Thanks to the reviewers, favorites, and followers! Could not do this without you!
Forgot it last chapter, but I don't own Ghost Hunt. This site is called FANfiction .net, why the heck would we need a disclaimer, it's pretty obvious original authors wouldn't put their works on a fanfiction site, they'd just publish the new story. Unless they felt the need to troll on everyone, in which case, they can rightfully say 'I own this and there's nothing you can do about it'.
Just saying.
Oh, and a series of unfortunate events prevented me from updating. Stupid laptop chargers… and hospitals… bleh. And older brothers… and my bloody terrible luck… Not to mention school or broken clay owls… It's been a long few weeks for me.
And have you ever typed with a cast on not only your arm, but on your finger too?
PS-anyone else think that the Ghost Hunt opening is waaay too long? You could make and eat a 5 course meal in that time.
BLIND
POV Mai
I remember once being told that I could affect the dead and the living. I never figured out the 'affect the dead' part of the story, but it was what got me started on ghost stories when I tried to figure it out. As for the affecting the living part, I just figured I had a good personality or something.
Currently, I figured I was somewhere in between 'living' and 'dead'.
I felt… warm. But yet, cold. I felt stiff yet relaxed. Comfortable yet not. I supposed that this was a sort of karma, too. I had almost gotten hit by the shoe racks earlier, but Naru's actual assistant pushed me out of the way and kept me from being injured while getting hurt himself. And now, I was quite possibly dead for the exact same reason, a shoe rack fell on me.
I could feel a hand lay itself on my forehead, and opened my eyes. I could see lights, lots of lights. It didn't surprise me, I often could see rather clearly in my dreams. I turned my head to look at the person whose hand was still on my forehead and saw… A boy?
Who…. Are you? I tiredly thought, my mind's voice seeming to echo in my own head.
"Hello?" I said to the boy as he smiled at me kindly at me with gentle eyes.
"Hello," he said back as I closed my eyes again tiredly.
I snapped my eyes open again. His voice sounded almost exactly like Naru's… and due to reflexes immediately started talking about what had happened in Naru's absence.
"After you left the poltergeist came back worse than it was before! " I said, sitting up. "Oh wait, you're not Naru, sorry…"
"It's okay," he said softly back.
"Ah so, who are you?" I asked as I held my head, a headache seeming to be coming on. A lot has happened today, no wonder why I got one. I guess it confirms that I'm not dead, not yet at least. That, or the afterlife can hurt you just as much as real life.
"Go back to sleep," he said softly, ignoring my question as he pushed me down gently.
"You avoided my question," I said while I looked up at the boy again. I felt really drowsy again. He just lowered his eyes a bit, as if also a bit tired. "You should probably get some sleep…" I droned off as I fell back to sleep.
BLIND
Monday
Day 5
"Mai, wake up!" I heard someone say. It sounded like Monk, but it was like I was hearing through a haze of some sort.
I felt my eyes open almost immediately to the same darkness that usually surrounded me. My senses started to make out Ayako, Monk, and John standing by me while I heard John say, "I think she's gonna be okay guys," to the other two. I was in the back of the van, much like Naru was earlier.
"Hey Mai how do you feel?" Monk asked me.
"Boy, we were really worried there for a minute," Ayako said before I could say anything.
'I'm sorry," I said softly.
"You were out for quite a while there, it's already four o'clock in the morning," Monk informed me.
"Did Naru ever come back?" I asked them. Maybe I had heard his voice in my dream and I just thought it was some random smiling dream boy. Even though part of me said that that wasn't the case, I had to be sure.
"Nope," Monk said, dashing that theory away quick. Then it was just a dream. I should've known better. There's no way Naru would smile like that, and besides, I have never actually seen him, how could I have dreamt of him if I've never seen him?
I stood up from where I was sitting in the van. "Where's Kuroda?" I asked, noting my classmate's absence.
"She went home," said Ayako "…which, come to think of it, isn't entirely a bad idea. Exorcisms have had no effect. It's possible that even our own safety could be compromised."
"So you wanna run away?" I asked.
"Need I remind you that it was your own boss who ran away first?!" Ayako shouted. "He probably went home and cried himself to sleep."
"That is ridiculous!" I countered.
"Well if I were to guess he ran away because of us, we did kinda gang up on him yesterday you know," Monk stated.
"Yes, but remember you're referring to the world's biggest swollen-headed stuck-up self-absorbed holier-than-thou narcissist," I reminded them. There's no way Naru wouldn't brush this off until getting revenge in his own way, and that meant he most certainly wasn't crying in bed.
"Maybe Kazuya is at home, stewing with unbridled rage while making straw ethigy dolls of each of us," John said with a completely straight face.
I thought over it a moment, and started laughing at the thought while the rest joined in. That probably sounds more like him than anything else the other two suggested.
But it's such a freakin ridiculous mental image… Naru really will kill if he finds out!
BLIND
"Morning!" I said to Keiko and Michiru as I stepped into the classroom.
"Oh my gosh, Mai!" the two girls answered in unison.
"Are you okay?" asked Keiko.
"We heard something happened to you; fill us in on all the details!" Michiru added to Keiko's statement.
"Oh, where did you hear that?" I asked, I don't remember telling anyone that something happened.
"Kuroda told us, she's been bragging to the whole class about it all morning," Keiko said while pointing to Kuroda, who was talking to a bunch of students that stood around her.
"And you'll never guess what happened to us," Michiru commented.
"Kazuya just called us up out of nowhere! We talked for like, ten minutes!" Keiko said happily.
"He called?!" I said as I grabbed onto Keiko's shoulders.
"Yeah, last night," Michiru said curiously.
"Yeah," Keiko confirmed.
"Last night? He's been missing since yesterday afternoon, what did you talk about?!" I asked, my mind on rapid fire.
"Uh, you know, like this and that." Typical Keiko. "He asked us what we knew about the old schoolhouse and stuff."
"He asked us a lot of questions about Kuroda," Michiru added.
What the heck is Naru up to?
I walked over to my seat, fuming a little bit.
"Oh, there you are. Kuroda, Mai, you're wanted in the principal's office, a teacher said from the doorway of our classroom.
We both walked down in complete silence, both wondering what this could possibly be about.
"Hello?" I called out as I opened the principal's door.
There, inside the principal's office, stood Naru. He stood in front of window like someone who had been waiting on someone would. He turned towards us as Kuroda and I stepped in.
Naru? The thought finally processed through my head. He was here, and he seemed to be fine. I sent my senses around the room to figure out just what was going on. And there's Masako. What's everyone doing here? I thought as I sensed everyone sitting in an arc in front of the principal's chair except for Naru, who was still standing, and the principal, who sat at his desk. There were two chairs open, supposedly left for Kuroda and me.
"Please take a seat," the principal said to us both.
"Okay, this makes up everyone who's been involved in a case thus far," Naru said as Kuroda sat in the chair at the end of the row and I next to John. "This should only take a few minutes," Naru told us before pulling the curtains together. Is he trying to make it dark? The windows were soon covered, and Naru turned on some sort of weird machine. It gave off a high-pitched whir as it turned on, and all I could tell was it seemed to be a lamp of some sort, only with an overly-large bulb on a skinny bit of metal. Everyone's attention seemed to be on the bulb, either turning their heads or the small bump on the eye where the pupil was located turning towards the lamp. I guessed that the light was on. What's up with the lamp? This is really strange.
"I'd like everyone to focus on the light," Naru said, his monotone voice seeming a bit gentle but still demanding as he looked around at us, seeming to always come back to me. I looked at the lamp for good gesture, but I was still confused on what exactly we were doing.
"Now control your breathing so it's in sync with the light," Naru continued, his voice now soft. My eyes got to be half-lidded as exhaustion started setting in. Everyone started to get their breathing to be in sync so I got my breathing to be in sync with theirs. "Very slowly, relax your shoulders," he continued in his soft voice. I could tell everyone else was slowly relaxing their shoulders as I was; only they were more… trance-like as they did it. Everyone had half-lidded eyes now too.
"Concentrate on your breathing," Naru said, his voice partially lost to my conscious. I'm getting really sleepy... maybe it's because of what happened last night. I'm probably just tired. "Now start counting your breaths. Breathe deep. Nice," he continued again. He sounds so far away. I'm going to fall asleep soon if he doesn't stop whatever it is he's doing. "Tonight the chair in the second floor of the old schoolhouse will move," Naru's voice was barely making it through my sleepy haze. Chair… "Tomorrow, we'll all meet in the laboratory," his voice hazily said. Laboratory… Chair… chair…
I was just about unconscious when the high-pitched whir stopped and the curtains opened to let what I'm presuming is sunlight in. What really woke me up, though, was Kuroda letting off the faint electric lines again, this time focused on a chair in front of Naru.
"That's all I need. Thank you for your cooperation," Naru said as he still clutched the curtain. Now I definitely want to know what happened. He was saying 'thank you', and I already knew that wasn't a good sign.
'I'm sleepy," Monk complained as he stood up and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the nagging feeling to sleep to go away.
Ayako stood up holding her head while adding, "So am I," to the conversation. Masako then stood up herself while rubbing at her eyes while the rest of us sat there in similar positions. I thought back to right before I had almost-but-not-quite fallen asleep. I had seen something in a dream-like state.
It was the same setting as the dream from last night with the boy.
Only this time, the boy wasn't there. Something else was there instead.
There was a chair.
BLIND
"Naru!" I shouted down the hallway after I had been dismissed from the office. Naru had left right after he had thanked us for our cooperation (in what, I still didn't understand) without us noticing until the principal let us leave a minute later.
Naru turned his head slightly towards me to indicate he heard but he didn't stop walking nor did he comment. I slowed down as I got right behind him, walking in pace with him. "Where did you go yesterday?" I asked curiously.
"Nowhere special," he said simply before turning his head to look in front of him again. "I heard you got injured."
"Oh, it was no big deal," I commented lightly. Why'd he care, anyway? I was here, I'm not in hospital, I'm obviously fine. "So what was up with that light?"
"Shouldn't you be heading back to class now?" he ignored my question. Typical.
"I'm not too worried about it," I said. I wasn't a complete idiot in my classes, and I knew that the teacher didn't really start teaching until halfway through class anyway, so I had a few minutes to spare.
He turned his head towards me like before and said, "So you're skipping class because you want to be stupid?" before turning his head back around and left me behind to glare at him. He was putting his outside shoes back on before I caught up to tell him something.
"Hold on a second, there was something I wanted to ask you," I said when I finally got in close enough to ask him without yelling. "Did you come back last night?" I asked. I still was a bit worried about the dream thing I had.
"To… the school? Uh-uh, why?" Naru answered, facing towards me again.
Because my subconscious made a body for me to see in my dreams since I can see in my dreams but not in real life. Did I mention I'm blind? "Oh, um, uh, no reason. Well, time to get back to class. See ya!" I said as Naru walked away before I had even finished my first 'sentence'. Which, by the way, was more like me babbling than actual words.
I sent my senses towards the door to tell if he really had left in time to sense his retreating figure as the school door closed behind him.
Just as I suspected. Naru would never smile like that. Oh well, at least I know that is was just a dream now, ehehe! Why do I keep thinking about that? Does that mean…? Oh no. No no no no no. I AM NOT IN LOVE! That's it, next time I see dream-guy I'm giving him a thrashing for being there then making him explain! GAH!
BLIND
Later, after school, I walked over to the van again to see if Naru was there. He was, after all, still my boss, whether or not I may-or-maybe-not possibly had a SMALL crush on him. Or, well, my subconscious did. Which is a part of me. I had been in this thinking loop all day and it hadn't been getting me anywhere.
Naru was, in fact, to be found in the back of the van, holding a pair of headphones attached to his laptop over his ears, listening to something. I thought back to the smiling boy in my dreams. Again. It made me feel weird. I hid my face in my hands like Keiko did around who she deemed cute. She said it was because she was slightly embarrassed to be caught by your own self staring at them. I said she was silly. Now I understood.
What's wrong with me! No matter what I do I can't get it out of my head! I guess that means I'm really… I didn't let myself finish the thought as Naru turned towards me, seeming to have finally notice my presence. Just by sensing that he was looking at me made me feel weird again. Please don't look at me like that! Or at all!
"Were you the one who set up the microphone on the second floor last night?" Naru asked me, oblivious to my internal struggle with my feelings. Thank everything in the universe for that.
"Yeah. We were taking good video but I thought we should have a mic in there, you know, just in case?" I said, the whole thing coming out sort of like a question.
"Well, you did an excellent job, Mai. We picked up some very interesting noises," he turned his head back to the laptop screen. I stared at him for a moment. Did he just give me a complement without insulting my intelligence? "What's up?" he said casually as he turned towards me while I stared.
"Oh, uh, that was it," I said. Then I remembered something. "Wait! There was one more thing I wanted to mention. You know that shoe rack? The one that fell on top of me? It was warm, and I remember you saying that poltergeists cause things to heat up."
"I'm impressed you remember that," Naru commented.
"Thanks!" I said, finally calmed down. I sensed John down by the street. He noticed me and walked over.
"Good'ay Mai," John greeted. He sounded a bit tired, but he was a part of this case too, and all of us were tired, so I supposed it was understood. At least he showed up, unlike Monk and Ayako. Masako probably still was a bit sore, so she was excused in my book.
"John, I casually greeted back.
Naru looked over at the new arrival and took the headphones off. "Now, let's get started," he said, confusing both John and me.
I get the feeling we just got roped into something…
Knowing Naru, I did.
BLIND
"Hm… A chair… and a camera. Hey, Naru," I said, curiosity getting the better of me as I left John to setting the camera up. "What are you setting up over there?"
"This," Naru indicated to the thing he was setting up right outside the door of the classroom, "is a radar."
"Wait, I thought they only used those things on airplanes? So why do you have one?" I asked.
"If I told you it wouldn't work," Naru said as if that explained everything.
"But I'm still your assistant, right?" I said.
"Yes," Naru said and held out a hammer towards me. "So take some of that plywood over there and start boarding up all the windows and doors in that room." Suddenly, I regret my last sentence.
I grabbed the hammer and begrudgedly stared at it before getting to work. What's his problem?! I thought as I hammered a board in place. Does he have to keep me in the dark about every little detail?!
And then, somehow, Naru got John boarding up the place too. John was sometimes too nice for his own good. All while Naru continued fiddling with the radar or something. I honestly think he just didn't want to put up boards. Jerk. Although, if I were him, I'd probably do the same.
John and I were soon finished and I leaned against the strongest part of the plywood-the part that was nailed onto a support post. "My arms are killing me," I groaned as said limbs throbbed with pain. Naru then held out a marker to both John and me. "What now?" I groaned as I looked at the little marker.
"Both of you, take this, and sign your names on the board."
I groaned again before taking the marker and handing it to John so he could sign first. Naru held another marker out for me. I groaned again.
A while later I got to the last board out of what seemed to be hundreds. "That was the last one. right?" I groaned out. I was seriously tired now, but something told me I wouldn't be able to sleep.
"Now, write your names on this paper. After you're done, you can go home," Naru said after he taped a piece of paper over the two pieces of plywood that covered the door.
"So, I assume there's a point to all this?" I said as I signed the paper.
"You'll find out tomorrow," was he said as he walked away.
"Tomorrow?!" I yelled over my shoulder as John walked up to sign the paper.
"Kazuya knows what he's doing and I trust in his judgment, so maybe we should just sleep on it like he said and find out tomorrow," John said calmly.
"Maybe so, but I'm tired of being left in the dark!" I said.
We walked out after that, and no sign of Naru anywhere.
"So, John, why are you helping Naru so much? It can't just be because you like working," I said as we stepped out to the street.
"Well, to be honest I'm actually helping you," John said as we walked to the gates. I then stopped.
"Helping me?" I asked curiously. Since when have people actually helped me?
"Yes, well, I heard from your principal that you're blind. He didn't mean to say it, but it still slipped out," John said, stopping himself as well.
"Oh, so what, you're helping the blind girl or something?" I frowned. I might appreciate the help, but that doesn't mean I like it when it's just because I'm blind. "I can take care of myself you know."
John once again had the 'kicked puppy' look on his face as he replied, "I'm very sure you can take care of yourself. I would never had guessed that you were blind, Mai, unless I was told. I'm still not entirely sure. Kazuya seems to suspect something though, he watches you, trying to figure you out."
I sighed. "Well, that explains why he keeps staring me down…" I sighed again. I guess it was just in John's nature to help. "Sorry John, it's just that… all my life, it's always been 'Go play with Mai, poor girl' or 'We should go help Mai, she's blind, you know' or something like that. It's just… hard… for me to accept someone else's help I guess," I apologized, "That's why I go here now, to get away from that."
"So you really are blind?" John asked, his facial muscles switching to a curious look now, his head tilting slightly. I swear he's part dog or something.
"Yeah, I'm really blind," I responded, laughing slightly. John didn't seem to take my laughter well.
"How do you run around without running into things?" John asked. I don't blame him for asking, it's not like I was the normal blind girl.
"I'm not entirely sure either. I just sort of… um… sense my surrounding or something? I just know I can read and write like everyone else. It's basically like I can only 'see' black, but I can 'see' shapes, sort of. It's really weird," I scrunched up my nose.
"Can you tell what I look like?" John said. This was starting to feel like twenty questions.
"Yes, I can. You're a bit taller than me, have short and slightly curly hair, a kind face, and you're a bit muscular," I said confidently.
"You can't tell I'm blonde though, can you? Or that I have blue eyes?" John said, his mood getting better by a bit, but still concerned.
"Nope. You're blonde? That's cool! I've never met a blonde. Or at least, that I knew of," I shrugged. "Oh geez, I've got to get home, it's seven!" I realized as I heard the ringing of the clock striking seven. I ran off, throwing a quick 'goodbye' over my shoulder at John as I left.
BLIND
Tuesday
Day 6
"I didn't get a wink of sleep last night because I couldn't stop thinking about this," I grumbled as I walked towards the old school early in the morning. I was nearing the van when I sensed someone else leaning with one hand on the van and holding a crutch under his arm. His left ankle was injured. Kazuya was on one knee, looking at something on a laptop with the other man. All around him were little white blobs flying around. It was… weird. They were just like the ones I had seen in the old building the first time I came in.
"It's his real assistant…" I then realized. "Oh man, this is going to be super awkward. *Last time he saw me he ended up in the hospital. Uh… ehehe…."
Naru then stood up, seeming to either hear me or something while his assistant looked over his shoulder, his hand which had rested over on the van beforehand had now moved to rest on top of his crutch. His little blob thingies went around me and seemed to examine me. I decided to try to ignore it.
"What are you doing here so early?" Naru asked.
I could ask the same thing….
"I couldn't sleep because I had been up all night, thinking about the experiment we set up yesterday," I said, walking up in front of the two.
"You'll have to wait a bit more, everyone will be here soon," Naru said before going back to the computer screen.
"Everyone? Even the monk and Ayako? What for?" I asked curiously. I doubted Ayako would want to be up this early.
He didn't answer. Smug, as usual.
"Uh," I faced towards his assistant. Wasn't his name Lin or something? "Are you feeling better?" I asked. He just glared at me. I might not be able to actually see someone's eyes, but I could tell when I was being glared at. It didn't help that half his face was still hidden by his thick hair. Or the fact that the blobs that didn't like me stayed by Lin and made a pointed fact (well, in their own way, I suppose) that they didn't like me.
Hurry up and get here everyone before that guy kills me!
A little while later everyone was gathered in front of the room John and I boarded up yesterday. Lin -as I figured out later was his name- held a small camera in his right hand, his left arm and hand still holding the crutch. The little blobs either stayed by Lin and seemed to hate me or liked me and would brush against my skin. One would always stay near Naru, hovering around like a worried hen around her chick, but Naru didn't seem to notice.
"So what's the plan for today, Naru?" Monk asked from beside Ayako. A blob brushed against him, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Yes," Ayako, who also didn't react to the blobs and stood to the right of Lin, continued, "let's hope for your sake you don't embarrass yourself yet again."
Naru ignored her and turned towards John and me. "Now, would you two please confirm that the paper you signed yesterday hasn't been tampered with," Naru told us.
"Yea, okay," I said as we turned to look over. I stood right next to the wall so John had to step closer to check. "Looks good to me, what about you John?" I asked.
"Fine," he responded.
"Alright," Naru said as he picked up a crowbar and fisted it into both hands. I almost think he was about to enjoy whatever it was he was about to do, but his face said nothing. Lin even put his camera down to his side to watch him do this; I guess he knew what was going on. The blobs also all moved out of the way and hid behind Lin.
Naru stuck the crowbar into the small space between the boards in front of the door before swinging the bar back, pulling the panel clear off the wall.
He was, apparently, even stronger than I gave him credit for. Apparently the same was for John, because he backed away too, only where he was staring at the wall, I was staring at Naru, well, where I thought he was. Kuroda stared with a sort of curiosity, Masako looked as if she was calculating the situation, waiting patiently, Monk looked on in silent surprise, his jaw tight, and Ayako had an indescribable blank look on her face.
The entrance was now opened, but Naru just stood there looking in, and so we stepped in, I going in first after the blobs quickly darted in and everyone else following me.
When I could sense it, I gasped.
John, a second later, said "Oh my Lord," as he saw it. "The chair, it's moved!" the chair had moved, by itself, out of the circle of chalk. It now lay on its side by the far wall, little blobs circling around where I guessed it was. But the question was… how did it get there?
"Indeed it has," Naru said as we walked into the room. I'd almost think he was… giddy… about this whole thing. I just stared at the blobs. When they went behind something, even partially, they disappeared completely, I noticed. I guess so I couldn't see the shadows or outlines of other things.
Because that'd totally be unfair for the blind girl. Yep, totally. Note the sarcasm.
"So what exactly does this prove?" Ayako stated as she put her hand up to chin, her other hand naturally cupping onto her elbow.
"Would you care to explain?" Monk voiced out as well. It seemed redundant, but everyone was curious. Well, maybe except Lin.
Naru didn't answer for a moment, simply looking over some equipment before saying, "I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation. I'll be finishing this investigation today."
"Let me get this straight, are you claiming to have solved the case again?" Ayako questioned.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Naru responded coolly.
"The ground sinking?" I asked. I had noted the difference in height. It took a while, though, my senses usually don't go out that far, so I could have miscalculated.
"Yes, all of the issues that the principal originally brought to my attention can be explained by ground subsidence," Naru explained to me.
"Yeah? Then what about the disturbances we saw the day before yesterday?" Monk glared.
"Now those were from a poltergeist," Naru answered.
"You're not making any sense!" he shouted.
"What else can he do?" Ayako interrupted Monk's questioning. "We all know he can't exorcise it," she shifted her eyes over to Naru, "right?" She said it as a fact, not a question.
"There's no need for exorcisms in this circumstance," Naru didn't even think twice about the insult. Actually, I don't think he even thought about it once. "Watch this, and you'll see."
Everyone looked over at the monitor. Suddenly, a dark green glow was visible to me, and I could make out a chair in a circle. Isn't that the experiment?
So far, nothing was happenin-
Wait.
Wait just a second.
I can see a dark green square and a chair in the middle of a chalk circle.
I can SEE that.
I'm BLIND.
….
WHHHAAAATTTT!
I then heard rattling over the speakers. I concentrated as best as I could on… seeing… not sensing… whatever it was that was caught on camera. Everyone collectively gasped. I was shocked that I could SEE the chair leg MOVE. I could see faint dark purple lightning again, just like what I had recently started SEEING Kuroda be surrounded by. Everyone else was surprised that it was moving by itself, and that it wasn't just sliding against the ground. It was moving UP and DOWN in the AIR.
The chair continued to rattle before moving back against the far wall, then moving as if being lifted and then dropped on its side. It was then that I realized something else.
The chair in the video was the same chair I had somehow SEEN-oh my gosh I've been able to see random things all week and I'm only now realizing all this?!- in the principal's office.
Then, as soon as it was there, everything was dark again.
I grasped onto Monk. I felt slightly scared. For one, I'd been having… visions… all week, and two, the chair MOVED by ITSELF. Chair moved. Visions. Chaired moved by itself, I was blind and having visions. Is that even supposed to be possible!? And now, the white blobs started moving in front of me, the couple that had liked me brushing against me again.
It felt as if all the stress of this week was deciding to drop itself on me just now. And now, my brain decided to start processing things one at a time.
"What was that!" I asked, referring to the chair that had just moved by itself, and what the hell caused it.
"Well it's obviously a poltergeist," Monk said, letting me cling onto him like a scared cat but not attempting to calm me.
"Humans are to blame for over half of reported poltergeists every year," Naru stated.
"You mean like a prank?" I questioned, starting to calm down some. If I didn't know better, I'd say it would be Naru explaining and teaching me things. Actually, I think it's because my brain's beginning to shut down even more, oh joy. "But no one could have gotten in there."
"True, we did seal off every entrance," Naru explained. 'We' meaning John and I while you fiddled with some radar which I'm not even sure you should legally HAVE I interpreted in my mind. "I even had John and Mai sign their names on each panel so we could tell if someone had tampered with one."
"If someone had attempted to replace any broken pieces, there's little chance they could've replicated my signature," John inputted. Right, since his name is English and all, it doesn't have a kanji like everyone else's…
"This only proves that I've been right all along!" Kuroda pointed out, speaking for the first time.
"I placed a hypnotic suggestion in everyone's mind yesterday that this chair would move before we met here this evening," Naru said calmly.
"In the principal's office…" I stated the obvious.
"So far this method has never failed me," Naru continued, "And I have no reason to believe that it will today."
"Yeah, but, that still doesn't change the fact that no one got in here," I pointed out. Hey, I wanted to know what exactly had been happening here!
"Poltergeists are a form of latent mental powers often by people who have an unconscious craving for attention. When stress is introduced a self-defense type mechanism reacts in the brain. Hypnotic suggestions can become a reality in these types of situations," Naru explained.
Craving attention? I know who that is…
Voices were practically ringing into my head, screaming what Naru was implying.
"Stop grandstanding. Are you really that desperate?"
"That girl's such a weirdo. She's been like that since middle school."
"Yeah, she's a freak."
Kuroda.
"So you're saying… that I'm responsible for this?" Kuroda said as she took a few steps back away from us, her voice wavered. Not that I blamed her, everyone in the room was staring at her. Ayako had a cold glare. Monk seemed to be glaring to, but also was curious about how things were unfolding. John looked surprised, Masako seemed to be merely glancing her way, but paused to continue staring and Lin was… well, Lin. I wasn't actually concentrating on her so much as the white orbs that had gone to investigate her instead of harassing me, well, except the orb near Naru.
Naru then brought our attention back to him. "From the moment I met you I knew you were trying to impress me," he said, walking a few steps closer. "For example you claimed to have seen spirits that still remained here from the war. However, there is no evidence of this area being bombed during the war, or of this building being used as a hospital. In fact, there was never a hospital built on this land, period. That means you were either mistaken, or intentionally lying to me and the others."
"I'm not a liar," Kuroda defended.
"At first I thought you were just pretending to be spiritually sensitive, so when things started happening that could only be explained as a poltergeist, I became quite perplexed," Naru continued, shifting his eyes to Masako. "My scientific experiments and Ms. Hara's psychic readings both came up clean-we determined there were no spirits." He looked back at Kuroda. "That means the haunting was of human origin." Kuroda wouldn't meet his gaze, and was clenching her fists as she glared at the ground. "Poltergeist activity is often caused by children in their early teens. There are numerous cases involving teenaged girls in particular. It's a form of psychokinesis that can occur in periods of great stress."
I thought back to how Kuroda usually observed people at school. Now it seemed so obvious what she was thinking.
Please, look at me, acknowledge that I exist!
And yet… I never even noticed her much before now.
"Ever since middle school you were known amongst your peers for being sensitive to spirits. But once it was proven by me that the strange phenomenon happening here was in fact due to ground subsidence, you naturally lost whatever confidence or faith you held in your own psychic abilities. This caused you immense anxiety because it went against your own beliefs, and although you could see the merits of my evidence, you still wanted to believe the spirits were to blame. You told yourself there was no other way. You simply couldn't face the truth," Naru said as we observed Kuroda slowly become more and more downcast at herself, admitting to herself the truth. Even Naru, who had shown next to no sympathy to me over the last few days as he worked me as hard and long as he could, had a gentle-ish tone to his voice. Well, as far as the definition of 'gentle' went with Naru.
Then, Kuroda broke down and started crying, holding her hands to her face. The orbs moved almost soothingly around her, even though it seemed increasingly evident no one else could see them, but it was cute and kind, in a way.
"You had no idea you did it, wow…" Monk marveled. I thought back to the little lightning that I could, believe it or not, SEE around Kuroda. Maybe, instead of just gathering around Kuroda, it actually came from Kuroda? Man, was I going to be freaking out in my room tonight once all this sunk in again.
"I firmly believe that you're a latent psychic, Kuroda," Naru said to her.
"And that means..?" I asked. Hey, I was new at this. Up until a few days ago, I only told ghost stories, not lived them.
"A latent psychic is someone who has supernatural abilities. She's not aware of it, but she has some level of PK," Naru explained. Kuroda lifted her hands away from her face at the information sunk in, but looking slightly confused. She's right there, you know. I think she's aware… "I'll say this for your sake Mai. 'PK' is short for psychokinesis."
"Thank you, I'm so grateful…" I replied sarcastically. Guess him trying to comfort Kuroda bruised his ego a bit, so naturally he uses me to make his ego nice and inflated again. Then again, maybe he said it because Kuroda looked confused. Knowing Naru for the past couple of days, I'd say that the world would probably never know. The orbs then decided to return to either harassing me or chilling out over with Lin. Kuroda will be fine. I could tell.
"She believed that there had to be spirits present in the old schoolhouse in order to attract the attention of those around her. In order to be who she was," Naru concluded, seeming to be done explaining the whole thing.
"You know, I think I can understand. It's natural really," I said to Kuroda. Everyone turned towards me. Even the orbs seemed to be paying attention, if possible. "Think about it, everyone wants to believe they're special in some way, a desire to stand out from the crowd and be unique as a person. It could be a talent, or just the hope that you're recognized as an honest and kind human being." Now Naru had his evaluation face on. In other words, he's evaluating me much like he evaluated any and all cameras I even looked at. I ignored him to look at Kuroda. "In your case, Kuroda, I would imagine that it's your ability to communicate with spirits." Kuroda looked really shy and reclusive while I just beamed, hoping she would feel better. We stood like that for a few moments before Kuroda returned my smile, albeit a bit more shyly than I.
"Does that explanation satisfy everyone?" Naru asked.
"Not quite," Ayako said, stepping forward from our little group. "According to that account her elevated stress levels came after you gave us your little theory on ground subsidence, or whatever it was," Ayako pointed out, then stomped her foot. "What about me getting stuck in that room, or the video being erased, explain that!" Kuroda tensed up a bit. Well, give you three guesses on who caused it…
"The reason you became trapped in that room is simple. There was a nail sticking out from the floor," Naru said as he pulled out the nail he'd been playing with before.
Guess one, a ghost. Nope, not right.
"That's it?" Ayako looked bug-eyed at the nail. I thought back to when she got stuck.
BANG BANG BANG! "OPEN UP! I'M TRAPPED!"
"I had noticed it that day but I never mentioned it because I didn't feel it was necessary at the time," Naru explained.
Guess two, doors and nails conspired against Ayako. Nope, nails and doors can't conspire. No brains, no game.
"Then, someone did that on purpose?" Ayako looked over to Kuroda. "Was it you?!" Ayako accused a very guilty looking Kuroda.
Guess three, Kuroda did it. DING, you have a brain!
"You were just trying to get back a little at Ms. Matsuzaki. After all, she had verbally attacked you outside just moments before," Naru explained Kuroda's actions. It was weird how he kept explaining her own brain to her, like he was reminding an amnesia patient of her past.
"What about the video?" Ayako asked, even though I'm pretty sure everyone already knew the answer.
"The video tape was intentionally erased," Naru faced towards Ayako, "When you became trapped, we all left the base to come to your aid. There was plenty of time for someone to slip in there* and erase the tape without ever being seen."
"This is ridiculous," Ayako glared at Kuroda.
"What are we supposed to do now? The principal hired all of us to get this place ready so they can continue construction," Monk spoke up.
"I plan to report the following story to the principal," Naru faced the rest of the group again. "The old schoolhouse was haunted by those who died here during the war. They've all been exorcised and the structure is now clean of any paranormal activity." Naru then faced Kuroda again. "That sound okay, Kuroda?" he asked. She looked up at him for a moment before looking down and nodding.
"That's very kind of you Naru, but will you really lie to the principal? He deserves to know the real story," Masako commented for the first time. She had a point. It was very kind. I got the feeling that Naru had his own reasons for not telling the real story… But Naru is very kind. He just sucks at showing it.
"Kuroda's doing an excellent job suppressing her feelings now. I don't think it's necessary to embarrass her any further," Naru said.
Wow, Naru- My train of thought was interrupted by what I sensed next.
"Oh, I had no idea you were so sensitive. Do you have a girlfriend?" Ayako asked, leaning against his arm.
"I'm not sure I fully understand your question," Naru said simply. Of course, everything else in the world, he's a genius. Kindness? He sucked at showing it, like I said, but he could do it. Girls though? Apparently not.
"I'm saying I wouldn't mind getting to know you better, even though you are quite young," Ayako said.
Naru seemed to understand now. He didn't look too terribly excited. "Although I do appreciate the offer," he began an obvious 'no' which seemed shocking to Ayako, "I must decline." Then he began to smirk. Not a good sign. "I'm too used to looking at myself in the mirror."
Of course, this resulted in the rest of us, excluding Lin, to go into laughing fits. Even Masako had turned away and laughed.
"Let's get serious and decide who's going to take credit for this job," Ayako yelled at us.
"Everyone contributed equally. Are we all okay with that?" Naru said. We exchanged looks before nodding simultaneously. Not that I was sure why I was nodding too, but it felt natural.
"Then Mai…" Naru said, looking at me.
"I already know, boss," I said, running up to him.
"Lin, let's start breaking camp," he looked over to his actual assistant.
Lin just nodded and said, "Right," in response.
BLIND
Outside, Ayako yawned and said, "That wasn't such a big deal after all," as she walked away with Monk. Kuroda quickly bowed in thanks and goodbye and followed them over to the street, heading for the school.
"Admit it, you were scared in there, weren't you," I could hear Monk retort.
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Ayako deadpanned. I could faintly hear Monk's laughter as they got farther away.
Well, I guess this is it. The investigation's over, everyone's leaving, and it's back to school for me.
"Shouldn't you be heading to class?" I heard a voice say as they put their hands on the tripod I held.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Naru had walked up to me. "I was going to help you pack up everything," I explained as he took the equipment from me. "After all, you are still my boss for the next few minutes."
"I can handle it," Naru said as he turned towards the van. "Why don't you head back to class. I'd hate to see you plummet even further into the depths of dumb," Naru remarked as he set the tripod into the van.
"Geez, you must really enjoy putting me down, don't you? I'm a lot smarter than you take me for," I replied, stomping away. One thing I'd always been a bit sensitive of is being called stupid for not being able to see. Which, ironically enough, is rather stupid. I turned back around towards the van. "See you later, jerk face!" I said before running off towards the school.
"I can't believe how cold he is!" I yelled to myself once he was out of hearing range. "He's acting like he doesn't even care. That's it! From this moment on, I'm forgetting that Naru the Narcissist even exists!" I yelled as I ran into the school.
BLIND
After I got home that day, I had all the things about me being able to see hit me, hard. I actually freaked out so much that I didn't go to school the next day. I said I got a cold. I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks and then had a steam-roller run over me. But even when I did go to school, it wasn't much better. I kept thinking about the investigation, which made me think of the people I worked with for a brief time, which caused me to think of Naru, which caused me to catch myself smiling off into space.
It was during one of these times a few days later when I felt like something big was about to happen. About one second after that that we could feel and hear rumbling. The old schoolhouse was shaking; the glass still on the windows breaking and half of the building fell down right in front of our eyes. Well, in my case, right in front of me, but the windows were open and I could sense, not to mention hear and somewhat feel, exactly what was happening. It was awe-striking that, a couple of days ago, I was in there, and if Naru hadn't found out the problem so quickly, the others might have still been in there, hurt, dead even.
I could have been in there
During lunch break, the main topics were the schoolhouse, the ghost rumors, and Kuroda.
"That's amazing, Kuroda! So the stories about the ghosts were true after all!" one girl talking to Kuroda said.
"I can't believe it collapsed," another girl commented.
I sighed. If only they knew…
"Cheer up Mai, we're the ones who should be sighing," Keiko said.
"Yeah, what the heck Mai? Kazuya's gone forever and you didn't think to ask for his address? We couldn't even find his phone number in the book," Michiru complained.
"Attention Mai Taniyama, you have a telephone call. Please report to the front office immediately," the intercom said, freeing me from my friends' interrogation.
I went down to the office and picked up the phone line. "Hello?" I asked. Who on Earth would call me, regardless of being in school or not?
"Hello Mai," a very familiar voice responded. The very last person I'd ever expect to be calling for me.
"Uhh.. OH, HI!" I yelled in surprise.
"There's no need to yell," the voice responded.
I only know one person who could sound that condescending. Naru. I refused to notice that I had that stupid smile on my face and responded into the phone. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked.
"Your fee," he said.
"My what?"
"Your money for the hours you worked as my assistant. If you don't want it I could always give it to charity."
I held the phone away from my ear. Geez, this guy's all business.
'I'll send the check out today so you should have it soon," Naru seemed to take my silence as a 'yes', "and I was curious if your school would allow you to have a job. If you're interested, I have a position open for you. It's just office work but it would be good experience for you."
Naru, what was he up to? Oh well. "Sure, that sounds great!" I said. Never had I been offered a job. Heck, I was usually begging for a job up until my employers found out that I was blind and would deem me unfit for working there.
"Then come on down to my office to fill out some paperwork. It's in Shibuya, off Dogenzaka," Naru's words rang through my head as I ran towards his office. "And thanks for all your help, you were an excellent assistant. I'll be seeing you soon," he finished in my head as I reached the door of the office, emblazed with the office name.
And that's the story of how I came to work at Shibuya Psychic Research, or SPR for short, if you want to know how us industry insiders say it!
BLIND
* I just wanted to share that when I was going through that dialogue bit, Mai actually said 'Last time I saw me he ended up in the hospital.' No joke. I had to listen through it three times before I was sure. Also, Naru says 'phenomenon' very weirdly, as in, he says 'phenomenoah'. I don't know whether we just say it weird where I'm from, or if the voice actor has an accent or what, but either way I'm giggling…
*Naru says here instead of there, but they aren't in the base, so I had to adjust. Oh, he also says if the school COULD allow Mai to have a job, not WOULD. Teachers, do your worst…
Oh, and also, if you ever see Naru think 'Me or -' or 'I and -', it's not that Naru doesn't know basic concepts of the English (er, Japanese) language, as he'll never say it out loud like that, but he's really THAT much of a narcissist. I'll write it either way because I will forget (I'm not perfect, nor will I claim to be), but I try to make him as narcissistic as possible.
Dogenzaka (I hope I spelled that right), from what I gather, is an area in Shibuya that is basically the shopping and entertainment district. I'm am yet am not surprised they didn't replace that somehow. It's not like an eight year old is going to be watching a show this scary, even early on in the series, so there wouldn't be a problem with asking about where or what Dogenzaka is, and after ten or eleven you either don't care or know how to use Google.
AND HOLY COW IN A BOX IT'S FINALLY DONE!
Up next, The Dollhouse. Let all twenty-something collectable dolls in my basement not decide to become animated….