"Do you know a priest named John Brown?" Naru asked a man in a newspaper stall. He had just bought a copy of the morning paper from him since he also needed to monitor the news.

"Yes," the man said in a jolly air. "He's in the church right now, I think. He just bought a paper from me. He always does. He's quite a good fellow – Father Brown."

Naru nodded.

"Just go straight by the road," the man said pointing to the street Naru was in. "Go left on the first intersection, and then keep walking straight till you reach a round curving to the right. That last road will lead you straight to the church."

Naru bowed. "Thank you."

"It's a pleasure to help," he said smiling at him.

Naru followed the direction and sure enough he reached a Catholic Church. He gazed at it before he went in through the open door.

Inside the church he saw a young man with hair glowing like a halo beneath the rays of light that came from the glass mosaic windows. He wore the black clothes of a typical priest.

He seemed busy arranging the flowers on the altar.

"Father Brown," Naru called.

The man stopped and slowly looked at Naru. The priest's blue eyes widened at the sight of him. His fair face looked too young for a priest handling a diocese. His lips then curved into a warm smile.

John walked toward Naru.

"You can call me John," John said in his Australian accent. "You must be Noll."

Naru kept his face blank. "I heard you spoke with my brother once."

John nodded. "Yes I did. He came here to seek help in his research about how the Catholic method of exorcism could affect even those who are not Catholic but strive to live a life of righteousness. It is quite a research."

Naru nodded. "When was the last time that you saw him?"

John thought for a moment before he answered. "That would be last month, I believe. Is something the matter?" he asked with worry etched on his face.

Naru looked away. "He's…gone."

John froze – a portrait of sadness, grief, and shock apparent in his face. He looked away, covering his gaping mouth with his shaking hand.

Naru watched his warm expression turn into that of sadness and grief.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he said weakly.

Naru looked down at his feet. He remembered what Gene told him about the priest in front of him. He was a very kind man with a face that always shined like the morning sun. He was optimistic and cheerful.

By what he could see now however he was sure that he brought the man a drastic change in his usual cheery self. He felt guilty about causing such pain to him but he also needed to know about it.

John was a good friend of Gene's while he was there. He had the right to know what had happened to Gene.

John wiped the moisture forming in his eyes with the back of his hand. "Let's talk outside. Have you eaten breakfast?"

Naru followed him out of the church. They walked past a garden with a vibrant canopy of flowering vines shielding them from the morning sun.

Mai looked at the clock on the wall of the shop.

It was almost noon.

She sighed. For the past weeks, Naru had been wandering off on his own everyday. She would at times get home without him in the house.

The first time it happened she almost panicked. She waited at her doorstep for him. He got home in time for dinner.

At first she thought he was being the tourist that he was – exploring the place. She noticed several maps on the corner of her apartment that became his personal space.

But his eyes were filled with disappointment and anger. He was quieter than he usually was. He just walked into his personal corner, not minding her presence.

He must have felt her eyes on him because after a minute or two, he looked back at her and spoke in a vulnerably gentle tone.

"Don't mind me."

Mai could feel that something was wrong with him. She wanted to help but she knew any effort to do so at that moment would only make things worse.

Mai nodded slowly and looked away.

He also looked away and said the two words that Mai began to hate ever since they became a bit more comfortable with each other.

"Mai, tea."

But she didn't hate it at that moment. She was more willing to serve him a cup even if he didn't ask. It seemed to be the only thing she can do to soothe him from whatever it was that he was keeping.

Mai shook her head to get her thoughts away from the first time Naru looked so helpless. She didn't like seeing him in that way. She preferred seeing his narcissistic air boss her around.

At least he wasn't in pain…although that meant that she was in pain instead.

Mai sighed again. She seemed to be developing a habit of sighing whenever she thought of him – must be the anxiety kicking her badly.

He seemed to know what he was doing so there was no reason for her to worry so much about him.

But…she couldn't help but wish that things could be like they were three weeks ago – back when she went home at lunch and saw Naru either forcing himself to watch the small TV on the table or reading his maps and papers with his legs stretched on the floor.

Mai smirked. She seemed to be growing some sort of attachment with him – not good.

But she admitted to her self that it didn't seem like something that she could help her self from doing. Naru was…annoyingly adorable despite his rotten attitude.

She sighed again after bidding Haruka-san good bye to have her lunch at home – just in case Naru was there. He didn't seem to be eating there without her.

"Are you going to eat lunch with me today?" she whispered as she walked down the street.

Naru rode a train.

He looked out the window and watched the scenery pass in a blur.

He had been wandering for a long time ever since his bruises healed. And so far none of his quests yielded anything of use until he visited the priest.

Naru took a deep breath and sighed recalling his conversation with John.

"The last time I saw him was about two months ago," John said after serving Naru a cup of tea.

Naru took a sip as John sat across from him.

They were seated around a round table in the garden. John took out some tea and cookies since Naru insisted that he already ate breakfast.

"He wrote letters to me since then," John continued. "The last letter I received was about three weeks ago. He said that he was on his way to consulting a medium – the famous one here in the country that goes by the name of Hara Masako. I didn't receive any letters after that telling me that he reached her. I can give you the letters. I keep the letters I receive just in case I need to check something from them in the future."

"Please," Naru said . "It would be a great help."

John nodded. "Please bear with me for a moment while I get my letter box."

John left and quickly walked toward a building – probably the priest quarters.

John was an Australian priest who was sent to the country to help out in the parish. His kind nature earned him great respect from the people – even those who weren't Catholic. And receiving permission from the Vatican to perform exorcisms, he became one of the first people that town folks, both Catholic and non-Catholic, approached when they encountered supernatural events.

For some reason, his exorcisms gave the same effect on paranormal activities that involved non-Catholics – an idea that Gene found interesting. So he visited his Parish and made several interviews and experiments with him for his study. He also observed some instances where exorcisms were performed – all of which had the permission of the people involved that the cases would be recorded and studied by Gene.

Naru frowned. Gene just had to do his study alone for some unknown reason.

John came back with an old wooden box. He sat down and lifted the lid to browse the letters.

Naru could clearly see the piles of paper that were neatly stacked – all in various colours and all stapled with envelopes where they were most likely sent with. A lot of them seemed to come from Australia. Some of them were from Italy, America, South Korea…

Naru then noticed a stack of letters that had a very familiar hand written script on it. It came from some place in the country.

Naru almost jolted to stand upon seeing them being handed to him.

He knew who wrote them.

Naru immediately read them one by one – making sure he remembered the addresses of the sender on each envelope.

He read the last letter first.

"Do you by any chance know where this Hara Masako is now?" Naru asked.

John thought for a moment. "From what I recall, she stays in a villa up north when it's this time of the year. Her show's latest season had just ended and according to the news, she would be on vacation first before they make the next season so I'd say she's there. I'm not that sure. I have the address here," John said as he looked inside his letter box again. "I wrote to her in behalf of Gene since I met her once in a case. She wrote back using the address of her villa."

After a few minutes of browsing his stack of letters, he pulled out one of them and handed it to Naru.

Naru read it and immediately copied the address in the small notebook that he had in his pocket. "Thank you," he told John as he handed the letter back.

John smiled and nodded. "I'll leave you here to read the letters," he said standing up to avoid any objections from Naru.

Naru stared at the letters. After a moment or two, he went back to reading them.

Naru found his self seated in a train again. He was heading north.

He looked out the window again. He left John the letters since it was all made and sent for John. Besides, the man was kind enough to earn parts of Gene's memories.

Naru looked at his watch.

It was way past lunch. The sun was on its way to the horizon.

He thought about Mai. She might have waited for him that lunch. But it was no time to think about her.

After all once he was finished, she would be gone from his memories the way he would be from her own.

Naru felt a slight twitch in his chest. He didn't seem to like the idea for some reason.

But she was a stranger…an insignificant person who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

…And yet…

Naru closed his eyes and thought about the things he had been doing. This particular lead could make or break everything. He might even end up going back to England by tomorrow.