The first year of the Showa Era
Downtown Tokyo.

My name is Sawayanagi Nana, 22 years old, previously worked at a beauty salon, but after getting married six months ago, I resign. My loyal customers asked why I resign just because I'm getting married.

Of course, because I don't want to serve them for the rest of my life. That high-class woman only comes and talk highly about their status. But now, I'm just part of them.

A few days ago, I hired a worker to clean one of the rooms in our house. My husband was a widower, his wife died a year ago, and he married me afterward. The room I cleaned was his wife's study room, she was a writer.

I told my husband, I wanted to use the room for my workspace as a makeup expert. I want to learn more and hope to open my own beauty salon. My husband comes from a rich family, I'm sure money is not a problem for him if I want to open a beauty salon.

When cleaning the room, I looked at the items left by his late wife. It is annoying to see the remains stuff of his ex-wife still in this house. That's why I want to throw everything away so that my husband can forget about her. He even still talks about his wife sometimes. How gentle she is.

I found a record and a gramophone.

Actually, I don't really know about classical music, but high-class women always talk about it when I still work in the salon. I can only think about how it feels to listen to classical music while enjoying tea and the warmth of a fireplace.

At first, I enjoyed the record, but after hearing it several times, I felt like there was friction in the sound. Over time, the sound of the friction grew longer, almost cutting in half of the music.

Strangely, my husband said he didn't hear anything. The record is still in good condition, as well as the gramophone, the expert I met said the record was fine and there was no sound of friction.

After hearing it several times, the friction became even clearer. Like the sound of gusts of wind, the sound was like coming from inside a forest. Then, I slowly heard someone's voice. A woman's voice, a woman asking for help.

I stopped to listen to music from the record. Then, one night, I woke up hearing something. I searched for the origin of the sound and was shocked to find that the sound came from the record that was playing alone.

CLING !!

"Welcome to our shop, dear customers, what can I do for you?"

Cold air pierced my whole body when I entered the store. The atmosphere inside is very dark. I then saw a man standing in front of a bookshelf.

"Excuse me, I came to sell a record," I said, watching him in the dark.

"Is that so?" The man put the book in his hand back on the shelf and stepped toward me, "What kind of records do you want to sell?"

I looked at the man, he has bluish-black hair with and blue-greyish eyes. A very handsome man, "Ah ... that," I was a little nervous and took the record from the bag I was carrying, then showed it to the man

The man took it from my hand, "I will check it first," he said while removing the record from the cover.

"Don't!!" I stopped him. I no longer want to hear the screaming of the woman.

The young man stared at me, "What's wrong? I'm not going to buy things before checking it," he said.

I clenched my hands tightly, "That ..." How should I say it, I feel very nervous, the sweat is felt all over my body, "You ... you can take it. I will not ask for money. At first, I just want to throw it away, but I think if it can be sold, I will sell it, "I said, explaining, but I can't say the truth.

"Is there something that is bothering you?" The man said while walking towards a gramophone.

I don't know why, but I can't seem to make a sound to stop him, "That's ..."

"For example, something that haunts you?" He said it while putting the record on the gramophone.

The strains of songs from the recording start playing. Nothing unusual. The woman's groaning voice was not heard again.

"Why?" I didn't understand what had happened, "When I played it at home, I really heard a woman's voice ..." I stopped my heartbeat fast.

"A woman's voice?" The man said while continuing to stare at the gramophone.

I tried to catch my breath, "Sometimes ... sometimes ... there is a woman's groaning heard from the record," I said.

"Do you recognize the woman's voice?" He asked.

"N...no," I said.

The song from the recording sounded as beautiful as the first time I heard it. Why? It's just like the woman's voice disappearing.

"I don't feel anything strange about this recording," the young man said, "Are you sure you want to sell it to me?"

I was silent. I still haven't told my husband if I want to sell the record, "I don't want to take it home again. It's not mine,"

The young man smiled thinly, "How strange. This recording is not yours, and you want to throw it away without the knowledge of the owner? Isn't that rude?"

"Well, the owner has died. So, I think it doesn't matter if I sell it. After all, the record was found stacked with other items, if it's worth, my husband would have kept it in a good place," I said.

"You have to be careful," the young man said.

"Eh?" I looked at him confusedly

"The memento of people who have died usually keeps memories. Isn't it, the thing that is left of those who are gone is only their memories? Throwing away their memento is the same as forgetting them. Even when they are dead, they don't want to be forgotten," the young man put an envelope on the table, "It is a payment from this recording. We can't accept anything without paying,"

I was silent. My heartbeat again. I feel very nervous so it is difficult to breathe. I kept trying to take a deep breath.

"Do you know about the contents of this recording?" The young man asked.

"Eh? Oh, isn't that about a mermaid who falls in love with humans? I read it in a record cover," I said.

"Yes, but do you know the end of this story?" The young man asked again.

"Well, don't they end up living happily together? Like Cinderella and the Snow White ?" I say it.

"No. Not like that,"

"Eh ??" I look confused.

"The mermaid sacrificed her voice to be human. However, the prince actually fell in love with another woman,"

"Eh ?!" I'm surprised.

"When she realized her fate, the mermaid became desperate. She had left everything, even her family and friends. She was then given a choice. She could return to being a mermaid by smearing her feet with the blood of the prince. What do you think the mermaid did? " The man looked at me.

I feel nervous, "Killing the prince? After all, he betrayed her,"

"If the story ends like that, then the story of the mermaid will not be used as a fairy tale for children. Killing people is a crime,"

"That ..." My body felt cold and sweat began to flow.

"The mermaid entered the bride's room that night while carrying a knife. Seeing the man she loved was happy with the woman he loved, the mermaid threw away the knife. Even, after all, she still loved the prince. And as the sun started to rise, she threw herself into the ocean, her body turning into foam,"

I just paused to hear the story. What does it mean to tell me stories like that?

"Oh, if you throw away the record with a specific purpose ..."

"Sir!" I quickly cut the words while taking the envelope. Why does he have to say all that? I must leave this place immediately! "I will leave the record to you. Then, excuse me," I immediately turned around and walked towards the exit.

"Madam, doing something inhuman will make yourself inhuman. There is always a price, from what you do,"

I stopped for a moment while holding the door handle. I took a deep breath, pushed the door, and immediately left the shop.

"Thank you for your patronage,"

I walked quickly because of my anger. What does it mean? I have to explain the record to my husband. He always wants to hear it every night. Reminds him of his ex-wife.

Just wait! I will throw away all the things that belong to her so that no one will remember her!

Suddenly, I felt someone was following me. I did feel that someone was following me, but I thought maybe it was just my imagination because there were lots of people passing by.

I then stepped faster, but the sound was getting faster as well. As if following the rhythm of my footsteps. I dare not look back. I then ran as fast as I could. I don't know where I will hide, but I just have to run as fast as possible so he can't follow me.

After running far enough, my steps stopped because of exhaustion. My legs felt numb so I fell and sat on the ground. I'm still trying to catch my breath.

When I realized it, my eyes widened knowing where I was. I looked around and realized that I was in the middle of the forest. A very thick forest, with thunderous gusts of wind from thick trees.

My heart started beating very fast. How can I be here? I tried to get up, but my legs felt very heavy because of running for so long.

"Nana-chan ..."

I flinched. A woman's voice was heard calling my name.

"Nana-chan ..."

The voice came from behind me. I swallowed hard, then slowly looked back and stared at the figure of a short-haired woman standing there. She used clothes that looked messy as if torn apart by something. Her face was bruised as if she had been beaten hard, some parts of his body were injured, and blood seemed to flow in her legs.

"Nana-chan ..." She stepped slowly toward me.

"Don't!" I tried to retreat by dragging my body, "Stay away from me!"

The woman didn't stop her steps, she approached me.

"Go !! Stay away from me!" I shouted loudly.

"Nana-chan ..."

"No! You killed yourself !! That's not my fault !!" I screamed loudly at her.

"Nana-chan ..."

My body then stuck with a large tree. I couldn't back away and my body felt even heavier.

"Go away!" I cried loudly, my voice was getting depleted and my body was getting limp, "Don't bother me ... please ... help me ..."

The woman stood right in front of me. I looked at her face full of bruises.

"Nana-chan ... let's go together ..."

"No!!" I shook my head while continuing to cry, "Akiko ... I'm sorry ... I'm sorry ..."

I could feel something wrapped around my neck. A rope of a tree branch. I tried to let it go. The rope caught my neck tighter and pulled my body up.

"No ... No ... No ...! Please ... please ... please ... !!!" I shouted as much as I could. But my voice was held back by the rope. I looked down, Akiko stood there, smiled and looked at me.

"Nana-chan ... we can be together forever now ..."

"I...I'm sorry...why...I just want to be happy...NO!!!"

***

A few days later...

"It's really a beautiful voice," Aki said.

Chikage still plays recordings from previous customers.

"Why throw away this beautiful recording?" Aoi said, "By leaving the record here, she herself dug her own grave," Aoi chuckled.

"This recording is haunted by the previous owner. The owner is locked in this record. By bringing it here, it means releasing the spirit inside. I warned her," Chikage said while arranging the books on the shelf.

"This place has high spiritual energy, when she brought the record here, the spirit in the record was released and followed her to take revenge. Poor woman," Aki sighed.

"What really happened between the two?" Aoi asked.

CLING !!

"Excuse me," the shop door opened as a young man entered slowly.

Aki and the others looked at him, then took a deep breath.

"This man, what he did came to the shop as casually when he had no need?" Aoi said it.

Chikage ignored him and continued to arrange the books on the shelf.

"Welcome, Ito-san, what can I do for you today?" Aki greeted him kindly.

"I...I'm sorry," Ito felt embarrassed, "That ... I came to give something," Ito took out an envelope, "Does this envelope belong to this shop? I found the stamp behind the envelope," Ito said while putting the envelope on the table.

Aki smiled, "Ito-san, can you see the stamp?"

"Eh?" Ito glanced confused, "Is ... I shouldn't see it?"

"Ordinary humans won't be able to see it," Chikage said, "Are you really human?"

Ito was startled and shook his head, "I'm not a ghost or Ayakashi. I'm really human,"

Aoi and Aki laugh make Ito even more embarrassed.

"Where did you find this envelope, Ito-san?" Aki asked while chuckling.

"Oh, the envelope was found with a woman who killed herself in the forest. Her name is Sawayanagi Nana. Did she come here before?" He asked.

"Do you want to interrogate us because we are suspicious?" Chikage asked.

"Oh, it's not like that. Besides, what can I do for something other people can't see," Ito said.

"The woman did come here to sell a recording. It was money from the payment," Aki explained.

"Did she come alone?" Ito asked.

"What do you mean?" Aoi asked.

"A year ago, a woman was found suicidal in the same forest. The woman was a victim of abuse and rape. After surviving the incident, her husband divorced her and threw her away. She then committed suicide. We investigated the case and managed to arrest the perpetrator. The perpetrator's statement, he was paid by Sawayanagi Nana to do this, " Ito explained, "That woman, she's pregnant when the accident happened,"

"A very terrible woman," Aoi said, "And now, she was found suicide in the same forest? She gets what she does,'

"Yes. Sawayanagi Nana is a worker in the beauty salon where the victim Ishihara Akiko is a customer. Looks like Sawayanagi fell in love with the victim's husband, Ishihara Ryu. After the terrible incident, according to the information from the servants at Ishihara Ryu's house, Sawayanagi Nana often visits and spends time together with Ishihara Ryu. They then got married 6 months ago, "

"That man...he's just don't care about anything then himself, " Aki sighed.

"It seems that Sawayanagi Nana is jealous of Ishihara Akiko," Ito said.

"It's in human nature," Chikage said, "There are no humans, who don't have jealousy,"

Ito sighed, "According to her colleagues, Sawanayagi Nana is very talented. She has a lot of high-end customers. She also gets paid more from her customers. She is often invited to working out of town. I wonder, with the talent she has, she should be proud of herself. Why do things do by fools like that? "

"Sometimes we want something we can't have, and ignore the things we already have, until the end, we ended up with none in the end, " Chikage said.

Aki smiled while taking a book in front of her and opened several pages, "If you only focus on the lives of others, you might forget to respect your own life,"

Ito turned his gaze to Aki.

"Oh, that's what this book says," Aki smiled as she looked at Ito.

Ito immediately looked away in awkward. He became embarrassed every time he looked at Aki.

"Then, please excuse me," Ito said nervously

"Thank you very much for returning this envelope," Aki said.

"No problem. See you later," Ito said while slowly opening the exit. He bowed his head before disappearing from behind the door.

"I hope he won't come back again," Chikage said.

"I wonder why he can enter this shop even though he doesn't have sins?" Aoi sighed.

Aki chuckled, "There is no coincidence in this world. And nothing happens without reason. In this world, everything is bound by destiny,"

***

Tale 9
End