Editing Ghost Hunt:Volume 8 Chapter 13 (section)

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“That was… your older brother?”

But he’s…

—Dead.

Then…

“It was… about your older brother...”

The memory fragments cracked and fell apart.

—Why didn’t I realize it?

When I think about it, it’s so simple.

The Naru I meet in my dream smiles. The real Naru doesn’t smile.

—He was a completely different person.

His personality and his way of talking... he was was a completely different person except for his appearance!

There were certainly times when I thought he seemed like a different person. No wonder. It was an entirely different person. I just didn’t notice it—

Because they have the same face.

Because they have the same voice.

I thought it was Naru.

“Does he have regrets in this world…? That must be the case.”

Naru's low voice was sorrowful.

“...We might not meet again.”

When I murmured that, Naru turned his gaze to me.

“He said that earlier.”

“Yeah. If his body is found...”

Cutting off there, Naru closed his mouth.

There was nothing I could say, either.

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“Mai. There’s something I want to ask you.”

Naru spoke after some time had passed.

“...What?”

“On one occasion, you had a vision of the past where your throat was cut. At that time, was there anything strange?”

“Something strange?”

Naru momentarily groped for words.

“I performed psychometry on a small item that was kept in that mansion. It was something like a vase or lamp. Yours was very similar to the vision I saw within that.”

“Eh?”

“You could say that it was almost identical in every detail. It was before your dream.”

“...What does that mean?”

Naru shook his head a little.

“I’ll change the angle of the question. Inside your dreams, what sort of role did Eugene play?”

—Role?

“...I don’t really know, but there was a time when he told me he showed me the direction of a dream. The rest of the time, he gave me advice and taught me various things. This time, your brother taught me a method to enter a trance state.”

“The method where you release the tension from your entire body while focusing on your breathing?”

“Yeah.”

Naru released a sigh.

“What is that idiot doing...”

Idiot? —Even in regards to his brother, Naru is Naru.

“For a spirit medium to lose his way even for a moment. When I thought he was already on the other side.”

“I guess he was worried about you.”

I said that for some reason.

Naru frowned in disgust.

“I haven’t fallen low enough for Gene to worry about me.”

—Conclusion: Because he was able to be brothers with this guy, I’m certain his older brother was infinitely good-natured.

“But, what does it mean?”

“In short, that idiot is posing as your spirit guide. My guess is that you have innate spiritual abilities. In anticipation of that, he was probably determined to stick by your side and take on the job of drawing out your abilities. Good grief...”

If you talk about him in this way, your older brother won’t be able to rest in peace.

“That method of entering a trance state was a technique Gene used often. On those occasions, it was a trait of his to perceive spirits as light and see the landscape as transparent. On top of that, he’d connect the line without permission.”

“Line?”

Naru looked truly disgusted.

“There was a hotline between Gene and myself. For direct communication between consciousness and consciousness.”

“Telepathy?”

Naru nodded.

“Although, it wasn’t at all useful with anyone other than my brother. He relayed that to you. That explains why you also saw the same vision.”

...Really?

“He should quickly cross over to the other side.”

It was an absolutely understandable sentiment, so I decided not to think of Naru as a heartless person. It would be painful for me, too, if my mother and father remained on this side forever.

“I bet he was really worried about you.”

“He should mind his own business.”

“Now, now. Eugene disappeared and there was no one left with the ability to see spirits, right? So then, he guided me so I could be useful somehow.”

I think he’s a kind older brother. If you take that for granted, you’ll regret it someday.

“He’s meddlesome.”

“That’s called kindness.”

“It’s also call stupid.”

...Good grief!