Chapter Text
Convincing Rin to go on a ghost-hunting trip with him took a lot less effort than Obito expected. He was barely able to finish speaking before she burst into a flurry of excitement, grabbing all her necessary things. Which of course included a flashlight, a snack bar, and a digital camera. As well as the red bracelet she deemed lucky years ago, back when it helped them win five plushies from a cursed claw machine game that nobody had won anything from in years. (And Obito was not at all jealous, not even a little, that his hard work had been whittled down to the doing of a bracelet.)
Convincing Tenzo had gone about the same as Obito expected. (Asking a bunch of nonsense questions like: "Are you sure it's not a scam?", "Do you have proof?" and "Should we pretend to be scared for your viewers?")
His doubtfulness really grates on Obito's nerves, and he should already know that the whole reason Obito is gonna be recording is to have genuine footage of ghost encounters. Faking anything ruins the whole point.
Still, he managed to get the skeptic to agree. Obito mainly wants him to come along so that when they do find a ghost, he can finally be smug and cool in front of him. And then he's gonna have Tenzo buy him food, new gear, maybe a camera…
"Alright, here it is." Obito says, pulling up to the abandoned schoolhouse. It's a one-story building. He pulls his phone out, and sets up a livestream as Rin and Tenzo step out of the car.
"It does look scary…" Rin comments, followed by the snap of her camera, and Tenzo grunts something in reply.
Once the stream is set up, Obito follows them. "Okay, Tenzo, can you grab some of the gear from the back?" He asks, and before Tenzo can voice his refusal, he helplessly gestures to his occupied hands. (Holding a singular phone.)
With an eye roll, Tenzo opens the trunk, and grabs the Ouija board and another flashlight. "This is all you got?" He asks, and Obito sputters at the unimpressed tone.
"What else do we need? Are you the ghost expert here?" Obito whips around to ask him, peeved by his lack of faith.
"I just figured the ghost expert would have some real equipment." Tenzo mumbles, taking the gear anyway.
Before Obito can snap back, Rin reassures them. "It's okay, it's our first time!" They head toward the school, flashlights illuminating the area ahead of them. They can now see the front doors. "So we'll know for next time if we need to bring more stuff."
Obito grabs a door handle, and turns it, opening the door. "We're going in now, chat." He says, peering into the dark hallway ahead.
"Wait wait, was that door unlocked?" Tenzo interrupts the dramatic entrance.
"Uh, yeah. We were given permission to come here. Remember?" Obito replies, not worried even one bit.
"Sure, but…couldn't anyone have made it in before us?" And his fear is only a little entertaining to Obito, because it's not caused by anything paranormal. So he just shrugs casually in response to the question and continues his way inside, with Rin being the first to follow him.
"It's so musty here, chat. I think this place has been abandoned for like…thirty years." He says, pointing his phone camera around along with his flashlight. He hears a flicking of switches, and turns to see Tenzo trying to turn the lights on. Obito is baffled. "Tenzo, did you hear what I just said? Thirty years."
"Well this place still has an owner. I thought they might've kept the electricity on." Tenzo mumbles.
"We brought flashlights for a reason." Obito points out. "Anyway, I guess we could explore the place first, make sure nobody’s here before we talk to the ghosts." The other two nod in agreement.
They walk through the halls, and he can see all the dust getting picked up with every step, twinkling in the light. They split up, and begin opening different classroom doors, peering in just long enough to make sure nobody is inside. The coast seems clear enough.
He notices Rin heading to check inside the women's restroom, so he heads to check in the men's. Stepping inside, he hears a soft shuffling sound.
His breath quickens, and he shines his flashlight at the noise. It's coming from inside the furthest stall. Swallowing his fear, Obito walks towards it. It could just be some kind of critter, after all. At least his Twitch chat will know he's brave.
But right when he's in front of the half-closed stall door, he hears a low, creepy groaning sound. He kicks it fully open, and screams when he sees a man standing there, with a flashlight below his face pointing up, making him look freakishly grotesque.
But then the man laughs, and when Obito keeps his flashlight on him, he recognizes Tenzo. He immediately channels his fear into anger. "What the fuck are you doing!?"
Meanwhile, Tenzo can barely speak through his laughter. "I th- I thought you saw me come in here," he weakly says, and Obito truly doesn't care to hear any of it.
"What happened?" Rin asks, her face pinched with worry as she rushes into the bathroom. It's quickly replaced with a small smile when she hears Tenzo's laughing.
"This dumbass was in here moaning and wheezing, and-and had his flashlight like this," Obito rambles, pointing his flashlight up with trembling fingers to show Rin, who is now also giggling. He scoffs, and starts reading his Twitch chat, which is not helping his dismay at all. "Chat, I do not get scared easily. I just- I thought there was a fucking zombie or something!"
"I'm sorry," Tenzo apologizes, still laughing. "We can start ghost hunting now." He says, effectively cheering Obito up slightly.
"Yeah, let's go." He says, and they leave the restroom. Leading them to a random classroom, he dusts off a desk and seat, and sits down at it. He grabs a nearby chair, and brings it over for Rin. "Okay, now we can try the Ouija board." Obito looks up at Tenzo expectantly, who grabs a seat for himself, and sets the Ouija board down on the desk with the planchette.
Propping his phone up on another nearby desk, Obito puts his fingers on the planchette, and moves it to the middle of the board. Rin and Tenzo both put their fingers on it too.
"So…we're supposed to keep our fingers still?" Tenzo asks them.
"Yeah."
"Actually, I heard that some spirits don't have enough power to move the planchette themselves, so we may have to move it according to our intuition." Rin explains.
"Ah…" Tenzo replies, clearly unimpressed.
Obito rolls his eyes. "It's still real. What, you don't believe in intuition?"
"Any other rules?" Tenzo grumbles, not even engaging with the question.
"Um…don't take your fingers off until we say goodbye. And I think there's other rules for like, I dunno, in case a demon is trying to leave the spirit realm or something. I don't remember. But yeah, just uh…don't let it do that." Obito unhelpfully explains.
"...Great."
"I think that has to do with the four corners." Rin points out, and Obito looks at the images in each corner of the board, wondering if they mean anything. "So we just don't let the planchette go to the corners."
"Okay. Okay. Ahem. Are there any spirits here with us now?" Obito asks, looking around. "Wait, aren't our eyes supposed to be closed?" He asks, and Rin simply shrugs.
"How are we supposed to see their response if our eyes are closed?" Tenzo is sounding increasingly doubtful in this whole thing.
"Right." Obito accepts Tenzo's logic, and keeps his eyes open.
The planchette remains in the middle of the board. They all wait for a whole two minutes before Obito starts worrying, and thinking about what terrible content this is for his viewers.
"Are you guys picking up any vibes?" He whispers to the two, receiving an unsure look from each of them in response. Then, louder, he tries talking to the spirits again. "If there are any spirits listening, could you communicate with us through this board?"
They wait again, until this time Tenzo speaks up. "So…Spirits. How do you like this place? Is it nice here?"
There's a rustling in the far corner of the room. They all look over, but it's too dark to see. They're not supposed to move their hands off the planchette, so they can't point a flashlight at it either. Obito should've really brought a headlamp for this…
The rustling noise appears again, louder this time, and Obito jumps when a large rat runs across the floor. He immediately moves the planchette to ‘goodbye’ and stands up, grabbing his phone and flashlight. Rin and Tenzo follow, staying silent in their rush to leave the room.
"Guess that's it for the day." Tenzo remarks, as they're on their way out.
"Yeah…" Rin dejectedly replies, then looks at Obito with a thoughtful expression. "Hey, what if we found someone who's experienced in ghost hunting, and got them to help us on our next trip?"
"Is that a thing? I can hire a ghost expert?" Obito is intrigued by the idea. He does wanna get his own gear and everything, but a better learning experience does sound nice.
"Probably." Rin shrugs with a little smile. "I think you should look into it."
"Yeah, I will. Anyway, Chat, this was only part 1 of our new ghost hunting series. Stay tuned for more!" He says, and ends the stream.
.
After looking into it, Obito found someone named Minato, who seemed to have a lot of experience. And he wasn't crazy expensive either. So, he went ahead and hired the man.
Minato had given them an address of a nearby place he's came into contact with ghosts at before, and told him he'd meet them there. Obito was very excited, because he assumed hiring an expert would mean they're gonna get to meet the coolest ghosts ever—maybe even a demon.
However, his hopes were diminished by the time he, Rin, and Tenzo arrived.
"What is this? This looks more boring than the school," Obito can't help but complain.
"What'd you expect? A cathedral?" Tenzo replies, though he's staring at the house with equal apathy. Rin's eyes are more focused on the area around, but she waits patiently for the paranormal expert to show up.
When he does, it's in an old blue car. And when he steps out, he grabs a backpack filled with gear. Obito stares in awe, feeling both jealous and excited.
He introduces himself immediately, despite the fact that they've already spoken over text. "I'm Obito, and this is Rin, and that's Tenzo."
"Nice to meet you all! I'm Namikaze Minato."
"So…Does this place have a demon or anything in it?" Obito is so eager to interact with spirits, and cooler ones like demons would be great for his Twitch channel.
The man laughs, and waves his hand. "Ah, no, don't worry. There are no demons here. I don't even prefer working with those, so I definitely wouldn't bring in beginners to a house with one."
Obito can feel his excitement fading with each word. "Do you have a Ouija board?" He asks, still a little hopeful.
"A Ouija board?" Minato repeats, sounding slightly affronted by the mere suggestion. "No. I don't typically use that sort of thing. I use an EMF reader, spirit box, REM Pod, and…this." He says, holding out a small object he retrieved from his pocket.
"Is that a cat toy?" Tenzo asks, and Obito shares his confusion.
"Well…yes. But it works as a motion sensor. When it's on, it'll light up anytime it's touched." Minato explains to them, and puts it back in his pocket.
"That's creative!" Rin comments.
"Yeah, I got the idea from my old professor."
Obito blinks. "Was he like a…professor of ghost hunting?"
"Paranormal science," Minato clarifies. "Anyway. We're here. So, do you wanna-"
"Wait. Are you okay with being on stream?" Obito asks, pulling his phone out to open Twitch. "Like, can I record? Live?"
"…Oh, yes. That's fine."
"Cool." Obito starts up the stream, and points his phone at the house, hoping lack of light will make it look scarier than it does in real life.
"Alright, come on." Minato tells them, with his backpack on. He leads them inside the house, and turns the light on after walking in.
With the light on, the house looks pretty cozy. "Chat, this house is extremely haunted. It's way scarier than it looks." He exaggerates, and turns to Minato, hoping he'll share some cool lore. "What kinda ghost lives here?"
"Don't worry, this spirit isn't a threat at all. He's just a kind old man." Minato tells him with a smile, and Obito wants to scowl. This man took them to the lamest haunted house ever. He can't believe it. He looks over at Rin, who just looks curious, while Tenzo seems very amused. Minato puts some device on the floor. "This is a REM Pod. It detects disturbances in its electromagnetic field. Such as temperature changes, or close contact." Minato explains, and the lights glow and beep after Minato sets it up. They stop once he's a few feet away. "Typically, I like to introduce myself and greet any spirits before talking to them."
Obito stares at the device in awe, because even if it's a boring ghost he gets to meet, it's still a ghost. And it'll still prove Tenzo wrong.
"Hi Old Man!! I'm Obito, and this is Rin and Tenzo," He speaks loudly towards the ceiling, and points at the two. Then, he moves his phone around, angling it at different parts of the room, hoping to catch sight of the spirit on camera, so his stream will be more entertaining.
"Hi!" Rin waves unsurely. "We're here to learn about ghosts."
"Yeah! And Tenzo here, he doesn't believe in ghosts, so if you wanna make yourself known and prove him wrong, feel free to do so." Obito rambles, and then waits for a response. Fifteen seconds of silence pass.
"Some spirits are shy," Minato sheepishly tells them. "And some signs of ghost activity we don't get until after we review the audio footage." Obito would really rather be dealing with a demon.
There's a low beep coming from the REM pod, and one of the lights is glowing. "What does that mean?" Obito asks, starting at it.
"It's showing a temperature change." Minato informs him. When none of them reply, giving him a blank stare, he continues; "Some spirits have the ability to change the temperature, so it can sometimes be a sign of paranormal activity."
"What else can spirits do?" Rin asks.
Minato glances at her and begins explaining. "Ghosts have different abilities, but they vary. Some can change the temperature, interact with objects, and make noises. Not every ghost can do these things."
"What about demons?" Obito questions the man, perking up. He wonders if this guy has any experience working with demons.
The levity in the blond's expression fades at this question. "Demons can do all of those things, along with having stronger abilities. They can physically interact with people, possess people, siphon their energy, and even make themselves visible."
However, Obito's excitement only grows. "Demons are so cool," he states with a wide grin. "Have you met any demons?"
Minato nods. "It's never been a positive experience. Demons are known for not getting along with humans."
"Next time you meet a demon, can we come along? I really wanna meet a demon. And we'd be respectful!" He says, with a purposeful glare at Tenzo, urging him to agree, to which he nods.
"That's…unlikely. I understand you're all curious, but it would be very dangerous." Minato tells them, and Obito is just mature enough not to pout, and beg for him to bring them along. He'll take what he can get—even if it means starting out with boring, lazy old man ghosts—and work his way up to demons.