"Hey, have you heard the rumor?" Amae started, out of absolutely nowhere today. "They say if you go to the third stall… of the third-floor girls' toilet… and knock three times saying… 'Hanako… Hanako… Hanako…' then a ghost boy will appear and drag you in. And you'll never be found again!"
He wiggled his fingers in the air like some cartoon villain, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "Isn't that scary, Kyo?"
He'd actually told me this exact same legend back in middle school. Only difference was, back then, the Hanako ghost was a girl. "Hang on," I said, trying to remember if I was getting it wrong or if the legend had pulled a switcheroo. "Wasn't Hanako a girl in the original rumor?"
"Come to think of it…" Amae put a hand on his chin, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. He always did that when he was mentally flipping through his internal encyclopedia of completely useless knowledge. "Yeah, you're right. It was a girl before."
So, I wasn't misremembering. But how did the legend evolve like that? How did Hanako go from a ghostly girl to a ghostly boy?
What was I even thinking? This wasn't very me at all. I was straying from my core principle: never do anything unnecessary. This had to be their fault. Their… enthusiasm… was rubbing off on me.
No, no, I won't let it happen! But still… that little itch of curiosity…p
"So, how did the Hanako legend change from a girl to a boy?" I finally blurted out. The second the words left my mouth, the heat of curiosity cooled a bit. I felt… relaxed, but also a little broken. My precious principle… shattered.
Amae flinched back so dramatically you'd think he'd actually seen a ghost.
"What?!"
What 'what'? It was a normal question! This hypocrite was acting like I'd just sprouted a second head.
He started shaking me by the shoulders, like he was trying to confirm I was still breathing. "Kyo? Are you feeling okay? Are you sick?"
Just then, the door slid open with a thwack. It was Misaki, our sole female member. "Sorry I'm late—" She stopped dead in her tracks. From her angle, with Amae practically draped over me, it probably looked like he was… well, about to kiss me.
Her face went beet red, and she slammed the door shut. "Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt! Carry on, I'll come back later!"
Amae instantly stopped his frantic shaking and scrambled after her. "Hey, wait! This is a huge misunderstanding!"
After a very long, very flustered explanation from Amae about what actually just happened (and a lot of emphatic declarations that he was definitely not gay), things finally settled down.
"So, that's pretty much what happened," Amae finished, still a little breathless.
"Oh, I see," Misaki said, a small smile playing on her lips. "I believe you. And, you know, you shouldn't hide it if you were… you know? Unique or different from us." She was surprisingly accepting about the whole thing.
By then, I'd successfully wasted another thirty minutes. Only an hour and a half left before I could finally escape to the sweet, sweet embrace of home.
I still couldn't believe it had already been a month since I'd been roped into this club. My daily routine was depressingly consistent: show up, claim my corner seat by the window, bury my nose in a manga or light novel while those two chattered away about whatever random thought popped into their heads. They'd definitely gotten closer, those two.
"Guys! You too, Kyo! Come listen!"
Whoa. Misaki actually called out to me. She looked… serious. Like, actually serious about something. This was new.
"We need to do something," she announced, "to show our advisor that our club isn't just a useless room with a couple of students doing absolutely nothing."
Sounded like a pretty accurate description to me, honestly. For this entire month, all we'd done was show up, sit, chit-chat, and then go home.
"So," I said, figuring she must have some grand plan brewing, given her usual leader-ish vibe, "what do you suggest we do instead to make us seem less… useless?"
She looked me dead in the eye, her face a mask of confident determination, and said, "I have no idea."
Okay, I officially took back my internal monologue. She was definitely not the leader type.
Amae, however, shot up from his seat, planting his hands on his hips like he owned the place. "I know!" he declared. "Let's investigate that Hanako legend that's been making the rounds again!"
Oh, great. Just great. Now I was actually going to have to do something.
"I went through all the articles on the Classic Mystery website," Amae continued, "and they actually have an old article on Hanako."
I'd never once even glanced at that website, so I just nodded along, trying to look like I vaguely remembered the details.
"It was from about six years ago…" Amae trailed off.
Seriously? Now we have to delve into ancient history too?
"...they found out that the rumor back then was actually started by teachers who were fed up with girls constantly going to the toilet during every single period."
Okay, that actually made a weird kind of sense. Using a spooky legend to control student behavior? Classic teacher move.
"So," Amae announced, "we'll investigate why it's spreading this time!"
Alright, I knew arguing with him when he got like this was about as effective as trying to teach quantum mechanics to a particularly stubborn cow.
And, to make matters worse, Misaki looked super into the idea. "Let's start right away! Third-floor girls' toilet, here we come!"
And just like that, the three of us were off.
Lucky for me, it was on the third floor, and our clubroom was on the second, so it wasn't that far…
As we were walking towards the stairs, a horrifying realization dawned on me. This building… didn't have a third floor.
"Kyo," Amae said, a knowing smirk on his face, "I know what you're thinking."
That meant I'd have to go all the way downstairs, then trudge over to the next building, and then climb all the way up to their third floor. I was mentally sobbing.
"Sadly for you, yes," Amae continued, clearly enjoying my pain. "We need to go to the building next to this one for the third floor."
Time skip of agonizing, unnecessary walking…
We were finally there. But wait a minute… this was the girls' toilet. How were we supposed to go in?
"We're here!" Amae declared triumphantly.
"Hey, hold on," I said, "this is the girls' toilet. We can't just waltz in." Amae seemed to have completely overlooked this rather important fact.
"Don't worry," Amae replied, waving a dismissive hand. "The third floor is practically abandoned. No one will see us."
"Okay, fine," I grumbled. "But if we get caught, you're taking the blame."
We slipped into the bathroom. It was eerily quiet. We found ourselves standing in front of the infamous third stall.
"Misaki, you do it," Amae said, nudging her forward.
"Okay," Misaki whispered, her voice a little shaky. "But I'm kinda scared." So much for her brave declaration earlier.
"Don't worry!" Amae puffed out his chest. "Me and Kyo are here! If that Hanako ghost boy shows up, we'll beat the crap out of him!"
Yeah, I wouldn't go that far to encourage someone. And if a ghost did appear, I'd probably be the first one sprinting for the exit. So no, it was just Amae on bodyguard duty, not me.
She took a deep breath and performed the ritual, just like the legend said.
Knock… knock… knock…
"Hanako… Hanako… Hanako…"
"Are you in there?.."
…Silence…
Then, a low, ghostly voice whispered from right behind us… "Helllooo there…"
Ghosts don't exist, ghosts don't exist, I chanted silently to myself.
"Misaki," Amae hissed, "turn around when I say three! One… Two… Three!"
We spun around, only to see Amae, phone in hand, struggling to hold back a snort of laughter. He burst out laughing. "Haha! You two looked so scared!"
Misaki and I, in perfect synchronization, both punched him lightly on the head.
"So now," Misaki said, stepping forward, "let's open this thing and have a look inside." She pulled the stall door open.
The inside looked… pretty normal, actually. Or rather, pretty dirty. There were crumpled juice cans, some loose strands of hair, a bit of mud, and a few tiny, unbranded plastic pouches that I didn't recognize. The smell wasn't exactly pleasant either.
"Looks pretty gross to me," Amae commented, peering in from a safe distance. He clearly wasn't keen on getting any closer, probably because of the smell.
I, however, stepped in, ignoring their stares. I picked up one of those tiny, unbranded plastic pouches. It looked… suspicious. I brought it closer and sniffed it. It had a strong, sharp smell. Not exactly pleasant, but… weirdly, I wanted to smell it again. My brain was sending out these strange little signals, wanting more of whatever that scent was. This definitely seemed addictive.
"Hey, Kyo, are your screws loose today or something?" Amae said, wrinkling his nose. "Stop sniffing trash from the toilet!" Misaki just looked confused, clearly having no idea what I was up to.
"I've already figured it out," I announced, my voice suddenly loud and confident. As I said it, I saw a flicker of understanding, a little lightbulb moment, in Misaki's eyes. She'd been quiet for a while. Amae, on the other hand, just looked suspicious, probably because he wanted to be the one to crack the case.
"How so, if I may ask?" Amae challenged, the look on his face clearly saying he couldn't believe I'd figured it out before him. He'd been like that for a while now, always trying to one-up me.
"This packet here," I said, holding it up. "It doesn't have any labeling. So, it's not just some candy wrapper an irresponsible student tossed. It's a small, transparent packet. I've never seen packaging like this anywhere else, not just littered around. And I doubt it's some local sweet, because if it was, Amae here, with his obsession with sweets and chocolates, would have recognized it instantly." I paused, letting that sink in. "That leaves only one possibility. This isn't a sweet, and it's not a local product from any shop. So, what is it?" I let my gaze drift around the grimy stall. "Why did I like the smell, even though it wasn't pleasant? Why did I want more? This packet, sitting in my hand, all dirty…" Then it hit me. "Could this be… a narcotic substance? I can't think of anything else it could be."
"Amae, Misaki," I said, my voice dropping a little. "What I'm about to say is… sensitive. I'm warning you."
Misaki leaned in, eagerly waiting for me to spill the beans. Amae just lounged against the stall, that usual smirk playing on his lips, though his eyes were sharp.
I held the pause for a beat, because I wasn't entirely sure, but I had to say what I thought it was.
"This is…"
"...Drugs."