YUKARI: "So you actually had the balls to come..."
SAEKI: "You again? What is it this time?"
YUKARI: "I wouldn't call someone like you here, if it wasn't important."
YUKARI: "I'm gonna have a serious conversation with you. And don't try to fool me again today."
SAEKI: "......"
A: "So you actually take your club activities seriously." B: "You know about Kimihiko Tatara's ghost, right?" C: "A friend of mine collapsed."
A: "So you actually take your club activities seriously."[X] B: "You know about Kimihiko Tatara's ghost, right?" C: "A friend of mine collapsed."
YUKARI: "So you actually take your club activities seriously."
SAEKI: "Well, yeah, I'm a regular player."
YUKARI: "Tatara was in the basketball club, too, wasn't he?"
SAEKI: "So what?"
YUKARI: "Was he good?"
SAEKI: "What does it matter?"
YUKARI: "I played basketball once, too, you know. So I know what it's like."
YUKARI: "It's a team competition... So the team's unity is important, right?"
SAEKI: "... And?"
YUKARI: "If you really were as close friends as you claimed, then everyone would have regret his decision to leave the team..."
SAEKI: "......"
A: "A friend of mine collapsed." B: "You know about Kimihiko Tatara's ghost, right?"
A: "A friend of mine collapsed." B: "You know about Kimihiko Tatara's ghost, right?" [X]
YUKARI: "You know that... his ghost appears in the gym, right?"
SAEKI: "No idea who you're talking about."
YUKARI: "So you wanna play dumb, huh... You of all people should know best who I'm talking about."
SAEKI: "Hell if I know. How'bout you don't just assume shit and tell me what you mean."
SAEKI: "I'm on my way home, y'know."
YUKARI: "...My friend collapsed. After she met Kimihiko Tatara..."
SAEKI: "Tatara? Girl, is your head still working?"
SAEKI: "And where did she go to meet him? Heaven?"
YUKARI: "Cut the crap and stop playing dumb. She went to the sports equipment storage. Where else?"
YUKARI: "I'm sure you're familiar with the rumour."
SAEKI: "And you expect me to believe that? What, are you still in elementary school?"
A: "You guys bullied him." B: "I know exactly what you did in there." C: "I met him myself."
A: "You guys bullied him." [X] B: "I know exactly what you did in there." C: "I met him myself."
YUKARI: "In the end, it was you guys who bullied him, after all. Don't deny it again."
SAEKI: "And I'm sure you brought all the evidence in the world?"
YUKARI: "I'm sure I can dig up more than enough evidence, if I do some investigation. You of all people should be well aware of that."
SAEKI: "Who knows... Why do you feel the need to force the responsibility for this upon my friends and me, anyway? There were a lot of people who outright ignored him on purpose."
SAEKI: "Isn't that bullying, too?"
YUKARI: "......"
A: "I know exactly what you did in there." B: "I met him myself."
A: "I know exactly what you did in there." B: "I met him myself." [X]
YUKARI: "Are you familiar with ghosts that've become bound to a specific location?"
SAEKI: "What's that about now, all of a sudden?"
YUKARI: "I actually met Kimihiko Tatara, you know. In the sports equipment storage in the gym."
YUKARI: "He's wearing a jersey and is all alone."
YUKARI: "He'll keep on materialising in there forever, unable to disappear."
YUKARI: "You wouldn't possibly happen to know what on earth could have caused him to be bound to that place, huh?"
SAEKI: "... No idea, man."
YUKARI: "My friend Chisato... Even though I told her to stop, she got deeply involved with Kimihiko Tatara's ghost..."
YUKARI: "...and she found out about everything you did. Everything you did to Tatara in that storage room."
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "You guys are the absolute worst. You were 'friends' with him? Don't make me laugh! You used him until you didn't need him anymore. And you dare claim he was your 'friend'?!"
YUKARI: "I finally understand now why he keeps appearing in that storage room."
SAEKI: "Cut the crap! Your friend doesn't know shit! There's know way she could..."
A: "He's waiting for you." B: "You extorted money from him." C: "Did you really think of him as a friend?!"
A: "He's waiting for you." B: "You extorted money from him." C: "Did you really think of him as a friend?!" [X]
YUKARI: "You yourself claimed that Tatara was your friend."
YUKARI: "If that was really true, then why don't you take this conversation more seriously?"
SAEKI: "He's none of my fucking concern anymore! We just were nice enough to hang out with him when absolutely no one else cared, you know?"
SAEKI: "What do I care, now that he's dead?!"
YUKARI: "... You'd never talk like that, if he had actually been your friend."
SAEKI: "That's just how we roll."
SAEKI: "You're a mere outsider who wouldn't understand, so get off my back already!"
A: "So you just used his feelings?" B: "What must it have felt like, having his trust betrayed by you guys...?"
A: "So you just used his feelings?" B: "What must it have felt like, having his trust betrayed by you guys...?" [X]
YUKARI: "You do know that Tatara trusted you guys, right?"
YUKARI: "What must it have felt like, having his trust betrayed like this...?"
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "Could you stand before him and tell him to his face that you're friends even now?"
SAEKI: "Why don't you bring him here, if you want me to?"
YUKARI: "That's not possible. He is tied to that place that holds such... vivid memories for him, you know."
SAEKI: "......"
A: "So you just used his feelings?" [X]
YUKARI: "In the end, you guys just used the word 'friend' to bind Tatara to you."
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "You knew that that word would make Tatara follow you like a dog wagging its tail..."
YUKARI: "To use your own words, he'd 'smile like an idiot' no matter what you did to him."
SAEKI: "How do you..."
YUKARI: "I told you, didn't I? I know everything."
SAEKI: "That Tatara... No way... So he left behind something, after all?!"
YUKARI: "No, he did not. Tatara left no records or anything of this."
YUKARI: "But he bears a grudge against you."
YUKARI: "Even though he himself hasn't even consciously noticed that, yet."
A: "I wonder what he's going to do." B: "Did you know, even his mother trusted you?"
A: "I wonder what he's going to do." B: "Did you know, even his mother trusted you?" [X]
YUKARI: "Tatara's mother completely trusted her son."
YUKARI: "And she was convinced that you weren't a bad person, either, since you were a friend of her trusted son."
YUKARI: "Aren't you lucky? Trusted by parent and child! Congratulations!"
YUKARI: "He told his mother that everything was great, that he was doing fine."
YUKARI: "Because he tried to convince himself that that was the truth..."
YUKARI: "We tried to get his ghost to acknowledge the bullying, but he wouldn't acknowledge it, no matter what."
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "My, you must be so happy now, huh? Moved by this wonderful display of camaraderie?"
YUKARI: "Even after becoming a ghost he isn't capable of acknowledging the truth! Because he's so afraid of being all alone again!"
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "What a coward, huh? Even though he essentially escaped from you... even though he became like this, he's still waiting in that storage room with some kind of lingering attachment. Waiting for you guys."
YUKARI: "Even though he has long realised that he was just being used by you... Even though he knows by now that he has become all alone in there!"
YUKARI: "Do you actually think that's funny? You toyed with such a timid mind in the worst possible way and now you play innocent?!"
A: "You're the worst." B: "How much longer are you gonna feign ignorance?!"
A: "You're the worst." B: "How much longer are you gonna feign ignorance?!" [X]
YUKARI: "How about you finally drop the pathetic act?"
SAEKI: "... I'm tellin' you, I don't know shit!"
YUKARI: "You're just trying to find excuses, so you don't have to acknowledge it."
YUKARI: "You're just like him. You both try to act like you don't know the truth."
YUKARI: "You think you can get away with it all that way? Even though you've realised yourself that you're a murderer who cornered someone into suicide?"
YUKARI: "You're scared, aren't you? Can't sleep anymore, can you?"
YUKARI: "Can't watch the news anymore, hm?"
YUKARI: "Am I wrong?!"
SAEKI: "I don't know shit... I'm... Just shut the fuck up already with all that stuff..."
YUKARI: "......"
A: "Stop acting so tough." B: "You're afraid of him, aren't you?"
A: "Stop acting so tough." [X] B: "You're afraid of him, aren't you?"
YUKARI: "Stop the act already. It's pathetic."
YUKARI: "You yourself know that all this is true."
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "You know that Kimihiko Tatara died because of you guys."
YUKARI: "And you know that his ghost is appearing in that storage, because he cannot forget what you did to him."
YUKARI: "And you know that the truth will eventually come out when investigated."
SAEKI: "Like hell I know! I'm the one who's in trouble, cause he just randomly decided to off himself!"
SAEKI: "You said it yourself! That Tatara died cause he was weak! You said that, didn't you?!"
SAEKI: "So it's not my responsibility!"
A: "You're actually afraid of him, aren't you?" B: "And... who was it again that bullied this weak person?"
A: "You're actually afraid of him, aren't you?" B: "And... who was it again that bullied this weak person?" [X]
YUKARI: "Oh, and who was it again who enjoyed bullying this weak person?"
YUKARI: "You just happened to have it easy in your life."
YUKARI: "If you had a life as hard as Tatara, you probably wouldn't even have the guts to kill yourself."
YUKARI: "So who's the strong one here?!"
SAEKI: "...!"
YUKARI: "What you guys did was horrible."
YUKARI: "Without even trying to understand his feelings, you just toyed with him!"
YUKARI: "Cornered him!"
YUKARI: "Hurt him!"
YUKARI: "Yes, you might say that ultimately Kimihiko Tatara died, because he killed himself."
YUKARI: "But the ones who killed his emotions... that was you and your friends, without a doubt."
SAEKI: "Shut... shut the hell up... Be quiet already..."
SAEKI: "To... To think he'd actually die..."
SAEKI: "That wasn't supposed to happen... That wasn't..."
YUKARI: "You know the truth, and yet you deceive yourself..."
YUKARI: "You know who will have to remember Kimihiko Tatara for the rest of their life? You will."
YUKARI: "And you may try to forget him, but all that'll do is just make you feel more and more miserable."
YUKARI: "Stop lying to yourself already."
YUKARI: "Going on and on like that is... really, in the end it's just sad."
SAEKI: "......"
YUKARI: "Well, that's about all I wanted to say."
SPORTS EQUIPMENT STORAGE CHISATO: "Tatara... Tatara, please show yourself... We need to talk to you."
CHISATO: "There you are..."
CHISATO: "Say, can we talk a little bit?"
TATARA: «I...»
TATARA: «...didn't do anything.»
CHISATO: "Why do you keep making these excuses?"
CHISATO: "It won't change the truth!"
CHISATO: "I'm begging you... Please tell us how you really feel. If you don't, you'll be stuck here forever..."
CHISATO: "Do you remember, how you were bullied by Saeki, Kuroda and Kawai?"
TATARA: «I don't want to hear it!»
TATARA: «I don't want to hear anything about that!»
CHISATO: "But you have to! Stop pretending you don't know anything!"
TATARA: «You're wrong.»
CHISATO: "I know what happened to you in here!"
CHISATO: "And I know that it was so painful, it made you want to die!"
CHISATO: "So please, talk about the truth with us!"
TATARA: «I don't want to.»
TATARA: «I don't want to!»
CHISATO: "Stop running away! You have to remember..."
CHISATO: "What was it that made you sad?"
CHISATO: "What was so painful?"
CHISATO: "What was it that hurt you?"
CHISATO: "Tell me everything!"
CHISATO: "Please, tell me..."
TATARA: «I... have to find it!»
CHISATO: "If you mean the gym shoe... Saeki and the others threw it away."
CHISATO: "But you realised that yourself, didn't you?"
CHISATO: "Please, stop lying to yourself already! Nothing good will come of this..."
CHISATO: "It's just frustrating, isn't it? And sad? It's why you cannot move on, am I right?"
CHISATO: "You need to acknowledge all these feelings! Even this hatred is a part of you, too!"
TATARA: «Stop!»
TATARA: «STOP IT!»
A: "No, I won't stop!" B: "Okay, I will stop..."
A: "No, I won't stop!" [X] B: "Okay, I will stop..."
CHISATO: "No, I won't stop!"
CHISATO: "Please! Tell me what you're thinking. What you were thinking back then."
CHISATO: "Tell me what you felt. What you truly wanted to say. Tell me everything..."
CHISATO: "I'll be listening, you see... I'm here for you!"
TATARA: «They...»
TATARA: «Why...»
TATARA: «Why do they take money from others...»
TATARA: «I want to know why...»
TATARA: «They're always that way.»
TATARA: «They enjoy making me suffer...»
TATARA: «But why...?»
TATARA: «Why, I wonder...?!»
TATARA: «But! I...»
TATARA: «I was doing really well!»
TATARA: «Everything was supposed to be going well! And yet...»
TATARA: «They...»
TATARA: «It was them...»
TATARA: «They definitely... They definitely hid it somewhere!»
TATARA: «My other gym shoe...»
TATARA: «Hey... Can't you help me?»
TATARA: «My other gym shoe, I...»
TATARA: «I just cannot find it!»
TATARA: «No matter how much I look!»
TATARA: «Please! Don't you know anything?»
TATARA: «I... I was doing so well all this time...»
TATARA: «Why?»
CHISATO: "I feel sorry for you..."
TATARA: «What?»
CHISATO: "I feel sorry for you!"
TATARA: «What the hell are you saying!»
TATARA: «What's that supposed to mean?!»
TATARA: «It's their fault! It's all their fault!»
TATARA: «Damn it...!»
TATARA: «I don't need your pity!»
TATARA: «Shit...»
TATARA: «Shit!»
TATARA: «Damn it!»
TATARA: *screams*
MIKA: "He's gone..."
YUKARI: "He mentioned a gym shoe."
CHISATO: "It must be the one they took away from him. They threw it away."
CHISATO: "We have to find it for him..."
CHISATO: "This must be it..."
YUKARI: "......"
MIKA: "It's totally tattered..."
YUKARI: "At least they didn't throw it into the incinerator..."
MIKA: "Perhaps they had some shreds of conscience left?"
YUKARI: "I wonder..."
MIKA: "What are we gonna do with this?"
CHISATO: "We'll give it back, of course!"
MIKA: "I wonder, if he'll be satisfied by this..."
CHISATO: "I don't know..."
CHISATO: "But it's the only thing we can do for him at this point, so..."
YUKARI: "He tried to deceive himself until the end..."
YUKARI: "It must've been hard..."
CHISATO: "Which is why we should do whatever we can... right?"
CHISATO: "Farewell..."
MIKA: "I hope, this will solve everything, but who knows..."
CHISATO: "......"
After this, Chisato took a break from school for a while.
'I have come too close to Tatara', she had said to us with a lonely smile.
Her face had been pale at that time, and she urged us to tell her mother that she had simply caught a cold. She didn't want her mother to worry any more than necessary.
But she eventually recovered and returned to us. She had found back her energy, smiling and joking with us like before.
That made me happier than anything else.
And ever since, we never said a word about Kimihiko Tatara ever again.
Later, Kimihiko Tatara's father decided to sue the school and the lawsuit attracted a tabloid TV show that picked up the story and made a sensation out of it.
That way, the whole incident shifted to a world outside our school... a world that felt completely different from ours.
And when the school decided to launch a thorough investigation into this whole bullying incident...
...Saeki and Kuroda stepped forward and admitted the truth about their bullying on their own accord, leaving the adults with a strange feeling of surprise and disappointment.
Saeki and the others are continuing their school life under probation now.
Whether or not that will actually help turning them into decent human beings is not for me to know.
And so... a sort of listless serenity returned to our school life, as if everyone had just forgotten anything had ever happened.
Even the gym, that had temporarily become an infamous spot of paranormal activity, returned to its normal, boring state.
Of course, rumours about a curse still occasionally come up, but only as a kind of joke. The feeling of tension and hysteria from back then has completely subsided.
The gym is a quiet place again, and perhaps Kimihiko Tatara is resting peacefully now...
No one can say for sure, but at least Chisato and I hope that this is the case.
That would be the least he deserved...
GOOD ENDING
Rumour 7 «The Telephone Call»