EE Chapter 21

# Chapter Twenty-one - "Ghost Hunt"

    "No it's not, it's exciting!"

    Eimi, as usual, was the first to complain. We'd been ghost hunting for almost two hours already and had seen a whole bunch of things. A couple of girls snuck out of their room to go take a bath while they're mostly empty. Another girl got back to the dorm late and gave us a really dirty look as she walked past us, but we're pretty sure she wasn't a ghost. I balanced a flashlight on the broom handle for almost a whole minute before I dropped it and broke it, and Akira even showed us her trick where she can drink an entire bottle of water in just one breath, which was really impressive. But as far as ghosts go, we haven't seen a single poltergeist, wisp, or ounce of ectoplasm.

    "We're just standing by the elevators like a bunch of creeps in our pajamas. Or whatever we're calling Akira's getup."

    "I'm Mizuki Suzuki, a talented idol tragically in love with the handsome ghost." Akira - I mean, Mizuki - gave us a dainty curtsy in her adorable little maid outfit. "It's the best Dam-Bi could do with what we had on hand."

    "Well it really suits you." Eimi stuck out her tongue toward Akira.

    "Really?" She looked down at her makeshift outfit. "*This* is what you're into? Huh. I prefer the little shorts and tank top you have on. That's what I usually wear to bed, but I'd feel a little inadequate if we were both wearing the same thing right now, ya know? Rinko knows what I mean."

    Akira gave me a big smirk. I laughed, though I'm not sure I do know what she means. Both girls are *super beautiful* idols, so I don't think one could possibly look less adequate compared to the other, even in the exact same thing. Then again, they do have different strengths. Like Eimi is funny when she pretends to be mean but really isn't, and Akira is really good at catching me when I fall out of a tree. Or how Akira is really toned and muscular, but Eimi is super soft, but even then they're both really fun to hug.

    "You're both just jealous. Hmph. You wish you had-"

    \*Recon Two to Catch Team. We have a ghost sighting! Over!\*

    To make things funner for tonight we downloaded an app for our phones to turn them into walkie-talkies. We hadn't used them much yet - in fact, this is the first transmission we'd received since we started - but finally something was happening!

    \*Dam-Bi! You found the ghost?!\*

    \*That's 'Recon Two', Catch Leader. And yes! The ghost is in the kitchen!\*

    \*What's it doing?\*

    \*It's making a sandwich. Juney says it's starting to head toward the elevator.\*

    \*What kind of sandwich did it make?\*

    \*Hanarin! It could be on your floor any moment!\*

    "Okay Catch Two, Bait One, you heard Recon Two. Get in position!"

    I took a defensive stance a few feet down the hallway with the broom, in case the ghost tried to run for it to get past us. Akira stood in the center of the lobby where the ghost would be sure to see her as soon as it left the elevator. Eimi…

    "Eimi! Get into position!"

    "Ugh. Fine!”

    But Eimi was too slow, and the elevator dinged and opened before she could even stop leaning against the wall. A tall figure stepped out - ***the ghost!!!*** - and paused, looking at Akira. She played her part perfectly, curtsying once more, but the ghost must have been able to tell that she wasn't the real Mizuki and moved on, past Eimi and past me. I went to lunge and catch it, but my arms and legs wouldn't move - probably ghost powers holding me in place because I'm not scared even a little bit - until it had traveled spookily partway down the hallway.

    "Well at least follow it!" Sighed Eimi, before she tugged on Akira's arm to get her moving, who then pushed me along from behind until my feet were listening to my brain again. We walked quickly until we were just a few meters behind the ghost. It was just like in the blurry photograph, only less blurry. Short blonde hair, very tall, and pretty handsome - for a ghost. He didn't even make noise when he walked! Just like a ghost! Suddenly the ghost stopped and looked behind itself, straight at us!

    "Ah, hello. Lovely evening, isn't it Haruto?" Akira curtseyed again, but it still didn't have any effect on the ghost, who just continued walking slightly faster. A minute later the ghost stopped again, right in front of someone's bedroom…

    And then it went inside!

    Right through the door!!!

    At least, I think it went right through the door.

    We forgot to turn on our flashlights…

    "We've gotta do something! What if the ghost is attacking the girl in that room? We have to save her!"

    "I dunno, he seemed pretty polite. Maybe he's just bringing her a sandwich? Do ghosts do delivery?" Akira puzzled over that, while Eimi got out her phone to light up the door numbers around us.

    "Seriously, Rinko? The ghost keeps going to the room directly across the hall from yours and you've never noticed it? Who lives there anyway?"

    "Uh… I think it's… No, she moved upstairs a few months ago… Um… Gee, I dunno! Isn't that funny? I thought it was still empty. Ohmygosh! I bet that's why the ghost lives there!"

    Eimi grumbled at me (even though it's an honest mistake anyone could have made) and declared, "Well someone's gonna have to knock and make sure she's ok." We all looked at each other for a few moments, none of us volunteering. "The new girl's the sacrifice. She should knock."

    "She's not a sacrifice! She's *bait*… but I bet Akira isn't afraid of anything at all in the world, are you?"

    Akira laughed slightly at that. "I get it now. This is like one of Anette's jokes. You're just hazing us new girls a little. I bet Anette's even in on it. That's probably one of your rooms, and a bunch of you are in there waiting to try and scare me. Well in that case, sure, let me just knock and ask to speak to Mr. Ghost." Before I could correct her, Akira slowly knocked on the ghost's door three times. After a moment the door to the room swung open revealing nothing but pitch blackness within. The ghost floated back into the hallway. Akira let out a tiny "gah!" and jumped back, knocking me and Eimi against my door.

    "Why are you girls following me? What do you want?" The ghost's spooky voice boomed, filling the hallway with…

    Actually, no. The ghost's voice was kind of small and quiet, and a lot higher than I had been imagining.

    "E-Excuse me, but we've been investigating sightings of a ghost in the dorm, and everyone said that you were, well, a handsome ghost, but, um, I think that maybe…" Akira quickly got tongue-tied talking to an actual ghost.

    "Idiots, it's not a ghost. You can tell by the voice that it's just the girl who lives here. You'd have known that if you paid any attention to who lived across from you."

    "Huh? A ghost?" The ghost-girl sounded confused. "You thought I was a… *ghost*…"

    "S-Sorry, Ms. Ghost. It's just that everyone said-"

    "Boo!" The girl shouted.

    "Eek!" Screamed all three of us, as the girl laughed.

    "I'm sorry, that was mean of me but I couldn't resist. I'm very sorry if I caused any trouble. I get home late a lot from visiting my dad at his job, so I have no choice but to sneak around quietly to get dinner. If I keep food in here the bugs always get into it, and it's bad for their diet. I didn't realize I was loud enough to disturb anyone."

    "So you aren't a ghost?" I asked, disappointed.

    "I'm sorry, I'm not. At least not yet.'

    "She's not even a handsome boy." Said Eimi, also disappointed.

    "Yeah, but she is handsome! Hi, I'm Akira! I live just downstairs. We always have lots of healthy snacks in our room, so if you're ever hungry feel free to stop by!"

    "Hello, Akira. My name is Kazue. I like your… um… What are you wearing?"

    "Oh, she wore that specially to impress the ghost. I think it's a good look for her though. Maybe it should be her thing from now on." Eimi stuck her tongue out at Akira again, who stuck hers out right back.

    "Well, I suppose I've seen weirder things around the dorm. Maybe. Anyway, it's been great meeting you all, but I should probably… um… What are you doing now?" As she spoke I reached out a hand to touch her arm. She says she isn't a ghost, but ghosts can be tricky, and that's *exactly* the kind of thing a ghost would say.

    "Sorry! I just had to be sure you aren't a ghost! I promised that when I found the ghost I'd invite it to join our idol group, but we found you instead… So what do you say? Will you join Interlunium?!"

    I had expected the girl to excitedly agree, but instead she stood there in the doorway for a minute before saying, "Oh, right. I thought you looked familiar. I've seen you in dad's studio. Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm not actually an idol. Dad just got me a room here because it's a lot closer to school. I guess he wanted me to make friends with people or something, but-"

    "Then it's perfect! We'd be ten brand new friends! And look, me and my roommate Junko live right across the hall, so you can come hang out whenever you want! You'll love Junko, she's great."

    "Well, thank you, really. But I'm not really all that interested in-"

    "Pleeeaaaseee…" I gave the girl my best sweet please. That'll have to win her over.

    "Kazue, why don't you at least come meet the group? We're having a sleepover right now in my room, so you'd be able to meet everyone all at once, have some snacks, play some video games, and you can see if you think you'd like us. Plus then you'd know where it is, in case you ever wanna drop by. Uh, and we still have some leftover pizza from dinner - unless my roommate ate it all again - and that's gotta be better than a cold sandwich!"

    "It's already pretty late, and I have a lot of studying to do. Maybe some other time…"

    "Then tomorrow! We'll stop by and you'll get to meet everyone. I promise you'll have a ton of fun. All our friends are just the bestest girls ever!"

    "I guess that's fine, since you're right across the hallway anyway… Okay. I suppose you can come and say hello tomorrow…"

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