.o0o.

When she awoke, Naru was there, looking down at her. She would've hit the ceiling in surprise, had she not gotten over her crush months ago. Although, that didn't change the fact that she was still quite surprised.

"Morning, Mai," Ayako said.

"Did you have any dreams last night?" Naru asked, cutting her right off. Ayako glared at him, crossing her arms. Naru didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah. Kenji's here."

The three of them paused. The door opened to reveal Takigawa, John, and Yasu, the latter of whom looked pretty beat. Mai sat up in bed.

"Kenji?" Ayako asked. John perked up.

"I thought we purified him," he said.

"We did," Mai replied with a nod. "He and his father are reunited."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Monk said. If expressions of Australians were anything to go by, Mai was pretty sure that John's heart was turning to mush as well.

"Yeah, and the two of them have been watching over the place ever since they noticed what's been going on here."

"Does that mean that they're keeping that force away?" Naru asked.

"They didn't know. They stationed themselves at the same time that you started having staff with the children at all times, and Kenji's father even said that he didn't see any malicious forces."

"Just because he didn't see them doesn't mean they're not there."

"Well yeah. But now we have another witness."

"Did…" Takigawa stopped, clearly unsure of how to proceed. "Did he have anything to say about Lin?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ayako said. "Kenji thought Lin was his father because they look alike." She looked at Mai. "Did he look like Lin?"

Mai nodded. "Scarily so. At first I thought it was Lin, and that he had died. But it wasn't. And no, they don't know anything about what happened. Kenji was sad about it, though. He wanted to apologize to Lin."

Naru leaned back. "Well as long as they're here, and as long as miss Hara is preoccupied with Lin's shiki, you will have to be the diplomat between us and them."

"Yeah. I know." She paused. "Hey, did anything happen last night?"

"No, nothing. It's obvious to me that things aren't going to pick up on their own. Tonight, we'll have to conduct an experiment. You will be a key player, Mai."

Takigawa and Ayako's gazes hardened on the raven-haired boy next to Mai. What kind of danger was he going to put her in this time?

"What do I do?" Mai asked readily.

"We have to lure this force out. Tonight, we won't have any adults present when the children are sleeping. We'll station ourselves in strategic locations outside the room so that we can catch it in the act. Then we strike. You will be asleep as well, Mai. Astral projecting, if you can. See if you can take a look at what we're dealing with."

"Hold on. Will that even work?" Takigawa interrupted. "From what I remember, this thing strikes fast."

"All the more reason for us to be in tip-top shape for tonight."

"But what if we fail and lose a child? Naru, it's too risky," Mai said.

"Remember the case at Yasu's school?" Naru said. "The children won't be at any risk at all."

"But you can't make hitogata," Takigawa protested.

"No, I can't. Madoka can, though."

There was a pause. "Madoka?" Mai asked. There was a moment to let the idea sink in. And suddenly, it made all the sense in the world. Of course that eccentric woman would be able to do it.

"She'll be stopping by later with it," Naru said.

"Sounds like a plan," Mai replied. Her stomach growled. She put a hand over it in an effort to silence herself.

"Sounds like someone's hungry," Yasu spoke up.

"Yeah, what's for breakfast?" Takigawa asked, jumping on the food bandwagon. The group shifted out of the room. Ayako and Naru stayed behind. Ayako to stay behind with Mai, and Naru because the man had no human bodily functions whatsoever. Besides tea. Although the amount of tea he drank could indeed be considered inhuman. Mai smiled at the thought.

"I'm going to change out of my pajamas," she said. "You go on. Get something to eat." Surprisingly, both Naru and Ayako obeyed and left the room. As the door closed, Mai saw something appear in the corner of the room. It was Kenji, and he was smiling at her. She waved, and the spirit disappeared. She then got out of bed and began to get dressed.

The creature had fallen asleep after gorging itself to the brim, bones and all. Lin had checked on it multiple times, apprehensive, but for some reason, not afraid. There was just something about this creature that was not a threat to him. Hell, it had even defended him from those strange people in purple.

He had walked up and down the hall many times, examining and trying all of the doors, but none of them would budge. If he had his shiki, he would've already busted himself out by now. He was still lost in thought when a movement came from the room he first found himself in. The creature was waking up. Its blue and yellow eyes stared down the hall at him. Lin watched as its mouth opened wide and its fangs unfolded from its hard palate. It arched its back, audibly cracking a few of its bones before pacing down the hall towards the man. Lin began to panic. He was in no condition to fight this thing off, and there was no way in Hell he could outrun it with his injured leg. Besides, there was nowhere to run to. He took a step back. The creature kept walking until it was right up against him. The spiracles at the base of its neck flared. It brought its head down and nudged Lin in the chest. Lin lifted his hand. The creature put its muzzle in his palm. Then it did something peculiar. It turned around, showing Lin its back. Lin had to duck to avoid getting whacked by the blades on its arms, but he could tell for sure that the creature meant him no harm. For the moment.

It looked back at him, expectantly. It wiggled its rear end in an almost humorous manner, but Lin, for the most part, understood what it was trying to tell him. He approached cautiously. The creature watched him. He placed his hands on its back, and it lowered down further. He lifted his injured leg up, and in response, the creature moved its own leg into place so that he could use it as a stepping-stone. He got onto the creature's back and straddled it like a horse. He felt its powerful muscles ripple as it turned back around. The muscles tensed, and Lin realized what was about to happen. He quickly wrapped his arms around the base of the creature's neck, just as it charged forward, smashing through everything in its way, before jumping upward, bursting through the ceiling.

He was met with broad daylight. And trees. Lots of trees. And cold. Lin couldn't believe his eyes. They were on a mountain. He looked back down at the hole that the creature just leapt out of, but he couldn't see anything- only a dark cavern. He hadn't seen any cave-like features when they ran through the facility. As soon as the creature broke through the ceiling, they were out. Looking around, he couldn't see any sign of the people that had brought him there. It was almost as if the facility was… another dimension. He blinked at his thought. It was possible. The creature let loose a growl. The muscles tensed, and Lin grabbed tight again. It sprung down the mountainside and into the forest, heading towards the city in the distance.

It was surprisingly agile for something obviously not made for forest living. Lin just made sure to hang on for dear life. It was all for naught when the creature suddenly lurched and he was thrown, sailing through the air before crashing awkwardly into the roots of a giant tree. He looked up at it. There were cinders coming from one of its spiracles. The forest floor rustled, and Lin scrambled for cover. Just in time, too, since a bunch of purple clad people came practically out of nowhere. The creature hissed at them before doing what Lin could only assume was coughing. Something whizzed past his face, exploding in the creature's spiracles. Homemade explosives? Whatever it was, it made the creature shuffle back even more. The men held a series of chains as well as firebrands. That's when Lin thought of something. Who the hell brings a firebrand this far away from the fire? Well, for whatever reason, the creature seemed to be afraid of them. Its spiracles were, once again, working overtime, and it was coughing.

Lin got up from his hiding place and began to back away from the scene. He knew relatively which direction the city was, and all he had to do was sneak away from danger. And walk. A lot. He backed up until he felt hot breath on the nape of his neck. His eyes widened. He turned around to see a bear. Of course. This just had to get worse, didn't it? He knew that in the face of a bear, you were to start singing (preferably you would have a bell, but…). However, running away from a psycho group of mystery men made that somewhat difficult. He tried to step around the bear, but it just stepped in his path. Then it glowed slightly.

Lin sighed with relief. "Nice disguise, Kai. You're getting better and better." The bear smiled.

"Don't let him get away!" crowed a voice farther away. Both Lin and the bear turned around to see the creature barreling towards them, with the men hot on its tail. Lin whistled shrilly, and the bear changed into an orb of light before careening into the space in between the creature and the men. The men skidded to a halt, while the creature whirled its head around, watching the bear shiki, which was now a familiar ball of glowing spiritual energy. One of the men swung a firebrand, which, to Lin's surprise, actually knocked his shiki aside. It lay by the roots of another tree, seemingly dazed. He gritted his teeth. It's the same as before!

The creature, who was watching all of this, suddenly stepped forward. It flexed the blades on its arms and opened its mouth, revealing its fold-in fangs and rows of carnivorous teeth. The bear, too, got up and stood beside the creature, growling at the men. One of the men swung the firebrand again, only for both of them to dodge. The bear shiki covered the creature's spiracles like a filter, and the creature charged the men. The men could clearly see what was going on, and that without the power of their incense they were helpless. They ran for it. The creature let loose an echoing roar after them, only to break off in coughing fits. The bear shiki got off of its neck and returned to Lin, where it faded from view.

Lin watched the creature with its back to him. He decided to approach. Bad move. The creature whirled around and roared at him. The bear materialized in front of him and roared right back. They began to chuff and snort at each other. Lin's eyebrows rose when it looked like the creature was laughing at his shiki. The bear just growled even louder, baring its teeth even more. The creature sobered, but not because the bear was intimidating. It stopped because it thought that the bear looked cute. Lin could see it in its eyes.

"He's mocking me," the bear said to Lin.

"I gathered that much,"Lin replied.

"He wants to get to Mai."

Lin did a double take (or at least as much of a double take that Lin can do). How does he know Mai? He looked up at the creature. He looked back at the bear, which shook its head. He looked back up at the creature, staring down at him expectantly.

"Who are you?" he asked. The creature chuffed again. Lin looked at his bear shiki.

"I'm not fluent in demon," the shiki replied. "Either world destruction or something about sloths."

Lin deadpanned. "You have no idea, do you?" The shiki shook its head. Once again, the creature in front of them began laughing before frowning. Then without warning, it ran off towards what Lin could only assume was the city. "We can't let him get to Mai. Fly back to them and tell them where I am. Where am I, by the way?"

"Aokigahara."

With that, the spirit disappeared in a flash of light. Well Aokigahara sure did explain the other dimension. This forest was supposedly littered with paranormal and fantastical energies. It was a place of interest for every paranormal researcher- so long as they weren't alone. Which Lin was. He picked up a stick that would serve as a cane to help him support his injured leg. He looked up at Mt. Fuji behind him and hoped that while walking back to Tokyo, he wouldn't end up as some goblin's lunch.

"Did you really see him?" a boy asked, looking up at Mai with large eyes.

Mai nodded. "He's here. He's watching over all of us."

"I feel so bad for him," said another child.

"Don't be. It's in the past. He wouldn't want you to feel bad." As soon as she said that, a dozen more children's voices flooded the air of their base. Takigawa burst into the room followed by Ayako.

"Hey, wait!" the monk frantically exclaimed, but it was of no use. The base was drowned in children. Yasu couldn't hold in his laughter as the three of them struggled with the kids.

"Oh, hey!" Yasu exclaimed, looking at the monitors. The three adults and the children followed his gaze. "Madoka's here. And I think Masako's with her."

"Masako?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. See? Look."

And truth be told, there was the medium standing beside the strawberry-haired woman. Naru walked toward them onscreen. Masako was saying something, and both Naru and Madoka visibly reacted. Naru said something to Madoka who nodded and moved to run away. She stopped herself and placed something in Naru's hands before running off for real this time.

"I wonder what they're talking about," Yasu mused.

"You think it could be…" Mai stopped herself.

The door burst open. It was Madoka. "Phone," she commanded.

"All right, children, I think it's time for you to run along now," Takigawa said, coaxing the children out of the base.

Yasu handed Madoka his cellphone, and she immediately called emergency services. There was a pause. "Yes, I'd like to report a found missing person." Both Mai and Yasu perked up at this. They exchanged glances. Could it be…? "Koujo Lin. Last seen four to five days ago- January 12th- kidnapped in the Shibuya Psychic Research parking lot. Age 27." Mai and Yasu's smiles could have been glowing at that point. "Yes, he is somewhere in Aokigahara forest." Their smiles fell. What. What was he doing in Aokigahara? Did that mean he was dead or something? "Alive," Madoka said, causing the two to turn to her. She was looking them in the eyes, but she was still on the phone. Bless that woman. "I don't know how long, or what condition he is in, ma'am. I just know where he is." There was another pause. "No, I didn't find him. I'm just reporting it." The tone on the other end of the line seemed to heighten for whatever reason. "It doesn't matter how. A missing person has been found!" The tone softened. "Thank you." She hung up and glared at the phone as if it were guilty for producing such an infuriating operator. Yasu stuck out his hand and took it from her before she could crush it.

"This is… amazing!" Takigawa breathed. "Finally."

"I'm so relieved," Ayako said, putting a hand to her chest.

"It's… I can't… I'm so…" Mai choked on her words.

"Believe it, Mai," came Masako's voice as she entered the room, Naru right behind her. "Lin's shiki- they found him. They left to go reunite with him as soon as the one that found him came back."

"Naru! They found him!"

"Madoka, the hitogata?" Naru asked. Mai's enthusiasm sunk like an anvil in a pond.

"In the bag, silly," Madoka replied, seemingly oblivious to Mai's emotional plummet. Naru looked in the brown paper bag he had been handed. Inside was the hitogata, already made and ready. Now all they had to do was wait two hours until eight thirty that night.

"Naru, did you even hear me?" Mai asked again. Naru turned his attention to her. "They found Lin!"

"Yes, I know. I'm glad he has been found."

The response was unemotional. Mai's spirits were not uplifted, even though she knew that Naru and sentiment didn't go well together. Takigawa understood her emotions and moved over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and he smiled in return.

"Now if only you would smile at me like that once in a while," came the voice of the one and only Yasuhara. Takigawa jumped out of his little moment of heartwarming before fuming at the college student. Mai paid them no heed. Instead, she chose to watch her raven-haired boss as he crossed the room.

"Miss Hara," he said. The medium turned to him. "Do you sense anything?"

Masako paused, hand to her lips. She then shook her head. "Yes. There… there is a young boy here. And a man… he looks like Lin, but he's not. They're right over there." She pointed to an empty corner. Mai followed her hand. She didn't see anything, but she trusted the medium. Mai waved to the corner and smiled. Kenji briefly became visible to wave back before becoming invisible to all except Masako.

"That's just Kenji and his father. I mean anything malicious," Naru said.

Masako tilted her head. "Kenji?"

"Yeah," Mai interjected. "They're watching over the church."

Naru crossed his arms. "Please, stay on topic."

Masako once again went back into her trance-like state. "No, there is nothing aside from those two."

Naru stopped and placed a hand on his chin, thinking. He stared at Masako before speaking. "We have a plan in place. Do you know what it is?"

"Madoka filled me in on a few things here and there."

"I'll fill you in on the details."

The two of them stepped back from the rest of the group. The rest of the group was filling the atmosphere to the brim with excitement, relief, and anticipation.

"When will he be coming back?" Mai asked.

"Well first the search and rescue team has to actually find him. Aokigahara forest is kind of big, if you know what I mean," Madoka said.

"How long will it take?"

"For one man? Well, that could go either way. If they use dogs, they may cut down on time."

"I hope he's okay."

"Don't worry, Mai," Takigawa chirped. "He's Lin. Like you said, he's strong."

"Yeah. You're right. In a matter of days, he'll be right back with us."

The door creaked open. In came a lemony-haired priest. "Who?" he asked, stifling a yawn, obviously having overheard the conversation. "You don't mean Lin, do you?"

"Yeah! His shiki found him just today."

"That's great news! And speaking of news, dinner's just about ready."

"Thanks, John," Ayako replied, staring at him dead on for some reason. John blushed before walking off.

Takigawa elbowed her. "You're scaring him," he said.

"It's all in good fun."

"Oh you two," Yasu chimed in. "You argue like an old married couple." Cue two fists clobbering him over the head. Mai, still somewhat uneasy, found it in herself to laugh at their slapstick routine. They were her family now- her big, dysfunctional, invaluable family.

A small child was cuddled in Mai's arms. The entire room reeked of carrion. There was a big, iron door in front of her, and she knew that sooner or later, someone would be coming out of it. She looked up and around for any signs of Gene, Kenji, or his father. The wheel turned. The door hissed, and it creaked open. Three men came in, all wearing purple robes. There was some kind of insignia on them, but Mai couldn't tell. It was too dark.

"Take the girl," said one of the men.

"No!" Mai shrieked. "Stay back!"

A hand reached out to grab the girl. Mai jumped to her feet and kicked out, sending the man flying backwards. Mai stopped. Since when had she gotten so strong? The child had slipped out of her grasp and was now cowering in a corner.

"Run for it!" she cried, but the child seemed to be paralyzed with fear. The men advanced at the girl. Mai jumped in their path, guard up, adrenaline pumping. The man threw a hook punch, which she evaded easily. She struck out, hitting the man in the throat with her elbow. The twisting of her torso as she threw the strike hurt in a way she could not place. It must have shown, since the third man made a beeline for her stomach, and without mercy, rammed his fist into the wound on her abdomen. The pain rocketed out from the area, and she fell to kneeling.

"Ah shit, he's bleeding. You opened up the injury, you idiot!" said one of the purple-clad men.

He? Mai paused. What was going on?

"Mr. Lin! Help!" came a shrill voice. Mai turned her head. The girl was being carried off, effortlessly, like a sack of potatoes.

"No! Let her go! Take me instead!" Mai shouted. She rose to her feet, shakily. She chased after them, but she was not fast enough to stop the iron door from hissing shut. She slammed into it, stomach screaming in protest. She shouted through the door for a good minute before giving up. It was clear that this wasn't going to amount to anything. She sat down in a corner, pulling her knees into her chest, and resting her forehead in her arms. The pain in her stomach subsided, as well as the weighted feeling of mortality.

When she next looked up, she was in the spiritual plane. And by then, she realized what exactly she had seen. Her eyes began to water. Oh Lin… A hand came and touched her on the head. She looked up, expecting to see Gene. Instead, it was Kenji's father, looking at her with an alarmed expression.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Have you seen my son?"

Mai shot straight up. The two of them looked around frantically, trying to spot the little boy amongst the mass of spiritual lights. That's when they heard it. "No!" the voice shouted. It was shrill and forceful. It took Mai a second to realize it was Kenji's.

"Kenji!" she shouted, along with his father.

"No! Don't listen!" Kenji's voice screamed.

"Kenji, where are you?" his father cried. Once again, Mai found herself in a place of uncomfortable wonder. She had only ever heard Lin's voice reflect such emotions once or twice before, all because Naru had passed out after using his Qigong.

"Don't listen! Don't go!"

"We're right here, Kenji!" Mai shouted into the abyss.

"Mai!"

"I'm right here!"

"Mai!"

"Kenji!"

"MAI!"

Mai's eyes snapped open. Naru was there, as was everyone else. The light was on. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes, adjusting to the light. They were all looking at her with an expression of apprehension. "What?" she asked.

"Did you see the entity?" Naru asked.

"What entity?"

"Oh Mai," Naru sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "Don't tell me you forgot what you were supposed to be doing."

Mai's eyes widened. The entity that was stealing children! "Did the hitogata work?" No one answered her for a minute. That was all she needed. "No…" she whispered.

"I'm afraid it's true," Ayako murmured. "The entity completely bypassed the hitogata and went straight for the children. One more child has gone missing."

"But there was an adult in the room with them, right?" Mai didn't think they could look any more apprehensive. Something was wrong. Very wrong. "Say something!" she said.

"I'm afraid our attempt to trick the entity has only made it angry," Naru said.

"What do you mean?" Mai shouted. "Just spill it already!"

"It was John's turn to watch the children. John has gone missing too."