Ghost Hunt:Volume2 Chapter1

Chapter 1 - The Spirits' Residence

1

Afterwards not many people came. I started to organize the books on the list. All of them were about parapsychology. Organizing them became part of my job.

I picked up an unbelievably stinky book, "Naru, what category is 'The Parapsychology Battlefield'?"

Naru picked up the book and flipped through it. "Parapsychology, Thesis."

"Got it~"

Right when I was going to write that on a card, the door opened, and a young lady entered.

She looked to be about twenty years old. Although she wore subtle clothes that adults usually wear, she gave me the feeling that she faced many difficulties lately.

"Do you need help with something?" I asked, walking toward her while she gazed uneasily back at me.

"Please excuse me... Is this SPR?"

Oh, a guest.

Slapping my business smile on, I directed her to the sofa.

Naru also stood up and greeted her. Today his temper was worse than usual. And no wonder. We had so many annoying customers today. And not one of them had a reasonable request.

I whispered mentally to myself, then went to the kitchen to pour tea.

"...Is something troubling you?" Naru still used his angry tone.

Noriko Morishita... Lowered her head, not looking up at Naru.

"...Well, strange things have been happening at my house," she admitted.

"What kind?"

Naru's tone seemed to say, most likely an incident occurred the day you bought the house, and you're just not used to the house yet. We've been getting these kinds of requests rather often. And Naru usually rejects them.

Noriko quietly responded, "There are strange sounds."

—Oh?

"Sounds of someone knocking on the wall and climbing onto the bed will come from empty rooms. The door opens and closes by itself..."

A glimmer of light flashed in Naru's eyes.

"The door opens and closes with no apparent reason?" he restated.

Noriko nodded uneasily. "Objects in the room won't be in their usual place. The room often shakes. At first I thought it was an earthquake, but it wasn't..."

...A real customer has arrived.

Naru's eyes gleamed. That means he's interested.

"Can you be more specific on objects not being in their usual place?" he inquired.

"Um... The flower vase moved, things I put in the drawer aren't there anymore, and they all end up in places they shouldn't be in."

"And the earthquake?"

"It kind of feels like an earthquake. The furniture emits a rumbling sound. And then there's this swaying feeling..." Naru signaled to Lin with his eyes, who then pulled out a cassette recorder to tape Noriko's account. Afterward, Naru asked her more questions.

"First of all, can you tell us about the other inhabitants?"

After Noriko-san left, Naru immediately started discussing the matter with Lin-san. It seemed like they'll accept Noriko's request.

Naru's really picky with requests. If he has no interest, then he'll definitely reject it. Out of the three months that I've worked here, this is the first time I've seen them ready to accept a request.

The rest of the SPR members joined us three days later. Luckily it was the summer holidays for all public schools in the country so I didn't need to go to school.

It was a two-hour drive from Tokyo. The house was built in an old architectural style. Noriko-san lived in a tall house near the woods. The first impression she must've gotten from the house was that it was dark. Dark and gloomy. Almost like it was completely foreign. The trees in the backyard nearly covered up the entire rooftop. The brick walls were covered by a painting of a mountain tiger. The vines had even started to reach the windows.

It really did seem like an old house. Even if I don't have any proof of it.

"What's wrong?" Naru turned around and asked.

"It's just..." I murmured

How can I talk about the house looking really dark and creepy with Noriko-san standing right there. When it was finally quiet, Noriko-san smiled, "Are you surprised that it's so old? They say that this house was built before the war. It always feels a bit lonely to me."

"...Oh."

The wind blew, rustling the leaves in trees.

"—Come in, come in," she ushered us.

At Noriko's request, I went inside.

The house looked so cool. The white walls and brown furniture gave it a quaint look.

"What a cool house..."

Noriko smiled at me and said "Thanks." Then her expression suddenly changed to a serious one. "It would be better if those strange things didn't happen..."

...True. No matter how magnificent a house may look, they usually sell cheap because something bad happened there.

"My older brother's not here, so the place always makes me uneasy."

Oh. Noriko's older brother is the owner of the house, but right now he's overseas on a business trip. When he was away, many strange incidents had occurred. It must've been scary. Right now there are three females in the house, including Noriko's sister-in-law and niece.

Noriko smiled slightly, "My sister is waiting for everyone so please come along."

We entered the guest room.

"Ah!"

"Ge!"

"Eh?!"

The moment we entered, I let out a yelp. We had some guests.

"...Long time no see."

"Sly one, huh."

A man and woman, both of them about twenty years old.

...Why are you guys over here—

"Do you know them?" a bulky women asked curiously.

"This is Kana, my sister-in-law," Noriko introduced.

Kana-san bowed.

Naru answered her earlier question, displeasure evident in his blunt tone, "We've done business together before."

"So that's how it is... In that case, an introduction would be unnecessary."

"That's right."

Is an introduction really necessary? The man with the stupid look on his face is a former monk from Mt. Kouya. The woman wearing the flashy dress is Matsuzaki Ayako, a priestess.

The old school building was rumored to be haunted. It was at that time when they came over to investigate. They're horrible people with no abilities.

So, why are you guys over here anyway—?

Not long afterwards, a little girl followed Noriko, who was carrying tea, into the room.

...Cute...

The supple girl almost looked like an angel or doll. Wearing a white dress, she was cradling an outdated doll with her tiny fingers. She looked like she came from a painting.

"This is my niece, Ayami," Noriko introduced.

Even though Noriko's older brother Morishita-san is still young, he owns a company. Ayami-chan is his daughter. Ayami-chan's mother isn't Kana-san. Her mother had divorced with her father a long time ago. It's been nearly a year since their marriage took place.

Oh— Ayami-chan's mother must've been a beautiful woman—

Noticing that everyone was looking at Ayami, Noriko let out a small laugh, then introduced us to the woman carrying dishes, "This is our housekeeper, Shibata-san."

"So is that everyone?" Naru asked calmly.

Of course, Naru only enjoys looking at himself in the mirror.

"Right," Noriko-san answered Naru, "but Shibata-san doesn't live here."

Naru nodded, "I have some questions for you later. Kana-san, would it be alright if you prepare a room for us? A base for us to investigate from."

"No problem. Please come this way," Noriko raised her hand and guided us to another room.

2

Such a big house... So many rooms.

We were led to an empty room on the first floor near the stairs.

Naru examined the room and nodded. Then he turned toward Bou-san and Miko-san, "…Can you tell me why you two are here?"

Such a cold tone.

The priestess Ayako looked smug, "Long time no see. Can't you act a little bit happier?"

"I'm terribly sorry." Naru's expression was still cold and detached.

"So handsome, yet so fickle," Bou-san sighed.

Naru's lack of emotion and cold stare urged the two to reply.

"That's because," Ayako said, looking at Bou-san, "I had..." She pointed at herself. "...gotten a request from the nanny over here."

"Morishita's secretary requested me."

"And then I met Morishita's little sister—"

"It's easier to have more people around in this kind of situation."

"That's why we're here today."

"Then I was scared to death after seeing this simpleminded priestess over here," said Bou-san.

"You frivolous rule-breaking monk!"

They glared at each other.

"So that's why you guys are here." I followed their conversation.

...What a pain.

This was boring. What's up with Noriko-san; she could've told us this earlier. And then we would've told her that they're not good at anything except arguing.

"Man—we'll just leave it at that. Please continue to help us," Bou-san said, smiling surreptitiously.

Naru ignored the other two and looked at me and Lin-san instead, "Let's start working."

...It started again. Shibuya Psychic Research is doing tough work again.

Naru is a ghost hunter.

Ghost hunters... Are people who get rid of ghosts. Even though psychics can also investigate, Naru isn't a psychic. Or that's what he says, anyway. He uses state-of-the-art video cameras and equipment to help with the investigation.

Moving all that equipment is manual labor.

I went back to the van and started moving all the equipment. I already set up the shelves so all I had to do was move the equipment onto that. Seeing the room become a research institute, Noriko-san was really surprised.

"Is that the room where the paranormal phenomena occurred?" Naru asked.

Noriko shook her head, "There isn't a specific place where it occurs..."

Naru contemplated, then said, "Then we can place two videocams on both the first and second floor. And we can set one up in the hallway. Let's observe the situation first."

After we placed the videocams in those designated places, we were sweating.

"Still the same, I see," Bou-san sighed, glancing up at the mountain-pile of TVs and video cameras.

It really was quite a sight to see. There were twelve small TVs and some other commonplace equipment that I didn't see a use for. Lin-san sat in front of the equipment. The TV screens brightened, showing different areas of Morishita's house.

"What do you think of this place?" Bou-san asked Naru.

"I can't be sure as of now," Naru replied coldly. He seemed... Angry. He's a really proud guy, so he dislikes it whenever someone else interrupts his work.

Ayako snickered, "I don't know anything about this ghost hunt stuff, but as always, you're making a big deal out of this. This isn't even a big case."

"So is this Matsuzaki-san's intuition?" asked Naru.

After hearing Naru, Ayako was at a loss for words.

In the old school building case, Ayako's intuition was never right.

"That time was an exception. This time I'm not wrong. The culprit is an earth spirit."

"You said that last time, but you guessed wrong," he stated matter-of-factly. Such a disdainful tone.

Ayako raised an eyebrow. She looked like a secretary or maybe even a college student with her formal clothing on.

Bou-san laughed loudly, earning a glare from the woman.

"What about you?" Ayako asked the guffawing man.

"Me? I know my stuff so my opinion counts."

...These two are still going at it.

"What about you, "ojou-chan"? You're Mai, right? Naru's assistant."

"As of now I'm doing various jobs. According to what Noriko-san said, this seems to be the work of a poltergeist."

"Oh."

"Heh."

Bou-san and Ayako's eyes were wide open.

Ah, humans are progressive creatures.

Poltergeist.. In Japanese it would be called a spirit who disturbs others. That's what the word means in a literal sense: a disturbing spirit. Objects relocating themselves and eerie noises coming from nowhere.

—There's an investigator in France named E. Tisane. He categorized poltergeist activities. They're called "Tisane’s Nine Criteria."

Explosions, knocking sounds, doors opening and closing, vibrations, eerie sounds, invasions, moving objects will be warm to the touch, and objects will come out of nowhere. Those are the nine criteria.

"According to what Noriko-san said, there're knocking sounds, doors opening and closing, objects relocating themselves, and eerie sounds. That's five conditions. As long as more than half the criteria is met, it can be considered a poltergeist. I think the possibility of this happening is pretty high."

Hmm— I've become smart. This is what I've learned from Naru's "you're stupid" assaults.

Bou-san laughed aloud, clapping, "Heh, pretty amazing. If it's a poltergeist, then who's the culprit?"

Hee hee. Nice, I was waiting for that.

"It's Noriko-san."

"Huh?"

"Poltergeist activities are usually caused by the house's inhabitants, most of which are women. After knowing that, isn't it obvious? She's been having difficulties with her older brother's sister-in-law, right?"

"So that's how it is," Ayako gasped with admiration. "Don't you think that Kana-san is strict? Perhaps she and Noriko-san don't get along well."

Yup, yup.

I sure am awesome.

Thinking that, I looked at Naru, who returned my look with a piercing gaze.

Huh?

"At first I wanted to praise you for remembering everything you learned so far, but," Naru continued coldly, "poltergeist culprits are usually between thirteen and fifteen years old, meaning they are undergoing puberty. Noriko-san is already twenty. Saying she's undergoing puberty right now is a rather outrageous idea."

...Oh.

"Although it's possible for a spiritually sensitive woman to be responsible.. No matter what, let's just observe the situation for now. We'll make a conclusion later."

...Hmph.

Bou-san looked at Lin-san. "Is that man over there Naru's assistant?"

Lin-san nodded slightly. He was injured in the last case so he had no choice but to rest for a while (please don't ask how it happened). That's why the group doesn't really know much about him.

"What do you think of this case?" asked Bou-san.

Lin-san briefly answered in a low tone, "Am I obligated to reply you?"

Both Bou-san and Ayako raised their eyebrows. "...You're definitely Naru's assistant. What a great personality."

Naru crossed his arms, ignoring them.

Lin-san is just that kind of person. He seems to be indifferent or maybe someone hard to get close to. Or maybe he's just rude. Even now, we have barely exchanged any words. I shouldn't push my luck because I still don't know his full name. And of course it's obvious I haven't seen him smile or joke around.

With the stiff atmosphere surrounding us, Bou-san and Ayako left the room.

Lin-san continued to look at the TV screen as if nothing happened. His bangs practically covered up half his extremely, stoic face. Like Naru, he usually wears black clothes. When they stand together, the atmosphere becomes gloomy, like that of a funeral.

3

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.

4

We arrived at Ayami-chan's room.

Her room was on the second floor, just like the room I shared with Ayako-san.

"Look!"

Kana-san rushed into the room.

Our eyes widened as we observed the room. That table that used to be right beside the wall was leaned over. Not only that, the bed, bookshelf and wardrobe were all at a crooked angle, pushed to the edge of the room.

Dazed and sleepy, Ayami-chan stood in the corner in her pajamas.

"...What happened..." Bou-san whispered.

Kana-san replied firmly, "...When I came to get Ayami in bed, the room was just like this. And you still ask 'what happened'? Didn't I call on you guys because of things like this?"

Hearing Kana-san's uneasy retort, I grasped the situation and looked at the little girl, "Ayami-chan?"

Ayami-chan blinked her eyes several times, then raised her head toward me, "Why is the furniture on the sides?"

She was scared stiff.

"Yeah, that's right. What happened here?"

I also noticed the carpet was askew, pushed to the side...

I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my back.

Who could've moved all that? It was all so heavy. There was furniture on top of the carpet. Even with all my strength, I wouldn't have been able to move it 1 cm.

Who did this? And how did they do it?

Leaning on the side of the door, Ayako softly offered an explanation, "Didn't that kid do it?

I couldn't help but retort, "And how would Ayami-chan be able to do that?"

"That's what I was thinking," Bou-san agreed. "With all that furniture on the carpet, even I wouldn't be able to move it. Or are you saying that you can do it?"

He threw a ridiculing look at Ayako.

Oh God, here it comes again.

Naru calmly asked Kana-san, "...First of all, can we examine this room?"

"Yes, do what you want," Kana-san said, nodding. "We'll leave then."

Kana-san pulled Ayami-chan's hand.

Ayami-chan lifted her head and looked at us, "I didn't do it."

She was on the verge of tears.

"I know it's not your fault," I said hastily, in hopes of consoling her.

...It's all that brainless Ayako's fault!

What now? Ayami-chan is really upset.

Even Bou-san went and softly patted her head, "We all know it's not your fault. Don't cry, okay?"

"Okay," Ayami-chan finally broke into a smile.

After they left, we started to discuss the case.

"What's your opinion on this, Naru-chan?"

Opinion? What kind of opinion can you get from that?

"If someone is capable of accomplishing this, I'd like to see that person. Maybe Matsuzaki-san knows of someone like this, but I don't know of anyone that strong."

...Exactly.

Ayako turned around in embarrassment, like always. "I was just saying."

To demonstrate, Naru went up and pushed the bed. Bou-san went up too, to help him. The bed didn't move, and the carpet made even less progress.

Naru looked around the bed, then said softly, "There aren't any marks on the bed. A human didn't do this."

And then a despairing cry came from downstairs.

We rushed down the stairs.

"What happened?"

We ran to the living room.

Kana-san was standing, her face chalk white. Ayami-chan was on the side, her eyes in a daze. Noriko-san rushed here, noticed the scene, and was shocked.

"......!!"

We ran to a halt.

The furniture was all flipped upside down.

The table, chairs, and even the bookshelf leaning against the wall were all flipped upside-down. The painting on the wall was also flipped upside-down.

No one said a word.

It might seem easy to flip the table over, but this table is composed of thick, tough wood. If Naru, Lin, and Bou-san all try to flip it over together, then it might work.

What about that cabinet? I drank tea here earlier so I know Kana-san puts her collection of clocks there. So many clocks. Some old, some new. There're marble clocks, brass clocks, bronze clocks, and even silver clocks.

It's a cabinet filled with heavy things... Plus, the cabinet was also made of thick, tough wood. It should be heavy... How was it moved?

Moving it down, flipping it over, and pushing it to the wall.

I suddenly realized something under my feet.

The carpet, which was under all the furniture, was also flipped upside-down.

We set up video cameras in Ayami-chan's room, our room, and the living room.

Today, it seemed like Ayami-chan was sleeping with Noriko-san.

Naru looked at the equipment in those two rooms, then he started contemplating.

Bou-san suggested, "That's right, it's obvious. The problem is who's causing the poltergeist activity."

"It's not an earth spirit?"

"At first I thought it was."

...Here it comes again. You always say it's an earth spirit, and last time you were wrong? Or did you forget that part already?

Naru didn't reply.

"It doesn't matter what it is because this can be taken care of easily. I will exorcise it tomorrow," Ayako declared, standing up.

"Naru-chan, are you still watching the TV screen? You're wasting time," Ayako nagged.

Naru ignored her. Ayako flicked her hand as she left the room.

"Well, if you want to keep watching the TV screen then just keep doing that. I'm going to sleep."

...You still act like you're so important. I don't understand where you get all that confidence from. In the last case, you didn't pull your weight at all.

After Ayako left, Bou-san asked, "What's up? You seem to be concentrating hard on something."

Naru ignored him. Hey, you should at least answer.

But Bou-san didn't seem to care. "Did you find any clues?"

Finally, Naru answered, "Don't you think they reacted too early?"

"Huh?"

Light flickered in Naru's dark eyes. Such a deep color.

He proceeded to explain, "Spirits normally hate outsiders. When outsiders come into their house, they usually hide for a certain amount of time."

"True."

I asked Bou-san, "So that's the case with this house?"

If I asked Naru instead, he'd chide my ignorance.

"Yes... Doesn't this usually happen on TV? When people try to record a haunted house, nothing ever happens."

"Oh..."

"Whether it's a spirit or a poltergeist, once an outsider comes, they usually lay low for a while... It should be this way."

Naru's eyes were fixed on the TV, "But so many incidents have occurred since we came here. And they're all more serious than the ones Noriko-san mentioned."

"...Yeah. Noriko-san only mentioned objects swaying in her house..."

"What do you think?"

Bou-san's eyes became serious and intense, a rare moment to see, as he crossed his arms, "...Usually the reactions weaken. A loud sound would instead become a soft sound created by friction. But if the reactions become stronger instead..."

Bou-san stopped for a moment. "Repulsion."

Naru looked at Bou-san. "So you think that way too?"

"Yes. This house seemed unhappy the moment we came here."

"Plus, it showed us a number of incidents in our short time here..."

"This poltergeist isn't an ordinary one."

Naru nodded, his voice barely a whisper, "...This could be a troublesome one."

I stood up uneasily.

...A troublesome one...

When nothing else moved in the night, we finally went to sleep around daybreak.

5

The flower vase on the table was still in the same place. It didn't move into the circle on the table.

"How's it going?" I asked, watching Naru use the video camera.

"The flower vase didn't move."

"As expected, nothing here either. There are no responses."

Once we got back to base, I asked Naru, "Since the flower vase didn't move...Does that mean the people who live here didn't cause the poltergeist activity?"

"Yes."

"Hey, can the culprit be Noriko-san's older brother who's overseas right now?"

"That would be impossible because he's not here. I've never heard of a case where a middle-aged man is the culprit. Even if it is him, the poltergeist activity would've left when he left. If that were the case, the poltergeist activity would occur whereever he is staying at."

"Then... Is it because of a ghost?"

"I can't be sure on that yet."

...Please, just tell me if it is.

Naru turned around to me, "That can't be determined right now. Mai, check the temperatures of each room."

He then turned around to face Lin-san, "Lin, check the foundations of this building."

That quiet, un-amiable man responded, "Okay."

Lin-san stood up.

In the afternoon, while I was measuring the temperatures of each room, Ayako started her exorcism.

The location seemed to be Ayami-chan's room. When I passed by our base, I saw Ayako in a video camera, standing in front of an altar. Behind her was a confused-looking Shibata-san, Noriko-san, and Kana-san. A Shinto prayer started to come out of the microphone. "I humbly invite you to come down onto this heavenly altar..."

Bou-san sat in front of the equipment, obviously at ease. Lin-san went out to investigate the well, while Naru went around the house to investigate.

"Please cleanse the sins..."

"Bou-san, aren't you going to do something?" I asked him.

...What a sly guy. He's the only one acting carefree.

"Come on," I urged him.

"Are you saying you know Naru's conclusion?" Bou-san replied.

I wanted him to do something since I didn't think he'd act so laid back, "That's right. Even though it's okay if you relax a bit, you shouldn't just sit back and not do anything."

...Bastard. You only know how to gain from others.

"Oh, mighty heavenly God, I beseech you to come down..." the prayer continued.

Hearing Ayako's voice again, I left the room. Bou-san ran up to me, "What? Jou-chan? Aren't you going to stay longer?"

"I'm busy, unlike a certain monk."

...Hmph.

"You... Act more like Naru-chan everyday."

"Well, yeah. It's like they say. The manager and his parents are alike, just like the employer and employee are alike."

"What are you talking about?" Bou-san asked, "well, I'm going to keep watching. Good luck." ...And you still act like you have a lot to boast about. The least you can do is help out.

After Ayako finished her prayer, she turned towards Kana-san, a confident smile on her face, "Tonight you may sleep with ease."

What's going to happen now?

"How's the situation?" I asked Naru as I handed him a piece of paper with the recorded temperatures of each room.

Now it's ten o'clock.

"The temperature in Ayami's room is somewhat low," he responded.

...When a spirit shows up in a certain place, the temperature decreases.

Naru placed down my report, then looked at a layout of the house.

"This house isn't slanted, and the foundations are solid. Although water flows under this house, it does so smoothly. In addition, the water level hasn't decreased."

Poltergeist activity can be a result of the house being slanted or land subsidence. But after a day of investigation, it turned out to be neither. In other words...

"It's a ghost?" I asked him.

"That's a high possibility."

...Oh.

He... Said that in such a carefree way.

Actually, I'm really scared of ghosts (blabbering). A lot of poltergeist activities are caused by humans so I'm not completely scared. But I've never seen a ghost before. When I told ghost stories with my friends, I wasn't scared either.

But I'm getting scared now... I really do have an extraordinary job. —And then, Shibata-san's shrill cry rang through the air.

On our way to the kitchen, we bumped into Noriko-san. When we got there, we were frightened for a moment.

The pipe was on fire!

Noriko-san screamed. Shibata-san was frozen stiff with fear.

I quickly looked around.

The fire extinguisher. Where's the fire extinguisher?!

The huge flames almost engulfed the opposite wall.

Naru and Bou-san pulled Shibata-san out of the way while I reached for the fire extinguisher by the refrigerator.

"Noriko-san, don't you have any other fire extinguishers?!" I yelled as I turned the fire extinguisher on. Mist sprayed into the surroundings. Noriko-san ran grabbed another fire extinguisher and helped.

Using the two fire extinguishers, we finally put out the fire. Noriko-san shut off her fire extinguisher.

Noriko-san and Shibata-san slumped onto the floor.

"Thank... You."

Shibata-san continued to tremble. Bou-san tried to comfort her.

"Madam, are you alright?"

"Ah... This kind of thing... Happened."

"Well, let's end this for today. Do you want me to give you a lift home?" Shibata-san reluctantly nodded. I was about to praise Bou-san for being so caring, but then the air suddenly became cold.

Someone's at the window...

Even though the room was lit by a small light, I was positive there was a child there. That child looked at us from the window.

Then it suddenly disappeared.

"Naru!"

"What?"

"Did you see that just now?"

Naru looked at the direction my finger was pointing at, "What was there?"

"I saw someone there..."

Naru ran to the window and looked outside, "No one's here."

"Someone's there. I'm sure of it. And it was looking inside too... It was a child."

Everyone became nervous.

"Was it Ayami-chan?"

"I don't know. I couldn't see the face."

"But, Ayami-chan's already asleep," Noriko-san said uneasily.

Naru turned his intense gaze downward onto the floor, thinking carefully. "Let's look at the situation first."

Ayami-chan slept in Noriko's room again tonight. The lights were off in Noriko-san’s room, however in the dimness we could see Ayami-chan wasn't asleep... In the dark room, she was sitting up in the bed, playing with her doll. She placed a small quilt on Minnie.

A girl playing with her doll in the dark. It sounded sad.

Ayami-chan raised her head.

Noriko-san turned on the lights, then sat by her, "Ayami, were you in the kitchen just now?"

Blinded by the lights, Ayami-chan blinked her eyes before shaking her head in surprise. She looked uncomfortable under Noriko-san's interrogating gaze.

"No I wasn't."

She shook her head furiously.

Noriko-san let out a soft sigh. A loud sound came from the ceiling. It was almost as if something was hitting the ceiling.

We looked up at the ceiling. The sound didn't stop.

"I didn't do it!" Ayami-chan cried out.

"I didn't do it!" She cried again, tears brimming in her eyes.

The thumping sounds continued, as if they were responding to Ayami-chan.

The chandelier swayed, making a creaking sound.

The thumping sounds grew louder and louder.

The bed and furniture rocked too.

"Noriko-san, it's dangerous here..." Naru warned.

Right after he said that, the bed flipped over and the bookshelf started to fall.

"Noriko...-san...!"

The bookshelf and toys on the bookshelf started to tumble onto the frightened woman.

I couldn't help but scream.

Ayami-chan screamed too.

As if on cue, the lights went off.

6

Noriko-san was hurt in many places, but luckily her injuries were not serious. She went to sleep in another room.

We returned to base. There was a TV screen showing Ayami-chan's room. Tonight Ayami-chan was sleeping with Noriko-san again. That's why no one was in her room.

The brightness of the screen was because this was taken with thermal imaging.

The string of numbers on the screen changed continuously. That indicated the time. The other thermal cameras were placed in the living room, the kitchen, and the hallways on the first and second floor.

The blue and orange colors indicated the temperature. This was thermography, which is used to show temperature. The orange color indicated a high temperature, while the blue color indicated a low one.

Nothing changed on the T.V.

"Looks like you gave up," Bou-san commented, glancing at Ayako, who immediately turned her head to the other side.

"Yeah, it's beyond my abilities. I'm really sorry."

...Ignorant jerk.

"...But, don't you think it's dangerous?" Ayako's voice was uneasy. "The pipe broke...and suddenly burst into fire. Doesn't this poltergeist seem strong?"

...Then, doesn't that mean it's dangerous?

As if sensing I was uneasy, Naru coldly suggested, "If you're scared, you can go home."

...I'm not scared.

"Well, there will be a solution," Bou-san said in a carefree tone, "The gas valve is already closed. Fire won't explode from it again."

...This guy isn't nervous at all.

"Naru-chan, doesn't it seem strange?" Bou-san asked.

"Ayami-chan's situation?"

"Yeah, that poltergeist back there seemed to react to the kid's actions. Mai also said she saw a kid back in the kitchen..."

"Are you saying that Ayami-chan is the reason for the poltergeist activity?" Bou-san touched his jaw, "The autosuggestion showed that the culprit isn't someone who lives here. How much confidence do you place in that test?"

"A hundred percent," Naru replied bluntly, "the culprit doesn't live here."

"Your autosuggestion might've failed."

"That's impossible."

...You're still full of confidence, Naru.

"Don't say it so resolutely..." Bou-san said, not willing to give up. A low voice intercepted, "Naru is an expert at autosuggestion so that would be indeed impossible."

...That voice just now...was it Lin-san's?

"Oh, you sure trust him a lot," Ayako snatched this opportunity for sarcasm.

But Lin-san just continued to look at the TV screen. "I'm only stating a fact."

Such an emotionless voice.

Sometimes I mistake him for a robot.

Ayako was about to say something else, but then Lin-san cut her off, "Naru, the temperature is decreasing."

Naru looked at the TV. "...What's the time?"

"Two fourty-two a.m."

At this time, a red light shone on the edge of Ayami-chan's room.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at the screen.

"The sound reception, —Lin, the speaker."

As soon as Lin-san set up the microphone, eerie sounds came out.

"......?"

A booming sound came down, followed by a quiet knocking sound. A cracking sound sounded through the air. Noisy sounds filled the air. It almost sounded like a mob of people was running around up there.

"Such strong sounds..."

There was nothing on the screen. No one was in the room. Nothing moved in the room either. It all seemed scary.

"This is...really serious..." Naru whispered.

Even Naru's trembling now.

"What?" I asked.

"The temperature suddenly dropped..." Naru murmered.

I looked at the computer screen. "Thermography?"

You can observe the temperature with thermography. Warm colors indicate high temperatures, while cool colors indicate low ones... The screen was filled with a deep, blue color.

"The response is strong. The temperature's still dropping... It's below freezing temperature..."

Naru looked uptight.

The strange sounds continued.

"Ayami-chan didn't do this. No human could've done this..."

...Then, that must mean..

"It's a ghost?"

"Correct, and a strong one too..." Naru looked tense.

"Seems like Bou-san was correct."

"It's a Jibakurei?"

"I'm afraid so." In the three months I've worked in Naru's office, it's finally come to this. When I just started this job, I wondered if I would get to meet a real ghost.

I was almost scared to death.

This was a rare sight: Bou-san seemed excited as he stood confidently, "Well it's like I said, I'm not the same as Ayako. I'm actually capable."

"You were extremely accurate," Naru chuckled.

Ayako turned unhappily toward Bou-san, ""It's a bolt from the blue", right Naru?"

"...Huh?"

Bou-san couldn't help but smirk, "Whatever you say. If there is a ghost, it'll be my turn now. I'll perform a magnificent exorcism."

"As long as you don't fail," Ayako smiled coldly, "well, let me see your exorcism then. You say you are very capable."

"Of course. I'm not incapable of exorcism like you."

"But you failed in the last case as well."

"That was—"

...Here it comes again. Bou-san and Ayako. It always comes out like this. But deep down inside, I can't help but feel that those two are good friends.

The eerie sounds persisted for a while before quieting down.

We finally got some rest.  

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