Fortune's Wheel
A Ghost Hunt Fanfiction
by Ms Bat
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Ghost Hunt.
Warning: Vaguish references to Episode 23 and 25 of the anime.
12 April, Saturday 5.32 am
The carnival grounds stood in a cloak of mist and shadow. It'd rained the night before, and dewdrops still glistened on the faded and peeling paint on the mechanical rides and the roofs of the small food and souvenir stalls scattered around. Then, the single lamp-post that stood outside the entrance of the carnival flickered and died. A faint strain of music struck up and the coloured lights that were strung across the entire carnival glowed enticingly as the rides all started up, adding their own machine whirrs and own theme music to the gentle piping music that had first awoken...
11 April, Friday 10.40 am
"And then, just as abruptly, the music would die down, the lights and rides would switch off and everything would be back to normal." the man finished with a nervous glance at his two listeners. The girl with the brown hair and a skirt that seemed too short for her good looked hopefully at the young man seated beside her. "This seems interesting. Don't you think it's worth taking up Akio-san's case?" That young man, Shibuya Kazuya, or Naru, as he'd been called by the girl earlier, pretended not to have seen the puppy eyes that were directed on his person and instead took a sip of tea. "There is no evidence that anything remotely paranormal is connected to this case. I suggest that you hire a few men and scout the area for delinquent pranksters instead, and that they should check for technical malfunctions while they're at it."
Akio Mamoru shook his head. "I have already asked that the technicians check the equipment. There is nothing wrong with either the rides or the electrical generators." He paused, and then sighed. "Personally, I am not the sort of person who believes in ghosts or the supernatural, but my men are getting jittery and are refusing to get back to work unless the place has been investigated. I would be really grateful if you could come down and assess the situation, and maybe perform some rites to placate the men. I am already a month behind schedule and the owners are complaining no end about the delay."
Naru nodded. "A day's assessment would probably be all I require. I am still not ruling out the possibility that people rather than the supernatural are involved." He tugged casually at his shirt sleeve. "My time is precious, and I expect to charge for a full consultation, ghosts or no ghosts." Akio nodded. "Of course. I understand. I will be at the site tomorrow to guide you." He stood up and shook hands with the younger man. "Thank you for your help, Shibuya-san".
12 April Saturday 4.15 am
And, so, that is how, I, Taniyama Mai, found myself rushing to SPR at the very unearthly hour of four in the morning. Trust the ghosts to get into something mischievous so early in the day. I run up the stairs and burst into the main office. "Yes! I'm not late!" I yell loudly.
"Wrong. You are. By two minutes." Naru stated pointedly before gesturing at a couple of cardboard boxes stacked on the coffee table. "You forgot to unpack these yesterday. When you're done arranging the books on the shelf in my office, get me a cup of tea." he said curtly before disappearing into the kitchen. Dang it! I didn't come on time so that I could unpack his stuff! Muttering unhappily, I cut open the first box and groaned at the sight of the thick black volumes that had been stuffed into it. They were packed so tightly that I could barely get my fingers in-between them to pull them out. Instead, I ended up tilting the box and shaking the whole pile onto the floor. Naru would live even if a few of his precious books get dented, I reasoned. They were mostly in English, which I couldn't read, and I began gathering as many of them up before going into his office. It was pitch-black and I stumbled over the edge of the sofa on my way to the shelf by the window. I yelped and dropped the books in a bid to stop myself from toppling ungracefully, and ended up hopping all over the carpet when one of the books bounced off my foot instead.
The exasperated sigh issuing from the door made me whip around quickly.
"What happened?" Naru demanded, as he took in the sight of, well, his assistant (me) jumping like a moron and his new books all over the floor and the sofa at a crooked angle. I flushed. "I tripped over the sofa. Sorry! I'll straighten it as soon as I pack everything away..."
He smirked. "I fail to see how you entirely missed such a large piece of furniture."
I scowled at him. "Well, if you would too if your boss's office happens to be darker than a vampire's lair," I grumbled. "And, especially if you've been dragged up at 4a.m. to pack books."
"Would you rather carry down the equipment to the van?" Naru pointed out. I blinked. "Eh?" Naru ignored me and began picking up some of the books as well. "Hurry up. We're leaving in 10 minutes. Just arrange these alphabetically by author first."
"But," I persisted, "Why do we need the equipment if we're just going for an assessment?" He'd picked up a book and was smoothing out some of the crumpled pages. "Because, I would like to get the assessment done quickly," Naru retorted before exiting. I had just shelved everything when I spotted the book that Naru had been browsing through lying on the desk. I picked it up to look at the title. It was in Japanese. Hauntings in Japan: a historical selection of cursed locations I read before I heard Naru calling me to hurry again. I hastily shoved it onto the shelf and ran out.
4.45 am
The park grounds look creepy in the morning, I decided. Not only does it feel too empty, there is that mist that Akio-san mentioned. As usual, Naru decides to go on ahead while I begin to unload some of the equipment. I sneeze, and wish once again that I had thought to wear thicker clothes instead. Then, I felt a chill go down my back and I shuddered, the cold familiarity of being watched by hostile eyes gripping me. I turn slowly, and felt my heart plummet when a gray figure lurched out of the mist towards me. I screeched, dropping the box I was holding and ran towards the theme park gates, right into Lin. "There's something following me!" I wail frantically. Lin didn't even bat an eyelid. "Miss Taniyama, I suggest you get a proper look again," he replied, a brief hint of amusement lacing his normally stern voice.
"What-" I said and then flushed when I saw that it was Akio-san and Naru walking towards us. I gulped.
"Mai." Naru began.
"You didn't see that!" I said quickly.
"If you mean you screaming and dropping my equipment, which is expensive, yes, I did." he replied drily. Akio-san seemed bemused. "I was told that you were pros. Didn't think you'll get startled so easily." Naru frowns at this. I flush again, easily imagining what he was thinking.
"I assure you, SPR is entirely professional. Our clients report a hundred percent positive rating." He frowns sharply at me from the corner of his eyes and I glower back. I see that you failed to include how you terrified 100% of your clients. "Please rest assured that we will be extremely thorough in our investigation."
5.10 am
Akio-san led us past the rides. "As you can see, all the park facilities are all very new. They were designed by our highly-qualified engineers at the company headquarters in Odaiba. The construction began in late December last year." Although the early morning mist partially shrouded the rides, I could see that they were indeed as Akio-san said, very new. There was a merry-go-round, one of those nausea inducing teacup rides, and in the distance, the long spiny skeleton of a roller coaster. We were headed for the control room in the middle of the park to examine that the equipment were all working properly as Akio-san said they had been. Then, suddenly, appearing out of nowhere in all the fog was the most magnificent Ferris wheel I had ever seen. Great spokes of taut steel radiated out from the star-shaped core like silver rays of light soaring into the distant sky above. I snuck a look at Naru, who had walked ahead with Lin and Akio-san and sighed inwardly. Somehow, I doubt if he'll ever consent to sharing a ride with me after the job. And sure enough, as if he had read my thoughts, Naru turned his head round to frown sternly at me. "Mai. Hurry up and stop staring like you've never seen a Ferris wheel before. We're not here to play."
"Hai, hai," I huffed and ran the short distance to where they were now waiting. The control room had been designed like one of those old fashioned lighthouses, with a spiral staircase going up to the top, where the theme park's main computer system was housed.
"Whoa," I said when I saw the rows and rows of switches, buttons and glowing screens and earned myself another disapproving look from Naru. What's up with him, I wondered. Grumpy as Naru was, he certainly seemed to be in an even fouler mood this morning.
5.32 am
Everything looked completely normal, and Naru was grilling Akio-san on queries about the security of the park when suddenly the lights in the control room flickered and died. The air suddenly seemed a lot colder and I instinctively moved towards where Naru was standing. Then, just as the park owner had described, the lights outside lit up one by one and the rides began moving. There was also an unmistakable pipe music that seemed to be playing in the background. Then, there was a loud click and the rides all abruptly switched off.
I squeaked and latched on to the nearest person just as the lights in the control room came back on. To my embarrassment, I found myself hugging Akio-san tightly and hastily let go. "I'm sorry!" I said, my face heating up. Naru coughed. "If you're done," he said, as Lin's jaw twitched in amusement. "I may explain your paranormal experience." He walked back to the wall, where there was a switch and flipped it. The lights in the room died again and the eerie music struck up as one by one, all the rides began again. "It appears that someone, no doubt one of your employees, saw scaring the rest of his colleagues a fit joke." Akio Mamoru looked genuinely baffled. "That's impossible. We conducted a thorough check! We even engaged external professionals to do the assessment." Naru's expression suggested that he thought highly-trained monkeys could also do the same job. "It is likely that whoever is behind this is well aware of the timings of the checks…"
As Naru and Akio-san discussed probable culprits, I wander over to the switchboard, sighing to myself. What a wasted trip! And I had to wake so early! Knowing Naru, I was not looking forward to a day back at the office organizing his latest additions to his bookshelves. I had reached out to touch a computer screen when all the lights on the switchboard suddenly went crazy, flickering on and off and making loud bleeps. I quickly stood back, and put my hands behind me guiltily.
"Mai! What did you do?" Naru demanded as soon as they had all rushed over. As I was bumped out of the way, I managed to protest, "I didn't even touch anything!" But then, with a dozen crack lines spidering across the glass simultaneously, the windows broke inwards, showering all of us with pointy fragments. "Get down!" I heard somebody yell and ducked instinctively.
When I looked up again, the control room was littered with splintered glass shards and a swivel chair lay with its wheels still spinning slowly in the air. There was nothing else unusual to be seen and I checked myself, wincing when I had to pull out glass piece from my elbow. "Are you alright, Miss Taniyama?" Akio-san had wandered over, concern in his voice. At least he didn't look as if he had been badly hit, and I nodded my head quickly. "I'm fine," I said. "Where's Lin-san and Naru?"
"Naru!"
Lin rushed past us so fast that all I saw was a blur. My heart lurched. The only time I had seen him move that quickly was when Naru had collapsed in the Yoshimi case. When I got there, Lin was helping Naru up, and I gulped when I saw blood dripping from his hairline. "Naru! You're bleeding!" I cried in concern.
"I know. Stop stating the obvious," Naru snapped. Lin, whose face had been etched with worry lines relaxed slightly. He clearly felt that if his charge could still manage to make snippy rejoinders, he wasn't as badly injured as he thought. "I think this merits a hospital visit," he calmly said instead. Akio-san was in agreement. "I believe Miss Taniyama would need stitches for her arm."
Author's notes: Poor SPR! And things aren't going to get better for a while yet. They never do, do they? And, to the reader reading my other fic, I promise to update soon.