Chapter Text
Crows caw and the wind blows. Water drips and a door creaks.
An old lady in a pale kimono is lying in a futon. Her breathing is heavy and her eyes are closing. Around the futon are nine figures of different ages and genders.
The woman in the middle speaks up first.
Imekanu: “It won't be long now.”
Kitsugoro: “She lived a full life.”
Akami: “At least she's comfortable.”
Miiko: “There are many more unpleasant ways to die.”
Many in the group agree, pointing to various physical injuries across their bodies.
Meiben: “She sure lasted longer than all of us. Gahahaha”
The man bursts out laughing and one of the others punches him in the shoulder, hard.
Kageuchi: “Be quiet you oaf. This is no time for laughter.”
Yumiko: “I think it's happening.”
Ju: “Let’s all send her off, peacefully.”
Akami: “Shh.”
The group gasps as a silvery form rises from the woman as her last breath escapes her.
Imekanu: “It is time.”
Kitsugoro: “Oh, I do hope she stays.”
Yumiko: “Y1000 on her staying.”
Meiben: “Deal.”
The woman and the man shake as the one who punched him earlier sighs and shakes his head.
Akami: “I can't see anything. Can someone lift me up a bit?”
Shinshiro: “Of course.”
One of the group lifts the little girl up in his arms so she can see what is going on.
Saeko: “Who are you?”
The old lady looks at the group, confused.
Yumiko: “I am the ghost of your aunt.”
Imekanu: “We are spirits who have remained on this earth to fulfil a purpose. Might you-”
While she’s talking the spirit rises up and through the ceiling and is gone.
Meiben: “There she goes. Lucky cow.”
The man is punched, yet again.
Kageuchi: “Don’t be rude, oaf. Good for her.”
Kitsugoro: “Awww, I thought we could have had a new friend.”
Meiben: “...You owe me Y1000.”
Yumiko: “Well, we don’t have any money. Besides, what would a monk do with money?”
Meiben: “God, I miss alcohol.”
A man who has stayed mostly silent nudges them.
Shinshiro: “Is now really the time for this?”
Imekanu: “If someone could say something, that would be appreciated.”
Yumiko: “Yes, I'll do it.”
She clears her throat.
Yumiko: “Bagsie her room.”
Kageuchi: “Oh, she's only just died.”
Ju: “Honestly, you lot.”
Miiko: “I question every day what I did to be stuck with all of you.”
Yumiko: “Well, it was originally my room. And she is my niece.”
Shinshiro: “She was the last Sagawa. Having no children.”
Akami: “I suppose it will just be us from now on then.”
Kitsugoro: “Aww, that is such a shame. I always love seeing new people.”
Kageuchi: “And so, the legacy of the Sagawa residence comes to an end. What, pray tell, might its future be?”
Yumiko: “And he’s started again.”
Kageuchi: “It seems but only yesterday that our own dear Yumiko purchased this house and began the legend anew.”
Imekanu: “I think it is best to leave him while he is like this. Akami, dear, come with me.”
Akami: “Yes, Imeme!”
Miiko: “Might I follow? I had thought of no other plans for today.”
Imekanu: “But of course.”
The three exit together, conversing politely.
Kitsugoro: “Ooh, wait for me! I have some fun things to talk about.”
The overly excitable young man races at full speed after them.
Ju: “That’s debateable...”
The older man sighs and follows after them.
Kageuchi: “Her life, twas like...the arrow. Fast and direct but finally brought to a dead stop.”
Yumiko: “You need to stop comparing everything to arrows. I’ll race you to the garden, Meiben.”
Meiben: “You’re on”
The two run at breakneck speed out of the room.
Shinshiro: “I guess, I will go too... Bye, Kageuchi.”
Shinshiro awkwardly sidles out leaving the final man in the room, waxing poetry alone.
Kageuchi: “But with no children of her own, is this the end for our home? ...Wait, where did everyone go?”
TWO YEARS LATER
The scene changes to a small studio flat. It doesn’t have very much free space and the rooms aren’t getting very much sunlight
There is an estate agent and two women in the flat
One women has pale skin, dip-dyed green hair and is wearing a crop top and jeans. The other is a bit shorter and looks clearly Japanese. She has shoulder length black hair with one side tucked behind her ear. She wears a black sheer top a dark red dress.
Lara: "Well, it's bigger than the place we’re renting at the moment. And a bit over budget. Does it have a tatami1 room?"
Estate Agent: "Nope"
Lara: "Oh, okay..."
Phone rings
Estate Agent: "Sorry, one second. Hello, Dasai Estate agents."
Reina: "Nice view of the street."
Lara: "Yeah..."
BOTH: "Monja Chikadou"
Lara: "Monjayaki2, huh..."
Reina: "It's terrible, isn't it?"
Lara: "Yep. It's awful. It's so bad. I wish you could be designing the place we live in."
Reina: "If only we had that kind of money."
The two realise the Estate Agent has finished his call
Lara: "Sorry..."
Estate Agent: "Nah, you have a point. I wouldn't want to live here either. It’s hard to find a nice place in Tokyo."
Phone rings
Unknown: "Hello? Hello, is that Nanase Shiho3?"
Lara: "Speaking."
Unknown: "I'm calling about a house."
Lara: "We're only looking at flats. We can't afford to buy a house."
Unknown: "This one's not for sale."
Lara: "Is this a prank call? Please take me off your calling list."
Lara hangs up and sighs
Lara: "God, why do people do that?"
Phone rings
Lara: "Yep?"
Unknown: "Sorry, I think you might have misunderstood what I was saying. I work for the government and I wanted to let you know that you have been approved to buy an Akiya4.
Hello?
Hello?"
The scene changes to a government style office
Government employee: "So we have checked through all your details and your finances and you have been approved to buy an Akiya."
Lara: "I applied ages ago and honestly, I’d kinda forgotten about it."
Government employee: "Well, it does take a while to check through everything. And for a lot of properties, we are looking for married couples with children."
Reina: "I feel like I'm about to have an exam. Reminds me of cram school. I remember I skipped a few of those exams. My mum told me that it would impact my future, but she was-"
Lara: "Rei, maybe later?"
Reina: "Oh yeah, sorry."
Lara: "How long has the house been abandoned."
Government employee: "Only two years actually. The owner passed away quite recently which is why you two were more eligible for this than our other properties."
Lara: "Were they old?"
Government employee: "She was 81."
Reina: "Lived through quite a bit then."
Government employee pulls out a picture
Government employee: "And there she is. Sagawa Saeko. The family actually used to be quite well known."
Reina: "Wait! Is she related to the female rights activist?"
Government employee: "Yes. Sagawa Umi was her mother. She passed away just 6 years ago at the age of 90."
Reina: "Woah! She’s my hero and I never knew she had a kid that young.!
Lara: "So, what does the house look like?"
Government employee pulls out another two pictures
Government employee: "Here are just a few pictures we have of it."
Lara: "Woah! This is beautiful!"
Reina: "I love the balcony. That will be useful for drying clothes."
Lara: You know, I thought you might have more complex analysis. As an architect.
Reina: "I’m not at work right now, am I?"
Government employee: "So, this is your architect roommate. In fact, she was one of the main reasons we chose you. While this house hasn’t been abandoned for very long, the owners did not keep it terribly clean, neat and tidy so it does need a lot of work."
Lara: "Where is the property, by the way?"
Government employee: "It is in the west district of Sakai city in Osaka prefecture. The area has big cities near enough, but it might be a bit far for a commute."
Reina: "Sakai! I’m from the Mihara district so this will be a bit like a homecoming."
Government employee: "It seems like it is meant to be then."
Lara: "It may not be my area of expertise, but I’ve always wanted to do a project like this."
Reina: "I guess that means I’m in too."
Government employee: "Splendid. You will get a grant to do up the property as well, so I just need you to sign these forms."
Lara and Reina sign the forms
Government employee: "We will send you the keys in the next week and we would like to ask you to move as soon as possible and change your permanent residence within the month or you will forfeit the house."
Reina: "Got it!"
Lara: "Thank you."
Back at the house
Ju: "The one with simpler writing"
Kageuchi: "The bishop"
Ju: "Goes there, then there, then there."
Kageuchi: "But-"
Ju: "I win right? 10 in a row."
Kageuchi grumbles
Kageuchi: "You can’t even read..."
Ju: "Let’s go again."
Kageuchi: "Fine"
He sighs
Kageuchi: "Best of 20."
Akami: "So, you get some fabric, and you scrunch it into a ball then you push it past the slit and right into the doll. Then, you get a needle and thread, and you do up the doll’s backside and give it a good squeeze to make sure nothing comes out. And then you have your doll."
Kitsugoro: "I really wish I could make one now."
Miiko slaps Kitsugoro on the back of the head
Kitsugoro: "Ow. I meant it."
Imekanu: "Thank you very much Akami. That was very interesting and I’m glad you can share your passion with us. Tomorrow, we will be discussing food again and Meiben wants to share aspects of the Sohei5 diet."
Most of the ghosts groan
Meiben: "At least I’m not talking about kaihōgyō6 again."
Yumiko: "Yes, I love you but I do not want to hear you describe each of the 1000 days again."
Meiben: "Aww, but I was saving that for your birthday."
Yumiko laughs and pushes Meiben’s arm playfully
Imekanu: "Back to business. On Wednesday, Shinshiro has asked if we could join in with a ceremony."
Shinshiro: "Yes. I would very much like it if you all could join me as I refresh myself on the forging ceremony, should I ever need to do it again."
Yumiko: "But you’re-"
Imekanu: "Leave it, dear."
Yumiko: "Maybe after that you could talk about the bolt?"
Shinshiro sinks down into the sofa and covers his face with slightly scarred hands
Imekanu: "Take all the time you need, dear."
Miiko: "Now, if you could sit down, please Lady Imekanu? I have something I would like to discuss."
Imekanu: "The floor is yours"
Imekanu sits next to Akami who lays her head on Imekanu’s arm
Miiko: "Takii. Ever since I moved rooms, up from the bottom floor when we our recent shift around, I've been woken every night by you. Screaming like a mad person and making the most horrifying sounds."
Kitsugoro: "Well, I don't think I do!"
Yumiko: "I always thought that was a crow"
They all turn to look at Yumiko
All: "A crow?"
Miiko: "You have been to Tokyo. How on earth do you not know what a crow sounds like?7"
Yumiko: "Wait, no I mean vulture not crow."
Kageuchi: "How on earth could you mistake the two? ...Wait, a vulture doesn’t sound anything like that either."
Miiko: "It has got to stop! I need my rest to be able to get up and deal with you all. Except you two, you are lovely."
She motions towards Imekanu and Akami
Meiben: "Hey what did I do?"
Kageuchi: "Die here. You hung on just long enough to stay here an annoy us."
Meiben: "Hey, I was here before you! And I don’t hear those here before me complaining about me."
Ju: "So, you do just ignore me then."
Meiben: "I can stop teaching you how to read."
Ju: "Oh no, no more smutty novels."
Kitsugoro: "How do you, the physically oldest, always act younger than the rest of us."
Miiko: "Excuse me! I am the oldest physically and I never act like a child like they do! The half-wits."
Shinshiro tries to make himself even smaller
Kageuchi: "I really wish you would all hush. I cannot compose my masterpieces with you all making so much racket."
Yumiko: "Masterpieces? You mean your 500 shitty poems about arrows."
Akami: "He's an artist!"
Imekanu: "Akami, dear. Do not use Kageuchi as a reference for great art."
Kageuchi: "Even you turn against me, Lady Ime?"
Kitsugoro: "Anyway, why don't you just swap with Yumiko?"
Miiko: "Because you all know what room she is in now. I do not have fantastic memories of that room! Besides, we all agreed that we should change rooms every so often so everyone can experience the nicer rooms!"
Yumiko: "Also, I did bagsie the room. You can’t just offer my room Kitsu!"
Meiben: "Well, your new room comes with a screaming man. The rest of us had to get used to him when we were next to his room."
Shinshiro: "...You get used to it after 100 years."
They talk over each other
Miiko: "You’ve all had to deal with this, and you never mentioned it??"
Kageuchi: "Don't point any fingers, you’re a newbie."
Miiko: "I have been dead for over 100 years!"
Imekanu: "It's simple. Kitsugoro and Kageuchi. You swap rooms. Kageuchi is right in the corner so it is hardest to hear from that room and there is a bathroom in between your two rooms."
Kageuchi: "Fine. I don’t mind if I get the balcony again. And it will get Lady Yasui to stop moaning about it."
Kitsugoro: "I would rather like a smaller room again anyway."
Miiko: "That is acceptable."
Akami: "Well done, Imeme!"
LATER THAT EVENING
Miiko: "Ah, quiet at last. Perhaps I can finally get a good night’s rest today."
Miiko just about dazes off when she hears
Kitsugoro: "Masanobu? What- Stop! I- Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
Miiko: "OH, WILL YOU SHUT UP!"
The scene changes to Lara and Reina in a car, speeding down a country road
Lara: #強く、なれる。理由を知った。#
Reina: #僕を連れて#
Both: #進め!!!#8
Reina: "Such a funky bop."
Lara: "How are you so old at 27?"
Reina: "Because I’m special"
She sticks her tongue out at Lara
Lara: "Hang on, hang on. I think this is it."
Reina: "Oh, my God. My heart. It's so strange. I’ve been away from Sakai for so long but being here, it feels so familiar. This track, every tree. It's like I'm a child again. Like it's...home."
Lara: "Whoops, I took a wrong turn a while back. This is Nara9."
Reina: "Yeah, I didn’t think it looked familiar."
Lara: "You are such a loser."
Miiko: "This really is beyond the pale."
Yumiko: "Oh, has it happened again?"
Yumiko picks at her nails disinterestedly
Miiko: "You said “Masanobu? What- Stop! I-” And then started screaming and moaning again. You do know we have a child in the house!"
Miiko gestures towards Akami
Akami: "I may have died at 16 but that was over 1000 years ago. I have grown up a bit!"
Kitsugoro: "Well, look, I don't even realise I'm doing it. I can’t stop doing it if I don’t know I am."
Shinshiro: "Perhaps there's some reason why you feel like you have to re-enact..."
Meiben: "Maybe try screaming and doing all that stuff before bed."
Miiko: "I’d rather no screaming and no ‘stuff’ at all!"
Meiben: "Well, that's a compromise."
Miiko: "Why am I the only one seemingly upset by this? Does he not annoy any of you?"
Meiben: "Well, not really because-"
Kageuchi: "Well, we’ve gotten used to it over the years. That’s the only thing to do."
Kitsugoro: "Look, perhaps I scream because...and I've never told anyone this, but..."
Ju: "It's quite all right. We shan't pry."
Kitsugoro: "It's just that the night that I actually..."
Miiko: "No, look, no screaming. That's all I ask. Is that reasonable? Good. Then finally all of us can get a decent sleep."
Akami: "Oooh! A moving box! What did you call it again, Yumi?"
Yumiko: "A car?"
Akami: "Yes! There’s a car here!"
Miiko: "It’s not very attractive, is it?"
Yumiko: "Your face isn’t very attractive."
Miiko: "Segawa Yumiko! You are a lady and that is a terrible, uncalled-for comment. Besides, you are 32 not 5."
Yumiko: "Well, actually I’m-"
Imekanu: "Let us not argue. What do you suppose the car is here for?"
Kageuchi: "Poor creatures must be lost."
Lara and Reina step out from the car
Kageuchi: "Let me pluck out my eyes for never will I see such beauty again. The arms on her, she could be such a fine archer. Finer, even perhaps, than me."
Meiben: "I mean, you weren’t great."
Miiko: "Yes, she is rather- Ahem, anyway. What are these two doing here?"
Lara: "Wow..."
Reina: "Shall we, my Lady of the house?"
Lara laughs
The two walk into the house and gasp as they see the inside
Reina: "Oh, my..."
Lara: "This is 100% the most incredible moment of my life. And it's all ours!"
Miiko: "What did that girl just say?"
Ju: "She must be related to you, Yumiko."
Yumiko: "But I only had one brother and I am pretty sure he did not have an affair and have another child. He really loved Umi."
Meiben: "Through your parents?"
Kageuchi: "Maybe a relation of Lady Yasui’s? Your family was the last to own it before Yumiko’s?"
Miiko: "No relation of mine would be wearing a cropped top or have dyed hair. Besides, I don’t think she is even Japanese."
Akami: "Maybe the other one then?"
Lara and Reina peak into a small tatami room with a tea set and wall scroll with the word for ‘brew’ on it
Lara: "So, this is the tea room."
Reina: "Does that mean I have to start drinking tea?"
Lara: "You are a disgrace to my country and yours."
Kitsugoro: "It'll be so nice to have some new faces around."
Miiko: "Yes, more people for you to wake up with your screaming."
Kageuchi: "There's enough faces already. Though if I can watch her do archery..."
Yumiko: "There is no saving this one. Bow junkie."
Kageuchi: "You are a disgrace to your name.10"
Lara: "We have to fix up the panelling and so many of the shoji have holes in them."
Reina: "But we need to fix the flooring first."
Reina picks at the tatami, some of it comes easily off in her hand
Lara: "Oh, yeah."
Reina: "We could do every room in a different style. I know you like traditional Japanese style but we don’t need to have every room being tatami. We also need rooms that we can use for other things."
Lara: "Great idea."
Miiko: "Over my dead body!"
Ju: "But..."
Miiko: "I know."
As they go into different rooms Reina lists off different styles
Reina: "21st century, 9th century. We could have it be a celebration of Japanese historical eras. I know how much of a history nerd you are, Lala."
Lara: "Stop calling me that Reirei!"
The women laugh together
Reina: "What about a disco vibe for this room? For parties"
The ghosts all groan as the two women move on
Reina: "Karaoke bar?"
The ghosts generally nod and give sounds of agreement
Ju: "That's fun."
Lara: "Wow. Unbelievable."
Kitsugoro: "Well, they seem really nice."
Akami: "Let's give them a chance."
Reina: "Look at that."
Reina pulls Lara into the tea house in the garden and points at the irori
Reina: "I have never seen one in real life before."
Lara: "And they have rooms in this house too!"
Kageuchi: "Am I the only one who doesn’t remember this being this big?"
Yumiko: "Oh yeah, I expanded it, with planning permission, so I could have a separate place to have guests if I wanted."
Miiko: "And you didn’t think to mention it this morning?"
Yumiko: "Oh, I’d kinda...forgotten."
Reina: "Is that a second Irori?!"
Reina walks right through where Kageuchi is, leaving him wheezing
The other ghosts wince
Meiban: "I hate it when that happens."
Imekanu: "Well, there's only two of them. There is still plenty of room for us. We shouldn’t get worked up."
Lara: "This is going to make one incredible ryokan11."
The ghosts gasp
Ju: "What is a ryokan?"
Yumiko: "Well, a ryokan is..."
Ju: "Kill them."
Meiben: "I quite agree."
Shinshiro: "If we all approve the use of force to enable them to, you know, not live any more. Then I don’t mind."
Miiko: "Out of the question. That's completely immoral. And it's wrong."
Kageuchi: "And if we do kill them, we could be stuck with them forever."
Kitsugoro: "Would that so bad?"
Meiben: "I thought you didn’t-"
Akami: "Couldn't we all just live in the in whichever room they pick? The biggest room has space for us all."
Ju: "I'd much rather kill them."
Meiben: "Kill them. Here, here."
Akami: "But that's a crime!"
Imekanu: "We could always try...haunting? We are ghosts."
They murmur
THE NEXT MORNING
Reina: "Your tea, m'lady."
Lara: "Thank you, Sebastian12."
Reina: "Taste all right?"
Lara: "Why?"
Reina: "I couldn't get any water in the kitchen and I couldn't find the other kitchen, so I ended up using the pond water. And then there's no electric in the kitchen, so I used the irori, which was really cool. I don't know if the water's drinkable, but I boiled it twice."
Lara: "Reina. You are my best friend, so I mean this with all the love in the world. But what the actual fuck."
Lara puts the tea down
Reina: "Not the best idea?"
Lara: "Not your finest, no."
A crow caws
Reina: "I love the sound of the crows."
Lara: "It's in the room."
Reina: "Oh, shit. Get it out, get it out, get it out."
Lara: "It must be nesting somewhere."
Reina: "Yeah, and it’s massive and scary so get it out."
Lara: "I thought you loved them."
Reina: "Their noises, yes. The scary, massive, black birds of death, no."
Lara manages to herd the crow outside while Reina hides in her futon
Lara: "Right, what's first? The pipes? Electrics? The flooring?"
Reina: "Let’s go for pipes."
Scene changes to a big-ish room with all the ghosts in
Kageuchi: "Now, then. Let's have a look at some of the skills at our disposal, shall we? Now, we all know that Shinshiro can do that thing with the lights. Will you please, demonstrate?"
Shinshiro: "Oh, yeah."
Shinshiro concentrates and the bulb in the room they are using flickers
It seems to tire him out a lot
Ju: "Very good."
Akami raises her hand
Kageuchi: "Yes, Lady Sahara?"
Akami: "When I pass through people, they can smell burning incense."
Ju: "Excellent."
Akami: "It doesn’t smell to bad, but it is weird..."
Miiko: "When I was alive... It was rumoured that there was a yokai13 who sang people to sleep. Again, not very dangerous but it is freaky. Maybe there’s another ghost here who was doing that."
Kitsugoro: "Um...Miiko. That was me..."
Miiko: "What?"
Kitsugoro closes his eyes and begins to sing
“ねんねんころりよ おころりよ。
ぼうやはよい子だ ねんねんしな。
ぼうやのお守りは どこへ行った。
あの山こえて 里へ行った。
里のみやげに 何もろうた。
でんでん太鼓に 笙の笛。”14
Miiko hides her tears
Miiko: "Yes, that is lovely."
Kitsugoro: "Are you crying?"
Miiko: "No! There’s just something in my eye!"
Meiben: "Finally, we're all aware of Yumiko’s extraordinary powers."
Yumiko: "Oh, please."
They all talk over each other
Yumiko: "All right, all right. Just I need a little bit... OK, here we go."
Ju: "Right. Shh, shh."
Yumiko: "Hold on."
Yumiko holds her hands together and starts to push a book off the table
Yumiko: "Here we go."
Meiben: "Extraordinary!"
Yumiko: "I've only tried it on books, but you know."
Kageuchi: "Excellent. Well, with my leadership and your skills. I believe we have everything we need to scare them out of their wits."
Ju: "I mean, you’re not in charge but sure."
Kageuchi: "Then who is in charge? You?"
Ju: "I mean I have been here a lot longer than you."
Kageuchi: "And what military job did you have again?"
Imekanu: "Both of you, shush. We need to work together. I will be in charge since you two will most likely continue bickering if I chose either one of you."
Lara screams
Lara: "The water's gone cold. It's so cold. Rei!"
Kitsugoro: "Miiko?"
Pulls her head out from the bathroom door
Miiko: "I wasn't looking, and anyway, I couldn't see anything."
Kitsugoro chuckles
Kitsugoro: "I, of all people, can’t judge. Is she coming out?"
Miiko: "Yes, I think she is."
Kitsugoro: "She's coming out!"
Imekanu: "Stand to, everybody."
Kageuchi: "Prepare for action."
Akami: "Good luck, everyone."
Meiben: "Remember, as long as you do your best..."
Kageuchi: "Finished?"
Meiben: "Yes."
Lara: "Hot water's stopped!"
Kageuchi: "Go for it Shinshiro."
Shinshiro focuses on the light and makes it flicker but Lara pulls the cord a few times and the brightness shocks Shinshiro and he covers his eyes in pain
Kageuchi: "Man down. Right, cue Kitsugoro."
# ねんねんころりよ#
Loud music blasts
Reina: "Yes! Got the speakers hooked up."
Lara laughs
Lara: "Well, that's the main thing."
Imekanu: "Yes, please, Akami."
Lara walks through Akami and crinkles her nose looking around
Lara: "Are you burning some of that incense we found?"
Kageuchi: "Dammit!"
Imekanu: "All on you now, Yumiko. Come on."
Kitsugoro: "Yumiko! Go for it!"
Yumiko starts to push a vase that is on a shelf next to the door
Meiben: "Push it! Come on!"
Shinshiro: "You can do it, Yumiko!"
Ju: "Come on, Yumiko! Come on, push it!"
Miiko: "Come on!"
Vase scrapes against table behind Lara as she has already left the room
Kageuchi: "Dammit!"
Yumiko: "It's much bigger than a book, so..."
Kitsugoro: "Haunting's hard, isn't it?"
The scene changes to Reina and Lara in a different tatami room
Reina: "Right, well, I think the fuse box is in...there?"
Reina points upstairs to a storage room on the second floor of the tea house which is completely black
Light switch clicks and the lights don’t turn on
Reina: "After you."
Lara: "Oh, thanks Rei. It’s not like I’m scared of the dark or anything."
Lara switches her phone light on
Lara: "Sing something, make this less scary."
Reina: # Don't be scared, don’t be scared, I'm not scared... #
Lara: "Ok, you're making it worse."
Reina: "There's another switch here."
Reina switches the light on to reveal a fuse box, Lara, and 20 ghosts with various visible scars
The fuse box is a jumble of wires and switches flipped various ways
Reina: "I can fix this."
Lara: "What? Are you joking? You studied architecture not engineering, Rei."
Raiden: "Who are they?"
Nana: "I don't know."
Reina: "I'll look it up on YouTube."
Lara: "Not everything can be learned from a YouTube tutorial."
Reina: "You'd be surprised. I found a guide on how to carry a baby monkey properly."
Lara: "Yeah, but that's not... What? Why would you need to know that?"
Reina: "I don't know. Cool, though."
Lara: "Pretty cool."
Reina: "Um..."
Reina fiddles with some of the switches
Lara: "Oi, don't fiddle with that. Do you even know what that does?"
Reina: "Yeah, it's a thing for the thingy bob."
Fumio: "It’s the Cartridge Fuse15"
Reina flicks a switch and the light in the room below turns on.
Ghosts: "Hey! Woo!"
Reina: "Fixed it."
Nana: "No, you haven't."
Raiden: "You just turned one of the circuits back on which is the lights in this half of the tea house."
Lara: "Do you think we need a new one?"
Isao: "What? Why would they?"
Aya: "They have no idea what they’re doing, do they?"
Reina: "Let's see what the surveyor says next week."
Lara: "Ok."
Reina: "Ready?"
Lara: "I'm ready."
Reina switches the light on and the two leave the room
Ghosts: "Aw."
Isao: "I wasn't ready."
Nana: "Well, that was nice, anyway."
Mashiko: "Yeah, come back soo... Oh, they can't hear me, can they?"
Reina: "The water isn’t warming up down here!"
Reina calls from another room but isn’t visible
Reina: "How's yours?"
Lara: "Give me a sec. Just gonna check if the crow nest is somewhere I can see."
Lara leans over the balcony and twists to look up on the roof
Crow caws
Lara: "There you are. I can see it Rei!"
Shinshiro walks into the room and see Lara bent over the balcony
In another room
Kitsugoro: "We'll be overrun with people taunting us with their life."
Imekanu: "No, we'll just try again."
Kageuchi: "If at first you don't succeed and all that."
Imekanu: "Precisely."
Ju: "That's right."
Back with Shinshiro he creeps up behind Lara
Back with the others
Kageuchi: "We must prepare another plan of attack. Hit them when they're vulnerable. We may have lost the battle, but the war is far from over."
Someone screams
Miiko: "Takii’s early."
Kitsugoro: "I'm right here."
Miiko: "What?"
Ju: "It’s the turtle-haired girl!"
Reina: "Lara! Lara! Lara. Lara. Look at me. Look at me. Lara, can you hear me? Lara, I'm here. Can you hear me? Yeah? Stay with me. Keep your eyes open. Lara, I'm here."
Shinshiro: "Well..."
Miiko: "Did you push her?"
Shinshiro: "Well, not exactly"
Kitsugoro: "I'm sorry, but it's rather a yes or no question."
They talk over each other
Shinshiro: "I took a decision to..."
Akami: "Did you push her?"
Kageuchi: "Answer the question, damn you!"
Shinshiro: "I'm trying to answer the question, if you'd let me talk. I can’t actually touch her so I flashed the car lights at her and she got spooked and tripped over the balcony. We wanted her out of the house, didn't we?"
Kageuchi: "This has either killed her or scared her off."
Yumiko: "You don't just do that to someone! What kind of coward would make someone fall to their death?"
Kageuchi: "Now, now Yumiko. Let’s stay civil."
Yumiko: "No, I won't, because I was pushed. You hear me? I was pushed. And I have never told a soul. It was my brother, Tatsuki. I caught him stealing my money and when I accosted him about it, he got angry. Clearly, he didn't trust me to lend him anything and thought I would tell someone that he took my money. So, he just did away with me. So, he could get all my money and this house without any repercussions. But I didn’t tell anyone, did I? For almost 60 years I didn’t say anything!"
They murmur
Miiko: "Until now."
Yumiko: "Until now."
Ju: "I mean, I did know that. I watched all of that."
Meiben: "So, did I."
Akami: "Yeah, yeah."
Imekanu: "Well, Yumiko. That must have been a terrible burden to bear for all those years. Perhaps now that you've shared it, you can have some peace."
Yumiko: "Oh, do you suppose so?"
Imekanu: "I'm sure of it."
LATER THAT EVENING
Kitsugoro screams
Miiko: "Takii! I even moved rooms to the tea house! How can I still hear you?"
Shinshiro: "What shall we do?"
Miiko: "I don't know. I'm not going to spend eternity listening to that racket at the same time every night."
The two look at the clock that chimes out the hours
Shinshiro: "It's worth a try. Ah."
Yumiko grunts with effort
Clock chimes
Kitsugoro screams but now it is morning rather than the middle of the night
Miiko: "Much better."
Akami: "Morning."
Meiben: "Morning."
Imekanu: "Good morning."
Shinshiro: "Good day."
Kitsugoro: "Morning!"
Kageuchi: "Finally. Things can get back to normal around here."
Toilet flushes
Lara: "Shift over."
Lara pushes Reina to the side of the bed
Reina: "Can't I lie down? I'm soooo tired."
Reina flops her head onto Lara’s lap and Lara laughs
Lara: "Poor you."
Reina: "It's all right for you. You've been asleep for two weeks."
Lara: "It's called a coma."
Reina: "Induced coma."
Lara: "Oh..."
Reina: "You, alright?"
Lara: "Yeah..."
Reina: "I'm glad you didn't die."
Reina hugs Lara
Lara: "Well, technically, I did for a bit. Did I dream that house? I feel like I dreamt it all. Have you had the survey back?"
Reina: "No. No, not yet."
Lara: "Hmm."
Ju: "So, you have to pile the stones on top of each other tightly. You push them into a nice soft hole you make as you don’t want the stones to fall out."
Kitsugoro giggles and Miiko rolls her eyes
Ju: "Then you push nice and firmly into the dirt on top and make sure you can get your whole fist inside."
Kageuchi: "Good Lord."
Ju: "Chuck some of the muck out. And squeeze the clay ornament’s tip right into the hole."
Yumiko: "Oh, my goodness."
Shinshiro: "They're coming back!"
Shinshiro who has been looking out of the balcony points at the familiar car
Lara is about to get out of the car when she sees Reina’s face
Lara: "What?"
Reina: "Right, so you know how I said the survey hadn't come back?"
Lara: "Oh, God. What did it say?"
Kitsugoro: "How does she seem? Is it she, Ok?"
Shinshiro: "I don't know, they're not getting out of the carriage."
Reina: "Well, there's good news and bad news."
Lara: "Ok..."
Reina: "Well... The bad news is that the repairs are extensive, like, big structural stuff, plumbing, electrics, can't even begin to renovate this place without a huge amount of cash to do those things. The government loan is gonna maybe be maximum half of what we need."
Lara: "Ok-"
Reina: "So, the good news is I took out a loan!"
Lara: "What?!"
Reina: "Yeah. I took out a loan. Some loans. Paid some deposits."
Lara: "Why didn't you tell me?"
Reina: "Because I didn't want you to worry. This is your dream, right? I’m your best friend so I'm going to do everything I can to make it come true."
Car horn beeps as a van pulls up next to them
Reina: "Oh, they're already here. Come on, then."
Tetsuya: "Hello, Nanase."
Reina: "How are you Tetsuya?"
Tetsuya: "So, we're going to inspect the site, make it safe. Everyone has to wear one of these for now."
Tetsuya hands both of them hardhats
Tetsuya: "Insurance reasons mainly, but, well, you just should. Cracking on, then."
Reina: "Exciting, isn't it? Why don't you go and have a lie down and I'll grab your bags, yeah?"
Yumiko is standing in the hall watching everyone come in and Lara spots her and speaks to her directly
Lara: "You should be wearing a hard hat."
The scene changes to a different room with all the ghosts in
Miiko: "My house reduced to a tawdry boarding house."
Kitsugoro: "What will become of us?"
Yumiko runs into the room
Yumiko: "Oh my lord! She spoke to me, she spoke to me, she saw me, she spoke to me."
Imekanu: "What?"
Kageuchi: "What the hell are you talking about?"
Reina walks into one of the rooms and spots Lara
Reina: "Oh, there you are. I thought you were getting some rest. No turning back now."
Lara: "What if we made a mistake?"
Reina: "What?"
Lara: "What if this was a bad idea and we should have just rented a flat in Tokyo?"
Reina: "Don't say that. This is a great idea. It's going to take a lot of work, but we can do it."
Lara sees a middle-aged woman in a black kimono 16 with a gold and red obi 17 , black hair in a maru-mage 18 style, walk through the wall into the room and her eyes go wide
Lara: "Reina..."
Reina remains unaware as a man in a black and blue hakama 19 with a sword walks in too. His hair in a top knot and there are scars from his chest down his arms to his hands.
Next to him is a small girl with visible scarring on her face. She is in a red, gold and black junihitoe 20 and her hair reaches the floor 21 . In her hands she is clutching a doll.
Reina: "You're terrified, and I get it."
Lara gets even more alarmed as more and more figures appear.
A woman with long black hair which is pinned up loosely , resembling the kushi-maki style22. She wears a loosely fitting brown hemp outfit, with a green and white sash tied around her middle. She wears simple beads around her neck.
Next to her is a man who has on blue and black ō-yoroi armour 23 and geta 24 with a white sohei cowl covering his head and neck so only his face is visible. He has two swords by his side.
Then a woman who looks out of place with the rest with wavy hair down to her shoulders. She had on a yellow 1960s dress and white heels.
Then a young man dressed for Yabusame 25 . A bamboo ayaigasa 26 obscures his head. A quiver of arrows is on his back and a sword is at his side. He has a yumi across his chest and an arrow through his neck.
Lastly, a young man with a wakashū hairstyle 27 wearing a wakiake style kimono 28 . His face is white, from makeup, and he has red eyeliner and red blush on his face. The top of his kimono is open, showing his shoulders and the tie of the obi is messy and at the front 29 . There is a small bloody wound in his chest.
Lara: "Reina...
Reina: "I get it. I'm scared too. This house and what we're doing, it's a huge challenge. And we've both just gone freelance. Plus, who knows what we're going to have to deal with on the way? But, in the end, we've got each other. It's just us in this big old house. There's nothing to be scared of, is there?"
Lara moves away from the figures and turns her head to see an extremely pale man, looking devoid of blood. His hair is in an up-mizura style 30 and his clothes are a simple white cloth, tightened at certain areas with string tied up in bows. There is a knife stuck in his shoulder and he looks into Lara’s eyes.
Lara gasps and screams