Hyakki Yakkou || A Collection of Mildly Interesting Ghost Stories

Tale 1 • Ame Onna...?

A pale hand stuck out from under a peculiar umbrella.

"Today, too, the rain is calm~..."

—

"It's always raining here." The young girl sighed. During the titular rainy season, she and her friends barely got to play together. On occasion they were granted the opportunity to play outside, but never at the same time.

Today, she was allowed outside in the rain, but under the condition she was not to stray too far from the house.

"If the rain picks up again, I don't want you getting trapped outside. The last thing you need is to get sick!" Her mother warned. She pulled on her raincoat and boots, tugging her hood on. "Be back by lunchtime!" Her mother called out to the girl as she ran outside.

The streets were empty, the rain leaving a gentle mist across the pavement. The girl splashed in the puddles, stomping and giggling to herself. Running along the street, she hummed. "Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day!"

Although she was outside, finally, she was alone. The streets were completely empty and no one was around to play with her. Down the street from her home was a small playground her and her friends would inhabit when the sun was out, surely someone would be there to play with her! The girl skipped down the street and made her way to the playground.

When she arrived, she discovered the playground was just as barren. It looked as if nothing had been touched in days! She sighed and sat herself down on the bench, not caring if her bottom were to get wet from the rain pooling on the wood.

She hung her head, staring at her reflection in the puddle.

"Rain, rain, go away... Come again another day."

"'Go away'~? But I just got here~..."

The girl jumped and looked up. A man stood before her. He was clad in garments appropriate for the weather, along with a peculiar umbrella. Despite being dressed to prevent getting wet, he was soaked. The girl noticed his hair was actively dripping with water.

"Who are you?"

"Me~? Who am I~? Hmm~... Who am I~?" The man hummed, pressing a finger to his lips in thought. "To put it simply," He smiled, "I'm the rain~!" Every sentence he spoke was almost like a tune.

"You're the rain?" The man nodded. "But you're a person!"

"Maybe~... Who knows~! What I do know is I'm the rain~ You looked upset~... Is it because of me~?"

"Well... No, it's because none of my friends are out here to play with me. No one is out here! It's like everyone is scared of the rain."

"Scared of me~? I'm not scary, am I~?" The man turned, bringing his hand to eye level, speaking to two frogs that sat calmly on his palm. One frog croaked while the other remained silent. "That's kind of mean~..."

"Uh... Sorry to hurt your feelings, then."

"But hey, listen~! If you want someone to play with, I can play with you~!" The man tucked the frogs back into his pocket and held his hand out to the girl. "I'm really great at hide and seek~!"

"My mom told me not to play with strange men, though."

Again, the man turned looking a bit downtrodden. "Strange~? Am I strange~?" He mumbled to himself.

The girl felt bad for him. He was obviously trying his best to cheer her up. "Maybe one game of hide and seek won't be that bad."

The man perked up, "Really~? Oh, boy~! I'll hide, you count to 10 and come find me, okay~? No peeking, though~! Ready~? Go~!"

The girl covered her eyes with her hands and began to count down.

1... Thunder roared in the sky.

2... She felt a strange presence behind her. As if someone was watching.

3... A sudden breeze pulled her hood from her head, but she dare not open her eyes.

4... The wind swirled around her, she heard fallen leaves being dragged across the pavement.

5... Something heavier than leaves was dragged across the pavement, too. Right in front of her. Still, she didn't open her eyes.

6... The rain began to come down harder.

7... She opted to clutch her hands to her face, she wouldn't peek.

8... Behind her, she heard whispers. The voices almost sounded like her friends.

9... ...

"There you are!"

"Mom!"

She tore her hands away from her face and stood up, "There you are! I thought I told you not to wander too far! Looks like the rain has picked up now, come on, come inside."

"But what about that man?"

"What man? Haven't I told you not to talk to strangers? We'll talk about this once we're inside." The girl nodded and followed her mother back home, the strange man was nowhere to be seen.

As the girl lay in bed that night, the rain still padded gently at her windows. Her mother tucked her in, gave her a goodnight kiss, and let her be. She looked out the window and sighed. "I wonder what happened to that man. Maybe he really was the rain..." She rolled over and closed her eyes. Just as she did, she felt something drip onto her nose. When she opened her eyes again, clinging to the ceiling was the man from before, smiling down at her.

"Found you."

—

'Reports are saying the child, Aiko Fujiwara, age 11, was stolen from her bed after her mother tucked her in for the night. Authorities are advising parents to keep their children indoors and ensure all windows and doors are locked when not in use.'

"Sounds pretty serious to me~" Kisetsu hummed, peering at a TV in a storefront window. He shook his head and began his morning stroll. "Hm~... It seems today too, the rain is calm~! Isn't that right, Aiko~?" The man hummed, lifting his frog friends out of his pocket. A third frog sat clamored about on his palm, distressed. "Let's go~. We didn't get to finish our game~."