Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume1 Chapter8 (section)

===5===

"You are the first person to talk about the old school building. For instance, you said there were ghosts of soldiers and nurses there. But the fact of the matter is, there never was a hospital here. An air raid never occurred here, and the school was never used as a hospital before." 

"How can that be..." 

"—To sum it up, you were mistaken or perhaps the rumors got to you. Didn't Miko-san say that you didn't have psychic powers?" 

Naru turned towards Miko-san. 

"Yes, that's right. I'm sure I wasn't wrong," Miko-san confirmed. 

"Whether Kuroda-san did that on purpose or whether she just pretended to see them... Even now I am not so sure," Naru continued to explain. 

"I wasn't lying!" Kuroda exclaimed. 

"In the beginning I thought that you possessed psychic powers," Naru said as he pulled out the tape recorder from under the table. "I said something like this earlier: half of poltergeist incidents are caused by humans. When the poltergeist activity occurred at the old school building, I was perplexed. The equipment did not show any presence of spirits. Plus, Hara-san didn't sense any." 

"Yes, that's correct," Masako said, nodding her head. 

"If it's not caused by a spirit, then it must be caused by a human. If this were to happen at somebody's house, then the person responsible would be whoever lives there. It could be a thirteen to fifteen year old or a teenage girl. If you are stressed out, you may unconsciously do this. You unconsciously hope that people do not ignore you and that they notice you instead. And so, the culprit may cause many poltergeist disturbances. Let's say the people in the household get into a fight. You unconsciously believe that you get attention when you are in an argument. But... No one lives in the old school building." 

Silence filled the room. 

"It's also possible to take it the opposite way. The person who craves attention would be the culprit of these poltergeist activities. Meaning... The only two people who fit this description is Kuroda-san and... Mai." 

...Me?! 

Did you just make me a suspect too?! 

"If you compare the two, Kuroda-san is the more likely one." 

After saying that, Naru stared intensely at Kuroda, who was already blushing furiously. "I heard that your psychic powers have made you rather popular in school. Ever since middle school, you have been admired for them." 

"..." 

...Michiru and them did say it that way. 

"You mentioned earlier that there are spirits in the old school building. But... What if there really were no spirits? Instead of ghosts, it's ground subsidence. What would happen if everyone found out about this?" 

Bou-san replied, "Everyone would stop believing her. In the end, they wouldn't be able to trust her again." 

Miko-san seemed to feel sorry for her too. "...So at first, you didn't have any psychic powers, but now it's come to this." 

"...That's right. In order for Kuroda-san to get everyone's attention, ghosts would have to exist. So to her, ghosts must exist in the old school building." 

Everyone looked at Kuroda. 

"...What? So that's what you thought this whole time," I whispered. When Kuroda raised her head, I smiled at her. Everyone wants to be special and be admired by others. Everyone wants to be unique and have the approval of others. 

So she wants to have the ability to sense ghosts... 

"Our investigation could've made Kuroda-san's ghost sightings invalid, which stressed her. As a result, she was unconsciously under a lot of stress. In her mind she believed that there must be ghosts here, and that poltergeist activities must occur here. And then..." 

Bou-san continued, "...she unconsciously made poltergeist activity." 

I wondered if they were mistaken. "But can a human really do all that? Like, if a test is approaching and you want the school to collapse, even if you really want the school to collapse, it never does in the end." 

"That's an ability problem." 

What? 

Naru looked back at Kuroda, a gentle look on his face. "I thought she was a latent psychic." 

"Psychic?" 

"Someone who has psychic powers. Even though she is unaware of it, she may have some PK. I will explain for Mai's sake. PK is a type of psychic energy." 

...Shut up, you arrogant... 

"Oh..." Miko-san said, looking at Kuroda before turning toward Naru, "then in that case, she felt more stressed because you mentioned ground subsidence. Then how do you explain me getting locked in that room? Did she do that too? And if she didn't, then how do you explain the static in your video? You have to be able to explain that, at least." 

Masako said in a low voice, "You locked yourself in." 

"What, you're saying that I forgot I locked myself in?" 

"Are you saying you didn't?" 

Naru halted their argument with his hand, then turned towards Kuroda. "...Allow me to explain." 

Kuroda nodded forcefully. 

"Now, about Miko-san being locked up," Naru said as he pulled out a nail from his pocket. 

"What about it." 

"It's a nail." 

"I can tell it's a nail by looking. What are you trying to say?" 

"This nail was sticking out the door." 

...Eh? 

"The reason the door wouldn't open is that this nail was stuck in it. I noticed this earlier, but I didn't believe it was necessary to mention it." 

Miko-san grabbed the nail from Naru and looked at it carefully. 

"So someone put it there on purpose," said Miko-san. 

"Right." 

"Who could've... Is it you?!" She stared at Kuroda, who shrank back. I couldn't help but pat her shoulder to comfort her. 

...Looks like I've become her comforter. 

Naru continued, "It was probably a joke. Were you not mean to her earlier?" 

...Yup, yup. 

"Then, what about the videocam's malfunction?" 

"I examined it carefully. Apparently it's caused by a human, not a ghost." 

"Did she do that?" 

"She was already there when Mai arrived in the lab room, so most likely, yes." 

"......" 

Miko-san bit her lip. 

Kuroda shrank back, then apologized for what she did. 

John told her in a comforting tone, "Don't worry about it. Even though it did cause a lot of trouble." 

"That's not the problem here! You guys are all rotten!" 

Naru replied coldly, "It's because Miko-san insulted her by saying she didn't have psychic powers. That's why she was so angry she couldn't stand it anymore. As a lesson, do not talk carelessly in the future." 

...Do you have the right to say that? 

"Does everyone understand now?" 

Miko-san angrily crossed her arms. "Now we understand. But now what? We can't just leave like this. The principal called on us to exorcise the ghost." 

"We can just say that we exorcised the ghost." 

"What if Kuroda wants to stop the demolition of the building?" Miko-san snarked, shooting a sharp look at Kuroda. 

"I plan to tell the principal this: There were many spirits of soldiers in the old school building. We exorcised them so now it's safe to continue the demolition project—is this okay with you, Kuroda-san?" 

Kuroda looked like she was about to shed tears of happiness. 

"...Dead soliders... Huh," Miko-san mumbled unhappily. 

Bou-san said, "So now there's no problem, right?" 

Naru crossed his arms. 

"That's right," Masako answered. "But I'm a little worried. How about we tell the principal the truth? Just tell him what you told us." 

"She's already under a lot of pressure. There's no need to add to that, right?" Naru responded. 

...Oh— you're actually really considerate. 

Miko-san asked, "Then who gets the credit of exorcising the ghost?" 

At that moment everyone became silent. 

Naru calmly responded, "Everyone helped in the exorcism. Will this be alright with everybody?" 

"...Huh?" 

Miko-san turned her gaze toward Naru, "...So you do have your merits. Are you going to divide the credit among us?" 

With his arms crossed, Naru shot a sharp look at me, "Mai, don't tell anyone about this." 

"I know." 

Miko-san seemed touched by this, "You're quite the gentleman." 

"Thank you." 

"Hey... Do you have a girlfriend?" 

"...I don't understand." 

"I can repress myself, even if it is with a young one," she purred. 

"Thank you for your kind offer." 

...Seductive miko. Exactly how is she like a miko? How?! 

Naru smiled slightly, "I appreciate your kind offer; however, I am already too used to looking at myself in the mirror." 

Miko-san's face turned stark red. 

...Huh? 

Bou-san burst out in laughter while Miko-san looked the other way. 

...So he refused Miko-san's offer because he's too used to looking at himself in the mirror? 

Hey, then that means Miko-san was completely rejected. But did you have to say it that way? 

Why don't you just change into a narcissus then.