85 Rosalie: *giggle* Rosalie: ...... Rosalie: *giggle* Rosalie: *giggle* Hasumi: R... Hasumi: R... Ros... Sign on door: "Restroom" Hasumi: Rosalie!!! Come out of there!!!! 86 no text 87 Text: The Wisteria Diary - Or, The Night in which the Oni-kui Tengu Regains His Past Text: On The Origins of the Laws Governing The Human World - Book One 88 no text 89 Man #1: You hadn't heard? Man #1: About the "Paranormal Research Society" that the Hasumi family founded? Some guy: And how our own organisation is to merge with theirs? Man #1: And of course, the matter of what's been put in that foreign child... Man #2: Oh yes, I'm quite interested in that. Man #3: Hasumi Ryoukan, the well-known scholar of folklore and religion, adopted a daughter while doing research in England. She's said to have some power... Man #2: I wonder if she has that mysterious ability...? Man #1: It's certainly likely. If not that, then why would he have adopted a foreign child? Edwards: I too have an interest in her... 90 Edwards: If I can't see here, then... Hasumi: Rosalie... Hasumi: Your loneliness and these trance states are just products of diseased thoughts... 91 Hasumi: I know your real parents abandoned you because they didn't understand you... Hasumi: But I want to understand... no... Hasumi: I *will* understand! Hasumi: But I need your help, Rosalie... Rosalie: I don't... Rosalie: I don't tell lies... Rosalie: I would never lie... Rosalie: But I don't know what to think... SFX: *wham!* Hasumi: OW!! Hasumi: Rosalie!! Wait!! SFX: *running* Hasumi: Rosalie!! 92 Youko: What nice weather~~ *heart* Youko: Pretty days like this make me want to do some housecleaning~! SFX: *hitting something* Youko: Wah!! Youko: R... Youko: Rosalie-chan... 93 Kantarou: Rosalie-chan, what are you doing here all of a sudden? Kantarou: Did you tell Hasumi you were coming over here? Rosalie: ...... Kantarou: Hmm... Kantarou: Well, that's no good... Kantarou: I'll just call and let him know to pick you up! Youko: See, it's okay, Hasumi-san will come get you! Rosalie: ...No... Youko: Huh? What? 94 Rosalie: I'm not going home. Haruka: ...That's a weird thing to say. Haruka: Why don't you want to go home? Youko: Rosalie-chan... SFX: *grab* Youko: Aha, that hurts... Youko: What did Hasumi-san do...? Kantarou: That's enough! SFX: *slammingthe phone down* 95 Kantarou: It's not *my* fault Rosalie-chan is here! Why's he getting mad at me!? SFX: *stomp* Kantarou: Hasumi is a disgrace to men of his class!! Kantarou: Well, I guess Rosalie-chan out to go home anyway... SFX: *opening door* Kantarou: They already left...? Haruka: Why me? 96 Kantarou: Waahh... Kantarou: This is where Hasumi works..? Kantarou: Heh... so he's got money but he can't buy his daughter's love... SFX: *heh* Kantarou: It sure seems like he's always making promises to her... Kantarou: I'm going to have a word with him!! Kantarou: Hey! Hasumi!! Kantarou: You should be ashamed of yourself!! 97 Kantarou: Oh... Kantarou: Shit... SFX: *door slam* Kantarou: Hasumi's the kind of guy who's always in the office.. Kantarou: Maybe this isn't the place...? Hasumi: ROSALIE!!! SFX: *impact* Kantarou: GAHH!! Kantarou: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? Hasumi: ICHINOMIYA, YOU BASTARD!! Hasumi: Where is my daughter!? You kidnapper!! Kantarou: Out of the kindness of my heart, I let her stay safely at my house with Haruka and Youko-chan!! Ayame: Whoa, now this is quite a sight!! 98 Ayame: To see the always-calm Hasumi-sensei raise his voice like this! Ayame: You and Hasumi-sensei must be good friends! Please come in and have some tea! Hasumi: Ayame-kun! Hasumi: I don't really want him in my house... Ayame: Oh Sensei, we can't very well refuse anyone who comes to the Paranormal Research Society, can we? Hasumi: Hmph... Kantarou: Paranormal Research Society? 99 Ayame: The aim of the Paranormal Research Society is to open the door to a new era by studying old folk beliefs and occult phenomena. Ayame: Hasumi-sensei founded the organisation! Ayame: And we've been doing really well lately! Everyone agrees that we're making great progress in understanding occult and spiritual things! Hasumi: As an organisation, we are dedicated to advancing the true religion and culture of Japan - superstition and folklore are only a hinderance to our cause, so we approach the issue using common sense and scientific logic. Kantarou: ...Hmm... Hasumi: What's with that look?! A fantasy writer like you can't possibly grasp the superiority of our methods!! Ayame: Sensei, isn't that going a little too far?! Kantarou: Ayame-chan, was it? You're even more kind than you are cute! That's wonderful! I'm so pleased to meet you - I'm Ichinomiya Kantarou... SFX: *slam* 100 Student: Something just... SFX: *shaking* Student: Something just came out of the toilet... Kantarou: WHAT? Ayame: Come on, Ichinomiya-sensei, you can come too! Sign on door: "Restroom" Kantarou: Oooh, what's going on?! Hasumi: Ichinomiya-sensei... Hasumi: This man was just using the toilet... Hasumi: Perhaps this is the kind of investigation best left to you? 101 Kantarou: Actually, I can faintly sense the presence of a youkai... Kantarou: But it won't come out... no... Kantarou: It doesn't want me to see it? I wonder why... Hasumi: *laugh* Ayame: ...... Hasumi: Ichinomiya-sensei is of the fanciful opinion that youkai indeed exist. Hasumi: And apparently my student who couldn't even use the restroom on his own suffers a similar obsessive fetish... Hasumi: Seeing that he's afraid of monsters coming up from the toilet... The logical explanation is simply that he was spooked by nothing more than a draft. Kantarou: ...A fetish? Do you really have to go that far? Hasumi: Oh, do you know which corner of the house we're in? Kantarou: Ah! 102 Chart: [This just shows all of the directions - from the top going clockwise, they are: north, north-northeast, northeast, east-northeast, east, etc. NOrthest (ushi-tora, between the directions of bull and tiger), is also called the kimon, or demon gate, because according to onmyoudo that is the direction that demons enter a house from. This is because the wrathful god Konjin is most active at the northeast and southwest demon gates. These were once taboo directions and people would avoid even travelling that way unless they took an indirect route. So northeast is the front demon gate and the most unlucky direction and nobody would want to have important plumbing or heating fixtures in that area of the house direction (except Hasumi) and that's why Kantarou is surprised. *laugh* But now Konjin is a god of health!] Kantarou: No way... Kantarou: The unlucky northeast corner!? Hasumi: That's right! This building is oriented so that room faces northeast! Hasumi: That's the direction of the so-called demon gate! Kantarou: Demon gate... Kantarou: So I guess that's why he's got such a bad youkai problem... Ayame: Um... I have a question... Ayame: Why is the northeast such a bad direction? Hasumi: It's something taken from an old book of Chinese origin called the Sengaikyuu. 103 Kantarou: On a mountain called Dosaku-san, there are thousands of large, tangled peach trees. Kantarou: And in the northeast corner of this forest, the trees form a gate through which demons enter this world. Kantarou: Many people think that this demon gate from old China is a sort of omen. Ayame: Oh, I see, so it's an old Chinese story... Ayame: So they thought demons came from the northeast? Hasumi: But as you can see, I don't have much faith in this demon gate business. Hasumi: The sun rises in the east, after all, so it's a perfectly good direction. Hasumi: But because of this belief in a demon gate, it is a widespread custom in Japan to avoid placing water in the northeast corner of a house. Hasumi: You could say it's a taboo... and that's why... 104 Hasumi: And that's why I put the toilet right on that demon gate! Hasumi: I'll prove that there's absolutely no value in that old superstition!! SFX: *shock* Kantarou: He did it on purpose... Kantarou: I kind of think that superstitions like the demon gate are an important part of our culture though... Hasumi: But the future of Japan will be dark indeed if we continue to cling to outdated notions and refuse to accept new ways!! Hasumi: Even when dealing with plumbing fixtures, you have to worry about toilet gods! SFX: *grrr* Kantarou: And then you bring in gods and ghosts and the entire priesthood, right? Hasumi: Just listen to the common man!! People in the background: When will it end...? Hasumi: Youkai are no longer a part of Japanese values! People can't even imagine something so irrelevant!! 105 Kantarou: *giggle* Hasumi: What are you laughing about!? Kantarou: Oh no... Kantarou: Hasumi, I think you're really... Kantarou: A closet youkai fan~ Hasumi: WHAT?! Ayame: *giggle* Hasumi: HOW RIDICULOUS!! Hasumi: I deny the existance of youkai!! Kantarou: But you sure know a lot about them! Hasumi: I won't associate with idiots! Hasumi: Ichinomiya, tell Haruka-kun and the rest to bring Rosalie back here! Kantarou: *sigh* Kantarou: Hasumi's opinion is just the opinion of someone who's never seen a youkai... 106 Ayame: You can see them, right, Ichinomiya-sensei? What do you think? SFX: *smile* Ayame: I've been wanting to talk to you! Ayame: I think... I used to be able to see youkai when I was a little girl. Ayame: Now I don't think I can sense youkai on the same level... Ayame: But I want to see them, I really do... Kantarou: ...... 107 Ayame: I guess I lost my wish to see them... Ayame: Now, I look everywhere for them in the hope I'll remember how to see them... Kantarou: Ayame-chan, I think youkai really like you! Ayame: They... they do!? Ayame: I'm so happy... wow... Kantarou: There's no doubt about it!! SFX: *flapping* 108 Youko: Rosalie-chan, don't you think Hasumi-san is worried? Shouldn't you go home? Rosalie: ...... Rosalie: Ryoukan... Rosalie: Isn't worried about me. Youko: That's not true!! Youko: Huh? 109 Youko: Wow... Youko: What are all these birds doing here? Haruka: Kantarou sent them from your father's house, Rosalie, so we ought to take you home. Haruka: So demanding... Haruka: Hey. 110 Haruka: If you're so miserable, then it is time to go home. SFX: *shaking head* Haruka: *sigh* Haruka: No matter how young a girl is, they're all stubborn. Ayame: It seems like Rosalie-chan met some kind of monster in that restroom. Kantarou: Huh? Really? Ayame: Well, she shuts herself in there and talks to herself. I thought normal kids were afraid of the dark... 111 Ayame: Now, this is just between us, as friends. SFX: *jumping up* Ayame: If Hasumi-sensei heard, he would get angry... Kantarou: Yeah, Hasumi gets pretty pissy... Kantarou: But why would he get mad at Rosalie-chan... hmm... Ayame: ...I guess if she talked about things like that, maybe we would get it because we've seen it before with out own eyes... Ayame: But you know how he gets when we mention supernatural stuff, so it's probably the same with Rosalie-chan... Kantarou: Yeah... Ayame: But why is Hasumi-sensei so insistent on denying youkai? Ayame: He could probably even use Rosalie-chan as a medium if he wanted to investigate spiritualism... Ayame: I mean, I've heard that other spiritualism researchers have used her with good results... 112 Ayame: Ichinomiya-sensei? SFX: *door being opened violently* Hasumi: ! Kantarou: You won't believe what Rosalie-chan tells you, but you're willing to let her suffer spirit possession? Kantarou: Isn't that a little hypocritical, Hasumi? Hasumi: This is a private affiar. Hasumi: You're too arrogant. Kantarou: What? 113 Kantarou: You must think we're just things you can own and use at your convinience... Kantarou: But we're people too...!! Hasumi: ...Ichinomiya...? Student: Waahh... Kantarou: I'm going to... Kantarou: I'm going to show you just how wrong you are...! SFX: *some generive fighting noise* Ayame: Ichinomiya-sensei, what are you doing!? Hasumi: ...Just who do you think you're talking to... Ichinomiya...? Kantarou: Ah... Kantarou: I'm sorry... 114 Student: KYAAAAAHHH!!! Student: The toilet!! Student: Save us!! 115 Hasumi: Oh, did the plumbing break? Kantarou: Wh... what happened!? Student: It's... it's the thing from the occult experiments with Rosalie-chan... somehow she's been communicating with it in the restroom... Student: And now the water's spewing out... Monster: I won't forgive you... Monster: I won't forgive those who hurt Rosalie... Kantarou: ! Hasumi: Let's get out of here!! Sign: "Censored" Kantarou: WAH!! Kantarou: Uh oh, what do we do? We've lost it for now... I'm not going near that! Ayame: There's really a youkai here, right?! 116 Ayame: Let me help!! SFX: *whoosh* Kantarou: Ayame-chan!! You know magic!? SFX: *flutter/flop* Ayame: Oops, I'm not so good at this... SFX: *giggle* Ayame: I guess it's not something you can learn by imitation... SFX: *grab* Kantarou: Did you see where it went!? Ah, damn it, just stay here...! 117 SFX: Aiiie!! SFX: KYAAA!! SFX: *whoosh* Kantarou: Haruka!! 118 Haruka: Go home. SFX: *surprise* SFX: *poof* Kantarou: Hey! He got away!! Ayame Ah... thank you so much!! 119 Kantarou: Wait, Youkai-kun!! I just want to talk... SFX: *uwaaah* Kantarou: Haruka, your glare is too scary!! SFX: *sudden movement* 120 Haruka: Why... are you here...? Kantarou: ...Haruka?