Chapter 346: That Corpse Is Me, and I Myself Have Become a Ghost

He wasn't seeing things, and he hadn't mistaken anything.

That was Hanami Tomoko's ghost.

Because when he arrived, he had seen Matsuka Chisato and her younger sister Chue speaking to the grave, hoping Hanami Tomoko could rest in peace, and that Hanami Tomoko's ghost had been moved to tears, saying "thank you" to them.

Later, when Hanami Junko cried, Hanami Tomoko was also crying, offering words of comfort, and reaching out to embrace Hanami Junko to soothe her.

Only—

No matter how she tried to hold her, she couldn't; her spirit body couldn't touch a person, every time passing straight through.

Kamikawa Mitsu could confirm that the spirit body of Hanami Tomoko was a ghost—it was Hanami Tomoko herself.

That doesn't add up.

Why had Hanami Tomoko become a ghost?

One must understand, from a scientific standpoint, this was the supernatural!

Yet Kamikawa Mitsu had once spent script points to check, and Earth did not possess any supernatural phenomena, ghosts included.

He had even verified it.

That time with Higao Hisashi, and when one palm wiped out five states of the United States, killing many people—each person who died simply died, no so-called soul or ghost ever appeared.

The deaths of at least several million people produced no surviving souls, enough to prove that humans cannot become ghosts after death.

But now, Hanami Tomoko had died and actually become a ghost.

Or more precisely, Hanami Tomoko had died, yet her soul remained.

What was going on?

Could Hanami Tomoko not be human? Not even a creature of Earth?

The next second, Kamikawa Mitsu dismissed that thought.

According to what Matsuka Chisato said, Hanami Tomoko had lived for thirty or forty years, and Hanami Junko was of Gao Zhongsheng age; the otherworld invasion channels had only begun opening slowly a year ago, so she couldn't possibly be an otherworld being.

Basically, with high probability, Hanami Tomoko was human.

Kamikawa Mitsu was astonished, looking at Hanami Tomoko with some wonder.

If Hanami Tomoko was an Earthling, how could she still have a soul after death?

At the same time.

Kamikawa Mitsu was looking at Hanami Tomoko, and Hanami Tomoko also noticed, looking at Kamikawa Mitsu in pleasant surprise.

"Mr. Kamikawa Mitsu, you can see me?"

Hanami Tomoko then said urgently:

"Mr. Kamikawa Mitsu, please tell Junko for me that I don't blame her, tell her not to blame herself, and not to do anything reckless trying to bring me back. As long as Junko is alive, I'm fine—don't let her beg anymore.

Being able to see Junko one last time now, I'm already very content; I don't ask for anything else.

Tell Junko to live well even without me, to remember to eat on time every day, and that from now on she's on her own—she can't be willful anymore, she has to learn to take care of herself. Mama is very gratified and very happy to have a daughter like Junko.

I never blamed her, even when she ran away from home, and also…"

Hanami Tomoko chattered on without stopping, having far too many words to say to Hanami Junko, far too many instructions to give Hanami Junko.

She rattled off a nonstop string of words.

Kamikawa Mitsu was silent, a strange look in his eyes.

It wasn't Hanami Tomoko's chattering that was strange—it was the confirmation that Hanami Tomoko was a soul that was strange.

On the other side.

Hanami Junko pleaded with Kamikawa Mitsu, but Kamikawa Mitsu never replied, never gave any indication. Not to mention Kamikawa Chue and Matsuka Chisato noticing something off about Kamikawa Mitsu—even Hanami Junko noticed.

"Hmm? Nii-san, what are you looking at?"

Kamikawa Chue's pretty face was full of confusion; she saw that Kamikawa Mitsu wasn't looking at Hanami Junko at all, but rather at Hanami Tomoko's grave.

Following the direction of Kamikawa Mitsu's gaze, it seemed he wasn't even looking at Hanami Tomoko's grave, but beside it.

There was nothing there—just a lawn.

Strange—why would Nii-san be staring at a lawn?

Just then.

Kamikawa Mitsu suddenly spoke:

"Mrs. Hanami, you'd better speak to Hanami Junko directly."

Hanami Junko and the other two: "?!!!"

Kamikawa Chue was first stunned, then said in disbelief: "Nii-san, what are you saying? Mrs. Hanami?"

The next moment.

The clever and oddly-minded Kamikawa Chue immediately understood, gave a shudder, and in fright ducked to Kamikawa Mitsu's side, trembling as she looked at the spot on the lawn Kamikawa Mitsu had been watching.

"Nii-san, don't tell me Mrs. Hanami is here."

Mrs. Hanami was clearly already dead, and Nii-san suddenly speaking to Mrs. Hanami's grave—without a doubt, it had to be a ghost!

Matsuka Chisato, who always had a taste for the bizarre, likewise understood—Mrs. Hanami had become a ghost.

At the same time, she also guessed that Mrs. Hanami probably had an unfulfilled wish—worry over her daughter Hanami Junko—so after death she hadn't ascended, but lingered in the human world.

Kamikawa Mitsu nodded.

Then he flicked a finger, sending three streams of light flowing into the eyes of Kamikawa Chue and the other two.

In an instant.

"Mrs. Hanami!"

"Mama!"

The three saw Hanami Tomoko.

And what followed was just as Kamikawa Mitsu had anticipated—with his help, Hanami Junko threw herself at Hanami Tomoko, and the two were able to make contact.

Hanakami Junko wept to Hanakami Tomoko about her own faults, and Hanakami Tomoko stroked her head, comforting her and speaking out all the words she had wanted to say.

The scene was deeply moving; even Kamikawa Mitsu felt his eyes grow damp.

This exchange of maternal love lasted several hours; after half a year of separation, now separated by life and death, the mother and daughter had too many things to say.

Kamikawa Mitsu and the others chose not to interrupt, and even invited Hanakami Tomoko and her daughter back to the apartment.

It was late at night in a cemetery; to be honest, Kamikawa Mitsu wasn't afraid, but Kamikawa Chie was.

……

Tokyo, Japan, Arakawa Ward, apartment.

"Ms. Hanakami, you're saying that after you died, you found yourself in a spirit state?"

To understand Hanakami Tomoko's condition, Kamikawa Mitsu asked her about the circumstances of her death.

Hanakami Tomoko nodded and recalled:

"Yes, when I died, I missed Junko terribly—I wanted to see her, worried about whether she was doing well outside, whether she was being bullied, and so on. I just missed Junko so much. When I closed my eyes and died, I thought I was truly gone."

But after I closed my eyes, I found I wasn't gone entirely, as science magazines claimed. I realized I had closed my eyes and died, yet I still had consciousness—I only felt as if I had shut my eyes."

So I opened my eyes to see if I was dead. When I opened them, I realized I truly was dead."

"Because I saw Dr. Matsuka covering a corpse with a white sheet—that corpse was me—and I had become a ghost."

Kamikawa Mitsu's eyebrows twitched as he fell into thought.

According to Hanakami Tomoko's account, she had become a ghost simply upon death—not because she had accidentally touched something that caused her to become a ghost after dying.

For a moment, Kamikawa Mitsu drew two hypotheses.

Hanakami Tomoko became a ghost after death, perhaps because of the mysterious mist.

After all, the mysterious mist had only recently appeared, and the world within it was said to be the place where human souls were reborn after death. Perhaps because of this, some unseen force had made Earth itself special, allowing souls to remain after death.

Counting the time, Hanakami Tomoko died precisely after the mysterious mist appeared.

As for the second possibility, Kamikawa Mitsu suspected it was connected to his use of Divine-Demon blood to enhance all humanity.

……