Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817139558323866579/episodes/16817330669161462297
“You know, this is a story about Inohira…”
My neighbor continued talking without paying any particular attention to me, who had involuntarily looked up.
A few years ago, psychic scams were apparently popular in this area.
When you hear “psychic business” you might think of something where they claim that misfortunes in your life are caused by evil spirits and sell you expensive items to exorcise them.
In this case, it was different. It was a psychic scam using supernatural powers.
They would curse their targets, then approach them when they were completely broken down, claiming to remove the curse and taking money in the process.
The psychic in question was originally a shaman or prayer priest from somewhere in Shikoku.
He had genuine abilities, but his character was so unscrupulous that he caused quite a stir locally and was disowned, fleeing all the way to the Kanto region.
In the end, he found himself short on money here as well and resorted to using his abilities to make money through unscrupulous methods.
Many cases of physical discomfort attributed to spiritual disturbances can be explained medically. The reasons for the physical harm may differ, but the symptoms ultimately stem from the body.
However, even if the symptoms are the same, the causes are different, so a different approach is needed for treatment. No matter how many times you consult a doctor, the condition doesn’t improve. Since it’s an unexpected ailment, anxiety naturally builds up.
In such a situation, the psychic offers treatment for free or at a very low cost, and if it works—and it’s unlikely not to—they receive payment.
Even if they were skeptical, since the symptoms stopped completely, there were quite a few people who ended up paying the money as instructed.
Well, even if some people hesitated to pay, thinking that the treatment they had received properly was finally showing results, if you keep insisting on it, it’s no problem.
The ultimate goal seemed to be to turn the people they “helped” into followers and establish a new religious group.
In the midst of all this, the president of a small casting and machining company, suspecting that he had been cursed—for convenience’s sake, let’s call it that—immediately contacted a psychic he knew.
That person was Inohira. The two were drinking buddies, and the president knew that Inohira was strong in that…area, so he turned to him for help.
Since it was a small company, if the president were to collapse, it would go under in no time. He couldn’t afford to cause trouble for his wife, children, and employees.
The president bowed his head, and Inohira apparently agreed to help in a casual manner.
He said, “I happen to have someone suitable right now.”
And so, Inohira came to this apartment building.
He had no connection to the landlord, but he just showed up out of the blue, contacted the manager, and somehow convinced him to let him come to the seventh floor with the president.
“I thought, ‘What an odd person has come here.'”
the neighbor murmured nostalgically and continued.
When Inohira san arrived at Room 701, he reportedly said bluntly,
“I’ll lend you my voice, so I want you to be ‘Yoshimizu Katsui’ for a while.”
The president, who was referred to as “this guy,” was looking down with a pale face.
His name is Yoshimizu Katsui, apparently. I wanted to know the kanji, so I asked, but the president interrupted and said, “Please spare me that.” However, I wanted to know the kanji, so I asked. If he wouldn’t tell, it wouldn’t work.
After calming the president down for a while, Inohira san also told him the kanji. So he said it was okay. It turned out well.
Since it turned out well, the neighbor became “Yoshimizu Katsui” for a short time.
Thus, the president became an ordinary person for a moment, and the curse that was supposed to fall on “Yoshimizu Katsui” was transferred to the neighbor…
Not remembering much, but it didn’t take three days. It was really just a short time.
When Inohira san came back again, he politely thanked them, prepared a proper gift according to etiquette, and then returned “Yoshimizu Katsui.”
The voice is included in the gift, so it’s okay to keep it borrowed.
What happened to the so-called prayer man or priest?
The neighbor apparently has no idea.
“Inohira is coming, right?”
After finishing her story, my neighbor stretched out her tubular mouth and asked in a clear voice.
On the day I managed to decorate the mochi despite being unfamiliar with it, I told her that Inohira was coming.
It wasn’t so much that I intended to tell her, but rather that I just mentioned it casually as part of small talk.
As a result, the neighbor told me about Inohira san.
This time, it was more like a reminiscence than a ghost story, but to me, they were the same.
“…Oh, he’s coming after the New Year.”
“He only comes when you’re asleep, so he’s a nuisance.”
Regardless of the content of the words, my neighbor’s voice sounded a bit amused.
At least, he didn’t seem to harbor any ill will.
If the story I heard was true, then perhaps she felt somewhat favorable toward Inohira san for giving her a “voice.”
By the way, did she not have a voice before that? I’m not sure. But I didn’t really want to know more about it. I was already in a state where I didn’t know where the thicket was.
Furthermore, there was something else I wanted to ask.
“Hey, aren’t you friends with Inohira san?”
From what I’ve heard so far, Inohira san is clearly someone who is strong in spiritual matters.
Rather than making ordinary humans his friends, wouldn’t it be much easier for him to make friends with people like that?
Without much pause, a straightforward answer came back to my question.
“Inohira doesn’t have any friends.”
The answer to my question came from an odd angle, but what caught my attention was the tone of her voice.
It had a genuinely puzzled ring to it.
It was like saying, “Stop at a red light.”
You stop at a red light, you go at a green light, and Inohira doesn’t have any friends.
It was spoken with the same matter-of-fact tone as stating an obvious fact.
“….Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
It was an indescribable feeling, neither satisfying nor unsatisfying.
It felt like common knowledge that everyone knew, but then again, even if Inohira san doesn’t think of himself as having friends, there are people who think of him as a friend, and maybe he just doesn’t understand the meaning of “friends” very well, and besides, wasn’t the president his drinking buddy? I thought.
But still, since he stated it so emphatically, Inohira-san probably doesn’t have any friends.
Ah. …No, surely not.
“Um…is the president still alive?”
“I don’t know.”
“…I see.”
When I see Inohira after the new year, I’ll ask him.
It’s not because the president died that he has no friends, right?
As I was thinking about such things, my neighbor groaned sleepily.
It seemed she was about to fall asleep.
I heard this just the other day, but the neighbor apparently takes a “break” during the New Year’s holiday.
From the end of December until around the 7th of January, he stays inside and sleeps. I’m not sure if “sleeps” is the right word, but during that time, he doesn’t talk to anyone and doesn’t call me either.
Inohira san probably knows this, which is why he comes back after the New Year.
“See you later, Takahiro. Good night.”
“Yeah, good night.”
It was the usual greeting. I was wondering how to react if he had said something like “Happy New Year” so I replied in a somewhat lackluster voice.
From the neighbor’s balcony, I heard the same sound as when I open my window, and I knew she was going back inside.
She must have been really tired.
Lately, I feel like I’ve been seeing her go back into her room more often.
Maybe she thinks I won’t run away even if I’m not watching her.
She seems to think very highly of me.
However, I can’t predict what kind of “goodwill” someone like her has toward people.
When I think about that, I can’t let my guard down. Well, in an apartment like this, it’s not a bad thing to be tense.
But if I stay too tense, I’ll get tired, so I wish I could relax in my own room.
…..I wish I could.
“……….”
I turned around, stepped into the room, looked down at the awkwardly puffed-up futon, and quietly closed the window behind me.
Without looking away, I locked the door and closed the curtains.
I stared at it for a while, but it showed no signs of retreating. Well, if it moved in front of me, I’d be startled, so it’s better if it stays still….
…..Hmm.
Why is this thing allowed to be here?
Sumie Yuna was scolded just for trying to talk to it.
It wasn’t a question that would be answered by thinking about it, so I decided to take a bath first.
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