Forward this to Four People in Four Minutes

by Siolia

Summary:

Chain Mail is nothing new for Yashiki, even in electronic form. He wouldn't have expected a smart child like Tsukasa to fall for one, but this particular e-mail chain seems to hold a little more weight than the rest. Unfortunately, Yashiki is only barely floating when it comes to the internet, so he will have to rely on his trusted computer teacher, Eita Nakamatsu, to help him fish out this spirit.

Notes:

This is a rewrite of a previous work which I will remove once this is completed. Also, as a disclaimer, there are mentions of overbearing parents and suicide attempts, so if you are sensitive to these topics please do not read. Additionally, characters will have ideas and thoughts that were more prevalent in the time this story takes place which is on the cusp of Y2K, so my thoughts and feelings are not reflected by the characters.

You will find that the story is not going to change too much from the original, I just felt like it needed a touch-up to make it more consistent and cohesive.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 1: Prologue

He had seen a few of these e-mails.  Everyone had, and only the elderly and ignorant believed them.  So Eita Nakamatsu wasn’t expecting to—no, he should known that he would—receive a call from Kazuo Yashiki, Spirit Doctor, about one of the newer versions of said e-mails.

“Eita,” he began, his voice soft and almost inaudible over the crackling line of his antique phone, “tell me everything you know about Shimizu.”

It didn’t immediately occur to Eita that this was the chain letter.  So, he asked, “Shimizu?  There are plenty of Shimizu’s out there.”

“This one is a dead girl on the internet.”

“Oh that Shimizu!  That’s a famous chain letter.  Why do you want to know?”  Eita sat up from his bed.  It was, after all, three in the morning.  He had to work in three hours.

“Tsukasa asked me to look into it.  Kids at his school are frightened of her.”

Or, he could call in sick today.

If Tsukasa of all children was frightened of it, then little Suzu would surely worry herself sick if she received one of those e-mails.  Especially if it was credible and Yashiki had naively thrown himself into the tar pit that was the World Wide Web.  He wouldn’t forgive himself for letting that happen.  Not to his friend and savior.

“Can I call you back in a few minutes?  I’ll wake up and dig up some info for you.”

“Unfortunately, I only have four minutes.”

“What?”

“I have four minutes to send this to four people, or I will swallow rocks and drown.”

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FROM :  tyoshida19892307@docomo

TO :  2910kurousagiwakawaiidesu0303@seireiisha

CC :  444shimizu@tshogakko

RE :  Forward to Four people in Four days

To the Recipient.

Hello.  You can call me Shimizu.

I am dead, because I am Blue.

I drowned in A River after swallowing rocks.

I am searching for Pure It.  If you have received this message, then It hasn’t been found.

That is unfortunate.  You are just like me.

If you do not want to share my fate, Forward this to Four people in Four days.  If you don’t, you will swallow rocks and drown, like me.

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