Let's Dance with Ghost Stories, and You Dance on the Stairs Chapter 11

Chapter 11

An Accident, An Incident, or An Expected Outcome

TLed by: TanoshiKara

It had been raining since the early morning of that day. This kind of downpour tended to go on for ages. It would most likely not let up even after school. Even when it came time for lunch break, the sky was covered with dark, lead-colored clouds, and the rain fell as if it would never let up ever since morning.

 

It was not like the classroom was silent because it was raining, though. As students did not need to go outside due to the rain, there were a lot more students in the classroom as compared to a sunny day, making it even more lively.

 

It was about time for the chime, indicating the end of lunch break, to sound... It was at such a time. A group of students suddenly started making a fuss as they ran out to the corridor.

 

What is it?, the students, curious onlookers, said as they followed suit.

 

"What is up?"

 

"......Let's go take a look...!"

 

We also went out to the corridor. We then noticed that the students from the other classes also came out to the corridor and were gathered in front of the window.

 

We can see something, right?, or so we said as we pushed through the sea of people and tried to take a peek...

 

The corridor's window faced the back of the school. The back had an incinerator, a PE storeroom, and a prefab, two-story school building that was awaiting demolition.

 

It seems like it was a temporary school building built due to the renovation works the school underwent long ago, which left some of the classrooms unusable. After the renovation, it became a temporary storage room for sports festival and cultural festival decorations for a short while, but it is set to be demolished next summer break. A studentless school building. Entry into the building is now forbidden, and its external stairway is cordoned off with ropes, preventing people from climbing them.

 

Gathered in front of that prefab school building were around four to five teachers, each paying no mind that they would get drenched in the rain......From what I could see, the atmosphere over there was not normal. Something terrible had happened.

 

"What in the world happened? Can't get a proper look..."

 

"The trees are in the way!"

 

It seems like the teachers were gathered around the external stairway at the back of the prefab building. However, the trees near the external stairway blocked the view, so we could not get a proper look.

 

The PE teacher was yelling at us...It felt like they were commanding us to return to our classrooms.

 

I do not know whether something has happened. However, it seems like something happened near the back of the prefab school building's external stairway leading up to the second floor......

 

The head of the year's loud voice echoed throughout the corridor soon after.

 

"Shut the windows! Back to your classrooms, everyoneeeeee!!!"

 

" "Teacherrr, teacherrr!! What happeneddd!?" "

 

"Look here! Just get back to your classroom!! Hey, hurry up and get back innnnnn!!!"

 

In the end, we were chased out of the corridor and back into our classrooms, clueless as to what in the world happened.

 

"...What in the world happened? An accident? Someone got injured?"

 

"Looks like something happened near the external stairway of the prefab building."

 

"I know something like that just by looking! Damn, the trees are in the way..."

 

The classroom eventually got noisy again.

 

......What is it now?, the students said as they gathered at the window facing the schoolyard.

 

They probably could not hear the sound as it was raining. An ambulance arrived and stopped in front of the school gate.

 

A teacher, who teaches another year, and the vice principal went to meet with the medics. They then headed together with the medics, who were carrying a stretcher, to the back of the school.

 

"Someone got injured? Was it a serious injury?"

 

"There's a rumor that the rainwater on the prefab school building’s external stairway caused someone to slip and fall off; this even caused them to get a fracture..."

 

A questionable rumor, but it was the most plausible deduction when considering the situation.

 

Just then, the door slowly slid open, so, thinking that the teacher had come, the entire class went dead silent for a second......However, it was just a student who returned after visiting another class, so the class became lively once again. That student whispered something to their friends, which caused a stir. That stir started to spread to the entire class soon after...

 

"......What is it?"

 

"Seems like it was a girl in B-class that got into the accident...! It's her, it seems! ...Her!"

 

There is only one name from B-class the three of us knew that is a girl's.

 

Lunch break has ended, and the time now is one when it is not weird for the teacher to come at any moment. All the students are in their seats. Therefore, the seat of the student who got into an accident should be empty. That is why the student's name spread like wildfire.

 

"You're kidding...... Are you serious...!!"

 

"I'm not just serious; I'm dead serious! There's one hell of a commotion in B-class!!"

 

The person who got into an accident was Miyoko Tanashi. It is a given that even our entire class knew that Tanashi had been targeted with formless, persistent bullying in the name of 'Curse of The Bone'. That was why everyone murmured, wondering whether this accident was also due to the 'Curse of The Bone'.

 

The teacher teaching the first afternoon class eventually arrived. They were a lot later than the time they would usually come. There was no doubt that there had been an emergency faculty meeting.

 

"Teacher, has something like an accident happened?" Someone asked.

 

"It seems like an accident occurred during lunch break." The teacher said while choosing their words carefully.

 

"Who!?"

 

"What kind of accident!?"

 

"Did the person die!?"

 

The questions came one after another.

 

"It seems like a third-year girl. I heard that she fell from the prefab school building's stairway and got seriously wounded. Listen here, everyone! The external stairway of the prefab school building is off-limits! There should be signs that say you cannot climb them and ropes that cordon them off. Be sure to abide by the rules!"

 

It seems like there was no mistake that Tanashi climbed up the stairway of the off-limits prefab school building and fell. The murmurs in the class got louder again. The teacher tried to get the class to pipe down by raising their voice, but the murmurs got even louder...

 

During the break time after the first afternoon class ended, there was a widespread exchange of information between the other classes. We were then able to grasp, albeit vaguely, the sequence of events that led to Tanashi's accident.

 

After Tanashi ate her meal, she went outside despite the rain and headed to the prefab school building at the back of the school. She then climbed up the external stairway to the landing on the second floor and fell from there or tumbled down from there and was seriously wounded.

 

It is from there that there are two theories: she either fell straight down or tumbled down the stairway before falling off. Either way, seeing as even an ambulance came, she did not come out of it with a light injury.

 

"............What does this mean...?"

 

"What they said......an accident, right? Ain't it cause it's slippery due to the rain...?"

 

"No, not about that......Wasn't Tanashi extremely reluctant to leave her seat as she didn't want to get pranked? Why would she go out of her way, during this rain, to head to the prefab building of all places?"

 

"...Now that you mentioned it......It is weird..."

 

The entire prefab school building is locked so no students can enter it. This is why no one can use it as a shelter from the rain. It is the same for the external stairway; No one can escape from the dripping of rainwater even if they go to the back of the stairway. Much less ascend the stairway where one would, literally, be exposed to the rain.

 

The prefab school building no one would get near during the rain; Ascending its stairway, alone... This situation was clearly odd......It would not be if there were stories of her going there, in the rain, during lunch break, as she enjoyed being drenched in the rain, but no one had heard anything like that. It was clearly odd.

 

The simplest explanation I could think of was............that she probably went there because someone called her to.

 

But, would someone really go out of their way to call her to the prefab school building, a place where they would get drenched in this rain? Weird, very weird...The situation is too odd......

 

Just then, the class got noisy again. It was the window facing the schoolyard. When we took a look, a patrol car had parked near the school gate with its light bar turned off, and around three police officers, wearing ponchos, rushed into the schoolyard......

 

"Eh......What is going on!? Was it not an accident...but an incident?"

 

"No, that has not been confirmed yet. The police are only here to examine the scene. In order to ascertain whether it was an accident or an incident."

 

"That so? After all, the police didn't come when a first-year tumbled down the stairways and got a compound fracture last year, you know?"

 

"......................................."

 

I did have a little insight as I heard some of the situation from Aunt Yuka. Tanashi confided in the police regarding the persistent bullying she faced......Also, even before that, the school had reported the blackboard scribbling incident to the police. In other words, the police have probably decided that they could not cross out the possibility that Tanashi's falling accident was an incident done in the name of the 'Curse of The Bone'.

 

.........The 'Curse of The Bone', the mere eighth of the school's Seven Mysteries, had finally grown into a matter that involved the police......Its curse caused a student to get so seriously injured that an ambulance was called.

 

I looked at Hiroyuki and Tooru.........The two of them, who were usually chatterboxes, had distanced themselves from the hustle and bustle; their mouths shut tight.

 

Seeing that made me certain that the two of them had the same thoughts as me. This time, the example I gave fit better as compared to the empty soda bottle example. When one released a baby crocodile that they kept for fun...it grew before they realized it and finally attacked people......

 

We had finally begun to feel responsible for neglecting the Curse Deity, called 'Curse of The Bone', when it was all too late.

 

Is Tanashi alright...? What happened to Tanashi in the first place? No...will it end with only Tanashi as the sacrifice...?

 

Ever since we created the 'Curse of The Bone'...the ominous predictions I made have all been right on the money......So the ominous prediction I have in my mind right now will also be right on the money. It will surely be right on the money.

 

Before I had realized it, the classroom had become silent. Only the voice of the teacher, who was reading the textbook out loud, and the calming sound of the rain could be heard...

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Feel free to comment/pm me if you find any mistakes. Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.