Gakkou No Kaiden
The Futakuchi-onna

This story was told to me by a student in classroom 1-B. According to her, some years ago a mysterious transfer student by the name of Yuna Kagesaki joined the school halfway through the school year. And by all accounts she was a true beauty to behold with long, straight black hair, porcelain skin, heart shaped face, almond shaped eyes and petite frame she became an object of desire for all her male classmates who flirted endlessly with her. Though with demure charm she rebuffed all their advances.

But there was something odd about Yuna Kagesaki, something that all her female classmates noticed at first but her male classmates only noticed as the days went on. During lunch, Yuna Kagesaki would sit in a corner and look at her classmates. She never seemed to bring lunch. Nor was she even seen to eat anything, not even a snack. And most alarming of all, she never seemed to drink anything, even on the hottest day.

But she never seemed famished and never complained about being hungry or thirsty. In fact Yuna Kagesaki never seemed to talk at all. And though she was quite popular with the boys, she never seemed to revel in the attention they seemed to shower on her, and she never seemed eager to join her classmates when they invited her to join them at lunch time. In fact she seemed perfect content to sit in her little corner and watch them.

Now, rumors started to spread about Yuna Kagesaki, some said she was too poor to afford food and yet she was too proud to beg, and accept charity. Others said there was no transfer student by the name Yuna Kagesaki. But most thought she was just a picky eater and the rustic palate of the students did not suit her refined taste, after all according to the rumors that surrounded her, she had transferred from metro Tokyo.

And after all, according to another rumor the Kagesaki family had brought a new cottage out in the country and that her father was a wealthy businessman who had moved his family to this rustic village to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. So the rumor that Yuna Kagesaki was too poor to afford her school lunches was often written off as such a rumor. But still, how to explain the fact that she never seems to eat anything.

Now in Yuna Kagesaki class there was a shy girl named Karin Maaka, who wanted to prove her courage to her fellow classmates. And so she volunteered to follow Yuna Kagesaki home and spy on her, after all if the girl was too shy to eat around her classmates, and as she always seemed to skip lunch, surely when she reached home she would be famished. And so with her mind made up, Karin Maaka decided to follow Yuna Kagesaki home one evening and discover her secret.

A few days passed before Karin Maaka decided to put her plan into action. Then late one afternoon, as the sun was starting to set over the mountains, and long after the final bell had rung, Yuna Kagesaki finally started for home. She had drawn the short straw that day and had to stay behind and clean the bathrooms of the school and straighten her homeroom. It's a custom in Japan that students must help keep the school clean, you see. And today was Yuna Kagesaki's turn.

And so with the sun setting over the mountains and the wind whistling through the trees, Yuna Kagesaki passed through the iron gate and started down to walk down the lonely streets. It was late in the afternoon and most of the main business had already closed for the day.

In fact, only the police station, the small clinic, and the few convenience stores that called the village home remained open. Karin Maaka expected Yuna Kagesaki to stop at one of these convenience stories and pick something up. A late afternoon snack. But she did not, instead she kept walking, she walked right past them, in fact she walked quite fast and Karin Maaka had to struggle to keep up.

Soon the girls were leaving the populated village center, the row of houses and shops and neat and order streets gave way to rice paddies and patches of woods. Houses outside the main village center were rare and spaced pretty far apart. I'm not sure how far the girls walked. But once they were alone, Yuna Kagesaki stopped dead in her tracks, and without turning around said.

“Would you like to know my secret Maaka-San?” She said without turning around to face Karin.

Karin blinked and blinked again and only nodded her head.

“Very well. I'm quite hunger and I think you would make a tasty meal.” Yuna Kagesaki said as she took a deep breath. At that all the hairs on her head started to move as if they were alive. Karin Maaka blinked again and just stood there; it was like she paralyzed with fear.

The long, back strands of hair parted and there in the middle of her head was a huge gaping mouth with row upon row of sharp teeth. A long, red forked tongue came from the middle. Before Karin Maaka could scream, the hair shot at her and wrapped around her wrist. A moment later Karin found herself being pulled toward the open mouth. Karin had time enough to scream before her world went blank.

The very next day Yuna Kagesaki's classmates learned that she would be  changing school's again. Her father had been promoted and the family would be moving to far away Kyoto. Yuna Kagesaki, always the demure young lady, bowed formally to her classmates and thanked them for all the kindness they showed her in the small amount of time they had been together.

And the desk that Karin Maaka normally sat it, was empty. A few days passed and Karin Maaka was posted as missing and her face appeared on milk jugs across the region and Yuna Kagasaki left the village. What became of Yuna Kagesaki I have no idea, I believe she still roams Japan, looking for her next meal And Karin Maaka of course was never found. I mean how could she be? She was in Yuna Kagasaki's belly.