Recap:
"Daddy it's you!" Possessed Thanat spoke happily.
John blinking in surprise, "What did he say?" he asked not just himself, but others.
Staring down at the child, Lin stared in shock, utterly confused the situation in front of him mind-boggling.
Time Skip Inside the Church
Playing with the possessed child, Lin wanted to groan in dismay, never had he been roped into something like this.
"He really likes Lin." Masako commented at the sight in front of her.
Ayako frowns, "At least somebody does." Mai fidgets remembering the letter Lin had been writing in and how she snuck a peek at it. She wouldn't tell anyone though.
Stepping forward, Father Toujo speaks, "Thanat, come over here for a moment." He tries to course the child to him. Instantly, instead of listening, he hides behind Lin.
"It appears as if he has mistaken me for his father." Lin remarks matter-of-factly. "Would you mind telling him the truth."
A smile appearing on Father Toujo's lips, "Well, the funny thing is, you bear an uncanny resemblance to Kenji's father."
"Whose Kenji?" Mai asks, still watching the interaction between the possessed child and Lin.
"According to Father Toujo, there used to be a bo here named Kenji. One day he disappeared." Naru explains. "Shortly after that, the possessions started occuring."
"Hello." A female voice calls. A woman wearing an apron standing behind them. "You must have caught a chill while outside, I've made some of my famous hot tea for everyone, would you all care for some?" She asks kindly.
"Thank you, that sounds wonderful." Masako smiles in thanks.
"So, Naru, do we know anything about this boy that went missing?" Mai asks as Father Toujo leads them to another room along with the woman holding the tea.
"Actually, Father didn't you say this time of the year holds some significance to the spirit?" Naru asks, sipping the tea in front of him. "Didn't Kenji first arrive at your church around this time?"
"That's right. It was a week before the church moved into this building from another location in the city." Father Toujo explains, lifting the tea cup to lips for a sip. "Kenji was brought here by his father, and he promised to be back for Kenji next Christmas, but he vanished."
"And apparently, Kenji suffered from a mental disorder." Naru states. "This left him unable to speak like a normal child."
"How sad…" Mai comments looking down in her tea cup, memories of other things appearing into her mind.
"But then how did he manage to speak through Thanat?" Masako asks.
"He must have had strong feelings for his Dad to see him through another body." Monk theorizes.
Ayako frowns, "I bet that's why he was able to speak up when he saw Lin. It must have been overwhelming after such a long time." She comments, her feelings clear on her sympathy.
"Although he may not have been able to speak like the others, he was happy and quite playful." the lady with the apron spoke with a smile. "All of the other kids took a liking to him immediately."
"They even crafted playground games to include Kenji, such as the hide and seek game called "Stick" Naru explains, describing Kenji's socialness with the other children despite his mental problems.
"At the time, the Parish was under construction still." Father Toujo spoke. "But the children were so happy, they just played around the construction. They actually found it to be quite exciting."
"Apparently, Kenji was very fond of the game "Stick" Naru says. "Would you say that's true?" He asks, the woman nodded.
"Oh yes, Kenji was known around the playground for being the best at hiding. They other kids called him "The Master of Stick" for being able to hide so well, he was such a smart boy." The woman smile nostalgically. "Even now, I can remember the big smile on his face when he came out and no one had found him. So proud of himself."
"After his birthday, Father Toujo gave him a whistle to use, and then Kenji replaced the Stick for his whistle to play the game." Naru states.
"You are right." Father Toujo nods.
"Unfortunately, not long afterwards. Kenji went missing." John comments, looking down in solemn sadness.
"It was during the time when the church's construction was nearly complete. The children were looking forward to having their first Christmas in their new house. A storm had passed over and no one could find him, they feared the worst, and once it turned into a snowstorm, they couldn't do anymore. He had gone missing." Naru finishes sipping his tea.
"What happened next?" Mai asked.
"The next day when everything happened, the members of the church went on a broader search." Father Toujo looks down into his cup, a frown on his face as he remembered the memories. "We found a whistle which looked similar to the one that belonged to Kenji at the back of the church."
"At the back of the church is an aqueduct going east and west. It's quite deep and the fence erected there now wasn't there in the past during the construction days." John slips in.
"So you believe he fell in the aqueduct?' Ayako asks. John nods, "I do." He looks up to the others. "The police did an extensive search to where the aqueduct feeds into on both sides, but they never found one piece of evidence." He finished.
"So the police could never find the body." Masako stated in thought.
Mai looks up in surprise, "Is it possible he's still playing hide and seek? He might be still out there beating his stick, because he lost his stick so long ago. As if he's begging to be found." Mai says, looking off in the distance, her mind conjuring up all sorts of things in her mind.
"It doesn't sound like there's any danger." Monk comments.
"However, there is a possibility this could escalate into something bigger." Naru retorts, without looking at Monk.
Mai looks to Naru, "What exactly do you mean by escalate?" she asks curiously.
Masako speaks, "He's saying this may turn into something worse, Mai."
"I don't know. From what I've heard so far, it doesn't sound like Kenji would do something so violent." Mai muses in her thoughts out loud.
"No matter how many times I drive him out, he always comes back." John comments. "Besides what Father Toujo has told me, he's being appearing more frequently."
Monk blinks, closing his eyes, "Possessions must be changing him. Warping him into something else." he speaks sagely.
"Really? What do you mean?' Mai asks.
"Well, you've heard that families have spirits of their ancestors and that they haunting them, right? Do you think a spirit would do something horrific to their own family purposely?" Monk asks quietly.
"No." Mai shakes her head.
"Well, sometimes that's the case." Monk watches as Mai grows more confused. "My point is, spirits in the limbo tend to change over time. However, change isn't the right word, think of it like they absorbed others thoughts and become different. Altered by the positive and the negative feelings."
"Your saying spirits can be influenced by the actions of spirits?"
"That's one way of putting it. Otherwise they become too attached to something on earth, and will just end up embodying the very thing they left behind."
"That means, even though Kenji was such a good boy while he was alive. He may not be so nice in the afterlife."
"That's pretty much it."
"So, what do we do now?"
Naru intjects to answer Mai's question, "Simple, we start looking for him." Opening his eyes, he looks to everyone. "Now let's get to work."