Iya Valley, Shikoku Island,
Tokushima

"Doppelganger? Our double?" Rui widened his eyes.

"In paranormal terms, a doppelganger is a ghostly double of a living person. The word is commonly used to describe someone that looks similar, behaves similar, or even has the same name. These are just social observations on the likeness one person may coincidentally have with another," Naomasa explained.

"However, when it comes to dealing with a possible 'ghost', 'spirit' or 'demonic' doppelganger, it goes from being a casual observation, to be an event that could have quite a negative impact on the individual being copied," Kiyoharu added.

"You mean the spirit inside Akane-chan's body is the Doppelganger of the concubine who died a long time ago? But, how? I don't understand at all," Rui looked confused.

"There are stories I've heard," Ayako said, "There was a girl who was found at the location of a family murder scene. The girl was then detained by the authorities, but she didn't remember anything. Either her name or how she can be in that murder scene. When a police officer came to interrogate her and asked why she could be there. The girl said the spirit of the victim came to ask her for help,"

"Ehh?!" Rui surprised.

"Of course no one believes that. But, she was repeatedly rediscovered at the crime site, even though she was supposed to be in a hospital. One day a high school girl saw that girl in a hospital while visiting her relatives, she then approached the girl. The policeman who saw the high school girl then asked, did she know the girl, then the high school girl answered, she was my classmate. but strangely according to the high school girl, her friend is fine and every day comes to school. Of course, the police was surprised. He also checked and found the same girl at the school,"

"Doppelgänger, right?" I said.

"Yes," Ayako nodded, "The police officer became confused. On the other hand, the girl is always able to move by herself and is always in a place where a crime takes place. She never was seen leaving the hospital by surveillance cameras, just suddenly vanished,"

"Teleportation?" Kiyoharu said with surprised, "I heard about that too. A doppelgänger doing teleportation. Is because they are human-body-less. They actually in the form of a human, but they are not,"

"A friend, then advised the police officer to talk to someone who is an expert. He then went to a priest. According to the man, the girl who lost her memory was a doppelgänger of the girl who was in school. Because of a certain situation, their soul is separated into two. In many cases the doppelgänger, initially the doppelgänger didn't know anything about themselves. And finally, live with a new identity. However, in some cases of doppelgänger that born of the evil spirit, they have binding agreements," Ayako explained seriously.

"Agreement? With who?" Rui asked.

"A demon," Ayako said, "According to the priest, the spirits born of revenge will refuse to go through the death realm. Demons then give them an agreement to help them take revenge. The spirits can't harm humans. But, if a spirit has a human form, they can do revenge. Just like a Tsukumogami, who has a soul after serving their master for more than 100 years, the doppelgänger can also gain from by consuming other spirits. When they get their form and take revenge, the demons will give them 2 choices. They can become slaves of the hell or stay in the human world by consuming the human soul,"

"The devil's slaves?" Rui widened his eyes.

"Spirits that consume many human souls will lose their positive particles. Meaning they will not be accepted in heaven. The only place is in hell. Therefore, instead of going to hell, they choose to live by consuming souls for a hundred years. But, that spirits will never be able to get a circle of reincarnation, " Kiyoharu said.

"It can't be..." Rui murmured.

"The concubine who died carrying a grudge, when she was on the verge of death, her soul was split into two. The spirit that brought feelings of revenge then entered the body of the doll," I said.

"In many stories, Doppelganger looks like an evil twin or our demon twin. It is told that someone who saw his Doppelganger himself would die in the near future. People said it was all a joke, but the person who told to see their Doppelganger would really die not long after, " Ayako said.

"The most popular story is from Queen Elizabeth I, she is another person who had seen their doppelganger shortly before death. She entered her bedroom to see herself laying on the bed. She was pale and sickly. Soon after this event, she fell ill and died in that same bed," Kiyoharu said.

"Doppelganger is not just about supernatural phenomena, in a community, people who are very similar to each other even though they don't know each other and have no family relations, can be called Doppelganger," Naomasa said.

"If indeed the doll is a Doppelganger from the concubine, shouldn't the doll spirit be a woman. During this time, we have heard the laughter of a little girl, right?" Rui said.

"Maybe it's just mind manipulation. Since we see Akane-chan as a little girl-sized doll, we then assume that the spirit inside is also a child," Naomasa said.

"Then, how do you stop the Doppelganger? " I asked.

"In the case of spirits doppelgänger, once they get her form, they will look like a human, live like a human, hang out like humans, socialize with society, eat and drink even though they don't need it. Doppelganger doesn't sleep, they wake up all day long, hunting spirits for food, "Ayako said.

"Are they not like vampires?" Rui asked, "How could we reorganize doppelgänger?"

"You can't," Ayako shook her head, "But, there are story said, the doppelgänger that born from a soul that split into two, don't appear in mirrors," Ayako explained.

I flinched.
Shadow? Mirror?
So, that's what it means.
The feeling that I felt when I passed the mirror and fountain.
Doppelganger has no shadow.
Ehh?? Wait a minute...that's mean...

"Sensei, what should we do?" Kiyoharu asked, "Can we do an exorcism to the Doppelganger?"

Sensei sighed, "The Doppelganger will not die even though we killed them in a normal way. Knife or gun shoot can't kill them. But, holy fire from Onmyōji ritual can do it. But, Akane-chan is a different case," Sensei said.

"Different?" Ayako looked confused.

"She hasn't fully become a Doppelganger. Until she gets his 100th soul, her spirit will remain confined within the doll's body," Sensei said.

"That's right," Kiyoharu nodded, "So if we purify the doll, the spirit inside will also be purified by itself,"

"But, it is not easy to purify an object which is still possessed by something. In some cases, no matter how many times the object is purified, the spirit is not purified,"

"Then, what should we do?" Naomasa asked.

"Sensei, what happened to the other half? I mean doesn't the spirits split into two?" I asked.

"Human only has one soul. When the soul is split into two personalities, it will not be able to pass through the death realm. They will be trapped inside the place where their spirits are split. They will look for each other or wait to be united," Sensei said.

"So half of the concubine's spirits were trapped in a well that used to be in this house?" Ayako asked.

"If we don't find the evil spirits, the other one will disappear or be swallowed up," Sakuya said.

Rui entered the room while carrying the contents of the recording that happened last night in the backyard. Kiyoharu then turned it around so we could see the content.

We saw the maid walking past the back porch and headed towards the fountain. She then stood right in front of the fountain. Doing nothing.

"Ahhh !!!" Ayako screamed

A black shadow then appeared from behind. She walked slowly toward the girl.

Akane-chan.
The little doll walked in the backyard just like a human.

"The doll?" Rui was surprised.

We can only be silent waiting for what will happen next.

The maid then turned around. We couldn't see Akane-chan's face, because her face was covered in hair and the camera wasn't pointing from the side. The maid then ducked, making her body equal to Akane-chan's high.

Slowly the maid opened her mouth wide. Akane-chan then grabbed the maid's shoulders. Something like white smoke came out of the maid's mouth. Akane-chan then sucks it up.

"Oh, my God!!" Ayako covered her mouth with both hands.

"Hard to believe!" Kiyoharu murmured.

The thicker the white smoke came out of the maid's mouth, her body shrinking. The longer, the thinner, as if all the fat was devoured from inside her body.

"I can't see that!" Ayako closed her eyes and turned her gaze to the other side.

The maid fell down with a dry body. Akane-chan then turned around and started walking towards the entrance back to the house.

Then, she stopped for a moment. Slowly she raised his face, then smiled staring at the camera. A creepy smile with bright red eyes.

We gasped. The broadcast stopped. We're stunned. There is nothing we can say after saw something terrible. My body shivering and my chest is hurting. I'm trying or catching my breath.

"What should we do, Sensei?" Kiyoharu asked.

"First, Rui and Kiyoharu, have all the servants and anyone in this house immediately leave the house right now," Sensei said, he seems tense, "We will solve this problem, but we don't want any more victims," he then sighed, "Sakuya, seal the doll room now,"

"Alright!" The three then immediately moved.

"We have to find the well. Naomasa, what about the blueprint of this house?" Sensei asked.

"It looks like it's located right around the fountain, exactly below the fountain," Naomasa said, while looked at the large scale papers spread on the table.

"Alright. We will break out the fountain to open the well," Sensei looked at us seriously, "Sakuya will bring the doll and throw it back into the well. We will burn the doll where the original soul trapped,"

"Sensei, are we gonna be okay? The Doppelganger seems to be able to control their victims," ​​Ayako said.

"The Doppelganger who is still trapped inside an object, not that strong. As long as she doesn't get her form yet, Onmyōji can get rid of her. It's just ..." Sensei stopped for a moment.

"Sensei?" I looked at Sensei in confusion.

"A separate spirit have positive and negative particles. If the positive particle is stronger then it can eliminate the negative particles. But, if the negative particles are stronger, then the positive particles will be pulled down and disappear, "Sensei explained.

"That means, if the concubine's negative particles are stronger, then the positive particles will disappear?" Naomasa asked, "And her spirit will completely become an evil spirit?"

"We can try to help her. Rui can help her to draw the negative particles by using telepathy and convey positive things. That way the positive spirit will get stronger," Sensei said, "Where are Rui and Kiyoharu?"

"Sensei ... are we going to be alright ..."

BOMMMM !!!!

The room suddenly trembled. The sound is like the sound of an exploding bomb.

"Sensei !!!" Sakuya stood at the door, trying to catch his breath.

"What is that?" Ayako screamed.

"Sakuya, what's wrong?" Sensei asked worriedly.

"That doll! She disappeared !!" Sakuya said, "I want to do the sealing ritual with Kiyoharu, but Akane-can isn't in the room,"

"Eh? !!!"

"She must be heading for the backyard!" Sensei said and we all immediately ran towards the backyard.

When we arrived, we were shocked to see the scenery there. The fountain fell apart and a hole appeared. The well!

"Rui !!!" Ayako screamed loudly.

We saw Akane-chan grabs his neck. White smoke starts to come out of Rui's mouth waiting for Akane-chan to devours it. Kiyoharu seemed to be lying down on the ground.

"What should we do? What should we do?!!" Ayako screamed. We all panicked.

Sensei then walks up towards Akane-chan who is carrying Rui's body.

"Stop all this !!" Sensei snapped.

Sensei's words made Akane-chan release her grip from Rui's neck. Rui fell in the ground, weak and helpless.

"Kiyoharu ... wake up ... bring Rui to Sakuya right now...!!" Sensei said, his voice was low but demanding.

Kiyoharu suddenly wakes up. As if controlled by Sensei's words, he lifted Rui's body slowly and carried him towards us.

Akane-chan just freezes, her eyes glaring sharply. It was very obvious she was very angry. But, for some reason, her body like it can't be moved. Her eyes glared at Sensei.

Kiyoharu laid down Rui's body slowly. And immediately fell unconscious right beside Rui.

"Kiyoharu-kun !!" I shouted.

"Don't worry. The two of them just fainted. Kiyoharu will be fine. But, Rui, he needs a lot of energy," Sakuya said while holding Rui's head slowly, his body seemed to shrink. Thin and pale.

Sakuya releases his energy to Rui. Slowly, Rui's body began to look alive. His blood flow all over his skin. There was sweat coming out of his face indicating that the energy given by Sakuya had flowed through his entire body.

Sakuya then released his hand from Rui's head and placed it back on Kiyoharu's head. Moments later, both of them opened their eyes slowly.

"Thank God!!" Ayako cried while hugging both of them.

"What is this?" Kiyoharu looked confused.

"Why am I sweating?" Rui watched his wet hands.

"You two don't remember anything?" Ayako was surprised. Still, haft crying.

"Everyone. Looks like we have a bigger problem here," Naomasa said.

We turn our eyes forward. Sensei looked at each other with Akane-chan.

"Let me go!" we heard Akane-chan's voice. But, it's no longer the children's voice. A woman who filled with anger, "You!! I will kill you!!" she screamed, "You keep messing with things that are none of your business!!"

"How dare you touch my kids!" Sensei said we couldn't see his facial expression. But, his voice is trembling from anger. There is a membrane that out from the rest of his body.

"You're a demon ..." Akane-chan's anger sounded trembling, "You!!"

A demon? Sensei?

"There are rules for being able to stay alive in this world ..." Sensei gets closer to Akane-chan who only stood like a statue.

"You are no different from me ..." it was very visible from Akane-chan's face that she started to get scared. Her eyes widened.

"Oh No, you're wrong," Sensei's voice sounded relaxed as if he were joking, "I'm different from you ..." he chuckled.

Suddenly Akane-chan smiled. A creepy smile that makes my body shivering. What are they actually talking about? We can only stare at what happened between Akane and Sensei. There are no words coming out of us because we don't fully understand.

"I'm guessing, you forgot one important thing ..." Akane-chan chuckled.
In an instant, a black figure appeared behind Sensei. The figure is slowly becoming visible. And we were shocked when the figures were a woman. A beautiful woman with black long hair, white kimono, and pale white skin.

"Sensei !!!" Sakuya shouted loudly, strong winds then appeared around us. It seems like he called his Shikigami.

But, it's too late. women's figure that standing behind Sensei, stabbed him deeply with a knife.

"Sensei !!!" we screamed and shouted loudly. Akane-chan giggled.

But something strange happened. Our eyes widened and our mouth opened wide.

"My ... My ... My ..." Sensei smiled while turning his body. He pulled out the knife stuck in his back easily and throw the knife to the ground.

Not a single drop of blood comes out. For the first time, we saw Sensei's face. His eyes were bright red, his face white pale. Our eyes widened in shock.

The woman's figure was stunned with her mouth open wide. Her eyes glared as sensei stepped closer to her. She seemed unable to move his body. Sensei holds the woman's neck with one hand, her figure then floated in the air, "You went too far, didn't you?" Sensei looked at her sharply, "But, I admit, this is the first time I've met two souls without a positive aura," he smiled. A creepy smile. The woman spirit looks in pain and slowly her spirit turns into a black smoke which was devoured by Sensei.

"NO!!!!!" we heard a woman voice screaming from the doll. She lost part of her soul.

Sensei then turned around, he walked towards the doll's figure and did the same. Grasping her neck with his hand. Sensei, then slowly go near the well.

"You...will be ended in the hell...just....like...me..." A woman's voice struggled.

"I prepared myself for that," Sensei smiled, "When the time is coming...someone...someone will make me disappear," Sensei said as he continued to get closer to the well, "Come on, let's end this here,"

Sensei then turned towards us and smiled as friendly as usual. Even though his eyes looked like a devil, we still feel his warm feeling towards us, "I'm sorry, kids. From now on, please take good care of yourself," Sensei smiled.

Suddenly a strong wind seemed to envelop us. We could not see clearly what had happened. From afar, we could see Sensei glaring sharply at Akane-chan and in an instant, the doll was burned by the blue flame coming out of Sensei's hand.

A tremendous pain of groaning could be heard from the well as Sensei released the still burning doll into the well. Our eyes widened again when we saw the blue flame spread throughout Sensei's body. We shouted calling Sensei's name many times. When strong winds like tornadoes surround us. The blue flame was getting bigger and in an instant, the blue flame seemed to devour the strong wind.

Within seconds everything disappeared. No more blue flames and strong winds. The atmosphere returned to normal with a gust of wind that gently swept away the remnants of the leaves.

Sensei disappeared.
He disappeared without telling us the truth.
When we check out the well, Sensei is not there. Only the doll. The burned doll.
Kiyoharu performs purification.

We left Kagasi-san's mansion with silence.
Our chest is heavy with an uneasy feeling.
We are just like losing part of ourselves.

The Doppelgänger Case
The end