Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume1 Chapter8 (section)

===4===

The next day I went to school early. 

I headed straight for the old school building. 

Naru had come already. He was sitting in his van, handling something. Someone stood beside him. 

Huh? 

It's the assistant I injured! 

I walked towards the van and knocked. "Good morning." 

I was deeply concerned about the assistant. "Is the injury all right?" 

The assistant's eyes gazed coldly back at me. 

...I was also hit by the shoe cabinet. You didn't...curse me or anything, right? 

Naru opened the car door. "You're here rather early today." 

"Of course I am." 

That's right. Today's "tomorrow". That thing you were doing yesterday. Aren't you going to tell me what it is? 

Naru looked impatient. 

"Hey, so what's up? What was that thing you were doing yesterday?" 

Naru sighed. "Mai, don't you think you talk too much?" 

"If you don't want me to tell anyone, I can keep it a secret." 

Naru thought about it for a while. "Wait a while. Everyone will be here soon." 

Everyone... Meaning? Are you talking about Miko-san and them? 

Exactly what are you thinking about? 

An arguement broke out moments before everyone came together. 

Kuroda came before class started as well. 

Like me, she was also pestering Naru for answers. She wanted to know what happened yesterday, so I told her that we'd have to wait for everyone else to come first. Unfortunately, she didn't listen to me and went ahead and picked a fight with Naru. 

"Then I'll stay here and wait," Kuroda announced. 

"Go home," Naru replied coldly. 

In the end Kuroda won the arguement, to which Naru sighed resignedly. 

After the school bell rang, Miko-san and the rest quickly scrambled here. 

And so, Kuroda and I skipped class. 

Well, I guess this is okay too. 

Miko-san, Bou-san, John, and Masako came. When the whole team was here, Naru walked towards the old school building. 

Naru headed towards the building, one hand supporting his assistant who was using crutches, and one hand holding his camcorder. 

"What are you going to show us today?" Bou-san snickered. 

Miko-san laughed too. "Maybe we shouldn't go and see. Someone might turn up missing again." 

Naru showed no expression on his face. 

"I just want some witnesses in my experiment," Naru replied. 

"Huh?" 

Miko-san and Bou-san were dumbfounded. 

When we reached the front of the lab room, I noticed the equipment were in the same place they were yesterday. Naru called John and me, "Look at the equipment. Is the paper with your signature intact?" 

What? 

Sometime beforehand, Naru had given the assistant the camcorder. 

I examined the paper with our signatures. It wasn't damaged in any way, and my signature was still intact. 

"Is everything okay?" he asked. 

"Yes," I replied. 

"Yes, it's the same as yesterday," John answered. 

"What about the signatures on the door? Is it your handwriting?" 

"Yes." 

"That's right." 

Naru nodded, then proceeded to tear down the planks he had hammered onto the door yesterday. 

We looked with curiosity. 

Naru entered the lab room. 

...Huh? 

The pink circle drawn in the middle of the floor. 

The chair should be in that circle...it should be in the middle of the circle. 

But instead, the chair was beside the window. 

"Shibuya-san, the chair moved," John informed. 

"Yes it did," Naru said, smiling satisfactorily. 

Miko-san interjected, "Wait a minute. What's going on here?" 

Instead of answering, Naru headed toward the camcorder. After he saw the display screen of the camcorder, he smiled. 

"Hey, Naru-chan," Miko-san called out impatiently. 

Naru looked at us, a confident glint in his eyes. 

"Thank you for your cooperation. Tomorrow I will leave." 

Eh? Ehhhhhh? 

"You already told us this case was over," Miko-san reminded him sarcastically. 

"I did say something like that." 

"Land subsidence?" 

...What a sarcastic jerk. 

But then, Naru nodded, "Yes." 

"Haaa!" 

Bou-san jeered, "You better stop while you're ahead. Can land subsidence really cause all that?" 

"Land subsidence is a sufficient explanation for the case the principal presented me." 

"Then, what made the windows shatter? And what caused the strange noises afterwards?!" 

...Good point. That's not a sound that land subsidence can make. 

"That was a poltergeist." 

"Look you!" Miko-san and Bou-san shouted in unison. 

"You can't exorcise ghosts, right? So you're just investigating a bit and then calling it a day," Bou-san said, pointing a finger of accusation at Naru. 

Naru remained calm, "There is no need to exorcise. I believe that would be unnecessary." 

Rewinding his tape, Naru turned toward us, "Do you want to watch?" 

We started to watch the recording of the chair. At first the chair was in the middle of the room. We stared intently. 

"What're we watching this for?" Miko-san mumbled. 

Naru paid no attention to her. 

"Hey..." the woman said as the chair in the TV screen began to shake. 

The chair shook and shook, then it started to slide across the floor. There was no external force. It just moved by itself to the side of the window. It shook violently, then fell. It didn't move again. 

Naru pressed the stop button. 

"What... Was that just now?" I asked. 

"It's just what you saw." 

"The chair moved?" 

"Yes, it did move." 

...What happened? 

Bou-san sighed exasperately, "That was a very strong poltergeist! We must exorcise it immediately..." 

Naru replied coldly, "That would be unnecessary." 

Naru noticed my confusion, then proceeded to explain, "Yesterday I gave everyone an autosuggestion." 

"Huh?" 

"It's similar to hypnotism. The autosuggestion was that this chair would move at night." 

...That light... Was like a flashlight. 

"So that was hypnotism?" 

Naru nodded in response. 

"...Basically, yes. Then I placed the chair here, and with Mai and John's help I locked the doors and windows, and hammered in the wooden planks. Afterwards I proceeded to seal the room. This way, no one would be able to enter. If someone were to enter, we would notice." 

"True." 

If anyone broke in, they'd have to remove the wooden planks and put new ones there, but then our signatures are there. 

Pausing momentarily, Naru looked carefully at each one of us, his eyes darker than the night sky. 

"Poltergeist incidents are usually caused by human beings, namely those that are thirteen to fifteen years old. But sometimes they're caused by teenage girls under a lot of stress who want to be noticed by others." 

"Are you saying that could be a problem?" I asked. 

"Idiot." 

...Do you have to evaluate everything I say? Don't say it so bluntly like that. 

"It is highly probable. However, the culprit is usually unaware of doing this. 

"What?" 

"In these situations, an autosuggestion will make the event actually occur." 

Autosuggestion... An autosuggestion that the chair will move? 

Bou-san interposed, "So you're saying that the chair moved because of a human?" 

"Correct." 

"And not because of a ghost?" asked Miko-san. "So the activities happening in the old school building were also caused by a human?" 

"To put it simply, yes. I have not been mistaken yet." 

"...Then the culprit is?" 

"Is..." 

Naru remained silent. 

Someone who wants to feel important. Someone who wants to be noticed. 

A person with that strong desire... There was only one such person, and she was right in front of my eyes. 

But... 

Slowly, my eyes darted towards her. 

Everyone else looked at her too. 

Kuroda. 

"...Me...?" 

Kuroda's voice became shaky at first, then firm, "How can that be...!" 

She shook her head. 

Naru nodded his head. 

"You are the prime suspect." 

"Are you saying that it's all because of me? That poltergeist?" 

Fear showed in her eyes. 

"There is a higher possibility that it is you than the others," Naru said, looking at us.