Chapter 120: The Hospital Room
Chapter 120: The Hospital Room
Toriumi Kotaro and his “daughter,” Toriumi Arisu, left a very strong impression on Fang Jing during the Kagome Hall incident.
Toriumi Kotaro seemed to be a detective, and both he and his daughter Toriumi Arisu gave off a mysterious feeling.
“You… how did you end up like this?”
The man now had a cast on his leg. It was amazing he could walk with crutches.
“I got hit by a car, but it’s not too bad. After some more rest, I’ll be fine.”
The head nurse scolded Sakomizu Daigoro terribly. Toriumi Kotaro also slipped into the room and ate an orange brought by Fang Jing.
“I’m in a room on the fifth floor,”
“By the way, what about Toriumi Arisu and Wakae? Didn’t they come to the hospital?”
“They’re staying with friends for now…”
Toriumi sighed. He tapped his leg cast with a crutch.
“I wanted to ask the head nurse to change rooms, but I got yelled at instead.”
That young head nurse was very fierce. Basically, she harshly scolded all three men.
“You live in a room downstairs, right? Why would you want to change rooms anyway?”
“I can’t help it.”
Toriumi Kotaro glanced around, his eyes dark.
“It’s not that simple. The fifth floor where I stay… things might be getting a bit troublesome there.”
“How so?”
Toriumi Kotaro didn’t hesitate much. He decided to talk about what he’d faced recently.
________________
At first, the first few days after Toriumi Kotaro was hospitalized, everything was completely normal.
But a few days ago, when he used crutches to go to the cafeteria downstairs for a meal, something unexpected happened.
He ordered curry rice, as usual, and quickly ate it up.
The hospital curry wasn’t good, but he still tried his best to go along with Arisu and swallowed it.
Just then, he heard an old man in a patient gown sitting at another table in a wheelchair. The man frowned and said, “Strange… what is this awful smell?”
The old man picked something out of his plate with a fork, a look of disgust on his face.
It was a tangled bunch of wet, black hair. It looked really gross.
“This is too much! How could they put this in the food!”
He said it loudly, catching the attention of people nearby.
Soon, hospital staff and cafeteria workers rushed over. Fang Jing just frowned. He gathered his things and left the cafeteria. Behind him came the old man’s unhappy shouts and staff apologies.
This little incident was probably forgotten by most, including Toriumi.
…
Hiroshi Ishida, hospitalized for a lung problem, was quite upset. In his sixties, doctors purposefully delayed his discharge due to his age.
Hiroshi felt he was fine. He urgently wanted to go home to care for his two grandchildren who started preschool. Being stuck for half a month made the old man full of complaints.
The lunch incident worsened his mood. Luckily, his doctor hurried over to calm things, and he finally let the matter go.
“Honestly, these people are so irresponsible. This is food for patients! How could they mess up like this…”
Born in the post-war baby boomer generation, he had the traits of that time. Call it simple or stubborn, he was never happy with the hospital or cafeteria.
“This isn’t how you treat patients or guests. Back in our day, nobody would do this…”
“Alright, alright, Hiroshi. It’s your turn to place a piece.”
He played shogi with another elderly patient he’d met in the hospital, a man with a chronic illness.
Prompted, Hiroshi Ishida moved his “rook” forward one square.
“But Hiroshi, the hospital cafeteria usually has a good reputation. Hardly anyone ever had this kind of thing happen before.”
“Even if it was a simple mistake, they shouldn’t be easily forgiven.”
“No, I mean… it’s a bad sign. Especially since you found ‘hair’!”
When he mentioned “hair,” the old man with the long-term illness lowered his voice.
“Don’t think I’m superstitious. There are bad whispers about this hospital, especially things about ‘hair.'”
It was said over ten years ago, several incidents happened in a row, all linked to a “hair curse.”
“A hair curse? Ha! Sakayanagi… you’re not young. How can you believe those things…”
“Heh heh, I’ve been here nearly ten years. Believing in these things or not depends on you.”
His sick friend spoke calmly, but Hiroshi clearly didn’t take it seriously.
However, that very night, the old man had a sudden heart attack and died unexpectedly.
________________
Noise came from the next room. It seemed an old person had passed away. Sobs and crying came from family members.
The old lady died around midnight. Nurse Kotono sighed. She was frail. Besides Grandpa Hiroshi Ishida two days ago, this was the fourth one.
Like always, Kotono began her duties. She went to Room 501. This was a two-person room, but only a little girl named Chieko stayed there now.
When Kotono entered the room, she was surprised to see Chieko drawing.
Holding a sketchbook and pencil, the little girl was focused, erasing and re-drawing. Seeing Chieko so serious, Kotono walked over to see what she was making.
Kotono’s brow quickly furrowed. Her gaze changed.
She found Chieko had drawn a plan of the hospital floor. All the room numbers were marked.
Weirdly, one room was colored red with a marker.
Kotono looked closer. Four rooms were colored red.
They were Rooms 502, 504, 506, and 508. Looking carefully, Kotono realized these were exactly the rooms of Hiroshi Ishida and the three other deceased patients.
“…Chieko, what are you drawing?”
“…”
Chieko didn’t speak. She just kept writing and drawing in her sketchbook.
Kotono grew more curious. She opened another sketchbook lying next to Chieko. Many drawings were inside.
But after looking just a little while, her expression turned anxious.
Truthfully, for only nine years old, Chieko had quite a talent.
Her drawings weren’t skillful, but they expressed meaning clearly.
Kotono saw Chieko seemed to draw events since she was hospitalized. The first half was normal, just what a kid would see.
But in the very last few pages, Kotono sensed something bad.
One picture showed a hospital bed with a person lying in it. Next to the bed stood a creepy shadow.
It was a girl, or a girl-like figure. She wore a skirt, and feathery, raven-black hair covered her whole body. It didn’t look human. It was like long hair dragging on the ground – a “weird person” wrapped up tight.
“What a strange drawing…”
Kotono turned the page. The next drawing also centered on a hospital bed. Now, the figure standing beside the bed, that messy-haired weirdo, showed faces from beneath her hair.
It seemed like masks. One after another, masks like strange “Noh masks” appeared. Some masks looked happy, some looked angry. Black hair poured out from where their eyes, noses, and mouths should be.
This drawing was bizarre. It was hard to tell what little Chieko meant to show.
When Kotono turned to the next page, the picture became even more scary and sickening.
The weird person by the bed was back to normal, standing stiff. But the person from the bed stood upright now, like a zombie.
And this person’s mouth was gaping open, stretched so wide it seemed unhinged.
A twisted mass of black hair pushed out from its mouth. It wriggled like a snake, stretching toward the weird person.
It looked like it wanted to become one with that long-haired figure.
“What… what do these mean?!”
Kotono was smart. Her gut told her this was important.
She just couldn’t figure it out yet.
Then, Kotono noticed Chieko take out a red marker. She colored another room bright red.
“Room 507?!”
Kotono whispered to herself. She knew she needed to understand what was happening.
________________
“When Miss Kotono saw my patient file and found out my job is a private detective, she told me all this…”
Toriumi Kotaro gave a bitter laugh. He looked at Fang Jing with a troubled expression. “And right now… I live in Room 507.”
“Is there only you in Room 507?”
Fang Jing pressed.
“No. There’s another patient.”
Toriumi shook his head. His room was for two patients. Besides him, there was someone else.
“How did you find out about Hiroshi Ishida?”
“He heard it from Mr. Sakayanagi. He played shogi with him. Also, I had heard about the rumor he mentioned.”
Toriumi Kotaro spoke seriously. “Matsusaka Private Hospital actually has an unspoken rumor, more like a piece of talk.”
“You mean like hospital ghost stories? Stories like a woman crawling with only half a body being seen in the hallways at night?”
“You know your stuff! Yeah, exactly those talks. And here’s the particular part about this hospital: One of the rumors is, if someone finds a woman’s hair in their food in the patient cafeteria, they get ‘taken away’ the very next day…”
“Taken away…” The suggestion was strong. Did it mean sudden death?
“Basically, yes. Anyway, whenever this kind of thing happens that year, exactly five people will be ‘taken away.'”