The school was located about a 30 minute drive up the mountain.
Travelling from wide roads onto relatively narrow paths, I could vaguely see the school compound on the slope; at the end of the winding mountain road were the closed school gates.
Right in front of the school gates, which closed across the center of the road, were 2 or 3 residences, but I couldn’t perceive any signs of human habitation. The glass panels in the windows were already spoilt; it was already uninhabited. Across the door of one of the residences was a sign declaring it a stationery shop; in front of the other house was an ice-cream refrigerator: they should have been a stationery shop and a makeshift snack shop.
As the school was located on higher ground, there was a slope from the row of houses to the school. The keys hung at the school gate at the foot of the slope; the gates opened inwards.
After driving up we arrived immediately at the field. Looking around, the field was covered with weeds. Besides the few residences in front, no other building could be seen; the scenery nothing but rolling mountains – it must have been tough for the students who studied at this school.
“It somehow feels like we’re in the wilderness.”
Someone said. Everyone started chattering their agreement.
“The school is too quiet, this somehow makes one feel uncomfortable.”
I nodded to Ayako’s words, especially since this place was a wasteland: it made one feel desolate.
The school was a wooden 2-storey building constructed on a slope. Almost all the glass in the windows was already broken. The forest towering over it appeared like a giant accessory of the roof. As weeds had overgrown everywhere, the running track of the field could be only vaguely seen. The iron chains of the swings had broken; metal poles had fallen on the ground; water filled the sandpit; stench emitted from the small swimming pool.
“Looking at this, I don’t dare to imagine how children can feel lively in this type of school.”
“Yes.”
It felt somehow rather unpleasant; the school building which had turned into an abandoned shack gave one a strange, oppressive feeling.
“What are you thinking about?”
The one who asked me was Masako.
“I hate this feeling, it’s like it’s going to fall apart soon.”
“Yeah…”
“Do you see anything?”
Masako’s bright black eyes looked towards the school.
“The distance is a little far; do you feel anything, Mai?”
“I… I just got up, I’m still a little dizzy.”
“Ah… who was it who said she wouldn’t take a nap, and wanted to be a useful person?”
“Mind your own business! This I call personality! Personality!”
“These words are for your sake.”
“Shut up.”
“There’s a sparrow over there!”
I heard the pitter patter sound of a sparrow flying out. Only at this time, did our boss speak.
“Here!”
Staring at the boss’s face, executing a bow, and then standing motionless, the investigators respectfully awaited further instructions from the boss.
“Set up microphones outside to record sounds, we’ll do this for a day to monitor what happens, and based on our results we’ll position the cameras. How many are there that can still be used?”
“There’re still 3 left.”
In the course of the previous investigation there were many cameras which were severely damaged, furthermore the climate here was extremely warm and the cameras were kept for long periods of time in the car. Fortunately, Lin-san had done many checks; otherwise whether they could move would have been a problem.
“What about microphones?”
“They can be used at any time.”
“Position them from the outside. Try to set up the video cameras.”
“Got it.”
Good – Work! Work!
We had waited half a month for Naru to be discharged, and had spent our days lazing around; we were unhurried, without any tension at all. But the nerves that had relaxed had tensed up again; last night we had a meeting deep into the night, and this morning we came here bright and early.
Let’s do our bests! Let’s drum up some energy and get to work!
The boss strictly prohibited entering the school building. He was really in a cautious mood.
“Here, Bou-san!”
As usual, Bou-san was used to move the luggage and was ordered about here and there. Retrieving a video camera from Bou-san, I positioned it standing facing the window; as I couldn’t allow it to fall over, I had to bury its stand a little; it was Bou-san’s duty to dig the hole.
“Is this the place? Got it.” I adjusted the height, and pointed the microphone towards the inside of the building; where there was glass in the way, I shattered it.
“Yasuhara-kun, could I trouble you to pass me a microphone?”
He was even ordering around an injured person: just as expected of our insatiable boss.
“Ne! You fellow, the microphones are done.”
“There’s still one more; don’t get cut by the glass under there.”
“Got it!”
I was picking rocks. It was common for buildings to be on the high side. Reaching up carelessly would result in cutting one’s hand; in order to avoid cuts I had to use rocks to shatter the glass. Hey hey, it felt great when the glass shatters.
“The pitcher is here, hold it higher to throw!” (tl/n: the following conversation uses baseball terms)
Yasuhara, Yasuhara please don’t play with the microphones.
“Ball!”
– Hn!
“How is this ball, Takigawa-san?”
“No no, you have to use more strength in your shoulder.”
“Yeah – the second pitch!”
“Ball! It’s in the outfield.”
“Let’s see the third pitch!”
“The pitcher is done for, he’s forced into a corner, there’re only 3 balls.”
“This pitcher is unexpectedly lacking in control.”
“Yeah yeah.”
“Look at me this time!”
Ok! Got it.
“Oh… a sure kill exploding shot!” With a thump the glass shattered.
“This is what they call pouring one’s hatred into an iron fist.”
“As expected of the most spirited Taniyama.”
“Because this is a broadcast from the location of tripping up in one’s job!”
“Who’s the tripper-upper – Taniyama-san!”
Really, this Manzai pair! (tl/n: the Chinese raw used the term ‘逗角儿’ with a note that it is similar to Chinese Xiangshen. It appears, from the context and from the note, that the original term used was ‘Manzai’, which is a Japanese comedic act between a straight man and a funny man.)
“Ok, job complete!”
Bou-san lifted his head and looked at the school building.
“Do you feel anything?”
“No. I feel quite nostalgic.”
– Nostalgic?
I tilted my head and looked at Bou-san; Bou-san smiled gently.
“This type of wooden school building somehow gives me a sense of déjà vu.”
“Ah…”
– Is this so.
“Me too.”
Yasuhara looked a little confused.
“When we first met we were investigating in a school building like this.”
“Ah… is that so.”
“Yeah, that was Mai’s first investigation.”
“Because Lin-san wasn’t there.”
“Yes, yes.”
Ya – it really is nostalgic.
I too lifted my head to look at the school building. Perhaps, this would be our final investigation.
“Is there anything?” Yasuhara asked.
“Although it gives me an uncomfortable feeling, I can’t feel anything at all.”
“What do you think, Bou-san?”
Bou-san pulled a face, saying, “Don’t ask me!”
“Because Bou-san can’t see spirits at all.”
“I’m so sorry about that.”
Yasuhara inclined his head in thought, “thinking about it, it’s really unimaginable. Under normal circumstances, isn’t it a matter of course that psychics are able to see spirits?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Yasuhara looked around. “Matsuzaki-san appears to be a slightly special psychic, Brown is also an exorcist. I think exorcists don’t see spirits either… But it somehow feels strange that Takigawa-san can’t see them.”
“I could see them in the past.” Bou-san replied simply.
Ai – this is the first time I’ve heard this.
“Is it because you’ve become an adult that you can’t see them anymore?”
“You’re just trying to say that I’m getting old, aren’t you? – It’s because I broke my head in a previous exorcism, that some problems have appeared in my head.”
– And there was such an incident.
Yasuhara clapped his hands, “So that’s the story, this should be considered Takigawa-san’s secret then.”
I stopped in my tracks.
“What?” (tl/n: this is Mai)
“Nothing much, I just felt that everyone here has a lot of secrets.” (tl/n: Yasuhara)
“That’s Lin and Naru.”
“Not only them.”
Eh???
“Doesn’t Matsuzaki-san have some special powers? Hara-san appears to be a medium, but in reality could she be a psychic researching psychology?”
“Yeah.”
“Taniyama doesn’t have any siblings. While Bou-san could see, he is no longer able to now. Look here, aren’t these everyone’s secrets?”
“Is that so.”
“It’s not like we deliberately withheld the information.”
Bou-san laughed bitterly.
“There’s only Brown left.”
“Yeah yeah.”
Ah... mentioning John, we have to ask Bou-san.
“Do you know anything, Bou-san?”
“I haven’t confirmed this with him.”
“What? Tell us.”
“John isn’t an exorcist.” Bou-san said.
“What? What in the world?”
“If it’s getting rid of demons, not everyone can do it; there’re a lot of troublesome rules especially for Catholics. Although I’m not too clear myself, I think exorcism can only be conducted by priests of bishop(?) rank and above.” (tl/n: somebody check the rank here please.)
“So John is a bishop then?”
“There aren’t any bishops who are that young. Bishops are really great people.”
“Ai…”
“Furthermore, to do exorcisms, one must inform one’s superiors; one must receive permission to exorcise like this. Furthermore he has to fast for a certain time.”
“This really is rather troublesome…”
“Isn’t that so!”
“Yeah.”
“Because the church is really doing this, and John really is a priest, but despite this, to exorcise so haphazardly he’d encounter the big problem of expulsion, so I feel there’s some hidden story here.”
Ai… “When did this happen?”
“This? I knew it from the start. Naru-chan knows about it too; in the beginning he rather suspiciously commented of John: he’s really young.”
So that’s the case. All of us really have many secrets.
“That leaves you, young man.”
“I’m not a psychic, I’m simply one of the Young Investigators Club.” (tl/n: the following conversation has references to CLAMP school detectives and Man of Many Faces)
– Puchi (tl/n: sound of escaping laughter)
“You really do look like one – ha ha, Young Investigators Club.”
“Isn’t that so? I have to make a BD badge then.”
“What’s that?”
“One of the seven tools of the Young Investigators Club.”
“But aren’t you just one person?”
“Do you want to join, Taniyama-san?”
Bou-san laughed,
“Really, is Kobayashi-kun going back?”
“Yes, Akechi-san.”
“Shouldn’t Akechi should be Naru then?”
“Really? For Shibuya-san…”
“The man of twenty-faces?”
“Yes yes!”
In the end, wherever we go we still laugh like idiots.
The school building was an elongated block running north to south; on the west side was a long row of classrooms, on the east side was the field; there was a long narrow flower bed surrounded by a fence on the west. The slightly jutting out place on the north was a door; at the south the school hall joined the building in an ‘L’ shape.
There were a total of 6 microphones pointing towards the windows of the first floor recording sound. We positioned video cameras immediately upon entering from the vestibule and inside the main hall. We also placed one in front of the vestibule, and in the corridor connecting the hall to the vestibule.
“So that’s why – when the investigation was at my school the car was parked at the back was for this.” I looked at the equipment and mumbled to myself.
A concrete path joined the hall and the school building, with eaves sheltering it (but there were holes everywhere). Passing through the corridor to the entrance of the hall, there were 3 concrete steps. The door to the hall above these was open, the other side of the door was an empty hall; here, we also placed a video camera facing inwards. On both sides we placed cameras and monitoring devices – this was another point.
The wires of the microphones and the video cameras were stretched a long distance. Although the cables we used for our investigations were very long, there was still a limit. The recording devices had to be closer to the microphones; hence they were placed at two locations this time.
Usually we would set up our base where we placed the equipment, but when there is no base we would temporarily set up such a spot.
In the same breathe, because the power was not on, our power source was connected from the power line by a tradesman. There are many inconveniences investigating in this type of abandoned building.
“Mai, the tape.”
Hearing Naru call me, I hurriedly carried the tape and ran over. Recently we’ve been using cassette tapes and recorders to record sound.
“Have you understood anything yet?”
“I still don’t know right now, the first day we only temporarily monitor the situation, without much expectations either.”
“Wu…”
Yasuhara glanced briefly around, “Is there really something here? I only feel it has a little of that type of atmosphere.”
“I don’t know, - it should clear up once we investigate it a little; in any case we’ve got quite a bit of free time now.”
To pass the time? From our position isn’t this forced labor?
Oh well, I sighed and thought, Naru feels bored because he’s waiting for his brother’s body to be dredged out.
But why is he so insipid, as though nothing had happened. As expected, the structure of Naru’s mind is different from ours’.
Naru spoke into the communicating microphone, “Lin, we’ve completed preparations on my side, how’s your side going?”
“Ok, preparing to start recording.”
“Got it.” When he finished Naru looked towards us, “If there’s anything it’d be recorded, – under normal circumstances, that is.”
With that, his black pupils turned towards the other direction.
“We can’t say there are no places of concern either.”
– Eh???
I felt slightly confused; Yasuhara nodded as well.
“Regardless of what we think, it doesn’t feel like the village chief’s direct, respectful request is for nothing.”
“I concur.”
I tilted my head in thought, “What do you mean?”
“Subsequently I asked the lady who introduced the village chief and co to us. Didn’t they say they haven’t heard rumors of ghosts?”
“Yeah, the other workers also said the same thing.”
But… Yasuhara’s expression also showed slight incomprehension.
“But, if there really were no rumors, why would they deliberately come to make a request? Yesterday, the village chief’s assistant appeared to be continually unsettled.”
Listening to Yasuhara’s analysis, Naru nodded.
“Do you like emulating detectives a lot, Yasuhara?”
“Yes, did you hear that just now?”
Naru smiled slightly and nodded. At this time,
“Ne, do you want a rest?” Ayako said.
Glancing at my watch, it was already past 10. The wind had also risen, there could be a typhoon; it was a humid, uncomfortable wind.
“I’m going to check the video cameras again.”
If they were toppled by the wind, we wouldn’t be able to collect any data at all.
“Ah, I’m going too.”
“Hurry!”
Yeah yeah, aren’t you going then?
Yasuhara jogged into the courtyard and checked the stones holding the camera stands. We picked more stones to hold down the unstable places.
“Yeah! It shouldn’t fall over like this.”
Just as he was mumbling to himself,
( --- En --- ) (tl/n: groan)
We heard some sound – vaguely present; it came from a place near yet far away.
“ -?”
Yasuhara looked around us; there was not a person in sight.
“What’s up?”
“Did you hear something just now?”
“No…?”
Ah ne? Was I hallucinating? – Or was it the sound of the wind rustling the branches?
( --- Ah --- )
It came again.
“Ne, Yasuhara, did you hear something now?”
Yasuhara wore a face filled with regret.
“It sounds like a person’s voice…”
“What is it…?”
Yasuhara gently swept away the dirt and stood up.
“Let’s go… it somehow feels strange.”
“Yeah… let’s go.”
We returned hurriedly. Behind us, the branches creaked and groaned.
We all sat on the concrete steps on the vestibule. Although there was a small sheltered table in the vicinity of the entrance, it was very small as it was in the shade. The wind that blew was warm, and not refreshing in the least.
“Mai, do you want juice or oolong tea?”
“Oolong tea.”
Although I was very thirsty, there wasn’t any water at all in the pipes. To drink the murky swimming pool water would amount to a suicidal act.
“Perhaps it’s because of water that it’s so difficult.”
Thinking back a little, this is still the first time we conducted an investigation under our own direction. Although we had brought quite a few bottles of drinks with us prior to coming, it was completely insufficient for so many people.
“Yeah, we did go and buy some during the day, and we still had to come back by this time. – Pass (the bottle).”
Masako, who holding back laughter, passed over a pretty blue plastic teacup printed with flowers – much like a cup a child uses for tooth brushing.
“I want some also!”
Bou-san cut in.
“Please go ahead, Takigawa-san.”
“– Whatever, is this the one?”
Bou-san received the cup from Masako’s hands and glanced inside, and immediately appeared extremely disappointed.
“Paper cups are discarded once used, it’s too wasteful. This is Takigawa-san’s cup.”
“This is Naru’s, and this is Lin’s.”
I proudly handed the cups to everyone; everyone’s cups were all different.
“Here, Yasuhara, John.”
When everyone got their cups they were all stunned, their eyes surveying the cups in each other’s hands.
The laughter Masako held back burst forth; Ayako and I were already laughing unstoppably.
“– You fellow, you’re clearly doing this to waste time.”
Bou-san, who spoke restlessly, held the cup in his hands. It was printed with dinosaurs.
“Hey hey hey hey…”
Because the location we had decided to investigate was an abandoned school, the chance that the pipes couldn’t be used was very high. Ayako had said, what would we drink then? That’s why cups are necessary, this was from Masako; it’s too uneconomical to buy paper cups, so let’s buy cheap cups, was what I said.
Hence, when Bou-san went to buy dinner and we passed by the stand selling plastic cups, the three of us couldn’t help exchanging glances.
“How cute, what about this?”
The one with swans printed on it was John’s.
Naru, who was looking displeased, had a cup with foxes printed on it. Lin-san’s had puppies. How about that? Isn’t it fitting?
“You lot never lose that playful spirit, really.” The one with crabs printed on it belonged to Yasuhara, who evaluated. With that he lifted his head and looked towards the sky, “Ah ne, the clouds have come out.”
The thick, grey rain clouds could be seen on the nearby mountains.
“It could be about to rain. Didn’t the weather forecast predict rain?”
When he heard John’s words, Bou-san stood up.
“It’ll be troublesome if it rains; I’ll go buy lunch since it’s still early.”
“Yeah.”
Masako also stood up, followed by Yasuhara.
“I’ll take advantage of this time and go find out any news.”
3 people should be enough to handle buying lunch, so I stayed back to keep watch.
“Then I’m counting on you!”
After Bou-san’s car disappeared, John looked at the sky, slightly worried. “It really is about to rain.”
Naru and Lin also stood up.
“ -? Is the rest over yet?”
“I’m going to the observation spot; if it rains we’ll retrieve the equipment at once.”
Right. It’d be a major issue if the equipment were to be ruined by rainwater.
Ah… ah… it was with much difficulty that I could rest a little.
The sunlight dimmed, it started feeling a little chilly. Just as I took a deep breath, thick clouds covered the sky overhead; a strong wind started blowing, the air was mixed with damp; the other side of the mountain darkened.
“This won’t do, it’s raining.”
John stood up and I hurriedly rose too. When we ran outwards, large droplets started falling pitter patter.
“Hn, we haven’t gotten there yet.”
We ran through the pattering rain, when we arrived Naru had already started keeping the adapters.
“Go to the back gardens to keep the microphones.”
“Got it.”
When John and I walked towards the back gardens, the rain started pouring down. When we got to the back gardens, it had already started coming down for real.
“Ya…”
“There’s no way we can keep it like this.”
John said that as he disconnected the microphone beside him.
“We’ll have to wait for the rain to cease before setting up again.”
“That looks like the only option.”
While we joked and retrieved the equipment, the rain got heavier and heavier. When we carried the microphones back, it was truly raining cats and dogs.
After running back to the observation point and replacing the microphones, we went back to the vestibule with Naru. Not only were there many holes in the shelter above the corridor, the wind also blew quite a lot of rain in; we couldn’t get out of the rain at all.
By the time we got to the sheltered vestibule, we were already drenched, and that place didn’t provide any shelter at all. Everyone gathered at where the door opened into the vestibule, and I jumped in too.
“It’s a really heavy rain.”
The wind blew the door shut. Because a bit of glass still clung stubbornly to the windows, the wind stopped. The sound of the rain was also slightly muted, and I could finally let out a relieved breath.
“I feel like I’ve just gone for a swim.”
“I wish I was wearing my swimsuit at this time.”
“Could it be that we can’t investigate today?”
Saying that, John looked at Naru, whose hair was also dripping with rain water.
“– Looks like this is the case.”
“I have deeply understood how easy and relaxed our previous investigations have been.”
“Yes.”
Although it was very uncomfortable to be drenched, we didn’t have towels or anything else, so we had to tolerate it.
“Ne, thinking about it, does it matter that we’re inside the school now?”
“Idiot! If there’s anything unexpected we’ll just jump out immediately and all will be well.” Was what Ayako said.
Indeed, the distance to the aged wooden door frame was about 1.5m; only 2 steps were needed for us to jump out.
“Yeah.”
No way. Because Naru was too cautious, even I had turned a little cowardly.
“There wasn’t anything at all before noon.”
If there was a strong spirit, there would be a rebound when psychics came, but from the start there was nothing at all.
“It was like this to begin with,” Naru said coolly.
“Hey… could there be some moderately honest spirits?”
“There are spirits that completely do not respond up until exorcism.”
Eh… is this so.
I looked out through the dirty windows. The upper halves of the doors that opened onto both sides were embedded with glass. Because that large piece of glass had shattered, I could see that it was raining cats and dogs outside.
To be in this type of building during this type of weather somehow gives one an indescribable feeling. Especially when one isn’t alone and together with others, it feels somewhat strange.
“What should we do, Naru? Should we abort it today?”
“What to do…”
It didn’t look like a shower.
“Even if we were to go back, we’d get drenched again when we run to the car.”
Ayako’s body was relatively untouched by the rain.
“Ayako didn’t get caught in the rain. Unfair!”
“As if.”
“Regardless of what happens, we have to wait for Bou-san etc to return.”
“That’s true.”
Naru suddenly took a step.
“What’s up?”
“Bring the file over.”
Can’t you forget work while we’re getting out of the rain? Really.
“It’d get wet.”
“It’s already wet.”
Indeed.
Naru reached out to grab the door.
“-?”
“What’s up?”
Naru pushed the door with all his strength. But it was stuck somewhere. The door merely creaked and groaned but didn’t move. Ayako almost burst out laughing.
“Naru you’re weak.”
“It’s the door’s problem. It’s too old!”
I said that as I reached out. Although I used all my strength…
“-? Why doesn’t it move?”
Naru shook the door with some violence and used his shoulder to ram the door. Following that his expression turned serious.
“Could it be locked…?”
I mumbled to myself… On the other hand I was aware there couldn’t have been that possibility.
Lin and John also ran over, and the three of them pushed the door together. They reached a conclusion immediately.
“– The door can’t be opened.”
The school was located about a 30 minute drive up the mountain.
Travelling from wide roads onto relatively narrow paths, I could vaguely see the school compound on the slope; at the end of the winding mountain road were the closed school gates.
Right in front of the school gates, which closed across the center of the road, were 2 or 3 residences, but I couldn’t perceive any signs of human habitation. The glass panels in the windows were already spoilt; it was already uninhabited. Across the door of one of the residences was a sign declaring it a stationery shop; in front of the other house was an ice-cream refrigerator: they should have been a stationery shop and a makeshift snack shop.
As the school was located on higher ground, there was a slope from the row of houses to the school. The keys hung at the school gate at the foot of the slope; the gates opened inwards.
After driving up we arrived immediately at the field. Looking around, the field was covered with weeds. Besides the few residences in front, no other building could be seen; the scenery nothing but rolling mountains – it must have been tough for the students who studied at this school.
“It somehow feels like we’re in the wilderness.”
Someone said. Everyone started chattering their agreement.
“The school is too quiet, this somehow makes one feel uncomfortable.”
I nodded to Ayako’s words, especially since this place was a wasteland: it made one feel desolate.
The school was a wooden 2-storey building constructed on a slope. Almost all the glass in the windows was already broken. The forest towering over it appeared like a giant accessory of the roof. As weeds had overgrown everywhere, the running track of the field could be only vaguely seen. The iron chains of the swings had broken; metal poles had fallen on the ground; water filled the sandpit; stench emitted from the small swimming pool.
“Looking at this, I don’t dare to imagine how children can feel lively in this type of school.”
“Yes.”
It felt somehow rather unpleasant; the school building which had turned into an abandoned shack gave one a strange, oppressive feeling.
“What are you thinking about?”
The one who asked me was Masako.
“I hate this feeling, it’s like it’s going to fall apart soon.”
“Yeah…”
“Do you see anything?”
Masako’s bright black eyes looked towards the school.
“The distance is a little far; do you feel anything, Mai?”
“I… I just got up, I’m still a little dizzy.”
“Ah… who was it who said she wouldn’t take a nap, and wanted to be a useful person?”
“Mind your own business! This I call personality! Personality!”
“These words are for your sake.”
“Shut up.”
“There’s a sparrow over there!”
I heard the pitter patter sound of a sparrow flying out. Only at this time, did our boss speak.
“Here!”
Staring at the boss’s face, executing a bow, and then standing motionless, the investigators respectfully awaited further instructions from the boss.
“Set up microphones outside to record sounds, we’ll do this for a day to monitor what happens, and based on our results we’ll position the cameras. How many are there that can still be used?”
“There’re still 3 left.”
In the course of the previous investigation there were many cameras which were severely damaged, furthermore the climate here was extremely warm and the cameras were kept for long periods of time in the car. Fortunately, Lin-san had done many checks; otherwise whether they could move would have been a problem.
“What about microphones?”
“They can be used at any time.”
“Position them from the outside. Try to set up the video cameras.”
“Got it.”
Good – Work! Work!
We had waited half a month for Naru to be discharged, and had spent our days lazing around; we were unhurried, without any tension at all. But the nerves that had relaxed had tensed up again; last night we had a meeting deep into the night, and this morning we came here bright and early.
Let’s do our bests! Let’s drum up some energy and get to work!
The boss strictly prohibited entering the school building. He was really in a cautious mood.
“Here, Bou-san!”
As usual, Bou-san was used to move the luggage and was ordered about here and there. Retrieving a video camera from Bou-san, I positioned it standing facing the window; as I couldn’t allow it to fall over, I had to bury its stand a little; it was Bou-san’s duty to dig the hole.
“Is this the place? Got it.” I adjusted the height, and pointed the microphone towards the inside of the building; where there was glass in the way, I shattered it.
“Yasuhara-kun, could I trouble you to pass me a microphone?”
He was even ordering around an injured person: just as expected of our insatiable boss.
“Ne! You fellow, the microphones are done.”
“There’s still one more; don’t get cut by the glass under there.”
“Got it!”
I was picking rocks. It was common for buildings to be on the high side. Reaching up carelessly would result in cutting one’s hand; in order to avoid cuts I had to use rocks to shatter the glass. Hey hey, it felt great when the glass shatters.
“The pitcher is here, hold it higher to throw!” (tl/n: the following conversation uses baseball terms)
Yasuhara, Yasuhara please don’t play with the microphones.
“Ball!”
– Hn!
“How is this ball, Takigawa-san?”
“No no, you have to use more strength in your shoulder.”
“Yeah – the second pitch!”
“Ball! It’s in the outfield.”
“Let’s see the third pitch!”
“The pitcher is done for, he’s forced into a corner, there’re only 3 balls.”
“This pitcher is unexpectedly lacking in control.”
“Yeah yeah.”
“Look at me this time!”
Ok! Got it.
“Oh… a sure kill exploding shot!” With a thump the glass shattered.
“This is what they call pouring one’s hatred into an iron fist.”
“As expected of the most spirited Taniyama.”
“Because this is a broadcast from the location of tripping up in one’s job!”
“Who’s the tripper-upper – Taniyama-san!”
Really, this Manzai pair! (tl/n: the Chinese raw used the term ‘逗角儿’ with a note that it is similar to Chinese Xiangshen. It appears, from the context and from the note, that the original term used was ‘Manzai’, which is a Japanese comedic act between a straight man and a funny man.)
“Ok, job complete!”
Bou-san lifted his head and looked at the school building.
“Do you feel anything?”
“No. I feel quite nostalgic.”
– Nostalgic?
I tilted my head and looked at Bou-san; Bou-san smiled gently.
“This type of wooden school building somehow gives me a sense of déjà vu.”
“Ah…”
– Is this so.
“Me too.”
Yasuhara looked a little confused.
“When we first met we were investigating in a school building like this.”
“Ah… is that so.”
“Yeah, that was Mai’s first investigation.”
“Because Lin-san wasn’t there.”
“Yes, yes.”
Ya – it really is nostalgic.
I too lifted my head to look at the school building. Perhaps, this would be our final investigation.
“Is there anything?” Yasuhara asked.
“Although it gives me an uncomfortable feeling, I can’t feel anything at all.”
“What do you think, Bou-san?”
Bou-san pulled a face, saying, “Don’t ask me!”
“Because Bou-san can’t see spirits at all.”
“I’m so sorry about that.”
Yasuhara inclined his head in thought, “thinking about it, it’s really unimaginable. Under normal circumstances, isn’t it a matter of course that psychics are able to see spirits?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Yasuhara looked around. “Matsuzaki-san appears to be a slightly special psychic, Brown is also an exorcist. I think exorcists don’t see spirits either… But it somehow feels strange that Takigawa-san can’t see them.”
“I could see them in the past.” Bou-san replied simply.
Ai – this is the first time I’ve heard this.
“Is it because you’ve become an adult that you can’t see them anymore?”
“You’re just trying to say that I’m getting old, aren’t you? – It’s because I broke my head in a previous exorcism, that some problems have appeared in my head.”
– And there was such an incident.
Yasuhara clapped his hands, “So that’s the story, this should be considered Takigawa-san’s secret then.”
I stopped in my tracks.
“What?” (tl/n: this is Mai)
“Nothing much, I just felt that everyone here has a lot of secrets.” (tl/n: Yasuhara)
“That’s Lin and Naru.”
“Not only them.”
Eh???
“Doesn’t Matsuzaki-san have some special powers? Hara-san appears to be a medium, but in reality could she be a psychic researching psychology?”
“Yeah.”
“Taniyama doesn’t have any siblings. While Bou-san could see, he is no longer able to now. Look here, aren’t these everyone’s secrets?”
“Is that so.”
“It’s not like we deliberately withheld the information.”
Bou-san laughed bitterly.
“There’s only Brown left.”
“Yeah yeah.”
Ah... mentioning John, we have to ask Bou-san.
“Do you know anything, Bou-san?”
“I haven’t confirmed this with him.”
“What? Tell us.”
“John isn’t an exorcist.” Bou-san said.
“What? What in the world?”
“If it’s getting rid of demons, not everyone can do it; there’re a lot of troublesome rules especially for Catholics. Although I’m not too clear myself, I think exorcism can only be conducted by priests of bishop(?) rank and above.” (tl/n: somebody check the rank here please.)
“So John is a bishop then?”
“There aren’t any bishops who are that young. Bishops are really great people.”
“Ai…”
“Furthermore, to do exorcisms, one must inform one’s superiors; one must receive permission to exorcise like this. Furthermore he has to fast for a certain time.”
“This really is rather troublesome…”
“Isn’t that so!”
“Yeah.”
“Because the church is really doing this, and John really is a priest, but despite this, to exorcise so haphazardly he’d encounter the big problem of expulsion, so I feel there’s some hidden story here.”
Ai… “When did this happen?”
“This? I knew it from the start. Naru-chan knows about it too; in the beginning he rather suspiciously commented of John: he’s really young.”
So that’s the case. All of us really have many secrets.
“That leaves you, young man.”
“I’m not a psychic, I’m simply one of the Young Investigators Club.” (tl/n: the following conversation has references to CLAMP school detectives and Man of Many Faces)
– Puchi (tl/n: sound of escaping laughter)
“You really do look like one – ha ha, Young Investigators Club.”
“Isn’t that so? I have to make a BD badge then.”
“What’s that?”
“One of the seven tools of the Young Investigators Club.”
“But aren’t you just one person?”
“Do you want to join, Taniyama-san?”
Bou-san laughed,
“Really, is Kobayashi-kun going back?”
“Yes, Akechi-san.”
“Shouldn’t Akechi should be Naru then?”
“Really? For Shibuya-san…”
“The man of twenty-faces?”
“Yes yes!”
In the end, wherever we go we still laugh like idiots.
The school building was an elongated block running north to south; on the west side was a long row of classrooms, on the east side was the field; there was a long narrow flower bed surrounded by a fence on the west. The slightly jutting out place on the north was a door; at the south the school hall joined the building in an ‘L’ shape.
There were a total of 6 microphones pointing towards the windows of the first floor recording sound. We positioned video cameras immediately upon entering from the vestibule and inside the main hall. We also placed one in front of the vestibule, and in the corridor connecting the hall to the vestibule.
“So that’s why – when the investigation was at my school the car was parked at the back was for this.” I looked at the equipment and mumbled to myself.
A concrete path joined the hall and the school building, with eaves sheltering it (but there were holes everywhere). Passing through the corridor to the entrance of the hall, there were 3 concrete steps. The door to the hall above these was open, the other side of the door was an empty hall; here, we also placed a video camera facing inwards. On both sides we placed cameras and monitoring devices – this was another point.
The wires of the microphones and the video cameras were stretched a long distance. Although the cables we used for our investigations were very long, there was still a limit. The recording devices had to be closer to the microphones; hence they were placed at two locations this time.
Usually we would set up our base where we placed the equipment, but when there is no base we would temporarily set up such a spot.
In the same breathe, because the power was not on, our power source was connected from the power line by a tradesman. There are many inconveniences investigating in this type of abandoned building.
“Mai, the tape.”
Hearing Naru call me, I hurriedly carried the tape and ran over. Recently we’ve been using cassette tapes and recorders to record sound.
“Have you understood anything yet?”
“I still don’t know right now, the first day we only temporarily monitor the situation, without much expectations either.”
“Wu…”
Yasuhara glanced briefly around, “Is there really something here? I only feel it has a little of that type of atmosphere.”
“I don’t know, - it should clear up once we investigate it a little; in any case we’ve got quite a bit of free time now.”
To pass the time? From our position isn’t this forced labor?
Oh well, I sighed and thought, Naru feels bored because he’s waiting for his brother’s body to be dredged out.
But why is he so insipid, as though nothing had happened. As expected, the structure of Naru’s mind is different from ours’.
Naru spoke into the communicating microphone, “Lin, we’ve completed preparations on my side, how’s your side going?”
“Ok, preparing to start recording.”
“Got it.” When he finished Naru looked towards us, “If there’s anything it’d be recorded, – under normal circumstances, that is.”
With that, his black pupils turned towards the other direction.
“We can’t say there are no places of concern either.”
– Eh???
I felt slightly confused; Yasuhara nodded as well.
“Regardless of what we think, it doesn’t feel like the village chief’s direct, respectful request is for nothing.”
“I concur.”
I tilted my head in thought, “What do you mean?”
“Subsequently I asked the lady who introduced the village chief and co to us. Didn’t they say they haven’t heard rumors of ghosts?”
“Yeah, the other workers also said the same thing.”
But… Yasuhara’s expression also showed slight incomprehension.
“But, if there really were no rumors, why would they deliberately come to make a request? Yesterday, the village chief’s assistant appeared to be continually unsettled.”
Listening to Yasuhara’s analysis, Naru nodded.
“Do you like emulating detectives a lot, Yasuhara?”
“Yes, did you hear that just now?”
Naru smiled slightly and nodded. At this time,
“Ne, do you want a rest?” Ayako said.
Glancing at my watch, it was already past 10. The wind had also risen, there could be a typhoon; it was a humid, uncomfortable wind.
“I’m going to check the video cameras again.”
If they were toppled by the wind, we wouldn’t be able to collect any data at all.
“Ah, I’m going too.”
“Hurry!”
Yeah yeah, aren’t you going then?
Yasuhara jogged into the courtyard and checked the stones holding the camera stands. We picked more stones to hold down the unstable places.
“Yeah! It shouldn’t fall over like this.”
Just as he was mumbling to himself,
( --- En --- ) (tl/n: groan)
We heard some sound – vaguely present; it came from a place near yet far away.
“ -?”
Yasuhara looked around us; there was not a person in sight.
“What’s up?”
“Did you hear something just now?”
“No…?”
Ah ne? Was I hallucinating? – Or was it the sound of the wind rustling the branches?
( --- Ah --- )
It came again.
“Ne, Yasuhara, did you hear something now?”
Yasuhara wore a face filled with regret.
“It sounds like a person’s voice…”
“What is it…?”
Yasuhara gently swept away the dirt and stood up.
“Let’s go… it somehow feels strange.”
“Yeah… let’s go.”
We returned hurriedly. Behind us, the branches creaked and groaned.
We all sat on the concrete steps on the vestibule. Although there was a small sheltered table in the vicinity of the entrance, it was very small as it was in the shade. The wind that blew was warm, and not refreshing in the least.
“Mai, do you want juice or oolong tea?”
“Oolong tea.”
Although I was very thirsty, there wasn’t any water at all in the pipes. To drink the murky swimming pool water would amount to a suicidal act.
“Perhaps it’s because of water that it’s so difficult.”
Thinking back a little, this is still the first time we conducted an investigation under our own direction. Although we had brought quite a few bottles of drinks with us prior to coming, it was completely insufficient for so many people.
“Yeah, we did go and buy some during the day, and we still had to come back by this time. – Pass (the bottle).”
Masako, who holding back laughter, passed over a pretty blue plastic teacup printed with flowers – much like a cup a child uses for tooth brushing.
“I want some also!”
Bou-san cut in.
“Please go ahead, Takigawa-san.”
“– Whatever, is this the one?”
Bou-san received the cup from Masako’s hands and glanced inside, and immediately appeared extremely disappointed.
“Paper cups are discarded once used, it’s too wasteful. This is Takigawa-san’s cup.”
“This is Naru’s, and this is Lin’s.”
I proudly handed the cups to everyone; everyone’s cups were all different.
“Here, Yasuhara, John.”
When everyone got their cups they were all stunned, their eyes surveying the cups in each other’s hands.
The laughter Masako held back burst forth; Ayako and I were already laughing unstoppably.
“– You fellow, you’re clearly doing this to waste time.”
Bou-san, who spoke restlessly, held the cup in his hands. It was printed with dinosaurs.
“Hey hey hey hey…”
Because the location we had decided to investigate was an abandoned school, the chance that the pipes couldn’t be used was very high. Ayako had said, what would we drink then? That’s why cups are necessary, this was from Masako; it’s too uneconomical to buy paper cups, so let’s buy cheap cups, was what I said.
Hence, when Bou-san went to buy dinner and we passed by the stand selling plastic cups, the three of us couldn’t help exchanging glances.
“How cute, what about this?”
The one with swans printed on it was John’s.
Naru, who was looking displeased, had a cup with foxes printed on it. Lin-san’s had puppies. How about that? Isn’t it fitting?
“You lot never lose that playful spirit, really.” The one with crabs printed on it belonged to Yasuhara, who evaluated. With that he lifted his head and looked towards the sky, “Ah ne, the clouds have come out.”
The thick, grey rain clouds could be seen on the nearby mountains.
“It could be about to rain. Didn’t the weather forecast predict rain?”
When he heard John’s words, Bou-san stood up.
“It’ll be troublesome if it rains; I’ll go buy lunch since it’s still early.”
“Yeah.”
Masako also stood up, followed by Yasuhara.
“I’ll take advantage of this time and go find out any news.”
3 people should be enough to handle buying lunch, so I stayed back to keep watch.
“Then I’m counting on you!”
After Bou-san’s car disappeared, John looked at the sky, slightly worried. “It really is about to rain.”
Naru and Lin also stood up.
“ -? Is the rest over yet?”
“I’m going to the observation spot; if it rains we’ll retrieve the equipment at once.”
Right. It’d be a major issue if the equipment were to be ruined by rainwater.
Ah… ah… it was with much difficulty that I could rest a little.
The sunlight dimmed, it started feeling a little chilly. Just as I took a deep breath, thick clouds covered the sky overhead; a strong wind started blowing, the air was mixed with damp; the other side of the mountain darkened.
“This won’t do, it’s raining.”
John stood up and I hurriedly rose too. When we ran outwards, large droplets started falling pitter patter.
“Hn, we haven’t gotten there yet.”
We ran through the pattering rain, when we arrived Naru had already started keeping the adapters.
“Go to the back gardens to keep the microphones.”
“Got it.”
When John and I walked towards the back gardens, the rain started pouring down. When we got to the back gardens, it had already started coming down for real.
“Ya…”
“There’s no way we can keep it like this.”
John said that as he disconnected the microphone beside him.
“We’ll have to wait for the rain to cease before setting up again.”
“That looks like the only option.”
While we joked and retrieved the equipment, the rain got heavier and heavier. When we carried the microphones back, it was truly raining cats and dogs.
After running back to the observation point and replacing the microphones, we went back to the vestibule with Naru. Not only were there many holes in the shelter above the corridor, the wind also blew quite a lot of rain in; we couldn’t get out of the rain at all.
By the time we got to the sheltered vestibule, we were already drenched, and that place didn’t provide any shelter at all. Everyone gathered at where the door opened into the vestibule, and I jumped in too.
“It’s a really heavy rain.”
The wind blew the door shut. Because a bit of glass still clung stubbornly to the windows, the wind stopped. The sound of the rain was also slightly muted, and I could finally let out a relieved breath.
“I feel like I’ve just gone for a swim.”
“I wish I was wearing my swimsuit at this time.”
“Could it be that we can’t investigate today?”
Saying that, John looked at Naru, whose hair was also dripping with rain water.
“– Looks like this is the case.”
“I have deeply understood how easy and relaxed our previous investigations have been.”
“Yes.”
Although it was very uncomfortable to be drenched, we didn’t have towels or anything else, so we had to tolerate it.
“Ne, thinking about it, does it matter that we’re inside the school now?”
“Idiot! If there’s anything unexpected we’ll just jump out immediately and all will be well.” Was what Ayako said.
Indeed, the distance to the aged wooden door frame was about 1.5m; only 2 steps were needed for us to jump out.
“Yeah.”
No way. Because Naru was too cautious, even I had turned a little cowardly.
“There wasn’t anything at all before noon.”
If there was a strong spirit, there would be a rebound when psychics came, but from the start there was nothing at all.
“It was like this to begin with,” Naru said coolly.
“Hey… could there be some moderately honest spirits?”
“There are spirits that completely do not respond up until exorcism.”
Eh… is this so.
I looked out through the dirty windows. The upper halves of the doors that opened onto both sides were embedded with glass. Because that large piece of glass had shattered, I could see that it was raining cats and dogs outside.
To be in this type of building during this type of weather somehow gives one an indescribable feeling. Especially when one isn’t alone and together with others, it feels somewhat strange.
“What should we do, Naru? Should we abort it today?”
“What to do…”
It didn’t look like a shower.
“Even if we were to go back, we’d get drenched again when we run to the car.”
Ayako’s body was relatively untouched by the rain.
“Ayako didn’t get caught in the rain. Unfair!”
“As if.”
“Regardless of what happens, we have to wait for Bou-san etc to return.”
“That’s true.”
Naru suddenly took a step.
“What’s up?”
“Bring the file over.”
Can’t you forget work while we’re getting out of the rain? Really.
“It’d get wet.”
“It’s already wet.”
Indeed.
Naru reached out to grab the door.
“-?”
“What’s up?”
Naru pushed the door with all his strength. But it was stuck somewhere. The door merely creaked and groaned but didn’t move. Ayako almost burst out laughing.
“Naru you’re weak.”
“It’s the door’s problem. It’s too old!”
I said that as I reached out. Although I used all my strength…
“-? Why doesn’t it move?”
Naru shook the door with some violence and used his shoulder to ram the door. Following that his expression turned serious.
“Could it be locked…?”
I mumbled to myself… On the other hand I was aware there couldn’t have been that possibility.
Lin and John also ran over, and the three of them pushed the door together. They reached a conclusion immediately.
“– The door can’t be opened.”
