kscans

Chapter 227 - The Local Hanako-san 3

After changing, we immediately accepted the request and headed to the client’s location. We arrived at a certain high rise apartment building in Seijo.

"...So Jimoko-san lives in a high rise apartment."

"Yeah. A new Hanako-san, a Second Hanako-san, was born at the elementary school I went to."

Jimoko-san, the local Hanako-san, left the school because she didn’t want to get in the way of the younger generation. The new home she chose was this high rise apartment. She chose Seijo because it’s a school district. At the end of the day, Jimoko-san is a school ghost story. She sometimes gets nostalgic for a school bathroom, whether it’s elementary, middle, high school, or university.

"Alright, Kawasaki, I’m counting on you."

"Understood."

Kawasaki rang the intercom. We were going to meet face to face soon anyway, but I figured I’d hide my presence until the last second. There was an immediate response, and after a brief exchange, the auto lock was released. We went inside and headed for Hanako-san’s home on the top floor.

"I’ve been waiting... Hideo?! What are you..."

The front door opened to reveal a little girl with a bob cut, wearing a white shirt and a red skirt with suspenders. Even living in a high rise apartment, Jimoko-san never abandoned this classic style.

"Heh heh, you’re being way too reserved, Jimoko-san."

"...Oh, be quiet."

Jimoko-san turned her face away with a huff. This prickly side of hers is what makes her so cute.

"Well, I’m just here as an escort. I won’t step in unless things get really dangerous."

"As insurance, you’re the best there is. In that case."

"Don’t need it. Just consider it your bad luck that I found out."

"...You idiot. But, thank you."

Jimoko-san mumbled her thanks while still looking away. She’s been like this since elementary school. Thanks to that, she stole the first love of quite a few of the other boys we used to play with. Even now, at our elementary school reunions, she comes up in conversation. "I used to like that girl." "But I wonder what class she was in?"

"So, is that young lady over there?"

"My name is Kawasaki."

"...I can tell you’re stronger than me, but."

"I don’t know how strong the enemy is, but Kawasaki can probably handle it."

"Really? Then I’ll trust you. For now, please come in."

"Pardon the intrusion."

"‘Scuse me."

We gave a slight bow and went inside. We were led to the living room and told to wait for a moment while Hanako-san went to the kitchen.

"I hope you find this to your liking."

She returned with tea and sweets.

"...I knew about urban legend apparitions as a concept, but are they all like this?"

"I guess it varies from person to person."

There are quite a few urban legend apparitions who are more human like, but their stances are all different. It really varies, from those who simply refrain from harming humans to those like Jimoko-san who are deeply integrated into human society.

"But even among them, Jimoko-san is quite progressive. Or rather, she’s flexible in her thinking and is a real go getter."

"I have no intention of abandoning my roots, but I also think it’s wrong to cling to them and refuse to change."

"Wow, you’re so forward thinking. Oh, this financier is delicious!"

"Is it? Fufu, I’m so glad you like it."

Perhaps because she has spent many years with children. Jimoko-san seemed to understand that Kawasaki possessed a youthfulness that belied her age, and switched into big sister mode.

"So? Tell me the details about those guys trying to become the originals."

"Right. They call themselves the ‘Fakers’, but."

"What’s with the cool team name."

"Apparently, it’s a name that’s both ironic about their own existence and filled with the determination to become the real thing."

"Are highly conscious urban legends the new trend in the community?"

"There’s no such trend, but..."

Jimoko-san cleared her throat with a gohon and began to share information about the enemy.

"Their leader is this girl. Like me, she’s a Hanako-san of the Toilet."

"...Not one of those recent precocious elementary schoolers, I take it?"

Kawasaki’s words were a very appropriate way to describe the girl in the photo placed on the table. A gyaru type girl who looked like she’d be getting into trouble even in elementary school. Who would look at this and think she was a Hanako-san of the Toilet? But, if you looked closely...

"Ha."

"Satou-san?"

"What’s wrong?"

I couldn’t help but snort, and both their gazes turned to me.

"Oh, it’s nothing. Just thinking that from a fashion perspective, she still has a long way to go."

""Excuse me?""

"You can pretty much see a person’s stance, or something like it, just by looking at their clothes."

Clothing is a form of self expression, after all. Even with uniforms and suits. A person’s assertions can peek through in the way they wear them. In that sense, I judged that the Fakers’ Hanako-san was the cringey type that earnest people tend to become when they go through a rebellious phase.

"She’s probably extremely hung up on the fact that she’s not one of a kind, that other versions of her exist."

Jimoko-san doesn’t care about that sort of thing. Even if they’re both Hanako-san of the Toilet, their personalities are different, and it’s not like their faces and figures are identical down to the last detail. But I bet Feiko-san is different. She wanted to show her originality, her uniqueness, so she chose an outfit that was far removed from the image of Hanako-san of the Toilet.

"She’s wearing a ton of makeup, so it’s hard to get that impression, but she has Japanese style features, just like Jimoko-san."

She is a beautiful girl. But she’s not making the most of her assets. Because she’s killing her own strengths, her makeup, dyed hair, and hairstyle are all stuck in the eighties on a one hundred point scale. It’s better to choose an outfit that best utilizes your own weapons. That would paradoxically create more originality.

"What is this look. It’s like she just picked and chose things that might appear in a fashion magazine."

It’s not necessarily a bad thing to put together an entire outfit like that. But that’s for the purpose of optimizing it to suit you.

"Hers looks like she just randomly stitched things together to seem trendy."

The person herself is missing between all those clothes.

"I’ve never seen someone criticize an apparition’s fashion sense before."

"It’s very much like Satou-san, I suppose."

Hey, I’m not trying to deny her immaturity. In fact, repeating those kinds of mistakes and learning little by little is part of the fun of fashion. I was the same way. Back in middle school, I went through a phase where I was into clothes that made you think, "Are you sure you know what you’re doing?"

"But you can only look at that with a warm smile because it’s a kid, right."

This one may look like an elementary schooler, but her insides are different. The fact that she’s stronger than Jimoko-san means, due to the nature of urban legend apparitions, she must have been around for a considerable number of years. A generous estimate would place her birth around the late Showa period. She’s older than me. If she’s only started to make a name for herself recently, we should assume she was quietly playing the role of Hanako-san until now.

"Individuality isn’t something you put on display. It’s something that seeps out naturally."

She’s come into contact with many humans, and children at that, beings who don’t care about appearances and have no need to put on a front. So she should understand. In fact, Jimoko-san is a good judge of character. If they’re both Hanako-san of the Toilet, I can’t help but be a little harsh.

"So, all things considered, I’d give her a generous 76 points or so. Please try again."

""I see.""

Jimoko-san and Kawasaki nodded, then continued in unison.

""So, what does this have to do with anything?""

I was wondering the same thing.