Ghost of a Chance

The Nightmare Dwelling (Part 8)

'—What... What is this...' Hirota thought, staring at the severed head in the bathtub. 'A person's...'

"What was that sound just now!?" Bou-san asked, bursting into the room, concerned. He stopped short when he saw Hirota. "... Do you have a habit of bathing with your clothes on?"

"!?" Hirota said. "... Take a look at—" He stopped short when he saw there was no blood and no severed head in the tub. Just the mess he had made falling in.

"Wow," Bou-san said, sweat-dropping. Hirota had broken one of the covers for the bathtub when he fell. "What happened!? What were you doing exactly? Oh my."

'Impossible,' Hirota thought. 'It was there just a moment ago.' he checked his clothes, but they were clean. 'There was so much blood just now—' He was confused.

"Hirota-san, are you all right?" Mai asked, coming in. Naru and Hitomi stood behind her in the hall. "What happened?" Hirota saw Naru and clammed up.

"... It's nothing," Hirota said. "I just wanted to take a look inside but ended up tripping, that's all." He walked down the hall to get away from him. He was so confused. It happened. He knew it did.

"... Are you all right?" Midori asked, coming upon him.

"I'm fine," Hirota said. "Sorry, I will make sure to get you a new bathtub cover."

"You don't have to worry about that," Midori said.

"By the way, can I help myself to some coffee?" Hirota asked.

"I'll go make some for you," Midori said.

"It's okay, I will do it myself," Hirota said. "You should go get some rest with the others, Midori-san."

—∞—

Hirota stirred his coffee with hands that trembled as they held the spoon.

"—Damn!" he said, slamming the spoon into the cup. '... Calm down. Those were nothing but hallucinations. I'm just a bit shaken up by what they were talking about just now.' He looked down at his hand and clenched it. 'That's right, it's only a hallucination. Otherwise, how can I explain the disappearance of the head and all that blood? ... Hallucinations. I wonder when did I start having them? I went to the shower room to investigate. I checked both the floor and drains, but found nothing abnormal there. There were some traces of blood in the bathtub so I collected them as evidence. There seemed to be someone in the ventilation outlet, though—' He paused. '... No. That crevice is not wide enough for someone to fit in. Besides, how is he able to climb up so high to begin with? If that's the case, could it be possible that the hallucinations started the moment I looked into his eyes? The blood I found in the bathtub. That should be real, right?' he took out the handkerchief and looked at it. It was totally clean. 'How could this be? I still remember everything I did so vividly. ... Don't tell me that was a hallucination, too...?' He looked at his cup of coffee. 'Could it be that everything that has happened here was real...?'

"Can you now tell me what happened in there?" Naru asked, drawing Hirota's attention to his arrival.

"... What are you talking about," Hirota said, putting away his handkerchief.

"What exactly happened when you reached the shower room?" Naru asked. It was obvious Hirota had seen something from the look on his face.

"Nothing happened at all," Hirota said.

"You saw something in there, didn't you?" Naru pressed.

"There was a cockroach in there," Hirota said. "I can't stand the sight of them."