Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===5===

When Bou-san ran to the telephone, the telephone rang. 

...My heart felt heavy. I had a bad feeling about this. 

Hesitating, Bou-san slowly picked up the phone. 

—The ghosts found Ayami-chan. 

What they were doing was very clear and simple. 

They suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tried to push Ayami-chan out of the window from the fifteenth floor. 

John quickly held onto Ayami-chan, and the two were violently tugged toward the window. 

What saved them was neither Ayako nor Masako. 

The window in the hotel was thick and strong, and that is what kept the two safe from the ghosts' attacks. 

At dawn, we stared at the pit in the floor. 

In order to confirm the disaster from last night, we went to the living room again, with the exception of Naru. He still didn't contact us. 

There was a well beneath the hole. 

The diameter was about 1.5 meters, and the opening was made of stone. The depth was about three meters. 

"This is a well that had been buried underneath the house," Bou-san told Ayako. 

"Seems like it. It's also rather old." 

There was nothing in the well. Of course there was no water either. The only thing there was some dry dirt and some tools that dropped. 

I poked their shoulders. "Hey, could this be..." 

"The well that she died in...?" 

"Yes." 

"I don't know, but that might be the case," Bou-san replied. 

Ayako added, "It'd be easy if that were true. All we have to do is dig up the corpse." 

"Ah...but if you want to dig it up, we can't just rely on ourselves. We'll need to call in the specialists." 

Masako looked at the well with a dazed look. She must be seeing something from the other world. Suddenly her face paled, and she moved away from the well. 

"What's wrong?" asked Bou-san. 

"I don't think... I can see the bottom of this well." 

Huh? 

"Deep inside the well... The ghost children are at the bottom... It's almost as if countless corpses have been piled on top of each other..." 

...God... 

"Do those ghosts look like they'll come out?" 

"I don't know... But they won't be coming out as of now..." 

Shivering slightly, Ayako let out an exasperated sigh. "Where did that Naru run off to!" 

...How would I know. 

"When will he be back!" Ayako demanded again. 

"Oh, Ayako, do you feel uneasy when Naru's not around?" Bou-san chuckled while Ayako threw him a hard look. 

"Do. Not. Joke. Around. You make it sound like I'm a little child who needs protection." 

"You mean you're not?" 

"Of course not! How would that happen!" 

...Ayako, you're overreacting a bit. 

"Eh... No matter how I think of it, you'll just like a ten year old." Bou-san smiled wryly. 

"It's only a six year age difference." 

"Whatever the case, your ages do not match," Masako interrupted. 

Ayako glared at Masako, "Don't you know that guys his age tend to go for older girls?" 

"Does that line of reasoning even make sense?" Masako shot back. 

"Oh, so now you're showing your true self? Masako-chan, what can you be to Naru anyway?" 

"I hoped you wouldn't talk me like that.. In any case, Matsuzaki-san, you're already so old, yet..." 

"Stop playing around with me. I know that with your personality, there's no way Naru would fall for you." 

"My personality is better than a certain old woman's." 
...You guys need to stop right now! Don't you agree that now isn't the time to be talking about this? 

John interceded, "Shibuya-san puts his heart into his work. So about what you two are saying... He shouldn't be interested, right?" 

"Right," Bou-san agreed, smiling, "with the way he is, he must not be dating anyone." 

...Well said. 

I thought. 

"He went on a date before," Masako asserted. 

...What? How would you know? 

"We went out together numerous times." The doll-like girl smiled. 

"...You're kidding." Ayako's eyes were open wide. 

"How rude. Well, you can go ask Kazuya-san yourself." 

...Kazuya-san...?! 

For a moment there, I had to think about who this Kazuya-san was. When I realized it was Naru, everything became black. 

Everyone stared at Masako. 

After calming down, Ayako continued, "But it's because of work, right?" 

...Yes, yes. That must be it. 

"Well, movies and concerts are not related to work." 

...Movies? Concerts? Naru, who doesn't even watch TV, went out to see the movies? But, when you put it that way, isn't that a date! 

I immediately pictured Masako's evil grin in my head. 

Shocked speechless, we didn't move. 

The first one who recovered was John. 

"Well, Shibuya-san's at that age now so dating is a regular notion. Anyway, when is he coming back?" 

...John, you don't sound confident yourself. 

"So basically," Bou-san resumed solemnly, "when Naru comes back doesn't concern us." 

He looked around at everybody. "It doesn't matter if he's not here. He's not a psychic; he's just a paranormal researcher. Even if he is here, he can't exorcise ghosts or protect Ayami-chan." 

"...But!" 

"Things are going to be the same, whether or not he's here. Right now, we must decide if we're going to exorcise the ghosts or run away." 

"......" 

Everyone was thinking. 

"Let's try it again. Ayako, John, which one of you will take up the challenge? Speak up clearly. Those ghosts in the living room are tough." 

Ayako glanced at Bou-san. 

"So you're saying you want to do it?" asked Bou-san. 

Ayako responded, "Go to Ayami-chan. I can't protect her. Also, John, you should be there protecting her as well." 

"Got it."