Ghost Hunt Volume 1 Chapter 2

[sera131]

Table of Contents

• Section 1
• Section 2
• Section 3
• Section 4
• Section 5

Chapter 2 - Storm Warning

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1

“If you’re interested in listening, I can briefly explain the situation.” Shibuya-shi sat down on a bench among the bushes near the old school building.

“If I don’t listen, I can’t help you.” Even I had to admit my voice was sullen. How did I get caught up in something like this?

“About a week ago, the principal here approached us about investigating the ‘cursed’ old school building. It seems the gym is supposed to be rebuilt soon. To do that, he’d like to have the old school building demolished.”

Oh, come to think of it, there was something like that written in the brochure I got when I enrolled here. Among other things, there were plans to build a huge gym soon.

“However, accidents occurred during all the numerous attempts to demolish it in the past and demolition was always canceled.”

“Oh, so that’s why you were asked to investigate?”

“Exactly.”

“Hmm, you took the trouble to transfer schools for that?”

What a hard working guy.

However, Shibuya-shi stared at me disdainfully. “Who would transfer schools for an investigation?”

“But… yesterday, you said you were a transfer student.”

“When I meant to be vague and said, ’Something like that’?”

...That’s true…

“I said that to suit the situation.”

"You liar,” I muttered under my breath.

Shibuya-shi glared at me coldly. “I thought you were telling ghost stories. That’s why I said that.”

“I see. We might have mentioned the old school building in a ghost story. Then you’d gather information.”

“Oh? Aren’t you cleverer than a monkey,” Shibuya-shi said with an impressed tone.

Jerk! Don’t compare people with the ancestors of their ancestors.

“I wanted to gather any rumors circulating among the students. When you were telling ghost stories yesterday, was the old school building mentioned at all?”

“Yeah, Michiru told a story about it.”

“Do you remember what she said?” His tone seemed to say, ‘You forgot, didn't you?’

“I’m not senile enough yet to forget what happened yesterday.”

Hmph. What a rude guy.

“Let’s see...”

“Wait.” Shibuya-shi reached into the breast pocket of his black jacket. He took out a small microcassette recorder. “Begin,” he said and pressed the record button.

Well, isn’t that interesting.

While thinking that, I began the story of the old school building that Michiru told me.

2

After I finished talking, Shibuya-shi stood up. “Well then, follow me.”

“Are we going to the old school building?”

“Where else would we go?”

Well, that’s true.

“Hey, how much truth do you think there is to Michiru’s story?”

If the story’s true, I definitely don’t want to go inside the old school building.

Shibuya-shi sat on the bench again and pulled a file out of the briefcase he was holding. “It’s true that a lot of people died while the former building was in use.”

“Seriously?”

When I asked that, he turned to a page in the file. Notes had been written on the page in a small, tightly packed script.

I caught a glimpse of it, but it was like a doctor’s medical record. The page was covered in a Western language, so I couldn’t read it.

“Three years ago, when the old school building was in use… basically dating back from the present to eighteen years prior, deaths occurred at a rate of roughly one to two people per year.”

Ack!

“After the new school building was built, they decided to demolish the old one. During the demolition of the west side, the roof caved in. The cause was supposedly incompetence on the job.”

“So that part of the story was true...”

“Half of it was.”

“Half?”

“In the story you heard, the workers supposedly died, but that wasn’t the case. Only five people were injured, and no one died.”

“Really?”

...what the heck?

“Construction, as originally planned, was to demolish one third of the old school building; that was finished.”

“Huh? It wasn’t canceled because of the accident?”

“Unfortunately, no. Following that, there was a child who died inside the old school building. It wasn’t that long ago. Maybe six years ago?”

“A child...?”

“A seven-year-old girl who lived in the neighborhood was found dead inside the old school building. The culprit was arrested a month later. It was kidnapping for profit.

“It’s also true that there was a teacher who committed suicide, but a note was left behind concerning this. The cause was supposedly neurosis.”

“...Wow, that’s impressive. You really did a thorough investigation.”

I was truly impressed. Despite this,

“Of course. Don’t underestimate my information gathering skills.”

...I see. This guy doesn’t have an ounce of modesty, does he?

“Demolition was restarted last year to improve the sports field.”

“What about the runaway truck?”

“Here.” Shibuya-shi held out the copy of the newspaper that was clipped to the page.

‘School Building Demolition Truck Loses Control. Nine Students Dead or Injured,’ read a big, black headline.

“A truck that was trying to leave the schoolyard with a pile of debris lost control. It was right in the middle of a P.E. class, and the truck plowed into a nearby volleyball court. Seven people suffered minor or serious injuries, and two died.”

...Below the article, there were photos of the two students who died. I can’t bear these sort of things. My chest began to ache.

Shibuya-shi continued indifferently. “The driver had alcohol with lunch and was drunk. The accident was caused by this.”

“...hmm.”

“It’s no wonder the construction was canceled at the time. Due to this, it seems quite a few rumors developed about the old school building being bad luck.”

Brr. A chill ran down my back.

“As far as I know, they’re just rumors. Despite being called sinister and ominous, the cause is clear for every incident. I don’t think the case is all that big a deal.” Saying so, Shibuya-shi stood up.

I don’t like it. An investigation of the old school building? And I’m supposed to help with that?

Shibuya-shi, who was now standing, looked toward me as if to say, ‘Won’t you hurry up?’

I followed after him.

3

As soon as we walked around the bushes and arrived in front of the old school building, Shibuya-shi went around to the back of the building.

Behind the building, a van was parked in a spot not easily observed from the current school building. It was a metallic gray vehicle.

Shibuya-shi opened the sliding door of the van. There weren’t any seats inside the vehicle. Instead, it was full of machines I didn’t recognize.

“Move the equipment,” Shibuya-shi stated.

“All… of this?”

You must be kidding!

Shibuya-shi’s reply was curt. “All that’s necessary.”

Ew.

There were shelves made of pipe fastened to the inside of the van, and tightly packed on the shelves were machines similar to the components of a stereo system, lots of small TVs, and a typewriter-like device.

I’m not good with machines, so just looking at all that made me dizzy.

“Can you use all of these machines by yourself, Shibuya-san?”

When your assistant isn’t here.

“My brain works differently from yours.”

...Sheesh, doesn’t he have any humility? What a conceited guy!

“Before moving the equipment, let’s collect the mics. Come on.”

Yeah, yeah. I am your acting assistant, after all. Either I’ll die early from the curse of the old school building or I’ll die early due to overwork.

…*gulp* Thinking that to myself, I got really scared.

***

Shibuya-shi went around behind the old school building.

Across from the back of the building was a wall, and the space in between formed an alleyway about two meters wide.

In the alleyway, microphone stands were set up here and there facing the windows of the old school building.

“Is this a mic?” I pointed to one nearby.

“Yes. Remove and gather the mics. I’ll collect the stands.”



“Okay, but… what do you use these mics for?”

...Uh-oh. Shibuya-shi eyed me with contempt. “Wouldn’t you think microphones are generally used to pick up sound?”

“I know that.”

...I swear, this guy is too much.

“It’s dangerous to enter a haunted house that hasn’t been properly investigated. That’s why we first try to investigate as much as we can from outside the building.”

“Oh?”

“We do things like record inside noises from outside the window and set up video.”

...Wow, that really is something else.

“Hey, are haunted houses dangerous?”

“There are some that are.”

“You don’t get scared?”

“No.”

Hmm. Isn’t it creepy…?

“Why are you doing this when you’re barely seventeen?”

Shibuya-shi’s reply was brief. “Because it’s necessary.”

...It was a reply characteristic of someone with great confidence in himself.

I felt like being a little mean. “But hasn’t there been a case in the past that you couldn’t solve?”

“No,” Shibuya-shi said without hesitation. “Because I’m competent.”

...this guy’s really got faith in his own abilities.

If you talk that way, it’ll just make people resent you.

“My, my, aren’t you amazing. You’re handsome and competent,” I said in a heavily sarcastic tone.

Shibuya-shi took a long, hard look at me. “You think… I’m handsome?”

“I guess? Enough that Keiko and the others were making a fuss about it.”

“Hmm,” Shibuya-shi replied nonchalantly. “Their taste isn’t bad.”

This guy!

Then what? People who think you’re handsome have good taste and people who don’t have bad taste?

Why you—! What a narcissist!

Hmph. From now on, I’ll call you Naru-chan the Narcissist!

4

After I collected the mics, I was told to set up the machines.

“Do I have to go inside the school building…?”

“Obviously.”

“I think I should keep an eye on your stuff.”

Naru-chan looked at me coldly.

Well, I was just saying.

Without being given a choice, I was handed several steel pipes.

“You don’t have to worry; I won’t let you go alone. I’ll go with you.”

“Okay.”

I reluctantly headed toward the old school building.

The place looked ready to collapse and the opened entrance was dark. I placed my hand on the door.

The faint orange glow of twilight was still present in the entryway, and the shoe shelf that I destroyed in this morning’s unexpected accident was lying broken on the floor.

The dark spots from the assistant’s blood were still faintly visible.

“I’m… I’m going in.”

“Hurry up.” Naru-chan was following after me with a pile of pipes on his shoulder.

I stepped inside. The scent of dust seemed to fill the air, and the floorboards creaked with every forward step.

Directly ahead of us, at the back of the entryway, was a staircase; its steps were warped and crooked. There was a corridor on both sides. The left side appeared to have two classrooms, and the right had three. The room signs dangled lopsided over the doors. They were impossible to read due to the layers of dust.

“Let’s use this room,” Naru-chan said as he peered into the classroom nearest the entrance. It was an old laboratory. Inside the room were rows of large laboratory workbenches. He entered the lab.

School is a place with lots of people. Whether you like it or not, it’s a place where you're forced to gather. Due to this expectation, the empty classroom gave off an eerie feeling. Even more so when the room was so run-down that a single glance told you it hadn’t been used in a long time.

On top of that, this place was full of disturbing rumors. There was the runaway truck, the dead child, and the white silhouette that beckoned from the window.

Feeling reluctant, I passed through the door.

The inside of the classroom was brighter than the entryway, which made me feel just a little bit relieved.

Dust coated the floor, and garbage was piled up against a wall.

Naru-chan spread the pipes out on one of the tables. “Assemble the shelf.”

“What about you, Na… Shibuya-san?”

“I’ll go get the equipment.”

“You’re going outside!?”

“The equipment is outside.”

*gulp*

“I have to stay here by myself and assemble the shelf?”

I don’t want to.

“Would you rather carry the equipment? It’s heavy. Some of it weighs nearly 40 kilograms.”

“The shelf is fine,” I reluctantly answered.

Then Naru-chan nodded and left the classroom.

The inside of the room was still bright. And there weren’t any sounds. When I moved, the floor squeaked under my feet. But that was all.

I looked around the room a little.

It's safe if it’s still bright, right?

Nothing strange is going to come out, right?

Of course, just when I was feeling scared, I heard a sound. I suddenly head a dry snap from the ceiling and jumped.

I looked up at the ceiling. It was covered with blotches.

I caught my breath and listened carefully.

It’s okay, it’s okay…

As I was looking around and telling myself that, I heard the sound of light footsteps, then Naru-chan returned.

He looked at me as I stood there blankly and said in a cold voice, “Will you hurry it up?”

I hate this guy.

***

While I struggled to put the shelf together, Naru-chan carried in one machine after another. Before I knew it, the whole classroom was filled with machines.

When I finished the shelf, it was time to put the machines on it.

I stood beside Naru-chan and handed him “this” or “that” thing.

“Hey, what’s that?” I pointed at a large machine sitting beside Naru-chan.

“...Does it look like anything other than a tape recorder?”

“No.”

“It’s a tape recorder. However, since this one’s a bit special, it can record up to 24 hours. We use this and a parabolic microphone to pick up sounds.”

“...Why?”

After I asked that, Naru-chan glared at me coldly. “I hate talking to amateurs.”

Jerk!

“It’s obvious that I’m an amateur. If you've got a problem with that, then I won’t help you!”

When I said that in a furious rage, it seemed to slightly scratch the surface of Naru-chan’s thick skin. After looking at me seriously for moment, he said, “We do it in case of rapping sounds or strange noises.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I recorded sounds in the rooms on the first floor from outside the windows all day today.”

“With the mics from earlier?”

“Right. I’ll set up recording equipment inside the rooms tonight.”

“...Umm, you aren’t going to stay the night, are you?”

“Not today.” As he was speaking, he set up tapes in five recorders. They weren’t cassette tapes. Instead, they were the type wound on a reel. “Assuming there’s a spirit, we won’t stay overnight unless we can determine its level.”

“So you’re the type who knocks on a strong stone bridge before crossing it.”

“Huh?”

“You’re cautious.”

“Of course. Hōnteddohausu… Haunted houses can have extremely dangerous spirits. If they aren’t handled properly, the damage is irreparable.”

“Don’t scare me like that! ...What’s this?” I pointed at a machine that looked awfully big for a video camera.

“I don’t feel like talking to you.”

“Fine, then. But I might make a big mistake out of ignorance.” I lifted my foot while saying that. “Oh, is this camera-like object a footstool?”

I’ll step on it.

Naru-chan sighed.

I won, I thought.

“It’s an infrared camera. And before you ask, this one's a thermograph, and this is an ultra-high sensitivity camera.”

“Oh.”

“I’d explain further, but… ”

“Shut up.”

“The infrared camera is used to film in dark places; it’s also an ultra-high sensitivity camera. The thermograph is a heat-sensitive camera; it shows temperatures.”

“Really...”

“While I’m at it, I'll go ahead and tell you why we use thermography to track temperatures. When a spirit appears, the temperature will drop in only that spot.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Do you understand? If you understand, then stop asking worthless questions and get to work!”

5

Once we finished putting the machines on the shelf, Naru-chan wired them. Meanwhile, I was ordered to place a thermometer in each classroom.

I didn’t want to since the place made me feel uneasy, but it would've taken more courage to defy Naru-chan. It couldn’t be helped, so after placing the thermometers, I wrote the now measured temperatures on a board.

The task would have been completely impossible without any light.

While bravely fighting my fear, I finished recording the temperatures on the board. As Naru-chan looked it over, he said, “There’s nothing out of the ordinary… None of the rooms are particularly low. If I had to say, the room at the back of the first floor is low, but the temperature isn’t enough to be problematic…”

The room looked like a research lab now. TVs and machines were stacked on top of the desks and shelf.

I asked Naru-chan a question. “Hey? You said the temperature falls in places where spirits are, right? Then, does that mean there aren’t any ghosts here?”

“I don’t know yet. Ghosts are shy.”

“Huh?”

“Spiritual phenomena generally quiet down when outsiders show up.”

“Ohh.”

“...Anyway, let’s not decide the target yet. For now, let’s place four night vision cameras in the first and second floor corridors and one at the entrance.”

Ew… I still have to work…?

***

I helped Naru-chan setup the video cameras. They were incredibly big.

In the east and west corridor of the first and second floor, we set up tripods and mounted the cameras.

After we finally finished, Naru-chan said, “Thanks. You can go home now.”

“Really?”

“You finished what I needed you to do. I’m leaving, too. Before the sun completely sets.”

Oh? How cautious.

“What about the machines? Is it okay to leave them like this?”

“It doesn’t matter. The cameras will do everything automatically.”

Oh.

“You don’t really seem like a psychic.”

“Of course not.”

“But you said you’re a… Ghost Exterminator.”

“Gōsuto Hantā. Don’t lump me together with psychics.”

Oh, I see.

I don’t know what a Gōsuto Hantā is, but it seems like it’s just a type of psychic.

I was pretty tired of having this ill-natured conversation with Naru-chan, so I simply raised my hand. “Well, I’m going now.”

Jeez, my hands and lower back hurt.

Naru-chan’s voice chased after me. “Meet me at the van after school tomorrow.”

Ugh! Does this guy intend to make me work hard tomorrow, too?

Collaborators: bebekgulings, csakuras

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