Epi.4-1: Let’s Live in the Abandoned House

One day, Misaki was in a room on the second floor of the abandoned house.

It was a room that felt oddly mismatched and strange, as if leftover building materials had been gathered together.

The room had been cleaned neatly, and a small folding table and a small floor chair sat there.
Leaning back against that floor chair, Misaki quietly drank her sake.

“…I’ve never seen such a clean room before.”

With her eyes shining, Shinobu spoke to her.

For Shinobu—who had only ever known the desolate scenery of the abandoned house—it was a sight she wasn’t used to seeing.
The folding table and the fabric-covered floor chair were both things she was seeing for the first time.

“…I’m really tired already.”

Misaki dropped her shoulders weakly and murmured with a sigh.

This room was a place the three of them had stumbled upon by chance.
For some reason, the electricity worked here, and across the hallway there were a bath and a toilet, with running water as well.
Everything necessary for a minimal living was available.

“But, you know, Misaki-san—you’re not good with ghosts and stuff, right? Have you gotten used to it yet?”

Floating in midair with an impish smile, Sayuri sat cross-legged and spoke to her.

“I’m not used to it… but if I can just see them, I look away… and if I talk to them, well… I guess I can manage somehow.”

Lifting her glass to her lips, Misaki answered somewhat vaguely.
Then she glanced toward the door.

“…Hey. Other ghosts… they don’t come into this room or anything… right?”

“Hm, I think it’s probably fine. I mean, I think only me and Shinobu can open the door?
Sometimes there’s a ghost I haven’t seen before, but… I’ve never seen them opening the door or anything.”

Sayuri answered while drifting in the air, as if recalling something.

“…Wait—if they are coming in, doesn’t that mean they’re opening something to get in?
I mean… can ghosts… slip through walls…?”

Misaki’s glass stopped dead in midair.

“Hm… I dunno!

But, you know, even I can’t phase through the walls in this abandoned house. I think the other ghosts probably can’t either.

If it’s a door that gets pushed open by the wind, there might be a ghost who comes in, but a door like this one—where you have to turn the doorknob and open it… I think most ghosts probably can’t do something that bothersome.”
Misaki kept staring at Sayuri with a stunned expression.
It was the kind of face that said, “The ‘probably’ is what scares me the most.”

“But, you know, I’ll tell the supernatural beings we usually see not to scare Misaki-san, so don’t worry!”

After saying that, Sayuri descended smoothly to the floor and sat in seiza.

“And, you know… is it okay if we stay in this room too?”

Noticing that, Shinobu also hurried a little and sat in seiza beside her.

“…Don’t do that. This was your place to begin with. You can do whatever you want.”

Misaki looked at the two of them and let her lips soften just a little.
Misaki, who let a small smile soften her face, and the two who seemed relieved and happy.

At that moment—

Tok.

A single dry sound, as if something tapped the door, echoed through the room.

Sayuri didn’t seem to pay it any attention, but Misaki and Shinobu froze instantly, staring at the door with tense expressions.