Ghost of a Chance

Doll House (Part 2)

[Day 2]

The next morning, the vase that was in the drawing room had not moved one bit. Naru and Mai watched Ayako perform an exorcism on Ayami's room while Lin checked the MLIT's data on the neighborhood (once again, courtesy of Hana-chan). Hitomi had recruited Bou-san to help with a few simple tests to make sure the house wasn't simply poorly built (like placing a marble in the middle of the floor of each room and waiting to see if it rolled to indicate whether or not the floor was slanted), since the monk happened to be free at the moment.

"I reverently pray for thy presence. Deign to ensconce thyself in this unhallowed place, I ask that my humble plea may be heard, that peace and serenity may be granted unto this place," Ayako said solemnly, waving her harai-gushi as she brought the prayer to an end. "The case is as good as solved now," Ayako declared proudly with a little laugh as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"I don't like it," Hitomi said abruptly as she and Takigawa were walking back to base.

"Eh? Don't like what?" he asked, taken aback. "Are you that disappointed you didn't get to see the marble roll?"

"What?" Hitomi said, blinking, as she looked up at him. "Oh, did I say that out loud? Sorry, I was just thinking about Ayami-chan's doll," she explained a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something really... uncanny about it..."

"You mean, besides the fact that it looks just like you?" Bou-san quipped.

"No, I'm used to that. Pretty much every blonde bisque doll does," Hitomi retorted with a wry smile. It was something else. Something about Minnie felt different than any of the dolls she had met before... "I don't know, maybe I'm just feeling a little paranoid after what happened last night," she amended with a sigh. "Don't tell Naru, or I'll never hear the end of it."

"Haha, don't worry," Bou-san said sympathetically. "Your secret's safe with me."

[Day 2, Night]

"Here you go, Naru. I checked the temperature in each room," Mai said, handing the chart back to him now that she was done. "Hm? Where's Hitomi-sempai?"

"Making more tea. Ayami-chan's room is lower than the others," he noted after a quick scan.

'Yikes!' Mai thought. Naru said before that when spirits were present, the temperature dropped. Did that mean...

"There is no warping or deformation to the house itself, and the floors are pretty much flat," Naru said, reviewing all the data they had collected earlier. "There's also no sign of any loss of subterranean water, so it's not subsidence."

"Does that mean the culprit really is a spirit?" Mai asked a little nervously.

"The possibility of that is starting to increase," Naru stated calmly.

"Ah!" Mai gasped. 'Seriously!?' she thought, starting to get scared.

"Kyaaaah!"

"What's that!?" Naru demanded, practically shooting out of his chair when he heard the scream. It sounded like it had come from the kitchen!

FWOOSH!

"Hitomi-sempai! Kana-san!" Mai yelled, alarmed when she and Naru reached the kitchen, and saw that the stove had now become a flaming inferno. Kana was just standing there, staring at it in shock. Hitomi was on the floor next to her and looked uncharacteristically disheveled, as though she had been rolling around on it.

"Are you all right?" Naru asked. One of her kimono sleeves had been singed.

"Yeah, just barely," Hitomi replied grimly as Mai helped her up. She was lucky she still had her eyebrows!