Chapter 21

A few hours later, most of the Irregulars were reading through the tagged entries in Megumi's diaries. As Mai finished one journal, each Irregular would read through the key entries and pass the volume to the next person and it would continue down the line.

Yasuhara glanced at the Irregulars and couldn't help smiling wryly at the sight they made. "Taniyama-san, I think I feel a little jealous of your following there," he said as he pointed at the Irregulars.

Mai looked up from the last journal and looked at Yasuhara curiously.

Yasuhara chuckled. "They're all reading what you have marked, but no one seems interested in all these papers and newspaper articles I'm going through," he remarked. "In any case, I've finished with my work, so I'll go make some tea. Would anyone else like anything?"

The rest of the members in the base started to submit their drink requests when Ayako got to her feet as well. "Masako, you can help me make us all a snack. Mai'll probably finish reading that last journal soon, so we can have something to eat while she makes that report."

"My, and here I was expecting you to be more of a 'don't eat snacks late at night, or you'll gain weight' believer," Masako said primly.

Ayako glared at Masako. "...I won't bother making any for you."

"I take it you don't want my help then?" Masako asked sweetly.

"Yes, yes," Yasuhara said cutting between the two. "Let's take it to the kitchen where we won't disturb Taniyama-san as she reads through the last of Megumi's journals."

When Yasuhara, Ayako, and Masako returned, they saw Mai finishing off the last pages of the girl's diary. Mai had a strange expression on her face as she finished marking a few last entries before rubbing her tired eyes. She shook her right hand a bit before flexing her fingers several times trying to work the ache out of her hand.

Mai threw herself backwards and lay on the tatami floor. While there was a hint of coolness, the heater and all the equipment kept the room comfortably warm. She lay there and stared at the ceiling as she listened to the sounds Ayako and Masako made as they were passing out snacks while Yasuhara served drinks to everyone.

"Oy, Mai-chan. No laying down on the job." Bou-san's voice held a hint of exasperation as he stared at her lying on the floor. "Besides, knowing you, you'll fall asleep if you stay like that for very long."

Mai turned her head and looked at Bou-san. She stuck her tongue out at him. "I will not," she denied. However, she quickly sat up again as Yasuhara offered her a cup of tea.

As the base members settled down with their snacks and drinks, they all glanced at Mai. She smiled wryly as she grabbed a quick sip of tea before reporting on her latest discoveries.

"Well, I managed to read through the last of Megumi's journals, and if we have the chance, it might be worth talking to Mrs. Ikeda again," Mai began. "Umm, I know I reported to Naru about Mrs. Ikeda, but just a quick recap—she and her family have been living here for around five years, but Mrs. Ikeda herself used to live in the area as a child. When I was talking to the residents about rumours in the area and such, she mentioned having pretended that one of the places on this street was haunted and that she and her friends would hold séances, tell ghost stories, and even do Kokkuri-san there. However, the one thing she was fairly sure of when I talked to her was that it was all pretend and for fun, and that none of what they were doing ever resulted in anything."

Mai paused to take another sip of tea as she reached out for one of the later journals. "Assuming that Megumi and Mrs. Ikeda were childhood friends, most of Megumi's journals agree with Mrs. Ikeda's recollection of events. However, there are some exceptions. According to Megumi, the abandoned house was never haunted as far as she's aware. So when her friends came up with the idea of telling ghost stories and holding séances there, she didn't think too much of it, especially when she found that her friends didn't even know the name of the person who used to live there. She commented about how they had a lot of fun fooling around and that nothing seemed to arise from it all, so that it was most likely harmless."

Mai reached out and pulled out another journal and opened it to one page. The writing on the page was messy and hurried as though the writer was struggling to get everything down on paper as quickly as possible. "However, one day, one of her friends suggested that they do Kokkuri-san for a change. Apparently, Megumi wasn't fond of Kokkuri-san in general, but since she couldn't think of any particular reason not to, she agreed. Things apparently didn't go well from the very beginning." Mai turned the page in the journal. On it was a small sketch of Kokkuri-san. "This is the format they used when doing Kokkuri-san that day. As soon as they began, Megumi started feeling cold and was a bit scared, but her friends didn't notice anything, so they kept going. By the time they finished, Megumi was apparently really scared but her friends just laughed at her saying that nothing serious happened and that, while it did get some things right, it also got some stuff wrong. None of her friends seemed to notice any change in the abandoned house. However, Megumi writes that there was a strange spirit in the abandoned house the next day and that it tended to hide away when they went there in larger groups. But when it was only two people, whatever was now living there would start watching them and would even started coming out of hiding on occasion."

Mai pushed the journals she'd pulled out to the centre of the table before reaching for another journal. "That wasn't the only time she and her friends did Kokkuri-san. One of her friends, Kaori, apparently teased her a lot about how scared she was over doing Kokkuri-san at the abandoned house, and when Megumi denied being scared, Kaori dared her to do Kokkuri-san with her – just the two of them – at the abandoned house. Megumi refused though because she knew a spirit was living there already, and it seemed to come out when people went in small groups. So if it were to be just the two of them, she didn't want to go near that house any more. However, Kaori wouldn't let things go, and she suggested they use the barn at her place. It was a few months later but Megumi eventually agreed, and the two went up to the loft there. Much like the previous time she did Kokkuri-san, Megumi started feeling really awful and cold as they did it. Except this time, it was much worse."

Mai opened the journal to the relevant entry. In the margin was a sketch of a strange creature with terrible-looking eyes. "Megumi wrote about seeing this creature, almost as though it was forming in the air next to them and panicked. She snatched the Kokkuri-san paper and crumpled it up throwing it into the far corner before she ran and climbed down as fast as she could from the loft. She yelled at her friend to follow, and Kaori, getting caught up in Megumi's terror, did the same. The two girls apparently fled from the barn back to Kaori's room in her house. However, after an hour or so, Kaori started saying that nothing was there and that it was just their imagination. Kaori refused to believe Megumi when she insisted that something had happened, and apparently, Kaori outright laughed when Megumi said she could sometimes see the dead. Megumi suggested that they send a small animal up to the loft at night, and if anything happened to the animal, then Kaori would believe her when she said that something was in fact there."

Mai shook her head slightly. "The two girls then took Kaori's pet dog, and dragged it up to the loft. As soon as the animal got up there, it started growling and barking like mad. The two girls apparently got scared again and ran out of the barn leaving the barking dog in the loft. After they got a little ways away from the barn, they listened to the dog continue barking for some time when it suddenly gave a terrible yelp and after a few moments of yelping it was completely silent."

Mai took a deep breath. "Megumi then wrote that she couldn't stand the thought of staying at Kaori's any longer and ran home. Apparently, Kaori didn't speak to her for several days, and when she finally did, she told her that she'd found her dog the next morning on the ground dead, and it looked like some animal, Kaori figured it was a raccoon, had eaten part of the dog during the night. However, Megumi's problems didn't end there. Kaori started making fun of her again saying that it was Megumi's fault that she ran out of the barn leaving her dog to fall to its death and that if Megumi hadn't panicked thinking that some spirit was in there, she wouldn't have run out, and her dog would still be alive. Megumi wrote that Kaori told her that there's no such thing as spirits or ghosts and that Megumi just made it all up and was a big chicken. Megumi then tells how Kaori started spreading rumours at school about her and even tried implying that Megumi had killed Kaori's dog."

Mai turned to an entry a few pages later in the journal. "The next entry about Kaori was really short. Basically, it said that Kaori was dead and that it was all her fault. It wasn't until a few days later that she wrote about Kaori talking to her at school a day or two before she died and that she was going to prove that nothing was up in the loft. She told Megumi that she was going to go up there at night alone and that she was even going to take a camera with her. It wasn't until several days later that Megumi wrote about Kaori again to say that her body'd been found on the ground by her parents and that it'd been partially eaten." Mai looked away. "At the time, everyone figured that some wild animal must've somehow made it all the way to where they lived or maybe some feral dog had found their daughter's body during the night first."

Mai stared at the journals silently for a long moment before she finally looked up. "Megumi wrote a couple of things a while later. At some point, the police started suspecting Megumi for Kaori's death, partly because of the rumours Kaori had been spreading, and partly because they had a pretty bad and public falling out just before her death. Since Megumi blamed herself for not stopping Kaori from going to the loft alone at night, she figured that essentially she really was to blame for her friend's death, and she ended up practically confessing to the crime when the police confronted her. However, she either wouldn't or couldn't give any specific details about her friends death. The only thing she didn't know about though, was what happened to Kaori's camera and if she did or didn't take any photos that night. That's... about it."

The Irregulars sat silently in the base as they considered what they'd just heard. Bou-san sighed softly. "So this girl Megumi believed she could see spirits, or at least some spirits. She thinks spirits were summoned when she did Kokkuri-san with her friends because she felt something weird happening and got scared. Her friends on the other hand didn't sense anything, and they didn't see any harm in what they were doing. According to Megumi, the abandoned house has a spirit that doesn't come out when people go in larger groups but starts to manifest when only one or two people are present. You know, I'm a bit more concerned about the spirit in the loft that the one in the abandoned house."

"But didn't Hara-san say that the void up there seemed... to be closing or something?" John asked.

Masako nodded. "That's how it appeared to me, but from what Mai described, I don't know why it would do that."

Naru glanced at Hirota. "Hirota-san, can you get the details of the investigation into Sengoku Megumi's possible involvement in the death of her friend Kaori? Likewise, if there was any mention of this camera in the case file. If anything was actually caught on film..."

Hirota nodded. "I'll have Nakai try to hunt down the details A.S.A.P. and call with the results as soon as she has them."

Naru looked at Yasuhara next. "Do you have anything further to report, Yasuhara-san?"

Yasuhara flipped through a few papers as he considered everything he'd read through. "Just that I've figured out that the Sengokus divided the different incidents into two groups by location, the abandoned house and the barn, and any incidents that didn't fit either pattern they put in their "random incident" pile. Apparently the boy's attack on his mother they listed as being due to the abandoned house, while Kaori's death was due to the barn. Most of the barn incidents seem to involve dead animals and very rarely was there a missing persons case which resulted in death. The Sengokus even included a few 'lost pet' notices in here." Yasuhara frowned. "There's one thing that bothers me about all these loft incidents though. If that barn is normally kept locked, who's been feeding area pets to it, and why did they even think to do so in the first place? It's one thing for Kaori or Megumi to think of it as that was supposed to be a test to see if something really was there, but for someone else entirely, let alone new people to the area..."

Naru nodded. "That point is still unanswered. There's also this issue of Hara-san seeing that void, presumably created when the two girls did Kokkuri-san up there in the first place, as closing itself down somehow. Why is it doing that and how? What triggered that change?"

Naru glanced at Lin. "Lin?"

Lin considered the reports he'd heard. "It could be that whatever energy maintaining that place is no longer present, so it's reverting to normal. However, why that energy would disappear remains a question. The spirit or creature associated with that void is also still a concern."

A faint frown crossed Naru's countenance. "Short of using someone, say Mai, as bait in order to lure it out, we might not be able to get any clear data on it," he said. Naru sounded decidedly annoyed at the thought of not being able to try getting any data on the unknown spirit.

Mai got a strained look on her face when she heard Naru's comment about using her as bait. 'Damn that mad scientist...'

Naru shook his head slightly and looked at Masako. "Hara-san, you said you couldn't see the spirit in the abandoned house very well. Could you tell where it was hiding?"

Masako cocked her head slightly to one side as she considered what she'd sensed at that house, before eventually shaking her head. "I'm sorry, its presence was too weak to be that specific about its whereabouts."

Naru nodded. "In that case, Hara-san, Bou-san, the two of you are to go to the abandoned house and take care of exorcising the spirit there. Before that, Matsuzaki-san, you're to create some wards; make sure that spirit can't escape should it try to run."

Ayako nodded. "Okay," she agreed.

Bou-san nodded. "Roger. But before that, there's something that's been bothering me about the spirit this time," he said as he glanced at Mai. "Sorry, Mai, but the shounen told us about you hitting Naru-bou. Why didn't you do something more serious?"

"Ehh?! I couldn't hurt him!" Mai protested.

"Okay, then how about that slap?" Bou-san asked.

Mai stared into her almost empty tea cup. "That's the one thing I couldn't fight off doing. I could fight off the urge to try and kill him or seriously hurt him, but slapping him..." Mai shook her head. "I have no idea why I couldn't resist that one."

Bou-san sighed as he stared at the girl. "You have no idea... Y'know, most people would be able to figure out why they didn't," he said as he ran his hand roughly through his hair.

"Eh?" Mai looked at Bou-san confused.

"In other words..." Bou-san said drawing out each word individually, "you didn't want to do it, so you didn't. But when it came to slapping him, somewhere, a part of you did want to to do that, so you couldn't fight that one. That's all there is to it."

"But, normally I wouldn't do something like that just because I wanted to," Mai said as she cocked her head to one side.

"Yeah. So the fact that you did... Oww! What'd you do that for, Ayako?!" Bou-san rubbed his head where Ayako had just hit him with her fist.

"That's enough of that, you stupid monk." Ayako glanced at Mai. "Mai, I'll have some more Darjeeling tea. It seems I have some wards to make."

"Eh?? But..." Mai protested. She wanted to know what Bou-san had been about to say.

"Lets go, Mai. I'll help you make tea," Masako said as she got to her feet. She pulled her friend with her out of the base.

"Masako?!" Mai asked surprised, but Masako said nothing as she dragged Mai with her to the kitchen.

The rest of the members stared at the closed shouji screen for a long moment after the two girls left.

Bou-san sighed in resignation and glanced at Yasuhara. "And? What's been bothering Mai so much that a spirit actually managed to get close to her like that? She obviously managed to fight off the spirit to a certain extent, so it's not that powerful, but it did manage to get to her, which means something's bothering her - a lot." he said quietly.

Yasuhara shook his head. "Before we came out here, Taniyama-san had said that she didn't want to go on an investigation, and if she did go, she felt like she wouldn't want to sleep. She was afraid of both seeing and not seeing the boss's brother in her dreams."

Ayako sighed at Yasuhara's comment. "That girl," she said shaking her head.

Bou-san looked at Ayako. "Do you know anything about this, Ayako?"

"Why would I know anything?"

"You're both girls." Bou-san replied promptly.

"Huh?! What's that supposed to... oh never mind," Ayako said. "I haven't heard anything about it. But I'll have you know, I don't pry when it comes to Gene. I don't talk about him unless Mai brings him up."

Bou-san sighed. "Got it. In which case... Masako'd be the best bet?"

Ayako shook her head slightly. "It's hard to say without actually asking her, but I suspect it might not be possible. Not even for her."

Bou-san stared at Ayako in mild disbelief. "Yeah but... is there anyone else among us who can talk to her about this?!" he asked incredulously.

A heavy silence fell in the base at Bou-san's question.

It was Lin who finally broke that silence and said a single name. "...Naru."

Naru gave Lin a sharp, slightly annoyed look.

Bou-san looked surprised at Lin's suggestion. "Eh? Naru-bou??"

"Of all of us, Naru's closest to Gene and knew him best," Lin said.

Naru grimaced slightly and looked away. "I suspect she's already solved her problem."

Bou-san couldn't hide his surprise at Naru's comment. "And what makes you say that?" he asked.

Naru shrugged slightly. "She's since met with that idiot, is pretty much being her usual self, and she's no longer pretending to be fine. So, most likely she's worked through whatever has been bothering her."