3rd Person, Limited, Mai Taniyama
Thankfully, it felt as if time flew as they took down the microphones. Two at a time, the back of the schoolhouse was cleared of any electronics with both herself and Kazuya working together. She found herself relieved when everything was gone, and she hoped that it meant that she would soon be free to return home, in order to find some time to relax on the bed despite her inner chaos.
Once again, the teenager followed the other to where everything was being packed up. Holding the last two microphones in her arms, she was careful to put them away. "Alright, I helped you with everything in the back, right?"
As she finished setting everything down, she heard the noise of a trunk being opened. Assuming that it was from the van she was right next to, due to how close the sound was, she looked up. Her face nearly turned white at the sight before her. She wasn't sure if she was correct, but that was a lot of equipment! Parting her lips, she tried to find the words, but nothing came out.
Kazuya moved aside what seemed to be metal piping from the front of everything within the van. "Let's carry everything inside."
"E-everything?" Mai muttered to herself, feeling herself recoil at the thought. "You need… Everything?"
"Yes, we are going to require all the equipment." He responded, as he picked up some pieces of shelving. Making his way over to her, he placed a couple pieces into her arms, which made her shiver from how cool they were.
"Are we going inside, then?" Mai felt herself ask, tilting her head up towards the other.
"Of course." Looking back towards the girl, Kazuya continued. "Don't worry, you aren't going in on your own."
The female stared at the other in slight confusion before nodding, following him inside. It had taken a moment to process, but she could've sworn that the comment he made was him trying to reassure her. Despite this, everything she's heard about the place unnerved her, and made her nervous to be within the walls of the building for longer than she had to be. The entire situation was odd to her, and she wondered how on earth she managed to get into it. It wasn't as if she feared this circumstance, but it was more so where it would head over time.
"Let's use this room." Shibuya suddenly stated, out of the blue. It had made Mai flinch, but she then realized the room he was going into, and trailed along.
It didn't take much for her to realize that this was likely once used as a science or home economics classroom, with how the tables were set up. Mindlessly walking forward, Mai looked around the room, before moving over to the table that Kazuya had seemed to choose.
"Can you build the shelves? I'll go and bring in more equipment as you do so." The male asked, as he looked towards Mai.
"You're leaving me by myself?" The female squeaked out, concerned over the concept of being alone.
"Would you rather carry the equipment? Some of it weighs more than forty kilograms."
The thought of carrying something that heavy made Mai look down, whining in defeat. "I'll build the shelf…"
As Naru left the room, the brunette looked back towards the rest of the material she was provided to make one of the shelves. Setting her own pieces down, she started to feel the parts, trying to understand how they worked and hopefully how they were put together. It was difficult for her to understand, and she found herself fiddling with each piece, in an attempt to put them together and seeing what worked, and what didn't.
Suddenly, she heard a noise come from the ceiling, which made her jump out of her skin in fear. Snapping her head towards the sound, Mai put a hand to her chest to feel her racing heart. "W-what on earth was that?..." She muttered to herself, before slowly moving her attention back to her work.
As she did so, however, she also started to hear the creaking of wood within the area, and she perked up. Nervously, she slowly looked over towards the door she came through not too long ago. Staring that the area void of any interest, she was about to try to finish what she was doing, so that she wouldn't risk being in trouble, when she noticed something.
Thinking it was a person who shouldn't be in the building, she was ready to scream and take the measures to defend herself. However, after what felt like forever of widened eyes and not breathing to her, the form came to be something she didn't quite expect.
Finally inhaling, her body leaned against the table and her head tilted to the side. It was just Naru… With what was likely cords, but that fact didn't matter much to her at the moment. "D-don't scare me like that…"
Without a word, he went to the table and set the cords down. The narcissist seemed to stare at the table for a bit longer than he should've before turning and looking at Mai. "Do you not know how to put the shelf together, Taniyama-san?"
Mai instantly felt her pride get the better of her, clenching her teeth together. "O-of course I do, why wouldn't I?!"
"Then get to work." He then went back to the door, leaving to get another round of equipment.
The brunette glared at the door for a moment, hands clenched and shaking in anger. She knew how to do it, really! At least… She knew she would be able to figure it out. There was never a time where she was completely stumped on how to solve a problem, even if it did tend to take time for her to figure everything out. This would be no different she was sure of it!
Whipping her body to face the table, she glared at it. She would get it built, no matter what! Taking the two pieces that she was looking at before, she inspected them before putting them together. Noticing how they fit together, A smirk appeared on her face. That was exactly what she needed to figure out, so she would be well on her way to completing the miniature project set for her.
By the next time Kazuya entered the room, Mai was actively putting parts together. She struggled on occasion, however, she managed to get it done quickly enough that she had everything she needed built done by the time that Naru had everything brought in, she was done.
After that, he had her put the monitors on the bottom shelves, which he connected the wires needed to them. For the rest of the shelves, he put the monitors on himself, and Mai worked on the wires. Thankfully, she noticed how her boss seemed to put them in the other monitors, and used that as a guide the entire time, other than when she was asked to do something different, which she gladly did.
Thankfully, not much time was needed to complete everything they did up until this point. She was sure the sun was setting by now, but it was better than she thought it would be. Stepping back to see the work they did, Mai found herself stunned by how much there really was. "Wow…" She muttered under her breath, hoping that the boss in the room didn't overhear her.
Hearing movement from a box, Mai turned over towards it to see what was happening next. She found herself surprised at what Kazuya was pulling out of it. Making her way over to him and the item, Mai tilted her head. "A tape recorder?..." Knitting her brows together in thought, she pursed her lips before speaking again. "No… This one is different…"
"Yes," Naru responded, "This one can record up to twenty-four hours, so it has a different design compared to normal tape recorders."
"I see…" Mai spoke quietly to herself.
As he took the current film from the recorder, Noll spoke. "Please don't ask any stupid questions. I hate having to explain everything."
What he said instantly made Mai squint at the older teen. Did she hear what she thought she heard? "Don't ask stupid questions? You're the one that hired me without thinking about that. If it's that much of a bother, then I just won't help you!"
The two stared at one another, their gazes equally serious, until Kazuya sighed. "Fine."
Mai smirked, feeling accomplished in regards to getting Naru to give in to her will. She supposed he realized that if he wanted her to work well, she needed to know about everything. "So if you're using a recorder like this, then does that mean you aren't staying overnight? Or is this just to make sure you capture everything?"
"Not tonight, no." He responded, replacing the film with a new, empty set. "If there really is a ghost, I'll need to determine its strength before I stay overnight."
"Ohhh," Mai mindlessly spoke out loud, "So you're a stone tapper."
Kazuya looked over towards her, brow raised. "What?"
Mai perked up in realization, but also slight concern. That was a common term used, so she didn't get how he didn't know about it. "Oh, you tap the stone before you cross. Or, you look before you leap. In other words, you're really cautious about things you do."
"Of course I am. You may encounter extremely dangerous situations when going to a haunted location. If you underestimate, you may never return."
Shivers went through Mai's body at the thought, as she forced up a smile and chuckle to go along with her response. "J-jeez, that's a dark thought, isn't it?"
Naru looked back towards Mai. "Perhaps, however, it is the truth."
Brown eyes shimmered for a moment, unable to go against the other's words. After a moment, she moved her attention to something else, to get the odd feeling in the room to disappear. Her eyes caught sight of one of the cameras by her feet, on the floor. "So, what kind of camera is this?"
By the time she asked, he had gone back to work on a piece of equipment. "I don't want to speak any longer."
Unamused by the gesture, Mai crossed her arms, a thought of how to get the information instantly approaching her. "I see, I see." Mai mindlessly spoke, moving her gaze up towards the ceiling. "But you can't blame me if I ever make any mistakes because I don't know the answers." Lifting her skirt upwards, as if it were a long dress instead, she lifted her leg up. "Is this even a camera? What if it's just a fancy footstool to get to the higher monitors? Oopsies."
When she looked back towards her boss, his attention was focused on her, eyes sharp. Once again, the both of them stared at one another, before he lowered his head. "It's an infrared camera…" As Mai put her foot and school skirt back down to proper positions, he continued, pointing out each different camera. "To save you the trouble of asking, this is a thermograph, and this is a high speed camera."
Mai smiled in acceptance of the answers she was given, looking at each of them. "Really? This is my first time seeing this kind of tech. There's nothing like it in the audiovisual room."
"That's because they are very expensive, and not something a school would casually have on hand."
"Oh…" Averting her gaze at the thought, Mai tilted her head. She has looked at cameras before, and she did admit that good ones were expensive. So for these kinds of cameras… Mai didn't want to know the price. All she knew, was to not break them like she did the first one.
Kazuya approached Mai, and handed her a thermometer, along with a clipboard and pen. "Go around to each room and list the temperature within, then come back."
Blinking, the girl looked at the small machine in her hands, before looking back up and nodding. "Alright, I will." Going over to the door, Mai inspected the item in her hands, trying to better understand it and how it worked. It had a screen on it, that she could tell. This made her suspect that she would have a migraine by the time she was finished.
Over time, as she got used to the machine, and moving from room to room, she felt her head start to sting. It made her hope that this was the final task she had to do before she was allowed to go home. Then she could get some medication in her system so she could sleep without issue. With her head buzzing by the time she returned, and the brunette leaned against the outside of the door before entering it, items ready to be handed back to Kazuya.
"I'm back," She announced, "And I measured the temperature in every room, like you asked." She offered the clipboard to him, and as she expected, he instantly took it. Looking back at the device, she frowned. If it wasn't for the screen, she would've mentioned how handy it was. Because it would be more useful than the usual thermometers, for most people.
"Nothing unusual… There is no particular temperature drop in any of the rooms. The first flower is lower than the others, however… Not enough to matter."
He seemed focused on the page, and Mai mindlessly watched him as she rubbed the smooth metal on the thermometer. "Does that mean there's no spirits, then?"
Holding his free hand out, Kazuya replied, "We don't know that yet. Ghosts don't always expose themselves where there are strangers in their area. It takes time for them to offer us evidence." Mai handed the teen the item in her hands, as he continued, "We learned nothing from this, we should set up the infrared cameras. Five of them, two in each of the floor's hallways, and one at the entrance."
"If you say so…" Mai muttered, concerned as to who would be moving the cameras to each spot. As she watched him pick up a stand, she could've sworn her face paled. Of course it was her that had to carry the cameras…
Over time, her back started to hurt with each camera. Naru hadn't been wrong, in regards to the weight of some of the equipment. And the fact that she had to carry two of them up a staircase did not help her situation much. By the time they had set everything up, all the different cameras and connecting them to the monitors, she felt as if her back was about to break in half.
"M-my back…" She whined to herself, holding it, while leaning against a wall. "Hopefully Gym class isn't for a few days…" Otherwise, she may suffer throughout class, with how much her back ached from all the lifting she did.
"You may go home, now." Kazuya spoke, back facing away from Mai. "The cameras will do the rest."
"Thank goodness." Smiling in relier, she moved off the wall, glad to think of her safe haven. Smiling, she looked over towards him, before tilting her head. "Seriously, though… Psychic research with equipment? That seems a little off for a psychic."
"I'm a ghost hunter, not a psychic. There is a difference."
"Alright…" Averting her gaze at the thought, Mai started to inch towards the entrance, where she would be able to leave and go home. "Well, um… I'm gonna go now. I think it's pretty late…"
As she inched onwards, she heard him speak. "Tomorrow, after school."
"Tomorrow?" Mai parroted back, confused.
"Meet me by the van."
She was surprised to hear that, her eyes widening. Did he say tomorrow, too? Despite her entire being craving the choice not to attend, she knew better, by this point, than to refuse. "Ok…"
"Good. Have a good evening."
"You too." Turning the entire ways around, Mai drowned in her internal sorrow, now that she knew that she had to return to the schoolhouse the next day, as well.
Ah, well. Perhaps she can relax at home for a while before going to bed, at least.
Ahh, I have been officially late for the first time. But I worked all night on this chapter, and it was a bit longer than what I've been offering, as of late, so I hope that is enough to make the slightly longer wait worth it. I got caught up in the release of Animal Crossing, and have been ramming time into it as much as possible, making me completely forget until today about this chapter. Oopsies ;;^^
But it's here now, and that's what matters. I hope you all enjoy!
