Gakkou No Kaiden:
The Legend of Hanako-san

Did you know the bathroom on the third floor of Satoyama High School is rumored to be haunted by a ghost? According to an old urban legend, a girl named Hanako Sakurajima once attended school here, the girl was often bullied and teased by the other girls. So intense was the bullying that Hanko Sakurajima decided one day to take her life. She did it by slitting her wrist in the third stall of the girls bathroom on the third floor. So unpopular was Hanako Sakurajima that nobody noticed she was missing. In fact a full day passed before her lifeless body was discovered in the third stall.

Hanako Sakurajima's death was more of an inconvenience than a tragedy, the school had to close for a day while police conducted some interviews. Many of Hanako's classmates treated it like a holiday, nobody attended her funeral. And the school authorities seemed content to forget about it. No formal investigation into bullying was ever launched. And many of the teachers saw Hanako's suicide a stain on the school's honor. A certain level of bullying was to be expected and it was often thought that those who could not deal with it were weak. In fact many of the teachers spoke ill of Hanako following her death, since her death inconvenienced them and made them postpone their lessons.

A little while after her death. Strange things started to happen in the bathroom on the third floor. Rumors started to float around school that Hanako had returned from beyond the grave. Her torment soul had returned as Onryo. A vengeful spirit who has returned from the afterlife to seek revenge on those who had harmed them. Girls who used the third floor bathroom often reported strange things. Things like door opening and closing on their own. The water faucet turns on and off on its own.

Some even reported being pushed or shoved, some even had their hair pulled or their skirts flipped. Still others reported hearing disembodied laughter of crying. After a while people stopped using the bathroom. And students were often assigned the task of cleaning the bathroom as a punishment for their misbehavior.

Now, not too long ago there was a girl, let's call her 'A'. she was a tomboy, loud, commanding, fearless, she often spoke her mind and was something of a bully. As you know, 'A' recently got out of the hospital, according the teachers she tried to commit suicide by slitting her wrist, but was saved by the Girls P.E coach who wrapped the wound and called an ambulance. She was rushed to a local hospital where a doctor managed to close the wound. And save her life. But since then she has been afraid to go into any of the bathrooms alone. 

Well, what if I told you that 'A' had really been attached to Hanako-San? I doubt you would believe me, but I spoke with 'A' after she was attacked and that's what she said had happened. According to her, she had been told to clean the bathroom on the third floor as punishment for cutting class again. After collecting her cleaning supplies from the broom closet on the third floor she started to march toward the bathroom.

Now, according to her, when she entered the bathroom the door closed on its own and the door to the third stall opened on its own. After a few minutes it closed on its own. This did not bother 'A' in the least bit instead she decided to mock whoever was making the doors open and close by themselves. She said something like,

“Oh you are a silly ghost! Are you Hanako-san? I heard you were a coward and killed yourself here because you could not stand up for yourself. That was a really foolish thing to do!”

Her voice seemed to echo in the empty chamber that was the bathroom. But nothing happened, and so 'A' feeling sure of herself started to clean. After all, who's afraid of a ghost of a girl who killed herself? Who would be timed by such a weak willed girl? Not her. And so she started to clean, a quarter of an hour passed. And then another quarter of an hour and soon the bathroom was spotless. 'A' thankful that her work was done, smiled and collected her cleaning supplies and started toward the door.

But the door was locked. It was like somebody or someone was pushing upon it. Then the door of the third stall slowly inched open and there in the doorway stood a young girl with bob black hair, her eyes were blood red and she wore a red jumper dress with a white blouse under it. In her hand she held what appeared to be a box cutter. Slowly she advanced on 'A' and in a low tone of voice she said.

“It's not nice to tease the supernatural.”

And that dear reader is why you should not tease the supernatural or taunt Hanako-san.