I would like to apologize for some inconsistencies with the last two updates (they are actually parts six and seven not four and five). Also other inconsistencies plot-wise. This won't be long, I believe.

Ten

Ungodly Possession, Part Eight

HE CAN REALLY FEEL HER SUDDEN AVERSION to all things involving the unsaid conflict of 'twins loving the same woman'. Then again he really can't blame her.

Noll, his conscience seem to chide, you know that we're just friends. And his conscience is his better half of a twin brother, who was apparently her spirit guide. She's my best friend. I think.

Even Gene's not sure. Naru thinks as he finally opens his eyes and snaps out from the trance he willed himself to be in.

Stop talking to me in third person, you idiot scientist! His brother exclaims in his head.

"Maybe if you'd stop assuming that I'm talking to you, there'd be no need to say that." He says to no one in the room, and he is thankful for that. It's not like everyone in his team knows he talks to his brother in his spare time.

And how would I explain that? 'Sometimes I can still hear his voice'? Naru thought.

It isn't sometimes, you twat. You know why you can hear me. We're still connected. His brother tells him.

I know. Is this your way of telling me I'm keeping you anchored here? Naru replies back, settling himself to stare at the ceiling while he waits for his brother's reply.

Not...exactly.

Ah, so will this be the part where I'll have to drop the subject of this conversation and tell you what I think about this case? He replies to his brother's hesitation.

I'll advice you to close it already but it looks like you know what you have to do. I agree with Mai-chan though, a cleansing would be preferable.

Naru knew then that whatever the real reason for his brother's stay here, he'll know if (a) Gene actually tells him why, (b) he'll know it from Mai herself, (c) an event will trigger the release of the information. From experience, he knows it'll be either (c) or a mixture of all; a terrible mixture.

He stares at the ceiling, all dim and black, the blurry shape of the closed light in the middle. I'm not sure, he initially thinks—and he holds his breath, in shock—when was he ever not sure? If I want to know what Gene is keeping.

His sleep is interrupted by a shrill scream of a woman. It jolts him awake, to the dark surroundings of his quarters. The continuous screams with a mixture of pleas of help and for mercy made him run, as fast as his legs can take him to the familiar route towards the woman's sleeping quarters.

Half of him doesn't want to believe that it was her who was screaming. Who was stuck in another dream, where she'll be prone to danger and he can't do anything about it but he sees the light from her room , from the opening the door gives.

And even though he knows he can't, he runs faster.

He rushes and yanks the door fully open, rushing inside.

The light blinds him at first, making him stop at his tracks, his eyes adjusting.

"Naru!" he hears Masako call for him, which snaps him to attention, and looks towards her.

Monk and Yasu are holding Mai down, who was convulsing on her bed. Ayako was beside her, trying to pry her awake.

Nobody was doing anything to get her back, he muses to himself.

"We tried. But something's holding us back. We can't reach her, Naru. It's as if she doesn't want to be pulled out." It was John who supplies him the answer, to which he says nothing.

Noll.

He gets shocked with the tone accompanying his name. What is it, Gene? He counters.

She's stuck.

You want me to get her for you? He counters, Couldn't you step in and be her lovely knight in—

Naru! Are you even aware of what you're telling me? Gene snaps back, irritated. Do you think she would still be in that condition if I can pull her out?

I'm dead, Noll. Gene says again afterwards. It has to be someone who can be compatible with her PK so that she can pull herself out. She's in shock, I think. She doesn't want to leave because she's actually reliving the ghost's memory.

Naru doesn't reply. He stares at the scene looming before him. He knows he had to move.

Noll, Gene calls out again, this time with urgency. There's a reason why I'm her guide and not her partner. Pull her out.

So he tries. He tells Yasu and Monk to standby. He holds Mai in their stead, his hands gripping her shoulders, tightly. He can feel her calming down.

He closes his eyes, and concentrates.

"What," Yasu exclaims, noticing Mai quieting down, "What is Naru doing?" He asks, going near to her bed, but Monk holds him in place.

"Don't," Monk tells him. "We don't know what happens if we distract or interrupt Naru."

It was a good thing none of that distracted him, especially Yasu's hesitance. He uses his PK to channel and reach for Mai's own, to find her in the astral plane.

You don't need to go there yourself, he hears Gene talk as he concentrates. Reach out for her, make her feel your presence. Your PK is enough.

It was almost as if Naru heard him you're enough but he decides to ignore the notion. He feels the darkness looming over, as if he's a lone child in a middle of a dark, deserted corridor.

Gene, he calls out with urgency. This isn't-

Keep searching, Gene tells him. So he does.

He continues, to go through every corridor, calling out for Mai in his head, recalling her presence, her emotions everything.

He feels a tug behind him, and he gets pulled out. He feels his body flinch, and he opens his eyes to see Mai looking at him, tears looming at its corners. His expressions softens. Worry. Concern. He can label everything he feels but there's one main that looms, the one that overtook everything the moment he saw her looking back at him, relief.

"Mai," he calls out. Are you okay? The question stays in his head.

"Thank you," Mai tells him, as she starts to sit up, taking Naru's hands to hers and holding them. He doesn't let go, he just looks back. "I'm…okay, I think." This she addresses to everybody else in the room, offering them a kind and thankful smile. "I'm sorry to have disturbed your sleep."

"Jou-chan," Monk starts. He doesn't continue it though.

Mai doesn't talk much after. Naru takes the initiative to break the group and let them rest.

"You can go back to your rooms and sleep, I'll take the first shift." He gently lets go of her hands. He stands up and walks out of the room, in typical Naru fashion; and heads towards the "headquarters".

He doesn't hear Mai telling everybody to do as he says, and her also taking the first shift with him.

Gene, I apologize. He calls out when he finds himself alone, facing the monitors in the room. Thank you, he adds.

I know. Gene replies. You need to stop thinking about that you know, because that's not true. I might try my best to save her, but at the end of the day, you know what? It's you she's looking for.

He doesn't know if he even deserves that. After everything he's done.

His thoughts get interrupted with a sound of porcelain clinking against the table, and the smell of tea. He looks to side to see that it was, in fact, tea; and yes, he tells himself as he looks up , expecting to see Lin, it was her.

"Thank you." He tells her. She gives him a small smile in return, and sits on the chair beside him.

"I figured it's what you needed." She says afterwards. Maybe, but it's not what I needed the most. Is what his brain supplies for him, which he shuts down to how cliché it sounded.

"Thank you," is what he repeats.

They didn't say anything to each other for a while, until he figures he should ask her if she needs anything because she did it for him, totally not because he wanted to be of service to her.

"Do you need anything?" He asks, admitting that it doesn't sound well as it should be.

"A listening ear, I guess." She replies.

"Good," he assures her. "I've got two." He continues.

"Oh?" Mai replies, smirking. "Just now?" She teases, because it was, as he realized; completely out of character.

"I think I've always had, Mai." He replies. "I just say it at the right time."

Mai smiles. It's nice, he thinks, to see her gentle and understanding smile beneath all her fierce facades.

It's not bad to give a listening ear now and then.

Especially if it's her.

Hi, I know it's been a long time. I apologize. Anyway, if you've seen this at AO3 then I shouldn't bother saying this but, yes I also have an account there; sapphire_elliore. No worries though, because I post on both and AO3. Have a nice day (also thanks for staying with me :D)!