Volume 10 - CH 50

Juumonji Takeru is Scared

“………Tatsuyuki-san, they do come out here right.”

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Candles, diary, hair, seeing the three staples of Japanese horror props, I voiced a question to Tatsuyuki-san.

Perhaps thinking the same thing, Takeru is also staring at him.

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On the other hand, Tatsuyuki-san’s eyes remained shut as he closed the lid of the water bottle.

“Yep.” he said.

Hearing that both I and Takeru gulped.

“We are in the mountains after all…….” Tatsuyuki-san followed.

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“The fog comes out here a lot. It might get cold at night huh.”

“THAT’S NOT IT!”

“Eh? You were not talking about the weather?”

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Looking surprised, Tatsuyuki-san’s eyes widened.

His nonchalant attitude made me do a double take.

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“Of course not! I’m asking about ghosts!?”

“This is not some kind of haunted spot right!?”

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Hearing me and Takeru shouting at him, Tatsuyuki-san shakes his head.

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“Nah, it’s okay. No ghosts here at all. I’ve been to real haunted places before so I know. The real deal is way worse than this you know. There were things like the third footstep when I was sure that it was just me and my friend, the car wouldn’t start half of the time, and the navigation system led me straight to a cemetery for some reason…….it was pretty bad when I suddenly got chased down by a headless guy with a sword too. I should have worn running shoes back then.”

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Tatsuyuki-san talks about his past ghostly experiences.

The stories sound dubious at best but when they come from this man, it’s strangely very believable.

More importantly, what does he mean by a headless guy with a sword……..

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“So what did you do with that headless guy?”

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Takeru seemed curious and asked about what happened.

Then, with no boastful air about it, Tatsuyuki-san nonchalantly replies.

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“Hm? I just neck-chopped him and ran though.”

“………”

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Just like how Emi knocked out Misuzu in the game……..?

Is this world filled with muscleheads or something….?

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“Come on, we don’t have time to waste with these boring ghost stories right? Let’s relax and talk about LeaCha, StaCha, or Sawamura Yama instead.”

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Tatsuyuki-san smiled and walked further into the campground.

Realizing that he’s getting farther away, I hurriedly catch up to him as there would be no one to protect me if some headless warrior suddenly showed up here.

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“This is too scary……..I should have hung out with Yamamoto instead…….”

“Ah, I think he said he’s going to see [Undead Trail] with his girlfriend this weekend. It would be a horror weekend any way you know.”

“Come on, man………..I can’t handle this stuff you know…….”

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Takeru looked like he was about to cry.

This guy, I think it was written in his character profile that he’s bad with horror stuff huh?

Now I feel bad for him.

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I can keep up with this horror thing for now but Takeru is already on the verge of giving up.

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“But we have Tatsuyuki-san who just neck-chopped a ghost with his bare hand with us, you know? We can rely on him, Takeru.”

“Uuu……..”

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Since he looked scared, I held his hand.

This guy is so hopeless even though he’s already a high schooler. Still, after a minute it seems he calmed down and his complexion improved a little.

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“Keep holding my hand for a while okay…….”

“Alright.”

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I replied to Takeru’s feeble plea and caught up with Tatsuyuki-san. He seemed taken aback when he saw us.

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What are you guys doing?”

“I, it’s scary…….”

“Just until Takeru calms down.”

“I, I see…….”

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This time Tatsuyuki-san looked perplexed as though he didn’t know what kind of face he should make before turning away and starting to walk again.

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Things started off weird but once we actually started camping it was actually a lot of fun.

Pitching a tent, hearing Tatsuyuki-san’s story about his sister, and telling him about what happened at school, all those things made us forget the horror-Esque atmosphere from earlier.

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“Man, the drink just tastes better in a place like this huh.”

“You have to drive us back tomorrow so please don’t drink too much okay.”

“I know, I know. I won’t drive within 10 hours of drinking anyway.”

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Tatsuyuki-san opened a can of chuhai (TLN: Shouchuu Highball) and grabbed a piece of meat as a snack.

I and Takeru are having tea and juice respectively.

Tatsuyuki-san did offer me some but I turned him down saying “I’m underage…….”

His reaction was “Right, Hideyori is underage huh.”

I’m already 30-ish counting both lives but since outwardly I’m still a high schooler, his offer came as a little shock to me.

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“Alright, let’s play [I’m proud of my sister]!”

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In that peaceful atmosphere, the slightly drunk Tatsuyuki-san proposed a game.

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“YEAHHHHHHH!”

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Takeru immediately jumped on that and cheered while raising his can of juice.

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“Wait a minute, Tatsuyuki-san has 5 little sisters so this would be unfair for us right.”

“Then I can go with just Yoko alone. We will start with me, Hideyori, then Takeru okay!”

“Alright! Let’s do this!”

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Thus began the siscon bragging game around the bonfire.

Tatsuyuki-san came up with the game himself and it’s a game where I boast about Seiko, Takeru about Risa, and Tatsuyuki-san about LeafChild.

It started with Tatsuyuki-san’s turn.

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“I’m proud of my sister. Yoko always has a unique worldview!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Seiko is a princess I want to protect!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Risa always thinks of her friends!”

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Just like that the three siscon idiots kept going.

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“I’m proud of my sister. Yoko’s hair is so silky, I want to stroke it forever!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Seiko always gets 95+ scores no matter what song she sings at the karaoke!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Risa’s black hair is JAPANese beauty standard!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Yoko always wears sexy black underwear at least once every two days!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Seiko worries about her small chest so when she turns to StarCha she makes them bigger!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Risa is considering wearing a sarashi because her underwear always slid off!” (TLN: Sarashi is a breast wrap, men of culture know)

It’s a game where those who have the privilege of having little sister(s) can proudly shout [I’m proud of my sister] and brag about them.

It is something that people like Yamamoto and Master would never understand.

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We continued for about 3 hours when things started to slow down.

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“I’m proud of my sister. Uhh, Seiko is……when she doesn’t know what to wear she would RINE me and ask for my opinion!”

“I’m proud of my sister. Risa, uhh……She once lent her textbook to a girl who forgot to bring one…..she’s a kind girl who can help others at her own expense!”

“Eh? I think you already listed that 10 minutes ago though?”

“Ehhhh? Really!? Then, Risa is so cute because she can’t play chess at all!”

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The second half of the game was filled with praise-ish things.

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“Now I understand not only Yoko and Seiko-chan’s charms but Risa-chan’s as well.”

“Tatsuyuki-san…….”

“Invite me to Wanko Ramen next time okay.”

“Yes, absolutely.”

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The bond point between Takeru and Tatsuyuki-san has gone up.

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“Here, look at Yoko’s black undies I told you about earlier.”

“Me too, look at this mole on Risa’s right chest!”

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I don’t know if Takeru just became a creepy old man or if Tatsuyuki-san became a punk but their conversation turned stupid very quick.

Before I knew it, it was already late and the three of us got inside the tent and sleep side by side.

Perhaps because he was driving us here, Tatsuyuki-san seemed to be exhausted so he fell asleep fast while Takeru and I was simply shutting our eyes.

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“Hideyor~i……..”

“……..Nn?”

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I was getting comfortable when Takeru shook my body.

“What?” I asked, wondering what he wanted.

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“……..why do you ask me to go to the toilet with you though?”

“I can’t wake Tatsuyuki-san for this right……..”

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I accompanied the scared Takeru to the toilet.

The quiet campsite seems even quieter than usual because it’s late at night and it feels like we are in a completely different world.

Even though the fear from when we first arrived is already gone, I can’t help but find the place eerie again.

After Takeru was done, we took the same path back to the tent.

It was when we were on our way back.

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Gan

Gan

Gan

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Some loud heavy sounds echoed from the direction of the woods near the river.

It’s scary because it was so quiet when we went to the toilet.

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Gan Gan Gan

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The inorganic sound continues.

“Hey, it would be dangerous if it’s some kind of animal heading this way right?” Said Takeru worriedly.

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“Yeah, that’s true…….should we go take a look?”

“Eh? It’s, it’s probably fine right…….?”

“Going back without finding out would be even scarier you know. I don’t want some wild animals running over our tent after all.”

“Right……..”

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Thus, out of curiosity, the two of us followed the sound to its source.

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…………Without knowing that doing so would trigger a very dangerous death flag.

TLN: Here comes.