AN:
For this story, I will be using the German timetable system. School doesn't end at the same time every day, but depends on the subjects you have elected and the week. (There are different timetables for even and uneven weeks.) Sorry for any confusion that may arise.
Friday, 2pm
"Ah, this is life!" Michiru sighed happily as she lay in the soft grass.
"Yep! The sun is shining, a nice breeze is cooling us down, and – most importantly – none of the teachers have given us any homework! Only two periods left, and then the week end starts – and we probably won't have any homework to do. I'm so happy!"
Mai laughed at her friends antics. But they were quite right – it was a beautiful day. From her position on the grass – between her two friends and with her back to the school building – she could feel the contentment and life radiating around her.
Mai could feel the happiness of her friends, the peacefulness of the trees, and the playfulness of the birds above them. If she extended her senses, she could feel the bustle of life in the school building, and the busy insects on the trees and in the earth. And if she extended her senses even further, Mai could hear the laughter the wind carried and the song it sung.
"-ai."
"Mai."
The voices of her friends pulled Mai out of her reverie.
"Hmm? Sorry, I didn't get that." She looked at her friends apologetically, but they were wearing amused smiles.
"Ah, was our cute little Mai-chan lost in the nature surrounding her again? Are we that boring?" Michiru teased her, and Mai wore a guilty smile.
"Sorry, guys… We finally get a quiet minute away from the bustle of the school, and I drift off… I'm sorry."
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"But seriously, Mai – it is alright around us, but don't drift off like that in school, alright?" Keiko threw her a quick look before breaking out into a smile. "Though it's not like I can't understand it – if I had your ability, I probably wouldn't be able to stop doing that either. Just remember that you shouldn't use it when strangers are around. Alright?"
"Yep," Mai giggled. "How couldn't I remember? You two never stop reminding me about that!" Michiru and Keiko mock glared at her.
"We wouldn't have to do that if you would think before you act."
"It would also help if you were a bit more focused and not prone to getting lost in your dreams!"
Mai stuck her tongue out at the two of them and pouted.
"You guys are mean!"
Each trying to hold on to their grimace, the three of them erupted into laughter after ten seconds. Shoulders shaking, the three friends lay next to each other contently. They resumed talking about everything and nothing once they had calmed down, and made plans for the weekend, until they were interrupted by the sound of the bell.
"Better get back, otherwise we'll be late – and I don't want to get a dress down from Fujimoto-sensei."
"Yeah – he's scary when he gets angry." Michiru nodded, agreeing with Keiko.
The three of them stood up, and hurried towards the school building and their classroom – arriving just on time.
Friday, 3pm
Mai zoned out during Fujimoto-sensei's lecture about Japanese history. It wasn't a subject she found interesting, but a certain occurrence outside captured her attention. Mai narrowed her eyes.
"I need to tell Keiko and Michiru about this." Mai muttered under her breath. She couldn't wait for the sleepover they arranged to have tomorrow – it was the perfect moment to inform them.
Saturday, 10pm
"Therefore, you should stay out of the old school building." Mai finished her explanation.
"Never thought something like that would actually happen. I mean yeah, you hear about it in the news all the time, but to think that we would be right next to it while it happened…" Michiru sounded troubled.
"Yeah. Hey, shouldn't we inform the rest of the student body about that?"
"How? It's not like we have actual measurements about that as proof, Keiko. Who would believe us?" Keiko had to concede that point.
"Then, how about we spread rumors or something? I mean, if people were to think that the building is in danger of collapsing, surely they wouldn't go inside." Michiru suggested.
Suddenly, their phones chimed. Seeing as how Mai didn't have one – she couldn't afford it – only Michiru understood why Keiko started to snicker suddenly. Curious, Mai attempted to read over Michiru's shoulder, but she had already closed the message.
"I think we can leave the rumors up to Kuroda – she's already hard at work." Seeing Mai's questioning stare, Michiru elaborated Keiko's statement.
"Kuroda just sent a message to the whole class – apparently, there are ghosts in the old school building." Mai's look morphed into one of understanding, and Keiko scoffed.
"Man, what's wrong with her that she craves attention like that? I mean, it' obvious that she isn't truly a sensitive psychic – look at you guys! Neither of you is attempting to grab attention like that. She's just an attention whore."
"Keiko, you shouldn't speak like that." Michiru chastised her. "You know that my ability as a medium is really minor, and that Mai would probably be exploited by greedy bastards if her abilities were to be unveiled."
"I understand that, Michi, but seriously – Kuroda has been going on and on and on about her abilities since middle school, and it is obvious that she is just faking it."
"That may be true," Mai interrupted, "but I wouldn't write Kuroda off like that."
"What do you mean?" Now both of her friends were curious – when Mai said something like that, you better listen, because she is never wrong.
"Hmm… I feel some kind of energy in her, but it's really minor and dormant most of the time. It's so minor, actually, that I can't determine if it is PK natured or ESP oriented."
Keiko pulled a face.
"Well, that means that she is a weak busy-body, who lies in order to get attention – an attention whore."
"Yes," Mai conceded. "But she is also undeniably psychic. Just keep that in mind, Kei-chan."
"I still don't like her."
"Me neither. She is pulling the name of legitimate psychics through the mud." Michiru added in a soft voice.
"I'm not asking you to be her friends. I'm just telling you that you shouldn't disregard her – she is, for better or worse, one of us. You shouldn't forget how we felt when we first discovered our abilities."
Keiko broke eye contact with Mai. She could still remember those days easily. She would unknowingly use her ability – Apportation – to draw objects to her when she wanted them. Balls, shovels, necklaces, flowers – whatever she wanted, it would appear in her hand. It didn't matter where it was at the moment or if it was being used. When Keiko could see it and wanted it, it appeared. That freaked the kids on the playgrounds out so much, that only her older siblings would still play with her. Luckily she found Mai and Michiru, and together they discovered their abilities and learned to control them.
Michiru's thoughts were similar. As a child, she couldn't differentiate between the living and spirits, and she would constantly confuse the two. Her parents were freaking out, and discussed sending her to an asylum, but her aunt – who is a medium herself – intervened and trained her, and eventually took her in. When she met Mai, her abilities calmed down and stabilized, and Michiru made her first friend who didn't think she was crazy at one point in her life.
Michiru and Keiko looked at Mai with guilt written in their eyes, and both of them apologized.
"Sorry. It's just – it's not the same. We struggled so hard for control, and trained for so long until we could make our abilities dormant, but she just comes along and blabs on and on about her abilities when she has never even used them before!" Keiko's indignation was tangible in her voice, and Michiru nodded, signaling that she agreed with her.
"As far as we know, Kuroda is probably unaware of her abilities – meaning that she is making it all up." Michiru added.
"Well, I never said that Kuroda isn't a braggart, and she certainly is dragging the entirety of psychics through the mud – but you still shouldn't call her a whore."
"Hai," her friends answered in unison.
"Well, now that this topic is over, I challenge you to another round of Mario Kart!" Michiru declared.
"Bring it on, Michi!"
"You are going down!"
Monday, 8am
Come Monday, the entire school had heard about Kuroda's claim that the old building was haunted. While many did not believe, a few believers were found throughout the school – and rumors started spreading. Mai considered it a positive thing. After all, the rumors would keep out the students – she and her trio were the only ones interested in the paranormal aside from Kuroda.
Wednesday, 5pm
This was why Wednesday found Michiru, Yuuri, Keiko and Mai once again telling ghost stories in the A/V room. Mai had just finished her retelling of the 'woman and the red cloak' story – a classic really – when she noticed a faint presence approaching them. She didn't consider it important and focused on Michiru as she began her story.
"Alright, the story I brought today is the story about the old school building that is currently coursing through the school."
Absentmindedly Mai noticed that the presence had stopped at the door and was probably listening in.
"It is the story Kuroda told me, and almost everyone believes it to be true."
Here, Michiru, Keiko and Mai shared an amused look. Yuuri wasn't in on the true story, but had been told by Mai to stay out of the old building. Naturally, she heeded the warning. It was a well-known fact throughout the whole school that when Mai told you to do (or not do) something, you listened – somehow she was never wrong. Yuuri wondered if this story was the reason for Mai's warning.
"That building was cursed. A lot of strange incidents happened there. Every year a teacher and a pupil died there. Whether it was in a fire or an incident, only bad things happened there. Then the new school building was built ten years ago.
"That time, when they had to demolish the old building to start the construction, strange things happened. A machine stopped working and workers got ill. But still they tried to break the west wall, and the roof fell down, all the way from the second floor. All of the workers on the first floor died." Here, Michiru made a small pause to allow the story to seep in.
"Diseases, injuries, incidents..." She continued in a creepy voice.
"Therefore the construction was suspended. It was left like that, with the west side collapsed, for a long time. However, after that unpleasant things continued to happen. A child from the neighborhood was found dead in the ex-building, three days after that a teacher committed suicide there..."
Mai allowed a smile to grace her lips. She loved a good ghost story. She glanced at the people surrounding her. Yuuri looked spooked, Keiko hung on Michiru's lips despite knowing it was a made up story, and Michiru looked please. In the light of the only remaining flashlight, it was a positively scary expression. The presence from before was lingering by the door, listening in intently, while attempting to stay hidden. What a strange person.
"The demolition was restarted last year in order to rebuild the gym. But again only the half of it got demolished, before the work got suspended. The exact same as last time. A machine broke, a worker got injured…
"Once a truck went out of control and drove through the sport ground during class. Two students died, and seven were severely injured. It was on the newspapers too." Michiru keeps going on in a low voice, effectively scaring Michiru and Keiko, and even Mai felt a little shiver wander down her back.
"My senpai's friend saw a man's ghost at the ex-building... A person's white shadow was looking at her from the second floor, she said. The road around the school fence isn't a place to walk at night. Apparently, my senpai went to check it out. She says that there was a white figure in the window, waving at her as she passed by. Her dog started barking and running away, effectively pulling my senpai with him. She is certain that he saved her life."
"...I'm turning it off." Michiru said quietly. The room got quiet again. With a weak sound Michiru's penlight disappeared. The vicinity was wrapped up in the darkness and the sound of the rain.
"One..." Keiko says with a hazy voice from inside the darkness. Her voice is trembling.
After we tell the ghost stories and turn off the lights we have to count upwards from one. The last one should be a ghost.
"Two..." Yuuri's voice.
"Three..." Mai's turn.
"Four..." Michiru's low voice.
There are four of us. Are we about to hear a fifth voice? She was curious. Of course, if we were to hear a fifth voice, it would be from the presence at the door and not from a spirit, but nobody apart from me knows that.
They strained their ears, hearing nothing but raindrops. Then, suddenly, another voice sounded through the room.
"FIVE"
"KYAAA!"
Michiru, Keiko and Yuuri were completely freaking out. Mai laughed quietly – seriously, Michiru, you are a medium. You would have felt a ghost approaching. And Keiko, what are you doing – you have accompanied Michiru and I on a cleansing often enough to know that I would have said something if a ghost had appeared.
"Was-was that you?" Keiko asked with a fearful voice.
"Yes... did I do something wrong?"
Ah, so he was the presence at the door. Hmm… no malicious intentions. He's alright. Mai allowed her aura to grow comforting – signaling to her friends that he was alright.
Michiru sits down relieved. She had picked up on Mai's signal the quickest – as a medium, she was more spiritually sensitive than Keiko.
"Ah, that surprised me. I thought I was going to die."
"Excuse me. The lights were off so I thought there was nobody in here, but suddenly I heard voices... so I just..." Mai almost snorted. Yeah right… You were listening in from the beginning.
"That's... it's alright!" Keiko says joyfully. Obviously, she too had picked up on the signal. "Are you an exchange student?"
The boy paused a little. "...is it like that, I wonder..." He mumbled under his breath. Mai frowned. What's with the pause? Either you are, you aren't. Strange. Plus, I feel a lot of spiritual power from him – PK and… is that psychometry? What a weird mixture. Usually, you either have PK or ESP… not both. Michiru's voice pulled Mai out of her musings.
"A first-year?"
"...I'm seventeen this year." What a strange way to answer. Weird. Even though he has no bad intentions, he isn't who he lets them assume he is. Plus, he has that incredibly dense energy… Something isn't adding up here.
"So, you are a senpai." Keiko says that with a lively voice. She is the kind that is attracted by looks, and now that she has ascertained that he is no danger to any of them, she wants to flirt with him. Typical. Mai almost smiled at her friend's antics.
"We are sorry to have surprised you too! We were telling ghost stories."
"Heeh…" He said and smiled. It doesn't reach his eyes…
"Would you mind if I joined you?" Everyone screamed in delight.
"Please, please... Sit here." Michiru pulled his arm.
"What's your name?"
"Shibuya..." Keiko's eyes formed a heart at that moment.
"Shibuya-senpai, do you like ghost stories too?"
"Sort of." He smiled. I have never seen a smile that was that forced before. Everyone screamed happily again, but Mai could still feel restlessness coming from him – as if interacting and socializing with them wasn't something he was interested in.
"Shibuya-san..." Mai said, and he turned in her direction.
"Mm?" Again with the fake smile. But I can feel it. This guy had something hidden under the surface. His eyes aren't smiling, and his body is tense. I bet I'd be able to pick up some really unpleasant thoughts if I tried. This obviously wasn't something that he planned on doing.
"What are you doing in a place like this?"
"I had something to take care of." Wow, can you get any vaguer?
"Then do it faster, because we're going home now." Mai had decided to voice her opinion.
"Eeh?!" Keiko and Michiru exclaimed, dissatisfied. Even Yuuri who has been quiet until now, pulls my uniform. However, one look from me silenced them.
"That Mai...Don't worry about it senpai. What is it that you have to do here? We will help you!" Keiko was obviously trying to salvage the situation while still fleeing as soon as possible.
"...Ah, it's only some tape dubbing..." Shibuya once again forces his smile. It basically screams 'excuse'.
"The truth is, I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. How about next time you tell ghost stories, you let me join in?" Heh… So he's getting on with the program now that we are too.
"Then, tomorrow after school!" Keiko… What are you doing?
"Alright. Where?"
"Our homeroom! Room 1-F!"
He smiled, bowing his head in assent.
"Okay, then we'll be going now. Goodbye." Michiru stood in an unusually graceful manner.
"Take care."
"Bye!"
Wednesday, 7pm
Michiru, Mai and Keiko bid goodbye to Yuuri and were on their way to the subway.
"What was that, Mai? You had already given the okay – do you want him for yourself?" I threw Keiko an annoyed look.
"Of course not. It's just… something about him doesn't add up."
"What do you mean?" Mai had Michiru's complete attention now, though Keiko was frowning at her.
"First of all, his smile. It is clearly forced and doesn't reach his eyes. It's almost like he's acting. Second, he let you make assumptions about who he is – it is obvious that he isn't a student. At least not from our school, and he is also not an exchange student. Thirdly, he has an incredibly dense energy. He's probably the most powerful psychic I have ever encountered. Fourth, he was listening in on us the whole time since Michiru told her story. Fifth, his 'tape dubbing' just screams 'excuse!'. So you see, while he has no malicious intentions I could pick up on, something definitely isn't adding up."
During the whole time Mai spoke, neither Michiru nor Keiko said a word. They knew not to interrupt her when she was in 'lecture' mode – it always pissed her off. And pissy Mai was no fun to deal with. Plus, she was never wrong about stuff like that – her instincts were always spot on.
Keiko sighed. "Ah, but I want to flirt with him!" She was practically whining.
"I'm not saying you can't do that. Just – don't expect everything from him back, alright? He obviously wasn't honest with you. That doesn't mean that you can't try – first impressions may be wrong after all – but keep that in mind, alright?"
This time, both Michiru and Keiko sighed.
"Hai," they answered in unison.
Boarding the subway, they talked about everything and nothing, like high school girls were prone to do. Mai noticed, however, that Keiko kept circling back to the 'handsomeness' of 'senpai'. It was clear that she was crushing a bit. Michiru and Mai just shook their head smiling.
Thursday, 2pm
The next day, when Mai returned from the toilet, she saw her friends holding a conversation with Shibuya-senpai. Sighing, she ambled her way over to them, catching the tail end of their conversation.
" – glad that you'll join us later for the stories!"
"Do you always tell them after school?"
"Well, not always. But it's a great way to spend time and it is a lot of fun too, therefore –" Kuroda interrupted Keiko's excited voice.
"Hmpf, so you girls are the reason I've been having headaches all week! Haven't I told you guys before that telling ghost stories isn't fun? It's dangerous! You are calling ghosts here, endangering everybody!"
Mai could see that both Keiko and Michiru were about to blow up at Kuroda, and decided to intervene.
"Kuroda-san, telling ghost stories doesn't call spirits down to you. You would have to hold certain rituals for that to happen, but we don't do those. You needn't worry about that." She kept her voice reasonable and calm, hoping to keep Kuroda from blowing up at her. Unfortunately, that didn't work.
"Who the hell do you think you are? You are just an amateur that knows nothing!"
"And you are just a phony!" Keiko interrupted.
"How dare you speak to Mai like that?" Was that anger Mai detected in Michiru's voice? "Anyways, there aren't any ghosts here."
"Of course there are! I can see them, they are trapped in the old school building!"
"What kind of spirits?" Shibuya's cold voice interfered.
"Hmpf, the spirits from the war of course! The school was a hospital during that time, and now those wounded soldiers and nurses that died there during an air raid are still lingering here!" What complete bullshit.
"Which war?"
"The second World War." Shibuya gave a sarcastic smile.
"Oh? I wasn't aware that there was a hospital here then. This school has been here since before pre-war days… And before that this was a medical school. Is it possible that you are seeing those spirits?"
"Who knows? It's possible! Anyways, you girls need to stop telling those ghost stories, or my headache will never go away." With that, Kuroda turned on her heel and stalked out of the class room.
"Grand-standing busybody," Keiko muttered under her breath.
"I'm sorry Shibuya-senpai, but I don't think I'm in the mood to tell ghost stories today…" Yuuri stated. Mai, Michiru and Keiko were quick to agree and bid him goodbye.
From the corner of her eye Mai say Shibuya-senpai narrowing his eyes and looking at them suspiciously. Then, as if contemplating something, he slightly tilted his head to the side. Obviously coming to a conclusion, he called out to them.
"Hey girls," they turned around, and Mai saw that he was wearing that fake smile again. It's probably supposed to be charming. "Would it be possible to get your phone numbers?"
Keiko and Yuuri squealed. They almost tripped over themselves in their haste to get to Shibuya-senpai. Michiru looked hesitant at first, but eventually ambled over to him too. Mai turned around, intending to walk away, when he called out to her again.
"Hey, can I get yours to Miss…"
"Taniyama. Taniyama Mai. And no, you can't." Mai spoke over her shoulder, not turning back to him. She still saw the bewildered look that passed over his face.
"I see. May I know why?"
"Well, I don't have a smartphone. Besides, even if I had one, I still wouldn't give you my number. I make it a point not to hand out my phone number to strangers. Good day, Shibuya-senpai." With that, Mai continued her walk, and left Shibuya-senpai standing there. Unknown to her, she had just picked his interest, and Shibuya was sporting a handsome smirk on his face that made Keiko squeal again.
Heh… Somebody who is obviously knowledgeable about the supernatural and capable of looking through my charm? Interesting. Taniyama Mai, huh. I wonder what she knows about the case.
Friday, 1:30 pm
The next day found Mai once again being bored to death by her teachers. Who the hell needed math, anyway? It's not like she was striving to study it or something.
Looking out of the window, Mai could see Shibuya-senpai standing with another guy next to a van. The guy appeared to be quite tall, but he was too far away for Mai to make out any more details. She had only recognized Shibuya-senpai because she had memorized his energy signature.
While Mai continued to watch them, she unknowingly activated her 'second sight' as she called it. Sure, second sight was usually associated with sensing spirits, but what else would you call the ability to perceive energy? Mai found that a fitting name.
Stoicism. That was the first thing she noticed in the energy of both men. Though it seemed like senpai aimed to be that way, while it was a natural part of the tall person.
The next thing she noticed was the ease in their energy, the relaxation in their aura. Whatever they are doing right now is probably something that they do often.
Then she noticed how their energies reached out to each other. Interesting. They have either known each other for quite some time and trust the other unconditionally and with their lives, or they are lovers. Wonder which one it is? At this thought, Mai almost laughed out loud. Wouldn't it be hilarious if senpai was gay and all those girls were chasing after him for nothing?
Lastly, she noticed that both of them are psychics. While she could easily make out senpai's abilities – PK:ST and psychometry, like she deducted yesterday – the tall one's remained a mystery. She could only say that they were quite powerful, though weaker than senpai's. He was the second most powerful psychic Mai had ever encountered, first being Shibuya-senpai.
All of a sudden, Mai's senses picked up on two other energy sources. They were clearly walking in Shibuya's direction, and were also psychic.
Geez, what the hell is going on? Was there some kind of announcement like 'come here if you are psychic and get a million yen'? Otherwise, why the hell are all of them here?
The other two presences were now talking with senpai and Tall, and she could recognize them as a male and a female. Additionally, the female's energy seemed to be deeply interconnected with… trees? What the hell? Though, apart from the tree thingy her energy is quite ordinary. Probably a low level spiritualist, though I'm interested in the tree thingy.
The man's energy, on the other hand, was fairly powerful. If she had to guess, she would say that he is capable of performing exorcisms, but she couldn't tell anything else from his aura.
The aura from senpai and Tall grew displeased by the arrival of Female and Male. But it seemed like they weren't the only ones – Male and Female were also quite displeased. All of their aura's gained some sort of attribute that Mai had rarely ever witnessed. That was the reason it took her quite some time, probably around five minutes, to figure it out: pride, haughtiness, and jealousy.
Mai watched as their aura's grew more and more enraged, while senpai and Tall grew displeased and annoyed respectively. Then, when Mai thought it couldn't get worse and that they would start fighting physically soon, another two presences approached them.
Mai could recognize one as her principal (though barely, she had only seen him a grand total of two times), and the other was a very kind, but nonetheless firm and powerful presence. He was undeniably a psychic as well, though – as were Male and Female – a spiritualist rather than a psychic with an ability.
She was still uncertain in which Tall belonged – while his power was undeniably focused outwards and received strength and power from it like a spiritualist, she also felt an inner strength. She had never experienced something like that before.
Though Kind probably belongs in that category as well. But it's strange… His power comes simultaneously from himself, and from another source I cannot locate. Yet, it is completely focused outwards, but without being harmful like Tall's or Male's. It's a kind power – much like his aura. Kind and gentle.
Now, the auras of Male and Female grew very amused, if not mocking, Tall was completely unaffected, and was senpai's... sympathetic? What the hell?
Suddenly Male and Female's aura changed into one of grudging respect and slight wariness, while senpai and Tall were both a bit surprised and respectfulness. Interesting. But I reiterate – what the hell? First of all, what are so many psychics doing here, and what is up with their personalities?
Mai was pulled out of her musings by a well-aimed piece of chalk that hit her straight in the middle of her forehead. Ow.
"Taniyama-san, please answer the question!" Ogawa-sensei seems a little to smug for Mai's liking. Carefully, she reached out with her energy and asked Michiru for entrance, which she easily gave. Sifting through her surface thoughts, my easily found the question – some annoyingly hard math problem – and Mai quickly devised her answer.
Upon hearing her answer – which wasn't completely correct, but she only made one small mistake by missing a certain step – her teacher seemed to deflate a bit, and his smugness vanished. Mai easily picked up his surface thoughts: 'One day, Taniyama, one day I'll get you while you're spacing out!"
Mai grinned. She knew that the teacher were trying to catch her while she was spacing out, seeing as how it happened quite often, despite Michiru's and Keiko's constant warnings. Still, it felt great showing up the teachers like that – even if it was through some uncommon psychic help and her friends.
When Mai looked out of the window again, the small group she was watching before had disappeared. Stretching out her senses, she tried unsuccessfully to find them. Deciding to take it up a notch – further than she ever had before – she finally picked up faint traces of them in the old school building, but there were too many energy sources in between them for Mai to pick up anything else. Damn students. They were quite interesting to watch.
Sighing, Mai resigned herself to the fate of being bored to death. The question about what they were doing in the old school building in the first place completely slipped her mind.
Friday, 5pm
Shibuya Kazuya was having a bad day.
Firstly, he had to deal with annoying high school girls fawning over him in order to get some required information about the rumors concerning the old school building. Secondly, he met a strange girl who told everyone willing to listen and those unwilling that telling ghost stories summons ghosts and how it gives her headaches, which led to a fight between her and the girls he had charmed into telling him the rumors. He had hoped to get some more information from them as he wasn't able to hear the full story the last time, but the girl destroyed their 'mood' and ruined his chances.
Then, the principal apparently didn't trust him and hired not one, not two, but three exorcists as well as a famous television medium. Then, the strange girl, Kuroda something, showed up, claiming to be psychic, and directly contradicting Hara-san.
Then, Matsuzaki-san, one of the aforementioned exorcists, managed to get trapped in a room and screamed bloody murder. He thought she was being killed or something, but there hadn't even been an appearance of a ghost – a nail had shut her in, which resulted in a cat fight between Matsuzaki-san and Hara-san. Worse, he wasn't able to get a reading of the nail with his psychometry.
And then, as if all that hadn't been enough, Hara-san managed to fall through the wall from the second floor, and one of the girls he charmed earlier that day was doing something to her. This really wasn't his day.
Friday, 4.54 pm
Mai just finished her cleaning duties and was on her way to leaving the premise, when the wind carried a scream to her ears, with the plead to 'help her'. Whoever 'her' was. Mai assumed that it was the one who had screamed, but until she was on site she couldn't be sure.
Therefore, Mai fully opened her second sight and allowed the wind to lead her there, while breaking out into a run. One minute later she arrived, and saw a girl – probably somewhere around her age – lying on the soil in front of the old school building, obviously hurt and unconscious.
Sighing, Mai lowered herself so that she was kneeling next to her. She allowed her mental barriers to fade a bit, and homed in on the aura of the girl. Promptly Mai received a vision about falling through the wall after leaning against it, and hitting the ground hard.
Shaking her head at the stupidity of some people – seriously, who leans against the wall in an obviously decrepit building – Mai started running a check of her injuries.
Hmm… Two broken ribs, internal bleeding, and a slight concussion. Nothing too bad, but nothing I can leave alone either.
Sighing once again, she got to work, painfully aware of the audience that was beginning to form around her. Firstly she repaired the concussion. This required so little effort that there wasn't a visible trace of her powers.
When she got to work on mending the bones and stopping the internal bleeding, however, a bit of her healing aura (which is always green) became visible, engulfing her hand. When she retracted her hand and stood up, ready to go home now, a cold voice intercepted her.
"What did you just do to Hara-san?" Ah, it was senpai.
"Nothing really. I just healed her. Now, if you don't mind Shibuya-senpai, I have to go home." Turning to leave, she was once again stopped when he grabbed her by the wrist.
"Is that so? Why would you heal her, and why are you able to do it in the first place? There are currently no registered healers in Japan."
"She fell down from the second floor. Were you expecting me to just leave her here? I won't bother to answer the second question. Besides, I don't see how that is your business. Goodbye, Shibuya-senpai, but I have to leave now." Turning to leave once again, Mai was once again stopped by the jerk.
"It is my business because I made it mine. And you cannot leave yet, because I want to talk about this with you. You wouldn't want to waste the opportunity to spend quality time with me, now would you?" Shibuya used a sultry voice and gave Mai a winning smile. Well, winning to everyone else. Mai saw through his fake smile immediately.
"I'm not interested, Shibuya-san."
"How can you not be interested? I am undoubtly the most handsome man you will ever meet. Everybody is interested!" Shibuya sounded positively scandalized. What a narcissist. Naru-chan the narcissist!
"Listen here, Naru-chan. I. Am. Not. Interested. Have a nice day." With that, Mai turned around. Naru's hand had slackened from shock, allowing Mai to actually gain a bit distance.
"Naru-chan? Where have you heard that?!" Naru's tone was icy and sharp, probably more than he intended.
"Naru-chan the narcissist. It's no wonder that other people have called you that before me!" With that, Mai left the school ground, leaving a shocked group of bystanders in her wake. She did hear, however, when laughter started to echo through the school, and smirked to herself.
What an interesting bunch. AH, I forgot to ask what they did in there in the first place! Meh, it's not like it matters.
And with that, Mia boarded the subway.
Monday, 7.55 am
Mai was running a bit late, but if she hurried, she could still make it. She was currently at the subway station situated 5 minutes away from school. If she ran, she could make it within 3, giving her enough time to change shoes and arrive in the classroom before the teacher.
Mai sighed. She hates running, but it seemed like she had no choice now. As soon as the traffic light turned green, Mai sped down the sidewalk, all the while congratulating herself for her speed and endurance that she honed throughout the years of being late due to unfortunate accidents.
Monday, 8 am
Mai slid into her seat just as the teacher entered the room.
"Mai! Psst." Michiru whispered. Mai turned around, and saw Michiru sitting at her desk, holding up a piece of paper.
Stealthily, Mai turned around and accepted it, making sure that the teacher didn't notice anything. Once everything had settled down after greeting the teacher, Mai opened the note and started reading.
Shibuya-senpai was here today before the classes started. He asked around for you. Was after information, sounded a lot like he wanted to figure out if you are psychic. Be careful around him.
Mai groaned. Just her luck – she did them a favor by healing that girl, and instead of being grateful about it he started investigating her? Perfect. Deciding that she couldn't hide it from her friends, she wrote a message back.
Girl fell from old school building, 2nd floor. I healed her, they saw. He asked questions, I deflected. Seems like I picked his interest…
She handed the note to Michiru, who quickly got a facial expression of annoyance before handing it over to Keiko. She looked a mixture of incredulous and annoyed, and Mai was certain that before long she would get a lecture from them about 'thinking before acting'. Great. Just what I needed.
Monday, 9.15 am
"STUDENTS TANIYAMA MAI AND KURODA, PLEASE COME TO THE PRINCIPALS OFFICE. STUDENTS TANIYAMA AND KURODA, TO THE PRINCIPALS OFFICE."
Mai shared a look with Michiru and Keiko before standing up. Seems like Naru made his move.
As she walked with Kuroda towards the office, Kuroda started a conversation. "Taniyama-san, do you know why we were called?"
"No, not a clue. But it's probably due to the old school building, don't you think?"
"Hmm, it better be. Shibuya-sans theory of land subsidence is hilarious." Mai sighed. Is she still holding on to her delusions? But it seems like Naru figured it out. There was never a ghost in the first place, it is all happening due to the ground giving in.
However, that was when Mai inspected Kuroda a bit more closely. Huh? What is that? Seems like Kuroda's energy awakened… PK. But, while it seems to have awoken, at the same time it seems like it is still sleeping… What the hell?
Shortly afterwards, Mai and Kuroda reached the principal's office, where they were greeted by Naru and the other people that were on site when she healed the Kimono clad girl.
"Everybody, please take a seat." Naru nodded to Tall, who switched the light off and shut the curtains, pulling the room in darkness. Then, Naru switched on a strange red lamp, which's light immediately made everyone sleepy.
"Relax. I want you to focus completely on the light and on my voice." Again, he made a short break. "Your body is relaxed. Your shoulders lose their tension, your posture relaxes. You feel your tension and anxiety and everything else leave your body through your fingertips, until the only thing that remains is peace." Naru's voice was relaxing, soft, and rose and fell in nice cadences, lulling everybody deeper into sleep.
"Now your eyelids become heavy, and you can feel them closing on their own. You become sleepy."
Mai, like everybody else, was deeply affected by the mixture of Naru's voice and the pulsating deep red light. All their bodies became relaxed, their eyelids heavy, and their minds drowsy. Eventually, Naru's voice seemed to come from far away.
"Tonight... In the old school building… A chair is standing in the lab… That chair is going to move… All by itself…" In her drowsy state, Mai's mind slowly began repeating the words. Chair moves… Old school building… laboratory…
But even in her drowsy state Mai noticed how Kuroda's energy slowly began flaring. Strange…
Then, suddenly, Naru opened the curtains and switched the red lamp off. Startled, Mai looked at him with wide eyes.
"Thank you for your cooperation, everybody. You can now return to whatever you were doing before. Who the hell does he think he is?
Sure enough, Male and Female began arguing with Naru. Not wanting to be caught up in that, she quickly grabbed Kuroda's hand and said "Come on, let's return to the class room.
Monday, 4 pm
"What were you thinking, Mai? We told you to think before you act!" Michiru was fuming at her.
"I'm sorry, Michi-chan. But that girl fell from the second story. She had broken ribs, inner bleeding, and a concussion. If she had gone to the hospital she would have stayed there quite a while."
"But still, Mai –"
"No, Keiko. Yes, it was unfortunate that they witnessed the scene, but I would do it again if given the chance." Mai softened her voice. "I don't like people suffer, especially not if I have the ability to help them. I'm sorry."
Michiru sighed. "Don't apologize, Mai. We know that, and we love that about you. We are just worried."
"Yeah," Keiko piped up, "we don't want to see a repeat of that incident." Mai nodded. She still didn't like talking, or even thinking about it for that matter.
Keiko, looking for a topic change, started an appreciation speech about Hakuro, an upperclassman, who is the captain of the basketball team. Quickly, Mai blended her and Michiru out as they swooned about him.
Wednesday, 4 pm
School was out for the day, and when Mai attempted to leave the classroom, Naru stood there.
"Hello, Mai. Can I talk with you for a bit?" Nodding, she followed him to the field behind the school Michiru, Mai and Keiko frequented.
"What do you want?" Apprehension and hostility filled her voice. She was afraid that this would be a repeat of that event.
"I wanted to talk to you about your abilities, Mai." Oh no.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Fake it 'til you make it.
"I think you do. Don't worry, I won't go around proclaiming to the world what you can do. It is obvious that you are a healer, and they are unfortunately always exploited by society."
"And you won't?"
"I won't lie and say that I don't want to use your abilities. It is obvious that you are very talented, as you were able to heal Hara-san's injuries very quickly." Hara-san? Is that the girl's name?
"In my line of work, someone with your abilities is very useful." AT her questioning look, Naru elaborated. I am a ghost hunter. Me and my assistant, Lin, purify and exorcise hauntings. Unfortunately, that isn't usually without injuries. Just for that I would like to have you on my team. But that is not everything you can do, is it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I talked with many of your school mates. Apparently, you have killer instincts, and give great advice. That goes so far, that when you tell somebody to do or not do something, they always listen to you." He gave her a probing look. "You aren't only able to heal, are you?"
Mai took in a sharp breath of air. She deliberated, weighed, brainstormed, and – after full five minutes of silence – she decided to tell him.
"No. My primary ability is healing, but I got a secondary ability which developed over time – I call it 'second sight'." She could see that Naru was listening intently.
"It… basically enables me to sense energy. I know that 'second sight' usually refers to sensing ghosts and stuff, but I found it fitting."
"What exactly can you do?"
"Well… I am not quite sure how I should explain it and if there is a name for my ability – or if it even appeared before – but the closes description I can give is that I am interconnected with energy." Naru didn't show the confusion on his face, but I could feel it in his energy.
"I am not sure how well I can explain it, but I will do my best. You know, everywhere around and in us exists energy. Life itself is energy. Psychic abilities, both PK and ESP, as well as stuff like exorcisms, are basically the usage of the energy in and around us." Here she paused briefly – no reason to tell Naru everything when she didn't know if she could trust him yet.
"I can sense energy in its purest form, while everybody else can only see it once it was converted into a certain shape – for example spirits. In other words, I can sense the energy around me, which would include every living being, and even the botanic around me, as well as those who have already passed on."
"Meaning, you are basically the best medium around."
"No. A normal medium would be able to interact with the spirit, and give you a description of their appearance. The only thing I can do is sense when it is in my range, and identify its emotions – maybe even a few of their foremost thoughts."
"Their foremost thoughts? What do you mean?" Fuck. I didn't mean to let that slip…
"Ahahaha, you know, nothing, it was just – "
"Mai. Don't lie to me." His voice was strict and demanding, but Mai wasn't sure if she could trust him with that.
"Mai… You can tell me." But Mai was biting her lip, still unsure. Going out on a limb, Naru made an important decision.
"Mai. As a sign of trust, I will let you in on a secret – and I hope I won't regret this. My name is not Shibuya Kazuya. That is just an alias. My true name is Oliver Davis, renowned professor of parapsychology. I am currently in japan due to personal business, and am incognito." Mai stared at him with wide eyes –could it be? It would certainly explain the mix of PK and ESP that I noticed in his energy – Davis-hakase is famous for his combination of PK and psychometry. Deciding to trust him, Mai phrased her answer carefully.
You can trust him.
That is Professor Oliver Davis.
Trust him.
"Why did you tell me that?"
"I have two reasons. Number one, I want to show you that you can trust me by letting you in on a secret of my own. Number two, I want you to understand that I know that psychic abilities – especially and strong and rare ones – are often exploited and experimented with, and that I have no interest in making you experience that." Mai could feel the honesty reverberating through his aura, and had already decided to trust him. Still, a few question had to be answered.
"Then what do you want?"
"I want you as a part of my team to minimize major injuries and casualties. And, if you would permit it, I would like to research and document your abilities as reference for others who may have that gift. I promise that I will do nothing that you don't want and that I will ask you for permission before publishing anything in reference to your abilities. Alright?" Mai nodded.
"Then, can you tell me what other abilities you have?" Taking a deep breath and listening to her instinct that screamed at her to trust him, Mai started.
"Well, as I already told you, my primary ability is healing, my secondary is energy sensing. Energy sensing permits me to pick up anything infused with energy – living beings, my surroundings, spirits – as long as they are in my range.
"But that is not everything I can do. I can also… pick up anything infused with energy even if it isn't something with conscious thought. I can, for example, read the energy of someone to determine their emotions, and pick up the past of something if it is important enough. Same with the future. In addition to that, I can pick up the thoughts of someone if I want to – but I usually keep that suppressed."
"Meaning, you can basically emulate aura reading, pre- and post-cognitive abilities, and telepathy?" Naru looked really surprised.
"Yeah. Then there are two other things, though I am not sure if they are truly psychic abilities." Naru just threw her a look that said 'stop wasting time, just tell me'.
"My… instincts are usually spot on, and I sometimes get… 'messages' from the wind."
"Elaborate."
"I don't really know how. Sometimes, the wind just carries certain things to my ear – pleads for help, information I require, stuff like that. The reason I helped Kimono girl that day was due to the wind carrying her pleads for help to me."
"Hmm… Interesting." Naru fixed his eyes intently on me.
"Taniyama Mai. I'd like to offer you a job as a part-timer in SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research. If you accept, you will fulfill the duties of an assistant and help on cases. You will be paid handsomely. If you furthermore decide to accept being researched by me – whether that is now or at some other point – SPR will cover the entirety of your living expenses and every wish you may have that is appropriate. Additionally, please keep my true identity a secret from anybody else. I will send a contract to your apartment. If you accept, please sign it and come to the office as soon as possible to discuss your working hours. Goodbye."
With that, he left, and a thoroughly confused Mai looked after him.
Seriously, he's so strange – at first, he is a total (faking) charmer, then a total narcissistic ass, then completely rational, then he suddenly opens up about his identity and becomes fairly friendly, and then he leaves me here like that – what the heck?!
It was only on the subway that Mai realized why Naru was so shocked about her nickname for him at first – it had probably to do with his true identity.
Well, seems like I will be researching Oliver Davis for a bit tonight.
AN:
And done. A day later than anticipated, but I think it's fine. For everyone following Akahana Mai, that chapter will still take a while.
Before people start grilling me about Naru giving out his true identity, I think that it makes sense. He is interested in Mai's ability, and in the universe I created healers are very rare. (think like only 5 exist or something.) For that he needs to have her trust, and that would be a good way to get that.
Hope you enjoyed this, and let me know what you think and if you want more!
If I continue this, I will mix original cases with the canon ones. The canon ones will all be done in a single chapter, while the originals will most likely come in multiple ones (I can orientate myself on the novel for the canon ones).
I'm saying this right away, though: this story DOES NOT have an update schedule, and the priority lies with Akahana Mai: A different journey.
Which pairings do you want for Mai?
MaRu (Mai x Naru)
MaLi (Mai x Lin)
(I will put up a poll some time later today)
Until next time,
One Autumn Leaf