Mai and Nagano Akira went outside. In the meantime someone went with them. It was Koga Hayato. He wanted to see what his friend and that beautiful woman are doing alone. He didn't look scared when his friend told him that they were searching for a ghost, but rather saw it as a chance to seduce the brown-haired girl. The three of them were now standing before the house.

''Can you tell me the story about this house now?'' Mai asked.

''Well, actually it's not a story…'' Koga started. ''I just heard from some people who live nearby that in this house lived a young boy who killed himself after killing his friends.''

''Did he kill them or himself in this house?'' Mai was surprised to hear that, because Yasuhara didn't mention any boy who could do something like that.

''No, he did it nearby, in the forest… I don't know if it's true. It is just what I heard.''

'"It's probably a lie. The only reason there is a story like that is probably because the house looks like there are monster's living inside." Hayato said. He had any interest in the house and was getting bored with staying with them.

''It could be a lie, but it could also be the truth too. Do you know where that forest is?'' Mai asked.

She was only speaking to Akira and didn't pay any attention to Hayato. She prayed that he won't come with them.

''I think it's that way.'' He said, showing the way using his hand.

''Ok, I will go there.'' She said.

''Can I go too?'' Akira was excited.

''It's fine with me, but it may be dangerous.'' She said.

He nodded and was obviously happy that she said yes. He really liked things connected with ghosts. Hayato didn't come with them because he said that he had better things to do than go somewhere and without even getting a date with Mai as a 'thank you' gift. Before he went to the house Mai said something to him.

''Can I ask you a favor? Can you tell my boss that I have gone to go search for something?''

''Yes, of course I can.'' It looked like he really stopped being interested in the brown-haired woman, because he didn't want any compensation for the favor.

Mai and Akira went to see the forest from the story. They had a difficult path ahead of them and Mai became worried. Her shoes didn't fit well with mud. She sighed.

''I should have changed my shoes before coming here.'' She said.

Akira looked at her high-heels and smiled painfully.

''Are you all right? Maybe we should go back, so you can change yours shoes?'' He proposed.

''No, it's ok. Actually, we don't have to go that deep inside this forest. I just wanted to come here to check something out. We can stop here.''

She stopped walking and Akira then stopped too.

''What do you want to do?'' The boy asked.

''I want to check to see if there are any ghosts here.'' Mai said, looking at the scenery.

Akira's eyes became bigger and he got excited one again. He really was a ghost fanatic.

''You really like ghosts, don't you?'' Taniyama laughed.

The boy blushed but then he cutely smiled.

''Yes, I have loved ghost stories for years.'' He said with smile on his face. ''What about you? Were you always involved with this kind of job?''

''No, I wasn't. Years ago I only liked ghost stories like you. After some accident, I had to join Shibuya's group and before I realized it, I stayed longer.'' She liked those memories.

''So, were you with Shibuya-sama after that?''

It sounded weird to Taniyama and she laughed. To her, it sounded as if they were together like a couple, not as partners in work.

''No, he had to leave three years ago. He just returned recently and I knew that I missed this kind of work so I came back.'' She explained.

''I see. But why didn't you leave with him?'' He really wanted to know everything.

''It's not like I didn't want to. I could say that he dumped me.'' Mai said with funny accent and the boy laughed. ''I believe he had his reasons.''

''Were you angry with him?''

''I think I was. But now, when I think about it, I don't think that I lost those three years. I had plenty of work to do. I even had a chance to develop my strength.'' She smiled.

Mai was happy that she got a chance to talk with Akira. He seemed like the kind of guy who would hear her story and not say that she came back because she had feeling for Naru. She was glad that he didn't ask her to confess her feelings.

''I would like to do my job now. I won't answer you for a few minutes, maybe even a little longer. Do you understand?''

''Why?'' He didn't understand.

''I will let my soul check something. I really have to know if any ghosts are here.''

He probably wanted to say something like ''How cool. How wonderful. Can you do something amazing like that?'', but said something different.

''I understand now.''

Mai smiled at him and breathed. Before Taniyama left her body she sat on the ground to protect her head from falling.

When Mai closed her eyes she felt warm air around her body and sometime later she wasn't inside her body any longer. She slowly started opening her eyes and she saw that she is no longer standing next to Akira. The forest looked different than before. It didn't have any colors. It was dark and very quiet. The brown-haired girl closed her eyes one more time but this time she said some words. It sounded like she was saying some kind of a spell. After her speech, she opened her eyes and then the forest changed again. It was still dark but flying small lights were everywhere. Some of them were bigger, but some were really tiny. Mai heard some noise and decided to go check it out. She didn't have any trouble with her shoes, because now she was flying like the lights.

When she got to the place she wanted go to, she saw a few ghosts. They weren't children but adults in uniforms with guns in hands. They were playing some games like poker and some others. Mai came closer to them, and then asked something.

''Excuse me; do you know a story about a few children that could have been killed in this forest?'' She was still keeping her distance because she knew that ghosts could hurt her. She didn't know them so she couldn't be too much friendly with them.

''What are you doing here, miss? Did you get lost?'' Some officer asked.

His friends laughed. The atmosphere was changing a little and Mai didn't know why yet.