw bones into her bag. The whole class snickers in the background when she shouts hysterically whenever something happens...I hear that it has become that malicious.

 

I think that the scope of a prank is one where the victim is able to laugh along and forgive the prankster......From this point of view, what is being done to Tanashi has crossed the boundary of a prank.

 

"Hey, hey, what's this? Tomohiro's been too scared recently, you know? Ain't it too late to be acting like that!"

 

"No, well...it's not like I'm scared. It's just... I think that it might be going way past the level of pranks we thought of initially."

 

"Well, that's true; it's past the realm of a prank. It's now a new and recognized ghost story in the school! Ahaha!"

 

However, it seems like my concerns did not reach my comrades. They said they were sympathetic, but it seems like they did not feel for Tanashi in the depths of their hearts... They probably find that it is somewhat intriguing that the B-class is making use of the 'Curse' they created.

 

For me to feel unease instead of interest now that the 'Curse of The Bone' has that much influence... Is this, perhaps, because I am so cowardly that even I am concerned about it......?

 

"No, it's not that......How do I put this......You know how there's a commotion sometimes when a crocodile gets found in the sewage? It was a baby crocodile when some rich person decided to import it secretly, but they got tired of taking care of it, so they flushed it down the sewage... It then grows bigger and causes a commotion when it attacks people......"

 

"It won't attack people. Something like 'The Bone' doesn't exist after all!"

 

"Tomohiro, don't tell me you actually believe that a Teru teru bouzu apparition is living in the school? You really think such a thing will live in the boiler room!?"

 

It seems like the newest rumor is the setting that 'The Bone' sleeps within a coffin hidden in the boiler room underground.

 

"You know, during last year's sports festival, I entered the boiler room to help with the clean-up. But it was a room with nootthhiinnngg ellssee other than the piles of stuff like cultural festival signs, you know. There was no coffin, of course. Do you think a coffin will appear with a *poof* just because we made a ghost story? Ain't no say, right? Right!?"

 

"No way, for sure. It's stuff we created after all. Tomohiro, I'm telling you, you're too scared after that fifty-thousand-yen the other day! You're trembling cause it's a huge sum you're not used to, right? You sure are a coward!"

 

"We're fine with you not getting your share if you're that afraid, you know? We'll be overjoyed cause our share'll increase after all~!"

 

 

Honestly, I no longer have any interest in the money, but hating the idea that they would exclude me if I were to turn the money down, I shook my head just in case.

 

Those were quite the courageous words from the both of them, but...tooking at the situation after taking a step back, I knew that, deep down, they felt uneasy that 'The Bone' had surpassed their expectations and it was beginning to spread like wildfire......That was why they lashed out at my explanation, to drive their unease away.

 

A nervous student year before the entrance exams when curses spread easily...This also applies to us after all.

 

Come to think of it, I heard of something that goes like this, or so Tooru started talking at that moment.

 

"Actually......there's an interesting rumor going around. About that Tanashi curse...most of them were probably the pranks of someone in her class, but............the real 'Curse of The Bone' might be mixed in among some of them, or so the rumor goes."

 

"Wahahahahah! That one's good!"

 

Hiroyuki cracked up, but it was not that funny of a topic... It looked like he forced himself to laugh that hard because he wanted to drive away some sort of emotion.

 

"What do you mean by the real 'Curse of The Bone'......?"

 

"...Yeah. Well, it seems like Tanashi's bag being stuffed with bones is a common occurrence recently, but......According to the person sitting behind Tanashi...no one should have gone near her bag after she came to school in the morning..."

 

 

 

As it had already occurred many times before, Miyoko Tanashi had become quite high-strung during that time to prevent her bag from being the victim of more pranks. That was why she had placed all of her textbooks in her desk compartment after coming to school, before slinging her empty bag over an arm of her desk. She did not leave her seat for even a moment, so as to ensure that no one could play a prank on her. Due to this, the others were given free rein to prank other locations besides her seat, such as her locker and her shoe locker, but......at the very least, the pranks of the people around her should have stopped after Tanashi became so averse to her seat being pranked that she did not stand up from it even during breaks. However, during the second period's break, curious as to whether her bag might have been pranked......Tanashi turned her bag upside-down...and tons of filthy bones rattled as they scattered out onto her desk......! Tanashi was furious, howling as she questioned the class about who the culprit was. Whether it was because she had many enemies in her class, everyone in the class thought that someone who hated her did it. Certain students sympathized with her; Certain students smirked as they watched her meltdown from afar. Amidst this……someone who was sitting behind her noticed something. They noticed that no one had touched her bag ever since she arrived at school……….

 “Ridiculous! What? Are they saying it’s not a human that’s doing it?”

“Well……after all… Tanashi came to school and put her textbooks into her desk compartment, right? Tanashi was supposedly looking inside her bag then, so there is no way she would not have noticed if a ton of bones were in it. ……That’s why, at the very least, the bones were not in her bag when she came to school in the morning. ……Then, Tanashi slung her bag over an arm of her desk because she did not want it to be pranked…and after that, she did not leave her seat, even during break time. She was sitting there the entire time……”

And, during the second period's break, due to the rising fear that her bag might have been pranked......Tanashi looked inside it...She then noticed something abnormal. When she turned her bag upside-down...tens of bones rattled as they scattered out onto......!! It seems like Tanashi thought that someone had stuffed them in when she was none the wiser, but......there was an individual who was looking the entire time, and only they knew the culprit, or so it went...

"No way! Ain’t it a given that it must be someone's doing!"

 

"Nope, according to that person, they were sure that no one went near her bag!"

 

"A rumor, right? In the first place, who is the one who saw it? Huuuh? After all, the person who said they saw it was just going off of gossip, and there is NO NAME for the person who saw it, right?"

 

"............That is true...I, too, don't know the name of the person who saw it...but this topic is also kinda popular in the other classes..."

 

A bag that, supposedly, no one had touched since morning; It had also been confirmed, after Tanashi arrived at school, that there was nothing strange about its contents......Despite that, someone stuffed tens of bones into that bag between the time she checked and the end of the second period's break. This was done all while the bag was slung over one of her desk's arms, and Tanashi, who was high-strung because she was cautious about being pranked, was unaware of it.

 

That's impossible. There is no way that can be done. That is not a human's doing.

 

...Merely hearing about this made me feel like a chill ran down my spine. Of course...thinking about it logically, there is no way an existence like 'Curse of The Bone' exists for real. It must be someone's prank disguised as a curse. 

 

That is why even this is probably......one of the following.

 

The first: the individual who said no one got near this bag is not absolutely correct; In other words, there was no guarantee that they had been watching over the bag since that morning, like a CCTV. Was there really no opening, such as them looking elsewhere or going to the toilet? If it were a CCTV, the footage would act as proof, but it cannot be proven if it was the statement of a single individual.

 

And the second is...well, this one is more likely. This individual was not watching Tanashi's bag the entire time in the first place. In other words, it would be the scenario where the individual came up with a story about an act that could not be done by a human and disseminated it for fun as they were amused by how often the 'Curse of The Bone' frequented Tanashi.

 

It is likely that, should Tanashi catch a cold and take a break from school for three days, a story—strange marks appearing all over Tanashi's body due to the 'Curse of The Bone' and she can be heard constantly groaning, 'The Bone, The Bone...', while asleep on her hospital bed—would be made up out of someone's accord.

 

This was something we also did from the start, and is something that prank-lovers do daily. Spreading the lie that one had probably seen it is an easier and riskless prank as compared to setting up a prank firsthand. There was no doubt that this was it.

 

...However, there is also a part that cannot be assumed as true. That being whether this individual, who was watching from the back, can be trusted. That is because the only part that can be trusted is that Tanashi did not leave her seat even during breaks, as she was afraid that her bag and seat would get pranked. Tanashi had received targeted attacks for over a week. That is why it is easy to imagine that she became high-strung and would not leave her seat for even a moment. This is why, even without the person at the back proving that nothing happened to the bag, the mere presence of Tanashi at her seat would be enough to guarantee it......Rather, wouldn’t Tanashi be the first to realize? Even though there should have been absolutely no openings; Even though bones should not have been able to be stuffed into her bag......But they came out; A lot of them; They scattered out!

 

Sensing that something beyond human was present......she screamed, questioning who the culprit was in hopes that a human did it............Hahaha, this is ridiculous.

 

That is why it is said that the incident, where bones got stuffed into a bag that no one got near, is one that has something that cannot merely be laughed off.

 

In the first place, this story is based on the assumption that Tanashi is high-strung, always remaining in her seat, and is constantly cautious about her surroundings. There would be no meaning if it turns out that Tanashi had left her seat during the break on that specific day......In the end, it is merely a rumor, so there is no meaning in arguing any further.

 

Although the conversation that day ended there......similar topics would eventually be brought up in our class as well.

 

It seems like a prank that was not done by a human. Furthermore, it was an incident that was separate from the bag incident. And there were several incidents. Whether it was a prank or a curse, their details were all different......It was done to a locker, or it was done to a shoe locker. 

 

However, the following points were the same: some say that it was impossible for a human to do; some say it might really be the 'Curse of The Bone'...?

 

The situation around this time made it so that even Hiroyuki, who shot these stories down without listening to them, was forced to accept them for what they were.

 

"...Yeap. And, you know, they are saying that, over at Tanashi's house, that mountain of bones was strewn all over her room."

 

And the established fact that turns up in conversations recently: Tens of bones were even placed at Tanashi's house, her very own room at that.

 

"Well, it is not impossible, right? When it comes to my home, friends get told sometimes to wait in my room when they come over, you know? Ain't it just that someone pretended to be her friend and went to her room?"

 

"No, both of Tanashi's parents are working adults, so she is a latchkey child, it seems. This is why Tanashi's house is locked...They are saying that, despite this, someone was able to enter her room and scatter the bones..."

 

"No...ain't no way that happened. Or rather, there is obviously no one that ill-natured enough to break into an empty house in order to attack Tanashi, right? In the first place, ain't that a crime called unlawful entry?

 

"...Rather than that, I think the story itself might be made up, though."

 

"T-That's right, it is as Tomohiro says. Ain't that story just something that someone made up!"

 

"...No...it seems like it is true that her teacher said such a thing happened to Tanashi. After all, her teacher told the class during homeroom. That is why the entire B-class knows."

 

"Assuming this is true...then that is already a crime! After all, isn't it a downright crime to enter someone's house when it's locked, even if the person is not a burglar...!"

 

"Agreed. That is why it was also said that Tanashi reported that to the police..."

 

 

 

"Uh-huh. It seems like someone confided in us about that." Aunt Yuka answered immediately.

 

"Then is it as the rumor says......really? Were bones really placed in Tanashi's house!?"

 

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I cannot go into much detail, but......yeap, anyway, it sure seems like there are people out there who commit acts that are way too ill-natured for a prank."

 

My aunt meant to avoid the subject in her own way, but that was clearly a yes.

 

"Does Tomohiro know Miyoko Tanashi?"

 

"H-Hmm...She is in a different class, so I do not know her..."

 

"Have you heard that she is undergoing group bullying?

 

"Rather than bullying.........I heard that she is being cursed by the 'Curse of The Bone'."

 

I reflexively avoided using the word bullying...My heart tinged when I thought about how I was responsible for creating the current situation Tanashi is in.

 

"Oh, it got mentioned again, the 'Curse of The Bone'! Then, is this, in other words, not an attack on the individual known as Miyoko Tanashi, but a kind of scapegoat that takes advantage of a 'Curse'?"

 

"What do you mean by scapegoat?"

 

"In other words, it did not have to be Miyoko Tanashi; Anyone would do. The malicious instigators wanted to attack someone for fun and had sought a sacrifice. It was then that Miyoko Tanashi, an individual who was undergoing targeted attacks, appeared. By taking advantage of this, those cowards are probably taking out their stress on her by attacking her!" My aunt said, fuming.

 

She then began to go on about her pet theory that bullying happens because a person does not have a healthy way to relieve stress, so young people should play all forms of sports.

 

However......I am, as always, impressed by my aunt's perceptiveness. After all, she should have only heard the details from outsiders, but she arrived at the same conclusions that I, a person involved, had finally reached after much thought, in such a short time.

 

"I think that there are two patterns of bullying."

 

According to my aunt's pet theory, the following seems to be the two forms of bullying. One that targets a specific individual, and the other where anyone will do. In the end, the aim of most cases of bullying is stress relief, so it is, in fact, normal that anyone will do as the target...To be exact, anyone will do is not the right way to put it. The right way to put it is that, as long as there is a person close by who is easy to bully, their name does not matter. The more of a justification—that it is alright to bully that person—there is, the lesser it will weigh on the instigator's conscience.

 

For example, say there is an individual called A. Even if the people know that A is being bullied, they will not actively join in on the bullying. However, if there is a 'justification' that it is alright to bully A, then there is a possibility that even people who do not know A will actively join in on the bullying......If A is a despicable evildoer who is condemned by everyone, for example. Perhaps there would eventually be no need for a 'justification'......Should one see everyone stoning an unfamiliar person at the square, they would probably pick up a stone off the ground, thinking that it is fine for them to do it as well. There is no need to grasp the situation. They would selfishly decide that, since everyone is doing it, there must be a good enough reason to do that, so they merely need to do the same.

 

This example is not good. Let me try using a more relatable example. Would you still earnestly wait patiently at the pedestrian crossing for the signal to change even though you saw the people who came after you ignore the traffic light and nonchalantly walk across the pedestrian crossing? ...No, you would most likely follow after the people who ignored the traffic light and walk across the pedestrian crossing as well, would you not? You would feel that you were stupid for earnestly upholding the rule. You would also think that you were the second person to ignore the traffic light, so you were not as bad as the first.

 

Tanashi's bullying is the very definition of this. The air within B-class, filled with hatred against Tanashi...However, they know, logically, that bullying is bad, so everyone abides by the rules and does not bully her... Just then, we became the very first people who tried to run the red light in the name of the 'Curse of The Bone'. With the ‘dam’ broken, everyone poured out and started running the red light. With the justification to their conscience that they were not the first ones, so they were not the worst. If this system, where people are able to attack a specific individual without weighing on their conscience, can be called the 'Curse of The Bone'...then it can indeed be called a curse.

 

A has been cursed by 'The Bone', so it is fine to play pranks on A that are reminiscent of the 'Curse of The Bone'. If there is such a rule, then even people who do not know A would secretly throw bones at A when A is unaware...Everyone is already 'cursing' A, so one will not be the only one at fault if one were to join in at that point...With less weight on their guilty conscience, the probability for anyone to turn into a 'curse' executor is............This is, indeed, an ominous rule that should already be called a 'Curse'.

 

However, it flashes across my mind. It all started with a single sentence on that piece of paper that read, 'Please curse Miyoko Tanashi', found in that envelope with fifty-thousand-yen in it. In other words......someone, who clearly wanted to attack Miyoko Tanashi, had probably taken advantage of......no, perhaps I should say, they used the 'Curse of The Bone'. That person knew that they would be asked to take most of the blame if they chose to run the red light first, so they had 'The Bone', us, take on that role. If that is so......would it not be that that person realized there are people who could manipulate the contents of the offering box, and thought that they could create the pretext for bullying by offering the reward through the offering box? And that of theirs went extremely well...

 

......They are no ordinary person. After all, as an onlooker, this person saw through and understood the 'Curse of The Bone' system that only I, out of the three people involved with creating the curse, understood. Furthermore, it is nothing short of impressive that they understood this even before that fifty-thousand-yen phase. Also, that way of using the offering box was cunning. They visited the Tanuki Shrine and 'merely pleaded for the deities to curse someone'.

 

They could merely play dumb and say that they did not know there were people who could open the offering box, and it would end there.

 

In the end, the narrative will be that someone skillfully made use of us, and we then 'voluntarily' bullied Miyoko Tanashi......This is a creepy thought to have. After all, the only assurance we had was that no one knew we were behind this 'Curse of The Bone' prank. But such an assurance no longer exists. Someone clearly saw through us and is skillfully using us in their ploy......

 

However.........I feel sorry for Tanashi, but it is not like a murder took place. I do feel sorry for the bullying she is facing, but this is a common occurrence in schools every day. This is why it would probably not turn into a situation where we would get apprehended by the police and be forced to take the blame for a suspicious incident.

 

......I hate myself for leaving Tanashi to her misfortune in order to save myself. This is surely regret; Regret towards not being able to strongly oppose it—the idea that we should attack Tanashi in the name of that fifty-thousand-yen—when it was mentioned...

 

 

 

It seems like Aunt Yuka sees this incident as a coincidental type of targeted bullying where Tanashi was targeted with no specific target in mind, but that is most likely not it for Tanashi's case...This is only natural. After all, my aunt does not know of the existence of that piece of 'Curse Miyoko Tanashi' paper. But I cannot tell her as well. Telling her would lead to me admitting that we are the ones rummaging through the offering box......In other words, I am not able to tell anyone that someone is using this 'Curse' because they clearly want to attack Tanashi...

 

......It felt like even this went as that fifty-thousand-yen person had planned, which felt extremely creepy. There was no doubt that we were...dancing on the palm of someone else's hand ever since that very day. Depending on how I think about it, this someone is even scarier than something like the deity of Curses, 'The Bone'; Something whose existence is uncertain. After all, this someone exists for sure and is, probably, in the same school as us.

 

"Yeap. That is why Tomohiro should also tell me if you hear any rumors about Tanashi."

 

"...Does that mean......even the police have started investigating?"

 

"Yes, about the incident where someone entered Tanashi's home. But I did not hear of any suspicious traces being left behind. It is just that some pretty bad things have been happening in Tanashi's neighborhood, so it looks like they are investigating if it's related."

 

"......To bully Tanashi, someone secretly entered her house and pulled a nasty prank......?"

 

"The very first blackboard scribbling incident, do you remember it?"

 

"U-......Uh-huh."

 

The subject of the conversation changed all of a sudden. I was startled, as I did not have the time to prepare myself.

 

"If a student were the cause of the incident, they'd have had to go out of their way to wake up and commute to school early in the morning just to scribble those words......If they're a culprit who doesn't mind such inconveniences, it sure is not unthinkable that they went out of their way to go to Tanashi's house, scaled the rain gutter, entered through the window on the second floor, which was not locked, and scattered the bones......"

 

"A prank that went overboard, perhaps......"

 

"Is what I hope. But I think it strays a little too far from one. If it was an act that took place in a school, an environment where people must commute to for compulsory education, then it is possible to see it as an act done in passing. But, when I consider that they went through the trouble of going to Tanashi's house, I feel like they harbor quite a clear malice towards Tanashi."

 

......A perceptive deduction, which was very much like my aunt, who managed to make several deductions that were mostly spot-on, even though she did not see the blackboard scribbles in person.

 

Although my aunt should have no knowledge of that piece of 'Curse Tanashi' paper, she is beginning to catch on to the fact that there is an existence that bears ill will against Tanashi...

 

"Did Tanashi have some kind of problem with her friends?"

 

"I-I'm telling you that I don't know because our class is different."

 

"According to the station officer Tanashi consulted, it seems like she had quite a harsh personality. They even said that, although it was slightly biased, she gave off an air that felt like she had many enemies. It feels like the key lies in a group of the same gender or something, which is at odds with her. Did Tanashi get in a fight with someone recently, or did you hear about something troubling her?"

 

"T-That's why I'm telling you our class is different, so I don't know..."

 

Although I said that...I was noting down what my aunt was saying in my head.

 

Someone, who is at odds with Tanashi, plotted to take advantage of the 'Curse of The Bone' to get back at Tanashi(?). This individual then saw through the 'Curse of The Bone', the made-up ghost story we created with the donation money in mind......They then indirectly enticed us to make Tanashi the scapegoat of bullying by having the 'Curse of The Bone' befall her...

 

Does this mean that this someone was the one pulling all those exaggerated pranks recently? ...No, that's weird. In the first place, if they were that capable, they would not appeal to the 'Curse of The Bone' indirectly. They would have been able to materialize the 'Curse' through their own abilities and make Tanashi the scapegoat without paying fifty thousand yen. I can also see this as proof that that individual had no other means of attack other than to 'request' us to do it...

 

In that case...who was the one behind the incident where bones were stuffed into Tanashi's bag without anyone touching it, and the one where someone sneaked into Tanashi's house, which no one should have entered, and scattered bones in Tanashi's room?

 

............This is an eccentric person who would offer fifty thousand yen to plead with a deity to curse someone...Did this person pay someone to request them to bring the 'Curse of The Bone' down upon Tanashi...? But is such a thing realistically possible? Wouldn't it be pretty bad if a teacher found out that they helped out in the bullying because they received money? Their academic report would surely be affected should they get found out during this period. (That is to say that we are not safe as well...)

 

I only have to think about it in reverse.

Is there anyone who would do it if they were told, "I will pay you tens of thousands in yen, so please sneak into the house of a girl in another class and scatter the bones"? .........No way there was anyone! Unlawful entry is a crime. Should one blunder it and get found out, not only would their academic report be affected, they would also be apprehended immediately, and their life would go to waste. One would turn it down no matter the amount; On the contrary, they would despise it, thinking it was suspicious that they were being tempted with such a large sum of money......Thinking about it from a boy’s perspective, no one would accept it, no matter the amount. Then it goes back to the question—what kind of person would sneak into Tanashi's locked house and scatter the bones? This person also successfully pulled off the 'Curse' on Tanashi's bag, which no one should have had the opportunity to do, without anyone noticing......Impossible. There is no way someone could pull that off, nor would anyone accept it! So, if no one can pull it off, it is back to why those incidents keep happening around Tanashi. If that is the case.........the answer I arrive at—they are not someone from the school, but someone who is a part of the school—a confusing answer. There is no way that someone who is not from the school would be in school......However, that existence is pulling off those impossible 'Curses', one after another, on Tanashi......This is not something a human can do. Indeed. It is literally impossible for anyone but the 'Curse of The Bone'......?

 

"Assuming that there's a group who is at odds with Tanashi, I think their only aim is bullying, so it is doubtful that they'd imitate a burglary on an empty house."

 

"That's true. That's a little too overboard for a prank after all."

 

"Then, who's the culprit?"

 

".........Who knows."

 

Only inexperienced middle schoolers would believe in something like curses...There is no doubt that an adult like Aunt Yuka would calmly laugh off something like the 'Curse of The Bone'. I was expecting this when I asked that question.

 

"It might really be that 'Curse of The Bone'."

 

"Eh!?"

 

My aunt cackled when she heard my hysterical voice.

 

 

 

I could not sleep that night as I was anxious.

 

The 'Curse of The Bone' had completely left our hands. Not only was it walking on its own, but someone who was skillfully taking advantage of it had even appeared. What's more, we were their accomplice, so we were not unrelated......However, this does not mean......we have helped out with some sort of crime. The police will probably know the culprit soon after if they did a proper investigation into the Tanashi house break-in, and we can most likely prove that we could not have committed the burglary at that time.

 

I would hesitate for a second when I was asked if I had an alibi, but it is true that I did not go to Tanashi's house, so there is no problem...In the first place, the three of us do not even know where Tanashi's house is.

 

.........I even suspected that Tanashi, who was brooding over her bullying, might have done it herself and was playing the victim. Nothing would happen if she consulted a teacher, so she scattered bones in her own house to fabricate an unlawful entry so as to prompt the police to intervene in the bullying. However, this is probably meaningless. There is no doubt that her fabrication will be busted if the police thoroughly investigate the fingerprints and the like. That is, even if she asserts, "The perpetrator must have worn gloves!" when no fingerprints are found. Some kind of trace would surely be left behind. The police are not so inept that they are not able to find that trace. Tanashi did not seem like a dumb girl. She did not look like the type who would believe that her fabrication would not be busted. She would involve her parents and the school if she called the police. She would not be able to keep the situation a secret then. No, perhaps she was even prepared for that, calling the police while factoring in that she would get found out eventually. By doing this, she wanted to bring the bullying situation to the school's attention or something......

 

The hands of the clock already indicated that it was dead of night, but I was not sleepy at all. I spent such a long time that night thinking about the 'Curse of The Bone', swirling with Tanashi at its center, that I had no idea when I slept.

 

.........I meant to think about it calmly, but I might have wanted to reject the existence of the 'Curse of The Bone'. Maybe I wanted to assume that it was someone's prank or Tanashi's own doing because I didn't want to believe that a curse actually existed, and it managed to pull off a prank that was impossible for a human.

That's right, even that cursed letter was written by someone at school. That someone is no doubt human. We, the ones who read it, are also humans. The target, Tanashi, is also human. Also, the ones who took advantage of the curse after that and did it time and again are all human......There is no room for the 'Curse of The Bone' to force itself in......No......was it about......the real 'Curse of The Bone'...being mixed in with the pranks played by those people again...? Is the unlawful entry into Tanashi's house someone's prank gone overboard, the doing of Tanashi who was brooding over the bullying......or......is it really...?

 

There I was, unable to drive away the uneasiness that had enveloped my heart even as the time ticked by...

 

 

 

Monday morning, the regular assembly in the gymnasium. It usually ends after the principal's speech, but it does not today as the school guidance teacher gets up on stage.

 

They informed us that a certain student is getting bullied persistently in the name of the 'Curse of The Bone', and called for those who are helping out to stop immediately.

 

The entire gymnasium is filled with whispers. It seems like talk about the curse surrounding Tanashi has spread to the entire school. No, rather than a curse, the right way to put it is that it is persistent bullying using a curse as an excuse.

 

"......It's still going on? ...They're annoyingly persistent."

 

"I hear the police are investigating, you know."

 

"Uh-huh, uh-huh! I heard that the police were asking people about the situation at the school gate!"

 

"But is it really a person's doing...? Didn't the rumors say that there were those that were clearly impossible for a person?"

 

It seems like it was around this time that Hiroyuki and Tooru started to feel that the 'Curse of The Bone' was already starting to go beyond that of a prank. The prank to earn some pocket money from a little offering money has now become synonymous with the persistent bullying of a girl called Tanashi...............It is also becoming so abnormal that people are spreading rumors about whether it might actually be a 'Curse'.

 

We gradually started to consciously avoid talking about 'The Bone'. Even so, curses are a hot topic in our class, so we were not able to pass even a single day without hearing about the 'Curse of The Bone'... We were now unable to do anything, unable to even predict what would happen next, so we merely passed our days idly. This unbearable feeling would subside a little if Tanashi's bullying died down, but......Tanashi's bullying showed no signs of stopping. Tanashi, the bullied, became even more sensitive and hysterical than ever, suspecting anyone who would get close to her, so no one sympathized with her, and that seems to be one of the reasons for her prolonged bullying.

 

It had been about a month since we received that cursed letter.

 

Rather than die down, it seems like the nature of Tanashi's bullying has gotten nastier. According to what I heard, it seems to now be—wearing a skull mask, beating her, and running away—rather than a prank, it already leans on the side of violence.

 

The faculty does go into an uproar whenever it occurs, but finding the culprit is useless. Everyone is the culprit. Everyone is more or less guilty of helping out in this bullying. Tanashi's bullying would probably not die down even if the culprit was caught for a specific incident......The person who was caught was careless; It would only end at that. 

 

The true culprit of the bullying is not the people...but the environment. The more the faculty goes on about how bullying is bad, the more meaning Tanashi's bullying holds as catharsis against society. As a victim of academic meritocracy, it is easy for any middle school third-year to come to view society in a negative light......This might be due to this coinciding with the odd period of a student's puberty and their rebellious phase...Puberty and one's rebellious phase are most likely at fault for their dissatisfaction with the inconsiderate education system for demanding them to choose their future education path during such a nerve-wracking period...

 

I said that the culprit is not the people but the environment, but......the environment can also be interpreted as the 'Curse'. The true culprit is this very environment where students are being 'cursed' by 'The Bone'. In other words, the culprit is 'The Bone'. It has no actual body, so it cannot be caught, nor can it be eliminated. For an existence that does not exist to be the culprit—is there any phenomenon as ridiculous as this one? And is there anything we can do to erase this curse that has grown to such a scale............We could not think of anything, no matter how hard we tried. Even so, we were blessed: we had the leeway to brood over it. After all, at this very moment, while we were doing this, Tanashi was most likely under some sort of attack.........

 

We could not predict when that fateful day would arrive, so we could do nothing but wait.

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