Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

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It was raining after class.

We were in the middle of a tea break during a late meeting in the conference room.

During the meeting, Naru made a fuss about being an idiot and not telling everyone about Kasai-san's case. I heard him, but I wasn't really listening. Instead, I had looked out the window and watched the rain fall.

The monotonous rain made me feel quite gloomy.

―I thought about that, knowing today was one unlucky day.  There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that someone (a criminal) is responsible for this. With the exception of divine intervention, I think it could just be that everyone is having a hard time.

The rain softly came down like were strings of silver. The clouds darkened the sky, which created a depressing mood.

And then the next thing I knew, I was in an amusement park.

Why am I in an amusement park?

...Of course, this is a dream.

It was a small amusement park. I was filled with excitement.

I realized this place looked familiar. It looked just like the amusement park my mom had once taken me to. I was standing in the front of a mirror house. In the middle was a glass mirror, and around it was a maze. That's right. When I was young, I would cry in that mirror house. When I saw my reflection in the mirrors, my reflection was scary so I'd cry. But now it's alright because I'm grown up. I used to roll up my sleeves and jump into the mirror house. I would go through the continuous maze. It wasn't necessary to go through the maze, but I went anyway. The maze was a reflection of the mirror. I had walked and walked. It was just my shadow and me. I had walked to the middle of the maze. For some strange reason, I was rushed and clumsy, which is why I had slammed into the glass.

What's with this huge maze anyway!

The maze was getting darker and darker. Ah, that's why. This maze darkens as time passes. While thinking about this, I could no longer see my feet. The only available light was the light reflected by the mirror.

What do I do? There's no exit. As I feared, he didn't come!

I started to run. My reflection also ran. Hundreds of me turned and ran, but in the midst of all, only one shadow wasn't moving. I aimed at it. That must be the clue to get out of this maze. I rushed towards the unmoving shadow.

...Naru.

In the darkness, Naru was there, completely clothed in black. Only his hands and face were pale as moonlight.

"It's impossible to get out," I told Naru.

Without saying anything, he pointed at something to his side. His pale fingers left a white trail in the darkness.

I could see the tip of his finger.

That's...the school. The inside of the school was inversed black and white, like a photographic negative. The wall was black, while the blackboard was white. The wall and floor had a white outline, but other than that they were transparent. This was the school's shadow.

And that's an unripe will-o-wisp. There were pale, clear will-o-wisps scattered throughout the entire school. In the darkness, I stared at them fixedly, placing all my attention on them.

"What's...that?" I asked Naru as I looked up at him.

Naru answered, "You'll understand."

...I'll understand? So that's it. Of course, I get it now. That will-o-wisp has evil intentions. Furthermore, it's not of this world. I shivered.

There were countless will-o-wisps. All of them were evil. I couldn't help but watch them. They exhibited a cold color. As I was watching them, they flashed little by little. Gradually the scene became blurry and normal colors came into place again. I could clearly see a wall.

"...?"

A wall. A very pale green wall. I was surrounded by a strange wall on all sides.

"Mai!"

What?!

I lifted my head and saw Naru. There was a harsh expression on his face.

"Just now, you were asleep, weren't you?"

Eh? Asleep? ...Of course.

Huh?!

I looked around to see everyone's cold eyes piercing at me.

"I'm sorry. I did fall asleep."

A...awkward.

"You were completely sound asleep with your eyes open."

"Sorry..."

Naru looked at me with cold eyes. "Are you my assistant? Or are you a hindrance?"

...W-, why you.

"Hold on a moment, why are you being so mean! I was sleepy so I couldn't help it. I didn't sleep well because I kept thinking about this case. It's not like I fell asleep while driving!"

Naru sent me another icy stare. "You've become aggressive, haven't you?"

"It's a perfectly natural response. Congressmen that bear the burden of the fate of an entire country have to sleep. Even people who have to complete difficult tasks that are as smart as the president have to sleep. So there's nothing bad about a mere, low-class person like me being asleep."

"...Wonderful, you've distorted my words."

"Oh dear, you've made the director upset," Matsazuki-san taunted.

"I'm fine," Naru replied.

...Really.

"With that kind of personality, you won't be living a long life," Naru pressed on.

...This guy, this guy, this guy!

Ah—how refreshing. You may have a sharp tongue, but you're very capable. On top of that, you're also quite handsome! If you had a good personality, it would be too good to be true, and you'd be the one suffering an early death, wouldn't you!

Naru's gaze fell onto my direction, and soon everyone else's did the same thing.

"Let's forget about this foolishness," Naru said. "We must return to the topic at hand."

So sleeping is just foolishness? I'd like to see you say that while marching to the National Diet.