by Ono Fuyumi
Naru looked impatient.
"Hey, so what's up? What was that thing you were doing yesterday?"
Naru sighed. "Mai, don't you think you talk too much?"
"If you don't want me to tell anyone, I can keep it a secret."
Naru thought about it for a while. "Wait a while. Everyone will be here soon."
Everyone... Meaning? Are you talking about Miko-san and them?
Exactly what are you thinking about?
An arguement broke out moments before everyone came together.
Kuroda came before class started as well.
Like me, she was also pestering Naru for answers. She wanted to know what happened yesterday, so I told her that we'd have to wait for everyone else to come first. Unfortunately, she didn't listen to me and went ahead and picked a fight with Naru.
"Then I'll stay here and wait," Kuroda announced.
"Go home," Naru replied coldly.
In the end Kuroda won the arguement, to which Naru sighed resignedly.
After the school bell rang, Miko-san and the rest quickly scrambled here.
And so, Kuroda and I skipped class.
Well, I guess this is okay too.
Miko-san, Bou-san, John, and Masako came. When the whole team was here, Naru walked towards the old school building.
Naru headed towards the building, one hand supporting his assistant who was using crutches, and one hand holding his camcorder.
"What are you going to show us today?" Bou-san snickered.
Miko-san laughed too. "Maybe we shouldn't go and see. Someone might turn up missing again."
Naru showed no expression on his face.
"I just want some witnesses in my experiment," Naru replied.
"Huh?"
Miko-san and Bou-san were dumbfounded.
When we reached the front of the lab room, I noticed the equipment were in the same place they were yesterday. Naru called John and me, "Look at the equipment. Is the paper with your signature intact?"
What?
Sometime beforehand, Naru had given the assistant the camcorder.
I examined the paper with our signatures. It wasn't damaged in any way, and my signature was still intact.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Yes, it's the same as yesterday," John answered.
"What about the signatures on the door? Is it your handwriting?"
"Yes."
"That's right."
Naru nodded, then proceeded to tear down the planks he had hammered onto the door yesterday.
We looked with curiosity.
Naru entered the lab room.
...Huh?
The pink circle drawn in the middle of the floor.
The chair should be in that circle...it should be in the middle of the circle.
But instead, the chair was beside the window.
"Shibuya-san, the chair moved," John informed.
"Yes it did," Naru said, smiling satisfactorily.
Miko-san interjected, "Wait a minute. What's going on here?"
Instead of answering, Naru headed toward the camcorder. After he saw the display screen of the camcorder, he smiled.
"Hey, Naru-chan," Miko-san called out impatiently.
Naru looked at us, a confident glint in his eyes.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Tomorrow I will leave."
Eh? Ehhhhhh?
"You already told us this case was over," Miko-san reminded him sarcastically.
"I did say something like that."
"Land subsidence?"
...What a sarcastic jerk.
But then, Naru nodded, "Yes."
"Haaa!"
Bou-san jeered, "You better stop while you're ahead. Can land subsidence really cause all that?"
"Land subsidence is a sufficient explanation for the case the principal presented me."
"Then, what made the windows shatter? And what caused the strange noises afterwards?!"
...Good point. That's not a sound that land subsidence can make.
"That was a poltergeist."
"Look you!" Miko-san and Bou-san shouted in unison.
"You can't exorcise ghosts, right? So you're just investigating a bit and then calling it a day," Bou-san said, pointing a finger of accusation at Naru.
Naru remained calm, "There is no need to exorcise. I believe that would be unnecessary."
Rewinding his tape, Naru turned toward us, "Do you want to watch?"
We started to watch the recording of the chair. At first the chair was in the middle of the room. We stared intently.
"What're we watching this for?" Miko-san mumbled.
Naru paid no attention to her.
"Hey..." the woman said as the chair in the TV screen began to shake.
The chair shook and shook, then it started to slide across the floor. There was no external force. It just moved by itself to the side of the window. It shook violently, then fell. It didn't move again.
Naru pressed the stop button.
"What... Was that just now?" I asked.
"It's just what you saw."
"The chair moved?"
"Yes, it did move."
...What happened?
Bou-san sighed exasperately, "That was a very strong poltergeist! We must exorcise it immediately..."
Naru replied coldly, "That would be unnecessary."
Naru noticed my confusion, then proceeded to explain, "Yesterday I gave everyone an autosuggestion."
"Huh?"
"It's similar to hypnoticism. The autosuggestion was that this chair would move at night."
...That light... Was like a flashlight.
"So that was hypnoticism?"
Naru nodded in response.
"...Basically, yes. Then I placed the chair here, and with Mai and John's help I locked the doors and windows, and hammered in the wooden planks. Afterwards I proceeded to seal the room. This way, no one would be able to enter. If someone were to enter, we would notice."
"True."
If anyone broke in, they'd have to remove the wooden planks and put new ones there, but then our signatures are there.
Pausing momentarily, Naru looked carefully at each one of us, his eyes darker than the night sky.
"Poltergeist incidents are usually caused by human beings, namely those that are thirteen to fifteen years old. But sometimes they're caused by teenage girls under a lot of stress who want to be noticed by others."
"Are you saying that could be a problem?" I asked.
"Idiot."
...Do you have to evaluate everything I say? Don't say it so bluntly like that.
"It is highly probable. However, the culprit is usually unaware of doing this.
"What?"
"In these situations, an autosuggestion will make the event actually occur."
Autosuggestion... An autosuggestion that the chair will move?
Bou-san interposed, "So you're saying that the chair moved because of a human?"
"Correct."
"And not because of a ghost?" asked Miko-san. "So the activities happening in the old school building were also caused by a human?"
"To put it simply, yes. I have not been mistaken yet."
"...Then the culprit is?"
"Is..."
Naru remained silent.
Someone who wants to feel important. Someone who wants to be noticed.
A person with that strong desire... There was only one such person, and she was right in front of my eyes.
But...
Slowly, my eyes darted towards her.
Everyone else looked at her too.
Kuroda.
"...Me...?"
Kuroda's voice became shaky at first, then firm, "How can that be...!"
She shook her head.
Naru nodded his head.
"You are the prime suspect."
"Are you saying that it's all because of me? That poltergeist?"
Fear showed in her eyes.
"There is a higher possibility that it is you than the others," Naru said, looking at us.
5
"You are the first person to talk about the old school building. For instance, you said there were ghosts of soldiers and nurses there. But the fact of the matter is, there never was a hospital here. An air raid never occurred here, and the school was never used as a hospital before."
"How can that be..."
"—To sum it up, you were mistaken or perhaps the rumors got to you. Didn't Miko-san say that you didn't have psychic powers?"
Naru turned towards Miko-san.
"Yes, that's right. I'm sure I wasn't wrong," Miko-san confirmed.
"Whether Kuroda-san did that on purpose or whether she just pretended to see them... Even now I am not so sure," Naru continued to explain.
"I wasn't lying!" Kuroda exclaimed.
"In the beginning I thought that you possessed psychic powers," Naru said as he pulled out the tape recorder from under the table. "I said something like this earlier: half of poltergeist incidents are caused by humans. When the poltergeist activity occurred at the old school building, I was perplexed. The equipment did not show any presence of spirits. Plus, Hara-san didn't sense any."
"Yes, that's correct," Masako said, nodding her head.
"If it's not caused by a spirit, then it must be caused by a human. If this were to happen at somebody's house, then the person responsible would be whoever lives there. It could be a thirteen to fifteen year old or a teenage girl. If you are stressed out, you may unconsciously do this. You unconsciously hope that people do not ignore you and that they notice you instead. And so, the culprit may cause many poltergeist disturbances. Let's say the people in the household get into a fight. You unconsciously believe that you get attention when you are in an argument. But... No one lives in the old school building."
Silence filled the room.
"It's also possible to take it the opposite way. The person who craves attention would be the culprit of these poltergeist activities. Meaning... The only two people who fit this description is Kuroda-san and... Mai."
...Me?!
Did you just make me a suspect too?!
"If you compare the two, Kuroda-san is the more likely one."
After saying that, Naru stared intensely at Kuroda, who was already blushing furiously. "I heard that your psychic powers have made you rather popular in school. Ever since middle school, you have been admired for them."
"..."
...Michiru and them did say it that way.
"You mentioned earlier that there are spirits in the old school building. But... What if there really were no spirits? Instead of ghosts, it's ground subsidence. What would happen if everyone found out about this?"
Bou-san replied, "Everyone would stop believing her. In the end, they wouldn't be able to trust her again."
Miko-san seemed to feel sorry for her too. "...So at first, you didn't have any psychic powers, but now it's come to this."
"...That's right. In order for Kuroda-san to get everyone's attention, ghosts would have to exist. So to her, ghosts must exist in the old school building."
Everyone looked at Kuroda.
"...What? So that's what you thought this whole time," I whispered. When Kuroda raised her head, I smiled at her. Everyone wants to be special and be admired by others. Everyone wants to be unique and have the approval of others.
So she wants to have the ability to sense ghosts...
"Our investigation could've made Kuroda-san's ghost sightings invalid, which stressed her. As a result, she was unconsciously under a lot of stress. In her mind she believed that there must be ghosts here, and that poltergeist activities must occur here. And then..."
Bou-san continued, "...she unconsciously made poltergeist activity."
I wondered if they were mistaken. "But can a human really do all that? Like, if a test is approaching and you want the school to collapse, even if you really want the school to collapse, it never does in the end."
"That's an ability problem."
What?
Naru looked back at Kuroda, a gentle look on his face. "I thought she was a latent psychic."
"Psychic?"
"Someone who has psychic powers. Even though she is unaware of it, she may have some PK. I will explain for Mai's sake. PK is a type of psychic energy."
...Shut up, you arrogant...
"Oh..." Miko-san said, looking at Kuroda before turning toward Naru, "then in that case, she felt more stressed because you mentioned ground subsidence. Then how do you explain me getting locked in that room? Did she do that too? And if she didn't, then how do you explain the static in your video? You have to be able to explain that, at least."
Masako said in a low voice, "You locked yourself in."
"What, you're saying that I forgot I locked myself in?"
"Are you saying you didn't?"
Naru halted their argument with his hand, then turned towards Kuroda. "...Allow me to explain."
Kuroda nodded forcefully.
"Now, about Miko-san being locked up," Naru said as he pulled out a nail from his pocket.
"What about it."
"It's a nail."
"I can tell it's a nail by looking. What are you trying to say?"
"This nail was sticking out the door."
...Eh?
"The reason the door wouldn't open is that this nail was stuck in it. I noticed this earlier, but I didn't believe it was necessary to mention it."
Miko-san grabbed the nail from Naru and looked at it carefully.
"So someone put it there on purpose," said Miko-san.
"Right."
"Who could've... Is it you?!" She stared at Kuroda, who shrank back. I couldn't help but pat her shoulder to comfort her.
...Looks like I've become her comforter.
Naru continued, "It was probably a joke. Were you not mean to her earlier?"
...Yup, yup.
"Then, what about the videocam's malfunction?"
"I examined it carefully. Apparently it's caused by a human, not a ghost."
"Did she do that?"
"She was already there when Mai arrived in the lab room, so most likely, yes."
"......"
Miko-san bit her lip.
Kuroda shrank back, then apologized for what she did.
John told her in a comforting tone, "Don't worry about it. Even though it did cause a lot of trouble."
"That's not the problem here! You guys are all rotten!"
Naru replied coldly, "It's because Miko-san insulted her by saying she didn't have psychic powers. That's why she was so angry she couldn't stand it anymore. As a lesson, do not talk carelessly in the future."
...Do you have the right to say that?
"Does everyone understand now?"
Miko-san angrily crossed her arms. "Now we understand. But now what? We can't just leave like this. The principal called on us to exorcise the ghost."
"We can just say that we exorcised the ghost."
"What if Kuroda wants to stop the demolition of the building?" Miko-san snarked, shooting a sharp look at Kuroda.
"I plan to tell the principal this: There were many spirits of soldiers in the old school building. We exorcised them so now it's safe to continue the demolition project—is this okay with you, Kuroda-san?"
Kuroda looked like she was about to shed tears of happiness.
"...Dead soliders... Huh," Miko-san mumbled unhappily.
Bou-san said, "So now there's no problem, right?"
Naru crossed his arms.
"That's right," Masako answered. "But I'm a little worried. How about we tell the principal the truth? Just tell him what you told us."
"She's already under a lot of pressure. There's no need to add to that, right?" Naru responded.
...Oh— you're actually really considerate.
Miko-san asked, "Then who gets the credit of exorcising the ghost?"
At that moment everyone became s
ilent.
Naru calmly responded, "Everyone helped in the exorcism. Will this be alright with everybody?"
"...Huh?"
Miko-san turned her gaze toward Naru, "...So you do have your merits. Are you going to divide the credit among us?"
With his arms crossed, Naru shot a sharp look at me, "Mai, don't tell anyone about this."
"I know."
Miko-san seemed touched by this, "You're quite the gentleman."
"Thank you."
"Hey... Do you have a girlfriend?"
"...I don't understand."
"I can repress myself, even if it is with a young one," she purred.
"Thank you for your kind offer."
...Seductive miko. Exactly how is she like a miko? How?!
Naru smiled slightly, "I appreciate your kind offer; however, I am already too used to looking at myself in the mirror."
Miko-san's face turned stark red.
...Huh?
Bou-san burst out in laughter while Miko-san looked the other way.
...So he refused Miko-san's offer because he's too used to looking at himself in the mirror?
Hey, then that means Miko-san was completely rejected. But did you have to say it that way?
Why don't you just change into a narcissus then.
6
Naru suddenly lifted his camcorder and headed out the door.
Everyone looked at him in surprise. He looked back at us with his deep eyes. "Aren't you going to prepare to leave?"
"Yeah, that's right," Miko-san said, standing up, "this wasn't exactly a really big case."
Bou-san injected, "But weren't you scared to death earlier?"
"Don't joke with me."
...Preparations to leave.
Hearing Naru say that, I felt really empty.
I'm just a normal student. I became his temporary assistant because his original one was injured.
Meaning... The thing that bought us together is gone now.
Maybe we'll never see each other again.
When I think of it that way, I felt a lump form in my throat. We'll never see each other again. I'll live my life, and Naru will live his. We'll never have a chance to see each other again.
I have to say something.
I watched Naru lift the equipment into the hallway. He turned around and looked at me, "Don't you two have to go to school today?"
"I'm not going today," I replied.
Naru immediately shot me a disdainful look.
"Why don't you put more effort into becoming smarter?"