Lin barged in the small apartment looking for his young boss. He eventually found him lying down on the floor unconscious. He bent over to feel his pulse and then pulled back holding the black phone and dialling the medium's number. "I found him" He properly carried Naru after the phone call and placed him over the sofa. Lin wondered himself inside the small apartment, he wasn't pleased with the height of it since He had to bend a little every time he would encounter an entrance. The Chinese omyouji reached Mai's room. He started to look over her shelves and her desk. He found himself staring at a photo of young Noll and young Gene. Beside the picture was a handkerchief. Lin raised his eyebrow and smiled lightly. "Taniyama-san really loved Naru" he mumbled to himself.
Shortly, Lin noticed a car parked outside the apartment. He went and leaned forward to the window and saw the priest, walking his way to the entrance of the apartment with the Japanese medium. Lin went to the entrance and opened the door. "Lin-san, How is Shibuya-san" John asked the moment Lin let themselves in. The medium closed the door and walked to the lying man on the couch. "How did you know he was here?" Masako asked covering her lip with her sleeve. "I just had a hunch" Lin admitted. "He's okay, he's just unconscious" John looked over at Naru as well. "Did you try waking him up?"
"I did, but he doesn't want to wake up"
"What do you mean he doesn't want to wake up?" Masako glanced to Lin.
"He was dreaming about her" Lin mentioned to them that Naru was talking in his sleep about Mai.
"The apartment, I really felt something strange about it" Masako stood up and looked at the ceiling. "It's as if there is a dead spirit resting here" She mumbled to herself. "Is it?" John was about to ask but Masako cut him off. "No, it's not Mai." Masako said as she turned back to Lin and John again. "Lin, I know that we're out of boundaries here when it comes to cases but I'd like for you guys to open this up too Ayako and Bou-san" Masako said with sincerity.
"This is not a case" Naru slowly opened his eyes and sat up. "This is a completely different situation, It's a missing person's case" He placed his two feet on the ground and he leaned forward crossing his fingers. "I may have killed Mai the night she went missing" The young CEO looked at them with a passive look.
"Naru, you're not serious about this" Lin walked in front of him.
"I am Lin, I used my psychometry to try and find out what really happened." Naru looked up at his Chinese assistant and then pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Lin looked at Naru dialling numbers on his phone. "I need to talk to bou-san" He said as he stood up and placed his phone on his ear. "Come at Mai's apartment ASAP" Naru left a voicemail to Bou-san and then hung up. Naru threw his phone on the couch while John and Masako looked at him. It was the first time the two looked at Naru so tense.
"Don't you think that what you saw was just an illusion or really just a dream" Masako asked. Naru started to calm down since the object around him was starting to move. He sat down and said "It felt real, Hara-san" Naru glared. "I myself don't remember what happened to her that night. I felt that I went inside the apartment the night she went missing"
"According to Hara-san she could feel a presence of a dead spirit here but not Taniyama-san's" Lin looked down at Naru and heard a car stopping outside. "It must be Bou-san" John Brown walked to the door and opened it. He saw the monk and the priestess arguing about a small matter, the car.
"—why don't you just let me buy you a new one?!" Ayako said at the monk looking a bit ticked off.
"That car has many memories!" Bou-san rebutted. "So?!"
"Umm, welcome?" John said as he let the two inside the small apartment. The CEO started to talk about what he felt and saw in his dream.
Masako started her prayer inside Mai's room. She felt the presence of the spirit getting nearer and nearer to her. The room was silent, the windows were closed and there was only one light present, the lighten candle infront of the medium. Naru and Lin stood at the side and watched her with her chants. The candle started to lose its light and suddenly there was silence. Masako was looking down on her knees sitting down on her legs.
"Hara-san?" John asked but tried to stay in his place. "The woman who summoned me here, where is she?" Masako Hara said as she lifted her face a bit.
"Are you talking about Mai?" Bou-san rashly questioned. Masako's body nodded. "We haven't found her" Ayako told her.
"Pity, the man wearing black over there must know something. I saw him once." Masako's head turned to Naru who was leaning against the wall. "The one who summoned me is in trouble. I was not the only one she summoned."
"How many times did she try on contacting a spirit?" Lin asked. Masako lifted her 3 fingers. "I was the first one. The second one…" Masako's voice started to faint. "How did she try to summon you?" Bou-san started to ask. Masako started to write on the floor and fainted on her front. Lin turned the lights on. John walked to Masako who was still unconscious and said to bou-san. "Place her on Mai's bed" The monk listed the medium. The moment she was lifted a certain object fell off her sleeve. The object was wood and shaped like a rounded triangle, at the centre upper part of it there was a circular hole.
Lin looked over at the wooden object and bend down. His eyes were surprised to see a planchette for the first time. He touched took the object from the ground. Ayako tilted her head, wondering what she just saw. "Lin, what is that?" Ayako pointed at Lin's hand. "It's called a planchette, this was used way before the Ouija board was even created. It seems like the spirit answered the question after all" Lin opened his hand.
"May I?" Naru tried to reach out from it. Lin immediately placed the wooden planchette in his pocket. "You will not use your psychometry, Naru"
"What is a planchette?" John looked confused. "It's a way of communicating to spirits, it's like kokkuri-san, Ouija board and the likes. In using planchette you need a pencil placed in the centre whole. The position of the summoner's hand is simple, as if he or she is writing." Lin lifted the planchette and demonstrated it for their sakes. "However, what's odd about using in planchette is that you need two or more people to use it, otherwise it wouldn't work" Noll said as he swiftly snatched the planchette from Lin's hand. Lin stared at NAru angrily. Naru sighed and gave up. "I won't use my Psychometry, I promise. I'm just intrigued who might gave this to Mai".
"Maybe Gene taught her"
Naru clenched his fist with the planchette. "You idiot" Ayako placed her hand on Bou-san's mouth.
"Only Gene might have known about that thing. He's the only spirit that Mai knew of" Bou-san pushed away the red headed miko and placed his arms on his waist. Masako Hara was starting to wake up. She held her head and tried to sit up. Ayako turned to the medium and asked. "How are you?" Masako's eyes started to tear up a bit and said. "I saw Mai. She's really in danger" Ayako sat down beside Masako and touched her shoulder she had her leaned against her neck. "How?" Bou-san walked forward. "Naru didn't kill Mai." She held her sleeves and looked down and mentioned what she saw.
Ayako didn't like what she heard as well. Masako's vision was a bit blurry but she knew that Naru couldn't possibly kill his assistant. "You know what, this calls for a case. The spirit mentioned about Mai successfully summoning 3 spirits right? What if those three spirits were actually just spirits dressed up as Naru?" Bou-san said. "We have to time for your jokes" Ayako slapped his head.
"I'm serious. What if the images of what Masako saw was actually an illusion or just a dream that the spirit wants for us to see. I've read about this matter before when I was still a monk" Bou-san started to touch his chin thinking. "Bon... Bin... Rok... Baku!" the monk said looking at the two ladies. "It's just an ancient story about this spiritual being can actually devour dreams and turn them to nightmares."
"So what you're saying is that Mai was dreaming of talking to Gene in the kitchen and this Baku spirit devours the dream and turns it to a nightmare" John asked and the monk nodded. "How can you mix an eastern culture to a western one? First and foremost the planchette was used to contact Gene and now this?" Ayako gave out a sigh and started to look confused. "We need to know more about this planchette." The miko started to look for Naru and Lin.
Ayako couldn't believe what Masako said to them earlier.
"What Naru saw wasn't actually him. It was Gene." Masako glanced at Naru. The young man couldn't believe what he heard. He walked to the door and left his team there. He went his way to the living room. Lin followed his boss and didn't say a word.
Planchette- it's an older version of the Quija Board. I've pretty much tried it before. The method or the way how the spirit communicates with a living person is more freely done compared to the Quija Board. So, under the planchette you'll need a paper (or if you want that creepy souvenir from your planchette mate you can just use your floor) next place a pencil, finger w/ ink in the center hole. Before you try and proceed, you should meditate first so that you will be able to focus.
In my other storied I've also introduces Ikiryo. Ikiryo is actually just astral projection but with a reason why a spirit is leaving the body. In Ikiryo it takes a lot of your spirit to be able to complete. It's not recommended since if you've successfully mastered ikiryo it will create a physical damage in the mind.