Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===3===

Masako, now unconscious, lay on the sofa in base. 

When we were rewinding the tape, Masako woke up. 

"How do you feel?" Naru asked. 

Masako shook her head, her face still deathly pale. "I'm fine... I seemed to have been possessed." 

"It was due to my negligence. Sorry— Did you find Tachibana?" 

"Yes." 

Masako nodded, then looked each of us in the eye. "There is a woman's spirit here." 

She continued slowly. "The evil spirit is that woman. She's hidden deep inside... At least that's what I think. However, I'm not sure what kind of ghost she is. But I'm positive it's a female spirit." 

Masako paused for a moment. "The children's spirits have been gathered here. They're tired of this place, and they want to go home, but they can't because they're lost... Does everyone follow?" 

"So basically, the children are stuck here?" 

"Yes. The woman's spirit had gathered all the children here. She's pretending to be their mother, and she keeps bringing more kids here. Tachibana realized that she isn't her mother." 

...Pretending to be their mother and calling them out here... 

"That woman isn't only tricking those kids, but she's also making them bring more children here. She's making the kids pretend to be friends, so that they can bring in more living children. Tachibana is the leader of the children, but she also can't take it anymore. She says she's tired, in pain, and that she can't stand it anymore." 

...That's too much. 

Naru asked Masako, "Do you remember calling for Tomiko?" 

"Tomiko..." Masako said dazily. "Yes, I remember... That's the woman's child, a daughter in fact... That female spirit is looking for her daughter, Tomiko. That's why she's calling in more children." 

"...I see," Naru said quietly before standing up. 

"Naru?" 

"In other words, that woman is searching for her own daughter, but in the end, she is simply collecting all these children." He said in a hard tone. "Since she can't find her own child, she tricks all these other innocent children into coming, and not only that, she's also utilizing them as tools." 

I remembered the children's painful cries of sorrow. 

"Those children cannot pass on. That woman won't let them go. They're simply wandering in Chuute... They can't go anywhere," Naru continued. 

"...Ah," Bou-san nodded in agreement. 

"Ghosts that are lingering around do not know that they have died. It's the same with those children. To those children, they believe they are lost, not dead. That's why they want to go home..." 

"That woman knows this and is using it to her advantage by pretending to be their mother. She knows that she's not going to Heaven, and that she will just suffer." 

The children already know they're trapped. But they can't escape. Even though they've had enough. Even though it's painful, that woman won't release them. 

Naru picked up his jacket. 

"Where are you going?" 

"I'm going out for a while. I don't know when I'm coming back. Take care of Ayami-chan." 

"Naru!" 

I didn't even have time to call out to him. 

And like a gust of wind, Naru left the room. We quietly saw him off.