Playtime (self-insert #2)

Chapter 2

Naru didn't look up from the screens when I walked in, a tripod under my arm and an infrared camera in my hands. Over the speakers I could hear the sleepy drone of Ayako performing an 'exorcism'. "Well?"

"It didn't move." I reported, putting the equipment down with all the care in the world. "Like I said it wouldn't. What's the grade?"

"One hundred percent. Grades are subject to change."

I made a face at his back.

Mai, who'd left to retake the temperatures, returned with a triumphant Ayako. The redhead was glowing with pride. "That was easy, too easy!" She sang. "I took care of it. Consider the case closed!"

"Here you go, Naru. I checked the temperatures in each room." Mai said pointedly, handing him the clipboard.

He went over it with a practiced eye before handing it to me. Making sure that Lin would be present for every case, he'd placed me under his instruction with the threat of getting rid of me. "Ayami-chan's was lower than the others." He remarked, not noticing Mai's burst of panic. "The house isn't crooked and the floors aren't warped, and the floors seem to be very stable."

"Then...that means this house is haunted?" She squeaked.

"That sounds more likely."

Mai wilted, and just as she did a scream rang out through the house. The others dashed out as a faint smell of smoke permeated the air. Lin glanced at me. "The kitchen stove. It won't spread." I explained. The burning odor grew stronger but eventually faded. I had just finished putting in all the data—spreadsheets and I have been long-term enemies—when my earpiece crackled. "Yessir?" I asked blearily.

"How's your inner detective tonight?"

"She's looking for her fedora while struggling into her trench coat right now. Some chump hid her shoes. Why?"

"Mai saw someone outside the kitchen window. Take a look." Zzz.

He needed better earpieces. Digging through my backpack for a thinner cardigan—the air conditioning in the Morishita house allowed for hoodies—I explained to Lin where I was going before trotting outside via the main door. Everyone else had gone to interrogate poor Ayami, leaving me to hunker outside the window in the dark evening. I flipped on the flashlight and took in the scene before tapping my earpiece. There was a few feet of solidly built brick wall beneath the grimy window. The window ledge jutting out like a petulant lower lip was only wide enough to put a flower box. "How old was this person?"

"A child."

Hence their interrogation. Something told me they weren't going to get very far with it. "Huh." I remarked. "There's no way. A child, as you put it, wouldn't be able to reach the glass. Just barely." I shone a light at the ground. The grass wasn't crushed, and when I moved the blades around there weren't any footprints of any kinds. "There's no sign that anyone had been here. You know, sometimes the human brain takes weird patterns and tries to make sense of them. Soot on the glass, maybe?"

"Was it soot?"

"No." I admitted wryly. There wasn't enough to make anyone think they saw a butterfly, much less a human.

I found all of the members at the base, chewing Ayako out for her botched exorcism. "You failed again." Bou-san said accusingly. Three words, but they were enough to make her flush indignantly.

"I'm sorry! I know I'm useless!" She snapped. At least she had the decency to be embarrassed.

I plunked the flashlight down next to Lin and sat down at my very own laptop personally mailed by Sir Dorey of BSPR. (Surprise, surprise—Naru has a budget. That is, when he wasn't having crate loads of books being shipped to the office.) "The bookshelf fell, didn't it? Right after the poltergeist?"

Naru dipped his head in a silent nod. I was passing with flying colors.

"You might want to comfort Mai. She looks spooked." I gestured to where she was listening to the 'adults' in a daze. If I were in her position and believed in ghosts, I'd probably be shivering in terror.

Of course, that translated to, "You may leave now if you're scared."

"I...I'm not scared!" She snapped, but he wasn't listening anymore. Bou-san had started talking paranormal, the ultimate attention-getter for Naru.

"By the way, it almost seemed like the poltergeist was responding to Ayami-chan's shouting." He pointed out thoughtfully. "Mai also mentioned that she saw a kid in the kitchen window."

"You think that Ayami-chan caused the poltergeist?" He almost smirked. "The autosuggestion experiment indicated that a human didn't cause the poltergeist."

The ponytailed monk shrugged. "How sure are you about the results of that test?"

There was no hesitation. "One hundred percent."

Bou-san's eye began to twitch. "Is it possible that the autosuggestion failed?"

"No way."

It was interesting how Ayako's ego was just self-confidence but Naru's was vein-popping narcissism. "How can you say..." he began, but Lin sharply cut him off.

"Naru, the temperature is starting to decrease."

He was at the monitors in a flash. "Lin, the speakers."

He turned the knob all the way to the right, filling the room with a deep pounding sound. It sound as if someone had pulled on a pair of wooden clogs and started stomping around Ayami's room in inconsistently spaced steps. The creepiest part was...

"But there's no one in Ayami-chan's room!" Mai breathed, not bothering to hide her fear this time. Even Naru's eyes were wide with awe, and impressing him took a lot.

"Wow." He even sounded amazed.

"What?" Mai demanded.

"The temperature...it's dropping very quickly. Now it's below freezing." He shook his head, his fluffy sable hair rustling with the movement. "There's no way Ayami-chan is causing this. There's no way for a human to do this!"