Chapter 3

Aki's P.O.V

At eight o'clock in the morning exactly, I was standing outside the SPR office door. I guess Naru called the principal and if you're wondering, I kind of adopted Mai's name for him and she didn't mind. She told me the others call him that too. I had a bag of clothes with me just in case we had to stay on sight for a case. Mai told me about all the cases they had done so far last night via text. I guess you could say we've bonded. I told Michiru about it all and she was happy for me, Keiko too. But I've only been to class for one day and I'm already going to be exempt from school for the next four days. Apparently the cases that SPR do take lasts at least four, maybe five days max according to Mai. I finally knocked on the door after staring at it for two minutes straight and walked in. "It's about time you got here." A lady with long red hair said frowning. I rolled my eyes.

"Well excuse me for not having very good punctuality." The guy with blond hair, pulled back in a pony tail sniggered.

"She sure got you Ayako."

"Oh shut up."

"I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Aki Haru."

"Hosho Takigawa, but you can just call me Monk. Just about everyone else does." The guy with blond hair pulled back in a pony tail said smiling.

"So you're a Monk?"

"Yep!"

"Cool."

"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki, I'm a priestess."

"Sure don't act like it..." I muttered quietly.

"What was that, you brat!?"

"Nothing, Matsuzaki-san." I said smiling widely. Monk just laughed at this earning a swat to the back of his head.

"I'm John Brown, I'm a Catholic Priest." A blond haired kid said with an Australian accent.

"Wow, you're so young!" He chuckled.

"I get that a lot."

"And I already know who you are, Masako Hara-san. I've seen a few of your shows." She smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Aki. It's okay if I call you that right?"

"Only if I can call you Masako, because I hate using honorifics." She chuckled.

"That's fine with me." Ayako sighed.

"I guess you can call me Ayako, then."

"If everyone is acquainted, I'd like to start on the case." Naru said rudely. I huffed.

"Rude..." I muttered sitting down next to John and Mai. Mai and Monk sniggered as Naru sighed.

"So what are we up against this time?" Monk asked as soon as everyone was seated.

"The principal of Chinmoku High School called me yesterday reporting students being possessed and what to me sounds like poltergeist activity."

"Possessions?" Mai asked wide-eyed.

"Apparently it happens to one student a week and in the words of the principal, 'I'm getting tired of hiring people who can't get rid of this,'"

"So in other words, he's called us in to do an exorcism on whatever spirit is possessing the kids and a poltergeist?" Ayako asked frowning.

"That's what I just said." Naru said sighing. Ayako scowled at him and huffed. Hm... They act almost as if they're like a family. I smiled. They may be a bit dysfunctional but that's okay with me. I wish my family was like this.

"Well, it sounds interesting to me." I said shrugging.

"But it does seem kind of weird that a student gets possessed once every week." Masako said frowning.

"Yes, that's what I thought was more concerning."

"So when are we going to the school?" I asked curiously.

"Right now." Naru said standing up. I shrugged.

"And I meant what I said I'm not doing your grunt work." Naru sighed.

"Fine, just don't get in the way." Everyone looked from him to me in shock. I grinned.

"I'm glad you understand, but you're the one who wanted me to come along with you on this case in the first place."

"Yes, but you didn't have to come." I scoffed.

"Do you want me to come or not?" He just stayed silent. "I thought so..." He shook his head and turned away to talk to Lin-san. "Ne, Mai, come on, we have to talk about how we're going to get Michiru and Keiko to join us." Mai nodded, looking a bit distracted.

"You're talking about something else right?" John asked curiously.

"Yep!"

"What?" Monk asked curiously.

"Oh, well Aki told me we should go tell ghost stories some time and we're going to try and get Michiru and Keiko to join us."

"Ooh, I love telling ghost stories, can I come?" Monk asked eagerly.

"But don't you have band practice?" Mai asked, scratching the back of her head.

"I've got time to tell ghost stories. Hey, if those two don't want to, I'll join you."

"Oh, this might be interesting, so I will too. That is if you friends don't want to." John said smiling. I chuckled. I was really starting to like these people.

"Okay, but even if they say yes, you're still coming right?" I asked grinning.

"Sure," The two said smiling.

"Let's get moving people." Naru said rudely before heading out the door.

"Rude!" I called after him. Everyone laughed, even Lin-san. Well he just chuckled but whatever. Mai and I got in the car with Monk and John, while Ayako got stuck driving with Masako. I can tell Ayako doesn't like Masako too much, but respects her. I guess Naru likes me. If he didn't, I probably wouldn't be here right now. He most likely would not have asked me to come if he didn't. I yawned still feeling sleepy. "Ne, how far away is Chinmoku anyways?" I asked curiously.

"An hour at most." Monk answered as soon as we were all buckled up and the car was moving.

"Do you mind if I take a small nap?"

"Not at all." John said smiling. I nodded, yawned again, and made myself comfortable before drifting off to sleep.

Mai's P.O.V

"Do you think she has dreams like you Mai?" John asked curiously. Mai shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. All I know is that she can see and talk to ghosts like Masako. I don't think she can channel them or anything like that though." Monk looked thoughtful.

"Does Naru believe her?"

"I don't know. He said no but after asking some questions, I'm just not sure. I'm pretty sure the whole purpose of asking her to come on this case with us is to prove it."

"She hasn't tried to prove it to him herself?" John asked shocked. Mai smiled and shook her head.

"No, she flat out told him she wasn't going to try and prove it to him because you can't make someone believe something they don't believe in." Monk chuckled.

"I can see her doing that. I'm surprised Naru is letting her get away with not doing any grunt work."

"Yeah, but I think she's going to do it anyways, because she won't have anything better to do." Mai said grinning.

"Don't let her hear you say that." John said jokingly. Mai laughed but quickly covered her mouth before looking at Aki. She was still sleeping. Thank goodness... Mai thought relieved. She wasn't sure what Aki was like when she was woken up, but Mai didn't want to find out. She hoped that when they wake her at the school, that Aki wasn't going to bite their heads off.

"You know, I'm not surprised that Naru didn't believe her right away. Anyone can go up to someone and say they can do something."

"Yeah, she seemed kind of sad earlier." John said frowning.

"Well, I know she doesn't get along with her family very well because of her ability to see and talk to ghosts. If anything, it's driving them apart. Her parents looked really disappointed when they found out Naru couldn't make her not see ghosts yesterday." Mai said feeling anger towards them.

"Well it is human nature to push away things you don't understand." Monk said frowning too. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but there really isn't anything we can do about it." Mai sighed.

"I know. I just wish Aki's parents were more understanding and supportive."

"Well, if it counts for anything, we can always give her the support she needs." Mai smiled.

"I think she'd like that."

"I wonder if Ayako would rather spend an hour with Naru and Lin or Masako." Monk suddenly said snickering. Mai giggled.

"I think she'd rather be with Naru and Lin. I bet she and Masako are fighting right now and won't stop until we get to the school."

"I don't doubt that for a second." John said chuckling.

*Chinmoku High School – I just made this up, so don't be hating on me because it sounds stupid please! :D