Destined Ties:
Chapter 14:
Lin went to let them in and Mai's heartbeat sped up again. Her agitation did not go unnoticed by Naru as he leaned in closer and whispered in her ear.
"You know I can just tell them to shut up if they bother you. They will have to do as I say because I am paying them. Most people do what I say."
Mai knew that was a Naru attempt at reassuring her. If it was anyone else she would have not believed it, but she could tell that Naru was used to telling people what to do. She heard Yasuhara's voice and she clutched at his hand by accident. Her employer stiffened and then gently let go of her hand.
"I need to look imposing," he murmured.
Luckily Mai understood that holding hands wasn't the best first impression for someone that wanted to look imposing so she sat up and nervously smiled at him. Naru was glad that Mai was understanding of him. Anyone else would have taken offence.
The first person that he saw was obviously the monk as he was aware that he had a ponytail. He was fortunate that he had heard about it from Mai and Masako Hara before otherwise he would have thought he was the researcher. He was followed by the redhead priestess that he had seen before and the catholic priest. Behind him was Masako Hara who curtly nodded at him and a man with brown hair and glasses.
They were the most unlikely group of ghost hunters that Naru had ever seen. Granted, there was a monk, a priestess, a priest, psychic and researcher, but their appearances apart from John Brown didn't really fit with their occupations. He wondered how Mai had felt being part of the group. There was already a psychic there, perhaps that was why she had left.
He saw their eyes zero in on Mai next to him and he cleared his threat and stood up to divert their attention.
"I am Kazuya Shibuya and the man that let you in is Koujo Lin, an omnouji I hired as my assistant," he announced. "This is Mai Taniyama who is someone else I hired to help me."
An awkward silence followed the introduction and he could see their attention was still fixed on Mai who was looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Stop making my assistant feel uncomfortable and introduce yourselves before I reconsider everything," he ordered.
The monk who appeared to be the leader of the group was the first to obey.
"I am Houshou Takigawa, the red haired old lady over there is our priestess Ayako Matsuzaki, I assume you can recognise Masako Hara. The blonde is our priest John Brown and the one in glasses is Osamu Yasuhara, our researcher."
Naru bowed his head and gestured for them to sit down. He could see their eyes kept diverting to Mai as he sat down next to her again.
"I gave you a brief summary of the case by phone so I don't have to spend time explaining again," he started.
"You're cursed to die before you are 25, you have found the source of the curse and only want us to exorcise it," the priestess answered. "I was going to ask how you worked out the person behind the curse, but the answer is clear now that I know who you have employed."
Naru was thankful that she had not mentioned the mildly romantic scene she had witnessed two days ago. Of course he turned out to be too quick in thinking that.
"I got the impression that you two were romantically involved," she added.
The brown haired researcher had the strangest reaction. Of course Masako Hara's eyes narrowed at him, that wasn't unprecedented considering her crush on him. Yasuhara looked sharply at Mai and then his gaze went to the floor.
"We are not. You merely misunderstood, Mai was ill that day," he lied smoothly. "For professionalism, I suggest that we stay on the subject of the case."
"May I see the cursed object?" the priest asked politely. Naru approved of him for getting to business and for his manners.
He nodded at Lin and the omnouji retrieved the object and gave it to John.
"How do you know what is in there?" the monk asked.
"I can perform psychometry to a certain degree," Oliver Davis answered. "What I don't know is how to completely destroy it."
Bou-san examined the eyes and sighed.
"All we can try for now is exorcisms. Ayako, John and myself are the exorcists of this group. We can set up wards to contain the spirit."
"She's certainly a vengeful one," Ayako commented. "Your ancestor really annoyed her."
The priestess had a point there. A more rational person would have just cursed the source of the annoyance, not their entire future family line.
"According to information from my assistant, Yoko was not the most rational person or the smartest which is what makes her more dangerous."
"How did you meet your assistant?" Yasuhara asked.
Naru bristled. "That is confidential and irrelevant. The pattern of attacks means that I will have an attempt on my life tomorrow so it would be appreciated if you could start now."
Lin provided a useful interruption. "As was discussed before, I have the video, temperature and EVP recordings and all the case notes here on my laptop for your viewing."
The group reviewed everything within half an hour with occasional comments from Ayako expressing disappointment that it wasn't a site bound ghost. When they had finished they began discussing exorcisms.
"Who should go first this time?" Bou-san asked.
It suggested that their exorcisms often took several attempts which was mildly concerning. He turned to Mai who would answer him honestly.
"How effective are their exorcisms?" he whispered in her ear.
"They work half the time. It depends on how hard the case is," she hissed back.
Naru did have a Plan B if the investigation group proved to be a waste of time. He was aware that his PK would be able to destroy the cursed figurine. The only issue with that idea was that he would probably die in the progress because his PK partner was dead. It was a very last resort.
He had no intention of dying for the curse. His death would upset Mai, Lin and his parents who had already lost one child.
He watched critically as the three of them played rock, paper, scissors to decide who went first. The redhead priestess won and left to change her clothes. The unfortunate side effect of this was that the atmosphere became strained and awkward.
Being someone that spent most of their time investigating, Naru had limited social skills and only talked when necessary. With Mai around he had started talking a little more because unlike Lin, she was easy to talk to. Due to Mai being completely silent, he had no real reason to talk.
Masako Hara was the first to break the ice.
"Mai-chan, I like your dress," she said. "It makes you look cute."
It didn't match with the Masako Hara that he knew, but he did appreciate that she was trying to talk to Mai without mentioning the past.
"Thank you, Masako-chan," Mai replied. "I like your kimono as well."
Their conversation continued down the same line until the priestess returned dressed in red and white robes. In the time that she had been absent, Naru knew where Mai and Masako bought clothes and that the other four males in the room were very quiet whilst girl talk was ongoing.
Ayako picked up the figure and set up in the corner of the room that was now empty due to the glass cabinet being removed. Naru didn't see anything occur after her exorcism and he concluded that it was ineffective.
He turned to the monk and John.
"Who is going next?" he asked with a critical tone to his voice.
"I will go next," John said after a moment of very awkward silence.
His exorcism was also not successful so they regrouped together to discuss alternatives. Naru made sure that Mai sat in between him and Lin to keep her from feeling uncomfortable. He had detected the signs of the brown haired researcher trying to get close to her.
Masako coughed primly. "I think you are all approaching this exorcism incorrectly. The spirit isn't here, you need to do it when she is directly linked to that figurine."
"You could have mentioned that before," Ayako complained.
"It was obvious," Masako shot back.
Naru felt a headache developing. They were exhausting to listen to, but Masako had made a good point. They needed to have Yoko there to exorcise along with the figurine.
"There is an attack due tomorrow," he reminded them. "Please formulate a plan before then that will actually work."
"Shibuya-san, do you have any suggestions?" Yasuhara enquired.
"If I knew what to do, I wouldn't have hired you," Naru answered dryly. "I have told you all that we have found out so we are on even footing."
Eventually it was agreed between them that a forceful exorcism would be for the best as there was no definite way to peacefully convince Yoko to undo the curse. Naru was to communicate them the time and the place that the attack would take place and they would meet there at the right time and exorcise when Masako sensed her.
When they all finally filed out of the apartment Naru breathed a sigh of relief. It had been exhausting talking to the five of them as they never seemed to agree on anything. Yasuhara had been shooting him strange looks and Mai had been silent. John and the monk were probably the most rational members of the group.
"How did you ever work with them?" he asked Mai.
Mai stretched out her arms and yawned. "They weren't that bad once we got to know each other. There was always a little bickering, but in the end we worked together. They were probably caught off guard by seeing me."
The awkwardness in the air had been so palpable it had left Naru wondering what had really happened between them and Mai. It was related to her abilities as he had watched their reactions whenever the past was mentioned. They seem surprised that she was dreaming again. Naru was beginning to get an idea of why Mai didn't work with them anymore.
"There were some cracks I could sense in their relationships," Lin contributed. "They all looked uncomfortable."
"I was surprised to find out that they still worked together," Mai said. "We didn't really have a leader so it was difficult to know whose instructions to follow. I think that you led them well."
Naru was mollified by the compliment and he took note of how tired she looked.
"Would you feel adverse to having a dream before dinner? I want to know about tomorrow. Don't worry about cooking, we can order something," he assured her. "I haven't had high grade sushi for a while anyway."
Mai smiled at him and bounded off happily to her bedroom. She was looking forward to having sushi for a change. It would also help keep her mind off things. It had been nice of Masako to try to talk to her, she really had appreciated it. Yasuhara had sent her and Naru so many puzzled looks, he didn't seem to believe that they were employee and employer.
It had been good to see them, to know that they were still well. At the same time the atmosphere had been stifling. She had never contacted them again because she had felt inadequate and unable to help them out. They had never tried contacting her either. She hadn't been sure if it was because they hadn't cared or because they wanted her to experience a normal life. Her poor self confidence had prevented her from asking.
Her phone buzzed and she realised it was John's number. He had obviously saved her number from when she had called him before. She picked it up hesitantly.
"Hello, Mai-san," he greeted. "I won't keep you for long. I just wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?"
Honestly there were lots of things he could ask her. She had a gut feeling as to what it was though.
"Is Kazuya Shibuya really Oliver Davis?"
She supposed it had been obvious. She had asked about Eugene Davis, his brother being dead. Naru's closest relations were all dead from the curse. It would have been clear to John who he was.
"That's for him to say," she answered cautiously. She didn't want to betray him.
"I understand," John said. "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow."
She was glad it was John that had worked it out. She dreaded Ayako or Yasuhara finding out. She settled on top of her bedcovers and closed her eyes. It had been a long day and very stressful. Her limbs felt heavy and she fell into the dream she wanted.
When Naru came into her room to let her know that the delivery had arrived, she was able to tell him how he was supposed to die the next day.
"Naru, a pole from a construction site will fall onto you tomorrow in the street," she informed him and gave him the name of the street and the time.
"It all ends tomorrow," he stated. "I have something to tell you in case I die tomorrow."