On a certain day in August, afternoon, it was fine and so hot. Sadao(it is ordinary first name for male in Japan) was standing in front of an old -but great house,basking in strong sunlight. He was supposed to live in the house from that day.

Several days ealier.he had been looking for a house in those area for his job.He wasn't particular about the size of the house and the floor plan.But he had to a house whose rent was cheap because of his budget. He went to a real estate agency and was shown some properties.In many cases,the nearer a station and the bigger house was,the higher its rent was.But the distance between the house and the station was meaningless for him.And he didn't care about if the house was livable or not too.All important thing was rent.

He found a house whose rent was low even though it was decent size and not far from the station.He showed curiosity about it.The agent explained why its rent was cheap and said he shouldn't live in the house.But Sadao determined to live in it because the reason why its rent was cheap didn't matter for him,or rather, he didn't figure out why the reason made its rent low.

Sadao looked closely the exterior of the house.It had 2 floors.The 2nd floor was smaller than the 1st,looked like a smaller cube was put on a bigger cuboid.It had a garden that was not large.The house was great so you could imagine that the size of inside house was large enough,just by looking outside.The wall that was made of mortar was so brown.He didn't know its color had been originally that color or it had changed because it had been exposed to rain and wind and sunlight for a long time.

He looked around and found that there were relatively new and sophisticated houses.So his house was weird because of an its atmosphere that made you feel the history.

He approached the entrance with the necessary bare minimum of baggage.The door that looked like it was made of bronze was solid.He inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it to the right.The lock was opened smoothly in spite of the look.

He slided the door to the left.The inside was so dark in contrast to bright outside.He stepped in the entrance where no shoes were there,then closed the door.A long straight hallway that made you imagin that it had been used for a long because of its dark color,lied from the entrance.There were dull cream-colored walls both side of the hallway

Sadao thought that an ordinary old house was how that was.He put his shoes off and step up to the hallway.Everytime he put his weight on his leg the floor squeaked.There was a small Japanese-style room (its floor was tatami,its door was fusuma that was a kind of door covered with washi paper) on the left side.The oppsite side of it,there was a shower room.He walked down the hallway a little further,there was a staircase leading upstairs on the left side,and beyond it,there was a bathroom.(in most of Japanese houses,the bath and the toilet are in different rooms).

Sadao got to the living room at the end of the hallway.He put his baggage down on the floor and then looked around every room on the 1st floor.He came back to the living room and thought there didn't seem to be any problems in the house.He had been afraid that the house would have some serious problems because of its low rent.But it seemed fine.

When he crouched next to the baggage trying to open it he heard a pat that sounded like someone walked slowly upstairs.

"What? Is anyone there?"

He talked to himself and realized he had not looked around upstairs yet.He got out of the living room and went up the stairs.He found a sliding door on the right side at the end of the staircase..Beyond the door - in other words,right above the living room - there was a bedroom.It was the only room that the 2nd floor had.He opned the door and looked into the room though,there was not anybody else,but just silence and a dark bedroom.

He entered the room to make sure of what sounded a pat.The room had a small window on the west side.The next house's wall that glowed with white because of summer sunlight was seen through the window.He thought the brightness coming from through the window made him feel 　that the room was darker than it was acutually.He approached the window and tried to open it but couldn't.

There was a closet on the north side that had a sliding door.The door was closed.He thought if someone or something that had sounded a pat existed exactly in the room,it must be in the closet.He flang the door open but there wasn't anything.So he didn't figure out what had made a pat after all.He tilted his head artificially and closed the door,then got out the room.

He went down the stairs and came back to the living room,then reported to his boss that he had got to the house and there had been no problem.

A week later,there were a lot of new experience for Sadao since he had started living there.Because he had many things that he had never seen in the house.For example,he didn't know how to use a lighting equipment that had a pull chain switch.Various things in every room was curious for him.But he lost interest in those gradually as he figured out how to use those and why those were.Then he had lived in the living room all the time.The living room was big enough to live for him who had brought only a baggage.He worked and slept there.

There was one thing bothered Sadao.He had had a feeling there was someone upstairs freaquently since he started to live there.Not to mention he had lived alone,without anybody like a family.Why he had lived a decent size house like it was that its rent was cheap.He heard something from the 2nd floor again and again when he was spending time in the living room.Every time it happened he went up the stairs and checked the bedroom.But he couldn't find what caused the sound.

One day,Sadao lied down in the bedroom.Why he did it was he just thought he should do it because the room's name was 'bedroom'.A green carpet was laid there.He lied on it but it seemed like he felt the texture of the foor directly because the carpet was so thin.The carpet had been laid there already when he moved.He remembered the agent had said the carpet shouldn't been removed or changed.Sadao didn't care if there was the carpet or not.

When Sadao was lying he turned his face to the side and had a glance at the carpet.Then he found a strand of hair.The length of it was no less than 20 inches.

"What?"

He said.His hair was short like a soldier.So the long hair wasn't obviously his.He wondered it was the hair of previous occupant. He sat up and looked around the carpet.Then he found a lot of black curved lines stuck to here and there.He got up and picked those up.Then he put those in the trash can and got out of the room after he made sure that none of hair was left there.

At night.When Sadao was sleeping he heard something from the 2nd floor.In addition to the noise like someone's footsteps,something like someone scratched a wall was heard.He decided to sleep ignoring those because he thought there would be nothing as usual even if he checked upstairs.

Next morning.Sadao went to the bedroom on the 2nd floor,and found something weird.A lot of long black hair were scattered on the green carpet,even though he removed every one of them the day before.Moreover,the amount of them seemed to be more than that the day before.He thought that someone must have existed in the room from last afternoon to this morning,and it would be probably a woman because of long hair.

He wondered he should sleep in the bedroom at night.He heard something from the bedroom more often at night than in the morning or afternoon.He couldn't found what sounded even though he tried again and again.He wonderd he would be able to find it if he slept in the bedroom.Besides,it was not good to leave the problem alone for his job.

At night.Sadao tried to sleep in the bedroom.He was lying on his back on the carpet because he didn't have a bed.After midnight, the date changed, nothing was likely to happen.When he thought that anything wouldn't come over that night, he heard something.It came from right next to his head.It seemed like someone walked slowly next to him lying.He focused on the footspteps,trying to keep his mind calm.The footsteps were moving, went a little farther ,came a little nearer, seemed like someone was walk around like drawing a circle. The footsptes went farther again.Then it stopped and the other noise was heard.The noise sounded like someone scratched the sliding door of the closet.After a while,the footsteps came to right next to his head and stopped there.

Sadao realized that someone was standing right next to his head and looking into his face.He opened his eyes to checked the footsteps owner,and gazed it.What there was in front of his face was a woman's face that let her hair hang down, looking into his face.The woman was standing right next to his head and bent forward as much as her back got lower than her hip,in order to get her face close to his face.Her facial expression was invisible because the room was dark enough,besides her long hair hanged down painted whole her face black with the shade.But her bloodshot eyes that were fiery as if it was foating in the darkness, were glaring at him.

The women kept glaring at him like her gaze would penetrate his face,without a word.

Sadao would never look away from her face.He wondered what he should do in a situation like this.He decided it. Inhaled deeply,forced himself to smile and sail loudly.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Sadao Takahashi!"