Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing the previous chapter ^ v ^

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

LOL ^ v ^ I don't see anything wrong with having a Sho fan club, Reario. I actually think it's cool! It'll be like Team Sho and Team Naru and- o~kay. NO. Let's not go there.

WHOA! Someone's on the right track! ^ v * ~wink~ Rhiannonlee93

I like your questions, Adrienne Lynne ^ v ^ I'm not answering them through an AN though.

Aww...I'm really glad a lot of you felt creeped out about the club (this sounds so wrong...). That's actually the desired effect in the previous chapter.

Anyway, here is this week's chapter. Do tell me what you all think about it.


"I honestly thought the search you made us do was useless," Ayako said, sitting on a chair in the base. John, Masako and Takigawa were also seated in the room with Naru on the chair in front of the computer. Naru was facing them with a couple of folders on his lap.

Mai was serving each one a cup of tea. It was mid-afternoon when they all got back from inspecting the building. Aside from making tea, Naru also told her to distribute the sandwiches inside a paperback that magically found its way to Naru's table.

By the look of each clubhouse sandwich, it was prepared with meticulous hands – most likely by a woman.

Mai bit her lip as she served the sandwiches. Perhaps he bought it from a store nearby, though the paper bag or the paper wrapping the sandwiches didn't have a name on it. Perhaps he brought it with him, though the ham in the sandwiches still felt warm. Perhaps someone delivered it to him. Someone…

Mai tried not to wince at the sting she suddenly felt inside her. Might as well just forget what she was thinking of.

"But then, we saw these," Ayako said showing her mobile phone screen with a photo of a wooden window frame. It had some kind of symbol carved on it.

Naru took the phone and examined the picture.

Mai had already seen it. She, John, and Masako had examined each photo they took while inspecting the building. They met in the hallway before heading to the base to meet with Naru.

At first, they thought they were typical vandalism – gang symbols, ugly drawings, random carvings. But many of carvings looked the same. It was as if the carvings meant something.

And they were found in specific locations.

Takigawa stood behind Naru to get a better look at the pictures. He frowned as Naru browsed through the photographs.

"The symbol on the first photo is carved in window frames in all the floors," Ayako explained.

That first symbol, Mai remembered looked like a circle of devil's forks, dots and curves.

"The symbol on the second photo is carved on the corners of the ceiling," Ayako continued.

John, Masako, Mai and I have collated what we've found. John said the areas where the symbols were etched weren't as dusty as they should be."

Takigawa nodded. "He's right," he said. "Those symbols seem like they were carved there just a month or so ago. The dust there is thinner."

"We're not sure what they are though," Ayako said.

"Well I'm quite sure the symbol on the second photo resembles a Sanskrit script," Takigawa answered.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ayako asked.

Takigawa looked at the others and folded his arms over his chest in thought. "The symbol represents a vowel - Om, I think. Hey, I think the first one also looks a little like Sanskrit...it's just...wrongly written..?"

"It's not Sanskrit," Naru said.

"W-What..?" Takigawa asked, raising his brows at Naru.

"It looks a little like Sanskrit but it isn't," Naru continued – his blue eyes looking at the photo of the symbol. He looked up at the others. "Did you find anything else?"

"Yes," John answered. "Actually, Taniyama-san was the one who found it. It wasn't a complete symbol, more like a remnant of one. It's on one of the rooms on the right wing of the ground floor."

John fished out his mobile phone from his pocket, pulled up the photograph of what they saw, and gave it to Naru.

Naru handed Ayako's phone back to Ayako and took John's phone to look at what he was talking about. Takigawa examined the photo as well.

On the floor were patches of lines. They were very thin…very light…set of curves that, if connected with each other, seemed to form a circle. There were also patches of lines inside the "circle." But they didn't quite seem to form anything when connected with each other.

"Also, if you take a closer look at the floor," John said, "You'll see candle drippings."

Naru swiped his fingers on the phone's screen to zoom into the photo. And indeed there were circles and stains that looked like candle wax on the floor.

"Black candle..?" Takigawa asked, raising a brow at the photograph. Most of the stains were black – others purple, red, and white. "Geez, were they really summoning the devil?"

"So the theory that the Shadow Man-San sneaking around here is a demon wins?" Ayako asked.

"If it's really a demon, we wouldn't be talking here anymore," Naru answered.

Ayako raised a brow at him.

"He means one of us must have been possessed already," Masako answered. "And the one it possessed would have killed us all."

Ayako cringed. "I'm shutting my mouth," she muttered.

"Did anyone else visit you for an interview?" Naru asked Takigawa.

"No one else shared any spooky stories about this building, if that's what you're asking," Takigawa answered. "But I had plenty of students who shared rumors about the parapsychology club. Apparently, your little date with Mai-chan in the grounds gave you enough exposure to get the attention of the college girls here." Takigawa said, winking slyly at Mai.

"Wh-What d-date?!" Mai asked – her cheeks red.

Masako glared at her.

Mai scowled and glared at Takigawa. "If you're talking about our trip to meet the parapsychology club – that was work!"

"That's not exactly what I heard from the girls, but sure," Takigawa said, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's go to the work-related part of my story. So this club apparently calls themselves "The Enlightened" ever since their previous club president moved to another town. They've been rumored to sneak into the university grounds at night frequently, holding secret meetings here in this building. There was a story about how a biology-major member of the club brought a cat into school saying it was for a zoology project. But they said the cat-murder project was not until a week after that day, so they were surprised when the student walked out of the school without the cat. They said the student walked into this building with a purring cat in a garbage bag and walked out of the building without any garbage bag in hand."

"So the cat was left here?" Ayako asked. "We've been watching a live feed of the building halls and rooms here since this morning and there's no sign of any animal lurking around here."

"Exactly," Takigawa said.

Mai swallowed. "Y-you… You think that student killed the cat here?"

"That's the theory," Takigawa answered.

"An animal sacrifice," Ayako said, frowning.

"But for what..?" John asked.

Takigawa smiled. "Bingo!"

"What else did you get?" Naru asked, handing back John's phone.

"They also said the parapsychology club was the coolest but oddest of all the academic organizations in the university," Takigawa answered. "…Until it became more like a cult than a club."

"Let me guess," Ayako said, frowning. "That started when its previous president went AWOL."

"Wow! And I thought old age has slowed your brain functions," Takigawa said, smirking.

Ayako glared at him. "You're lucky I'm still finishing my sandwich," she muttered.

"Oh and I've given the kids their protection charms," Takigawa told Naru.

Naru nodded.

"Naru," Mai said, looking at Naru as he sipped his tea. "What are those folders?"

"Data," Naru answered. "Let's discuss a few things first."

Mai frowned. He was being a jerk again.

"First, those symbols you took pictures of," Naru said. "Those are sigils. I expected to see the first symbol you saw – the one on the windows – but not the one on the ceiling. I believe they were used for the same purpose though – create a sprit barrier."

"Oh! That explains the fact that all the weird stuff only happened inside this building," Takigawa said.

"The spirit is confined here," John said.

"I see," Masako said. "That's why the spirit just stays here. It moves from one corner or floor to another, but it doesn't really disappear."

"You mean you can still feel it?" Mai asked, suddenly filling chills creeping up her spine. What if it was somewhere in the room – listening to them? Or standing beside her that very moment..?!

"Yes," Masako answered. "It's restless because of our presence. But it just floats around."

"Okay, so it's not possessing anyone here right now," Ayako said. "Does this mean we can rule out the shadow-man-equals-demon theory? I mean, if it's really a demon then it should be doing something malevolent right now. And how do you explain the engine of the bulldozer dying when it stopped near the front door? …And the back up bulldozers messing up too! Technically, it's still outside the building."

"It's possible that they hadn't put a seal on the front door at the time," John answered. "Perhaps they didn't expect anyone else to venture into the building."

"And when the news of the incident spread, they went back here to place a seal on the front door," Takigawa continued.

"And the spirit didn't leave this place when the door didn't have a seal?" Mai asked.

Takigawa frowned. "This is more complicated than I thought," he said.

"And the spirit hasn't touched any of us," Ayako added. "Don't get me wrong though. I'm happy it hasn't."

"Perhaps the door did have a sigil seal on it," John said. "It just wasn't strong enough. Taniyama-san and I hadn't examined the front doors more thoroughly than the windows and ceiling corners so it's possible that we just missed it."

"That makes sense," Takigawa said, nodding. "And they just strengthened it. Maybe that's why there are two kinds of sigils in this house – the first one was weaker."

"Well with that probably answered, do we start exorcising this place?" Ayako asked.

"Yes," Naru answered. "But we'll do that early tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow..?!" Ayako exclaimed. "The head master wants this done as soon as possible!"

"That's the only possible time we have," Naru said – his blue eyes icily hinting a warning at Ayako. "We have a couple of things to consider."

Takigawa took his seat in the group as Naru began to look at each of them.

"It's possible that they added the second symbol to strengthen the barrier they've already made," Naru continued. "But knowing that doesn't give us an edge with what we're dealing with. The fact that the spirit had been held inside this cage, and that it hadn't done anything other than manifest itself in a video recording are already obvious clues."

"Clues..?" Mai asked.

"I'll simplify it further for Mai's benefit," Naru said.

Mai frowned and glared at Naru.

"How would you feel if you were arrested by a policeman this very moment?" Naru asked.

"I'd be confused," Takigawa answered. "I don't remember breaking the law recently."

"Anxious," John said. "I'll be worried too about what they would do to me – where they would take me, how it would affect my loved ones, and what would happen next."

"Irritated," Ayako answered. "Because I'm sure I'm not a criminal."

"Scared," Mai whispered, suddenly feeling the emotion and seeing herself being dragged away from the group.

Masako just looked down at her hands.

"And how would you feel if you were locked up in jail afterwards," Naru continued. "Without the police giving you any explanation on why they took you away and why you were put in the jail cell?"

"I'd be furious!" Takigawa answered, leaning forward. "That's against the law!"

"Same here," Ayako said. "I'd even call my lawyer!"

"Yeah!" Mai exclaimed. "I'd-" she froze, suddenly realizing something. She held her lips and looked at Naru. "The spirit…"

"The spirit was summoned here against its will," Masako said, looking up at Naru. "Then it was held captive here without even knowing why it was locked up."

Naru didn't say anything. He just looked at each one of them again watching Ayako and Takigawa's faces reflect surprise and realization, John and Masako's face reflect sadness, and Mai…wince.

"Now how would you feel if the police walked into the jail cell and literally kicked you out, without unlocking the cell door?" Naru asked.

Mai gasped. "The spirit might hurt us!" she whispered.

"And doing the exorcism tomorrow morning would keep us safe?" Ayako asked.

"It would give me more data to work with and prepare for whatever effect the exorcism would have with the spirit," Naru answered.

"It's an exorcism," Ayako said.

"No, Naru has a point," Takigawa said, leaning back on his chair. "We don't really know how these sigils work. What if it causes complications in exorcism rituals? What if it just pushes the spirit against the barrier instead of transporting it to where it should be taken to?"

"I agree with Takigawa-san," John said. "We should make sure none of us gets hurt first, including the spirit that is here. It might just be as confused as us about what's happening. And it might not be a demon after all."

Ayako sighed. "Fine, fine," she said. "What time would we do the exorcism tomorrow?"

"Be here at six in the morning," Naru answered. "All three of you should be ready to perform exorcisms."

"I understand," John, Ayako and Takigawa answered.

"You can all go now," Naru said standing up and placing the folders on the table. "…Except you, Mai."

Mai nodded, knowing they still had work to do with the cameras. She started to gather the tea cups. John stood up and helped her.

Takigawa, Ayako, Masako followed. Takigawa was still munching on his sandwich when he noticed how Masako walked toward Naru. He grinned and nudged Ayako to see what was happening.

Ayako smirked. "Eh..? She's really into this, huh?" she muttered.

Mai heard it and looked at where they were looking at. John also turned to look at the scene.

"Oh," John said. "Hara-san is fond of Shibuya-san."

"I can stay here a bit longer to give you a hand," they heard Masako say as she stood close to Naru. "I don't have anything else to do today."

Mai frowned – her cheeks blushing. Naru still seemed too busy tapping the keyboard to reply to Masako but the lack of professional distance between the two irked Mai's nerves.

"Well don't just stand there," Ayako said, nudging Mai. "Go ask your boss what you need to do." She then winked slyly at Mai.

Mai shyly nodded and walked toward Naru.

"What do we do first, boss?" Mai asked, smiling widely at Naru.

Masako turned to look at her. "Its okay, Mai," she said. "I can stay with him."

Mai stiffly smiled at her. "No offense," she began. "But I'm his assistant. I don't go home without him."

"None taken," Masako replied, giving her an innocent smile. "You can start by checking the cameras upstairs."

Mai stiffened. She felt her blood pressure rise.

She didn't care if Masako was Naru's girlfriend or best friend... ONLY HER BOSS BOSSES HER AROUND!

Ayako and Takigawa snickered in a corner.

"Eh..?" John asked, looking at the two. "What's going on?"

Mai mustered a wide smile. "Thanks, but I'd like to hear the words from Naru," she said. "I after all take orders from him."

"Check the front door for symbols," Naru ordered.

"Yes sir!" she said, giving Naru a salute. She smiled one last time at Masako and turned to go.

"You may go, Hara-san," Naru told Masako – his eyes still on the computer screen.

Masako frowned.

Ayako and Takigawa burst into laughter.

"Now that was a slap!" Ayako said.

"I'll help you, Taniyama-san!" John said, walking out the door with Mai.

Mai was smiling triumphantly on the way to the hallway.


Everything was set up the next morning.

The cameras were monitoring the room where a kimono-dressed Miko named Ayako was praying; Takigawa was also in his monk kimono, standing in the hallway and on guard; John, in his black habit, was in the base with Masako, Naru, and Mai – all three of them monitoring the video feed from the cameras observing Ayako.

Naru had Mai running to the front door of the building at 5:30 in the morning, setting up the cameras and fixing the cords up to 5:50; and helping out with the exorcism preparations at six in the morning; then placing charms on the walls through 6:15. After discussing the plans for the exorcism, they've proceeded with the ritual at 6:30.

Mai watched Ayako pray in the room. The miko was kneeling on the floor Mai swept clean earlier that morning. Ayako held a haraiguishi. She swayed it several times in the air as she prayed - its strips of white paper dancing in the air.

Luckily, Masako decided to stand beside John that moment. Mai slipped closer to Naru, happy that she had the chance to stand beside him and anxious at what could happen in the exorcism.

The plan was to conduct the exorcism in one room and force the spirit to move into that particular room and that particular room only. Naru had her sticking paper charms on the walls and doors of rooms where the spirit shouldn't go to. He and Mai also used charmed shelves and movable blackboards to cover the hallways that the spirit shouldn't use.

Masako, who arrived just a few minutes after Mai did, told them where the spirit was. By the time Mai and Naru were done with the preparations, Masako had confirmed that the spirit was on the move and following the path they made.

Mai remembered the analogy that Naru used the day before to explain the spirit's point of view. It could be confused and basically lost. It probably meant no harm to people. It was just pissed at what happened to it, so it wreaked havoc in the building – almost killing a man.

She also remembered Naru's last question. "Neh, Naru," she whispered, standing close to Naru. He didn't glance at her in acknowledgement. "Are we really going to...like...kick the spirit out?" Mai anxiously asked.

"It shouldn't be here," Naru answered.

"But this method," Mai said. "This…won't hurt the spirit, right?"

"We're calling it a sprit," Naru said. "But it doesn't mean it's just a sprit."

"W-What..?" Mai asked, puzzled at Naru's reply. "But you said..."

Naru kept his eyes on the screen.

"You mean there's still a possibility that this…spirit…is a…demon..?"

Naru stayed silent.

"Wo-Wouldn't that be dangerous for Matsuzaki-san?" Mai asked.

Naru didn't answer.

Mai gasped – anxiety flooding her veins. "Don't tell me you're using Matsuzaki-san as bait!"

John and Masako looked surprised at Mai.

"Takigawa-san," Naru said on the microphone connected to a headset Takigawa wore in the hallway. "The temperature is dropping!"

John, Masako and Mai anxiously turned to watch the screen.

"Got it," they saw Takigawa respond as he stood defensively on the hallway. The infrared feed showed a cloak of blue filling the screen. It also grew in the room where Ayako was praying.

Mai saw Ayako open her eyes, startled at the temperature drop. "Wh-What's happening..?" she shakily said.

"Don't stop!" Naru said to the microphone, directing the message to Ayako. "Finish the ritual!"

Ayako shakily shut her eyes and tried to concentrate on what she was doing.

The video feed displaying Ayako suddenly twisted into zigzagging grey lines. It went back to normal after a second or so…but when Ayako seemed to be reaching the end of the ritual, the grey lines went back long enough to tell them something was terribly wrong.

"Takigawa-san!" Naru yelled urgently on the microphone.

They heard distorted voices in the speakers – screams, yells, crashing sounds…

Naru quickly ran out to the hall. "Brown-san, monitor the feeds!"

Mai ran out to follow him, worried about what had happened. She could hear her heart beating in her ears.

They took a right turn on a hall and noticed gusts of smoke as they sped down the hallway. It came from the exorcism room.

"MATSUZAKI-SAN! BOU-SAN!" Mai cried anxiously out, almost slipping on the floor as they turned to walk into the room.

Naru pulled her collar to stop her from going further into the room.

The ceiling was torn down. It was splayed in shreds over the floor with shelves, tables, and chairs from the upper floor. The cameras were also on the floor with a few bolts and parts strewn here and there.

In the middle of the room were Ayako and Takigawa. Takigawa was carrying her in his arms. He seemed to be on his way out when they arrived.

"Hey," Takigawa said, gasping for breath. "Heavy old woman here, coming through!"

Naru pulled Mai to stand beside him in the hall. They watched Takigawa place Ayako on the hallway floor.

She was pale, dusty, and obviously shaken.

"Matsuzaki-san," Mai said, quickly kneeling down beside Ayako to check on her. "How are you feeling?"

"Dizzy, confused, and slightly annoyed at that pervert's insult," Ayako gasped, trying not to show how shaken she was.

Takigawa dusted himself off for a moment. "Just thank me for saving your humongous behind," he said.

Ayako took a deep breath. "I'm still counting your insults," she said.

"What happened?" Naru asked.

"Yeah," Mai said. "The video cut off before you finished praying."

"All I know was it felt icy in the room," Ayako said. "And the ceiling came crashing down on me."

"The temperature drop happened in a snap," Takigawa told Naru. "When you told me to be on guard, I fixed my eyes on the walls and floors of the room, just as you instructed."

Mai looked puzzled at Takigawa. Naru instructed Takigawa to keep watch on the parts of the room?

"Everything seemed like it was shivering," Takigawa continued. "And when I looked up at the ceiling, I saw the sides of it cracking and pouring dusts all over the room. Then it bent down to the floor and I rushed into the room, just as the ceiling crashed."

Mai cringed at the story, realizing how close she was from losing her self-proclaimed parents.

"Don't worry," Ayako said, smiling at her. "We're alright."

Mai nodded.

"And I think it left us a message," Takigawa said, looking seriously at Naru.

Naru walked into the room and looked at the blackboard. Lines slashed its surface.

Mai walked to stand close to Naru and froze.

It seemed to form one giant word.

"Head back to base," Naru said turning to Ayako and Takigawa. Takigawa nodded and carried Ayako back to base.

Naru glanced at Mai. "Go with them." He then vanished into the room to examine the cameras on the floor.

Mai was about to walk with Takigawa when he smiled and winked.

"We're good," he said.

Mai nodded slowly, understanding what he meant. She watched them walk away before she walked into the room.

"N-Naru," Mai said, walking closer to him. "The spirit is-" Mai was cut by the creaking sound of the trembling floor.

Mai froze – her eyes watching and feeling the floor shake beneath her.

Naru cursed and quickly stood up to get Mai out of the room. He succeeded in pulling her out of the room with him. But before they could run back to base, the hallway floor collapsed, pulling them down to the building's hollow foundation.


Mai couldn't remember what exactly happened, but she knew it involved wood and furniture crashing down on them; her shrieks of terror; and a body pressing itself on top of her.

"-ai! Mai!"

She woke up to the sound of a familiar voice – one she missed and knew so well.

"Mai," it said and it took everything in her drowsy state to resist its call. "Mai, wake up!"

After realizing that she would have to wake up anyway, she opened her eyes. She winced at the faint white light on her face. After winking a few times, she saw a blurry image of a man looking down at her.

She gasped when her vision cleared - the piercing blue eyes shimerring in the faint light.

"N-Naru..?" she asked.

"Are you hurt?" Naru asked – his eyes flooding with relief.