Ghost Hunt: Tale of the Cursed Relics
"Sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of you..."
Prologue: July 12
"Koaimi, let's move it!"
"I'm not sure this is such a good idea, Reimi," Koaimi Shino remarked, clutching her bouquet of flowers. "I can wait until the sun rises."
Reimi Shino stopped in her tracks, then spun around to look at Koaimi. "Ya scared, cousin? C'mon, it's almost midnight! The ghosts are going to come out in the cemetary! What are you scared of? Spirits?"
"That's exactly what I'm scared of, Reimi," Koaimi said angrily to her younger cousin. "Ghosts aren't play-toys, they're lost and angry souls! How'd you get me to join you anyway?"
"Do you want to see grandaddy again or not? If you don't want to go, I'll go alone!"
Koaimi sighed as her 10 year old cousin spun around, her long fushia hair whipping behind her, and stormed down the hill to the graveyard. Koaimi pushed back the indigo hair from her face, and followed Reimi, the roses dying in her death grip.
"Do you see anything?" Koaimi called. Silence ensued; then a faint cry could be heard throughout the graveyard.
"Reimi!" Koaimi called as she ran forward. She paused at the hill and looked around. What she saw made her drop her flowers and gasp with fright.
"REIMIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Ghost Hunt: Tale of the Cursed Relics
"Some search far for themselves, others don't search at all..."
Three days later
BAM!
"Ugh, I hate work." I hate everything today. The heat, my job, the summer, my boss...
But, please don't get me wrong! I'm usually perky, but it's just so unusually hot today, since it is the hottest week of the summer after all. Oh, I forgot my manners! My name's Mai Taniyama, I'm 16 years old, and I'm currently on vacation.
From school, anyway.
My boss, Kazuya Shibuya (I just call him Naru for short) had stormed in about an hour ago. He recently got out of the hospital; he had hurt himself in our last case, which involved a haunted school and a well. Don't ask, it's quite complicated. Although, his pet coin isn't any more complicated, I tell ya.
"Ugh, Mai! I'm stepping all over your papers!" an angry voice called (if you wanted to know, that 'BAM!' was my paperwork sliding to the floor without me realizing). I snapped out of my daydreaming and slapped myself on the forehead.
"Ah! I spent two hours sorting through them! Sorry Lin!"
"Just watch it next time," he grumbled, peering from behind the huge stack of boxes he was carrying. "Shibuya-san needs to have a word with you in his office."
I stopped shuffling through the papers and moaned. "I swear I hate this day." I set the papers on the coffee table of the lobby and stood up straight. Lin watched me as I walked by him and to the office door of Naru-chan.
I think it's about time to tell you more about my 'job.' I work part-time at the Shibuya Psychic Research (SPR) as Naru-chan's assisstant. Believe it or not, Naru is only 17! But, he acts so 'mature' and intelligent (and is so sure of himself) which leads to the nickname 'Naru', short for narcissist.
So far, at my time at SPR, we've solved over 3 cases; one at my school, one at a haunted mansion, and our recent one; at a haunted school. I also found out I had latent sensivity (a form of ESP)! Don't ask me to go into details, I'm not sure even I understand it!
"Naru-chan?"
"Come in," said the grumpy voice. I obeyed and peered inside. Naru was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands, sweat dripping down his handsome face. He had removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt two holes. A small fan was perched on his desk, blowing his once-neat black hair around like kites. He opened one intense blue eyes as the office door clicked shut.
"Why do I have to suffer from the heat while you have a fan?" I moaned.
He ignored me. As usual.
"Do we have any worthy applicants?"
"You make this sound like an interview," I said, huffily. He gave me a look, making me shudder dispite the heat. "Yes, we have half-a-dozen applicants."
"I see," Naru said, closing his eyes again. Why did he have the fan on and the window open? If he was really that hot, why did he wear his usual black outfit? He looked at least 98 degrees in those black clothest. "Read them out to me."
"Um, okay," I said, trying to remember them off the top of my head (I didn't have the guts to admit I dropped the paperwork...again). "Let's see, a haunted toilet-"
"Just some poltergeist playing a joke, anyone can exorcise that."
I hate his intelligence. "The haunted vineyard-"
"I keep telling them it's the ghost of a former worker," Naru said, angrily. "What's next?"
"The train station, the haunted television, the eerie music playing anonomusly at the opera house?" I said quickly, hoping to get some interest from him.
It didn't work.
"The train station isn't haunted; a bunch of kids hang around over there to play jokes on unsuspecting tourists. The television isn't haunted; it's broken, as for the eerie music..."
Haha! I got him, we'll have to do this case! Bet you 1,000,000 yen (approximetly $10,000) he can't come up with a remark for that one!
"It's haunted by a band member that died last month. The band member played flute, and she fell in love with one of the actors. What's the last case?"
Damn! Wait, give me about ten years and I'll have your money...wait, I had my fingers crossed! Ha!
"Nothin' special," I remarked, knowing I could never outsmart him. "Just about a girl going missing in a cemetary."
Naru's eyes snapped open. "That's the one with the girl in shock, correct?"
"Yeah," I said, suprised at how interested he was in the missing child case. "Reimi Shino went missing at the cemetary three days ago, and her cousin, Koaimi, was found at a shelter close to her house 36 hours ago. She was in shock, but they know she was the last person to see Reimi before she vanished."
Naru stood up so suddenly it made me jump. "Get Lin and pack our stuff, we're taking a trip."
"Oh brother," I muttered, exiting the office door.
Here we go again.
