The film was based on the so-called “Seven Mysteries of the School”. Common Japanese urban legends featuring seven unsettling, supernatural events typically occurring at night, such as moving statues, haunted portraits, or bathroom ghosts. Often used in horror films, anime, manga, and games.
Yuzuru had heard it was popular among students, probably because the setting—a school—felt so familiar.
Just as the rumours said, it was frightening. Yuzuru didn’t scream, but it was enough to make his body jolt in surprise.
Every time a ghost or spirit attacked someone, his heart thumped loudly.
That said…
“Eek!”
“Ahh!”
“Kyaa!!”
The one who kept letting out those cute little shrieks—and clinging to Yuzuru’s arm each time—was Arisa, and that made his heart race far more than the film did.
True to her claim that she couldn’t handle scary things, by the latter half Arisa had her eyes shut tight, trembling, her hand gripping Yuzuru’s the whole time.
She probably hadn’t even watched the last fifteen minutes.
When the film ended, Yuzuru called out to her.
“Arisa.”
“Wah! Y-Yuzuru-san, is that you?”
“Who else would it be? …You alright?”
“I-I-I’m fine.”
She didn’t look fine in the slightest. Taking her with him, Yuzuru decided to leave the theatre early.
She must have been seriously scared—even after the lights came on, she was pressed tightly against his arm.
“I-I can’t… I won’t be able to go to the toilet at school from tomorrow…”
Arisa said this with a pale face, her eyes slightly teary.
“If you’re that bad with scary stuff, you should’ve just skipped it… You’d better stop watching horror from now on.”
At that, Arisa shook her head side to side.
“It was scary, but… it was interesting. …I’m bad with scary things, but I don’t hate horror.”
“…”
Is this girl an idiot?
Yuzuru found himself seriously thinking that.
Then again, wanting to watch something scary precisely because it’s scary… wasn’t exactly wrong either.
“By the way, Arisa… mind if I go shoot a pheasant?” A Japanese euphemism used by guys for going to the bathroom.
“N-No! Don’t leave me alone right now!”
With that, Arisa grabbed his arm tightly and pulled it against herself.
Being told that with teary eyes made it very hard to pull away, but…
“N-No, I mean… I’m kind of at my limit here.”
“C-Can’t you hold it?”
“Hold it… until when?”
“Th-That’s… forever.”
Even Arisa seemed to realise she was asking the impossible, saying it while averting her gaze.
Still, she showed no sign of letting go of his arm.
Left with no choice, Yuzuru decided to throw her a slightly mean question.
“And what about you? …I think you drank as much juice as I did.”
“Eh? Th-that’s…”
The moment he pointed it out, Arisa’s legs began visibly trembling.
It seemed the fear had distracted her from noticing until now.
“…How about we accompany each other until the very last second?”
“I’d like you to consider basic decency.”
“R-Right, of course… That’s true… For now, let’s head to the toilets. I’ll steel myself on the way.”
With that, Yuzuru headed towards the toilets together with her.
Of course, Arisa couldn’t enter the men’s, and Yuzuru couldn’t enter the women’s.
So…
“We’ll split up here, alright?”
“Please make it quick.”
“…I’ll do my best.”
What exactly are you planning to do?
He chose not to ask.
After all, the horror film they’d just watched had featured a ghost in a toilet.
Given how she was acting, there was no way she had the courage to go in alone yet.
For Arisa’s sake, Yuzuru rushed into the men’s room, intending to finish as quickly as possible.
And then…
“…Huh? Wait—are you, by any chance, Hijiri?”
He spotted a familiar-looking guy washing his hands.
When he called out experimentally, the guy widened his eyes in surprise.
“Then you must be Yuzuru… What a coincidence.”
“That’s my line… You’re not Hijiri’s doppelganger or anything, right?”
“You watched that film too?”
“So you saw it as well, huh?”
It seemed both Yuzuru and Hijiri had watched the same film.
They must have entered and left at different times, which is why they hadn’t run into each other inside.
“You watching a horror film… were you with someone?”
Hijiri asked.
Yuzuru hesitated for a moment over how to answer.
But Arisa was waiting outside, fighting her own battle in front of the toilets—it would be obvious soon enough that they’d come together.
There was no point trying to hide it.
So he was about to honestly say he came with Arisa, when…
(Wait a second.)
A sudden idea struck Yuzuru.
“Hey, Hijiri. What about you… did you come with someone?”
“Hey, don’t answer a question with a question.”
Hijiri looked slightly flustered.
That was answer enough.
“A girl?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Nagiri Tenka, right? You were with her before.”
“Yeah… so what about it?”
Hijiri asked, sounding annoyed.
In response, Yuzuru bowed his head.
“Sorry—there’s just one thing I want to ask.”
“Where’d that come from all of a sudden?”
Hijiri looked bewildered at Yuzuru’s sudden seriousness.
It wasn’t unusual for Yuzuru to ask him for things, but this was the first time he’d done so with such intensity.
“Your companion… whether it’s Nagiri-san or anyone, as long as it’s a girl—”
“O-Okay! I’ll be honest, it is Nagiri—so what do you need?”
Yuzuru grabbed Hijiri by the shoulders.
Then, with desperate urgency, he pleaded:
“Please… save my companion—Arisa!!”
After that, when Tenka joined them, she looked extremely confused…
…but she kindly accompanied Arisa to the toilet.
After Arisa safely overcame her crisis, Hijiri and Tenka heard the full story—namely, that she’d become too scared to go to the toilet alone—and…
They burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs.
Incidentally, Yuzuru got absolutely chewed out by Arisa afterwards.
