Chapter 14

It was almost an hour later by the time Naru and Lin returned to base with Mai's two-way radio. When Naru entered, he saw that Nakai and Hirota were both still present. He raised an eyebrow slightly. "I see that the two of you don't have any work to do," he said acidly.

"Welcome back, Shochou, Lin-san," Yasuhara said as he turned towards the entry. "Eh? Where's Taniyama-san?"

Naru sighed as he put the handset on the table. "We found this in the house, but no Mai," he said. Naru glanced at Lin. "Lin..."

"I already have them searching," Lin replied.

"Eh? Where's Taniyama-san?" Hirota asked. "I thought you were going out to bring her back."

Naru shook his head but said nothing. Naru moved towards the room where the SPR regulars had been resting and keeping their things. However, Yasuhara stopped him before he could enter the other room.

"Shochou, have you tried contacting your brother?" he asked seriously. "He might know something about Taniyama-san's whereabouts."

Naru glanced at Yasuhara. "Why would I be in contact with that idiot?" he asked coldly. "For one thing, he usually shows up in Mai's dreams."

Yasuhara gazed at Naru steadily. "Shochou, Taniyama-san isn't you, and I believe you're quite aware of how she feels about sleep right now," he said calmly. "Besides, as I understand it, you finally managed to contact one another directly without Taniyama-san having to act as a messenger between you."

Naru shook his head. Shortly after the Agawa case, Mai had given him a very simple and plain black pocket mirror. At the time, she'd been very casual about it and told him that he should carry it with him just in case he ever needed to contact Gene. He'd been tempted to throw the mirror away or to lock it in his desk, but Mai had been very insistent about it.

The hotline that existed between Naru and Gene had become slightly misaligned after Gene's death, but Gene had since figured out how to contact Naru – provided Naru paid any attention to his brother. And along with the renewed contact via the hotline, was the ability for Gene – despite being dead – to once again act as an amplifier for Naru's PK. And even though there was a definite time lag in tossing energy to one another compared to when he was alive, Mai thought it important for Naru to be able to contact Gene wherever he was in case of emergencies. It had taken a bit of convincing on her part, but Naru eventually gave in and kept the mirror with him in his jacket pocket.

Naru sighed as he sat down where Mai had often been sitting in the base and leaned against the wall before reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket for the mirror. Between trying to contact Gene and doing psychometry on Mai's things, he was a bit more inclined to do psychometry regardless of how much more tiring it would be, let alone what he might end up seeing. He wasn't entirely comfortable dealing with Gene, and certainly Gene did have a way of getting on his nerves from time to time. Mai was enough like his older twin to make him react to her much like he would to Gene.

Naru opened the mirror and touched the surface concentrating on the hotline that connected him to his elder brother.

'Stick-in-the-mud idiot scientist! Insensitive clod!!' Naru winced as Gene's yell echoed in his mind.

'Gene...' Naru's thought echoed lowly across the line.

'Well you are. Aaah, why do I have to be dead? If I were still alive, I'd steal Mai away for myself in an instant,' Gene said mostly to himself.

Naru's brows lowered and a hint of anger echoed in his thoughts, 'Gene, if you're going to talk like that, how about moving on before you end up changing and becoming an evil spirit? It's laughable enough as is for a medium to lose their way and be unable to go on to the afterlife. Having a medium become an evil spirit...'

'Yes, yes, yes, yes,' Gene said dismissing Naru's comment. 'Why don't you start thinking about how the people around you are feeling sometimes rather than treating them all like emotionless automatons?'

Naru ignored Gene's question. 'I assume that your being awake means there's more to this case than this house, and that the cause is the house across the street?' Naru asked getting down to business.

'Aah! And there you go changing the subject to work. Aren't you the least bit worried about Mai?' Gene asked sulking.

'And there you go not saying anything next.' Gene sighed. 'There're no spirits in the house you're in right now. But I'll also have you know that I've mostly been asleep during this investigation, and only woke up when something happened to Mai.'

Naru frowned. 'You mean when something seemed to almost possess her?'

'Yeah, she hit you pretty good, didn't she?' Gene asked chuckling but he quickly became serious again. 'You deserved it for the way you've been treating her during this investigation.'

'Silence again, Naru?' Gene asked amused. 'Well, I guess I can leave it at that since you let her hit you.'

'...Gene, if you don't have anything worthwhile to say, I'm going to cut this line,' Naru warned.

'Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes, impatient one,' Gene said.

'One "yes" is enough!' Naru snapped.

Gene chuckled at Naru's reaction.

'Naru, Mai's feeling pretty insecure right now so don't push her too much,' Gene said soberly. 'I can't get near her; she's pushing me away and avoiding me.'

Naru knit his brows together. 'She's avoiding you?' He hadn't expected that piece of news.

Gene nodded. 'I told you, I woke up when something happened to Mai, so I saw when she slapped you. I also heard her when she was talking to Yasuhara-san. She's terrified she won't be able to stop herself from trying to hurt me, so she's been avoiding me.'

'Do you know where she is?' Naru asked finally.

'Naru, Mai's not you. She needs to sleep, but she hasn't been getting any. It's making her even more insecure and unsure of herself than she would be otherwise, and it's making her careless and vulnerable,' Gene said ignoring Naru's question for the moment.

A look of annoyance flashed across Naru's countenance. 'I know.'

'If you know, then try showing her a little more compassion, stupid scientist!!'

Naru winced at Gene's unexpected outburst. 'Gene, where is Mai?' he asked delineating each word. There was an undercurrent of anger in his voice, and Gene realised he'd pushed a bit too much.

'She's been locked up in a barn somewhere,' Gene said slowly. 'I don't know where it is, but she's been there for a number of hours, and it's cold outside Naru.'

Naru's eyes narrowed. 'Then why have you been wasting my time rather than giving me the details?' he demanded.

'...Because Lin's shiki need time to find her, and I don't want you to do psychometry and read more about Mai than she wants you to know right now.' Gene shrugged. 'Your only concept of delicacy in matters is to remain silent about the things you happen to learn, but Mai has a right to her privacy, too, you know?'

Naru's fingers clenched around the mirror at Gene's words.

'And don't you dare break the mirror that Mai gave you, you idiot!' Gene's voice echoed in Naru's head.

Naru's fingers trembled in anger as he clenched the mirror but he soon relaxed his hand. 'Is that all the information you have?' His tone was completely neutral.

'Umm...,' Gene hesitated slightly as he considered what he'd noticed. 'The abandoned house – if you go in groups, it should be safe, but it might not be if you go alone. Oh, and Mai shouldn't go there at all; at least not in her current state. Also, you might want to call in the others if you're going to continue the investigation. The spirit itself isn't particularly strong, but it seems to like the game it's playing.'

Gene paused. 'I take it you're planning on continuing the investigation?'

Naru shrugged slightly. 'That spirit used Mai and I got hit as a result. Do you honestly expect me to take being hit and not return the favour?'

'...Naru, you knew how Mai felt about going on an investigation before coming here, didn't you? Why'd you push her like that?' Gene asked.

Naru refused to answer, but Gene sensed his younger brother's mood suddenly go downhill.

'Silence again, eh? Well, I guess I can leave that for now, too,' Gene said with a sigh.

He shook his head slightly before glancing away briefly. 'Ah, it looks like Lin's shiki have found her, so she should be safe now. You should hurry and go rescue her Naru.' Gene cocked his head as he studied his younger brother. '...Although, you're probably the least suited person I know of to be a "knight in shining armour".' he said laughing.

A displeased look crossed Naru's face at Gene's comment.

'And take some bol...'

Gene's last statement was suddenly cut off as Naru snapped the mirror shut on him. Gene blinked before chuckling to himself. His brother was clearly in a bad mood. 'I hope he realises what I was trying to tell him when he cut me off like that,' he thought to himself. 'He might do something stupid otherwise.' Gene laughed again as the place he was in slowly dissolved away into nothingness.

Naru grimaced slightly as he looked up after shutting the mirror on Gene. He wasn't sure what Gene was about to tell him when he cut the line, but he suspected he'd find out soon enough. 'Why can't that idiot just give a clear and concise report?' He sighed as he slowly climbed to his feet, then looked at Lin.

"Lin, your shiki know where Mai is, don't they?"

Lin looked at Naru mildly surprised when he suddenly turned and looked in another direction for a moment. He nodded silently in affirmation.

"Let's go." Naru glanced at Yasuhara. "Yasuhara-san, take care of things here."

"Yes sir." Yasuhara waved at Naru and Lin as they left the room.