spooky love

’, walking down the corridors of the university in the setting sun.At this time, he heard the sound of grass shoes pattering from the opposite side, and saw a woman running, letting the hem of her kimono flutter in the wind.Ryoichiro, who had never seen her in school before, was surprised by her appearance, and the expression on his face made him feel chills down his spine.

In the past, he had seen paintings depicting dramatic scenes during summer festivals in the countryside. The scenes were bloody and cruel, which left a considerable impact on the brain of the young Ryoichiro, and the memory is still vivid to this day.The woman's face and demeanor resembled the face of the woman in the painting who was screaming near death.

Ryoichiro knew her, she was Fukushima's wife, he had met her one time when he visited Fukushima's house.She speaks in a low voice and has a very submissive personality.

As soon as he met Fukushima's wife's eyes, she grabbed Ryoichiro's shirt cuff.The woman shook her hand wildly, with unbelievable strength.

"Our husband... where did my husband go? Do you know?"

"What's wrong, Fukushima-sensei?"

The woman's expression collapsed, and she couldn't tell whether it was sadness or anger.

"You know it, but you keep it secret? Please, please tell me!"

Fukushima's wife burst into tears, and the students and lecturers who stayed in the school gathered around because of the loud voice.At this time, Associate Professor Kamikawa, who had a good relationship with Fukushima, came and took his wife to the reception room.

Although I don't know what happened, but after the follow-up of this matter was handed over to the associate professor, the others went home.The next day, Ryoichiro elopes with a prostitute in Yoshiwara after hearing from his students that Fukushima left a letter.In order to promote the business of prostitutes, he seemed to borrow money from others, and his house and property were seized.

Fukushima's obedient wife knew nothing about his obsession with the world of feasting and feasting, and believed that the other party spent money for learning, and the reason why he stayed out of the camp at night was because he studied late and did not understand doubts at all.To put it bluntly, it is innocent, but to put it bluntly, it is incomprehensible.

Bad things are always spread far and wide.The money owed by Fukushima, who was expelled from school, could not be paid even with the joint efforts of relatives, and the rest was borne by the associate professor who sympathized with his wife.

The student surnamed Hara originally studied with Fukushima, but now he studies with Ryoichiro.Ryoichiro is clearly incompatible with Fukushima, but he took over the students whom Fukushima loves, and the people around him are inconceivable.

In the first week of July, Ryoichiro originally planned to take Dema to the nearby mountains for collection, but it rained on the way. The rain was so heavy that it would make a sound when it flowed down the window panes, which made them have to give up the idea of ​​going.

Ryoichiro had no choice but to compare the previously collected specimens whose names were unknown with foreign literature to find out their scientific names.

He examined the specimens with a magnifying glass, observing the characteristics of the stamens and pistils, the number of sepals, and the shape of the leaves.It is also common to bury your head in research and lose track of time.

Suddenly he raised his head from the book he was buried in, and met Dema's eyes.Originally, I wanted De Ma to accompany me to collect the specimens, so I brought him from home, but because of the rain, I asked him to help organize the specimens.Dema pressed his stomach and pointed to the clock. It was just after one o'clock in the afternoon. After knowing the time, he felt hungry immediately.

"Hara-san, it's about time for lunch."

Hara, who was sketching the specimen in a corner of the room, turned his head.

"Yeah, I'm hungry."

"Are you going to eat outside? But it's still raining heavily."

Hearing Ryoichiro's whisper, Tokuma, who was standing beside him, wrote on a piece of paper, "Let me go buy some nigiri or something."

"Is that so? Then I ask you to buy the original classmate's share too."

After handing over the money to Dema, Yuan hurried forward and said "I'll go", Dema stretched out his right hand to stop Yuan, smiled and walked out.Hara had nothing to do, so he wandered around the room, and then apologized to Ryoichiro and said "sorry".

"What's wrong?"

"Mr. Dema is helping the teacher, so I should buy it."

Ryoichiro smiled.

"He's boring anyway, so don't worry about it."

Hara apologized again "I'm sorry", and then suddenly looked out the window.

"Mr. Dema is incredible."

Ryoichiro replied, "Huh?"

"At first I thought he was a student, but it turned out that he was a servant of the teacher's family. It was really surprising. He has an intellectual temperament, and he is proficient in English and Russian. I often see him reading original illustrations with the teacher."

"Because he went to a private school in my hometown with me, where he learned English, Russian...and a lot of other knowledge."

Oh, so that's the case... Yuan Ying replied amiably, then looked intently at the other side of the window glass again, and suddenly sighed again.

"Before, I received a letter from Mr. Fukushima."

Ryoichiro only answered "Is that so?" and didn't ask any further questions.It has been almost a month since Fukushima eloped with a prostitute.

"He apologized for his own breach of trust towards the professor and associate professor, his wife, and me."

Ryoichiro replied "Really".After a long silence, Yuan whispered:

"The teacher didn't ask me anything."

"That's because you didn't say anything, right?"

Ryoichiro replied angrily.At first he smiled, then lowered his eyes again:

"There seemed to be Sasa lilies (Note 22) blooming near where he was staying. He wrote in a letter that he missed the university very much."

Ryoichiro heard "Akabamboo Lily" and guessed that Fukushima should have settled in the west.

Then no one spoke.After a while, Dema came back, and after the three of them ate the rice balls and pickled vegetables he had bought, other students called Yuan, and he walked out of the assistant room.

"Fukushima wrote a letter to Hara."

Ryoichiro briefly told Dema.As long as Ryoichiro brings his servants to help with the collection, Fukushima will definitely complain about "allowing unrelated people to participate in the school seminar".He seemed to dislike the matter of "Ryoichiro's servant" more than "having a demago horse with him".

Dema stared at Ryoichiro, and then wrote something on the paper:

『That teacher is possessed by a sex fox. 』

After reading the words, Ryoichiro tilted his head in doubt:

"What is a sex fox?"

Dema's fingers hesitated on the paper, and then moved again:

"The fox of lust.After being possessed by it, people will indulge in lust. 』

Ryoichiro was shocked after reading:

"Then you can see the fox attached to Fukushima?"

Dema nodded.

"Then why didn't you tell me? Isn't it very unfortunate that the man was possessed by a fox and his morals were corrupted?"

Dema lowered his eyes.

"Because I am incompatible with Fukushima, do you think that his affairs can be ignored, so you keep silent?"

Dema didn't refute.Ryoichiro grabbed his slender shoulders and shook them vigorously.

"Say it! Dema!"

Dema twisted his body to break away from Ryoichiro's grasp, and wrote:

"The number of monsters and spirits I can see is beyond Master Ryoichiro's imagination.Although you can see it, not all of them have a solution, so keep silent. 』

"but……"

Dema wrote again:

"When the woman next door died, I saw a dog spirit on her back. 』

He remembered the sudden death of the old lady next door.I also had a leisurely discussion with my mother-in-law: the old lady was quite old, and she didn't have a lingering sick bed, so she died suddenly, which was considered easy for her.

Maybe, as Dema said, there is nothing he can do about it, but he can't accept it... no, he doesn't want to accept it.

"I just can see it, but I don't understand what's actually going on.I don't know it, but I think there is a monster possessing him... It must be because of some fragile parts of this person's heart. 』

"Even so, this person might be at his wit's end? Instead of sitting idly by thinking that nothing can be done, wouldn't it be better to try with the idea that something might be solved?"

Dema looked into Ryoichiro's eyes, listened to him, and wrote again on the paper:

"That's because assistant professor Fukushima met Master Ryoichiro, right?If you were like me and saw a stranger passing by on the street possessed, would you try to dispel it?As I said just now, I can see a large number of monsters and spirits, but I can't get rid of them one by one after all, so I just ignore them.Because I think that human life is more or less influenced by such things. 』

Ryoichiro just kept biting his lip.Dema didn't turn his eyes away, just stared at the other party, and then moved his fingers:

"I also keep the little ghost in my body, not only did Master Ryoichiro not see it, but I also don't want you to see it, as long as the ghost in my body doesn't bring you any disaster. 』

Ryoichiro looked back at the man who kept the kid in his body.But standing in front of him is his beloved older servant who will listen to and obey his willful demands with a smile and will not argue with him.

The words "ideal and reality" flashed across Ryoichiro's mind, but he still couldn't swallow the breath, so he turned his back to Dema.

He never spoke to each other.About an hour later, the door made a "squeak" sound and then "slammed" shut again.Looking back, Dema was no longer in the room, replaced by a piece of paper, which was placed on the freshly made specimen and said "I will take my leave first".The rain outside did not know when it had stopped, and the sky appeared from behind the cracks in the clouds, but the clouds in Ryoichiro's heart did not dissipate for a long time.

Ryoichiro knew that Dema could see monsters and spirits from the past, but Dema would only say that he "sees" when Ryoichiro might be victimized, so Ryoichiro didn't care.Not only that, everyone stayed away from Dema because he could see the monster, and he became his own servant, which made Ryoichiro very happy.

It's not that I hate him, nor is it that the love has faded, but Ryoichiro just pulled away from Dema.