"So you and that little girl went off to have a private chat for over an hour. Did you find out anything?"
This was the question Kagayama Kaede asked when she snuck up to Miyauchi Hikage after he returned to the filming location.
Honma Meiko was now over by the side of the set, watching her younger brother act, and was not next to Miyauchi Hikage.
Because she had used two points of reading value for learning, Honma Meiko had now mastered some techniques and seemed to be in much better spirits than before.
However, due to the sudden new commission that had appeared, she was somewhat melancholic. Therefore, even Kagayama Kaede could see the slightly forced smile on her face.
Thus, in response to Kagayama Kaede's inquiry, Miyauchi Hikage shook his head and sighed, "What do you think I can do in such a short time? I just did my best to comfort her, but it doesn't seem to have had much effect."
Hearing this, Kagayama Kaede looked at Honma Meiko in the distance. "Is her health that bad? She looks fine now, doesn't she?"
Miyauchi Hikage casually spun a tale, "For the past few years, she's only been able to get out of bed and walk a few steps when the weather is good. As soon as it gets a little colder, she can only lie in bed and rest. If it were you, would you be able to accept that?"
Kagayama Kaede was about to say that she would quite like to live that kind of life. After all, her original life goal was just to be the proprietress of a snack shop in a small place like Asahigaoka and pass the time leisurely.
Unexpectedly, under Miyauchi Hikage's persuasion, she had inadvertently stepped into this deep pit and was now busy all day, even having to participate in various promotional activities.
But she looked again at Honma Meiko's position.
She was indeed a bit too thin and weak. She just wanted to lie in bed and live a peaceful life; she didn't want to have difficulty even walking like her.
A trace of pity appeared in Kagayama Kaede's eyes. "Can't even the hospital find the cause?"
"If they could find the cause, her health would have probably recovered long ago," Miyauchi Hikage said, then seemed to remember something. "How about we go to Chichibu City for a day for this year's spring trip? We can also invite Menma to come out and play with us."
"Although Chichibu is a bit small, it's a city after all, and there are hot springs around. It would be nice for everyone to go there and soak in the hot springs to relax. I'll have Kazuho-nee contact the new transfer students tonight, and I'll give you the specific details then."
Although in the original story, there were only five students in the Asahigaoka Branch School.
But now, because Asahigaoka's economy had been revitalized, there were a few families who had moved in with their children. Therefore, the number of students at the Asahigaoka Branch School was now a few more than before.
Upon hearing Miyauchi Hikage's request, Kagayama Kaede rolled her eyes at him again.
At first, he wanted her to decide on this year's spring trip plan. Just yesterday, she was thinking about where to go and how much budget to use this year. Unexpectedly, today Miyauchi Hikage had arranged a place for her again.
However, going to Chichibu was indeed convenient. Five years ago, Miyauchi Hikage had even talked about walking through the mountains all the way to Chichibu to soak in the hot springs, but it was canceled because they encountered the drowning Honma Meiko.
In the following years, the spring trips of the Asahigaoka Branch School were led by Miyauchi Hikage to other places, and they had never been to Chichibu again.
So much so that Kagayama Kaede was actually still quite fond of the rather famous hot springs in Chichibu.
Therefore, although she complained a bit, Kagayama Kaede still waved her hand at Miyauchi Hikage, indicating that she would arrange things in the next two days.
And upon hearing that Asahigaoka would also be organizing the school's students to go to Chichibu for a trip and to soak in the hot springs in a few days, Honma Meiko also seemed quite happy.
After all, she hadn't really gone out to play with friends much these years.
After agreeing to meet again in Chichibu City in three days, the Honma family, having had dinner, prepared to leave Asahigaoka.
In response, Miyauchi Hikari, who was watching from the side, saw the two of them exchanging "flirtatious glances" before saying goodbye and felt that the two of them must have secretly made significant progress in their relationship this afternoon.
Otherwise, why would this guy, Miyauchi Hikage, suddenly say that the spring trip in three days was to go to Chichibu to soak in the hot springs?
Something must have happened.
But there was nothing she could do. Who could she blame but that guy Miyauchi Hikage for suddenly mentioning holiday homework and even taking out his already finished homework? This resulted in her being cooped up in her room doing homework this afternoon, with no time to keep an eye on him.
Feeling like she had missed out on the gossip, Miyauchi Hikari decided that she must keep a close eye on Miyauchi Hikage in three days and absolutely not miss any more scenes.
And not long after the Honma family left, Itou Kaiji, who had been busy outside all day, also drove back.
It was clear that his trip out today had been very fruitful; otherwise, he probably wouldn't have come back so late.
"Boss, do you know the identity of the chairman of that Seikyou Academy?" As soon as Itou Kaiji came back, he asked Miyauchi Hikage in a mysterious tone, completely unaware that his boss had spent another day playing with another girl here in Asahigaoka.
Faced with Itou Kaiji's question, Miyauchi Hikage coughed lightly. "Looking at you, that chairman must be someone related to the Kanoe family, right?"
Itou Kaiji immediately gave Miyauchi Hikage a thumbs-up.
"You're right! And not just anyone, the chairman of Seikyou Academy is actually the younger sister of the legendary Yuuko-san. She even told me about what happened to her sister back then!"
"And according to my investigation, many of the ghost stories that have been circulating at Seikyou Academy for the past half-century were actually spread by this chairman herself!"
At this point, Itou Kaiji himself was a little confused about what the chairman was trying to do. Was it because she missed her sister's sacrifice back then, so she was using this method to try and see her sister's spirit?
Itou Kaiji said this, and then continued to report the situation to Miyauchi Hikage. "However, the chairman has already agreed to our filming and said she will assist us. So are we going to film there tomorrow?"
It was clear that Itou Kaiji was a little relieved after his investigation.
After all, this school was run by Kanoe Yuuko's own sister, and she was the one who spread these rumors and ghost stories.
With her support, even if the spirit of that Kanoe Yuuko really existed in this world, no accidents should happen, right?
And listening to Itou Kaiji's explanation, Miyauchi Hikage was also pondering which version of Kanoe Yuuko's death had occurred in this world.
In this regard, although in both the anime and manga versions, Kanoe Yuuko died as a sacrifice, the specific cause of death was not the same.
The truth in the manga was much crueler.
Back then, it was Kanoe Yuuko's younger sister who, after their mother died of illness and under the pressure of the villagers, felt too much stress. Finally, before their father was about to take them to leave the village to escape the plague, she took the initiative to sacrifice her own sister, offering her up, wanting to save the village in this way.
Of course, such a method had no effect at all. After Kanoe Yuuko's death, the plague in the village continued to rage.
Kanoe Yuuko's younger sister was then filled with remorse, and at the place where her sister had died, she witnessed the birth of the shadow Yuuko with her own eyes.
But the shadow Yuuko, at the last moment, chose to let her go, letting her live with this remorse until now.
After that, she continuously spread the rumors and ghost stories of Yuuko-san, while also preserving the old school building, hoping that in her lifetime, she could find a way to resolve her sister's resentment and allow her to be reincarnated smoothly.
And in the anime, this matter was changed to the male protagonist's grandmother, and the motive was changed from intentional to an unintentional misunderstanding. Therefore, when the truth was revealed, it also seemed a bit "gentler" and made it easier for the audience to understand why Kanoe Yuuko could finally let go of her hatred and merge with the shadow Yuuko.
From what Itou Kaiji said, it seemed that when the chairman talked about her sister, her face was always filled with a heavy expression. When Itou Kaiji requested to enter the school for filming, she hesitated for a while before agreeing after seeing the business card he handed over.
It seemed there was a high probability that it was following the manga version of the plot.
Being killed by her own sister and the villagers' coercion, this hatred was difficult to resolve.
But the villagers who had coerced her had mostly died from the plague, and she was subconsciously unwilling to kill her own sister for revenge, nor did she dare to face the ugly side of her own heart, which caused her to split into two different Kanoe Yuukos.
Thinking of this, Miyauchi Hikage couldn't help but shake his head.
The accumulation of her own negative emotions, coupled with the fact that a school is a place where various negative emotions easily accumulate, he could only say that it was a good thing that the amnesiac main body of Kanoe Yuuko was there to suppress it.
And the shadow Yuuko's obsession was only to make her main body feel her own pain, which is why she hadn't laid a hand on anyone else for so many years.
If not for this reason, the shadow Yuuko might have even become a special-grade Cursed Spirit in this world.
Of course, if she really became a special-grade Cursed Spirit and endangered human lives, she would have been exorcised long ago. After all, regardless of whether the supernatural was resurgent or not, the high-end combat power of this world was still on the side of humanity.
It was because of her harmlessness over the past half-century that she had been able to survive until now.
"But it should be reaching its breaking point soon," Miyauchi Hikage thought, feeling the guidance of fate as he recalled the Kanoe Yuuko he had seen that day.
Her figure was ethereal, giving the feeling that she could dissipate at any moment.
She was completely unlike a ghost who had existed for more than half a century and still had multiple ghost stories to maintain her presence.
"Anyway, we'll investigate more tomorrow. If there's no problem, we'll start filming around dusk. I'll write the script first based on the stories you told me."
Itou Kaiji had heard a fairly complete story from the chairman of Seikyou Academy, but the story was missing the explanation of who exactly chose to make Kanoe Yuuko the offering.
Miyauchi Hikage was currently planning to write the script based on the anime version's plot.
After all, if he filmed the complete truth, although the level of discussion would definitely be higher, Kanoe Yuuko's sister, the chairman of Seikyou Academy, would definitely be cyberbullied.
After all, she had agreed to their filming request. She was already in her seventies or eighties and close to the end of her life. This matter between sisters should be left for them to handle themselves. He was not the kind of unscrupulous media that preys on others' tragedies.
So, the next morning, Miyauchi Hikage, along with Itou Kaiji and Fujimiya Konomi, took the script he had written to the chairman of Seikyou Academy.
Kanoe Kiriko, who was already approaching her dotage, looked at Miyauchi Hikage's script, which, apart from the most crucial part, described the other parts almost as if he had been there himself. Her hands couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Not only because these words clearly brought back memories from more than half a century ago, but also because of the shame in her own heart.
Miyauchi Hikage's script spent a considerable amount of ink describing what a gentle person Kanoe Yuuko was back then, and how she took care of the other students in the school and calmed everyone's mood when the plague broke out.
But as the plague worsened, the ignorant villagers chose a young girl by drawing lots to choose the sacrificial pillar. In her nervousness and fear, she subconsciously shouted out Kanoe Yuuko's name, leading to Kanoe Yuuko being chosen as the sacrifice by the superstitious people.
Miyauchi Hikage's description was very realistic. To be able to write such a delicate story from the past she had told him yesterday made her can't help but have the illusion that it would have been better if it had really been like that back then.
But in reality, the person who did all this was her younger self.
And even when she made that choice back then, she really thought that by doing so, she could make the village return to normal.
The result was a memory of regret that she could never make up for.
Thinking back, she gently wiped her eyes and then looked seriously at the bright-eyed boy before her.
Yesterday, when that Itou Kaiji had suddenly visited, she had actually been a little worried about whether her sister's story could be filmed properly.
It was only because she saw some hidden information on his business card that only people like her who had dealt with those secret organizations would know, that she thought this was a new decision from the inner world regarding her sister's arrangements, which was why she agreed to their filming request.
Today, after meeting Miyauchi Hikage and seeing this seriously written script, she felt that the worries in her heart had lessened a lot.
And because of this overly excellent script, she couldn't even bring herself to speak the real truth of what happened back then.
For this reason, after thinking for a while, she also called for her granddaughter, who looked almost identical to her sister, intending to have her assist Miyauchi Hikage and the others in completing the video shoot.