As stated previously there are no planned pairings, although, the charectors seem to have chosen to ignore my wishes, so to any pairings you think, I say maybe.
You guys get a special surprise, I was going to post this as 3 chapters, but I thought I was being stingy so you get an extra long chapter enjoy! Thank you all for reviewing, as long as I know someone likes it I will continue to write. Although I must warn you now. I do not do happily ever afters. The beginning was not happy, and the end might not be either.
Please be prepared.
The call came early the next day. Lin answered the phone.
"Shibuya Paranormal research."
"I wish to schedule an appointment; I need someone to come out as soon as possible." The man's voice was clear and concise, without nervousness or worry.
"You can defiantly come in and we will see if it warrants further investigation. He looked at the schedule usually they scheduled three days out, to check on the fear level of the client, one that would wait that long normally were hoaxes or simple spirits. "We can fit you in on Thursday."
"Please my wife and son are coming in to the city today, if you can fit them in between any of your other appointments, or they will wait until your last appointment leaves. I would rather them not come home until they have talked to you. If it is better I will put them up in a hotel tonight and they can talk to you tomorrow."
"You are requesting a case but are not going to come in and state it?"
"My wife is home a lot more than I am, she is the one worried and experienced things. Although I may not believe in such things, I do believe her. I am unable to come in until after work, which I did plan on coming in later, if you are still open, if possible."
"We will have an opening at 1pm tell her to come in then"
A young woman walked in the door at 12:30. A boy 3 holding onto one hand and a baby held tightly in her other hand. A large bag looped around her shoulder. Mai watched her enter then quickly stood and walked over to the woman.
"Welcome to SPR, Let me help you." Mai offered.
"Ohh… thank you dear." She said turning to Mai. "I am dreadfully early I did not mean to impose."
Mai reached out and the woman she relinquished hold on the baby. Mai gently took this baby and held her close. "Oh, what a sweet little one, how old is she?" Mai asked. Holding the baby against her shoulder, she held a hand out to the little boy. "Come on over here, Onee-san will get you something to play with." Mai lead them over to the couch. She helped the boy get up onto the couch.
"She is three months." The woman pulled a bottle out of the bag she had. "She is so bright and happy." The woman leaned in toward the baby and it squealed happily laughing. "Her name is Hikari, and this is Toki." She motioned to the boy.
"I am Taniyama, Mai, assistant to Shibuya Kazuya. He will be doing the investigation."
"I am Hitori, Haruhi."
The boy latched onto Mai's shirt. "Onee-san" he fidgeted for a moment then looked between the mother and Mai. "Potty?"
Mai looked up to the mother. "There is one right around that corner." Mai pointed. "If you like I can hold her." She offered.
"Thank you Taniyama-san." She took the boy's hand and led him out.
"Mai, Tea!" Naru called from his office.
"Well Hikari do you know how to make tea?" she asked the baby in her hands. "Well, let aunt Mai show you how." Holding the baby in one arm she headed to the kitchen carefully setting the pot on the stove and setting out teacups for three of them and grabbed a pot for hot chocolate and a couple extra cups. One handed she set out the tealeaves and slowly stirred the milk to keep from burning. When the water began to get hot, she headed to the lounge but the woman had not returned she thought of knocking on Naru's door but wondered if he would scare the baby. She debated on knocking on Lin's door but wondered if he was busy. Remembering the church incident, she wondered how he normally was with children. At that moment, Lin opened his door and headed out.
"Lin-san, can you help me for a moment?" He looked at her and saw the bundle in her arms and the bags lying around the office.
"Taniyama-san?" the teapot whistled, interrupting him. He nodded and headed to the kitchen. She followed him. Deftly he lifted the water off the stove, grabbed the spoon, and stirred the milk. He poured the water over the tealeaves then set the pot back onto the stove. "Our client already arrived?" he asked more a statement then a question.
"She is taking her boy to the bathroom."
"Age?"
"Around three, Hikari is three weeks." She said bouncing the girl on her hip.
"She looks happy there." He stated. The baby reached out both arms toward lin. Mai held her out to Lin. Although he looked like he wanted to back away, Lin reached out and took the girl.
Mai took the reprieve to finish the tea and set everything onto a tray. "Carry her out to the lounge?" she asked picking up the tray. Lin followed behind. The Baby was grasping his finger tightly.
Mai dropped the drinks off at the table and knocked on Naru's door. "Naru Client." She turned to see Hitori-san walking in with Toki. "Hitori-san this is Lin-san, he is also an assistant on this case."
Lin quickly handed the baby back to her mother then slipped away to his office. He and Naru emerged from each of their offices at the same time. Lin held his laptop in hand.
"Hitori-san this is Shibuya Kazuya. Manager of SPR."
"Hitori-san you have met my assistants Lin Koujo and Taniyama Mai." He nodded to each of them as he spoke. "These are your children?"
"Yes please forgive me but I could not find a babysitter and my husband is never home. He wanted to be here but he has work." She droned off as though she was annoyed at his work. "He is always at work lately it is a bit hard to keep everything under control but I am afraid for my children. I do not want to put the in danger."
"Please start from the beginning." Naru stated.
"We moved into the home when I was pregnant with Toki." She nodded to her son. "I loved the house, large enough for a small family to grow up in. My husband was a little edgy about it feeling something was off but gave in when we got a great price. I do not know when it started but after a few months, we noticed small things would move around. Usually Toki's things, the bottles would somehow be prepared and set in the diaper bag. Takashi, my husband, thought I was being absent minded. Therefore, we took care of all the bags at night and woke up in the morning to bottles being premade and in the bag; he began to wonder if something was going on also. This continued little things, helpful usually, but things moved. When Toki started to talk, we would hear him talking to someone in his room. We could hear it in the baby monitors, but no one else was there. We asked him about it but he just said aunty. He is still so young I do not know how much he understands. When I got pregnant he told us that aunty said told him I was going to have a baby." She paused. Sipping her tea unsure about how to continue.
"That is when I felt Takashi started to take a lot more time at work, he wouldn't come home every night sometimes staying a couple days at work and traveling to other places that he wouldn't come home in the same day. He was on edge when he was at home. I worried he would leave be but then he took us on trips. Anything to get away from the house, we stayed at a hotel in Tokyo, spent a full week there. He came home at 5 each night and always ate breakfast with us…" she smiled happy memories. "That was the week before I had Hikari. He came home with me that week, helped me take care of her and help get us used to being home. Then Toki started talking more to his 'aunty' more, she started telling him she would protect him and Hikari from Otou-san. Protect me from him. He hardly slept the whole week he was home. When he returned to work, he stayed over the first night here in Tokyo. And he comes home even less. He won't talk about it. He won't come home but he invites us to stay in Tokyo with him and he is the most devoted husband."
"I believe that there may be some marital issues a counselor should deal with I do not believe we could help you with this situation." Naru stood up.
"But aunty will hurt daddy!" Toki hollered at Naru.
"Honey, hush now," the mother patted the boy on the back. "I know it sounds marital and we will look into that but the reason we came is because of Toki, he has been talking to this 'aunty' more. Today he thanked his father for leaving; he said his aunt would kill him if he stayed."
Oliver raised an eyebrow at this. The 'aunty' or aunt threatening the father was unexpected.
"Toki," Mai spoke to the child, knowing that if Naru tried he would scare the boy. "Is there a friend living at your house?"
Toki nodded, "Hai, Onee-san, she says I can call her aunty."
"When did you meet aunty?"
Toki shrugged.
"Where do you usually see her?"
"At night in my bedroom, although sometimes she watches Otou-san,"
"Does she seem to like your father?"
The boy squinched his face together. "No, she doesn't much like him, she says he isn't nice and she will protect mother, Hika-chan and me."
"Why do you need to protected?" the boy shrugged. He looked nervously between his mother and the people staring at him.
"That's ok," Mai soothed the boy ruffling the hair on his head.
She looked up at the mother, she seemed nervous, wanting to say something but hesitant. Looking down at Toki, she felt most likely she did not want to say it in front of him. Her gaze shifted between the three of them. Her eyes showed emotions easily. Naru, she felt comfortable, Lin she hesitated, almost unsure, and to Mai herself she was relaxed.
A knock on the door interrupted the interview. John walked in. "excuse me Shibuya-san, I did not mean to impose."
"John-kun!" Mai interrupted before Naru could speak. "You came just at the perfect time." Lin and Naru watched at Mai stood wondering what she was thinking, but said nothing. "Hitori-san was just about to tell us something, but it might not be the best thing for the little ones to hear." She smiled as she bent next to Hitori-san and held out her hands. Hikari held her arms out to Mai and Mai picked her up. "If you would stay and talk with Hitori-san, I can take Hikari and Toki with me into…" she paused looking between Lin and Naru, she had to take the kids into one of their offices. They both caught on easily. Naru looked to Lin.
"My office," Lin stood, holding a hand out to the boy. "Toki?" the mother looked between all of them a little confused.
"Go on with them, I will be right here."
Toki slid off the couch and took Lin's hand and pulling him toward Mai who was headed to Lin's office. "Onee-san!" he called. "What are we going to do?"
"Let's see what Lin-san has in his office." She placed her hand on the door to Lin's office. Looking to Lin, she saw him give an imperceptible nod. She turned it and opened it. Entering she spotted the familiar orbs she knew as Lin's shiki. On the couch sat the fox shiki, while the others hovered out of the way.
"I want to draw." Toki stated as he let go of Lin's hand and saw an inkbottle and brush on the desk. "Onee-san?"
"Well you have to ask Lin-san." Lin closed the door behind him. Mai gave him a questioning look.
"I don't understand why she left…" Hitori-san mumbled.
"Taniyama has strong instincts, knowing things she shouldn't know. She is seldom wrong." John stated.
"What is it that you didn't want Toki to know?"
Hitori bit her lip, confirming Mai's instincts.
"I do not know if it is important, but I have been having dreams. They are almost nightmares. Since Hikari was born. At first it was just a feeling of something bad would happen, when I woke I would shrink away from Takashi when would try to sooth me. They only happen when he is home. Last night I had a vivid one. I was sitting in the living room talking to a woman, she seemed familiar, almost family, and she was trying to convince me to leave, just for a few days, saying my husband was dangerous. A few days and things would blow over. When she went to stall him, I saw blood dripping down the front of her shirt. When I woke, I heard a voice clear and crisp. 'Don't let him hurt the babies like he hurt me.'" At this point Hitori-san began to shake and cried. John reached out and held her hand.
"Takashi is supposed to come home tonight, I fear for his life coming home. But I don't know if this… aunt that Toki sees will stay if we leave or will it follow us?"
"We still need to talk to Hitori Takashi tonight after work. You can return home. We will ask him to stay here until we can get a team around in the morning. Taniyama-san and Brown-san will come to your house later tonight to watch over things until we arrive tomorrow." John nodded agreement. "Lin" he called slightly louder. His tall assistant emerged from his office holding Hikari. Naru was slightly surprised but continued on. "John and Mai will head to the Hitori house tonight; we will head over in the morning with Hitori, Takashi."
"What!" Mai exclaimed from within the office. Lin turned to look with in the office then Mai reemerged. "I have to go shopping and do laundry tonight."
"Any shopping you have to do can wait unless you want the food to spoil on the trip and your overnight bag is sitting in the closet unless you haven't washed them since the last case."
Mai growled frustration as Naru smirked. "Mai can help you prepare, we will need three rooms, one for a base and one for each men and women to sleep in."
John helped Mai shop and get things around for the case. They arrived at the Hitori home a little before nine. The home was a small little home. Through the door on the front porch, lead down a little hallway and into the living room. Next to the living room was a dining room. From there, there was another hallway one direction had multiple bedrooms at the end was the kitchen the other way was an office and another couple of rooms.
"Onee-san! Come play!" Toki pulled Mai into the house and down the hall into his room.
Mai smiled to Hitori-san as she was dragged into the boy's room. she helped settle him down for sleep and read him a story with his mother before helping the mother with clearing a room for a base they put the extra bed in another room and left the couch, knowing the team someone probably herself would sleep on it most or part of the case. They also moved an extra shelf into the room for monitors.
"Oh I am exhausted, I didn't sleep much after the dream last night."
"I can make some tea Hitori-san, and with John and me here you don't have to worry."
"Please call me Haruhi, and tea sounds wonderful let me help." Haruhi stood.
"Relax; I will grab some for us, John?"
"Please,"
Mai headed to the kitchen and made tea, they relaxed for a few minutes before retiring. Since it was the first night the rest of the team were not yet there John and Mai slept in the same room. For Mai it was anything but an easy night.
Morning broke and the house awakened, all that is except Mai.
"She will be up later; she had quite a long day." John explained to a worried Haruhi.
"Oh, I do hope so, poor girl, you all seem awful young to be in this line of work."
"We all have taken this path at an early age. It is a gist to be able to help people." John felt a shiver down his spine and turned to look around the kitchen.
"I do suppose so."
"Can I go play with Onee-san?" Toki asked finishing his toast.
"She is sleeping, play in your room until she wakes up."
"But Aunty said she was awake." Toki stated.
"Was she just here?" John asked and Toki nodded. "We have to wait until she comes out and has breakfast."
They waited but half an hour later but Mai didn't emerge from the room. Toki seemed worried, asking every few minutes to play. John finally relented and headed to the room to check and see if Mai was awake. When he entered the room, it was empty. Mai's things were there, but she was gone. He headed to their base and checked but it also was empty.
Not one to panic John pulled out his cell phone and called Mai's number. It rang, but no answer. He walked around the house, hearing the phone ring in his ear he wondered where she was. He headed back to the kitchen and found an expectant Haruhi and Toki.
"Well she is awake, but it seems she is playing hide and seek." He smiled reassuringly at them both. "The rest of the team will be here soon. We will find her then."
Just then, his cell phone rang, bringing up Naru's number. "John Brown." He answered the phone.
"Brown-san, we are about to pull in, please notify the family of our arrival." Click. He heard the other end of the line drop.
"They are here." He stated heading to the front door. He needed to talk to the team before the little boy did.
John stood on the porch as he saw two vehicles pull up, the SPR van loaded with equipment with Lin and Naru in the front with a man he assumed was Takashi in the middle next to it a little blue corvette Bou-san drove. They pulled in and piled unceremoniously out of the vehicles. Having ridden in the monk's corvette, he knew they would all be stiff from the cramped vehicle, but then it was a chick's car not a family vehicle.
"Shibuya-san." He called as Naru walked forward. The boss raised an eyebrow most likely questioning why Mai was not also here to greet them. John moved closer, Lin seeing this also closed rank to see what John would say.
"I got up around 6 and Mai-san was still sleeping comfortably, but when I check on her at 6:45 she was no longer in the house. I have searched all the rooms." Naru did not bother checking his watch, he knew, it was 6:57. They were 3 minutes early, which meant she had not been gone for more than an hour.
"Any signs of trouble?" Naru asked.
"Toki stated that 'aunty' said Mai was awake, I felt a slight spirit passing but nothing more." John shrugged slightly helpless.
"Lin, have Hitori family go on as normal," Lin nodded then spoke with Takashi Hitori. Then they headed into the house.
"Takigawa-san, Matsuzaki-san, and Hara-san." He called the others together.
"What is it Naru-bou?" the monk asked still stretching, "We know we have to carry in equipment you don't have to tell us every time."
"Mai seems to be missing." Naru stated bluntly. "You are right we should carry in the equipment and look for her. Continue with that Bou-san, Brown-san assist and keep an eye out for Mai. Matsuzaki-san and Hara-san go together and search the house then we will search the outside grounds." Naru turned on his heel and walked away.
"Hey! Naru!" the monk called.
"She was sleeping fine only an hour ago." John stated. He opened the door of the van Accepting the will of the boss.
Ayako and Masako headed into the house. At the threshold of the door, Masako hesitated. "I thought." She muttered then continued.
"Sense something?"
"For a moment, I thought I felt guilt and sadness, but then it was gone as though it never was." Masako shrugged.
They checked every door as they passed it but could not find Mai.
"These rooms will do for a base, is this where Mai slept?" Naru asked. Haruhi nodded. Naru stared at the clean made up bed in front of him. Either she did not sleep in it or she had made the bed before she left. John's statement said she was asleep when he left her this morning so most likely she had woken up on her own accord and made the bed. He opened the covers and revealed Mai's cell phone tucked inside. Three missed calls, flipping them open he saw they were all sequential from john. He also didn't sense any strong emotions attached to it so he set it on the table and continued to look.
Ayako and Masako searched each room in the house coming to the same conclusion as John; she was not inside the house. They headed outside. The porch held only some boxes ready to be brought in, around back here was a small field trimmed but not recently a few flowers planted here and there with plenty of weeds. Beyond they followed the tree line and it lead to a little creek. Here they stopped and continued back to the house. Masako had not sensing any spirits and Ayako not finding Mai or any signs of struggle. Inside John and Bou-san had finished bringing in equipment; Lin was busy setting up the monitors.
"She isn't anywhere we could find." Ayako stated.
"We are done at the base," Bou-san stretched looking to John. "Let's see if we can find her." John and Bou-san left the base and headed outside.
Lin finished setting up the equipment and looked to his shiki. The fox shiki flicked her tail dully. They of course already knew where she was. Lin stretched and walked out of the base. He headed to the back of the yard and watched the stream for a moment as John and the monk came his way.
"Not having any luck," The monk stated.
"I don't think she would have gone further than this on her own." John stated. "And a spirit would not go across moving water."
"Remember, the only thing that outweighed Kenji-kun's love for climbing was Mai's love of nature." Lin stated mildly. The monk and priest stared at him blankly.
"We checked the trees as we passed no signs of her." Bou-san stated. Lin nodded then hopped across the creek and walked upstream against the current. The monk and john looked at each other and followed lin. The creek they were at had only been a branch of a larger one farther up. After a few minutes of walking, the sound stream came back to its origin and thundered above them. Looking ahead, they saw a waterfall coming off several small cliffs. On the top of all of them sat a small little girl. Sitting in the middle of the waterfall, arms around her knees head buried in her hands.
"Is that Mai-san?" John asked. Staring up the sheer ledge, he was unsure how to climb.
"She is looking so small up there." Takigawa stated, also trying to find the way up. Lin took off his coat, laid it over a branch, and looked up at Mai.
"Mai-san!" John called out for her. The girl did not move.
"Jou-chan!" the monk tried calling but the water drowned out his words.
Lin watched, and then began a trek up the first section. He saw the foothold Mai must have used and pulled himself step by step up over the first cliff. It was only ten foot tall and he made the climb easily. He could see Mai's path taking the narrow edge near the water. Behind he heard the monk try to scramble up he turned and held out his hand but the monk couldn't make it up to reach him. He tried two or three times then causing a slight cascade of stones, he stood at the bottom, Content to watch as Lin continued.
"Bring her down safe." The monk ordered. "I will get Matsuzaki-san, in case she is hurt." Lin nodded and continued. There were five ridges, each one only around ten maybe twelve feet tall, but the rock face was nearly sheer. Lin blocked out the sounds of the monk and priest. Let the sound of thundering water cascade through his ears and followed in the small footprints he could see between the ridges. The second ridge he easily climbed, his height giving him the advantage of only climbing half the distance. The third one was twelve foot, with vines growing between the edges. Lin saw where Mai had grasped, where her foot had made a step, easily and quickly moved up this edge fearing what held Mai's weight might not hold his own. The fourth ridge was less vines but had more places between the rock he could slide his feet. The final ridge he looked up and stared at the small girl above him. The water swirled around her sides, she was soaked her hair clumped together messily. Her face was still buried from him.
He stared a moment before continuing. He hadn't seen Mai so small, so frail since that night a couple months ago. She had shown strength, kept moving forward. He wondered and worried why she was sitting alone atop a cliff. He didn't remember how he got up the final ridge his goal was insight and he focused only on the top. When he got there, Mai still sat in the middle of the waterfall.
The view was breathtaking. He looked out over the cliffs he climbed and could see the house, the small village and the school. Behind him, the sun warmed his back and shown on a damned lake where all the water had originated.
"Taniyama-san," Lin called softly, standing on the bank a few feet from where she sat. She still had not moved in all the time it took for him to climb up to her. She didn't respond head still buried in her hands. Lin carefully slipped out of his shoes, not wanting them to be wet for the rest of the case and walked out next to Mai. "Taniyama-san." He said standing next to her. She still did not respond.
Resigning himself to being soaked he sat down next to Mai. "Mai," he stated. Feeling the cold-water rush over the ledge, "what is wrong Mai?" he asked and gently touched her shoulder.
Mai lifted her head to look at him, eyes puffy, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and then buried it back into her arms. "Why?" She asked. Voice muffled by the water. "Why am I here? Nineteen years old the summer after high school investigating a haunted house?" she lifted her head to look at him. "Why can't I be a normal girl? Arguing with my parents about colleges or marriage? Partying, having fun with friends instead of scared to sleep and scared to wake?" she looked at him imploring an answer. "Why? Was losing my family not enough? Couldn't I just pretend to be normal after that? Why do I have to live with death every day after that?" she looked at Lin waiting for an answer but interrupted before he could speak. "Why do they have to disrupt a good family? Why can't the spirits leave people alone? Toki doesn't deserve to lose his family just because a spirit didn't want to move on, he shouldn't even worry about these things." Mai stared at Lin.
Lin looked at Mai and lifted her chin to look at him. "Mai, you can walk away at anytime, nobody would think any less of you if you did but I know why you do it. You do it because you want Toki to have that Family, you want those spirits to rest in peace, and you want to live happily with your family." He looked down over the edge. "Look, your family is worried about you." He stated turning her chin slightly so she could see over the edge.
At the bottom stood, Ayako and Takigawa standing side-by-side, the monk seemingly comforting the Miko. John and Masako stood looking up while Naru stood in the back arms crossed waiting. "You have two people who love you like a daughter, swear to protect you morning or night from anything. You have siblings there, ready to torment and support you, but would be there if you ever needed anything. Noll, and I am sure, Gene is watching also, waiting wondering hoping you will come back with them. You're the one that hold them altogether, the one who has stood up to each of them, and pulled them all back together. Whether or not you have related family you have something there just as strong if you let them," he stated.
Mai started crying fresh and buried her head in his arm. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just it was sad, so sad. I…" Lin placed his arm around her shoulder.
"You're allowed to cry." He stated. "You're allowed to be human and tell Noll no. If you need time off, tell him."
"No, it's fine. It just was so hard this morning." Lin watched as her eyes crossed and looked back to him. "I was tired, and sad, just sad." She said.
Lin placed a hand on her forehead. "And you have a fever, let's get you down and have Ayako have a look at you." He stood holding a hand out to help her up. She took it and he steadied her. Getting to the edge Lin felt Mai trembling and shaking in her soaked clothing. Lin's were only slightly better. His pant legs soaked through but his top half was fairly dry. Looking down over the edge, he looked trying to figure out how she could make it down. The family was also down below. He watched as the father Hitori Takashi was walking up to the side with a long rope in his hand. He swung his arm and indicated throwing it up to Lin; Lin nodded and set Mai off in the dry ground. The rope fell short on the first throw. Takashi rolled back up and Naru stepped forward and offered to throw it. Takashi accepted then Naru threw it up. Lin watched as it hovered in midair and finally landed in his hand.
Lin found a solid boulder carefully tied a knot around and tugged hard on the rope. Lin held a hand out to Mai. "Mai, can you climb down?"
She nodded then held onto the rope but she waivered and Lin supported her. "Mai, you need to trust me. Can you stand?" Mai shook her head. "It's ok." Lin turned so his back was to Mai. Put your arms around my neck." She did And Lin stood, "hold onto me, lean into me ok?" Mai leaned in and then pulled back and stood looking at him. Lin turned to look at Mai.
"But you don't like it when people touch you, or are close to you." Mai stated. Lin looked at her questioningly. "Kenji-kun, you pushed him away, you were uncomfortable with him." She hesitated slightly then mumbled, "And Japanese people make you uncomfortable."
"Kenji-kun was possessed, my shiki were on edge, allowing someone possessed to hold onto your neck is not an easy thing." Lin turned back away from her. "I should have handled it better; my shiki and I are quite comfortable with you." He stated. Mai leaned in again wrapping her arms around his neck and holding carefully. When he stood, she wrapped her legs around dispersing her weight and holding onto him.
Lin began a slow descent down, holding the rope and lowering himself with Mai down. The climb down was slower than the climb up but he carefully felt his way down while Mai held onto him. On the last ledge, he waited a moment before continuing. "I can drive you home, you can sit out this case, think, relax and rest." Lin offered turning his head to look at the girl who clung to his neck.
"Thank you, but I will stay," she gave him a weak smile; "I will stay with my family." Lin continued his trek down the ledge. When he reached the bottom, He knelt down and let Ayako examine Mai. He was sure to be high enough Mai couldn't reach the ground but low enough to let Ayako check her out.
"What happened?" Ayako questioned him.
"She was emotional." Lin stated.
"I'm sorry I worried everyone." Mai stated still holding tight around Lin's neck and shoulders.
Spotting the fever and soaking clothes Ayako wrapped Lin's coat around Mai and Lin carried her into the house. He set her on the chair in the girls' room. Ayako proceeded to start getting Mai out of her wet clothes; Lin closed the door securely and headed to the base.
"What happened?" Naru asked as soon as he entered.
"She seemed overtired and emotional, possibly overload from possessions, but nothing case related." Lin stated. It had only been a few days since she had gone in for the lineup, may he should have waited to take the case. Yet he knew they were needed on this case. Children Toki's age many times could see spirits, and with what the father said last night. Lin pulled up the transcript and read through.
"Thank you for seeing me, I wish I could have been here earlier."
"Please tell us about your case."
"My wife fell in love with this house, it was her dream house. Therefore, we bought it. We had Toki and it was great later she got pregnant with Hikari something changed. I think it started after we decorated a room for her but I started getting this feeling. A disappointment, a dread, it was just a niggling feeling whenever I was home. When Hikari came home this feeling became stronger, over powering. All I wanted to do when I got home was to leave and I guess that has influenced me staying in the city more, but now when I go home I get these urges, these feelings," he hesitated, worry etched in his featured. "It's not me. It isn't me but I feel like there is someone else, something else." He hesitated, stood, and walked back and forth for a moment. "I thought I might not love her, I Thought it was me so I brought her to Tokyo, I brought all of them, ready to divorce, give them the house, some good living money do the right thing, but when I got them here I loved them, I had no urges, I came home to them, ate with them. I couldn't wait to see them." he sat back on the couch looking between the two of them. "I plan on moving, getting them out of that house, find a new place to be her dream home, but I want to know for sure that this other feeling this compulsion I feel there will not follow me, that I am not this person."
"Hitori-san, what is this 'feeling'"
The man shook his head as though giving voice to the feeling would make it come true.
"The only way we can prevent something is to know about it. If we don't know, we might not be able to stop it. Tell us." Naru demanded of the man.
"I need to hurt them, usually Hikari then Haruhi. It starts with one and then the other. I imagine I get rid of them. Hurt them," he waited hoping they would accept his explanation but their silence demanded he continue. "Usually stab sometimes strangle, quick, slightly painful, so they feel the pain I do. The ache, I look in their eyes and watch as the light fades."
"We have already sent two from our team home with your wife, do you have a hotel for the night. It would be best if you did not head home until we came with you." Naru stated.
"Of course, I will plan on taking the train home in the morning."
"You can ride with us and the equipment; we will be leaving at six."
"I will be here."
"Hara-san what did you sense?" Naru asked as they returned to the base.
"Nothing active, but I felt two spirits weak, currently inactive or resting, I could not pinpoint their locations."
Naru nodded before reviewing the folder. "The main family affected is the boy Toki and the father Takashi. Until we establish the dangers of the situation. We need to focus on these two.
"Brown-san, Matsuzaki-san and Hara-san you will focus on Toki, He should usually be with his mother, be sure to protect her also but main focus seems to be Toki. Lin, Takigawa and I will focus on Takashi. If there is an issue, one person should stay with them while the others can go where needed. Any Questions?"
"Where will Mai-san be?" John asked.
"If she continues on this case she will watch over Toki also," everyone noticed the silent threat in the 'if' statement. "You all have your assignments, go to the family." As the team disbursed and left the base Naru waited until he was alone with Lin.
Lin continued to type on his laptop, sending out an email to Yasuhara for research and filling in a report on Hara-san's senses.
"Lin what is Mai's status?" He looked to Lin who glanced up from the laptop.
"She seemed emotional, but no sign of spiritual activity." Naru studied him; Lin read his emotionless face like a book. "She may be overwhelmed with too many cases, and her abilities. Some mediums need to have a rest period between extreme cases. Taniyama-san has had maybe a week between most cases and has been training hard on each of them. Most Mediums find an outlet, a secondary skill when they are not on cases to prevent overload. I am not sure Taniyama-san has established this, nor has she established a significant other or family that she can find protection to relieve the pressure of the job."
Naru nodded. He knew the reason Lin had been so technical in his description. The last time they personally had faced similar situation was with Gene. Each time he used the word medium it had applied to Gene and Lin knew the sores he would reopen mentioning that struggle.
"Is she able to continue?"
"She stated she wanted to stay."
Naru glared at him for a moment feeling Lin had overstepped his bounds asking without him but then turned and left the base. He had the chance to step into the support role, multiple times, but he was not prepared. Every time she struggled, he could see Gene struggling. She reached out with the same look in her eyes he had to say no. he only knew one thing. If he said yes, it would have been to Gene and not to her and he could never use her as a replacement for Gene.
He stepped outside of the girls' room and knocked. Thinking twice he opened the door and proceeded in. Ayako met him with a glare next to the door. Mai was laid out asleep on the bed. He walked forward and looked down at her, gone was the perky girl from the office, here laid a broken medium, his eyes blurred and he saw Gene. 'Is it you I love or Gene?' he asked to himself. Gently he touched her forehead, and then felt her pulse while watching the slow rhythm of her breathing. Once done he walked out the door, Ayako following secured the door closed behind them.
"She seems exhausted but otherwise healthy." Ayako stated.
"When she wakes tell her she can leave, her assistance will not be needed on this case." He turned and left the Miko watching him puzzled.
"Mai!" Gene called as Mai awakened on the astral plane.
"Gene, I have missed you."
"You know you can visit no need to run away." He stated referring to her previous actions.
"I don't understand it, I was just so overcome, and I just walked until I found that place. Alone in the middle of nowhere."
(if anyone has researched the meaning of MAI per kanji it has many. Dance, Little sister, every, rice, and to bury or internment. Gene In this scene is playing with the meanings of her name while explaining things.)
Gene ruffled her hair playfully. "Mediums accept a spirit into their body and at that time feel all the emotions that the spirit feels. You go one-step further and experience it not only when possessed but in dreams and visions. As such you get all there lingering emotions, it's like adding grains of rice to a bowl. When a medium has an outlet for these extra emotions, you become the little sister who dances through the lives of the family. Every family member looks to you as the light in his or her lives. Yet when you get filled up it feels like you are buried, interned and entombed within these emotions."
Mai nodded. It felt like her emotions were over loading her, buried, that was why she climbed, she wanted to climb up out of that feeling, leave it behind but it hadn't worked. Gene watched as the realization and acceptance crossed Mai's face.
"So what do I do?"
"Find a distraction, a passion, something that you can do to relieve your emotions. In school did you learn to play an instrument or sing?" Gene asked Mai shook her head. "Draw, paint?" he asked. She shook her head. "Dance?" he asked playing with her name again.
"No," she giggled. "None of those things, I was just average."
"I never said you had to be good at it, just like it as an outlet." Gene smiled. Mai shrugged and smiled back. "Are you ready to see about the house?"
Mai nodded, and they walked into a new scene. Two kids sat playing on the floor throwing blocks. A boy around six and a girl around four. A lady came in and threw all the blocks back in the toy box.
"Why do you always have to make such a mess, can't you play without making so much work?"
"Sorry mom," the boy said quietly.
"Yeah, yeah, you're always sorry and always make more work later." She said depositing the last block into the box.
"Sorry mommy." The girl said quietly on the verge of tears.
"I know you are dear, you learn to be a good girl."
The scene slowly changed. The same girl and boy older just were getting home after school.
The girl was crying as she gave her mother her homework. "I'm sorry mom, I will do better next time." The boy also handed the mother his homework. She looked at each of the papers, the boy a 97 in and English alignment and the girl 96 on spelling test.
"You will do better next time I am sure, let's go eat."
The scene faded and Mai and Gene were left alone in the astral plane.
"That is all for now, try to find some outlet for your emotions, even if you don't feel them lingering they are probably there." He smiled at her. "I played the piano, mother had two in the house, one was my private one, and I would play after cases, anytime I was upset. The other was in the foyer, a beautiful ebony piece. She would listen when I played in private, she would hide but I knew she was there, Oliver used to sit beside me, some times in the middle of the night he would take me to the old one and sit with his head against the side until I had calmed down."
Mai awoke to see Ayako reapplying some makeup. She yawned and the Miko noticed her.
"Finally decided to rejoin us," the Miko asked turned having one eye with shadow and the other still clean.
"Yeah, I guess I got overstressed." Mai shrugged.
"Naru said you can take this case off, we can get someone to drive you home." Ayako soothed.
"But I want to continue, I had a dream." Mai stated.
"He said you wouldn't be needed for this case." Ayako shrugged.
"I don't believe that I got that memo." Mai smiled smugly. "I am sure he will forget it too after some tea." She stood up from the bed and walked out. Ayako followed makeup half done.
While making tea Mai stared absently at the teapot. A passion, Gene had said. Piano was his. She had never learned much about music; she liked to listen, but preferred the sidelines.
Mai sighed. The teapot whistled. She absently poured out several cups. The only thing she was good at was making tea. Everyone loved it; she was not talented at making anything else. To her food was just a daily need. No passion or care tea was special, but she could not release emotions with that.
She placed the cups on a tray and headed to the base. There she set a cup beside Naru and one for Lin. The others grabbed the others. She slumped onto the couch. She felt Naru's eyes watching her. She looked up at him. He simply watched her over his teacup. Slowly he sipped a little more.
The others in the room seemed to be watching them intently; Ayako, Masako and Lin sat glancing between the two of them. They must all know he told her to leave. She decided she would not be the one to break first; she reached forward and grabbed a cup of tea for herself. She grabbed Darjeeling, the same as she had made for Lin, a calming, strong tea. She relaxed back onto the couch content to have a staring contest with Naru.
He finally broke the silence as he lowered his teacup finishing it. "You will not be needed on this case Taniyama-san, you can head back home." He stated then opened a file to look through.
"I would rather stay, Toki and the family are in danger and I can help."
"So far you have only caused us to lose several hours of work. The rest of us are here for a case. If you are going to waste more of our time you should leave."
"I will keep myself under control and be a productive part of the team." Mai drank the last bit of her own tea. "I will strive to find a way to prevent similar things from happening again." She stared at him until he returned his gaze to the file he was reading. When he did, she revealed her dreams.