KyoIshigami

Novel by Yukito Ayatsuji

The story focuses on a boy named Kōichi Sakakibara who, upon transferring into Yomiyama Middle School and meeting the curious Mei Misaki, finds himself in a mystery revolving around students and people related to his class falling victim to gruesome, senseless deaths.
In the spring of 1998, 15-year-old Kouichi Sakakibara has just moved to the town of Yomiyama, where he is set to attend the local middle school Yomiyama North. However, when a past injury resurfaces, he is placed in hospital, leading him to miss the first week of school. Though he recovers quickly, before leaving he meets Mei Misaki, a strange, eye-patched girl whose cryptic mannerisms spark a subtle interest within the boy.

At Yomiyama North, Kouichi is placed in Class 3-3. However, beneath the innocent atmosphere, he finds the class behavior odd: everyone seems to be on edge and watchful of Kouchi's actions. Moreover, Mei is a student in the class, yet both classmates and teachers don't show any regard to her, as if she is simply not there. Though more oddities arise and more questions spring forth, no one is willing to give Kouichi any answers. With little choice to ease his growing curiosity, Kouichi starts to pursue Mei for help, against both the class's and her own warnings.

Another Novel

They said she slipped on the stairs in Building C and she landed badly…


I heard that when she fell on the stairs, she threw her umbrella in front of her and the tip of it went through her throat.


I heard another story that said she got stabbed through the eye, though, not the throat.


Either way, it was such a gruesome scene that they put a gag order on the witnesses or something.


She was the class representative for the girls, right? The girl who died?


I heard that her mom died the exact same day, in a car accident.


Hey, do you think this is because of that curse? 


"That" curse? You mean you know about that?


Just what I've overheard. I don't know the whole story.


They do call it "the curse of third-year Class 3." 


But it's dangerous to just go blabbing about it.


But secretly everyone knows the story, right? How a popular kid from that class named Misaki died twenty-six years ago… 


And how this year is one of those years? 


That's awful. What if I get put in Class 3 next year?


No use worrying about that now, is there?


Why not transfer out while you're still in second year?


I mean, it's not like it happens every year. I think last year was an off year. 


What about the year before that? That year it happened. 


Once it starts, something bad happens to the class every month, right? 


Yeah. Every month, at least one person with ties to the class…


Their families are in danger, too. Especially the immediate family. I heard more distant relatives are fine. 


There's an upperclassman in my kendo club named Maejima. He's in Class 3. He's been telling me about it on the sly lately. He acts like he doesn't really believe in it, so that's probably why he told an outsider like me about it. 


Okay, so he doesn't believe it. But I mean, someone really did die…


Purely coincidence. Purely an unlucky accident. Curses are baloney…That's what he says.


I have no idea. But really, I think the best thing you can do is to just stay away from that class.


How awful would that be, if we got sucked into that? God forbid. I mean, just talking to you about this stuff could be super dangerous. What should we do? What if…


Interlude I