by Ono Fuyumi
"...What are you doing?" I asked.
"Nothing. I'm just looking around. Shibuya-san doesn't seem to be here."
Kuroda-san touched the equipment beside her.
"It's best if you don't touch anything. Naru-chan will get angry."
"Really?" Kuroda-san asked, her hand still touching the TV's edge, "hey, how were things yesterday?"
"Nothing... Much. Naru-chan said there was nothing unusual."
"What did the others think?"
"Miko-san was locked in a classroom. But no one can agree on whether or not that was because of a ghost."
"Why?" Kuroda-san asked, her eyes suddenly gazing into mine.
"...The psychic medium said there were no ghosts in this old building. But Miko-san insisted that there's an earth spirit here."
"Really... Is the psychic medium you're referring to Hara Masako?"
"Yes."
"That person's an imposter."
"Wha-?!"
An imposter...
"She's on TV because of her good looks. She doesn't have any psychic powers."
"Huh..."
Exactly what is Kuroda-san thinking?
"There's a ghost here, and a very strong one too."
Then, is Kuroda-san the only one who can feel it?
Kuroda-san gazed intensely into my eyes. "I... Was just attacked."
Eh?!
"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... Can't be."
"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.'."
The air around us froze in the silence.
Kuroda-san looks like she's going to say something else.
But as for me, I had nothing to say. I don't understand this kind of stuff. I've never seen a ghost, and I've never been able to feel one's presence either. It's impossible for me to know if she's lying.
That can't be right. Masako said there are no spirits here. And Naru-chan said that places like this have other dangerous things.
Scary rumors. Abandoning the old school building after tearing half of it down.
In the midst of the silence between us, Naru-chan came back.
He looked at us. "What's the matter?"
After he heard Kuroda-san talk about her story, Naru-chan thought about if 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..."
Naru-chan placed his pale fingers onto the laptop's keyboard. "Let's look at the recording. Where did you encounter the ghost?"
"The corridor on the second floor."
Naru-chan rewinded 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-san 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.
It happened at that time.
A white line suddenly flashed onto the screen. Two times. Three times. Then it was just static, followed by a white screen. Then the screen turned all black.
"What happened— This broke—"
Naru-chan looked at the other screens. There was nothing wrong with the other ones. Only the stairs recording was blank.
"...It didn't break," Naru-chan said as he fiddled with one of the TVs.
The TV screen didn't change.
"What does this mean," Naru-chan mumbled to himself.
"...Huh?"
"Right after the ghost shows up, the camera stops working," he said, looking at the TV screen, "what can this be.. A ghost, interference with electric waves... Or..."
He contemplated his ideas, then quickly turned to face Kuroda-san. "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..."
"Hey, Naru-chan? Didn't Masako say there weren't any spirits here? So how can that be?"
"About that... I think I can believe her..."
...Is it true or not? So he's not believing Masako because of her good looks?
Kuroda-san 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-san couldn't help but laugh, "Perhaps."
At this time, numerous footsteps came from the entrance hall.
Miko-san, Bou-san, John, Masako, the principal, the director, and an old teacher.
In the front was Miko-san, clothed in her priestess garments. Miko-san's exorcism started.
2
"Hey, look carefully."
Miko-san instructed, throwing a jeering glance at Naru-chan.
She vigourously commanded the teachers and John to make a white, wooden altar in the entrance hall.
Awww, poor John.
Bou-san stood on the side, watching them make the preparations.
"Do you think this will work?"
"Who knows," Naru-chan 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.
Miko-san stood in front of the white altar. The three teachers obediently stood behind her.
Of course, we don't care where we're standing. Looking through the window from the lab room was fine.
Miko-san clapped her hands, waving a stick with white slips of paper attached. Is that the exorcism?
"I invite you to cautiously come down onto the earth, white light enshrining the spirit..."
Wow— What is she saying?
"Please cleanse this ground, I sincerely implore you..."
I quietly whispered to Naru-chan
"What.. Is... She saying?"
Naru-chan’s face said I was disturbing him
"Quiet. You're Japanese, yet you don't know what a Norito is?"
"Norito?"
"A Shinto prayer."
Oh—This is the first time I heard that.
The ceremony proceeded as planned.
Will it work?
"I invite you to come down from the Heavens and gather around at the shrine."
Norito sure sounds monotonous...
How should I say this... At least say it so I can understand.
"I entreat you to approach this ground and protect it."
Ah... I don't understand...
I carelessly fell asleep halfway through the ceremony.
Man, Bou-san fell asleep right at the beginning, so it should be no problem if I do this too. Yeah.
3
"Now there should be nothing to worry about. Our work here is finished."
Miko-san laughed while she talked to the principal after the ceremony.
...Really now.
But the principal seemed so happy, and with that bright smile of his, he complimented Miko-san.
Masako and Bou-san 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," Miko-san 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...
...Creak.
Suddenly a loud sound came from the ceiling.
The teachers and Miko-san immediately sprang up from their chairs.
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 towards the principal.
"Didn't you say there was nothing to worry about?" Kuroda-san sneered at Miko-san, "how should I say this... You simply can't exorcise spirits."
Kuroda-san snickered.
Miko-san glared at her for a moment but didn't say anything. She walked towards the glass shards. Though not seriously injured, the principal was losing lots of blood from his head. No wonder she didn't have any clever retorts left.
"That was just an accident," Masako coldly pointed out.
Miko-san 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, Miko-san saying she exorcised the spirits, and Kuroda-san saying there are spirits and Miko-san 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?"
Bou-san replied, "What if something is here? Let's say something so strong that Miko couldn't get rid of it?"
Naru-chan lowered his head. "...If that were the case, the equipment would be responding."
Ah— I'm getting anxious too.
It would be nice if I were a psychic too. If that were the case, then I'd quickly find out what kind of spirit it is and then exorcise it.
I looked blankly at the screens.
I inadvertently noticed something strange on the second floor on the west side of the classroom.
The equipment that I placed there yesterday.
I remembered that class had many disorganized rows of old tables and chairs in front of the blackboard.
...But...
"Naru-chan," I broke off Naru-chan's conversation with Bou-san.
"What's wrong?"
I 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."
Naru-chan 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...?"
4
While everyone was watching, Naru-chan rewinded 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.
"How did that happen?" I raised my head, asking Naru-chan.
"...I'm not sure."
Upon hearing Naru-chan's reply, Kuroda-san declared from behind, "Is it a poltergeist?"
"Poltergeist?" I asked.
"It 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."
...Sorry I don't have common sense.
"I don't think this is a poltergeist," Naru-chan 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-san was dumbstruck.
I remember that thermography is supposed to record temperatures.
Oh— I see.
John turned towards Naru-chan. "Aren't there other conditions that would categorize this as a poltergeist? I think this is a poltergeist."
Naru-chan smiled slightly. "Tisane."
"What's that?" Miko-san asked.
Masako shot a look of contempt at her. "Are you really a psychic?"
Annoyed, Naru-chan explained, "Of course, Hara-san would know. E.Tisane, a French officer, classified poltergeists."
"Huh?" I sighed. Looking around, I noticed that Bou-san didn't seem to know about this either. Kuroda-san 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."
Unable to hold back my question any longer, I asked, "So the thing that attacked Kuroda-san was..?"
Suddenly Bou-san asked, "What did you say?"
...Ah— We didn't tell them about Kuroda-san's incident yet.
Since I accidentally spouted it out, Kuroda-san had no choice but to explain again. Meanwhile, Naru-chan carefully re-examined the TV that didn't record the incident.
Naru-chan glared angrily at me for a moment while Kuroda-san proudly shared her story.
5
"Masako-san, what do you think?"
Bou-san's voice sounded so loud in the silence.
"She made a mistake because she was thinking too much," Masako quietly replied.
Kuroda-san 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-san, "I'm just going to look over this place again."
"That was really not straightforward of her," Miko-san 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," Naru-chan replied, "psychics can see things that normal people can't. If you mess up, then you can't be considered a psychic anymore."
Oh— Are you covering up for her?
You... Really just go for pretty faces.
"Naru just goes for pretty faces."
I... Thought for a moment there that I said that aloud.
Seems like someone else thinks the same way as me: Kuroda-san.
"Why do you say that?" Naru-chan 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."
...Huh?
"Really now?"
Oh my God, we were thinking the exact same thing.
Does that mean, I can get on good terms with her?
Miko-san giggled, "Well, we think you should treat us with some respect too."
"I would if Matsuzaki-san's ability were high enough," Naru-chan replied in a cold tone.
...You bastard, you really do treat us differently.
Bou-san 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?"
...Here it comes again.
If Miko-san were a dog, then Bou-san would be a monkey. A dog and a monkey..
Ah—so noisy.
Miko-san countered his insults.
Crack.
The sound of wood breaking.
...Miko-san, don't break this building.
Thump.
Everyone was silent.
This old school building shakes a lot. If you're not careful it might fall—
A loud knocking sound came from the ceiling.
Bou-san looked at the surroundings, "A rapping sound?"
Huh? A rapping sound... Happens when a ghost is about to show up...
A chill ran down my 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, John shouted, "Hara-san!"
Eh?
Jumping out of nowhere, John rushed towards Naru-chan's TV screen.
"Hara-san fell from the second floor!"
Chapter 5 - Maximum Velocity 68 Knots
1
It's evening. The ambulance left the school. The people standing in front of the old school building were bathed in the orange glow of the sunset.
Masako had fallen from the classroom on the west side of the second floor.
That classroom was old and worn. There was no wall on the west side of the classroom. There was only a wooden plank, worn down by the weather. That wooden plank cracked and broke.
Masako had fallen from there... She fell three meters before hitting the ground.
The metal pipes that were placed there during the investigation remained in the same place.
Thank goodness she fell onto soft ground and not onto the metal pipes.
"Exactly what happened?" the principal questioned Naru, "I called you here so you could exorcise the ghost. Before, your assistant was injured, and now someone else is injured. Those rumors are..."
Naru interrupted the principal. "My assistant was injured because of a brainless student of yours."
...Are you talking about me?
"Before Hara-san shifted into unconsciousness, 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."
Naru bowed, then left for the old school building.
...Accident? Masako did say that's what it was.
