Here's chapter 10! Hope you like it :)

Chapter 10 – Mai

"Sorry," I immediately said after I came to my senses, "I fell asleep."

The whole SPR team was already at the base and if being caught sleeping while working is not embarrassing enough, I found myself rubbing my eyes off of tear stains.

"It's not unusual Mai," Ayako chuckled, "You used to sleep a lot before."

I blushed remembering how I always fall asleep during cases. I used to dream about clues and helpful things but as I remember my dream earlier, I don't think it could help.

"Although Mai," Ayako started, "why were you crying in your sleep? Did you saw anything related to the case?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice when I suddenly remembered the gruesome sight of Rosette Aoi bleeding out in front of me. I shuddered at the memory. Why would my dream show me a bleeding Rosette when she died drowning?

"Do we have to spell it out to you," Naru spoke from is chair in front of the monitors, "or will you actually comprehend on your own that we want you to tell us about your dream?"

Someone's got their panties in a twist.

Naru seems irritated as ever and I wonder if the missing tea cup in front of him was the reason. He should live on a tea IV and stop being as cranky as he is now.

I saw Lin from the corner of my eye watch Naru intently. He seems to be confused about something since he got that cute little crease between his brows.

Sighing, I started to recollect my thoughts and actually began retelling my dream.

"At first I watched Rosette being bullied by some of the students," I started, not really wanting to go into every single detail of my dream. "Then the dream shifted to a scene where Rosette was painting and Seno Ichikawa was laughing with her at something that Rosette said. Then,"

I stopped when I remembered the scene where Rosette bleeds out. It's not something you want to reminisce after you just woke up.

"Then," I spoke, testing my voice. "I saw Rosette stood right in front of me. There seems to be a wound in her forehead since blood just started to fall from her head then after that, there just seem to be blood everywhere." I ended, feeling a little sick.

I was greeted with silence after I ended. Seconds ticked by and suddenly, Ayako was hugging me. "Mai! I'm sorry that you have to remember it." Ayako said as she tightens her hold to me.

"It's fine Ayako." I reassured her, "As long as I could be of help."

Naru spoke, breaking Ayako's hold to me. "Lin, did you find anything in the archive after I left?" He seemed to be deep in thought.

My eyes shifted to Lin. He was leaning by the table with his legs stretched out in front of him and his ankles crossed. He looked like he came out straight from a business magazine with his suit and serious face. He began shuffling the papers he's holding as if looking for something.

"I read the headmaster's report from the incident 20 years ago." He said after he found the paper he's been looking for. "And it seems like nobody from the faculty knew about the relationship of Aoi and Ichikawa."

Lin gave the paper to Naru. "The letter as what was written in the report was written by Aoi and also according to it, their relationship was only just a rumor until they decided to commit suicide."

The paper that Lin handed to Naru was being passed around the team. Ayako gave it to me after she read what was written. The paper actually held a handwritten copy of the headmaster's report.

The writing was an elegant script that perfectly suits Lin's personality.

"So," Bou-san started, "We should probably discard the story for now. It must have been altered as it was passed from one person to the other."

"That's my thought as well." Lin replied. "The story has led us this far and it won't hurt to ignore it for now."

We all agreed to it but there's something that's been bothering me for now. If there's actually no 'persecuting' that happened, what did pushed the two to kill themselves? Was it really a suicide?

"Why would they jump from the lake if that is so? Is a mere rumor enough to drive someone to death?" Naru muttered to himself but everyone was able to hear it. "What if it's not actually suicide but a wound in the head that killed Aoi?"

I was surprised when I hear the last bit of what Naru said. He's actually considering my dream as a clue.

Again, there was just silence. Everyone must be analyzing the case in their minds.

"Let's stop for now." Naru spoke after a few minutes. "There should be food in the rooms and after you eat, please do sleep so we won't be running around in circles tomorrow."

It's now Wednesday and the investigation is not really as successful as we have expected. There are no spirit activities and that made everyone pretty laidback, much to Naru's annoyance.

Today, Masako would be coming to help us until she return to Tokyo on Sunday for her shooting. It seems like even though she's busy enough with her TV show, she was still able to find time to squeeze SPR in, probably all because of Naru.

"Masako." I greeted when I saw her enter the base. She looked stunning as usual with her kimono and her hair was longer than before, falling just above the middle of her spine.

"Good morning Mai." Masako greeted back with a smile. It was a civilized greeting unlike the one's we have before. I guess three years made us pretty much mature.

"Hara-san," Naru spoke from his usual spot in front of the monitors. "Would you like to start now or would you prefer to rest?"

That was very much like Naru to go straight to the point. He wastes no time.

"I would prefer to start now. It's better to start things as soon as possible."

Naru nodded from his spot and said, "Matsuzaki-san, Takigawa-san, and John, you can stay here in the base. Mai, Lin and I will go with Hara-san."

"Thank god!" Ayako exclaimed. "We can finally rest from all those walking."

I just laughed at Ayako and we proceeded to investigate the whole school once more. We didn't dwell much inside the building, instead after walking for a while, we immediately went outside to check the lake. I never expected that I would be stuck with the silent trio. Hopefully, Lin would talk to me.

"How are you Lin?" I asked, breaking the silence that has been irritating me since we left the base. I guess Lin wouldn't really start a conversation. "You've been running around here and there."

Naru glanced back to us but said nothing. He was walking with Masako while Lin and I trail behind them. We were walking casually, stopping whenever Masako felt something.

"I'm fine." Lin replied. "I'm made of some strong stuff. How about you? Been staying away from trouble?"

I surprised myself by laughing. Lin seemed amused by my laughter and chuckled to himself as well. I never expected for Lin to catch up on my joke.

Honestly, we didn't doing anything at all. Yesterday, we were just sitting around in the base doing nothing. Even Lin gave up from his investigation after a while and joined us. This case has been making us all lazy.

"I'm quite tired myself." I said chuckling. "I never thought sitting around could be so tiring. I think I lost fifty pounds from all those lounging I did."

"We can't have that, can we? You should rest sometime and hoard the sofa."

"That would end up with Bou-san's butt in my face. You know him; he would pretend not to see me resting there."

We chuckled at the thought of Bou-san actually sitting on me and pretending not to see me.

"If you two haven't notice," Naru spoke, interrupting our little laughing fest, "we arrived at the lake." He seemed quite cranky as usual.

We stopped laughing and Lin composed himself back to his stoic face. I can't help but compare how Lin looks better smiling than when he wears his stoic or emotionless expression.

I snapped back when I heard Masako gasped. She covered her mouth with the sleeves of her kimono and I noticed her hand quivering.

"What is it Hara-san?" Naru asked, stepping forward to look at where Masako was looking.

Masako pointed somewhere in the lake. "I can feel two strong spirits here and other weak spirits. I can feel a mixture of anger and sorrow from the spirits and it was as if they were being held back by something in this lake."

"I can also feel someone asking for help. The emotion was so strong that it's probably from one of the two stronger spirits."

Masako started to quiver more and soon, she almost fell to her knees. Luckily, Naru was able to catch her.

"Let's go back to the base."

"How was the investigation?" Bou-san asked as soon as we arrived at the base.

Bou-san was sitting on the larger sofa with Jonh while Ayako was sitting alone on the smaller one. Naru helped Masako walk towards the larger sofa and help her settled there. I noticed how Masako clings to Naru more than usual.

Lin told them what Masako said earlier when we're at the lake while I prepare tea for everyone.

"The two strong spirits were without a doubt Rosette Aoi and Seno Ichikawa. The weaker ones must have been those who drowned in there." Bou-san said. He's now sitting at the armrest of the sofa where Ayako was sitting.

"Then," John pitched in, "it was probably Rosette who's asking for help. After all there would be no reason, from what we know, for Seno Ichikawa to ask for help."

I placed the tea in front of everyone and they murmured their thanks. After setting Naru's tea in fron of him, he took a little sip and said, "Let's put all those to our bag of speculations, which seem to be the only thing we are getting from this case."

"But," Naru added as he placed his tea back to the table, "We're nearer than we've been before."

End of Chapter 10.

Thank you for reading :)