Four days had gone by ever since we had returned from the onsen and on this day, Katsuya and I were en route to the City of Hirota on an assigned mission.
During our two days at the onsen, I had noticed a change in the ginger-haired boy's behavior.
For the first time, I had seen him get down from his pedestal to mix with the other members of the organization and his relationship with Ayame had strengthened.
But a malaise had set in between him and I, due to the poison episode.
His presence made me uneasy.
And it was probably to change this that the master has paired us up together for this mission, even if the latter hasn't completely forgiven the ginger-haired boy yet.
In the City of Hirota could be found a Noh theater.
Noh was a major form of classical Japanese musical theater. It was the oldest theatrical art form that is still performed regularly today.
It incorporated masks, costumes and various props into a performance based on dance. Emotions were mostly conveyed through conventional stylized gestures, with iconic masks representing roles such as women, ghosts, etc.
By tradition, a Noh program included five Noh plays composed of a selection from each of the five groups, in the following order: Kami mono, Shura mono, Onna mono, Miscellaneous plays, and Oni mono; with Kamiuta performed at the beginning, and Kyōgen for interludes in-between each Noh plays.
In a few days, there was going to be a Noh program at the theater but, ever since the repetitions had started, several accidents have occurred at the theater involving the performers.
The master wanted Katsuya and I to investigate the strange happenings.
We arrived in Hirota by the late afternoon and Shimitzu-san- a young woman who worked in the wings- was designated to be our guide during the whole time of our mission.
As she showed us around the theater, my attention became caught by the Hannya masks displayed in a long rectangular glass box.
The Hannya mask was used in many Noh and Kyōgen Japanese tales, as well as in Shintō ritual kagura dances. The mask was used in Noh theater to represent a jealous female demon; portraying the souls of women who have become demons due to jealousy or obsession. It possessed metallic eyes, two sharp bull-like horns, and a leering mouth.
It was said that the Hannya mask was demonic and dangerous, but also, sorrowful and tormented, displaying the complexity of human emotions. The mask appeared frightening and angry when the actor looked straight ahead and when tilted slightly down, the face of the demon appeared to be sorrowful, as though, crying.
Hannya masks appeared in various skin tones. A white mask indicated a woman with a fine character, a red mask depicted a less refined character, while the darkest red depicted true demons- revealed after having appeared as women.
'These Hannya masks...' I whispered.
'The red mask will be worn by the dancing woman of Dōjōji when she appears as a snake. The two dark-red ones will be worn by the spinning woman of Kurozuka and the noble woman of Momijigari respectively after they are revealed to be demons. The white one is for the play Aoi no Ue for Lady Rokujō's second-half appearance as a demon,' Shimitzu-san informed me.
I found the distinctive Hannya masks of Dōjōji and Aoi no Ue- the two plays being the most famous of the Noh repertoire- particularly frightening.
'Do you think that it could be these masks?' I asked Katsuya, and the latter became thoughtful, saying, 'There are many supernatural beliefs around Noh masks, more particularly, around Hannya masks. It is said that as the years go by, these masks imbibe themselves of the emotions of the actors during the plays and this give them a soul- full of rage, jealousy and obsessions.'
I swallowed hard.
As Shimitzu-san continued to show us around of the theater, abruptly, there occurred an accident on the stage.
While the performers were doing the repetitions for the Noh play Dōjōji, the performer of the dancing woman became injured by the bell, as it was being lowered, and she had to be transported to the hospital.
The attendant who was lowering the bell asserted that he didn't understand what really happened. He had been perfectly in sync with the performer but then, he saw black for a second as he was lowering the bell. He had come back to himself only to hear the bell crash on the stage and the performers' cries of horror.
'My! Somebody must have casted a bad spell on us!' mumbled Shimitzu-san in the aftermath.
Was Shimitzu-san right? Could it be that it wasn't the disguises that were cursed, but the performers?
The next day, Katsuya and I were back to the theater to inspect it in all its nook and corners.
Coming across of the Hannya masks again, I couldn't help but scrutinize them, wondering if they could actually have something to do with the accidents happening at the theater.
Since the very sight of them made my skin creep, I decided not to linger around them.
As I turned around and began to stride away, out of the blue, I heard the cover of the glass box slip open.
I froze.
There was no one around.
My heart accelerating in my chest, I turned around slowly and what greeted my sight was the white Hannya mask of Lady Rokujō floating in the air, facing me directly.
I stared at it in stupefaction, without blinking nor breathing.
Without any warning, it dashed at me, gluing itself to my face.
In a mixture of horror and panic, I tried to pull it off desperately but without success.
***
A few minutes later…
Katsuya Hattori turned around when he heard somebody arrive behind him and he realized that it was Shun Shutsuki who was passing by, and to his puzzlement, the red-haired girl was wearing a Hannya mask- which he recognized to be that of Lady Rokujō of the Noh play Aoi no Ue- and she was carrying in one hand a lantern with a lit candle in it.
'Uh, Shun, what are doing with this mask on your face?' he asked, having an ugly feeling all suddenly.
The red-haired girl didn't seem to hear him.
As he approached her, he caught the smell of gasoline coming from her and he noticed that the lowest part of her kimono was soaking, as well as, her tabi.
His heart skipped a beat.
Instantaneously, he snatched the lantern away from her hand and having no doubt that the girl was possessed by the Hannya mask, he threw one of his potions to ward off evil- that he carried on himself in a small phial- at her face.
The red-haired girl collapsed on the ground, the Hannya mask coming off automatically, clattering on the floor.
***
I blinked.
What just happened?
'Shun, are you alright?' came Katsuya's voice and I stared at him in confusion from where I was lying on the ground, before my eyes shifted onto the Hannya mask resting next to me.
I remembered how the white Hannya mask had attacked me, but nothing after that.
***
A moment later…
'How are you feeling?' Katsuya asked me after I had taken a shower; the theater having one.
While I was possessed by the Hannya mask, I had poured gasoline in the make-up room. I had been about to light the fire with a lantern when, Katsuya had seen me and stopped me.
'I almost burnt the whole theater down and all of us along. Thank you for having saved every one of us,' I murmured, giving him a grateful smile.
All the gasoline in the make-up room has been cleaned very rapidly.
'So, it is well one of the Hannya masks?!' he asked, rhetorically.
The Hannya mask of Lady Rokujō has been sealed with talismans and needed to be transported to Toda for Master Kagami to seal it definitely.
And for that, we needed the permission of the school to which the mask belonged to.
Katsuya moved away to take care of that.
Something occurred to me at that moment and looking at Shimitzu-san, I asked her out of curiosity, 'Say, if for the miscellaneous category, Dōjōji is going to be performed, then why is the Hannya mask of Lady Rokujō of Aoi no Ue here?'
The program was going to be composed of the Noh plays, in order of category: Takasago, Kurozuka, Hagoromo, Dōjōji and Momijigari.
She gave me a surprised look.
'Oh, nobody told you about what happened?'
Taking my silence as a sign to continue, she explained, 'In fact, at first it was decided that it's the play Aoi no Ue that will be performed. Shion Urameshi was to play the role of Lady Rokujō; she was the actress who performed the roles of the Hannya in most of the plays and was famous for that. But she was ousted of her role to be replaced by Natsune Kazehaya.'
'Natsune Kazehaya? Isn't she the girl who got injured by the bell yesterday?'
'Yes. She's new. It didn't really please Shion, she was truly appalled. The same day, she accidentally died when she was going back home; she tripped on the train track at the station.'
My breath caught. 'It's horrible!'
'Her boyfriend- Kazue Nagai- and her has had a terrible fight just before that, over Natsune, for Shion believed that he was interested in the latter.'
Kazue Nagai was also a Noh performer and he was going to perform for the program too.
Unexpectedly, the girl Natsune Kazehaya showed up at that moment and she made her way directly towards the stage to meet one of the male performers whom I recognized to be the said Kazue Nagai.
Natsune Kazehaya had shoulder-length curly ginger hair. Her arm was in a sling and she had a few other injuries that were less severe.
'Kazehaya, what are you doing here?' Kozue Nagai demanded at her. 'Shouldn't you be in hospital or resting at home?'
'Oh, I dislike hospitals and even if I won't be performing due to my injuries, I'm way too passionated by Noh to remain at home. I prefer to be here to watch the others and you do your repetitions,' she told him, with enthusiasm, causing him to smile.
'And where was Natsune Kazehaya when Shion Urameshi died?' I inquired, and Shimitzu-san blinked.
'Well, she was with Shion. Natsune wanted to have a talk with her in all friendship. She was extremely shaken by the accident,' she replied, before she informed me, 'Since Shion's role had been attributed to her and the misunderstanding over her relationship with Kazue, we decided to cancel the play Aoi no Ue, in regard for Shion, and replaced the play by Dōjōji.'
'I see.'
I didn't know why but something didn't feel right to me.
A person had died. And the mask that this person would have worn was precisely the one which has come to life.
Was Shion Urameshi's death really an accident?
Going to join Katsuya, I decided to ask him to wait before doing anything further concerning the Hannya mask of Aoi no Ue.
I was grateful that he accepted to do so, despite my lack of explanation.
After that, I called up Hatsu to ask him if he had a contact in the police of Hirota and indeed, he knew one of the officials.
Meeting up with the latter, we viewed the cassette of video camera of the train station at the time of Shion Urameshi's death but, nothing much could be seen of the tragedy; Natsune Kazehaya was hardly visible on the video because of the crowd.
Katsuya having remained at the theater in case of another incident, I went to visit the parents of Shion Urameshi after I came out of the police station.
Her parents were a respectable middle-aged couple.
'Is it possible for me to borrow from you an object that belonged to Shion?'
'An object that belonged to Shion?' they asked, perplexed.
'Yes, please?'
They agreed.
Mrs Urameshi disappeared in the corridor and when she came back, she was carrying a palm-sized half-moon-shaped comb with a beautiful carved design in her hand.
She handed it to me, her eyes full of tears.
The tragedy was only recent and her husband and her were still mourning their daughter's death.
'Thank you. I'll return it to you as soon as possible,' I whispered.
With the comb in my possession, I hoped that it would create a link between Shion Urameshi's soul and me.
***
The following day, in the morning…
'What are you saying? You know very well that the woman that I love is Shion.'
'But she's dead! You've got to move on!'
'I'm sorry. The feelings that you have for me aren't reciprocal. I have a lot of respect for you, but that's all.'
'But-'
'Please, do not insist.'
Breaking into tears, Natsune Kazehaya ran past the dark-haired male, knocking into his shoulder on the way.
She paused to look at me when we came across of each other, before she scooted out of sight.
Kazue Nagai, who realized my presence too at that moment, turned to face me, saying, with a dejected expression, 'Ah, you've witnessed that?!'
'I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you and have been told that you're here. I didn't mean to eavesdrop.'
'You're one of the two persons sent by the Gushiken Paranormal Organization, aren't you?'
'Yes.'
We took a seat on the closest bench to have a talk.
'Shion was a great performer, the best I have ever known. I felt extremely bad when she got ousted of her role, so much that I decided to leave Noh. This program is going to be my last one. Even if she is no longer in this world, my heart continues to beat for her.'
Did you hear this, Shion Urameshi?
I hoped so.
I was more than sure that the latter's death wasn't accidental, but a murder.
The Hannya mask wasn't cursed.
Shion has become an Onryō and she had used the Hannya mask to possess me.
And I had a small idea about the author of the crime.
I couldn't really understand why I was so sure of myself. Maybe, when I had been possessed, my soul and that of Shion had entered into resonance.
***
The same day, at 09:00 PM...
Having received a text message on her cellphone from Kazue Nagai asking her to meet him at the theater at nine o'clock, Natsune Kazehaya arrived in front of the building which was closed at this hour.
The message had put her in all her states and she hoped that he wanted to meet her because he wanted to give their relationship a chance.
Standing in front of the gate of the theater, the ginger-haired girl waited for Kazue Nagai to arrive, but when he still didn't show up after a quarter an hour, she decided to give him a call but found that his cellphone was switched off.
Taking a glance at the building, she wondered if he was waiting for her inside of the theater and decided to check.
She was a bit surprised to discover that the doors of the building were open.
Entering the theater, her heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of a person sitting on the edge of the dark stage, right under the spotlight, and that person was disguised as Lady Rokujō from the play Aoi no Ue, having worn the Hannya mask.
The latter didn't show any reaction at her arrival and simply sat there, with a knee brought up against her chest, with her face resting on the back of her hands.
Feeling a bit disconcerted, Natsune Kazehaya made her way down to the stage.
'Excuse me, what are you doing here disguised as Lady Rokujō? And who are you to begin with?'
'Don't you recognize me, Natsune Kazehaya?' came Shion Urameshi's voice from the disguised person, the latter staring at her straight in the face suddenly, having lowered her leg.
Natsune Kazehaya's heart jumped to her throat and she stumbled backward, only to bump into someone from behind.
Her head snapped around instantly and her breath caught as she found herself confronted to what apparently were the Hannya from the plays Kurozuka and Momijigari, accompanied by someone wearing the Noh mask of an Oni.
Backing away, the ginger-haired girl gritted out, her lips trembling, 'Listen! If it's a joke, it's not funny! Take off your masks such that I can see your face!'
Out of the blue, three Hitodama appeared around Lady Rokujō who approached her.
There was no way that it could be some kind of special effect.
Is this really the soul of Shion Urameshi who has come back and that, with at her heels, the incarnations of the demons from the plays?
Crying in horror, Natsune Kazehaya bolted for the door behind her which opened onto a long corridor within the theater.
She ran as fast as she could but staggered to a stop mid-way as, one by one, the lights in the corridor- coming from the opposite direction- began to go off, up to where she had stopped.
The ginger-haired girl stared into the absolute darkness ahead of her, frantically.
And then, abruptly, the lights went on again and she found herself face to face with another personification of an Oni.
Screaming her lungs out, she flung around on the spot and went back onto her heels only to be confronted to Shion Urameshi- alias Lady Rokujō- and the others, who were waiting for her by the stage.
Her legs gave up under her and she fell down on her behind.
Retrogressing fearfully, she blurted out, 'Shion! Shion, please! Forgive me! I shouldn't have killed you; I should never have pushed you in front of that train! I've stole your role and I've tried to seduce your boyfriend. I'm someone despicable, it's true. But don't kill me please, I beg of you!'
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Shura - warrior
Onna - woman
Tabi - socks
Onryō - a vengeful spirit formed from powerful feelings like rage and sorrow