EDITED
Three days later the 3 person SPR team left the office in an equipment packed van to head to Noriko's house. Luckily for Mai, it was the summer holidays for all public schools in the country so she didn't need to take leave from school.
It was a two-hour drive from Tokyo. Mai sat with an open book about astral projection on her lap turning the pages as she read. She was positioned in the center seat between Lin who was driving and Oliver who was reading the case file research they had pulled together during theast couple of days. The drive was quiet and peaceful.
The house was built in an old architectural style. Noriko lived in a tall house near the woods. The first impression Mai got from the house was that it was dark. Dark and gloomy. Almost like it was completely foreign. The trees in the backyard nearly covered up the entire rooftop. The brick walls were covered by a painting of a mountain tiger. The vines had even started to reach the windows.
It really did seem like an old house. Even if Mai didn't have any proof of it.
"What's wrong?" Oliver turned around and asked.
"Tell you later..." Mai murmured back.
How could she talk about the house looking really dark and creepy with Noriko standing right there. When it was finally quiet, Noriko smiled, "Are you surprised that it's so old? They say that this house was built before the war. It always feels a bit lonely to me."
Mai smiled politely.
The wind blew, rustling the leaves in trees and causing Mai to shiver.
"—Come in, come in," she ushered them in.
At Noriko's request, they went inside.
The house looked good inside. The white walls and brown furniture gave it a quaint look.
"What a cool house..."
Noriko smiled at Mai and said "Thanks." Then her expression suddenly changed to a serious one. "It would be better if those strange things didn't happen..."
Mai nodded.
"My older brother's not here, so the place always makes me uneasy."
Noriko's older brother is the owner of the house, but right now he was overseas on a business trip. Right now there are three females in the house, including Noriko's sister-in-law and niece.
Noriko smiled slightly, "My sister is waiting for everyone so please come along."
They entered the guest room.
"Ah!"
"Ge!"
"Long time, no see Ayako, Takigawa." Mai greeted as she entered the room.
"...Long time no see."
"Sly one, huh."
"Do you know them?" a bulky women asked curiously.
"This is Kana, my sister-in-law," Noriko introduced.
Kana bowed.
Oliver answered her earlier question, displeasure evident in his blunt tone, "We've done business together before."
"So that's how it is... In that case, an introduction would be unnecessary."
"That's right."
Not long afterwards, a little girl followed Noriko, who was carrying tea, into the room.
The supple girl almost looked like an angel or doll. Wearing a white dress, she was cradling an outdated doll with her tiny fingers. She looked like she came from a painting. Mai shivered when she saw it.
"This is my niece, Ayami," Noriko introduced.
Even though Noriko's older brother Morishita is still young, he owned a company. Ayami is his daughter. Ayami's mother wasn't Kana. Her mother had divorced her father a long time ago. It's been nearly a year since their marriage took place.
Noticing that everyone was looking at Ayami, Noriko let out a small laugh, then introduced us to the woman carrying dishes, "This is our housekeeper, Shibata-san."
"So is that everyone?" Oliver asked calmly.
"Right," Noriko answered Oliver, "but Shibata-san doesn't live here."
Oliver nodded, "I have some questions for you later. Kana-san, would it be alright if you prepare a room for us? A base for us to investigate from."
"No problem. Please come this way," Noriko raised her hand and guided us to another room.
They were led to an empty room on the first floor near the stairs.
Oliver examined the room and nodded. Then he turned toward Takigawa and Ayako "…Can you tell me why you two are here?"
Even though he knew they would be since Mai had told him earlier.
Ayako looked smug, "Long time no see. Can't you act a little bit happier?"
"I'm terribly sorry." Oliver's expression was still cold and detached.
"So handsome, yet so fickle," Takigawa sighed.
Oliver's lack of emotion and cold stare urged the two to reply.
"That's because," Ayako said, looking at Takigawa, "I had..." She pointed at herself. "...gotten a request from the nanny over here."
"Morishita's secretary requested me."
"And then I met Morishita's little sister—"
"It's easier to have more people around in this kind of situation."
"That's why we're here today."
"Then I was scared to death after seeing this simpleminded priestess over here," said Takigawa.
"You frivolous rule-breaking monk!"
They glared at each other.
"Man—we'll just leave it at that. Please continue to help us," Takigawa said, smiling surreptitiously.
Oliver ignored the other two and looked at Mai and Lin instead, "Let's start working."
Mai and Lin nodded, before they left the room to grab equipment from the van. Soon the room was full of equipment and Mai had already set up the shelves so all she had left to do was move the equipment onto that. Seeing the room become a research institute, Noriko was really surprised.
"Is there a room where the paranormal phenomena particularly occurs?" Oliver asked.
Noriko shook her head, "There isn't a specific place where it occurs..."
Oliver contemplated, then said, "Then we can place two videocams on both the first and second floor. And we can set one up in the hallway. Let's observe the situation first."
"Can I suggest Ayami-chan's bedroom, the living room and the kitchen as well?" Mai added.
Oliver nodded in agreement to Takigawa and Ayako's confusion. As far as they were concerned, Mai was an amateur. So Oliver taking her suggestions without question was weird.
After they placed the videocams in those designated places, they were sweating.
"Still the same, I see," Takigawa sighed, glancing up at the mountain-pile of TVs and video cameras.
Lin sat in front of the equipment. The TV screens brightened, showing different areas of Morishita's house.
"What do you think of this place?" Takigawa asked Oliver.
"I can't be sure as of now," Oliver replied coldly. He wasn't going to tell them what Mai had told him. Let them find out on their own.
Ayako snickered, "I don't know anything about this ghost hunt stuff, but as always, you're making a big deal out of this. This isn't even a big case."
"So is this Matsuzaki-san's intuition?" asked Oliver sarcastically.
After hearing him, Ayako was at a loss for words. "That time was an exception. This time I'm not wrong. The culprit is an earth spirit."
"You said that last time, but you guessed wrong," he stated matter-of-factly. Such a disdainful tone.
Ayako raised an eyebrow. She looked like a secretary or maybe even a college student with her formal clothing on.
Takigawa laughed loudly, earning a glare from the woman.
"What about you?" Ayako asked the guffawing man.
"Me? I know my stuff so my opinion counts."
"What about you, "ojou-chan"? You're Mai, right? Naru's assistant."
"Something like that and you're both wrong." Mai said with a small smile at Oliver who smiled back.
"Oh."
"Heh."
Takigawa's and Ayako's eyes were wide open.
"Something you want to tell us?" Takigawa asked.
"Is it any of your business?" Retorted Mai.
Takigawa looked at Lin. "You're also Naru's assistant?"
Lin nodded slightly.
"What do you think of this case?" asked Takigawa.
Lin briefly answered in a low tone, "Am I obligated to reply you?"
Both Takigawa and Ayako raised their eyebrows. "...You're definitely Naru's assistant. What a great personality."
Oliver crossed his arms, ignoring them.
With the stiff atmosphere surrounding them, Takigawa and Ayako left the room.
Lin continued to look at the TV screen as if nothing happened. His bangs practically covered up half his extremely, stoic face.
When they were almost done with straightening everything out, Noriko brought them to the luxurious guest room.
"What a gorgeous room, Noriko-san."
"Are you satisfied with this room?" Noriko asked, smiling.
"Yes. Thank you very much," Mai replied.
"Well, you don't have to be so polite, okay?"
"Yes, but..."
"Please."
"...Okay."
Hearing Mai's reply, Noriko seemed happy. The room faced the west. When Mai reached the window, she wasn't surprised to see a pond south of the house.
"The scenery is amazing," Mai said gently.
Like Mai, Noriko also looked at the scenery from the window.
"...I've often thought that way too... But lately it seems scary..." she admitted.
"Scary?" Mai asked.
"Think about it. Aren't there stories like this? The young child that drowned cries out for his friend..."
"I wish I could tell you that it never happened here but our research says otherwise. It's a scary thought but we'll do everything we can to keep Ayami-chan safe."
"...Thank you. My brother is usually not at home so it gets scary."
Mai chuckled, "Everything will soon be alright. Our director is here, and so is the priestess and monk. Those two often argue so much that it's easy to laugh at them."
"Really?" Noriko seemed a bit happier now.
"It's their version of flirting." Mai grinned. "Not that they know it yet."
Noriko grinned back.
"If it's okay with you, would you join me for tea? It's time for afternoon tea. Is it okay if Ayami comes too?"
"That would be awesome."
Carrying the tea set, Noriko and Mai went into Ayami's room.
"Ayami."
Noriko opened the door.
Ayami was lying on the floor, reading a picture book. Her eyes swept toward them.
She seemed lost in thought, which made her look as cute as a rabbit.
"Hello," Mai smiled, waving her hand.
Ayami let out a happy smile, then pushed her picture book to the side. She grabbed her doll and walked toward Mai.
She was holding the old-styled, foreign doll that Mai saw earlier. 'Minnie.' Even though the doll was cute, Mai had to struggle to prevent the shiver that wanted to escape.
Ayami turned toward Mai, then lifted the doll's left arm, "Hello."
Mai bent down, hiding her reluctance, and shook the foreign doll's hand. "Hi, what's your name?"
"Minnie," Ayami said, moving the doll's little hand.
"Minnie, nice to meet you. I'm Mai."
"Nice to meet you, Mai."
Ayami laughed, then made the foreign doll bow.
"Ayami, it's snack time."
Hearing Noriko, Ayami quickly nodded, then just as quickly shook her head.
"Is there something wrong with the food, Ayami-chan? Does Minnie not like it?" Mai asked.
Ayami looked shocked then scared for a moment and shook her head furiously.
Mai patted her head. "It''s OK, Ayami-chan." She said soothingly.
...
After dinner, Oliver gathered everyone together. He was going to perform the pk poltergeist autosuggestion test just in case thoughthough Lin, Oliver and Mai knew that it wouldn't work.
Kana, Noriko, Ayami, and the housekeeper Shibata. When Oliver got everyone to sit down on the sofa in the guest room, he turned off the lights. The room became pitch dark.
"I'll have to borrow your time for a while," he stated.
After saying that, he turned on a light. The white light flashed on and off.
"Please look at the light."
The light flashed on and off in the dark.
Oliver softly said, "Please breathe along to the light. Slowly now.. Relax your shoulders..."
"Please count the number of times you breathe," Oliver said repeatedly.
They repeated that for five minutes. When everyone became relaxed, Oliver stated his autosuggestion goal.
"Tonight, the flower vase in the dining room will move... The glass flower vase. Tonight it will reappear on the table in this room."
His soft fluctuating voice. If I were to describe the color of his voice, it would be clear, transparent.
"—Okay, it's finished."
He suddenly turned the lights back on. Everyone blinked their eyes in hopes of adjusting to the light again.
"Now you are free to do what you want. But don't do anything you normally wouldn't. ...Morishita-san."
"Yes."
"Please give me the key to this room."
Morishita-san handed the key to Oliver. At the moment there was a vase in Oliver's arms, a flower vase.
Everyone's eyes were glued to the flower vase. In just an instant, the autosuggestion had succeeded. If the autosuggestion had failed, no one would've looked at the flower vase.
Once everyone left the room, Mai placed the vase in the middle of the table, where Oliver had drawn a circle.
Meanwhile Oliver set a video camera up to record the table. The sensitive camera can record videos in the dark. Even if there's only a little light, the camera will record it as if it's broad daylight. Oliver plugged the video camera cable into the outlet. After everything was put into place, Oliver and Mai left the room too.
Oliver locked the door, sealing it with a piece of paper. That way no one would be able to go in. If someone forced themselves into the room, the paper would tear. The guest room had become an isolated room.
The other radar was on the other side of the wall, observing the flower vase. If the vase moved even slightly, then the radar would record that movement and send it to the base.
...
After the autosuggestion, Oliver and Mai returned to base, holding hands. He kissed Mai's cheek before opening the door and entering. Takigawa and Ayako were inside chatting again.
"Leisure time, I see," Oliver remarked, his tone heavy with sarcasm.
Takagawa replied, "I'll decide what to do after we see the results of that experiment. When I'm sure the poltergeist activities aren't caused by a human, I'll take action."
"How honorable of you," came Oliver's mocking voice.
Then Ayako noticed Oliver was holding Mai's hand. He hadn't let go if it even after opening the door. Oliver was too use to the feel of doing it. Mai's hand was warm compared to his cold ones.
"Ehhh! What's this! Was Mai the one you were talking about at the old school building?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but yes." Oliver replied coldly.
"Yo, Jou-chan! How do you deal with this block of ice?!" Takigawa asked bewildered.
Mai smiled at Oliver and kissed his cheek before heading back out to the kitchen to make tea.
"He's not cold to me, Bou-san." She threw over her shoulder in a sing-song voice.
...
Just before 9 pm, Mai pointed out Ayami's bedroom on the monitor to Lin and Oliver. It had rearranged it.
Before Lin could rewind the tape, Kana ran into the base.
"Please take a look!" she exclaimed.
"Do you mean Ayami's bedroom? We are already aware. We have it on camera. I'd like to take a look at the real thing though."
Kana's face was pale and frantic. But at Oliver's words she calmed down and nodded. Before Mai left base to follow the others, she told Lin to pay attention to the lounge camera next. He nodded.
...
They arrived at Ayami's room. Her room was on the second floor, just like the room Mai shared with Ayako.
"Look!"
Kana rushed into the room.
Everyone's eyes, other than Mai, widened as they observed the room. The table that used to be right beside the wall was leaned over. Not only that, the bed, bookshelf and wardrobe were all at a crooked angle, pushed to the edge of the room.
Dazed and sleepy, Ayami stood in the corner in her pajamas.
"...What happened..." Takigawa whispered.
Kana replied firmly, "...When I came to get Ayami in bed, the room was just like this. And you still ask 'what happened'? Didn't I call on you guys because of things like this?"
Hearing Kana's uneasy retort, Mai intercepted, placing a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "We have to investigate what's happening first, Kana-san, before we can deal with it. We understand that the situation is frightening for you but please calm down and have some patience. It's been less than a day after all."
Kana blushed lightly from embarrassment and nodded. Mai gave her an understanding smile and Kana returned it. Then Mai knelt down next to Ayami.
"Ayami-chan." Mai called softly.
Ayami blinked her eyes several times, then raised her head toward Mai, "Why is the furniture on the sides?"
She was scared stiff.
"It's OK, Ayami-chan. We'll fix it in the morning. Do you know how it happened? Did some 'friends' do this to your room?"
Ayami hesitated then nodded one just slightly. If Mai wasn't watching carefully, she would have missed it.
Leaning on the side of the door, Ayako softly offered an explanation, "Didn't that kid do it?
Mai couldn't help but retort, "And how would Ayami-chan be able to do that?"
"That's what I was thinking," Takigawa agreed. "With all that furniture on the carpet, even I wouldn't be able to move it. Or are you saying that you can do it?"
He threw a ridiculing look at Ayako.
Oliver calmly asked Kana, "...First of all, can we examine this room?"
"Yes, do what you want," Kana said, nodding. "We'll leave then."
Kana pulled Ayami's hand.
Ayami lifted her head and looked at Mai, "I didn't do it."
She was on the verge of tears.
"It's OK, Ayami-chan. I know you didn't do it," Mai said calmly, consoling her with a hug.
Even Takigawa went and softly patted her head, "We all know it's not your fault. Don't cry, okay?"
"Okay," Ayami finally broke into a smile.
After they left, Oliver and Takigawa started to discuss the case.
"What's your opinion on this, Naru-chan?"
"If someone is capable of accomplishing this, I'd like to see that person. Maybe Matsuzaki-san knows of someone like this, but I don't know of anyone that strong."
Ayako turned around in embarrassment, like always. "I was just saying."
To demonstrate, Oliver went up and pushed the bed. Takigawa went up too, to help him. The bed didn't move, and the carpet made even less progress.
Oliver looked around the bed, then said softly, "There aren't any marks on the bed. A human didn't do this."
"Not to interrupt or anything but we should be heading down to the living room. That's next on the ghost children's prank list." Mai commented as she walked out the door.
And then a despairing cry came from downstairs.
They rushed down the stairs.
"What happened?" Takigawa asked.
They ran to the living room.
Kana was standing, her face chalk white. Ayami was on the side, her eyes in a daze. Noriko rushed here, noticed the scene, and was shocked.
The others ran to a halt. Mai continued until she was kneeling in front of Ayami and hugging her, rubbing her back in a soothing manner. Mai knew she was scared about telling and thought she was being punished by Minnie. To Mai, Ayami was the most important person to deal with in that moment.
The others observed the room.
The furniture was all flipped upside down.
The table, chairs, and even the bookshelf leaning against the wall were all flipped upside-down. The painting on the wall was also flipped upside-down.
No one said a word.
It might seem easy to flip the table over, but this table is composed of thick, tough wood. If Oliver, Lin, and Takigawa all try to flip it over together, then it might work.
The cabinet would be heavy. Kana kept her collection of clocks there. So many clocks. Some old, some new. There're marble clocks, brass clocks, bronze clocks, and even silver clocks. Plus, the cabinet was also made of thick, tough wood. Moving it down, flipping it over, and pushing it to the wall.
Even the carpet, which was under all the furniture, was also flipped upside-down.
Oliver thanked God that he'd followed Mai's advice to set up video cameras in Ayami-chan's room and the living room.
Ayami would be sleeping with Noriko that night.
Oliver looked at the equipment in those two rooms, then he started contemplating.
Takigawa suggested, "That's right, it's obvious. The problem is who's causing the poltergeist activity."
"It's not an earth spirit?"
"At first I thought it was."
"Can I suggest we go look at the recordings?" Mai asked.
Oliver nodded and headed to base.
Lin rewound both tapes and played first the footage from Ayami's room and then the footage from the living room. They all sat in silence as they watched furniture turn itself over seemingly by itself. The microphones that Mai had carefully attached to the cameras, without Oliver knowing, dispelled this idea though. Children's voices could be heard giggling as the furniture flipped over.
"It doesn't matter what it is because this can be taken care of easily. I will exorcise it tomorrow," Ayako declared, standing up.
"Naru-chan, are you still watching the TV screen? You're wasting time," Ayako nagged.
Oliver ignored her. Ayako flicked her hand as she left the room.
"Well, if you want to keep watching the TV screen then just keep doing that. I'm going to sleep."
"Only if you use your tree spirits to help." Mai quipped as Ayako left the room. Ayako ignored her.
Takigawa observed Oliver for a moment before asking, "What's up? You seem to be concentrating hard on something."
Oliver ignored him. But Takigawa didn't seem to care. "Did you find any clues?"
Finally, Oliver answered, "Mai already gave you a clue earlier when she left Ayami's room for the living room, ghost children. Don't you think they reacted too early?"
"Huh?" Takigawa was confused by the change in topic.
Light flickered in Oliver's dark eyes. He proceeded to explain, "Spirits normally hate outsiders. When outsiders come into their house, they usually hide for a certain amount of time."
"True. Whether it's a spirit or a poltergeist, once an outsider comes, they usually lay low for a while... It should be this way."
Oliver's eyes were fixed on the TV, "But so many incidents have occurred since we came here. And they're all more serious than the ones Noriko-san mentioned."
"...Yeah. Noriko-san only mentioned objects swaying in her house..."
"What do you think?"
Takigawa's eyes became serious and intense, a rare moment to see, as he crossed his arms, "...Usually the reactions weaken. A loud sound would instead become a soft sound created by friction. But if the reactions become stronger instead..."
Takigawa stopped for a moment. "Repulsion."
Oliver looked at Takigawa. "So you think that way too?"
"Yes. This house seemed unhappy the moment we came here."
"Plus, it showed us a number of incidents in our short time here..."
"This poltergeist isn't an ordinary one."
Oliver nodded, his voice barely a whisper, "...This could be a troublesome one."
Takigawa finally left base after a while and Mai sat down to report the day's conversations and observations to Oliver and Lin. She included her initial instinctual reaction to the house when they first arrived that she had deferred at the time.
Oliver looked concerned at Mai's report but said nothing. It was too early to make decisions.
When nothing else moved in the night, they finally went to sleep around daybreak.
...
The flower vase on the table was still in the same place. It didn't move into the circle on the table.
"How's it going?" Mai asked, kissing Oliver's cheek and watching him use the video camera.
"The flower vase didn't move." Oliver replied, kissing Mai's cheek in return.
"As expected."
Once they got back to base, Mai stated, "Since the flower vase didn't move... We know for certain now that it's not a poltergeist of human origin."
"Yes."
Oliver turned around Mai, "Mai, can you please check the temperatures of each room?"
Mai nodded and grabbed the necessary gear.
He then turned around to face Lin, "Lin, check the foundations of this building."
"Okay." Lin stood up.
...
In the afternoon, while Mai was measuring the temperatures of each room, Ayako started her exorcism. She didn't use tree spirits and Mai shook her head as she past Ayami's bedroom where it was taking place.
When Mai passed by the base, she saw Ayako in a video camera, standing in front of an altar. Behind her was a confused-looking Shibata, Noriko, and Kana. A Shinto prayer could be heard through the microphone.
"It's not going to work." Mai stated as she entered.
Takigawa sat in front of the equipment, obviously at ease. Lin went out to investigate about the well, while Oliver went around the house to investigate.
"Bou-san, aren't you going to do something?" Mai asked him.
"Are you saying you know Naru's conclusion?" Takigawa replied.
Mai laughed. "I don't need to. I've already lived this case. Naru hasn't come to a conclusion yet and I haven't told him all the answers."
Takigawa stared at Mai then. "Lived this case...?"
Mai nodded. "Well, I certainly don't know everything because I'm clairvoyant."
"Oh, mighty heavenly God, I beseech you to come down..." the prayer continued.
Hearing Ayako's voice again, Mai left the room. Takigawa ran up to her, "What? Jou-chan? Aren't you going to stay longer?"
"I'm busy, unlike a certain monk."
"You... Act more like Naru-chan everyday."
"I spend the most time with him. I'm his girlfriend after all."
Takigawa gave up, "Well, I'm going to keep watching. Good luck."
After Ayako finished her prayer, she turned towards Kana, a confident smile on her face, "Tonight you may sleep with ease."
"Yeah, right. How's the situation?" Mai asked Oliver, ignoring Ayako's useless statement and handed him a piece of paper with the recorded temperatures of each room.
Now was now 10 am.
"The temperature in Ayami's room is somewhat low," he responded.
Oliver's placed down Mai's report, then looked at a layout of the house.
"This house isn't slanted, and the foundations are solid. Although water flows under this house, it does so smoothly. In addition, the water level hasn't decreased. There is no sign of a well under the building in the plans either. Are you sure it's there Mai?"
"It's there, under the living room floor. Exorcising Ayami-chan's bedroom is a waste of time. The child spirits only hang out there because Ayami-chan does."
Oliver nodded.
"Anyway, we need to start paying attention to the kitchen. The stove is about to catch fire." Mai continued, starting to head out the base door. Oliver and Takigawa quickly followed.
That's when Shibata's shrill cry rang through the air.
On their way to the kitchen, they bumped into Noriko. When they got there, the others were frightened for a moment.
The pipe was on fire!
Noriko screamed. Shibata stood frozen stiff with fear.
The huge flames almost engulfed the opposite wall.
Oliver and Takigawa pulled Shibata out of the way while Mai reached for the fire extinguisher by the refrigerator.
"Noriko-san, can you grab the other fire extinguisher?!" Mai yelled as she turned the fire extinguisher on. Mist sprayed into the surroundings. Noriko ran grabbed another fire extinguisher and helped.
Using the two fire extinguishers, they finally put out the fire. Noriko shut off her fire extinguisher.
Noriko and Shibata slumped onto the floor.
"Thank... You."
Shibata continued to tremble. Takigawa tried to comfort her. "Madam, are you alright?"
"Ah... This kind of thing... Happened."
"Well, let's end this for today. Do you want me to give you a lift home?" Shibata reluctantly nodded.
"Naru, watch the window" Mai suddenly said turning to face that direction.
Someone was there. A child. That child looked at us from the window.
Then it suddenly disappeared.
"Did you see that just now?" Takigawa asked.
Oliver looked at Mai before running to the window and looked outside, "No one's there now."
Everyone became nervous.
"Was it Ayami-chan?" Oliver asked.
"But, Ayami-chan's already asleep," Noriko said uneasily.
"No it wasn't Ayami-chan. It was one of the child spirits." Mai added.
Oliver turned his intense gaze downward onto the floor, thinking carefully. "Let's look at the situation first."
Ayami-chan was supposed to be sleeping in Noriko's room again that night. The lights were off in Noriko's room, however in the dimness they could see Ayami wasn't asleep... In the dark room, she was sitting up in the bed, playing with her doll. She placed a small quilt on Minnie.
Ayami raised her head.
Noriko turned on the lights, then sat by her, "Ayami, were you in the kitchen just now?"
Blinded by the lights, Ayami blinked her eyes before shaking her head in surprise. She looked uncomfortable under Noriko's interrogating gaze.
"No I wasn't." She shook her head furiously.
Noriko let out a soft sigh. A loud sound came from the ceiling. It was almost as if something was hitting the ceiling.
They looked up at the ceiling. The sound didn't stop.
"I didn't do it!" Ayami cried out.
"I didn't do it!" She cried again, tears brimming in her eyes.
The thumping sounds continued, as if they were responding to Ayami.
Mai rushed over to Ayami hugging her. "It's OK Ayami. We believe you. Calm down sweetheart, your friends are reacting to you being upset."
The chandelier swayed, making a creaking sound.
The thumping sounds grew louder and louder.
The bed and furniture rocked too.
"Noriko, it's dangerous here..." Oliver warned.
Right after he said that, the bed flipped over and the bookshelf started to fall.
"Noriko...-san...!"
The bookshelf and toys on the bookshelf started to tumble onto the frightened woman.
Mai pulled her out of the way.
Ayami screamed.
As if on cue, the lights went off.
...
Noriko wasn't hurt luckily, thanks to Mai. She and Ayami went to sleep in another room.
The others returned to base. There was a TV screen showing Ayami's room. It was currently empty. The brightness of the screen was because this was taken with thermal imaging.
The string of numbers on the screen changed continuously. That indicated the time. The other thermal cameras were placed in the living room, the kitchen, and the hallways on the first and second floor.
The blue and orange colors indicated the temperature. This was thermography, which is used to show temperature. The orange color indicated a high temperature, while the blue color indicated a low one.
Nothing changed on the T.V.
"Looks like you gave up," Takigawa commented, glancing at Ayako, who immediately turned her head to the other side.
"Yeah, it's beyond my abilities. I'm really sorry."
"You could have used the nearby trees." Remarked Mai. "It might have worked then."
Ayako froze. "How do you know about that?"
Mai winked and placed a finger to her lips. "It's. A. Secret."
"...But, don't you think it's dangerous?" Ayako's voice was uneasy. "The pipe broke...and suddenly burst into fire. Doesn't this poltergeist seem strong?"
As if sensing she was uneasy, Oliver coldly suggested, "If you're scared, you can go home."
"Well, there will be a solution," Takigawa said in a carefree tone, "The gas valve is already closed. Fire won't explode from it again. Naru-chan, doesn't it seem strange?" Bou-san asked.
"Ayami-chan's situation?"
"Yeah, that poltergeist back there seemed to react to the kid's actions. Then there was the kid we saw back in the kitchen..."
"Are you saying that Ayami-chan is the reason for the poltergeist activity?" Oliver asked.
Takigawa touched his jaw, "The autosuggestion showed that the culprit isn't someone who lives here. How much confidence do you place in that test?"
"A hundred percent," Oliver replied bluntly, "the culprit doesn't live here. Mai has already mentioned several times that the cause is child spirits."
"Your autosuggestion might've failed."
"That's impossible."
"Don't say it so resolutely..." Takigawa said, not willing to give up. Lin's low voice intercepted, "Naru is an expert at autosuggestion so that would be indeed impossible."
"Oh, you sure trust him a lot," Ayako snatched this opportunity for sarcasm.
But Lin just continued to look at the TV screen. "I'm only stating a fact."
"Naru knows what he's doing." Mai added.
Ayako was about to say something else, but then Lin cut her off, "Naru, the temperature is decreasing."
Oliver looked at the TV. "...What's the time?"
"2:42 a.m."
At this time, a red light shone on the edge of Ayami's room.
"Look" Mai pointed at the screen.
"—Lin, the speaker."
As soon as Lin set up the microphone, eerie sounds came out.
A booming sound came down, followed by a quiet knocking sound. A cracking sound sounded through the air. Noisy sounds filled the air. It almost sounded like a mob of people was running around up there.
"Such strong sounds..."
There was nothing on the screen. No one was in the room. Nothing moved in the room either.
"This is...really serious..." Oliver whispered. "The temperature suddenly dropped..."
The screen with Ayami's bedroom was filled with a deep, blue color.
"The response is strong. The temperature's still dropping... It's below freezing temperature..."
Oliver looked uptight.
The strange sounds continued.
"Ayami-chan didn't do this. No human could've done this..."
"It's a ghost?" Ayako asked uneasy.
"Correct, and strong ones too..." Oliver looked tense. "Seems like Bou-san was correct."
"It's a Jibakurei?"
"I'm afraid so."
"It's not." Mai corrected.
Takigawa seemed excited as he stood confidently, ignoring Mai's comment, "Well it's like I said, I'm not the same as Ayako. I'm actually capable."
"You were extremely accurate," Oliver chuckled. Mai sighed at being ignored.
Ayako turned unhappily toward Takigawa, ""It's a bolt from the blue", right Naru?"
Takigawa couldn't help but smirk, "Whatever you say. If there is a ghost, it'll be my turn now. I'll perform a magnificent exorcism."
"As long as you don't fail," Ayako smiled coldly, "well, let me see your exorcism then. You say you are very capable."
"Of course. I'm not incapable of exorcism like you."
"But you failed in the last case as well."
"That was—"
"Oh, get a room already!" Mai groaned. Ayako and Takigawa glared at her.
The eerie sounds persisted for a while before quieting down.
Then they watched the recording of the kitchen fire. A child's giggle could be heard through the mic. The face on the window was visible on the screen. Lin paused it.
"That's definitely not Ayami-chan." Oliver stated.
"It looks more like a boy." Takigawa mused.
They all went to get some rest.