Ghost Hunt Vol #3

Untitled Part 10

5[]

Both Naru and Lin-san disappeared, so I ended up alone again.

The end-of-classes' chime came and echoed noisily inside school for a while, and time passed like a sea roar fading at that. Then, a silent-as-the-grave after-school came along.

I dislike after-school; it's cold and lonely. I wonder if Taka or Kasai-san will come...

Having thought of that, I heard the patter of footsteps. Without a knock, the door opened too. Taka popped her head in, and Kasai-san followed from behind her.

Oh. How timely!

"Yahhoo~"

"Yes~"

"You're alone as usual, Mai. I met Kasai-senpai, so I came hauling her with me." Taka laughed.

"I was waiting, you know? I can't bear being alone after school until I sense it's dusk."

"It's too unbearable, indeed. That's why I thought of coming here to see you. Feeling grateful?"

"I am, I am. I must make some tea with my feelings of gratitude in it."

"Yay~" Taka laughed and turned to say, "See?" to Kasai-san.

Well. "Aren't you perhaps treating the conference room like a coffee shop, Taka?" I told her.

"Oh, I'm busted?"

"This place isn't a coffee shop after all. I hope you won't linger here thinking otherwise."

"But~ But Mama-san is a good person and comfortable to be with~"

"I would say the same as well," even Kasai-san agreed.

"...Could I be the good Mama-san you're talking about?"

"Who else qualifies for that role?"

"Please, take a seat. Would you like to drink tea or something?"

We drank tea once the three of us had laughed for a while. After a pause, Taka leaned forward as though imparting some secret. "What's Norio up to?"

"He's in the middle of doing an exorcism."

"Does it look like it's going smoothly?"

"Hmm... I wonder. The case this time is somehow giving us a lot of trouble." ...Come to think of it, we were always having a hard time though. But, well, the nature of the present case was unknown. So even if something was happening, I didn't know how to feel about it oftentimes.

When I said that, Taka leaned closer. "Hey, how's Norio?"

"What do you mean by 'How'?"

"Because—He's a medium, isn't he? Is he dependable?"

"Who knows...?" From the beginning I also thought that he's useless, among other things, but I wonder what he's really like. "Not bad. He's getting better, I guess."

"Really?"

"Instead of that, what do you think about Bou-san's band?"

"Okay, band, huh?" Taka folded her arms. "The vocals, you see, aren't very good."

"How about Bou-san's?"

"He's great at it~ He also composes music though, beautiful songs such as Melody Rain; I love it."

"Really? He's that good?"

"He surely is. He's a studio musician after all."

"...?? Explain your point in less than 50 words."