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"-- What happened?"

Mai, who was using a handsized instrument in front of the part.i.tion between the living room and the kitchen, waved her hand lightly at hearing Midori"s voice.

"The world"s greatest self-conceited big fool has bitten Nakai-san."

"-- Eh?"

Midori inclined her head in curiosity and compared Mai and Hirota.

"Nakai and, uh, Shibuya-kun only quarrelled."

"Oh my," Midori stared in wonder.

"Or should I say, Nakai got argued into a corner."

"I"m sorry," Mai said, turning her head to Hirota.

"He"s really a guy who knows no manners. He totally thinks there"s no greater person in this world other than himself."

"No. Nakai also got up high on her pedestal. -- And it"s because I said some impolite things in the first place. That"s inexcusable," said Hirota who spontaneously reflected on his arrogance.

"Please don"t worry about it. It"s not like Naru was having an outburst of anger. Naru is always like this to any person."

"-- Naru?"

"Ah, Narcissistic Naru-chan. Here you go, I invite Hirota-san to call him like that too."

"That"s very strange to say."

"Right," Mai said, puffing with pride.

"Because the honourable Naru-chan is at a point where he really cannot be helped anymore."

A pensive Hirota looked at the grumbling Mai. Hm, that boy"s arrogance also merited a special mention, but in hindsight, wouldn"t the investigator called Lin, who seemed to ignore that uproar as if it didn"t exist, be an unordinary person as well?

"... ...The members at your company have some quirks, haven"t they?"

"Indeed. Because of that I"m always going through some hardship. Rather than work-related troubles, there are more troubles with human relations, d.a.m.n it."

Provoked by the words work-related troubles, Hirota spontaneously asked her a question.

"Do you guys believe in things like ghosts?"

He had heard the boss"s negative tone. He couldn"t see a type that was neither a psychic or a common person in the girl before him.

"I believe it and I don"t," Mai said with a bitter smile.

"... ...Even if I say that, a person with no experiences with this won"t believe me."

"Yeah. ... ...That"s true."

"I think they exist. It"s fine to say that I know they exist. But I think it isn"t something that matters to me?" Mai said, looked at Midori and lightly bowed her head. "--I"m sorry."

"It"s fine," Midori smiled.

"But, what do you mean with it doesn"t matter to you?"

"Because, if I saw absolutely saw something, I"d know it would be there, right? In the case of people who didn"t see or didn"t feel anything, they are people who are indifferent to ghosts. To such people I think it"s fine if it doesn"t exist."

"That"s right... ..." Hirota muttered.

"But whether there is something in this house is something we don"t yet know. However, because it is certain that something is happening, it"s not a bad if we do a thorough investigation, right?"

"That"s... ... true."

"We don"t think of doing something like blaming every little thing on ghosts. It"s because we investigate what is happening. Naru seems conceited, but that"s the only thing that"s fair. We don"t insist on something like non-existent things being there. So won"t you please give us a little of your trust?"

When faced with eyes that looked straight at him, Hirota couldn"t find it in his nature to call them swindlers.

"... ...I understand."

"That"s great," Mai smiled, and once again turned her vision towards the instrument in her hand.

"-- What"s that?"

"Ah, please don"t cause it to move much. -- This is a machine that checks the air flow. When there are strange smells or noises, it checks the air flow."

"Hm... ..."

"For example, what if this is the place of the smell? If the origin of the smell is not here, it will be called a mysterious smell."

"It"s possible that the source lies below the floor and the surface."

"Of course it checks up that vicinity thoroughly. This is not my experience, but there have been cases of when a crack gets inside a sewer pipe and the filthy water below stained the floor, which caused the smell."

"I see... ..."

Mai noted down the numbers on the digital display of the machine down.

"-- That"s right, Midori-san. How is your mother?"

"Well, she"s," Midori made a difficult face.

"She"s resting upstairs. Although she just lied down on her side and continued to stare at the ceiling."

"Is that so?" Mai"s expression clouded over.

Recently it has been truly awful. Just now she said strange things as well. I"m so sorry, you were probably surprised?

"Please don"t worry about it."

"If we can clear up the cause, I think your mother will gain some peace of mind and calm down. ... ...Let us take care of this."

"Yes," Midori smiled and stared out of the window of the living room. The s.p.a.ce that could be seen across the hedge outside the window facing the narrow garden, was becoming very dark.

"It has become a little colder, right," Midori said as she took the controller in her hand. She turned it in the direction of the aircon and pushed the switch b.u.t.ton. Suddenly it became dark inside the room.

Mai instantly blinked. In the darkened room at that moment she heard the moving sound of the aircon that had been turned off up until point.

"--- Not again," Midori muttered in irritation. "I"m sorry. The breaker seems to have broken down. I"ll replace it."

"I"ll do it."

Hirota was the one who said that. He left the living room as if having grown accustomed. Midori went to turn off the aircon. Seemingly fed up, she let out a sigh.

"So even turning the aircon on and off will make it fail?"

"Yes, it"s like that. ... ...Is it due to using the rice cooker? I wonder if it won"t influence Mai-chan"s equipment."

"We have an entirely different source of electricity. To break down at something so simple, must be terrible. Having to turn off the aircon each time you want to cook rice."

"Yes."

When Midori sighed, the electric light in the room came on. At the same time, the door of the living room opened. The one who showed up wasn"t a returning Hirota, but Naru.

"Is it the breaker?"

"Yes, when I turned off the aircon, it suddenly happened."

"Where is the breaker?"

"In the dressing room."

"Thank you. -- Can you briefly show me your electric appliances after this?"

"Yes."

"And then, Mai."

Mai adjusted her posture.

"Yes, boss."

"Just how long are you going to hang around? Don"t idle."

In just one moment Mai stared at Midori with eyes that appealed for consent for something.

"... ...Yees."
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