Mai looked through the window of the car. She was speechless. Shora High School was like a massive western castle! Looking at the main building she was suddenly reminded of the Harry Potter movie she had watched with Bou-san and Gene the week before. This school wasn't quite as big as Hogwarts, but it was certainly close. Mai decided it was pretty amazing.

"This place is huge…" She muttered, not once looking away from the view behind the window.

"Shora High School is a private school with very expensive fees, so I'm not surprised by its looks." Ayako answered her, also watching the school building. "I could get used to living in a place like this, you know? Almost like a princess." She added to herself, but it was loud enough for the others to hear.

"Aren't you a little too old to call yourself a princess?" Takigawa asked innocently, looking at the road and van in front of them.

An angry mark appeared on Ayako's head as she hit him on the head like she had done so many times before. John and Mai, who were watching from their seats in the back, merely sweatdropped at the exchange.

"Watch what you're doing woman! I'm driving here!" Takigawa shouted, rubbing his head with one hand. "Personally I don't think I would be happy in a school like that. Everywhere you go you would be surrounded by spoiled rich kids who are only thinking about the things they can buy. It'd be a nightmare." He said seriously, glancing at the building.

"Be quiet idiot, you don't know what you're talking about. Geez, guys don't have even the slightest bit of imagination…" Ayako mumbled under her breath but, again, everyone heard.

Mai smiled to herself. She liked to spend time with Ayako and Bou-san during their cases. They were just like an old couple, with their never ending arguments. Sometimes, Mai treated them as parental figures.

When they pulled into the driveway the big wooden doors leading to the castle opened and an older man came out, heading hastily in their direction.

"Good morning everyone." He greeted, standing in front of them once they got out of the vans. "My name is Mabura Ijo; I'm the headmaster of this school. I'm really thankful that you have arrived here to help us." Mai didn't know why, but she got the feeling that he wasn't being completely honest. "I prepared an empty classroom for your equipment and the rooms in the school dormitory which you inquired about. I hope that they will be good enough for you."

"Thank you Mabura-san." Naru said, shaking hands with the headmaster. "Can you please show us the classroom now? We would like to set up our equipment."

"Of course."

The headmaster led them through the corridors, which Mai admired.

"They could make a lot of money by letting tourists in here." Gene stated, looking around.

The corridor had tall walls with paintings adorning them. The floor was made of white stone and a long stretch of carpet was placed there, making the space friendlier. But Mai decided that there should be more light since the corridor was pretty dark and it was still daytime.

Then something caught her attention. On one of the pillars which connected floor to ceiling there was some kind of poster, which the guys in front of her had missed. She smiled slightly as she looked at it.

"What did you find?" Someone asked behind her. When she turned around she saw that it was Gene.

"Just this." She pointed her finger to show him where to look.

Gene smiled in spite of himself. On the piece of paper was a perfectly made computer caricature of the headmaster with a short verse describing him.

"It looks like someone isn't very popular around here." He said, taking the poster off the pillar. "But the person who made it did a really good job."

"You're taking it?" Mai asked, watching while he folded the paper and hid it in his jeans pockets.

"Yeah. You should already know that everything has to be shown to Naru or else the dragon will bite you." He answered with a slight chuckle, ruffling her hair in a friendly manner.

Mai still couldn't get used to how different the twins were. One of them was serious, emotionless and narcissistic; the second playful, cheerful and open to others. Sometimes she wondered how much easier her life would be if she had fallen for Gene instead of Naru. But you can't choose who you love, like someone once said.

"Mai! Gene! Are you coming?" Ayako called for them, already a far distance ahead of them.

They quickly caught up with the rest.

"What were you doing back there?" Naru asked Gene telepathically, looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

"Is there jealousy in your voice or am I imagining things? Was the older twin's answer.

"Keep dreaming."

Mai looked around the spacious room, oblivious to the conversation between the two brothers. As the headmaster was telling Naru, the classroom hadn't been in use for some time now and nobody ever came over there, so there should be no interruptions to their work.

Naru talked with the headmaster about a few details before sending the team back to the van to collect the equipment. After some mumbling and complaining about Naru being a jerk Mai took the cables used to set up the cameras from the car and headed to the school again. When she went through the main door she stopped suddenly on the middle step. There was something in there… the cables fell from her hands when her grip on them loosened. She swayed slightly, her knees deciding to give out under her small weight. She dropped to her knees on the ground.

"Oi, Mai!" Takigawa shouted, already running in her direction, forgetting about the equipment. He kneeled next to her, looking into her face.

Mai's face was deathly pale as she looked into what appeared to be thin air, at least to him. Her eyes were impossibly wide, the centre of them almost invisible, lips parted slightly as if to silently scream something. She didn't even acknowledge the monk's presence, watching something only visible to her.

"What's going on?" Ayako and Gene were rushing in their direction, setting the cameras down.

But as they stepped through the doors the dark haired twin suddenly stopped and covered his mouth, leaning against the doorframe for support. His eyes were wide, frightened though not as terrified as Mai. Lin, who had been sent with them to assist with the equipment, supported him from behind before the boy fell to the ground.

Mai wasn't listening to any of them. She didn't have the slightest clue as to the commotion around her. For her, there was no longer an empty corridor as to what they had seen the first time, but she wished it was. In front of her stood a girl, around her age, wearing a school uniform which supposedly belonged to Shora High School. But the girl herself… her eyes were looking straight into Mai's, but there was no life in them, they were completely empty as if made of glass. The originally white shirt which the girl was wearing was covered in red spots; in what Mai was sure was blood. The red liquid was dripping form her neck. The ghost opened her mouth to say something, but the sound that came out was something that terrified Mai. It wasn't a human voice or even a sound but, amazingly, she could clearly understand what the girl was trying to tell her. Shivers ran down her spine, making her tremble slightly. The vision disappeared almost as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Mai! Gene!" Naru's voice rang in the empty corridor when he came towards them, walking through the place where just seconds ago the image of the ghost had been standing.

He had heard noises from the corridor when he was in the base, checking over the file again. With his mind set on scolding his team for making a commotion he left the base, but as soon as he saw what was going on the thoughts of scolding disappeared. There they were, Mai kneeling on the floor, shaking, pale as a ghost, and Gene, not able to stand on his own legs. He quickly came over to them.

"What happened?" He asked Ayako, who was checking over the shaking girl.

"I don't know, they both just collapsed." The redhead answered, looking up at him.

Naru nodded. He knew what had happened, after all he had seen Gene in this state many times before.

"Lin, help Gene back to the base. Matsuzaki-san, Takigawa, John, collect the rest of the equipment." He ordered, putting his hand under Mai's arm to help her stand.

As soon as the girl was on her feet she collapsed again, still scared and exhausted after what she had experienced. Naru caught her before she hit the ground.

"You really are a handful…" Naru sighed under his breath, putting one hand under her knees and the second so he was supporting her back before lifting her up in his arms.

In another situation Mai would have been blushing furiously, being held by Naru, but now she barely noticed what was happening. It wasn't long before her mind went black and she drifted into unconsciousness.

=G-H=

"And then she tried to say 'He chose the next one'." Main finished the story, looking at everyone.

After drinking the tea Ayako had given her once she had woken up Mai started calming down. She still couldn't forget the look on the girl's face or the sound coming from her mouth, but now it wasn't as terrible as it had been at the time. She glanced at Gene, who was standing next to the window, looking through it. She was sure that he had experienced the same thing.

Naru was sitting near the table, thinking about the vision which Mai had described to the,. Now he was sure that they were dealing with an attacker, but was he really a ghost? That was the biggest question in this case.

"I'm not surprised you were scared." Ayako whispered to Mai, stroking her head lightly. "I would have had a heart attack if something like that happened to me."

Takigawa was watching them both. He was worried about Mai. The girl was always the one to be affected the most by the cases. She had experienced their deaths, seen their lives, talked with them and been hunted by them. He had lost count of how many times the youngest member of the team had been hurt. But that didn't really matter to her as far as he could tell. She was always cheerful and full of energy, looking out for the others. Takigawa admired her for that and the way she was able to influence others with her optimism.

"The vision wasn't the worst part." Gene said suddenly, looking away from the windows and at the rest of the team. "I didn't see it as clearly as Mai did, I only saw the shape, but the feelings that were coming from the ghost were overwhelming. Fear, anger, pure hatred, resignation. When we entered the school for the first time there was nothing, but the second time it was choking me."

"This case is getting more complicated and suspicious and we've only been here for an hour." Takigawa said, taking a seat next to Mai. "We'll be forced to spend a lot of time here, you know?"

Everyone nodded. The more complicated a case was the more time they had to spend solving it/

"We have to interview the students. They may have seen or heard something important but are too afraid to share it with the teachers." Naru said, earning everyone's attention. "And we should ask them about the missing students. Try not to walk alone, always have someone with you. I don't want to have any of you going missing. If something happens inform Lin or myself immediately." He instructed everyone.

"So, what are we going to do?" John asked, watching their boss and awaiting orders.

"Brown-san, Gene, go check the area around the school. If you feel anything, try to exorcise it. Takigawa, Mai, go to the second floor where the classrooms are, lessons should be over soon. Maybe you will be able to talk to the students on an unofficial level. Lin and I are going to interview the teachers." Naru said, looking at everyone, waiting for them to disagree. Like they would do it…

"Roger!" Takigawa exclaimed, standing up and waiting for Mai, who was finally getting some colour back in her face.

"And what about me?" Ayako asked, not liking the idea of being left out.

"You are going to stay here Matsuzaki-san." Naru said calmly, heading to the door with Lin.

"Why? Main is always the one who stays in the base." She stared at the teen in confusion.

"Yes, but in this case Mai can make a connection with the students since she is around their age." Naru answered patiently. "On the other hand, you are much older than them and they may mistake you for a new teacher." With that Naru left the room, not looking back.

Everyone in the room, minus Ayako, tried to hide their smirks, while the poor miko looked speechlessly at the closed door. Her face was slowly turning red. Oh boy, she was furious now.

"Naru you little brat! Come back here!" She shouted, ready to run after the boy if John hadn't stopped her.

"Maybe we should leave." Takigawa suggested, already dragging Mai out of the room. Gene followed shortly after with John. Staying in the room alone with the furious Ayako wasn't the smartest idea in the world, especially for Gene who looked exactly like Naru.

Edited by: Dark Akuma Hunter