Me: Hi everyone!
Mai: We're back!
Naru: Joy.
Gene: Ignore him. He's just an anti-social idiot.
Naru: At least I'm not stupid.
Me: And they're at it again.
Mai: Silver doesn't own Ghost Hunt. Please R&R!
Mai's POV:
"So where are we going." I asked, looking back at the group that we left behind as we emerged from the water and began to walk across the shoreline. As far as I could tell no one noticed our leave of absence which left a great cover for us as Kaguya led us to the special spit she wanted to show me. As expected she didn't answer and instead she pointed up ahead to where the beach curved in and created a bay like area inside of a rock wall. "A cove?"
"Nope take a closer look." She said, nodding over to a certain section of the wall. Picking up my pace I passed her and soon saw what it was she was talking about.
"Is that a cave?"
"Yeah, this place has a lot of stories about it." She said, patting the wall to the entrance with reminiscing smile.
"Like what?" I asked, wondering what stories an old cave could have. Kaguya blushed a bit before playing with her hair.
"Well, for one, it's where Kane told me who he was and confessed his feelings for me."
"Awe, that's so sweet." I cooed, watching as her blush deepened before it disappeared and a vacant look took its place.
"Yeah, but that's one of the few stories that are good about this place." She said, walking inside while signaling for me to follow in after her. It was dark, but surprisingly not as dark as I expected. The light from the outside illuminated a fair amount of the tunnel before shadows overpowered the light. However, it soon was illuminated again as we traveled in deeper. Looking up I saw that there was a large hole up top, allowing light to filter in, and I was immensely happy for this fact since I still had yet to ask about what stories there were about this place.
"What kind of stories?" I asked, after we had finally stopped. Looking around it looked like a cove inside of a cave that was inside a larger cove. We were on what seemed to be a ledge that overlooked the rest of the cave which had a nice pool of water below us. Kaguya sighed at my question and then sit down on the ledge with her legs swinging over the side as she leaned back on her arms for support. I followed her lead and sat down as well, though I wasn't as comfortable sitting along the ledge, and sat back with my legs crossed while keeping far enough away from the ledge to not worry about falling in, but close enough that I could still hear Kaguya if she said something.
"Well, there are a lot of stories that the locals and sailors talk about. Like how a hundred years ago this cave and cove was the home of mermaids who tricked people into coming into theirs waters before killing and draining the life force from them. Another states that there are fae that hide behind the rock and those unfortunate to wake them will be pushed into the water and drown or have some of the rocks above fall and pierce them where they'll bleed to death. According to one of the old men at the harbor, on nights of the full moon, at midnight, the water will rise up and suck whatever is in here into a whirlpool where they'll be taken out to sea and into the lair of a sea monster that will eat them for dinner. Then when the moon is new, at the same time, the remains of the unfortunate souls will be brought back to the cave and turn into a part of the cave's wall so that it won't erode over time. That's also while you'll hear the sound of a roar if you listen carefully. It's the dragon roaring, awaiting its next meal of flesh that will fill its belly." She told, making my eyes go wide at all the lores and legends that there were about the place.
"Wow, that sounds like it has as many stories as my old school house."
"I don't know about that, but the most famous story about this place is one that could very well be fact or fiction." She said in an eerie tone, making me gulp at the suspense of it all.
"What do you mean?" I asked, a slight tremble in my voice as I listened intently to hear what she had to say.
"Well, according to legend, in Meiji 9 there were two girls. They grew up together and were both from well of families. This was where they first met and it became their secret place. It was also where they exchanged all their secrets and promises to one another. One day, one of the girls told the other a secret she had to keep from everyone. However, her friend betrayed her. So that night, under the cloak of darkness, she came back to this very spot and threw herself into the water below, drowning herself in these waters and her sorrow filled heart."
"Is it true?" I asked, a bit speechless at how heartless girls could be as well as the extremes that some of their emotions drove them to. I mean I'm a fairly emotional person, but I never thought of killing myself! Kaguya simply shrugged at my question as she stares out into the water below.
"I don't know, a body was never found here, so I'm guessing that it's as true as a sea monster and mermaids." She said, chuckling at the silly stories that she's heard even if they weren't necessarily the funniest or light hearted of stories I've ever heard.
"Yeah, I guess, but maybe we should tell everyone else." I said, knowing that even if they were just silly tall tales that Yasu would be able to look into things and see if anything stands out in his research. Instantly Kaguya had a look of horror on her face as she turned to me and grabbed my hands.
"No, I don't want to give them false info. If we find proof that any of the myths are true, then we can tell them, but until then, promise me that you won't tell anyone." She begged, a look of desperation on her face. I didn't understand what the big deal was, but then again she was in a unique situation with Naru and I couldn't blame her for wanting to be absolutely sure about facts before presenting them to him. Taking a look at her, I smiled softly and gently place my other hand on top of hers in a comforting way.
"Alright. I promise."
"Thanks Mai." She said, sighing in relief and smiling back at me in return. Looking at the change in the lighting in the cave I could tell that we had already spent quite a bit of time here and that it was quite possible that the team had noticed that we were gone and that we were going to be in a shit load of trouble if we didn't make an appearance soon. Apparently I wasn't the only one, for she got up off from her place on the ledge and stretched up before looking at me with her bright smile. "Now then let's go back and check on the guys."
"Yeah, I hope they're actually bonding." I agreed, getting up and sighing at how stubborn and hard headed the twins were.
"You and I both sister, you and I both." She laughed, leading the way out of the cave once more as I followed, bidding farewell to the mysterious cave that had oh-so many stories. The walk back was silent as we walked back to the general location of where we had left the team. As soon as we were within earshot of all the craziness, Kaguya stopped and stared in shock at what was before her. "Well I'll be damned." She whispered, making me raise a brow at her. Moving around her I looked to where she was staring at and felt my own eyes widen in surprise.
"They're actually bonding." I stated, not believing the sight that was before my eyes. Shaking my head I looked over at my partner in crime wondering what we should do since it would be rude to just interrupt them when they were bonding after so many years a part.
"Let's leave them be." She offered, smirking in their general direction before chuckling and shaking her head.
"Yeah, wanna go back and see what we can find out about the myths?" I asked, still pondering if any of those myths actually held any weight. Especially that last one. Kaguya looked and me after thinking for a moment and then nodded before turning and making her way back to the cottage as we left the beach behind along with the rest of SPR. "So how many deaths has there been?"
"Hmm, maybe two since my aunt and I have been here. They were so spread apart though that we thought some idiots got drunk and drowned, but then things started happening, and yeah." She explained, opening up the sliding door for me to slip through as we reentered the lovely world of air conditioning. Don't get me wrong, the beach is awesome, but the heat kills.
"Do you remember their names?" I asked, taking a seat at the table and taking a sheet of paper to write on for information that I would have to look up later. Kaguya hummed a bit as she went to the fridge and got us each a glass of iced tea before sitting down and sighing.
"Yeah, Rin Masakoba and Ritsu Kaishi."
"I'll look them up in the phone book and give their families a call to see if they have any idea what happened prior to their deaths and who might have been with them at that time." I said, scratching down the two names that she gave me and grabbing the phone book that was lying on the counter within arm's reach. She nodded at my plan as she got up and disappeared, only to reappear again with a laptop and its cord in her hands.
"Alright, I'll look up death records about this cave and articles that might lead us to a conclusion." She added, opening and turning her computer on before plugging it into the wall to keep the battery full. I nodded in agreement as another idea hit me that could lead to getting more important info.
"If it was more recent and someone might still be alive then give the name to me and I'll look them up."
"Gotcha, now let's get to work."
And with that we began our long tedious process of trying to find out what we could on the deaths that had happened throughout the time of this area. It had already been fifteen minutes and I had gotten through all of my calls. All of which led me to get nowhere in particular except with one variable being the same in both cases.
"This is ridiculous." Kaguya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she took a quick break from her computer screen and stood to go refill her glass of iced tea.
"What did you find?" I asked, stretching my arms up in an attempt to loosen the tense muscles that came with stress and sitting in a chair for too long. 'Okay, I know that it was only fifteen minutes, but that's like forever in my time!' Kaguya came back to the table and sighed as she went back to the screen in front of her.
"Death, and a lot of it. Apparently, around Meiji 10 drowning's were very common and a constant threat around this area. It got so bad that they believed it to be a bad omen or a sea demon. The villagers then called a monk and had him exorcise the place. From what the records say the drowning's stopped after that, but every couple years someone drowns around the date May fifteenth."
"Wow, did they have any connections?" I asked, looking over at her in surprise at how fast she had gotten that info. In all honesty she probably could have given Yasu a run for his money, but then again we were both studying to become detectives, so this really shouldn't have come as a surprise to me.
"Not from what I can tell right now. I just found all of the names, so hopefully I'll be able to find some documents and statements about the deaths in the archives." She said massaging her temples before going back to clicking away on her laptop. At the mention of archives I couldn't help but be curious since the only archives that I actually knew of that would have that kind of info would be the federal ones, and I couldn't help but sweatdrop at the possibility of her getting into those files.
"The archives, as in the federal archives?" I asked, stressing the federal part since that was under such lock and key that it would either take very privileged personal to get in or a seriously skilled hacker. Without looking up she just nodded while still clicking away, reminding me a lot on how Lin was with his laptop.
"Yep."
"How the hell can you do that?"
"I've helped solve some of Kane's cases on serial killers so I have access from my laptop to the main database." She stated, shrugging it off as if it were no big deal, but I could see underneath her cool facade that she was immensely happy that she could help Gene as much as she could.
"Huh, that must come in handy."
"Yep. What about you, did you have better luck then I did?" she asked, looking up from her screen to me with curious eyes. I sighed in frustration before looking back at my notes that I had taken from talking to the family and friends of the victims.
"Well, so far what I can see is that all the deaths had happened after a confrontation with either a friend or family member. It was actually believed that during the investigation that the last person who spoke to them was possibly the killer, but there was no evidence to back it up."
"Hmmm, let's try a different approach." She said, leaning back in her chair with crossed arms. I put down my notes and rose a brow, wondering what she could have thought of.
"I'm listening."
"What from the myths can we use to help us deduce what we're looking for?" she asked, making me stop and stare at her in question. Finally when what she said clicked in my mind my eyes widened and I took a new sheet of paper to write down what could possibly help us.
"Anything involve drowning?" I asked. She paused and nodded as she put up three fingers.
"That would be the mermaids, fae, and suicide myths."
"Yeah, actually, according to what I was told, none of the people who were connected to the victims even knew about the cove being there let alone the cave." I stated, remembering that odd little fact. The cove wasn't too hard to miss, but I would assume that people who lived around there would have explored the grounds like Kaguya had and would have seen it, but none of them seemed to have any idea about the place until their friend or family member died over there.
"So that would mean that neither did the victims." Kaguya stated, taking her chin by her thumb and index finger in a typical thinking pose.
"Were they lured there?" I questioned, remembering my dream from the Urado case and how people were lured away and then dragged through walls to the bloody tile room where they were then killed. I shivered a bit at the memory as she mauled over the idea in her head.
"It sounds possible, and instead of mermaids taking their life force it could be the spirit." She stated, nodding her head in approval. It sounded plausible, but something about it just didn't make sense to me.
"Yeah, but they didn't look wrinkly, just a bit pruney. Otherwise they still looked the same as they did before." I stated, making her pause and think once again.
"So it wasn't their life force it's after."
"Maybe it was the fae. They got pushed into the water and drowned or got hit in the head by the rock and died." I offered, remembering the fae story that she told. She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head and frowning.
"I don't think so. Pushing I could see, but from what the records say there wasn't any physical damage besides being drowned." She said, making me bite my lip in thought at what else it could be.
"Then what about the suicide?"
"Maybe, it seems possible, but we'll need to find out if the victims match with any of the lines of the story and what she went through." Kaguya stated, once again going onto her computer and typing in to see what she could find about suicides in the area. Looking at my own info to see what could match my eyes widened at what I saw.
"Would a promise, or a deal count?" I asked, looking up from my notes with a small smirk. She looked up from her screen and thought before nodding in acceptance.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well according to the families, Rin was backing out of a deal she had already agreed on before she was found dead, and Ritsu was apologizing to his younger sister about breaking his promise to take her out to sea that day since it had started raining before he died." I said, referencing my gathered info and immensely happy at how much my questioning skills have grown since I had joined SPR and started detective school.
"I see, look and see if you can find anything in the archives, I'm gonna start on dinner since it'll be sunset soon." she said, getting up from her spot and moving to the kitchen to prepare said dinner.
I nodded in acceptance and moved from my spot to her computer and began to look at where she had left off. All the death records were up in front of me and after a little bit of weeding out those that weren't drowning's I really started my search. I was able to weed out more and more as I continued, but suddenly I got a hit after hit after hit, and taking a deeper look I found a pattern which proved to be just what we needed.
"According to this, a lot of the people who were killed were backing out of business deals or arranged marriages. Then for the smaller ones we can assume a smaller promise was broken for it to fit the pattern." I stated, writing down the people's names and what connected them before looking over at Kaguya to see her take on all of this. She hummed as she took a break from the prep-work and looked at my notes.
"Interesting, now the only question is how did they get there and how they drowned." She said, making me sigh in frustration.
"Ugh, why can't it just be in the story?"
"What did you say?" Kaguya asked, looking at me with wide eyes.
"I said why it just can't be in the story?" I repeated, wondering what it was that I said that had set her off. Suddenly she slammed her hands on the table as her eyes lit up along with a bright smile.
"That's it!"
"What's it?"
"It is all in the story, it's just in different ones." She said as she began to pace about, her hand once again finding it's place on her chin as she mumbled under her breath something about myths and deaths.
"Huh?" I asked, not understanding where she was getting at what-so-ever. She rolled her eyes at me before beaming her smile back at me and taking a sheet of paper and pen.
"Think about it, the spirit lured the victims like the mermaids lured the fools." She explained, writing all the mermaid myth out with a bullet point of luring people and then connected it to another group that she wrote as victims and put bullet points of what they had involved with their deaths. Suddenly seeing it I got what she meant and another connection between the deaths and myths clicked in my mind.
"Then the spirit pushes them in like the fae pushed the one who woke them up in!" I shouted, jumping up in excitement, finally getting where she was going with it all. She nodded in agreement before writing it down and connecting it to the victim diagram
"And the cause of it all, is the promises that were broken." She finished, connecting all the dots to what had happened to the victims and how they not only died, but how they also got to a place that they had no clue even existed. There was only one thing that didn't make sense though.
"But that still doesn't explain why you were attacked." I stated, looking over at her as she finished with her chart. She looked up at me and then shrugged, puzzled by it as well.
"Yeah, it's still a mystery there, cause I don't break deals or promises. I was raised better than that."
"Then what is it?" I asked, really bothered by this. I could chalk up my own attack from my danger and spirit magnet abilities, but Kaguya wasn't sensitive to spirits like I was. At least I don't think she is. I looked at her with question in my eyes, only for her to shrug at me again.
"I don't know, but until we do we'll tell them about the connections between the victims, but let's keep the myths between us." She said, taking a look at the chart in her hands. Not quite getting why she still didn't want to tell them about the myths I raised a brow, but knowing better then to question her since we had the actual facts and hard evidence to work with on the case I nodded in agreement.
"Works for me."
Me: Yay another one done!
Naru: Now just 7 more to go.
Mai: Must you always make others' accomplishments into nothing more than grains of sand in the desert?
Naru: Do something worthy and we'll talk.
Gene: Please Review!
