The House in Which Nightmares Dwell 3.4

[touchturnfly]

4

 

The doorbell rang when the members of Shibuya Psychic Research were adjusting the equipment that they had placed in the living room. The absent-minded Reiko, who sat in the dining room, didn't respond to the doorbell. Midori, who frowned went to the entranceway after frowning at her mother's state, took Saki and Hirota with her as she came back.

"I'm sorry for intruding," Saki raised her cheerful voice, but Hirota on the other hand expressed a rigid colour on his face.

"Anyway, I'm going to pour tea. Please take a break, Shibuya-san and the others," Midori said, and went to the dining room. Hirota stared at Mai and the others with the usual suspicious-looking facial expression

Good grief, Mai sighed inwardly. They were used to such facial expressions. Even though an occupation such as psychic research is suspicious in itself, with two out of three of those members not of age, they couldn't even complain if they were watched with suspicious eyes to put it more or less bluntly.

When they wearily continued the investigation, a disgusted Hirota raised his voice abruptly.

"-- Shibuya-kun or whoever you are. Is your real name Davis?"

No reply came from behind Mai. Discerning that he had decided on proudly ignoring the man, Mai sighed lightly. Reluctantly, she turned to face Hirota.

"Um. Excuse me, but where did you hear that name from?"

"That probably doesn't matter."

It seemed like Hirota's voice could explode at any moment.

"Why is there a need to lie about your name? A human lies in order to hide bad circumstances. If it's inconvenient to let people know something, doesn't that mean that there are underhanded reasons?

"Do inconvenient things all consist bad things?"

Hirota laughed. It was obvious what he was actually thinking about even if he didn't reply. Mai sighed and returned to glance at her hands. There was no point in quarrelling with this kind of person.

"Taking advantage of the weakness of a troubled person who is caught by a bad construction, and do business full of lies. That's what you guys are. Saying lies such as 'it's a ghost', 'it's a psychic power', are charming, but I can't tolerate sneaky methods that take advantage of people's misfortune."

"-- Hirota-san!"

The one who stopped Hirota's speech was Midori who had returned with a tray. Hirota looked at Midori.

"Don't you understand that you're being deceived, Agawa-san? These guys seem like a company that viciously extort from people's misfortune. A company like this won't help you. You're only asking for more problems."

"I was the one who made the request." Midori's voice clearly stated. "I'm grateful that Hirota-san is worrying over me, but won't you let me do as I please?"

"Do you know how many people out there who were ruined by clinging to companies like these, even though it would be have been good to rely on a doctor or a lawyer? In your case you're dragging a company like this into your own house at your own whims. For believing foolish stuff such as ghosts."

"Even then, it's not because I believe without question. How should I say it, I only requested for an investigation."

"That's the first step towards a difficult situation. There's no such thing like ghosts. If there is something happening in this house, it's because of the building. The place that Agawa-san should be running to is the lawyer."

"-- What can a lawyer do?"

The voice that said that wasn't Midori's voice. Everyone searched for the owner of the voice at that moment and found Reiko standing in front of the glass door that continued to the dining room.

Reiko dimly looked at the inside of the living room. They could not sense any strength in her voice or any willpower in her facial expression.

"Lawyers, police. What can those people do? It's not as if they can stop the things that have happened. They cannot revive a dead person."

"Um... ... Agawa-san."

Hirota's voice was somewhat confused and both Midori and Saki watched Reiko with uneasy looking expressions.

"Because danger is not to be approached. You cannot be here. So please, get out. Go out quickly, don't ever come back again," Reiko said with a voice that had no intonation. Rather than saying something that she should say, it felt as if a battery had been taken out.

"... ...Mother."

Midori gently placed a hand on Reiko's shoulder.

"Let's take a rest for a while? You must be tired, because a lot of people have come."

When Midori pushed Reiko towards the dining room, Reiko obeyed without resistance. In the living room, the people who similarly frowned were left behind.

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