Gakkou No Kaiden
The Curse of Tsumugi-chan

If you ever go into the principal's office you will notice that sitting right of the desk is an old fashioned doll that is sealed in a glass case. At the bottom you will see a sign that reads. “Warning: This doll is cursed, please do not touch it, and please do not touch the glass case.” Many think that this is a joke. But there is a good reason for the doll being sealed up and locked away in the principal's office.

In the early nineties there occurred a series of events that cast a long shadow over the students of Satyoma High School. The following events gave birth to a popular urban legend called “The Curse of Tsumugi-chan.”. The first tragic event that is accredited to Tsumugi-chan, the name which the doll often goes by, happened when a young boy let's call him 'A-kun' started playing around with a magnifying glass he had taken from the science supply room. 'A-kun' wanted to see if could catch the dolls on fire, since it was a bright and sunny day. So he placed the doll outside on the playground and held the magnifying glass up to catch the rays of sunlight. A small circle of light appeared at the back of the doll's hair and a few minutes later it started to smoke.

Luckily a teacher happened to pass by and seeing what mischief 'A-kun' was up to, rushed up and snatched the magnifying glass away from him. She then scolded 'A-kun' for improper use of school equipment. She then took the doll away too and let 'A-kun' off with a warning. Later that night a mysterious fire broke at 'A-kun' house, the fireman arrived just in time to save him, but all of his hair burned off his head. And he spent several weeks recovering in the hospital.

After what happened to 'A-kun' rumors started to spread among the students that the doll was cursed and anybody who damaged it would meet with misfortune. And so many students started to avoid the doll, until one morning a girl, lets call her 'B-chan' by mistake knocked her over and tore her shoulder. You see 'B-chan' was carrying a heavy stack of books from one classroom to the other when her shoe laces became undo and thus she tripped over them. As she fell forward, the large stack of books started to tumble forward. The books knocked off the doll that happened to be sitting on the ledge, as the doll tumbled down the stitching on its shoulders came undone and the doll became damaged.

The girl panicked and quickly collected the book and rushed to the other classroom. Leaving the doll laying on the floor. That afternoon, 'B-chan' was waiting for her friend on the top of the stairwell of the third floor. All of a sudden she felt an invisible hand push upon her back and soon she found herself falling down the wooden stairs. She landed on the bottom land, alive but her shoulder was bruised. She was rushed to the hospital via an ambulance where it was discovered that she had dislocated her wrist and  broken her shoulder in the fall.

Upon her release. 'B-chan' took to doll to the local nearest Buddhist temple were a old monk told her that the doll was haunted by a frighting ghost a little girl who had been killed in a bombing raid in war. The girl had been fleeing with her mother when she had dropped her doll, breaking free of her mothers hand she rushed back to pick up the doll when a bomb fell near her, killing her. The Buddhist monk said the doll should be sealed up, and offered to take it in, but feared the evil presents of the doll.

The last event, and the most tragic of them, was when two boys, let's call them 'C-kun' and 'D-kun' , were fooling around one day in the hallway. They were late for class and thus they were running full speed down the hallway. One of the boys 'C-kun' slipped and pumped into the doll, the doll fell over and its head rolled down the stairwell.

What happened next was reported by his friend 'D-kun'. A few moments after the doll was knocked over, a ghost of a little girl appeared in front of my 'C-kun'. The doll was dressed like a farmer's daughter from the war era. Tears were running down her cheeks as she pointed toward the doll and asked them how they could ever do such a terrible thing. A moment later the girls face became pinched and her skin turned green and before their very eyes she transformed into a fearsome Oni. One with green skin, deep red eyes, huge teeth and golden colored horns and with superhuman strength she reached out and took hold of 'C-kun' and making a inhuman noise she tore off his head. Killing him.

After that the principal of the school had the doll taken back to the same Buddhist temple that 'B-Chan' had visited before. The monk once again refused to touch it, but instead blessed the doll and advised the principal to have the doll sealed behind a glass case. The principal did as the old monk had suggested and so to this day the doll remains sealed within a glass case, putting safety aside so nobody touches it.

And so, hopefully nobody will touch the doll, but what about the ghost of the little girl? I don't know, but according to some she still hangs around the doll. Guarding it, I don't think the monk's blessing was strong enough to cut the cord that binds her to this world. I believe she is still waiting, waiting to dish out justice to anyone who dares harm her treasured doll. And thus the ' The Curse of Tsumugi-chan' endures and will endure for as long as the stories that surround the doll are told and retold by each class.