Hey everyone!

So quickly, I just wanted to answer a couple of the reviews that I was unable to respond to through FF's site.

aline: Espero que você tenha tido um ótimo Ano Novo! Havia muita curiosidade sobre Mai e onde ela poderia ser, mas eu não gostaria de estragar qualquer coisa assim você só tem que esperar para ver! (If this came out a little odd I apologize, I used google translate so all blame should go to them.)

Guest: Thank you so much for your kind words :) I know I can be a bit of a slow updater but I always make sure that, when I do post, it'll be worth the wait.

SadderPanda: There's always something…thanks for pointing that out! I went back and made the changes so everything should be correct now. I swear, no matter how many times you read over what you write, something always slips past.

dalan: Merci d'avoir laissé un commentaire! Vous aurez juste à continuer à lire pour voir ce qui se passe ensuite! (Again, I used google translate so, any weirdness, blame the translator!)

Also, quick thanks to Ghost loves japan 77 for PMing me and reminding me that people were waiting for this next chapter. Really gave me the motivation to get this posted!

Chapter 11: Lost and Found

Kenshin had only been in the base room for a few minutes before a loud shriek echoed through the previously quiet resort.

Naru and Lin were the only other people in the room at the time and they immediately dropped whatever they were doing and set their sights on the monitor screens, Kenshin soon joining them. A few seconds of skimming brought them to the feed that seemed to be the closest to the noise. Once they identified the area of the resort that it came from, Kenshin made a break for the door and sprinted out into the hallway. It didn't take long for both Naru and Lin to catch up with the detective and soon all three of them were barreling down the corridors.

Groggy and concerned guests littered the halls as they peeked outside their rooms to find out what had disturbed their sleep. Some were aware enough to shout questions at the trio but they were simply ignored as they sped past. Along with the guests, Naru, Lin, and Kenshin saw the resort's night staff also rushing around, trying to calm their agitated clients and usher them back into their rooms.

About five minutes and a flight of stairs later, the men followed the steadily growing sound of voices and finally rounded a corner where they were met with a crowd of people gathered around a door at the far end of the hallway. Multiple staff members, as well as one of the local law enforcement officers, could be seen trying to hold back the throng of guests from entering the door behind them.

The staff, having been informed about the investigators and briefly introduced to the detective, quickly tried to create a pathway so the three men could enter once they recognized Kenshin. Unfortunately, the gathered crowd wasn't feeling very cooperative and the staff's efforts fell on deaf ears.

The detective, using as much authority as he could, whipped out his badge from inside his suit jacket and held it up for everyone to see. "Excuse me everyone!" he shouted so he'd be heard above the noise. "My name's Kenshin Noboru and I'm a detective with the Tokyo Police Department. I need everyone to clear this hallway. My associates and I will handle the situation but, in order to do so, we have to ask that you please leave and go back to your rooms."

Towards the middle of his announcement, everyone had calmed down and directed their attention to the tall, gray-eyed man. After he had finished speaking, a few grumbled protests were heard but everyone did as requested and shuffled back to their rooms.

"Thank you, we appreciate your cooperation," Kenshin said with a smile as the guests walked past him. Soon, only he, Lin, Naru, the local cop, and the staff members stood in front of the door.

Naru and Lin were silently impressed with the amount of authority that the detective could wield, and wield effectively. It wasn't easy calming a crowd and the man made it look effortless.

"Officer," Kenshin began as he looked at the only uniformed man in the hallway, smile long gone and replaced with stern professionalism, "what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, sir." The man who looked to be in his thirties admitted. "The moment I arrived on the scene I had to help ward off the crowd so I haven't been in there yet."

Deeming the man as unimportant, Naru ignored anything else the local man might have said and swiftly opened the door to the room before crossing the threshold, Lin only a few steps behind him.

Upon entering they were greeted with the sight of an abandoned housekeeping cart and a vacuum that looked to have been hastily dropped on the floor.

Making their way through the short hallway at the entrance and avoiding the cart they finally got their first glimpse of what had caused the disturbance.

Large, deep red letters were written on the wall where the headboard of the bed resided.

Am I pretty?

Naru walked closer to the writing, already having an idea as to what the message was written in. When he was approximately two feet away, the smell of iron hit his nose, making his eyes narrow while confirming his suspicions. Behind him, Lin had pulled out his phone and was taking pictures of the scene so they could keep a record of it and have it for reference later on.

It was at this point that Kenshin finally entered the room along with the missing SPR members who all looked a little rumpled and thrown together. Most likely, they had all heard the shriek and thrown on whatever they could find before rushing over.

Naru had turned his head to look at his team as they crowded into the small room. Strange messages on walls were nothing new for them so their minimal reactions were expected. What wasn't expected was Kenshin suddenly freezing in place, his now slightly widened eyes locked onto the message. It only lasted a moment before the detective schooled his features but Naru still caught it. As a member of the homicide department, Naru was positive that the man had seen far worse things than bloody writing.

The young boss made a mental note to ask the detective about it once they got back to base.

"Am I pretty?" came Ayako's questioning tone as she read aloud the message. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Naru is that…" trailed off the young blonde priest.

"Blood?" Naru rhetorically asked while turning back towards the writing. "Yes, and it's fairly new too. Hardly any of it has had time to dry."

Knowing no one else was going to, Takigawa decided to ask what he knew everyone was thinking. "You don't think it's Mai's blood, do you?"

Taking a few steps back so he could see the whole thing without straining his eyes, Naru answered in his usual calm voice. "Honestly, it's impossible to tell. If it is, though, she has to have a fairly serious wound to produce this amount of blood."

Having stood silently at the back of the group until now, Kenshin brought their now worried gazes to rest on him. "I'll have a forensics team come in and sweep the room. They'll take a sample of the blood and will be able to tell us whether it's Mai's or not. Also, I've asked the staff to do a headcount of everyone that should be in the building, guests, and staff, to see if we can find out who screamed and whether they were taken or not."

"Once you get an answer from the staff I'd appreciate you sharing it with us," Naru stated, blue eyes locking with gray.

"Of course." With one last unreadable look at the message, the detective left the room. Presumably to call for the forensics team and speak with the staff and other cops.

Once Kenshin had vacated the room, the investigators turned back to the bloody writing.

"Why such an odd phrase?" Takigawa asked no one in particular. "Are we dealing with a female spirit?"

"It does sound like something a woman would say, and either a conceited or self-conscious one at that." Ayako, for once, agreed with the monk.

"Look at the handwriting." Instructed Naru. Doing as asked, the group of investigators focused fully on the words once more to see if they could find what Naru was trying to point out.

It was a minute or two before anyone spoke again. "I don't get it. I mean, it's not the neatest in the world but what do you expect?" The priestess answered with a frustrated huff.

It was John, however, that finally seemed to understand. "Childish." He breathed out with a hint of recognition.

Turning to look at the blonde priest, Naru gave the young man a nod of approval. "I'm not surprised you'd be the one to get it, considering your work with the orphanage."

"Wait, so, if I'm understanding this right," Takigawa began while waving his right hand in a gesture to stop, "then you're saying our spirit is a little girl?"

"It would certainly fit with the innocence that I'm sensing from the spirit." Masako contributed.

Thinking this over, John, Ayako, and Takigawa all mentally agreed that it made sense.

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet, but it's a theory and the best lead we've had so far." Their young boss cautioned them.

Naru looked around the guest room a little longer but, seeing as there was nothing more they could learn there, the group left and headed back to their base.

Along the way, the hallways were much clearer except for the occasional staff member knocking on a door. The investigators assumed they were completing the headcount and left it at that, continuing their trek to the base. By the time they were all gathered once more around the conference table it was almost 4 am.

The second day had begun.

Only one day left to find Mai and solve the case.

Later that morning, after the forensics team had come and swept the place and cleaned off the wall, Masako and Takigawa found themselves once more in the room where the bloody message had once resided.

Placing an electric recorder on top of one of the nightstands, Masako gingerly took a seat on the bed while the monk leaned back against the wall located near the foot of the bed.

Taking a calming breath to center herself, Masako began. "Are there any spirits in here with us?"

Pausing to allow the recorder ample time to pick up on anything it could, the medium asked another question.

"Was it you that left us the message earlier?"

Again, silence.

"Are you the one that keeps taking people?"

A few seconds after asking this question, Masako's eyes snapped to a corner of the room and stayed locked there. Takigawa, having noticed the sudden change in the medium's demeanor, straightened up from his previously lax position. He couldn't see what the kimono-clad girl could, but he still scanned the room for any sign of something that could harm them.

Still staring at the corner, Masako's next question came out much softer than her previous ones. "Are you one of the victims of the disappearances?"

The room dropped in temperature a little, causing the monk to pull out his prayer beads and hold them at the ready. It was Masako lifting her left hand in his direction, still not looking at him with a silent gesture to wait, that made him pause. Her gray eyes were slightly narrowed now. Whether in confusion, concentration, or unease the monk didn't know but he knew better than to interrupt whatever was happening.

"What's your name?"

A lamp near the corner that Masako was focusing on flickered a few times and the cold began to seep through their clothes. Takigawa continued to scan the room for any hint that things were going to become violent but, apart from the lamp, everything, for the most part, stayed the same.

The young medium allowed a longer period of silence to envelop the room before asking her next question. "Can you tell me how you died?"

This question caused the temperature to drop even further. It wasn't quite to the point where they could see their breath but both the monk and medium now had shivers running across their skin. The blonde monk's hand tightened around the prayer beads but he refrained from doing anything just yet.

However, as quickly as it came, the lamp stopped flickering and the room went back to its normal temperature. Masako's eyes had finally left the corner they had been glued to and scanned the room as if searching for something. Takigawa figured, with the return of the heat to the room and sudden lack of activity, that the spirit had left the room.

They waited a couple more minutes, asking a few generic questions until they deemed that they wouldn't be getting any more.

"End EVP session," Takigawa said into the recorder then turning it off. He turned back to face Masako who was quietly rising from her place on the bed and lifted the recorder in a way to draw her attention. "Let's hope we got something useful on here, yeah?"

Thanks to the efficiency of the staff, and the urgency of the situation, it took about twenty minutes for the headcount of the staff and guests to be completed. It was another five minutes till Kenshin, who had been out with the other cops helping the staff, stopped by with the name of the still missing maid.

Katsuko Iwasaki.

She was a 37-year-old woman who had been working at the resort since its opening eight years ago. Mr. Mizushima provided them with a photo of the woman in the hopes that they could find her using their recorded footage from the time of the incident. They all knew that she fit the age range of the other victims but they still had hope. It was one day too early for someone to go missing based on the pattern of the last twenty years or so. Although considering the fact that Mai's sudden disappearance broke this established pattern, they couldn't confidently say that she hadn't been taken. It was a small hope, but they clung to it as they continued searching for the maid.

It would be another ten minutes until their efforts were rewarded. After sifting through the footage, initially finding out that she had indeed fled the room, the silent duo at the monitors found the last camera that the maid showed up on before they lost sight of her. Picking up one of the radios near them, Naru informed the search party, which included John and Ayako, of the area they should look for the missing woman.

It was only a little while later that the slight creak of the base door quickly attracted the attention of the room's remaining occupants. Masako and Takigawa had been sent away earlier to conduct an EVP session in the room that started this whole fiasco while Naru and Lin had stayed behind, coordinating the search and checking over the video footage. Yasu had yet to return to the resort since the team arrived as he had sequestered himself in the local library, every now and then receiving updates from Naru or Lin on the situation.

At the now open door, the duo found their missing maid and another maid guiding her into the room. Lin swiftly grabbed the radio next to the monitors, calling off the search, while Naru rose from his chair next to the Chinese man and walked towards the two women.

"Mrs. Iwasaki, my name is Shibuya Kazuya, I own the company investigating the disappearances that are happening here. If you would take a seat," Here, he gestured towards the many empty seats around the conference table, "I have a couple questions that I'd like to ask you."

Hands clasped tightly in front of her, Mrs. Iwasaki gave a small nod, long black hair falling over her face, before following his instructions. Naru then motioned for the maid that brought in Mrs. Iwasaki to also take a seat.

Once everyone was settled around the table, including Lin and his ever-present laptop, Naru began the interview. "Just for the record, can you each tell me your names?"

"Katsuko Iwasaki."

"Anda Nakatoni."

The new maid's last name had both men briefly pausing for a fraction of a second, this going unnoticed by the women across from them.

"Mrs. Iwasaki, I need you to tell me what happened earlier in room 213," Naru stated while looking said woman in the eye, pen hovering over his notebook.

Gaze dropping to her clasped and fidgeting hands, Mrs. Iwasaki began her story. "I was just finishing up the last couple of rooms for the night shift when I reached the room. It was one of the last ones that I had to clean, one of our vacant rooms, but…at the time, I could have sworn I heard singing coming from inside."

Latching onto the last part of her statement, Naru interrupted her. "Were you able to make out what was being sung?"

Shaking her head, Mrs. Iwasaki lifted her eyes to meet Naru's for a brief moment before falling back to her hands. "It was too low to make out any words and I didn't recognize the tune either."

"Would you be able to hum the tune for us?"

Another shake of the head and a small, "…no, I'm sorry." Was all he received.

Letting out a small sigh at the meekness of the woman, and knowing he wouldn't get any more from that line of questioning, Naru told her to continue her story.

"Well, I had heard the singing so I knocked on the door and announced that I was from housekeeping, thinking that maybe it was booked but I hadn't been told. Immediately the singing stopped and it was just…quiet." Naru and Lin noticed her start to tense up at this point in the story and, apparently, so did the maid beside her. Anda Nakatoni placed a comforting hand on Mrs. Iwasaki's right arm, earning her a small smile from the tense woman.

After a few seconds, she continued. "After getting no response, I figured I'd either imagined it or it was coming from one of the neighboring rooms, so I unlocked the door and went in. It smelled a little odd at first but that wasn't anything unusual so I started by vacuuming the entryway and working my way inwards. It was once I got past the small hallway and looked up th-that I finally saw it."

During this portion of the story, SPR's members, minus Yasu, began trickling back into the base but kept quiet and stuck to the walls of the room to give the frazzled woman some space. Kenshin also eventually showed up and joined the others.

Naru jotted down a couple quick notes before focusing back onto Mrs. Iwasaki. "Did you see anyone in the room or entering or leaving the room?"

"N-no, it was empty except for all the b-blood…I couldn't help it I just, panicked. So I-I ran."

Anda Nakatoni tightened her grip on the distressed maid's arm before adding her own input to the story. "I found her curled up in one of the vacant rooms on the first floor before bringing her here."

Accepting that piece of information, Naru turned his attention back to the formerly missing maid. "Has anything strange happened to you before the incident today?"

The woman only shook her head in the negative.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Iwasaki. I would recommend you go and get some rest for now." The young boss stated while looking at her and turning a page in his notebook.

Nodding her agreement, she rose from her seat, gave a quick bow to the young boss and his assistant, then exited the room, Kenshin quickly following so he could get a statement from her for the police department.

"Ms. Nakatoni," the black-clad man began, blue eyes intently focused on the maid, "you wouldn't happen to be related to a Mr. Manabu Nakatoni, would you?"

The maid, who had been quiet for most of the interview so far, met his gaze with her own pair of light brown eyes. "Yes, he's my brother."

A couple of the members standing around the room recognized the name their boss mentioned but remained silent.

"How long have you worked for the resort?" He asked.

"It's been about five and a half years now." She replied in a soft tone, eyes glazed over with grief.

"Your brother was the victim that disappeared from this resort six years ago. Why would you get a job at a place that took your brother from you?" Naru asked with narrowed and curious eyes while Lin's typing could be heard in the background.

A self-depreciating smile formed on her face. "You'll probably think it's silly, but I had hoped that getting a job here would help me catch the person responsible."

Not commenting on that, Naru moved the interview along while grabbing a stack of folders from one end of the table. "Do you remember anything from the day he disappeared?" Quickly sifting through the stack, he chose one and opened it. "According to the police report, you were the last person to speak with him."

The brown-eyed woman gave a small nod. "That's right. I was calling to see how his vacation was going."

Bringing his eyes back up from the report in front of him, Naru focused back onto the woman. "What do you remember from that conversation?"

The maid's eyes grew sad at the memory of the last time she spoke with her brother. "We were just talking about his day and his plans for the following day. We probably spoke for about twenty minutes until somebody on his side of the call interrupted us."

Naru glanced back down at the report for a second then brought his attention back to Ms. Nakatoni's story. "I remember the voice sounding younger, they were asking him for his help with something. I never got to ask him what they needed." She admitted in a regretful tone. "The last thing he said to me, was a kid needed his help before he hung up."

"Ms. Nakatoni," the young boss began cautiously, "Do you know why none of this was in the police report?"

The SPR members all grew confused at the question. Why had the police left that out? It seemed like pretty crucial information.

"I couldn't tell you, I was never able to get access to my brother's file so I was unaware that they omitted it." She explained in a confused voice.

Naru made a note of this in his folder. "You said that you had hoped to catch your brother's abductor while working here. Have you found any leads over the years?"

Here, Anda Nakatoni's body language grew nervous and she broke eye contact with Naru to gaze at her fidgeting hands. "Only stories and rumors."

"Do tell."

His flat expression and almost bored tone didn't quite escape the woman's notice. By the angry twitching of Ayako and the resigned looks of the others in the room, SPR's member hadn't missed it either.

"There's a story that the staff spread every now and then. They use it to scare the new employees." The nervousness was still there but there was also a spark of determination. "They say that, around this time every year, sometimes you'll catch a disembodied voice singing in the hallways."

Still keeping his flat expression, but now much more interested in these supposed stories, Naru motioned for her to continue.

"This one's another rumor but, sometimes, someone from the staff will say they've seen younger guests wandering around the property at odd hours or in odd places."

"Has this never been reported?" Naru questioned.

"We have! But it was written off as the guest's curiosity, so we stopped saying anything about it." Ms. Nakatoni finished.

In Naru's, and a couple of the other members' minds, some of the pieces were finally starting to come together. Sure, they still didn't have the full picture but now they had something to work with.

"Is there anything else you can think of, no matter how insignificant?" Naru was going to get everything he could out of this woman. So far, she'd been the only useful information source they'd come across.

The maid looked to be debating with herself internally. After a few times of opening and closing her mouth, she seemed to come to a decision. "This is just something I've noticed…but, it always seemed to me that the older residents of this town avoid this area as much as possible."

Well, isn't that interesting.

A town with an annual kidnapping, vital records that had been lost in a fire, older residents with suspicious behavior, and a ghost that that only shows up a couple days a year.

Looks like Naru needed to have a chat or two with the town's elders.

"Do they completely avoid this property?" He inquired.

"Well, I mean it's not obvious or anything, but there always seems to be some kind of excuse to avoid this place or leave as soon as possible."

Pulling a blank sheet from his binder, Naru slid it over to the maid. "Would you be able to provide names?"

That spark of determination from earlier grew and she gave a firm nod, accepting the sheet and a pen.

Almost ten minutes later, AndaNakatoni was sent on her way. Her parting gift of names and even locations held tightly in Naru's hands.

Naru was in the middle of setting up interviews with the residents on Anda Nakatoni's list when, out of the corner of his eye, Naru saw Lin move from his previously relaxed position at the monitors and begin fiddling with what the dark-haired man knew to be the volume controls.

Interest peaked, he continued to watch his assistant as the tall Chinese man brought a hand up to the left side of his headphones, a subconscious effort to hear better, with eyes narrowed in concentration and flickering between the monitors.

By the time Lin's eyes widened in surprise and he was calling the young boss over, Naru was already halfway across the room and headed in his direction.

A few of the room's occupants had noticed Naru's actions but for the most part had dismissed them and gone back to their individual conversations. Lin's urgent call for their boss and subsequent statement quickly drew all their attention.

"It's Mai."

Those two words from the usually silent man were all that was needed for the formerly unconcerned SPR members to huddle around the monitors. It took them a moment, but they finally caught a glimpse of what their resident Onmyouji had seen. Walking away from one of their cameras with a slight skip in her step, was the back of the missing brunette.

"Monk. John. Second floor, third hallway, now!"

Without saying a word, and Takigawa catching the walkie-talkie that was practically thrown at him, the two men followed their boss's orders and sprinted out of Base. Naru, along with the rest of the team, watched the camera feeds with a laser focus, tracking the duo's journey and keeping an eye out to make sure they didn't lose sight of the oddly relaxed looking Mai.

Naru also quickly contacted Kenshin and Mr. Mizushima, telling them to cordon off and, if possible, clear out the area where Mai was located.

The group grew tenser and tenser as the monk and priest got closer to their destination. Naru had been keeping them updated via his own radio and pointing them in the direction he saw Mai wandering. It was as they were rounding the last corner that Naru and Lin swore they saw Mai look back at the camera and smile before the monitors went black.

It was a scrambling of activity that followed. Naru was calmly calling the monk and priest over the radio in an effort to get in contact with them. Lin had swiftly risen from his seat and began checking over the equipment before running a diagnostic scan to see if he could bring the video feed back up. Ayako was pacing and cursing under her breath in the background, biting her thumbnail, while Masako hid her expression behind her kimono sleeve.

A couple minutes later, a static crackle silenced the room.

"Naru, we need Ayako and Masako. Mai's possessed but she's got a nasty cut on her thigh that's still bleeding. John's performing the exorcism on her."

Both women, Ayako carrying her first aid kit, were already on their way out before Takigawa finished speaking. Naru, grip tight on the radio, looked at Lin who gave a small nod. Needing no further communication, the black-clad man rushed out the door to catch up with Ayako and Masako.

"Help's on the way," Lin spoke into the radio.

The three of them arrived to find Takigawa standing off to the side with his prayer beads out, Mai unconscious and slumped against the wall of the hallway with Takigawa's Vajra stabbed into the floor in front of her, and John standing over her, pocket bible and holy water in hand. Both glanced at the new arrivals before turning back to their unconscious friend.

"In the beginning was the word…"

No words were spoken as John began his exorcism, occasionally splashing the unconscious girl with holy water. Masako watched and monitored Mai's body to make sure that the spirit was expelled from her as well as to see if she could catch a glimpse of said spirit. Ayako stood next to the medium, white-knuckling the first aid kit, and staring intently at the sluggishly bleeding wound on Mai's left leg that had dyed her pants red. Naru split his attention between John and Mai, watching cautiously –as was Takigawa- to see how the spirit would react to the exorcism.

A twitch of Mai's fingers drew the group's attention before her eyes fluttered open and scanned the people before her. "John it's gone, you can stop the exorcism now."

The Australian priest hesitated at her words before Naru interrupted. "Father Brown, continue."

Knowing better than to question their boss, John resumed the exorcism. "The light shines in the darkness…"

"Really, John," Mai said as she slowly rose from the hallway floor, wincing slightly as she did, "you're just wasting your breath."

"Naru." Masako softly called out.

"I'm aware," Naru replied, his eyes narrowed at the struggling brunette before them.

Turning her attention away from the men, Mai fixed her sights on the redheaded priestess. "Ayako, please," she weakly begged in a pain filled voice. "I need help."

Ayako was already tense from the whole situation as well as from mentally calculating the damage Mai's wound was causing the young woman. It was Takigawa's hand gripping her left shoulder that held her back from rushing over to the high schooler like she wanted to.

"…He himself was not the light; he came…"

In response to the silent treatment that she was receiving from the SPR members gathered around her, Mai's body stilled and her face lost the distraught and pain filled look to it. The expression that replaced it was hollow and dark. It disturbed them to see such a thing on the young brunette.

"You're just like everyone else, thinking there's something wrong with me." The lights in the hallway began flickering as the dull voice and usually warm brown orbs were now piercing through each of them.

At this point, Takigawa had moved from his position next to Ayako to stand in front of her, Masako, and Naru. He had slipped his prayer beads around his right wrist and was now holding his hands in the Seal of the Immoveable One, ready to reinforce the barrier he placed around Mai.

"…He was in the world, and though the world was made through him…"

"Damn priest SHUT UP!" Mai's sudden roar of rage caused the lights above them to blow out and shower the hallway's occupants in glass. Ayako and Masako cried out in shock while everyone but John, who refused to break his concentration, had ducked and tried to protect themselves from the falling shards.

"…I beseech thee, God…"

Mai pounded against the barrier, making Takigawa, who had quickly recovered from the shattering bulbs, sweat a little as he focused all his willpower into keeping it up.

"…Let thy face shine over us. In principo." John concluded with a snap of his bible and a final splash of holy water.

Mai lashed out one more time against the barrier, causing Takigawa to grunt in the background before she went rigid, eyes unseeing. Suddenly, the temperature of the hallway rapidly dropped and an earsplitting shriek echoed around them.

Not being able to hold it any longer, Takigawa fell to his knees while the barrier vanished and they were assaulted by a large gust of wind that rushed past and away from them.

"He's gone," Masako confirmed, earning a quick glance from Naru.

A low moan of pain brought everyone's attention back to the now swaying Mai.

"Wha…" Drowsy, brown eyes took in the people surrounding her in a haze of confusion. During an attempt to step towards them, Mai's injured leg gave out on her, sending her careening towards the glass covered ground. They all lurched forward to help her but Naru was the one that succeeded in catching the high school senior and stopping her descent.

"Mai!" Ayako cried out as she immediately zeroed in on the girl's leg injury. "Monk, Naru. I'm going to need you to hold her still."

Takigawa rushed over and helped steady her legs, lifting the injured one into the air, while Masako and John looked on in worry. Naru, already holding Mai up by her torso, lowered her to a clear patch of floor and flicked his gaze to the young girl's face. Mai looked to be fighting unconsciousness, every time her eyes began drooping she'd force them back open. Naru knew that he needed to keep her awake if he could. They had no idea how much blood Mai had lost but Naru thought it best to prevent her from going into shock, just in case.

Already kneeling on the ground, Naru shifted so Mai was now almost sitting in his lap and leaning her right side against his chest. This freed up one of his arms that he used to turn the brunette's head in his direction. "Mai, I need you to look at me."

She complied, although slowly, and attempted to blink the fuzziness from her vision. "N…Naru?"

Encouraged to see that she seemed semi-coherent, Naru continued. "Mai your leg is injured. I need you to tell me if anything else is wrong."

He watched as her brows furrowed in thought, trying to process his question and answer it. Before she could, she let out a small pain-filled gasp causing her pale right hand to grip tightly onto Naru's shirt.

Looking up, Naru saw Ayako had already cut open the girl's jeans and begun disinfecting the wound which he quickly deduced as the cause. He then directed his attention back onto the now flinching brunette. "Mai, I need you to focus. Does anything else hurt?"

It took a few seconds but she finally seemed to pull herself together enough to respond. "My…my head. Really bad headache." Here, she paused once more, hand clenching in Naru's shirt, as Ayako dabbed at her leg wound again. "And I'm…really weak. No energy."

During this explanation, Naru had moved his hand from her face down to the jugular vein of her neck. Her pulse rate was less than 100 but nowhere in the range where she would need a transfusion. He let out a small sigh of relief at this.

Ayako, who had noticed his actions, looked at him questioningly and received a small nod of confirmation. Her shoulders lost some of their tension before she focused back on the wound. "It's a clean cut, a little deep, but it didn't hit anything major. I'm going to have to stitch this up."

Hearing the clear warning in her words, both Takigawa and Naru tightened their hold on Mai so she couldn't flinch away during the process.

"She seems fine but is experiencing a drain of energy that most possession victims receive, if on a slightly more extreme scale," Naru reported to the group.

"Ah, yeah that sounds…about right." Mai joked with a grimace on her face. "So..stitches?"

"You've got a three-inch laceration on your outer thigh," Ayako explained while prepping the needle and thread. "It's just deep enough that it needs stitches but you probably won't have them for too long."

"Great...love pointy things," Mai mumbled more to herself than as a response.

Naru raised an eyebrow at her words but chose not to reply. Instead, he turned towards the two observers that had stood over them for the last couple minutes. "Ms. Hara and John. I need you to head back to base and inform Lin of what's going on. We need to fill in Detective Noboru."

Both of them shot concerned glances at the lethargic high schooler before agreeing and heading back to the base.

"Oh, kinda…didn't notice they were…there…whoops." Mai commented as her eyes drooped once more. "Just…don't tell Masako."

Takigawa snorted at the offhand comment. "Trust me jou-chan, we won't."

Ayako, having numbed the area around the wound as best as she could, nodded at the two men holding Mai in a silent signal that she was going to begin.

Naru took this opportunity to question the slightly dazed girl. "Mai, what's the last thing you remember?"

Mai blinked a couple more times to try and clear her vision. "We…me and Kenshin were on our way back…to our rooms. I was-" A sharp hiss of air escaped her as Ayako dug the needle into her thigh, causing her to flinch but both Naru and Takigawa held her still. "I was getting settled in but then I could feel-" Another hiss of pain, "something in the room with me." She finished with more energy than before. The pain was helping to clear her head and make her speech more coherent.

Naru made sure his hold was firm on the girl leaning against him as she flinched once more. "Did you see what it was?"

"Yeah," she responded in a breathy manner, trying to ignore the sharp sting of the needle, "It was a kid. A boy."

Naru's gave a small acknowledging sound at the statement, trying to put pieces of what they already knew together. Takigawa and Ayako, on the other hand, froze for a moment until the Monk decided to speak up first. "The spirit's a little boy?!"

Sending both adults a glare, Naru silently demanded that they stop interrupting and get back to work. The duo shrunk a little under his gaze and quickly got back to the task at hand. Seeing that his employees were once again being productive, the young CEO turned back to Mai. "Do you remember anything from the possession?"

"No, it's all just-" Another hiss of pain, "-black. Sorry"

Opting out of responding, Naru only inclined his head in acknowledgment.

"Done!" The priestess softly exclaimed.

Naru and Takigawa felt Mai immediately relax at the statement. If she also mumbled a small, "Thank god…" under her breath, well, everyone seemed content to ignore it.

Now that she no longer had the pain of a needle to keep her awake, Mai's drowsiness came back full force. Naru quickly noticed the girl's drooping eyes but decided to let it go. As far as he could tell, there was nothing life threatening about her exhaustion, no indicators of shock, so he saw no reason to fight against it.

"Thanks for…saving…me." Were the last words the young brunette said before her world went dark.

Another chapter completed!

You guys gave some great constructive criticism last chapter and I really appreciate it. If you see something that you know is wrong or see something that doesn't quite make sense (either grammar or plot wise) please let me know so I can go back and fix it! :)

For those of you asking about Mai, TADAH! We've finally found her!

Lots of little and big hints were dropped in this chapter and the case is really going to start coming together in the next one. Something to look forward too. :)

As always, thank you to everyone who followed and favorited my story. I love hearing from you all so reviews are always welcomed and encouraged!

Ta ta for now!

shayrulz