Disclaimer: I own nothing but this new laptop. yay for having a computer!
Shibuya Psycic Research had been on their latest case for a few days. The Kouko family had bought a new house but wanted to have it cleared from a curse known to fall upon the owners. In each family residing in the residence throughout the last five generations, a child always seemed to disappear. If there was no child, a teen or young adult would fall victim. The family would move away shortly thereafter. Wakasu Kouko asked Naru and his team to investigate before he moved in as he had three children and feared for their safety.
So far they had not noticed anything particularly interesting. The temperature seemed relatively stable, no attacks were taking place and no strange noises had occured besides the usual settling sounds of an older residence. Miss Hara could sense spirits but could not get any sort of reading on what may be going on. Yasu was gathering research on the house from outside. There was a long history of the disappearances but no reason could be found. There was never a body or any witnesses. Each time, the child would be placed in bed as usual and the parents would find nothing but a perfectly made bed the following morning.
After checking the videos as a routine, Mai settled down for bed in the room Masako, Ayako and her currently shared. They were baffled by the lack of an explanation of this strange pattern of events. As she closed her eyes, she wondered how much longer Naru would stay without an answer to give their clients.
When she opened her eyes, she could tell she was in a dream, which more than likely would lend some information to the case. She was at an old playground and saw a small girl crying on the swing. There were no adults nearby and even dream Naru was nowhere to be seen. She felt drawn to the child, almost a need to help her at any cost. As she approached the morose child, the young girl looked up with watery eyes.
"What's wrong?", asked Mai with concern.
"I lost my mommy and there's no one to play with me.", the girl sobbed. "Would you play with me, miss?"
Mai was uncertain if she should trust the spirit but figured she was generally safe when she was dreaming and the child looked harmless enough. She held her hand out in acceptance.
"Will you play with me forever?", the child asked, her eyes now glowing red and her skin pale as fresh snow. She grabbed Mais hand and would not let go.
Ayako was awoken by a strange scream. She sat up in bed and turned the lamp on. As she adjusted to the light, she heard a small childs sobs. Confused, she looked over to Mais bed and saw a distraught and clearly scared toddler. The little girl had sandy brown hair and huge brown eyes. She was being swallowed by the pajama top Mai had been wearing when she layed down for the night. It was engulfing the miniscule tot, the neck hanging around her small waist. Ayako estimated the babys age to be between two or three. The poor thing shaking and crying from fear.
Immediately she rushed over the bed and picked her up. The mysterious child stopped sobbing and looked up at Ayako in a confused sort of way.
"Ayako?", the small child asked in an unsure voice, "What's going on? And why are you so big?"
Taking a closer look at the child, she came to an unbelievable conclusion. Those eyes were too familiar. The hair was much too similar. There was no denying it, this child looked identical to Mai.
"Mai?", she asked cautiously, "Is that you?"
Tanayama nodded. Ayako sat in shock for a moment until she realized she could not see Masako on her bed. There was only a tiny lump in the covers. After gathering some courage and placing Mai gently back upon her pillow, she found another young girl who looked to be about three. This child had porcelian colored skin and dark hair. She was still asleep and Ayako merely put her blanket back on as considered how impossible this seemed.
After a few minutes, she calmly wrapped Mai in the pajama top, as though it was a swaddling blanket and picked her up. The little girl had falled back to sleep. Turning her arms into a cradle, she carried the young child down the hall to the room currently containing the sleeping men. She knocked quickly and loudly to get their attention. Lin was the first to the door and looked at the small figure in Ayakos arms confused.
"What, may I ask, is THAT?", he asked.
"I think this is Mai,", explained Ayako unsure herself, "and Masako is in the room in a similar state. Please get everyone into our room."
While she waited for the men to arrive, she placed both girls on Masakos bed and swaddled the larger toddler in the shirt which was currently engulfing her. She would just have to figure out how to make some sort of clothes work later. For the moment, she just tucked both of them in.