Behind Closed Doors

File 2: The White River


"MAI!"

Mai jolted up from bed. She looked over to find Ayako making up her own bed, dressed in a short sleeved shirt and jean shorts. The priestess looked up from what she was doing, "Finally! I've been trying to get you up for the past hour."

"Sorry," Mai said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head as she got up to stretch. "I slept like a rock!"

"You're telling me?" Ayako snorted, "Come on, hurry up and get dressed."

"What for?" Mai inquired. Hadn't Naru told her that she wasn't on the case anymore?

"I think Naru wants you to come along for the exorcism today," Ayako pondered, tapping her chin. "I guess it's to make up for yesterday."

"Does he really?" Mai's face lit up when she saw the priestess nod and immediately began searching for suitable clothes. Ayako laughed at her enthusiasm.

After a moment of silence, when the self-proclaimed miko had finished making her bed, she looked up at Mai. "So you're not upset that we have to exorcise Miyoko's spirit?"

Mai paused momentarily, but quickly went back to pulling her shirt over her head. "Of course I'm upset…but it's not like the last case we had. I can't just pretend to be an entire village and make Miyoko forgive them for everything they've done. What else can we do?"

Ayako could only shrugged solemnly before she and Mai made their way to the base.


Mai took a deep breath, watching Bou-san close his eyes and do the same. The monk stood in the center of the shrine, prayer beads tangled in his hands as he began to chant his usual incantations. They all stood stiffly in the silence, waiting for something to happen. And for a moment of confusion, nothing did.

Mai turned to her boss, leaning over to ask why nothing was happening, when the ground beneath them suddenly shuddered. Naru managed to wrap a protective arm around her before she and her crutches could fall.

Bou-san, although a bit shaken up by the incident, continued to chant over the moaning of the old shrine. A sort of heaviness hung in the air, Mai noticed, suddenly making it harder to breathe. And then there was another shudder.

Naru could only wrap his arms tighter around her and tuck the brunette's head under his chin when small pieces of ceiling began to fall around them. He looked up at the monk and caught his eye, signaling that they needed to speed it up a little.

But the room stilled. Mai could hear the flow of words from Bou-san stop. She could feel Naru holding his breath, his heartbeat accelerating slightly. Turning her head from Naru's chest, Mai looked around only to find that she was holding her own breath as well.

A translucent figure that had taken the shape of Miyoko stood before them. She looked down at the brunette in pure, unadulterated rage, her face twisted with hate and no longer as beautiful as if had been in Mai's dream.

'Why?'

The ghostly priestess said it so quietly; Mai could barely make out the angry whisper. She was too speechless to make coherent sentences, though.

'Why?' the priestess inquired again, this time much louder and angrier sounding. Naru pulled Mai away, probably afraid that the ghost would, at some point, lash out at the young girl in his arms. 'How could you do this to me? You were so nice.'

"'Why'?" Mai said, anger bubbling in the pit of her stomach as her thoughts cleared. "Do you even realize what you've been doing up to this point? You've been hurting innocent men, women, and children! We can't let you do that anymore, Miyoko."

'Don't you realize how much they've hurt me? Why can't you see? They need to be taught a lesson.'

"I know you've been hurt, but it's not right to hate someone for what their parents or ancestors have done in the past. The choices that they made were their own, not their children's. These are innocent people you are hurting and it has to stop."

'You don't understand! You just–'

A shuffling on the shrine's steps caused everyone to be silenced, so much so that a pin could be heard if dropped.

"Kneel down, now, Shouji," a rough and old, yet gentle voice ordered.

The whine of a small child – a boy – was heard, "but Grandma, you still haven't told me what we're doing here!"

A soft swat could be heard before the boy yelped in pain. "Be quite boy. We're here to ask for forgiveness."

"Forgiveness for what?"

"A long time ago, I did a horrible thing. Because of that horrible thing, you almost died in the fire last night. We've come to ask for priestess Miyoko's forgiveness," The old woman spoke much quieter, but her words rang throughout the shrine. "I was a foolish child, but my family doesn't deserve to live with my mistakes on their shoulders. I'd offer you my own life, but I know nothing I can give you will be enough to make up for what I've done…"

"But Grandma," Shouji started, confused (Mai could almost see his eyebrows knitted together), "what if she doesn't want to forgive us?"

The old woman paused, as if she had never even considered it a possibility. "She will. I know she will."

The two sat there in a comfortable silence, unaware that there were people inside of the shrine struggling to stay as still as possible until they were gone. Mai looked at the ghostly apparition after Shouji and his grandma went on their way. She wanted almost desperately to say something, but instead she heard Ayako's even voice from across the shrine.

"That child, so sweet and innocent, nearly died yesterday from that fire you started," the red head said, her voice a bit harsher than Mai had expected. "His grandmother has repented. So now what do you do? Will you continue to harm these innocents?"

'I…I don't–' Miyoko was at a loss for words.

Ayako approached the ghostly figure despite Bou-san's whispered warnings. "You need to move on. It's the right thing to do, and you know that."

Mikoyo looked helplessly at the fellow priestess, her shoulders slumping. 'You're right. What have I been doing all of this time?'

"It's not too late to move on. Everyone's waiting for you; your mother and father, even your little sister," Naru said, surprising the rest of them. "You don't have to stay here anymore."

'But all of the horrible things I've done…They'll hate me!'

"No matter what's happened, they will treat you with love and affection. Don't fear the light, move towards it."

Miyoko smiled, suddenly glowing. 'Thank you. Thank you so much.'

Mai smiled as the apparition faded and their case was officially solved. Hopefully now roots wouldn't be grabbing at peoples ankles and twisting them. After all, Hatori only had one pair of crutches left.


Satomi pulled the young teenager into her arms, squeezing tightly. "It's been such a pleasure. Thank you and your team for coming. You've saved us a lot of business, let me tell you."

"No problem!" Mai said, unable to contain the wide smile on her face. "Thank you for being an amazing hostess. If you have any other supernatural occurrences in the future, you know who to call!" She wanted to say something like 'GHOST BUSTERS' afterwards, but she knew how much Naru hated it when she referred to SPR as such.

Satomi laughed, looking back at her husband who was silently urging her to come inside. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to. Once again, thank you so much."

Mai waved as the innkeeper returned inside.

"Hey, Mai!" Ayako called as she ran over to the brunette, the worried look on her face concerning the teenager.

"That's wrong, Ayako? Shouldn't you be loading the van?" Suddenly, having crutches and a twisted ankle was a gift. Naru had prohibited her from touching any boxes or equipment, thus excluding her from the arduous task of packing up. She could actually get used to this.

"It's just…on the way home…can I ride with you and Naru and Lin?" the priestess hesitated to say.

Little did Ayako know that Mai had already planned for Yasuhara to ride in the SPR van so that she and Bou-san could be alone. "Why not ride with Bou-san? It's the perfect chance to settle all of your problems! You can tell him that you like him and he can tell you that he likes you! And then it'll be like, BAM, problem solved. Then you two will become a couple and I will be stuck, forever alone."

Ayako looked down at the brunette with a raised eyebrow. "Mai, is this even about me anymore?"

"What? I'm just upset that everyone else's love life seems to be moving along fine, except mine! It sucks."

The red head wrapped the younger girl up in her arms. "Don't worry. He'll come to his senses soon enough. Then you two will start going out and he'll think to himself, 'why didn't I do this sooner?'" It's at times like these when Mai regretted plotting against poor Ayako and pissing her off. But it was for the sake of the older woman's love life, so it was all justified, right?

"He doesn't even like me!" Mai said with a sort of depressed laugh. She and Ayako walked over to the van, where said priestess was supposed to be taking inventory of all the equipment.

"We'll see about that," Ayako said with a wink.

"What on earth are girls talking about?" an amused voice inquired. The two girls whipped around in shock. Mai hit Hatori on the arm, a relieved smile playing across her face when she realized that he wasn't any of their teammates.

"Don't scare us like that, you jerk!" Mai laughed. "I almost had a heart attack!"

Hatori laughed, ruffling Mai's hair like Bou-san usually would. "What, are you talking about things your teammates shouldn't hear?"

"What else do girls talk about?" Ayako hinted.

Hatori laughed, patting Mai on the shoulder knowingly. "Ah!"

Bou-san came around to the back of the van. When he noticed Hatori's presence and his hand on Mai's shoulders, the monk's eyes narrowed. "Ayako, it's time to go. By the way, Naru wants you Mai."

Mai gave a disappointed sigh, but complied after giving the village doctor a final hug and handing him her crutches. "It's been nice knowing you."

"You too. Stay out of trouble, you hear?"

"No promises!" she called as she walked to the front of the van.

That's when the awkward silence between the three began. Hatori and Bou-san were having what seemed like an intense staring contest as Ayako stood painfully still, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Um, so I guess I'll see you later, Hatori-san?" Ayako said slowly. She went to give the doctor a quick hug, but was caught in his arms for longer than she had anticipated.

"Yeah," he said, burying his head into her hair, "don't lose the sheet of paper with my phone number and email address on it, okay?"

Ayako pulled back and looked at the man before her questioningly. Just as she was going to ask him what he was talking about, Bou-san's strong grip yanked her out of the doctor's arms and pulled her over to his car.

"What the hell was that, Bou-san?" she inquired, stopping in front of the passenger door with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

The monk ignored her and started his car up, waiting for the red head to get in. Knowing that he wouldn't answer her until she did so, Ayako finally got into the vehicle with a roll of her eyes. "So are you going to tell me why you're suddenly freaking out?"

"I don't know," Bou-san said with feign innocence, "Are you going to tell me what the deal is with you and that Hatori guy?"

Ayako's eyebrows shot up and she laughed in disbelief. Was Mai actually right about Bou-san liking her? "What deal? There is nothing between me and Hatori! I mean, we only knew each other for a day or so."

Bou-san, however, did not look amused as he began to apply pressure to the gas pedal and took off past the SPR van that was still parked. Ayako looked back at Mai and Yasuhara who were waving at the disappearing car with smiles on their faces. Wait…wasn't she supposed to be riding in the van with them instead of Yasuhara? Damn it. "W-Wait! I thought you wanted to follow Lin? Do you even know the way home?"

The monk ignored her question. Besides if he got to the village without following Lin, he could get back without following Lin. "Well then why do you have Hatori's contact information?"

Ayako's mouth hung open. "I don't have his contact information. I don't even know why he said that, but no contact information has been exchanged between us."

Bou-san didn't say anything else, but he stayed stiff in his seat, hands white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

Ayako's heart beat accelerated. What on earth as happening? Did Bou-san really like her? Should she tell him that she liked him? 'No, lead him on a bit,' she told herself. Looking out of the window while trying her best not to fidget, Ayako sighed. "I would never start a long distance relationship; they always end in heartbreak. Besides, I have someone I like already."

Bou-san could've smacked himself. He already knew that! After all, that was the whole reason for the tension between them in the first place. But if he knew that, then why was he freaking out over Hatori? He was such an idiot. "Who is it?" he asked after taking a deep breath.

"Well, he works at SPR, for one thing," Ayako hinted. "He's also very talented."

That meant that nearly everyone he worked with, excluding Naru (because he knew how dedicated Ayako was to getting him and Mai together) and John, was an option! The monk nearly swerved off the road.

"Bou-san, what the hell?"

"Who is it?" he inquired for a second time, his voice much darker. "Is it Lin?" He knew she'd liked the stoic man for at least one point in time.

Ayako rolled her eyes at the suggestion. "Think realistically."

"No way – Yasuhara?" Oh, he was going to kill the college student.

But Ayako laughed, shocking the older man. "Of course not!" she managed to say in between giggles.

"Okay, I'm starting again," Bou-san said with a sigh, "You said no to Lin and Yasuhara and I excluded Naru because of Mai and John because he's a priest."

Ayako nodded expectantly, only causing him to look at her stupidly. "We don't work with any other guys!"

Ayako sighed, leaning back into her seat. She realized at that moment how fast her heart was beating. Should she do this? Maybe she should stop before the monk really figures out whom she likes. What would it do to their relationship once he realizes who she's talking about? What if she was picking up the wrong signals and he actually doesn't like her? For someone who had had a good amount of boyfriends before, this sure was harder than she thought.

"Never mind, just forget I ever–"

"Wait, the only other guy you work with besides Lin, Naru, Yasuhara, and John is me," Bou-san took a deep breath after saying this, looking over at the red head. There was no way she could possibly be talking about him, was there? "Does that mean you like me?"

Ayako's face flushed and she looked out of the car's window in hopes that the monk wouldn't notice. "What took you so long to realize that?"

Bou-san sighed, cursing under his breath. "I want to kiss you so bad right now."


"Man, I'm awesome," Mai praised herself as she slid into the back of the van next to Yasuhara. Lin started up the car and they were off.

Naru raised his eyebrow, not quite understanding what had brought that up. She seemed to be talking to Yasuhara, however, he soon realized as the college student replied with a quick, "So do you think they're going to confess to each other?"

They must've been talking about Bou-san and Ayako.

"Well, I've got a little more than a sneaking suspicion that they will," the brunette said confidently. "I think Ayako's going to hint at who she likes, Bou-san's going to freak out and get jealous, then she's going to give up and drop the subject, but he'll eventually figure it out. I mean, he's not that stupid, right?"

"It's amazing how you can see all of that, and yet you're so oblivious about your own love life," Yasuhara commented.

Now Naru was a little more than interested.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Oh, yeah! You know how I saw you last Sunday at the coffee shop? Well, the friend that was with me said that you were pretty cute and he wants to meet you again!" Yasuhara commented to Mai, although his eyes were glued to Naru's face in the side mirror.

Oh, hell no. Not one of Yasuhara's friends.

Naru sat straighter in his seat, crossing his arms. "If you have enough time to slack off at work as well as on weekends, maybe I should put you on the schedule for Sundays too? That way you can get more of your office work done."

"What?"


BAM! A couple is born. Nothing much else to say about this chapter. ENJOY!

Next case: Justifying the Means