When the train went into the tunel, the sun's glare vanished.
It was 4 o'clck in the evening. Takeshi was shaken up by the train. It is screeching in a fixed manner.
March 25th - the universitiy is already in its spring break. Takeshi had been with his friend from university Tsuchiya Yuuki moments ago. All of a sudden he got a call from Yuuki, and he asked Takeshi to come with him to take a look at some cars because he wanted to buy one soon. Takeshi didn't have to work at that day, so he decided to go with Yuuki. As a result, he has been taken around since morning.
The day is the day that Takeshi can't forget. No, it's the day that he must not forget. It has been just 7 years since Yumi suddenly disappared. The 7 years went so quickly. Takeshi turns twenty this year.
Is Yumi alive now?
His hope is for her to be alive. But if he says he didn't give up, it would be a lie. Because he didn't even hear a single word about her in these 7 years.
He will become an adult soon. He rememberd a conversation with Yuuki thinking about things like that.
After all that seraching they couldn't find a car that Yuuki liked. On the way to the station, the words that came out of Yuki's mouth were almost exclusively about cars.
"Only the driving skills test is left. So I have to get my car quickly to be able to drive it soon after getting mt licence."
Takeshi got tired of Yuuki's constant babbling about cars. Yuuki's always been the talkative type, but at that time his excitement level was beyond the norm.
Takeshi and Yuuki both belong to the faculty of Japanese literature at their university. They got close little by little taking advantage of sitting next to each other. And now, they meet on holidays.
"Hey, Takeshi."
Surprisingly Takeshi recovered his senses. He thought about what happened 7 years back.
"Oh, sorry. Well, what was the topic about?"
Yuuki got mad and clicked his tongue.
"Well, was the written exam difficult?"
Takeshi got his drive license as soon as he graduated from highshool. He passed the written exam and the driving skills test smoothly. So, he is kind a Yuuki's senior.
"Yeah, you can't pass it if you don't study in some degree."
"I know that. Hey, can't you ask me a few questions?"
"I don't remember any questions. Maybe I can't pass it if I take it now."
"Then, it's okay to ask me your own questions. Ask me some questions."
"I wonder if I can make my own questions though." Takeshi looked doubtful.
"Damn, you are not useful. But, it's okay. Somehow I'll manage on the day of the exam."
As usual, Yuuki was going his own way. He kept talking like a chatty girl.
"Hey." Interrupting him, Takeshi moved his mouth.
"Uh? Why did you get serious all of a sudden?"
Takeshi found himself starting to tell about that incident.
"Sorry, nothing."
"What? I wanna know. Say it," said Yuuki fretfully.
"No, there is really nothing."
"Anyway, say it!"
Once things become like that, Yuuki was so persistent. He seemed he wouldn't stop asking until Takeshi said something. Takeshi gave up and told him about it as a rumor.
"It's just a rumor."
Yuuki nodded.
"I just suddenly remembered about it."
"About what?"
"Have you ever heard of a rumor about thumb seeking when we were the age around a kid at elementay shool?"
Takeshi finally broke the seal.
"Thumb seeking? What's that?" Yuuki scowled nervously. Takeshi evaded.
"Ah, I also just heard about it. Just suddenly it came on my mind."
"I see, but I really don't know about it."
"Yeah, I see."
When Takeshi smiled and made it all right, Yuuki started talking about cars again. Takeshi felt it easier talking about cars.
When the train shook hardly, Takeshi found himself holding a strap. He bowed lightly and sayd sorry in a low voice since he hit a person beside him.
As he was vacantly viewing outside of the window holding the strap, he heard a conversation between three highschool girls sitting in front him. Their discussiion reached his ears naturally, but he wasn't all that concerned.
"Wasn't the movie scary, especially the last scene."
"Yeah, I was about to scream."
"But it's just a movie in the end. It's just a made-up story."
It was just small talk. Their voices were very loud and they stood out conspicuously. Based on the old lady's facial expression, she looked pretty annoyed.
"By the way, did you watch the TV program last night?"
"Yup, I did. There were some stories that we knew. I felt those ones were more terrifying in comparison to the events that transpired in the movie."
"In particular, there were a lot of stories when we were school girls."
"Yeah, there were. I head of 'kokkurisan,' but it isn't a scary story."
"Ah, I know that."
"The story 'The samurai in the grasses' that Tomo told us was scary, wasn't it?"
"Eh? What was the story about?"
"Tomo and her friends played with a ball in a park when they were schoolgirls and schoolboys. And then, Tomo kicked the ball and it went into the grass by accident. Another kid went to find the ball but she couldn't find it anywhere. And when she started going back, she suddenly saw a samurai style guy covered with blood."
"Isn't it scary? And then?"
"It was too shocking and scary so she lost her consciousness. They all went together to see the samurai in the grass next day."
"And?"
"Suddenly blood came out of Tomo's leg, so it was cut! Then at the next moment, suddenly the girl who lost her consiousness said, 'did you come here to find me?' in a different voice. Don't you find it scary?"
"It's really freaky!"
"I have another story too."
"What's that?"
"The story 'thumb seeking.'"
All of the noises; the train noise, the cell phone's ringing noise etc. dissapeared into her words.
At the moment, Takeshi reacted sensitively. He looked at the girls. Without noticing it, three of them keep talking.
"Thumb seeking? What is the story about?"
"I don't know the detail either. In the story, a woman was living in a villa alone. One day, she was killed in the villa and dismembered. But only her left thumb remained missing."
"Isn't it creepy?"
"It's a story about going finding the lost left thumb..."
"How do you find it?"
"I don't know. Wasn't the part going to find it made up to scare people?"
"Hmmm."
No, it's wrong. Takeshi was stupefied and gazed at them.
'Do you know thumb seeking?'
Yumi's voice came back on his mind.
He didn't expect them to talk about the story. He swallowed his saliva and looked at them hard. Then, one of the girls noticed him gazing at them.
"Sorry...? "
Coming to his senses, he realized that they were looking at him. A sense of shame emerged within him.
"Sorry."
Takeshi let the strap go and went to another cart, it looked as if he were trying to escape.
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