Naru took the object to the base to investigate it. Mai, Masako, Gene and Yasu joined him while the rest stayed to search some more in case this was not what they were looking for. "So? Can it?" Mai asked.

"But wouldn't Masako be able to sense it anyway?" Gene added.

Naru placed the shrine on the table and everyone gathered around it. "Normally, yes, but what if there is a charm, seal or something of that kind on there that helps it hide?" Naru answered as he himself was still speculating. "Well, we had a look on the outside. So if there is one it's inside." Yasu stated. "Wanna crack it open?" He grinned picking up the object. However, Mai objected. "We have to ask Ryoko-san first." The shrine looked quite old. It must have been in the family for a long time. They can't just go and break it. "Then, you can go and ask her. If she agrees ask her to give you some tools to do it." Naru suggested or actually ordered the girl. She was ok with this but was not sure if she really trusted them. She could as well imagine coming back to the shrine already in pieces. "Masako, keep an eye on them." She said before taking off. Masako sighed as the door closed. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that." She knew as well that Naru will do whatever he wants and there is no stopping that.

"I can't believe that a demon who already took the life of three people hides like this." Yasu said suddenly. "Not only three." Naru started. "It was summoned ages ago. It might have already killed up to a hundred people." He kept thinking about what Yasu said. "Maybe it's not that powerful after all." The boy stated.

"Care to explain, dear brother?"

"Well, we know it was powerful once but it needs food. It was sealed for who knows how long and until now had only three victims. Remember Mai's dream? It doesn't attack. It makes the person leave with him. The energy it had might still not be enough."

"Which means we might be able to get rid of it quite easily." Masako added. "But it's a shame. Three people died because they gave in to it. Mai wouldn't be here with us anymore if she believed the demon."

"But then why is Akane's state this different from Mai's? Her condition gets worse every day while Mai met it twice and got better when she refused." Gene asked.

"Mai is different. She has abilities. Akane ist trapped in a dream she can't leave. But she is alive it means she fights. Mai left the dream because she knew it was a dream." Masako explained.

"But if Akane doesn't know she is dreaming will she be able to leave once it's gone?" Yasu joined the conversation. Masako shrugged her shoulders. "I hope so."

Just as Masako ended what she was saying the door opened and Mai walked in. "She said it was OK. And I have the tools!" She placed them on the table. "So, who is gonna do it?" She asked.

"Let us call the rest back first. We need all of them to be able to do their job in case something happens." Naru stated killing her enthusiasm.

"Are you kidding me? I was there just a second ago! I am not going back there just to get them." Her hands dropped. She then noticed the device Naru was holding. "Walkie-talkie?" She asked. "Wait, we could have just contacted Bou-san and have him ask for the permission, and even to bring back the tools!" She noticed.

Naru smirked. "Yes, also you could have just used it to tell us that the girls room was messed up instead of running all the way back. But, your last brain cell keeps forgetting it."

The girls face got angry "You jerk!" She shouted before calming down. "You know what. No, I won't waste my energy. I know you don't mean it anyway."

"Are you sure it's not because I'm the best boss so you can't get angry at me?" He teased.

"No! I think the change in management would be better after all!" She yelled seating down. She didn't calm down after all.

Naru called for the team and they made preparations. In case anything happened Takigawa was to be ready to perform an exorcism. Ayako was out of the question as they were dealing with a demon which was pretending to be a ghost, meaning probably doesn't fear God, meaning John might be out of the question too. There still was the hope that Lin would be able to help.

Gene started to remove parts of the shrine with Naru by his side. He took off the roof to reveal that the object was hollow on the inside. There were two charms on the walls. "Ayako, Lin, can you have a look at them?" Naru said as Gene parted the two walls from the construction and handed them to Ayako. "Don't pull on them, they might fell apart." Gene said looking at the old paper.

"Why isn't anything happening yet?" Mai yelled across the room. She, Masako and Yasu were ordered to stay as far away as possible. Naru actually wanted to send Mai to her room but the girl protested. She noticed that the object was already missing some parts. It was making her anxious. Was it the wrong object after all?

"It will soon." Naru answered but pretty much himself as he watched the sculpture that was in the middle of this 'room'. A little wooden sculpture of a nine-tailed fox. "Can you break it's head off?" Naru asked as Gene was about to remove another wall. "Execution? Sure, I guess it comes with the job." He then proceeded to 'carefully' behead the statue. Surprise, surprise, it was hollow on the inside too. However, just a few seconds after Gene broke it open a black smoke started leaking. The color intensified as the 'smoke' started to gather in one spot, right above the shrine. It then started to shape into something human-looking. "You wanted something to happen, Mai. Entertained enough?" Naru commented waiting for it to make a move.

The girl heard his comment but decided to ignore it. She instead focused on what was shapeless just a night ago but was now resembling a human.

As per Naru's order, Bou-san started chanting 'it' dashed with impossible speed in the direction of the door but to its own visible surprise stopped on them instead of going through. A party the preparations was placing charms on the room walls. Now the whole room was a gigantic trap for spirits and demons. "I knew it. You are still weak. You will be gone soon." Naru stated. He knew that a weak spirit and even a demon will make a run for it in this situation.

"Did something like that happened?" Mai asked leaning closer to Masako. "When you were gone. But I wouldn't say he knew it. He was speculating." The medium explained.

As Takigawa continued his chant the demon spotted Mai. It's shape started to change. So did the black color. Now, instead of the black cloud, the team could perfectly see an image of a woman. With long brown hair and a peaceful, caring smile. She was looking at Mai with her arms wide open. "Hell no!" The girl yelled. "Bou-san! Get rid of it!"

So he did. As his chant came to an end so did the existence of the demon. "It really was weak." The monk commented. The rest of the team moved neater. "It surely was. It couldn't even speak anymore." Mai added. Just as Naru ordered them to clean up, like removing the charms from the walls or putting the shrine back together, Mai remembered something. "Can I go check up on Akane?" She asked. "And...take Masako-" Naru cut her off. "With you? Just go." He said also curious if the girl woke up. He then remembered that he will have to wait until Mai comes back to find out as the girl still fails to take her walkie-talkie with her.