Niiya-san, the piano is playing itself!
I knew it...
She's in this piano.
Stepped on a cat...
Stepped on a...
Stepped on a cat, and it was crushed and died.
Niiya-san, the ghost is angry.
Stand back, Okonogi-san!
Right.
Om-gya-gya mumbo jumbo!
Away, evil spirit!
Oh, no! You got me!
I'm done for...
Everything is fine now, Okonogi-san.
Y-You did it, Niiya-san.
I guess that's it for the music room ghost.
Yeah.
It won't be making any more noise at night.
What?
You mean I can't play the piano anymore?
But that was such a nice way to pass the time.
But it's okay.
Because starting tomorrow, you'll keep me company at night.
Huh?
Niiya-san, here.
Use this to wipe off the sweat.
Oh, thank you.
You always do such a great job.
I really respect you!
Um, actually...
Yes?
I was thinking that maybe...
If it isn't too much trouble...
Maybe you could teach me some of this exorcism magic...
Privately...
There's so much I'd like to know about you, too.
It's still here!
Maiden of Oblivion
People don't change.
They continue to repeat the same things.
It has happened again.
What are you?
You already know, don't you?
Now, know even more!
I knew it.
Seikyou Academy
She is...
Good morning, Teiichi-kun.
Good morning, Yuuko-san.
Gym clothes?
Yup!
Your first class is P.E., right?
Yeah...
But why do you have to join in?
Teiichi-kun, over here!
Right...
Oh, crap!
Why did I pass it to her?
Yes!
It went in!
What's his problem?
Guess he's feeling the effects of that crazy shot.
This is really cramped...
I guess it is.
You made a mistake here, Teiichi-kun.
Oh, thanks.
My memory's pretty good, huh?
Only because you've already heard these lessons a million times.
It's not like you can remember the past.
That's fine.
I'm a woman who lives in the here and now.
Except you aren't living. You're a ghost.
You still don't remember anything? About back then...
Not a single thing.
I guess we'll have to drive the investigation forward.
Teiichi-kun, this is wrong.
Oh... You're right.
This will be on the test, you know.
Uh, yeah...
Yuuko-san?
Yes, Teiichi-kun?
You know...
When you get this close...
Don't tell me you can smell my sweat or something?
No... It's nothing like that.
Then what is it?
Lately, it just feels like we're always together.
Oh...
Is that a problem?
It's not a problem, per se.
Do we need a reason or something?
Not necessarily, but...
I guess you're right...
I really like you.
Won't that suffice?
I wonder what it is.
Something feels off...
Lunch time!
Yeah!
Let's go to the roof!
Yuuko-san, hold on!
We can eat lunch, just the two of us.
Niiya-san!
If you're free now, would you like to eat lunch together?
Huh?
Oh...
Sure.
Is something wrong?
I'm fine...
I'm just feeling this weird tension...
I totally understand.
I mean, we've never eaten lunch alone before.
It makes me kind of happy...
I think.
R-Really?
Huh?
You've already finished your lunch?
I was pretty hungry today.
Here.
You can eat it plain.
It's sweet egg omelet.
D-Don't be shy now...
S-Say, "Ah!"
I'm sorry!
I'm so clumsy...
I'll go wash off my chopsticks.
Yuuko-san...
I'm sorry.
I knew it.
Something is strange.
I don't know how to put it.
It's like she isn't herself, or she's too much herself.
Well, whatever.
I wanted to discuss something with you, too.
I'd forgotten how scary these ghost stories are.
When I heard the legend of Akahito-san,
and felt the fear of seeing those people
crazed and twisted with rage,
I saw it again.
That shadow.
Shadow Yuuko.
Shadow Yuuko?
That form was the very embodiment
of bitterness, hatred, rage, and despair.
Bitterness... Hatred.
Rage... Despair.
Those things are all
utterly foreign concepts to our air-headed Yuuko, who thinks everything
is flowers and rainbows.
Isn't that a little strong?
Are you saying I'm wrong?
You don't have to put it that way.
You could say "innocent" or "cheerful"...
Niiya,
you haven't noticed?
Kanoe Yuuko never gets angry.
It's completely unnatural.
Have you ever seen Yuuko really furious,
or truly hating someone?
I don't know if I've seen her mad, but she does sulk a lot.
Just today,
when Okonogi-san tried to share some of her lunch with me...
But if I had to give that a label, it would be jealousy.
She doesn't really hate Okonogi, and she isn't truly mad at her.
When she lashes out, I'm often her target, as well.
But that's only when you and I are being extra friendly.
N-Not that I consider you a friend or anything!
Do you or don't you?
Yuuko only gets emotional
when it's something involving you.
But once you're out of the picture, she feels nothing at all.
It's like she isn't interested in anything else.
I'm sure you've noticed it, too.
It's entirely unnatural,
her lack of hatred, anger, or sadness.
She's like a clown, just going through the motions.
Isn't all this simply because she's dead,
so she's not affected by worldly emotions anymore?
But when it comes to you,
she's erratically emotional.
That's...
Teiichi-kun...
Hideous...
Remember me.
Where do you plan to go, while you pretend not to see?
I've been thinking
about the connection between
that shadow I saw and Yuuko.
But we aren't certain there even is any connection.
That Akahito-san incident at the cultural festival.
Do you remember what Kirishima Yuuko did?
Kirishima-san?
Kirishima displaced all of her negative energy
onto Yuuko.
Likewise, couldn't Yuuko
be doing that to her other self?
You're saying she's using a second Yuuko-san?
It's only a hypothesis.
You've heard of multiple personalities, right?
Sure.
It's the idea that an individual can house several personae.
Multiple personalities
are created by an attempt to protect the self from stress.
They excise the self under duress,
creating another, separate personality.
You don't mean...
By assigning every single bad thing to a different persona,
one could protect the true self.
All Yuuko's forgotten memories,
her erased emotions...
What if Yuuko
deliberately separated them from her real self?
If so,
it would be impossible for Yuuko to remember her past.
Surely you've sensed that, right?
I...
My memories
of the past...
I don't want you to forget me.
If Yuuko really did excise her memories and emotions...
No...
I don't want to remember.
Have you really forgotten?
What if all those feelings and memories
became an entity that began acting independently?
No...
Stop.
How long will you pretend not to see?
That is a piece of Yuuko.
It is her shadow!
Stop!
Yuuko...
Yuuko-san.
You finally found me.
Do you understand now?
That's right.
I am Yuuko, as well.
I am your past.
I am your heart.
I am your shadow.
No...
I am you.
That isn't true.
I'm not like you...
You aren't ugly, like I am?
That's true.
You're not tainted?
That's true.
You're quite pretty.
What are you...
At any rate, neither of us is normal.
We'll keep sowing irregularities around ourselves,
until our wish is granted.
Yuuko-san!
Yuuko-san,
wait!
Yuuko-san!
Yuuko-san...
It isn't true.
That thing isn't me.
But Kirie-san said that it's your past...
No.
It isn't... It isn't!
Yuuko-san...
This is where that cursed rock was.
Yuuko-san?
I'm sure it's all in my head.
Just the way this cursed rock is.
That thing appears to exist
because I convinced myself that it does.
But it isn't real.
That thing...
isn't me.
Isn't this cursed rock a little strange?
Eh?
It was really dark before, so it was hard to see clearly.
But look how the names line up, right here.
They're hard to read
because others have been carved on top.
Isn't that weird?
Something's written here.
"Showa 27.
The disease is spreading"?
"Passed away..."
Is this a memorial stone?!
Sixty years ago, there was an epidemic.
I can't believe a stone meant to commemorate those people
ended up being used to curse people.
"Kanoe..."
"Yuuko"?
Does that mean your death was related to that epidemic?
Did I die in the epidemic?
No...
Your body is in the basement of the old school wing.
They wouldn't do that for someone who'd died in an epidemic.
Then...
"Buried Yuuko-san... Buried her in the pillar."
Huh?
Those words are from the hide-and-seek game.
I thought you'd end up buried if caught by the thing seeking you,
but it seems to be the other way around.
The stone of curses, which details the epidemic of sixty years ago.
Stone of Curses
Akahito-san, who searches for a sacrifice.
Girls who mysteriously disappear.
And...
the body hidden in the old school wing.
All the school ghost stories
are twisted versions of your history.
You were sacrificed sixty years ago,
to stop the epidemic, which was the curse.
I bet you're right.
I became a human sacrifice.
Yuuko-san.
No...
One thing feels wrong.
I have no regret, or hatred, or anything like that.
Therefore,
I think I volunteered to be the sacrifice.
I'm sure that was it.
Yeah.
That sounds more like you.
Then, that's your past.
Once you figure it out, it's quite simple, huh?
All right, enough of that!
So that is how you forget?
You expel the regret, bitterness,
and hatred from yourself, so you remain clean.
That's right...
The only reason you're pure
is because you've pushed all those things onto me.
Everything you couldn't deal with,
all the ugly emotions...
Memories...
That is what I am.
Well, what do you want me to do about it?
Even if you say I was cowardly, I can't do anything about it.
Just remember.
If you don't, you'll only relive the same experience.
I can't remember.
I don't want to remember.
You mean you'll just force everything on me again?
You'll just forget it all, again?
No, no, no!
This is your first time in love with someone.
It has birthed an ugly new emotion.
It is jealousy.
Will you excise your jealousy next,
and pin it on me?
That's...
I don't...
Very well.
I shall take it for you, along with your memory.
Niiya! Are you okay?
Kirie-san!
Good morning, Teiichi-kun.
G-Good morning.
Yuuko-san, what's wrong?
Nothing.
I have Current Events next.
I bet it'll put me to sleep.
Scary
I'm scared...
I'm going back to the classroom.
I'm scared.
When you look at me,
Scary
your eyes are the mirror that reflects me.
Who
Who is that?
Who
Who are you?
Who
I don't want to remember.
I don't want to recall that emotion...
Scary
That memory.
What's wrong, Yuuko-san?
Yuuko-san!
Oh, you can see me?
You actually know who I am?
Yuuko-san, what are you talking about?!
It's me!
Have we met before?
Yuuko-san...
I'm sorry.
I may have forgotten you.
Who...
Who are you?
Who... are you?
Rain washes away recollection.
The soul is soaked in oblivion.
Drowned in tranquility,
a love that won't connect.
Ghost Story Eight: Maiden of Recollection
Ghost Story Eight:
Maiden of Recollection.