Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===4===


The next day, everyone gathered in the conference room. Naru brought up news about Yoshino-sensei. Yesterday, Yoshino-sensei was in a car accident by himself, and one of the members of the Track & Field Club had collapsed in the locker room. 

Naru frowned. The teacher in the car accident said he saw a ghost in the rear mirror. These incidents still happened even though John and Bou-san performed exorcisms yesterday evening.

...In other words, the spirit isn't gone.

Furthermore, Taka's already hospitalized homeroom teacher, wasn't doing well either. His condition worsened, and despite being in a hospital, he still sees a ghost, which continues to cause disturbance there. He's also vomiting blood.

Despite the exorcisms, the teacher's condition wasn't improving.

"...It's not working," Naru calmly stated.

We were speechless as well.

Suddenly, I recalled the dream I had yesterday about the school. Will-o-wisps were scattered everywhere. I had the feeling that they were evil spirits. But the dream wasn't important or anything.

Not long afterwards, Ayako was glaring at Masako, with a sarcastic look in her eyes.

"So there are no ghosts here? Even with all that's happened?"

Stubborn Masako.

"There are none," she firmly replied.

Even so, the medium had an uneasy look in her eyes.

"Did you observe everything thoroughly? So you really didn't see even one spirit at all."

"Even if you expect there to be some, there are none!" Masako was almost shouting. "If I don't see them, then there aren't any here!"

"Well then, how do you explain this school's situation? Is everyone lying? Or is this a mass breakout of hysteria—?"

...Ayako, you're sure enjoying yourself. Stop it.

Masako scowled at Ayako. After watching the two, we decided to leave the conference room. 

While doing so, Bou-san said, "Hey—Naru-chan."

With an unhappy, bitter expression in his eyes, Naru looked at the monk.

"Masako is just being obstinate. Lighten up. Masako's trying her best."

"...It's not good enough."

Upon hearing Ayako's protest, Bou-san turned to the woman. "Quiet, you. We need Masako in this situation. Although Masako can't see any ghosts, this place really is haunted. Probably because the spirit is exceptionally strong, or because we're dealing with mass hysteria. To make matters worse, we're unsure if the exorcisms are helping at all. Naru, don't you think so?"

We became silent and looked at Naru to see his reaction. He was completely calm and composed as he answered, "If we cannot rely on Hara-san, then would you care to find another spirit medium to hire?"

...What a blunt answer.

Clearly this guy was thinking, "I hate Masako." But, to say something like that, Masako definitely won't be able to rest in peace (not that she's dead or anything like that).

What a cold-blooded jerk.

Bou-san was so shocked that when he saw Naru, the monk stood up and shrugged his shoulders. Ashamed, Ayako stood up too. As if attracted by a lure, John also stood up—and then our meeting ended.

Leaving me with Naru and the yet-to-be-found Lin-san.

"Naru, what you said just then was kind of mean."

"Of course it was."

...Oh. So it was obvious, wasn't it?

"What did you tell Masako?" 

So many strange things have been happening, and Masako is no match for them.

For a moment, Naru seemed to falter.

"Exactly what kind of weakness of yours does Masako know about?" I pressed.

"There's no such thing."

("...Oh. Well, back then you should've told Masako that.")

Can I really say that? If I could I would. I don't know. I can't help but recall Naru's ever unpleasant face when he went on that date with Masako. 

After sending me a glare, he stood up. 

"Lin, let's get back to work!"

This guy is running away!

I hastily left, tilting my head to see his back go into the distance. Since he ran out of mean things to say, he just did whatever he could to evade the question. And he was ambiguous again. I'm positive something happened. Just as I thought, she's using his weakness. The problem is: what kind of weakness is it?

For a moment, I recalled the spoon bending incident. I wasn't really put in such an awkward position. The spoon incident was nothing compared to this.

As always, the world is filled with numerous puzzles...