Momoe:
The piano is playing itself!

Teiichi:
I knew it! She's in this piano, isn't she?

Yuuko:
Kitty.
Stepped on a cat...
Stepped on a cat...
Stepped on a cat, and then it died.

Momoe:
Niiya-san, the ghost is angry.

Teiichi:
Stand back, Okonogi-san!

Momoe:
Right!

Teiichi:
Om-gya-gya mumbo jumbo!
Away, evil spirit!

Yuuko:
Oh, no! You got me!
Uh... I'm done for...

Teiichi:
Everything is fine now, Okonogi-san.

Momoe:
You... You did it, Niiya-san.
I guess that's it for the Music Room Ghost.

Teiichi:
Yup. From now on, it won't be making any more noise at night.

Yuuko:
What? You mean I can't play the piano anymore?
But that was such a nice way to pass the time.
But it's okay, because starting tomorrow, you'll keep me company at night.

Teiichi:
Huh?

Momoe:
Niiya-san, here. Use this to wipe off the sweat.

Teiichi:
Oh, uh, thank you.

Momoe:
You always do such a... great job.
I respect you!
Um, uh... actually...

Teiichi:
What is it?

Momoe:
I was thinking... that maybe...
If it isn't too much trouble... maybe... you could teach me some of this exorcism magic you do... privately...
There's so much I'd like to know about you, too.
It's still here!



Shadow Yuuko:
People don't change.
They continue to repeat the same things.
It's happened time and time again.

Kirie:
What are you? Tell me.

Shadow Yuuko:
You already know, don't you?
Now, know even more!

Kirie:
I knew it. She is...



Yuuko:
Well, good morning, Teiichi-kun.

Teiichi:
Good morning, Yuuko-san.
Gym clothes?

Yuuko:
Yup! Your first class is P.E., right?

Teiichi:
Yeah, but, uh...

But why do you have to join in?

Yuuko:
Teiichi-kun, over here!

Teiichi:
Right.
Ugh, oh crap!
Why did I pass it to her?

Yuuko:
Yes! It went in!

Boy 1:
What's his problem?

Boy 2:
Guess he's feeling the effects of that crazy shot.



Yuuko:
This is really cramped...

Teiichi:
I guess it is, huh.

Yuuko:
Teiichi-kun, you made a little mistake here.

Teiichi:
Oh, thank you.

Yuuko:
My memory's pretty good, huh?

Teiichi:
Only because you've heard these lessons a million times.
And yet you can't remember the past at all.

Yuuko:
That's just fine.
I'm a woman who lives in the here and now.

Teiichi:
Yeah, except you aren't living at all. You're a ghost.
You still don't remember anything? About back then, I mean.

Yuuko:
Not a thing.

Teiichi:
I guess we'll have to keep investigating then.

Yuuko:
Teiichi-kun, this one's wrong, too.

Teiichi:
Oh, yeah, you're right.

Yuuko:
You know, this is all going to be on the test.

Teiichi:
Uh, yeah...
Yuuko-san.

Yuuko:
Yes, Teiichi-kun.

Teiichi:
Just saying... when you get this close...

Yuuko:
Don't tell me you can smell my sweat or something?

Teiichi:
No, it's nothing like that.

Yuuko:
Then what is it?

Teiichi:
Lately, it just feels like we're always together.

Yuuko:
Hmm... Is that a problem?

Teiichi:
It's not a problem, per se.

Yuuko:
Do you think we need a reason or something?

Teiichi:
Not necessarily, but...

Yuuko:
Hmm, I guess you do have a point.
I really like you. There's a reason.
Is that good enough?

Teiichi:
I wonder what it is. Something feels off...

Yuuko:
Lunch time! Let's go to the roof!

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san, hold on!

Yuuko:
We can eat lunch, just to the two of us.

Momoe:
Niiya-san!
If you're free now, would you like to eat lunch together?

Teiichi:
Huh? Oh... yeah...



Momoe:
Is something wrong?

Teiichi:
I'm fine.
I'm just feeling this weird tension, that's all.

Momoe:
I totally understand.
I mean, we've never eaten lunch alone before.
It makes me happy... I think... kind of...

Teiichi:
Uh, really?

Momoe:
Huh? You've already finished your lunch?

Teiichi:
I was pretty hungry today.

Momoe:
Here.

Teiichi:
Huh?

Momoe:
You can eat it plain, you know.
It's a sweet egg omelet.
Come on, don't be shy now...
Just say "Ah."

Huh?
I'm sorry! I'm so clumsy sometimes...
I'll go wash off my chopsticks.

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san...

Yuuko:
I'm sorry.

Teiichi:
I knew it. Something is strange.



Teiichi:
I don't know how to put it.
It's like she isn't herself, or she's too much herself.

Kirie:
Well, whatever.
I wanted to discuss something with you, too.

Teiichi:
Hm?

Kirie:
I'd forgotten how scary these ghost stories are.
When I heard the legend of Akahito-san, and felt the fear of seeing the students crazed and twisted with rage, I saw it again.
That shadow... Shadow Yuuko.

Teiichi:
Shadow Yuuko.

Kirie:
That form was the very embodiment of bitterness, hatred, rage, and despair.

Teiichi:
Bitterness... Hatred... Rage... Despair...

Kirie:
Those things are all utterly foreign concepts to our air-headed Yuuko, who thinks everything is...

Teiichi:
Isn't that a little strong?

Kirie:
Are you saying that I'm wrong?

Teiichi:
Well, you don't have to put it that way.
You could say she's innocent or cheerful, you know.

Kirie:
Niiya, you haven't noticed, yet?

Teiichi:
Huh?

Kirie:
Yuuko Kanoe never gets angry. It's completely unnatural.
Have you ever seen Yuuko really furious, or even the slightest bit irritated.

Teiichi:
I don't know if I've seen her mad, but she does sulk an awful lot.
Just today, when Okonogi-san tried to share some of her lunch with me...

Kirie:
But if I had to give that a label, it would be jealousy.
She doesn't really hate Okonogi, and she isn't truly mad at her.
When she lashes out, I'm often her target, as well.
But that's only when you and I are being extra friendly.
Not that I consider you a friend or anything!

Teiichi:
Do you or don't you?

Kirie:
Yuuko only gets emotional when it's something involving you.
But once you're out of the picture, she feels nothing at all.
It's like she isn't interested in anything else.
I'm sure you've noticed it, too.
It's entirely unnatural, her lack of hatred, anger, or sadness.
She's like a clown, just going through the motions.

Teiichi:
But, isn't that because she's dead.
But she's not affected by worldly emotions anymore?

Kirie:
But, when it comes to you, she's erratically emotional.

Teiichi:
Well, that's...



Yuuko:
Teiichi-kun...

Shadow Yuuko:
Hideous...
Remember me.
Where do you plan to go, while you pretend not to see?



Kirie:
I've been thinking... about the connection I've been noticing between that shadow I saw and our Yuuko.

Teiichi:
You're saying that, but are you sure there even is any connection?

Kirie:
That Akahito-san incident at the cultural festival.
Do you remember what Yuuko Kirishima did?

Teiichi:
Kirishima-san?

Kirie:
Kirishima displaced all of her negative energy onto Yuuko.
Likewise, couldn't Yuuko be doing that to her other self?
It would make sense.

Teiichi:
You're saying she's using a second Yuuko-san?

Kirie:
It's only a hypothesis.
You've heard of multiple personalities, right?

Teiichi:
Sure. Uh, that's the idea that one person can house several personas.

Kirie:
Multiple personalities are created by an attempt to protect the self from stress.
They excise the self under duress, creating another separate personality.

Teiichi:
You don't mean... Hold on.

Kirie:
By assigning every single bad thing to a different persona, one could protect the true self.
All Yuuko's forgotten memories, her erased emotions...
What if Yuuko deliberately separated them from her real self?
If so, it would be impossible for Yuuko to remember her past.
Surely you've sensed that, right?

Teiichi:
I...

Yuuko:
My memories... of the past...

Shadow Yuuko:
I don't want you to forget me.

Kirie:
If Yuuko really did excise her memories and emotions...

Yuuko:
No... I don't wanna remember.

Shadow Yuuko:
Have you really forgotten?

Kirie:
What if all those feelings and memories became an entity that began acting independently?

Yuuko:
No, don't...
Please stop it.

Shadow Yuuko:
How long will you pretend not to see?

Kirie:
That is a piece of Yuuko.
It's her shadow!

Yuuko:
Stop!

Kirie:
Yuuko...

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san...

Shadow Yuuko:
You finally found me.

Kirie:
Do you understand now?

Teiichi:
That's right.

Shadow Yuuko:
I am Yuuko, as well.
I am your past.
I am your heart.
I am your shadow.

Yuuko:
No...

Shadow Yuuko:
I am you.

Yuuko:
But it isn't true. I'm not like you.

Shadow Yuuko:
You aren't ugly like I am.
That's true. You're not tainted.
That's true. You're quite pretty.

Yuuko:
What are you...? Tell me...

Shadow Yuuko:
At any rate, neither of us is normal.
We'll keep sowing irregularities around ourselves.

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san!

Yuuko-san, Wait!
Come back!
Yuuko-san...

Yuuko:
It isn't true.

Teiichi:
What?

Yuuko:
That thing, it can't be me.

Teiichi:
But.. Kirie-san said she is the memories of your past.

Yuuko:
Not true. It isn't!

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san...
This is where that Cursed Rock was, huh?
Yuuko-san?

Yuuko:
I'm sure it's all in my head.
Just the way this Cursed Rock is.
That thing appears to exist because I convinced myself that it does.
But it isn't real.
That thing... it isn't me.

Teiichi:
Isn't there something strange about this rock though.

Yuuko:
Huh?

Teiichi:
It was really dark before, so it was hard to see it clearly.
But look here. See how all the names line up.
They're hard to read because others have been carved on top of them, but... isn't that strange?
Something's written on the bottom.
"Showa twenty seven. The disease is spreading."
And then it says "Passed away..."
Is this a memorial stone?!
Sixty years ago, there was an epidemic.
I can't believe a stone meant to commemorate the victims ended up being used to curse people.
What's this? "Kanoe... Yuuko"?
Do you remember anything?
Do you think your death was related to that epidemic?

Yuuko:
Did I... Did I die in that epidemic?

Teiichi:
No. It doesn't make sense. Your body is in the basement of the old school wing.
They wouldn't do that for someone who'd died in an epidemic, would they?

Yuuko:
Then...

Teiichi:
"Buried Yuuko-san... Buried her in the pillar."

Yuuko:
Huh?

Teiichi:
Those words are from the hide-and-seek game.
I thought you'd be buried if you got caught by the thing seeking you, but it's the other way around.
The stone of curses details the epidemic from sixty years ago.
Akahito-san, who searches for a sacrifice.
Girls who mysteriously disappear.
And the body hidden in the old school wing.
You know what this means, right?
All of the ghost stories in the whole school originate from you, Yuuko-san.
You were sacrificed sixty years ago to stop the epidemic, which was the curse.
That has to be the answer.

Yuuko:
I bet you're right. I'm the one... who became a human sacrifice.

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san...

Yuuko:
No... One thing feels wrong.
I have no regret, or hatred, or anything like that.
And that's why... I think I volunteered to be the sacrifice.
I'm sure that was it!

Teiichi:
Yeah. That sounds more like you.
Then, I guess that's your past, huh.

Yuuko:
Once you figure it out, it's quite simple, huh?
All right, enough of that!

Shadow Yuuko:
So that is how you forget?

Yuuko and Teiichi:
Huh?

Shadow Yuuko:
You expel the regret, bitterness, and hatred from yourself, so you remain clean.
That's right...
The only reason you're pure is because you've pushed all those things onto me.
Everything you couldn't deal with, all the ugly emotions... memories...
That is what I am.

Yuuko:
Well, what do you want me to do about it?
Even if you say I was cowardly, I can't do anything about it.

Shadow Yuuko:
Just remember.
If you do not, you'll only relive the same experience.

Yuuko:
I can't remember. I don't want to remember.

Shadow Yuuko:
You mean you'll just force everything on me again?
You'll just forget it all, again?

Yuuko:
No, no, no!

Shadow Yuuko:
This is your first time in love with someone.
It has birthed an ugly new emotion.
And that emotion has a name, it is jealousy.
Will you excise your jealousy next, and pin it on me?

Yuuko:
That's not...
I don't want to...

Shadow Yuuko:
Very well. I shall take it for you, along with your memory.

Kirie:
Niiya! Are you okay?

Teiichi:
Kirie-san!



Yuuko:
Good morning, Teiichi-kun!

Teiichi:
G-Good morning.



Teiichi:
Yuuko-san, what's wrong?

Yuuko:
Um, it's nothing.

Teiichi:
Uh, let's see here.
I have Current Events next.
That's gonna put me to sleep for sure.

Yuuko:
I'm scared...

Teiichi:
Well, let's go back to the classroom though, okay?

Yuuko:
I'm scared...
When you look at me, your eyes are the mirror that reflects me.
Who is that?
Who is that?
Who are you?
I don't wanna remember.
I don't want to recall that emotion...
That memory...

Teiichi:
Is something wrong, Yuuko-san?



Teiichi:
Yuuko-san!

Yuuko:
Oh, you can see me?
You actually know who I am?

Teiichi:
Huh?

Yuuko:
That's nice.
Not many people can see me.

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san, what are you talking about?!
It's me!

Yuuko:
Have we met before?
You don't really look familiar.

Teiichi:
Yuuko-san...

Yuuko:
I'm sorry.
I must have... forgotten who you are.
I do apologize.
So... tell me who you are?
I'd like to know.



Rain washes away recollection.
The soul is soaked in oblivion.
Drowned in tranquility, a love that won't connect.
Ghost Story Eight: "Maiden of Recollection"