EDITED
"What did you say just now?"
Michiru persistently stared at Mai in the morning.
"There's a rival."
"Who?"
"She's called Hara Masako. Have you heard of her?"
"Hara Masako? The one who's always on TV?" Yuuri asked.
"You know her?"
"Yeah... The psychic medium on that popular show... She's about our age. She's also really pretty..."
"I guess so. She looks just like a Japanese doll."
"So that girl suddenly tried to get close to Shibuya-san?"
"Not yet, she looked interested though. And Naru did help matters by being ultra polite for a change."
"What!"
Keiko almost pinched Mai again.
"But it's true, that poison-tongued Naru didn't say one sarcastic remark to her."
"Oh..." Keiko mumbled, her voice depressed, disappointed.
"Hey, didn't I say it already... Give up on Naru. He's not as nice as he looks, he's a liar, and he's a poison-tongued narcissist to boot."
"But he's really handsome."
"Whatever..."
Mai's line of sight reached Kuroda, who was looking this way before she suddenly turned away.
Right after class, Keiko and co. kept rambling on and on. Mai dashed off the moment they started arguing again.
Mai energetically opened the door only to notice that Oliver wasn't there yet. Lin was though, glaring at the girl standing In front of him.
"... Afternoon Lin-san. Back again Karuda-san?" Mai asked.
"I'm just looking around. Shibuya-san doesn't seem to be here."
Kuroda touched the equipment beside her.
"It's best if you don't touch anything. Naru will get angry."
"Really?" Kuroda asked, her hand still touching the TV's edge, "Hey, how were things yesterday?"
"Nothing... Much. Naru said there was nothing unusual."
"What did the others think?"
"Ayako was locked in a classroom. But you already knew that. The others can't seem to agree on whether or not that was because of a ghost."
"Why?" Kuroda asked, her eyes suddenly gazing into mine.
"...Masako said there were no ghosts in this old building. But Ayako insisted that there's an earth spirit here."
"Really... Are you referring to Hara Masako?"
"Yes."
"That person's an imposter."
"She isn't, but that's beside the point."
"She's on TV because of her good looks. She doesn't have any psychic powers."
"Right..."
"There's a ghost here, and a very strong one too." Kuroda gazed intensely into Mai's eyes. "I... Was just attacked."
Mai raised an eye brow.
"When I was walking in the corridor, a force suddenly started pulling my hair. I wanted to run, but then it grabbed my neck..."
"That... isn't possible."
"It's true," Kuroda-san insisted, a dark smile spreading onto her face, "I even heard a voice telling me, 'Your psychic power is too strong. You're in the way.'."
"Can you corroborate that with the camera footage Lin-San?" Mai asked. Lin turned to the screens to review the footage.
Kuroda looks like she's going to say something else. Then Oliver came back.
He looked at us. "What's the matter?"
After he heard Kuroda talk about her story, Oliver thought about it for a while. "When did that happen?"
"Just now. At first I was scared and wanted to go back out, but then I saw all this equipment, and I gave it a second thought. I just got here, and Shibuya-san must also be..."
Oliver looked to Lin "Let's look at the recording. Where did you encounter the ghost?"
"The corridor on the second floor."
Lin rewound the recording.
A view of the corridor showed up on all ten TV screens, with digital numbers lined up on the side.
The digital numbers kept changing.
These changing numbers recorded the time. When the time was "13:12:26", a soft stepping sound could be heard.
Kuroda showed up in front of the corridor. Stiff and prudent, she carefully looked around, then went up the stairs. After she reached the top of the stairs, her eyes darted left and right and continued down the hallway before coming back down the stairs.
"What happened— This broke—" Kuroda exclaimed.
Oliver and Lin looked at the other screens. There was nothing wrong with the other ones.
"...It didn't break," Lin said as he fiddled with one of the TVs.
"What does this mean," Karuda mumbled to herself. "Why didn't it catch it?"
"Because there was nothing to catch." Mai pointed out.
Oliver contemplated his ideas, then quickly turned to face Kuroda. "Kuroda-san, you said you heard a sound. What kind of sound was it?"
"It was an unclear sound, but it sounded like a little girl's voice."
"Really..."
"Masako has already confirmed that there are no ghosts here." Mai added.
Kuroda cocked her head. "Does Hara-san really have psychic powers?"
"Normally... Female mediums have different wavelengths. Maybe your wavelength is the same as that of the ghost."
"Huh?"
"If the old school building does have a ghost, then that ghost might have the same wavelength as you."
Kuroda couldn't help but laugh, "Perhaps."
At this time, numerous footsteps came from the entrance hall.
Ayako, Takigawa, John, Masako, the principal, the director, and an old teacher.
In the front was Ayako, clothed in her priestess garments. Her exorcism started.
"Hey, look carefully." Ayako instructed, throwing a jeering glance at Oliver.
She vigourously commanded the teachers and John to make a white, wooden altar in the entrance hall.
Takigawa stood on the side, watching them make the preparations. "Do you think this will work?"
"Who knows," Oliver answered, a cold gaze in his eyes.
"Man, you need to be more open. Young man, what about you?"
"I've never seen a Shinto exorcism before so I'm going to watch," John answered.
Ayako stood in front of the white altar. The three teachers obediently stood behind her.
Ayako clapped her hands, waving a stick with white slips of paper attached.
"I invite you to cautiously come down onto the earth, white light enshrining the spirit...
Please cleanse this ground, I sincerely implore you..."
The ceremony proceeded as planned.
Mai turned away and went back to Lin and the monitors.
"Now there should be nothing to worry about. Our work here is finished."
Ayako laughed while she talked to the principal after the ceremony. The principal seemed so happy, and with that bright smile of his, he complimented Ayako.
Masako and Takigawa shot her disdainful glances.
"How about we have dinner to celebrate?" the principal invited her.
"It's best to check over things right after the exorcism is completed," Ayako replied.
"Of course, you are a professional after all," the principal politely admitted, "well, did anyone eat lunch yet? How about we all go out and eat lunch?"
When he said that Mai ran out the base door. She yelled, "Get away from the glass!"
...Creak.
Suddenly a loud sound came from the ceiling.
The teachers and Ayako immediately sprang up from their chairs and moved away from the walls towards Mai.
Crack.
The sound of something breaking.
And at the same time, the light bulb on the door shattered, along with the windows.
Bang.
White smoke rushed out. Right afterwards, window glass shards shot out.
"Didn't you say there was nothing to worry about?" Kuroda sneered at Ayako, "how should I say this... You simply can't exorcise spirits."
Kuroda snickered.
Ayako glared at her for a moment but didn't say anything. She walked towards the glass shards. Though no one was injured thanks to Mai's warning but it was still scary how close they had been.
"That was just an accident," Masako coldly pointed out.
Ayako nodded in agreement. "Of course. My exorcism..."
"...was unsuccessful in exorcising spirits. Because there were none to start off with," Masako finished off.
A triangle.
Masako saying there are no spirits, Ayako saying she exorcised the spirits, and Kuroda saying there are spirits and Ayako didn't exorcise them.
Three people staring at each other. The guys are all contemplating as well.
Turning his head, John asked, "Could it be a coincidence?"
Takagawa replied, "What if something is here? Let's say something so strong that Ayako couldn't get rid of it?"
Oliver lowered his head. "...If that were the case, the equipment would be responding."
"Idiots..." Mai muttered.
The others looked at her in question but Mai ignored them and headed back to base. She stared at the screens before noticing something strange on the second floor on the west side of the classroom.
The equipment that she placed there yesterday. Mai remembered that class had many disorganized rows of old tables and chairs in front of the blackboard.
"Naru," Mai broke off Oliver's conversation with Takigawa.
"What's wrong?"
Mai pointed at the TV screen. "There's a chair in the middle of the room. It wasn't there yesterday. There were no chairs in that area."
Oliver raised his beautiful eyebrows, then asked the psychics behind him, "Did anyone go to the classroom on the west side?"
They all looked at each other before answering, "No we didn't...?"
While everyone was watching, Lin rewound the recording. He replayed the video. The recording was when the glass windows broke.
There were no camcorders in the entrance hall because they were all in the ceremony room. So in the end, nothing was recorded in those camcorders except the sound.
But the camcorder in that room was working. And right then, in the classroom on the west side, the chair moved. Apparently no one touched the chair.
In front of the blackboard, a dusty chair suddenly started moving little by little, until it reached the middle of the room.
It moved nearly fifty cm.
"So how did that happen?" Mai raised her head with a brow raised. Not that she was really asking since she already knew.
"...I'm not sure."
I'm hearing Oliver's reply, Kuroda declared from behind, "Is it a poltergeist?"
"Not this time." Mai stated.
"Poltergeist means 'noisy spirit.' Like when an object moves or a sound is produced. —Right, Shibuya-san?"
"Right. You seem to have a clear understanding of this."
"This is common sense."
"However, I don't think this is a poltergeist," Oliver stated.
"Why?"
"Objects moved by poltergeists are usually warm."
"Is there a problem...?"
"According to the thermography, that chair's temperature did not rise. This kind of thing never happens."
Kuroda was dumbstruck.
John turned towards Oliver. "Aren't there other conditions that would categorize this as a poltergeist? I think this is a poltergeist."
Oliver smiled slightly. "Tisane."
"What's that?" Ayako asked.
Masako shot a look of contempt at her. "Are you really a psychic?"
Annoyed, Oliver explained, "Of course, Hara-san would know. E.Tisane, a French officer, classified poltergeists."
Mai noticed that Takigawa didn't seem to know about this either. Kuroda just looked clueless.
"There are nine categories in total. Explosions, opening and closing of doors, noises, knocking... Out of the nine conditions, three occurred here: a door closing by itself, a moving object, and a shattered window. That isn't enough to qualify this as a poltergeist haunting."
"So the thing that attacked me was..?" Karuda asked.
Suddenly Takigawa asked, "What did you say?"
Kuroda gleefully explained again since they weren't there to hear it the first time. Meanwhile, Oliver carefully re-examined the TV that didn't record the incident.
Oliver glared angrily at Mai for a moment while Kuroda proudly shared her story. Mai glared back.
"Masako-san, what do you think?" Takigawa's voice sounded so loud in the silence.
"She made a mistake because she was thinking too much," Masako quietly replied.
Kuroda glared at her. "I'm not mistaken. Why don't you admit it. There's an evil spirit in the old school building."
Masako silently stood up.
"...Are you going to run away?"
"...Run away? Why would I run?" she carefully looked at Kuroda, "I'm just going to look over this place again."
"That was really not straightforward of her," Ayako snickered, "she could've just said that the other girl was wrong."
"...There are no ghosts in the old school building," Masako calmly repeated before walking out of the classroom.
John looked at Masako's figure as she left. "It seems like she got quite a blow there."
"Of course," Oliver replied, "psychics can see things that normal people can't. If you mess up, then you can't be considered a psychic anymore."
"John, can you do me a favour?" Mai asked. "Can you go with her and make sure she doesn't touch the boarded up wall on the upper floor? Otherwise she's going to fall through it and land in hospital."
John stared at Mai for a second before nodding and chasing after Masako.
"Naru just goes for pretty faces." Kuroda snarked.
"Why do you say that?" Oliver shot a cold stare at her direction.
"Aren't you covering up for her?" she asked.
"She has been remarkably successful in her job. I'm just giving her the respect she deserves."
"Really now?"
Ayako giggled, "Well, we think you should treat us with some respect too."
"I would if Matsuzaki-san's ability were high enough," Oliver replied in a cold tone.
Takigawa laughed, "Well— That can't be helped. She can't exorcise the ghost, and she screamed for help when she was locked up."
"When did I scream for help?"
"Just last time, when you were locked in that classroom. Didn't you scream for help?"
"No I didn't!"
"Oh— Then, then you were howling, right? Like a dog?"
"Ah—so noisy." Mai threw her hands up in the air.
Ayako countered his insults.
Crack.
The sound of wood breaking.
Thump.
Everyone was silent.
A loud knocking sound came from the ceiling.
Takigawa looked at the surroundings, "A rapping sound?"
A chill ran down Mai's back.
Crack... Thump...
The sounds are from the west side of the ceiling.
Crash
Along with the faint cracking sounds, a loud, splitting sound shot through the air from the west side.
Followed by a piercing scream.
The room was completely silent again.
Suddenly, Lin shouted, "Hara-san!"
He raced out of the room.
"Hara-san nearly fell from the second floor!"
The others apart from Oliver followed him.
"I told John to stop her." Mai sighed plonking herself in Lin's empty seat and watching John and Lin pull Masako back up through the hole in the wall from the monitor. Oliver stared at her, hard.
"What now, Naru? Say what you want to say."
"How did you know?"
"You mean apart from the fact that the building is unsafe and falling apart and common sense would indicate not the touch rotting boards in place of walls?"
Oliver blushed slightly at that. "... Yes..?"
"I told you yesterday. A dying wish."
Oliver only looked a little less sceptical than before.
...
It was evening. Apart from a few splinters Masako wasn't any worse for wear. However she left early to recover from the shock.
"Exactly what happened?" The principal questioned Oliver, "I called you here so you could exorcise the ghost. Those rumors are..."
Oliver interrupted the principal.
"Before Hara-san left, she insisted that there are no ghosts here. She said this was an accident due to her carelessness. Don't worry."
"But..."
"I will go back and continue to investigate."
Oliver bowed, then left returned to base. The others followed him.
"That's just Masako being stubborn," Ayako asserted.
"I think there's a ghost here," she repeated.
"Really? Then Ayako must've been unsuccessful in exorcising it," Takigawa retorted.
After hearing Takigawa, Ayako blushed in embarrassment.
"...Okay, I admit it. My exorcism failed. This place is dangerous."
Mai couldn't help but add, "Dangerous? That's an understatement. But it still isn't a ghost."
Ayako crossed her arms in frustration. "If an exorcism fails, the ghost will act like an injured bear: it'll act fierce..."
"There is no ghost." Mai stated.
"Yes, there is!" Karuda inserted.
Oliver interposed. "Don't jump to conclusions. The camera recording revealed it as an accident. It's exactly what Hara-san said: she was careless."
"Hey, Naru? What are you thinking?"
"... This building is strange. I don't understand."
"Why?" Kuroda asked, her tone blunt and frank.
"There have been no responses to the equipment. There have been no temperature declines, no ion deviations, and no electromagnetic wave abnormalities. All of the data appear normal."
"Then, why did Miko-san get locked up? Why was I attacked? Why did the camcorder recording vanish? Why did the windows break? And how come the chair moved by itself?" Karuda yelled.
"That's why I said I don't understand."
Takigawa interrupted, "Maybe you don't know about this kind of ghost. It could be a ghost strong enough to hide its presence."
Oliver pondered the idea. "So you think that..."
"It's a Jibakurei," Takigawa finished the sentence.
"I bet it's a tsukumogami," Ayako added.
"Could you stop thinking of paranormal explanations and think of common sense ones please?" Mai groaned in frustration pulling at her hair. "It's like talking to a brick wall with you lot."
"You keep saying there's nothing there, but you haven't offered any reasoning of your own." Ayako accused.
"Land subsidence." Mai retorted. Oliver froze and looked at Mai while the others laughed.
Takigawa shot Ayako a look of disgust. "Then where did that earth spirit of yours go?"
"Of course, part of it is the earth spirit's fault."
"This building is a gathering place for spirits. The spirits absorb the negative emotions of the people and then become tsukumogami."
Oliver asked, "What do you think, John?"
"I'm not sure. But this place is dangerous. I'll perform an exorcism."
"Really..."
"Naru, what do you think?" Takigawa inquired.
"I'll withhold my opinion for now. I'm going to investigate this from a different angle. Mai."
"Yes Naru?"
"I'm going back to the van. You stay here with Lin. If anything happens, call me," Oliver said, pointing to a microphone. "This microphone is linked to the van."
"Okay."
Oliver left the lab room.
Takigawa asked Ayako, "What's up with that guy?"
"What's wrong?"
"He brought in lots of expensive equipment, but does he really know what he's doing?"
"How would I know?"
"He's much better than you two," Kuroda retorted.
"Well, young lady, aren't you going home?"
"I want to witness your incapability before going home," she chuckled, "Now what are you guys going to say? It sure would be nice if you could actually exorcise the ghost."
Takigawa and Ayako eyes filled with anger and hostility.
John stood. "My turn."
"Ah.. What a huge honor, Exorcist," Takigawa mocked.
John nodded slightly.
"Do you need help with anything?" Mai asked John.
"No. But when I start praying, keep an eye on the equipment. There might be a response."
"Okay."
The TV screen gave a view of a room on the second floor that was rumored to have a ghost.
It was also the room where Masako fell down. The sunset's afterglow shined into the classroom.
Suddenly the TV's connection was cut, leaving the screen filled with static.
The screen was filled with black-and-white static. It had switched to night vision.
"Naru."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just letting you know that John said he's going to perform his exorcism... Ah, he's on screen now."
"Thanks. Keep me updated."
John had changed into priest robes, which looked great on him. His stunning blonde hair gives him a mysterious air.
Walking into the classroom, he lifted a cup filled with water. He dipped his finger in the water and drew a cross on the altar with it. After he drew the sign of the cross on the altar and wall, he placed the altar, some gray candles, and a cross onto the platform. The room brightened after he lit up the candles. Then John placed his hands together, bowed his head, and prayed.
A faint sound came from the microphone.
"Heavenly God, please allow us to worship you."
John scattered the water. So that must be holy water. Then he opened his bible.
"God, your soul becomes our heaven and the earth."
The TV screen was recording this smoothly. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
"In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God..."
After constantly staring at the TV screen, Takigawa finally stood up. "I'm going out for a walk."
"I'm going too."
Ayako also stood up.
"Kuroda-san, you're not leaving, right?"
"If you're scared, I'll stay here with you."
"I'm just making sure you weren't going to cause more trouble."
Mai ignored Karuda and turned back to the monitors to watch John.
The sky grew darker and darker.
The light from the TV screens was the only thing that kept the room from being swallowed up in darkness. Even though there are lots of TV screens, the room was still dark and forboding.
Takigawa was in the TV screen, walking in the corridor of the first floor. Dressed in monk robes, he walked towards the room on the far left, his hand holding an object. John continued to perform his exorcism in the classroom above.
He took some salt from a container and scattered it around the floor.
"The word was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made."
John suddenly stopped praying and started looking around.
Mai watched concerned as Lin increased the volume of the speakers.
In the midst of John's prayer, a snapping sound could be heard.
"It's noise made from a poltergeist," Kuroda stated.
"In Him was life, and that life was the light of men," John continued.
He constantly lifted his head to look at the ceiling.
"The light shone in the darkness. But the darkness could not comprehend the light..."
Mai suddenly ran out the door towards John.
"Mai...?" Lin questioned before noticing the screen.
The wood on the ceiling was bending.
"Taniyama-san?!" Kuroda cried out.
As Mai reached the door she heard a loud cracking sound.
"John! John!" Mai forcefully slid the door open, leaving a surprised John staring at her.
"Mai-san..."
"John, it's dangerous. Come out now!"
"Eh?!"
Merely minutes passed after John had moved towards Mai when the crack in the ceiling that the ceiling came crashing down, rocking the floor. Mai pulled John out of the room as the candle was knocked over, the room was pitch black.
...
The flashlight flickered, then lit up.
The rubble covered up the entire classroom. Pieces of wood and stone were scattered all over the floor.
...The west side of the roof completely collapsed.
"If Mai-san didn't call me, I would've been in trouble," John said, his voice quivering slightly.
Oliver picked up a piece of rubble and examined it.
He looked like he was in a trance.
"Since this place is dangerous, let's go down instead," Takigawa advised, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Ayako crossed her arms in a cold manner. "...I'm leaving today."
"You sure get scared easily," Kuroda laughed.
Ayako appeared unaffected by her remark. "Your life is the most important thing. Masako would've died if she hit the ground when she fell through the wall. John almost died too. I'm smart, so I'm retreating before that happens to me."
"Are you scared?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm calling it quits for today. I'll continue tomorrow."
"She's correct," Oliver stated silently.
"Hey, hey, Naru-chan," Takigawa exclaimed in shock. "You're not scared by this too, are you?"
"Say what you want," Oliver replied. "But this time, Matsuzuki-san is correct... Mai, you can go home."
"All right, I'll see you in the morning. Don't stay up too late researching and don't pack up too soon. There's more than land subsidence to deal work here." Mai replied.
"Right..." Oliver paused, throwing the rock he was tossing around back into the pile of rubble. Then he faced Kuroda, saying, "Kuroda-san, you should go home too."
"Hey hey, so if I'm not a girl, then..." Takagawa nagged.
Oliver sent a deathly glare in Takigawa's direction. "I suggest that all of you go home now."
John sighed. "I... Guess we should go home then."
"How obedient," Takigawa said, smacking his lips, "forget it, let's just call it a day."
Takigawa ushered everyone but Lin and Oliver out of the building.
Oliver waved to us from the entrance hall. "Good-bye."
...
The next day, Mai went to school right after she got up. She carried a thermos fuelled with hot Earl Grey tea and a couple of cups.
Once she was in the old school building, she went directly towards the van. Mai peered into the van. Both Lin and Oliver were leaning on the equipment, fast asleep. She knocked on the car window.
"Morning, you two!"
They opened their eyes slightly, apparently still in a daze from sleeping, then looked at Mai.
"...Mai."
"Here, I brought you guys some hot tea to wake you up." Mai said as she poured the tea from the thermos into the cups she brought and handing it to the two men.
"Don't 'good morning' me. What's wrong with you, coming here so early in the morning."
"You might want to look at the clock. It's already past 11 o'clock."
"It's not afternoon..."
"Your point? The others will be here soon. Be grateful I'm the one who woke you."
"Thank you Mai-san." Lin offered for the tea and wake up. Mai nodded in response. She didn't bother waiting for one from Oliver. It would never come.
"Last night, did you find anything?" She asked instead.
"Yes."
"Land subsidence?"
"Yes."
Oliver's face was stoic.
The rest of the team except Masako who was staying home after her fall, arrived then calling out Oliver's current nickname curtesy of Mai.
In the front was Takigawa. "Hey, what happened?"
"What do you mean 'what happened'?"
"The equipment in the lab room!" Ayako shouted in a stubborn tone.
"Are you getting ready to leave?"
Naru calmly replied, "Soon."
"...Are you kidding?"
Ayako looked surprised.
"No, that's why I started bringing back my equipment."
Silence ensued.
Then, everyone started talking again.
Oliver and Lin placed a hand on their heads.
"Please don't be so loud to someone who just woke up... I just went to sleep a little while ago." Oliver complained.
Takigawa stared at Oliver. "...Then why are you putting all your equipment back?"
"I've decided that this case has been solved."
"You exorcised the ghost?" Takigawa asked.
"No."
Oliver slowly picked up his files and handed them to Takigawa.
"What's this?"
"Last night, the old school building sank 0.2 inches."
"What did you say?"
Takigawa snatched the graphs from Oliver and carefully examined them. Unfortunately for him, he didn't understand it at all and just ended up looking embarrassed.
"I don't understand."
Ayako interjected, "What's going on?"
"Land subsidence." Mai answered.
"What? Are you saying that all the phenomenon were caused by land subsidence?!"
Not acknowledging the question, Oliver reached into his files and took out a sheet of paper.
"A level scale graph, a geological diagram, and a water-course diagram," Oliver muttered, placing each diagram beside him.
"What're those?"
"If you look at them, you will know."
They gazed intensely at the diagrams.
"Diagrams..."
"They're diagrams..."
Finally finishing his second cup of tea that Mai had poured him while the others were studying the diagrams, Oliver was fully awake.
He stretched. "The building was built on moist land. The workers had placed fresh soil on this land in an attempt to lessen the moisture before the school was built. Based on the number of wells around the area, there is a big water vein running beneath the school."
Everyone stared at the diagrams.
Countless circles were drawn onto the diagrams.
"Now only two wells remain, both of which are dry. This is what I discovered yesterday."
"Huh?" Ayako was confused.
"What I'm saying is, the building is weak because it was built on damp soil. Furthermore, the water vein is almost dry. Because of these factors, the building is sinking. Moreover, the building is sinking at an alarming rate. The area that is sinking the fastest is..."
Oliver pulled out another diagram and pointed at blue circles that indicated areas that were falling apart. "Over here. The building is sinking rapidly on this side of the building, and as a result the rest of the building is becoming unstable and distorting. Even though the principal wants to tear down the building, there really is no need. The old school building will come down in a matter of time."
Everybody fell silent.
Takigawa disappointedly lowered his arm. "What, so you're saying the chair moved and the ceiling fell because of this?"
"Correct. The classroom on the west is three inches lower than the one on the east."
"Three inches, meaning 7.5 centimeters... That was unexpected," Ayako mumbled in dissatisfaction.
"Then the ghost sounds... Were they also?" Ayako asked.
Oliver nodded. "Those weren't sounds made by ghosts. Those were sounds made by the building falling apart."
"...Stop playing with me. Then are you saying we were in a dangerous place like that?" Ayako asked.
"Apparently, yes."
"Then it's really dangerous. Tell the principal to make that building off limits to everyone desu ," John said.
Takigawa couldn't stand it anymore. "John! I beg you, don't use 'desu' with the Osaka dialect!"
"Sorry..."
Mai patted his shoulder sympathetically.
"John's right," Oliver said in an icy tone. "Inform the principal that the old school building is to be off limits to everyone. It will collapse soon."
...
In the afternoon, when Oliver, Lin and Mai had finished putting the equipment back, Kuroda came.
"...What happened?" she asked, observing the scene.
Mai explained the situation to her.
"Since this building was built on damp soil, it's not very sturdy and is now falling apart. That's why it seems that ghosts are here."
"But... Then, what about the ghost who attacked me?" Kuroda asked, her gaze turning to Oliver.
Oliver coldly replied, "Perhaps it is a wandering spirit that follows you around."
"...How can that be," Kuroda said.
Mai knocked him over the head and Oliver turned to look at her in surprise.
"Baka. Use the brain you're so proud of. She causes poltergeists." Mai muttered in his ear.
"Then, are you done with your work?" Kuroda pressed.
"Not yet. I will be after I finish writing my report today."
"I still think there's a ghost here," Kuroda insisted.
"There is none."
"How confident. This place may have land subsidence, but a ghost could still be here."
Kuroda was stubborn, unwilling to accept Oliver's words.
"There are none. My investigation has showed me that there are no ghosts here."
"You could've made a mistake."
"Kuroda-san..." Mai said softly in warning.
There it is again. That cold look in Oliver's eyes.
"Hey Kuroda-san, do things often happen around you, particularly when you get stressed out?" Mai asked.
Kuroda looked timid for a moment. She turned around to avoid Oliver's piercing gaze.
"... Yes.." Kuroda answered.
"That's PK. You're a latent psychic. When you majorly stress out your mental energy surges out and causes things to happen like glass breaking or floating objects. Then you end up thinking it's a ghost when it's really yourself."
"What? Is that what you were on about in class the other day?"
"Yep."
"...Is that so?" Kuroda murmured thoughtfully.
"Yes, it is."
And at that time...
Crack..!
A sharp sound. The windows in front of us Cracked.
"Mai! Get away!" Oliver shouted, reaching out to pull her from the window. Mai grabbed Kuroda as he pulled her so the other girl would follow.
The windows shattered, with the glass flying out the window because the curtains prevented them from flying at them.
And at the same time, there was a knocking sound.
"Kuroda, calm down!" Mai shouted at the frightened girl.
"What's happening?" shouted Ayako as she ran into the room.
"...Is it collapsing...?" asked Oliver hesitantly.
The knocking sound seemed to be coming from all directions. And with each knock, the building shook. Dust drifted down from the ceiling.
"Is someone knocking on the wall?"
Oliver didn't answer Ayako's question.
Bang!
Suddenly the door shut itself. It was scary, especially since it happened right after the glass windows had shattered.
The door opened and closed by itself.
No one touched it.
It just automatically opened and closed.
When the door closed one more time, the windows completely shattered.
Kuroda screamed.
Mai grabbed Kuroda's face and made the girl focus on her. "Kuroda! Breathe! Calm down please. Will it to stop!"
She waited for Kuroda to calm down. Talking to her softly, calmly.
Takigawa and John's voice came from somewhere inside the building.
Oliver watched Mai calm the girl down. As Kuroda calmed down the activity calmed as well. When it had all stopped he said calmly, "We should leave the building for the moment."
Then there were the normal creaking and groaning noises that they usually heard before a ceiling collapses.
The others began running out.
Grabbing Kuroda's hand, Mai ran out of the base and pushed her towards the exit of the building.
The others ran out of the building but before Mai could leave, a shoe shelf began tipping over, falling on her.
...
Takigawa looked at Oliver. "...What was that?"
Oliver didn't reply. He just gazed at the old school building, a dazed look in his eyes.
"Was that ground subsidence?" asked Takigawa.
"Only partially... " Oliver finally answered.
"What the hell?! Didn't you say that there're no strong poltergeists here!" Takigawa yelled.
"It wasn't a spirit. If that's what you mean. Kuroda-san caused the poltergeist activity."
Oliver looked around, counting heads. "Where's Mai?!" He suddenly said panicking when he didn't see her. Lin stiffened when he heard Oliver's question.
"Huh?" Takigawa looked around.
They rushed back inside.