Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume3 Chapter5 (section)

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The pain caused by the strong impact on my back returned me to my senses.

I wonder if that’s the manhole’s opening…that appeared vacantly white.

From above, I was appalled to be near it. I should have jumped down bravely.

I stood up, making crunching sounds. “My body is throbbing, but there’s nothing wrong with it,” I said, and at the same time a shadow also rose beside me.

"…Are you all right?“

Ack. Naru.

”…Yeah. How come you also fell down?“
  
"If you had let go of my arm, I wouldn’t have fallen too.”

…Sorry about that. "Are you all right as well?"

"…Think about how much you weigh."

...I’m sorry.

Naru grasped his shoulder and squatted down.

"Is it hurting? Where does it hurt the most?”

“You’re loud.”

…I’m very sorry.

I looked around. The narrow space consisted of concrete. Through the hole, if I had fallen all over the place, I would have ended up on the clusters of concrete and zigzagged rebars that looked like hell’s mountain of needles. I felt deeply horrified. Naru and I fell on the space in the middle of such debris, where there was nothing but pebbles. If we hadn’t, we would have fallen on top of the rubble strewn about.

My eyes got used to the darkness. There’s a manhole on the ceiling, and from there the ruins of the ladder led below. The ladder that was torn apart and cut off wasn’t even more than about a meter from the opening now. Approximately another meter of the ladder’s remnants touched the bottom, and despite not using a lot of force, it could fall into pieces. The height from below up to the ceiling exceeded four meters. It’s impossible to climb up the ladder in this state.

"Hey, Naru, someone will come to help us soon, right?“ I turned to Naru who was still holding his shoulder and crouching down.

"Is someone coming…? Eventually.” He raised his head at last, his hair clinging to his forehead.

"‘Eventually’…!“

"Did you tell anyone you’re coming here?“

”…I didn’t.“

"Me too.”

…Tha-That means… “Why are we trapped in this place?”

“It just turned out like this.”

"Hey"—I looked up at the torn-apart ladder overhead—"if you step on me, you could climb up, right?“

"Perhaps later.”

"…Does your arm hurt so much?“

"Don’t bother about it.”

I hung my head in silence…

Nevertheless, the ladder was corroding, so it’s absolutely unreliable. And even if Naru were to stand on top of my head, he wasn’t tall enough to reach the opening with his hands.

So, what now? Does this mean we’re going to be stuck here until somebody finds us?

What are we going to do? Beyond the ground above was a spacious vacant lot. Nobody could hear our shouts from here.

Still, I tried shouting, and my cries reverberated. Once the echoes died down, only the resounding voice of the wind could be heard.

…Drinking water, none.

…Food, of course, none as well.

My eyes grew prickly and hot. It’s my fault. What should I do?

"Is there anything I can do?“

At the sound of my voice, Naru looked up. "Can you see well in this condition?”

"…No, I can’t.“

"Why did you come to this kind of place?” asked Naru in an indifferent voice, and I explained the situation that rattled me. He listened motionlessly with his eyes closed. And then he said, “…So you’re finally targeted as well.”

…Me?

A child was crouching in the hole, but nobody’s here any longer.

There’s no way that was human. I couldn’t see through the darkness underneath, and yet from that child’s appearance alone, why didn’t I notice anything strange?

Again I shuddered in horror.

If ghosts appeared in this school as they had said, then this was bound to happen. That was an evil spirit. It was summoned here through Enmi.

All of a sudden, tears ran down my face. It’s not something to cry over with,  but I couldn’t stop myself.

"Do you think crying will change our current situation?“ came Naru’s colorless voice.

"It won’t.”

"Then, stop crying.“

"Cold-hearted.”

"Be reasonable.“

"That’s cold of you! If we’ll die in here like this, how can we still be reasonable??”

At this rate, it would be nighttime, and that child would appear once more! It might clearly expose its malicious intentions this time. In fact, Naru was being targeted as well. If that woman appeared, coupled with that child, what should we do!?

…Ah, this makes me angry! I got it, but I couldn’t help it.

Naru fell silent, looking weary. Since then, he wouldn’t even turn his head my way.

Damn it, this guy! Return and restore my youth! I’m not working part-time in order to die in this kind of place!

That’s right. In the first place, it’s Naru’s fault. Because he came here and started working on this case, he got hurt beside me. …I didn’t go to work for the sake of committing double suicide with him…

Hm? Hold on.

Isn’t it just Naru and me in this dim passage?

Oh my, I might be lucky.

Unexpectedly, Naru let out a chuckle. “Have you cheered up?”

”…I have.“

Naru laughed.

Ahh, it’s such a shame though; he resembled the Naru in my dreams if he softened his eyes some more like that.

“You knew I would cheer up?”

“I do. At first, you’ll feel down. After that, you’ll get angry. Then, your mood improves and becomes positive.”

"…How could you know that so clearly?“

"Because it’s written on your face.”

Naru’s laughter—I-I see; so it’s because my face tells so much? How embarrassing.

He was observing my unrepressed face.

"Mai,“ Naru called and lifted his head. He was holding up a 500-yen coin by his fingertips.

”??“

"Would you like to meet my pet?”

"Pet?” He has something like that?

"Right here.” Naru’s gaze turned to the coin.

…Your pet? That coin is? How hopeless you are.

Naru drew the coin into a bow with a tap.

"…Just a moment—” Could this be some kind of joke? If that’s the case, then you better stop, Naru. Telling a joke doesn’t suit you. The joke would terribly fail to elicit a laugh.

"You thought I’m foolish.“

"Of course I did.”

"This is why stupid people are troublesome.“

"What did you say?!”

Naru clasped the coin. “Now, come out,” he summoned, and shortly the coin appeared from the loop of his clenched fingers.

…Now see here, I could also do that.

The coin immediately sank back into his hand.

"Oh? I wonder if it’s because it doesn’t like you.“

"…What are you talking about?“

"It hid itself.”

"…It’s in your hand.“

As though saying, ‘Is it?’ Naru unclenched his right hand, but it’s not there.

"Ehh, that’s impossible!“

"And yet it’s gone. I forgot to mention it, but this child has a special ability: teleportation.”

"Nooo. You hid it~!“

"I didn’t.” Naru deftly flipped over both of his hands. It wasn’t there.

"No way.”

"Come now, show yourself,” Naru prompted, and once again it materialized by the thumb of his lightly clenched fist.

"Eehhh.“

As soon as Coin-kun emerged, it hid inside Naru’s clenched fist again. So Naru spoke to it. "This elder sister here is irascible, rash, and foul-mouthed, but she won’t eat you up,” he coaxed, and it revealed itself in the gap by his thumb.

"Hey~“

It slipped back into his hand in an instant.

"Didn’t it hide because of your frighteningly loud voice?”

"Nooo. It’s not my fault~“

"Come on out.” As Naru called, he patted around himself in search for it. “Found you.”

It was on his arm, around his elbow.

"There, there,“ said Naru, and when he stroked the coin, it came out.

"Whyyy?”

“It’s because this child can distinguish those who are nice.”

"You’re lying~“ Naru couldn’t possibly be nicer than me!

"Am I? Alright then, go to Mai,” he said to Coin-kun and tossed the latter in midair with a flick of his fingers.

I braced myself to catch it.

…But it’s gone. It vanished.

"Naru, you meanie! You didn’t throw it!“

As though saying, ‘Didn’t I?’ Naru turned his hands over.

Coin-kun was nowhere to be seen.

"Ehh, whyyy!!?“

"Because you’re terrifying.”

That’s not true~!

Hm? …Aren’t I becoming serious about this? Isn’t this… what you call a magic trick?

This time, Naru took out the coin from behind his collar.

"…You’re really good,“ I said.

"Oh? You think it’s a magic trick?”

“Isn’t that what it is?”

As if to say, ‘What do you think?’ Naru looked back at the coin.

And then, “Hello.”

Ack! …The coin spoke!

“Did you hide because Mai is scary?” asked Naru, and a seemingly shy, child-like voice replied feebly, “…Yup.”

"Hold up, saying I’m scary…!“ My mouth hung open.

"You don’t have to be afraid. The more you look at Mai, the more you’ll see she’s not a scary person.”

“…Really?”

"Really.“

Isn’t he just saying whatever he wants to say?

This… Isn’t this that apparently impossible feat called ventriloquism? Amazing! Even though I knew what I was seeing, I’d never heard of a coin speaking before! A ventriloquist who carries a puppet and makes it talk didn’t often appear on TV. I knew this would sound awful, but that sort of trick paled in comparison to Naru’s!

With a flick of his fingers, Naru tossed the coin again.

It fell on my lap with a thump. "Amazing…”

Naru gave a weak laugh.

"Will you do more if I ask you to?“

"No.”

"Please~!“

Naru leaned against the wall. "I can’t do anything more complex at this time.”

"Is your arm… hurting?“

"I don’t have the tools to do it.”

Having said that, he looked pale.

What a stubborn guy. He ought to say something when he’s in pain.

"Hey? Supposing I kicked you… would you get angry as expected?” If I used him as a boost.

"I would,” he said in a flat tone.

So I muttered, “What a useless guy.”

"We’ll be all right. Stop worrying. The others aside, Lin will be able to find us here.”

”…Really?“

"Yeah. As soon as the sun sets, everyone will gather, and if he notices that we’re not there, I think he’ll be suspicious at least. We’ll be fine,” said Naru, reclining against the rubble. He shut his eyes, but right away knitted his eyebrows and stared up at the ceiling.



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