The effect we decided of the curse was: If you’re cursed by the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’, you will be surrounded with bones…. And that’s exactly what happened. Election posters were plastered all over the town. And the majority of them looked like this.
“The bright future of Shikabone City is awaiting us.”
“Shikabone City, a town of smiles and longevity.”
“The government of Shikabone City is for the citizens of Shikabone!”
…The character ‘骨’ has completely overtaken the whole town. The sudden appearance of so many ‘骨’ character made everyone, including us dumbfounded.
And yet another more funny coincidence, which was even worse than what we already witnessed, occurred.
How was it worse? Just listen to the loud campaign car announcement and you’d understand.
“Takashi Honekawa, this is Takashi Honekawa speaking. For the bright future of Shikabone City! Please support only Takashi Honekawa, Takashi Honekawa!”
“Born and raised in the City of Shikabone! This is Takashi Honekawa from the City of Shikabone! Thank you for your consistent support for Takashi Honekawa of Shikabone City!”
It was rare for the ruling and opposition parties to nominate candidates with the same surname to crush each other’s votes.
…And such a rare case occurred during the time of the mayoral election where two candidates with the unusual surname, Honekawa, were asking for people’s support.
Thus, the character ‘骨’ was plastered all over election posters around the town.
One of the candidates even came up with a catchphrase that was; the ‘bones’ of Shikabone City are the ‘bones’ of Honekawa. And this made the election campaign full of ‘骨’ no matter wherever we looked.
Because of that, the students were covered in ‘bones’ on their way to and from school. Even while they were in class, the election campaign car driving by outside the school chanted ‘bone’.
It was like we truly were under the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’. The embodiment of the curse, being surrounded by bones…
From what I’ve heard, the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ was spreading seriously among the girls most. And there were many girls who would get anxious even by the mere utterance of the character ‘骨’.
At first, some boys showed a disbelieving attitude and claimed that only fools would believe the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’.
However, such students always received a barrage of ‘bones’ as if it were divine punishment, and were forced to retract their mocking remarks.
Then, all we could do was laugh at their meek retreat.
The curse we created had completely become accustomed to the school, and it appeared to be like an independent creature that had now left our hands.
By this time, the act of putting in an offering into the offering box of the Tanuki Shrine had become quite common, and classes all over the school were seriously discussing how much offering is enough to break the curse. On the inside, we were grinning like greedy fools, but on the surface we were also acting serious. With solemn expression to help them break the curse, we started guiding them, hoping to persuade them to put in even one more yen. We made them believe that putting in too little would be disrespectful to the ‘Ohone-sama’ and all we wanted was for them to successfully break the curse for their own benefit.
“This is Agent Snake… All routes clear, no one’s in sight!”
“Agent Fox speaking, no suspicious enemies have been sighted in the back either! Let’s go!”
“Thank you… right… 3 9 3, enter. It’s open…!”
With giddy feelings, we unlocked the offering box and opened the drawer.
The feeling we were having opening the offering box was different from when we opened it the first time. As soon as the drawer slid open, a sharp metallic sound followed by.
“Wow… I can’t even count how many zeroes are in here…”
“Just hurry up and collect them! We’ll count them somewhere else!”
“Oh, yeah!”
After collecting all the offerings, we sat down in the bicycle parking lot behind a deserted, rundown apartment building and spilled the contents of the shrine’s offering onto the concrete.
The appearance of colorful coins reminded me of the treasures in the story of ‘Treasure Island’ that I read when I was little.
“Um, how much is here… It seems like there’s quite a lot!”
“Wow… It’s full of 500 yen coins… Amazing…”
“Really?… Everyone’s so rich nowadays…”
We didn’t expect this to happen, but it seemed like the rule that we spread that at least 500 yen had to be put into the offering box had already been established among the students.
As middle school students, 500 yen was definitely a bit too much for them to put in as an offering. It’s not the amount we thought anyone would put just because a fried chicken bone was thrown into their shoes.
Yes, this must be more than an offering for breaking the ‘curse’.… Perhaps the people also prayed for their academic success.
They must have wanted something close to them to pray to, as they felt pressured every day by the invisible pressure of the entrance exams. The 500 yen offering was made with the hope of getting rid of all these anxious feelings.
Although it all started as a harmless and silly prank, it seemed like we unwillingly did a good deed by giving the students, who are under pressure every day, something to pray to.
By putting in the 500 yen, they could escape the pressure of the entrance exams, even if only for a while. If we hadn’t created the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ they would not have felt any sense of relief even if they had held a single 500 yen coin in their hands. But, it was only me who had such lofty thoughts, and I couldn’t express them into words, so I didn’t mention them to Hiroyuki and Toru.
For us, it was more important to know how much the coins in front of us would add up to, and how much each of our shares would be.
When we tallied them up, the total amount exceeded 5,000 yen.
If I divide it by three, how much will I be getting…? At least over 1,000 yen. My allowance is only 1,000 yen a month. Therefore, the amount that suddenly fell from the sky like a big pie was a lot of money to me, more than my monthly allowance.
A little prank, which we created to confuse people and kill time, turned into unexpected income! We were so excited at the outcome.
When we first started discussing this plan, we all happily talked about how much we would be making. But in our hearts, we all thought that even if people put in offerings, it would only be a few tens of yen.
But after opening the box, we found that we had made this much money!
And there is a high possibility that we will continue to earn this income in the future.
The students had related the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ to the pressure of the entrance exams and the like. So there was a possibility that the closer the exam appeared to them, the more aware they would be of the existence of the ‘curse’.
It was still unknown how much we would be ultimately earning…!
“…That’s amazing. I honestly didn’t think it would go this well…”
“Me too… it’s amazing, it’s crazy…”
“What should we do? Should we continue spreading the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’…?”
“…I guess we’ve done enough.”
“Yeah. The curse is spreading among more people on its own without us having to do anything.”
“Well, I guess we just have to plan slowly after that? It’s better than waking up early in the morning just to scare some people.”
“Yeah, I was sleepy while doing so! Ahahahahaha!”
“Let’s divide the money for now!”
“Then let’s go and have a toast from the vending machine.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
We went to the vending machine at the nearby liquor store, rejoiced at the great success of the curse, and poured ourselves a glass of non-alcoholic beverage which we considered victory wine for us.
The taste of the beverage was special to us on that day. We pretended to get drunk while rejoicing our success and drinking heartily.
***
“It seems like the infamous ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ is getting the spotlight!”
Today was Aunt Yuka’s weekend, so we all were having dinner together. During the middle of the dinner, she suddenly mentioned me while handing me the rice bowl. At her exclamation, Mom interjected curiously,
“What about the curse?”
“The curse started with the writings on several blackboards the other day and it seems to have spread all over the school. It seems like it’s become a trend in the whole school to throw ‘bones’ into friends’ desks and bags.”
“I wonder what kind of bones they are. What a nasty prank…”
“It’s impossible for them to be real human bones. They’re probably chicken bones that they found in the trash at a butcher’s shop or something.”
“Maybe! We haven’t had a forensic team to look into it, but I think that’s probably it. Tomohiro-kun, have you been attacked with ‘bones’ too?”
“Yeah. Sometimes they throw bones randomly at someone’s desks, shoe lockers, or the likes.”
“I wonder why kids like to play weird pranks like that. Tomohiro, don’t play such stupid pranks. And don’t interact with such kids, okay?”
I wasn’t interacting with them, I’m one of the perpetrators. At the thought, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. However, I was concerned that Aunt Yuka had heard the latest news about the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’, so I quickly gathered my composure.
“You know about the curse a lot, Aunt Yuka. Have they contacted the police again?”
“No, that’s not it. Apparently, someone from the police contacted the school to ask how things were going. And they said that now, it’s not just writings, the curse has totally spreaded all over the school.”
“It has spreaded all around the school. Well, it might just be a passing whim.”
“But I understand how you feel! When we’re kids, for some reason, we’re drawn to messy things. Well, we’re eating now so I can’t tell you, but when we were kids, we played pranks with all sorts of messy and disgusting things, you know!”
Hearing this, Dad burst out laughing, perhaps remembering what kind of pranks they were.
“So, in the end, does that mean the writings on the blackboard will be resolved as just someone’s prank, not the work of a pervert?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. I guess that’s what it will be…”
Aunt Yuka gave an ambiguous reply as she bit on a piece of fish fry.
It wasn’t the expression of trying to hide something. Rather, she seemed disinterested now that the source of a possible crime had already disappeared.
Seeing that, I was relieved to find that the police weren’t secretly investigating our serious prank.
After all, the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ had already become a well-established phenomenon in the school. No matter what I do, the ‘bones’ fly around on their own, filling the school with the curse. If the incident of writings on the blackboard is forgotten, there will be nothing to fear.
“Well, it’s just kids playing pranks. Such things are common. Weren’t there stories of curses and spells like that when you were at school?”
“Yeah, there were a lot! I think school ghost stories are a bit of a cultural thing that has passed down through the ages.”
“So, maybe the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ isn’t just a silly prank… Could it become one of those school legends that’s been passed down for ages…?”
“Maybe…”
It would be better for us if people thought of it as just a silly prank and this curse continued its influence on students. Then we would be able to keep earning pocket money. If that were to happen, we might get about 10,000 yen, or even more. What’s more, we would continue to earn money this way without having to do anything else.
I wish the curse would spread to other schools. Ahhahahahaha.
“Tomohiro-kun, aren’t curses really scary in the world of boys?”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, in the world of girls, curses, good luck charms, and superstitions are pretty common. Did you have any of those you believed in, sister-in-law?”
“Ah, I’ve forgotten most of them, but a few are coming to mind. I don’t remember about curses, but we used to believe in spells. I think there were a lot of situations, especially girls in love who believed if you do this or do that, then the person you like will like you back. There were some similar things like that.”
The topic of curse soon turned to a reminiscent session, where my mom and aunt started reminiscing about the good old days and talking about all kinds of spells. Listening to them, I realized that regardless of the era, the adolescent generation has a natural tendency to make these kinds of elements popular.
No wonder the school legends were successfully passed down through generations.
“Ahahaha, girls really like spells and stuff.”
“Hmm, but did you know, Tomohiro-kun? When you write the word ‘Good luck charm’ (おまじない: Omajinai) in kanji, it becomes ‘Curse’ (お呪い: Onoroi).”
I was a little surprised because I didn’t know that…
If that’s the case, then ‘curses’ have been rampant in the world of middle schoolers for a long time, including girls’ belief in ‘good luck charms’ for a successful romantic relationship.
We consciously created a new ‘curse’ but I was sure new curses are born, grown, and spreaded every day. Even if we didn’t create one, other people might unwittingly create curses.
“Hahaha, curses are kind of ridiculous. It’s just a bunch of strange rumors that only exist in the world of children. The fact that something like that is allowed to go around is proof that it’s immature and embarrassing to believe in curses.”
“Ahhhh! But you know Tomohiro-kun, you shouldn’t make fun of curses. Just like the 8 million gods we believe in, gods reside everywhere in Japan. So making fun of curses is the same as making fun of the gods among them.”
“Is that so? I mean, wasn’t the curse just the outcome of someone’s prank at school? The ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ already sounds ridiculous, there’s no way it actually exists.”
There was zero possibility for the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ to actually exist. First of all, we were the ones who created it, and we decided on the name in the most careless way possible. How could such a careless being be treated like a god? I tried to laugh it off, but Aunt Yuka had a rare expression of seriousness on her face.
“Do you know Tomohiro-kun, gods are born every day?”
“What? Gods are born?”
“Gods are beings that dwell in the material world. When new things are born, gods reside in those things. For example, there was an episode in an old movie about an empty coke bottle that was worshipped by African natives. Someone flying overhead in an airplane must have tossed the bottle. The natives were surprised when they saw something shiny they had never seen before falling from the sky, and they thought it must be a blessing of god and began to worship it.”
“Hahaha, what a strange story. The person who threw it away thought it was just trash.”
“Yes, that’s the point. Gods are beings of people’s endless beliefs in them. The empty coke bottle was like that for example. Even if the person who threw it away thought it was just trash, if the people who worship it believe that god resides in it, it becomes a sacred being, a true dwelling place of god.”
“So, because some people believe in the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’, a god will be born and dwell in it…?”
Nodding, Aunt Yuka picked up another piece of fish fry.
“Yes, it may happen. I think that the fictional existence of Ohone-sama was probably just some mischievous student playing pranks. But if there are already people who believe in the curse, then a god already resides in the existence of Ohone-sama. In other words, you could say that the cursed god called ‘Ohone-sama’ has already started existing.”
For us, ‘Ohone-sama’ was just an empty coke bottle.
However… for people who took it seriously and sincerely believed it, then a god would be born and reside in the empty bottle. In other words… There was a high chance that the words of Aunt Yuka, that a cursed god called ‘Ohone-sama’ would appear, could be true.
That’s ridiculous. Does a god with such a cheap naming sense really exist? And a cursed god nonetheless?
First of all, we only created the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ and the image that if you are cursed, you would be surrounded by bones.
Even if he exists as a god, what does he look like? He couldn’t possibly have an appearance. We haven’t decided on anything like that.
But just as the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ has spreaded around on its own accord without us having to do anything, the appearance of ‘Ohone-sama’ was also decided on its own without us meddling.
It was lunchtime. A few boys from the class were gathered at someone’s desk.
The student to whom the seat belonged was absent due to illness that day. And the boys seemed to take advantage of the opportunity of the owner’s absence to scribble on the student’s desk.
After they finished scribbling and left, the others peered over the desk and started muttering among themselves. Feeling curious, I also decided to take a look.
The desk was covered in pencil scribbles.
The character ‘骨’ was scribbled all over the desk, and if anyone who didn’t realize it was a prank saw it, they would surely be pissed. That should have been the end of the story.
However, the appearance of a strange creature that looked oddly similar to teru teru bozu in the middle of the sea of characters for ‘骨’ was what astonished me.
[T/N: A teru teru bōzu (Japanese: てるてる坊主 or 照る照る坊主, lit. ’shine, shine monk’) is a small traditional handmade doll hung outside doors and windows in Japan in hope for sunny weather. Source: Wikipedia]
It had distinct features that were clearly different from the well-known teru teru bozu we were used to seeing. The talisman of teru teru bozu is used to pray for clear skies…. But that one had the face of a skull.
It had no hands like a teru teru bozu, and instead, what looked like skeletal legs peeked out from under a cloak-like garment.
Even in my confusion, it was clear that this strange doodle of a teru teru bozu represented ‘Ohone-sama’.
The sight was so strange as well as unsightly… To begin with, the three of us had never set an appearance for ‘Ohone-sama’. Therefore, this ridiculous drawing of teru teru bozu must have just been an image invented by the people who had doodled it earlier.
…But perhaps because this teru teru bozu with a skull face had an image that anyone can draw easily, it was established as the ‘Ohone-sama’ without any consideration for our intentions as its creators.
In the past, after using the bones we brought in, we would always throw them in the trash, but someone would pick them up, and they would end up being used for pranks again. So whenever the bones were found, the teachers would immediately confiscate them.
Some times later, it appeared to be like someone with an even more mischievous personality than us was bringing in bones that were different from the ones we scavenged from the butcher’s. However, the amount of bones were gradually decreasing because of the teachers’ interference, and it was becoming difficult to exchange curses using the ‘bones’.
As a result, what started flying around instead of ‘bones’ were these drawings of the skull teru teru bozu. People would draw this ominous teru teru bozu on scraps of notebook paper and toss it into someone’s desk or bag. Since everyone had notebooks and pencils, this curse spread much more easily than when we were using ‘bones’. And before we knew it… this ridiculous skull teru teru bozu was becoming the symbol that everyone recognized as the appearance of ‘Ohone-sama’.
A new story was also introduced in which, since the teru teru bozu has no hands, ‘Ohone-sama’ also has no hands. So if the curse is placed on someone, they would have both of their hands ripped off.
We laughed at how funny it was that the ‘Ohone-sama’ had grown on its own as if watching our children, who have left our hands grow up.
….Truth to be told, only Hiroyuki and Toru were laughing, but for some reason, I was the only one who had a vague sense of unease. Even so, I didn’t dare to say lest I would be labelled as a coward.
Things were turning exactly as Aunt Yuka had said.
To us who created the curse, it was nothing more than a prank, but to those who believed in it, it was a life-and-death situation.
The analogy that Aunt Yuka used, about an empty coke bottle thrown away by a passenger flying over Africa, and being picked up by the natives and sanctified, kept bothering me.
…If that’s the case, if the ‘Curse of Ohone-sama’ continued to grow, how strong would it be in the end…? All we created was probably the name.
Now it has an appearance, and has flesh and blood, as well as various configurations and stories.
And once the existence of ‘Ohone-sama’ is fully established… what will happen next?
Will it really gain the power of curses… and reign as a cursed god over the school, as we once imagined, and curse the students indiscriminately?
And in the end, will it really be that it will harm the students with its cursed power…? It was ridiculous… There was no way things would turn out like that.
That was what I wanted to believe, but the strange sense of foreboding that kept rising each time ‘Ohone-sama’ continued to grow far beyond my initial expectations never left…
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