They had just ended on a new case in which a female spirit was screaming and crying all night crying out for help. In the end, they found out that she was forcibly beaten down, raped, and murdered by the school's principal. She was a young girl, only 16 years old. He took her body and burned it in the schools cafeteria, but not before serving her remains to the students claiming it to be "barbecue ribs." It was very gruesome and very sad, especially for Mai.
The case happened almost 60 years ago, so why did this effect Mai? Simple. It was her age. They looked at a picture of Mai and then back at the girl and couldn't believe their resemblance. Since Mai was closest in looks and age to the spirit, She took comfort in letting her story be known to her. Every night when Mai slept she dreamt, of being raped, beaten, and murdered ruthlessly. She woke up to screams and chills while the crew tried to calm her down. She dreamt of being eaten alive body and soul by those whom she loved, it was killing her inside.
What was even worse was that when she was awake, the torture didn't end. She would see the girl's ghost everywhere. She saw spiders, snakes, and other horrible animals crawling on her skin. She became sickly and was in bed for 3 days, where the whole time she felt the girl's dead spirit lying their, holding her hand, and whispering to her where her bones could be found.
Naru and the crew were all incredibly worried about Mai. Everyone was worried for her health, all except Naru. Naru was worried for Mai's life. Through the camera lenses and audio he could hear, see, feel the spirits trying desperately to claim Mai's life. Every time she walked by it almost looked like a cloud of death was forming over her, it was frightening. Naru had never been frightened before. He blamed Mai for this.
You see, Naru was also having some problems. Naru had been having this weird feeling around Mai as of lately, and he could not put a finger on it. So, he went to, against his bitter judgment, therapy. His therapist told him to recognize his feelings and embrace them. Naru had no idea what his feelings were so he asked the shrink to tell him loud and clear what he is feeling. Naru almost fell out of his chair when he told him that he was in love with Mai.
Naru completely denied it at first, but he noticed it too, and soon came to realize, that he just might have an attraction to Mai. MAYBE he had an attraction to Mai but he was probably wrong, or so he thought. He started to pick up on subtle changes he made when she was around. He feels happier when she comes to work, looks forward to her bringing him tea, he even looked in the mirror the other day to make sure his hair looked ok! He was losing his mind! But he was now sure that he was in love with Mai Tanimaya.
Mai had always been aware of her feelings for Naru but ignored them because he showed no interest. Recently she really hadn't thought about it because the case they had been just working on had been so tedious and heart-wrenching for her. But now, she found herself trying to please him more and more, continuously failing in her efforts though. It didn't help that Masako was always around the corner glaring daggers at her either.
Oh well, tomorrow is a new day. The case id finally done and Mai can go back home. Right now she sits in the office with the rest of Shibuya psychic research center. And all is peaceful, other than the mumbled comment about Mai you'd every so often from Masako. Mai learned to ignore these comments because they were empty, jealous words with no meaning. But they still got on her nerves….
" Hey Mai! How you feelin?"
Mai looked up and noticed Takigawa with his same cheesy grin, she smiled at the familiar face.
" Great now thanks. I was just getting to finish this little bit of paperwork and then get ready to go home."
" Your Always here so late Mai, don't your parents worry about you?" Ayako's voice cut through the room loud clear just like always.
Mai got up and pretended to arrange some papers while she talked. " Well no, you see my parents died in a horrible car crash when I was 8 years old. I lived with my 2 second grade teacher for a while who was nice enough to take care of me, but when I was 15 I decided I wanted to live on my own. So I talked to my school and they arranged for me to have my own house, it's really nice and cute. But anyway, I live their and they basically pay for my utilities and rent until I graduate from college because of my situation, it's really nice of them. They also excuse my absences because they know that I work, so working here Is no problem!"
Ayako looked incredibly guilty as the whole room fell silent. Everyone wishing that the question had not been brought up, until Naru entered the room.
" I'm closing up now, everyone is done working and is going home now right?"
" Yeah, I'm going to my place, I'll drive Ayako. Just count on me the reliable Takigawa!"
" Lin has left already and drove Ms. Hara home. John has also departed. Mai how are you getting home?"
" I live really close I'm just gonna walk since it's not that far away."
" Mai it's dark outside, with dangers everywhere you walk, you can't walk alone."
" No really it's fine I've done it before."
"Hold on wait for me to get my coat."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to walk you home."
