"Oh Kami-Mai!" Bou gasped, his eyes widening at the sight of her.
Lin stared at the girl hanging there, panic knawing away at his mind. He was an insect frozen in amber as Monk raced to her side, reaching up to untie the rope from the rafters. "I can't reach!"
Noticing that the tallest amongst them was not moving to help, Ayako slapped him. Hard.
"Snap the hell out of it!" She yelled, her cherry red lips pulling back in a snarl. Seeming to finally wake up, Lin shot over to Mai like a bullet, loosening the noose around her neck. She slumped down into his arms and he pressed a cheek to her chest, closing his eyes until he felt a pulse drumming against his skin.
"She's alive," Lin breathed, his heart beating wildly. Everyone sighed with relief-even Naru, though he hid it well.
"Poor Mai," Ayako whispered, patting the younger girl's forehead as John began to splash around his holy water. "Spirits just love to possess her." Shaking her head, the miko went over to assist the priest.
Lin was caressing the chafed line of skin on Mai's neck. They had very nearly been too late. If the monk hadn't noticed she was missing...
The omnyoji curled over her, his hair falling to cover his face from everyone around him.
Mai was the only one who saw the teardrop slide down his cheek, her eyes fluttering open the exact moment he whispered, "Ma ma."
Everything had been a blur of pain and fear up until now. But in this moment, the mark of suicide still angry and red on her skin, Mai thought only of Lin.
Raising a hand, she pressed her palm to his cheek, her thumb wiping the tears away.
"What's wrong, Lin-san?" Mai murmured.
He caught her hand in his. "How are you feeling?"
"Hey, don't dodge the question! Tell me what's wrong."
Helping her into a sitting position, Lin looked over at the rope discarded on the floor and sighed, "this is not my first time seeing a noose."
His words hit her like the final lyric of a sad song.
"Oh," was the only thing Mai could say. Gulping, she wrapped her arms around his middle and began to sob, for him and for herself.
It was the sight of her tears that made Lin's own dry up.
A/N: I cannot recall ever hearing about Lin's family. I even searched on the Ghost Hunt wiki but couldn't find anything, so I took some liberties with his past. I also did a bit of research about what Chinese people commonly call their mother, and Ma ma seemed to be the usual. Let me know if this is wrong.