[Short Fiction] Chadako’s Summer, Continued
By Manager
Chadako finally cut her hair.
In the end, she did it herself.
Considering the hairstylist had foamed at the mouth and died, there really wasn’t much choice.
There was only one problem. Chadako was a vengeful spirit, which meant she didn’t appear in mirrors.
So she had to cut almost entirely by feel. The scissors she levitated with her ghostly powers were harder to control than expected: a big snip on the right, another on the left. As for the back, she soon lost track of which direction the scissors were even supposed to go, gave up halfway through, and just went with the vibe.
Well. Good enough.
It wasn’t like she was an idol with a concert tomorrow. It was probably more or less a bob. Probably.
And it was cooler. Fresher. Right now, that mattered more than anything.
Heh. There used to be a song like that, didn’t there? Takes me back...
Anyway. Enough reminiscing. Time to get some cursing done.
She must not kill anyone.
Not like last time.
She needed to properly curse someone. Then she needed them to spread the curse. Share it. Make it go viral. The strength of a vengeful spirit was measured in numbers now. She couldn’t afford to lose to Kanyako.
With renewed determination, Chadako digitized herself once more and plunged back into the television.
She emerged next in the room of some young man.
The instant her face pushed its way out of the TV screen, their eyes met. The man was sitting on the tatami, slurping ramen. The moment he saw Chadako, his face went pale. He stopped mid-slurp and recoiled.
Heh. He’s completely terrified.
So far, so good. Now for my specialty...
“Kakakakakaka...”
The man stared, mouth hanging open, eyes bulging. His chopsticks slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.
Good. It’s working. He’s cursed. Now to finish this in one go...
But as he continued staring at Chadako’s face, something strange happened. The fear gradually drained from his expression.
“...Huh?”
The man spoke with noodles still in his mouth.
“...That hair...”
“Kaka...?”
“...Yeah. What does it remind me of...?”
Halfway out of the television, Chadako waited.
“Portrait of Reiko!”
What?
Portrait of Reiko? What the hell is that?
I’m Chadako.
“Uh... n-no... th-that’s...”
Then Chadako froze.
Portrait of Reiko...
Blunt bangs.
No.
My hair.
No.
No, no, no.
Is that what happened?
That was exactly what had happened.
Her bangs were unbelievably blunt.
Spectacularly, catastrophically blunt.
“GWAAAH!”
Chadako clutched her head with both hands.
This is so embarrassing!
A vengeful spirit failing at a home haircut. She had never even heard of such a timeline.
She couldn’t curse anyone looking like this. People would laugh before they had time to be afraid.
And sure enough, the man snorted.
“Pff... s-sorry...”
“......”
“No, it’s just... those bangs are really...”
“Ghh...”
“Did you cut that yourself?”
“......”
“Yeah, you really messed that one up.”
“Ghh... ngh...”
The man was still laughing.
“Ah, sorry. I mean, you are scary and everything, but...”
“Ghh...”
“And what the hell happened in the back? Why is one bit so long? You look like Fighting Ramenman! Oh God, I can’t... I’m done...”
“......”
“BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The man finally sprayed noodles everywhere. His face twisted into a mixture of terror and laughter as he clutched his stomach, wheezing helplessly. Then his eyes rolled back and he toppled over.
He was dead.
He had literally laughed himself to death.
For a while, Chadako simply stared in disbelief at the man lying there covered in noodles.
Then she sighed.
I killed another one.
That’s two this year.
Why? All I want to do is curse someone properly...
Maybe she should just ask Kanyako for advice.
Outside, the cicadas screamed in the summer heat.
—The End