Evil ghosts all over?!
Chapter One: A God Or The Devil
Rain rattled the windows inside the darkened school. With nearly all the students and teachers gone, the building was unusually quiet but for one voice, cold and sinister, that echoed around the audiovisual classroom.
"So then the girl guided the policeman to the public restroom. Shortly after she went inside, like the policeman told her to, she heard the disembodied voice again. 'Do you want me to cover you with a red coat?' It whispered gently to her and without knowing she responded 'yes' and then … ARRRRRRR" Three girls screamed and clung onto each other as a fourth girl rolled on the floor laughing at her shaken friends.
"Mai-Chan you know we hate it when you do that" a girl with long black hair said as she comforted the pigtail haired girl crying on her.
"Sorry Michiru-Chan I didn't mean to make Kenko-Chan cry." Mai said with little sympathy.
"Yeah right Mai you're never happy unless you've made someone cry." The last girl said.
"Jinx you know me too well" replied Mai with a grin on her face.
"You really should be nicer to people then maybe you'd have more friends" Jinx snapped back. Mai scowled and opened her mouth to defend herself but was stopped when Kenko started to laugh.
"Sorry you two are just so funny when you argue," Kenko explained wiping the tears from her face. "Can you finish the story quickly Mai-Chan because I'm sure the others would like to know how it ends" she continued shaking slightly. Mai sighed, no matter what Jinx said everyone knew how protective she was of her friends.
"Okay girl screams, policeman runs in, girl is covered in blood which looks like a red coat," she finished. " So don't cry. The only scary thing is the amount of time it would take to clean the restroom, really ghost's could be more considerate."
"They're not the only ones." Jinx said laughing. Mai gently pushed her then turned off her light.
"You're the last Michiru-Chan."
Michiru looked down at the floor feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"Well this is about the old school house." She began
"You mean that creepy old building that's falling down'" Kenko asked as Mai rolled her eyes 'Everything's creepy to Kenko.' She thought.
"But it's not falling down, it was being demolished when all the workers suddenly quit because of a curse…" Mai perked up more interested by the story now a curse was involved.
"A lot of people have died in that place over the years, most famously a teacher that committed suicide. So when they decided to build the new school they started to tear down the old one but then ... the builders were demolishing the west wing when suddenly the roof caved in with no explanation. Demolition ended that day." Michiru's voice was soft almost as if she didn't want to continue. "A few years ago the demolition was started again when a truck driving by lost control and crashed into some kids nearby." Kenko gasped and clung onto Mai, Jinx moved closer to them.
"I heard about this from an upperclassman, one night a teacher was walking home when she saw a face in one of the windows." Now Jinx was holding on to Mai as well.
Michiru stopped talking and started looking anxious. It was time; the highlight of the event as far as Mai was concerned. Once everyone had told a story all the lights were off. Then each person would say a number and there was always one more number said. The extra number was supposed to have been said by a ghost.
Michiru turned off her light.
"One …" her shaky voice echoed about the room.
"T-two …" Kenko was no better.
"Three …" at least Jinx still seemed calm.
"Four …" Mai's own voice was stronger then the others, no dumb stories could scare her, "Five …" She froze. Jinx, Kenko and Michiru screamed and all but fell on her. The voice sounded deep and soft with a hint of amusement at the girls.
Then the lights came on.
Mai shot up and stood protectively in front of the others before her vision had even fully cleared, glaring at the blurry figure.
It was a boy.
He was tall and clothed completely in black with pale white skin, but not a sickly pale. His dark hair had a blue tinge to it in the light and fell lightly around his face, with the long strands ending just below his ears. The most stunning blue eyes she had ever seen glanced over all of them. This boy was beautiful, it was as if he was one of the gods or their most prized piece of artwork. Mai's eyes narrowed, what was he doing here?
"Oooh please tell me that was you." Kenko whined, still scared at the possibility of a ghost being about.
"I'm sorry I heard voices and just couldn't resist." The boy said, clearly amused.
Kenko and Michiru blinked taking in the boy's appearance for the first time and twin blushes bloomed on their faces.
"Here we go again" Mai sighed quietly causing Jinx to laugh. She knew how much Mai hated their 'Fan Girl' mode as she called it. Jinx had to admit he was gorgeous just not her type and anyway those who are as stunning as this on the outside are rarely the same on the inside. However their friends clearly disagree as the two blushing girls rushed to his side.
"No no that fine." Michiru stammered.
"You seem like a really cool guy. What's your name?" the other asked shyly.
"My name is Kazuya Shibuya'' he said with a smile. Even Jinx swooned a bit over that; Mai however couldn't shake her gaze from his eyes.
His cold, unsmiling eyes.
She shuddered, her entire body was screaming this boy was dangerous but she was still drawn to him just like the others.
'Damn hormones'.
She vaguely heard Michiru asking how old he was.
"I'll be 17 this year."
'Normally someone would just say they were an upperclassman.' she thought confused, none of what he was saying quite added up, but she couldn't tell why. Jinx frowned something wasn't right; she could tell by the boy's weird answers and Mai's still glaring expression. This whole situation was unnerving and she was glad to see the certainty returned to her friend's eyes.
"Well Shibuya-san what are you doing here?" Mai's voice cut through Kenko and Michiru's swooning.
Blue eyed focused on her as if they were only noticing her for the first time; an emotion flickered into existence but was gone almost as soon as it had appeared, too quickly to determine what it was. Could it have been interest? Annoyance?
"I have something I have to do." He replied brushing past Mai, followed by the giggling girls.
'God they're embarrassing' she cringed as Jinx appeared by her side scowling.
"Kill me now." Mai groaned under her breath to her. Jinx nodded in agreement, feeling her heartbeat beating wildly with her nerves stopping her from voicing her annoyance. The only thing she hated more than conflict was the panic she felt as it approached.
'Who is this guy?'
"Well go ahead no ones stopping you." Mai growled, but once again was ignored. 'Scratch that god part he's more like the devil' she thought grimly.
"I'm far more interested in what you were all doing here." He said.
"Oooh we were just telling ghost stories." Kenko said, playing with her hair.
"Well maybe I could join you some time." He smiled at her. Mai opened her mouth to yell at the guy but was cut off by Michiru.
"You mean you like ghost stories too?" She asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah."
Mai and Jinx looked at one other in agreement. This had gone on long enough, time to retreat. They each grasped a girl and dragged them off.
"Sooo sorry but we have to go home." Mai yelled behind her dragging the unwilling Kenko along.
"We'll meet here tomorrow after school." Michiru yelled looking desperately at him. Mai cursed, why couldn't she keep her mouth shut. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.
She looked back at the stranger. Something big was bugging her, something specific he had said, she just didn't know what.
'Not yet' she thought as she looked away.
Kazuya Shibuya watched them go, his eyes fixed on the short auburn haired girl. "Interesting" He muttered, before he forgot all about them and got back to work.
67676
It was early morning, the cherry blossoms were in bloom and despite everything Mai was in a good mood.
"I'm so glad I got here early, no one to bug me and I've got the cherry blossoms all to myself." She laughed, twirling to watch the flowers dance in the breeze.
A shiver ran up her spine.
She turned to see she had ended up in front of the old school house, her normal route to school never passed by here and she couldn't remember deviating from it.
The building was, as its name stated, very old. True to Michiru's story, part of the west wing was covered in plastic hiding its damaged and ugly face from the world. Just looking at it Mai could understand why so many people believed this place was haunted, with its dusty cracking walls and windows that were either full of jagged teeth like glass or plain empty.
Another building that had outstayed its welcome and was now left to slowly rot away to nothing.
It was true there was something strange about this place but not in a paranormal way, that much she was sure after all wouldn't it be more popular if it was? But there was little sense in worrying about a building, it was not like it was going anywhere.
Confident in her thought she moved to continue on then sighed as footsteps became audible.
Her gut was already screaming at her that someone was going to happen. Today was going to be a very, very long day.
"Mai, what are you doing here?" Jinx said out of breath.
"To keep you out of trouble." She said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world and maybe it was. Why else would the two of them meet here, of all placed, by accident.
Jinx stared at her friend for some time as her wild blue eyes stared back, then sighed.
It was a well known fact around the school that Mai was unusual.
She alway portrayed herself as confident, as though every action, every conversation she had for an exact reason only she knew about, traits she was certain came about as a defense mechanism against how people treated her.
It set up a nasty feedback loop, to the point where no-one seemed to realise anymore why it was Mai was labeled as strange, all it took now was one odd thing said, one pop quiz correctly guessed to reaffirm the oddness and people doubled down on it.
Yet, Jinx thought, her friend's ability to seemingly be at just the right place at the right time had helped Jinx out more times then she could count, being the danger magnet she was and she herself was not entirely normal either. As far as she knew, most people's nightmares don't end with their friend popping up to drag them to some void to talk though the trauma the nightmare had raised, or just chat about schoolwork they were stuck on.
It always felt so real, like Mai really was with her in her moments of fear and anguish but she never had the confidence to ask her if it was or if it was just a figment of her imagination and Mai had never given any indication she had experienced this too so what was the point? After all there was no way it could be real and why freak her friend out over nothing? But that was her all over, she thought sadly. Too scared to have the ability to ask for help or tell people what she really thought, be they friends or foes, not that she would have too most of the time what with Mai about and all. A fact she was grateful and sad about.
"Stop putting yourself down." Mai's voice, shocked her out of her thoughts.
"How did you…" She trailed off. Mai raised an eyebrow.
"You were frowning and Hime never frowns unless she is sad." Jinx smiled, Mai and her nicknames.
"Thanks Wolf. Well then let's just get to school." Jinx said, remembering why she had got lost in her thoughts in the first place and wondered what trouble they might get into, after all, Mai was sometimes right even if it was less often then she made out.
Jinx smirked slightly, that is of course unless her friend started the trouble, after all she may be a trouble magnate but Mai was just as bad.
They started forwards with comfortable silences hanging around them, when something caught her eye.
A glint of something from inside the old building itself. Narrowing her eyes she made the object out and blinked in confusion.
A video camera?
She wandered over to the double doors for a closer look contemplating just what a video camera was doing in the old school house.
Pushing the doors open, she stepped inside the dusty shoe room knowing without having to look that Mai was right behind her.
"Why is it here?" Jinx asked.
"Who knows," Mai shrugged indifferently, "Just don't break it." She continued grinning at Jinx who gave her a dirty look.
Jinx reached out to the device, not even realising her actions, still lost in her thoughts when a voice broke through the quiet.
"Who's there?" It demanded. The voice was male and sounded angry. Jinx jumped away from the camera alarmed, and hit the shoe rack behind her.
"I'm sorry, we'll leave." She said, her voice shaking.
The shoe rack toppled forwards and Jinx froze, unable to move, as it fell towards her.
'Just my luck' she thought laughing at her own misfortune and the heavy wood fell towards her in what seemed like slow motion. 'This is going to hurt.'
from the corner of her eye she saw a blur appear from the back of the room, running to try and help.
"Watch out." The voice yelled again but Jinx still couldn't make her body move, all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and brace for the pain.
Something hard rambled into her forcing her out of the way.
Mai.
The shoe rack barely missed her; it clipped Mai's shoulder as the blur pushed her out of the way, making her fall to the floor and avoid the rack.
The man was less fortunate.
It slammed into him, crushing him into the floor.
Jinx stumbled over to the fallen figure, dread filling her chest.
"Ooh my god are you okay?" She asked, her voice wavering. Why couldn't she make herself move?
Mai pushed herself off the floor with a grimace as she put weight on her shoulder. That was definitely going to bruise.
"What happened here?" A calm familiar voice filled the room. Mai turned her head to see the boy from yesterday and her eyes narrowed.
Kazuya Shibuya walked calmly, straight past Jinx, to the man on the floor.
"Lin what just happened?" he asked, helping him up at the same time.
Blood ran down his face.
"You're bleeding," Shibuya said, sounding worried.
Jinx gasped and began to apologize but Mai cut her off.
"I'm sorry it's my fault, he was trying to help me." She said walking forwards to help. Jinx stared confused, why was Mai taking the blame?
True he had got hurt saving her but it was Jinx that started the problem in the first place. There was something about this boy that made Mai act strangely defensive and she didnt like it.
"Never mind about that, is there a doctor close by?" He said coldly glaring at Jinx not Mai.
He knew.
Jinx looked at the floor, upset and ashamed of herself.
"Yes there's one just down the street." Mai said darkly. She had seen who his glare was directed at and moved in front of the girl protectively shielding her from his gaze.
Lin started to get up and Jinx rushed forwards to help but before she could touch him, he slapped her hand away.
"No thanks you've done enough already." He was also glaring at her.
Jinx resigned herself to her guilt and tried to fade into the shadows to avoid their looks, it didn't really work.
His eyes shifted over to Mai checking for any visible injuries and seemed content to not find any. He had seen the girl rush forward to protect her friend.
Noble, but stupid.
He could see the anger in her eyes at him hitting the other girl and her tense posture as she stood defensively, almost ready to fight, in front of the other girl who was quietly shrinking in on herself. Very stupid, indeed.
"You're two of the girls from yesterday. What are your names?" Kazuya asked, watching them carefully.
"I'm Fuyumi Jinx and this is Taniyama Mai." Jinx said, the words seemed to tumble out of her mouth so fast as she desperately tried to make the situation okay.
"What is it to you?" Mai said and crossed her arms.
Their eyes met.
Once again she, her gut was screaming at her not to trust this boy, he was too dangerous to be around, but also felt the annoying burning will to give up and swoon.
She shook her head and glared at him, not liking any of the feelings she was getting but knew she would rather die than give this guy the satisfaction of knowing his looks affected her.
"Well Fuyumi-san, Tanayama-san. I thought you would like to know you're going to be late as the bell has just rung" he said, emphasizing the syllables in Mai's last name. Her anger boiled over and nearly got the better of her but then she registered what he had said.
"Well crap." She said, shocking the two men before doing an abrupt turn, grasped the stunned Jinx by the arm and ran for it. Today was really not her day.
"WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Jinx finally realised.
6767
Mai forced her books into the abused bag on her desk, the day had started terrible and had just gotten worse from there. Nothing could save it, especially as Maths was the last thing. That class always left her in a bad mood despite liking the subject, but having a teacher that hates your guts would do that.
Hearing the excited squealing of her friends she groaned. She still had to deal with Kenko and Michiru's obsession with the annoyingly very hot guy, she had almost forgotten for one blissful second.
"Well I'm off." She said and started to walk towards the door, knowing it wouldn't work but still stubbornly trying.
"But Mai-Chan this is our only chance to tell ghost stories with a senior."
"Ooh I'm afraid I'm going to have to miss." She said sarcastically.
"Did you guys say ghost stories? Is that what you do here every day after school?" An angry voice cutting through their conversation.
A girl with long twin braided brown hair and thick glasses walked towards them, and attempted an intimidating stare. Mai raised one eyebrow, not even trying to hide her amusement. What was with the holier than thou attitude?
"Yeah what's it to you?" Mai asked.
The girl glared at her with more anger then she was expecting before promptly ignoring her and turned to face the other three girls who were nodding their heads.
"Then no wonder I've had this headache for so long. I'm very attuned to spirits, when they gather in groups I get a headache." She explained.
"Bullshit." Jinx mumbled, unable to hold it back, but thankfully keeping it quiet enough that she didn't hear. She really couldn't cope with another person being angry with her today.
"And you're blaming us for that?" Mai enquire incredulously.
"Yes because when you tell one of your stories you attract low level spirits and they attract higher levelled spirits and then we're all in trouble. So whenever you have your little get together you're putting me at risk!" she yelled in Mai's face. Mai eyes darkened and opened her mouth to respond with some very colourful language but never got the chance.
"So tell me, have you sensed anything around the old school house?" All five girls whipped their heads round to where the voice came from.
"Ah it's Shibuya-sempai." Kenko and Michiru squealed.
Jinx groaned, whilst Mai just rolled her eyes. Of course he showed up now.
The girl accusing the others blushed slightly at the sight of him then, much to Mai's pleasure, proceeded to yell at him.
"Are you the one who put these girls up to this?" She looked at Mai scornfully and she knew just what she was thinking. That they were only doing this to impress Shibuya-san. All she could do was give her an incredulous look that was most likely ignored, they weren't all slaves to hormones.
"You haven't answered my question, maybe your psychic powers are made up." Shibuya pressed, goading her to do what he wanted, which of course she did.
"I've seen numerous spirits there, in fact I'm positive that the building was used as a hospital in the war. I've just seen too many injured spirits in that place." She said shaking with either discomfort or fear.
Mai snorted in disbelief as Shibuya replied.
"I was unaware there was a hospital here during the war so maybe this was a medical school." He said, looking at Mai intently. She ignored him, feeling a petty sense of victory that it was this way round this time.
"I-I don't know but I really do see ghosts, if you're not psychic you wouldn't understand." She blushed.
Shibuya nodded then totally ignored her.
"Taniyama-san we need to have a word, in private." Shibuya said dismissing all the others and waiting expectantly for her to follow. Jinx sent her an apologetic look as the others just sulked at being snubbed.
"Yeah, figures." She said following him out the door, feeling a sense of impending doom. In the corridor she felt too exposed, it was just them, and she couldn't help the giddiness that filled her. The really hot guy singled her out. God she felt pathetic. Stomping the feeling down she focused on looking pissed; Mai Taniyama would never turn into a lovesick teenager.
"How's that man from this morning?" she asked as he didn't seem to be going to start talking anytime soon.
"Yes about him, he's suffered a bad sprain to his leg and will be unable to walk for some time." He said, turning to stare at her. She swallowed.
"How do you know him?."
"Assistant" he turned and started to walk expecting her to follow.
"So you work for him?" she wondered out loud.
"The opposite." He said, suddenly stopping causing Mai to walk into him. For the short time she was against him she felt the muscles on him. Lean and strong, there was more to him the first glaces could tell it would seem. She jumped back and looked up to glare but realised he was once again looking at her.
"He's the assistant and I'm the boss," Well crap, was all Mai could think as his eyes got darker and he started to walk towards her. "And now my assistant is stuck in bed it seems you have an obligation," for every step he took forwards Mai took one back, feeling like prey.
"wait a minute …"
"The camera is broken also. He was trying to stop you from touching it." Mai's back hit the wall, there was nowhere left to go.
"Can't I just pay you back?" she asked.
"No it's very expensive."
"Err…" she blushed despite her best efforts, as he seemed to evaluate her. His eyes ran over her clothes, not the normal short skirts and tight tops of the female uniform, but the baggy trousers and shirt of the boy's. Most of the buttons of her shirt were undone allowing the plain black sleeveless top to be seen and her short-ish hair fell rumpled around her face. Never before had she felt so self conscious about the way she dressed.
"You can't afford to reimburse me, which means there is only one other thing you can do. I want you to be my substitute assistant" He said.
"You want me to work for you?" Mai said incredulously, she had not expected this. this was way worse than anything she had expected.
"Isn't that what it sounded like?"
"What is your work?" she asked, feeling suspicious. If she would have to sell her soul to this devil, she wasn't doing so without a damn good fight.
"Ghost hunting."
"What?"
"I'm from Shibuya Psychic Research, a company that was hired to investigate the old school building."
"Psychic research?" Mai muttered to herself but Kazuya heard.
"Is that a question?'' His voice was sharp, portraying his annoyance.
She pushed gently against the wall hoping to go through it, anything to put some space between them. He turned and started to walk away, though she still felt just as trapped..
"In other words it's a spiritual phenomenon investigative bureau. If you can understand all those long words," He said casually, causing Mai to growl. '' And I'm the manager."
"WHAT?" Shibuya and Mai flinched.
"Obviously your friend doesn't know the meaning of 'private,'" he grumbled and Mai resigned herself to the shitshow that was happening.
Jinx blushed as she came into view.
She was worried about Mai; sometimes that girl was just too stubborn for her own good and so she couldn't in good conscious leave her with a possibly very angry person. especially when it wasn't even the girls fault.
She straightened her back. Mai was not going to take the fall for her mistake.
"If Mai is going to work for you then I am too, after all we all know what happened was my fault." She spoke with conviction she didn't have and fought the desire to vomit with nerves but the words did come out much to her pride.
Mai slammed her head into her hand.
"Jinx…" she groaned.
She had known the girl was following them, but had hoped she would do exactly what it was she was doing now, no reason both of them had to get caught up in this as well.
"Indeed." Shibuya said "both of you follow me." He turned and marched off.
Jinx ran to keep up with Mai and her new boss, smiling slightly to herself even as Mai muttered why, repeatedly under her breath.
Shibuya stopped in front of the old building, making Mai go into his back again. She stumbled away rubbing her nose.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you were doing that on purpose." She glared at the back of his head.
"Or your brain is too slow to correctly process visual data in time." He replied coolly before walking towards a van parked outside the supposedly haunted building. Mai stood shocked for some time, unable to respond before running after him.
"So we're meant to hunt ghosts?" Jinx asked, trying to keep up.
"Yep." Mai yelled back to her.
"But I don't like ghosts." Jinx yelled, wandering in after Mai.
"No one does stupid otherwise why would there be ghost hunters like Shibuya-san." She teased remembering that Kazuya could still hear them so she couldn't insult him, yet.
"Oooh yeah." Jinx laughed, feeling a touch stupid but it was short lives as Mai walked full speed into a lamp post, making Jinx fall over laughing as her friend sprang from the floor. Kazuya turned to see what all of the commotion was about, with a look of annoyance that seemed to permanently be on his face now.
"Really if you're to stupid to even see stationary objects then I don't need you here Taniyama-san." He said waiting to see what her reaction would be.
"You're the one who forced me to be here," Mai growled with her hands clenched into fists trying to work out how he knew what happened even though he was facing the other way.
"I have Fuyumi-san." He stated.
"If you think I'm going to leave Jinx alone with you then you are insane." She said darkly.
Jinx held onto her friend's arm to try and calm her down.
Ignoring her outburst completely he opened up the car door and started gathering up some equipment.
"A week ago your principal came to my office…" Mai closed her eyes and counted to 10 trying to listen to his voice without losing it. She really didn't want to find out the repercussions of hitting him, not to mention she still couldn't work out what was bugging her so much about him.
It was something he had said in their first encounter.
Something was shoved into her hands making her jump and snap her eyes open.
Boxes.
"When I looked into it I can verify that up until 18 years ago whilst the building was in use there would be at least one person that died there every year,"
When Mai's arms were filled he started handing stuff to Jinx.
"It's also true that when construction crews were tearing down the west side of the school, there was an accident where the roof collapsed."
Mai's head hurt trying to keep up with all the information overload, she looked over to find Jinx was fairing not better.
"However no workers died as a result and the accident was blamed on human error. There was a teacher that committed suicide in the old school but that was explain in the suicide note left by the victim."
They followed him into the old building listening as the death count rose.
"The runaway truck last year was caused by drunk driving. That was when construction was stopped for the second time, the stories we have heard most likely played a part in that. According to my study the presence of spirits here is nothing more than stories. For a place this active all the accidents have simple explanations."
"I could have told you that." Mai muttered struggling under the weight of the boxes in her arms.
He turned and looked at her and seemed to contemplate something before responding .
"I'm sure you could have," He led them to one of the least damaged classrooms and Mai stared confused trying to figure out if he had actually complemented her. "We will set up base here."
"Base?" Jinx questioned setting her stuff down as Mai tilted her head to one side.
"Yes'' he affirmed, turning to face them "We will conducted all of our experiments from here." Then he pointed to some shelves and ordered Mai to set them up before heading to the door.
"Wait Shibuya-san, what do I do?" Jinx asked.
"You are coming with me to bring the rest off the equipment up." He replied.
"You're leaving me here alone." Mai said gobsmacked.
"Yes, putting up the shelves requires coordination. Out of the two of you, you seem to have the most so far." He explained then left, leaving Jinx to rush after him feeling her guilt flow back in full force.
"I really am sorry about what happened to your friend and the camera." She said quietly.
"That is not important anymore." Something he really seemed to mean.
Jinx smiled and bounced out after him, happy that he didn't seem mad.
"Have fun." Mai yelled after her and turned to face the shelves rolling up her sleeves.
"Lets see what you've got." She said daring the pieces of metal to do their best.
Just as she picked up the first piece the entire building groaned.
Dust fell down from the ceiling and the faintest tremor shifted the ground.
Mai stopped moving and listened for any signs of movement.
Nothing.
Thinking it was her imagination she got back to work. Until it happened again.
'This is the part in all the stories where the young girl is torn limb from limb' she thought, hating her overactive imagination.
Michiru's story obviously got to her more than she had thought.
'Why can't I move?' she tried to move her arms even blink but the atmosphere seemed so heavy and it was buzzing.
Her heart was beating wildly in her ribcage, like it was trying to break free. Pale fingers wrapped around the sliding doors and Mai could do nothing but stare at them waiting for whatever it was to attack her.
Kazuya wandered in, followed by Jinx, covered in cables and dumped them on a table.
"Stop slacking off." He said before walking out again.
"It's official," Mai said out loud. "I hate him."
Jinx looked at her sympathetically before following him out again.
"Shibuya-san?" she said when she caught up. He gave her no indication that he was listening but she took a breath, watching him as he picked up another monitor and prepared to head back to base. Gathering her confidence, she went on anyway. 'It's what Mai would do for me' "Why are you being such an ass to Mai?" Kazuya stopped walking but didn't respond.
"She's done nothing to you, it's not fair." She yelled, trying to make him see even as the butterfly flitted in her stomach.
'I can do this'
Silence hung in the air.
No one moved. Jinx stood blushing at what she said but still stood defiant.
"Get to work." Shibuya walked away leaving Jinx shell shocked and unable to move, physically drained of energy after mustering the courage.
'How can anyone be such a …' There was not a word bad enough, that Jinx knew, to describe this man.
Not one to give up Jinx ran after him intending to yell at him more. Conflict avoidance be damned Mai was her best friend.
They made it to the base door and both stopped. Mai was working on the shelving blissfully unaware of them, as she finished she cheered, breathing hard. Her hair was dishevelled as she stood grinning at her handy work. Jinx looked at Kazuya and noticed him studying her, as if trying to work out her weakness or if she had any. She frowned not liking it one bit.
"Please don't hurt her." Jinx whispered before letting Mai know of their arrival, but like always the girl already seemed to know.
"You really need to teach me how you do that." Jinx said enviously
"No idea what you mean," Mai said grinning madly, then noticed the cameras on the table. "What are these?" She asked.
"An infrared camera and an ultra-high-sensitivity camera. They're used to shoot in dark places." Kazuya explained. "Thermography is done with cameras that pick up temperatures. When spirits appear, the temperature around them drops."
Jinx smiled, proud that her little talk seemed to have gotten through to the ice man.
"It's amazing that you can use all of this stuff." Mai said looking closer at the cameras and Jinx knew unless they watched her carefully they would owe Shibuya another camera after Mai was through with it.
"Of course I can. My brain works differently to yours." Then again maybe she should let her as this guy was content with being a jack-ass. Jinx glared at him as he set the equipment on the shelves.
"Well you are the manager so I guess you can say that." Mai said sarcastically.
"Why are you in the ghost hunting business?" Jinx asked, trying to keep the peace between them. She held Mai's arm again hoping the girl wouldn't try to kill him and put a real ghost in these dark hallways.
"Some one has to."
"Have you ever had a case you couldn't solve?"
"No I'm very good at what I do."
"Wow smart and handsome." Mai said.
Kazuya froze and turned to face Mai.
"You think I'm handsome?"
"Well yeah, that's why all the girls made a big fuss, surely mister big brain couldn't have missed that." Mai said, confused as to why Jinx was shaking her head at her. jinx just sigh in good humor, Mai never understood the point of subtlety anyway most of the time.
Something flashed in Kazuya's eyes.
Definitely amusement.
"They have good taste." Mai looked at him wide-eyed.
'Sure he's extremely successful at a young age and good looking but he's such a narcissist' she smiled as an evil thought flicker into life. 'From now on he's Naru the narcissist'
Mai and Jinx were slumped over one another, on the desk, shattered. The slave driver that was Naru, as Mai now called him in secret, didn't let them stop for a break. Ever.
"You two can go home, we've done enough for today." He walked past not even asking if they were okay.
"What, today? That means, …" Jinx trailed off, dreading his reply.
"I'll see you here tomorrow." Mai pushed herself off the desk groaning as her injured shoulder protested.
She had all but forgotten about it until it started to hurt again. She made a mental note to check on it when she got home.
Walking outside they saw that he had kept them there well into the night.
"That jackass, come on let's get a bed." Mai said as Jinx yawned. Turning round the corner they were suddenly blinded by a flashlight.
"Mai-Chan, Jinx-Chan, where you here with sempai all night?" It was Michiru.
"What were you doing?" Kenko was here as well. Mai groaned.
"We were having a threesome." She said as she flopped onto a bench nearby. Her shoulder throbbed as it was moved.
"WHAT?" they yelled as Jinx laughed nervously.
"She's only joking. We were helping him with his work." Jinx explained as they all joined Mai on the bench. She sensed however that part of them they really did believe what Mai had said.
"Work? You mean he's not an upperclassmen?" Kenko asked, shocked.
"Why you two?" Michiru grumbled.
"Nope, he's a ghost hunter." Jinx said.
"It's us because Jinx broke his assistant." Mai said grinning.
"I didn't break him"
"he sure looked broken."
"Well I didn't mean too."
Footsteps made them all look round. It was the girl from earlier.
"Taniyama-san do you think you could introduce me to Shibuya-san? I really think I could help him." She said politely a soft blush across her cheeks.
Mai sighed she was too tired to care about girls and their stupid crush-induced ideas.
"Maybe you should just leave him to it, he is a pro and all." 'Not to mention an ass hole'
"Well I'm by no means an amateur." The girl yelled making them jump.
Mai stared at her not understanding the visceral response she had gotten.
The air was heavy and filled with the same energy as she was alone in the old school house, almost electric.
There was something very odd about that girl, like she was crying, screaming out to be seen.
To be noticed.
Even though she was 5 feet from them it felt like miles.
Michiru grabbed her arm and dragged her away, leaving the girl to watch as the shadows engulfed them.
"Lets go Mai-Chan." The four of them ran for a few feet before slowing to a walk.
"That girl is really weird." Michiru said.
"You were in middle school with her right, what's her name?" Jinx asked, feeling sorry for the girl. No one should be alone.
"Kuroda-san, I don't know her first name but she's a freak." The word made Mai flinch, though other others didn't seem to notice.
"I've heard of her," Kenko said. "She is the girl that has always claimed to have psychic abilities."
"Really, what gave you that idea?"
"MAI" Jinx yelled, glaring at her friend.
Mai sighed she was tired and that meant she wasn't in the best of moods and this conversation isn't helping.
"Sorry I am very, very tired."
"Why did you think she wanted to be introduced to Kazuya-kun?" Kenko giggled at her use of his first name.
"Don't tell me she's already fallen in love with him." Michiru said, shocked.
"Ew gross." The two of them laughed causing Jinx to scowl deepily. looking to Mai for some back up she was surprised to find her still looking in the direction they came from. Back to Kuroda-san.
"There something about that girl huh." Jinx said so only Mai could hear.
"Yeah, something."
They came to the crossroads where they all split off in different directions and with a sense of relief she only felt slightly guilty about Mai turned down her road calling out her goodbye.
"Bye guys, see you tomorrow."
"Um, Mai tomorrows a Saturday." Kenko said, glancing at the others.
Mai froze giving Jinx time to mutter a quick goodbye and run before the explosion hit.
"THAT BASTARD!"
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Mai growled as she stomped into school the next day.
"There should be some kind of rule against schools being open on the weekend." She moaned to her surroundings as she walked up to the old school building.
Jinx wasn't there yet and she couldn't see Naru but that didn't mean he wasn't there. who knows maybe he doesn't need sleep, after all monsters don't tend to.
Wandering over to the van she spotted him round the back typing on his computer.
"What are you doing?" Mai asked making her presence known to him and lent forwards to see the screen, resting her head on his shoulder so she didn't fall over.
He tensed up with the contact.
"Checking yesterday's data. There doesn't seem to be anything unusual." He said not looking at her. "You do realise your head is on my shoulder right?"
"Yep." Mai said. "Deal with it."
Naru said nothing, just continued to work though never relaxed back again but to mai's enjoyment.
'Let the git suffer'
Jinx rounded the side and did a double take at the sight before her as Mai straightened to greet her. Clearly she had missed something this morning.
"That's some fancy equipment you've got there." A voice broke through their idle chatter.
It was a woman with long red hair, brown eyes and wearing a stylish coat. Behind her stood a tall man with long brown hair tied back in a loose ponytail. Both seemed to know exactly why they were there though neither girl could remember seeming them the day before at all.
Mai glanced at Naru and wasn't surprised to see him looking indifferent.
"Those toys seem too high-tech for a child to be playing with." The woman said glancing at Mai and then at Jinx.
She seemed to sneer. Mai looked at her clothes, baggy jeans and a jumper, and then Jinx's shorts and a T-shirt. What did this woman have a problem with? Most kids didn't had the money for high fashion.
"Who are you?" Naru asked, drawing her attention to him.
"I am Matsuzaki Ayako, the shrine maiden." She said with a snobby voice. "The principal said he wasn't sure about you, so he called me to drive out the spirits."
"I thought that only chaste virgins could become shrine maidens." Naru said, making Mai laugh and Jinx blush whilst face palming. 'And I thought Mai was bad'.
"My, don't I look that way?" Matsuzaki asked as one of her eyebrows twitched. The man behind her was laughing too.
"At the very least, I'd say you're getting a bit old to be calling yourself a maiden." Naru replied seemingly unaware of the fact he was digging himself into his own grave.
"You're a smart-mouthed little boy, huh?" Matsuzaki growled whilst blushing.
"And you?" Naru asked, turning his attention to the laughing man. "You don't appear to be Matsuzaki-san's assistant."
"I'm a monk of the Koyasan sect and my name is Takigawa Hosho." The man said straightening himself up.
"When did they start allowing long hair among the Koyasan?" Naru said and Mai found herself cheering him along inside as he ripped their stories and them apart.
Jinx smiled knowing Mai was happy he was no longer picking on her, for now at least.
"He's an apostate." Matsuzaki said, also relieved he was now interrogating Takigawa.
"I've just come down off the mountain for now!" he yelled at the shrine maiden. "At any rate, playtime is over children. Shibuya, you may have been hired because your office is in a prime location, but the principal said it seemed like a scam to have a child as it manager"
"Well the principal's a moron." Mai said remembering her own encounters with the balding man. Jinx nodded.
"The principal is not well known for having an open mind, but we're all here for the same reason so can't we work together." She suggested then regretted it as the two adults stared at her as if she was insane.
"The principal can think what he wants." Naru said and ignored everyone again.
"He really has over done it, calling so many of us out to this run-down old school. All he needed was me." Matsuzaki said, turning her back on the group.
"Ooh really?" Takigawa snapped.
"And they call us children." Mai muttered to Jinx and Naru.
"Ah, thank goodness." Jinx snapped round recognising the voice.
It was Kuroda.
Things were about to get a lot worse.
"The old schoolhouse is a nest of evil spirits and I didn't know what I would do." She continued.
"Kuroda-san …" Mai warned but she didn't listen.
"I'm very spiritually sensitive so I've been tormented by …" Kuroda tried to explain but Matsuzaki cut her off.
"You grandstander. You just want attention."
"Hey that's rude." Jinx yelled.
"It's true though. Do you really want people to like you that much?" She said aiming the last part at Kuroda. "You have no spiritual sensitivity, you just want to stand out."
"You can mean …" Jinx began but got interrupted.
"I'm going to summon a spirit to possess you." Kuroda said coldly, her eyes dark.
Mai tensed. The air was buzzing again and her instincts were yelling at her to protect her friend and get the hell out of here.
Matsuzaki may be right about Kuroda's sensitivity but the girl did have something supernatural about her. She moved slowly towards the girl hoping to defuse the situation.
"Kuroda …" she said softly.
"You'll regret this false priestess." Kuroda said before backing off and walking away. Mai relaxed but still felt an uneasiness. What was with Kuroda?
"Ne, Naru-Chan, what should me and Jinx do today?" she said happily trying to make the atmosphere less tense.
"What did you just say?" Naru said, looking shocked beyond all belief. "Did you just call me 'Naru'?"
"Oops." Mai said as he walked towards her.
"Where did you hear that?" He asked, frowning.
Mai laughed nervously.
"You've been called that before? Well I couldn't have been the only one to come up with Naru the narcissist." She said, hoping for literally anything to happen..
"Hello everyone, I see you're all here." It was the principal. "This is 'John Brown-san'." He said moving aside to show a blonde angelic looking boy with innocent blue eyes. Jinx's eyes widened then quickly looked away, fighting her blush back. Mai smiled seeing her friend's reaction.
'How cute.'
"How's tricks?" he said as he bowed.
Everyone stared at him.
"My name is John Brown …" but Mai didn't hear the rest.
Something flashed into her mind and she remembered how they met Naru. She knew what had been bugging her about him now.
"My name is Kazuya Shibuya." That's what he said. Kazuya Shibuya not Shibuya Kazuya.
Anyone who lived in Japan, or who had spent a long time there, would never make a mistake and introduce themselves the way the westerners did.
Which then meant Naru had only been in this country for at max a few weeks.
Then again he'd never said anything about himself at all, they had all just assumed, given his name and how well he spoke that he was Japanese and he had let them.
Mai frowned, that would change, she would find out who he really was no matter what it took.
She debated telling Jinx but decided against it, there was no point in worrying her when she could possibly be wrong.
She heard Matsuzaki and Takigawa laughing and saw Jinx glaring at them and decided she had better start paying attention again.
"Uh, you see, Brown-san seems to have learned his Japanese down in the Kansai area." The principal explained.
"I'm busting a gut!" Matsuzaki laughed.
"So then, you're a spiritualist, too?" Takigawa said in disbelief.
"Yes I'm what you call an exorcist." John said, still smiling.
Everyone stopped laughing, well those who were laughing stop.
"You're not supposed to be able to drive out evil spirits unless you're a catholic priest or better. You're pretty young for that." Naru said talking for the first time since John had shown up.
"Wow you really know your stuff. The truth is that I've just turned 19 that's why I look so young."
6767
"An exorcist, an apostate monk and a ghost hunter?" Matsuzaki said.
They had all moved the conversation into SPR's base, mainly because Naru wanted to get more work done.
"To call in this many people, that principal has no faith in me, huh?"
"He's not the only one." Jinx muttered next to Mai causing her to snigger but Matsuzaki heard.
"Hmph, just you watch! I'll clean out this run-down schoolhouse by myself!" she said before stomping out of the base.
"I'm going to work by myself as well." Takigawa said waving and then left in the opposite direction to the priestess.
"Um, can I …" John started but stopped and shifted in discomfort.
"You go ahead and help yourself, too." Naru said, not looking at him.
"No, I mean, let me work with you." Jinx beamed at John's reply, feeling giddy. someone who wasn't an asshole.
A loud scream echoed through the halls, shattering Jinx's happiness.
"That was Matsuzaki-san's voice." John said with a worried expression on his face. They ran and found Takigawa standing outside one classroom, the door shut and they could all hear Matsuzaki yelling from behind it.
"Open the door!" she yelled, sounding terrified.
"I'm kicking it in! Stand back, Ayako!" Takigawa said, tensing himself.
"Don't you drop name-honorifics with me!" she snapped back.
"Here goes!" he warned and slammed his foot into the door, the old wood gave way under the brute force.
Ayako emerged looking flustered and taking pity on the woman Mai and Jinx helped the older woman to the base, comforting her as the went.
"I was looking around the classroom when the door suddenly closed. When I tried to open it, I couldn't," she explained "The really is something here, after all."
"No there isn't. I don't sense any presence." Jinx jumped and clung on to Mai as an unknown voice filled the air.
"Is it the ghost?" Mai asked, unable to see as Jinx's arms covered her eyes.
She reached out a hand to steady herself and came in contact with an arm. Naru's arm. Not having anything else, and not wanting to fall over with Jinx on her, she held onto him, feeling him tense up again.
"She's human," Naru said looking down at the girls. "Hara Masako, the spirit medium." Jinx let go of Mai and looked at the girl. She had short black hair, purple eyes and was wearing a red kimono.
"Spirit medium?" she asked Naru, and noticed Mai had yet to let go of his arm.
"This is a surprise. He called in a famous personality like you, too?" Takigawa said.
"What is this? You're just a pseudo-medium, who only gets views because she's kind of pretty." Ayako spat, even more annoyed at the principal.
"I'll take that as a complement." The doll-like girl said.
"Why, you little…" Ayako growled only to be ignored as the girl moved her focus onto Naru.
"I wonder, have I ever had the pleasure of meeting you before?" she asked.
Mai looked down at the floor feeling oddly sad.
This was the kind of girl a boy like Naru would date.
Calm, sophisticated and, well, everything Mai wasn't.
She frowned, why was she thinking this. He was just a mystery and a jack-ass, nothing more.
"No, I believe this is the first time we have met." Naru said.
"I see …"
"In any case, there is a spirit here." Ayako said not one for being ignored. "I think all of this is the work of an earth spirit."
"Earth spirit?" Jinx repeated confused.
"I think it's a site-bound spirit, something must have happened here a long time ago." Takigawa thought aloud.
"You mean like someone was killed here and was trapped forever, right?" Jinx asked.
"Yes. I think that it's afraid that it's going to lose its home so it is blocking the construction." He explained to her.
"John, what do you think?" Naru asked, causing the young man to jump.
"I'm not really sure, I haven't been here long enough to come to any conclusion." The boy said, feeling nervous.
"A spirit or a ghost. Are you listening to this, Mai?" Naru said, including the girl into his thoughts.
"Why are you suddenly dropping honorifics with me?" Mai asked, fighting a blush as she caught sight of Jinx grinning at her.
"You did it earlier yourself, didn't you?" He reminded her.
"I've had enough! I'm driving it away right now, and getting out of here!" Ayako brushed past Mai heading to the door. "I can't hang around with you people forever."
Reaching the doorway she abruptly stopped as Kuroda blocked her way.
"Are you sure you can drive it out? There is a very strong spirit here." She glared at the older women as she spoke.
"Out of my way!" Ayako shoved her to the side and walked out.
Jinx rushed to her side as she fell, concerned at how easily she had been knocked to the side..
"I was attacked." Kuroda said to her.
"No way."
"You're lying, there are no spirits here." Hara-san said stepping forwards.
"Then what just attacked me?" Kuroda yelled.
"When and where did this happen?" Naru asked moving over to the monitors.
"A few moments go, on the second hallway." She said and clung on to Jinx thankful for her presence. "It yanked me back with such force and started to strangle me ' your spirit sensitivity is too strong, so you must leave.' That's what it said"
"Wow." Jinx said and hugged her, unable to conceive how scary that must have been. Naru typed into his laptop and the monitor started to run the tape.
It showed Kuroda walking up the stairs, look around and then went fuzzy.
Mai wandered over to him.
"I set it up right, it shouldn't have done that." Mai said with a frown.
"I don't doubt that." Naru reassured her. " This is significant. Electrical equipment does tend to malfunction when a spirit appears. A spirit? EM interference? Or perhaps…"
"Or?" Mai prompted him.
He said nothing lost in thought.
Jinx looked over, understanding something wasn't right and resigned herself to smiling at Mai, trying to cheer her up from a distance, whilst still looking after Kuroda.
She frowned as she looked back at the girl in her arms.
If Kuroda was telling the truth then why were there no marks around her neck. Did spirits not leave marks?
Making a mental note to ask Naru he hadn't already noticed, she refocused on the girl.
"Of course it's a spirit. I was attacked." Kuroda yelled.
"But Hara-san said there aren't any." Jinx said, trying to calm her down.
"I wonder if she really has any spiritual sensitivity." Masako glared at Kuroda as the girl tried to attack her credibility.
"It's common for a female medium to be right or completely wrong. Even if she didn't sense one earlier we can't say for sure that there isn't one here. If there is one here it could be very in tune with your wavelength" Naru contemplated.
"That could be it." Kuroda smiled and went starry eyed. Masako blushed angrily at his doubt in her abilities as Jinx shared a worried look with Mai.
"Does this mean this is our fault?" She whispered remembering what Kuroda had said in the classroom.
"I don't know."