Part 45: Chapter 5, Part 9
Video: Meeting
Our two groups meet once again, this time on the third floor. Satoshi's group is directly outside the girl's lavatory, and Ayumi and Yoshiki are outside the reference room.
Well, there was no body, but Morishige...was beyond saving at that point, I think.
But why...?!
*hic* *sob*
Class rep...
Guess the only one left is Ms. Yui, then...
God, how can you be so matter-of-fact about it?!
Ah! Uh, umm...sorry...
We all want to get out of here, so let's just cling to that desire and keep moving forward. We know the way out. So even with things a little bleaker now, there's still that hope for us. We're almost there! All we have to do is find Ms. Yui, and then we can finally escape this living hell!
Sounds good!
Yeah!
Yeah...
Ah! My student ID!
And this, too.Handed over the [Baby Statue].
Believe me... I was... Well, then don't go losing that scrap again, okay?
Thank you so much! You have no idea what a relief it is to have this back!
Shinozaki... Nice job finding that! I can't even tell you how much of a load off our minds it is!
No problem at all.
Oh, but check this out.
This place is not the simple plane of spirits I'd previously surmised it to be. If we don't get out of here a.s.a.p., we'll be in real danger.
It won't be quite so simple to achieve. Doing so will mean appeasing the malicious spirits that dwell here to unlock the gate that cuts through the planar void, back to the world we know. Using this technique before fulfilling this condition could be unimaginably dangerous. There's no telling what might happen.
Yeah. This "planar void" that separates Heavenly Host from the real world was created by Yuki and the others...and it's totally surrounding us. So if we did this reverse Sachiko charm thing right now, we still wouldn't be able to get back. It would block our way.
So we really do have to get Sachiko to repent and appease the other child spirits in order to get home... Okay...Let's give it our best shot. We're almost there, right?Video: Meeting ends here.
Music: Chapter 5's Second Theme
We resume playing in control of Satoshi's group.
Let's head into the boys' lavatory and visit an old friend.
Alright, we head down to the second floor.
It's just a crank.
Sound Effect: Crank
And we've opened another path for Ayumi and Yoshiki.
Since the stairs down to the second floor are a dead end, we head back into the girls' lavatory.
And we climb down the ladder in Seiko's stall.
The secret passage brings us to the custodian's closet, and we head out and to the south.
And up to the second floor.
There are two pedestals here, and we've got two statues in our pocket.
The Baby Statue seems like it would fit perfectly. Set it in place?
Yes
The Marble Statue seems like it would fit perfectly. Set it in place?
Yes
After setting the statues, a door appears in the wall. We head inside.
Video: Mother
This video covers the remainder of the update.
Music: None
Naomi?
The sign says "infirmary" ...but whatever's at the end of this hall is nothing like anywhere we've been before...
My... My head...
Mine...too...
Ack! You've both got nosebleeds! ...You two stay here. I'll go on alone.
Satoshi leaves Naomi and Yuka behind, and approaches the door at the end of the hallway.
What the hell...? Is that a...child's face and hands...in the window...?Satoshi turns to look at the door.
There's a posting attached to the door.
Sachiko...?!
*gasp*
(Oh my God... It's mine! When did my nose start bleeding?!)
(I think I'll be in danger if I stay here too long...but I get the feeling there's something here I need to see!)Satoshi heads into the infirmary.
Satoshi takes a few steps forward.
What's going on?! I can't move a muscle! Have I been...paralyzed...?
Yoshie takes a step towards Satoshi.
*whimper*
Yoshie breaks eye contact, and Satoshi collapses onto the floor.
*gasp* *pant* *wheeze*
The book seems quite old, with yellowed pages and frayed edges, but the carefully-inked letters are still completely legible.
What...?!
(No... That can't be right...)
I won't forgive you. I'm going to kill you. How dare you harm Sachiko...
This is bad...
Satoshi runs around Yoshie and flees the infirmary.
Satoshi runs down the hallway.
Big brooootheeeer...The three of them run out of the hallway.
Music: Chapter 5's Second Theme
Are...you two...all right...?
Uh-huh...I'm fine... I'm okay too. The headache's subsided. It must've been that hallway... What was that place, anyway?!
Stop making things up, Satoshi. I saw no children.
Ah! Satoshi, is that...?! Yeah, it's the diary from the desk. I tried going through that earlier, but it was totally frozen in place. I couldn't even turn the pages! Is it...that woman's? Without a doubt. I saw her writing in it. What...?!
I'm not sure what we'll learn from it, but I'm willing to bet it's something important. Shall we take a look?
*gulp*Music: Yoshie
They're so full of life, and growing up so fast... The younger students are quiet and respectful, too. It's clear their parents love and care for them very much, and have taught them very well. But I won't be left behind! I intend to raise Sachiko with just as much love and devotion as any of them.
Had to sort out some documents in the reference room before meeting up with Sachiko. While I was working, the principal dropped by.
He'd always been so kind, lending a sympathetic ear to my problems...but today, he didn't even seem like the same man. His eyes were cold and empty. I was in such shock, I'm not even sure exactly what happened to me after that.
...
Buckets of blood spilled out from my head. I'm sure it was hell to clean up later. I also lost control of my bowels -- embarrassing, to say the least.
The principal closed in on her. What was he planning to do? I yelled with every ounce of my strength for him to stop...but I was dead. I had no strength.
What a cruel man...
He rebuttoned my shirt, then took Sachiko to the basement and buried her. He'll probably say my death was an accident, and report her as missing.
I'm not a bad person. I don't deserve this. There is no redemption for what he's done...
7/20/1953
The other teachers and students are all mourning me. They're so kind.
I'm in mourning too...
7/21/1953
7/26/1953
... So she was...Sachiko's mom? It's so awful... Yeah, it is. I really feel for her... Wait, though... Isn't anyone else bothered by the dates on these diary entries? Sachiko...shouldn't even be there. The kidnappings and murders didn't take place until 1973, remember? Oh. You're right! There are all dated a full twenty years earlier! But what does that mean?
Bound to the site of her demise, Yoshie eventually exhausted all possible topics, filling the remaining pages with short passages like:
"I'm so alone. So very alone..."
"I want to see Sachiko again. I want to see the children again."
"I will never forgive him for what he did."
"I'll kill them all."
...Among other similarly mournful or angry sentiments.
After a certain point, the diary's pages became so blood-soaked that they were all sticking together in a coagulated mass of gloppy paper. Skipping past the bloodied section yielded the very last few entries in the book, all of which were dated around twenty years later.
Sachi is my pride and joy. She'd do anything for me.
She sends me so many children. I love them all.
7/15/1973
This won't make me happy. Sachiko, please stop.
7/16/1973
I'm going to curse the entire line, forever. I'll burn some sense right into their brains.
7/17/1973
Sachiko, who died alongside me twenty years ago, has a flesh-and-blood body once more. She kills children and sends their souls to me. But I don't want this! That won't make me happy! Sachiko...please, come see me! Talk with me!
7/20/1973
And when they die, it's like every trace of their existence is removed from history. It's "spiriting away," in the truest sense of the term. But she's not capable of abducting and killing children on her own... She makes that man do the kidnapping for her.
Sachiko... Please, stop...
7/23/1973
Now she's just killing because she likes it. I don't know when this change happened...but it did.
Living beings are such fickle, easily-angered creatures. They killed us, after all. I can't forgive anyone who kills another human being.
7/24/1973
7/25/1973
8/15/1973
9/18/1973
She sent me three more adorable little children today.
Sachi is my pride and joy.
I don't think she even recognizes me anymore.
But I still love her with all my heart.
The school's been closed down. And the principal jumped off the roof. Serves him right.
I think I'll sing with the children. Something fun and happy.
What a pitiful way to die. Serves him right!
Sachi's been wandering the halls. These empty halls... She kills anyone who enters. People who've heard rumors, or are just curious.
She and I are both so desperately thirsty... But there's nothing we can do about it.
Music: None
God... So Sachiko's been...killing children...and sending their souls to her mother...so she won't get lonely? And I guess eventually, it just drove her mad... It seems like deep down, even her mom wants her to stop... Uh-huh... Yeah... I'm not sure exactly what we should do next, but if we're going to get through to Sachiko...