Chapter 6
Yasu and I did find Kazuo-san in his office. He was just finishing up this morning's announcements. "What can I do for you two?" He asked once he was finished.
"We wanted to know why you waited until now to report the poltergeist activity." Yasu said as he and I took a seat in front of Kazuo-san's desk.
"W-What are you talking about?" Kazuo-san asked nervously.
"We know about the student who jumped out of the window in classroom 3-A. Now, usually people who kill themselves will become restless spirits and we think that student is the cause of the broken window." I told him frowning. "I just don't see why you didn't tell us this, unless you're hiding something from us." Kazuo-san sighed.
"You're right. I am hiding something." Surprise, surprise…. I was right! Love that sarcasm! "After that student committed suicide, their parents got really upset with the school and made a big fuss with the media before they moved away. I've been trying so hard these last few years to keep the media from hounding my students. I've gone around and asked the students what that student's purpose for doing such a thing and not one of them could tell me. I got angry with them, because I knew they were hiding something. I finally found out that the boys' basketball team was somehow involved with the death and after questioning them one by one for a whole month, they finally talked. They had said they didn't mean for that student to fall out of the window. I was so shocked. I mean, what are you supposed to say to a group of students who pushed another student out the window?" Kazuo-san was in tears. "I didn't want to report them to the authorities, it was an accident after all." Whoa, I was not expecting that. "Y-You're not going to go to the authorities are you?"
"No, and I'm sure our boss will agree. What happens in this school regarding to normal stuff is not our business. It does help us with cases though, so if you ever have problems again, remember to not leave out any details." I said as Yasu and I stood up. Kazuo-san stood up as well and bowed to us.
"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much joy it brings me to hear you say that! Don't worry, if problems occur again in the future, I won't forget to share all of the details. Thank you."
"Oh and Kazuo-san, do you happen to know if Naoki-kun showed up for school today?"
"Let me see," Kazuo-san said as he went through some papers. Really? They don't store that stuff on a computer? What century does this school live in anyways? "No, it seems he hasn't showed up today." I nodded.
"Thank you for your help, Kazuo-san." Yasu and I bowed before leaving. Well, that didn't go quite like I expected it to. I thought frowning.
"Well, that was different, wasn't it?" Yasu said smiling as we passed classroom 3-A.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that at all. I wonder what Naru is going to think of this all."
"He probably won't say anything at all or he might just say good job and give us our next assignment." I grinned, laughing a little.
"Yep, it definitely sounds like Naru." Yasu chuckled just as we entered the base. I was shocked to see Monk and Mai bent over, trying to catch up their breathing.
"What happened?" I asked worriedly.
"We were just in classroom 3-A checking the temperature and then suddenly I heard whispering by the blackboard." Mai said shuddering.
"It quickly escalated from there." Monk said shaking his head. "The room started shaking, there were loud banging noises, another window broke, and a desk got thrown at us! And none of my mantras worked on it."
"Maybe Naoki-kun has latent psychic abilities that he wasn't even aware of?" I asked curiously. Naru looked thoughtful.
"It's a possibility. What did you two find?" I grinned as Yasu and I retold everything we just learned to Naru.
"What was the girl's name?" Lin asked after we told them about the Biology lab.
"Her name is Yoshida Ren-chan. She's from class 1-A. We asked her about the how the rooms in this school were constructed and she told us her class is directly over classroom 2-C." I answered. "What did you guys find?"
"We found the footage of the desk moving, but that's about it." Naru said sighing. I wonder what's going on in that head of his. He's a pretty smart guy, but don't tell Naru I thought that!
"Oh yeah, Mai, did you tell Naru about the dream you had last night?" Her eyes grew to the size of large plates.
"I completely forgot about it! I got so preoccupied with the desk and everything." Mai said smiling sheepishly as Naru once again sighed.
"So what did you see?" Monk asked her.
"I saw Naoki-kun's rejection and Minoru-chan was very mean towards him about it. She called him some not so nice things. I saw a dark look in his eyes after she walked off."
"And here I was thinking that she was nice." Ayako said as she and John walked in.
"Did you guys find anything?" Monk asked her.
"No, we didn't even sense anything."
"That could mean that even though Naoki-kun didn't show up in class, there's the possibility that he really didn't come to school today." I said frowning. After filling her and John in on the rest, we all took a break. It was nearing lunch time and we were all hungry. So we decided to go eat at a nearby deli. Ooh, they made some good sandwiches.
"Now what are we going to do?" Mai asked as we ate. It was a question that I knew was on all of our minds.
"Well, we can confirm that Naoki-san is the one who's making the Hitogata and has latent psychic powers. But we still have to deal with the student who committed suicide." Naru said after taking a drink of his water.
"I haven't found the student's name yet, but I'm hoping that Kazuo-san can give me all the information I need to know." Yasu said sitting his own glass of water down on the table. Naru nodded.
"It's weird though. I haven't seen any spirits at all since we've started the case." I said frowning.
"There video camera in 3-A should've gotten everything on film. So when we get back, you can take a look at it." Lin said after swallowing. I nodded. It's still really weird though. It's almost similar to the incidents that keep happening to me; only this time I don't see anything at all, whereas with the incidents I'm starting to see shadows. Well whatever we're dealing with, it's pretty violent and it's clearly stated that it doesn't want anything to do with us so far. It pretty much attacked Mai and Monk already. After our lunch, we headed back to the school. It looked like the students were just getting back from lunch too. I heard snatches of conversations as we walked to base. Some students were talking about Yasu and I talking to a few students and others were still talking about the desk. Then I heard something interesting.
"I bet Naoki-kun had something to do with all of this." It was a middle school girl that I'm pretty sure is in Yoshida-chan's class. The girl's friend giggled.
"Yeah, right. He just talks big. There's no way he knows how to curse someone!"
"Excuse me!" I said grabbing her arm. She squealed. "Hi, I'm sorry. My name is Aki. I have a question to ask just before you go to class."
"W-What is it?" She asked nervously.
"Have you seen Naoki-kun at all yesterday or today?"
"No, he hasn't shown up for class at all for the last three days. I guess today would make it the fourth day since he's been to class."
"Would you mind coming by and letting one of us know if you do see him? Even if he's just in the hallways or outside of the school or on the track."
"S-Sure, I'll let the rest of my class know."
"Oh, one more thing. You're not in the same class as Yoshida-chan?"
"N-No, I'm in the same class as Minoru-chan though. Yoshida-chan is a few years younger than us."
"Okay, thanks a lot. Uh, what was your name again, sorry?"
"Oh, it's okay!" She said smiling. "I'm Rikuto Kanon."
"Thank you very much." She nodded and left with her friend.
"Good call." Ayako said when we finally got back to the base. I shrugged.
"I obtained a habit of listening to the snippets of conversations as I went to class back in America and it looks like it turned out to be more useful than I thought it would."
"The reaction on that girls face though when you grabbed her by her arm was hilarious." Monk said snickering.
"Now, now, Takigawa-san. You can't blame her for being jumpy after the desk." John said smiling at him.
"I know, but that doesn't mean it isn't funny."
"Well, I didn't mean to scare her. I just knew that if I didn't stop her right then and there, then she wouldn't have said anything to me later if I had waited to talk to her after school or tomorrow." I said shrugging.
"That's pretty logical considering all the students who wouldn't talk us today." Yasu said as Lin brought up the footage about classroom 3-A. I heard about what happened but watching it on video makes it look several times worse than what I imagined. Mai seemed to have forgotten about the glass shards cutting her, because when that part came, Ayako got onto her for not saying anything earlier.
"I'm sorry, I forgot about them!" She said as Ayako bandaged her up. I chuckled. I would've forgotten them too if I had gone through the things she went through in that room. So far though, I don't see any spirits. I frowned.
"Have you checked that room for Hitogata since this morning?" I asked no one in particular. "I'm not seeing any spirits or even a shadow. I think this could've been Naoki-kun. He must've been upset with us for not seeking him out sooner or something."
"No one has checked it since yesterday." Naru confirmed. I nodded.
"We really need to talk to Naoki-kun as soon as possible." Naru sighed.
"Yes, but while we track him down, I want Monk and John to look for Hitogata again. This time, we should probably search the room next to 3-A."
"But that class has students in it right now." Monk said frowning. "Shouldn't we wait until school is out before searching that class?" Naru sighed once again.
"Yes, I suppose you're right. I just want to end this before anyone gets seriously hurt." Yeah, that would suck.
"I agree," I told him smiling. "Yasu, Mai, Ayako, and I will scour the school on foot."
"Alright, just be careful everyone." We nodded and set off to find Naoki-kun.