I thought you loved me...
Why did you do it? Why?
I forgive you, I still love you, daddy...
Mai Taniyama walked through the office door of Shibuya Psychic Research. "It is really hot out there, I thought the weather people said it was supposed to cool down by now!" She started babbling as soon as she sat down her bag. "You're late." The sweet soothing voice of her boss, Kazuya Shibuya (better known by his nickname, Naru), floated through the room. "Sorry, but one of my old friends called and I haven't seen them in forev-" She didn't get to finish because Naru cut her off. "What you do outside of work doesn't interest me, I need tea." Mai sighed, and was about to answer when she noticed there were three silhouettes from behind the paper wall. 'Oh! He's with a client!' She thought before going off to make his tea. As it brewed, Mai tried to listen to what the three were discussing, but all she heard were quiet murmurs. When it was done she quickly brought it to her boss.
When Mai turned the corner she found Naru talking with two othe people, two men; one had a slightly chubby figure and seemed to be in his mid to late fifties, the other man seemed to be the elder man's son and couldn't have been much older than Takigawa. "Here you go." She said and handed Naru the the tea. "Oh I'm sorry, would you two like some too?" She asked, now addressing the two men. The younger man smiled. "Oh, no thank you." He said sincerely. The other man shook his head no. Once again the younger man spoke. "My name is Toshi Endo, and this is my father, Yori." He introduced. Again, Yori nodded. Mai just smiled back and responded, "My name's Mai Taniyama." Toshi smiled. "It's nice to meet you Mai." Mai thought for a moment. "Wait, Endo, you mean like from the Endo inn? The one that sits by the lake outside of town?" She asked curiously. Toshi nodded. "That's the one!" Mai was about to say more, but Naru cleared his throat.
"The Endo's and I were discussing a possible case." He said blankly, trying to get the appointment back on track. Mai sighed before walking over and standing next to Naru, getting the hint that was men to tell her to be quiet.
"Oh, I'm sorry for getting distracted." Toshi said.
"Would you mind telling me why you think you're inn is haunted?"
"Of course." The young man nodded, then looked over to his father expectantly. Mai was surprised when he was the one to speak.
"About twenty years ago," Yori began, his voice was gravelly and he sounded as if he was very tired. "A man named Shigeo Kochi and his wife, Azumi, showed up at our Inn and begged us for a room. They didn't have much money, but Azumi was pregnant and needed to rest before going to the hospital the next day. At the time, my wife, Emi, was also pregnant with my son here. Both Azumi and Emi gave birth that night, almost at the same time, it was almost like fate." The old man smiled, remembering the birth of his son.
"Azumi gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and named her Kotone." Mai inturrupted, "Kotone, doesn't that name translate to 'harp sound'?" She asked. Yori nodded. "Kotone didn't cry much, not even when she was born, but when she did, Azumi said the sound was as beautiful as a harp." Noru glared up at Mai, almost as if saying, 'don't interrupt again'. "Please continue."
"We became good friends with the Kochi's, and let them live at our inn at a reduced rate. By the time Kotone and my son were three, they were both best friends. Not a day would go by when you couldn't hear them running up and down the hallway, laughing without a care in the world..."
"Like my father said, Kotone didn't talk much, but sometimes we would whisper secrets to each other, and then we would laugh all day because no one except us knew our secrets." Toshi said. He was smiling, but it was a sad smile. "Even when she whisperd and laughed, it was still as beautiful as a harp."
Yori continued. "When Kotone turned seven, her mother got sick. It wasn't bad at first, but over the course of a year it got worse and she became bedridden. Two months after Kotone turned eight, Azumi passed away." Mai frowned, the happy story was beginning to get sad...
"Shigeo and Kotone, and my family, were devastated. Shigeo handled it the best he could, but his mental state quickly deteriorated and he became severely depressed."
"Kotone did too." Toshi added. "She didn't laugh as much, and she didn't play much either."
"After about six more months, Shigeo finally snapped." Yori began again. "He planned a murder suicide." You could tell by the way Yori spoke that he was on the edge if tears; if they were out if anger or sadness, Mai couldn't tell.
"One night he gave Kotone half a bottle of sleeping pills and waited by her side until she got very drowsy. Then, when she was barely conscious, Shigeo carried his daughter out to the balcony of their room, which is on the second story, and threw her into the lake." Mai gasped.
Toshi, surprisingly was the first one to let tears fall. "She probably would of survived if... If she wasn't so drowsy from the sleeping pills he gave her." Toshi was now speaking more out of anger than sadness. Yori put a hand on his son's shoulder, Toshi slowly calmed down.
"How do you know this?" Noru asked. "You said Shigeo had planned a murder suicide, so how do you know all this happened?" Mai nudged her boss a little with her elbow, because the why he talked sounded a bit insensitive.
"Shigeo had planned to jump into the water after his daughter. But my my brother and I had come up to check on him, and pulled him off the edge of the balcony before he could. He told us everything... He also said that as he carried Kotone to the balcony, that she was still slightly awake. He said that she kept looking at him, and smiling. But when he let her go over the edge... She was crying." Yori was frowning and nearly crying by this time. "They took him to prison, but he was only there for two days before he hung himself... That day the possessions started."
Noru looked up from writing notes. "Possessions?" He asked, meaning for Yori to explain.
"Yes." Toshi answered for his father. "We think its Kotone who is possessing our guests."
Mai sighed. She hated it when it was the children that were the ones suffering. They were so innocent, usually they were just looking for answers, or waiting. Her mind went to a similar case from not too long ago, the one that happened at Christmas and involved a boy named Kenji. He had possessed her, all he wanted was to be found.
"Why do you think it is Kotone who possesses your guests? What happens?" Naru asked, snapping Mai away from her daydream.
"Usually it is children or young women who get possessed." Toshi said. "When it happens, they go to sleep at night and wake up hugging either their father, if he is there with them, or another male older than them. The male that the wake up next to always says that the possessed person appeared next to them almost out of nowhere. The person usually stays possessed all day and is very clingy to all older males. They don't really talk, the only thing they usually say is; 'why', 'I forgive you' or 'I still love you." Naru scribbled everything down very quickly.
"We think Kotone is trying to tell these things to her father." Yori said. "By the end of the day Kotone will leave the person, unless..." Naru looked at Yori with a blank face. "Unless what, ?" He asked. Yori waved his hand. "Never mind." Naru was about to press him for an answer before he looked over at Toshi.
"What about you, Toshi?" He asked. Toshi looked up, confused.
"What about me?" He asked back.
"Your father said that you and Kotone were best friends, surely whenever a person is possessed by her, if this is in fact true, they react rather significantly."
Toshi nodded. "If the possessed person sees me, they tend to stay possessed longer. They will also try to play a few games with me, the same games Kotone and I used to play when we were younger. That's why I try to stay away from the inn if my father says someone is possessed. I like to feel like Kotone is back alive... But it's not fair to the possessed person. "
Naru looked back down at his notes. "I see..." He mumbled and wrote it down.
"I'm afraid that, if this continues, someone else will end up like Kotone." Yori finished.
Naru closed his note book and put it on his desk. "I will take your case."
"Thank you!" Yori and Toshi said greatfully.
"Mr. Endo, if you don't mind, I'd like to bring a few of my colleges in on this case. We will also need a room to set up for base and for sleeping quarters. If it is alright with you, I would like to know if we could use the Kochi's old room." Naru stated more than asked.
"Of course, of course!" Yori said. "No one is staying in the room, I will have a few of my staff set it up for you."
Toshi and Yori turned to leave but each gave Naru and Mai one last thank you before exiting though the door.
"Mai." Naru said when the two men were gone. "Yes Naru?" She asked. "Call the others and tell them about the case. We will be leaving for the Endo inn tomorrow."
"Ok." Mai said. But as she turned Naru looked at her. "But before you do that, I need more tea." Mai growled at him. "I swear, Naru! One day I won't be here to get you your stupid tea!" She yelled before grabbing his cup an going to the kitchen.
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