The Five-Bedroom House With A...

Collection

The Five-Bedroom House With A...

The Five-Bedroom House With A... (5LDK○○つき, 5 LDK ￮￮-tsuki) is a short story that is part of an anthology of short stories based on the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. It was written by Ballad Kitaguni and published by Shueisha.

"The Five-Bedroom House With A..." was included in a collection named Rohan Kishibe Does Not Fall with two other stories, which released on December 19, 2022. A Japanese audiobook of the story was released on November 12, 2024 on the audiobook.jp service, and on Amazon Audible, Google Play, and Apple Books the next day.

Rohan's visit to a photographer's house turns into a life-or-death struggle when an "invader" threatens to show them "heaven."

Summary

Invited by Reisui Takashima (高島 麗水, Takashima Reisui), an eccentric photographer focused on houses where tragedies have occurred, Rohan visits Reisui's new five-bedroom house as a guest. On the way, Rohan notices that his destination overlooks a small and lonely shrine. Once Rohan arrives, Reisui reveals to him that every inhabitant who has ever lived in the house vanishes come June, calling it "a five-bedroom house with a heaven." While Reisui is preparing dinner for Rohan, the latter suddenly realizes that the Seguin chestnut wood used in the window frames have swelled as a result of the June rainy season, causing the windows to stick shut. At that moment, the kitchen suddenly falls silent, save for the sound of water dripping from the tap. When Rohan goes to check, he finds a huge slug-like creature sucking on Reisui's head.

The creature's body is translucent, refracting rainbow-like lights inside. Using Heaven's Door, Rohan manages to stop the creature temporarily, freeing Reisui. However, his mouth begins foaming, and tears stream uncontrollably from his eyes. When Rohan reads the creature's pages, he finds a single ominous line: "You peeked, didn't you?" After a brief struggle, the creature attacks again and begins to absorb Reisui once more. When Rohan frees him a second time, something is different. Reisui says, "I can feel happiness... like a mother holding her child... and heaven..." Perplexed, Rohan suddenly realizes how the "invader" captures its prey: by creating illusions. Humans rely on light to see objects, and the creature manipulates this by producing its own light, tricking the victim's brain into seeing false images, akin to how imagining something can create faint sounds or visions in the mind. The creature turns its attention to Rohan, but the manga artist uses a photo of himself to lure it into a scanner. After scanning the "image," Rohan sends it to his email address, with the intent to never open it.

Two months later, while preparing to go poaching at a seashore, Rohan calls Reisui to report on his follow-up investigation. He theorizes that Christian sects believed the creature to be a miracle, and that the creature must have mistaken Reisui's behavior for part of a ritual. For Rohan's part, he believes it to be nothing more than a yokai, from prior experience. He also claims that the real-estate company knew of the pattern of disappearances, and deliberately chose tenants that few people would miss. Reisui announces his intent to move out of the house, even knowing that the creature has disappeared; he also states that he wants to find a new focus for his photography.

Appearances

Characters

Rohan Kishibe

Reisui Takashima

Shen

Mutsu-kabe Hill Yokai

(Mentioned)

Mentioned only

Sotoba

(Mentioned)

Mentioned only

Nanase Fujikura

(Mentioned)

Mentioned only

Koichi Hirose

(Mentioned)

Mentioned only

Tonio Trussardi

(Mentioned)

Mentioned only

Stands

Heaven's Door

Gallery

• 
  Rohan Kishibe Does Not Fall

Trivia

• The Japanese title uses the abbreviation "LDK", which stands for "Living Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen" in Japan. It is a common term used to describe how many bedrooms are in a property by writing a number before the abbreviation.