Gakkou No Kaiden
Andou-San the Red Head

Our next ghost story concerns an wrathful spirit by the name of Andou-San the Red Head. According to legend, Andou-San is said to haunt the stairwell between the second and third floor of Satoyama High School. Why does she haunt the stairwell? Well according to legend Andou-San transferred into Class 2-B in the middle of the school year and despite her best efforts she was shunned by her classmates. Andou-San came from Tokyo and her accent was a bit out of place among the plain spoken folks of Satoyama. She was also a rare beauty who had been an upcoming idol before her father decided to uproot the family from their settled life in Tokyo and move them to Satoyama so he could take over the family's farm.

Now here is how the story goes. Andou-San was not only shunned by her classmates, but she was also bullied too. Andou-San suffered in silence for as long as she could. But one night she could not take it anymore. So one night she silently entered the school house and climbed to the very top of the building. Once she reached the top of the building she removed her shoes and jumped off the ledge. A few seconds later she smashed into the ground and her head broke apart like an egg that had been dropped by a careless hand. The blood pooled around her and dyed her hair red. Since then her spirit has been reported to be seen walking up the stairs on nights of the new moon.

If you happen to spend the night at school, as some students do. And you happen to encounter Andou-San between the second and third floor. She will ask you one question and your fate depends on how you answer her. That question being, “Is my hair red?” If you say “Yes” she will reach out and with supernatural strength smash your head down into concrete steps. Killing you and your blood will dye your hair red as well. If you say “No” then she will say “You're a fool.” And with her supernatural strength she'll pop your head off and toss it out the window.

The only way to escape Andou-San is to run past her and reach the door that leads to the second floor. That or run from her and reach the door that leads to the third floor. She can not follow you, but if you run all the way toward the roof. Andou-San will follow you and make you jump just as she jumped all those years ago.

Now, this story was told to me by Tohru Kai. Who is a senior at Satoyama High School. She is also the president of the school's “Ghost Story Club” An unofficial school club whose aim is to collect, chronicle, and investigate the various ghost stories that the people of Satoyama tell each other. And one of those stories included looking into a recent sighting of Andou-San.

According to Tohru Kai she had to spend the night at school that night to help her classmates to the finishing touches on an school project. I think they were transforming one of the empty classrooms into a maid theme cafe. I think they were turning the empty classroom into a maid cafe because it was their club's project for the school wide culture festival. Funny I thought the “Ghost Story Club” would do something with a paranormal theme.  Like putting on a haunted house or something. But back to the story.
Anyway Tohru it was around ten' o'clock at night and Tohru was returning from a very important mission. Tohru's classmates were having to work late into the night so their project could be completed on time. And snacks, would be needed. And Tohru had drawn the short straw that evening and had been the one selected to go fetch provisions from the only remaining business that would still be open this late at night. Satoyama's only gas station. A aging seven eleven.

Anyway, she struggled to breath as she climbed the concrete steps. She was holding a heavy plastic bag in each hand. The plastic bags were filled with bottles of soda, chips and other salty snacks. It was a hot and humid night. And beads of sweat were soon forming on her cheeks and on her forehead. And tried as she might, she could not get the legend of Andou-San the Red Head out of her mind as she climbed up the concrete steps.

As she climbed from the first to second floor her heart started to race a little. Her breathing became harder and harder and her hands started to tremble. The beads of sweat rolled down her face and splashed on the concrete steps. And the plastic bags grew heavier and heavier with each step she took. Her arms even started to tremble under their weight.

Then the felt it, an icy blast of cold air circled around her and made the tiny hairs on the back of her arm stand straight up. Tohru's whole body started to tremble as she heard what sounded like phantom food steps starting to climb the stairs behind her.

Swallowing hard and gathering up her courage. Tohru started to climb the concrete stairwell again. The night was hot and humid and once more she found herself having to pause between the second and third floor of the school. As she paused to catch her breath she heard a voice behind her say.

“Is my hair red?” The voice.

Tohru froze and slowly turned around and there mere inches from her face stood the ghost of Andou-San the Red Head. Her uniform was caked with dirt, grass, and blood. A deep, fissure appeared to run down the middle of her face and her hair seemed matted with dried blood and her eyes glowed yellow like the eyes of a cat.

“Is my hair red?” Andou-San asked again as she drew closer and closer to Tohru. So close Tohru could smell her rancid breath and smell the foul blood that covered her hair and her clothes.

Tohru swallowed hard and tossed the bags of salty snacks, and pop bottles at the ghost before sprinting past the ghost and out the door. Tohru told me she had never run so fast and so far in all of her life. She took the steps two at a time and seemed to leap from one step to the other as she bounded past the ghost. She did not stop till she reached the local Shinto Shrine!

Now, Tohru's encounter with Andou-San might have ended with her escaping. And living to sit down with me over tea to recount this story, other encounters other students have had with her seem to end with Andou-San taking revenge. Before we left, I asked why so many Japanese ghost stories that take place at school seemed to center on ghosts or as the Japanese call them Yurei, of bullied classmates coming back to get revenge.

To this she said.

“In Japan.” She paused, her pause told me she was taking her time to look over her words, it was like she wanted to select the right words for what she was about to say. Like she was preparing for a very profound statement.

“In Japan. we believe if a person dies because they were mistreated in life. Like for example, Andou-San was bullied by her classmates, and as a result she committed suicide to escape the daily torment of her classmates. And so her ghost, her Yurei as we say in Japan, was transformed by that trauma into an Onryo. An Onryo is a Japanese word that means 'Vengeful Spirit' but is also sometimes rendered as 'Wrathful Spirit' or 'Hatred Spirit' these ghost Yurei because of their hate are capable of causing harm in the world of the living or injuring or even killing their enemies. I think I was lucky to escape Ando-San that night. Because very few have.”

And with that she finished her tea and left.

If you are in the mood for chilling tales of the supernatural. Then please keep reading. We have a few more stories we would love to share with you before this collection comes to an end.