Ghost Hunt:Volume7, page 4
part #7 of Ghost Hunt Series
I was slightly stunned; Naru looked suspiciously at the other party.
“That’s right.”
The elderly man used a handkerchief to wipe sweat off his forehead.
“Are you psychics?”
“More or less.”
Naru replied arrogantly; the younger man looked at Naru, a little troubled.
“I’m sorry, could I ask if you are -?”
“I’m the person in charge of Shibuya Psychic Research.”
The two men were immediately rooted to the ground.
“You’re actually so young…”
“I’m good; please explain your reason for coming.”
The two men exchanged glances, and the elder one spoke,
“I’m really sorry to disturb you while you’re so busy, but please help us.”
– What in the world… did they come with a request?
Naru considered for a moment before nodding; in a rare sight, Lin interrupted, “Naru, right now we’re…”
Naru raised his hand to stop Lin from continuing. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But…”
“We’re waiting anyway, and not doing anything. – Please tell us the details of your request.”
4
It couldn’t be; wouldn’t it be troublesome to work at this time?
We showed the two clients into the little wooden hut. I, too, sat down, troubled.
The elder man straightened his back several times uncomfortably, before hesitantly producing his name card.
“I am called Matsunuma(松沼) and I am the village chief here. This is my helper, Tsukudata (佃田).”
“I am Shibuya, the head of Shibuya Psychic Research.”
“In reality, there has been some trouble in our village recently. Everyone discussed whether we should look for psychics, at this time I heard my niece mention your company, which coincidentally arrived at this place, furthermore you appear to be experts in this field…”
So that’s how it went, that’s why we would suddenly encounter a client here.
“Is this the thing troubling you all?”
“This… how should I put it…?”
The village chief appeared to have difficulty verbalizing; he looked towards his helper.
“There is actually a vacant primary school nearby; abnormal things always happen there…”
Naru sighed.
“I’m sorry, if you tell me only something like this, I don’t understand what exactly happened.”
“Ah…”
Saying that the village chief rubbed his forehead; this time his forehead was really dripping with sweat.
“This…” The village chief who had difficulty speaking shrugged off his assistant and rose.
“I hope you can keep this our secret.”
“We do not disclose the details of our clients’ requests to outsiders.”
“A lot of people have said they have seen spirits in this abandoned school. The details aren’t very clear, but everyone says they’ve seen human spirits and some sort of haunting by ghosts and demons. As it is a building of some age, we want to demolish it. But people say the ghosts there would definitely haunt something if we did so.”
What the heck, it isn’t any major issue. – It is a case of scaring oneself.
“When did the school cease operation?”
“Five years ago; to be accurate it was May five years ago.”
“So that’s why.”
“Wait a moment! Is this alright?” Bou-san cut in.
“It’s a strange time to cease operations in a school, it was May, right?”
Yes, the helper nodded.
“Actually, it is as you can see, the development of this area isn’t very good. There aren’t many children around; although there was a school, the total population of teachers and students did not exceed twenty. There were discussions of a merger, but suddenly they decided to close the school because after the completion of the reservoir the majority of the teachers and students moved away.”
“Is it this reservoir?”
“Yes.”
The helper’s questioning gaze rested on me.
“Actually, there was a major plan for building holiday villas near the school, but because there was that dirty thing nearby it was a little difficult to build a tourist attraction. If there are rumors of paranormal activity there… that’s why, please help us keep this a secret, and help us really get rid of this problem. You’ve also seen that there hasn’t been any special development on this mountain, the golf course and the campsite are the only sources of income; this is a problem affecting our lifelihood.”
Naru smiled coldly.
“So that’s the case…”
Naru violently shut the file, “You said there are ghosts, are there any leads to follow?”
The helper shook his head, “None, if we knew we would be able to make some offerings.”
“Were there any accidents happen in this school?”
“No.”
“Then what about the people who said they’ve seen the spirits?”
“No… Although there is this rumor, as to who actually witnessed it I’m not sure…”
Naru smiled bitterly, the smiles were wiped off the faces of the people around me.
“It’s all rumors; it’ll do not to be so bothered by it.”
“It’s not wrong to put it like this, but just in case…”
“We will investigate it a little, but we cannot stay there. We cannot stay there because I have to handle the work here. If the investigation here at the reservoir is completed, we would probably cease investigations midway. Is this still alright?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Naru gently nodded.
“Then please collect the data and give it to us by the end of today.”
5
“Will there really be something there?” Bou-san said, following the departing men with his eyes.
Yasuhara counted off his fingers, “If there is, it should be a spirit of a person who died in the school… shouldn’t it? With this we have a lead to follow.”
“Yeah…”
“Or perhaps a person who died outside the school who had a connection to the school…”
Yasuhara guessed, “But, why is it the school?”
“What why?” I asked.
“Why would the spirit of a person who died outside the school appear in the school? Earth-bound spirits appear at the site of the accident, but the school isn’t the site of the accident.”
“Could it be that it is looking for redemption?” Ayako said.
“After people die they will turn into spirits; under normal circumstances they do not remain in this realm. But if it had unfulfilled desires or if it did not even know that it has died, it becomes a spirit that is unable to pass into the next world and drifts around this world, a drifting spirit. Spirits with regrets would go to their desired location; spirits who are unaware of their deaths would temporarily return to their homes.”
“Yeah yeah.”
“But living people are unable to see spirits, right? And they can’t interfere with the situations in this world; even if they returned home they wouldn’t be seen by their family. That’s why they would move to some other place, like a familiar school, a memorable place or something. There are also spirits that stay at a location and do not leave; if this is repeated many times it would turn into an earth-bound spirit.”
– Ai. Just as I was incredibly impressed, Bou-san interrupted,
“So there are people who think like this.”
“What’s the meaning of that?”
“That means there are still many different opinions in this world – isn’t that so, John?!”
Looking at John, his face was troubled. “Indeed it is so…”
“Where am I mistaken?”
“Not exactly mistaken. Because things concerning spirits cannot be clearly explained, that’s why I can’t say where exactly the mistake is.”
I didn’t understand either.
“Then what are the other theories?”
“You fellow, drifting spirits, earth-bound spirits or whatever shadow spirits, protective spirits, etc – all of these are unique to Japan, and are not used at all in Europe or America. Even if one talks about the spirit sightings, there are enormous differences between Japan and the west.”
“Ai…”
“In Japan we think that there are more mischievous spirits, and that ‘hauntings’ are caused by that.”
“Yeah, this is a spirit.”
“But in the west the defining borders are not like this; disregarding hauntings and the like, there are even fewer possessions etc.”
“Hei… is this so.”
Thinking carefully about it, there have really been very few stories of possessions, even after such a long relationship with them.
Bou-san looked at Naru, “What do you think, sensei?”
Naru shrugged, “Regarding research about spirits, it was originally the easiest of the paranormal phenomenon to be confused with, because spirits are things that cannot possibly be brought into a laboratory.”
“Wu… is that so?”
“ ‘Psychics’, is what we call the gifted in the labs; because spirits have to be tested in the laboratory, naturally the easily tested spirits became the targets of the experiments. The spirits called by mediums are called summoned spirits, otherwise poltergeists are relatively easy to observe.”
“Yeah… is that so.”
“In other things related to spirits, people collect the testimonies of people who encounter spirits by chance. While the methods of collection are simple, but it is impossible to determine how many percent are true. Whether it is Japan or the west, there are inevitably uncountable reports of sightings, but not all of them can be believed.
“Oh!”
“For example, spirits in Japan haunt, while spirits in the west do not. Does this way of putting it mean that there are differences between Japanese and western spirits?”
“Since spirits are spirits then there is no difference in their nature. It’s just like it doesn’t matter if it’s a Japanese cat or a western cat, cats eat mice, isn’t that so?”
“And the same reasoning applies to spirits doing bad things. The western countries call haunting spirits ‘evil spirits’ and the remaining, non-haunting spirits are called ‘ghosts’.”
“So that’s how it is.”
“In the end, this is also just a theory. There are other vastly different ones existing. For example, if a spirit appeared here, and a witness was afraid it would do harm, and coincidentally caught a cold at this time, he’d say his cold was caused by his sighting the spirit. Hence the entire situation turns into a rumor of a haunting.”
“That is indeed the case!”
“Yeah, with this it has turned into the theory that Japanese ghosts haunt while western ghosts do not. In actual fact it’s due to the psychology of the Japanese. – Just like that, once the situation is filtered by ‘people’, the truth of the situation will be unlimitedly twisted. There are numerous misunderstandings and hallucinations and mistaken confusion in the eye-witness testimonies; like this we are unable to tell what the truth actually was. Hence today’s research into spirits is such a mess.”
Ai…
“Because it is very difficult to do a systematic experiment, people have various different theories; some people believe that within a person’s body there is a ‘soul’, which remains even after death. And there are people who believe that the ‘spirit’ is a type of response between the living and the dead. And there are still others who believe that living things give off a type of unobservable ion, something just like a scent, the ion remains after the living thing dies, and becomes what people see as ghosts.”
“That description is rather fitting…”
“Actually, the terms ‘earth-bound spirits’, ‘drifting spirits’ or ‘protective spirits’ commonly used in Japan are not scientifically recognized terms. Neither do I know who started using these terms. Therefore as to what those terms actually mean, no one knows for sure, because there’s no way to confirm it.”
“Is this the way it is…”
“Neither their origins nor their meanings are clear, they are terms similar to slang. Without any suspicions, people picked them up and popularized them; this, too, is a difficulty in spirit research.”
“ – if it’s like this then doesn’t it equate to not knowing anything at all?”
I asked; Naru inclined his head and replied with a question,
“Do you want me to spell it out for you?”
“Yes!”
“Evidence that support the existence of ghosts – not one exists at all.”
– Ai?
“Then what have we all been doing?”
“What you’re doing are odd jobs.”
– That’s not so!
“What I do is collect statistics, record videos, sounds, and data from measuring equipment. For example, there is not a single tape which clearly records the appearance of a spirit, but there are many on which strange light and fog have appeared. I want to fully analyze what these actually are, but at the current level of scientific knowledge, it is completely impossible to explain what they are. I can only say they are new phenomenon witnessed in science. If I could collect them, then I might find their similarities, and from there make out the rules of their existence, and clear up how they actually exist.”
Ai…
“‘They’, whom I am looking for, are normally known as ghosts. Collecting and analyzing the data, and from there ‘hunt spirits’. This is what I am currently doing, in reality it is objectively collecting data, but this is only just a phase.”
“Then this is ghost hunt… then what about exorcisms?”
“The exorcisms are only secondary, in exchange for allowing me to conduct my investigations; the exorcisms are done to solve the other parties’ inconveniences, with this I could possibly get a clearer picture of the truth.”
“So that’s the case.”
But I did not completely understand, and asked, “But up till now we’ve encountered a lot of ghosts, everyone has seen them before. You’ve seen them yourself too; can’t these be considered evidence?”
“I’ve asked everyone once before: has everyone witnessed any experiences? Have I formally asked for evidence like this?”
“Ugh…”
“I have personally seen or felt spirits many times. That’s why I know and believe the things everyone sees. But I have no interest in the data collected by ‘man’; those things, regardless of the number collected, are incapable of being evidence to prove anything.”
Wu… my head started to ache, I sort of understood, but sort of did not understand; in any case Naru’s and my stands are completely different hence this situation.
“It’s cold…” Bou-san suddenly called out.
“As expected, it does get cold on a mountain.”
“Do you want the windows closed? You could have caught a cold.”
Ayako stuck her hand on Bou-san’s forehead. “There’s no fever.”
“Really? I somehow feel a little warm…”
Bou-san looked at Naru and said,
“It’s feverish, I’m about to start speaking nonsense.”
“You think that I’m talking nonsense?”
“ – As expected, you’re incredible. That’s my personal opinion.”
In any case that was what he wanted to say. Bou-san, you’re already an uncle-grade person and you’re still so sly.
John also nodded. “I think that Naru is very incredible as well.”
Naru smiled slightly.
“In that case – thanks for the compliments.”
Chapter 3: August 13th 7am to 11am
1
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?”
