For a few moments, Tomoko simply watched as the yokai girls began to fight over who was going to be bait. Of course, she had her own suggestions in mind, but it was a little entertaining to see her club members attempt to figure it out on their own. Especially amusing was Mugi's reaction to being prodded, though Tomoko did remind herself to perhaps talk to Kaori later. It wouldn't do if she started getting... overly frisky again.
But for now...
"You're right, Abe-san," she began, "There's plenty of other possibilities to consider. Indeed, it's not as if a fictional spirit could be the most likely perpetrator, right? There must be plenty of other potential culprits to consider first."
A smile crossed the girl's lips as she took a deep breath.
This was it.
"Or are there?" she asked, rhetorically, "Certainly, it's possible there's others who might want to kidnap a child. But there's a few things that struck me as odd about this case. The park was packed the day Taro-kun disappeared, wasn't it?"
The ghost, who had been watching the bickering herself, nodded swiftly.
"There were a lot of people. It wasn't like there were too many for the kids to have fun, but it would have been hard for anyone to move around without being seen," she replied.
"That's right. We have a kidnapping done in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded playground, with no witnesses, no signs of a struggle, and not even a cry for help," Tomoko continued, "Taro-kun disappeared without a trace in an instant. Certainly, there's other yokai who exhibit a disturbing interest in children, but there's a reason they're often used as stories to keep children from wandering off alone."
Kappa would attack those who approached water, but there was no water here. And a yamaoba coming down into such a crowded place, in broad daylight...
"They're not known for attacking crowds for a reason. The most likely perpetrator aside from that is a human, which I will admit might seem more likely. However..."
There was no reason to pause like this other than for dramatic effect.
"Would a human kidnapper really be able to make Taro-kun disappear so quickly? Would a human kidnapper then be able to do the same to the other children? Taro-kun isn't the only one who disappeared in broad daylight in a public place. But all of that's simply guesswork. It's not impossible for a human kidnapper, just highly unlikely," she added, "It's Chiba-san's testimony about the tall woman that confirmed my suspicions."
"But... how can a fictional spirit hurt anyone? If she's fictional, she's not real, right?" asked the ghost, Chiba-san.
"Just because something is fictional doesn't mean it's not real," Tomoko answered, still smiling as she explained, "We can trace Hasshaku-sama's origins back to a thread on a certain internet discussion board. It was just a ghost story, with no basis in reality. That ghost story has spread, over and over, between more and more people. The idea that 'Hasshaku-sama is a tall woman who causes children to disappear' has been spread far beyond the original readers."
Tomoko paused for a moment.
"It's not even a particularly frightening story, I never got the appeal, so I can't fathom why anyone would start taking it so seriously! It's a little silly, isn't it?" she commented. "But regardless, Hasshaku-sama spread. It spread to the point where there were plenty of people who didn't even know where it originated. Where some people began to believe it could be true. Human belief sustains gods, and human belief can sustain monsters as well."
The blonde girl gestured idly with her walking stick.
"If, as I believe, Hasshaku-sama is our culprit, she's a monster of human belief. A yokai born from the fact that people believed she could exist. She'd hardly be the first. Kuchisake-onna, Aka Manto, Teke-teke, just to name a few. Mythological yokai are born from nature, or magic. But those from urban legends are formed from belief."
Her walking stick tapped against the ground.
"Regardless, we need to set a trap, don't we?" she asked, her smile turning into something of a smirk, "So who's going to be the bait? If we're going to have a chance at saving those children, we need to draw our perpetrator out!"
She clapped her hands together.
"If I had to make a suggestion... hmmm... Shimamaru-san! You can make yourself appear younger, right? I'm afraid Hasshaku-sama might see through an illusion!" she simply hadn't stopped smiling, even as she suggested one of her club members throw themselves into danger, "Aside from that, Ibaraki-san is strong enough to get away if something goes wrong. Not that it will."
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