Ghost Hunt Volume 1 Chapter 6
Oct. 15th, 2017 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sera131Table of Contents
Chapter 6 - Wind and Rain Subside, but the Sea Rages
1
I headed for the school as soon as I got up the next morning.
I wonder if Naru’s okay.
I’m kind of worried. We left him by himself in the old school building. After that, the roof could have caved in again… or…
Well, as they say, the more knave, the better luck.
***
When I entered the old school building, I headed straight for the lab.
Naru wasn’t there. ...It wasn’t just him that wasn’t there.
Half the equipment had been cleared away. Most of the remaining equipment wasn’t running.
What does this mean?
I rushed outside.
If he wasn’t in the lab, he’d be at the van.
When I went around the old schoolhouse and came to the back of the building, the grey van was still parked in the same spot.
When I peered inside, Naru was leaning against the equipment, asleep.
I knocked on the window. “Naru!”
He blinked slightly, then opened his eyes. After being out of it for a moment, he looked up at me.
...This guy really is good looking.
It’s rare for a face that’s half asleep to be worthy of praise.
“...Mai?”
“Good morning.”
“No, it’s not. Why are you here this early in the morning?”
Ugh. And I came here being worried about him.
“Early morning? It’s already past eleven!”
“It’s still before noon…?”
Still before noon? What kind of life are you living?
“I made coffee, but do you drink it?”
“...Being sensible for a change, huh?”
Is it impossible for you to just say thank you?
Whatever. I’m used to it now.
I poured some coffee into a cup from the thermos I brought. Holding it out, I asked, “Did you find anything last night?”
“Yes.”
...eh?
I guess I wasn’t expecting anything. I’m surprised even though I asked.
“Yes, as in… you found something?”
“Yeah.” Naru was expressionless.
Just when I was thinking about pressing him for answers, someone called out to him.
The group of psychics had arrived.
2
Bou-san was the first to speak. “Oi, what happened?”
“With what?”
“The equipment in the lab!”
Miko-san was as crabby as could be. “You’re already getting ready to leave?”
Naru answered curtly. “Yes.”
“...Are you kidding me!?” Miko-san seemed surprised. It’s understandable.
“I’m serious. That’s why I started cleaning up?”
Everyone fell silent.
In the next instant, they all started making a fuss at once.
Naru dropped his head into his hand. “For crying out loud, don’t make a racket first thing in the morning… I just went to bed a little while ago.”
Ack! You were up all night?
Bou-san looked into Naru’s face. “Why are you leaving?”
“I’ve decided the case has been solved.”
“You exorcised the spirit!?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Huh!?
Naru sleepily pulled some nearby documents toward him. He held one out to Bou-san.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a graph from the level measurement device I installed under the floor.”
“Huh?”
“Over the course of last night, the old school building sank more than 0.2 inches in total.”
“What!?” Bou-san snatched the graph. After looking down at it closely, he blinked in embarrassment and said, “...Even if I look at this, I don’t really understand it.”
Miko-san jumped into the conversation. “What does that mean?”
“It means the building is sinking. Land subsidence.”
“Then what? You’re saying that’s the cause of those strange phenomena!?”
Instead of replying, Naru pulled papers out of the mountain of documents.
“Old map. Map, map… geological map, groundwater map,” he said while tossing them at his feet.
“What?”
“You’ll understand when you look at them.”
We looked at them closely.
“They’re maps, right…”
“Yes, they’re maps.”
Ugh, I don’t get it!
Naru seemed to finally be awake.
Lightly stretching, he explained, “This was originally a wetland. They reclaimed it and made the land around this area. But that’s not all… from where the wells are marked, it seems a rather large source of groundwater passes directly beneath this school.”
Everyone looked over the map. On the map were countless red marks that seemed to have been added by Naru.
“Of the wells marked there, two currently remain. They’re located at a shrine. When I checked the amount of water, both were practically dried up. So, that’s the reason.”
“Huh?”
“Because of that, the ground here is naturally weak. Since the wetland was filled in, there’s water flowing beneath the ground. Worse still, the amount of water is decreasing and drying up. That’s the reason land subsidence is happening. And the ground’s sinking considerably fast at that. It’s particularly fast in…”
Naru pulled out a rough sketch of the old school building. He pointed at the demolished section, which was painted blue.
“This area. Since one side of the building is sinking rapidly, it’s twisting and becoming distorted. The principal seems to want to tear down the old school building, but there’s no need to rush. It’s only a matter of time before the building collapses.”
There was a moment of silence.
Bou-san’s shoulders fell in disappointment. “Damn. So then, that’s why the chair moved and the roof caved in?”
“That’s right. After placing a level, I found that the floor of that classroom is three inches lower on the west than it is on the east.”
“Three inches… that’s around seven and a half centimeters…. Ridiculous!” Miko-san complained. “But the rapping sounds…” After stopping mid-sentence, “Don’t tell me...?”
Naru nodded. “I suspect they weren’t rapping sounds. It’s likely those were actually the sounds of the building distorting… a pillar or a beam.”
“...No way. Then, doesn’t that mean we were in an incredibly dangerous place?”
“Looks like it.”
“Thass a real hazard, it is! Oughtn’t we tell the principal he’d better make it off-limits?”
Bou-san sank to his knees. “John! For crying out loud, stop adding desu to Osaka dialect!”
“Sorry…”
Don’t bully John, it’s not his fault! The guy who taught him is to blame.
“John’s right.” Naru’s voice was perfectly calm.“We should tell the principal he’d better make the area around the old school building off-limits. That building’s going to collapse soon.”
3
Kuroda-joshi showed up in the afternoon while Naru and I were clearing out the equipment.
“...What’s going on?” Joshi cried out as soon as she saw the inside of the tidied lab.
I explained the situation.
How this building was sinking due to land subsidence. And how that was the cause of both the rapping sounds and the poltergeist.
“But… what about me being attacked, then?” Joshi fixed her eyes on Naru.
That’s right, there was something like that. Huh? What’s the deal with that one?
Naru answered shortly, “...Probably the work of a wandering ghost that’s following you.”
“...No way.”
Wandering ghost. Wow. Really?
“Then, you’re leaving already?”
“My work is done. I’ll write my report by the end of the day and that’ll be the end of it.”
...the end.
That’s right. Naru’s a Ghost Hunter, isn’t he? He came here to investigate the old school building. In other words, once the investigation is over, he’ll leave. We won’t meet anymore.
Hahaha. Keiko and the others will probably be disappointed, but I’m happy, to cut ties with a guy like him. So happy…
………?
“I really think there’s a spirit here, though,” Kuroda-joshi insisted.
“There’s not.”
“I’m fairly certain. Sure, land subsidence might be happening, but it’s also possible there’s a spirit here.”
It seems like Joshi wants there to be a spirit no matter what.
“There’s not. The results from the investigation came out completely clean.
“Maybe it’s just something you don’t know about.”
“Kuroda-san.” There it is. Naru’s icy stare. “You can exorcise it, then. I’ve decided my work is done, so now I’m leaving.”
Kuroda-joshi shrank back. Lowering her eyes, she turned her face aside.
I murmured, “It’s too bad.”
“That I’m leaving?”
...Who said anything of the sort!
“Narcissist! Why would I regret not having you around!? Give me a break! I just…!”
“I don’t think you need to shout.”
“...I just feel like the dream is fading away.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, there’s this abandoned old schoolhouse in a corner of the school, and with all the rumors about it being haunted, it seems like there’s really something there... Isn’t that a sort of romantic notion?”
“Considering all that, weren’t you scared of it?”
“...That’s beside the point. If it’s scary, then it’s psychologically enjoyable, right? Truth is, there’s nothing romantic about something caused by land subsidence. At the very least, it would’ve been nice if it’d been a Jibakurei, but was driven out.
“Now, the old school building will be demolished, a shiny, new gym will be built, and the rumors will fade away… It’s kind of sad. Of course, I’m not actually keen on people dying. I’d rather it be a harmless ghost story.”
“...Is that it?”
“Yes, that’s it!”
However, it was at that time.
*CRACK*…!
There was a sudden sharp sound. We quickly turned around. In front of us was the cracked glass of the lab window.
“Mai! Get outside!”
“Okay!”
Is the building coming down!?
My feet wouldn’t move right away.
Staring in front of me, the crack spread through the entire glass. No sooner had the glass become a snowy haze than it burst toward the outside.
At same time, the wall made a straining noise.
Straining noise….?
...No, it seems different from that. This is… the sound of someone knocking on the wall…!
But who!? And with such a loud noise!?
“What’s going on!?” Miko-san, who’d been looking around the inside of the schoolhouse, came rushing into the lab.
“...It’s collapsing…?” Naru’s voice was unsure, as if it were news to him.
Someone knocked violently on the wall. From the west, from the east. Each time, the floor faintly shook, and dust fell from the ceiling.
“Hey, aren’t these knocking sounds!?”
Naru didn’t reply to Miko-san’s voice.
*BANG*!
Suddenly, the door to the lab slammed shut. The glass built into the door was shattered by the force.
The moment it closed, it opened again.
No one was touching it.
The door had opened and closed on its own. The impact had also caused a crack to run through the glass in the corridor-side window.
When the door closed for the umpteenth time, the glass shattered with a crash. Kuroda-joshi, who was by the window, was completely covered in shards of glass.
She screamed.
Bou-san and John’s voices came from somewhere in the building.
Naru grabbed my arm and started running. After dragging the fallen Joshi to her feet, he opened the window leading to the corridor and pushed her through it. Looking back at Miko-san, he shouted, “Get outside!”
“Through the window!?” she asked in a panic.
“This isn’t the time to argue!”
I climbed through the window. The door slammed open and shut at an alarming rate.
Naru pushed Miko-san.
“Hey, stop it!”
Ignoring her protests, he forced her to the window. Looking towards me, he yelled, “Run! This building’s unstable!!”
...A warped, old schoolhouse. A sudden uproar. Someone knocking on walls and wildly opening and closing doors. The impact.
The building was already unstable and now...
With both of us now through the window, I grabbed Kuroda-joshi’s hand and ran. To get out.
Out of the building.
4
We rushed out through the entryway, stumbling as we went. At about the same time, Bou-san and John came running out. Not long after, the building quieted down.
We stared up at the old school building in blank amazement.
The sounds had stopped. Finally, we could afford to look at one another.
When I noticed some pain and looked at my hand, there was a small cut on my palm. I must have cut it when I was climbing through the window.
What about Joshi? She’d been completely covered in shards of glass. Thinking so, I turned towards her. She was covered all over with cuts and bruises.
“Are you okay?”
Slivers of glass glittered in her hair. I took out a handkerchief and brushed them off.
“Don’t move. Are there any pieces in your clothes?”
Joshi nodded absently.
Miko-san took out a handkerchief as well and wiped up Joshi’s blood.
Bou-san looked back at Naru. “...What just happened?”
Naru didn’t answer. He stood motionless, staring up at the old school building.
“Just now, was that land subsidence, too?”
“I don’t know…” Naru murmured.
“How!? That was a full-blown poltergeist!”
Naru didn’t speak. His hand was blood-red. It looked as if he’d cut it deep while helping us get out.
“Naru… your hand.”
“Eh?” he said. Looking at his hand, he finally noticed his injury. “I’m fine. It’s nothing serious.”
Miko-san dusted off the pieces of glass clinging to Joshi’s clothes, then turned around to face Naru. “Does that kind of thing happen when a building’s sinking and distorting? Well, that’s not what it sounded like! That was definitely the sound of someone knocking on the walls.”
Bou-san laughed. “Except it was too loud. It’d have to be a giant, wouldn’t it? It felt like someone knocking with an insanely large hand!”
“Right?”
Oh, these two sure are cozy when it comes to bullying Naru.
Miko-san dusted herself off dramatically, “Ridiculous. I nearly fell for a child’s joke.”
“...Ah come on, go easy on him. It can’t be helped, considering his age.”
Naru didn’t say a word. He stared up at the old school building in silence. Expressionless. But his brow looked just a little grim.
“Well, I should get to work.”
“Yeah, guess we’ll just have to do it ourselves.”
Such… malicious people.
They do nothing but argue all the time, and yet they’ll buddy up just for a time like this!
The two disappeared into the old school building while laughing loudly. John silently began treating Kuroda-joshi.
“Naru?”
“Hm?” he answered halfheartedly. He didn’t turn around.
“We have to take care of your hand…”
He must have cut a blood vessel somewhere. Red trailed down his left palm and dripped from his fingertips, forming a dark puddle of blood on the ground.
“I’m fine. It’ll dry soon.”
“But…” I started to say, but the subsequent words failed to come out.
Naru didn’t even look back. He was curt and expressionless.
“Listen…”
“See to Kuroda-san.”
“But—”
“I’d appreciate it if you left me alone right now. I hate myself so much I feel like I could throw up.”
...okay.
You… truly are full of pride.
5
Once I finished taking care of Kuroda-joshi, I sent her home. Turning around after seeing her off, I realized Naru had disappeared at some point.
“You know where Naru is?” I called inside from the entryway of the old school building.
Miko-san and Bou-san were looking around the inside of the lab. The pair turned my way.
“He didn’t show up here. Is he gone?”
“Yeah… I wonder where he went.”
Miko-san laughed. “Well, isn’t that cute. He got embarrassed and ran away.”
...Naru wouldn’t run away!
Even Bou-san laughed. “Yeah, you’ve got a point. It’s just what a child would do, isn’t it?”
...These jerks!
“It’s a Tsukumogami, just like I thought. I'll get rid of it for sure this time.”
To the eager Miko-san, Bou-san said, “Sorry. You withdrew. Remember?”
“I just made a little mistake.”
“It was a lack of skill. It’s my turn next. Watch, and I’ll show you the power gap between women, children, and me.”
...quite the personality. What’s your problem? You haven’t done anything so far. You’re just criticizing everyone even though they’re doing all they can. What is it, then? —What’s this power gap between women, children, and you?
***
It seems Bou-san had prepared for a full-scale exorcism. He’d changed into his black robes and set up an altar in the lab.
“Aren’t you going to watch?”
I was ignoring Miko-san’s voice. Ignoring her and collecting the equipment that Naru had set up.
As he helped me, John asked, “Is it okay, cleaning this up?”
“It’s fine. If we need it, we can carry it in again. Besides, who knows when this place will come down.”
Miko-san laughed. “You still believe that boy’s land subsidence theory?”
I couldn’t stop myself from glaring at her. “Is there any evidence that it’s wrong? If you’re going to laugh, then show me the evidence of an evil spirit.”
Miko-san blinked for a moment, looking overawed, before curling her lips. “...You sure are sticking up for him.”
“That’s because he’s my boss for the time being.”
...I might be a stand-in, but I’m still Naru’s assistant.
Holding a camera in my arms, I stood up, then carried it outside.
It appears Bou-san started his ceremony. I could hear his voice coming from behind me.
“On, sunba, nisunba, un, bazara, un, hatta.”
Hmph, as if such a nonsensical chant can get rid of the evil spirits in the old school building.
“Jaku, un, ban, koku.”
...Where did Naru go?
Eventually, I finished carrying the equipment and waited by the van, but Naru didn’t come back.
The sun was setting.
After that, it seems Miko-san did her exorcism again. I guess both she and Bou-san were going to stay the night.
The sun had completely set, and the area grew dark.
What should I do? Go home? Or wait for Naru to return?
What should I do?
After thinking about it nonstop, I decided to wait for Naru. I’m not particularly worried about him. But even so, I can’t leave all this expensive equipment unattended.
All right! I’ll wait!
Collaborators: bebekgulings
←Chapter 5 | ↑Top | Chapter 7→