Disclaimer: I do NOT own Ghost Hunt.

Comments: The third episode. I love writing about Mai's dreams! It's so fun! =D

[[HOUSE OF EVERGREEN]]

Episode 3: The House

At dinner, I met some of the family members. Kayako-san (our client, who kindly let us call her that to save us from trouble of confusing her and her husband) introduced them to us.

Her husband – Iwazaki-san – turned out to be a very grave man. It has been noted to us previously that he does not believe in supernatural phenomena. He wasn't unpleasant to us, but wasn't pleasing either. He nodded at all of us briefly, and ate his meal without uttering a single word.

Just like her sister Kayako-san, Muramoto-san was a very graceful woman with beautiful posture and manners. However, there was an air of gloom surrounding her that I could somehow… sense. I assumed it was because of her son, who is still ill and hospitalised.

Her daughter, Saiko-chan, is 13. She doesn't like interacting with other people; especially strangers. Hence, she wished to have her dinner separately. During the day, it has been told that she spends all day in her room or by herself in the garden, for a stroll.

Hajime-kun was there, eating sausages happily and groaning at the sight of capsicums, because he dislikes them. (How cute!) His father silenced him imeediately. Shinogu-kun was still hospitalised, so we couldn't meet him. Also, the university student who lives here has not returned yet. He has been away since morning.

"No worries," Kayako-san said. "He usually returns after dinner."

###

There is not floor plan of the house available, so Bou-san and I, for it has been advised not to be alone, have to go measuring the house now. The sun is setting, and it's 8.30pm.

"Wow, this house is so big."

"Well, the garden's even bigger."

Bou-san grins. And I grin.

"But then we can't set the camera up everywhere – this place is too big!"

"Well, it's time for Naru-bou to do some exercises. After all, he is still 17. Growing boys need to be healthy."

"Ahahaha! Naru will be really angry if he hears this!"

"But it's true. He works with books and computer all day and never leaves his office, except for all the investigations, which we don't have that often."

"Hmm… I guess it's true, but he sure goes on lots of trips to really weird places! But he never brings back any souvenirs. Hmph."

Etc, etc. Our conversation mainly continued with silly stuff like that. It was pretty fun.

The house is pretty big with three floors and one floor underground. The ground floor consists of a dining hall, a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room and a drawing room.

The first floor has two big bedrooms, four small ones and a toilet. The second has one big bedroom, a bathroom, a toilet and three small bedrooms. The first floor is occupied by whole family, and only one small room is used by the student living here. Of course, all SPR members are staying at the second floor!

Lastly, we go to the underground floor. The darkest, the scariest – usually the case in novels and movies. I gulp before opening the door myself. I gasp.

"It's…"

Messy.

"Wow, I never expected there to be a messy room in this house but… wow."

It's so dusty, full of strange objects stacked. I guess some of them are not even Iwazakis' or Muramotos'.

"Nee, Bou-san, is there… a rocking chair somewhere in this room?"

"A rocking chair?"

Bou-san asks rhetorically and starts searching around the place. I tell him that I'll look for it, so he measures the dimensions of the room.

Apart from being dusty and dirty, this room has nothing strange. Nothing uncommon, nor ominous air that was hanging around that room in my dream. Bou-san looks at me strangely. I conclude my little search.

"I guess this is just a normal, messy place."

###

In spite of chatting so much and searching for the rocking chair, our work was done smoothly and efficiently. When we return, Naru even looks slightly surprised at our awesome skills in measuring-the-dimensions-of-a-big-house. Of course, we performed it before and I'm used to this kind of boring work. He simply looks at the facts we handed, and asks.

"Hmm… no calculation errors?"

"None what so ever!"

I grin, triumphant.

###

I am in that room again. I'm watching the sky, rocking back and forth in a wooden rocking chair repeatedly. It's warm and brisk outside, but it's cold and still here. Cold and very, very lonely…

I want to leave this room. The atmosphere of this room suffocates me. There is solitude and loneliness – forlornness. Helplessness. Desperation. I don't want to stay here any longer! Somebody… HELP ME!

"It's nice, isn't it?"

It is only then I realise there is someone standing beside me. It's the most beautiful women I've ever met. Her snow white skin contrasts strikingly with her black hair and clothes. She is wearing an ebony-coloured silk kimono with no embroidery, and her head and upper body is wrapped in a large charcoal hemp haori*. She stares at me with pitch-black eyes.

Wow… she looks like Naru. Kind of. For example, dressing in all-black from head to toe, pale skin and black hair… At that moment, I realise I'm thinking about Naru again, and blush. I look back at her gorgeous face, and answer.

"… No. I want to go outside."

"I meant the outside scenery."

She retorts flatly, however, very politely. There is a short silence between us and I hesitate slightly before asking her the next question.

"How can I go outside?"

"You can't." She answers me with a bitter smile full of apology.

"Why?"

My voice quivers slightly at the thought. I can't go outside? In this room? In this room full of air that is stifling? I can't breathe here!

"WHY?!"

I shout. And with a gasp, I wake up. Oh… it was only a dream.

I'm really tired now, but I can't go back to sleep. I glimpse at the table clock besides me which points out that it's five-to-seven now. …Might as well go outside and have a walk around.

###

The garden is as pretty as it was during the day. I haven't been around the whole place, but there are lots of trees and flowers. I see a small woman figure in a red dress with a bow. A kimono…?

I call out automatically.

"Masako?"

She can't be here already, can't she? After all, Naru said that she would arrive this evening…

The woman turns around at my voice. As I approach, I can clearly see it isn't a kimono, but a cute dress with a big bow. It is a girl about Masako's height with long jet-black hair tied up as a ponytail. I wonder whether it's Saiko-chan? I apologise.

"Eh? I'm sorry. I thought you were my co-worker! Are you Saiko-chan?"

She stares at me blankly for a second, then chuckles. A smile spreads in her face. Although she doesn't seem particularly kind, she does not scare me either. She looks so beautiful, so I feel embarrassed. Err… I thought this girl didn't like "interacting with other people, especially with strangers"?

"Yes, I am. And you must be Mai Taniyama-san. How do you do?"

She knows my name?

She forwards her hand to indicate a handshake. I respond quickly and shake her hands. The thought occurred to me: all women in this household have such elegant and beautiful manners.

"Umm… yeah, I'm fine. I just woke up early, so thought for a walk around the house. After all, I haven't been at the gardens."

"Ah… I see."

Saiko-chan smiles.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Eh…?"

What?

Saiko-chan smiles so sweetly, so readily, like she knew this will happen beforehand.

"Oh, I was merely wondering because you looked so pale. Are you okay?"

I shake my hands in front of her.

"No, no, I'm fine. It wasn't that bad dream after all. Don't worry about it."

Saiko-chan smiles charmingly again, and murmurs something to herself. I don't catch it and ask her to repeat it, but she only says "Oh… it's nothing". To me, it sounded like she said "I wonder…"

###

When I come back to the house, the whole SPR crew is looking for me, worried. I then realise I haven't left a single note to them. They told me not to wonder off by myself anymore.

Then the topic move on to the discussion held between Ayako and Hajime-chan previously. Seems like she talked to him while searching for me.

"A hidden room?"

"Well, it's not exactly 'hidden', but yes, it's locked. It's an attic."

Ayako sighs.

"It seems like little Hajime-chan has been searching for his aunt who locked the room and refuses to let anyone in there."

So that's why yesterday… he…

A sudden thought ran through my head? An attic? The… highest place? Of this building? After all, in my dream, I could only see the sky when lying down on a rocking chair. No rooftops, no antennas, nor pipes. Possibly it's a quite small room? It was concealed for a long time, so very dark and lonely?

I speak up.

"Hey, is it by any chance… an empty, dark and small room with one small window and a wooden rocking chair?"

They all stare at me, shocked.

"Wh… what? I'm just guessing. It's about the dream I ha–"

"Why didn't you tell us, Mai?"

Naru asks coldly. His icy glance towards me frightens me.

"But it's just a dre–"

"Mai, we already know that your dream acts as a precognition."

I look down at the floor.

"…Sorry… I just thought it wasn't important at all."

Bou-san barges in, trying to lighten my mood. He smiles cheerfully.

"Now, now, Naru-chan. You don't have to say that much. She didn't know!"

Naru only turns his body away from us. But I smile for Bou-san. After all, he's trying to cheer me up…

And it was after that, we requested the family to open the attic for us. It matched my description exactly.

To be continued =]

Words and definitions – just in case you don't know:

*Haori: A lightweight silk jacket used to help keep the kimono clean and dry. They vary in length and are considered an essential part of ceremonial kimono attire for men, but not for women. A woman wearing haori did not become popular until the Edo period.

They are meant to be worn open. It's usually taken off and folded up before one enters the place they are visiting. Formal haori have the family mon on the back. It is has a single crest at the back mid seam it's called kuro montsuki haori and is usually worn for school events or for mourning. The haori can also be of different lengths, the long ones being for dressy wear, the medium-length ones for ordinary wear, and the shortest ones for wearing at home. (Source: .)