Welcome to Shibasaki Detective Agency.
My name is Yui Morimachi, one of the investigators in Shibasaki Detective Agency.
Before coming to Tokyo and working in Shibasaki-sensei's detective agency, I lived in a small village in Hokkaido. My unexpected encounter with Shibasaki-sensei took me to this work, using my left hand which I considered to be misfortune. But, Shibasaki-sensei assured me, that I could use my left hand to help people in an unusual way. That's when I knew, there was another world out there.
***
Marunouchi,
Tokyo
"My name is Yui Morimachi and I will be your investigator," I smiled confidently, "Could you please tell me about what happened at your house?"
Takano Seiji-san, a 46 years old researcher at an IT company, accompanied by his son Takano Ryu-san, a 3rd-year junior high school student comes to the Shibasaki detective office. They told us something strange happened to their family since they moved.
I didn't want them to feel uncomfortable about telling us about their problems. Any supernatural thing, like a ghost, isn't something that can be said out loud normally.
The Shibasaki Detective Agency only accepts cases related to paranormal events, even if this office isn't associated with any paranormal organizations.
"Takano-san, I understand if you find it hard to say what happened. Maybe, it's because you yourself find it hard to believe it," I smiled, "But here, we will listen without laughing, however weird it is. Even if you say a UFO fell into your yard and a half-human alien creature came from the spacecraft."
Takano-san and Ryu-san looked at me with weird expressions. It's not clear whether they think I'm crazy, but they chuckled.
Takano-san took a deep breath, " Actually, we moved in six months ago, we lived in an apartment complex before. However, my daughter is five years old now, and my son is going to high school next year. Therefore, my wife suggested we buy a new house. We actually planned to buy a house a long time ago, then six months ago, we found a suitable home," Takano-san explained with an awkward expression as his hands tightened.
"For any chance, did you buy the house from a real estate agent?" I asked him while holding my notebook.
"No. I bought it from an old friend and coworker, Morishita-san. His parents passed away last year, and he wished to sell the house. It was built 50 years ago, but his parents had time to renovate it before they passed. So, it was in good condition, and we love Japanese style houses," Takano-san smiled, "So, we decided to buy it,"
"So, what's the problem with the house?" I asked again while taking notes.
"Well...you see, we really never noticed anything out of the ordinary before. My children like the house because it's really spacious. It has a large, beautiful backyard. There are two bedrooms on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second floor with a veranda, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and storehouses. We really love the house," Takano-san explained with a slight smile on his face. From his expression I can see how happy he was when he bought the house of his dreams.
"But, recently we felt like something strange is happening in that house." Ryu-san said looking rather calm, compared to his father. He then looked at me seriously and said, "First, when we entered the house, we smelled something like blood, my sister was the first to notice,"
"Why do you think it smells like blood?" I asked. "Couldn't it be the moisture, it was empty for six months before you moved in?"
"The smell is too strong.We already checked the house and we didn't find the source of the smell," Takano-san said, looking panicked, "We have cleaned the house before. But, we don't smell something like blood."
"Well, in an clean environment one will notice the metallic smell the most, but in most cases there are other smells that will mix in with the smell of blood. Do you smell it every day?" I asked.
"No, not every day. But every Friday around noon, it smells strongest. I know for sure because I have club activities Friday, so I always come home late," Ryu-san explained.
"So a blood smell only on Friday afternoon, huh?" I murmured while writing down everything they said. "Anything else?"
"Yes, so you see my room faces the backyard and sometimes you can hear a little girl laughing at midnight." Ryu-san said. "I thought it was my sister at first, but when I checked, my sister was asleep, and our neighbors don't have a daughter, so I'm a bit concerned,"
"Are you the only one that hears the voice?" I asked.
Ryu-san nooded, "Also, my mother said that sometimes she sees the silhouette of a little girl running around the house. Not only that, but she also said that our furniture moves on its own. Like, the chairs, tables, and the door opens and closes by itself."
Takano-san slightly leaned over on the sofa placing both of his hands on his knees. "I really don't know anymore." he said taking a deep breath.
Ryu-san looked at his worried father, "My mom is insecure right now. She says that there something in the house. She's alone in the house after we went out in the morning." Ryu-san said. "She must be scared."
"Sometimes at night I feel like someone is knocking on my door or like someone is cooking in the kitchen, but whenever I check it's nothing," Takano-san stated as his voice trembled.
"What do you think about that? Do you think the house is haunted?" Ryu-san looks at me with anxiety all over his face.
"From the story you told us, it's like a Poltergeist phenomena." I said taking a small breath and put my notes on to the table.
"Poltergeist?" They both looked confused.
"It's a noisy spirit." I nooded, "In parapsychologist a Poltergeist is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, it describes many effects such as knocks on walls, objects thrown by unseen hands, furniture moved, and other occurrences." I explained. "These manifestations were long thought to be the mischievous pranks of spirits."
For Takano-san and Ryu-san, this might be the first time they heard the term. I tried to explain in words that they could easily understood.
"You mean our house is haunted?" Ryu-san asked while staring at me straight in the eyes.
But, I don't want to immediately make them conclude that their houses are haunted.
"No, it doesn't exactly your house is haunted." I said." According to current research in parapsychology, poltergeist activity may have nothing to do with ghosts or spirits. Since the activity seems to center around an individual, it's believed that it's caused by the subconscious mind of that individual also known as 'recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis' or RSPK," I explained.
"RSPK?" Ryu-san tilted his head slightly and frowned. Maybe because he was young, Ryu-san looked very interested compared to his father, Takano-san who seemed very nervous all the time.
"They found that the paranormal activity could almost always be traced to a person. This person, although a victim of the puzzling and sometimes frightening activity, is unaware that he or she is actually the cause of it." I explained. "By some mechanism that is still not understood, the activity arises out of the unconscious or subconscious of the individual in response to emotional stress or trauma,"
"You mean, someone causes a poltergeist without realizing it?" Ryu-san's eyes widened, he seemed to be holding his breath.
"Well, yes." I nodded, "In effect, psychokinetic activity, moving objects solely by the power of the mind. The individual is often under emotional, psychological or physical stress. This Poltergeist "person" is very often adolescents especially girls, but not always,"
Ryu-san and his father looked at each other again.
I looked at them while I took a small breath. "It seems true that some adolescents under the combined stress of growing up and the hormonal changes occurring during puberty can produce poltergeist activity, but adults under stress can as well especially if they have unresolved stresses from childhood,"
"That means, the poltergeist that happened in our house might be caused by a family member?" Rui-san asked. "Especially my mother and my sister?"
"But, I don't think that my wife is under stress because she was really looking forward to our new home." Takano-san looked at me, he has the same anxiety as Ryu.
"How about your daughter?" I asked, looking at them seriously.
"I don't think that she has a problem either. She's a really lively child after all. But..." Ryu-san stopped for a moment and looked at his father.
"Yes?" I looked at both of them.
"Since we move house she sometimes acts strangely." Ryu-san took a deep breath. "Sometimes, I found that she talks to herself even when she doesn't play with her dolls. Or she looking at the backyard like she saw something. But, she's as lively as usual, so maybe she's just playing around." Ryu-san said it while sighing. For the first time, he leaned back on the sofa.
"I see." I looked at them for a moment, then turned my gaze to my notes, "Is there's something else about her?"
"When we said that she will have her own room, she said she didn't want it because she's scared. But, recently she even goes to the bathroom alone in the middle of the night." Takano-san said. "And she often asks my wife to cook something that our family never ate before. Most of it are Japanese sweets."
"The sudden change of attitude." I muttered and continued writing notes.
"If my sister caused the poltergeist, it's possible that she did it unconsciously?" Ryu-san asked, his voice told me he was very worried.
"Yes. It's very possible. But, we need to investigate more." I said while continuing to take notes.
Based on their story. It's indeed poltergeist. But, if the poltergeist happens in the household, then not only the little girl but all the family members are included even Ryu-san and Takano-san.
There is a possibility that they don't know that maybe their family member has RSPK. If that is the case, their daughter is the most likely to cause the poltergeist.
"So, will you take our case?" Takano-san asked. "You see, if indeed there is something in the house, we need to prepare ourselves too." he looked worried not only about the house but about his family too.
"For now we will investigate your house first. We need to collect information about everything happening in your household." I said smiling."We will do as much as we can to solve your case."
Takano-san and Ryu-san looked happy, there was no more anxiety on their faces. Maybe even if it's just a little, they are relieved to find someone that can help them.
"Thank you very much." They both said together as they bowed down.
Usually, poltergeists phenomena are normal in paranormal cases. It's the first sign that the place is haunted. But, a lot of researchers proved that poltergeist is only a prank.