Chapter 17: Can I Come In?
Uesugi Kiyoshi held Nakasone Kazuko's hand and squeezed into the crowd.
As expected, the person inside was Watanabe Goro. Although his thick autumn uniform covered his body tightly and he wore a mask on his face, the dense acne exposed on his skin gave away his identity.
"Teacher Wangbu's sculpture solo exhibition starts tonight. Is anyone interested in visiting?"
Seeing two more people joining the onlookers, he shouted even louder!
Only cold mockery from the onlooking students greeted him.
"I was quite interested at first, but seeing you, I lost interest!"
"Yeah, just thinking about the pus dripping on the plaster sculpture, how can anyone still be interested?"
"Wow, everyone be careful, don't get infected by the oil on his body!"
...
When the bell rang for class, all the students scattered except for Uesugi Kiyoshi and another handsome boy.
He walked forward with a frown, seeming to want to grab Watanabe Goro's collar, but hesitated when he saw some unknown liquid on it.
"What did you do to Teacher Wangbu?" the boy shouted loudly. "Why did he kick me out but let you stay to help?"
Watanabe Goro chuckled, finding the situation amusing.
"It's Teacher Wangbu's decision, not mine. Maybe the teacher thinks you, Ichiro Shimada, are not sincere enough," he replied.
"What? You jerk!"
He clenched his fists, unable to find a place to strike, so he watched helplessly as the other walked away. Eventually, he sat on the ground, holding his head, until a hand reached out to him.
"Hello, I'm Uesugi Kiyoshi. Can we talk?"
Uesugi Kiyoshi pulled the boy onto a bench, chatted casually, and soon got the information he wanted.
The boy called Ichiro Shimada turned out to be a member of the art club, and he was also Teacher Wangbu's favorite student and close friend. They had a very close relationship.
Teacher Wangbu was obsessed with sculpture and believed that art didn't need to have heads. He thought that sculptures without heads could spark people's imagination. He had created nearly a hundred Headless Sculptures of different shapes.
When the Head Balloon left, Teacher Wangbu began planning his own personal art exhibition. He thought that by taking advantage of everyone's fear and disgust towards heads, his popularity might soar!
Ichiro Shimada worked hard for this event and even used his connections to secure a location for the exhibition. But when Watanabe Goro showed up, things suddenly took a different turn.
"I wonder what Teacher Wangbu is thinking!"
Ichiro Shimada pounded his fist on the bench and complained angrily, "He actually kicked me out and decided to hold the art exhibition in the old school building instead of using the art gallery!"
"Is that place not good?" Uesugi Kiyoshi asked curiously.
"That place is abandoned," Nakasone Kazuko explained. Only the art room is usable, the rest are dark classrooms that nobody goes to during the day, let alone at night!
"Teacher Wangbu must be obsessed with art, something must be wrong with him mentally!" Ichiro Shimada made his own judgment.
"Maybe there's something wrong with the brain!"
"...Isn't this the same thing?"
"Of course not!" Uesugi Kiyoshi stood up from the bench, paced back and forth a few steps, and suggested. "How about we go and take a look tonight?"
"It's a deal!"
Japanese high schools end at 4:30 in the afternoon, including the third year. Uesugi Kiyoshi and Nakasone Kazuko stayed in the classroom until 6:30 before going downstairs to meet Ichiro Shimada.
"You guys are so slow!" Ichiro Shimada was about to complain but then noticed two people following behind them, "Um, who are they?"
"Bodyguards!" Uesugi Kiyoshi replied succinctly.
"Bodyguards? Who are you to have bodyguards?"
"Uesugi Kiyoshi."
"Of course I know you are Uesugi... Oh, you are the Uesugi Kiyoshi?" Ichiro Shimada got excited.
"Shh, let's go, and please keep it a secret for me."
In the autumn, the days are short and the nights are long. When they arrived at the old school building, it was already dark. The buildings under the night sky seemed eerie, like half-buried bodies in the ground.
Most of the rooms were pitch black with faint figures seen from outside, likely those headless sculptures. Only one room emitted a dim red light with muffled tapping sounds coming from within.
Nakasone Kazuko held Uesugi Kiyoshi's hand, with sweat seeping out heavily.
"Look, it's that guy Watanabe Goro!"
Ichiro Shimada suddenly shouted loudly, startling Uesugi Kiyoshi.
He looked towards the entrance of the school building and indeed spotted the figure of Watanabe Goro, who had also noticed the five of them and quickly walked over to greet them.
"Welcome... Ichiro, why are you here?" This time, Watanabe Goro wasn't wearing a mask, his acne scars moving to show a look of disdain.
Ichiro Shimada grimaced unhappily, "Why, can't I come?"
"This was your idea to come!" Watanabe Goro moved his mouth, showing a smile, "Then please come in."
"Is it Ichiro?"
Suddenly there were shouts in the school building, anxious and fearful.
"Ichiro, can't go in, there's..."
The voice stopped abruptly, as if the speaker's mouth had been covered.
"It's Teacher Wangbu!"
Ichiro Shimada immediately panicked, wanting to rush in regardless, but was firmly held back by Uesugi Kiyoshi.
"Don't be impulsive, young man!"
Watanabe Goro smiled again, thick red liquid seeping from the corner of his mouth, "It's nothing really, Teacher Wangbu just got a little excited during the creative process - do you want to go in and visit?"
Uesugi Kiyoshi looked up and saw the old school building's door slowly opening, like the mouth of a demon ready to devour any living creature daring to enter.
He responded with a smile, "Of course, but please wait a moment."
"What are you waiting for?"
Watanabe Goro's confusion was quickly resolved.
With a whistle from Uesugi Kiyoshi, numerous spotlights suddenly lit up from all directions, turning the dark night into a dazzling daylight. The eerie and terrifying old school building seemed to transform into a barrel in a pirate game, pierced through by giant columns of light swords.
The noise of bustling footsteps sounded, and one muscular man after another emerged from behind the lights, each with a menacing appearance, tattoos faintly visible on their skin, and hungering clubs in their hands.
Leading the way at the front was a man with bare arms, displaying tattoos of ghosts and gods on his body - none other than Matsuda Shomei, the head of the Senju family.
"Your Excellency Uesugi, the three hundred members of the Senju family have gathered, ready to follow your orders!"
He waved his hand, and the members behind him raised their sticks in unison, shouting loudly.
This is worth fifty million yen!
Uesugi Kiyoshi nodded in satisfaction and said to Watanabe Goro, "We can go now!"
The excited cheers woke up the frozen Watanabe Goro. He knelt on the ground, desperately grabbing the passing strong man, tears flowing from his eyes.
"This place is too small and can't accommodate all of you. Please, can you come back another day?"
