Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt is not owned by me, but by someone who lives in another country and who can write in Japanese.
A/N: Who would have thought that I would actually start two chapters so close together and not post them anywhere near the same time. Well, maybe you have figured out how much of a procrastinator I am by now.
"What was that!?" Takigawa-san yelled from the hall.
We ran into the hall. "It sounded like Matsuzaki-san's voice." Brown-san stated.
We heard some banging. "Over there." I said.
I walked swiftly down the hall to where Matsuzaki-san was banging and yelling through the door. She was outraged. "Open up! Please open the door!" (A/N: In my manga book it says: "Please open this the door!". I wasn't sure how to put it, most likely it's a typo.)
I grabbed the door knob and started turning it, trying to open the door, but with little success. "Strange," I muttered.
Takigawa-san came up. "Let me try, let's see." He tried the same things as me, with a few of his own attempts having as much success as mine. Now he too was banging on the door. "It won't open. I'm going to have to kick it in! Ayako, move back!"
Matsuzaki-san yelled at him, clearly upset. "Hey, don't call me by my first name!" He started counting to three.
Takigawa-san kicked the door in with a resounding crack. Mai and Masako-san just stood there as it fell to the floor. Matsuzaki-san looked stunned as the door fell at her feet. It looked like she'd only barely got out of the way in time.
After everyone had comforted Matsuzaki-san they went back to the base. I stayed for a bit and examined the area. The door hadn't been locked, but it hadn't moved either. I looked for signs of tampering and found my evidence. There was a nail sticking up in the way of the door frame. I pulled it out and kept a hold of it for proof, should I later need it. Someone had pulled a prank and tried to make it seem as though a spirit was responsible.
I went back to the base to find that Takigawa-san and Matsuzaki-san had retrieved drinks while I was away. Matsuzaki-san was telling them what happened. I leaned against a desk to listen.
"I was checking out the classroom when all of a sudden the door closed by itself and wouldn't open."
"You're sure you didn't close it yourself?" Takigawa-san said, teasing her.
"Yes I'm sure!" she yelled back. "There's definitely something in here."
Hara-san broke in, "I don't sense it at all. There are no spirits in this building." I agreed with her. There had been no presence to suggest that it wasn't a human. Besides, I knew of no spirit or ghost who would think of using a nail. It took human intuition to do something like that.
At once Matsuzaki-san got pissed off again, "Who do you think you are?"
Hara-san on the other hand stayed level-headed. "You're making light of my being a psychic, aren't you? Aren't you a little embarrassed of being scared by a door that wouldn't open?"
"Shut up, you little jerk!" I had to quietly admit to myself that cat-fights were interesting. "I'm a professional, unlike a fake psychic medium who got popular just because of her looks!"
"Thank you for the compliment on my good looks." Nice comeback.
Mai seemed to be thinking that this was pointless by the look on her face.
"I think what I just experienced was caused by a chirei that lives on land." Matsuzaki-san stated. This caught Mai's attention.
"Chirei? You mean a jibakurei?"
Matsuzaki-san grunted, "No, I don't. Jibakurei are human spirits trapped in a particular location because of something that happened there. Chirei are spirits of the land. Also known as 'seirei'."
Takigawa-san spoke up. "I think it was an act by a jibakurei. I wonder if something happened to this building in the past? My guess is, there's a ghost that's afraid of losing it's home and is trying to prevent the demolition." I had to admit, that was valid reasoning. I needed to hear different opinions.
"What do you think, John?" I asked.
"I don't really know. Isn't the phenomenon of a haunted building usually caused by a spirit or ghost?"
I thought that over. That was true, but weren't there other possibilities as well? I went over it. "Spirit, soul, a ghost is a yurei." I paused, Mai needed to know this. "Are you listening, Mai?"
"Thank you for caring!" she stated angrily. She looked at my hand. "It's dangerous to be playing with a nail." I looked at my hand ad realized that I was indeed playing with the nail I found earlier. I quickly slipped it into my pocket.
John spoke up again. "So if a psychic phenomenon is caused by spirits, it would mean that chirei have a close connection with the location, or it could mean that the spirits have called for the devil. If the phenomenon was caused by a ghost, that would mean it was an act by jibakurei." He did a good job of explaining things.
Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san jumped at John at the same time.
"It's a jibakurei, right!?"
"So don't you think it was caused by a chirei?"
"Wa! I can't tell for sure." John said.
Matsuzaki-san got up and walked towards the door. "Anyway! I just need to exorcize it, right? I'll take care of it tomorrow. I couldn't stand being involved with a crappy incident like this for much longer." She left without saying anymore.
Hara-san sighed. "What a waste. As I said, there are no spirits here."
Mai spoke up, "but there are so many stories about this building. And how do you explain Miko-san getting locked in that room just now?"
"That was just her overactive imagination," Hara-san stated clearly.
"Ah, I see."
Hara-san walked straight towards me. "I've been meaning to ask you. Have we met somewhere before?"
I thought about that, it's possible she might've seen my brother. I did my best to seem natural, even with the ache I felt at the thought. "No. I believe this is the first time."
"Is that right?"
The other three looked on. They seemed to think Hara-san was trying to pick me up. What a silly thought.
"Naru!" Mai shouted, "the sun is about to set."
I looked up, she was right. "Ah. We need to put our equipment in the second floor classroom in the far west corner of the building. Then we should get out of here."
"Oh. Young one, you're not staying over tonight?" Takigawa-san asked.
"Not tonight. Mai, tomorrow after school please be prepared to stay."
"Huh? Tomorrow is Saturday!"
"Would you rather pay me back for the camera?" I laughed to myself. Free help, plus insurance. This job couldn't get any better.
"I'll be ready . . ."
We quickly set up the equipment. I sent Mai home and packed up. As I drove the van back to the apartment I wondered whether Lin had listened to me or not. Most likely not.
A/N: Wow, I'm sooooooo sorry guys. I didn't mean to lose Naru's personality. I really didn't mean too. Please don't be too mad. At least I updated. Hahaha. Okay. I'll try my best to keep writing so don't worry too much. Um...just so you know, if you want me to update I figured it would be best if you private message me.
Please review! Thanks!