I'd like to say, for the record, that all my readers crack me up! You guys are great, I'm trying to stay a few chapters ahead so there won't be any more big breaks between updates and I changed the rating to M because things are going to get hot and heavy!


Chapter 8

A growl from across the room made me glance up, Mai was giving me a woebegone look and holding a hand to her stomach.

"Foooood... breakfast was days ago Naru!"

"Barely two hours."

"But it feels like days!"

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Mai..."

"Look we have one more room, which we know has three mirrors, one in the bathroom and two in the room so after that..."

"After that we have to ward the entire place to be sure we didn't miss any reflective surfaces,"

"But... I'm going to faint from hunger..." She wobbled and I glared at her.

"Can you try to be professional for another ten minutes?"

"No promises."

We made it to the end of the hall with minimal fuss. The door was open a crack and we knocked anyway. I pushed open the door when I heard an odd thunking noise, feeling the hair raise on the back of my neck. Something was wrong.

"Move-" I clapped a hand over Mai's mouth and kept my body in between her and the room. Her hand tugging at mine let me know she got the point. She held onto the back of my suit jacket and I eased us in the room.

A man was bent over a young woman, not a very alarming situation but a second look at the man corrected me. The man made the situation very alarming. He was dead. With his clothes youthful but his body withered to the point of resembling a mummy more than a man I didn't doubt my initial assessment, he was very dead. I took a second look at the woman, she wasn't a corpse but she wasn't alive either, she was a spirit. Her face was young and beautiful as the man fell from her arms but she was dressed completely in white.

"The white lady." Mai whispered unnecessarily.

"Where is my daughter?" The woman's voice was clear but her lips didn't move.

"I don't know." I answered calmly, side-stepping to keep Mai behind me as she peeked around my body. "But I assure you she is not here."

"Where is my daughter?"

I backed us out of the room, nearly stepping on Mai more than once as she kept trying to look at the woman.

"You have my daughter!" She shrieked this and flew at me, clawing at my face, and let me assure you, she didn't feel like a spirit.

"Don't touch him!" Mai darted out and said the nine cuts in a calm but very fast tone even as the spirit clawed at her and fought. On the last she wavered and disappeared.

"All nine?" I asked when she turned back to me.

"The bitch pissed me off." She went up on her toes and tilted my face to the side, examining where the white lady had scratched me. "Looks like you got off with minimal damage."

"I'll live."

Mai smiled and I sent her to quickly place the four remaining sutras in the halls to the east and west and the north and south facing front and back doors, securing the home while I informed the client of the situation in the room with the white lady. I called the woman to the lobby where I could keep an eye on Mai in all four directions.

"Well inside here at least should be safe." Mai put her hand in the crook of my arm and I uncrossed one of them to lace my fingers with her, glad she was safe and not particularly concerned with who saw. "I want Ayako to take a look at those scratches and do her tree thing."

"Tree thing?" I asked with a hint of incredulity.

"Mm-hmm, just cleanse and make sure there's no risk of infection. Spirit poisoning is bad news." She blushed. "But you know that."

"It's reassuring to hear you talk about it too, it reinforces your competency."

She sighed. "It's a good thing you're cute because you can be a real jerk you know that?"

"So I've been told." I stroked her hand while we bantered, negating her 'jerk' label.

"We'll need to ask Mrs. Shibuya a few questions." The detective in charge joined us and bowed respectfully to Mai. He was a smart man and recognized that displays of respect and manners would get him further than being rude and aggressive.

I felt an unexpected surge of emotion at that label and didn't correct him. I noticed Mai didn't either. "Right now we're performing an independent investigation on the grounds and none of my investigators are allowed to be alone. As you can see the situation is escalating and their safety is my top priority." I slid the arm she'd been holding around her shoulders and tucked her protectively against my body.

"Shibuya Psychic Research has an high success rate. I've read some of your case files, I'd greatly appreciate it if you shared your conclusions with us when you finish the investigation."

I nodded. "Of course, we will stop by your office on our way home."

He let us go. Considering that Japanese police had a ninety percent success rate it made sense that he was willing to bide his time and earn our trust.

We started back towards the base. "So we've met The Hook Man, the dress, and the white lady, someone summoned Bloody Mary but we haven't actually seen her yet… that just leaves Doc Benton." Mai didn't try to extricate herself from my arm and we fell easily into step, her taking three steps to match two of my strides.

When we got inside Mai took a Temaki sushi roll from the lunch tray and I made an effort not to roll my eyes. So far we'd seen enough bastardized Japanese cultural influences to last me a life time. While there was no question of the convenience of the Temaki roll I'd rather watch Mai eat with chopsticks, which made for infinitely more fascinating lunch time entertainment.

"Since as far as I can tell Bloody Mary and Doc Benton haven't been chased out or banished and they definitely haven't been sealed away I think we can safely assume they're going to attack next."

"No one goes anywhere alone until we find who's behind this." I sat at the computer monitors. "That includes rooms, I'm sure Masako and John will be fine sharing a room and Lin can set his Shiki to guard his."

"And what about you?" Mai asked sharply.

I turned slowly in my chair, dropping the emotional control I wore like body armor and letting a small taste of the desire I felt fill my gaze, merely a fraction of how she really made me feel but it was enough. My lips curved as I noted her breath quicken and eyes dilate. "I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Only one?" She laughed breathlessly.

I didn't dignify that with an answer. She got the point. Mai Taniyama would be mine and since I wanted her exactly the way she was, feisty, luscious, uncontrollable, sunny, optimistic and full of suprises, I'd have to go slowly so as to not scare her off, something which I was getting increasingly less concerned about.

When Lin was playing amateur doctor on her hand that morning she had winced, then thought about something else, something that had made her lips part and her face tilt unconsciously in my direction. She'd watched me without realizing it for almost a full minute. I didn't want to push her but since I knew she wanted me it was only fair to warn her that those desires were reciprocated so she was aware of my intentions.

"Hey lunch!" Houshou practically skipped into the base. "I'm starving!"

Lin took off his headphones and came in from the other room, sending a sharp hard look Mai's way that made me curious. She must have done something serious to upset him this much but she carefully avoided his eye and focused on her wrap.

The day passed with mocking slowness. Mai stayed on the porch, doing her research and keeping her back to a window so we knew she was safe. The others investigated and purified and interviewed but still came back empty-handed. Dinner was somber as we discussed the case and the lack of progress.

I had to squelch the annoyance I felt when John volunteered to check the wards with Mai. All it took was one look across the table at Masako and the look on John's face when he looked at her. It seemed that there was no chance he was going to risk losing that.

I'd almost convinced myself to relax when the sound of running footsteps had me on my feet.

"Naru!" Mai gasped when she and John came in the door. "Someone's sabotaged the wards!"

"What?" I followed them back out to the first ward and sure enough, someone had ripped a piece of the paper out from the middle. "All of them are like this?"

She nodded. "Every last one, and let me tell you, no ghost or spirit was responsible."

"Of course not, this was a human." I frowned, mentally calculating how many sutras that left us with. "We don't have enough extra to cover the grounds, put a few in the base and I'll notify our client that her guests need to stay indoors from now until morning."

She nodded and dashed back to the base, leaving John with me. I stood very still until I heard the door to the base open and was sure Mai was safely inside.

"Let's go." I told John.

"Right behind you boss."

We warned the appropriately worried client who assured us that the guests would be safe and that most had already gone to bed and those who hadn't were having nightcap cocktails at the bar. I couldn't deny the touch of distaste for people who drank themselves to sleep. The ritual I'd had with Gene was rare, maybe once a month and now I drank even more rarely. It wasn't a habit I'd let Mai get in either, the night before had been a special occasion, she'd been really shaken up and had a traumatic day.

"So are you and Mai… dating now?" John asked delicately.

"No." I shook my head while promising myself to rectify that situation. I didn't want to mix work with pleasure but the second we were done with this case I'd take Mai to dinner in the new dress I was going to buy her, something classy but flattering.

"For the love of all that is holy will you two get on with it already? No one else on the team can be in the same room with you without getting electrocuted. Psychic love is a dangerous thing mate."

I gave him a suspicious look, positive I would be aware if my psycho-kinesis had gotten the better of me.

"I mean it Kazuya, you guys have crazy strong vibes and if you don't release some of that tension then who knows how the energy will express itself. For the good of us all at least kiss the girl."

I rolled my eyes, no matter how valid his point or how good his intentions, subtlety was not one of John's strong suits and what he wanted had nothing to do with the safety of the group.

A slender silhouette in the base door way made my pulse race, with the light to her back I could see the outline of her legs in the dress and all I had to do was make the connection with the night before. While the primitive part of my brain had been predominantly occupied with her breasts, the part of me that was always aware of my surroundings had made sure I got a good look at her legs. Long thighs and calves with slim ankles and feet, well worth a second and third and five hundredth look.

Mai was nervously wringing her hands until we stepped into the light. A sigh of relief made her shoulders slump. "Come inside for tea you two!" She called, handing us two mugs as soon as we crossed the threshold.

The room seemed lighter, the sutras and wards were doing their job.

"Thank you Mai." I ignored the sexual tension I felt palpably enough to chew and accepted the cup. Even with the strength of the pull I felt towards her I felt my control over my powers as tight as ever. Uncontrollable energy, yeah right.

Masako had stood upon our entrance and was at the door now. "John, are you ready to walk me to my room?"

"You'd better stay there for the night." Houshou announced, subtle as ever. "That way Miss Hara can be properly protected."

"I'll keep that in mind, night everyone!" John waved cheerfully and guided Masako out with a light hand on her back.

"We're pretty wiped too." Ayako said with a glint in her eye and no indication of fatigue. "Bed time!"

"You're the boss!" Houshou agreed with a lascivious grin.

Mai rolled her eyes and sat on one of the arm chairs, opening a folder on her knees. She glanced at Lin and when she saw his headphones on looked at me. "I can stay up if you want to get some more work done."

I did. But there was always work to be done. "It can wait until the morning." I reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet, then tapped on the glass door to get Lin's attention. I didn't have to do more than wave for him to nod and return to his work. "Come on."

I let her lead the way upstairs. "Do you want to…" She blushed. "Oh man I feel like I'm sixteen again, crap I thought I was done with this awkwardness. Do you want to sleep in your room or mine?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought we'd already gone over this Mai."

"I mean… it doesn't matter to me." She said quietly. "Where we are."

I nodded in understanding. "You room is fine, let me get ready for bed and I'll join you, but leave your door open."

She huffed, blowing her hair out of her face. "Do I need an escort for the shower?"

"Do you want one?" I smiled.

"Oh! You… Damnit you go change and brush your teeth and give me time to unfluster."

I went to my room, taking my pajama pants and toiletries into the communal bathroom. I was just starting to get undressed when the door opened. I thought nothing of it until I heard a familiar annoyed sigh.

I stepped out, still in my pants. "Mai?"

She met my eyes then looked away quickly. "Is it all right if I use the other shower? The monk and Ayako have… occupied the other bathroom."

"What's wrong with their room?"

"No shower."

"Ah." I went back into my stall and finished undressing, doing my very best to ignore the soft sounds of Mai and felt relieved when her shower turned on. Then the shower-related mental images started.

Those made me triple the speed with which I normally showered. I was out in under five minutes and brushing my teeth, then all but fleeing into my room. I left the door partway open and settled in with a dry book on interpreting electronic voice phenomena. I had always been able to lose myself in my work in the past but I just kept seeing Mai. It would have been easier if they were just normal lecherous thoughts of her in the shower but they weren't. Those did make an appearance but mostly I was thinking about her in normal settings, laughing, blushing, arguing. Mai happy, Mai sad, Mai furious.

I set the book down and leaned on my fist. When she'd left for America I felt like all the air had been sucked out of the office. It was miserable. That hadn't felt like love but maybe that was the point. It felt like hell because Mai wasn't there.

I'm in love with her. I examined the thought with the same cool detachment that I examined everything. Despite that, my heart started racing as I considered the possibility. Love was a release of chemicals into the brain that made the subject feel like… well, this. Accelerated heart rate and escalated sexual drive, response to pheromones. Obsessive thoughts and fixation, a mental response to cope with the increased hormone release. I didn't have an answer to my brother's quest to get Mai and I together, that was a wild card in the mix.

A soft knock at the door made me look up. Mai stood in the doorway and I was pleased to note she wore my shirt, which reached about mid-thigh on her.

"If you want to work I can go ahead to bed." She said again hesitantly.

I shelved my book. "No need. I wasn't being very productive anyway."

"I really don't need a body guard, though I appreciate your concern." She crossed her arms.

"Everyone partners up Mai, Lin has his shiki so he is never completely alone but you need to be watched."

She tossed her hair back with a glare. "Oh yeah? I seem to recall saving your butt earlier."

That made me fight back a smile. Mai was powerful, unusually so on many levels, but if I had full use of my powers I'd exorcize the whole site in one wave. It was frustrating to not be able to use my power, it slowed down investigations to a crawl while everyone else stumbled through.

"You're not the only one with powers Mai." I scooped up my folder on the case and ushered her out of my room, turning off the light and closing the door behind us.

"Well you can't safely use yours." She shot back, then winced. "Sorry, that was harsh."

"You're forgiven." We went into her room and I switched on the same bedside lamp I'd had the night before, settling onto the bed with the folder.

"I thought you weren't being productive?"

"This is just for when you bore me."

"I know I annoy you and get in your way." She said over her shoulder and closed the door. "But there is no way I've ever ever EVER been boring."

Fair enough.

"Naru?" She crawled onto the bed and tucked her feet under her. "I never really understood how your powers work."

"I never told you."

"… Obviously, I am mentally present enough to figure that out." She glared.

I closed the folder with an exasperated sigh. "What did you want to know?"

"Gene balanced you right? I mean he was like the opposite? What does that even mean? What exactly do you do and what exactly did he do and how did you work together?"

I waited while she looked at me expectantly. "Well if I answer all of your questions you'd be in for a several-hours long lecture on psychic conduits and the ebb and flow of psychic power."

"Cliff notes version please."

I assumed that meant a shorter version and frowned, trying to simplify it. "I manipulate neutral energy, I create energy and force from nothing, Gene neutralized positive and negative energy, turning whatever force I'd created back to nothing."

"So you made PK from nothing and he turned that back into nothing."

"Mind-numbingly simplified, yes."

She rolled her eyes. "So what's been happening with the energy you create and manipulate now?"

"It destroys itself. For the most part that destructive force is external but since I created it part of it is always within me. Gene could take that part and nullify it but without his power it just…" I hesitated, not wanting to frighten her. "It's like a destructive beam of light in a room full of mirrors."

"And it ricochets until it destroys all of the mirrors." It wasn't a question. "How long can your body stand that kind of strain?"

I shrugged. "That's not a question I can answer without all the data."

"So basically we just got lucky last time and if you use your powers you die. Are there any bad effects from NOT using your power?"

"Not particularly, I've heard of people's psycho kinesis getting the better of them, but I have more self-control."

"Do other people with PK have both halves of the power, instead of split apart like you and Gene?"

I tried not to show the surprise I felt at her perceptive question but she still glared at me. "Yes. But people weren't born to hold that much power in their bodies and it usually destroys them when they're young. Gene and I were going to be the first to make it to eighteen."

She absent-mindedly took my hand as she thought. It was cute, her eyes were dark and distant and she had three wrinkles in between her eyebrows as she frowned. I opened my hand under hers and looked at her fine bones and long-bedded nails painted with silver nail polish.

"Well that's all I needed to know! you can go now." She stretched and flopped back on the bed.