Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume2 Chapter1 (section)

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When we were almost done with straightening everything out, Noriko-san brought us to the luxurious guest room. 

If this were a deserted haunted house, Naru would never enter unless he knew it was safe first. But since people live here already— and one of them is an eight year old girl, it really shouldn't be dangerous. And so we're staying here for the night. 

"Wow, it's so cool!" 

Silk curtains, a dressing room, a dressing table, a nice bed, and even a small cabinet. 

...Amazing, it's like a luxury. But will I get the chance to sleep here? No matter how I think about it, paranormal phenomena usually occur at night. That will definitely happen. 

"Are you satisfied with this room?" Noriko-san asked, smiling. 

"Yes. Thank you very much," I replied. 

"Well, you don't have to be so polite, okay?" 

"Yes, but..." 

...After all, Noriko-san is the one who wanted us to investigate. 

"Please." 

"...Okay." 

Hearing my reply, Noriko-san seemed happy. The room faced the west. When I reached the window, I was surprised. There was a pond south of the house. It was a lush, green pond. 

"The scenery is amazing," I said in amazement. 

Like me, Noriko-san also looked at the scenery from the window. 

"...I've often thought that way too... But lately it seems scary..." she admitted. 

"Scary?" I asked. 

"Think about it. Aren't there stories like this? The young child that drowned cries out for his friend..." 

It's a common story. I quickly answered, "Don't worry about it. That didn't happen here." 

I couldn't explain the entire situation to Noriko-san though— perhaps, you are the culprit. 

"...Thank you. My brother is usually not at home so it gets scary." 

I chuckled, "Everything will soon be alright. Our director is here, and so is the priestess and monk. Those two often argue so much that it's easy to laugh at them." 

"Really?" Noriko-san seemed a bit happier now. 

Seeing her like that, I still thought that she was the culprit. Sorry... 

"If it's okay with you, would you join me for tea? It's time for afternoon tea. Is it okay if Ayami comes too?" 

"That would be awesome (♥)" 

* * *
Carrying the tea set, Noriko and I went into Ayami's room. 

"Ayami." 

Noriko-san opened the door. 

Ayami-chan was lying on the floor, reading a picture book. Her eyes swept toward us. 

She seemed lost in thought, which made her look as cute as a rabbit. 

"Hello," I smiled, waving my hand in hello. 

Ayami-chan let out a happy smile, then pushed her picture book to the side. She grabbed her doll and walked toward us. 

She was holding the old-styled, foreign doll that we saw earlier. 

The expressions on foreign dolls were always creepy, but this doll was kind of cute. 

Ayami-chan turned toward me, then lifted the doll's left arm, "Hello." 

I bent down and shook the foreign doll's hand. "Hi, what's your name?" 

"Minnie," Ayami-chan said, moving the doll's little hand. 

"Minnie, nice to meet you. I'm Mai." 

"Nice to meet you, Mai." 

Ayami laughed, then made the foreign doll bow. So cute— 

"Ayami, it's snack time." 

Hearing Noriko-san, Ayami-chan quickly nodded, then just as quickly shook her head. 

What's wrong? What's up with Ayami-chan? They're snacks. Cute, pink cakes~ She became quiet, lowering her head. 

...Weird. Ayami-chan, what's wrong, why are you suddenly acting this way... 

After dinner, Naru gathered everyone together. Kana-san, Noriko-san, Ayami-chan, and the housekeeper Shibata-san. When Naru got everyone to sit down on the sofa in the guest room, he turned off the lights. The room became pitch dark. 

"I'll have to borrow your time for a while," he stated. 

After saying that, he turned on a light. The white light flashed on and off. 

"Please look at the light." 

The light flashed on and off in the dark. 

Naru softly said, "Please breathe along to the light. Slowly now.. Relax your shoulders..." 

Naru is trying to give everyone a hint. It's similar to hypnotism. It's an autosuggestion. 

Using the light, I looked at everyone's face and realized they were all relaxed. 

A poltergeist activity happened in this room (I think). 

Usually poltergeist activities happen for various reasons. But most of the time people believe it's caused by a ghost or a demon. 

A lot of culprits behind poltergeist activity are in fact, humans. Spiritually sensitive people will sometimes use their psychic powers unconsciously. Of course, it's not just a simple disturbance. No matter what, it almost always seems supernatural. The culprit is usually a teenager between the ages of thirteen and fifteen. But sometimes it's a woman with strong spiritual powers. 

No one here is between thirteen and fifteen years old. That leaves a woman with strong spiritual powers... 

"Please count the number of times you breathe," Naru said repeatedly. 

They repeated that for five minutes. When everyone became relaxed, Naru stated our goal. 

"Tonight, the flower vase in the dining room will move... The glass flower vase. Tonight it will reappear on the table in this room." 

His soft fluctuating voice. If I were to describe the color of his voice, it would be clear, transparent. 

"—Okay, it's finished." 

He suddenly turned the lights back on. We blinked our eyes in hopes of adjusting to the light again. 

"Now you are free to do what you want. But don't do anything you normally wouldn't. ...Morishita-san." 

"Yes." 

"Please give me the key to this room." 

Morishita-san handed the key to Naru. At the moment there was a vase in Naru's arms, a flower vase. 

Everyone's eyes were glued to the flower vase. In just an instant, the autosuggestion had succeeded. If the autosuggestion had failed, no one would've looked at the flower vase. 

Then will the flower vase move tonight? 
If the culprit is human, after the autosuggestion the vase will move. Meaning, if the flower vase moves, then the culprit is human. And the culprit would be among us. If the flower vase doesn't move... Then the culprit is not human. 

Once everyone left the room, I placed the vase in the middle of the table, where Naru had drawn a circle. 

Meanwhile Naru set a video camera up to record the table. The sensitive camera can record videos in the dark. Even if there's only a little light, the camera will record it as if it's broad daylight. Naru plugged the video camera cable into the outlet. After everything was put into place, Naru and I left the room too. 

A radar, like the ones that airplanes use. That's the kind of radar we used. 

Naru locked the door, sealing it with a piece of paper. That way no one would be able to go in. If someone forced themselves into the room, the paper would tear. The guest room had become an isolated room. 

The other radar was on the other side of the wall, observing the flower vase. If the vase moved even slightly, then the radar would record that movement and send it to our base. 

...Amazing~ 

As you can see, a ghost hunter and a psychic are completely different. 

After the autosuggestion, we returned to our work room— Naru calls it our base, but to me it's more of a research institute— to put it simply. That said, Bou-san and Ayako were chatting again. 

"Leisure time, I see," Naru remarked, his tone heavy with sarcasm. 

Yeesh. If you think it's an earth spirit, then hurry and exorcise it already. 

Bou-san replied, "I'll decide what to do after we see the results of that experiment. When I'm sure the poltergeist activities aren't caused by a human, I'll take action." 

...Hee, Bou-san, you became smart. Is it because last time you didn't think of all the possibilities and consequently got into a big mess? 

Eh... Interesting. This means that you're acknowledging Naru's prowess. Last time you were all in his face, saying how what he was doing was meaningless. Hee hee~ Naru seemed aware of that too. 

"How honorable of you," came a mocking voice. 

Naru, don't laugh like that. Your eyes aren't laughing at all. Instead, they look cold and sinister. Can't you smile normally? 

Something strange happened tonight. 

At 9 o' clock, Kana-san ran into the research institute— No, I mean base. 

"Please take a look!" she exclaimed. 

"What's wrong?" 

Kana-san's face was pale and frantic. She recklessly grabbed a calm Naru, "Please, come quickly!" 

We— excluding Lin-san, which makes four of us— looked at each other, then followed Kana-san out of base.