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V6 Story III – Part 03

I had a strange dream.

There was a ghost in the room.

A white ghost was sitting in the corner. The ghost was holding its stomach, looking sad. A melancholic aura emanated from its soft, round body.

I sat down next to the ghost and asked, “What’s making you sad?”

The ghost shook its head in response, not saying a word. It just held its stomach tightly and remained silent.

Then, I realized something.

Could it be that the ghost didn’t really need food?

What did the ghost eat today?

I couldn’t remember, so I looked towards the kitchen.

A witch’s cauldron was boiling.

I couldn’t describe it any other way. A purple liquid was boiling in the huge pot, giving off a strong, pungent smell. Someone was standing in front of the pot. The ghost hugged its knees, terrified. A black silhouette was slowly stirring the pot.

A giant tiger was roaring on its chest. A silly growl shook the air.

A closer look revealed the figure to be stirring the pot with a metal bat.

I shielded the ghost behind me. “Wh-Who are you?!”

I woke up to the sound of my own voice.

I froze, pointing at the ceiling. Blinking a few times, I sat up. I had a very strange dream. I tilted my head, trying to remember the incoherent images. It was a mystery why I shouted in real life.

Luckily, no one saw me.

The moment I thought that, my gaze met Yusuke’s.

“Uh… Odagiri-san, were you just talking to yourself?”

“What are you doing here?”

As I asked, I remembered what had happened before I fell asleep. Yusuke was supposed to cook dinner at my place. Scratching my head, I tried to come up with an excuse for my behavior, when my nose caught an odd smell.

“What the hell is that?!”

The room was filled with a chaotic, pungent smell.

I jumped to my feet. The sun was already setting outside the window. A low table was set up next to my futon, where a tightly-closed pot sat. The smell was coming from there. I reached out to open it, but Yusuke grabbed my hand.

“No peeking, Odagiri-san. You’ll ruin the fun.”

“Fun? That’s not an adjective you use to describe food!”

“Huh?” Yusuke cocked his head. “Isn’t a mystery hot pot supposed to be fun?”

I fell silent and looked at the pot. Then I turned my head and gave Yusuke a half-eyed stare.

“…What did you just say?”

“Wait, why do you look like you wanna kill me? I said it’s a mystery hot pot. I wanted to try it once, but there weren’t people to share it with. I know we’re supposed to each bring our own ingredients, but it didn’t seem possible with this group, so I prepared everything myself. Ow!”

I smacked Yusuke right on the head, grabbed his neck, and strangled him with all I had. He flailed about, tapping my hand, but I didn’t care.

“Give me back my pity!”

“Pity? Who, me? For what? I don’t even know how to react to that.”

“Shut your mouth and think about what you did!”

After punching Yusuke several times, I jumped onto the window and opened it. Dealing with the hazard could wait. The room had to be ventilated before the stench seeped into the walls. Fresh air blew in, but the smell wasn’t going away that easily.

I pressed my forehead. It was about time for Nanami and Aya to arrive.

“Odagiri-san,” came a voice from outside the door. “We’re here.”

“You there, Odagiri?”

I straightened my back. Yusuke started carrying tableware behind me. I ignored him and headed for the door. I had to explain the situation and send them back. They should understand once they caught a whiff of the air.

I grabbed the knob and opened the door. “Nanami-san, Aya-san.” I tried to sound tired. “I’m sorry, but…”

“Good evening,” Nanami greeted. “What is this smell?! Ah, I knew this would happen. I had my suspicions, but it looks worse than I imagined,” she muttered gravely.

She sniffed the air and frowned. Yusuke was lining up plates with a happy face.

He turned to us, and said, “The gang’s all here. Shall we begin? I’m turning off the lights.”

“Begin, my foot! Don’t touch the light switch, and don’t open the lid!” I warned.

The smell suggested something unspeakable in the dish.

Aya slipped inside through the gap in the door and went straight to the pot. She stood in front of the foul-smelling container, wearing a grave look.

What on earth is she doing?

She reached for the pot and lifted the lid.

A terrible smell wafted out.

“Hey, wait, you can’t open it yet!” Yusuke wailed.

“…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Aya took the ladle and lifted up the mushy liquid. I had no idea what Yusuke put in it, or if there was anything lurking inside. There was no need to even turn off the lights for it. Aya transferred the contents of the ladle onto a plate.

Splat.

It wasn’t a sound that food would make.

“Aya, wait!” I cried. “What are you planning to do with that poison?!”

“Stay away from that thing if you want to live,” Nanami warned.

“I only put edible stuff in it,” Yusuke said.

“Shut up! You know nothing about food combination or chemical reactions!”

Aya did not turn around. She grabbed the plate and gulped. She pressed a hand to her belly, wearing a pained look.

I saw the ghost in my dream in her. The ghost that looked sad.

“Aya, stop!”

I dashed over and snatched the plate out of Aya’s hand. She let out a yelp. She tried to get the plate back, using both her hands to grab mine. Suddenly, I remembered what happened at the riverbank. She tried to make me hold a knife. The current situation was similar, but different.

Aya flailed about, demanding the mysterious object.

I pushed her hands away. “Stop! Eating this poison will only make you sick!”

“Stop calling it poison! That’s just mean!” Yusuke protested.

“It’s not important, then!” Aya shouted back. “I can just eat it. Give it back!”

She wasn’t making any sense. I raised the plate way up high. Aya jumped up and down to reach it.

“Aya-san, you…” A quiet voice came from behind her.

Nanami was staring at Aya with her arms crossed, exuding an odd pressure. Her eyes, for some reason, were burning with fierce rage. Her pigtails seemed to rise.

Aya let out a small shriek. Tears formed in her eyes. But she didn’t give up.

Aya thrashed about even harder, hanging onto my arm. I almost fell over from her added weight. If my eyes stopped working now, it could get dangerous. Aya, however, showed no signs of calming down.

I had no other options. I prepared myself for the worst.

Pa?

The child in my belly whimpered in protest, but I had to do it.

I pressed the rim of the plate to my mouth. Enduring the foul odor, I chugged the contents all at once.

“Ah…”

All three of them gasped in unison. My throat convulsed.

As soon as the substance touched my tongue, my sense of taste mysteriously vanished. A liquid with an unusual viscosity flowed down my throat and into my stomach. I stood frozen in place, and my whole body trembled.

Seconds later, I collapsed.

---

I dreamed of the ghost again.

The white ghost was being scolded by a girl smaller than itself.

The ghost was crouched down, sobbing, shedding many tears.

“Why are you crying so much?” the girl asked the ghost.

“Because I’m not human,” the ghost answered.

The girl’s hair billowed. Wearing a much scarier expression than the ghost, she punched it. Thwack, thwack, thwack. The girl tried to say something to the ghost, but I couldn’t hear her voice. The ghost was being beaten to a pulp.

I should stop them. Just as I was about to move, the ghost lifted its face. Its slimy, white arms moved towards me. Open palms touched my forehead.

Squish.

Feeling a wet sensation, I jumped awake, screaming.

“Holy…! Are you awake? You feeling all right?” Aya asked.

But there was a ghost in front of me.

I woke up from a dream, only to find myself in another dream. I tried to run, but as soon as I turned my body, my nose caught a faint stench in the room. Underneath my palm was the texture of tatami mats.

This was reality. My eyes stopped working again while I was asleep.

I probed my surroundings and touched something that fell from my forehead. It was a wet cloth. I wanted to believe it wasn’t a rag.

“Come on, lie back down,” Aya said gently. “Why are you getting up? I was cooling your head.”

She got the treatment to stomachache and fever mixed up. A white arm stretched out. A non-human hand touched my forehead, just like in the dream.

“Hmm, no fever. You’re fine. You should recover in no time.”

My stomach still hurt, though.

My stomach was making ominous noises. It felt like even the baby was agitated. I stroked my stomach and sighed. I should’ve slept some more.

I looked up and saw Aya sitting next to my pillow. She was curled up, looking apologetic.

“I’m really sorry.” The white mass uttered the human language. “This is my fault.”

“Tell me, why did you try to eat the hot pot?” I asked.

Aya jumped. She shrank even more. Seeing the white mass gradually become rounder, I went on.

“I’m not angry. So can you tell me why? You seemed… really desperate back then.”

Her behavior at that time was not normal. Why was she so eager?

Aya swallowed. She remained silent, hanging what seemed like her face.