Now You See Me (self-insert #7)

Chapter 5

Suddenly, Naru turned and made for the door. Mai blinked, startled. "What's the matter?"

"I left the file outside. I'm going to go get it."

"Eh? You're going to get wet."

"I'm already wet, so it won't matter." Spoken like a true Englander. He grabbed knob and pushed, and suddenly his face went blank. Not just his face, too—his entire body stilled.

My blood ran cold.

"Is something wrong?" Mai asked, oblivious to my internal panic.

"The door won't open." Naru said coolly, but I could tell his mind was racing. This building was supposedly haunted. In a supposedly haunted building, what were the chances of the door just being...stuck?

I tried not to think about that.

Ayako laughed, as carefree as ever. "Oh? You're that weak, huh?"

Mai shot her a dirty look as she moved to help Naru. "The door's fittings might be bad. It's old, after all." Sensing her intentions, Naru gripped his doorknob once more as she took the other. "Maybe if we try both sides..."

The door rattled, but didn't even budge a millimeter.

"It won't move." She breathed.

I jumped as Naru, in a sudden and rare burst of outright impatience, slammed his body weight against the door. "Easy, bud."

Mai's hands fluttered over the door. "Wh-what do we do?" She asked, her voice shaking. "I wonder if there's anyone that still has the key."

"A key won't help." I told her.

Like a sun coming out from behind the clouds, John stepped forward with a comforting smile. Still, his sky blue eyes were serious. "Let me try, Mai-san."

More rattling.

As expected, nothing. Naru stepped back, his wet hair hanging in front of his eyes. "It won't open."

Ayako laughed again, but this time a bit nervously. "No way. Are you serious? The wood just absorbed some moisture and became swollen, right? If we can't use the door, then just break some glass. As long as we can get outside it's fine, right?"

Mai perked up. "I-I see. That makes sense."

"It won't work."

"It will." Ayako assured me, forgetting that I read the entire series multiple times. She hefted a bottle. "I found something to use. Shall I use it?" Without waiting for a response, she pulled her arm back. "Here we go!"

I barely had enough time to clap my hands over my ears before the bottle flew from her hand, shattering against the door's window. We all stared at the shards of the bottle...

...then at the unharmed window.

"No way. It didn't do anything." Ayako breathed.

I snorted.

Refusing to be deterred, Mai cleared her throat. "Th-there are a lot of windows on the bottom floor, so shall we try those?"

"Y-yeah."

"Are you just going to wander around randomly?" Naru's cold voice stopped them short. His dark eyes were solemn. "Lin, Nira and I will investigate the first floor. John, you check the second floor."

"Okay."

"Mai, you go with John. You absolutely must not separate. Matsuzaki-san, would you like to go with them?"