I decided that I would be switching between Mai and Naru's POV for this story. I really hope I portrayed Naru well. I find it's a lot easier to get inside Mai's head, most likely because the anime is from her point of view. Still, I tried.
I don't own Ghost Hunt
Chapter 2- Naru's POV
I really don't know what I was thinking when I accepted this case. The number of children bustling around the house made so much noise that it was near impossible to concentrate. It was very irritating.
Granted, I wasn't particularly fond of children to begin with. They made me uncomfortable. If I talk to them, I'm more likely to make them cry than anything else. Children were more Mai's domain. This had been clear to me since the first time I'd seen her interact with a child, and had remained true to this day. Still, I had been prompted to take this case, so I would ignore my lack of ability to communicate with children and get the job done.
Although, it appears I'm not quite as incompetent in this aspect as I thought. That girl earlier, Kara, hadn't cowered from me, nor had she burst into tears. She had clung to Mai, giving her the appearance of being shy, but her eyes had been hard and cold, very much like my own. She certainly hadn't been emotionless, but I was pretty sure that she could be if she so desired. I found it rather fascinating, and I found myself taking to the little girl rather quickly.
Or perhaps I was taking to her because she bore such a strong similarity to Mai.
I gave my head a quick shake, clearing it of distracting thoughts, and refocused on my research, which had turned up some very disturbing information.
The orphanage I was currently in had been erected 75 years ago. It had originally been a house for a wealthy family by the name of Furuka, which had consisted of a father, a mother, a daughter, and a son. However…
My train of thought was interrupted when the door burst open and the two girls came in. Kara, who'd clung to Mai since meeting, came right up to me and yelled "Daddy!"
I winced. That girl had quite the voice. Then her exclamation processed, and I narrowed my eyes at her, asking "Did you just call me daddy?"
Kara nodded, grinning from ear to ear. I sighed, slightly annoyed and somehow disturbed. Fixing her with the nicest glare I could manage, I said "I'm not your father."
Kara looked at me as though I was the idiot and said "Well, duh. I know that."
I narrowed my eyes, studying her expression. She was still smiling innocently, but her eyes burned with a fire that told me she'd chosen her position and would stick to it. I closed my eyes and said, quite calmly, "But you plan to continue to call me that, correct?"
She nodded.
I considered this for a moment. On one hand, I was rather uncomfortable with the prospect of being called 'dad' by an eight-year-old girl I'd only just met. I was no one's father. On the other hand, she was clear on the fact that I wasn't her true father. Her calling me that didn't harm anyone. Besides, I didn't dislike her. She was a strong girl, and clearly very bold. She was very much like me at her age.
I made my decision. "Whatever." I told her, giving her permission in a passive-aggressive way to continue with her fantasy. "Did you have something to say?"
Mai came forward to answer the question. For some reason, she was blushing, right from the roots of her hair. In fact, I had rarely ever seen her this red. Perhaps she was shocked that I hadn't reprimanded Kara. "Ayuka just informed us that dinner will be ready in a few minutes." She told me. "She said that she'd be bringing the food up to us, since they don't have room for us in their dining room. Also, Kara will be eating with us."
"Why?" Was my first question. A small part of my brain acknowledged that my response was a little harsh, but I ignored it, as per usual.
Kara answered simply "Because I want to." She showed no sign that my question had offended her.
A few minutes later, Ayuka showed up with a rolling tray of food. Mai and Kara ran over to it, but I barely turned my head away from the computer screen in front of me. I knew that Mai would bring something over to me, so there was no reason for me to leave my position.
Sure enough, Mai came over a minute later and placed a plate of food next to me. She then went and sat with Kara at a small table nearby. They started up a conversation that I filed away at the back of my mind.
I put aside my research for a couple minutes to go through the plate of food, not really processing what was on it. I wasn't too particular about the food I eat during an investigation.
When I was done, I turned in my chair to face the two girls, who were also finished, and called out "Kara, how long have you been at this orphanage?"
Kara turned her attention to me. "Since I was a baby," She answered. "I was born here. My first mom died only minutes after I was born. No one knows who my first dad was, and no one ever came to get me."
I felt a small flash of sympathy, recalling my own experience with orphanages. I had had Gene to rely on throughout my childhood. Kara had no one. She was very strong. Shaking away my thoughts, I returned to my original focus. "Who was last to join this orphanage, and when did they arrive?"
Kara thought about it for a moment. "Well… I guess it would've been the twins, Hiro and Haruko. They're five. They came a few months ago. It was just after that that the scary stuff starting happening."
I filed this in my mind under 'critical information'. I recalled that I was the second to investigate, so I asked "The man who came before us, the one they called a psychic investigator, did he suspect these twins of being the source of the problems here?"
She shook her head. "Nuh-uh. He looked at them, but he said they didn't have any powers."
I considered this. Going on the assumption that this psychic investigator had been right, and the source of these problems weren't human in origin (which I already suspected), there still had to be some sort of connection between the arrival of these twins and the spiritual phenomenon occurring at this orphanage.
Mai, having listened to me question Kara silently, finally interceded. "Naru, why are you asking her this? You have a theory, don't you?"
I switched my focus to Mai. Upon looking at her, a feeling of fondness swelled up in my chest, one that I masked expertly. Mai had come a long way since the day she broke that camera and sprained Lin's ankle. She was smarter, more collected, and her psychic abilities have developed nicely. She's grown into a fine young woman.
I banished these thoughts as soon as they entered my mind with a slight amount of panic. I refocused on the conversation at hand and answered her. "Not so much a theory. I have discovered some key details concerning the history of this orphanage that might explain the events occurring now. However, I don't know why the phenomenon would wait so long to occur."
"What do you mean by 'wait'?" Mai interrupted. "What happened here, Naru?"
I shot a quick glance in the direction of Kara, who was now listening politely. I didn't want to disturb her with gruesome details. All the same, she seemed like she could handle mature topics better than most kids her age. As long as Mai didn't protest, I wouldn't hold back.
I told her the story. "This orphanage was erected 75 years ago. It had originally been a house for a wealthy family by the name of Furuka, which had consisted of a father, a mother, a daughter, and a son. However, around 73 years ago, a string of disappearances involving young children began to plague the locals. Since the family here had two children, the daughter being twelve at the time and the boy nine, and both of them remained unharmed, the locals began to suspect this the family here might be involved. After the nineteenth disappearance, a group of locals came up to the house to personally interrogate the people here. Upon arriving, they found all nineteen of the missing children, each one of them slaughtered, plus the body of the boy who lived in that house. The father, Ichiro Furuka, was arrested and charged for the murders. The mother and daughter moved away and were never heard from again. Since them, the house has been virtually abandoned, until about ten years ago when it was rebuilt into an orphanage."
Mai shivered, looking pale. "That's horrible." She murmured.
Kara, looking completely unmoved, interjected "But we haven't seen twenty ghosts. We've only seen one around here."
I frowned. I disliked it when someone put holes in my theories. "Yes," I started. "But you have been hearing laughter and footsteps throughout the house, correct?"
Kara nodded.
"It is possible that only one of the spirits would have the strength to conjure up an apparition out of twenty. If I had to guess, I'd say the spirit that's been seen around the orphanage is the spirit of the boy who actually lived here."
"Why him?" Mai asked.
"Because he has the most to be angry about." I answered her. "Site-bound spirits are driven by emotion. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the spirit. This boy, Ryo Furuka, was murdered by his own father. His emotions are likely in more turmoil than the others."
Mai considered this for a minute. "That makes sense." She decided. "But it doesn't explain why this stuff is only happening now."
I lowered my gaze in frustration. "I know."
Silence followed as the two girls pondered this. Frowning, Mai said "We could always just ask the boy."
I raised my eyebrows at her, surprised. "And how do you suppose we do that?"
Mai looked me straight in the eye and said "Well, we have the boy's name, birthday and date of death, right? That means Lin can summon him."
I suddenly felt like an idiot, not to mentioned annoyed at the fact that Mai had come up with such a simple solution before I could. I couldn't decide if that was a compliment to her intelligence or an insult to mine. "You're right," I murmured regretfully. I looked over to Lin, who had turned to face us at the mention of his name. "Can you do it?" I asked him.
"Of course." He answered. "It should be easy enough."
I nodded in appreciation. "Then get ready." I told him. He immediately stood up and walked off to get the equipment he would need.
Mai smiled, pleased that her suggestion had gone through. She turned to Kara and said "Let's take those dishes downstairs, okay?"
Kara nodded and jumped up to grab the dishes around the room. A few seconds later, the two girls were out the door.
I suddenly noticed that the sun was setting, and I wondered briefly if I should have gone with them. Mai had quite the record for attracting spirits, a record that got continually worse as her psychic abilities developed. But after a moment, I dismissed the thought. She'll be fine.
… Right?
