When you use the title ‘The Woman Behind’, it evokes memories of “Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind” by Nintendo, but there are no horror elements in this article.
I like mysterious things and have always thought it would be nice if something mysterious happened to me one day. Even though I felt that way, deep in my mind, I also thought, “It probably won’t happen.” However, I would like to share with you the few mysterious experiences that have actually happened to me.
The Beginning of Mysterious Events
To decide on a theme for our graduation thesis, each of us was given an assignment by the seminar professor. However, there was no way to complete it within the seminar time, so it was decided that we would spend part of our summer vacation at the professor’s villa, combining some leisure time with setting the general direction for our theses.
I will write about a mysterious event that happened to me during that time.
The Professor’s Villa
My mysterious event happened when I was around 21 years old. The location was a simple town near Kai-Oizumi Station in Yamanashi Prefecture. It was midsummer, and even though the sun was strong, the climate was definitely more comfortable compared to the Kanto region.
I, or rather we, had gathered at the professor’s villa to brainstorm the themes for our graduation theses. The villa was a log house that hadn’t been built for very long. The strong impressions I have are of the scent of Swedish wood and an incredibly expensive audio system.
Although it’s not directly related to the main story, the professor had a strong dislike for spiders. It wasn’t just a matter of being uncomfortable with them; he seemed to detest them. Whenever there were cobwebs in the villa, he would curse at the spiders. Apparently, he found that the spider droppings would stick to the floor and were difficult to clean up.
Despite being called a thesis boot camp, we weren’t confined to our rooms and forced to study non-stop. When we needed a break, we could go for walks, buy zucchini and melons from street vendors, or take in the views of the Yatsugatake Mountains. I also enjoyed fishing for sweetfish in a nearby stream. I remember seeing several large sweetfish clearly visible, and I was excited, hoping that something as mysterious as a sweetfish-related event might occur.
Time seemed to flow slowly, and it was truly a wonderful place. I checked on Google Maps, and it appears the villa has not been demolished yet. I would like to visit again sometime and take a look at the log house.
The First Day’s Mysterious Event
As for the graduation thesis, I had made significant progress and was at the stage where, with just a bit more work, I could complete the framework of my thesis. Therefore, I was assigned various tasks such as cleaning, preparing dinner, and applying preservatives to the wood for the new storage building that was being constructed.
In other words, I wasn’t going to the villa to study, but rather participating as labor for various tasks.
The first night arrived. The log house was two stories high, with the second floor divided into a large room with about ten futons and a loft directly connected to the stairs. Since the ratio of men to women was 1:9, the large room was assigned to the women, while the loft was designated for the men.
One of the women frightened by the mysterious room
When one of the seminar students opened the door to the second floor, a woman from behind me let out a gasp. She then said, “I don’t want to sleep in this room.” According to her, she felt an unpleasant atmosphere in the right corner of the room. Not wanting to trouble the professor with this, we decided to let her endure it for that night and had her sleep in the left front part of the room. She requested that the door be left open, so we accommodated that request.
As for the other seminar students, they didn’t seem to feel anything unusual. The fact that the woman who sensed the unsettling atmosphere had some sort of psychic ability was accepted by the others. When I asked her for more details, she mentioned that there was a path in the back that should not be entered. To me, all I could notice was that the corner of the room appeared dimly lit.
I understand. It’s interesting to have a preference for Yokai and supernatural phenomena over psychic abilities or ghosts.
Anyway, I ended the first day with the sense that something unpleasant had occurred, even though I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. After all, it wasn’t a property with a dark history, and it was adjacent to a national forest, so I didn’t think there was room for ghosts. More than that, I was actually more scared by the small scream from behind me.
The Second Day’s Mysterious Event
In the morning, around 6:30, I woke up to the sound of classical music. I was surprised by the professor’s skillful whistling; it truly sounded like birdsong. Since the professor was a genuine Edokko (a native of Edo, now Tokyo), I was genuinely impressed and thought, “How stylish!”
That day, I continued with the various tasks. I spent the day applying preservative paint to several pieces of wood in the garden, letting them dry, and then painting them again. The day passed with this repetitive work. Since the other seminar students were exhausted from mental work and I was drained from physical labor, we decided to have curry and rice for supper.
Forgetting about the previous night, we all went to the supermarket to do some shopping. The professor bought the necessary items as well as a few extras, and then we headed back. It seemed that the woman had completely moved on from the previous night’s incident, which was a relief.
The Woman Behind
After dinner, the study session resumed. To avoid being in the way, I decided to wash the dishes used in the kitchen.
In the professor’s villa, the kitchen and bathroom were located on the left side as you entered, and further along that path was a dead end. The study session was taking place at a large table in the living room on the right side. In other words, the kitchen and bathroom were positioned behind and in front of the living room, respectively.
While I was washing the dishes, I suddenly felt someone pass behind me. Noticing that the person had slightly lighter hair, I thought, “Maybe she’s going to take a bath,” and continued with my chores.
When I returned to the living room, I was surprised to find all the seminar students there. The woman I had thought was going to the bathroom was also in the room, working on her tasks. No seminar student was missing in the living room. So, who could the woman who had passed behind me have been?
On the Third Day, We Headed Back Home and I Reflected on the Events.
As we were driving along the Chuo Expressway on the third day, I felt a sense of unease. I couldn’t shake the thought of what exactly had happened the night before. Who could that woman who passed behind me have been?
I’m certain that the woman did pass behind me. However, in reality, she was working on her tasks in the living room. It was unlikely that she had simply gone to take a bath because no one’s hair was wet.
As we took a break at the Dangozaka Service Area, that feeling gradually turned into a conviction. I began to be convinced that we had encountered something mysterious.
I realized that mysterious experiences often don’t seem particularly noteworthy at the time they occur, but they start to feel truly mysterious and intriguing later on.
Reaching that conclusion gave me a sense of accomplishment even greater than completing the preservative treatment on all the wood at the villa. I was happy to have had a mysterious experience of my own.
The End of the Article
Mysterious experiences often seem insignificant at the time but come to feel unusual or out of place when you reflect on them later. The incident with the woman behind me was precisely that kind of occurrence.
Although this particular experience didn’t involve ghosts, spirits, or supernatural phenomena, looking back on my life now, I realize there have been quite a few things that seem mysterious in retrospect.
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