Ghost Hunt Volume 2 Prologue

[sera131]

Prologue

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Suppose your house is haunted by a ghost.

It’d definitely bother you, right? It’s creepy, and all sorts of troublesome things happen when ghosts haunt a house.

Naturally, you’d think, I want to do something about this.

What would you do?

If you ask me, you should take the Yamanote Line. If you’re not someone from Tokyo, you’ll first have to go to either Tokyo or Ueno Station.

Once you take the Yamanote Line, get off at Shibuya. Actually, it doesn’t really matter whether you take the Hanzomon Line, the Ginza Line, the Toyoko Line, or the Inokashira Line. One way or another, you should come to Shibuya. Once you arrive, head to the front of the famous Hachiko statue. Then, find a kind-looking person nearby and ask, “Where is Dogenzaka?”

Once you know where Dogenzaka is, climb up the hill. After walking for a while, you should see a brick-red, antique building. It’s the building with a first floor that turns into a sort of plaza.

—Did you find it?

Once you get to the building, go up to the second floor using the escalator near the fountain. Don’t pay any mind to the cafe, boutique, or any other shop located on the first floor. The shops are all very fashionable, so you’ll get the urge to go inside.

Once you get to the second floor, look around. Can you see the blue-grey door?

A pane of frosted glass with an elegant pattern is fitted into the door, and the logo, “SPR,” is contained there in a delicate, gold font. Under that, in the same gold color, should be, “Shibuya Psychic Research.”

Aim straight for that door.

“Huh, it’s not a coffee shop?” you ask. It’s absolutely not a coffee shop! A coffee shop won’t be of any use to you if you’re troubled by a ghost.

Also, if you barge in and mistake it for a coffee shop, expect to be treated unkindly. In some cases, you might be rudely asked, “Can’t you read English?”

“Shibuya Psychic Research.” —That is, “Shibuya Saikikku Risāchi.”

Got it?

“Saikikku Risāchi” is “Psychic Research.” So, “Shibuya Saikikku Risāchi,” means we’re a psychic research office located in Shibuya. Shibuya is also the boss’s family name, so it might mean that it’s the psychic research office of Shibuya-san’s family. Well, either way, the point is that’s what’s usually stuck on the telephone poles.

‘We accept all consultations for demons and ghosts.’

Things like driving away ghosts and getting rid of demons.

Now, you just have to summon the courage to open the door.

Inside is a spacious and elegant office. Normally, I will greet customers, but sometimes that’s not the case. I work part-time, so I’m not always there.

When I’m not there, a tall, thin, sullen man will greet you. Once in a while, even he’s not there, in which case no one will greet you. On such occasions, there’ll most likely be a boy with a magnificently handsome face lounging in the front reception room. He’s sixteen or seventeen years old. You should never mistake him for a part-time worker just because he’s young. His pride is tremendously high, so he’ll never forgive the person who commits such a mistake.

After all, he’s a holier-than-thou narcissist. Naru-chan for short.

As long as Naru’s mood isn’t sour, you can consult him with an easy mind. He’ll surely solve your troubles.

...If he feels like it.



“This is Shibuya Sai something or other, isn’t it?”

It was a wealthy, well-dressed matron who opened the door and came inside.

This is a work day for me, and I’m also not on break. In other words, I’m in the office, so the woman was welcomed by me.

“Yes. Are you here for a consultation?”

I put on my business smile. Her eyes, however, passed right by me, who stood up, and landed on Naru, who just so happened to be reading a book on the sofa today.

“Hey, boy.”

...Ignorance is a dangerous thing. Lady, you better stop calling him, “boy.” It’s dangerous. It’s like calling a tiger, “Fluffy.”

“Excuse me, what sort of business do you have?” I asked with a polite tone and cheerful smile. However, the woman merely threw a glance my way before ignoring me.

...Wow.

While still ignoring me, she determinedly approached Naru and asked, “Hey, boy, are you from this office?”

Naru didn’t turn his head. You’ll never grab his attention by calling him, “boy.”

Commendably, I called to the woman in a kind voice, “Excuse me.”

The woman ignored me again.

...Cut it out! Despite your age, you don’t know a thing about courtesy!

“Excuse me, if you have business here, I can help you.”

I wanted to shout it, but controlled myself. Instead, I asked her politely. She looked toward me and stared at me unabashedly. Then she sneered at me with a, “Hmph.”

...you, you jerk!

Then to Naru, she said, “Hey, boy, I’m a customer!”

“Customer…?” Naru said in a somewhat off-handed and cold tone. He kept his eyes on his book.

“Yes. You might at least answer me. What a disgusting attitude.”

...Who’s?

Naru said curtly, “Leave.”

“—What!? I said I’m customer, didn’t I?”

“I’m not so pressed for work that I’d accept a request from a rude customer who doesn’t even know common courtesy.”

...Nice. Well said.

The woman’s face turned bright red. “How rude…! Bring me the person in charge! I’d like a word with him!”

...Hmph. What idiocy.

Naru smoothly stood and turned towards the woman. His face held a frosty expression. That alone was formidable enough to silence anyone. With his jet-black hair and jet-black eyes, and dressed in black from head to toe, he looked like a beautiful demon or vampire.

In a quiet voice, he said, “I’m the manager, Shibuya.”

The woman’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly in shock.

The manager eyed her with contempt, a sarcastic smile on his pale lips.

“Leave,” he said. At the same time, he called over to the adjoining data room. “Lin! See our guest out.”

***

The rude woman was forcibly sent out by the exceedingly asocial, beanpole of an assistant Lin-san.

“Naru, is that okay?” I asked.

“What?” He looked towards me and asked in his clear, quiet voice.

“That woman just now, she seemed rich.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Naru’s reply was extremely curt.

“More importantly, Mai. Tea,” the manager said briefly, returning his eyes to his book.

Make the tea your damn self! I thought, but that’s dangerous to say out loud. Naru’s in a bad mood today. We’ve had customers nonstop today, and they’ve all been terrible customers, too.

Rude people like that woman and people mistakenly asking us to, “investigate my unfaithful lover,” or “treat my lower back pain,” or “tell me the fortune of my future spouse.” There was even a guy from a counseling service who mistook us for a new religion. The only decent request was, “My daughter’s become a delinquent recently. I’m sure she’s possessed by something, so please exorcise it.”

Each time, I have to explain the mix-up. This is a psychic research office. We’re an organization whose aim is the scientific investigation of strange incidents believed to be related to ghosts and such.

No, this isn’t a detective agency.

Heavens no, we’re not faith healers.

I’m sorry, we don’t do fortune-telling.

No, no, this isn’t a religious organization.

…...Come on, get it right. I don’t have to be Naru to get angry.

“Here you go.” I placed a cup of black tea on the table.

By the way, when we say, “tea,” in this office, it means black tea. Green tea is rarely consumed.

“Mm…”

Naru didn’t even look up. Can’t you at least say, “thank you”? I carefully made this tea with all my heart, you know!

Yeah (my tone suddenly became girly), I made this tea with all my heart. It seems, toward the manager, I…

My job is chores. Things like making photocopies and tea. I don’t feel like I’m being very useful to him.

So that’s why, when I make tea, I give it my all. When I look at the current situation and he’s in a bad mood like he is now, I take great pains to make Assam tea. But he doesn’t understand that at all.

***

I met Naru this spring. The setting was my school. —Although I say that, it’s not like he transferred there or anything. He— the manager of ‘Shibuya Psychic Research’, came to investigate the ill-rumored former school building.

Through an unexpected turn of events, I served as Naru’s assistant during that case. So, that’s how I currently came to be working part-time at his office.

I thought he was an unpleasant fellow at first. He’s good-looking, but even so, he has a bad personality. He’s sharp-tongued and prideful and headstrong, but well…

Love doesn’t need a reason. It’s annoying.

Of course, Naru doesn’t know anything about my feelings. I’m seen merely as a part-time worker (probably).

Maybe Naru’s not interested in girls. That’s what it seems like.

Because he’s different from ordinary boys.

For starters, he’s the manager of a psychic research office at the age of sixteen. Ordinarily, he should be a second year high school student, one year above me, but no matter how you look at it, he doesn’t appear to go to school. Well, he already has a decent (?) job, so he probably doesn’t care about his education at this point.

In fact, he seems to have a work oriented personality. He doesn’t watch TV, doesn’t watch movies, doesn’t read novels, and certainly doesn’t read manga. He doesn’t even listen to music at all no matter the genre.

So then, what does he do when he’s not working? Well generally, he reads books or thick bundles of documents. Of course, it’s all psychic related technical books, and on top of that, written in a Western language.

Speaking of hobbies, his seem to be travel and magic tricks.

This is even more strange. He has a mountain of travel books, road maps, and things like that. But well, even if he travels all over for work, it’s an unusual number. Sometimes, he spreads out his maps and whatnot and gets lost deep in thought while tracing his fingertips over them. And sometimes, he’ll suddenly go on short trips, but he doesn’t appear to go sightseeing or anything. Because, while he went to Kyoto, he didn’t see Kiyomizu Temple, Kinkaku Temple, or Arashi Mountain.

Even his magic tricks, if I asked him to show us, he absolutely wouldn’t. Sometimes I notice him fiddling with his playing cards and such, but I've never seen him perform for others.

...Hey, isn’t that strange?

Naru-chan is a rather mysterious boy.

But maybe that’s what’s great about him…

...Wow, I’m being such a girl ♡

Well, good for me.

Collaborators: everbrilliantheartbreaker, csakuras

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