mamoritai | f. megumi

二十五 x 7k special reads

"June in Morioka, Taichi Kanada"

"August in Yokohama, Osamu Shimida"

"September in Nagoya, Hiroshi Yamato. Their cause of death is the same. They were killed by a cursed spirit at their apartment entrance. And they complained about the same thing to their management weeks before their death. 'The auto lock door is not functioning'. But the other residents did not have the same problem."

Nobara, Megumi and Yuji sat on the back seat while Momoka sat on the passenger's seat besides Nitta, her hands placed on top of her lap while she listened intently on the report.

"The dates and locations are different." Megumi pointed out.

"The cursed spirit is moving city per city but in a stretch." Momoka chimes in, back leaning on her seat. "To be precise, it seems to be attacking apartment residents."

"Correct." Nitta says

"Could this be done by the same cursed spirit?" Megumi asks

"Hey" Yuji spoke, "Is the cursed spirit related to the auto lock doors?" He asks. "Can cursed spirits get caught by the door sensor? I remember that they are invisible on camera."

"It's not the sensor." Nitta responded, looking at Yuji through the mirror, "It seems like the door operator system was affected by the cursed spirit."

"I see." Yuji hums

"We can't determine if the incidents done by the same cursed spirit based on the residuals since the incidents happened a while back." Nitta spoke, "So I looked for similar cases that are connected to the three. They all attended the same junior high for two years."

"Same junior high?" Momoka asks, racking her brain for an idea. "What could be that one school they could have attended?" She asks, looking up at the ceiling of the car. "Tokyo to Yokohama are a bit close but Nagoya and Morioka? It'd take you an hour to get to either by plane."

"That just means they could possibly be cursed back then" Nobara says, "but why take years for it to manifest?"

"You're right!" Yuji gasps

"Yes, that's possible." Nitta says, looking at Nobara through the mirror. "That's why they're going to their junior high to speak to the victim's common acquaintance."

Momoka sighs, tilting her head a little. "I'm really curious about the school those victims attended instead of worrying about the cursed spirit."

As Momoka was really curious about the common school the three victims attended, satisfaction finally brought the answer to her. And much to her surprise, it was a location that she did not expect, so upon setting foot back to Saitama Urami East Junior High, her mind began to float different memories inside her head.

"I talked to the victims' parents, but they were unsure of his relationship to the other victims." Nitta says, walking ahead with Yuji and Nobara, whereas Momoka was a little trudging from behind, a little embarrassed for going back to their old school.

"You okay?" Megumi asks, Momoka's duffel bag filled with weapons slinging on his shoulder, eyeing the girl up and down. "Do you have your head down because were back in this school?"

Momoka nodded her head slowly. "I'm a little embarrassed." She admits, "I hope none of the staffs remember us."

Megumi smiles, chuckling a little as he wraps an arm around Momoka's shoulder. "I doubt that." He spoke, "But I hope when they see us, they don't ask us how we are now."