Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===3===

In the morning of the second day (though it was almost noon), I rushed to base, only to find that Bou-san had beat me there. 

"Where's Naru?" 

The only people in the room were Lin-san and Bou-san. 

"He said he had to do more research." 

"Eh—" 

What is he looking up anyway. I suddenly remembered yesterday's dream. 

"Ayami-chan's in danger." 

Naru told me that in my dream. 

Danger. 

"...Noriko-san? How come I haven't seen her?" 

"She and Kana-san went shopping." 

After hearing Bou-san's reply, I left the room. 

"Hey, where're you going?" Bou-san called out. 

"Noriko-san's room." 

I can't let Ayami-chan be with Minnie by herself. I just knew that would be a bad idea. Playing with that doll would be dangerous. 

I hurried to Noriko-san's room. 

What's Ayami-chan doing? Is she playing? Like usual? Right when I was about to knock, I heard a voice talking, "This house is filled with witches" —It was the voice of a little girl. 

...Witches? 

Who is it? That's not Ayami-chan's voice. 

I pressed my ear against the door. 

"I'm scared..." Ayami-chan whimpered. 

"Don't be. I will chase them away." 

"Will onee-chan be gone? Will Mai-san too?" 

A dark snicker—"Of course..." 

"I like being with my onee-chan." 

"No, no. I told you already. Your onee-chan is the witch's underling." —Another snicker— "But don't worry. I'll help you deal with them... So in return, you must listen to me." 

"Ayami-chan!" I shouted as I opened the door. 

Ayami-chan was the only person in the room. In front of her was the foreign doll, Minnie. No one else was here. Ayami-chan lifted her head and looked at me, her eyes clouded in confusion. 

"Ayami-chan, who were you talking to?" 

"...Minnie," she replied. 

My excited tone must've scared her. I put on a smile and sat down by her, my voice soft and light as I spoke. "Minnie?" 

"Yeah, and some other kids too." 

Some other kids... 

"So there are other kids besides Minnie. Where are they?" 

Ayami-chan pointed her finger, "Over there." 

I looked at the direction she was pointing at. 

No one was there. 

Ayami-chan's acting really strange. 

"...Can you introduce them to me?" 

"Okay... Oh, they left," Ayami-chan said, her gaze shifting toward the door. 

I was horrified, but I put on a big smile anyway. "I see. I guess they don't like me much." 

Ayami-chan lowered her head. 

"Where did you guys meet?" 

"I dunno." 
"You don't know? Are they classmates?" 

Ayami-chan shook her head. 

Don't know? What's wrong? Or is she just unwilling to tell me? Kids that I can't see... 

My voice was trembling slightly, "Ayami-chan's friends... When did they start coming here to play with you?" 

"...I don't remember." 

"Was it after you moved in?" 

"Yes." 

"Are you good friends with them?" 

Ayami-chan seemed sullen as she nodded her head, "Minnie brought them here..." 

Minnie... Brought them? 

Naru came back later than yesterday. 

"You must be tired," Ayako grumbled as she welcomed Naru back. "Did you find anything? We're still waiting for you to prove yourself." 

Her tone was more sarcastic than usual. 

—At lunch, we had an argument with Kana-san. And no wonder. The prayers and exorcisms from yesterday didn't work. 

Naru ignored Ayako. 

"Lin, anything new happen?" 

"No. It's the same as yesterday." 

"Really... What about Ayami-chan?" Naru asked me. 

"She's in Noriko-san's room. She should be with her onee-chan now— is something wrong?" 

"No. That's good." 

What's wrong? 

Naru was deep in thought. 

"Did something happen?" he asked. 

"No," came a muffled reply. 

"Did Ayami-chan have any problems?" 

"Not really." 

...If nothing was wrong, would you really ask that? What's going on? 

How is Ayami-chan related to what Naru was looking up? 

"Naru, Ayami-chan's condition seems weird," I said. 

The moment I said that, Naru turned swiftly toward me. 

I told Naru all the strange things that happened. The weird sounds. And the children that I could not see. 

Bou-san and Ayako listened in wonder. 

Ayako immediately started to complain, "That's strange. What's up with this family?" 

"I keep thinking that this case and that little girl are intertwined... The doll, too," Bou-san muttered. 

Hearing Bou-san, Naru looked down at the carpet, his dark pupils intense. 

Ayako still did not give up on the earth spirit theory. "Let's see, what can be the cause of all this? ...An earth spirit. Yes. You can find out if there are any rumors about this house from a neighbor." 

Naru stopped Ayako before she said anything else. "I investigated that already." 

"Huh?" 

"There are no rumors about ghosts in this house." 

"...Oh, come on..." Ayako sighed as she leaned against her chair. 

"The important thing is, Minnie might be possessed," Bou-san stated. 

"...Kids that only Ayami-chan can see. Kids that Minnie brought over. Don't you think it's strange?" 

Ayako cocked her head. "Ghost children... Minnie brought them here...?" 

"Isn't that strange?" Bou-san repeated. 

"Kind of..." 

"The doll is dangerous," Bou-san sighed. 

"Really?" I asked. Man, how come I didn't know that? 

"That's right. Dolls are humans without souls. In other words, a soulless body. They're really easy to possess. That's why spirits were sealed in dolls as a way of cursing." 

"I just never liked dolls. They always seemed scary. Ah, I always thought dolls were empty and that they could summon spirits. They look like humans too." 

...Please don't say anymore... 
Ayako turned around, "I still think it's an earth spirit. The main root of the problem seems to be that doll. Fine then, I'll exorcise the spirit." 

Seeing Ayako all energized, Bou-san interrupted her, "Well, spirit exorcism is my job." 

"You don't need to pretend. You should go find that jibakurei of yours." 

"...Really. I know already!" Bou-san suddenly started clapping his hands. "A jibakurei bound to Minnie!" 

After saying that, he turned to Naru, "Don't you think this is it?" 

"Yes, most likely." 

Bou-san nodded proudly, "Okay, that's good. Then all I have to do is exorcise the spirit that's bound to this doll." 

"Hold on a moment," Ayako called out to Bou-san, "we can't know for sure if the exorcism will work. Why don't we call Masako?" 

Silence filled the room. 

Masako... Hara Masako? The medium that's about my age. In our last case, Naru was very polite to her. 

"If Masako were here, we can find out for sure if that doll is possessed," the priestess stated. 

...This could be a good method. 

But Naru didn't seem to like it. "That would be unnecessary. Bou-san, how about you perform the exorcism." 

Ayako seemed unsatisfied. "But isn't this way more dangerous? If the doll is possessed, then during an exorcism, won't the spirit possess Ayami-chan instead?" 

"It's possible... Matsuzaki-san, can you protect Ayami-chan?" 

"Ah, yes. This way, if anything bad happens it can be resolved quickly." 

"...Oh?" A look of surprise flashed across Miko-san's face. "I never thought you could be so considerate. I didn't expect you to let me do this." 

"I thought you might like a chance to redeem yourself." 

"Thank you. After this case is solved, would you go on a date with me?" 

...What is this crazy priestess thinking! 

"Sorry, but I reject," Naru replied coldly before turning toward Bou-san. "Bou-san, can you do the exorcism?" 

"Just leave it to me." 

It was almost 12 o'clock. After we took the doll from the sleeping girl, Bou-san started the exorcism. 

Ayako was sitting beside Ayami-chan. 

On one side was a stick figure; in the front were two knives. Ayako's left hand was carrying a bead necklace, while she carried a bell with her other hand. There was a spell paper on Ayami-chan's chest. 

"I'm ready." 

I went to Ayami-chan's room to tell Bou-san what Ayako just said. "She's ready." 
I was running around, delivering messages. Naru was in base, looking at the equipment should something happen. Bou-san nodded, signaling that he was ready. I ran back to base. 

Once I reached base, I heard Bou-san's voice from the microphone, "Na u ma ku san man da ba za ra dan." 
Bou-san started the Buddhism chant that I did not understand again. It's supposed to be a Buddhist mantra. 

"Sen da ma ka ro sha da so ku ta ya un ta ra ta kan man." 

Minnie didn't look any different. After the temperature dropped five degrees, it became stable. It didn't drop dramatically. There weren't any eerie sounds from the microphone either. 

"There should be a response..." 

Naru cocked his head, deep in thought. Suddenly there was a moaning sound. 
The sound came from Ayami-chan's room. When we got there, it looked like a small hurricane just went through the room. Everything was messy; the furniture were all pushed and slanted onto the walls. 

Ayako held the chalk-faced Ayami-chan. Noriko-san shrank onto the bed. 

"Noriko-san, are you alright?" I went to console her. 

"Noriko-san?!" 

Her pale face was wrought with fear as tears filled her eyes. 

"What's wrong? Does something hurt?" 

"...My leg..." 

"What's wrong with your leg?" 

Bou-san ran up to us to look at her foot. "...Her ankle... Is dislocated..." 

Noriko-san's right foot was longer than her left foot because her ankle was dislocated. 

"Call the ambulance." 

Naru rushed out the door. 

Noriko-san clutched my hand. I could feel her shaking. 

"The person... Who pulled my foot... Was very strong." 

"...Who...?" 

"I don't know..." 

Bou-san pointed at her foot. There was a clear hand print near her ankle. 

...A child's hand print.