And here we go again! It's been a while since my last upload but with Broadway being closed - I have so much free time unfortunately. Sure a lot of people are in similar boats as well, and all I can hope is that everyone stays healthy, safe and does their part not to spread Covid-19. Stay at home and read FanFiction! Yay!

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I stayed where I was. I didn't want to see, what I already knew. I knew that they had both died on impact, and that there was no hope. Tears poured down my cheeks as I cried for the woman who was powerless, and in the final moments made the hardest decision anyone ever could.

Letting go.

...

I could feel my consciousness slowly floating to the surface, and I became aware of my physical body once more. I could feel something wet on my face. I slowly blinked my eyes open, but my vision remained blurry. I reached a hand up and wiped my face, which happened to be covered in tears. I finished wiping my tears away, and I turned my head to look around the room.

Once again I woke up on the couch in base. I took a look around and saw Ayako sleeping on the floor in front of the sofa, John sleeping in a sitting position against the wall, and Naru was watching the monitors. I slowly sat up on the couch, which caught Naru's attention.

"You're crying, are you hurt?"

"No I'm fine."

"You didn't have another soul convergence dream did you?"

"No, I watched the vision as a bystander. I watched both Reika and her husband die."

Naru nodded his head in understanding, but didn't push further. Usually he would ask for details, but I guess he was going to cut me some slack for once.

"Why are Ayako and John sleeping on the floor?"

"You passed out in the club and they were worried you would have another soul convergence. Ayako was watching to make sure you weren't exhibiting any injuries and John blessed you and stayed just in case he needed to do a second blessing. The others went to bed about an hour ago. They were all worried about you."

I looked down at the two remaining members and smiled. I felt more tears prick the corners of my eyes but I held them back. I don't know how I ended up being blessed with so many wonderful people who cared for me. I have no idea what I did to deserve them, but I honestly don't know what I would do without them.

"I guess I should wake them up so they can get some proper sleep."

I slowly got off the sofa and woke up John first. It took him a few moments to wake up, and after seeing that I was alright and unharmed, he shuffled off to bed. I woke Ayako next, who woke up instantly. She checked me over even though I insisted that I was alright. After I satisfied her concerns and answered all of her questions, she noticed that my makeup was smeared. I brought my hand to my face and suddenly realized that I was still in the revealing dress from earlier that evening. After realising this, I quickly left base and went to our room. Ayako followed me in shortly, but made no comment on my embarrassment. She crawled into bed and was asleep almost instantly.

I changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, and removed my makeup before crawling into bed. I layed there, staring at the ceiling for a while. This case has exhausted me emotionally, mentally, and physically; but I couldn't close my eyes regardless of how tired I was. My mind was swirling around with thoughts of my most recent vision and the emotional turmoil I was feeling towards Reika. My mind was replaying the moment she fell to her death, over and over again. When I closed my eyes, that was all I saw. Even though she lived a difficult life and had a tragic death, I had to remind myself that it didn't excuse her behavior in death. She was allowing her anger to consume her, and that made the situation dangerous for everyone.

After some time I sat up in bed and decided to get something to drink. I quietly left my room and made my way upstairs. The kitchen was dark but I could see the little red light of the camera in the corner of the room. Naru had probably already seen me, so no point in trying to sneak around. I pulled out a mug and started to boil water for tea. I heard footsteps behind me but I didn't have to turn around to know that Naru had followed me up to the kitchen. A second mug was placed down next to mine. We stood in silence while I made the tea. We each grabbed our mug and walked down the steps, back to base. Naru resumed his position in front of the monitors and I sat on the couch. We sipped our tea for a few minutes before Naru finally broke the silence.

"Tell me what you saw." I guess he could only hold off for so long. Typical.

I explained my dream to Naru, and when I got to the part about Reika's death, I had to clear my throat from emotion. Naru had paused a moment after I finished talking, and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

I smirked into my tea. "Naru, are you worried about me?"

Naru scoffed. "Mai, it is my job as your employer to ensure that everyone on my team is mentally and physically capable of handling themselves. Which leads me to ask, are you able to finish this case?"

I stared into my tea, as if searching for the answer.

"Mai."

I sighed. "Yes, I can finish this case. I'm just torn. I understand that Reika is suffering, and after seeing the horrors she faced while alive, I understand how broken she feels. When I converge with another soul, I don't just experience their memory; our souls become one and I am them. I have their memories, emotions, thoughts, and I feel everything that they feel both physically and emotionally. When she was being beaten by her husband, she was thinking about death. She wanted out. Her thoughts were my thoughts and so I also, in a way, was begging for death. To say that I feel a connection to her is an understatement."

"Mai, if she cannot be cleansed, are you going to stop us from exorcising her?"

"No, I won't. I don't think she deserves to be exorcised, but all the same, I can't allow her to hurt anyone else. She deserves to be at peace, but if she won't move on willingly, then I understand that it has to be done."

Naru, seemingly satisfied with my answer, continued to drink his tea and watch the monitors.

Before he left Japan, I would have put up a fuss about trying to save her. I had done it so many times before, and we were successful. But after Naru and Lin left, things changed. I had taken some cases with the others, and I had always tried to cleanse the spirit. But after a few cases of seeing the spirit refuse to move on and hurt my family, I decided that I couldn't save them all. After a few soul convergence episodes with not so nice spirits, I also realized how naive I had been in the past, trying to save them all. After experiencing their emotions and in some cases evilness, I learned that not everyone can be saved. I couldn't lose anyone else in my life, and if my stubbornness to save a spirit ended up hurting someone I loved, I wouldn't be able to live with that guilt. I tried to think of it as maturing rather than giving up. I try as hard as I can, but in the end, sometimes the costs are greater than the rewards.

We finished our tea in silence, and I could feel my eyelids getting heavy.

"Go to bed, Mai."

I nodded my head and left base. By the time I reached my bed I was all but asleep on my feet. I fell into bed and a dreamless sleep consumed me.

…..

Everyone had woken up the next morning earlier than normal. I told them about my dream and it cast a somber mood as we ate breakfast in relative silence, with only a few conversations here and there. Mentally, we were all preparing ourselves for the seance that was going to be happening soon. Naru had wanted to do it earlier in the day when none of the staff members would be on site. We had told Maho what we were doing, and he made sure to warn all of his staff to stay away until he received the all clear from Naru.

Personally, my stomach was in knots and I barely ate any of my food. The atmosphere of the club was a complete 180 from the exciting energy it usually housed every night. I wanted us to be successful in cleansing Reika, but I was also worried about everyone's safety and the possible outcomes of today's events. Masako had been quiet all morning. I could tell that she was mentally preparing for a spirit to take over her body. Fortunately Yasu was right at her side. He sat down next to her at breakfast and had barely left her side all morning. I'm glad that they had an opportunity to talk and everything seemed to be better between the two of them. I'm glad Masako had her support system back in time for today.

Around noon, everyone had gone back to change into their traditional clothes for the seance. John and Yasu dragged a large table and some chairs to the middle of the dance floor. Naru had Monk and I set up some of the extra cameras just in case the ones from the club stopped working again.

When everything was ready we sat down at the table and joined hands. I sat in between Masako and Bou. Masako still looked a little nervous so I gave her hand a small squeeze. Yasu was sitting on her other side and he gave her a small nod and smile for encouragement. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Ayako lit the candle on the table and took her seat next to Monk, rejoining hands.

"I call upon the spirit, Reika Kamikuro. We ask that you use this body as a vessel so you may speak your unspoken words. Please come forth."

I held my breath as a few seconds ticked by and nothing happened. Almost 10 seconds of silence had gone by, when suddenly the air in the room shifted. The flame of the candle shot high then settled back down, just as Masako's head dropped.

After a moment, her head slowly raised, and we instantly knew that we were no longer speaking to Masako. At the moment I could not feel any anger emanating from her and I looked at John, who agreed to begin questioning Reika. I nodded my head in his direction. After a slight pause, John broke the silence.

"Are you Reika Kamikuro?"

"Yes." The answer was monotone and even. After another pause John continued on.

"Are you aware that you have died?"

The feeling in the air grew darker, as well as the look on Masako's face.

"Yes. I am aware."

John shifted nervously in his seat. We had been hoping to avoid angering her considering she could so easily change moods. He looked to me with worry and I decided to take over.

"Reika."

Masako's head snapped towards my voice and instantly the mood changed to sorrow. I gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. I saw tears begin to form in her eyes and suddenly they spilled over, and down her cheeks.

"Yo… You…. You're the one I felt, the one whose memories I saw. You're Taniyama, aren't you?"

I saw the others tense around the table but I tried to remain calm and visibly unchanged. I saw Naru's head snap towards my direction, but I ignored his piercing stare. However, in my head I could hear warning signs going off. Her reaction to me was so strong, and the fact that she knew me and my name meant not only did I see her memories, but she must have seen mine as well? How much had she seen? When we converge souls does she also see my memories and feelings?

"Um, yes. My name is Mai Taniyama. What do you mean? You saw my memories?"

"At first I didn't know what I was seeing. I remember sitting by a hospital bed next to a woman I kept referring to as mother. I remember strange moments of laughing, crying, talking to people whom I've personally never met but somehow knew, and other moments that made no sense to me. People addressed me as Mai or Taniyama. I saw my reflection in a mirror and I had seen your face. A younger one at least, but I didn't know I was seeing you until I saw you yesterday on the second floor."

I stared at her trying to process what this meant. I had only considered soul convergence to mean I saw the spirits memories, but to hear her confirm that she could also see mine? I felt like my privacy had been invaded, but I knew Reika hadn't meant to see them and probably had no idea why she saw them in the first place.

She looked even sadder as she spoke again, "I'm terribly sorry about your parents. That must have been incredibly difficult to be so young. You must have felt very lonely."

This wasn't a conversation I wanted to have and it was very unexpected. Monk squeezed my hand and I felt reassured; I was no longer alone. I cleared my throat and answered her.

"Yes, it was lonely. I also saw your memories, and I know that you must have been incredibly lonely as well." I gave her hand a squeeze and a small smile to ease her feelings. I hoped that I looked calm on the outside because my nerves were fraying on the inside.

She turned and looked into the flame of the candle. It was another moment before she spoke again, with a steely resolve.

"If you're going to ask me to pass on, I'm afraid I can't do that."

I glanced around the table and saw almost everyone stiffen in posture. I realized that this could go south, really fast. With a calming breath I addressed her. "Why can you not move on? What is holding you here?"

She fixed her cold eyes on me. "You saw what my husband did to me. How he always took advantage of me and used his power against me. I could not stand up for myself when I was alive, but in death I can stand up for those who need help. I see what happens to women in this place. Just like my husband, men drink and take advantage of women who are alone or are vulnerable. It needs to end."

I squeezed her hand as I took in her feelings. "Reika, I commend your feelings about wanting to protect other women, and I completely and wholeheartedly agree that men should never be allowed to take advantage of women. In fact, that is a very popular concept in current society. Women want to be equally treated and respected, and I also believe in that, as well as…"

My words were cut off by her sudden scoff. "You say you agree but you let your boss bully and manipulate you. I've seen your memories Taniyama - you let this man," she inclined her head towards Naru, "hurt you and taunt you with his words and power, and just the other night he pulled you away from me trying to protect you. You are blinded by him and I cannot allow another woman to be manipulated and abused as I have been!"

I gaped at Reika in Masako's body as she became increasingly hostile and emanated a darker energy. Her grip on my hand tightened and became increasingly painful as she spoke. I tried to calm her, "Reika, no… you have it all wrong…"

But my words stopped as I tried to correct her. A sudden pain shot up my arm and through the rest of my body. My hand was painfully gripped in hers, and I tried to pull away. I must have looked panicked or in pain, because everyone broke the seance circle and started chanting their own prayers.

The chorus of everyone's words blurred into one another to the point that I had no idea who was speaking and who wasn't. The pain in my body pulled at every muscle and bone. It felt like every cell in my body was on fire. I tried to breathe but I could only feel short little gasps as I tried to pull in oxygen. Black lined the edges of my vision and the words of everyone started to quiet. It was almost as if everything was disappearing. My thoughts became harder and harder to string together and all of the pain in my body suddenly vanished. Was this what dying felt like? A slow disconnection from the world you were leaving?

Soon enough, my vision was black, my ears deaf, and my thoughts ceased.

Soon enough - there was nothing.