Now You See Me (self-insert #7)

Chapter 4

"I can't really imagine the local children coming to a place like this." Ayako agreed.

"I mean, they probably were better about the upkeep when there were actual children coming here." I pointed out. "Would you waste money on an empty building?"

"Probably not." Ayako said hesitantly as Mai moved to talk to Masako. She crossed her arms over chest and shuddered. "Still, I don't like the aura this place gives off."

She genuinely looked uneasy, so I decided to lay off for once and idled over to Naru. He studied the building impassively. "Whatcha thinking?" I asked, temporarily forgiving his merciless wake-up call.

"Useful thoughts." I resisted the urge to kick his shin as he turned his head. "Hey, the one chatting over there!"

Mai came to attention. "Yes?"

"Put the sound concentrating microphones around the outside. After that, we need to gather information on the activity using cameras, so find places to put them."

Ayako arched an eyebrow. "Are we putting the cameras outside as well?"

"No one is allowed to enter the building."

Mai saluted and set off, Bou-san and Yasuhara following her. I leaned against the side of the van and yawned. "Need my help, Lin?"

"Would you like to set up a speaker?"

I shrugged. "How hard can it be? Hush, Naru."

He glanced at me. "I didn't say anything."

"I heard you think it. Trust me, I am a pro when it comes to setting up speakers." Mostly because it was the only thing Lin would allow me to do if I spent longer than necessary on the computers.

"I better not hear you asking him for help, then."

"I said I was a pro, not superhuman, geez." I grumbled, scooping up a speaker.

We set up 'base' under a sheet of corrugated metal that served as shade from the unusually warm sun. "Ugh." I said, plopping down on the creaking veranda/porch/thingie near Lin. "Again, I don't see why they don't just burn it to the ground. They could say there was 'something' here—it technically wouldn't be lying seeing how this place is probably overrun with vermin and bugs."

"Lazy."

"Efficient." I corrected.

Shaking his head, Naru went back to reading his notebook for the gazillionth time.

Mai and her lackeys returned a while later, heaving sighs as they plopped down on the weathered wood. "Did you figure something out?" Mai inquired, choosing to stand.

"Perhaps. At any rate, I don't expect to see any activity on the first day." Naru said without looking up.

Yasuhara pondered this. "I wonder if there's actually anything here. The atmosphere alone is appropriate, though."

"I suppose. Over time you develop a sense for such things. Anyway, since you apparently have free time, go prepare some more sites." Yasuhara chuckled as Mai's eyebrows shot up. Naru must not have expected them to actually get up because he added, "In addition, just because we can't sense anything doesn't mean that there's nothing here."

"We need to figure out why the village headman personally requested for us to take this case, right?" Yasuhara asked.

"Exactly."

"Toldja." I muttered. Lin grunted.

Mai blinked, startled. "Wh-why is that?"

Yasuhara adjusted his glasses. "Look, the camping grounds' lady said she hadn't heard anything about it when we asked." He stated. "If she doesn't know about it, then the other staff members probably don't either, right? But in reality, it's just a rumor, so why did they specifically seek us out to make a request? In the case of the headman and his group, a more satisfying explanation is needed."