Ah! I completely forgot to put "Day 1" on Chapter 3! hits head over and over again
Anyway, thank you guys so much for the reviews!
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File #1
Forbidden Spell
(Day 1)
Sunday
4:00 P.M
"Bou-san, did you finish setting up the cameras?"
"Hai, hai, Naru-bou. But aren't we investigating the cemetery? Why is it that half of our equipments are set up over the house?"
"The house itself exhibits activities, I think you know that."
I was talking to Ayako when I heard Bou-san and Naru talking. I look to Bou-san and see him look to the side at John and say with a tired smile, "Double exorcism, huh?" John nodded, smiling as well.
"Ano, Naru… shouldn't we have gone with Kasukagi-san to the cemetery? It's a chance!" I suddenly cry out. But Naru merely looked away with his usual bored look.
"He was the one who told us not to come today, as many people come in during Sundays. We wouldn't have much done with all those people present anyway." He stood up, walked over to Lin and whispered something, picked up his digital thermometer and notebook, and walked over to Masako. "Hara-san, could you come with me to scout the house for any spirits?"
"Eh." I see Masako's eyes glimmer as she covers her tiny smile with her kimono sleeve. Darn you Masako! And Naru too! I watch them walk away with an eye of jealousy.
Bou-san sensed my tension and walked up behind me and started patting me on the head. "Now, now, Mai, it's purely business."
"Mou, Bou-san!" I hold up a finger to my lips and pointed towards Lin-san with my eyes, trying to tell him to keep quiet about Naru while Lin-san was around. Thankfully, Bou-san understood.
"Anyway, how's you ladies' room?" he asked me and Ayako.
"Terrible!" Ayako cried. "I have to share beds with these two, since there's only one king-sized bed!"
John and Bou-san exclaimed at this. "King-sized bed? And you're complaining? You're really a spoiled rich girl, aren't you Ayako?"
"Our room is small, with no bed at all, so all four of us will have to sleep on the floor. Oh, five, with Yasuhara-san. He is coming, isn't he?" John asked.
"Shounen? Oh yeah, where is that guy?"
"At school, of course. Yasuhara-san is now a college student, isn't he? The only days he's off from school or studying are Wednesdays and Thursdays, so he'll be here by then."
We start talking about random things, while Lin-san continued typing in the background. I don't really know what he types about. All I know is that he's always in front of the computer, and that whenever something weird happens, he's often the first to know.
Bou-san and Ayako are now arguing—mostly Ayako, since she just hit him in the head and he's out cold, for commenting about how old she is already getting. I snicker. I think Bou-san and Ayako would make a great couple! They already act like one, anyway. I wonder what they'd say if I tell them that… I caught John's eyes and we smile sheepishly. Maybe it was time to break the two apart. Bou-san looked pitiful.
--
9:00 P.M
Kasukagi-san finally arrived home. He apologized for being out so late, but explained that that's what he had to do. He makes sure everyone leaves the premises and locks the gates to keep the grave robbers out, but mostly to keep whatever spirits are inside, in. "I always think that if I can keep them from getting out if I lock them in. But who knows." I look at him, sadness washing over me.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm assuming you lot haven't eaten yet. I'll cook up something for our dinner."
"I'll help!"
He smiled at me. "Thank you, Mai-san."
-
At the dinner table, it was surprisingly calm. I have to admit, I've been paranoid the whole day, expecting an episode to happen after the initial shock we all received in the beginning. But as it is, I'm sitting on a dining chair, next to Bou-san and Masako, and across Naru, eating quietly.
After a few minutes, Naru spoke. "Kasukagi-san, could you tell us about this house?"
"The house?"
"Yes. We measured some paranormal activities here. Are you aware of these activities?"
He looked down and thought for a while. When he answered, he failed to look at Naru in the eyes. "Yes. Sometimes a room will get really cold for no reason, even though it's hot outside. It's happened during the day, too. Any rooms. It's random."
"I see. Have you ever felt a physical force trying to push you out?"
"I… I remember feeling that once."
Naru's eyes narrowed. "Do you remember when it was?"
"T-two years ago…"
"And I'm assuming you've lived here all your life?"
Kasukagi-san looked at Naru with frightened eyes. "Yes, yes I have. All twenty-five years of it."
I start. Twenty-five? You mean he's only twenty-five? I blush at my inconsideration. And to think I thought him to be in his mid-thirties! I guess taking care of the cemetery can accelerate the aging process.
"Tell me about the people who lived here with you, Kasukagi-san."
I don't know if it's just me, but Kasukagi-san seemed disinclined to talk about the house and his family. A seed of suspicion began to grow inside of me.
"My parents lived here before having us—my sister and I. Their names were Kenji and Sakano Kasukagi."
"And where are they?"
"They're dead, Shibuya-san, for almost ten years." There was bitterness in his voice as he said it. "They got sick. Father was the one who got it first, and then Mother caught the disease from him. Shortly after Father died, Mother followed."
Naru was quiet for a minute and looked truly solemn. But after a few seconds, he resumed, "My apologies. What about your sister?"
Now for sure Kasukagi-san looked away and tried to evade the question by asking us if we wanted seconds.
"It's important that we know, Kasukagi-san."
"My older sister…She's… dead. Sickness, too. It might've been the same disease that killed our parents, I don't know. The doctors couldn't cure it." He sniffled. "She was dearest to me. She was all I had…"
"When was this?"
"Only… 5 years ago."
Naru nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation, Kasukagi-san."
--
Bou-san was pacing the room. We're at the boy's room, since our base was the living room, and we didn't want Kasukagi-san to hear us as we try to piece things together. Bou-san held the notes I wrote (from memory, since we talked during dinner and I was ill-prepared), and recited to us the contents.
"So he has lived here for 25 years. His parents died 10 years ago, when he was 15. That takes a lot of toll on a kid," he added as a side note. "And so during this time, he had his older sister with him. It was six years ago that he started taking care of the cemetery, we failed to ask if that was his father's job, or something—"
"—No. He took that job to get money."
I raise my brows. "How do you know that, Naru?"
"His parents have already been dead for 6 years. It would be odd for him to take the job that's supposed to be passed down, 6 years after. And it makes sense that he takes the job, since it's nearby, and they needed money."
We all looked at Naru with astonishment. That seemed very simple. Why didn't we think of that?
"Continue, Bou-san."
"Hai. Well, so Kasukagi-san was 19 years old when he took this job. And then when he was 20, his older sister fell ill and died."
"Poor Kasukagi-san…" I manage to say quietly. Naru turned to me and stared at me in the eye before turning away.
"And then three years later, he first felt the physical force pushing him. And then after that, he hasn't felt it since, just like how it was just the first time with us."
"Add that the cemetery started experiencing strong paranormal activities in the last two months."
Bou-san did as he was told. When he was done, he looked at Naru, then to all of us, and back to Naru. We all stared at each other, none of us knowing what to say next. This case seemed pretty simple now that the facts were laid out, and yet it was too hard to figure out what was going on. Is there any relation between the death of his sister and the house? And what about the cemetery? All these things tied back to Kasukagi-san, but there was nothing in what he said that gave a clue as to what is going on.
"Tomorrow we'll be going to the cemetery. Lin, keep an eye on all of the rooms and tell me when the temperature falls rapidly."
"Aa."
Then to us, Naru said, "Good night." And that was the sign that he wanted us girls to leave.
Sorry if it's mostly dialogue .
Ah! I'm reading Ghost Hunt fics, and for some reason, I've become a sucker for a lover Naru! He's so cute when he's in love with Mai, isn't he? X3 Oh yeah, I remember reading a fic once, about Naru having to pose as Mai's brother. I've been looking all over for it, but I can't find it. Does anybody know what fic I'm talking about?