Ghost Hunt:Volume3 Chapter3

Chapter 3 - Onibi

1

It was raining after class.

We were in the middle of a tea break during a late meeting in the conference room.

During the meeting, Naru made a fuss about being an idiot and not telling everyone about Kasai-san's case. I heard him, but I wasn't really listening. Instead, I had looked out the window and watched the rain fall.

The monotonous rain made me feel gloomy.

―I thought about that, knowing today was one unlucky day. There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that someone (a criminal) is responsible for this. With the exception of divine intervention, I think it could just be that everyone is having a hard time.

The rain softly came down like were strings of silver. The clouds darkened the sky, which created a depressing mood.

And then the next thing I knew, I was in an amusement park.

Why am I in an amusement park?

...Of course, this is a dream.

It was a small amusement park. I was filled with excitement.

I realized this place looked familiar. It looked just like the amusement park my mom had once taken me to. I was standing in the front of a mirror house. In the middle was a glass mirror, and around it was a maze. That's right. When I was young, I would cry in that mirror house. When I saw my reflection in the mirrors, my reflection was scary so I'd cry. But now it's alright because I'm grown up. I used to roll up my sleeves and jump into the mirror house. I would go through the continuous maze. It wasn't necessary to go through the maze, but I went anyway. The maze was a reflection of the mirror. I had walked and walked. It was just my shadow and me. I had walked to the middle of the maze. For some strange reason, I was rushed and clumsy, which is why I had slammed into the glass.

What's with this huge maze anyway!

The maze was getting darker and darker. Ah, that's why. This maze darkens as time passes. While thinking about this, I could no longer see my feet. The only available light was the light reflected by the mirror.

What do I do? There's no exit. As I feared, he didn't come!

I started to run. My reflection also ran. Hundreds of me turned and ran, but in the midst of all, only one shadow wasn't moving. I aimed at it. That must be the clue to get out of this maze. I rushed towards the unmoving shadow.

...Naru.

In the darkness, Naru was there, completely clothed in black. Only his hands and face were pale as moonlight.

"It's impossible to get out," I told Naru.

Without saying anything, he pointed at something to his side. His pale fingers left a white trail in the darkness.

I could see the tip of his finger.

That's...the school. The inside of the school was inversed black and white, like a photographic negative. The wall was black, while the blackboard was white. The wall and floor had a white outline, but other than that they were transparent. This was the school's shadow.

And that's an unripe will-o-wisp. There were pale, clear will-o-wisps scattered throughout the entire school. In the darkness, I stared at them fixedly, placing all my attention on them.

"What's...that?" I asked Naru as I looked up at him.

Naru answered, "You'll understand."

...I'll understand? So that's it. Of course, I get it now. That will-o-wisp has evil intentions. Furthermore, it's not of this world. I shivered.

There were countless will-o-wisps. All of them were evil. I couldn't help but watch them. They exhibited a cold color. As I was watching them, they flashed little by little. Gradually the scene became blurry and normal colors came into place again. I could clearly see a wall.

"......?"

A wall. A very pale green wall. I was surrounded by a strange wall on all sides.

"Mai!"

What?!

I lifted my head and saw Naru. There was a harsh expression on his face.

"Just now, you were asleep, weren't you?"

Eh? Asleep? ...Of course.

Huh?!

I looked around to see everyone's cold eyes piercing at me.

"I'm sorry. I did fall asleep."

A...awkward.

"You were completely sound asleep with your eyes open."

"Sorry..."

Naru looked at me with cold eyes. "Are you my assistant? Or are you a hindrance?"

...W-, why you.

"Hold on a moment, why are you being so mean! I was sleepy so I couldn't help it. I didn't sleep well because I kept thinking about this case. It's not like I fell asleep while driving!"

Naru sent me another icy stare. "You've become aggressive, haven't you?"

"It's a perfectly natural response. Congressmen that bear the burden of the fate of an entire country have to sleep. Even people who have to complete difficult tasks that are as smart as the president have to sleep. So there's nothing bad about a mere, low-class person like me being asleep."

"...Wonderful, you've distorted my words."

"Oh dear, you've made the director upset," Matsazuki-san taunted.

"I'm fine," Naru replied.

...Really.

"With that kind of personality, you won't be living a long life," Naru pressed on.

...This guy, this guy, this guy!

Ah—how refreshing. You may have a sharp tongue, but you're very capable. On top of that, you're also quite handsome! If you had a good personality, it would be too good to be true, and you'd be the one suffering an early death, wouldn't you!

Naru's gaze fell onto my direction, and soon everyone else's did the same thing.

"Let's forget about this foolishness," Naru said. "We must return to the topic at hand."

So sleeping is just foolishness? I'd like to see you say that while marching to Capitol Hill. [1].

2

Naru lightly tapped the table with his finger. "I don’t know whether or not Kasai-san’s situation is related to this case..."

Ayako leaned towards him. "Well, how much faith do you place on that child, Kasai?"

"I believe her."

"Heh." Ayako’s cruel eyes flashed. "Well I think she’s lying. Please, as if she can actually bend spoons."

??

"Isn’t spoon bending fake?"

I asked, "It’s not, right? Spoon bending isn’t just a magic trick."

I wasn’t sure though. But it’s probably safer to ask Ayako instead of Bou-san or John.

"So is it?" I asked.

John nodded. "Right. Uri Geller started spoon bending. Uri Geller is the best psychic of the century...his supernatural powers were shown to the public. He had PK, clairvoyance, and prediction abilities similar to that of a prophet. He made the impossible possible. Geller was everywhere when it came to spoon bending. All the children saw him do it too."

"Um, you mean the Gellerini?

"Yes, that’s right. But the Gellerini had unstable powers. When they lost their powers, they would rely on magic tricks. Some of them were exposed as cheaters.

"I see."

"Because of that, some people began to doubt Geller’s ability."

"They doubted Uri Geller?"

"Yeah. At that time, America’s Society of Parapsychology had publicly announced that Uri Geller was a fake. That incident left such a strong impression on people that everyone now believes spoon bending is fake."

"But John, did you think Uri Geller’s powers were real?"

John put on a tired smile. "Not really... It’s just, he was too showy. At any rate, they were just illusions[2] that garnered more attention than they deserved."

"Illusion?"

"Um...basically it’s accomplished by using lots of magic tricks. Like making airplanes and trucks disappear."

"Ah, I get it now."

Listening in, Bou-san leaned towards us. "I think Geller was a fake too."

"Why?" I asked.

"Hmm. Psychic ability...if it’s the ability of sensing hidden things, hearing noises, or seeing things, then that’s the ability to sense things that shouldn’t be there. Geller was well-received at first, but he was later in a bind. He could do everything, but there was still something strange about him," the monk admitted.

"Right," John nodded. "There are two types of psychic abilities, ESP and PK. ESP is extrasensory perception, a special ability in which one can perceive things that normal people cannot. There are two branches of ESP: clairvoyance and telepathy."

"I see."

"PK stands for psychokinesis. It’s an ability that normal people do not have. Basically it’s the power to move objects with your mind... Generally psychics fall into one of these classifications: PK or ESP. Occasionally someone will be a mix of each, but most people will fall into just one of those categories."

Bou-san nodded. "Edgar Cayce Jean Dickson is an amazing clairvoyant, but I’ve never heard of him bending a spoon before. Likewise, Nina Kulagina has strong PK powers, but I’ve never heard of her having ESP. Only Kulagina and Davis have that kind of PK power."

"That’s right," John agreed. "But for Uri Geller, assuming his PK was the best, was his ESP also the best too? If that’s the case, then that means his power was unrestricted. However, I still think he was a fake."

Ayako leaned forward. "I’ve always wondered about that. Why does the spoon bend? If the metal bends, then what kind of spoon is it? And if PK can bend the spoon, then is it even a spoon? Isn’t that strange?"

"—So you’re basically saying that PK is just a magic trick?" I wondered aloud.

"No, that’s different," Bou-san asserted. "There are three types of PK: PK-MT, PK-ST, and PK-LT."

...Wow, this is too much information.

"Spoon bending would fall under the PK-ST category. It’s the ability to influence stationary objects. There are a lot of misunderstandings regarding this ability. There have been many reports of frauds that claim to have this. Actually, PK-MT is considered the best ability out of all of them. This is the ability to influence moving objects, such as changing the eyes of a die as it’s rolling. If you’re thinking about getting a two, then you really will get a two."

"Hehh."

"PK-MT is also widely considered to be fake. However, the majority of people have this. This latent ability varies in power for different people."

"...Do I have it too?"

"Maybe. If someone has PK-ST, it doesn’t necessarily mean that said person is a fake. Unlike the Gellerini’s PK, Shelby Meyer’s was fake. She bent a special type of metal. She seemed credible but terribly arrogant."

"Huh?"

"Generally, for people with psychic abilities, like Geller, would act as a magician. In that case, he would be able to perform magic without having to put up with others’ complaints. But even magicians have limits. Otherwise, people would get suspicious, right? If I remember correctly, Meyer was also a magician, similar to Rolfe-something or other, but Rolfe constantly got into conflicts and fights with others. Despite this, this Rolfe magician was eventually backed up by Meyer. In other words, Meyer had confirmed his powers."

"Oh—"

"And there was also Nina Kulagina. She was very strong. She had both PK-ST and PK-LT. PK-LT is the ability to influence living organisms, such as making them move. Such actions were often a cinch for her. She could cure illnesses with just physical contact. She stopped a frog’s heart and even a human heart."

"She could stop hearts—?!"

"Yes. During the experiment, she aroused the researcher’s curiosity. If she could stop a frog’s heart, then she might be able to stop a human’s heart. He got a volunteer for the experiment, and eventually the volunteer’s heart was in imminent danger of stopping. The doctor witnessing this was able to save him though."

Oh my god—

"...Also, another very important figure in PK is England’s Oliver Davis. He also has PK-ST. Normally, PK is used to move matchboxes, spoons, or other little objects. But there’s a big gap of power between this guy and the others. Dr. Davis is more of a serious researcher than a PK-user, and as such he hasn’t been publicized much. If I remember correctly, last year there was a video of him doing an experiment. In the experiment, he threw a 50-kg block of aluminum into a wall."

"Wow."

"But PK is just limited that way. Neither Shelby Meyer nor Oliver Davis had PK-LT either. I haven’t heard of anyone being able to influence living things. Despite that...Uri Geller could do all the PK, right? On top of that, he could also use ESP. Still, he looked suspicious to me."

"Oh..." Naru interposed. "Well...in any case, regarding Kasai-san’s problem, for the time being, the important thing is she believed in her powers. She felt that her teacher’s attack on her was quite unfair. This resulted in..."

"Cursing to kill"?

"Yes," Naru interposed.

"That’s our current situation. She can’t have PK-LT like Nuna Kulagina though, right?"

...In any case, if she could stop hearts...

"...That’s...not possible, right?"

Naru pondered the idea for a moment.

"...Correct, it wouldn’t happen," he clarified.

"Anyway, we need to deal with our current situation. Perform some exorcisms."

Everyone stood up.

(~30% translated)